Weight is not my first choice but he seems to be next in line like it or not. I rather have Weight than Cappy and I do think Weight has a chance to be a good coach.
- ses111

At this point I'd take any of the Islander fans on this board over Crappy.

Edit: Except Vukota. I don't want them to be 0-41 at home.

put it this way, i never realized how much i missed nabby till he was hurt.

Nabby was reason for recent surge in net, and Nilsson is 1for1 in games plays during streak.

Poulin is terrible. He lead the Islanders all time in first shot goal allowed.

im not a DP fan, but this guy is right on par with him.

Imagine if Nelson played top 2 line mins from first game of season? would he be in calder run?

I think isles dont want their rookies to be calder winners b/c then they would be more expensive to sign.


Also - when Bailey signed he was coming off a great run. All of us here thought is contract was a great signing. Traitors.

lets hope he builds off last night. did you notice the jump in his step after that goal. kid needs confidence again.

Imagine if Nelson played top 2 line mins from first game of season? would he be in calder run?

I think isles dont want their rookies to be calder winners b/c then they would be more expensive to sign.


Also - when Bailey signed he was coming off a great run. All of us here thought is contract was a great signing. Traitors.

lets hope he builds off last night. did you notice the jump in his step after that goal. kid needs confidence again.
- Spartiarti

He needs a coach that will give him a good swift kick in the ass after any shift where he didn't play hard (which is all of them). A coach that will put him in the press box if he doesn't respond.

At this point I'd take any of the Islander fans on this board over Crappy.

Edit: Except Vukota. I don't want them to be 0-41 at home.
- JimmyP

Imagine if Nelson played top 2 line mins from first game of season? would he be in calder run?

I think isles dont want their rookies to be calder winners b/c then they would be more expensive to sign.


Also - when Bailey signed he was coming off a great run. All of us here thought is contract was a great signing. Traitors.

lets hope he builds off last night. did you notice the jump in his step after that goal. kid needs confidence again.
- Spartiarti

That's a load of crap. 5 years for a kid who had a couple of good months?? Seriously you were joking right?

That's a load of crap. 5 years for a kid who had a couple of good months?? Seriously you were joking right?
- Vukota

5 years for Bailey was crazy.

Based on what? One was set in stone for going to Pittsburgh before UFA even opened up. The other signed on day 1. Take a look at the listed top available dmen in last seasons UFA list. Guess who's at the top of that list..STREIT. That's how good the field was.
Meanwhile, I have my doubts that Ferance would have faired better while paired with Amac
As for what Garth did and didn't try, I have no idea. They don't hold pressers where the GM says, "Well, I got turned down by Scuderi, Reghr and Jones today"

I know the result wasn't good enough, and I agree with that asertion. what I don't agree with is that losing Visnovsky and Hamonic/Strait isn't a key component to why this team has failed.
- keaner17

Thw point is that other GM s were in on these players why wasnt ours? The point once again is he never is. What does it matter if Streit was at the top of the list a Mac is also rumored to being a good player. Whats your point? If you want to throw your Hans up in the air and say, "well we couldn't have gotten them they were going somewhere else" than ill say maybe we should get a GM who is capable of getting said players here? Idk. Seems like common sense to me? Snow once again put money wherr it wasnt needed. Invested it in shat players once again and not even in the position of need. Snow didnt do his job or with your theory his due diligence. There's no excuse for me if you want to facilitate excuses for Snow its fine but thats not my shtick. My opinion wont change.

Well, they were definitely big misses. I don't know if it proves he's incompetent as much as it proves this team has a huge hill to climb when it comes to getting UFA's to come here. Perpahs some of that is due to the perception that he's incompetent, I don't know but while he missed there, I'd say de Haan and Vanek were huge hits for him this year.
Snow's biggest fail (IMO) this season is the one thing that is unqesitonably 100% in his control and that's behind the bench.
- keaner17

One of the reasons free agents don't come here is bcs of Snow himself and his incompetence. The guy is laughed at. There is a reason for that.

I think if they miss, Jack's gone. If he's not, I'll step all the further towards the 'bye bye Garth' group. For the moment, I'll give Garth ONE more season to show this team has arrived. Last year he won accolades for what the team did, but this is unquestionably a step backwards and no matter what the reasons, he has to be where the buck stops.
- keaner17

Capuano will be coach next yr whether we make the playoffs or not.

He was coaching at the key moments of the game last night. Cappy was no where to be seen.
- bixll

There was one very telling image with Weight telling the players something and Capuani was behind them looking down at a little piece of paper. I witnessed this no less than three tines last night.

Imagine if Nelson played top 2 line mins from first game of season? would he be in calder run?

I think isles dont want their rookies to be calder winners b/c then they would be more expensive to sign.


Also - when Bailey signed he was coming off a great run. All of us here thought is contract was a great signing. Traitors.

lets hope he builds off last night. did you notice the jump in his step after that goal. kid needs confidence again.
- Spartiarti

Who is ''us'? I thought he showed up in the final stretch last year but by no means wanted him signed for five years. I don't recall that many here clammoring for his signing.

Thw point is that other GM s were in on these players why wasnt ours? The point once again is he never is. What does it matter if Streit was at the top of the list a Mac is also rumored to being a good player. Whats your point? If you want to throw your Hans up in the air and say, "well we couldn't have gotten them they were going somewhere else" than ill say maybe we should get a GM who is capable of getting said players here? Idk. Seems like common sense to me? Snow once again put money wherr it wasnt needed. Invested it in shat players once again and not even in the position of need. Snow didnt do his job or with your theory his due diligence. There's no excuse for me if you want to facilitate excuses for Snow its fine but thats not my shtick. My opinion wont change.
- Cptmjl

My point, which I thought I had made clear, was that we wanted a top pairing dman and there were NO top pairing dmen available to this team. Scuderi never even really hit the market. It was said he absolutely wanted to go to Pittsburgh before July 1st even came. Low and behold, he signed there on day one. My point in mentioning Streit was that he was considered the best dman on the market after the first two signed, therefore meaning the market SUCKED.

As I've said, Snow failed. But there are places to judge realistic failures and then there are fantasy failures. The idea that he 'could of' had a top pairing dman via UFA (or trade) is fantasy. The idea that his UFA acquisitions were epic fails is reality. So kill him on those he did sign, but let's not get into who he didn't sign.

One of the reasons free agents don't come here is bcs of Snow himself and his incompetence. The guy is laughed at. There is a reason for that.
- Cptmjl

Based on what? Where has it ever been said that UFA's are 'laughing' at him? I'm not saying Garth is viewed as a top GM in this league but I doubt he gets any more scrutiny from UFA's than say Yzerman, who had just as little experience.

Perhaps he hasn't gone as hard after them as he should, I'm not sure. I definitely think there's merit to the idea that this team continues to want to develop from within and refuses to get caught up in crazy contracts like Clarkson or something. So perhaps this is just our approach. Still, when guys like Lubo, Nabby and even Vanek through the media all buy in, while players like Tavares are here, I doubt too many UFA's are 'laughing' at Snow.

Based on what? Where has it ever been said that UFA's are 'laughing' at him? I'm not saying Garth is viewed as a top GM in this league but I doubt he gets any more scrutiny from UFA's than say Yzerman, who had just as little experience.

Perhaps he hasn't gone as hard after them as he should, I'm not sure. I definitely think there's merit to the idea that this team continues to want to develop from within and refuses to get caught up in crazy contracts like Clarkson or something. So perhaps this is just our approach. Still, when guys like Lubo, Nabby and even Vanek through the media all buy in, while players like Tavares are here, I doubt too many UFA's are 'laughing' at Snow.
- keaner17

One thing is Garth does seem to have a lack of charisma. His interviews are tough to get through. I'm not sure how well he can sell JT and then other young talent? To be fair, many of these FA's want the money and instant winning. I do know Brooklyn will take all the excuses away. Wang will really start to feel the heat which is why I doubt he will give Garth much time to get the team winning once they hit Brooklyn. He may like Garth, but I doubt he is going to stand the contant hits when the media spotlight is much stronger.

put it this way, i never realized how much i missed nabby till he was hurt.

Nabby was reason for recent surge in net, and Nilsson is 1for1 in games plays during streak.

Poulin is terrible. He lead the Islanders all time in first shot goal allowed.

im not a DP fan, but this guy is right on par with him.
- Spartiarti

This is just flat out wrong. I realize you don't like Poulin and the guy has definitely struggled the last few games, but I think you're using an ends to justify your means here. Let's not manufacture crap to bury the kid.

prior to his injury, Nabokov had won 4 of his last 13 starts. Since his return from injury he was 4-5.
During that same stretch, Poulin was 7-2. So let's not pretend Nabby was the catalyst. He helps this team because he's a vet and steadying force, Poulin's record was better during that stretch.

One of the reasons free agents don't come here is bcs of Snow himself and his incompetence. The guy is laughed at. There is a reason for that.
- Cptmjl

They are really going to laugh at Snow when he can't trade Vanek at the trade deadline...

There was one very telling image with Weight telling the players something and Capuani was behind them looking down at a little piece of paper. I witnessed this no less than three tines last night.
- Cptmjl

I agree. That is when I said, he is already coaching this team, not Crappy.

One thing is Garth does seem to have a lack of charisma. His interviews are tough to get through. I'm not sure how well he can sell JT and then other young talent? To be fair, many of these FA's want the money and instant winning. I do know Brooklyn will take all the excuses away. Wang will really start to feel the heat which is why I doubt he will give Garth much time to get the team winning once they hit Brooklyn. He may like Garth, but I doubt he is going to stand the contant hits when the media spotlight is much stronger.
- ses111

Yeah, a lot of NHLers are that way though. It seems you get extremes with ex players. You either get the Don Cherry over the top type or you get the Snow deadpan type. He definitely doesn't seem even slightly comfortable on camera. I'm not sure if that carries over to private conversations. I spoke to him years ago when he was in Philly and the guy was pretty damn funny. Real dry sense of humor.

I think there's a lot of uphill climbing over the last several years to sell this team to UFA's but I also think Garth is reserved in just how hard he's willing to go after someone. They've shown that they want to be fiscally responsible (see JT's contract, Grabners contract etc) and aren't afraid to turn to internal help rather than overpay for minor upgrades.

That said, the dman market just sucked this year..SUCKED. I do agree that any help would have been good help, but no one saw such long term injuriies coming our way.

This is just flat out wrong. I realize you don't like Poulin and the guy has definitely struggled the last few games, but I think you're using an ends to justify your means here. Let's not manufacture crap to bury the kid.

prior to his injury, Nabokov had won 4 of his last 13 starts. Since his return from injury he was 4-5.
During that same stretch, Poulin was 7-2. So let's not pretend Nabby was the catalyst. He helps this team because he's a vet and steadying force, Poulin's record was better during that stretch.
- keaner17

Could not agree more. Nabby is not the star some think he is. How did Nabby do when the Isles had a chance to beat Pitt in the playoffs? Poulin may or may not be the answer. Nabby does have years over the guy so he better be more of the steadying force.

I agree. That is when I said, he is already coaching this team, not Crappy.
- bixll

It's funny when you look back and think of the order of events.
Cappy claims he doesn't deal with goalies.
Cappy hands the clipboard to JT
Cappy expects his Center to call timeouts.
Cappy allows Weight and Thompson to hand out lashings
Cappy steps back and has Weight and Thompson draw up plays.

So what is it that Cappy does other than talk about battle level?

Yeah, a lot of NHLers are that way though. It seems you get extremes with ex players. You either get the Don Cherry over the top type or you get the Snow deadpan type. He definitely doesn't seem even slightly comfortable on camera. I'm not sure if that carries over to private conversations. I spoke to him years ago when he was in Philly and the guy was pretty damn funny. Real dry sense of humor.

I think there's a lot of uphill climbing over the last several years to sell this team to UFA's but I also think Garth is reserved in just how hard he's willing to go after someone. They've shown that they want to be fiscally responsible (see JT's contract, Grabners contract etc) and aren't afraid to turn to internal help rather than overpay for minor upgrades.

That said, the dman market just sucked this year..SUCKED. I do agree that any help would have been good help, but no one saw such long term injuriies coming our way.
- keaner17

Those interviews are painful. It hurts when Neil Smith was able to sign 3 or 4 good FA's in 30 days of work. I agree last years dman market sucked. This year looks to have some good ones so Garth better find a way. That is, unless everyone signs up with their own team which seems to be happening more and more.

Sharks sign Marleu and Thornton to extensions:

3 years for each, both at about $6.5 million per season.

Those interviews are painful. It hurts when Neil Smith was able to sign 3 or 4 good FA's in 30 days of work. I agree last years dman market sucked. This year looks to have some good ones so Garth better find a way. That is, unless everyone signs up with their own team which seems to be happening more and more.
- ses111

I couldn't stand Neil Smith and was pretty glad when he left. The guy ran the Rangers franchise into the ground after being handed a Stanley Cup winner. Imagine having a Yankee's like payroll and consistently missing the playoffs.

His draft was pretty bad when you think of it:
Neil's draft in 2006 broken down by round:

1st Round: Kyle Okposo
2nd Round: Jesse Joensuu
3rd Round: Robin Figren
4th Round: Rhett Rakhshani, Jase Weslosky, Tomas Marcinko, Doug Rogers
5th Round: Shane Sims, Kim Johansson
6th Round: Andrew MacDonald, Brian Day, Stefan Ridderwall
7th Round: Troy Mattila
His free agent signings:
Chris Simon, Mike Sillinger, Andy Hilbert, Brendan Witt and Tom Poti
Not exactly great work IMO. Sillinger, Witt and Okposo are the big standouts. After that...
To me, other than Witt, the rest of the UFA's look a lot like the kinda retreads Garth gets killed for...But Sillinger worked out.

My point, which I thought I had made clear, was that we wanted a top pairing dman and there were NO top pairing dmen available to this team. Scuderi never even really hit the market. It was said he absolutely wanted to go to Pittsburgh before July 1st even came. Low and behold, he signed there on day one. My point in mentioning Streit was that he was considered the best dman on the market after the first two signed, therefore meaning the market SUCKED.

As I've said, Snow failed. But there are places to judge realistic failures and then there are fantasy failures. The idea that he 'could of' had a top pairing dman via UFA (or trade) is fantasy. The idea that his UFA acquisitions were epic fails is reality. So kill him on those he did sign, but let's not get into who he didn't sign.
- keaner17

I never said that. I reiterated the top pairing comment from one of your posts. I said a top four. The bottom line is we needed a goaltender and we needed at the very least a legitimate top 4. He didn't deliver on either and instead invested what money he had with his limited budget into Regin, Bouchard and Clutterbuck. He failed addressing the teams needs and invested money into crap players. It's not some thing I just came up with it happened. Every year the same people say the same things as far as Snow and his offseason success before it even happens. This is Snow's big year! He has to do something! Etc. We've all heard it. I'm giving Snow one more chance this offseason... Etc. Same people saying the same things with the same results. Last year this team showed some competitiveness. The way the league viewed us for once changed to a somewhat positive view.
It was an enormous failure on Snow's part to leave this team the way it was with the coach it has and the goaltender it HAD. There is no excuse in my mind then and there is still no excuse now. Before this season even started I echoed this same sentiment on here and was met with the I'm a debbie downer routine. Well not to say I told you so but...