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What could have been...; The 21 game skid that ruined our season
Topic Started: Feb 20 2011, 01:06 AM (1,022 Views)
Snowy
Member Avatar
The Dark Knight
With things being wide open in the Eastern Conference playoff race, I wanted to analyze that wonderful 21 game skid (1/4 of our season) that buried our playoff hopes.

As most of you probably remember, we started off 4-1-2. Then beginning on Sat, Oct 23rd against Florida, we went on to win just one of our next 21 games and record 5 points over that span.

From Oct 23rd to Mon, Dec 13th: 1-17-3, 5 pts.

That skid began when Andrew MacDonald got hurt. We also lost Milan Jurcina. We never had Mark Streit and Kyle Okposo wasn't playing during that stretch. Michael Grabner hadn't found his game yet. Scott Gordon lost his job and the team responded under Capuano, although not immediately. Here is the part that hurts:

This team played its 59th game tonight, a 3-0 win over LA. If you removed those 21 games from our schedule, that leaves 39 more games (7 games before the streak, 32 after). Our record in those 39 games is 21-13-4, good for 46 points.

So, the question is, if we had managed to go 6-12-3 over those 21 games instead of 1-17-3, what would our record be right now? 27-25-7, good for 61 points and 9th in the Eastern Conference, just 3 points out of a playoff spot and with one game in hand over 8th place Carolina. Now I know that this means a whole bunch of nothing. But normally when a team goes on a streak where they win 6 out of 21, it would be viewed as a negative. In this case, it would have helped.

Look at all this team has gone through this season: a ton of injuries, the trading away of their #1 goalie, a non-stop goalie carousel, a new coach. Some of our young players are growing up. The losing skid happened, it counts and it should count. But we know that this team right now isn't the same team that lost all those games. This team, the team that played tonight, that team isn't far away from being a playoff team. Just needs injured players healthy and a couple of veteran additions.
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#19Trotts
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Sorry for being a wise guy but "6-11-3 over those 21 games "? 6+11+3=20 :goofy2:

With that said I'm all with you and I've been saying this myself that if it hadn't been for the losing stretch we would've made the playoffs.

Buf if ifs didn't exist......
"Well, um, icing happen when the puck come down, bang you know, before the other guys you know. Nobody there, you know. My arm go comes up then the game stop then start up." ~ Denis Lemieux

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25yearfan
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You can call me Joe.
#19Trotts,Feb 20 2011
05:36 AM
Sorry for being a wise guy but "6-11-3 over those 21 games "? 6+11+3=20 :goofy2:

With that said I'm all with you and I've been saying this myself that if it hadn't been for the losing stretch we would've made the playoffs.

Buf if ifs didn't exist......

Probably going too deep into the land of logicians, but "If ifs didn't exist" is an impossibility.

"If losing streaks didn't exist"
or
"If boneheaded decisions didn't exist"
or
"If we only could have eked out 5 or 6 more wins"
sure...

But "If ifs didn't exist" is a recursive impossibility -- still needs "if" to exist to even be spoken....


p.s. How about a tip o the cap to a famous literary if?


IF

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling
Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.

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tsharaf
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You've Just Been Served!
The goal for next year has to be to avoid the long losing streaks. I forget what the exact numbers are, but if I remember correctly, the team has had 6 straight seasons with a losing streak of 10 or more. Or maybe its 10 straight seasons of 6 game streaks.

Either way, you get the point - this has to stop NEXT SEASON. Then we can think about making the playoffs.
The Boss - The Greatest Goal Scorer Ever
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rst033
4th line
Snowman39,Feb 20 2011
01:06 AM
With things being wide open in the Eastern Conference playoff race, I wanted to analyze that wonderful 21 game skid (1/4 of our season) that buried our playoff hopes.

As most of you probably remember, we started off 4-1-2. Then beginning on Sat, Oct 23rd against Florida, we went on to win just one of our next 21 games and record 5 points over that span.

From Oct 23rd to Mon, Dec 13th: 1-17-3, 5 pts.

That skid began when Andrew MacDonald got hurt. We also lost Milan Jurcina. We never had Mark Streit and Kyle Okposo wasn't playing during that stretch. Michael Grabner hadn't found his game yet. Scott Gordon lost his job and the team responded under Capuano, although not immediately. Here is the part that hurts:

This team played its 59th game tonight, a 3-0 win over LA. If you removed those 21 games from our schedule, that leaves 39 more games (7 games before the streak, 32 after). Our record in those 39 games is 21-13-4, good for 46 points.

So, the question is, if we had managed to go 6-11-3 over those 21 games instead of 1-17-3, what would our record be right now? 27-24-7, good for 61 points and 9th in the Eastern Conference, just 3 points out of a playoff spot and with one game in hand over 8th place Carolina. Now I know that this means a whole bunch of nothing. But normally when a team goes on a streak where they win 6 out of 21, it would be viewed as a negative. In this case, it would have helped.

Look at all this team has gone through this season: a ton of injuries, the trading away of their #1 goalie, a non-stop goalie carousel, a new coach. Some of our young players are growing up. The losing skid happened, it counts and it should count. But we know that this team right now isn't the same team that lost all those games. This team, the team that played tonight, that team isn't far away from being a playoff team. Just needs injured players healthy and a couple of veteran additions.

does anyone think it's a coincidence ever since Scott Gordon got fired, Grabner, JT etc etc have played a hell of lot better. Especially Grabner who has flourished under Jack.
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stevedepot
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WISENHEIMER
Snowman39,Feb 20 2011
01:06 AM
With things being wide open in the Eastern Conference playoff race, I wanted to analyze that wonderful 21 game skid (1/4 of our season) that buried our playoff hopes.

As most of you probably remember, we started off 4-1-2. Then beginning on Sat, Oct 23rd against Florida, we went on to win just one of our next 21 games and record 5 points over that span.

From Oct 23rd to Mon, Dec 13th: 1-17-3, 5 pts.

That skid began when Andrew MacDonald got hurt. We also lost Milan Jurcina. We never had Mark Streit and Kyle Okposo wasn't playing during that stretch. Michael Grabner hadn't found his game yet. Scott Gordon lost his job and the team responded under Capuano, although not immediately. Here is the part that hurts:

This team played its 59th game tonight, a 3-0 win over LA. If you removed those 21 games from our schedule, that leaves 39 more games (7 games before the streak, 32 after). Our record in those 39 games is 21-13-4, good for 46 points.

So, the question is, if we had managed to go 6-11-3 over those 21 games instead of 1-17-3, what would our record be right now? 27-24-7, good for 61 points and 9th in the Eastern Conference, just 3 points out of a playoff spot and with one game in hand over 8th place Carolina. Now I know that this means a whole bunch of nothing. But normally when a team goes on a streak where they win 6 out of 21, it would be viewed as a negative. In this case, it would have helped.

Look at all this team has gone through this season: a ton of injuries, the trading away of their #1 goalie, a non-stop goalie carousel, a new coach. Some of our young players are growing up. The losing skid happened, it counts and it should count. But we know that this team right now isn't the same team that lost all those games. This team, the team that played tonight, that team isn't far away from being a playoff team. Just needs injured players healthy and a couple of veteran additions.

Snowy, with much regret yet total respect, I disagree with you.

I've posted about this the last week, not to be a kill joy, but because
I've sen this stuff happen to teams out of the playoff picture with little pressure
while going on nice runs.

We've done this before and this part I just posted on gameday thread explans it best...

read what Kings coach Murray said...

http://www.newsday.com/sports/columnists/a...m-now-1.2699977

Quote:
 
"The Islanders right now are in a very relaxed state. They're stretching guys out, they're leaving the zone early to try and make a play. There's no pressure, no consequences to anything they do. That's the easiest time of your life to play this game."


Remember this post when your expectations are higher at the start of next year.
We'll see what they are made of THEN...it could be far different from what we might think but none-the-less I'm enjoying this now with guarded optimism.
Don't want to go for the hat trick of disappointment next year.
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25yearfan
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You can call me Joe.
Gordon's dedication to his system, compounded by key injuries were contributing factors, some of the young guys probably also needed time to come together, get their confidence to get on track.

stevedepot / others who have pointed this out are right about the biggest factor -- when they're playing with nothing to lose, it's a whole different game. When's the last time you heard anybody use the phrase "gripping the stick too tight" etc.

"If" only they could distill this feeling and bottle it to spray into the home locker room ventilation next fall....
Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.

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dragoneye
Kung Fu Hockey
stevedepot,Feb 20 2011
09:28 PM
Snowman39,Feb 20 2011
01:06 AM
With things being wide open in the Eastern Conference playoff race, I wanted to analyze that wonderful 21 game skid (1/4 of our season) that buried our playoff hopes.

As most of you probably remember, we started off 4-1-2.  Then beginning on Sat, Oct 23rd against Florida, we went on to win just one of our next 21 games and record 5 points over that span.

From Oct 23rd to Mon, Dec 13th: 1-17-3, 5 pts.

That skid began when Andrew MacDonald got hurt.  We also lost Milan Jurcina.  We never had Mark Streit and Kyle Okposo wasn't playing during that stretch.  Michael Grabner hadn't found his game yet.  Scott Gordon lost his job and the team responded under Capuano, although not immediately.  Here is the part that hurts:

This team played its 59th game tonight, a 3-0 win over LA.  If you removed those 21 games from our schedule, that leaves 39 more games (7 games before the streak, 32 after).  Our record in those 39 games is 21-13-4, good for 46 points.

So, the question is, if we had managed to go 6-11-3 over those 21 games instead of 1-17-3, what would our record be right now?  27-24-7, good for 61 points and 9th in the Eastern Conference, just 3 points out of a playoff spot and with one game in hand over 8th place Carolina.  Now I know that this means a whole bunch of nothing.  But normally when a team goes on a streak where they win 6 out of 21, it would be viewed as a negative.  In this case, it would have helped.

Look at all this team has gone through this season: a ton of injuries, the trading away of their #1 goalie, a non-stop goalie carousel, a new coach.  Some of our young players are growing up.  The losing skid happened, it counts and it should count.  But we know that this team right now isn't the same team that lost all those games.  This team, the team that played tonight, that team isn't far away from being a playoff team.  Just needs injured players healthy and a couple of veteran additions.

Snowy, with much regret yet total respect, I disagree with you.

I've posted about this the last week, not to be a kill joy, but because
I've sen this stuff happen to teams out of the playoff picture with little pressure
while going on nice runs.

We've done this before and this part I just posted on gameday thread explans it best...

read what Kings coach Murray said...

http://www.newsday.com/sports/columnists/a...m-now-1.2699977

Quote:
 
"The Islanders right now are in a very relaxed state. They're stretching guys out, they're leaving the zone early to try and make a play. There's no pressure, no consequences to anything they do. That's the easiest time of your life to play this game."


Remember this post when your expectations are higher at the start of next year.
We'll see what they are made of THEN...it could be far different from what we might think but none-the-less I'm enjoying this now with guarded optimism.
Don't want to go for the hat trick of disappointment next year.

It hurts but it is true. The only hope is the Capuano has found something with them that Gordon was stifling. This team has had a Jeckyll and Hyde kind of year. Will the true NYI please stand up...
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Jackace
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2nd line
stevedepot,Feb 20 2011
08:28 AM
Snowman39,Feb 20 2011
01:06 AM
With things being wide open in the Eastern Conference playoff race, I wanted to analyze that wonderful 21 game skid (1/4 of our season) that buried our playoff hopes.

As most of you probably remember, we started off 4-1-2.  Then beginning on Sat, Oct 23rd against Florida, we went on to win just one of our next 21 games and record 5 points over that span.

From Oct 23rd to Mon, Dec 13th: 1-17-3, 5 pts.

That skid began when Andrew MacDonald got hurt.  We also lost Milan Jurcina.  We never had Mark Streit and Kyle Okposo wasn't playing during that stretch.  Michael Grabner hadn't found his game yet.  Scott Gordon lost his job and the team responded under Capuano, although not immediately.  Here is the part that hurts:

This team played its 59th game tonight, a 3-0 win over LA.  If you removed those 21 games from our schedule, that leaves 39 more games (7 games before the streak, 32 after).  Our record in those 39 games is 21-13-4, good for 46 points.

So, the question is, if we had managed to go 6-11-3 over those 21 games instead of 1-17-3, what would our record be right now?  27-24-7, good for 61 points and 9th in the Eastern Conference, just 3 points out of a playoff spot and with one game in hand over 8th place Carolina.  Now I know that this means a whole bunch of nothing.  But normally when a team goes on a streak where they win 6 out of 21, it would be viewed as a negative.  In this case, it would have helped.

Look at all this team has gone through this season: a ton of injuries, the trading away of their #1 goalie, a non-stop goalie carousel, a new coach.  Some of our young players are growing up.  The losing skid happened, it counts and it should count.  But we know that this team right now isn't the same team that lost all those games.  This team, the team that played tonight, that team isn't far away from being a playoff team.  Just needs injured players healthy and a couple of veteran additions.

Snowy, with much regret yet total respect, I disagree with you.

I've posted about this the last week, not to be a kill joy, but because
I've sen this stuff happen to teams out of the playoff picture with little pressure
while going on nice runs.

We've done this before and this part I just posted on gameday thread explans it best...

read what Kings coach Murray said...

http://www.newsday.com/sports/columnists/a...m-now-1.2699977

Quote:
 
"The Islanders right now are in a very relaxed state. They're stretching guys out, they're leaving the zone early to try and make a play. There's no pressure, no consequences to anything they do. That's the easiest time of your life to play this game."


Remember this post when your expectations are higher at the start of next year.
We'll see what they are made of THEN...it could be far different from what we might think but none-the-less I'm enjoying this now with guarded optimism.
Don't want to go for the hat trick of disappointment next year.

Gotta give you props for your foresight (no, not foreskin). As soon as I read Murray's comments in Newsday I thought of the number of posts you've made in the past regarding this team going on runs due to lack of pressure towards the end of the season. Hey I'm enjoying it but still very skeptical that this is a sign of the team coming together the way the article states.
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stevedepot
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WISENHEIMER
Jack, thanks and please understand it's not an attempt to be a negative nancy.

I've had the same optimism in the past with this team and my frustration boils over
the next year which is why I'm so harsh with the Snow/Wang stuff regarding free agents and leadership.
Doesn't mean I'm right and everyone else is wrong.
It's just MY frustration talking.

Trust, I'll be the first one doing backflips and leading the charge next year in October/November
if we play this kind of exciting hockey when the pressure is ON.

But, as Snowy also mentioned in initial post...injuries.
If we have injuries to start the year, let's see what guys step up. We didn't see any when we had that slide this year.

Next year they'll be a year older. I expect Bailey, Nielsen and a healthy Okposo to have career years.
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Shooter
All Star
stevedepot,Feb 20 2011
09:52 AM
Jack, thanks and please understand it's not an attempt to be a negative nancy.

I've had the same optimism in the past with this team and my frustration boils over
the next year which is why I'm so harsh with the Snow/Wang stuff regarding free agents and leadership.
Doesn't mean I'm right and everyone else is wrong.
It's just MY frustration talking.

Trust, I'll be the first one doing backflips and leading the charge next year in October/November
if we play this kind of exciting hockey when the pressure is ON.

But, as Snowy also mentioned in initial post...injuries.
If we have injuries to start the year, let's see what guys step up. We didn't see any when we had that slide this year.

Next year they'll be a year older. I expect Bailey, Nielsen and a healthy Okposo to have career years.

If we don't get a reliable goalie and improve the defense (we need at least two quality defensemen), things will be the same. They can't go into the season with DP and Montoya or Poulin or whatever is down in Bridgeport.
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#19Trotts
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25yearfan,Feb 20 2011
11:59 AM
#19Trotts,Feb 20 2011
05:36 AM
Sorry for being a wise guy but "6-11-3 over those 21 games "? 6+11+3=20  :goofy2:

With that said I'm all with you and I've been saying this myself that if it hadn't been for the losing stretch we would've made the playoffs.

Buf if ifs didn't exist......

Probably going too deep into the land of logicians, but "If ifs didn't exist" is an impossibility.

"If losing streaks didn't exist"
or
"If boneheaded decisions didn't exist"
or
"If we only could have eked out 5 or 6 more wins"
sure...

But "If ifs didn't exist" is a recursive impossibility -- still needs "if" to exist to even be spoken....


p.s. How about a tip o the cap to a famous literary if?


IF

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling

Sorry but I just translated a very common saying in Sweden.

"Om inte om funnits" is a very known phrase in Swedish and it's all about why we shouldn't look back in regret. Instead we should look back and use what we've learned about the past so that we won't make the same mistakes again.

So by saying "if ifs didn't exist" is only a phrase to use when you should look ahead instead of arguing of how things could have been.

I thought maybe you had a similar expession in the US.

:cheers:
"Well, um, icing happen when the puck come down, bang you know, before the other guys you know. Nobody there, you know. My arm go comes up then the game stop then start up." ~ Denis Lemieux

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25yearfan
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You can call me Joe.
Pretty sure my original point was probably too obscure.

As far as the very wise phrase focusing on the future, this was said about a hundred years ago - has proven true many times over:

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
George Santayana
Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.

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Gravel
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3rd line
My 2 cents.

Gordon SUCKED as a coach. Period. Didn't adapt to changing plans during the game. Injuries, yes, they hurt. But all teams have injuries. The fast growth of McDonald and Hamonic have eased the pain. They have actually grown into quite a pairing. DiPietro, I hate to say it, but is a cancer in the locker room. But we're stuck. The goaltending situation, imho, should be Poulin, DP as his back up. Koskinin as the 3rd string. GET RID OF LAWSON!! The team has no faith in him. You can see that in the way they play in front of him.
YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!
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rst033
4th line
well i have a saying...in order for something good to happen something bad has to happen first

this team has turned the corner


whats even better then signing an all star team to be Islanders, this team has become a close knit group of players and my favorite word GEL without teamwork without "we are family" culture on any team you are doomed to fail-this team is building on chemistry.

add a top 5 pick some more youth a tweak here and the their and watch out

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CANADA
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The most interesting man in the world
Very interesting topic with many variables that can be argued until they're blue.

Let's start with the element of winning without pressure. Well I've seen many past Islander teams continue to lose without pressure. How do we explain that one ? (steve ?)

Regarding the injuries that may have put us lower than where we'd like to be in the standings. I only have 2 words for that....MARK STREIT ! This is worth a few more words...We played the entire season without our most valuable player and #1 DMAN !

The bottom line is that this team looks as though it truly is on the verge of becoming a force in this league based on the way our young guns have progressed. The goaltending really has not been our biggest problem as we've seen 2 or 3 guys step in and look like they can play at a high level. Although, this is an area that requires immediate attention.

Another year of maturity for this young team( Tavares, Okposo, Nielson, Grabner, Macdonald, Moulson, Niederreiter, Bailey etc ) coupled with full seasons from Streit and Okposo and I could see us improve by 20 points by this time next year.
At the end of the day, it's all about the whiskey, gambling and women !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qag6w_Tp50A
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stevedepot
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WISENHEIMER
CANADA,Feb 20 2011
11:30 AM
Very interesting topic with many variables that can be argued until they're blue.

Let's start with the element of winning without pressure. Well I've seen many past Islander teams continue to lose without pressure. How do we explain that one ? (steve ?)

Yes, they continue to lose without pressure...overall losing record.
My point was about hot streaks towards the end of a season.
Last 2 specifically with players like Comeau and Bergenheim having some hot stretches
during winning streaks.

The rest of you post, I totally agree with (not that I disagreed with the quoted part either).

Next year will be crucial.

But then again...we keep saying that.

"NEXT YEAR"

THIS YEAR was supposed to be the year that leadership and a QUALITY free agent or 2 were brought in. Not more fabricated excuses to soften the blow, again.

There's still some hockey left for this year and I'm going to enjoy it because they are FUN to watch again, even if they don't play over .500 the rest of the way.

But will they be fun early next year or will be the next in a series of bad sequels?

:dontknow:
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Snowy
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The Dark Knight
stevedepot,Feb 20 2011
08:28 AM
Snowman39,Feb 20 2011
01:06 AM
With things being wide open in the Eastern Conference playoff race, I wanted to analyze that wonderful 21 game skid (1/4 of our season) that buried our playoff hopes.

As most of you probably remember, we started off 4-1-2.  Then beginning on Sat, Oct 23rd against Florida, we went on to win just one of our next 21 games and record 5 points over that span.

From Oct 23rd to Mon, Dec 13th: 1-17-3, 5 pts.

That skid began when Andrew MacDonald got hurt.  We also lost Milan Jurcina.  We never had Mark Streit and Kyle Okposo wasn't playing during that stretch.  Michael Grabner hadn't found his game yet.  Scott Gordon lost his job and the team responded under Capuano, although not immediately.  Here is the part that hurts:

This team played its 59th game tonight, a 3-0 win over LA.  If you removed those 21 games from our schedule, that leaves 39 more games (7 games before the streak, 32 after).  Our record in those 39 games is 21-13-4, good for 46 points.

So, the question is, if we had managed to go 6-11-3 over those 21 games instead of 1-17-3, what would our record be right now?  27-24-7, good for 61 points and 9th in the Eastern Conference, just 3 points out of a playoff spot and with one game in hand over 8th place Carolina.  Now I know that this means a whole bunch of nothing.  But normally when a team goes on a streak where they win 6 out of 21, it would be viewed as a negative.  In this case, it would have helped.

Look at all this team has gone through this season: a ton of injuries, the trading away of their #1 goalie, a non-stop goalie carousel, a new coach.  Some of our young players are growing up.  The losing skid happened, it counts and it should count.  But we know that this team right now isn't the same team that lost all those games.  This team, the team that played tonight, that team isn't far away from being a playoff team.  Just needs injured players healthy and a couple of veteran additions.

Snowy, with much regret yet total respect, I disagree with you.

I've posted about this the last week, not to be a kill joy, but because
I've sen this stuff happen to teams out of the playoff picture with little pressure
while going on nice runs.

We've done this before and this part I just posted on gameday thread explans it best...

read what Kings coach Murray said...

http://www.newsday.com/sports/columnists/a...m-now-1.2699977

Quote:
 
"The Islanders right now are in a very relaxed state. They're stretching guys out, they're leaving the zone early to try and make a play. There's no pressure, no consequences to anything they do. That's the easiest time of your life to play this game."


Remember this post when your expectations are higher at the start of next year.
We'll see what they are made of THEN...it could be far different from what we might think but none-the-less I'm enjoying this now with guarded optimism.
Don't want to go for the hat trick of disappointment next year.

Steve your point is valid. I would never say that you were wrong in this instance. As an Islander fan I've seen a lot of seasons play out like this one has. But the current roster is totally different than the one that lost all of those games. And the lack of pressure sure hasn't helped our goaltending. There is talent here. The improvement of Tavares is clearly visible. Moulson is duplicating his good year last year.

Steve I may not have higher expectations next season. If we have DiPietro in goal opening night and we made no notable outside additions to the roster I will not be optimistic. I will see what they do in July and August. But as far as the core players we have here, a few of them are playing very well.

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Snowy
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The Dark Knight
#19Trotts,Feb 20 2011
04:36 AM
Sorry for being a wise guy but "6-11-3 over those 21 games "? 6+11+3=20 :goofy2:

With that said I'm all with you and I've been saying this myself that if it hadn't been for the losing stretch we would've made the playoffs.

Buf if ifs didn't exist......

Haha, I was never good at math :rofl:
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stevedepot
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TOTALLY agreed Snowy.

The core of this team...young core has great potential.
The question is, will they take the next step or stay the same.

But the goaltending situation needs to be stabilized to give them a fighting chance
to the best they could be. I'm not confident in DP.

I'm actually more optimistic with Poulin even with what we know know is a recurring knee cap issue. Let's monitor Montoya's play, maybe he's a dark horse for next year.
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