Here we are four games left, Ottawa free falls continues NY runs table (3-0) without Tavares/others, we have a head to head game 4/9 for a playoff spot but Tampa would also have to lose a few.
Likely? No, but NYI ran out of gas on road, blew leads all season to put them in this spot, and the lack of days off caught up with them. No team kept playing on one days rest for this long, home and away.
Winnipeg came in tired, but their game vs Devils was snowed out, they got to practice/recharge.
They put up a good fight all things considered, but some players struggled here from game one.
I fully expect Jon Ledecky to react strongly/swiftly to his expectations not being met, it's not 2000. Garth Snow had 11 years, it's time to send the customers a message or it will be Mr Ledecky's legacy.
Whoever comes in must decide who is coach, Weight could not turn around powerplay, his gambles were boom or huge bust. What he proved most is fans like comments/communication, tough to do in Dolan's media.
Unless you felt Okposo was the answer last summer it was a loss they could not compensate for in UFA, the market being bad (again) was not on Snow, who landed a good player when he finally got healthy in Ladd.
Nielsen was a huge dodged bullet.
Chimera will get close to 20 but disappeared, Kulemin replaced #15's numbers who seemed to have his injuries catch up to him, same with Hamonic.
Given where Halak was last summer, Berube needed to be resigned, and he got a one-way deal for his role.
For all the grief Berube received he got points in five of his seven starts.
#72, 66 had some good starts, we'll see as the league catches up to them & Dal Colle/Barzal push for NHL spots on a team where almost everyone is already signed.
Hopefully we have some Bridgeport playoff games, eighteen over/barely holding on to final spot.
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Clutterbuck is in room with team daily, and is Tavares friend, his sentiment is likely shared by players about ice, but Tavares was not injured by Barclay's ice or did his heel dig in. (unlike anywhere else)
My twitter feed has images of what happened (skate on skate with Devil/other skate kept stepping on back of net mesh, he lost balance, and did splits. His heel never touched ice or got caught in rut.
But hey, it's like Espn player polls on worst ice, when players polled all pick Dolan's building (Pittsburgh, Chicago, LA) the article disappeared fast to no attention.
Bloggers, media needing these teams, and their media, know it's a bad career move to touch it.
Kind of like Ozanian figuring out he could not add, guilty until proven innocent for every aspect of what happens around this franchise.
Negative news about Barclay's is exaggerated all across North America immediately, Dolan has influence of a lot of that media or helps float the narrative.
Tavares where I sit has until 6/31/18 to be resigned, no one must be resigned a year early and if Stamkos can wait, so can Tavares, who I believe will resign.
It's time for Staple to move on to his next career, one lazy writer having this much light on him paid by the family of another NHL team is awful for NYI.
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The Coliseum looks fantastic, it will never be the NYI home again.
Thrilled the alumni stayed away from ribbon cutting, some Islander fans finally got the message Nassau never cared about this team, kind of like the fans always at bottom in attendance.
Nothing but excuses. 25 years of being at the bottom of attendance is enough. Barclay's is home.
Dolan will not approve six games & their newspaper/News12LI cannot discuss his role in this or writers will lose their jobs. They lost 2013 bid, Ratner won so they will have to pay for lost games or ask Mangano to give them a break or a million per year, but given the renovation price went from 130 million to 165 million, and a lot more money is coming from private investment brought in by Barclay's and FCR, Nassau seems ok with it.
For the New York Islanders, it's Barclay's/inside NYC or out of town, it's that simple for a franchise that's proven the fans will not support the team in Nassau County 41 times. Nothing else should work for Malkin-Ledecky.
I see the usual 14-15,000 crowds on weekends with all negative media trying to get them out of Barclay's, same as I wrote last season as the overall avg was 14,200 from Dec through Feb.
To me Barclay's has been a huge success for NYI, despite selective media spin since 2012 to defeat it almost daily.
