The Defense

[TeamKidd]

The biggest problem for this team has to be its defense. What are the problems? What are the solutions? Clearly people are playing above their talent level. Is the system we're playing leading to mistakes? Should we 'dial it back'? If you had to give an honest assessment on where our defenders SHOULD be playing on a competitive playoff team, what would it be?

Hamonic: #3 Dman
MacDonald: #5 Dman
Hickey: #6 Dman
Donovan: #7 Dman
Carkner: #8 Dman
Ness: AHL Depth
Martinek: Not Signed

Injured: Visnovsky (#2? dman?), Strait (#5 Dman)

Even when healthy this is an uninspired group of players. Whats the solution? I'm not looking for hindsight either, I realize more should have been done over the summer.

-Was not keeping Reinhart up a mistake? Can we call him and/or Pulock up at this point?
-AHL Callups? DeHaan and Mayfield?
-Trades? Not getting in on Smid seems like a huge mistake (although I hear it was not widely known he was available)
-Waiver wire dumpster diving?

If it were me, id call up Mayfield and replace him with ness. Can Boulton play D? Not joking.

I would also scrap the 'go-go' system we play. We dont have the talent to execute it properly without making mistakes. ESPECIALLY with Vis/strait out and our goaltending playing like crap.

 

[SI90]

I cant disagree with your # assignments...

I wouldn't even call Viz a #2 hs a #3-4 guy imo...


Hamonic is a shutdown guy be he is not a Top 2 dman....

we really need to upgrade the defense...I really Hope Reinhart and Pulock develop into the studs I think they can be....But its not going to happen overnight so we need to try and get a solid vet or 2 that is or has been a top defenseman on a team...

 

[Paulinho]

Not giving big Grff the nine games really came back to bite us in the ass.

 

[TeamKidd]

Not giving big Grff the nine games really came back to bite us in the ass.

Can we/should we call him up now?

 

[Strome18]

Can we/should we call him up now?

Not until his season is over with.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Keeping Reinhart, IMO, wouldn't have changed all that much. At this point in his development, Reinhart would likely have the impact of a #5 or #6 guy. The Islanders already have a bunch of guys capable of being #5 or #6 defensemen. Their issue is a lack of top pairing guys, to allow everyone else to fall back into their natural spot. Reinhart wouldn't change that.

One issue is that Snow didn't replace Streit. Now, I know Streit was pretty bad defensively last season, and he's not worth the price tag the Flyers paid for him. But just in terms of replacing those minutes that Streit logged, especially on the PP, Snow didn't bring in anyone to do that. Where's the 20 minute PP quarterback? The Isles were already a bit thin last year, and that's with Streit in the lineup. This season, his spot was replaced by a rookie who is struggling just as much defensively as Streit did, but who isn't bringing the offense that at least Streit did.

Injuries have certainly done a number on the Isles' defense. With Visnovsky and Strait out, that's 2 out of the 6 defensemen who were penciled in as the Isles' regular defensive corps this season. So obviously that's going to hurt. However, injuries happen. Every team loses valuable guys. You need the depth to be able to absorb the loss, and Snow didn't really do anything to ensure that an injury or two to a key guy wouldn't cripple the club.

 

[tag0519]

The biggest problem for this team has to be its defense. What are the problems? What are the solutions? Clearly people are playing above their talent level. Is the system we're playing leading to mistakes? Should we 'dial it back'? If you had to give an honest assessment on where our defenders SHOULD be playing on a competitive playoff team, what would it be?

Hamonic: #3 Dman
MacDonald: #5 Dman
Hickey: #6 Dman
Donovan: #7 Dman
Carkner: #8 Dman
Ness: AHL Depth
Martinek: Not Signed

Injured: Visnovsky (#2? dman?), Strait (#5 Dman)

Even when healthy this is an uninspired group of players. Whats the solution? I'm not looking for hindsight either, I realize more should have been done over the summer.

-Was not keeping Reinhart up a mistake? Can we call him and/or Pulock up at this point?
-AHL Callups? DeHaan and Mayfield?
-Trades? Not getting in on Smid seems like a huge mistake (although I hear it was not widely known he was available)
-Waiver wire dumpster diving?

If it were me, id call up Mayfield and replace him with ness. Can Boulton play D? Not joking.

I would also scrap the 'go-go' system we play. We dont have the talent to execute it properly without making mistakes. ESPECIALLY with Vis/strait out and our goaltending playing like crap.

Everyone talkls about defensive issues yet nobody talks about forwards. Defense is a 5 person thing - not 2. Yes I agree our defenders arent exactly the best at shutting down, but the majority of our forwards are not that defensively skilled.

 

[Cacciaguida]

switch Carkner with Ness.
I feel safer with Ness on the ice.

 

[TeamKidd]

Everyone talkls about defensive issues yet nobody talks about forwards. Defense is a 5 person thing - not 2. Yes I agree our defenders arent exactly the best at shutting down, but the majority of our forwards are not that defensively skilled.

I agree, but dont you think that says something about the system we employ?

 

[Sheva7]

Not giving big Grff the nine games really came back to bite us in the ass.

When has a mistake not come back to bite us?

 

[Skip To My Lou]

One issue is that Snow didn't replace Streit. Now, I know Streit was pretty bad defensively last season, and he's not worth the price tag the Flyers paid for him. But just in terms of replacing those minutes that Streit logged, especially on the PP, Snow didn't bring in anyone to do that. Where's the 20 minute PP quarterback? The Isles were already a bit thin last year, and that's with Streit in the lineup. This season, his spot was replaced by a rookie who is struggling just as much defensively as Streit did, but who isn't bringing the offense that at least Streit did.

I feel like Vis was that guy to replace Streit. Having both wasn't really working out and Visnovsky was working well being the guy we rely on. Unfortunately Vis's concussion really didn't help us out at all.

One thing that hurt us, was assuming Donovan was going to take the reins immediately as our 2nd go-to guy and replace Streit. That's the issue with this board with the rookies. They all feel like the rookies like Strome or Reinhart would help immediately in a main role. Sometimes they do produce well, like Nelson, but most of the times there will be a lot of flubs, and can't seem to assume these inexperienced guys take on prominent roles. Donovan was an AHL All Star last year, putting up excellent numbers, and he's still struggling.

That's the problem with this organization. We don't even try to improve. Granted, last year our D wasn't much of an issue. But you can't assume these things are gonna play out. You gotta prepare for the worst.

 

[LeapOnOver]

Keeping Reinhart, IMO, wouldn't have changed all that much. At this point in his development, Reinhart would likely have the impact of a #5 or #6 guy. The Islanders already have a bunch of guys capable of being #5 or #6 defensemen. Their issue is a lack of top pairing guys, to allow everyone else to fall back into their natural spot. Reinhart wouldn't change that.

One issue is that Snow didn't replace Streit. Now, I know Streit was pretty bad defensively last season, and he's not worth the price tag the Flyers paid for him. But just in terms of replacing those minutes that Streit logged, especially on the PP, Snow didn't bring in anyone to do that. Where's the 20 minute PP quarterback? The Isles were already a bit thin last year, and that's with Streit in the lineup. This season, his spot was replaced by a rookie who is struggling just as much defensively as Streit did, but who isn't bringing the offense that at least Streit did.

Injuries have certainly done a number on the Isles' defense. With Visnovsky and Strait out, that's 2 out of the 6 defensemen who were penciled in as the Isles' regular defensive corps this season. So obviously that's going to hurt. However, injuries happen. Every team loses valuable guys. You need the depth to be able to absorb the loss, and Snow didn't really do anything to ensure that an injury or two to a key guy wouldn't cripple the club.

LOL! So can all those fans who said Donovan would do the job of Streit take a step forward so I can put duct tape on your balls? I said this would be a problem and the common board retort was, "Donovan can do what Streit did". Good call....

 

[LeapOnOver]

I feel like Vis was that guy to replace Streit. Having both wasn't really working out and Visnovsky was working well being the guy we rely on. Unfortunately Vis's concussion really didn't help us out at all.

One thing that hurt us, was assuming Donovan was going to take the reins immediately as our 2nd go-to guy and replace Streit. That's the issue with this board with the rookies. They all feel like the rookies like Strome or Reinhart would help immediately in a main role. Sometimes they do produce well, like Nelson, but most of the times there will be a lot of flubs, and can't seem to assume these inexperienced guys take on prominent roles. Donovan was an AHL All Star last year, putting up excellent numbers, and he's still struggling.

That's the problem with this organization. We don't even try to improve. Granted, last year our D wasn't much of an issue. But you can't assume these things are gonna play out. You gotta prepare for the worst.

Just to be clear, you cannot REPLACE a guy with a guy that was ALREADY on the roster. That's not a replacement. That mentality is why Streit wasn't replaced. Of course I agree with your Donovan comments.

 

[original islander]

LOL! So can all those fans who said Donovan would do the job of Streit take a step forward so I can put duct tape on your balls? I said this would be a problem and the common board retort was, "Donovan can do what Streit did". Good call....

Have to admit I thought Streit was a liability defensively and assumed that Donovan would at least be an adequate replacement. I was wrong but you do not have permission to duct tape any part of me. My motto has always been anybody I can't outfight I can out run. Trust me I'm very fast for my age.

 

[A Pointed Stick]

Imagine what next year might bring. Two stone cold rookies + sophomore slump Donovan. The humanity, the humanity, oh sweet Elizabeth, the humanity!

 

[tag0519]

I agree, but dont you think that says something about the system we employ?

Absolutely!! Great coaches can use a system for his players. It seems Capuano knows one system and he's using it no matter what.

 

[A Pointed Stick]

Absolutely!! Great coaches can use a system for his players. It seems Capuano knows one system and he's using it no matter what.

Just like Gordon though Cappy has shown some flexability between systems over time. He does tend to get stuck on one though, and needs a pile of losses to think about changing.

 

[bigd]

Enough with the " we should have kept Reinhart". That ship has sailed and we didn't have a crystal ball. Losing 2 of your top 6 D-men right off the bat has really hurt. This group was thin to begin with and now we see that our depth at D was not ready to make the jump.
Who knew that Vis and Strait were going to be out this long? Donovan has not progressed as fast as we thought he would but if we had a full squad he could be shielded more. I like Ness but he's also not ready to handle the load he's been given. These things should have been addressed over the summer. You always need 9-10 NHL ready D-men in the system in case of injuries, we had 6-7.

 

[Strummergas]

Imagine what next year might bring. Two stone cold rookies + sophomore slump Donovan. The humanity, the humanity, oh sweet Elizabeth, the humanity!

You can't have a sophomore slump if you haven't had a good rookie year. Is Donovan going to be that much worse next year than this year?

 

[Felix Unger]

Keeping Reinhart, IMO, wouldn't have changed all that much. At this point in his development, Reinhart would likely have the impact of a #5 or #6 guy. The Islanders already have a bunch of guys capable of being #5 or #6 defensemen. Their issue is a lack of top pairing guys, to allow everyone else to fall back into their natural spot. Reinhart wouldn't change that.

Well, while I agree it would not have made any difference w/respect to record, it could have accelerated Reinhart's growth a bit. It's become clearer what we can expect from Reinhart and what we can't. What we can't expect is much offensive production. What we can expect is a future defensive stalwart. Now, I'd prefer him learning the ropes and tricks of NHL play THIS year as opposed to stopgap Carkner. There would be no loss in terms of play (I'm sure of that), and gain in development. I think it would have be preferable to sending him back to junior in order to "work on offense", which I'm not really sure is going to happen anyway.

Personally, I think he was sent back so as not to waste the money on Carkner's contract... Penny wise, pound foolish.

 

[MDIsles]

Snow bleeped up royally plain and simple BUT enough of what we already know.

If the Isles want to make a run with this ECHL Defense they should employ a "Left Wing Lock." Teach it now and practice it for a few weeks then employ it by New Years. Hopefully, this trainwreck will still be within striking distance then win games 2-1 assuming the ECHL goaltending can handle it. Thanks Snow!

When things continue into a massive trainwreck which it pretty much already is, I will be dumping my last ten partial plan games, cuz there is no way in hell I am wasting my time with attending this trainwreck since I have already wasted my $$$, BE ON THE LOOK OUT in the ticket resale thread. I will be deeply discounting games and will UPS them to you because I am not giving "Cheapo Chuckie" and extra $1.95 per.

 

[camper*]

LOL! So can all those fans who said Donovan would do the job of Streit take a step forward so I can put duct tape on your balls? I said this would be a problem and the common board retort was, "Donovan can do what Streit did". Good call....

The glue on duck tape is a known cure for warts

 

[CaptDenisPotvin]

Defense is a mindset especially for the forwards...anyone can play at least acceptable defense as long as they are held accountable for there assignments. Defensive coaches dont NEED all defensive forwards to be successful but they need EVERYONE and i mean everyone to buy into playing defense. Coaches understand that the talent part of this game comes from the forwards that can create and put the puck in the net and in goaltending.

I think to a certain extent cappy has not held people accountable for defensive assignments so there is no incentive to play defense. If a player knows if he blows an assignment and costs a goal he may be scratched the next game, he will do whatever it takes to make sure first and foremost his defense is tight...offense will be secondary and that my friends is what the mindset should be. But its not and we suck because of it.

Give me a bunch of #3-5 defenseman and a forward corp that is committed to defense...with a little goaltending you have a playoff team.

 

[bigd]

Harmonic sticking up for the D while unknowingly throwing his goalies under the bus. "it's not like we are making a ton of mistakes" "it seems like every one of 'em costs us".

 

[Macch]

LOL! So can all those fans who said Donovan would do the job of Streit take a step forward so I can put duct tape on your balls? I said this would be a problem and the common board retort was, "Donovan can do what Streit did". Good call....

Soooooooo many people have crow to eat. Not only would Donovan replace Streit but he would be an improvement. Hilarious!!!