Grading the Islanders: Yann Danis
by Dominik on Jun 10, 2009 7:00 AM EDT
in New York Islanders Report Cards
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PrintOur irregularly scheduled series grading this past season's individual performances continues with the UFA goalie who played "like a guy that's a true #1" in his coach's eyes (at times), yet not for long enough to even garner a one-way contract offer, according to the tea leaves.
Yann Danis
#34 / Goalie / New York Islanders
6-0
182
Jun 21, 1981
2(ish): 6 prior games in 05-06
UFA; 2008-09 was $550k on two-way deal
Hey, that Habs farm guy is now our farm guy.
Random Fact: Danis' cold finish dropped his save percentage to .910, which was 26th among goalies who played at least 26 games.
'This is our concern, Dude' Fact: His save percentage was up around .930 at around 20 games, near the height of his powers and the height of Scott Gordon's praise for him. That he didn't sustain that through the dog days of the season -- is that why "indications" are he won't be back? Or are the Islanders just being realistic about Rick DiPietro's uncertain health situation and simply looking for a more proven character who can carry a larger load?
The Story: Danis' story -- and the whole story of those who filled in for Rick DiPietro this past season -- is basically encapsulated in the content and comments of this March post: Danis had a rough start in his limited spot action early on -- as if he knew he was just an emergency fill-in and almost treated it as such; Gordon hardly turned to him again. It was when Joey MacDonald went down with a longer injury that Danis got a chance at regular duty, and ran with it. Doug pointed out what we should have known all along: Danis' rebound control gave him the clear edge over MacDonald. WebBard weighed in with what the Islanders may ultimately have decided: It doesn't matter who was better, because neither should be the backup/1A next season.
The Good: That one run, man: From Jan. 13 - March 14, over 21 games Danis faced 31 shots per game and maintained a .938 save pct., with two shutouts. Is it fair to blame him for not sustaining that, when every goaltender has his ups and downs? We may never find out.
The Bad: Danis' season fell apart in the final weeks; he and MacDonald put up a .876 save pct. in the final 12 games, and Danis conceded a whopping 30 goals in his final 8 games.
The Poem:
The search for an emergency 'keeper
Yields a surprising Francophone sleeper
His hot winter run
Brief as January sun
Next year we best dig a little deeper
The Grade: This is another one where the grades -- relative to your preseason expectations -- could be all over the map, as I'm frankly not sure what expectations there were for him in September. Do you put more stock in his great 21-game run? Or in his disappointing finish? On that note, I'm curious whether any of you lurkers would want him re-signed, and under what circumstances (two-way behind a 1A flavor like Craig Anderson?).
I'd be up for another two-way deal, but I wonder if he (or his agent) think he's earned more of a guarantee than that. The problem for Danis, like so many goalies of his ilk, is that the market if flooded with decent goalies capable of hot runs. With guys like Curtis Sanford, Manny Legace, Wade Dubielewicz and Danis spending time in the AHL, while others drift to the KHL, a team can afford to insist on a two-way deal from a journeyman. If he doesn't take it, someone else will surface.
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I know he came in and had a strong run, but as soon as MacDonald went down Snow finally caved and re-signed Dubie who was grabbed off of Waivers by the Jackets. That shows two things, that another team viewed Dubie as an effective backup and the Isles were scared to hell of Danis starting. If I remember right the Isles let Dunham try playing again and were thinking of signing him to an emergency two week contract.
I believe Danis’ good run coincided with the team having a lot of vets going down and a lot of younger guys who were looking for their chance to prove themselves.
It’s true, the lack of confidence in Danis at the beginning was stunning — which made the turnaround in his play (and Gordon’s trust in him) all the more surprising. Certainly the team played better in front of Danis when he got hot. But he had some 40-save games and a couple of shutouts that convinced me he at least has that in him. Whether it’s just in Lalime-like short spurts or something more, we’ll probably never find out.
On Dunham, when MacDonald got hurt early in the Rangers game and Danis entered, the Isles did get permission from the league to dress Dunham if needed, but it wasn’t going beyond that night.
Lighthouse Hockey: Side effects may include Weight gain and frequent game loss.
Ahh, I misread the story originally. I thought they had given him an actual tryout to see if they could use him as a stopgag for two weeks after McDonald was injuried.. I never did get why they made Dunham the Goalie coach, other then the organaztions tendency to put retiring players who have contracts to work. He was pretty good, just destroyed by injuries.
That was a really odd night with Joey going down and the situation with Dunny. They had him half-dressed in the weight room adjacent to the main locker room, watching the game on the monitors to make sure he didn’t have to come on. The way we all understood it, there was a contract for a one night appearance but he had not signed anything. Like Dom said, he had gotten permission from the league in an emergency (the show must go on). If he set one skate blade on the ice, even to just skate to the bench to sit as the backup, he would have had to sign the contract or the Isles would have been fined an exorbitant amount of money.
The question that came up during the press conference with Gordon was that if Dunny had come in and had gotten injured who was next in line, Scott or Garth. Scott basically said, “After the first time I go down in the butterfly, I don’t think I’d be coming back up. That’s for sure.” LOL! So I guess Garth was next…
From the Penalty Box to the Blog Box! Check it out at Isles Official's Outlook!
by IslesOfficial on Jun 11, 2009 9:27 AM EDT up reply actions
Scott basically said, "After the first time I go down in the butterfly, I don’t think I’d be coming back up. That’s for sure." LOL! So I guess Garth was next…
That was hilarious.
I vote Garth goes in anyway. Just throw on his old chest/shoulder pads and he doesn’t have to worry about getting back up.
Goalies are crazy, and the Isles have quite a few of them on staff. Just sayin’.
Lighthouse Hockey: Side effects may include Weight gain and frequent game loss.
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Next 5 Games
Florida
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Sun 02/12 | 3:00 PM EST |
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Winnipeg
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Tue 02/14 | 8:30 PM EST |
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St. Louis
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Thu 02/16 | 8:00 PM EST |
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Carolina
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Sat 02/18 | 7:00 PM EST |
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Ottawa
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Mon 02/20 | 1:00 PM EST |
Last 5 Games
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Los Angeles
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Sat 02/11 | OT - W 2 - 1 |
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Montreal
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Thu 02/09 | L 2 - 4 |
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Philadelphia
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Tue 02/07 | SO - W 1 - 0 |
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Buffalo
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Sat 02/04 | SO - L 3 - 4 |
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Ottawa
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Fri 02/03 | OT - W 2 - 1 |
Atlantic Standings
| GP | W | L | OTL | PT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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New York Rangers
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52 | 34 | 13 | 5 | 73 |
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Philadelphia
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54 | 31 | 16 | 7 | 69 |
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New Jersey
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54 | 31 | 19 | 4 | 66 |
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Pittsburgh
|
54 | 30 | 19 | 5 | 65 |
|
New York Islanders
|
53 | 22 | 23 | 8 | 52 |
(updated 2.11.2012 at 8:02 AM EST)
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