JT and KO on in the last minute of game 3, good call on the coach? Come on Dan your better than that.
- nyisles7

I'm not defending cappy... that was awful but I don't think the coach is solely responsible for the team being down 3 games to 1..when you are trying to figure out if Shane Prince or Alan Quine should be on the top line.. you roster isn't good enough

I'm not defending cappy... that was awful but I don't think the coach is solely responsible for the team being down 3 games to 1..when you are trying to figure out if Shane Prince or Alan Quine should be on the top line.. you roster isn't good enough
- Dan Petriw

I get where you're coming from here....However; I guess it's officially rant time since we all know this team isn't going to climb out of this hole and that's a big point to what I'm about to say....
This coach is not capable of leading this team out of this hole. Given the series score thus far, some may disagree, but this Islanders team is BETTER than the Lightning team they're losing to. (when accounting for Tampa's missing players)
The problem is this team continually has the same shortcomings year after year. The same issues that plagued them against Pittsburgh a few years ago were the same problems that did them in against Washington and the same that have essentially ended this season for them.

A: Mental lapses. This team plays DUMB hockey. DUMB. Constant bad line changes. Early and late period failures. Player assignments constantly missed which lead to excessive time in the d-zone. These three factors are all MENTAL errors. They aren't talent issues. They are recurring issues that a coach needs to pinpoint and correct. When they happen for 4-5 years consecutively, despite talent upgrades, you have to ask whose fault that is and it points to the guy behind the bench. PERIOD.

B. Powerplay struggles: Tonight was a combination of mental lapses due to intensity dropoff and the same typical disorganization/poor design we see over and over. When you have a 4 minute power play and go nearly 3 minutes with 1 shot, there's something wrong. Hell, we couldn't even gain the zone. Again, this is a coachable thing. This isn't talent. We have Tavares, Okposo, Strome Boychuk and Leddy. That's some pretty decent talent....yet we trot out 4 forwards and play perimeter hockey with no slot attack. COACHING.

C. BAD MATCHUPS: If your coach isn't taking full advantage by applying the proper players to the appropriate situations, especially on home ice, he has no business coaching in the post season. This doof has baffled us year after year. From Marty Reasoner toBailey to Bernier or whatever else, this guy has no friggin' clue of what really can pass in the NHL. NONE.

D. Player development: This is a HUGE one to me when you are farming young talents like Ryan Strome, Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, Ryan Poluck and others. You have to ask why virtually all of our young talent seems to continually regress under the development of this club. Ryan Strome was a better player in his rookie season than now...why? Brock Nelson plays like he's high...why? Supposedly this team draft-targets high IQ/character players. The fact is this coach continually opts for vets over young talent and seems only capable of slowing their growth. ..... COACHING.

lastly, and to Dan's point, the GM. Snow ultimately is responsible for insisting that guys like Weight and Cappy were the right men to continue for this season. He's flat out wrong. I'm not blaming him for personnel decisions because he DID get Vanek for JT nad the forward market sucked this year. But he HAS to see reasons A-D as well and know this team will NEVER win a Cup with someone who constantly puts his own players at a disadvantage. So on Sunday, they'll fight for their playoff lives. Yet can anyone here say with any certainty that they'll actually come out flying and play 60 minutes of intense, responsible hockey as thought they know what's on the line? I can't....because of the coaching....

I'm not defending cappy... that was awful but I don't think the coach is solely responsible for the team being down 3 games to 1..when you are trying to figure out if Shane Prince or Alan Quine should be on the top line.. you roster isn't good enough
- Dan Petriw

Agree Snow isn't free from fault however other teams have their best players injured and they keep rolling along. Stamkos and Straalman to name a few. Could you imagine if JT was injured this guy wouldn't know what to do.
Quine and Prince aren't exactly world beaters agreed however they are depth players and as far as I'm concerned Quine or Prince shouldn't be on the top line which is another big fault of this coach, line up decisions.
All in all its getting old and hopefully new ownership see it like most of us do and cleans house and starts running this team like a professional team from Scouting, player developement and coaching.

I get where you're coming from here....However; I guess it's officially rant time since we all know this team isn't going to climb out of this hole and that's a big point to what I'm about to say....
This coach is not capable of leading this team out of this hole. Given the series score thus far, some may disagree, but this Islanders team is BETTER than the Lightning team they're losing to. (when accounting for Tampa's missing players)
The problem is this team continually has the same shortcomings year after year. The same issues that plagued them against Pittsburgh a few years ago were the same problems that did them in against Washington and the same that have essentially ended this season for them.

A: Mental lapses. This team plays DUMB hockey. DUMB. Constant bad line changes. Early and late period failures. Player assignments constantly missed which lead to excessive time in the d-zone. These three factors are all MENTAL errors. They aren't talent issues. They are recurring issues that a coach needs to pinpoint and correct. When they happen for 4-5 years consecutively, despite talent upgrades, you have to ask whose fault that is and it points to the guy behind the bench. PERIOD.

B. Powerplay struggles: Tonight was a combination of mental lapses due to intensity dropoff and the same typical disorganization/poor design we see over and over. When you have a 4 minute power play and go nearly 3 minutes with 1 shot, there's something wrong. Hell, we couldn't even gain the zone. Again, this is a coachable thing. This isn't talent. We have Tavares, Okposo, Strome Boychuk and Leddy. That's some pretty decent talent....yet we trot out 4 forwards and play perimeter hockey with no slot attack. COACHING.

C. BAD MATCHUPS: If your coach isn't taking full advantage by applying the proper players to the appropriate situations, especially on home ice, he has no business coaching in the post season. This doof has baffled us year after year. From Marty Reasoner toBailey to Bernier or whatever else, this guy has no friggin' clue of what really can pass in the NHL. NONE.

D. Player development: This is a HUGE one to me when you are farming young talents like Ryan Strome, Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, Ryan Poluck and others. You have to ask why virtually all of our young talent seems to continually regress under the development of this club. Ryan Strome was a better player in his rookie season than now...why? Brock Nelson plays like he's high...why? Supposedly this team draft-targets high IQ/character players. The fact is this coach continually opts for vets over young talent and seems only capable of slowing their growth. ..... COACHING.

lastly, and to Dan's point, the GM. Snow ultimately is responsible for insisting that guys like Weight and Cappy were the right men to continue for this season. He's flat out wrong. I'm not blaming him for personnel decisions because he DID get Vanek for JT nad the forward market sucked this year. But he HAS to see reasons A-D as well and know this team will NEVER win a Cup with someone who constantly puts his own players at a disadvantage. So on Sunday, they'll fight for their playoff lives. Yet can anyone here say with any certainty that they'll actually come out flying and play 60 minutes of intense, responsible hockey as thought they know what's on the line? I can't....because of the coaching....
- keaner17

Great post and I don't think anyone can argue that Snow and Crappys on the job training should come to an end as soon as the owner in trainings rein comes to an end.

I get where you're coming from here....However; I guess it's officially rant time since we all know this team isn't going to climb out of this hole and that's a big point to what I'm about to say....
This coach is not capable of leading this team out of this hole. Given the series score thus far, some may disagree, but this Islanders team is BETTER than the Lightning team they're losing to. (when accounting for Tampa's missing players)
The problem is this team continually has the same shortcomings year after year. The same issues that plagued them against Pittsburgh a few years ago were the same problems that did them in against Washington and the same that have essentially ended this season for them.

A: Mental lapses. This team plays DUMB hockey. DUMB. Constant bad line changes. Early and late period failures. Player assignments constantly missed which lead to excessive time in the d-zone. These three factors are all MENTAL errors. They aren't talent issues. They are recurring issues that a coach needs to pinpoint and correct. When they happen for 4-5 years consecutively, despite talent upgrades, you have to ask whose fault that is and it points to the guy behind the bench. PERIOD.

B. Powerplay struggles: Tonight was a combination of mental lapses due to intensity dropoff and the same typical disorganization/poor design we see over and over. When you have a 4 minute power play and go nearly 3 minutes with 1 shot, there's something wrong. Hell, we couldn't even gain the zone. Again, this is a coachable thing. This isn't talent. We have Tavares, Okposo, Strome Boychuk and Leddy. That's some pretty decent talent....yet we trot out 4 forwards and play perimeter hockey with no slot attack. COACHING.

C. BAD MATCHUPS: If your coach isn't taking full advantage by applying the proper players to the appropriate situations, especially on home ice, he has no business coaching in the post season. This doof has baffled us year after year. From Marty Reasoner toBailey to Bernier or whatever else, this guy has no friggin' clue of what really can pass in the NHL. NONE.

D. Player development: This is a HUGE one to me when you are farming young talents like Ryan Strome, Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, Ryan Poluck and others. You have to ask why virtually all of our young talent seems to continually regress under the development of this club. Ryan Strome was a better player in his rookie season than now...why? Brock Nelson plays like he's high...why? Supposedly this team draft-targets high IQ/character players. The fact is this coach continually opts for vets over young talent and seems only capable of slowing their growth. ..... COACHING.

lastly, and to Dan's point, the GM. Snow ultimately is responsible for insisting that guys like Weight and Cappy were the right men to continue for this season. He's flat out wrong. I'm not blaming him for personnel decisions because he DID get Vanek for JT nad the forward market sucked this year. But he HAS to see reasons A-D as well and know this team will NEVER win a Cup with someone who constantly puts his own players at a disadvantage. So on Sunday, they'll fight for their playoff lives. Yet can anyone here say with any certainty that they'll actually come out flying and play 60 minutes of intense, responsible hockey as thought they know what's on the line? I can't....because of the coaching....
- keaner17

Spot on.
Looking forward to a Snow free July.

I get where you're coming from here....However; I guess it's officially rant time since we all know this team isn't going to climb out of this hole and that's a big point to what I'm about to say....
This coach is not capable of leading this team out of this hole. Given the series score thus far, some may disagree, but this Islanders team is BETTER than the Lightning team they're losing to. (when accounting for Tampa's missing players)
The problem is this team continually has the same shortcomings year after year. The same issues that plagued them against Pittsburgh a few years ago were the same problems that did them in against Washington and the same that have essentially ended this season for them.

A: Mental lapses. This team plays DUMB hockey. DUMB. Constant bad line changes. Early and late period failures. Player assignments constantly missed which lead to excessive time in the d-zone. These three factors are all MENTAL errors. They aren't talent issues. They are recurring issues that a coach needs to pinpoint and correct. When they happen for 4-5 years consecutively, despite talent upgrades, you have to ask whose fault that is and it points to the guy behind the bench. PERIOD.

B. Powerplay struggles: Tonight was a combination of mental lapses due to intensity dropoff and the same typical disorganization/poor design we see over and over. When you have a 4 minute power play and go nearly 3 minutes with 1 shot, there's something wrong. Hell, we couldn't even gain the zone. Again, this is a coachable thing. This isn't talent. We have Tavares, Okposo, Strome Boychuk and Leddy. That's some pretty decent talent....yet we trot out 4 forwards and play perimeter hockey with no slot attack. COACHING.

C. BAD MATCHUPS: If your coach isn't taking full advantage by applying the proper players to the appropriate situations, especially on home ice, he has no business coaching in the post season. This doof has baffled us year after year. From Marty Reasoner toBailey to Bernier or whatever else, this guy has no friggin' clue of what really can pass in the NHL. NONE.

D. Player development: This is a HUGE one to me when you are farming young talents like Ryan Strome, Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, Ryan Poluck and others. You have to ask why virtually all of our young talent seems to continually regress under the development of this club. Ryan Strome was a better player in his rookie season than now...why? Brock Nelson plays like he's high...why? Supposedly this team draft-targets high IQ/character players. The fact is this coach continually opts for vets over young talent and seems only capable of slowing their growth. ..... COACHING.

lastly, and to Dan's point, the GM. Snow ultimately is responsible for insisting that guys like Weight and Cappy were the right men to continue for this season. He's flat out wrong. I'm not blaming him for personnel decisions because he DID get Vanek for JT nad the forward market sucked this year. But he HAS to see reasons A-D as well and know this team will NEVER win a Cup with someone who constantly puts his own players at a disadvantage. So on Sunday, they'll fight for their playoff lives. Yet can anyone here say with any certainty that they'll actually come out flying and play 60 minutes of intense, responsible hockey as thought they know what's on the line? I can't....because of the coaching....
- keaner17

U had me at hello.....

If they lose this very winnable series 4-1 or even 4-2, then it should be clear as day to the new owners that something is screwed up. Team has their superstar and 2nd best defensemen out and the Isles actually finished above them in the standings. Inexcusable being down 3-1 against them.

They have to see how tight of a leash coaches all around the league are on. Boudreau was in the conference finals last season and was canned. Bob Hartley won the freaking jack adams award last year and is now jobless. Even in our own city, AV's job was questioned after this season. Yes those teams took a step back but that just shows that one years success doesn't guarantee anything the next year. If something isn't right you have to change it.
They cant just strictly look at one series win as justification to keep everything in place. They were seconds away from another road game 7. Isles were resilient but I am sorry, that panther series isn't anything to harp on.

If they lose this very winnable series 4-1 or even 4-2, then it should be clear as day to the new owners that something is screwed up. Team has their superstar and 2nd best defensemen out and the Isles actually finished above them in the standings. Inexcusable being down 3-1 against them.

They have to see how tight of a leash coaches all around the league are on. Boudreau was in the conference finals last season and was canned. Bob Hartley won the freaking jack adams award last year and is now jobless. Even in our own city, AV's job was questioned after this season. Yes those teams took a step back but that just shows that one years success doesn't guarantee anything the next year. If something isn't right you have to change it.
They cant just strictly look at one series win as justification to keep everything in place. They were seconds away from another road game 7. Isles were resilient but I am sorry, that panther series isn't anything to harp on.
- NYI80123

Could not agree more with this. Hope the new owners put their stamp on the team. Did not work out to well when the last new owner Wang kept Milbury as GM.

I get where you're coming from here....However; I guess it's officially rant time since we all know this team isn't going to climb out of this hole and that's a big point to what I'm about to say....
This coach is not capable of leading this team out of this hole. Given the series score thus far, some may disagree, but this Islanders team is BETTER than the Lightning team they're losing to. (when accounting for Tampa's missing players)
The problem is this team continually has the same shortcomings year after year. The same issues that plagued them against Pittsburgh a few years ago were the same problems that did them in against Washington and the same that have essentially ended this season for them.

A: Mental lapses. This team plays DUMB hockey. DUMB. Constant bad line changes. Early and late period failures. Player assignments constantly missed which lead to excessive time in the d-zone. These three factors are all MENTAL errors. They aren't talent issues. They are recurring issues that a coach needs to pinpoint and correct. When they happen for 4-5 years consecutively, despite talent upgrades, you have to ask whose fault that is and it points to the guy behind the bench. PERIOD.

B. Powerplay struggles: Tonight was a combination of mental lapses due to intensity dropoff and the same typical disorganization/poor design we see over and over. When you have a 4 minute power play and go nearly 3 minutes with 1 shot, there's something wrong. Hell, we couldn't even gain the zone. Again, this is a coachable thing. This isn't talent. We have Tavares, Okposo, Strome Boychuk and Leddy. That's some pretty decent talent....yet we trot out 4 forwards and play perimeter hockey with no slot attack. COACHING.

C. BAD MATCHUPS: If your coach isn't taking full advantage by applying the proper players to the appropriate situations, especially on home ice, he has no business coaching in the post season. This doof has baffled us year after year. From Marty Reasoner toBailey to Bernier or whatever else, this guy has no friggin' clue of what really can pass in the NHL. NONE.

D. Player development: This is a HUGE one to me when you are farming young talents like Ryan Strome, Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, Ryan Poluck and others. You have to ask why virtually all of our young talent seems to continually regress under the development of this club. Ryan Strome was a better player in his rookie season than now...why? Brock Nelson plays like he's high...why? Supposedly this team draft-targets high IQ/character players. The fact is this coach continually opts for vets over young talent and seems only capable of slowing their growth. ..... COACHING.

lastly, and to Dan's point, the GM. Snow ultimately is responsible for insisting that guys like Weight and Cappy were the right men to continue for this season. He's flat out wrong. I'm not blaming him for personnel decisions because he DID get Vanek for JT nad the forward market sucked this year. But he HAS to see reasons A-D as well and know this team will NEVER win a Cup with someone who constantly puts his own players at a disadvantage. So on Sunday, they'll fight for their playoff lives. Yet can anyone here say with any certainty that they'll actually come out flying and play 60 minutes of intense, responsible hockey as thought they know what's on the line? I can't....because of the coaching....
- keaner17

Agreed...good post...

I get where you're coming from here....However; I guess it's officially rant time since we all know this team isn't going to climb out of this hole and that's a big point to what I'm about to say....
This coach is not capable of leading this team out of this hole. Given the series score thus far, some may disagree, but this Islanders team is BETTER than the Lightning team they're losing to. (when accounting for Tampa's missing players)
The problem is this team continually has the same shortcomings year after year. The same issues that plagued them against Pittsburgh a few years ago were the same problems that did them in against Washington and the same that have essentially ended this season for them.

A: Mental lapses. This team plays DUMB hockey. DUMB. Constant bad line changes. Early and late period failures. Player assignments constantly missed which lead to excessive time in the d-zone. These three factors are all MENTAL errors. They aren't talent issues. They are recurring issues that a coach needs to pinpoint and correct. When they happen for 4-5 years consecutively, despite talent upgrades, you have to ask whose fault that is and it points to the guy behind the bench. PERIOD.

B. Powerplay struggles: Tonight was a combination of mental lapses due to intensity dropoff and the same typical disorganization/poor design we see over and over. When you have a 4 minute power play and go nearly 3 minutes with 1 shot, there's something wrong. Hell, we couldn't even gain the zone. Again, this is a coachable thing. This isn't talent. We have Tavares, Okposo, Strome Boychuk and Leddy. That's some pretty decent talent....yet we trot out 4 forwards and play perimeter hockey with no slot attack. COACHING.

C. BAD MATCHUPS: If your coach isn't taking full advantage by applying the proper players to the appropriate situations, especially on home ice, he has no business coaching in the post season. This doof has baffled us year after year. From Marty Reasoner toBailey to Bernier or whatever else, this guy has no friggin' clue of what really can pass in the NHL. NONE.

D. Player development: This is a HUGE one to me when you are farming young talents like Ryan Strome, Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, Ryan Poluck and others. You have to ask why virtually all of our young talent seems to continually regress under the development of this club. Ryan Strome was a better player in his rookie season than now...why? Brock Nelson plays like he's high...why? Supposedly this team draft-targets high IQ/character players. The fact is this coach continually opts for vets over young talent and seems only capable of slowing their growth. ..... COACHING.

lastly, and to Dan's point, the GM. Snow ultimately is responsible for insisting that guys like Weight and Cappy were the right men to continue for this season. He's flat out wrong. I'm not blaming him for personnel decisions because he DID get Vanek for JT nad the forward market sucked this year. But he HAS to see reasons A-D as well and know this team will NEVER win a Cup with someone who constantly puts his own players at a disadvantage. So on Sunday, they'll fight for their playoff lives. Yet can anyone here say with any certainty that they'll actually come out flying and play 60 minutes of intense, responsible hockey as thought they know what's on the line? I can't....because of the coaching....
- keaner17

This is a great post keaner.

Some thoughts for Sunday since it might be their last game.

1. I'd reunite Nielsen, Tavares and Okposo on first line...seemed to work well against Florida...
2. My second line would be Cizikas, Martin and Clutterbuck...
3. Whoever you dress for the bottom 6 forwards alternate the 3rd and 4th lines...so basically you're playing three forward lines. To be honest with you, I'm sick of watching Bailey, Strome, Nelson, Kulemin, etc getting ice time when they don't deserve it...I don't know if you guys saw Strome during the post game. He was talking about what's gone wrong in the series. Maybe you should look at yourself in the mirror buddy...if you have to package him and Hamonic for Hall, please get rid of him before its to late...
4. Put Pulock on the point with Leddy on the first power play unit and Boychuk and Hickey on the points second power play unit...We talk about how bad Cappy is as coach Weight might be worse...

Well those are my thoughts...I'm sure you have your own...

Some thoughts for Sunday since it might be their last game.

1. I'd reunite Nielsen, Tavares and Okposo on first line...seemed to work well against Florida...
2. My second line would be Cizikas, Martin and Clutterbuck...
3. Whoever you dress for the bottom 6 forwards alternate the 3rd and 4th lines...so basically you're playing three forward lines. To be honest with you, I'm sick of watching Bailey, Strome, Nelson, Kulemin, etc getting ice time when they don't deserve it...I don't know if you guys saw Strome during the post game. He was talking about what's gone wrong in the series. Maybe you should look at yourself in the mirror buddy...if you have to package him and Hamonic for Hall, please get rid of him before its to late...
4. Put Pulock on the point with Leddy on the first power play unit and Boychuk and Hickey on the points second power play unit...We talk about how bad Cappy is as coach Weight might be worse...

Well that's my thoughts...I'm sure you have your own...
- kear20

I like these as top two lines. The problem is Cappy does not know how to manage his lineups and play his best people in critical spots. Cappy believes in last man up. I did not see Strome's post game comments, but Garth should not be happy with how Cappy has not development the young talent that Garth has provided.

I hate how the Isles play forwards on the point for the PP. They have plenty of capable guys like Pulock, Leddy, and Boychuk and Hamonic. I do not want Weight as coach now. He could have been given a shot during these last few years mid-season, but that has sailed and I only want a proven coach taking over now.

Overall the Tampa team has some size on the backline which they have used to their advantage. They have some excellent forwards who make plays plus Callahan and Boyle give them a lot of playoff experience. Boychuk has not quite been himself during the second half. Seems like most of his shots miss the net.

Some thoughts for Sunday since it might be their last game.

1. I'd reunite Nielsen, Tavares and Okposo on first line...seemed to work well against Florida...
2. My second line would be Cizikas, Martin and Clutterbuck...
3. Whoever you dress for the bottom 6 forwards alternate the 3rd and 4th lines...so basically you're playing three forward lines. To be honest with you, I'm sick of watching Bailey, Strome, Nelson, Kulemin, etc getting ice time when they don't deserve it...I don't know if you guys saw Strome during the post game. He was talking about what's gone wrong in the series. Maybe you should look at yourself in the mirror buddy...if you have to package him and Hamonic for Hall, please get rid of him before its to late...
4. Put Pulock on the point with Leddy on the first power play unit and Boychuk and Hickey on the points second power play unit...We talk about how bad Cappy is as coach Weight might be worse...

Well those are my thoughts...I'm sure you have your own...
- kear20

I thought when Strome, Quine ,Prince were together they played ok and created some scoring chances. Why not try it again.

Some thoughts for Sunday since it might be their last game.

1. I'd reunite Nielsen, Tavares and Okposo on first line...seemed to work well against Florida...
2. My second line would be Cizikas, Martin and Clutterbuck...
3. Whoever you dress for the bottom 6 forwards alternate the 3rd and 4th lines...so basically you're playing three forward lines. To be honest with you, I'm sick of watching Bailey, Strome, Nelson, Kulemin, etc getting ice time when they don't deserve it...I don't know if you guys saw Strome during the post game. He was talking about what's gone wrong in the series. Maybe you should look at yourself in the mirror buddy...if you have to package him and Hamonic for Hall, please get rid of him before its to late...
4. Put Pulock on the point with Leddy on the first power play unit and Boychuk and Hickey on the points second power play unit...We talk about how bad Cappy is as coach Weight might be worse...

Well those are my thoughts...I'm sure you have your own...
- kear20

A few thoughts in response....
1. This is probably worth a try. Nielsen is more likely to finish than Prince, and he can be of some help on the defensive side of things, especially considering that JT and Okposo seem to be defensively challenged. The downside of course is that Tampa can match lines and d-men next game, so they can keep Hedman and whoever else they want on the ice against this line.
2. and 3. To some extent Cappy is doing this already. The forward with the least ice time last game was not a 4th liner........it was Bernier. Cizikas and Clutterbuck each had more ice time than Strome. I think Cappy was double shifting JT and Nielsen a bit. But rolling only 3 lines might be problematic, considering the Isles uptempo offense.

Here's a Hail Mary idea for this elimination game tomorrow........ Shake things up by starting Berube in goal. He looked fine in his 4+ minutes last night. Greiss has generally been terrific this season, but he is showing signs of wearing down. The Isles have little to lose at this point. The other old timers here may remember that it wasn't Smitty in goal when the Islanders pulled their miracle comeback against the Penguins in 1975. Arbour put Chico in goal and the Isles came back from a 3 - 0 deficit.

A few thoughts in response....
1. This is probably worth a try. Nielsen is more likely to finish than Prince, and he can be of some help on the defensive side of things, especially considering that JT and Okposo seem to be defensively challenged. The downside of course is that Tampa can match lines and d-men next game, so they can keep Hedman and whoever else they want on the ice against this line.
2. and 3. To some extent Cappy is doing this already. The forward with the least ice time last game was not a 4th liner........it was Bernier. Cizikas and Clutterbuck each had more ice time than Strome. I think Cappy was double shifting JT and Nielsen a bit. But rolling only 3 lines might be problematic, considering the Isles uptempo offense.

Here's a Hail Mary idea for this elimination game tomorrow........ Shake things up by starting Berube in goal. He looked fine in his 4+ minutes last night. Greiss has generally been terrific this season, but he is showing signs of wearing down. The Isles have little to lose at this point. The other old timers here may remember that it wasn't Smitty in goal when the Islanders pulled their miracle comeback against the Penguins in 1975. Arbour put Chico in goal and the Isles came back from a 3 - 0 deficit.
- JohnScammo

Good point...I remember it like it was yesterday...

I'm not defending cappy... that was awful but I don't think the coach is solely responsible for the team being down 3 games to 1..when you are trying to figure out if Shane Prince or Alan Quine should be on the top line.. you roster isn't good enough
- Dan Petriw

Agreed. It's finally impossible to ignore the combination of the GM's inability to build a well-rounded roster and not having the right coaches & systems in place. I hate to be right but I was saying they will not become serious contenders with the current management. They were lucky to beat Florida...3 OT's could have easily gone the other way. I hope the "accomplishment" of making the 2nd round does not earn them a stay of execution. The window is closing on expecting JT to re-sign long term. There's no more time for the Garth & Cappy show to stumble & bumble their way through another season.

Agreed. It's finally impossible to ignore the combination of the GM's inability to build a well-rounded roster and not having the right coaches & systems in place. I hate to be right but I was saying they will not become serious contenders with the current management. They were lucky to beat Florida...3 OT's could have easily gone the other way. I hope the "accomplishment" of making the 2nd round does not earn them a stay of execution. The window is closing on expecting JT to re-sign long term. There's no more time for the Garth & Cappy show to stumble & bumble their way through another season.
- jmo16

Winning that Floria round I still do not bring back Cappy and Garth. The question is will the new owners have control before July? I would think they still have to sign off on things even if they do not have full control until July? So many questions to be answered. Still hoping we get at least one more game. John's idea of playing Berube tomorrow is interesting.

Good point...I remember it like it was yesterday...
- kear20

Us old timers got to stick together.

Winning that Floria round I still do not bring back Cappy and Garth. The question is will the new owners have control before July? I would think they still have to sign off on things even if they do not have full control until July? So many questions to be answered. Still hoping we get at least one more game. John's idea of playing Berube tomorrow is interesting.
- ses111

That's a question Staple should be reporting as soon as their season commences.
Art....if you're reading....how about an answer...

U had me at hello.....
- Ur Not Me

Us old timers got to stick together.
- JohnScammo

If Al Arbour (or an NHL caliber) was coach, this series would probably be over...

Winning first game of each series on road and losing second.
Five OT games.
Failing to get two goal lead in last two games made them ot games.
Top veteran d man looks worn out.
Hickey, Quine, Prince...not as effective after early success.
Top vet forwards neutralized.

All characteristic patterns of the wear and tear of playoff hockey.

You can make a similar case for WAS which seems to have a lot to handle.

If Al Arbour (or an NHL caliber) was coach, this series would probably be over...
- kear20

Getting that two goal lead late in games is major. Arbour's teams were good at wearing down the opposition, something Tampa has been doing to them.

That's a question Staple should be reporting as soon as their season commences.
Art....if you're reading....how about an answer...
- jmo16

If you're holding your breath waiting for Staple to ask Capuano or Snow a question that might make them uncomfortable you're going to need CPR.