The East is Too Good for Islanders to Compete?

Consider we will have a number of injured players available from the start of the season should be a big plus for as well as a host of players maturing and others bringing their experience.

Of the 8 teams that went to the playoffs I think Montreal, Philadelphia and Tampa Bay are the most vulnerable teams. Montreal defense was mediocre. The Flyers just recreated their team. Bolts lost their spark plug with Bergie leaving.

We know playing better defense and improved or consistent goal tending will help. With the addition of Nino, Rolston and Reasoner the team should be able to score more goals. The return on injured players for part or the whole season will be huge. But will this equal to 10 additional victories that we will need to make the playoffs.

Im NOT buying that either Webby. Last year after the break this Islanders team with their 6 goalies, dozen D-men down gave it an amazing run at the playoffs. That’s taking into consideration the 21 game winless steark. Will the Rags be better? Who knows. Will the Devils be better? Who knows. Will ALL of the 8 playoff teams be better? NO WAY! That’s why they play the games!

The Islanders last year were 23-15-8 between Dec 16 and Mar 22 which amasses to 54 points in a little more than half a season, and that was with a turnstyle at both Goalie and D. Last time I checked, a record like that over a whole season would get you a middle seed in the playoffs. As long as the Isles aren’t cursed with injuries again this year, there is no reason to think, with their ever-improving young players, that they shouldn’t be in the playoffs this year. So anyone who deems the Isles unworthy to compete really has no idea what they’re talking about.

It can take its toll… and the rivalry factor of our division makes it even more intense. But if you get through that gauntlet on top you will be well tempered for battle come April. If not, even if you do make it (Pitt, Wash?) you will be going to battle like this guy…

“I know you’ve hacked off my Gino, and you’ve removed my Sidney with your thuggish ways, but come back here Eastern Conference, I can still lick you with my Maxime…”

There is definitely a lot of question marks though. Possibly too many. Seeing how the team really turned the corner in the last 54 games is great and definitely something to look forward to, but we can’t say that the first 28 games didn’t happen. That November and early December stretch was killer. Every team will go through highs and lows on the season, it’s consistency that matters most. Getting Streit back will be huge and I would bet my life that the team finishes higher in the standings this year compared to last year, but 6 spots in the Eastern Conference is not an easy thing to do.

that if things don’t go their way and we get some fortune for a change we could do really well. I’m not saying that we will top the league, but stranger things have happened.

Pens: Crosby is still suffering head issues and Malkin suffered an injury that could well keep him a slower player. Cooke and to a lesser degree Orpik (at least he should be anyway) are on thin ice with respect to their questionable/injurious plays.

Flyers: Just traded their two best players, lost another decent guy in Leino, made a slight upgrade in goal for an enormous cost and are still up against the cap (with a roster spot still open). Not only is Pronger a douche, but he had back issues that could still affect him.

Rags: Gaborik has been decently healthy for his Rags career, but he is still a risk and last season was far from productive. I think Richards can be good, but down the line in the contact he won’t be worth it, not to mention their FA C track record offers little hope (but really, what’s the probability of that happening again). Henrik will be asked to carry them again and I doubt he can put together back-to-back double digit SHO totals. That being said, they stand the most to gain from Philly’s re-tinkering. Also, Avery is a douche.

Devils: They enter the season with a new coach yet again. They didn’t mesh well with MacLean and only did better under Lou’s return with the quasi-trap. So does this occur again? Or will the new coach be smarter. Kovalchuk isn’t used to the best of his abilities, Parise is coming off injury (damn you 2011 fantasy first rounder), and Brodeur is 80.

Isles: Our main question is always how many injuries will we endure? When does DP conk out and is that preferable? How many of our wins will be whined about by Pens fans and changed to losses? If we keep the mustache rides to a minimum, will we still be deemed a thug team?

yeah we did horrible, especially in our own division 6-13-5 for only 17 points out of a possible 48. NJD was 2nd worse vs our own division at 11-12-1 for 23 pts.

vs East at 22-34-8, 52pts out of 128, FLA were next at 23-31-10 for 56 pts then OTT 27-31-6 for 60 pts

vs west, 21 pts out of 36 possible at 8-5-5 which puts them right in the middle of the East teams

no one in the division clearly stands out – its fully up for grabs (no pun intended)

also PIT has major injury concerns

BOS figures to get off to a hot start, but are they really that good or was that one solid streak of goaltending combined with a war of attrition?

are you sold on the Lightning?

have the Caps won anything lately?

the conference itself is up for grabs as well

going to be a fun year to be sure

“I didn’t see that [Cup chance] with the Islanders so I decided not to take their offer, which was a great offer they made [five years for $23 million],” he said. "The next morning I woke up and was with Buffalo and went through the process again of talking to ownership, management and the coach.

Buffalo has a “Cup chance”? Would that be a chance at a Cup of coffee in Tim Horton’s?

Oh, how I would love to see one of our guys drive him through the boards.

This Penguins crap and can’t compete in the East stuff is really pissing me off. I can’t wait until this team is all the way back on the map taking names and kicking butt.

It hurts a bit reading a lot of people and hockey reporters/analysts predicting the isles finishing in the bottom 3 again. There are a few that think we are a bubble team, but we still never get the respect we deserve. And if we can get average goaltending overall this year with DeHaan or Donovan making a smooth jump to the nhl within this season/or Wishart elevating his game from last year, I think we make the playoffs. It’s still close, but barring major injuries, I think we are right on the line of miss/make it.

Especially since I haven’t been around much to comment on anything lately.

According to the final power rankings prior to the playoffs starting, the top two teams were from the West, but the next three were from the East. And thanks in part to the fact that both the Avalanche and Oilers finished in the bottom two (both Western teams), the Western teams ended up with only a slightly better average finishing position – 14.6 vs 16.4 for the East.

So, at least based on the very unbiased – although far from flawless – calculations made throughout the year, the West ended up being the better conference, but only slightly, although I should also mention that, by the time the playoffs concluded, the rankings flip-flopped. The Eastern teams ended up with an average position of 14.6, while the West’s average was 16.4.

So really the two conferences ended up pretty equal. Therefore, it would appear to me that the Isles would have an equal chance of making the playoffs regardless of conference, unless there was a major migration in the populations of elite players from one conference to the other.

the atlantic itself has questions, but is still a very tough, if not, the toughest division in hockey:

pittsburgh has the crosby/malkin issue, philly just revamped their entire team which actually makes them a wild-card (we’ll see this season who they become), rangers upgraded with richards. no doubt, i believe the rangers have the best team in the division barring any setbacks. devils are another wild-card. they have the potential to turn heads and can make the playoffs with a healthy roster. i mean, if you exclude the crazy year they had last year, they were making the playoffs. we’ll see how the new coach will shake things up over there.

for the rest of the conference: toronto is getting better, but i’m still not sold on them. montreal can be a playoff team with the talent they have so i can buy them. buffalo improved, playoffs. boston, top 3 team in the conference no doubt. they still get better and i’m looking forward to seeing seguin come into his own. ottawa, better luck next five years. washington, prob my conference pick. they now have a goalie. tampa bay is stocked with scoring, somewhat questionable D, but made up for with roli. carolina is better, but i’m still not sold on them either. florida slightly improved, but not a playoff team. winnipeg, looking forward to the unveiling of their jerseys.

in order i think it’ll look like this in April: Washington, Boston, NY Rangers, Tampa Bay, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, NY Islanders, Montreal,—-Philadelphia, New Jersey, Carolina, Toronto, Florida, Winnipeg, Ottawa. (of course, always subject to change :P)

plus 13 OTL. so if we can just win half of those 29 games it would give us around 90 points. still out last season but very close.