Yashin Stays
Just in case you were thinking new blood on Long Island might mean a send off for Alexei Yashin:
Indications yesterday were that the team seemed more likely to continue trying to make it work with the underachieving captain. Nolan said “having the opportunity to try to get the most out of him as an athlete is going to be fun.” Wang would not commit either way to Yashin, but said, “It’s our job to surround him with the kind of things that will make him shine. What Neil and Teddy have to do is say, ‘How do we get the best of him?’ “
There’s no doubting Yashin’s got talent, and personally I think he takes more heat than he deserves, but obviously his enormous contract is going to shine the spotlight on him all the time. “Earn that money” is what the media and the fans will say and write, and they’re right. You can only assume Ted Nolan is not going to stand for any of Yashin’s floating and will bench him the moment he sees it happen. It’ll be interesting to see what happens between the new head coach and the heavy-salaried star during training camp and the first few weeks of the season. My guess we’ll see all or none from Alexei. He’s either going to have a huge season, or see a lot more bench than he’s used to.
Another piece on the coach/GM moves from Alan Hahn:
Wang makes it board game
One from Newsday sports columnist Mark Herrmann:
Healthy appetites for the jobs
Peter Botte of the NY Daily News:
Smith, Nolan thank Isles
NY Post’s Evan Grossman:
Isles Welcome Smith, Nolan
The NY Times had a short piece labeled “by NY Times”, so I’ll skip that one. Still, a good sign when the major local papers pick up an Islanders story mid-June.
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