A Tank For Tavares Update: Those Crazy Isles Make A Run
by James Mirtle on Mar 17, 2009 1:08 AM CDT
27 comments
Leave it to Charlie Wang and the wacky bunch to make the race to the bottom in the NHL standings more interesting. Back in mid-January, the Isles were a brutal 12-29-4, dead last by a mile and on pace for the lowest full-season point total (51) since the Thrashers entered the league 10 years ago.
They've won 12 times since then, despite icing an AHL-calibre roster, and are 6-2-2 in their past 10 games. The teams just ahead of them have been so brutal that it's entirely possible the Isles just might ruin their chances for top billing in the John Tavares sweepstakes.
Here's the race as of now (with the lotto odds for the No. 1 pick):
| Teams | GP | PTS | /82 | Lotto | |
| 1 | N.Y. Islanders | 70 | 56 | 66 | 48.2 |
| 2 | Tampa Bay | 69 | 60 | 71 | 18.8 |
| 3 | Phoenix | 69 | 62 | 74 | 14.2 |
| 4 | Colorado | 70 | 63 | 74 | 10.7 |
| 5 | Atlanta | 70 | 64 | 75 | 8.1 |
| 6 | Ottawa | 68 | 66 | 80 | |
| 7 | Toronto | 70 | 69 | 81 | |
| 8 | Los Angeles | 69 | 68 | 81 | |
| 9 | Anaheim | 69 | 70 | 83 | |
| 10 | St. Louis | 69 | 72 | 86 | |
| Minnesota | 69 | 72 | 86 |
Give Scott Gordon credit, though — he's making chicken salad out of chicken not a whole lot, and I'm sure proving to the brass on the Island that he's the right guy to lead them somewhere when they're ready to go.
Just to show what I mean, here were the Isles' lines for their game on the weekend, a 4-2 win in Chicago over what's been a pretty good Blackhawks team this season:
Bailey - Comeau - Iggulden
Hilbert - Jackman - Thompson
Nielsen - Okposo - Tambellini
McAmmond - Park - Rechlicz
Gervais - Streit
Martinek - Witt
Hillen - Pock
Mannino
That's a first line that had 55 NHL games experience prior to this season, a second line with 308 games, a third with 119 and a grizzled fourth with 1,404 between the two old-timers. The average forward on the top three lines had played 53 career games prior to this season.
Peter Mannino, meanwhile, was making his first-ever NHL start and made 40 saves. He's an undrafted, 25-year-old goalie who started the year in the ECHL, by the way.
Nutty. But, hey, with fans and media all calling for the tank job to continue, why not make it interesting?
A couple more wins, and their chance at Tavares drops 30 per cent. (Meanwhile Phoenix looks so bad that they might not win another game. The Desert Dogs are 4-16-1 in their past 21 games.)
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Awooo!
Yay! We want Tavares!
(What else do I have to cheer for right now?)
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Five For Howling
by OdinMercer on Mar 17, 2009 1:56 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Argh
We would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for those darn desert dogs.
The Blackhawks game was worst-case: The Islanders were road-weary and didn’t really deserve the win, but Mannino stood on his head and the young Hawks couldn’t figure out what to do once things weren’t going their way.
Lighthouse Hockey: SBN's New York Islanders blog with hip issues.
by Dominik on Mar 17, 2009 2:39 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Hey
You dogs get back to winning. I don’t want to see you below the Avs in those standings.
Seriously, how did the desert dogs fall so badly this season? they looked like a good team early this year
by Jibblescribbits on Mar 17, 2009 9:41 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Also
It was the last of 5 consecutive years where the Nords drafted in the top 5… having 3 overall #1’s in 5 years (Sundin, Nolan, Lindross)
by Jibblescribbits on Mar 17, 2009 10:18 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I have no idea.
It’s like they were two different teams Pre ASG and Post ASG. Mostly it’s that they haven’t been able to score goals to save thier lives. Any scorring touch they had before has just dried up. It’s usually the other way around in that they can’t find anything early in the year and then find it late in the season.
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Five For Howling
by OdinMercer on Mar 17, 2009 1:11 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
4 wins in 21 games for a team that looked like they were going to make the playoffs earlier in the year? Ouch. What would it take for Gretzky to “step down”? If the Isles don’t land Tavares I think it would be nice to see him go to Colorado so he could play with Stastny and the Aves could get a kickstart to the major rebuild that is going to be needed soon. When was the last time Colorado (or Quebec) had a top 5 pick?
I just hope the poor boy doesn’t end up with Tampa. I wouldn’t wish that upon anyone.
by colonial.red on Mar 17, 2009 6:03 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
He would have Stamkos to keep him company, at least. :)
That lineup is just amazing. At first glance, I recognize the name Streit because I remember him from Montreal, and I recognize Tambellini because I saw him play in college. That’s it. Wow.
Tank for a high pick or not, it has to be good for the development of the young kids that they are learning how to win and not just coast at the end of a pointless season. It might be a couple years, but it will pay off for them (and so would having to choose Hedman as a second choice, probably).
"A vacuum is a hell of a lot better than some of the stuff that nature replaces it with." -- Tennessee Williams
by Baroque on Mar 17, 2009 6:29 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
When was the last time Colorado (or Quebec) had a top 5 pick?
Was it the Lindros draft?
SNN Sports - A theoretical Oilers blog (i.e. theoretically, I write stuff there)
by Doogie2K on Mar 17, 2009 10:03 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
1992
The Nordiques selected the immortal Todd Warriner #4 overall, the year after the Lindross draft.
by Jibblescribbits on Mar 17, 2009 10:13 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
To be fair, 1992 isn’t exactly an inspiring first round past #3. You’ve got Gonchar, then Stillman, J. Smith, and Straka, and…yeah.
Some decent late-round picks, though. Who knew that Anson Carter was taken in the tenth round by the Nordiques that year?
SNN Sports - A theoretical Oilers blog (i.e. theoretically, I write stuff there)
by Doogie2K on Mar 17, 2009 8:16 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Once we get a deal to sell the team done that will be more talked about. At this point what’s it matter if we win another game? I think he got hurried into the head coaching job a little to sell tickets by Ellman who used to run the team with Moyes. If he could have gone the usual route of being an assistant somewhere or coaching at a lower level it would have turned out a lot better…
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Five For Howling
by OdinMercer on Mar 17, 2009 1:16 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Mark Streit
give some credit to Mark Streit. He is still plus in the Plus/Minus stats, he is third in the NHL scoring list of the defenders and almost logs 30 minutes a night.
Can he be considered a Norris candidate already?
by RedWings on Mar 17, 2009 6:04 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Just a tiny correction, Mannino started in the AHL, but his confidence was wrecked when he replaced MacDonald in Boston in November for his first taste of the NHL and the pucks trickled through him like water. After that he couldn’t stop the pucks in the AHL either, so he had to drop down another level. He only recently returned to the A actually.
The Islanders have been in top form since shipping out Campoli and Comrie. After that, the departure of the captain only seemed to boost them further. Winning with that team is pretty valuable experience to the young players, good for their rebuild, I think. As long as they can still draft a stud prospect, that is.
Streit has obviously proven he is a far better defenseman than Guy Carbonneau thought. I bet there are many GMs in the NHL kicking themselves for not signing Streit last summer. As for the other Isles defensemen, Gervais has really stepped his game up in recent times, he even made it to the last Rod Langway list!
by bearhunter on Mar 17, 2009 7:15 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Thanks for the note on Mannino. Didn’t realize that.
by James Mirtle on Mar 17, 2009 1:33 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Draft picks
While looking up the Todd Warriner draft above I was struck by the fact that Scott Parker and Wade Belak were both 1st round draft picks. Belak was #10 overall in ’94 (Chris Drury – #72, Milan Hejduk – #84).
With fighting curtailed, have we reached a point where bruisers are no longer going to be taken in the first round, because that would be a good thing.
by Jibblescribbits on Mar 17, 2009 10:16 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
I really doubt Quebec selected Belak 10th overall hoping to get a fighter.
Pension Plan Puppets*
* Blog contains less than 2% puppet content by weight.
by Chemmy on Mar 17, 2009 10:23 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Sabres drafted Andrew Peters 32nd overall.
Yeah, he didn’t even work out as a fighter.
Shut up when you're talking to me!
by Afino on Mar 17, 2009 11:10 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah
But there’s always been a thought in the back of GM’s minds that “Well if this guy doesn’t pan out, well just let him beat the shit out of people”
by Jibblescribbits on Mar 17, 2009 1:00 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, and that era was filled with GMs prone to go for size over skill. Back before the NHL remembered that “hooking,” “slashing,” and “interference” were enforceable penalties.
Lighthouse Hockey: SBN's New York Islanders blog with hip issues.
by Dominik on Mar 18, 2009 10:49 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Parker was scoring goals
in the WHL. But that never panned out in the big leagues.
by From the Point on Mar 17, 2009 12:57 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
While it makes for some nice feel good puff pieces, if I were an Islanders fan, I’d be pissed by this late surge after a season of suffering.
It really sucks, but the truth is it only make sense to tank at this point. The lottery does little to change that.
by Costa24 on Mar 17, 2009 10:53 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
It makes sense to fans but it will never make sense to players and coaches who will always try to do what’s in their own best interests: win.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
by PPP on Mar 17, 2009 10:55 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Especially for players such as these… Danis & Mannino for example might not ever get another chance to play in the NHL if they failed badly in these situations. And all those young guys you hope to be successful, not fail.
It only sucks if the team’s D all of a sudden played a ton better than earlier, because that top 4 is 4 veterans.
Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.
by saskhab on Mar 17, 2009 11:20 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
It should be interesting to watch Tampa visit the Islanders on April 4. WIth five games to play neither team is going to want to add to their point total.
http://puckreport.blogspot.com
MG
by puckreport on Mar 17, 2009 2:45 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Isles Not only team that didn't get the tanking' memo!
1) HMMMM, wonder where we first heard someone discuss how the Isles weren’t ‘tanking the season’ as some had asserted just a short week or so ago?
2) KIdding aside, the Isles aren’t the only ‘bottom feeder’ team to not get the memo that they were suposed to suck down the stretch. The Thrashers. Maple Leafs and to a lesser extent Lightning are all playing much better lately. Allowing a western confrence team to ‘get back in the race for the bottom’
by Fauxrumors on Mar 18, 2009 7:15 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
the isles have games in hand lol
I don't like you Detroit.
by mattman on Mar 18, 2009 7:19 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
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