Alright Islander fans, hockey season is just two months away and we have nothing to look forward to. Sure we have a new coach in Scott Gordon, who is great with the young guys, but our young guys (aside from Josh Bailey, Kyle Okposo, Jeff Tambellini and Blake Comeau) are not so great; well at least not any of them that will play this season. Yeah, the Isles are in a youth movement, but all their youth is at least 2-3 years away from coming up! What the hell Garth?! Now, I love the move this offseason to sign Mark Streit and I understand the Doug Weight signing and like it, even though he is 38.
Now there still are guys out there on the free agent market that they are interested in and these guys I would not mind having. Guys like Mark Parrish, Jim Dowd, Martin Gelinas, Brett Hedican and Patrice Brisebois would be great additions to the club and would make the club better. Hedican is close to being done as sources connected with the player and club have said so. Parrish's rumor comes from a source that somehow is tied to the player and club, but all along interest in Parrish should have been instant because we need players that can play, and in my mind, Parrish still can. Now for the Brisebois rumor. This rumor is simply more than one reliable sources not in any way directly connected to the players or teams involved and not connected to each other. However, the addition of Brisebois would bode well for the blue line because Brisebois is tough and does not mind a fight. He will pass well and can hit. Interest in Gelinas and Dowd is pretty much speculation, but interest nonetheless. It's a rumor that comes from a single reliable source not in any way directly connected to the players or teams involved.
Islanders fans, brace yourselves for this one. The Islanders are also reportedly a dark-horse in the Mats Sundin sweepstakes. Now, it is obviously a longshot, but just imagine the attention the Isles would get if they signed him. Almost Brett Favre like. But hey, at least they are interested in quality players. God knows they need them. Think of this too (incase Garth Snow and Charles Wang are reading), if the Islanders signed Mats Sundin, he alone would put butts in the seats at Nassau Coliseum. He would do exactly what Brett Favre did for the Jets, put butts in Iceworks for practice, butts at the Coliseum and it would once again make the Islanders a team to talk about.
My father always talks about Bossy, Gillies, Potvin, Smith, Nystrom, Tonelli, Bourne and all the guys from the Glory Days and always says that they should all lace up the skates again (he is kidding when he says that, but sometimes I'm not so sure), and why not? It probably would produce a better product than what they have now, and it would attract more fans than they are attracting now. The sole reason for me to be excited for training camp is to see what Scott Gordon has. I am eager to see how he deals with these young kids and how he can make them play to their potential. Ted Nolan was good at that, but not really good at that for the younger guys. Maybe Gordon can spark guys like Ben Walter, Jeff Tambellini, Frans Nielsen, Andy Hilbert, Sean Bergenheim and the others to play to their max potential. I hope so and we'll see. This is a project, so for all those impatient Isles fans out there, such as myself, just hang on (I know you'll hate the sound of this) for at least another year or two, and then after that we should be OK.
Gordon preaches shut down defense, which should be great for Rick DiPietro, who is often times left to look stupid by himself, because now he will be able to focus on just stopping the puck and not on trying to save the team by doing too much. In my opinion, Gordon was the right hire, but only time will tell if that is true. Guys like Doug Weight, Bill Guerin, Mike Sillinger, Brendan Witt, Trent Hunter, Richard Park, Mark Streit, and Mike Comrie need to step up and do their jobs and help the young kids and the Islanders should be ok. They already have the All-Star goaltender, now let's see if they can put all the pieces together. Final Analysis: The Islanders can only be successful if Rick DiPietro stays healthy (that seems to be a big if these days) and if Scott Gordon can successfully impliment his system. My prediction: 11th or 12th place in the Eastern Conference.
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