13 Thoughts On The Islanders Out Of The Gate
Note: Something new I’m going to be trying out on a weekly basis; Every Sunday I’ll be writing 10-15 thoughts I feel are blog worthy but not profound enough to blog individually, kind of exactly like Friedman’s 30 Thoughts. They’ll always be totally correct and rational, so don’t even trip – Enjoy.
We’re now five games into the year and so far this team has shown us a little bit of everything, while somehow continuing to prove that old habits die hard. It’s been an insane week of storylines spanning arena news to Jordan Eberle’s debut as a New York Islander with a ton of things in-between.
1. If there’s one thing that’s stood out thus far it’s this team’s powerplay, and just how terrible it has been. Now 0-18 on the year, not being able to capitalize on the man advantage has been the biggest factor weighing on a very underwhelming offensive showing. Multiple chances without a shot on goal last night in San Jose is absolute rock-bottom for both units which means two things. 1. It can only get better from here, and 2. IslesTwitter finally gets to dust off the “Can we just start deferring penalties?” joke for the first time since, uhhh, last March? Excellent.
2. Earlier in the week Dougie made a good point in regards to the powerplay’s lack of production
“..they all have good hands and they like to use them a little too much right now.”
Which just about sums up this team’s offense as a whole. This team has a ton of skill, but the vast majority are working a little too hard to show it off, which is weighing heavily on their production. Be it JT always trying to be the best on the ice, Eberle overcompensating to make a good impression in his new home, or players like JHS & Barzal being young and a little too overzealous with the puck, this offense has skill and is doing a little too much with it.
3. The solution? In the great words of BlackTwitter, do less. As much as we all hate the fans who scream “SHOOOT” at games, they’re right. Shoot that shit bro. No one needs that behind the back pass Barzy, put that puck on net. I don’t preach the Pucks on Net Life for the fun of it, I preach it because it works. Ask Johnny Boychuk, simplify everything, do less, and shoot. the. puck.
4. Moving on to the defense, it’s abundantly clear these pairings aren’t on the same page for a good portion of games, which is what we in the hockey business call “not good.” Individually, most of the defensive core has been good. Mayfield and Hickey stepped up in big ways to help secure the win in San Jose, where Boychuk has been bringing a physicality we haven’t seen in a year or so. Leddy has been Leddy and CDH has been.. well, there. As a friend of the program and my co-host I won’t throw too much shade, but the Carp Lad is far better than what we’ve seen out of him this week.
That said, as a group, the defensive core has proven they don’t have a full grasp on whatever systems Dougie has implemented, which again, is not good with the season well underway. Not an end of the world ordeal, or something what can’t straighten itself out, but this is why we have the preseason.
5. Speaking of Mayfield, both he and Pelech have been serviceable in their first few games this year. Mayfield has been a real force in the lineup and Pelech has been smart on the puck, at times. A few times I’ve caught Pelly in a moment of indecision, almost always leading to a turnover, which makes Dougie’s decision to not swap Pulock in for #50 even more puzzling. I don’t think Pelly has played bad enough to warrant getting healthied, but he’s not putting himself in the early running for Norris, give Pulock the shot.
6. On Pulock; I truly don’t see how he hasn’t been given a chance yet. Sure it’s just five games but when your offense is struggling and powerplay a non-factor, maybe sitting the kid with a quality slapshot and the ability to quarterback the blueline isn’t the smartest move. If we don’t see him in tonight then I don’t know when it’ll happen.
7. In regards to Dougie’s decision making, what we’ve seen so far has concerned me a decent amount.
One of the biggest reasons for optimism this year was finally getting to see a product that’s entirely from Dougie. Last year he was handed Capuano’s mess and dealt with it extremely well. Now he’s had a full camp/preseason with this group, with the addition of Jordan Eberle and a few kids who all have a future in the league, only to handle the lineup in a manner that brings back memories of Capuano.
First it was starting Chimera over Ho-Sang for the season opener, then his decision to stick with Pelech and Mayfield over Pulock, and finally last night’s sudden scratching of Beau in favor of, once again, Chimera. Tack on a quick trigger finger for jumbling up lines when thinks are looking dull, and you have Cappy 2.o, something absolutely no fan wants to see. Again, not end of the world stuff, but not too incouraging when the team has looked how it’s looked.
8. Now that’s not to say I don’t want Chimmer seeing ice-time, guy can still play and play damned well for his age, but as a head coach, you can’t go into a season saying that experience won’t supersede skill, and then play veterans in lieu of blossoming talent, just to use “well Beau has been stagnant these last few days” as the excuse. I’m a big “play through it” guy so if a player is stagnant, wouldn’t sitting him only continue the funk? Maybe it’s me.
Every NHL coach makes decisions that will piss off fanbases, thats how the whole coach/fanbase relationship works, and though I’m by no means turning on Dougie this early in the season, he’s not necessarily winning me over like he did ever so quickly last season.
9. The Goalies have been pretty much the only reliable trait this team has right now. Subtracting Berube from the mix makes things a hell of a lot easier when it comes to handling who gets the start each night. The only thing better than having an above average goalie is having two, and both Halak & Greiss are doing what they can to keep this team in games.
11. Pivoting to the topic of Belmont, John Ledecky made it clear this week that this organization is deadset on returning to Nassau and making it their permanent home, and I believe him. If there’s one thing Ledecky has done since taking over it’s try to prove to the fans he means business. He wants nothing more than for this team to succeed and for the fans to be happy with the product he’s presenting; Belmont is a major step towards just that and it seem he is taking this as serious as can be.
12. Basically in the same breath Ledecky also made it clear that the Coliseum will never, ever again be the Isles permanent home. Something Bettman himself has said numerous times over the years yet no one seemed to listen. It sucks to say but it’s the sad reality, the Coliseum days are long gone, and continuing to hold out hope seems to be wasted energy at this point.
Final Thought – 5 games into an 82 game season isn’t much, any negatives we’ve seen thus far can be corrected and any positives most likely won’t sustain themselves forever [looking at you Brock]. The Isles haven’t looked good but they aren’t showing signs of a team that’ll flounder as a whole this year; smoothing out some of the kinks and collecting whatever points they can should be the main focus right now. Oh and signing Tavares, that’s up there as well.