It sounds as if you're trying to make the argument that Snow did a good job this off season because a lot of people liked the forward group going into the season. That doesn't address the multiple complsints about the defense and goaltending that all of us "experts" expressed all summer. It also ignores the fact that we aren't paid to be the GM, Snow is. Of course we all have the benefit of hindsight. But the defenseand goaltending (and coaching) deficiencies have been complained about and obvious to all for months.
- Jethro09

Well, I'll be the first to admit I don't think Snow did enough to imrpove this team. That's fact. I'll also say though that it's difficult to say what COULD have been legitimately done. I'd also caution that folks shouldn't use this seasons step back as a validation of their critiquing his work over the last 6 years, which is what this has translated to for some.

I'd still contend that if we could find a top pairing dman, bring Vis and Strait back in to the fold healthy and add a coach, this team's fortunes would dramatically turn around.

maybe. i don't really know, but i thought that was the jist of it

i'm curious to see if barclays really helps the islanders make more money. you're going to a much more densely populated area in a very nice arena, but there are less seats which means less tickets and also, everyone in that area might be rangers or devils fans already and just not bother going to the islanders game? or you could end up selling out every night. should be interesting.
- rangerdanger94

well, in this case the seats won't hurt as much as the lease terms. The Isles have been strangled by SMG for 20 years now. Our owner has lost close to $200 million on this team, more than the present value. So I've always had a hard time being overly critical of him. He's a quack..no doubt. I don't really like him. But few owners would have kept this thing afloat. I'm willing to give him a chance under far better circumstances to see what happens. If he continues to bottom line us after a couple of years there, then I'll add my wolfpack avatar

It sounds as if you're trying to make the argument that Snow did a good job this off season because a lot of people liked the forward group going into the season. That doesn't address the multiple complsints about the defense and goaltending that all of us "experts" expressed all summer. It also ignores the fact that we aren't paid to be the GM, Snow is. Of course we all have the benefit of hindsight. But the defenseand goaltending (and coaching) deficiencies have been complained about and obvious to all for months.
- Jethro09

i wouldnt necessarily say he did a "good job", id say he probably made the best given the resources he had to work with.

Coming off of last seasons performance with virtually the exact roster--most felt PMB was an upgrade from Boyes, and just about everyone felt that having streit off the team in itself was an upgrade-- MOST people here were happy with the way the roster was set at the beginning of the season, and figured theyd be fighting for the 7th 8th spot this season.

everyone knew the defense and goaltending would be question marks but still believed this team would be in the thick of things. turns out that PMB, regin, injuries, subpar goaltending all led to where the team is today.

if we are here to discuss if the team is good today then the simple answer is "no", but its quite a double-standard to say garth messed up and not acknowledge that most of us felt the job he did was good enough to compete...and i get its his job to get it right but i dont think anyones opinion would be different if they were being paid to do this or not

Yeah, saw that too. So they could have gone two rounds deep and come near breaking even....think about that..the team needs to get to the semifinals to turn a minimal profit. Yet many are shocked he's not all in adding 10-$12 million in payroll to once again..Break even in a best case scenario...

Now if they get to Barclay and that regular season line turns say a $10-$12 million profit...then he has reason to push forward..that's been the arguement all along for those who say 2015 should (hopefully) bring change.
- keaner17

Keaner...I bet a lot of that loss is the crappy arrangement they have with the company that runs the Nassau Coliseum...

Yeah, saw that too. So they could have gone two rounds deep and come near breaking even....think about that..the team needs to get to the semifinals to turn a minimal profit. Yet many are shocked he's not all in adding 10-$12 million in payroll to once again..Break even in a best case scenario...

Now if they get to Barclay and that regular season line turns say a $10-$12 million profit...then he has reason to push forward..that's been the arguement all along for those who say 2015 should (hopefully) bring change.
- keaner17

also have to factor in our poop poor attendance in the regular season

And when our skilled prospects fail to develop properly because they get benched/put in limited roles and their confidence gets crushed, it'll be because those players never really had the talent and not because the coach is a buffoon, right? There's more to get out of the players we have. Not a doubt in my mind about that. They got it out of Nielsen and Bailey last year when they actually...coached them. They didn't simply flip a switch. They were told to simplify their game and their role, and to worry about defense and only defense, and let the rest flow from there. They excelled in that role, but then got put in essentially pure offensive roles this season and struggled again, while Cizikas' line got shifted from pure energy role to the team's top shutdown line...that is when Cappy can figure out how to even get the matchup he wants (that he fails at this even when he's home and there's a stoppage of play is a whole other issue entirely). This reduced the effectiveness of both lines.
- UIF

Same coaches coached Bailey and Nielsen last year as this year. Same coaches coached Grabs the past few years too. Nobody has said coaching isn't an issue. It is. I've said that multiple times. But, that doesn't mean that the players maybe, just maybe, are closer in talent to what they've showed the majority of the past few years and not what they showed over a few months last year. Again, it's a combination of things. Cheap owner not committed to winning, only saving $$ (for obvious reasons). GM who is likely hand-cuffed financially failing to address obvious areas of need after last season. A coach, who has been force-fed bad players and players not NHL ready, who has no idea how to teach young players the NHL game and how to improve or how to put those players in places that afford them the best chance to succeed. A coach who can't get his guys mentally sharp enough to play complete games and not go to sleep for spirts during each game. Players that don't learn from mistakes and continue to make the same ones over and over again.

Keaner...I bet a lot of that loss is the crappy arrangement they have with the company that runs the Nassau Coliseum...
- kear20

It is all...SMG is a cut throat group. They are the same company that nearly destroyed the Pens franchise until the state and Lemieux stepped in. I believe Buffalo was another victim of theirs. It was a lease that worked in the old NHL but not today.

Following the money is always fun too. (tin foil hats please) SMG is Spectacor Management....part of the PRISM group. It started as Comcast/Spectacor.....founded by Ed Snider (Flyers owner). He remains a big shareholder of them and Comcast, which is why he was the loudest voice in getting the NHL to not go back to ESPN and stay with Versus (owned by Comcast).
So SMG refused to netotiate the details of their deal with the Isles and Pens..of course the Isles and Pens were competition for Ed's Flyers...go figure.

also have to factor in our poop poor attendance in the regular season
- Danformo

Up until the terms of concession profits were renegotiated 3 years ago, it was estimated that the Isles could sell out every game and the playoffs and still lose money...that's the type of lease we had.

Same coaches coached Bailey and Nielsen last year as this year. Same coaches coached Grabs the past few years too. Nobody has said coaching isn't an issue. It is. I've said that multiple times. But, that doesn't mean that the players maybe, just maybe, are closer in talent to what they've showed the majority of the past few years and not what they showed over a few months last year. Again, it's a combination of things. Cheap owner not committed to winning, only saving $$ (for obvious reasons). GM who is likely hand-cuffed financially failing to address obvious areas of need after last season. A coach, who has been force-fed bad players and players not NHL ready, who has no idea how to teach young players the NHL game and how to improve or how to put those players in places that afford them the best chance to succeed. A coach who can't get his guys mentally sharp enough to play complete games and not go to sleep for spirts during each game. Players that don't learn from mistakes and continue to make the same ones over and over again.
- Jethro09

I don't think anyone is disputing the issues the team faces, it's the priority of said issues that is the problem. Whether you felt the team overperformed last year or not, I don't think when comparing our roster to others in the league, there's any way anyone can legitimately say we're where we belong in the standings. So to me, step one has to be to get a coach who can introduce an system, adjust said system in times of adversity and help players reach their maximum potential.
I think a better coach has this team at least 7-8 games ahead of where they are right now, which puts us right in the thick of things.

I don't think anyone is disputing the issues the team faces, it's the priority of said issues that is the problem. Whether you felt the team overperformed last year or not, I don't think when comparing our roster to others in the league, there's any way anyone can legitimately say we're where we belong in the standings. So to me, step one has to be to get a coach who can introduce an system, adjust said system in times of adversity and help players reach their maximum potential.
I think a better coach has this team at least 7-8 games ahead of where they are right now, which puts us right in the thick of things.
- keaner17

when you look at it:

22nd overall PP
30th overall PK
29th overall in standings
30th in gaa
no goaltender with a save % over 900

it becomes obvious the special teams, defense and goaltending are issues. Whether one is more of an issue than another isn't important, but with the talent on the roster even with a below average defense and two rookie goaltenders, this team should not be this bad.

I strongly feel that a new coaching staff entirely is needed and that a change should have been made when the season was still possible to save.

We are so far back now it's ridiculous. The number of teams they have to pass means even if they were to win several in a row, with the number of 3 point games and teams in front of them it would be foolish to even hope for a playoff spot this season.

Nothing has been upgraded on the back end, our goaltending is the same, up front we've had questionable roster decisions made all season, not putting the one line that carried us last season together even once to see if they click again while we're dying for secondary scoring...these are all things that fall on the ooaching staff, and the GM for not making changes.

When you're 4-5 games below 500 and getting blown out frequently, THAT is the time you make a move. Not 10 games below 500, 29th overall and then waive a bit player who hasn't contributed while keeping an even worse player on the roster and in the lineup who is causing a lot of the problems (regin)

Not doing anything to get the team on track falls on both Snow and Cappy. As far as I'm concerned, Cappy has been over his head since he started and needs to go, and if Snow isn't willing to make that change and bring in an experienced coach while adding someone to our defense that can actually play defense, then he needs to go as well.

Same coaches coached Bailey and Nielsen last year as this year. Same coaches coached Grabs the past few years too. Nobody has said coaching isn't an issue. It is. I've said that multiple times. But, that doesn't mean that the players maybe, just maybe, are closer in talent to what they've showed the majority of the past few years and not what they showed over a few months last year. Again, it's a combination of things. Cheap owner not committed to winning, only saving $$ (for obvious reasons). GM who is likely hand-cuffed financially failing to address obvious areas of need after last season. A coach, who has been force-fed bad players and players not NHL ready, who has no idea how to teach young players the NHL game and how to improve or how to put those players in places that afford them the best chance to succeed. A coach who can't get his guys mentally sharp enough to play complete games and not go to sleep for spirts during each game. Players that don't learn from mistakes and continue to make the same ones over and over again.
- Jethro09

Yes, the same coaches who for years haven't been able to get consistency out of any player on the team not named John Tavares, miraculously, can't get consistency out of the players this season.

My point about last season was that they found the right buttons to push for Bailey and Nielsen in particular. It was putting them out against other teams' top lines with instructions to concentrate solely on shutting those lines down. When they did that, the rest of their game fell into place. I'm saying this season the coaches abandoned all of that and reverted back to putting those two into primarily scoring roles, which seems to have drudged up the same exact issues they had last season when put in those roles. Meanwhile responsibility for shutting down top lines has shifted mostly to Cizikas' line, which seems to have hurt the effectiveness they had as just a crash and bang energy line. Again...poor coaching all around.

I agree, by the way, about some puzzling decisions made in the offseason and some of the larger problems. But the team is skilled enough to play through a lot of that given the proper guidance. Many of them were talented higher-end prospects, and the fact that they're either all cycling between "getting it" and "regressing" every year, or are simply being horribly mismanaged by being played either with scrubs like Regin or not at all, I don't think is because none of them were ever any good to begin with.

Sheesh Cpt..I like ya man,you're one of the best folks to carry on with here but you can be thick as hell sometimes. No one is disputing any of this. Your last line is exactly what I'm saying...none of what she said was an epiphany...we all KNEW this.

What I dispute with Katie is that she has any clue where things go from here. Not what has led us to this point. She's functioning off of one to two sources, but most people close to this organization will tell you that the only people that know anything about the future inner workings of this team are Snow and Wang. So when she throws out there that none of this will change until ownership changes, I tune her out. Not because I think it's impossible things will continue this way, but because I don't think she has any concrete info to go off of.
- keaner17

OK, that's fine but I happen to agree with her. Lets leave it at that. She's reporting and for once it isn't a fluff piece like the usual garbage Staple pumps out. I like the fact that she said what she said. I fell it will help us in the end, it certainly won't hurt.

you dont ever remember saying something along the lines of (IE: NOT VERBATIM) "garth has bought himself some time with me with his team making the playoffs?"
- LetsGoIsles

Not in the offseason when he sat there with his thumb up his aSS. What I said REPEATEDLY was we need a goalie and at the very least top four. I said Bouchard was a reach and Regin was a joke of a signing which I got bashed for.

It doesn't matter whether she was obligated to or not. She's removed from the team at this point. She likely has no inside information and is merely offering her perspective on a job she did a couple of years ago. Her take on Cappy offers just how little she knows from an on ice standpoint. Her take on Wang and Snow is valid since she was connected to the team but it didn't provide anyting new...that was my point. She can tell you about the Isles from 2007-2011, but anything beyond that?
- keaner17

Well nobody ever called these guys out, she did. Good for her

Well nobody ever called these guys out, she did. Good for her
- Cptmjl

so did you...and at this point your opinions are nothing more than opinions...and for the most part they are uninformed (just like everyone else here)

so did you...and at this point your opinions are nothing more than opinions...and for the most part they are uninformed (just like everyone else here)
- LetsGoIsles

If it walks like a duck, acts like a duck, it's probably a duck. Words you should live by. Some people don't need something held in front of their face to make it real.

If it walks like a duck, acts like a duck, it's probably a duck. Words you should live by. Some people don't need something held in front of their face to make it real.
- Cptmjl

Feaster is out as Flames GM.

Feaster is out as Flames GM.
- ses111

Hope they hire Snow!!!!

Hope they hire Snow!!!!
- Nolanders

Also too bad Cappy didn't land that college job in the offseason he was supposedly under consideration for.

If it walks like a duck, acts like a duck, it's probably a duck. Words you should live by. Some people don't need something held in front of their face to make it real.
- Cptmjl

Feaster is out as Flames GM.
- ses111

So its official Snow is the worst GM in hockey

Off topic question...where can i go to buy an authentic Islanders jersey? I went to NHL shop and they only have the black ones. Not much came up when i googled it either plus sometimes a little hesitant when buying from unknown vendors.

So its official Snow is the worst GM in hockey
- mighty13duck

No comment.

Off topic question...where can i go to buy an authentic Islanders jersey? I went to NHL shop and they only have the black ones. Not much came up when i googled it either plus sometimes a little hesitant when buying from unknown vendors.
- special_k1074

Coliseum