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By Bryan Berg  January 2, 2010, at 10:38 pm  The shootout has not been kind to the Islanders in 2009-10. The earlier shootouts were plagued by the spotty goaltending of Dwayne Roloson; while Roloson has significantly improved his play, the Islanders still entered this week with a record of 1-4 in the shootout.
This week, the Islanders played three games. Each of them went to the shootout. The Islanders won on Tuesday night against Columbus, lost on Thursday in Ottawa, then beat Atlanta tonight. In two of those games, the Islanders used the same three shooters – Jeff Tambellini, Frans Nielsen and Rob Schremp. No surprise there, especially since each of them were 50% or better in the shootout heading into tonight’s action. (On Thursday, John Tavares replaced Tambellini in the shootout, but only because Tambellini was scratched.) In fact, you could make the argument that the main contributions of Tambellini and Schremp are their skills in the shootout. But that’s an argument for another day.
My issue is this. Not only have the Islanders used virtually the same shootout lineup for three consecutive games, but all three guys – Tambellini, Schremp and Nielsen – have used the same exact moves each time they’ve appeared in the shootout. Tambellini used his wrister from the hash marks, Nielsen did his backhand move, and Schremp did an odd combination of like 40 moves that made it look like he was having a seizure as he skated down the ice. You’d think opposing coaches would take note of these things and go over them in meetings. Apparently, this isn’t the case.
Now, I might be in the minority here, but I’ve always liked the shootout. Anything added to the game that appeases the fans is a great thing, and that’s exactly what the shootout was intended to do – to ensure that paying customers see a winner and a loser. The Columbus game on Tuesday was the first time I got to see a shootout live, and I loved it. However, I’m starting to see where the “skills competition” aspect comes into play. If players are just going to recycle the same moves over and over again, nobody benefits. Shooters risk doing their moves one time too many and being figured out, while the fans – the reason for the shootout in the first place – get cheated because they’re not seeing anything new.
Don’t get me wrong. I’d much rather see the shootout in its current form than watch a game end in a tie. But maybe there’s a better way to go about this. I have no idea what that better way would be. I just wish the shootout was the exciting, creative event it’s supposed to be instead of the same old moves night in and night out.
Thanks to the incomparable NHL Shootouts for the shootout data.
By Bryan Berg November 1, 2009, at 11:11 pm If I close my eyes, I can picture what so-called “experts” are writing and what they’re saying.
“I’ll tell you what – I like this New York Islanders team.”
“This is a team that will never say die.”
“These Islanders do not know the meaning of the word ‘quit’.”
“Last year’s Islanders team folded in the clutch. But not this year’s team.”
“Opposing teams can no longer take the New York Islanders for granted.”
Gag. I’m not trying to be the turd in the punch bowl here, but just about all of these quotes could have been attributed to the Islanders we saw twelve months ago. You know, the team that was hovering around .500 (or, as Howie Rose would say, “The NHL’s definition of .500″) and the eighth seed for the first two months of the season. Ultimately, as the season progressed, blown leads became blown games, the entire team got hurt, and that was that. This year has gone much the same way, but the Isles managed to not blow a couple of games. So now, I’m supposed to be excited? Sorry, it doesn’t work that way.
Here’s the thing. Everyone else might be surprised about the Isles’ success of late and the sudden emergence of Jeff Tambellini. I’m not.
Tambellini
Let’s discuss Tambellini first, because he’s the easy one. When Mike Piazza left the Mets to sign with the Oakland A’s as a designated hitter, he said the hardest adjustment was keeping his mental focus when he wasn’t hitting. As a DH, all he could do was hit, and if he was hitting poorly, it was hard for him to feel confident. After all, he couldn’t pat himself on the back for catching a good game anymore. Most pure scorers in the NHL are not unlike designated hitters in baseball – they need to do their one thing extremely well in order to feel confident.
Tambellini, obviously, took a long time to come around as a scorer in the NHL. Quite frankly, aside from the past week, there’s no proof that he will ever become a consistent scorer in the NHL. But Tambellini has been smart enough to focus on playing a physical game over the past 40 or so NHL games he’s played. This has not only helped the team and his development, but it’s helped his own psyche as well. Now, if he’s not scoring, he can contribute in other ways and know he’s making a difference. And sometimes, all it takes is for a scorer to not think about scoring for him to suddenly be presented with great scoring opportunities.
Yankee fans out there know that a relaxed player is that much more likely to succeed. It seems that all it took was one home run for Alex Rodriguez to transform from vilified slugger into Captain Clutch. We won’t go that far with Jeff Tambellini yet. But this is truly Tambellini’s chance. With the support of the fans and tangible proof that his hard work is paying off, he’s got a great chance to earn another contract with the Islanders.
Level of Competition
Here’s the thing about the Islanders. They play extremely well against good teams. Think about all the third-period leads they’ve blown over the past two years. Can you recall them blowing a lead against an inferior team? That’s because it never happened.
On Friday night, you might have heard Howie and Billy talking about the Capitals playing to the level of their competition. This is usually a criticism levied against good teams. However, you don’t have to be a good team to be guilty of this. The Islanders do it all the time. They’ll give a team like Washington or Pittsburgh a run for their money, then go out and stink up the joint against Florida the next night.
According to the incomparable PlayoffStatus.com, the Islanders have the highest strength of schedule thus far in the Eastern Conference. That is, their opponents have earned a higher percentage of potential points than the opponents of any other team in the East. In most cases, you’d look at a team’s strength of schedule and assume that if they’ve done well against good teams, they’ll also do well against poor teams. Sadly, that’s never been the case with the Islanders. In four nights, the Islanders scored wins over, in terms of points, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th best teams in the East. This is an amazing accomplishment, and Islanders fans are right to be excited. However, I’ve seen this before, and I know that the real test for the Islanders is how they perform against teams like Tampa Bay and Toronto. I know they can hang with the best teams in the league, even if “hanging” means being underestimated and then getting destroyed when the sleeping giant awakens. But I don’t know that the Islanders can win the games a good team is supposed to win.
As crazy as it sounds, November might be a tougher test for the Islanders than October was. The Islanders played 13 games in October; aside from Carolina, all of their opponents were eighth or better in their respective conferences. In November, the Islanders will play some good teams such as New Jersey and an underrated Atlanta team, but they will also play Minnesota (15th in West), St. Louis (13th in West), Florida (13th in East), Toronto (15th in East) and the aforementioned Hurricanes. If the Isles can play these teams with the same intensity as they showed against the likes of the Rangers and Capitals, I’ll feel a lot better about this team. As it stands now, though, I’m cautiously optimistic. I’m enjoying this recent run of success, but I’m taking it at face value. As Islanders fans, judging from past experiences, that’s really all we can do.
By Bryan Berg October 16, 2009, at 9:49 pm Another game, another loss for the Islanders. That’s five straight losses to open the season, in case you lost count. Personally, I don’t care about the wins and losses; this season is about improvement and developing young players, and these things don’t always show up on the stat sheet. Far more significant than the end result is how the team played on the way to that result. Tonight… um… they didn’t play that well. Here’s what I saw tonight…
– As the puck dropped tonight, I thought about how strange it was that the Islanders completely changed their goaltending. It’s not common for teams to get rid of both of their goalies, but the Isles did just that. Most of us were glad to see this. However, Dwayne Roloson’s five-hole is giving me nightmares of the Ron Hextall era. Please let Martin Biron start tomorrow night.
– Speaking of roster moves, Rob Schremp should find himself in the Tambellini position tomorrow night, as he had a rather Tamby-esque game tonight. Here’s hoping Schremp finds the pretzel twists as delicious as Zach and I do. I also hope Tambellini can make the most of his opportunity, assuming it does come his way tomorrow.
– Mark Streit is usually pretty reliable on the defensive end, but he got caught napping twice in the offensive zone tonight. One of those times led to the penalty shot that put the Sabres up 2-0. What happens if the Sabres don’t score that goal? Who knows? But these mistakes don’t make losses easier to stomach.
- Tim Jackman and Joel Rechlicz played 10:46 tonight. That’s 10:46 COMBINED. Even with their totals added together, that’s less than any individual Islanders player, just edging Josh Bailey. This brings up two points. First, why waste roster spots with guys who barely play; furthermore, why play guys who can’t, you know, play? Second, it’s not very smart to totally stunt Josh Bailey’s development as a player by teaming him with stiffs like Jackman. Josh Bailey is a playmaker. Tim Jackman has seven goals in 142 NHL games.
– If I were Scott Gordon, I’d take every young player the organization is trying to build around and give those players serious minutes on the penalty kill. Letting up power play goals doesn’t matter in a lost season (yes, the season is five games old, but we all know the Isles aren’t going anywhere), but it can pay dividends down the line. John Tavares played 56 shorthanded seconds tonight; let’s see that number go up. And for the record, Gordon does a great job of spreading out his minutes, but it’d be great to see him essentially force players to learn the defensive side of the game as they develop.
– Speaking of Tavares, every single time he touches the puck in the offensive zone, he’s liable to create something. He managed to score a goal tonight, but of more interest to me were the two open nets he missed and the countless times he stickhandled out of trouble. Every time he touches the puck, I’m amazed. His hockey sense is uncanny and can literally make something out of nothing; given the lack of quality NHL players on this roster, often times, he’ll have to do just that. What a tremendous player, and what a treat it is to watch him play.
– My last note for tonight – why, oh why, must the Islanders constantly be relegated to the dregs of MSG Plus 2? They played on Channel 414 tonight and they will be there again tomorrow, despite being at home and despite the Rangers being on the road. I understand the Islanders’ ratings do not compare well to those of the Rangers and the Devils, but if the Islanders are at home, they really should be shown in high definition. It’s a bit depressing to look for the Islanders game on TV and see that they can’t even crack the double digits on the dial. This only helps perpetuate the image that the Islanders are a second-class organization, which surely doesn’t help the Islanders as they attempt to rebuild all the facets of their team.
Busy night tomorrow. My predictions: The Rangers win 4-2 over the Maple Leafs, while the Isles lose 5-3 to the Sharks.
By Bryan Berg September 28, 2009, at 10:27 pm When we first started this blog, one of our first posts was an Islanders drinking game. At the time we posted the game, the Islanders were a below-average team, but they were a far cry from the 30th overall team we saw last year. When your team is really bad, sometimes it can get tough watching the team play. That’s where we come in.
The 2009-10 New York Islanders should be a significant improvement over last year’s team, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll get better results. With this in mind, here’s something to keep you interested. If nothing else, we hope it’ll keep you laughing (and drinking), something much easier said than done with this team. We’ll update this as it becomes necessary.
And away we go!
ANNOUNCERS
Drink every time…
- Billy Jaffe stares into the camera with a creepy half-smile while Howie is talking
- Howie Rose or Billy Jaffe reference their listeners on the radio. Chug if they use the phrase “Out In Radio Land”.
- A sponsored segment is introduced. Chug if it’s a Panasonic Digital Replay.
- Howie or Billy makes a bad pun
- Howie states that coincidental minors “will not affect on-ice manpower”
- Howie dismisses a late-game penalty as “just bookkeeping”
- Billy says something that could be construed as homer-ish. Chug if Billy precedes it with something like “Not to sound like a homer, but…”
- Stan Fischler appears on the intermission report. Chug if he’s the best-dressed member of the crew. Take an additional drink every time he says something that would best be described as “crotchety”. Kill a beer if he goes out of his way to bash Sidney Crosby.
- Howie praises the Islanders’ third uniforms
- Howie complains about the difficulty of the night’s trivia question
- Howie or Billy mention crew members (i.e. statistician Eric Hornick, producer Larry Roth, etc.) during the middle of a game
- Billy begins a point by saying “Here’s a guy…”
- Billy gives orders to the production truck during a replay (i.e. “Hold it right there”, “OK, roll it”)
- Billy or Howie compliments the camera crew for getting a particularly good shot
- Butch Goring wears a hideous suit
- Howie or Billy mentions Egg Levine
COMMERCIALS
Drink every time the following commercials air…
- Emblem Health
- Anything owned by Cablevision
- Two Brothers Scrap Metal (PLEASE add this to your rotation, MSG Plus!)
- Coin Galleries of Oyster Bay
IN-GAME
Drink every time…
- Scott Gordon is wearing a tie that incorporates the Islanders’ color scheme. Chug if his entire wardrobe is blue, white and orange.
- The crowd does a two-syllable chant in honor of a goalie (i.e. “D-P”, “Roll-E”, “Bee-Ron”)
- Kyle Okposo takes a shot with one of his knees on the ice
- Jeff Tambellini does something that makes you curse aloud
- An opposing player dishes out a borderline hit. Chug if the Islanders don’t bother to respond.
- An Islanders player is injured
- A Bridgeport Sound Tigers regular is called into duty to replace an injured player. Jeff Tambellini does NOT count as a Sound Tigers regular.
- The Islanders let up a goal while leading in the third period
- The camera gets a shot of a player taking a sip of water
- An Islanders goalie leaves the net to play the puck. Chug if it leaves him horribly out of position.
- A former Islander scores a goal against the Islanders
- The Islanders have more shots on goal than their opponents, but lose the game anyway
- The game goes to a shootout. Kill a beer if Brendan Witt is one of the Islanders’ shooters.
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