Many times when a team plays several emotional games in a row, at some point they will just run out of steam. Such was the case in the Isles 6-4 loss in Montreal, despite two of their goals coming in what we could classify as garbage time.
Showing posts with label P.K. Subban. Show all posts
Showing posts with label P.K. Subban. Show all posts
January 18, 2015
December 24, 2014
Isles fall 3-1 to Habs; 23-11-0 at Holiday Break
The Islanders were looking for another five game winning streak to head into the break with, but the Montreal Canadiens stood in their way and provided one of the biggest tests the Isles have had in weeks when it comes to understanding how they stack up with the beasts of the East. Despite a nice start, the Habs build a small lead and the Isles comeback bid ultimately fell short.
December 28, 2010
Wisniewski Shipped to Montreal
In a bit of a stunner, the Islanders shipped defenseman James Wisniewski off to the Montreal Canadiens today. The Islanders got back a compensatory 2nd round pick in 2011 that Montreal was getting for not signing their 2006 1st rounder and a conditional 5th rounder in 2012. The player who failed to sign was selected 20th overall, so the 2nd rounder will be the 50th overall selection.
The fan base seems to be very split on what has happened here. Not because of the return, because it is a very good one for a guy who has proved he is at best a #3 defenseman. Rather, they are upset because of the message that it is sending out about how salvageable they feel this season is.
If anyone out there truly thought that this team still had a legitimate shot at the playoffs, then I'm sorry. Quite simply it was not happening this season. That much was clear after the month long losing streak. I do not advocating throwing the towels in prior to the trade deadline, but the Islanders do not get this return if they wait. They maximized an asset that was gone in July, because I truly did not believe he was going to re-sign here.
I posted on our twitter account that this could have been part of a precursor to another move, but doubted that idea. Since then, many other media personalities have come out saying they feel the move is connected with the Devils placing forward Brian Rolston on re-entry waivers. The move would make sense as the Isles would be able to stay around the cap floor and also pick up a veteran forward for next season with Doug Weight out and his status for next season up in the air at this time. On re-entry waivers, Rolston would cost $2.5 million and can play all three forward positions.
I stick by my belief that this isn't any precursor but rather just status quo for what has been going on around here for the past few seasons. While this was not supposed to be a rebuilding year, it will continue at least through this season. As much as it pains people to say it, I think this was the first indication that the Isles are throwing in the towel for this season and will start giving time to younger players.
Wisniewski was never shy to say what was on his mind, and I appreciate the time he always took to speak with me when I would interview him after games or practices. Speaking to him at training camp, the guy was legitimately excited to be here. I had asked him about being paired with Mark Streit and he knew how awesome that would have been for the both of them.
When Streit went down for what will essentially amount to the entire season, I had an idea Wisniewski was doomed. I always liked his game, and was really excited when he was brought in for just a 3rd round pick. I knew what his weaknesses were though, and how they would be exposed when playing the most minutes on a defense. He was steadily improving lately, but the Islanders still haven't won enough games to justify holding onto a player for too long and getting a pretty crummy return in the process.
The Canadiens filled a much needed hole on their blueline. Defenseman Andrei Markov is out for a while, possibly the entire season. Marc-Andre Bergeron is still out there, but Montreal has been there and done that last season. The emergence of youngsters in P.K. Subban and Josh Gorges means that Wisniewski won't need to play 25 minutes a night as often as he was here.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
October 28, 2010
Attention Turns to Niederreiter as Habs Down Isles
3:10 PM: Kirill Kabanov has been traded by the Moncton Wildcats to the Lewiston Maniacs. Detials on this coming later as well.
11:46 AM: As I expected, the Islanders are sending Niederreiter back down to Portland. This means that he still has all three years of his entry level deal still remaining.
More to come later.
8:45 AM: The Islanders lost to the Habs 5-3 in a game where they definitely did not bring their "A" game. There were often times where they were found standing around rather than playing their up tempo style of hockey. This isn't a team that is overly skilled, and has to learn to constantly move their feet in order to be successful.
The Canadiens are a very fast and skilled team, and they showed that last night. Of course, the Isles made them look much faster because of the lack of skating. It was not a banner game for Mark Eaton, who made a couple of weak passes, including one that lead to a penalty shot attempt for Benoit Pouliot.
I felt that Dwayne Roloson player pretty well, and did the best he could with what he had to work with, which quite frankly was not enough. There were many lackluster players, on both sides of the puck. Roloson was one of the few who didn't disappoint.
Matt Martin had a pretty good season debut, mixing it up at times and parking himself in front of the net for the 3rd Islander goal. After following him in preseason, and being very impressed with the changes in his game, I can't say I'm surprised with how he played. He needs to get his head up though a little more, for example on the break he had that P.K. Subban broke up.
Speaking of Subban, I need to apologize to those who told me to look out for him as a potential Calder winner this season. I dismissed any thought of that, and he has been quite impressive this season. The kid is some defenseman.
Doug Weight had some problems in this game too. I'm noticing more and more this season that he seems to cough up pucks at the blueline on the power-play. He's still an asset there, and is probably the closest thing we have to a power-play quarterback, but he needs to be a little more careful with that.
Speaking of assets at the blueline, James Wisniewski had yet another outstanding offensive performance. He had a couple of hard shots that created Islander goals as he notched a goal and two assists. His defensive play was decent, aside from the play on Montreal's second goal, but that was slightly awkward and everyone was scrambling there to cover the 2-on-1 breakout.
These are things that have to be improved upon if the Islanders are to walk out of Friday night's game with any points.
The attention now will be on Nino Niederreiter as we await his fate. Will he stay with the Islanders and play Friday, starting the countdown on his entry-level contract, or does he go back to play more junior hockey with Portland of the WHL?
Niederreiter played just over 14 minutes last night, and in keeping up with the rest of the team appeared sloppy at times. Obviously, a decision will not be made based on one game, but I would agree with Chris Botta's statements. Don't think that the decision was made overnight.
As far as my opinion, after originally thinking he would stay, I've thought differently over the last week or so.
Niederreiter certainly hasn't played bad, and if he stays it would be deserved. Physically, he can handle the NHL and has not been over matched on too many occasions. But, the NHL is a faster, tougher game than juniors. While Niederreiter has been trying to adjust to the NHL, the league has been trying to adjust to him. It isn't often where young, recently turned 18 year olds come in, not shy away from contact and cut to the net to create scoring chances.
When the league figures out his style, his game - how will Niederreiter play? Will he be as effective as he is now? I'm not sure anyone can confidently say yes, when you factor in taking the beatings for a much longer period of time.
Don't discount Scott Gordon's thought process in any of this either. Despite the comments he made yesterday, he is going to do what he thinks is best to make the team win right now. He finds himself in the very unusual situation of fighting for his Islander life as coach. If he feels that his chances of success are better with having Martin, Rob Schremp, Michael Grabner or even prospects David Ullstrom or Jesse Joensuu in the lineup, he will let it be known. I don't think that this team is better off with Ullstrom or Joensuu over Niederreiter, but with the other guys I think the team will be fine.
Niederreiter will be a better player than all of those guys in the long run, but right now the others are so much further ahead in terms of development, obviously. Martin still has some developing of his own to do, but I liked a lot of what I saw out of him last night, and some of it is similar to what Niederreiter provides, with Martin adding some more aggression and slightly better skating.
I know some people talk about injuries as playing a factor in the decision, but I don't see that being the case here. As I mentioned just before, if Gordon thinks this team is better off with one guy over another, he'll say so. Schremp is going to get back in the lineup once he comes back. The Islanders need someone with his creativity, not to mention his improved skating. Kyle Okposo is a non factor essentially since his return can be anywhere from December to February, but that is still murky. Jon Sim and Trent Hunter have been filling bottom line roles, and that is not something Niederreiter should be doing at this stage. He needs to consistently be playing 14, 15 minutes a night if he's going to stick.
We'll find out most likely today the fate of Niederreiter, but I wouldn't bank on him staying here. Don't discount the impact Gordon has, and don't read too much into those quotes from yesterday. Expect Matt Martin's stay to last a little longer until Schremp/Hunter/Grabner are ready to go.
When news breaks, I'll try and have something for you. Until then, we play the waiting game.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
11:46 AM: As I expected, the Islanders are sending Niederreiter back down to Portland. This means that he still has all three years of his entry level deal still remaining.
More to come later.
8:45 AM: The Islanders lost to the Habs 5-3 in a game where they definitely did not bring their "A" game. There were often times where they were found standing around rather than playing their up tempo style of hockey. This isn't a team that is overly skilled, and has to learn to constantly move their feet in order to be successful.
The Canadiens are a very fast and skilled team, and they showed that last night. Of course, the Isles made them look much faster because of the lack of skating. It was not a banner game for Mark Eaton, who made a couple of weak passes, including one that lead to a penalty shot attempt for Benoit Pouliot.
I felt that Dwayne Roloson player pretty well, and did the best he could with what he had to work with, which quite frankly was not enough. There were many lackluster players, on both sides of the puck. Roloson was one of the few who didn't disappoint.
Matt Martin had a pretty good season debut, mixing it up at times and parking himself in front of the net for the 3rd Islander goal. After following him in preseason, and being very impressed with the changes in his game, I can't say I'm surprised with how he played. He needs to get his head up though a little more, for example on the break he had that P.K. Subban broke up.
Speaking of Subban, I need to apologize to those who told me to look out for him as a potential Calder winner this season. I dismissed any thought of that, and he has been quite impressive this season. The kid is some defenseman.
Doug Weight had some problems in this game too. I'm noticing more and more this season that he seems to cough up pucks at the blueline on the power-play. He's still an asset there, and is probably the closest thing we have to a power-play quarterback, but he needs to be a little more careful with that.
Speaking of assets at the blueline, James Wisniewski had yet another outstanding offensive performance. He had a couple of hard shots that created Islander goals as he notched a goal and two assists. His defensive play was decent, aside from the play on Montreal's second goal, but that was slightly awkward and everyone was scrambling there to cover the 2-on-1 breakout.
These are things that have to be improved upon if the Islanders are to walk out of Friday night's game with any points.
The attention now will be on Nino Niederreiter as we await his fate. Will he stay with the Islanders and play Friday, starting the countdown on his entry-level contract, or does he go back to play more junior hockey with Portland of the WHL?
Niederreiter played just over 14 minutes last night, and in keeping up with the rest of the team appeared sloppy at times. Obviously, a decision will not be made based on one game, but I would agree with Chris Botta's statements. Don't think that the decision was made overnight.
As far as my opinion, after originally thinking he would stay, I've thought differently over the last week or so.
When the league figures out his style, his game - how will Niederreiter play? Will he be as effective as he is now? I'm not sure anyone can confidently say yes, when you factor in taking the beatings for a much longer period of time.
Don't discount Scott Gordon's thought process in any of this either. Despite the comments he made yesterday, he is going to do what he thinks is best to make the team win right now. He finds himself in the very unusual situation of fighting for his Islander life as coach. If he feels that his chances of success are better with having Martin, Rob Schremp, Michael Grabner or even prospects David Ullstrom or Jesse Joensuu in the lineup, he will let it be known. I don't think that this team is better off with Ullstrom or Joensuu over Niederreiter, but with the other guys I think the team will be fine.
Niederreiter will be a better player than all of those guys in the long run, but right now the others are so much further ahead in terms of development, obviously. Martin still has some developing of his own to do, but I liked a lot of what I saw out of him last night, and some of it is similar to what Niederreiter provides, with Martin adding some more aggression and slightly better skating.
I know some people talk about injuries as playing a factor in the decision, but I don't see that being the case here. As I mentioned just before, if Gordon thinks this team is better off with one guy over another, he'll say so. Schremp is going to get back in the lineup once he comes back. The Islanders need someone with his creativity, not to mention his improved skating. Kyle Okposo is a non factor essentially since his return can be anywhere from December to February, but that is still murky. Jon Sim and Trent Hunter have been filling bottom line roles, and that is not something Niederreiter should be doing at this stage. He needs to consistently be playing 14, 15 minutes a night if he's going to stick.
We'll find out most likely today the fate of Niederreiter, but I wouldn't bank on him staying here. Don't discount the impact Gordon has, and don't read too much into those quotes from yesterday. Expect Matt Martin's stay to last a little longer until Schremp/Hunter/Grabner are ready to go.
When news breaks, I'll try and have something for you. Until then, we play the waiting game.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
