Nino Niederreiter will play in the world championship for Switzerland. I'm sad to say the young man may end up being part of a Draft day deal.

Unless a STAR player is involved, do not see it happening......
- Ur Not Me

This is going to be the off-season where Mr. Wang needs to get his checkbook out and WISELY spend his money (as opposed to the first seven years of his tenure as owner), and Mr. Snow needs to mature (along with the rest of his team) as a NHL GM. If Niederreiter wants to be a d*uche, then he needs to go, and we need to use him in a package to bring back something we truly need, like a solid NHL defenseman. It's time to start sorting out the assets, figuring out where the strengths and weaknesses are, and moving bodies around.

I've always believed you build through the draft, and then you use FA and trades of young assets to acquire the final parts of the puzzle. We are now at the point where it's time for the latter part of that equation, and this would be the off-season to do it. A couple of years worth of a couple of veterans who have been there and done that would be especially valuable to this core, and that needs to happen, now that it's apparent that this team is truly ready to move forward.

Two more things I will say:

- I picked the rag$ to win before the season, and I still think they are the best team, because they are the best defensively, and have the best goalie. I hope they lose in round one though (needless to say), and Tortorella gets fired. This way, when we start next season 4-10-3, we'll have a REAL coach nearby who won't even have to pack up and move his family to take his new job.

- Silly as it sounds, assuming Pittsburgh plays WELL below its level, the only way we have a shot in this series is if Fleury plays well, and we manage to win the tight ones anyway. If we beat Fleury 7-2, in one of the games, Vokoun will play the rest of the time, and then we're done. Vokoun, Cam Ward, and Miller always kill us, and I'd expect this to be no different.

Don't give up just yet. The Pens are still a bit fragile defensively. A bit of puck luck and some goaltending and you're in the series. No matter how it goes, this experience will make men of your whole team and light a fire under them for seasons to come.

I'm amped for this series, I love the Islander matches. I think it will be a lot of fun.

Good luck guys and no fluke injuries please!

Hate both you & the pens obviously but everyone in the East will be rooting for the Islanders this series. Good luck, F em up!

Honestly don't know what to expect.

Tavares will need to lead the way.

Bailey Nielsen Okposo hopefully still have it.

Third and fourth need to play hard and stay away from penalty box.

Dee Karl: Preparing for Playoffs
The Bruins will decide the Isles fate today.
- Dee Karl

special teams, special teams, special teams!!! If the isles wanna think about upsetting this powerhouse, they cant do it not scoring on 5 on 3s or even one man up. I might be in the minority, but i wanna play the pens......bring on the best! Lets see what these isles can do.

Welcome to the dance, mind if we cut in.

The last time I posted on here was before the loss to the flyers. I didn't want to come on here and read about all the whining and female doging because they lost for the 1st time in regulation in almost a month. Now with them playing the Penguins between all the crying from Islander fans and all the Penguin trolls, I'll be enjoying this playoff series away from this site win or lose. I'm pumped for this series and I hope they shock the world but if they don't that's ok because this is just the first step on their way back to the top. Instead of whining and crying you guys should be embracing the challenge. Go Islanders!!!

Sort of not fair that the Isles Nation is expected to the rock the Coliseum at Noon on a Sunday for the first home playoff game in several years. But we'll do it. Rally towels in hand

Uh, they are in the playoffs for the first time in forever. Who cares when and where? And welcome to the Sids-burgh NBC fest...with your new and budding young team, welcome to the big time. Good luck!

Welcome to the dance, mind if we cut in.
- nbartley9

That's extremely intimidating.

Hate both you & the pens obviously but everyone in the East will be rooting for the Islanders this series. Good luck, F em up!
- B2B76

I second this statement, go in flying against these guys. I hate the Isles but until they reach the level of Pittsburgh and until we get to hook up in a playoff series I will still hate the Pens more, plus if the isles knock them out it will be WIDE open in the East

For being such huge Islanders fans, I'm quite frankly shocked, since some of you say that 1993 team was "miles ahead" of the 2013 team, that none of you mentioned that our best player DIDN'T EVEN PLAY IN THE SERIES. That's considered one of the biggest upsets in the history of the league. Glenn Healy (THERE WAS NO (frank)ING E IN HIS LAST NAME) was nothing more than a slightly above average goalie, and Mark Fitzpatrick was nothing more than a middling goalie who never lived up to the hype.

The biggest difference is that we had veteran players on that team as compared to this team which is relatively pretty green. Mullen, Ferraro, Thomas, Hogue, etc. were guys that had been in the playoffs before and stepped up their games considerably in that series, rallying around the loss of Turgeon.

Saying this, I don't expect to win this series, but I'm not going to rain on everyone's parade like (frank)ing Ken. It's really a joke how bad you want everyone to think you're right.

In regards to the 1993 comparisions, I'll leave it at this:
I'm not making comparisions between the two in terms of team build, but rather overall talent. I think folks are vastly overrating the level of talent that team had. Remember, at the time we faced Pittsburgh, Turgeon wasn't in the lineup. So they had three 30 goal scorers, just like this team. The 1993 Isles had no other players over 20 goals. Their goalie was a career backup who stood on his head.
When evaluating the team in terms of talent, you have to leave out the end result of their accomplishments that year. Talent wise, they were painfully average which is why beating the Pens is considered one of the greatest upsets in NHL playoff history. That team wasn't supposed to do what they did but they did because half the team played the best hockey of their career during that stretch.
The fact remains that Nabby is a better goaltender than Healey.
So again, in terms of talent, I don't think there was a huge separation between the two and I don't think upsetting the Pens would be any bigger than 1993. This team was on pace for a better record than 1993. They are no less capable of shocking the world if they manage to do their jobs and play their best hockey.

I don't expect us to win. I don't expect us to make it past 5 games, but I don't think it's impossible either. 1st overall seeds disappoint more often than accomplish their missions.

For being such huge Islanders fans, I'm quite frankly shocked, since some of you say that 1993 team was "miles ahead" of the 2013 team, that none of you mentioned that our best player DIDN'T EVEN PLAY IN THE SERIES. That's considered one of the biggest upsets in the history of the league. Glenn Healy (THERE WAS NO (frank)ING E IN HIS LAST NAME) was nothing more than a slightly above average goalie, and Mark Fitzpatrick was nothing more than a middling goalie who never lived up to the hype.

The biggest difference is that we had veteran players on that team as compared to this team which is relatively pretty green. Mullen, Ferraro, Thomas, Hogue, etc. were guys that had been in the playoffs before and stepped up their games considerably in that series, rallying around the loss of Turgeon.

Saying this, I don't expect to win this series, but I'm not going to rain on everyone's parade like (frank)ing Ken. It's really a joke how bad you want everyone to think you're right.
- potvin05

Exactly!

That's extremely intimidating.
- Cptmjl

That's what makes it funny, that truly deep down you know that it is overwhelmingly intimidating. No Volek, No Tonelli, no problem.

wow, dee...expecting the islanders to sweep them in 4 seems like a tall task but i love the enthusiasm

-nino being traded is always possible but it wont be bc he is playing for the world juniors. a draft day deal is pure speculation; no need to include that without any insider info...

wow, dee...expecting the islanders to sweep them in 4 seems like a tall task but i love the enthusiasm
- LetsGoIsles

Did she really say that? I hope not...

Then why did Snow say the reason he didn't bring up DP and Nino was because he didn't want them to cause a distraction...

According to Arthur Staple of Newsday, the Islanders will not call up Rick DiPietro or Nino Niederreiter. Both could be distractions to what has been a very positive run.
- kear20

no where in this quote does it say garth thinks either player will be a distraction.

Did she really say that? I hope not...
- potvin05

"So the fun begins on Wednesday at 7 pm, then Friday, then Sunday at noon (ugh. You know what that means), then Tuesday at 7 pm. Those are the most important dates, the other three dates of the seven are scheduled, but since the Isles are battling the Penguins and their stacked team, let's not get ahead of ourselves."


...draw your own conclusions

"So the fun begins on Wednesday at 7 pm, then Friday, then Sunday at noon (ugh. You know what that means), then Tuesday at 7 pm. Those are the most important dates, the other three dates of the seven are scheduled, but since the Isles are battling the Penguins and their stacked team, let's not get ahead of ourselves."


...draw your own conclusions
- LetsGoIsles

meh...sounds more like shes expecting them to sweep us, which, unfortunately, makes more sense.

would it be possible to veto that suspension and require that he has to play 20 minutes a night with significant powerplay time?

and besides, boulton wont have to do anything... Crosby always takes a *load* to the face against you guys...
- SuperHenderson13

fixed

meh...sounds more like shes expecting them to sweep us, which, unfortunately, makes more sense.
- potvin05

...(i was joking)...


i find it sad that dee being an islanders "fan" is throwing in the towel 3 days before the series begins.

So the Isles draw the Penguins huh?? Wow!! Pittsburgh has the best line up in the NHL. For the Islanders though they should be playing very loose as they really have nothing to lose. No one is going to predict them to win this series so they should be playing like they are out on the pond. I do feel though the series goes longer than 4 games. It is going to be tough but the Islanders the last two games did not help themselves at all so they made there bed no they must lay in it.

My last thought on that '93 series, as good as Healy was, at times, during that series, there were a lot of goals scored in that series. I'd say we outscored them more than kept them off the scoreboard. Healy had an excellent Game 7, which is why some fans might remember him playing so great in that series. Hell, I was at Game 6, what was the final score of that game, 7-5 or 8-6?

That Pens team was also highly intimidated by Darius Kasparitis and by Richie Pilon, who was a very underrated presence on that team.

That's what makes it funny, that truly deep down you know that it is overwhelmingly intimidating. No Volek, No Tonelli, no problem.
- nbartley9

The new volek will be acoin!