GDT: GDT #10 New York Islanders @ Columbus Blue Jackets| October 30th | 7:00 PM | F/L 2-0

[The Real JT]

Last year the incessant whining by outsiders regarding “boring Islanders hockey” seemed to diminish as our squad put up some offense.

Now we’re boring to outsiders and also to us diehards.

 

[Lame Lambert]

That’s holding a standard based on a proving a negative.

Which is impossible to prove because no one here is an NHL GM.

 

[Richie Daggers Crime]

That is the primary reason why I argue that the hiring of Trotz was ultimately a HORRIBLE decision for this club. It's this pusher mindset he instilled on this team.

You make some good points, but this here is just elliptical reasoning.

Hate to say it but, Yup.

Had Snow stayed the GM, with the same roster, they'd have continued to be the perennial lottery team they were during his tenure.

 

[islesfan186]

Shut out 4 times in 10 games…were they even blanked 4 times all of last season?

So are we back to mid 2000s-early 2010s isles of being out of the playoff picture by Thanksgiving?

 

[scottywiper]

Shut out 4 times in 10 games…were they even blanked 4 times all of last season?

So are we back to mid 2000s-early 2010s isles of being out of the playoff picture by Thanksgiving?

I think the stat was they've been shut out 11 times in last two seasons. Eight of those under Roy.

It's amazing how bad they are in any scenario that involves an extra player on for either side! PP, PK and empty net scenarios, all go badly!
When other teams pull the goalie we cling on for dear life and usually concede anyway, when we do it the other team scores within seconds.

 

[crashthenet]

A better series from Billy Smith in 1984 and you're talking about 5 Cups in a row. Just sayin.

Not quite as close to it.

 

[islesfan186]

I think the stat was they've been shut out 11 times in last two seasons. Eight of those under Roy.

Oof, that’s a pretty rough stat, considering he’s been HC for like what? ~50 games?

 

[Rehabguy]

You make some good points, but this here is just elliptical reasoning.


Had Snow stayed the GM, with the same roster, they'd have continued to be the perennial lottery team they were during his tenure.

But isn’t a lottery position a good place to be if you trying to rebuild a club? Isn’t this the very thing many here are asking for Lou to do? One of Snows greatest strengths was taking those assets and over a period of time to build the very team that made those 2 ECFs. I trust him more than I do Lou in using assets and making the most of them. Just like every GM in the league he struck out from time to time but he built the core of his team through the draft.

 

[Richie Daggers Crime]

But isn’t a lottery position a good place to be if you trying to rebuild a club? Isn’t this the very thing many here are asking for Lou to do? One of Snows greatest strengths was taking those assets and over a period of time to build the very team that made those 2 ECFs.

He didn't do that though. His team was perennial lottery dwellers because he and the franchise were a mess. At the very least, Lou added order, structure and expectations. A team under Snow would never have achieved what the 2 ECF teams did.

 

[Rehabguy]

He didn't do that though. His team was perennial lottery dwellers because he and the franchise were a mess. At the very least, Lou added order, structure and expectations. A team under Snow would never have achieved what the 2 ECF teams did.

Yet again every transaction Snow did to build his roster led to those very ECFs and the transactions Lou did led to the very debacle you see before your own very eyes. Where’s that order, structure, and expectations now? It is the very same Lou Lamiorello at the helm right now is it not?

Look at the roster Snow inherited and look at the roster Lou inherited. One took a horrible roster and slowly built a solid core through the draft. Barzal, Nelson, Pulock, Pelech, Lee, Cizikas, Bailey, Toews, Bailey, Tavares, Martin, Mayfield, heck he even acquired for us exclusive rights to Sorokin. Then look at the responsible trades he made to acquire Boychuk, Leddy, Clutterbuck and Eberle to support that draft born line up. He didn’t have to give up first round draft picks left and right to accomplish this.

What did Lou do. Wahlstrom? Pageau? Fasching? Engvall? Is Dobson really the future of this team’s defense? Where are our prospects? What happened to all our picks? What happened to our cap space? If it wasn’t for the hockey gods providing for us Eiserman and possibly Tsyplakov the future would appear very bleak as there is no future core developing in our prospect camp. Not at least like the one Snow built for us with many of that core amazingly still playing for us.

The team is a disaster. Lou took a relatively strong roster weakened it, allowed it to age, took away its skaters, gave away all our first round picks, emptied up our prospect cupboards, and to top it off ensured the team will suck for ages by signing ridiculously long contracts one with a player making 12 million playing for our AHL club.

You can’t escape this truth. Snow built the ECF teams. Lou dissected those teams and gave you the team you see before you that can’t even score a friggin goal. How can anyone not see that?

Again hate Snow all you want and I can understand the emotions involved but he did a better job constructing a roster than Lou has both in talent and resource management. The more Lou screwed around with the roster the worse it got. This is undeniable. Was all of this really worth the last 3 seasons? The roster Snow built for us at least made the conference finals but what has Lou’s tinkering got us. First round after first round after first round playoff blow outs.

Many here now want Lou to blow the team up acquire high draft picks in the process and want the team to be perennial lottery pickers in the hopes of acquiring high level talent and they use former bottom dwellers such as the Pens, Oilers, Caps as examples but when our former GM put the franchise in such a position they saw it as a problem and erected the billboards. Make up your minds.

If we allow Lou to rebuild this team from scratch has he given anyone reason to believe that he won’t completely screw it up? How far are we before we hear those infamous words, “this team needs a new voice”?

 

[Richie Daggers Crime]

You can’t escape this truth. Snow built the ECF teams.

The team was garbage the entirety of Snow's tenure. He was a flunky and a boob, who surrounded himself with other flunkies and boobs, running an amateurish organization with a dipshit owner.

It's 100% fair to criticize Lou's decisions post ECF appearances. It's fair to say that he's lost the handle on what made the team successful in the early part of his tenure. It's fair to say that he should be replaced. But, there's no comparison between Snow and Lou. Snow was a terrible GM with no success to speak of.

A good team is more than a collection of players. Pointing to players and saying that's solely what constitutes the team is myopic. There's a reason that teams like Boston and Carolina have been consistently successful. They're stable, professional and have a clear vision as to what their identity is. Snow and Wang were just inept people who had no business running a hockey team.

 

[Rehabguy]

The team was garbage the entirety of Snow's tenure.

Snow was a terrible GM with no success to speak of.

This is not true. You ignore all the playoff births. All the Yes Yes Yes. Were you in the crowd shouting that? You ignore that he had almost everything to do with those ECF rosters. You ignore the crap we’ve been through the last 3 years and today?

Lou has done a horrible job with this team the more he got his hands on it. It got worse the longer he was GM and right now it’s in a complete state of disarray.

He took credit for Snows work and then crapped in the bed the following 3 years. I don’t know how some of you can say Lou was an outstanding GM as well as a horrific GM in the span of 5 years. He’s the same GM he’s been for the past 2 decades. Inept. Wake up!

The only thing the team has got going for it is Roy. They can still make the playoffs with him at the helm but Lou has got to sit down and shut up. Let Roy make all the on ice decisions. As you can see in the media Roy is dealing with Lamiorello getting in the way of on ice decisions. He hired a head coach. Let him coach! Look at the success he had pushing this team to the playoffs last year and how well the team performed in the preseason. They are in a bit of a funk right now but I have faith they will pull out of it under Roy’s leadership.

 

[Rehabguy]

Getting back to hockey if I was in Roy’s shoes I would keep Tsyplakov on the first line and give it time to gel. Barzal’s a puck hog who likes to drive the play give him options by flanking him with two players who like to shoot.

When Duclair gets back have him on the second line that can really be ignited with a play maker. Have him doing essentially what Barzal is doing on the first line.

He must restore as much of the energy/identity line as soon as possible. Hard to believe who listless this team looks without the best 4th line in hockey. Maybe 2/3rds of that line has enough left in its tank for 1 more run. This means return Cizikas to center with Martin and Maclean doing what they do best. Forechecking hard with bone crushing checks. Cizikas and Martin had a natural chemistry when Cizikas was center and they were able to read off each other well to score those dirty goals. Makes no sense to pull them out of positions they have been playing for a decade.

The third line with Lee, Holstrom, Pageau can be a strong defensive line capable of scoring a few goals around the net.

That’s all I’ve got.

 

[crashthenet]

This is not true. You ignore all the playoff births. All the Yes Yes Yes. Were you in the crowd shouting that? You ignore that he had almost everything to do with those ECF rosters. You ignore the crap we’ve been through the last 3 years and today?

Lou has done a horrible job with this team the more he got his hands on it. It got worse the longer he was GM and right now it’s in a complete state of disarray.

He took credit for Snows work and then crapped in the bed the following 3 years. I don’t know how some of you can say Lou was an outstanding GM as well as a horrific GM in the span of 5 years. He’s the same GM he’s been for the past 2 decades. Inept. Wake up!

The only thing the team has got going for it is Roy. They can still make the playoffs with him at the helm but Lou has got to sit down and shut up. Let Roy make all the on ice decisions. As you can see in the media Roy is dealing with Lamiorello getting in the way of on ice decisions. He hired a head coach. Let him coach! Look at the success he had pushing this team to the playoffs last year and how well the team performed in the preseason. They are in a bit of a funk right now but I have faith they will pull out of it under Roy’s leadership.

A couple of points. Snow definitely had his moments in the draft. He also had a lot of draft capital to work with but overall, he did well. Player development a bit of a mixed bag. Some pretty decent trades but obviously couldn't attract top UFAs. The reality is, he badly mismanaged the Tavares situation. The other thing to consider, Trotz would not have come here if he were the GM. He hired some real losers and probably made a mistake by not keeping Gordon. Bridgeport was dumpster fire for the duration of his tenure.