Tambellini for Two

Although I was expecting only a one year agreement, it has been released that Garth Snow and the New York Islanders have come to terms on a two-year, one-way agreement for Jeff Tambellini. The contract, which will pay Jeff $550,000 the first year and $625,000 the second year all but assures Tambellini a spot in the Islanders line-up, and the ability to be picked up by another team through waivers if the Islanders try to send him to Bridgeport.

As I stated a few months back in my blog on Tambellini, this is the year for him to prove himself. The one-way contract allows Tambellini the peace of mind knowing that he will be able to have a steady job on the top-two lines with the Islanders. He no longer has to worry about being shipped up and down, and proving himself in the 6 minutes of ice time he received on average. If he is able to play on the first two lines, along with some power play time, he could be seeing an average of 16 - 20 minutes per game.

I can only hope that Tambellini shows up in camp in even better shape than he did last year. Labeled as the top-conditioned athlete in training camp last year, I am hoping to see a more bulked up player who can endure 82 grueling games at the N.H.L level rather than the A.H.L level. To label this year as a success for Tambellini, I think it is safe to say we must expect to see at least 20-25 goals from him, and to say at least another 15-20 assists. Now, I understand the numbers should even be higher for a first and second line winger, however, it is his first full-year in an Islanders uniform and I want to give him the benefit of a learning curve.

Congratulations on the new contract and good luck to him this year. Let us all pray that he can be as powerful at the N.H.L level that he is at the A.H.L!

-Justin

Ted Nolan Voted Off the Island

To say I was expecting this would be a tremendous understatement. Look at the voting poll to the right, and you can see that for the past two weeks I was already envisioning Ted Nolan’s job being in jeopardy, hence the reason I wanted to see what the fans felt about him.

For a long time now, we have seen this tremendous (and public) debacle that is Garth Snow vs. Ted Nolan. While Garth Snow, Ted Nolan, and Charles Wang all came together in the summer of 2007 in order to try and put together a team to compete, that plan has backfired tremendously. Regardless of the fact that it is extremely hard to lure high-end talent to the run-down Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the three heads of our team brought in players that were just not meant to over-achieve. I say over-achieve for the simple fact that all three (Nolan, Snow, Wang) were banking on the idea that if these players were to over-achieve; we could sneak into the playoffs. Without those players over-achieving, we were just another bottom feeder team in the N.H.L, as was proven at the end of this past season. Although in the summer of 2007 the “committee” may have been together on the same idea, they seem to have fallen apart entirely.

The lines of communication between Garth Snow and Charles Wang seem to be working tremendously well. It seems as if Garth Snow is now in full control of this team, and one hundred percent able to call the shots without the interference of Charles Wang. (Almost makes you wonder what would have happened if Neil Smith was given the same freedom to call the shots without the interference of Wang) Meanwhile, Ted Nolan seems to have missed out on the phone call that said the “committee” had been dissolved. It seems almost as if Ted Nolan signed onto the situation because of the equal say he would have with the general manager and the owner, only to become discontent when he was put into his spot as a coach, when Garth Snow finally decided to be in a position of power as the general manager, and when Wang allowed the general manager to run the operations as he pleased. I am sorry to break it to you Ted, but most teams run their organizations just like this. The coach coaches, the general manager manages, and the owner just over-looks everything to make sure his team is getting better. It seems to be this “power-struggle” that cost Ted his job.

First and foremost, I can understand Ted was brought in to coach and he did a phenomenal job. He is a great motivational coach, and he turned the 2006-2007 New York Islanders into a playoff team when they had no business being there in the first place. As for this year, he had the Islanders in playoff contention all the way up until well past the All-Star Break, only to watch injuries riddle the entire team and his make-shift A.H.L line-up falter to high-powered N.H.L teams. To be honest, however, I enjoyed watching these A.H.L line-ups falter more so than watching the so-called N.H.L line-up we had during the season only manage to score one goal per game. Back to the point, however, this year’s team had no business even sniffing playoff contention from game one to game eighty-two considering the tremendous lack of offensive talent. So to say Ted Nolan is a good coach is an understatement in itself. He can truly coach, motivate a team that is half as talented as their opponent, and he brings a certain edge to every team he coaches. He does deserve to be in the N.H.L as a coach, and he has proved that time and time again. However, he also has his downfalls…

His first downfall, and something that seems to stick in my mind horribly, is his reluctance to use the young guns. Players such as Comeau, Okposo, Tambellini, and Nielsen deserved to be getting more ice team than they were given. When the season is lost, or you can see that it is on its way to being completely lost, the only reasonable thing to do is start looking towards next year. Give the kids some power-play time, give them some penalty killing time, give them extra five-on-five time, anything to help them get a bigger bite out of the N.H.L game. No, instead, we saw Hilbert used on the power-play and moved up to first line duties. It is completely unreasonable to send out a perennial 8-goal scorer on the power-play when you have young kids who can light up the minors, and are dying for that chance to show their worth at the N.H.L level. Give me a break, Ted! Hilbert won’t be anything more than a third-fourth liner at best who’s biggest asset is his great ability to kill penalties. Other than that, 999 out of 1000 coaches would have played the kids over the so-called “veterans” we have on this team

Second, as I stated before, coaches should coach and managers should manage. It was completely unreasonable for Nolan to think that he should be able to have the same say that Snow does. Do me a favor… I would like anyone who reads this article to go into work tomorrow and tell your boss that you feel you should have the same amount of authority they do. If he grants you permission, I will personally allow you to publicly stone me as they did back in the 15th century. (Of course this doesn’t count if you are your own boss!). Nolan should have not been there to give his input regarding players that were brought in to play this season, just like he should not have been present at the draft other than for the picture with the new first round selection. Nolan’s job should have been to look at the players Garth gave him, coach them to the best of his ability, and hope that he pleased Garth Snow, and even more so, Charles Wang. There was no reason for Nolan to call out Snow on the comments made about Wade Dubielewicz. There was no reason for Nolan to make any public comments about Snow and his job. As has been stated in several articles throughout the internet, it was almost as if Ted Nolan was approaching every subject with the mindset of, “I’m going to do it this way, if you don’t like it, than fire me!” It was as if he wanted to remain, but could care less if he was going to be fired. It was just inappropriate for him to try to speak at an even-level with his boss. Nolan brought about his own demise in a sense, and I am sure it is visible to many Islanders players and fans.

Thirdly, and what I find extremely difficult to swallow as well, is that it seems many players started to run into problems with Nolan at the end of the year. If I recall, the reason Laviolette was fired was because he lost many lines of communication in the locker room. It seems that this time around, Nolan had begun to lose many players. One player went as far to calling Nolan a liar, and even calling him out in a meeting in front of Garth Snow and Charles Wang. This is completely inappropriate for any professional sports team! Hence the reason, the New York Islanders are deemed the laughingstock time and time again. We must stop airing out our dirty laundry as we have done so often in the past and again today. We have to learn that we must nip problems in the butt before they become to large and other organizations and the fans begin to find out about them. It is the only way to save face, and the proper way to go about business in professional sports. Furthermore, when you see your captain go ahead and say, “You move on,” it almost makes you feel as if Guerin could care less if Nolan is there or not. When the captain is able to take the news that easily and dismiss it, it must be a pretty easy pill to swallow from the point of view of the other players on the roster.

I want to make a point once more and say that I am not a Ted Nolan hater. I do believe he is a great coach. I just am happy that this day-to-day drama is over, and there is finally closure to the story. Nolan was not ready to coach a re-building team, and that is what we are. Garth Snow has made a bold decision, and I am looking forward to seeing where it leads. He is in the hot-seat now, and he has the job of selecting an appropriate coach to not only develop this young group of players, but to also take them to places we haven’t even sniffed since the 1992-1993 season.

Tomorrow’s blog will feature some names of available coaching options that I feel might be on Garth’s list of possible replacements for Ted Nolan. I’ll do my best to cover their strengths and weaknesses and to give my opinion on how I feel they would perform as an Islanders coach. As always, opinions and comments are extremely appreciated!

-Justin

Next Blog Update Tuesday Night

Brendan Witt's Extension

***I apologize for reporting ridiculously late on this news. It has been a hectic two weeks and I will do my best to expedite the breaking news and in giving my opinions.

Now, back to the important stuff...

Brendan Witt has officially been extended by the New York Islanders. The terms of the contract seem to be a two-year extension, valued at $3 Million per season. This extension will be kicking in after this season, where Brendan will receive $2,766,667.

While Garth Snow has repeatedly stated that the Islanders are entering into a youth movement, this is another saavy move by Snow. Not only has he locked up probably our best all-around defenseman, he also did it for relatively inexpensive. If Witt were to hit the UFA market, he could easily command $4 Million and above. I do not know if he took a slight discount in order to keep his family on Long Island for the next three years, or if he truly felt that this was his value, but I truly feel that Witt and Snow have reached an extremely reasonable deal. Witt is tremendous player, tremendous community guy, and a tremendous team-mate, and we should be very happy that he has decided to stick around with the Islanders. This may be an indication that he is buying into the youth movement and he knows that he could be a cornerstone for the youth movement that will be upon us in the next few seasons. His leadership will be a calming influence to the kids, as will his play on the ice. I am very excited to have a player of Witt's caliber and persona wearing an Islanders jersey, without ripping apart our salary cap.

As B.D. Galloff said on his HockeyBuzz blog last night, this will finally end the "Witt is in his last year of his contract, so let's trade him" status. Let's hope the "Witt is locked up, lets trade him" talks do not begin. He is very important, and although he could fetch a first rounder in my opinion, I would much rather keep Brendan Witt.

***Breaking Rumor***

Now I am not one to usually report rumors, as they rarely ever come to fruition and you pass along false information. However, being in this hockey-crazed time of year, I will do so. I have spoken with a close friend of mine who has heard that the Islanders may be looking hard at Anaheim defenseman Mathieu Schneider once again. Anaheim is pushing close to the salary cap for the upcoming season and they feel that Schneider will be expendable with the return of Scott Niedermayer. The proposed deal I am hearing is thus:

To NYI: Mathieu Schneider, ANA 3rd Rd Pick 2009
To ANA: Bruno Gervais, NYI 2nd Rd Pick 2009, NYI 2nd Rd Pick 2010

In my opinion, I am completely against this type of deal. Schneider has only a year or two left in him, and he isn't worth giving up those extra draft picks for. He is obviously way past his prime, and if he were to come here, I feel he would underachieve and lose complete interest. I feel that Snow needs to hold on to those draft picks as second rounders in next year's draft are going to be very, very good. As for Gervais, I feel that this year he has a lot to prove. He excelled in the AHL, and this year he needs to prove he can excel in the NHL as well, while staying healthy! Please give me your opinions on how you would feel if a deal like this went down.

Sean Bergenheim: Another Contractual Dispute?

For the third summer in a row, the Islanders and Sean Bergenheim continue to be on complete opposite sides when it comes to a contract. Obviously, Sean Bergenheim and his agent Marc Gandler feel that he has proven himself worthy of a long-term, lucrative contract, while Garth Snow still feels Bergenheim has some proving to do and should receive either a one or two year, low-scale contract. The one major concern I hold is that he will go to Russia and receive a large contract that we just simply cannot match.

When I sit down to watch each and every Islanders game, I know one thing for sure, and that is that Sean Bergenheim will skate hard, work hard, hit hard, and shoot hard every single shift. Watching him from game one until game eighty two last year, it was obvious he made a tremendous all-around improvement in his game. While his statistics demonstrate third-line numbers (78GP – 10 G – 12 A – 22 Points), I feel that he still has plenty of time to improve upon those. In my personal opinion, he has the skill and speed to truly develop into a second-line winger who could put up 20-25 goals a season, and 15-20 assists, especially if he were to receive second-unit power play time. He is truly an all around player and has the ability to prove why he was a first round pick.

Now that I have argued why I think he is a great player, he still has his flaws of course and I am sure this is why Garth Snow is apprehensive. Although he was better at controlling it a little better last season, he is known to take foolish penalties because he is a hot-head. If he is beat or hit the wrong way, he is known to retaliate in a way that will cost the team. He is also known for a not-so-great attitude off the ice, which is very visible in the fact he has had contract disputes for three straight summers. If he were to focus a little more, and forget about the money part of the game, he could flourish into that second line wing position I spoke about in the previous paragraph. I just feel these minor distractions are going to cost him in the long run.

For my personal opinion, I think Garth Snow should stick with the idea of the youth movement. By giving Bergenheim a contract a few years in length, it might alleviate that concentration problem that Sean has. I am thinking that a contract maybe four years in length, valued at $1.5 Million a year would be a fair place to start. It is a nice, small cap hit, especially if he continues to develop as well as he is. In the third and fourth years of that deal, when he is surrounded by young, fast, and talented youth, he might be just the ball of energy they need. Do you want to keep Bergenheim? If so, what do you think is a fair contract in terms of length and amount of money for a player like him?

My Apologies

I have been away from my computer for the past two days, so there have been no new posts. The next post will be up by either late Sunday night or Monday morning. I am also following a rumor that has been passed to me from a friend who works in the Islanders organization. More on that in the following blog. Thanks!

-Justin

It's Always Good to Have Protection!

If we are to look at many successful teams across the NHL, they are able to roll four lines and have confidence in each line to get the job done. The fourth line, which tends to be the least skilled line, is usually good for getting some solid hits, playing somewhat decent defense, and maybe even cycling the puck down low for the occasional goal. What the fourth line is also used for is protecting lines one through three. The true enforcer tends to play on line four and is put on the ice when they need to make a point about protecting the top lines. While it is hard to say lines one through three on the New York Islanders are top lines, it is also hard to say we have a true enforcer anywhere in our system that can compete at the NHL level. While it is especially important for all good teams to have a solid enforcer, I believe it is even more important for young, rebuilding teams to have a legitimate enforcer as well.

Next year, we are looking at a situation that we have not seen on the Islanders for many years. We are finally starting to see a true rebuilding process that will hopefully bring us some success in the near future. Between Mad Mike’s roster-decimating trades that cost us amazing, young talent and also some other trades here and there that emptied our pockets of prospects and picks, we have truly lacked the support and depth an NHL organization is supposed to have. So as we look forward to next year, we look forward to a roster that will include many extremely young players, along with some aging veterans who will hopefully guide the kids in the right direction. What we lack is the enforcer to protect not only the young guns, but also the aging veterans, none of which are fighters. My question to Garth Snow is simple. Why is it that we can have so many third and fourth-line players, yet none of them is an enforcer? As great as Andy Hilbert is on the penalty kill, I am sure he is expendable. Look at Georges Laraque, for example. Not only would he slot in nicely as a fourth line winger, but I bet he can put up just as many points as the lowly Hilbert. Do I feel Hilbert and Park make up an excellent penalty killing combination? Yes, of course, I think they are fantastic. But to be honest with you, I feel there are other players who could step into Hilbert’s role on the penalty kill and do just fine, while still giving that slot for a fourth-line enforcer. We sorely need a player like Laraque or Brashear to come in and protect our players. Now that Garth Snow has public stated that he may very well be done with the free-agency craze, it makes me wonder what his plans are to protect this team. As much heart as Comrie wants to show in a fight, he still lacks the size and strength to put down some of the leagues enforcers. Same goes for Guerin, who should actually be a protected player instead of a player protecting his teammates. As we saw last year, Davison just lacks the fighting sense and Kip Brennan is like watching a five year old who is extremely overweight skate around on the ice. It is time Garth Snow stepped to the plate and added just a little bit of protection, otherwise we are not only going to see a team who gets beat on the scoreboard, but a team who gets beat-up physically as well night in and night out.

There are many reasons I feel that we need an enforcer, and I am sure many of you will agree with my opinion. Tell me though, who would you like to see patrolling the ice for the Islanders, and protecting our youngsters?

Snow's Savvy Signings - Isles Put on Some 'Weight'

The New York Islanders announced today the signing of Doug Weight to a one year, $1.75 Million contract. It is a bonus-laden contract and could add up to $4.3 Million if he is to trigger every bonus. While many fans are already complaining of Weight being extremely past his prime, I will not argue with them in that light, but I will argue that it is a good signing for many other reasons. This signing must be looked at from a different perspective than the signing of Mark Streit.

Doug Weight was not brought into Long Island to help us make the playoffs, nor was he brought in to become a number one all-star center and put up 100 points this season, however, he was brought in to play center for this year as a stop-gap until our younger centers are developed enough to take a role with the big club at the NHL level. Bailey is not ready to handle any NHL minutes this upcoming season as he will need further development either in the OHL or the AHL, Nielsen and Walter are just not strong enough yet to handle top two-line minutes without some further NHL development. Garth Snow took all of this into account, and not only added a player for a reasonable price and term, but a player who brings a tremendous amount of veteran leadership and knowledge of the game to the table. His addition to the roster will be an opportunity for our centers and younger guys to be able to learn from someone who is well-traveled, a four time all-star, and the definition of a true heart and soul player. Do I think he can still play? Yes, I actually think he has an opportunity himself to shock many of the non-believers. I would love for nothing more than for him to come in and put up anywhere above 60 points and show everyone he can still hack it. However, regardless of his point production, that is not why he was brought in!

While we may lack premium talent in our line-up, we do have a tremendous amount of leadership and heart. Between the likes of Guerin, Weight, and Sillinger, these younger players are fortunate enough to be learning from truly gifted players who have all achieved a tremendous amount of success in their individual careers. Each individual can learn something from one of these players, and hopefully use it to their advantage in order to better themselves and better the team.

This signing once again demonstrates Garth Snow’s idea of re-building. While it may seem odd at first for him to sign a 37 year old and consider it rebuilding, you have to look at it from the perspective that we do not even have any NHL centers waiting in the wings in Bridgeport. Ben Walter simply cannot hack it yet, and he may take another season to develop into an even mediocre player. Frans Nielsen, who is my pick to be on the Islanders roster next year, will have to work even harder now in order to crack the line-up, and hopefully he can learn something from Weight about what it takes to be on an NHL team. Following this season, when Bailey may be ready to take a run at the NHL roster, and possibly even Trivino, then players such as Weight and Sillinger will be able to move on and we can start infusing the youth. Till then, let the kids play and let them learn from the players who have proven so much already. I think Garth has been very savvy thus far, and I hope he continues to make the proper, well thought out signings without over-spending. We still have a tremendous amount of cap space and a nice young team going into next season.

The Signing of Mark Streit. vs Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival

As we all know, I am an Islanders fan and I usually write only Islanders blogs, but I felt I should address the signing of Wade Redden as I see it. As July 1st came for the Islanders and the Rangers, I made sure that this year I would be better prepared for the sounds of crickets and mice running through the Coliseum, while also preparing myself to hear announcements all day about the Rangers signing all of God’s creation to their roster for the upcoming season. I figured Snow would try to stick to his plan of rebuilding, while maybe trying hard to go after Radim Vrbata or possibly even Kristian Huselius. This young talent seemed to make the only sense considering we are looking to keep the roster young and rebuild mostly from within. I also figured the Rangers would be throwing obscene amounts of money at Mats Sundin and Marian Hossa, while also trying to retain Sean Avery and Jaromir Jagr for as little as possible. Well, I was in for a surprise, and I am pretty sure everyone could agree they were surprised as well…
It is approximately 3:00 PM EST on July 2nd, and so far we have seen things that are very unexpected from both the Islanders camp and the Rangers camp. The Islanders have locked up Mark Streit to a five-year contract worth $4.1 Million per season, and they have also locked up Yann Danis to compete for either the back-up position on the Islanders, or the starting position in Bridgeport. The Rangers have been relatively active as well, signing Wade Redden to a six-year contract worth $6.5 Million per season, Patrick Rissmiller (3rd-4th Liner), Anton Voros (4th Liner), Brian Fahey (AHL Defenseman thus far), Andreas Jamtin (Europe), and re-signing Rozsival and Valiquette. To sum it up, it has been a very active day in New York, especially in the defensive spectrum. Let’s look at the signings of Mark Streit vs. that of Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival. Please keep in mind I am not bashing the Rangers, simply expressing an opinion that I know is shared by many.

Mark Streit will join the Islanders in a rebuilding time period. While I feel he is only worth maybe $3.5 Million per season, his contract is a reflection of the inflated prices that seem to be overtaking the NHL! Last season, Streit put up a phenomenal 62 points (13 Goals, 49 Assists). On the power-play, he was used as a quarterback while also constantly sneaking in the back door for a goal. He put up 7 goals and 27 assists for 34 points on the man-advantage, which shows why he is labeled as a PP perfomer. While these are great numbers, I would not expect to see the same numbers next year. We do not have the firepower that the Canadiens do, and therefore I will be pleased if he is able to put up 40-45 points and help to quarterback our power -play. What can we expect from him defensively? He will most likely be part of our 5-6 pairing defenseman, logging approximately 18+ minutes per game, and we can hopefully watch his defensive game flourish under Nolan, as much as his offensive game has developed under Carbonneau. He is capable of playing solid defensively, with the occasional lapse every so often. His contract will prove to be a great signing more in years three through five of the contract when our young talent has developed and made us a contender. By that time, one can only imagine the price of contracts for a defenseman who puts up points! At only thirty years of age, we are getting him entering his prime and hopefully he will be able to demonstrate his offensive abilities, and let Campoli and Gervais learn from them.

Wade Redden will join the Rangers in what I believe will be a defining season for the Rangers. Drury and Gomez are now active leaders, however, they no longer have Avery, and it seems like Shanahan, Jagr, and Straka are all on their way out as well. It will be tough to replace the talent that those four contributed, but I believe players like Nigel Dawes and Brandon Dubinsky are full of talent and ready to demonstrate why they will be stars in this league some day. Wade Redden will be making $6.5 Million per season over the course of the next six years. This is essentially the same amount of money that Lundqvist is making. Now I am not digging into the Rangers, I just enjoy stirring up hockey conversation, but do all the Ranger fans out there, or any hockey fans for that matter, believe that Redden is as important to this team as Lundqvist? Over the past two seasons, Redden’s play has significantly dropped off, not even taking into account his point totals. His play during the second-half of this past season and especially in the playoffs was atrocious, and many believed he would only make around $4 Million this year at best. I understand the need for a puck-moving defenseman, but I feel that the Rangers should have been able to get Redden for much less. He only put up a total of 38 points this season, while playing a total of 80 games. For a team that features Alfredsson, Heatley, and Spezza on the power play, that is simply unacceptable for an offensive defenseman! Do I feel that he is great at making the breakout pass or skating the puck out of the zone? Yes, he is still great at doing that. However, last season he seemed to have lost a step, and was making very bad turnovers in his own end. His presence along the boards was missing, and he seemed almost afraid to go 100 percent at all times. Do I feel he is capable of being a great defenseman, yes, but I have to say I am worried for the Rangers and Ranger fans if he plays as he did the past two seasons in Ottawa. This is a tremendous cap hit to deal with for a struggling 3-4 defenseman, especially if he continues his play. What I feel makes this worse is that the Rangers continued to make a bad payroll decision by re-signing Michal Rozsival to a four year, $20 Million contract. Rozsival may have a great shot, but we can all agree he is not that great in his own zone or at shutting down other team’s top units. For $11.5 Million, the Rangers could have gotten Streit easily over the Isles, and they could have thrown a nice sum of money at Orpik, and still had money left over. The Rangers sorely lack that crease-clearing, hard hitting defenseman. Orpik would bring that to the table! Streit would have filled the same gap that Redden is going to fill and just as well, and Orpik would have been used as the shut-down man possibly alongside of Staal or Girardi. To keep looking on the bright-side for the Rangers though, hopefully Redden will be able to help Staal, and soon Sanguinetti, develop into better offensive defenseman. He is a true veteran, and also a leader in the locker room, and will be a great influence on the kids.

Before Ranger fans jump down my throat about how I am putting down their team, please understand, I really am just expressing what I feel was a bad signing for the Rangers. The Rangers have a much better team than the Islanders right now and that is obvious to anyone who watches the NHL. I do feel it is easier for the Rangers to sign those big-name free agents, hence the reason they could have had Streit over the Islanders any day of the week. I feel Streit and Orpik would have been more beneficial to the Rangers in the long run than Redden and Rozsival. They take up a tremendous amount of cap-space for number 3-4 defensemen. I do think Redden could be a great come-back player, but if he isn’t, it will be hard to unload such a high-priced, underperforming player. I am also going to say straight out that I know the Islanders are not getting the next Lidstrom in Streit. We are getting a mediocre defenseman with a tremendous offensive upside. But for $4.1 Million, Garth Snow definitely made a savvy investment into our future. Obviously only time will tell how these investments pan out, but for right now, this is an opinion I hold strongly. Please feel free to leave your opinion, it is greatly appreciated! Good luck to everyone adding whoever else they would like on their rosters, and good luck to both the Islanders and the Rangers.