It started the end of last season. Steve (notso) Stirling was fired towards the end, and Brad Shaw came in. Brad did an OK job, but the team needed a taskmaster, someone who would hold guys feet to the fire (paging Mr.
Charles Wang proceeded to hire Neil Smith as GM and Ted Nolan as coach. This after numerous stories that Duane Sutter or Steve Tambellini would come home. Nolan had been out of the NHL for 10 years, after leaving Buffalo under questionable circumstances. Smith had been out for several years after basically destroying the Rangers. Nolan I was OK with. Smith, given his blueshirt background and awful history, not so much. Wang also lured Bryan Trottier as an advisor and Pat LaFontaine to a similar role. Fans were happy, and we thought things were looking up. Forty days later, it blew up.
Smith was out, after a falling out with Wang. Wang wanted to run everything through a committee, and Smith did not like this. Or maybe he didn't like the idea of signing a goalie to a 15 year contract. Either way, he was out, and Garth Snow!, the backup goalie the prior season was named GM. Patty L left as well, and the Isles were a laughingstock. A few guys were signed, Witt, Hill, Hilbert, Kozlov, Dunham. But the hopes for cutting of Yashin did not happen, though the hiring of Nolan seemed to be a good sign in Yashin's regard. Perhaps Nolan could get him going.
Entering the season, pretty much every pundit had the Islanders missing the playoffs, and being the worst team in the NHL. I have to admit, things did not look good, but I felt they would compete for the playoffs. Things got off to a slow start, as the boys lost their first 3 games on a swing out west, and DP looked bad. It turned out he was playing with a mild groin injury. Once healed, he returned to play very well. They finished October 5-6. But Yashin was playing well, and soon to be Free Agent Jason Blake was on fire.
They went 7-6 in November, and 7-6 in December, despite Yashin missing time with a knee injury. Still, they were in first place for a few days, and people were starting to notice the job Nolan was doing. Guys played hard every night. Very few blowouts. They won 3 against the hated Rangers. The guys were buying into his methods. There were flaws, and a lot of penalties, but they were right there with the rest of the division.
January was awful. A 4-9 record. But overall they were 23-21-6, a far cry from 30th overall. February was fantastic. They went 9-4, finishing the month at 32-23-8. DP was on fire, and people were mentioning him as a main reason for the improvement. Nolan was getting well deserved recognition as a Jack Adams candidate. Yes, the Penguins were doing extremely well, but look at the talent they had compared to the Islanders. Crobsy, Malkin, Staal, jeez, that team is stacked. The Isles, not so much. Then, Snow pulled off a couple of deals, adding defenseman Marc Andre Bergeron from Edmonton to man the point on the Power Play, and then dipping back into the Oilers well to get Ryan Smyth for two prospects and a first round pick this year. Smyth brings grit and a nose around the net. Things were looking up.
Then the roof started to cave in. Chris Simon despicably whacked Ryan Hollweg in the face with his stick. He wound up being suspended for the rest of the season, 25 games minimum. And the Isles lost back to back games to the Rangers, 2-1 each time, despite DP playing a fantastic game in the first of the two losses with 56 saves. Two games later, DP would suffer a concussion as he took a knee to the head. Mike Dunham, who had not played in weeks came in, and the rust showed, as the Isles lost 3 in a row. DP would return for a couple of games, including wins over the Penguins and Flyers, but would take another blow to the head in a game against the Rangers, and was out again. Dunham lost the next two, and was replaced by AHL goalie Wade (Yoda) Dubielewicz. Dubie lost his first start, but then, with the Isles facing a one loss and go home scenario, won 4 straight. Help from the Rangers (who beat Montreal) and the Leafs (who were awful against the Isles on game, then game back to defeat the Habs this past Saturday) the Isles were able to take the last playoff spot, beating the Devils 2-1 in a SO on Sunday.
Nolan deserves the credit. He used guys wisely. When Yashin was not playing well, he put him on IR to heal his knee. When he came back and was playing poorly, he demoted him to the 4th line, something that Stirling never did, not Shaw. He stuck with DP. He made the guys believe. And he made the fans believe.
Now, the playoffs. They start Thursday against the top team in the NHL, the Buffalo Sabres. It looks like Dubie will play at least game 1, as DP is not yet cleared. What is going to happen?
On paper, it is a mismatch. The Sabres had 113 points and scored 308 goals, giving up 242. They had 6 guys score more than 20 goals, and 4 more than 30. The PP was 17.4% and PK was 81.3%. Miller is the goalie who many thought should have been the Team USA goalie over DP last Olympics (while forgetting the team scored as often as Jimmy Rollins in a Manhattan bar). They are fast, and built for the new NHL.
The Isles finished with 92 points. They scored 247 goals, and gave up 240. The PP was 18.1%, PK was 81.8%. They had 6 guys score more than 20 goals, and 2 more than 30 (Smyth scored most of his for Edmonton of course). Dubie is small, and this is his first NHL playoff. The team takes an abnormally large number of penalties. They are slow. Blake is the offensive engine, along with Smyth. Yashin historically has bad playoffs. It's no contest, right?
Wrong. Yes, Buffalo won the season series 3-1. Yes, they have more offensive firepower. But you know what? It's a new season. All that stuff is gone. Blake is playing for a contract. Smyth as well. Dubie wants an NHL job. Yashin wants to keep his. And if DP is healthy, you know he wants Miller. And Nolan would love nothing more than to beat the Sabres. This team will play hard, 60 minutes each game. Nolan will have them ready. People wrote them off last week, and look what they did. They rode a guy who has Yoda and the hated "Fisherman" on his mask to 4 straight wins in a do or die situation. This is not going to be the whitewash everyone thinks. Look at the recent past. The Oilers were an 8th place team last year. The Cardinals won 83 games. The Jets were supposed to go 2 and 12. Why not the Islanders? They rode a hot Glenn Healy to the Conference Finals in 1993. Why not ride a hot Dubie to the next round. Call me crazy, or a homer. No problem, you may be right. But I think they can take the Sabres. The Coliseum in the playoffs is unbelievable. The place literally shakes. The fans will be at full throat. They want this. The guys want this.
Islanders in 7.
Let's hear it:
Let's Go Islanders!
*clap clap clap clap clap*
Let's Go Islanders!
1 comment:
That's more like it. :)
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