Thrashers 2, Islanders 1 (OT): Offensive drought persists

Could this be the beginning of the HAMONIC ERA?

From @KatieStrangNYI:

Mike Mottau will stay in a local ATL hospital overnight and is expected to fly home to NY tomorrow, where he’ll be evaluated by team docs

We need a bingo sheet of what else will go wrong

Start Season 8 Deep on D and still need AHL callups
Have Comeau play tantalizingly good only to disappear
Manage to hit the goalie or the post despite a gaping wide open net

Oh well, at least DP is 62nd in SV%, he gets to rub it in Justin Peters and Johan Hedbergs face too now.

It looks like the best case scenario would be to have the Hurricanes’ season from a year ago. Be out of playoff contention by November, but then turn things around and play good hockey for the second half of the season and end up with a blue chip prospect in the draft.

And, I agree with you Dom, offense/goal scoring is our problem. As I and others have stated, the roster is full of people who don’t or haven’t yet scored more then 17goals in an nhl season, and some of the young forwards on our roster(grabner, parenteau, schremp, martin obviously) have never scored more then 10goals in an nhl season because they don’t have much nhl experience. Too many young inexperienced forwards + too many players that have never scored many goals in a season + aging old player(s) + injuries=big problems. The only way this problem is being solved is through trade: to bring in at least a solid 20goal scorer(preferably a young one that could help us with our future). That most likely won’t happen though so we will have to deal till we find some chemistry or some unexpected players start scoring some goals in “bunches”.

Well we have a long way to go to tie the longest winless streak in NHL history. the 75-76 Chiefs hold that honor at 27 games. The reason that it ends at 27 is because the season ended. In that time they managed to tie 6 times. 13 losses with 2 ties, we have the makings of a really good start. Keep up the good work Isles, not that I particularly care.

…..speculate and project what free agents this team’s management could be looking at come next summer? Would it be considered tampering if a team’s FANS started planning, albeit vicariously? LOL But seriously again, maybe it’s not SO crazy to contemplate trading whatever pick we get come June if it brought us much more immediate aid?

+ RDP played well enough to make Snow look like not so much of a lier when he says.“We have two number ones”… he just needs to do it consistently… and he may need some help getting up.
+ Grabner is going to a least make a shift or two per game exciting for Howie the fans
- Howie being a tool… NTIPC
- I need to proofread the crap that comes out of my head (Islander Fan)

He takes a lot of beatings, but I like his hands and his speed for the Isles, he seems to be creating a lot of chances and getting a lot of chances down low. For whatever reason though it just doesn’t seem to be falling right for him. I mean that one save on him today was just insane.

I thought the comments were pretty amusing and kind of designed to be a joke anyway.

he was looking ok all season, but since Capuano took over and there seems tone more open ice, he seems to really be getting some chances…and he looks decent next to Frans.

their line is coming so close but it just does not seem to be able to produce. almost doesn’t mean anything when it almost happens every night

maybe once in awhile throw Martin outthere with them or even Hunter

the team really was beat a lot in the early part of the game, but DP was very strong. I keep sayingthough it we need a shutout to win a game right now

I am still sticking to my guns that JT walks at the end of his EL deal…..No way he is sticking around for this mess.

This season is in the crapper by Thanksgiving. Weak looking draft next year. Maybe we can get another 2nd line player in the first round. People thinking that KO is going to help out the offense are crazy. He is never going to be that 30 goal guy we all dream about. His hands are very suspect IMO. Let’s not go after Versteeg, not make an offer sheet to Bobby Ryan, not make an attempt to sign Kovalchuk. What a joke…..

This big club stuff makes me sad…

I would be sooooo upset if that happened

But is it possible? And if he did are we done with the rebuild?

…..begins to convey that the end may be near if something isn’t done to save this team; the analogies being made are darker than any related to the Islanders I’ve ever read: ‘drug without a high’, ‘abusive and masochistic relationship’ – that sort of thing. Contextualized in that way, they have EVERY reason to end that relationship forever. As much as we here at LHH cling to the more positive view lest all is lost, it WILL be lost quite soon otherwise. This team simply CANNOT survive with less than 10K in the stands indefinitely – whether it’s in Uniondale or Willets Point, and there’s no question that the economy IS making it much more difficult for even the most diehard of fans to rationalize spending money.

In its most basic terms, there is a transaction agreed upon between any entertainment-based entity (sports, music) and those that are inclined to support it. But like an employer I had to put up with many years ago that refused to pay even a remotely fair salary for the cost of my modest living (in his case, both because he could not afford success and had a very strict role for that franchise in his life) Charles Wang is now clearly violating his obligation to provide a product (a euphemism I absolutely HATE when used in reference to people) equal to the fans’ investment, and I’m curious as to what legal rights they have in that case to sue for either fraud or breach of contract, especially the season-ticket holders.

It should come as no surprise to anyone who’s familiar with Wang: like a number of other notorious sports franchise owners over the years, he is a very narcissistic control freak. No question that the conditions in Nassau County render any attempt to improve the team extremely challenging, but that defense no longer has ANY currency with those once willing to consider it. Still, it absolutely boggles my mind that he wouldn’t then do everything necessary to make himself look good. And I think we can all agree he HASN’T…..

If the ‘wheels’ (JT, MM, ANYone else who should take a leap of faith going forward before walking – if not RUNNING – away) fall off as it appears inevitable at this moment they will, the vehicle will display increasingly erratic operation, with a very real risk of being totaled along with the franchise by circumstances, or it will simply run out of ‘fuel’ (us, the fans) and be left by the metaphorical roadside to rust and rot…..a sadder, more tragic ending I just CANNOT imagine. To use an apt music analogy some on this blog might appreciate, the Islanders = Badfinger and Charles Wang has become an Asian Stan Polley…..

…..there will come a point when those feelings of resentment and sheer hopelessness about this team cannot be changed, especially if they begin to reflect personally upon some fans; SOMEbody (Bettman or other potential saviors) needs to estimate what that might be – or it really IS ‘lights out’ – in Uniondale. at the very least; once you’ve lost them, bringing those diehards back is almost IMPOSSIBLE…..put it this way, to paraphrase the old Scottish proverb, ‘fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on…..you, fool me thrice, shame on…..you; fool me 14 (?) times…..shame on ME’

What did you people expect in a rebuild?? A Stanley Cup after only 3 years of commitment to a youth movement?? A perennial Cup contender after only 3 years?? What happen to all that BS about buying into a rebuild (but only if we rebuild quickly)?? I simply do not understand the Islander fans here who do not seem to grasp the concept of rebuilding from the ground up. It means, quite frankly, that your team is going to SUCK for a while, folks. NHL quality talent does not just spring from the draft. It takes time to develop and patience and more patience. Stop whining and complaining about how bad this team is. You should have expected this if you truly understood REBUILDING…tired and frustrated as I am with what is happening, I am equally tired and frustrated with unrealistic and delusional fans who think we should somehow be in the Cup race only 3 short years after we started a MASSIVE rebuild.

…..we can’t be completely sure how much their play might improve (or deteriorate with age and entropy) as a result of this particular bunch playing together – an easily recognizable group dynamic has yet to be established…..

you cannot judge these players by age. Parentau has played all of 46 NHL games; Schremp has played 57; Hillen has played 122; Reese has played 22; MacDonald has played 56; only Comeau has played the equivalent of 3 seasons in the league (188). How can you expect young talent to peak at a certain age when they have not been given adequate playing time. Not every 1st and or 2nd round pick developes at the same rate. You seriously underestimate the time it takes to develop talent in the NHL. With more players going to college, I think your “peak age” is definitely off the mark. Experience is a huge key to developing both talent AND confidence. Most of the current Islanders have not received enough experience to justify your statement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQmX1Yq2kkQ&feature=player_embedded

The one big change from Capuano to Gordon in terms of how to use certain players has concerned Konopka. Heavily used for defensive-zone faceoffs and quite some time against tough opposition by Gordon, he’s seen his ice-time and responsibilities cut quite severly lately. He took only one defensive-zone faceoff last night, while Nielsen took 7, JT 6, Schremp 3, Bailey 1. Not sure if there was any night under Gordon he didn’t lead the team in that stat – he however always had like 5 defensive-zone faceoffs more than JT, now it’s the opposite way around. And he mostly played against the 3rd and 4th line last night.

Part of this is certainly because Capuano is looking to roll his lines a little more consistently, all four if possible or then at least three without shuffling guys around too much. That’s the part I like about it.
But on the other hand it forces certain guys to play minutes they’re not comfortable with, both in terms of quality and quantity. JT played 23:23 last night, 18:51 even-strength, took quite a few defensive-zone faceoffs as mentioned and mostly was up against the strong Ladd-Peverley-Bergfors line with Buff-Enstrom behind them. That’s tough anyway – at the same time his line is expected to do all the scoring. I don’t see how this can work. JT’s line handled it quite well last night, certainly had some brilliant moments down low and JT has improved generally for sure, but Capuano is really asking him to do a lot right now. I know it’s tough to hide JT on this roster, so, I’m fine with it as long as it won’t backfire on them, but on the other hand kind of sad for JT because I’m convinced using him more specifically would increase his effectiveness quite a lot.

As for Comeau, I thought it’s probably been his best game since the losing streak started – not in the whole season obviously because he played a couple of very good ones early. Still a long way to go for him of course, though. But I’m pretty sure Capuano will give that line a few more games at least. After strangely starting off Schremp-Bailey-Comeau he switched to Comeau-Schremp-Bailey two periods in against Florida and they’ve been much better since indeed. Hope I’m not expecting too much, when I can see them leading the way to a win in the next few games.

Generally, I thought the 2nd half in this game was about as good as we can expect from this team right now. That’s certainly still not good enough to play 0.500 hockey or better, but should normally yield a win or two indeed over the next four, five games.

I am frustrated by the silence in Uniondale, but this is not the end as we know it. We are a young team. It’s not an excuse…it’s a fact! We are missing our two best players. It’s not an excuse…it’s a fact!

Before the season, most of us here at LHH figured the Isles would contend for a playoff spot up until the end of the season. We had confidence in the ability of the players we had. Then, we come out of the gate like gangbusters, and the expectations jumped a little. We figured we may really have a shot.

Now, we are awful. Actually awful. There are many times during this streak that the Isles have looked like a men’s rec team. They have lost their way, and Go-Go paid dearly with his job.

Again, the lack of communication is startling, but that is the way it is. There is nothing we can do about it. If we don’t support the team, we cut off our nose to spite our face.

Isles fans, DO NOT LOSE HEART!! Keep your heads up! This is the only US based franchise in NHL history that has been a dynasty! This franchise has been to the promised land, and will return.

Keep coming here, keep watching the team, and be a fan. The rest will take care of itself. One day, we will win again, and it will be that much sweeter.