On the Islanders Beat

THE DRIVE FOR FIVE IS BACK ON, PEOPLE!

Woo-Hoo!

Best have that guy with the white gloves just drop the cup right here when the wings are done with it.

What does this signing say about the health of Sillinger?

What does the fact that Sillinger had a hip replaced say about Sillinger?

At the very least, get your facts straight, Frei. Sillinger did not have his hip replaced.

It's one thing to continually play the role of Chicken Little, it's quite another to also play the role of author James FREY.

Where to begin...Aww forget it I am speechless..

The Bobbleheads are morons....DOUG WEIGHT ???? Youth movement ???? Do not want to take room from the kids ???? Whic

They have got to be kidding me....Doug Weight and Bill Guerin on a team rebuilding !! LMAO

FIRE SNOW .... SELL THE TEAM WANGER !!!

*** Anyone who buys into the "leadership" blah blah blah stuff is kidding themselves....This is a poor signing. It goes against Snows whole so called plan. Him and the bobbles are LOST !! **

** It is as if Snow is giving his old buddies one last paycheck and talking the computer geek into writing the checks. ***

*** All of you that think he is "REPLACING" Sillinger....Please stop the nonsense....I stuck up for Silly all last year while 99% of people trashed him and wanted him off the team so the kids can play...True or False ?? So now we are going to replace him with someone just as old and done to take up room ???

NO LOGIC in the Isles "Commitee!" ... Wang MUST sell this team or give up COMPLETE control asap.

Nice scoop by Botta on his blog, posted nearly an hour before it was here. Maybe Newsday should hire him since he's looking for work.

Ok. Now go get Huselius or Demitra. Or in a perfect world both.

Yeah that was really just kind of a metaphor there, I should have figured it too hot for you to handle.

But that aside Sillinger is old and they did some substantial digging around in a very difficult place. The odds would not seem to favor his return, and if he did, it would be tough to be at as high a level as he was.

Hips are nasty. Its the same reason if this team thinks they're going to run at the cup with Rick, they better do it sooner rather than later. Those are the kinds of injuries that might heal but never get better.

Oh, and the sky fell a long time ago. I'm different than some because I'm not in denial.

The perennial sunshine blowers and I, we're on different sides of the fence, but we're been saying the same things for years.

Only one of us has been right, though.

First off, your an ID10T if you don't support WANG. Look at the Lemon owners we had before! You stupid people amaze me with the level of stupidity. Why don't you get a real job and try work for a living.

Snow, Nolan, and Wang are doing the BEST they can with what is available.

Holy Cow! I mean, when was the last time you heard of a player saying, "wow, I want to play for the Islanders".

I mean come on, we have to start somewhere and our Islanders are moving FORWARD!

Lets go Islanders!!

To me this is the type of move that will have little impact. The Islanders may make the playoffs, but it's not likely and I don't see how Weight would take up a spot in place of one of the kids. Bailey isn't making the team, Comeau and Okposo will still take regular shifts and I don't know if Neilson and Walter are ready to be regulars. So it's merely a stopgap so Bailey and the rest can get another season to work on their game. Andy maybe Weight brings a draft pick in a deadline deal. This team was dreadfully weak in the middle and this at least gives them another body to take faceoffs. Where it leaves Sillinger I'm not sure.

Islesfan...You are clueless and should step back.

Wang is good ?? Why did Neil Smith and LaFontaine leave so quickly from him? Why does he hire his step son to run public relations when he has NO prior experience and knows nothing about hockey? Why did he hire a GM that was a former goalie and no experience? Wang is a CONTROL freak that surrounds himself with people that are new to their positions or know less than him!

Don't even get me started...I can give 100 examples of mistakes Wanger and Snow have made, but I do not want to bore the regulars.

p.s You care calling us stupid ??? Re-read this line you wrote:

"You stupid people amaze me with the level of stupidity." LOL

p.s.s How do you know what anyone on here does for a living? I know for a fact that many of them including myself have great jobs in very high positions at their respective firms or businesses.

Islesfan: your - in the sentence you wrote - "your an idiot" is spelled YOU'RE no YOUR.

So who is the idiot? Do you type with your toes and use crayons at school?

This is a great signing to be honest. It is completely risk free, very cheap, and he is an asset at the deadline. Even if we get a third round pick for him like we did for Bergeron, it is still worth it. He is not only a great leader, but is well traveled and he can definitely teach the kids on the ice something. Plus, it gives us a center for a year so there is another year Bailey and other centermen can develop. The Islanders are not going to make the playoffs, unless there is a miracle. What we can expect though is to see the youngsters learn from day one until the last day of the season. Next summer, we can really start looking to put the right pieces of the puzzle together and start mixing them in with youngsters.

http://islesnet.blogspot.com

Well, while Weight is not the answer to out prayers, I understand the logic here. Both Tambellini and Okposo are scorers. They need someone to dish them the puck when they are in a shooting position. Weight has always been that type of player.
I remember Mark Parrish talking about how Weight set him up for so many goals on the American Hockey team and how he should have burried about ten more from the great passes Weight fed him.

This is purely a stopgap measure, so treat it like one. It is not going to change Snow's master plan. All it will do is allow some of the younger players a chance to be set up by a guy who is a legitimate playmaker. If they can score off Weight's passes then the objective will be acheived.

So, please. Stop the hysterical postings because all you are doing is showing how little you know about the logistics of the game................Sir William

Amen

i like this move a lot. let's face it, the isles are going nowhere this year and this move helps ensure that this will happen. what i mean by that is joshua bailey is not making the big team this yr. he needs to spend another year in the ohl to continue his development. thats leaves us with a hole at center. doug weight fills that hole perfectly. he won't give us much. as a matter of fact, id be surprised if he scores over 30 points but that is exactly what we need. we will have another abysmal year so we can get a VERY HIGH draft pick. in addition to all this, doug wreight is only making 1.75, thats right, 1.75, million. that is nothing in today's age. i don't understand why some of you guys are getting upset with this signing. he will be a great mentor to the younger players and will provide a veteran presence along with guerin, witt, and sillinger if healthy. now i hope nolan doesn't play weight all too much as i want the kids to play. i jus want weight to mentor the kids. thats all he should do and getting 1.75 million fits that job description perfectly. im undecided about the streit move. were not going anywhere so why commit 20 plus million dollars to this guy. but at the same time streit will be there down the road when we get better eventually. so we'll see how this move works out down the road. now i dont want to sign anyone else. we will hit the cap floor when we sign our rfa. i want to make sure we finish deadlast so we can be in the john tavres sweepstakes. and for those of you who don't want to tank, please get real. last year, we passed up a great oppurtunity to tank and get stamkos. we should all learn a lesson from the tampa bay lightning. they tanked the season away and got stamkos. ex. they let prospal go only to sign him again. how can a team with richards, prospal, boyal, st.louis, and vinny leclavier for most of the season (richards) finish dead last? they can't. they tanked the season becuase they knew what was available in the draft. if they werent going to get stamkos, they were for sure going to get one of the top d-man. fast fprward to now and look what has happened. tampa finishes last, gets stamkos. they resign vaclav prospal. then they go out and get radim vrbata, kolzig, and others. you can also think of pitt when they suked. they tanked every year for 3-4 years only to get really high picks and stock up on the talent. ala crosby, staal, and malkin. that is what we need to do. i was pretty pissed when they didnt draft filatov but i think they will learn from the crowd reaction to that. im still angry at not getting filatiov btw. its king of like they would prefer 4 10 goal scores instead of a 40 goal scorer like someone said earlier. but i know they will learn from the fans about that ordeal. all in all, i hope the islanders suck like hell and finish dead last so we can get john tavares or someone else really good because the draft is loaded next year. we should also dump comrie, witt, sillinger, weight, etc. at the deadline to stock up on picks for 09 draft. lets hope we finish deadlast and get the lighthouse project approved. then we can draft a franchise player to build around and free agents will want to come if they see the lighthouse being built. let's make it happen and let's go islanders to finish dead last. its in our best interest!!!

Why do some people here have to resort to calling other people "Idiots or stupid" because they disagree with what a hockey team has done.

Can't you debate civilized manner? Or do you beleive that by calling people names, that you prove yourself to be smarter than they are. Or that you know how to run a hockey team.

Everyone has their opinions and is free to express them here. It doesn't give you the right to defame someone elses. Grow up....................Sir William

Attaboy Sir William.

I've gotta scratch my head on this one... except for the fact that Snow wants another guy in the bar for happy hour. My only question is of Guerin, Weight and Sillinger who will be at the grill, tending the bar and setting up the lawn darts on Summer Sunday afternoons at Snow's house...

I just took my chip back... the one that Snow earned with Streit.

two months to go...

Be careful Little Bill. I more than know the logistics of the game. Ask anyone on this blog who knows more between the two of us.

Was it not you that hated the fact Sillinger got playing time last year? Do not make me show you all your mistakes when it comes to this team.

Stick to giving up your season tickets b/c they are not winners yet. We will let you know when to hop back on the wagon!

The fact you think a man with no track record has a MASTER PLAN shows just how naive you truly are. I'm done with you, yet again!

p.s You wrote at the end of your paragraph "shows how little you know, and used words like hysterical?" WHO, I ASK IS THE IMMATURE ONE ???? That is the same thing as calling someone "stupid'" yet with a little more smug attitude.

Take your own advice lil Bill.

why does sir william get into an arguement with someone on this blog once a week? just leave you old bitter nerd.

MR JUNGLE, Obviously you have never played the game of hockey. To think that professional players like St Louis and LeCavillier tanked the entire season is the most absurd reasoning I have ever heard.

Hockey players (both Pro and amatuer) by definition are the most competitive people on the face of the earth. I've been playing in leagues longer than Nick has been alive and I never, ever tanked a single shift much less an entire game. For years, I played in the "Guns and Hoses" (Cops and Firemen) league at Freeport and I never saw anyone who didn't play at full tilt. You could tell by the ambulance parked outside.

Back me up here 19 Isles and anyone else who ever laced "em up....Sir William

Why would a book writer paly with cops and or fireman? b.s

Mr Annon Writing is my second career. I'll leave it to you to figure out my first.............Sir William

You learn writing tickets in Freeport? You must be good. Can I find some of your best work on Moblie bathroom walls?

According to some artcles, Sillinger will not be ready for the season opener... So Weight is a good back up plan... No one is expecting to much from this team except a honest effort everynight. Maybe they'll surprise, maybe not. What I do know is that things will change, players will get injured or stink it out and changes will be made.

So everyone knockin Snow, cool your jets, so far he's done a great job this summer in sticking with the big picture... You're kidding me if you're bad mouthing Wang. He is the only reason you still have a team to complain about. He may not know the game but he has developed a passion for it. Say what you want about ulterior motives regarding land and what not, every year he has allowed his GM to spend. Alright , I'm gettin pissed at how rediculous some of are...

To The ORIFICE I'll break my own rule here by acknowledging you this one time. Other than that you are on my ignore list.

First, I wasn't talking to you. Someone else had used the term idiot and the post was directed at them. If you feel it applied to you..........well if the shoe fits.

Second, since you are so much smarter than Wang, why don't you buy the team and run it how you like?

Third, If you can't afford that, apply for the GM's job since you obviously know so much more than the entire Islander brain trust.

And lastly, you're boring. All you ever do here is knock whatever the team does. Nothing that Snow does is good enough for the
great and powerful ORIFICE. I'm the ORIFICE, I know what's best. Everyone else is stupid. Not me, I'm the ORIFICE. I know everything. I'm the OFIFICE. Pay attention to ME.

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtin.......Sir William

IGNORE BUTTON REFRESHED

Islanders also signed some 26 year-old big center named Mike Iggulden.

The Good: Cheap, 2-way deal; scored 30 goals in the AHL last year.

The Bad: Went to Cornell. On that note, let me go throw up.

As for the rest of you, I'm done even being surprised by the ridiculous negativity....Weight replaces Sillinger, since he's not a questionable player, but his health is in question. We've heard total silence on this, and it can't be a good sign.

I'll bet Weight is here to show guys like Nielsen, Walter, and maybe even Bailey (or Comeau, if they take 505's suggestion) how to be a pro and how to be a contributing center in the NHL. The Indians from Major League don't do nearly as well if they hadn't had the guidance from Jake Taylor.

wang is investing in a team that is losing him money, but he's still devoted to building a winner. and thanks to Cablevision he's not losing more. that has to count for something. I agree with IslesFan that they're doing the best they can with what they have. And it's not like he hired a Pretzel Chef to be GM. Snow's been around hockey his whole life.

mr. william, i don't think you understand what i said so let me make it clearer for you. of course professional players like lecavalier, st.louis, and boyle don't tank the season. i mean look at their stats. lecavalier had a great season and so did boyle and st. louis. my point was that the tampa bay lightning tanked the season. that includes management and ownership and not just the players. they traded away prospal only to sign him again, what does that tell you? also, they played their top horses 20 plus minutes every games so they eventually burned out later on in the year. players dont tank but you can use them in a way that will ensure a loss. like not having your top players in crucial situations or playing some players way too much. your right about one thing, i have never played hockey. but you have to understand my argument before you say i used flawed logic.

Welcometothejungle at very least repeats an argument we've heard from many sources. There was a ton of talent on that team, and it was surely surprising to see them finish with the worst record in the league. I'm not necessarily saying that means anything, it's just fact.

Please no. Please smug writer do not ignore me. Please.

What will I do if the most boring writer on here that fights with everyone ignores me? Please say it isn't so!

I named you little bill. Before me you posted as "Bill" once a week. Remember that you wee one. Stick to prune juice and leave the hockey talk to the men.

So far you have fought with 505, Nick, 19Isles, me, etc. etc. ....

So I ask you...Is it me that thinks he knows everything?

You call me boring. I call you jealous. You are obscelete. I have been dead on with what this team has done and it's flaws. I unlike you am not quiting on them, but I will nto stand by and let the likes of Wang and Snow butcher this team for another ten years.

**As for buying the team, I can only keep working on it....Maybe next true bull market....Darn close though! **

BLAH BLAH Button REFRESHED !!

your a whiner and an embarrassment....you need a new team, who are you an enraged john spano?

Like the move to get Weight. I realize that he is 37 but he'll be a positive influence on the young guys and provide someone like Okposo or Tambellini with legitimate scoring opportunities because of his vision and playmaking ability.

I'm enojying the back and forth between Steady and Sir William, but I'm going to have to side with Sir William on this one. Keep up it gentlemen

Mr JUNGLE There were two problems in Tampa Bay. First and foremost was that they could not stop the puck from going into their net. Their goaltending situation was woeful and it still is.

Second, was that the players quit on Torterella. He is and was an abusive coach and the players just tuned him out. The players still played for themselves, but refused to buy into Torterella's system any longer. When the head coach becomes irrelevant, the team is doomed. That situation has been rectified.

Torterella was the coach who "burned out" his best players so that he could finish last and get himself fired.

You're right, I don't follow that logic. But you are entitled to that opinion.............Sir William

Tampa Bay did not tank.
They had a lousy goalies for 3/4 of the season. They sTANK!!

Athletes don't tank.
Coaches don't tank.
GM's don't tank.
Sport Organizations don't tank.

I cannot say the same for fans though.

Mick...I just do not get how people can get on a coach like Nolan all last year for playing guys MUCH like the man who we just signed..?!?!?!?!

Now they have the calzones to say that b/c Snow signed him, it is a good move? What are you all going to say if he gets more playing time than one of the kids? Oh it's Nolans fault! BS...Starts at the TOP!

I also do not get how they can get on a coach like Nolan that has won at EVERY level he has ever coached and his players love him.

YET....They can say Snow has a MASTER PLAN ?? What has he ever done to prove this to you guys? He got ripped to shreds for the past draft (although I do not hate what he did)...He has been a media nightmare with the way he dealt with the Dubie-Nolan incident. His Smyth trade was a debacle. HE does not talk to his coach about players he is drafting. MY God the man was a backup goalie that became a GM, and his own contract went against our salary cap!

You cannot make this stuff up!

I love this team. Heck, I put my money where my mouth is in supporting them. I just cannot stand these BOBBLEHEADS....They are not fooling me.

That in NO WAY means I will not root for them and support them.

I just cannot stand by and be like the penguins on Madagascar..."SMILE AND WAVE BOYS, JUST SMILE AND WAVE!!" Sorry not in me...

To say Organizations do not tank is not always true....Many have to get the top draft pick...They just call it a FIRE SALE now instead of tanking!

Next thing you know their going to make him the As.GM of player affairs/goalie supervisor.
Are there any positions in management left over there?

Nah, really. It's a good signing for good leadership.

All you people out there who call yourself islander fans must stop all the complaining...Idk if u people realize it or but free agents dont exactly want to come play for our islanders...give snow and wang a break...they did lock up dp for a long time and he is one the best..they had a great draft and with bergenheim, tambellini, okposo and comeau ready to step in with streit on our powerplay we have a solid core..weight will show the young players what it takes day in and day out to perform at a high level...You people are crazy to be bashing snow..For years we were the joke of the nhl and now that we are somewhat respected you people who no nothing about hockey are bashing our management. Give it time..Maybe tomorrow snow brings in Kristian Huselius to score...Get a clue and try to sound smart next time you write something..

Horrible Move - Snow is such a BS artist - "we are going with a youth movement" - so he goes out and signs a soon to be 38 year center - who is done!! He is slow, not a good faceoff man, and most important doesn't put up any points anymore. Why not go for younger players at this position - Brendan Morrison would have been a better fit...Doug Weight did nothing on a talented Ducks team last year.....

Looking at the Isles depth chart it shows the following at the center position: (Comeau is listed at right wing)

Comrie
Sillinger
Park
Hilbert
Neilsen
Colliton
Walter

Now you add in Weight. Now both Park and Hilbert can play the wings and Weight's signing appears to say a lot about Sillinger's health. So you have Comrie and Weight as one and two. That leaves Neilson, Colliton and Walter fighting for the last two spots.
I see Neilsen having an edge and I think he makes the team. I also
think that Colliton and Hilbert will battle it out for the final roster spot. I see Hilbert on waivers or in the TV booth. Walter doesn't seem to fit into anybody's plans and he will probably be waived or moved. Colliton looked pretty good as a PK and 4 th line guy last year and he may take Hilberts job.

The Isles still need a scoring winger. I'm guessing that Snow has one more card to play.

Day two and Tank, Satan and Joe Vas are still homeless. That should put to bed why they were not traded at the deadline last year. Nobody wanted them............Sir William

19 ISLES Where are you? Please explain to the non-players here how important it is to have a center who can pass the puck down low.

Weight is here to feed either Tambellini or Okposo or both.

Whoever gets to play with Weight will add ten goals to his total over playing with a center like Park or Hilbert.

Weight's one year here will do wonders for whoever he plays with. You cannot discount how the confidence level of a young player will rise playing with an old pro, who sets him up to score. That is the sole reason he was signed here and it is a good one....Sir William

Kevin...I know a lot about hockey actually.

You say for years we were the joke of hockey and now we are respected....BY WHO ?????

LaFontaine and Smith, the two guys who would of gave this team respectability WALKED out week one b/c of the plans of these bobbleheads.

How can you say we are now respected and in the same sentence say no Free Agents want to come here? You make no sense!

No free agents wanted to come to the Yankees and Stick Michael changed that when the owner was banned. No free agents wanted to play in Shea and the Mets changed that! No minority players wanted to play in Fenway and the Sox changed that. No new buildings or walkways were needed. MAybe we can get Wanger banned ?? Hmmmmmm

Enough of the excuses....A good hockey mind and a true hockey guru would of got players to come here...We have the money!

Maybe Snow can still do that?? But, ENOUGH of the excuses...JUST RESULTS !!

The NHL is one big fraternity and the Isles brass is looked at like the Omega Moo's......They try to do everything different....Look at how Brett Hull just got Avery to leave NY...Yes, he got more money, but it was Hull that got his boy to come there! Deals like that happen all the time.

I am happy with the youth movement...Better late than never...I like the Strait signing....I am OKAY with the draft....I simply do not TRUST that these Bobbles have a plan and will stick to it...and I certainly do not like the Weight signing....

LOL...Non hockey players....LOL

We play once a month in PW that I fly in for....Please Please show up and play !!!

Explain why you HATED Sillinger last year and now love this signing? You are such a wind bag. You talk out of both side of your mouth and it is catching up to you!

Didn't you quit on this team and give up your tickets or was it b/c of book sales?

Outstanding point Brian. Why didn't Weight add anything to a talented Ducks team last year?

Sir William and Steady....

"Whoever gets to play with Weight will add ten goals to his total over playing with a center like Park or Hilbert."

Hmmmm....
Well in that case I hope he plays with Comeau.
THE ORACLE predicted that Comeau would score 16 this year.
If he plays with Weight, that might add 10 goals to his total according to Sir William.

4 more goals and I am drinking on Sir William!!!

Heuslius just signed with CBJ. Scratch another one off the list.....................Sir William

Steady

"and I certainly do not like the Weight signing...."

Somewhere in Minnesota, MAB is breathing easier.

steady - "We have the money!" isn't wang is providing this money?

steady - "We have the money!" isn't wang providing this money?

I stuck up for Sillinger all last year while making my Nolan points......

Sillinger had more goals and equal assits in:

15 LESS GAMES PLAYED !!!

MY last question.....How can those of you that TRASHED Sillinger be happy with this signing ???? Both the same age...Both have been well traveled....Both are leaders....Both good face off men.....?????????????

I believe they call that: CHECKMATE !!

that clearly wasn't meant to be posted twice.

I did not say Wang was cheap mr. turd box....CLUELESS...Not cheap!

The Orioles owner spends also...So does the Knicks owner...So does the Texas Rangers owner....So did Steinbrenner in the 80's.....Does that make them good owners?

Ok all the rest of the UFA's that we wanted are taken....Lets sign Laraque and call it a night!!!

I'm not going to crush Snow just yet... but 18 games (and it's unlikely they will get much more than that out of Weight) with CAPTAIN CANADA and Hunter is still afraid of the front of the net. Sure, he found it, then when Smyth left he decided that he wasn't going near it unless somebody left the porch light on.
If that translates correctly we will have three young players who learn something they coldn't have picked up in their 15+ years of playing hockey... A WORK ETHIC. Nielsen got a front row seat with a pretty damn good two way center having a good year with Silly in 2007. Walter has been around all star players his whole life... unless his dad abandoned him at birth... What the heck is Weight going to teach these MEN.. how to order a beer AND a shot in Boston... where the best golf courses are in Minn. in December?
I'm not on board with this... not at all. I'm with Steady. I didn't want to see Sillinger taking time from Walter and/or Nielsen last year and I haven't changed my mind.
I'd have much rather re-signed Vasicek who actually DID replace sillinger last year...and he'd have been CHEAPER!

There are still a ton of deals out there, and the Isles STILL need a first and/or second line center... the only role they filled was the guy in the tub nursing an abdominal strain for 9 weeks...

Two days... we got a 5-6 "D" for 4M per and The old man at the "C"... for another $1.25M per... Maybe they should just give the "under the cap" money to Sparky...

and how about extending Nolan... not that he will want to be a part of this circus much longer... I know I am completely frustrated with this bull.

I don't know who here has actually trashed Sillinger. Personally, I think he's a great addition to the team, but I'm very concerned about his hip injury. I just don't know if he'll be healthy enough to make a positive contribution to the team this year.

As for Huselius, that was significantly less than I expected him to get. I wonder what happened here.

Did you see the move the Rags pulled off ??? Zherdev coming off a big year with I belive 35 plus goals....Geez They got a steal in that trade !!!

Sign Cook and LaRaque and let's jsut paly some good old Eddie Shore Hockey !!

Meant to write 25 plus goals.

Frei: You clearly have no clue. MAB and Streit do not even qualify for comparison. Since your online all day blogging, why don't you do some research before forming your negative opinions. Streit is a good signing. MAB could do nothing more than shoot the puck. In order to make your wingers effective you need to create transition, that starts with your "D" men. Clearly a weakness last year and the injuries did not help the cause. I love the Isles, like following the team and hope we get back to the glory days some day. But it does not have any effect on my life or well being. It's just a game, stop being so critical of the guys trying to rebuild the team. You would be the type of schmuck that would be ticked off because the Isles won the cup and the final score was 3-2 instead of 5-0. You would probably say they should never have given up two goals. So many of you are soooo negative. All I can say is that I am so happy "Frei" is not the GM, "Steady" is not the new PR guy and "welcome to the jungle" is not our webmaster. Man your posts are painful to read. To try and sell that Tampa tanked their season is just plain ignorance. To think for a second the Isles should tank their season to get a better draft pick?? That is nuts. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I do believe the league developed the lottery system to keep teams from so called tanking to get the best pick. There is no guarantee that if you finish last you will get the first pick overall. I thought the Kings had the worst record??? I did not look this up so I am not sure about this?

SIR William: Your the best read on here. A voice of reason, a realist.

The team competed last year and will again this year. They need to stay healthy in order to compete the entire year. The kids are BIG question marks because they don't have a track record. But who the heck knows, maybe they will develop and contribute and be better than what we had last year. I have my reservations regarding Tambellini, but can he put up 16 goals with ice time? That would be the equivalent of Satan in 81 games with ice time. Bergenheim is going to be a stud in this league and this just might be the year we get the first taste of that. Comeau has the patience and puck skill to be a special player. Not huge numbers but a guy who seems to do everything right. Okposo??? need to see more before I form an opinion, but he seems to have all the tools necessary to be a good player. Neilson he is a playmaker, needs to adjust to the NHL game, but he should be a serviceable player with upside if he earns the ice-time.

I'm going to watch this team and support them, I will go to my fair share of games (logistics) and I think we are rebuilding and at the same time competing. Way to go Garth.

And by the way: why would Nolan have any input into the draft? He is the guy coaching the team. Right? Do you see him having any time during the regular season to go out and scout players in the OHL? That is what we have scouts for, and that is why we have a GM and a staff to support him. Lord only knows what would happen if the coaches had to draft players. Nolan is a solid coach and he has a good mix of kids and vets coming into camp. Lets see who makes the roster this year. nothing is etched in stone on July 2nd. More moves to follow?? Possibly. Trade?? Possibly. These moves thus far give flexibility, you can move some vets at the deadline if your not sitting in a playoff spot and add more picks in another so called deep draft. Sillinger, Guerin and Weight can be moved easily and get you some additional 2nd and 3rd round picks maybe more if they have good seasons.

All is not lost. Support the team. Support the guy who loses millions so you can express your opinion. This team can compete and should be more fun to watch then last years team.

Coral...

As much as I loved the streit move yesterday this weight move is just Horrible! There were plenty other experienced centers that are younger and more productive, and could have given the same leadership qualities the isles were looking for. Morrison is out there, so is peca. This team is in for a long year. Now with Husielius gone to CBJ this team wont win 20 games. DP has to be seething.

Steady, I always think you post good coherent comments and I laugh at the bobblehead thing but you keep using Smith and Lafontaine as examples of why this org is lost. Can we just come to the agreement that that set up was weird in the first place and just was not going to work out. The Islanders did make the playoffs that year and I beleive were on their way to making it last year until the injuries set in with DP being the biggest. You know he played the whole month of FEB and MAR banged up with the knee and hip.

However, I am still not sold and they are putting alot of pressure on these young kids to get it done. I dont see it. I dont know what else to say other than dont expect much.

I understand why we signed Weight, I just wish we did it 10 years ago.. Not sure how much he has in the tank..

The way I see it, Weight, Silly, Guerin, will not make a whole season. The older players will get the lion share of minutes in the beginning and as the season wears on, the minutes will shift to the younger players due to injuries.

Unless these young players break out, I see a to 5 pick next year.

Coral. No one cares what oyu think. Rot in FLA.

Gooood Morning biatches......

I just got to answer the 1 person that ask why Weight didn't produce with the Ducks....

HE WAS INJURED the last 26 games of the season... Aftrer he was traded from the blues ....

Back to your reagular schedule program....

I think Streit was a good pick up. the Isles are sort of going into this season with a gambling mentality. relying heavily on offensive production from a lot of the younger guys liek okposo, tambellini, comeau and bergenheim. I think all but tambellini have showed what they can do in the NHL. hopefully this is his break out season. I know okposo only played nine games last season, but you could tell he has something special.

lets not forget that nolan has a way of bringing the best out of his players. roll the dice and see what happens.