I know this is early, and I never start topics, but regardless of our record, I am stoked about JT! Moulson should have like 8 goals right now if he buried all the chances Tavares gave him. Tavares could even have like 8 goals if he buried all of his chances. The fact is that this guy has something intangible in his game.

I know I am one of the few optimists on this board, and we may very well end up in the bottom 5 this year, but these first 6 games have been awesome. JT just knows where to be, and the puck just comes to him. I've seen some threads about Duchene being awesome, but JT was definitely the right guy for us. This team hasn't had this kind of scoring talent since La fontain or maybe even Bossy.

I just thought I would start a positive thread since we haven't won a game yet.

I think that even with out a win certain players besides Tavares have impressed me, KO looks like he is gonna be a superstar, and although he is not scoring i feel like every time Bergie is on the ice he looks really fast, thats just me though

I'LL AGREE WITH YOU ABOUT JT

BUT ONE QUESTION???

WTF ARE YOU WATCHING?

I wouldn't say the first 6 games have been awesome. I'd say watching the KO-Tavares-Moulson line the first six games have been awesome. Watching the other lines play has been basically like watching the other team do warm up drills in our end for 6 games.

Like you, I am excited about the prospects of Tavares and Ko playing together for years to come. It is obvious they are the real deal despite some of those on the board who claimed that KO was a bust after three games and tried to convince us that Tavares would be last spring. (they know who they are)

However, this rebuild is going to go no where if we don't get some young and strong defensive talent on board soon. I know DeHaas will likely be an Islander next season and the kid looked good in camp. I hope he has a great season in jrs and for team canada and can put on 10 lbs of muscle before camp next year. But we don't have anyone else in the system ready to make the jump next year.

Consdier that the only dmen the Isles have drafted that have made our roster in the past decade have been in the 200's as draft picks (Martinek, Campoli and Gervais), that gives you an idea of how hurting for d talent we are.

BTW- I feel Bergie has been absolutely lost so far this season. He did not pick up where he left off. But there are a few bright spots. They are all on first line.

I totally agree with you about us not going any where if we don't get defensive talent.

I totally disagree with you about Bergie being lost. Although he has been held scoreless he has been all over the ice and has played feisty.

I'm not even talking about Berige scoring. To me, he's not a 25 goal guy. He's a career 3rd liner at best who can bang a bit. I see him as a Hunter who can skate. My problem with him is last year, especially the second half he was generating a ton of chances for him and linemates because he was so disruptive in the offensive end. I really haven't seen that from him this year. Then again, it is only 6 games in and he's a slow starter from what I've seen of him each year.

4cups....I agree.....Bergie is not a 25 goal a year guy. What we saw last year in the second half I hope is what we can mostly get out of him. And you're right-----he's likely a career 3rd liner.

see...i can be reasonable with my expectations :P ;)

Whose the number 1 defensive prospect? Expect him and CDH at the big league level next year for us.

They are one in the same.

Bergie is like a bull in a china shop. There's much movement but none with any purpose.

Absolutely Shoot.

Probably Aaron Ness is 2nd to Calvin. They need both on the team next season, because they cannot cart out a defense like this again next year. If we get the 1st or 2nd overall pick in the draft, I'm still in favor of taking a forward, but we need to find ways to improve the defense.

As for the topic of this thread, John Tavares, he has already exceeded my first half expectations. He has been awesome. And the truely exciting thing is that as he adjusts more and more to the speed of the NHL, he is only going to get better. And the most exciting thing I've been seeing is how many scoring chances he's been getting and how many open nets he's been missing. And you are probably scratching your head at that one, but the reason that excites me is that eventually, and probably sooner and later, he will start burying ALL OF THEM. This kid is going to score 40 goals in this league at some point.

Islanders do not even need to win

Just have Tavares get his 1 point per game

Have 2 or 3 other shifts that are noticeable

Then just disappear the rest of the game

As some other NHL team works out a package deal

To acquire Tavares so we can rebuild with more picks. :torrey:

This is the Islanders Star :thumbsup:

I agree Zep. That was very inciteful. :rofl:

I think Tavares is the front runner for the Lady Bing trophy. They give that to the guys that never body check other players and score a lot of goals right?

tavaras looks good. okposo looks even better. which one of the two gets to be the lone representive for the Islanders in the allstar game?

I'm starting to wonder, if every one of our players are invisible...who are we watching?...

They'll both be in the YoungStars game and Streit will probably represent us in the "Big" game again.

there is no all star game this year b/c of the olympics

pfft...you and your "facts"

forgot about that..thanks....well, maybe we atleast get to see them in the olympics..tavaras, okposo, streit :punk: ...and maybe even bailey. :rofl:

I remember Tom and I were sitting on a couch amused that we had such high goals for JT in the prediction thread while everyone thought we were way off base. We've been there when that feeling comes along that someone is special, and we both felt that way about him. He is going to be very special.

So is KO and so will Bailey(be patient this sophomore season).

We are seeing everything Bergie will offer in his pro career. He may be more valuable to us in another way, as in a trade.

It shows how poor our amateur scouting staff has been at identifying defensive talent for SOOOO long.

Hopefully the scouting staff starts finding better d prospects with these young ones they have in the system.

Time will tell. I think they got a good one with de Haas, but I'm very curious as to how Ness, Kessel and Niemi, Harmonic turn out. Ness is up at UMinn and is on the small side. But if he can turn into a good PP guy and a solid 5th dman, I'll be thrilled. I think we are going to need one of the other three (Kessel, Harmonic or Niemi) to turn into a top 4 dman and I'm not sure that is in the cards. Considering all of them were taken in rounds 1-3, we HAVE to have at least 3 be good nhl players. If not, it is another sign that our scouting dept keeps missing, just like they did under MM.

On the positive side, all of those players were highly rated by central scouting when they were chosen, so it isn't like any of them were "off the reservation" picks (though some thing going for deHaas at 12 was, but I don't think he was going to be around at 16 when we picked).

The future.........

???-Tavares-Okposo
???-Bailey-???
Bergenheim-???-???
???-Nielsen-Comeau

Petrov?
Joensuu?
Schremp?
Figren?
Trivino?
DiBo?

Will we have more surprises like Moulson?
Will he stay around?

I think we're fortunate enough to see an actual NHL-caliber first line take shape in JT and KO. That's a big step.

I'd like to see another real good center and some LW strength before we start making a playoff push.
(T. Hall bumping Bailey?)
(Joensuu stepping in? Moulson earns his place?)

I just see no real reason to be pessimistic in the long run. Maybe we're all psychologically scarred from seeing MM ruin the future all the time, but that's not going to happen anymore. Just give it time. Every year a little bit better.

Don't take my comments as pure pessimism. I'm glad Garth is filling the farm with prospects. My only concern is how many of them will pan out.

While I readily admit I don't know much about those who have done the Am scouting for us since the 90's, I do know that we have been BRUTAL in drafting defensemen. Just terrible.

Now, those kids I mentioned earlier were all touted in the top 40 skaters in their prospective draft years, so I don't blame the Isles for taking them when they did, but I will blame the Isles if we don't have 3 of the 5 including deHaas become players at the nhl level (and I'm not talking Bruno Gervais quality player).

On offense- yes we are starting to see something develop as a first line which is nice. The Isles haven't had a legit first line since the 01-02 season and didn't have one prior to that going back to 93.

But with the names you mentioned, I hope we get a good look at Jesse Jonsseu this season. He looked good in his callup last season and I thought he had a shot at making the team this year, but he was cut pretty early on.

As far as these go...

???-Tavares-Okposo
???-Bailey-???
Bergenheim-???-???
???-Nielsen-Comeau

I think Comeau would be a good third line winger with Sean B, but I don't see his career ceiling higher than that. I think you have everyone else in the right spot. I'd love to see what Petrov could do on the top line. I could maybe see Cory T. filling the third line center position. Perhaps Jonsseu will make a good wing on a line with Bailey and Schremp?

I see SOME talent, but we still need to see alot more. Confucius said "a journey of a thousand miles starts with one step". Well, right now we have only taken a few steps on that journey. We still have much work to do.

The journey started on May 12, 1984..........................


......................................


.................. :stoned:

For u maybe, not for this group.

Can hold the current group responsible for the failings of the late 80's and entire 90's and early 2000's. I know you like to, but it wouldn't be accurate.

Are you kidding? Bailey was totally invisible in the game against Edmonton in '84. We would have our fifth cup if it weren't for that complete bust.

But for the Islander organization which started in 1972
every year is linked together.

Unless we break it down this way.

1972 to 1974
1975 to 1984
1985 to 1990
1991 to 1994
1995 to 2000
2001 to 2007
2008 to NOW

So "this group" is what, 2008 to NOW
If that's the case they or WE are on a road to nowhere.

Babies, I've been with this team since 1972.
There's a flow to this teams existence

Very must like the flow of your own existence.

I am the eyes and ears of this organization. :torrey:

I hope not, we'd be blind and deaf...

no. just the emoticons of it.


You aren't the only one who's been rooting for the team since 72, btw.

And as for the "road to nowhere", you are the same individual who's been going on for more than 2 seasons about how Kyle Okposo is a bust and you were saying the same thing about Tavares last spring, so excuse me if I take my navigation from another source other than you.

Kyle Okposo is starting his first full season this year.
the kid plays hard but what potential are we talking about.
Superstar ?
100 plus points year after year

Or a hard working 2 way player good for 50 - 60 points per year.
He plays very hard a I like that but I can see injury down the road.
In his brief NHL career he has already been whacked and there's plenty
more where that comes from.

Tavares NHL career is now 6 games.
Can you truly base anything on that.

I'm sure being a #1 pick he will be a good player.
Is he a two way player or just goal scorer.

In 6 games I can not tell his style of play.
Does he have a physical side to his game?

After he makes at least once around the NHL don't you think it
will be easier to evaluate him then just after 6 games and his AHL stats.

I was not a child of 9 in 72' routing for this team
By then I had kissed many many girls............................................................

By all means take your navigation else where
I would not want to interrupt your fantasy regarding the current state of the NY Islanders. :thumbsup:

Wait a minute, didn't you turn 40 a short time ago :letssee:
So in 1972 you were 3 :blink:

pd wasn't even a goalie :rotflmao:

Anyway Happy Birthday :birthday3:

WOW.

Edit:

After reading your post again, I see what you're saying. Above "WOW" is a little too reactionary. I thought what you were going for was the he would be a bust he didn't score 100 points.

Although I think he will produce more than 50-60 points, (70, I think) he's a solid player to build around, and will be a legit first liner, and probably our second leading scorer...maybe even winning a Selke one day.

Five reasons XM Home Ice's Boomer Gordon loves hockey

LED, you are absolutely right. KO may be a terrific power forward who will be a 30/30 guy year in and year out. Nothing wrong with that if he's going to be this teams 3 or 4th leading scorer down the road.

And you are even more spot on on JT. He will be a very special player, but what kind of player is still unknown. Will he turn into a great two-way center ala Trottier? We just dont know after 6 games.

And right now we are still winless.

And the comparisions from 95-2000 are valid. Are Lorne Henning and Rick Bowness so different from Steve Stirling and Scott Gordon.

The difference this time will be if we actually find some success, and hopefully soon.

Tavares, after the 6 NHL reg season games and the handful of preseason games (the team canada stuff doesn't count) has shown me that he makes everyone around him better.
That tells you he is as special player.

He'll rack up points for years. Every game, even in tight checking he finds a way to either create or get a scoring chance. When he gets stronger on his skates and adjust even more to the timing in the NHL, we'll have a prolific forward along with 2 happy wingers.

The only problem I have with all this is that this team was built in one way- no superstar (yet) and contributions from everyone. So far, and I said it in the "Gordon must go" thread- Comeau, Park, Bergie, Bailey, Tamby and Weight have exactly ZERO goals so far.

And that ain't getting it done.

JT Moulson and KO look good because they are contributing. They are, so far, the only line that has.

Everybody else is doing squat and that is unacceptable. We all said we wanted to see growth and so far, the others are not getting it done.