|
|
islesinfo |
 |
|
|
islesinfo |
|
|
Menu NYI Database News
//// //// //// //// |
But let's look at this with a positive note. Once you make the playoffs you never know what can happen. Sure we've said that in 2004 and 2003. But you still got to have hope. Here is how the Islanders can come together down the stretch drive and make the post season: For one, the Islanders have had a very tough road through the first three quarters of the season. Yes that is a long period of time and often they haven't showed us they can come back from anything at times. But if you look at the Islanders Atlantic Division opponents, especially the Devils and Rangers, they have beat up on many of the bottom feeders of the league. The Islanders have many games against the bottom feeders remaining. The biggest test for the Islanders starts with game one. If they lost to the Canadiens on the 28th, there most likely will be little hope the rest of the way and it will be a big sign what type of team the Islanders will be come the trade deadline on March 9th, a buyer or seller. The Islanders still have three games remaining against the Canadiens the rest of the way, with two of those games at the Nassau Coliseum. Those are three MUST wins and could close the gap. The Islanders also have four games remaining with the Pittsburgh Penguins and two with the Washington Capitals. That's 12 points they must get. Against teams in the pack with the Islanders like Toronto, Atlanta and Florida the Islanders only have 5 games combined remaining. So that poses a bit of a problem. But no one said it would be easy. In addition, the Toronto Maple Leafs, currently with 59 points and one point behind Montreal, host Washington on February 28th, so the Islanders could be chasing the Leafs once again when the first night back is over. But in order for the Islanders to make a successful run, they need lots of things to happen. For one they need someone to step up their game that really hasn't all season long. Someone like a Trent Hunter needs to become a catalyst down the stretch. Hunter is the future of this Islanders team and he needs to take his play to another level. During his rookie year he battled Montreal's Michael Ryder for the Calder Trophy and rookie scoring lead all season long. Thus far Hunter has taken a small step back from Ryder, but his physical play has still been valuable as he is among the league leaders in hits. Alexei Yashin needs to contribute more. I know this sounds like a broken record. But only 6 power play goals up to the Olympic Break and the fact that he only recorded his first game winning goal of the season directly before the break is just not acceptable. He has to become more clutch as well. Rick DiPietro has had trouble focusing all season long. If he can re-focus and get hot, along with a possible valiant effort in between by Garth Snow perhaps, the Islanders could make some noise. Finally, the defense needs to be better. They need to tighten up. Perhaps now they will come together three quarters of the way into the season. It remains to be seen. In closing, do I really believe all this will or can happen the way the 2005-06 New York Islanders have played up to this point? It's very doubtful. But like I said, you got to try and be positive, because you never know.
- Islander fans seemingly have had enough. No longer can they aim their frustrations at the head coach. Steve Stirling is gone and rightfully so. No longer can the fans aim their arrows at GM Mike Milbury. He announced his resignation scheduled for season's end, leaving us all to wonder if he will actually make a move the rest of the way. So it was only normal that the angry fans, who have had to watch a team that has NO identity, NO pride, and NO character or heart, turned to the only thing left to hate about Islanders hockey: Alexei Yashin. Late in the third period of last night's game Islander fans booed Yashin every time he touched the puck. This event has probably been a long time coming, but as we know us Islander fans try to be patient. We love our players. We stick with them in good times and in bad. But islesinfo.com compares this problem to a sickness. Yes, when you have a sickness you go to the doctor and eventually get better. Well that's exactly what the Islanders need right now. They have a problem and the first step in getting better is sadly to find some place for Yashin that is anywhere but on Long Island. Yes, he's leading the team in scoring, but his points this year have not exactly equated to wins. On special teams, he only has 5 power play goals all season. He has NO game winning goals. And yes, other players on the team are not producing as well. Unfortunately it seems like nobody can play with Yashin. For years he needed a scoring winger. We got him one in Miroslav Satan. Was Mariusz Czerkawski really that bad on Yashin's wing? Why can't Yashin score on a line with Jason Blake? Is it that Yashin needs someone to get HIM the puck? Who knows. But fans are getting fed up with his non-production. This team is sick, and something needs to be done to make it better. Even on last night's telecast, Devils commentator and former Islander goaltender Glenn "Chico" Resch flat out stated that the Islanders need to trade Alexei Yashin. After hearing the boos, Resch went on to state that Yashin needs to go to another team where he can shed the moniker of being a player that can't get it done come playoff time. Chico believes the attitude around the Islanders and in their dressing room is not going to change until this move is done and that the team needs to grow their younger talent and hand the reigns over to them. You may remember a few years back that fans of the Canadiens booed defenseman Patrice Brisbois right out of Montreal. Once the fans jump on a player like that it's very hard to reverse those negative feelings. If the Islanders continue to lose it will only get worse.
Now that being said, it may be more easily said than done. Alexei Yashin and his huge contract is all but untradable. A drastic move would be to waive him. It's doubtful Yashin would ever report to Bridgeport and the Islanders may not view this as a viable option. islesinfo.com does because at this point it seems as though someone like Rob Collins would be a better option as the Islanders #1 center over the production Yashin has given the Islanders over the last two months. There is also a question as to what exactly the Islanders would save by waiving Yashin, or what it would cost them might be the real question. You might remember the Islanders had the opportunity to buyout Yashin during the summer of 2005 but opted not to because it would have cost about $40 million to do so. If our memory serves correct, if they wait until the summer of 2006 to buyout Yashin that cost will be slashed in half to about $20 million, which some believe may be more easily handled by Wang. But does Wang think that is the question. So here is the dilemma that comes to forth. If the Islanders continue to sputter down the stretch (currently they are 9 points out of a playoff position and 4 games under .500) Milbury stated that he will look to possibly deal some of the Islanders unrestricted free agents. But the most notable unrestricted free agents this summer are RW Mark Parrish, C/LW Shawn Bates and D Radek Martinek. Frankly, those guys are FAR from the problem for the Islanders. In fact it's not going out on a stretch to say those are three of the players who have played with heart and given the Islanders all they've had during their tenure. It's clear as day that there is a European contingent that is currently dragging the Islanders down. The guys who really have to go are Yashin, Oleg Kvasha, Alexei Zhitnik and Miroslav Satan. It's hard to include Zhitnik in that group. If he can turn around his game at some point with the Islanders he may be the lone one of that group who could stick around. But he and Satan are possibly the latest in Milbury's long list of mistakes. Zhitnik signed a 4 year, nearly $4 million contract this past summer and Satan signed a 3 year deal worth nearly $4 million a year. The Islanders all of a sudden have TOO many players that they just may not be able to part with. Back to Yashin, we all know what we did to get him here. Milbury's trade of Zdeno Chara and the #2 overall pick in 2001 which eventually turned out to be Jason Spezza seemed like a good move at the start. And it worked out in the short term. But in the long term, and a term the Islanders may have to live with for a very long time, is that the Islanders came up on the wrong side of the deal. It just goes to show you that acquiring the best player in a deal won't always guarantee it will be a good move in the future. The Islanders need to eventually cut their losses and look for a new leader, or group of leaders as they enter into a new era, with a new GM, and a new coach.
You can probably say they've all had a hand in the Islanders problems of late. But as we've seen in the past the first guy to usually see the axe fall is the coach. Steve Stirling has seemingly lost control of this team. Maybe he never had control of it at all. His constant line shuffling and statements after the game have caught the ire of Islander fans. He hasn't got his team to stop taking detrimental penalties all season long. He doesn't instill any kind of fear into his players. Recently, he benched Brad Lukowich for poor play and has also publicly disagreed with his veteran players like Lukowich and Alexei Zhitnik on what the problems with the team are. In Friday night's loss he demoted Alexei Yashin and Miroslav Satan to the fourth line, which honestly may not have been a bad idea. But in the big picture, Stirling's performance wreaks of inexperience. His assistants are all also inexperienced. All of Brad Shaw, Ban Bylsma and Jack Capuano, while having experience at various professional and junior levels, do not have any experience in coaching at the NHL level. So really, Stirling does not have anyone to fall back on. Whose fault is that? Both Milbury and Stirling are faulted for not hiring more experienced coaching help. While Stirling has many successful years of coaching at the college and AHL level he may only be just that, a career minor league coach. What he has done in the past does not and has not translated into success at the NHL level. While he may be 10 games over .500 in his career as Islander head coach, he has struggled to get this team to achieve the level they should be at. And that's shooting for something more than 7th or 8th and a first round dismissal in the playoffs. And even that is at question right now. Or is this whole thing Mike Milbury's fault? He along with owner Charles Wang, who admittedly does not know much about hockey, have given long term contracts to Alexei Yashin(10 years), Miroslav Satan(4 years), and Alexei Zhitnik(4 years) that currently at this point make the Islanders look like a laughing stock. They made Yashin the captain, which seemed like the obvious move, but after a strong start he has disappeared when the Islanders have needed him most. $7 million a season for an offensive player that struggles to be a point per game guy is money misspent. Many fans have been calling for Milbury's head for a long time. Yes, he has made some horrible moves in his 10+ years as Islander GM. Too many to mention in this piece. But he has also made some very good moves. For one, he got Jason Blake, arguably are best player with the most heart, for nothing from the LA Kings. But do the bad outweigh the good? And it just always appears like there is no way Milbury could ever be relieved of his duties while Charles Wang is in charge. Would Wang even know who to replace him with? Even in this time of struggle for the Islanders, Milbury comes out smelling like roses because he seems to have perfectly timed a visit from Chinese youth hockey teams to Ottawa to take part in a tournament. How could Wang, of Chinese heritage himself, fire Milbury after that? Back to Stirling, who would replace him? Well, many may remember that islesinfo.com was not very thrilled that he was hired in the first place. It seemed like a last choice move. And Stirling would definitely be a yes man to Milbury, who has ceremoniously dumped guys like Peter Laviolette, Gordie Clark, Darcy Regier and Butch Goring.
We will see what happens with Sutter following the WJC's on January 5. It has been rumored that the New Jersey Devils, who are currently coached by their GM Lou Lamoriello, are looking at Sutter as a possible replacement. The list of other possible coaches is very short. Former NHL coach Dave King is currently coaching over in the Spengler Cup for the Russian Team Mettalurg. He could be a possibility. Paul Maurice is another strong candidate, but he is currently coaching the Maple Leafs AHL affiliate and surely compensation would be in order. Ted Nolan has been mentioned, but with him comes a lot of baggage that not many teams are willing to take on. It seems like the only possibility would be for Milbury to finish out the year behind the bench. Milbury may be the last man who can get what he and Wang are paying for out of Alexei Yashin. If he can't, then no one can and that makes it more and more obvious that the Islanders should seriously think about cutting their losses and buying out Yashin's contract at the end of the 2005-06 season. Could Milbury possibly trade Yashin like Boston traded Joe Thornton? It's doubtful because of Yashin's huge deal and the fact that it's hard to believe another team would want him. As for Milbury, who would possibly replace him? Two names we can think of immediately are Steve Tambellini, a former Islander who is currently the assistant GM with Toronto, or David Conte, Lamoriello's assistant in New Jersey. You can rest assured that if things keep up the way they are and Stirling does not get this team on a winning streak in the very near future, the axe is going to fall.
- Unfortunately the Islanders also lost six games during the second month of the season and enter the month of December at a very average, or should we say mediocre 12-12-1 record. About midway through November the Islanders looked as though they were about to make their move largely in part to the insane out of his mind play of winger Shawn Bates. From November 8th to the 19th Bates went on a scoring tear with 8 goals in 7 games played. All this while hobbling around on two weak groin muscles. His hot streak helped to ignite the Islanders out of two games below .500. But on the 19th he suffered a strained hamstring in the closing minutes of a win in Florida and it seemed from there that this collectively brought the mood of the team down. In that 7 game span Bates once again emerged as a leader of the team. In October Bates had missed a few games, but he wasn't sorely missed. In fact the Islanders managed to win a couple of those games. But this time it was different as they would need to compensate for the loss. So it's pretty easy to state that Bates was the Islanders MVP for the month of November. But close second had to be Jason Blake. Arguably the best player on the team, Blake raised his play following the loss of his line-mate and came away with a hat trick in Philadelphia on the 26th. What's amazing about Blake is he plays at another level from other players. It is his nature to always skate at mach 5 speed. That is why you can never question his heart or effort. Alexei Yashin has continued his good play for the Islanders and there are some who will go as far to say he's been the team's best player. Yashin is leading the team in scoring as you would expect and he's had a few scoring streaks this season. But there have been a few games where the Islanders need him to be a game breaker. The fact that he has no game winning goals and only 3 power play goals this season shows that he still could be better for the Islanders, especially in the clutch when it most matters. Miroslav Satan has for the most part been everything the Islanders have wanted in the scoring winger they signed to play with Yashin. While there for some reason have been some grumblings throughout Islander land that Satan sometimes has been non-existent, his team leading 13 goals and 40 goal pace couldn't be more appreciated. What else can he do? Arron Asham has continued to be the Islanders best all around forward. He can hit, play defense, and score. The only problem he is having is he still is adjusting to the new rules as evidenced by his 44 PIM's. Rookie d-man Chris Campoli brings some excitement to the Islanders blue line. You sometimes wish coach Steve Stirling would play the kid more on the power play. Campoli knows when to shoot the puck and is eager to correct his mistakes. He is definitely the Islanders best rookie thus far. Along with Campoli, Radek Martinek has been very steady on defense for the Islanders. This guy loves to practice and play the game. He has played hard and during the month of November seems to have gained some of his confidence back. His improvement basically helped to knock Tomi Pettinen out of the lineup. For some reason some fans do not like Pettinen which was based on a poor start. But he has had some good moments. When he does play he brings some size to the Islanders defense and is pretty good at blocking shots. A few players that have stepped up their games of late are Mark Parrish, Brent Sopel, and Brad Lukowich. You can also add defenseman Janne Niinimaa to that list. Throughout the month of November this quartet have had their ups and downs and all have been striving for some consistency. Parrish has not put the puck in the net as often as Islander fans would like. But he has recently stepped up his play and reversed his role by setting up a few goals. Lukowich has been getting stronger as far as a leader on the team. Sopel, while at times slow footed, has picked up his game late in the month. Yet he still doesn't use the big shot he has and you have to wonder if that stems back to the wrist injury he suffered earlier in the season against the Rangers. When he does shoot the puck it often misses the net. And as for Niinimaa, he has gotten a little better as far as taking penalties. He needs to remain that way and hopefully chip in more offensively. That leads me to Alexei Zhitnik, who hasn't been as bad as Niinimaa because let's face it, he's put up some points and leads the team in assists. But as the month ended Zhitnik registered his 50th PIM, which is unacceptable. In goal, both Rick DiPietro and Garth Snow have played well. But both could be better. We are still waiting for DiPietro to take that next step into the elite crop of goaltenders in the NHL. Yes, he's definitely a #1, but he hasn't shown too often that he can win a game all by himself. As for Snow, he has shown that he is a strong backup. And he often goes short stretches where he sees everything. But then there will be instances where the flood gates open and he can't stop anything, allowing big rebounds like he did against the Flyers on the 29th. As for the other rookies on the squad, Robert Nilsson continues to improve. But it will still be a while before the Isles count on him for a bigger role. But it seems that when he does play more the Islanders fare well and Stirling has not been playing him much late in the month. Petteri Nokelainen helped to bring energy to the team but went down with a leg injury early in November and has recently been placed on injured reserve. Jeremy Colliton and Sean Bergenheim have seen little action. Finally, Eric Godard actually showed late in the month that he does have a bit of skill as a hockey player. He also took on some heavyweights including Ottawa's Brian McGratton twice during the month. In the last week he has played well in some games when some players went down with injury. Now, let's get on to the doghouse, where it seems some players have had some difficulty getting out from. Trent Hunter has been a HUGE disappointment to islesinfo thus far this season. The disappointment did not just start with 2005-06 though. We here felt that Hunter should have returned to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in 2004-05 and continued his development. Unfortunately he did not do so and decided to sign to play in Switzerland, a weak league. So basically Hunter coasted through an entire season last year. Well, he hasn't stopped in our eyes. For one, the things we've seen Bates do earlier this year, like pulling the puck into the slot and taking it fearlessly to the net were moves that we saw Hunter make in 2003-04 when he was a rookie. Where has that player gone? Besides one great showing against the Buffalo Sabres early in November Hunter has been a total non-factor for the Islanders. He's made some horrible passing decisions, even putting the puck on the tape of an opposing player right in front of the Islanders net. While we are certainly not giving up on him after only two months, we need to see him REALLY step up his game. In the past you were excited to see him on the ice. This year it's like you hardly notice him. Mike York is still struggling to fit in on the Islanders team. He just has not utilized his speed like he did back in Edmonton. 3 goals and 12 points is way below what many of us expected. Basically York has got to find the net more often to help the Islanders win. While many fans are thinking that the Islanders did not get better in return for trading Michael Peca, the Islanders former captain has actually faired a bit worse with the Oilers if that's any consolation. Oleg Kvasha continues to remain in the Islander doghouse. If Kvasha plays 3 or 4 minutes on the fourth line then he usually plays well. But when he gets too much of a role on the team he just cannot handle it. It's been discussed that he's just not a stop and go type of player. Kvasha seems to struggle with the mental side of the game. He often wants to go and keep going. He hardly ever uses his best move from the outside and that's basically all he has. A player the Islanders have hoped would be a first line force is basically a non-factor. Lastly, in the doghouse to a lesser extent is Mattias Weinhandl. When he does get ice time he plays hard. But at times he just doesn't seem big enough. He's been used mostly on the fourth line this season and that hasn't hurt. Offensively he is a lot better than 1 goal and 4 points in 25 games played. There is untapped potential there and the Islanders are not getting it out of him. As far as coaching Stirling has done a little better in the last month or so. Yet there still have been some mistakes. Should he play Weinhandl more? Also, why did he wait so long to put Jason Blake on the power play? He also hasn't gotten it across to certain players that they need to stop taking penalties. It may be Asham's rough nature that draws a few PIM's but Zhitnik and Niinimaa need to curb their play. That's all for the 25 game overview. The Islanders right now are a .500 hockey club and .500 doesn't make you a playoff team. They are currently 4 points back of 8th place. Milbury was recently quoted as wondering which team will come out tonight? He referred to the team as a Jekyll & Hyde group. After 25 games he should be getting an idea of what this team is capable of and if he will have to make some moves. Another month of mediocre .500 hockey in December could force him to pull the trigger. What really might make this team better right now is some addition by subtraction.
- Now for Yashin, that's a big accomplishment as he has been mired in the Islanders doghouse a few times in the past as management has constantly looked for more from their best player. Possibly thanks to the new NHL and rule changes, Yashin has apparently rediscovered his scoring touch by putting up 15 points in 11 games. Both Yashin (7) and Satan (8) have been putting the puck in the net regularly. As for Zhitnik, yes he has taken a few too many penalties averaging about two a game, but he also has recorded 11 points. Two years ago in his final season with Buffalo Zhitnik recorded 28 points. He's almost halfway to that mark already. As for the rest, Jason Blake has played well on the second line notching 5 goals and 8 points. Arron Asham has come on and has played the best out of all the options coach Steve Stirling has tried on the left side with Yashin and Satan. Asham provides the Islanders with their best all around play physically and has put up 5 points. Brent Sopel and Mark Parrish have missed some action recently, but when they've played they have played well. And the Islanders missed them when they weren't in the lineup. After that, the Islander rookies have provided a bit of a punch to the squad. Chris Campoli dominated in the Islanders training camp scrimmages and with Bridgeport. But this is the NHL and at this level he has played well most of the time. There have been some instances where he seems a bit overwhelmed. But he keeps getting better as does Petteri Nokelainen. The young Finn has shown a willingness to play 110% every time he's out on the ice. Just recently, Robert Nilsson has come on to really impress with his puck handling ability on the power play. He had his best game of the season against the Sabres on October 29th scoring his first NHL goal on a pretty back and forth give and go with Yashin. As the season goes on Nilsson will only get better and become more of an important player for the Isles. This finally leads me to the guys who are not performing well and in some cases have become a complete detriment to the team. First in the Islander doghouse is Mike York. While some would say he has performed well on the line with Blake and Trent Hunter, York has only one 5 on 3 power play goal this season and 6 points. He has not really shown the speed that made him so successful in the fast paced Western Conference with the Edmonton Oilers and needs to start putting the puck in the net more often. Same goes for Hunter, who so far seems to be making up for not having 2004-05 to have a sophomore slump. He too only has 1 goal and six points. His goal was pretty much a lucky one. Hunter needs to get the puck in front of the net more often and so far he has just not done this. Oleg Kvasha. What can I say about big Oleg? What does he bring to this team? Besides a few sporadic moments on the penalty kill, he has brought nothing thus far. Kvasha has gone goal-less throughout the first eleven games and has recorded only 4 assists. He shows absolutely no desire to shoot the puck. I'm tired of people stating that it's his skating style to look like he's not trying. This guy is just plain NOT TRYING. I don't even know if he has another level to step up to. All that size and he just doesn't use it. The guy might as well be 5'6", because that's how he plays. If the Islanders were to trade Kvasha to their most hated rivals, does anyone think that he would EVER come back to haunt this team? I just don't know. Next up deep in the Islanders doghouse is defenseman Janne Niinimaa. It was probably enough to make most Islanders fans shudder when they found out last year that he would be the lone returning d-man from the big four group that we had. Currently, Niinimaa is averaging close to three penalties a game as he struggles to adapt to the NHL's new crackdown on penalties. He at times has looked utterly PATHETIC, and that's putting it nicely. He is taking stupid penalty after stupid penalty, and can't skate or keep up with opposing skaters. And to think GM Mike Milbury acquired Niinimaa for Raffi Torres, who is currently leading the Edmonton Oilers in goals with 7. How would Torres look playing on the left side right now with Yashin and Satan? This has turned out to be one trade Milbury will surely regret. As for the goaltending it has been OK. Rick DiPietro has stood on his head for most games, particularly the first two against the New York Rangers. But he also has not been consistent and should be better. Garth Snow had a great camp and has sparsely played since then. In each of the three games he's appeared in he's made some good stops, but also had some bad moments. Radek Martinek is still strugling to regain anything he had left over from 2001-02. Sometimes you just don't know what you'll get from him and he's often unpredictable and a bit shaky. Tomi Pettinen also had a shaky start to the season which includes putting the puck into his own net. But he has since bounced back and gotten stronger as each game goes by. He brings some size to the back line when he does play and has shown a good ability to block shots. Lastly, Mattias Weinhandl has been very disappointing going scoreless in his first eleven games. The young Swede was among the leading goal and point getters in the SEL last year but with the Islanders has not been able to put it together. Coach Stirling does not seem to trust Weinhandl on the power play and his overall ice time has been few and far between. But Weinhandl has not earned any ice time as well. Eric Godard only brings one dimension to the Islanders lineup and that's as a heavyweight who often has gone as far to dress and not see the ice. There just does not seem to be much of a role for a player like Godard anymore as he hasn't proven he can play the game and provide toughness like a Matthew Barnaby, Sean Avery, or Donald Brashear. He may be more suited for the American League. Also, the coaching staff has come under fire from some of the diehards in Islander land. Stirling doesn't seem to ignite a fire under his squad, but it's too early still to suggest he will be dumped. If he was who would replace him? Unless Milbury returns behind the bench, which is highly unlikely, we are stuck with the diminutive Stirling. The coach thus far has struggled to find the right line matches and most of all has not gotten the point into his players heads that they must stop taking needless penalties to be successful. Only recently has he started to bench certain players for only portions of the games. Stirling can't allow his team to have meltdowns like they did October 29th against the Sabres in the third period. Well, that's my first month review. Let's hope the Islanders can have an even better November and make their move towards the top of the Conference standings.
Who received an A down the stretch? Who came to the forefront in the playoffs? Read on and find out.... Forwards Alexei Yashin: First
half: 41-10-25-35. Second half: 40-16-14-30. Overall: 81-26-39-65. Yashin
received a B grade for his first half. He was leading the team with 35
points, but his 10 goals were amazingly low for a player of his caliber.
As the second half began, things seemed to get even worse for the
Islanders star center as he found himself on the fourth line. Production
was so slow for Yashin that speedy Jason Blake surpassed him for the
scoring lead by as much as 6 points at one point. But something changed in
Yashin's game come March 1st and he totally turned his game around. So
much so that down the stretch he totally carried the Islanders into the
playoffs, while the rest of the team mysteriously disappeared. While
Yashin's point total in the second half was actually less than his first
half output, his 16 goals were a lot more like the Yashin of old than his
first half 10 goals were. I'm not going to overlook his struggles that
carried over into the beginning of the second half, but for his turnaround
effort Yashin scored an A-. Grade: First half B, Second half A-,
Overall B+ Dave Scatchard: First
half: 41-13-9-22. Second half: 40-14-9-23. Overall: 81-27-18-45. Two years
ago, Scatch scored 21 goals for the Islanders, but when Peter Laviolette
became coach Scatchard had to prove himself all over again. Dave returned
to form this season after only notching 12 goals in 2001-02 under a
different role and potted a career high 27 goals this season. His second
half totals were practically identical to the first half, showing some
consistency. Scatchard had a great season and deserves an A for his
effort. Grade: First half A, Second half A-, Overall A. Arron
Asham: First half: 37-6-8-14. Second half: 41-9-11-20. Overall:
78-15-19-34. IslesInfo projected Asham with 12 goals and 28 points
overall. He bettered that by finishing with 15 goals and 34 points
overall. After shattering his career high in the first half(his previous
season high in goals was 5 and points was 9) Asham got even stronger in
the second half. He displayed a nose for the net by notching a couple of 2
goals games this season and also showed a crunching physical side with
some heavy hits. Just ask Henrik Tallinder of Buffalo who missed two weeks
of play after receiving an Asham hit. Grade: First half B+, Second
half A, Overall: A-. Jason Blake: First
half: 41-11-14-25. Second half: 40-14-16-30. Overall: 81-25-30-55. Blake
shattered his career high totals by the midway point of the season. His
second half was even better statistically. But it could have been even
better had he not disappeared in the final 12 games of the season where he
only scored 1 goal. Despite the rumors swirling around him in the
Islanders locker room, Blake had a terrific season and his work ethic
can't be rivaled by anyone else on the team. Grade: First half A+,
Second half B+, Overall A- Oleg Kvasha: First
half: 28-2-3-5. Second half: 41-10-11-21. Overall: 69-12-14-26. Finished
fourth on the Islanders in scoring during the second half and prompted
Laviolette to say Kvasha was his best player in the second half. After
missing over 10 games in the first half with a broken foot and amassing 5
points total, Kvasha once again as he has in the past turned up his game.
IslesInfo projected Kvasha at the midway point to finish 65-13-10-23 and
said that the way Oleg was playing those numbers seemed almost
unattainable. Well, he just bettered those projections. Grade: First half D,
Second half B+, Overall: C Mattias Weinhandl: First half:
17-3-8-11. Second half: 30-3-9-12. Overall: 47-6-17-23. Weinhandl played
almost twice as many games in the second half and basically put up the
same numbers as he did in the first half. This would show that he ran into
a bit of a wall in the second half. As we know with European players, they
don't play in as many games as North America and once they come over seem
to hit a bit of a wall into the late going during their first year. I
predicted he would finish with 37 points and be a possible candidate for
rookie of the year. Obviously I was way off there. But Weinhandl proved
that he has a scoring touch and will be a huge part of the Islanders
future up front. He especially showed his skills in one of the Islanders
highlight wins of the season on March 15th when he scored 2 goals and
assisted on another in a 5-2 win in Ottawa. Grade: First half A-,
Second half B-, Overall: B Shawn Bates:
First half: 33-7-15-22. Second half: 41-6-14-20. Overall: 74-13-29-42.
IslesInfo projected Bates at the midway point with 14 goals and 44 points.
Pretty much right on there. If you look at Bates numbers they were pretty
much consitent in both halves, though he played more games in the second
half. After notching 4 shot handed goals in the first half, Bates only had
2 in the second half when the league tightened up more. The team record is
7 set by Bob Bourne in 1980-81. Grade: First half B+, Second half B-,
Overall: B Michael
Peca: First half: 26-4-14-18. Second half: 40-9-15-24. Overall:
66-13-29-42. IslesInfo projected him with 15 goals and 44 points at
seasons' end so once again, pretty much dead on. The Isles struggled early
on without Peca, and he returned when some would believe was a bit early
from two major surgeries. Peca was always known for coming back from
injuries early, but this time it may have hurt him in the long run. He hit
a major wall down the stretch of the season and did not score a goal in
the final 20 games, after being touted as a possible Hart Trophy candidate
in February by the Isles coaching staff. At seasons' end GM Mike Milbury
commented that Peca looked like skin and bones, a shell of the player that
we have all grown to watch play with a bit of a reckless flair. Peca will
have a full off season to recuperate and come back strong in 2003-04.
Grade: First half: B+, Second Half: C+, Overall: B-. Jason
Wiemer: First half: 41-5-9-14. Second half: 40-4-9-13. Overall:
81-9-18-27. IslesInfo Projection: 82-10-18-28. Another slam dunk. I
thought he would get better in the second half offensively for the
Islanders, but he only scored 4 goals. Wiemer provided leadership down the
stretch for the team and fit in nicely on the third line complimenting
Blake and Scatchard. But at times his skating is a question mark and he
just did not provide as much toughness as the Islanders would have liked.
With this being the best team he probably has ever played for, Wiemer
should have been a bit of a more offensive contributor. Grade: First half:
B, Second half: B-, Overall: B. Mark Parrish:
First half: 40-18-12-30. Second half: 41-5-13-18. Overall:
81-23-25-48. Amazing the contrast for Parrish between the first and second
half. In the first half he amassed 30 points and was on pace to equal his
60 point effort of 2001-02. In fact he was on pace to record 36 goals and
it wasn't a stretch to think that he could one day score 40. Parrish had a
healthy lead in goals by almost 10 on any other Islander player. But in
the second half he totally lost all his confidence and was virtually
nonexistent for the Islanders in their playoff run. His linemate Michael
Peca struggled as well, so that could have played a factor. But 5 goals
for the Islanders sniper in the second half will not get it done and
Parrish definitely has something to prove to erase this bad taste in his
and all Islander fans mouths. Grade: First half: A+, Second half: C-,
Overall: B-. Steve
Webb: First half: 30-0-0-0. Second half: 19-1-0-1. Overall: 49-1-0-1.
This is funny. The IslesInfo projection for Webb was exactly what he
finished with, except I had him getting in about 65 games. Webb did not
have the impact this season that he had in 2001-02. Less hits and more
injuries. He did not throw the body as much because of nagging injuries
from throwing heavy hits over recent years. It's a question mark as to
whether Webb is actually needed or not. If he doesn't throw the hits then
he's ineffective. He doesn't have any, I mean zero, offensive ability. His
puckhandling skills are atrocious. And his status with the team is already
on shaky ground after accepting a qualifying offer the day before training
camp. Grade: First half: B-, Second half: C-. Overall: C. Randy
Robitaille: First half: with Pittsburgh. Second half: 10-1-2-3 with
Isles. Acquired at the trade deadline. Robitaille scored a huge goal in
his first game as an Islander up in Vancouver. The Isles unfortunately
lost that game thanks to a bad call made by referee Don Koharski. But
after seeing about 3 games Robitaille was scratched in favor of Justin
Papineau and some others. Robitaille was acquired to play on the power
play as he is a left shot and could possibly play with Alexei Yashin. He
didn't really make a difference in the stretch drive. Grade Overall: C-,
though it may be a bit incomplete with him only having seen 10 games. Papineau/Mapletoft/Godard: These
three players played pretty well in their brief showings with the
Islanders. Though their grades are incomplete as they did not play in
enough games. I give Mapletoft the best marks overall, basically because
of one goal he scored up in Edmonton which may very well have saved the
Islanders season, sparking a win over the Oilers. Papineau showed that he
could one day be an offensive force. He scored a goal and an assist in his
first game with the Islanders against the Blackhawks and hit two posts in
the next game against Toronto. Before that, Papineau scored in 7 straight
games for Bridgeport leading up to his recall. And for Godard, he played
his role well all season whenever called upon. He took on some of the
heavyweights in the league and faired well against them all. He can really
throw the punches.
Roman Hamrlik: First
half: 35-5-19-24. Second half: 38-4-13-17. Overall: 73-9-32-41.
IslesInfo projected him with 48 points, he finished with 41. A bit off.
Hamrlik had a much better first half than second. He was more steady and
more prominent in his play. In the first helf, when he came back from
missing 6 games with a shoulder separation, Hamrlik was dominant. In the
second half he played hesitant like the entire Islanders defense. His goal
output since joining the Islanders has steadily decreased from 16 to 11 to
this seasons 9. Last season the Islanders had 3 defensemen score over 10
goals. This year they had none. Grade: First half: B+, Second half:
B, Overall: B. Adrian Aucoin: First
half: 41-6-16-22. Second half: 32-2-11-13. Overall: 73-8-27-35. Aucoin
posted a career high in assists this season with 27. IslesInfo projected
him to notch 44 points which just like Hamrlik was way off because of a
sub par second half. In the first half Aucoin scored 6 goals and then only
recorded 2 in the second half. Aucoin was still good defensively for the
team and as second in command in the locker room to Peca, Aucoin always
plays hard and with passion. Grade: First half: B+, Second half: B,
Overall: B. Kenny
Jonsson: First half: 37-5-10-15. Second half: 34-3-8-11. Overall:
71-8-18-26. Projection was about 30 points. Close enough. Yet Jonsson's
offense was a little down overall point wise. But he did manage to notch 8
goals which was tied for second behind Hamrlik's 9. KJ missed a few games
this season with "post truamatic migraine's" which is the
Islanders secret word for concussion. As I said he's still the Isles
smartest blue liner, but could have been a little better down the stretch.
Has to be resigned for 2003-04 as he is a restricted free agent. Grade:
First half: B+, Second half: B, Overall: B. Janne
Niinimaa: First half: with Oilers. Second Half: 13-1-5-6. Acquired at
the trade deadline in March. In his 13 games, he started out strong making
a difference against his former team the Edmonton Oilers as he made his
Islanders debut against them up at Northlands. At one point he had climbed
up to a +6 but slowed down and fell to a -2. Niinimaa added another
element to the Isles defense who were now 4 top d-men deep. But at times
he struggled in his own end and was hampered by a sore knee that he
sprained earlier in the season before the deal. Grade Overall with Isles: B-. Radek
Martinek: First half: 31-1-7-8. Second half: 35-1-4-5. Overall:
66-2-11-13. Seemed to revert to his struggles of early on in the second
half. He wasn't totally as bad but at times he was very shaky defensively
and the coaching staff lost a bit of confidence in him. Remember Martinek,
like Peca, both came off a year where they suffered major knee injuries
and we really may not see what they both have to offer until next season.
We know Peca will come back strong. But what will the Islanders get from
Martinek. They need strength at the 5th and 6th defense positions and
players that they can count on to play in all situations. Martinek was a
+15 on the season. Grade: First half: B+, Second half: C+,
Overall: C+. Mattias
Timander: First half: 41-1-7-8. Second half: 39-2-5-7. Overall:
80-3-12-15. Timander was pretty good in the first half at providing the
Isles with some depth at the blue line. But as the season went on,
especially late, the coaching staff lost confidence in him. Timander and
Martinek began to switch spots in and out of the lineup in the last week
for the team. He doesn't really have a good shot from the point. I really
doubt whether he will be back in 2003-04. Grade: First half: B+,
Second Half: C, Overall: C+. Eric
Cairns: First half: 40-0-4-4. Second half: 20-1-0-1. Overall:
60-1-4-5. Cairns missed 20 games in the second half with a dislocated
shoulder he sustained against the Rangers on January 20th. Cairns came
into the season looking to increase his offensive ability as he worked on
his game in training camp. The Islanders resident tough guy played well in
the first half. In the second half, when he returned from injury the
Islanders were reminded many times that Cairns is probably to be honest,
the slowest defenseman in the entire NHL. They may be forced to upgrade
for 2003-04. If Cairns wants to stick around, he will possibly be a depth
player on D, somewhere between the 7th man and Bridgeport. Grade: First
half: B+, Second half: C, Overall: B-. Honorable mention: Sven Butenschon. Once the Islanders acquired Niinimaa, Butenschon became a forgotten man. But he filled in nicely at times this season during injuries and Martinek's demotion to Bridgeport. "Boots" got in a lot of games during the injury to Cairns. Overall he contributed 4 assists in 37 appearances. Sven was good in a depth role, but when he started to play too much you could start to see his deficiencies. Grade: B-.
Garth Snow: First
half record: 2-7-1 in 14 games. Second half record: 14-10-3 in 29 games.
He totally turned his season around, starting with the January injury to
then Islander goaltender Chris Osgood. At that point, many believed the
Islanders would drop out of playoff contention with Snow in net. But he
proved his critics wrong and played magnificently through the month of
February. Grade: First half: C-, Second half: A+, Overall: B+. Rick DiPietro: 1-4-2 in 8 games in the second half. DiPietro split two appearances in the first half. At times, Rick showed his great promise, as he impressively defeated the Wild in Minnesota and played well in a 3-3 tie with New Jersey, the only point the Isles earned from them all year. But at other times, and specifically down the stretch, DiPietro struggled mightily and still showed that perhaps he was not ready for prime time. Rick was bombed for 6 goals in a 6-0 defeat in New Jersey. He still tends to come out of his net to play the puck way too often. He was then bombed by the Detroit Red Wings on the road in what was to some a questionable start for the young goalie. Overall 8 games is not really much to grade on, but I'm going to give him a preliminary grade of C-. He HAS to improve and focus on 2003-04 when he will be the Islanders #1 goaltender.
- Here is my biggest problem with the Rangers acquiring Alexei Kovalev: they virtually got him for nothing. Not anything anybody doesn't already know right? But something should have been done. The NHL, Commissioner Gary Bettman, should have stepped in here. Everyone knew that the Rangers had two key chips in Jamie Lundmark and Dan Blackburn. At least one of these two should have gone back to Pittsburgh in this deal. By being allowed to keep both of these players, it sets up the Rangers to go out and acquire yet another blue chip player, this time including possibly one of the two young chips. If one of them went to Pittsburgh the Rangers would not be able to make anymore deals probably. But this move allows them to virtually get well, fast. They still can't get it right though. Look to management for answers there. - One argument I hear on the Ranger side is well "even with all these players, we never win. And it's been 5 going on 6 years since we've made the playoffs." But does that make it right? That sure doesn't stop them from trying to acquire marquee players for nothing in return. It's not any other team in the league's fault that the Rangers are run by terrible management and can't get a bunch of stars to get them into the playoffs. But that brings up another point. The Rangers are just a bunch of stars thrown together with no thought as to character and the biggest ingredient to any winning hockey team, chemistry. - Glen Sather. This guy is the biggest, and I mean BIGGEST hypocrite I have EVER seen in the game. This guy cried openly for years up in Edmonton of how his small market team could not compete with the big money markets of New York and such. Now he's buying off whoever he can at the biggest consequence of them all, the state of the NHL. The reasons he comes up with to support his stance is just asinine. He's totally forgotten where he's come from and now could care less about the ramifications of buying players from teams that can't afford to keep them. - Maybe Joel Bouchard and Mikael Samuelsson will become serviceable players in the NHL. But the fact that the Rangers were the only team willing to fork over $4 million is the only reason they have Kovalev. Other teams have spoken out that they offered more, yet Sather openly admits that they didn't have what the Rangers had to finish off the deal. Basically he admits the other teams weren't willing to pay the MONEY. I don't want to hear Ranger fans saying hey "the Islanders offered all that money to Yashin and Peca." Our payroll is $40 million. Just about HALF the Rangers payroll, which is $76 million. Before that our payroll was less than $20 million. I don't want to hear any comparisons. - Another argument is that it's not the Rangers fault but the players for demanding so much money. Salaries have escalated to a ridiculous high. It's team's like the Rangers that just spend and spend and give these exorbitant salaries to players. Is Bobby Holik worth close to $9 million? Is Darius Kasparaitis worth $5 million? If a lockout is what we need along with a salary cap to stop the same old teams like Colorado, Dallas, Detroit and to some extent the Rangers from being in the finals every single year and winning the cup, then bring it on. Personally i'm sick of seeing the same old teams in the finals year after year. Thankfully we still get the 2002 Carolina's of the world defying the big market mentality and making it to the finals. But in the end, who wins the Cup? The big market. Enough is enough. - Once again I submit, the biggest wrong here is not the Rangers getting Kovalev for nothing. But it's the next deal they will make as a benefit of keeping all their chips that makes it so wrong. - Some Ranger fans may say i'm jealous because I wanted Kovalev with the Islanders. Maybe that is true to some extent. But don't count out the Islanders making a big deal. There are some big names still available. Perhaps the Islanders go out and bring back Palffy. Hey, the Rangers brought back their prodigal son, now maybe the Islanders can right a wrong that was made a few years ago.
- Why did Trottier even take this job you might ask? Well, you can't really fault any aspiring coach for taking a head coaching position when offered in the NHL. Bryan waited a long time for this chance. He spent years, around 8, as an assistant coach behind the benches of Pittsburgh and Colorado. He coached for one year in the AHL with Portland. But Trottier had to immediately start to wonder when Ranger GM Glen Sather hired Trottier's assistant coaches instead of allowing Bryan to choose his own. So right from day 1 Trottier had to coach with the prospects of Jim Schoenfeld behind his back waiting to take over as soon as something went wrong. Sather has made a habit of hiring puppets for head coaches with Ron Low and now Trotts. Reportedly he runs the Rangers from a walkie talkie high above the Rangers bench. It will really be interesting to see Sather come from behind the bench and take over for Trottier. It has been reported that Sather offered the job to Shoenfeld, but Jim turned it down stating that he felt it would be best for Sather to come down himself. So in essence Sather backs into the coaching position after not being behind the bench in almost 15 years. - So what happens to Bryan now? He may have to start from scratch once again to ever regain a head coaching job in the NHL ever again. I believe that Sather hired Trotts in following a Ranger script that has become all to familiar. And I know i'll hear it from Rangers fans on this. But Sather became SO jealous that the Islanders were the talk in 2001-02 with their resurgence and playoff return, that he saw a perfect opportunity to stick it to the Islanders and their fans by hiring arguably the greatest Islander to ever play as the Rangers head coach. They did it back in 1993 as well when then MSG head man Bob Gutkowski named Mike Keenan their new head coach while the Islanders were making news in the conference finals. The Rangers can act like they don't pay attention to the Islanders all they want, but in the last week them and all their fans reacted like their 5-0 win over the Islander on January 22 was an absolute destruction of the Islanders. Which it was not. They never took into the account that the Islanders had just come off a 4 game road trip and were without key players like Adrian Aucoin and Steve Webb. But no sore apples. They won the game handily fair and square. And they believed they were back on the right track. But in the last 3 games they lost by a combined 16-5 score including 2 losses to the Atlanta Thrashers. Trottier was criticized for seeming out of it at times on the bench. In the Islander game he didn't seem to be paying attention during a line change which resulted in a too many men on the ice call. Schoenfeld and Terry O'Reilly at times looked as if they were handling the team more than Trottier was. And the most interesting thing was that Sather said that Trottier seemed relieved when he told him that he was dismissed. Should we believe this? Were the constant firing rumors getting to Trotts? An interesting note was was how Trottier did not seem to be happy in the fact that he won his Nassau Coliseum return as coach of the Rangers. - Will Trottier get a reprieve from other NHL teams when he never had a full lineup from the start? Key players like Pavel Bure, Bobby Holik & Brian Leetch missed large portions of the season. What coach could win with those players out? Or with those players in for that matter? These players were on a losing team last year and they are a losing team this year. Another thing that bothers me is that Trottier never got the support of Mark Messier, who is the oldest player in the league at 42 and not the leader he once was, but is still playing well. - It been long said that great hockey players don't always make great coaches. And that may be true in Bryan Trottier's case. Hey, it was true in Butch Goring's case as well. But at least give the guy a chance. Give him more than 54 games. Give him a chance to show what he can do. Bryan may have been a first year coach, but he could have improved and had a ton of assistant coaching years under his belt. Now it just seems like the fact that he was an Islander played a factor in his firing. "No accountability" Sather said among the players. Maybe Sather needs to look at himself and not the puppet coach that he so likes to create.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Lets Go Isles! |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1998-2006 Tom Mascioli
