I find it very amusing that 40 minutes from now, Islanders writer Bryan, will be either celebrating with thousands of other fans – by the way, apparently the way to sell out an Islanders game is to give away free tickets – or drowning his sorrows in pretzel twists.
Contrary to popular belief, I am not rooting against the Islanders picking John Tavares. I am hoping they do, and I’m hoping that all the “will they/won’t they” about Victor Hedman and Matt Duchene will go the way of the Mats Sundin to NY stories (as well as the Michael Peca and Dave Scatchard to the Rangers rumors).
No matter who they pick, they’ll be getting a great player. Hedman is a beast and very well could be their #2 guy behind Mark Streit tomorrow, and Duchene could be a nice compliment to Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey. However, Tavares is the real deal, and I’ve been saying for 2 years now that I think he’ll be better than Sidney Crosby.
Enjoy the show.
P.S.: Hey, you think Olli Jokinen will be moved again? I think he has been traded 3 times on draft day: from LA to the Islanders; from the Islanders to Florida; and from Florida to Phoenix.
And the Lions could be planning to use him more extensively than as a member of the last line of the defense.
According to Tom Kowalski of Mlive.com, Delmas was the only Lions safety to participate in man-to-man coverage drills during a recently-concluded mini-camp.
This could mean that the Lions are considering the possibility of periodically dropping Delmas into individual coverage, possibly eliminating the need to bring in a nickel back.
I thought Delmas had become a little bit overrated during the pre-draft workouts, but I am also a huge fan of anything that keeps a team from having to bring in it’s nickel page on 2nd & 7. The more linemen and linebackers that you have on the field, the more pressure you can generate and the better that your defense will be. Trust Jim Schwartz and the crew in Detroit to find tons of ways to use every player on their defense.
I’m heading to the draft party in a little bit. I’ll be updating Twitter (gag, I know) from the Coliseum.
Before I go, there’s just one last thing I want to say.
Islanders fans don’t dream of Stanley Cups. They don’t dream of overtime goals in Game 7. They don’t dream of becoming a dominant team that gets 100 points each year. Islanders fans can’t dream big because they’ve had nearly all the optimism beaten out of them over the years. Instead, what Islanders fans dream of is being relevant.
Islanders fans are sick of seeing their team mocked by every analyst. They’re tired of seeing their team overlooked by opponents and free agents. They don’t want their team to be the laughingstock of the NHL anymore. They want so desperately to be proud of their team, even if just for one night.
That’s where the John Tavares love really hits home.
Personally, I don’t care if Tavares turns out to be an epic bust. If that’s the case, every scout in the NHL was wrong. At this point, I just want to see the Islanders heralded for making the right decision, if only for one night. I don’t want to hear any cracks about our “backup goalie GM” screwing up the draft. I want Garth Snow to be praised for keeping one hell of a poker face for two months. But most of all, I want to leave the Coliseum tonight proud to be an Islanders fan.
Because if they can’t manage to draft the consensus top guy in the draft, the criticism of the Islanders is going to be worse than ever. And if being an Islanders fan is this hard now, I’m afraid to see what it’d be like if the Islanders pass on Tavares and he becomes a star.
-How does DeJuan Blair fall all the way to he 37th pick? I get it, he has serious knee issues but at some point isn’t it worth the risk? This isn’t football where you can find a sleeper in the 7th round. The NBA draft is shallow, this was a seven player draft. Maybe at best Blair becomes a role player on a championship caliber team but that’s a lot more than most of the guys drafted in front of him project as.
Just to remind you he dropped 22 and 23 on Hasheem Thabeet who was the second overall pick in the NBA Draft.
- Ladies and gentleman the David Kahn era! The Timberwolves GM decisions on draft night are Chris Wallace-eqsue. First he trades Miller, Foye (and takes on some bad contracts) for the number five pick. Of course the only player who justify that trade at the five spot is Rubio and because the Kings are silly Rubio somehow falls to five. Everything is peachy in Minnesota…right? No. David Kahn decides “hey let’s try the all PG back-court” and drafts Syracuse standout Jonny Flynn.
So you draft Rubio with the intent of keeping him…except you haven’t found out yet if he wants to play for you (P.S. he doesn’t.) If you were trying to reassure him “hey look we are building this thing in Minnesota around you. We already have some very good pieces in Love and Jefferson and we also have the number 6, 18 and 28th pick. Come turn around basketball in Minnesota.” Why would you draft Jonny Flynn with the next pick!!!!!!!
I don’t ask for much. Come to think of it, I never ask for anything. This time, though, it’s different.
As you probably know, every sports team I root for is absolutely terrible. These days, I openly question why I even bother watching sports. It seems like my teams only serve to let me down. The problem is, sports mean way too much to me. My teams are part of my identity, which hasn’t been a great thing lately.
Of all the teams I root for, my favorite is the New York Islanders. This is a franchise that, as you are well aware, has been horrendous since I was in middle school. Everything they do is wrong, and every improvement they try to make just results in them looking stupid. Well, tomorrow night, they have the first overall pick in the NHL Draft, and this is a great chance to change their luck.
God, if you’re there, please bring John Tavares to the Islanders. He’s not only a good player and a great kid, but he could be the difference between us losing our team and maybe watching the Islanders win a Stanley Cup one day. We’ve been through enough bad times with this team. We deserve the chance to see something go right.
I know you’re busy. This might be too much to ask. But I had to try. I only ask that if you can’t bring John Tavares to the Islanders, please make sure that my team will be taken care of. The Islanders are one of the most important things in my life, and I don’t want to see them taken away from me. Thanks.
I’ve posting this here because not nearly enough people watch this show. ESPN does a ton of things wrong, but one of the best things they do is an MMA highlights show with some great guests and great analysis. Normally, UFC Lightweight #1 cotender Kenny Florian is there as well, but he’s in training for B.J. Penn. Rich Franklin sits in and is pretty good himself.
June 26, 2009, at 6:35 pm
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