Predators 3, Islanders 1: Gone in 140 Seconds

this means Al is ready to go?

Bummer they waited so long to get him in. I’d have thought at least the Sabres game, but what do I know.

At least this means Al is back. Great as Poulin’s week was, I want him getting his AHL reps first.

I doubt anyone has a gun to your head making you watch, let alone pop on Islanders boards and say things like this.

you’re sayin’ there’s a chance?!

And from the stands Rolston ticked me off today, too.

The D was awful and I predict that Wishart will be called up soon.

Geez, I feel like I’ve been saying the same thing too all season.

That’s the big problem we have now. Rolston is an “ok” 3rd liner, but brings no offense to a line and can even disrupt chemistry given where he skates and how he plays(slapshot/back pass/play on the boards and stand around). He really belongs on the 4th line. Problem is though, is Nino ready for the 3rd line? Defensively no, and one of the last times we saw martin and nino on a line together, they both ended up with 2 blown defensive coverages from deep forechecking/defensive mistakes that led to 2 opposing goals. Don’t wanna go through that experiment again. Then their is the Nielsen-PAP-Grabs line, which is clearly imbalanced. It works as a checking line, but offensively, it really doesnt have that physical battling finisher it needs. Nino could be that guy, but he’s not defensively ready. Rolston is not close to that guy. Martin could be but probably isn’t that guy. Martin kind of has to change his game to be that guy(EX: less throwing hits, more crashing the net, more cycling, more skating, etc), so Martin really doesn’t fit either. Okposo is best fit on the top line, so there is no answer inside the team. That just sucks. And the problem with demoting Rolston to the 4th line where he belongs, is that we have nobody better to replace him in the NHL, Pandolfo/Wallace=no and Nino doesn’t fit with Martin on the same line for reasons stated above(defense/game/all around readiness). Ullstrom showed promise earlier, but who knows how he is post-concussion, Rakhshani could be that guy, Cizikas could be that guy, and Dibo could be that guy but he may just be an great ahl player who’s o-game doesn’t translate to the nhl(and the injury). All we really need is a guy that can hustle and has some o-skills and can go to the spots that he needs to with Bailey/Martin. Rolston just doesn’t get that done at all, he is a chemistry killer it seems with no suitable top 9 game for scoring. We are in some sticky situations.

But 1 thing we all can agree on that should be done. Donovan and Reese(or Wishart) should be the bottom pairing defense over Staios/Eaton(and mottau when healthy). That could make a solid difference after we saw the disaster Eaton/Staios were today, reminding us just how bad those 2 can be separately and together.

Not quite sure why Wallace is still up, though.

Your complaining about the crowd the crowds complaing about the teams performance. Maybe the players are complaining about Cappy and Cappys complaining about the players. Negative thoughts bring negative actions.

No point in booing (or sarcastically cheering) Poulin after those first few goals. To his credit, he looked pretty good afterwards.

Other shitty crowd thing today – during a rendition of God Bless America by local kids, a few jokers around me didn’t stand up and someone a few rows in front of me actually booed (?!) at the end.

That said, a 3-0 deficit so early will definitely take the wind out of your sails, and Rinne doing his thing continued the deflation. Nice to see JT score, and nice to be at the old barn for once.

And let me say upfront that the team hasn’t done itself any favors by being mostly terrible for the last two decades or so. And, booing, which I’ve never understood, is going to happen no matter what.

But it’s a very toxic environment to play in and, if I was a player, I’d frankly hate it. The Islanders don’t take a shot every five seconds on the power play and there are boos. The opposing team has a great shift, spends a few extra seconds in the Islander end and there are boos. Puck hops over the blueline and the Islanders fail to keep it in the opponents’ zone and there are boos. Empty net goals = boos. And not just any boos, either. Long, loud, obnoxious, really nasty-sounding boos.

These are things that happen 1,000 times across the league every day, even to good teams. And a lot the fans at the Coliseum act like they are the worst things ever. Clearly, it’s the frustration of 20 years of losing. But the magnification of every mistake (or sometimes just the other team being better) into, “Here we go! Last place again!” makes the whole atmosphere very, very difficult to bear.

Maybe it’s me making this up in my head. Maybe it’s where the MSG mics are that makes it sound so awful. But I feel like a lot of people at games act like every missed pass means the team is leaving for Seattle come sun up.

/end rant.

/PAP? Really? Are people even watching the games this season?

People screaming during the anthem is insane.

They seriously would get carried out of the rink down here. And not by security. Other fans. That crap won’t fly down here. I’ve never seen it happen.

after tonight