If you’re at .500, you’re nowhere in the modern NHL bonus points system, and that’s where the Islanders are at after going 2-8-1 in their past 11 to fall to 21-21-4. Their final game before the All-Star break is tonight against Philadelphia, and it’s a must-win type of game against the last place team in the Eastern Conference if the Islanders want to maintain their fading playoff hopes.
Having already lost twice at home to the Flyers, there certainly are no guarantees. Here’s the daunting reality. The Isles play the Flyers three times in their next 17 games, and those are the only games in that stretch in which the Islanders could reasonably be considered the favorite. When they return from the break, they face a Murderer’s Row list of opponents: at Atlanta, home against Buffalo and Detroit and then road games at Atlanta, Montreal and Washington before a home game against Philly.
Squandering their 19-13-3 start was a killer. Considering the Islanders’ recent difficulties scoring (14 goals in the nine losses in the past 11 games), coach Ted Nolan devoted a 30-minute meeting before yesterday’s practice to defensive zone coverage. For a team that must rely on defense and goaltending, there have been far too many turnovers, and the opposition has scored all too easily on rebounds and backdoor plays.
“We just have to keep going over and over again the small details of our game,” Nolan said after the meeting on Wednesday. “We worked on a lot of our defensive zone coverage. I think we’re in good position when teams get one shot, but we’re in bad position for the second and third shots. That’s an area we have to improve. Our defensive zone coverage is more will than skill. We have to battle a little bit harder. Let our goaltenders stop the first shot, but they can’t stop the second and third rebounds.”
Asked if there also was some soul-searching in the meeting after giving up three third-period goals in Tuesday’s 5-2 loss in Pittsburgh, Nolan said, “It was Xs and Os and soul-searching,” Nolan said. “As a coaching staff, we have to keep giving players information to make them better. But you can only take the horse to the well. The horse has to bend over and drink once in awhile. If we do what we’re asked to do, we should be okay. If we’re giving the wrong information, then, it’s our fault as a coaching staff. We spent a lot of time on video and a lot of time asking ourselves if we’re doing enough to help the team win on an individual basis and collectively.”
Nolan obviously was pleased that top defenseman Radek Martinek returned to the lineup after sitting out only 19 days with a broken foot. “When Radek went down, the doctor said four to six weeks. We figured it would be two to three weeks,” Nolan said with a smile. “That’s the type of guy he is. He was a little bit rusty [in Pittsburgh], but that’s to be expected. The more games he plays, the more he gets his timing back, he’s going to get back to playing like the Martinek of old in a very short time.”
Martinek’s return gives the Isles their top four veterans, also including Brendan Witt, Sean Hill and Tom Poti, plus some combination of youngsters Bruno Gervais, Freddy Meyer and Chris Campoli. Nolan clearly is committed to developing Gervais, who suffered a sprained ankle against the Penguins but is hoping to play against the Flyers. Campoli was in the press box as a healthy scratch in Pittsburgh but also could be back in the lineup because Meyer played poorly.
“I talked to Campoli,” Nolan said regarding the scratch. “It has nothing to do with his play of late. He’s been doing everything we asked him to do. Sometimes, it’s just a numbers thing and the chemistry of the team and how you respond to it. If Bruno can go, Bruno’s definitely in. But there could be a strong possibility Campy could still be in.”
No matter who is on the ice, the Islanders must cut down on turnovers. As Witt said after one recent loss: “We’re turning the puck over a lot at the blue lines. When it comes down to this late in the season, those pucks need to go in [at the offensive end], and those pucks [at the defensive end] need to go out. Those are battle conditions. Come playoff time, those are crucial areas we’ve got to get better at.”
Or, there will be no playoff time for the Islanders.
NOLAN NOTES: The Islanders’ coach indicated his feeling that Jason Blake’s recent scoring slump is linked directly to that of linemate Alexei Yashin when he compared Blake’s situation to that of Miro Satan. “When Miro wasn’t scoring, it wasn’t Miro by himself,” Nolan said. “His linemates have to contribute. Blake’s the same thing. He’s a winger. He needs people around him to feed him the puck.”…At the same time, Nolan said Yashin’s effort improved the past two games, which included a goal against Tampa Bay on Monday. “He didn’t get any numbers [at Pittsburgh], but he battled harder,” Nolan said of Yashin. “There was one situation in the second period where he outbattled two guys for the puck and walked in and had a great chance to score. You can just see it in the last couple games, he’s starting to get his old form back, and once he gets his form back, it’s going to make Blake much better.”…Nolan defended Blake’s chippy play against Penguins star Sidney Crosby. Pens coach Michel Therrien accused Blake of spearing and trying to hurt Crosby at the end of the game. “Blake always plays a chippy, aggressive game,” Nolan said. Referring to a situation in the first period when a hit by Witt led to a fight with Ryan Malone and several other Penguins, Nolan added, “Witt has a good, open-ice, clean hit, and all of a sudden, three guys jump him. If he hit Chris Thorburn, I don’t think you’re going to get the same reaction. I think everybody is fair game on the ice. Unfortunately, if you hit so-called ‘star’ players, everything gets blown out of whack. Blake’s hit almost every player in this league, but it doesn’t get the attention because it’s not Crosby. When Crosby speaks, people want to hear about it and want to listen to it. If he wants to complain, people are going to listen, but Blake plays that style against everybody in the league.”…Backup goaltender Mike Dunham got the dreaded “just okay” assessment from Nolan after giving up a bad goal to Erik Christensen that made it 4-2 in the third period. “Mike was a little bit rusty,” Nolan said. “He hadn’t played in a long time, but that’s the job of a backup goaltender to make sure he’s ready and he’s sharp when he’s called upon. Maybe the fourth goal was really his thing. Outside that, he did okay.”
Comments (23)
All your columns are bland and these blogs are outright PR-driven. I read your columns and blogs and I feel like I'm looking at the Islanders website. How about taking this organization to task just once? I'm an Islanders fan and if I want the Mickey Mouse story as to what's happening with this team, I'll go to the team's website. Being you're the only beat writer left covering this team, we expect some objective points of view and not the view of Chris Botta, Garth Snow, Mike Milbury, etc. If you're going to be a beat writer, you need to have a pair!
Greg,
I don't mean to be critical and a lot of what I'm about to say has a lot to do with my frustration with the Isles play of late but here we go ...
Your blogs, while infrequent, never seem to hit on what your readers seem to want to know about ...
1) What's the deal with the Islander's youth? Are they ever going to get called up? When's the point of no return on the season when they realize that the 3rd and 4th liners (which is virtually the whole team) don't have the talent to compete?
2) Is Garth planning on making a trade at some point before the deadline? Are they going to trade Blake or try and resign him? Are they going to try and get younger and more SKILLED?
3) I know the process is going to be a slow one, but can there be some updates on the Nassau Hub project?
I realize that there are times when there's nothing to blog about, but if everynow and then you could throw some info about these topics I'm sure there would be many grateful people.
Now that Nolan has gone on record to play Gervais over Campoli ( I guess last year didn't matter???)why doesn't he do the ethical thing and trade him to an NHL team who'll appreciate him. It is the Islander way!!!
Greg:
At the risk of sounding deluded about my own self-importance, I think the postings from AZS and Reality Please! might have been prompted by my post of yesterday. (If not, that’s ok, I’m just not as important as I thought I was). And I may have been a bit harsh, especially in light of your post today – it’s pretty good and a lot closer to what true fans of this team are looking for. But I also must say that I still agree with those guys. Greg, it’s still lacking.
Here’s an example from your latest. The quotes from Nolan are, I think, quite revealing. Especially those about the 30 minute team meeting to work on… defense. DEFENSE??? The team has scored like what, 14 goals in their last 9 losses? And the coach has them meet about their DEFENSE.
Fine. So what does the average fan do? He starts to question Nolan’s overall sanity as well as his ability to coach a winning NHL team. But that would be unfair. The real underlying message from Nolan’s actions is probably this… 1- He’s actually satisfied, for the remainder of this season, with the offense that the current players are capable of producing, and… 2- He’s resigned himself to coaching the team to play a style much like that of the Devils, and… 3- He has absolutely no intention this season of bringing up any of the young talent in Bridgeport.
I realize I might be way off base in my perceptions. I’m not there. But YOU ARE. So we need to hear what YOU think. We want your impressions, you’re thoughts, your speculations. That’s what a real blog is all about. Go ahead… prognosticate. We won’t mind. And contrary to what Alan Hahn might have felt during his tenure, the players and coaches probably won’t mind either.
Does anyone know the health status of Joel Bouchard? His play last season was excellent, especially offensively.
I don't think Nolan's decision to sit Campoli on Tuesday means he favors Gervais over Campoli. It means, for that night at least, he favored Meyer over Campoli. Sure looked like a mistake to me.
Greg-
I agree with others who have a real desire to learn YOUR thoughts, observations, and inquiries with team brass.
However, I have to agree with the need for tighter defense in front of our own net.
Satan this year is a mystery, but this is simply not a highly skilled offensive club--especially at the point--which is readily evident on the PP.
And overall, our defense has played well in limitting shots--but we have given up a seemingly overwhelming number of goals on second and third chance rebounds. Is this defensive coverage? Is it goalies giving up big rebounds that others do not?
For me, rather than outshoot an opponent 32-21 with a number of mid-range scoring opportunities from marginal scorers, I'd be more concerned with protecting our own net.
And finally, while it's easy for me to play Monday morning quarterback, after some initial success, the Isles are losing a lot more since the York-Zhitnik trades than before. So Greg, in retrospect, what do you think are the consequences of these trades? Nothing more than salary dump?
Campoli, based upon his proven track record and point totals from last year should be playing ahead of BOTH Meyer and Gervais. Campoli temporarily saw reduced ice time last year after the trade with the Kings for the since departed Russian kid; the Philly trade this year with Z for Meyer reduced it again. Now they develop Gervais ( the worst +/- on the team with miniscule points) who played primarily at Bridgeport last year, Campoli is again left scratching his head in wonder.
Guys, don't bitch because Greg's blog posts or stories in the paper don't read the way they would if you wrote them.
On the subject of bitching because the FREE BLOG isn't updated as frequently as you'd like...come on, think about what you're saying here. Greg Logan doesn't owe you anything.
That said, sitting Campoli and playing Gervais seems pretty silly to me as well.
Greg Logan doesn't owe me anything? Of course not. But he does have an obligation to provide me, you and every other would-be reader of this newspaper with the best possible coverage of the topics we might want to read about. Why is he obligated you ask? Because if he doesn't fulfill that obligation then someone else is standing right behind him waiting for the opportunity to do so AND the opportunity to collect his paycheck which, by the way, is funded from advertizing dollars paid to his employer by companies whose products are purchased by those same readers for prices that include an amount directly related to the cost of those advertizing dollars.
Free blog? You need to look deeper (which, incidently, is what I'm asking Mr. Logan to do). Nothing is "free".
I happen to agree with Cincy ...
I'm assuming that Greg is writing his column and blog not only for the love of his paycheck, but because he wants to provide his readers with the best possible coverage he can ...I don't think there's anything wrong with pointing out Greg some topics that his readers would prefer to read about ...
Yes, Newsday gets ad revenue from website visitors. I'm aware of this. But the blog is still free. Neither of us is paying for reading it or for arguing in the comments section. The idea that you are somehow entitled to X number of posts for Greg Logan to keep his job is pretty silly.
What I'm saying is that people here have bitched that Logan's articles don't advance their personal point of view ever since the blog started. That's what "look deeper" and just about every criticism I've read here boils down to.
Advance MY personal point of view? I think not. In fact, just the opposite. Read my posts. I want HIS point of view. I mean, c'mon. Is asking for someone's opinions and observations asking for too much? Especially when that is that person's occupation?
Please understand, we're really not "bitchin". We're Islander fanatics. We're otherwise normal, but our minds are slightly twisted to the point where we're keenly interested in the success and general goings-on of this hockey francise to the degree of fanaticism. We're Islander FANS. We're addicted. We crave info and Logan is the pusher.
lol, well said ...
If it's information you crave... quotes you read in all the columns, then go straight to NYITV and watch all the videos there. Everything you want to know directly from the horses mouth is right there in a neat little package. But if it's PERSONAL opinion you're looking for, then read your way around the internet.
Cincy, I certainly understand what you mean when you talk about being a fanatic. I consider myself one as well.
Perhaps it's going to far to say this, but if Logan gave his personal opinion and he agreed with Nolan that defense was the issue, I expect that you would "question his sanity" the way you've questioned Nolan's. If this is not the case, then I commend you for not seeking coverage from Logan that mirrors your own opinions.
I know he's not everyone's favorite, but look at the way Larry Brooks covers the Rangers in the NY Post. Always questioning and asking about the decisions being made.
Personally, I'm not asking Greg to stir the pot simply for creating havoc and adversity--but sports personalities make good salaries because fans like to follow these day-to-day matters as well as simply watching the game.
I certainly hope Greg is not following the lead of Garth Snow who said at the season's beginning that fans should not criticize off-season moves and that we all needed to stick together. Remember, "We're all Islanders." If Greg feels some more critical comments jeopardize his ability to get other inside news--well that's his journalistic judgment. However, for better or worse, I suspect modern journalism has changed just a bit since Greg went to college and the bottom line is that readers now expect more that just conveying the facts.
Sportswriters are now our best journalists. Keith Olbermann and Mike Lupica know more about the rise of fascism in the US than the power-hugging corporate media buffoons and propagandists we're stuck with. And I'd rather have an up-front dude like Chris Russo interview the fascists with hard questions rather than a Tweety Matthews or a neocon lapdog like Mike Wallace.
Two thumbs up for Cincy and AZS. They're like the vast majority of us who want to see the Islanders improve. It's all constructive commentary and very well thought out. If Logan reviews the responses with an open mind, maybe he too will look in the mirror for a self assessment. Now if we could only get Danny Flynn to do so with his defensive alignments. Hmmmmmmm
First off I know were tough on Mr Logan but that's because we want a solid dedicated blog packed with information and no holding back. And we want him to push his editor for more coverage.
Compared to Alan Hahn making us feel like orphans who are lucky we have the Rangers to keep us in business, Greg Logan has been outstanding.
That said you see Steve Zipay doing 2-3 updates some days, you see Dellapina blogging every single day spamming Rangers inside and out with the journal news doing likewise and even Greenberg does some Ranger blogging in the post. All Sunday content comes from Ranger writers, even Zipay in Newsday.
That's unacceptable.
We even have had to deal with Herrmann doing a Sunday feature on Jagr in Newsday.
We need more coverage, it's that simple and Newsday should see that more than anything. Why not put Zipay on the Islander beat with Greg Logan and drop the Rangers the way the Times and Post has done with the Islanders?
It speaks volumes for the state of this team for the last 20 years that the general attitude toward one-game-over-.500-at-the-break is "we'll take it."
I'm tired of watching my team be picked apart at crucial moments by the kind of genuine, top-tier talent (Lecavalier, Crosby, etc., etc., etc.) that everyone seems to have but us. While Yashin has a killer shot, when was the last time you remember him dominating a game and cutting the heart out of the other team? Unless Snow is able to perform some kind of miracle and bring in a genuine stud at deadline time, I think we're looking at something on the order of 39-37-6, 10th place, and drooling at Afinogenov on TV throughout May.
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She said it was a mean practice and wasn't clean, and I must try to not do it any more.immaculate