One quarter of the way through the 2009-10 NHL season, the New York Islanders are tied for fifth place in the Eastern Conference.

Did you ever, in your wildest dreams, envision this scenario? Last year, around this time, the season peaked as the Islanders approached .500 and the eighth seed. That team crapped out and finished with 61 points. This year’s Islanders team has 23 points after just 21 games. Over 82 games, that projects to 90 points. If you’re thinking playoffs already, I’ve always used the Rule of 92 when it comes to playoff teams – as in, you need 92 or more points to stake a claim to a playoff spot. But even 92 points guarantees you nothing. Florida missed the playoffs last year with 93 points. Carolina had 92 points in 2007-08, but finished ninth. In other words, the Islanders will have to play even better than they are now – and sustain that level of play for 61 more games – if they want to make the playoffs.

Now, contrary to popular belief, the playoffs are not the sole determinant of a team being “for real”. Most Islanders fans will take contention for a playoff spot as constituting a “real” team. Hell, I’m just happy the season isn’t over at Thanksgiving. The question is, though, can the Islanders keep this up? Are the Islanders for real?

In short… yes, the Islanders are for real.

Botta wrote a piece earlier today about why the Islanders have gotten off to their hot start. I won’t regurgitate his rationale. But health, goaltending, John Tavares and Matt Moulson have all helped. It also helps that the players are better suited to Scott Gordon’s system; Gordon has helped his own cause by not dressing the likes of Joel Rechlicz and Mitch Fritz for three minutes a game. In short, everyone on the team has a role, and everyone fills theirs well. Even Jeff Tambellini has produced this year, before his inexplicable (and unexplained) absence on this road trip. And speaking of road games, the Islanders have nabbed 11 of 24 possible road points this year – not too shabby.

Perhaps the best thing about this Islanders team is that the Lighthouse isn’t looming over the on-ice product – finally. It’s amazing what can happen when the focus is solely on the on-ice product. The only unfortunate fallout from the Lighthouse happenings is that Charles Wang likely won’t let Garth Snow spend big bucks to bolster the Isles’ roster, but we’re all probably better off that way. This Islanders team is pretty deep, and the eventual return of Rick DiPietro can only help matters.

There are still some questions about this team, some criteria I have for a good team that the Islanders aren’t reaching as of yet. First, they’ve allowed more goals than they’ve scored. The disparity has come down significantly in recent weeks, but it’s still there. Second, for all the talk about how the Islanders are above. 500 – they’re not. It’s this writer’s opinion (I don’t believe Zach shares this opinion) that .500 means winning half your games, not having more wins than losses. Let’s not forget that the Islanders are actually 8-13 and have fattened up on, as Howie Rose would call them, “loser points”. Oh, and the Islanders have played the most games of anyone in the East.

These are nit-picking issues Islanders fans are wont to come up with, mainly because we’re so used to seeing the other shoe drop in excruciating fashion. I, for one, am not even thinking about the playoffs, 92 points, winning 41 of 82 games, or any of the other criteria I’d use to gauge a team’s level of success. With these Islanders, they’re simply fun to watch. They play hard, as they always have, but this year they have an added layer of skill that scores three goals per game and (usually) keeps them from self-destructing in the third period. After a summer full of Lighthouse acrimony and worrying about Snow screwing up the draft, Islanders fans deserve to watch this brand of entertaining hockey.

And yes, that entertaining hockey played by the Islanders makes them “for real”.