A Real Test for the Islanders
The Islanders, winners of their last three, are in second place in the Atlantic and owners of a 12-7-3 record.
They are a surprise to many around the league, but few who actually compared this year’s roster to last year’s. An upgrade in players, veteran leadership and the addition of a coach like Ted Nolan is an improvement. Laugh at the Garth Snow GM story all you want, Snow’s not on the ice anymore and as I’ve written before: neither is Isles owner Charles Wang, which seemed to be what all the predictions were from.
It’s easy to play as the underdog, when no one’s expecting you to win. After the 0-3-1 start, the Islanders have gone 12-4-2 and the league has taken notice and expectations are rising.
Just as important to Islanders management, the fans have started to take notice as well. Thanksgiving Friday, traditionally a good attendance weekend, saw a season-high 15,625 watch the Isles beat the Penguins 3-1. The next day crowd of 13,214 was less impressive, but it was rougly a 1k an improvement over the last Saturday night game played at the Coliseum.
Only further success on the ice will translate into sustained improvement at the gate and things won’t get any easier for the Islanders now that Alex Yashin, newfound hockey player, will be out with a knee sprain for up to 4 weeks.
Yashin had just taken a shot inside the Capitals’ zone when Bradley ran into him, knee-on-knee. He stayed down for a few moments before dragging himself to the bench with about 6:45 left.
Eric Boguniecki, who once netted 22 goals with the Blues in ‘02-03 was called up to fill Yashin’s roster spot. The Islanders can only hope everyone steps up to keep the winning going during Yashin’s absence, particularly slumping Miroslav Satan, who scored a goal against a goaltender in last Friday’s win (as opposed to 2 of his 5 goals, which are empty netters).
Other Islanders notes:
* The Isles inducted Bob Bourne into the Islanders Hall of Fame over the weekend.
* The Islanders have everyone from Ted Nolan to the Ice Girls to Bryan Trottier on the “We’re all Islanders” blog. The best pure goal scorer Wayne Gretzky has ever seen (a quote I can’t find a reference to right now), Mike Bossy, has his own blog.
* I saw a commercial for the Islanders during one of the last games with the theme being everyone honking their horns to “Let’s Go Is-land-ers!”, commonly heard after all wins (and some losses) on the way out of the parking lot of the Coliseum. I thought it was simple, yet effective and a good way to try and hook back some fans by invoking what’s mostly likely a positive memory. A step up from some other commercials recently done by the organization which just came off as trying too hard (like any with a Rangers jersey). I couldn’t find it on the Islanders’ website or Youtube, where the Islanders have posted some videos, if someone has it, feel free to pass it along.
Update Nov 28 850pm: Greg Logan of Newsday writes: Terrible timing for Yashin
Maybe there was a time when the loss of Alexei Yashin might have been considered addition by subtraction by some Islanders fans. But not now. Not by a long shot
Indeed. The Islanders are currently tied 2-2 after 2 with the Pens with goals from Viktor Kozlov and Arron Asham. Role players like Asham will have to keep contributing for the Islanders to get through Yashin’s injury without tanking in the standings.
Next entry: Another Plea Deal for Testimony Against Tocchet
Previous entry: Tocchet Still Waiting
Comments