Isles are in "Smashville" (as the locals call it...okayyy) to face the Preds. Although still leading the NHL in points, NSH has been out of sorts and have dropped four straight. These are the games that worry me...cannot imagine the Preds come out tonight looking to give any charity.
As Metnut mentioned earlier, Jaro Halak to get the start, and both Casey Cizikas as well as noted sniper Eric Boulton make their returns from IR and into the lineup (Mallrat to sit). Same defensive groupings as last game. My guess is Boulton takes Martin's place on L4.
Cappy on Neuvirth, who will likely get more work than just in the four sets of back-to-back games that remain.
| "He's going to get some playing time and we don't want to overwork anyone," |
And some more positive news on KO...he skated on Long Island for a third consecutive day. If he continues to progress, he should join the team's practice late next week when the Isles return home.
Funny thing I stumbled across today in hearing about that it's been nearly 13 years
(!!) since the Isles last won in Nashville (5-2, on 4/12/2002). Look at the goal scorers from that game: Brad Isbister, Kip Miller, Oleg Kvasha, Mariusz Czerkawski and Mike Peca with an ENG. The goalie for that game?:
| Garth Snow improved his April record to 2-0, and won his 101st career game. Snow was credited with 23 saves. |
Shhh...don't look now, but the PK is actually improved. Perfect in 9 of their last 11 games. Neither Hamonic nor Clutterbuck have been on-ice for an opponents PP goal in that span and they rank 4th and 5th in PK ice-time. Grabner has only been on-ice for 1 goal against, but missed the first couple of games. The PK has done well in this 11 game stretch despite a horrible faceoff win percentage on the kill of 35% (18 of 51)...this is a big issue, IMO.
And while not an Islanders-focused article (although it does make mention of Josh Ho-Sang), this is an important and disappointing read for hockey fans on issues of racism. Worth your time - Blue Lines and Black Stereotypes:
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-03-04/blue-lines-and-black-stereotypes
Let's Go Islanders!
Keep holding on so long
'Cause there's a chance
That we might not be so wrong
We could be down and gone
But we hold on
Yes!Yes!Yes!
And I'll play devil's advocate for folks down on the Viz-Hickey pairing...A) did you expect in your wildest dreams when camp ended we'd be where we are today, and B) can you tell me any team that has 3 top-flite d-pairings top to bottom? If you look around the league, 14-11 is pretty damn good in comparison to most 3rd pairs.
Would have been nice to get an empty netter but I won't complain.
Brock is getting back into the offense.
We got 2 points. In regulation. Vs a starter.
#WeWantPlayoffs
And if you played a drinking gm during a gm and drank everytime "hickey shoots/fires wide" is said you'd be blackout drunk by the end of the game.
And if you played a drinking gm during a gm and drank everytime "hickey shoots/fires wide" is said you'd be blackout drunk by the end of the game.
To be fair... do you know how many Islanders we can sub Hickey's name out for in that scenario and still be retarded drunk?
Quote:
And if you played a drinking gm during a gm and drank everytime "hickey shoots/fires wide" is said you'd be blackout drunk by the end of the game.
To be fair... do you know how many Islanders we can sub Hickey's name out for in that scenario and still be retarded drunk?
Well, yea, the other 2 guys who can be replaced also pretty much. Leddy, boychuk and hamonic hit the net more than miss. Boychuk does that half shot/pass shit too much. I dont think I can say anything negative about Leddy. He's all around awesome
And if you played a drinking gm during a gm and drank everytime "hickey shoots/fires wide" is said you'd be blackout drunk by the end of the game.
I am a Griff fan, but by all accounts - and I read the CT Post frequently to get a feel for BPT - he hasn't shown the improvement in his game where the big club has confidence to bring him up for a greater role here in crunch time. I am an even bigger Pulock fan, and the only thing that kept him from being moved up was his (approx) 4 week upper body injury. He's still rounding into top form after his recovery, so he's not quite there yet at this point. I am sure they'll call him (or both) shortly. That said, with this effectively being a prelude to the playoffs, a team in the Isles position is going to play the experience of Hickey/Viz 100 times out of 100 as opposed to a rookie pairing. Maybe if we were running away with a crazy lead in the standings, but it figures the year we show a quantum leap in improvement, the rest of the East also have excellent years. I hope you don't mind our disagreeing on this.
I dont like looking at prospects in baseball/hockey and what they are doing in the minors. Many times the big prospect is on a terrible team/bad coaching or he's just reached that point that he knows he's coming up sooner or later and he isnt putting his full effort down there.(this might be looked at as a shitty attitude but it just seems to happen alot unfortunately)
Great news!
Happy he's back now. When we actually have days off between games.
If he can get back to normal the last 2 weeks of the seas that's a huge plus for the team
Quote:
And if you played a drinking gm during a gm and drank everytime "hickey shoots/fires wide" is said you'd be blackout drunk by the end of the game.
To be fair... do you know how many Islanders we can sub Hickey's name out for in that scenario and still be retarded drunk?
If I heard one more time how Calvin deHaan had his shot blocked...
I agree with KW that CDH has been disappointing this year. Not as bad as you think, but not good. He's a bottom pairing this year who is getting 2nd pairing time.
Viz seems defensively done. He still carries the puck well and takes shots, but he's not a good defensive player now (not that he was ever above average defensively, but he's now a liability).
Hickey is what he is. I've said a bunch that ideally, he's our next year's Strait. He can be a guy to get a start here and there, fill in for the injured. I think he's positionally a very good defenseman, but he's a leaf. Sad thing is, he DOES hit.. it's just that the other team doesn't feel it.
Where I DISAGREE with you, KW, is the kids in BPT. I watch a lot the BPT games (I travel a lot, and I get them streaming).. in fact, I'm going to see them tonight!
Pulock is NOT ready. If he comes up, he will contribute to scoring a lot, he just hasn't grasped the pro defense yet. At times he looks lost out there. Before his injury he started coming around, and now he's getting the rust off. He is a quick learner, and I'm not worried about him.
Reinhart is hard to read. He goes about his business, is very solid defensively but does NOT use his size at all. I'm SURE that's a reason he's not up. If he doesn't use his size in the NHL, they will skate around him.
I hope by next year the top 6 will be:
Boychuk
Leddy
Hamonic
Pulock
Reinhart
CDH
I'm fine with that. CDH is a better player than he is this year. Something is off. There are games where he's the player he was last year. But not enough.
I think guys like CDH need continuity and routine to perform well...really feeding off knowing their partner. With all the injuries that have happened frequently, albeit more nagging things as opposed to long term, the bottom 4 guys seem to have it affect them the most. Throw in Cappy's bizarre obsession with Strait also shuffling pairs, there has been actual few occasions where the pairs as they should be: 2-55, 3-44 and 11-14 have had the chance to play together regularly. The Boychuk injury ate significant time and caused ripple effects with pairings as did CDH's skate to the face. Heck, for as much as it's awesome to see Hammer's uptick in offense this year, I don't think he's had as decent a year defensively as last year. The flip side is that he's jumping up into the rush frequently, which you can't do unless you have a sound partner, and numbers or not this season CDH is. I just think we all expected better offensive production given his (CDH's) reputation as more offensive-minded.
I think guys like CDH need continuity and routine to perform well...really feeding off knowing their partner. With all the injuries that have happened frequently, albeit more nagging things as opposed to long term, the bottom 4 guys seem to have it affect them the most. Throw in Cappy's bizarre obsession with Strait also shuffling pairs, there has been actual few occasions where the pairs as they should be: 2-55, 3-44 and 11-14 have had the chance to play together regularly. The Boychuk injury ate significant time and caused ripple effects with pairings as did CDH's skate to the face. Heck, for as much as it's awesome to see Hammer's uptick in offense this year, I don't think he's had as decent a year defensively as last year. The flip side is that he's jumping up into the rush frequently, which you can't do unless you have a sound partner, and numbers or not this season CDH is. I just think we all expected better offensive production given his (CDH's) reputation as more offensive-minded.
I'm not worried about CDH...hell, I'm not worried about Hickey. I DO agree that to take the next step, they need CDH to be a bottom pairing and Hickey to be a 7th.
In a perfect world, Pulock replaces Viz next year and pairs with CDH in the bottom pairing. Reinhart replaces Hickey and pairs with Hamonic. Hickey replaces Strait, and Strait is traded to Philly for a 2nd rounder ;)
Would love to get your take on Griff and Pulock after you see them live tonight.
Would love to get your take on Griff and Pulock after you see them live tonight.
last time I saw them Pulock was "called up" but not really? So he didn't play.. Grif was hurt, so didn't play.
I will tell you, I thought Pelech was awesome.
I dont keep up on the minors but read somethings and it just seems like BST suck and Im not so excited to see these guys play and learn under Brent Thompson and get into the losing mindset. Not that Cappy and Cronin are much better but its a winning atmosphere up here now.
I dont keep up on the minors but read somethings and it just seems like BST suck and Im not so excited to see these guys play and learn under Brent Thompson and get into the losing mindset. Not that Cappy and Cronin are much better but its a winning atmosphere up here now.
agreed.. who the hell wants to play in Bridgeport, especially when they suck. It's awesome that he thinks he belongs. I think the #1 reason he's NOT up is because of playing time.
That's great and unexpected news on Okposo. I figured they'd begin to ease him in after the road trip and he'd be about 10 days or so away from playing. It looks like he'll be back sooner.
What do you guys want to do with the lines once KO is back? I think Bailey and JT have great chemistry, so I woulnd't mind going JB/JT/KO on line 1, kid line for line 2, and then Franz/Kul/Grabs as a very solid line 3.
One other thing to note, Grabner is starting to skate really well again. I think he's been a part of our PK's imnprovement lately. If Grabovski gets healthy for the playoffs, Grabner seemed to be an obvious sit candidate, but I'm not sure we can afford to do it with the powerplays that NYR, Pit and WSH have.
I also found this today, which comes from a list compiled by International Scouting Services scouts Matt Grainda and Paul Dionne and highlights the top 10 NHL-drafted prospects:
With a big 6-foot-2, 190-pound stature, courageous attitude and top-notch offensive abilities, Dal Colle has the tools to be John Tavares’ future go-to winger. He has bettered his overall game as a more polished player in his third season in Oshawa this year, scoring 37 goals and 84 points in 49 contests along the way. The fifth overall pick of the 2014 draft will likely return for a fourth OHL season and play a big role on Canada’s world junior team next year before going pro.
Also we trash a lot of things about this team but need to know we are in first with these players. I like capuano and the team does as well. If Griff and pulock were better than our starters they would be playing instead. Isles brass knows better than us.
Metnut, good post. I don't think you can take Lee off of JT's wing right now. If anything, L1 as it is today has been very productive. I wouldn't mind a reuniting of the FNGO line as L2, and 86-29-18 as L3 if they had to make changes (this also assumes Grabbo is not back anytime soon). But KO was entering beastmode alongside JT before the injury, so a L1 of 27-91-21 would be damn near unstoppable pending a healthy Okposo.
I also found this today, which comes from a list compiled by International Scouting Services scouts Matt Grainda and Paul Dionne and highlights the top 10 NHL-drafted prospects:
Quote:
7. Michael Dal Colle, wing, New York Islanders (Oshawa Generals, OHL)
With a big 6-foot-2, 190-pound stature, courageous attitude and top-notch offensive abilities, Dal Colle has the tools to be John Tavares’ future go-to winger. He has bettered his overall game as a more polished player in his third season in Oshawa this year, scoring 37 goals and 84 points in 49 contests along the way. The fifth overall pick of the 2014 draft will likely return for a fourth OHL season and play a big role on Canada’s world junior team next year before going pro.
Note: the players listed ahead of MDC are: Reinhart, Ehlers, Nylander, Bennett, Domi and Nurse.
I'm pretty sure Ho-Sang hand 3 more points last night.
Also we trash a lot of things about this team but need to know we are in first with these players. I like capuano and the team does as well. If Griff and pulock were better than our starters they would be playing instead. Isles brass knows better than us.
it depends WHEN. Colin McDonald needs to go back down to bport.. when Okposo is back, then it's interesting.
I have no problem with him playing on the team next year. The only problem is, the ONLY UFA forward is Kennedy. Snow will have to make some moves to make room.. which is doable, but not "easy".
12-91-21
18-29-27
86-51- 40 or 26 or 84
17-53-15
Nice depth, then you got the kids on the farm waiting....
12-91-21
18-29-27
86-51- 40 or 26 or 84
17-53-15
Nice depth, then you got the kids on the farm waiting....
12-91-21 wait..did you just keep Bailey on L1? YOU?
18-29-27 ahh.. the infatuation of the KID LINE!
86-51- 40 or 26 or 84 40 isn't sitting! He is skating great
17-53-15 Ol' Faithful
And if you didn't see the game last night, as opposed to watching just the 50-second highlight on NHL/Islanders.com, find the replay of the game. That sequence with the 86-51-40 line leading to Leddy's goal...that may have been the shift of the year. Kulie was insane, and Boychuk also had a huge pinch there.
I would've said no 24 hours ago, but now he's traveling to Florida? Is there ANY chance? You guys tend to have a better grip on these matters than I.
I would've said no 24 hours ago, but now he's traveling to Florida? Is there ANY chance? You guys tend to have a better grip on these matters than I.
signs pointing at that being his game back.
I'm torn on the Bailey/Lee situation once Okposo is back. It goes without saying that both players have been tremendous and much better than they've been with other pairings; the question is who will fall off further...
To me, that answer is Lee. Reunite the kid line, IMO. That's not for vanity reasons and liking "the kid line." They are a force together.