GDT: GDT #37 New York Islanders @ Pittsburgh Penguins | December 29th | 5:30 PM | F/3-2 L

[8EJS9]

Hagens.

Edit: Hagens.

James

Edit: James Hagens

 

[Rehabguy]

There is nowhere near enough talent on this team for a deep run. Part of the problem’s mental for sure, but the major part is physical - this team is slow and is not crisp on passes - giving or receiving. it’s why the PP and PK are so bad. Coaches that lay all the blame on mentality are just trying to cover up, or are in denial about, the inferior physical ability of the individuals on their team.

I don't think it is because they are particularly slower than most teams though Lou's decision to trade Leddy was possibly the dumbest he ever did amongst a few others. He could have led the transition for all the past 3 coaches but Lou inexplicably let go of him. But overall the Islanders seem able to hold their own in the speed department. The physicality for sure is not where it needs to be. They are playing a bit soft as Butch commented during the broadcast yesterday. Not willing to sacrifice the body but imagine who would? But thats why they all get paid better than most of us in our daily jobs. So they trained for this I wish they hit more often. I would like to see Lee lead by example more.

The problem appears that there appears to be a disconnect between the offense and defense with both thinking they are there to perform only a particular role. The D has to get more involved in offense. The loss of those 71 or so points by Dobson is hurting this team. Pulock needs to shoot more often. Mayfield has a decent shot. I like what Romanov tries to do getting involved on the offensive side of things. Would like to see more of that. The chemistry between Dobson and Barzal needs to be reignited. Ever since Horvat came on board Barzal has been looking to pass to him almost exclusively. Now that they are on separate lines hopefully that will help. A big part of Dobson's previous offensive success was his chemistry with Barzal.

 

[MJF]

A nugget I wholeheartedly agree with from Patrick Roy's postgame:

"If you want to score on your shot you'd better be a good shooter. If not you're gonna have to drive the net."

WE DON'T HAVE GOOD SHOOTERS.

This year's team, like other Islanders teams going back to Jack Capuano, does not have guys with finish in their sticks. We have guys who prefer to stay on the perimeter and thread the needle with seam passes or take a route to the net from the outside rather than driving through the slot. It's not working this year, and it hasn't worked in the past. It didn't really work when Jordan Eberle was here and it didn't work when Josh Bailey was on our power play.

This team has to play a north south game. Roy said as much after the win in Toronto last week. In order to do that they have to "fight for the inches." The team isn't willing to do that often enough. That's why we remain a win 1 lose 3 team. The guys don't manage the puck well enough nor have enough guys with a burst to score off the rush. We still have to grind for our goals. We just won't do it much.

 

[MarsTBOW]

Roy can't get past his Engvall hate. Fasching is useless. Either play the other guy or dress a7th defenseman. Someone who could kill a penalty.

Yeah Engvall when not trying to be a perimeter player is fine. He comes back and gives us 3 games on being in the middle of things then he pulls his disappearing act and hopes to get away with it. Roy calls him out. Sad thing is, if he just set his Motor on "High" he could be an effective player. I remember Leaf Fans saying similar things.

 

[crashthenet]

The last thing this organization needs is for Lamiorello to make Roy a convenient fall guy for all that has happened the past 5 years. Because that means Roy goes and Lamiorello stays to bungle another critical decision. This team did not have a PP to speak of for 6 years. Remember when Scott Gomez was brought in to try to fix it? When you have a team that did not practice the PP for 6 years because such practice requires creativity and a relaxed playing style which fundamentally went against a structured low scoring defense first system it’s going to struggle regardless of who’s behind the bench. But getting a team to understand that they are no longer leashed and can play confidently and relaxed during the PP is all about changing the teams mental approach to the game.


Engvall’s don’t hit don’t get hit approach to the game is nauseating. Good riddance.

Fasching hasn't finished a check since Squirts. Difference between the two of them is one has at least shown evidence of being an NHL player.

Why would we hold Lambert accountable for special teams but not Roy? Dobson and Holmstrom in transition last night were awful. PK rotations are equally bad.

Why does bottom sixer Engvall become a whipping boy but no accountability for others? That just doesn't wash.

Our PP when 13 is out there is mostly him skating slowly while others try and guess what he's doing. Looked better early when Lee was the focus and not forcing Bo the one T in the bumper. Our PP looks just as effective with Reilly or Cholowski running it this year as opposed to Dobson.

We are just splitting hairs at this point though. I believe the season is over.

 

[Rehabguy]

Fasching hasn't finished a check since Squirts. Difference between the two of them is one has at least shown evidence of being an NHL player.

Why would we hold Lambert accountable for special teams but not Roy? Dobson and Holmstrom in transition last night were awful. PK rotations are equally bad.

Why does bottom sixer Engvall become a whipping boy but no accountability for others? That just doesn't wash.

Our PP when 13 is out there is mostly him skating slowly while others try and guess what he's doing. Looked better early when Lee was the focus and not forcing Bo the one T in the bumper. Our PP looks just as effective with Reilly or Cholowski running it this year as opposed to Dobson.

We are just splitting hairs at this point though. I believe the season is over.

Engvall is simply the epitome of all that is wrong with this team and Roy decided to make an example of him and send a message to Lou at the same time ie, I don't care what you pay the guy I can't coach this shit. He's one of the fastest, tallest, and strongest players on the team and he's too scared to drive to the net. Add to that that they paid him as much as they did is just ridiculous. Fasching has shown many more attempts at driving to the net than Engvall has his entire career. He earned the spot over Engvall. If you are not going to use your god given talents and physical attributes to their fullest you should sit. He's teaching the team that you earn a spot on the roster on merit.

As for the special teams. Roy should eventually be held accountable, but the poor guy hasn't even been here a full season and the only thing he has had time to do is to shoehorn a place for the team into last years playoffs with only a 37 games left in the season last year. To start this season he loses half his defense and two of his top offensive players to start his season. The poor guy can't catch a break but I absolutely love the fact that he actually holds his players accountable. That he actively seeks solutions. That understands that the fans are part of the equation. He joins the club sees all the problems with the team's approach to the game and I bet the first thing that entered his mind is "where do I start?"

I cut a lot of slack for Roy because he joined this team at the tail end of a season and then gets struck with a injury laden roster to start the next season. I mean seriously, who thought this team would win a lot of games without half its defensive line-up and its two top playmaking players missing?

 

[Torrey Redux]

Well he understands it. The team shouldn’t be mentally strong for the last 6 minutes of a game only. At least it’s a start compared to being mentally weak throughout the entire 3rd period.

I hope the team is understanding what is possible when they have a will to win. They almost pulled it off. But it was a little too late. Haven’t seen such a drive in this team for years now. As Roy said “With seven minutes

, we pull the goalie, we score one, five minutes, we score another. You could come back in those games. And sometimes, I feel we don’t believe enough in that.” Yep. That’s it exactly the team has lacked confidence for years because they were treated like chess pieces on a chessboard.

Regardless they actually tried to play to win at the end of the game with encouragement from Roy. They should build on this. Baby steps. Now try to be mentally strong for at least the second half of the third period.

There was so much wrong with the team’s approach to the game that I don’t think he had much time to worry about anything else including special teams. The team on a fundamental level was just thinking the game absolutely the wrong way from past coaching experiences. Roy’s got a lot on his plate, but I appreciate the energy behind the bench, the constant teaching, the constant coaching. He’s active behind the bench unlike Lambert who would just be glaring at the ice scratching his head. This is what it will take to turn this team around. It will be painful to watch and all those injuries to start the season makes it even more painful because losses due to manpower injuries only makes things worse.​

These posts about how having "the will to win" would solve all of the problems are beyond ridiculous. The Islanders have just as much will to win as your average NHL team, no more, no less. They are just an average NHL team and that is the problem. It's not will, it's roster.

 

[Rehabguy]

These posts about how having "the will to win" would solve all of the problems are beyond ridiculous. The Islanders have just as much will to win as your average NHL team, no more, no less. They are just an average NHL team and that is the problem. It's not will, it's roster.

Meh. It’s mostly mental. Didn’t help to start this season with all the injuries. The team should be playing better but the injuries did them in early to start the season. It’s the Dr Jekyl and Mister Hyde impressions that has me thinking this teams problems all start in the head. They are not applying themselves well enough.

 

[Torrey Redux]

Meh. It’s mostly mental. Didn’t help to start this season with all the injuries. The team should be playing better but the injuries did them in early to start the season. It’s the Dr Jekyl and Mister Hyde impressions that has me thinking this teams problems all start in the head. They are not applying themselves well enough.

So that core of guys that you celebrated and thought were great when they went to the COVID ECFs have now all become head cases who have no will to win. Do I have that right?

 

[Rehabguy]

So that core of guys that you celebrated and thought were great when they went to the COVID ECFs have now all become head cases who have no will to win. Do I have that right?

Why are these ECF series losses always brought up as some kind of success story on these boards? Because like the players on the ice certain fans like Vivek R commented the other day have come to accept mediocrity as a new standard of excellence. They were not great. The team that won the Stanley Cup was great. They lost and they played the game like pushers as they were coached to play. They lost those series because it was pounded into their heads that the proper way to play is to play not to lose! I commented 4 years ago that the team was turtling late in games and allowing their goaltender to get assaulted. That is the VERY problem Roy is dealing with today and it will take another pounding into their heads that you play to win to become a champion. You play mentally strong and as Roy commented NOT mentally weak. So yeah they have all become head cases with no will to win. You got that right. It’s not the roster it was poor coaching.

Also the way you disregard how important it is to be in the right mindset in order to become a winner tells me you could not possibly be an old timer Isle fan. Character was the foundation behind the Islanders 4 straight Cup wins. Immediately prior to those wins from 1975-1979 the Islanders lost 4 out of 5 Conference Finals. None of the players or Islander fans back from the day look at those losses as something to be proud of. (Though sadly today’s Islander fans look back at 2 recent ECF losses as something great.) They were not seen as accomplishments but an embarrassment and gave the team a reputation of being big time chokers when it counted.

A winning attitude and a change in character because of those embarrassing losses led the Islanders to 4 straight Cups. It was that same will to win, that character that also taught Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers what it took to win and he forever thanks the Islanders for teaching them that. From a sweep the year prior to the next Dynasty it wasn’t the roster it was in their heads. The 1983 Oilers were the most dominant performing team to have ever entered the playoffs in NHL history with a 47-21 wins/losses and an unimaginable 446 goals for to end the regular season and yet they got swept by the Islanders in 4 games. As Gretzky often says even with all the talent in the world it is easier to accept losing than it is to have a will to win.



I trust Roy because as a 4 time Stanley Cup Champion himself and 3 time Conn Smyth winner, he also has the mentality of a winner in him and he is trying to teach todays Isles how to play mentally strong because he knows through experience that the will to win is everything. He knows what a winning mentality looks like. Today’s Islanders have all the tools to get the job done but they don’t apply themselves. Today’s team doesn’t have that winner mentality. This is what he was referring to in his recent post game interview. They need a Gretzky moment to get out of the funk they are in right now.

 

[Torrey Redux]

Why are these ECF series losses always brought up as some kind of success story? Because like the players on the ice certain fans like Vivek R commented the other day have come to accept mediocrity as a new standard of excellence. They were not great. The team that won the Stanley Cup was great. They lost and they played the game like pushers as they were coached to play. They lost those series because it was pounded into their heads that the proper way to play is to play not to lose! I commented 4 years ago that the team was turtling late in games and allowing their goaltender to get assaulted. That is the VERY problem Roy is dealing with today and it will take another pounding into their heads that you play to win to become a champion. You play mentally strong and as Roy commented NOT mentally weak. So yeah they have all become head cases with no will to win. You got that right. It’s not the roster it was poor coaching.

Quick point of order. I'm not going to go back and read through all of your posts to find out but are you a Lou guy? I mean do you generally believe that Lou has done a good job and still support him in his role as GM?

 

[Rehabguy]

Quick point of order. I'm not going to go back and read through all of your posts to find out but are you a Lou guy? I mean do you generally believe that Lou has done a good job and still support him in his role as GM?

No I am not a Lou guy but this was the hand we were dealt. In fact when he was hired I was probably the most vocal fan against his hiring and predicted he would manage this team to obsolescence. His time had come and gone many years ago. Why an 82 year old great grandfather is running this show is actually quite hilarious and has me scratching my head but he hasn’t gotten it all wrong. This lineup could have been definitely much better constructed but I like the Romanov trade. I like Tsyplakov. I liked that he went with the sniper in Eiserman. Most of all I liked that he finally got the coaching part right by hiring Roy.

 

[MarsTBOW]

What happened to the impressive Pulock and Pellech PK? That along with aging forwards tells the tale of our awful PK. We should have jettisoned one of them long ago as many here had suggested.
Glorified 3rd and 4th line forwards getting paid 2nd line pay is the problem here...
Lou, it's time to go.
Thanks for the Memories and stabilization of the Franchise....