I think it's important to give people time before judging them. In today's sports world we judge GMs too quickly and don't allow them to correct for mistakes they've made.
Totally respect giving a GM, coach, player time. Sometimes years to know if someone is a star/bust...But sometimes you know very soon.
If you need more time on Lou not much to say, but I'm failing to objectively look at the totality of his work, most specifically the actual record of a team he continually says he totally believes in, and not see a failure - By his own admission.
I'm a huge fan of Trotz and the way he coached. I love defense first hockey so I think he absolutely made the team better than the sum of its parts. The team is significantly older now and some players have fallen very far off from what they were then so I'm not sure if we can use Lambert/Roy as a barometer for whether or not those teams would've definitely missed the playoffs without Trotz. I do think they wouldn't have had the same level of success even if they had gotten in the playoffs.
Well we definitely agree on Trotz. I firmly believe there wasn't another hockey coach on earth who could've gotten the 18-21 Islanders as far as they got given the roster they had (and mostly still have).
And that's kind of the point....That Lou is truly lost without Trotz. The more talent any GM adds to the roster the more leeway it gives a coach to have success, and sadly Lou has mostly "stirred the pot" in terms of adding talent from the roster he inherited from snow.
I really don't like this because the team made the playoffs. Every team plays the same number of games and the Islanders got in, as the seventh seed too.
Absolutely all sport is a game of inches. Millimeters can be the difference between losing a game or a championship. However I hate the philosophy of "just make the playoffs and anything can happen," as if all 16 playoff teams have the same chance of winning it all just because they all made the playoffs.
The Isles might find themselves on the right side of the playoff line in 2 weeks, but there's a bunch of reasons why they are currently tied with the Red Wings with 10,000 to 1 odds of winning it all.
It's Lou's job to increase the odds of actually winning a Cup and he's failed at that. This team is sinking
Like I said, he can be replaced and I wouldn't be upset.
Honestly refreshing to hear from you.
As for the farm system, I don't get too worked up about that stuff. I remember when the Islanders had one of the top ranked systems and it resulted in nothing. Having good prospects is important, obviously, but I don't worry about rankings and generally I think prospect pools can be replenished fairly quickly.
You're so afraid of what he'll do and I judge off what he's done so we'll always be at odds.
I'll always judge what someone's done, but to ignore someone's clear behavioral patterns as a reasonable predictor of what will happen is to be in denial.
But bottom line - At some point regardless if someone is predictable or random if the RESULTS aren't there then they need to go. I'm past that point already and it sounds like you're finally getting close.
Lehner, Varlamov, Sorokin, Horvat, Palmieri, Pageau were all good moves for me. I mentioned what I think of Trotz above.
And yet if all those moves were good then why aren't we a shoo-in for the playoffs - Especially in a very down Metro division/Eastern Conference? That's a failure. I mean after all those "additions" the Flyers literally sold at the deadline and we're not ahead of them in the standings. That is embarrassing.
It's based off what he does, not an official timeframe. If he goes out and signs Martin to a seven year deal I'll be pissed and he should be fired on the spot. I'm also not as passionate about firing people.
I am so not passionate about firing people. I'm passionate about winning games and ultimately a Cup. Sometimes you need to draft a stud. Sometimes you need to hire a coach. Sometimes you need to trade for a player. And sometimes you need to fire a GM. If any of those moves were made and they got us markedly closer to a Cup...Then I'd be passionate about them.
I agree that we should judge management that way. His record currently that the team has made the playoffs 4 out of 5 seasons, has made it to the ECF twice, and to the second round once.
If we're being honest it was Trotz who had the biggest impact on this team's success since Lou took over. We don't even need to debate whether Lou is the reason Trotz came here, but giving him the benefit of the doubt...If Lou was such a genius for bringing him aboard, then you also have to hold Lou accountable for the results being so lackluster/poor since.
Either way it's all on Lou, and no matter who the GM is this summer, Lou has backed this roster into a corner where it's almost certain that the roster is going to be at least 80% the same this fall. And I don't know how anyone can feel better about the Isles Cup chances in 2025 as a result.
