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Stumbling Isles still have time, talent to turn season around |
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After beating the Florida Panthers in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring – their first playoff series victory since the 1992-93 season – the New York Islanders entered this year with the bar raised on expectation and continued development. And so far, the results have not been ideal, with four losses in their past five games (including Thursday’s 3-2 shootout loss to Philadelphia) and a 4-6-1 overall record.
Things aren’t going to get any easier for them in the near-future, either: the Isles host the desperate-for-a-win-and-talented Edmonton Oilers Saturday and the desperate-for-a-win-and-(mumbles unintelligibly as an act of kindness) Vancouver Canucks Monday, then play two of their next four games against Tampa, while splitting the other two between Florida and Pittsburgh. Finally, but not mercifully, a West Coast swing takes them through Anaheim, Los Angeles and San Jose, and they finish out November by hosting the Flames and the Penguins for the second time in as many weeks.
The potential is there, then, for the Islanders to find themselves victims of an early-season burial when December 1 rolls around – the kind of thing most NHL organizations don’t recover from over the course of what remains of their season. Because even if there is another 60-odd games in which to right the ship, roster parity and the league’s three-available-points structure for games make it next to impossible for Early Burial Victims to leapfrog five or six rivals intent on claiming a playoff berth.
But don’t break out the pearls for a good clutching just yet, Islanders fans. This team has stumbled out of the gate, but there’s enough talent on the roster to overcome this skid and propel the fan base's sense of team-worth back at least to where it was after the Isles eliminated the Panthers in six games.
Now, it may take some significant gambles on behalf of GM Garth Snow and team ownership to get them there, but the Isles are no different in that regard than any other team and face many of the same questions other teams do at the moment. To wit: If Snow decides to replace Jack Capuano as head coach, few will take umbrage – really, in lasting nearly seven years with the Isles, Capuano has done better for himself than many projected he would – and a new message might be exactly what the group needs. It’s debatable whether someone such as current assistant Doug Weight would be the answer behind the bench or whether Snow should look outside the organization for a replacement, but again, this is where the gambles come in.
Indeed, the gambles for Snow have been continuous in one way, shape or form since he was installed by former owner Charles Wang as GM in July of 2006, and they didn’t stop last summer: he allowed longtime Isles forwards Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo to leave via unrestricted free agency and replaced them with veteran winger Andrew Ladd and Jason Chimera. Ladd and Chimera combined to score 45 goals for their respective teams last season, and both are still looking for their first goals of the season this year. If part of the Islanders’ struggles thus far have been a lack of offense – and that’s most definitely the case – the odds are, eventually, the two new additions will find ways to contribute on the scoresheet.
So maybe a new head coach gives them a spark, and maybe Ladd and/or Chimera come to life, and maybe they just stop losing so much in regulation time. That’s a notable part of the problem here, too; the shootout loss to the Flyers Thursday was the first time the Isles have emerged from a loss with a loser’s point; in all six of their previous defeats, they were done in regulation time – and in today’s NHL, that can spell the difference between a playoff spot and an early spring.
Clearing up the Islanders’ goaltending situation may help as well. The current three-man triangle is weighing on those who comprise it, and if another team meets Snow’s asking price – which, let’s face it, shouldn’t be all that high – a trade that would clear the logjam might provide an infusion of confidence in the netminders who remain.
And let’s look at their strengths, beginning with captain and superstar John Tavares, and including an already-solid defense corps that improved with the late-off-season acquisition of former Bruins D-man Dennis Seidenberg. When the Isles have won this year, they’ve beaten some playoff-calibre squads (including Minnesota and Anaheim) and looked swift and strong in the process. This isn’t a team that’s free-falling through the standings with world-class stinker after world-class stinker.
They’ve been uneven, but not unsalvageable.
Don’t take this to mean the Islanders are a lock to pinpoint what ails them and apply the remedies necessary to correct themselves. With a start like this one, another poor stretch later in the season – one triggered by a particularly ravenous injury bug, or by a series of unfortunate puck luck episodes – will almost assuredly knock them out of contention for a wild card slot or better. But if that’s the bad news, the good news is they’ve only played 11 games, and for as disappointing as they’ve been, the Isles are still only two wins behind the team that occupies the eighth position in the Eastern Conference standings.
There’s no question the Islanders have looked shabby more often than not, but this isn’t the time to give up on them. As the Penguins demonstrated last season, teams can shake off subpar stretches and enjoy a very deep post-season run. And for as often as the Isles have played without urgency or finish, some of us still think they’ve got enough talent under their umbrella to do something similar.
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