It's insult to our intellegence that Snow has a nerve to run out the following stiffs on a nightly basis: Poulin, Martinek. Carkner, Hickey, AMAC, Strait, Regin, Bailey, McDonald, Clutterbuck, Boulton...
- kear20

I have no issue with Strait..I think he plays hard....Hickey just can't deal with the size of some forwards, he has the skill. Poulin is a good back up nothing more. C McDonald is a good grinder with some talent. The rest need to just go away.

Average goaltending and this team would be fighting for the division, let alone a playoff spot. And our coaching and defensive issues wouldn't be so highly visible.
- Isles316

Yes, but that's why, if your far and away best professional goaltender is healthy, you START him, every game. There's a reason why the backup is the backup- he doesn't play, other than the second half of a back to back (or the first half, depending on the opponents), because he simply isn't as good as the other guy. Nabokov isn't the greatest goaltender in the NHL, but he's a d*mned sight better than either of the other two. There's not even a slight comparison....and if he's healthy enough to ride the pine, he has to play, period.....unless your coach is a moron.

I have no issue with Strait..I think he plays hard....Hickey just can't deal with the size of some forwards, he has the skill. Poulin is a good back up nothing more. C McDonald is a good grinder with some talent. The rest need to just go away.
- Nolanders

Agreed on Strait. Starting to grow tired of Poulin's inability to put a complete game together though. I can excuse a bad goal here and there, but the margin of error with this team is so slight. On another team, Poulin might develop into a decent goaltender, even a starter. Unfortunately this is no team to develop a goaltender on. You can't have a rookie facing countless oddman rushes, point blank shots, deflections etc. That falls on defensive personnel but moreso on the system. This team plays a system that demands the defensive corps be elite, which we certainly are not.

I have no issue with Strait..I think he plays hard....Hickey just can't deal with the size of some forwards, he has the skill. Poulin is a good back up nothing more. C McDonald is a good grinder with some talent. The rest need to just go away.
- Nolanders

If Hickey was the size of Carkner, Wang would be paying him $7M a year (actually, he'd be top four in Los Angeles, and we'd never have seen him here). He's a good, solid defenseman. Unfortunately, he's half the size of most of the forwards he goes up against, so when it's a case of mano a mano, he's f***ed. If Carkner could skate like Hickey, same deal, in my opinion. Unfortunately, one is a midget, and one can't skate- that's why we got both of them for free. The difference is that on a good team, you can hide a Hickey as a five or six. Carkner simply doesn't skate well enough to play defense in the NHL, period- if he was a winger on the fourth line, and you only dressed him when you needed someone to punch someone else in the face (like Boulton), he'd be fine, but as a defenseman, he's a disaster.

The real garbage, though, is Regin, and this is my problem with some of the things this team does- they needed to send Strome down, because of too many games and then he couldn't play in Bridgeport and blah, blah, blah....how about what's best for your NHL team? Donovan hasn't been great, but he's no worse than Carkner or Martinek. Strome is ALREADY better than Regin, and he hasn't really done sh*t yet for me to even make that assessment, Regin is just absolutely worthless. If Nilsson had played 20 games in a row with Nabokov out, he'd probably already be at least better than Poulin, in my opinion.

Let's see some of these other kids take a shift in the NHL, like Mayfield, for example- there is no reason to keep Martinek anymore, he is finished. They can't be any worse than some of the crap Capuano trots out there on a regular basis- most of our defense and our backup goaltending can pretty much be replaced by anyone and be no worse than it has been. No one is going to perceive that they have "given up on the season" if they replace utter garbage with someone who might actually be better- again, they can't possibly be worse.

Yes, but that's why, if your far and away best professional goaltender is healthy, you START him, every game. There's a reason why the backup is the backup- he doesn't play, other than the second half of a back to back (or the first half, depending on the opponents), because he simply isn't as good as the other guy. Nabokov isn't the greatest goaltender in the NHL, but he's a d*mned sight better than either of the other two. There's not even a slight comparison....and if he's healthy enough to ride the pine, he has to play, period.....unless your coach is a moron.
- dcb1

This team will never manage to develop a goaltender if mgmt becomes as impatient as it's fanbase. That's not a comment on the fanbases lack of patience on the team as a whole, but simply goaltenders. I don't care if you put Bernier on the ice, Halak, whoever, this team has too many defensive breakdowns and the margin of error for a goalie is Zilch. You can't develop a goaltender under those circumstances. My money remains on Nilsson and I think unfortunately we'll end up having to let Poulin go without ever having had an environment to succeed in.

Well of course we are. You guys are the center of the universe
- Cptmjl

The best the NHL can do is Kris King and Colin?

you guys blaming this on the Rangers.

I'm SHOCKED!!!
- jimbro83

I'm sure you would have no problem with a bunch of ex-Islanders in Toronto.

I'm sure you would have no problem with a bunch of ex-Islanders in Toronto.
- ses111

Kris King played in the NHL for 16 years. 3 of them for the Rangers.

Kris King played in the NHL for 16 years. 3 of them for the Rangers.
- jimbro83

The guy could not play hockey. This is the guy the NHL hires?

The guy could not play hockey. This is the guy the NHL hires?
- ses111

Definitely the Rangers fault

The guy could not play hockey. This is the guy the NHL hires?
- ses111

Well in all fairness Garth Snow really couldn't play hockey either.

Definitely the Rangers fault
- jimbro83

Absolutely. Did you guys have anything to do with Obama getting elected?

Absolutely. Did you guys have anything to do with Obama getting elected?
- Cptmjl

NOT ME

Well in all fairness Garth Snow really couldn't play hockey either.
- Cptmjl

NOT ME
- jimbro83

Ok, now I like you again even though you guys waved that goal off the other night.

Absolutely. Did you guys have anything to do with Obama getting elected?
- Cptmjl

Maybe the President hired these Toronto guys?

Maybe the President hired these Toronto guys?
- ses111

'What difference does it make?"
-Kris King

Ok, now I like you again even though you guys waved that goal off the other night.
- Cptmjl

Ok, now I like you again even though you guys waved that goal off the other night.
- Cptmjl

This team will never manage to develop a goaltender if mgmt becomes as impatient as it's fanbase. That's not a comment on the fanbases lack of patience on the team as a whole, but simply goaltenders. I don't care if you put Bernier on the ice, Halak, whoever, this team has too many defensive breakdowns and the margin of error for a goalie is Zilch. You can't develop a goaltender under those circumstances. My money remains on Nilsson and I think unfortunately we'll end up having to let Poulin go without ever having had an environment to succeed in.
- keaner17

You can't rush goaltending, but you can't be blind to reality with your goaltenders either. I have seen flashes from both Poulin and Nilsson and nothing more. Nothing to make me believe that either will be a sure thing to become an elite goaltender. Poulin was not at fault for many of the goals last night, but he did nothing to help his overmatch team steal a win. That trend has been in place for a few seasons now.

That is why Snow MUST address goaltending this summer. The team can't wait two, three or four more years for one of Poulin or Nilsson to MAYBE become elite. To do that would be to waste the next couple of seasons. You cannot make the playoffs and contend without above average goaltending at a minimum. The isles don't have average goaltending, let alone above average. Bring in a guy like Halak or whoever and let Poulin and/or Nilsson develop behind him and maybe develop into an elite player while The Vet takes care of the goaltending situation in the present.

Capuano who has no problem calling out a rookie player refuses to admit he's wrong giving amac twenty five minutes a night. Guy is such a clown. He will do the same thing wed.
- Cptmjl

Who else is going to play 25 a night? Donovan? Carkner? hickey? The options suck. Not to defend Cappy or a-Mac but the "D" is putrid. Vis helps, Hammer will too. Those two, de Haan and Strait will be the top 4 when a-Mac is traded.

'What difference does it make?"
-Kris King
- keaner17

We are on to something keaner.

You can't rush goaltending, but you can't be blind to reality with your goaltenders either. I have seen flashes from both Poulin and Nilsson and nothing more. Nothing to make me believe that either will be a sure thing to become an elite goaltender. Poulin was not at fault for many of the goals last night, but he did nothing to help his overmatch team steal a win. That trend has been in place for a few seasons now.

That is why Snow MUST address goaltending this summer. The team can't wait two, three or four more years for one of Poulin or Nilsson to MAYBE become elite. To do that would be to waste the next couple of seasons. You cannot make the playoffs and contend without above average goaltending at a minimum. The isles don't have average goaltending, let alone above average. Bring in a guy like Halak or whoever and let Poulin and/or Nilsson develop behind him and maybe develop into an elite player while The Vet takes care of the goaltending situation in the present.
- Jethro09

That was the idea all along, but the major point is, not even Halak will keep this team above water and neither goalie will develop in a system that doesn't allow them to settle down, ever. We've seen very little of Nilsson save for a game here and a game there, so until the kid actually see's a wealth of consecutive games, we have no idea what the hell he is. At the beginning of the year I said I wanted Poulin to get a fair amount of games in so we could evaluate him by the trade deadline or at the latest seasons end. I think we've had that chance and while it's a poor environment to evaluate a goalie, I think it's time to send him back to the AHL and let Nilsson give it a shot.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=702651 Hamonic IR...

'What difference does it make?"
-Kris King
- keaner17

This made me laugh out loud... A+