The End Of The Year, Start Of An Era

It was a rainy day on Long Island last Saturday. Fans poured into the old Coliseum hoping for a big victory to force a game 7. There was a few high moments during the game with the Isles taking a few leads only to lose in overtime on a Brooks Orpik goal. Even tho the home team lost you wouldn't be able to tell that by the cheers for the Islanders during the traditional post game handshake. I was very upset about the defeat but I could see a much bigger picture, the Islanders were back, for the first time in a very long time they were competitive. People at the work place that pay no attention to hockey at all were asking about the Islanders, kids in schools were walking the halls with Islander jerseys something you don't see on Long Island. Something was happening that was getting people excited and that was the rebirth of a franchise that has had many, many, and many dark times the past 20 years.

There is a great core of players that the fans can look forward to see grow together. There are few holes to fill during the off-season. One concern is the goalie position as we saw Nabakov struggle at times in the postseason. With Kevin Poulin and Anders Nilsson I do not see them trading for a goalie and I cringe when I hear Roberto Luongo brought up, there is no way Garth Snow would move some prospects to take a chance on a goalie who has series struggles in the playoffs. I would like to see Nabakov resign and I think he will. He took the team far this season by giving them a chance to win every night, there is nothing else you can ask from your goalie. I do expect Rick Dipietro's Islander career over as he will be amnestied, I don't think anyone has missed him the past two months.

I like the situation when it comes to the Islander's defense. Andy Macdonald proved that he can play big minutes, Lubomir Visnovsky was a plus 12 during the 35 games he played during the season and restriced free-agent Travis Hamonic brings a strong physical presence and no doubt in my mind he will be back next year. Thomas Hickey and Brian Strait would make a good number 5 and 6 dman, with Matt Carkner also under contract for next year. I really don't want Mark Streit back next year, he wants too much money and will be 36. I would say if the price is right but I don't see that happening and might be better off trading for a dman or signing a younger guy for cheaper like Ian White or Ryan Whitney. You also have to remember the Islanders have younger prospects that maybe ready next year such as Griffin Reinhart, Calvin de Haan and even Matt Donovan.

The offense on the other hand really doesn't need much but teams are always looking to get better. The Islanders offense went toe to toe with a stack Pittsburgh Penguins team and need to continue the same thing next season. Hart Trophy finalist John Tavares has done a great job leading the team and he will be the next Captain of this team. Matt Moulson proved his career is no fluke as he continued to not only score goals again but get 29 assist in 47 games. Michael Grabner still has great speed and had a great rebound season after struggling the year before. We all saw Kyle Okposo play to his potential in the playoffs, if he plays like that during an 82 game season he can be dangerous and score over 30 goals easy. Matt Martin will continue to check everyone on the opposite team even if it means going onto the opponents bench and I also can't forget guys like Colin Mcdonald, David Ullstrom and Casey Cizikas who will still be around next year. The only guys unsigned are Josh Bailey who should return, Brad Boyes who may come back if the price is right but he can be replaced considering whoever replaces him will get to play with Tavares. Aucoin, Boulton and Joensuu are all up in the air and Marty Reasoner won't be back even if he wants to play for free, the Islander's couldn't trade him for a bag of pucks.

It is going to be an interesting offseason considering the run the team made this year and the time coming for the move to the Barclay Center I expect some names to consider playing for the Islanders. The team is a few pieces away from being a serious contender even though I think they had a legitimate chance of knocking off the Penguins and advancing to the next round. Garth Snow might even want to test the trade market and deal for a big name like a Thomas Vanek or even a top 1 or 2 dman. It would be really nice to see the team actually sign guys that will play and not overpay some bum who would only score 1 goal in 2 seasons (Marty Reasoner).

NY Islanders vs Pittsburgh Penguins Playoff Matchup Preview

So the playoffs have started and today the NY Islanders are in Pittsburgh to face the Penguins. The Penguins are heavy favorites to win the whole thing so no analyst will pick the Pens to lose the first round. The Penguins have the highest odds at 7/2 to win it all and the Islanders are the lowest with odds of 40/1. Just to give everyone an idea on what that means, just last years Stanley Cup playoffs the Penguins were again the favorite to win it all only to lose in the first round to the Flyers and the 8th seed LA Kings were the ones to win it all, so there is a reason they play the actual games.

Islander fans like myself are not used to being in the playoffs with haven't played a playoff game in 5 years but with the play from John Tavares and the rest of the team in the month of April I can see most fans are ready and some even confident. With the presence of Sidney Crosby in Game 1 remaining a game time decision, I do however expect Crosby to be in the lineup sometime this series if not for Game 1.

The Islanders would need certain things to happen in order to win. First, this series will be a physical one and with the Penguins stacked roster the Islanders will have to be the more physical team in order to have a chance in winning the series. Second, they would need Nabakov to come up big in goal. Nabby has playoff experience which most of the team lacks with a total of 80 games played with a 40-39 record, 2.29 goals against and a save percentage of .914. And finally they would need to have a better special teams unit. The Islanders were tied for the 10th best power play percentage during the season at 19.1 percent compared to the Penguins who were second in the league at 24.7 percent. If the Islanders can stay out of the box that would be huge considering the Penguins power play could really wear down the Isles penalty kill unit and take them out of games early.

I really would like to see the Islanders give the Pens a run for there money, but it is still good to see the team maturing and getting this chance to gain playoff experience. I really don't pay attention to what most are saying about the series with not giving the Islanders any chance at all to win but then again we all saw what happened last year and whenever an 8th seed upsets a number 1 seed in the first round, that team gets a very high confidence level and if they build on it then they can be very scary to face in the following round.