I've been watching John closely. He is not a "slow" skater. What makes him seem slow is he has really bad balance on his skates. He is easily knocked off the puck, plus he can lose the puck and miss one timers/shots because of his bad balance.

Good thing is, it's just that, bad balance. He should grow out of it.

Sorry and please don't mistake this as me being condescending or anything.

I disagree, has nothing to do with "balance". It's his first year in the NHL and like Stamkos last year, it's more about timing.
He takes long shifts and Gordon warned hi about that but he did it again yesterday, so did Okposo, twice.

Tavares, as we've noticed, gets shoved down when he tries to shake a defender along the boards or around the net. He had more time and space in Jr's. These are NHL experienced guys working in NHL systems who've adapted to the speed of the game.
When Tavares adapts, and he will, he will seem quicker and stronger on his skates.

Same for Bailey who is struggling thus far. Also, when those 2 have better, more experienced wingers, you'll see more.

Lastly, and this is key....
we're10 games into the season. Teams scout, watch tapes of teams and are prepared.
Think the opposition hasn't watched what JT did the first few games? They adapted.
It's up to our coach to help our guys stay focused, positive and confident to do what their supposed to do.

Yes, and they have named our tapes:
"A Nightmare on Hempstead Turnpike"

With Go-go's performance so far.... we screwed :bag: .

Nice Steve :thumbsup:

:cheers:

Good stuff Steve.

Stamkos never had a "balance" problem. John does.

I'm telling you, watch him closely. You will see how hard it is for him to stay balanced in certain situations. I just hope it's not a nerve thing, and rather a strength thing.

I'm sorry, I disagree. Alot of us thought we could wind up drafting him a couple of years ago
and I watched him play with the Bolts the first half of last year when he struggled.
Like Tavares (while he's a faster skater) he was easily knocked off the puck and his skates
in the same situations because of timing/experience at the NHL and the speed of the game.

He learned to make quicker decisions in the last 3rd of the year and finished strong.
So will Tavares.

If that's the case, then half the team has a "balance" problem.

cant help but think of Yashin when I see Tavares skating (without the puck)

same style , same speed

No way, ha.

Tavares reminds me more of a Ryan Smyth, just with better playmaking and a better shot.

I also noticed that JT doesn't tie his skates tightly enough. If you look closely you'll see that his laces are a bit loose. :blink:

And that has to be the coaches fault. He needs to walk around the room and make sure everyone's skates are tied tightly, just like in mites.

Please log this post under either "complete sarcasm" or "blame the coach for everything". Your choice. :P

Point is I agree that other teams scout, etc. and I also agree that the coach and probably more so the veterans on this team need to enlighten the lad. But the special ones get that themselves and change their game accordingly.

Look, if he gets knocked on his butt from being on one skate enough I'm hoping he'll stop doing it.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/gamecenter.htm?id=2009020149

Click there and then click on Matt Moulson's name above the rink diagram (all islanders). You'll then see two little cameras where they allow you view his SOG's. Click the one on the right and watch when Tavares comes into the play. He loses his balance.

It's just little things like that I'm talking about.

He's a #1 pick with a balance problem


...wt*......................... :headbanging:

lets see, bad defense, no balance...we knew this before going into the draft..He was an overwhelming favorite to be drafted. He is a goal scorer. As long as he will put the damn puck in the net, who cares. Seems very trivial...His defense so what, Jagr never played defense, did he? Did Mario? Did Gretzky?

Tavares and Bailey are playing as if they are in a street hockey league. They get crushed more than anyone else. I haven't seen Tavares take the body on anyone. He also needs to do more than just stick check an opponent.

I'm not ready to give up. Heck, I was just getting to that point with the other JT (and then he goes and scores 3 in 2 games) after his glorious years here.

Tavares looks like he doesn't have balance because he isn't moving his feet and is out of position a lot.

my 2 cents

my take - he's 19...that is all

:thumbsup:
Bingo.

Okposo spent a lot of time on his a$$ year one as well. Look at him now.

Didn't he get his face mashed against the glass from a boarding check? Still waiting for your enforcer to stop this stuff.

Not for nothing, one goal so far for KO. Need more from him.

agreed, but he is hard to push off the puck now.

And the first three games he had new gloves and couldn't get a good grip on his stick. (he dropped it at least three times a game.) They've broken in now.

He should have used the new gloves in practice and the old ones for the game if it was going to affect him negatively. Not for nothing, but at this level your equipment should be in 100% working order all of the time.

He missed a big chunk of time in camp because of Celine, I don't think KO will disappoint this year at all.

As far as JT, he has been skating as long as anybody at his age who is in this league, which isn't really that many at all.

He seems to have the talent and composure to get in to good scoring positions so far, he'll get more adjusted to the speed soon enough and even make better decisions.

ONE WOULD THINK
BUT REMEMBER BATES YEARS BACK
WITH HIS GARBAGE STICKS THAT KEPT BREAKING
THEN HE DIDNT HAVE ANY ON ORDER

http://websearch.cs.com/gw/boomframe.jsp?q...253DAjxJODscKjw

7th, as dragoneye has already stated, anytime you get new equipment in sports you break it in during practice. You never take it straight out to the game. So I really can't understand why in the world he'd do that. And besides, he wears different gloves when the Isles wear the 3rd jerseys, so did he have two new pairs of gloves?

I LAUGH EVERYTIME I SEE THAT
AN ALL-TIME HI-LITE
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

JUST THINK IF WE LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO WIN A SERIES

:fear: :fear: :fear: :fear:

AND I WONT EVEN MENTION THE REAL PRIZE
THAT WOULD BE LIKE BEING CHAINED TO A POLL AND STARVING
AND JUST OUT OF REACH IS A FRESH STREAMING CRAVE CASE

:fear: :letssee: :cry: :crying2: :angrier:

Tavares is a slow skater and is weak on his skates.

And YES he's only 19. I don't think he'll all of a sudden be a fast skater, but hopefully a stronger one.

Okposo is a beast on his skates, but not a fast skater.

Bailey is getting stronger on his skates, but his upper body hasn't matched the lower body strength yet.

The thing that bugs me about JT's stride is that his legs are too far apart and I think that technique leads him to be a slower skater.

KO is a fast skater, especially when he gets a head of steam.

My 16 year old son has not seen the Isles win a playoff series, I'm hoping that he'll see us win one before he makes me a grandfather.

SEE YOUR A GLASS HALF FULL FAN
I THOUGHT YOUR POST WAS GOING TO BE
BEFORE HE'S A GRANDFATHER

By Gosh, you are right, I am being optimistic. :cheers: :cheers:

Tavares must have fell 5 or 6 times tonight. He just checks people and falls to the ice. It's actually kind of funny.

I'll promise I'll get him a cane if you promise not to start threads for every little thought.

:goofy2:

This place would be dead without my sick threads.

YEs, what would we do without your "sick" threads. I'm surprised this board survived so long before you came here.

And he gets knocked off the puck cause his 18yrs old and about a 150lbs and he lived with that sick guy Doug Weight.

The Rangers were NOT laughing when he scored his goal. He can fall flat on his @## all he wants in my book.

:yea:

JT needs help. I said it in Gameday and will repeat it here. This is not a knock, just my opinion.

If he doesn't get stronger on his skates he's gonna get injured. He needs someone to tutor him in how to TAKE a check and how to GIVE one.

His legs are way out past his shoulders which may seem like a good idea, but truthfully he has all his weight on one side. Remember how he fanned on a shot and fell? Too much weight on one side.

Laura Stamm Power Skating, Turcotte Skills, Planet Hockey whatever. Or, bring in a personal trainer for him.

I do not want to see him get banged up by being leveled two or three times a game.

Totally agree with you. Also, I noticed that Baily is starting to get a lot more involved in the corners and along the boards this year and he is starting to win some of those battles. It's all about good mentoring, time and a little luck.