I'm not one for breaking down stats and numbers to the thousandth to prove a point that was lost sixteen pages ago, but I wanted to point out my experience of watching the Isles of late vs the run and gun comedy of the recent Capuano / Weight era.
The islanders are in the ECF by right. They beat Florida comfortably, they beat Washington comfortably, and whilst there was a stumble, they closed out Philly with one of the most dominant game 7 displays I've seen in a long time.
They are ONE game behind Tampa, and those are the facts.
Across the four remaining teams, including the play in / seed round robin games, the Isles have the HIGHEST goals scored @3.09 per game and note they have had three shutout, and 13/21 games have seen the opposition score two goals or less.
Now, on these boards, I have seen a tremendous amount of pushback that they are boring to watch. Some of it I take as just bitter tears from a few fanbases and one or two fans in particular who have an unhealthy obsession with trying to undermine the franchise as a whole, and a few fans from teams who went out to the Isles complaining about the style they play. I've also seen some more balanced posters state that it's interesting to watch teams fail to work out how to beat them. I love this tactical side of hockey.
There's a few things here.
1) Find a way to beat them. It's on you to unlock the door, not for the Isles to open it.
2) Stop them scoring. Considering the Isles PP is a godawful thing, it's interesting they have the highest goals count overall which means from open play they excel.
3) Maybe it's a young person thing, but hockey, like soccer, doesn't have to be a twelve goal epic every game. There's a fine art to having a controlled game plan that is executed relentlessly.
4) The Isles had a 15 game win streak (17 game point streak including OTL) earlier this season which was tremendous to watch. That's not boring.
Simply put, it isn't dull watching the Isles. The numbers don't support it, the wins don't support it either. They don't have elite goalscorer talent and yet they do score goals, right up and down the lines.
The "eye test" is always important here and I'd put my savings on half the posters here just thinking it's Trotz hockey so it must be dull. Try watching it, try watching a team forecheck another team into oblivion, because it's a key part of hockey. Not everything is NHL 20 dekes and showboating, and those aren't the things that win a Stanley Cup.
A "dull" team that wins a cup is a cup winning team all the same, and that could be Dallas or the Isles this year or maybe next. 5on5 hockey is the bread and butter of the game, and the islanders are extremely good at it over the least two seasons. That isn't boring in any comparative measure, it's exciting, tough matchups where teams have to outwork and outthink a group of guys who play as one unit.
And no, it isn't dead puck hockey, or trap hockey. Anyone who says that just looked it up on Wikipedia.
I really think they deserve more credit for their style, it's nowhere near as dull as people say it is.
The islanders are in the ECF by right. They beat Florida comfortably, they beat Washington comfortably, and whilst there was a stumble, they closed out Philly with one of the most dominant game 7 displays I've seen in a long time.
They are ONE game behind Tampa, and those are the facts.
Across the four remaining teams, including the play in / seed round robin games, the Isles have the HIGHEST goals scored @3.09 per game and note they have had three shutout, and 13/21 games have seen the opposition score two goals or less.
Now, on these boards, I have seen a tremendous amount of pushback that they are boring to watch. Some of it I take as just bitter tears from a few fanbases and one or two fans in particular who have an unhealthy obsession with trying to undermine the franchise as a whole, and a few fans from teams who went out to the Isles complaining about the style they play. I've also seen some more balanced posters state that it's interesting to watch teams fail to work out how to beat them. I love this tactical side of hockey.
There's a few things here.
1) Find a way to beat them. It's on you to unlock the door, not for the Isles to open it.
2) Stop them scoring. Considering the Isles PP is a godawful thing, it's interesting they have the highest goals count overall which means from open play they excel.
3) Maybe it's a young person thing, but hockey, like soccer, doesn't have to be a twelve goal epic every game. There's a fine art to having a controlled game plan that is executed relentlessly.
4) The Isles had a 15 game win streak (17 game point streak including OTL) earlier this season which was tremendous to watch. That's not boring.
Simply put, it isn't dull watching the Isles. The numbers don't support it, the wins don't support it either. They don't have elite goalscorer talent and yet they do score goals, right up and down the lines.
The "eye test" is always important here and I'd put my savings on half the posters here just thinking it's Trotz hockey so it must be dull. Try watching it, try watching a team forecheck another team into oblivion, because it's a key part of hockey. Not everything is NHL 20 dekes and showboating, and those aren't the things that win a Stanley Cup.
A "dull" team that wins a cup is a cup winning team all the same, and that could be Dallas or the Isles this year or maybe next. 5on5 hockey is the bread and butter of the game, and the islanders are extremely good at it over the least two seasons. That isn't boring in any comparative measure, it's exciting, tough matchups where teams have to outwork and outthink a group of guys who play as one unit.
And no, it isn't dead puck hockey, or trap hockey. Anyone who says that just looked it up on Wikipedia.
I really think they deserve more credit for their style, it's nowhere near as dull as people say it is.
