Mon 2 Jul 2007
Well - it was a fun Sunday for us, wasn’t it.
Smyth - GONE
Blake - GONE
Poti - GONE
Zednik - GONE
Kozlov - GONE
Well - at we least we still have SHAKEY! And now John Sim to… (saves the stichers on lettering!)
I am totally gutted…. So many movers - so much salary going to these guys. Do not blame Garth - I am sure that he worked as hard as he could.
But alas - the naysayers and doubters and complainers that we all know and love will be sticking their heads out.
Please vent - I could use the love and support of fellow fans. I wonder how many people will be calling for their season ticket money back…… It is tough to be an Islander fan today, but chin up!
July 2nd, 2007 at 8:38 am
I think what is most discouraging is the fact that according to NYI.com we made offers to Kozlov, Poti, Smyth, Hannan, possibly Kariya, Gomez, and Drury. All of these guys blew off the Islanders to sign else where. What does this say about the state of our organization. No one wants to play here anymore, it is a far cry then what this place was like 15-20 years ago. Who is left out there? No one, this team will NEVER be able to take the next step. With the horrible attendence only about to get worse, no new building, and no marquee players this is probably the beginnig of the end here. That’s the only way I can see it right now….
July 2nd, 2007 at 10:00 am
Gary
You know what spoke volumes to me…the fact that we offered 32.5M over 5 yrs to Smyth and he signed for 31.25M over 5 yrs with Colorado.
So sad…thought we were going to take a move in the right direction. Now it seems like all we have is a minor league team at best - don’t even have hopes in the reserves because Bridgeport couldn’t even make the playoffs last year.
It truly looks to be a disappointing year…glad we hadn’t committed to our tickets yet.
Too bad Jonah is still too young for the NHL! The Isles could use him right about now.
July 2nd, 2007 at 11:58 am
I am so upset!!! I thought there was a salary cap in hockey!!!! How are all these other teams coming up with all this money? I can’t believe any player over 30 could get a 5 year deal with all the injuries in the sport. I think we might find out that some of these deals will fall short for the teams but in the meantime where does that leave us??? One more thing…every Devil who went to the Rangers for big bucks fell apart. Could it happen again? We can only hope!!! I am just happy the Mets are winning so I can put the Islanders away for a few months.
July 2nd, 2007 at 12:37 pm
This was an embarrassing day on all accounts for the Islander organization. I’d like to know who the hell is left for them to pay to come to Long Island- Kariya signed with the Blues, Nylander is an Oiler, so it looks like they’ll be filling their roster with second-rate scrubs. The franchise has been set back for several years.
July 2nd, 2007 at 2:08 pm
Yes, yesterday was a very emotionally draining day for us Islanders fans.
The Smyth signing really threw me for a loop due to the fact that the Isles offered MORE money and he still took him family elsewhere kinda says something. It’s time to face the fact that right now, not many highly-touted free agents want to play here. You’d think after last season’s heroics, it would be quite the opposite.
Let’s just hope Garth and Co. have something brewing, because they need it badly…
July 2nd, 2007 at 3:00 pm
I have to say that I’m still sitting here feeling a mixed sense of bewilderment, anger and disappointment. I guess the “worse case” scenario should have been considered, but I really believed that we’d come out of this with most guys in place.
It’s hard not to feel completely defeated. I don’t recall any big names left out there, and we now have zero scoring. Beyond that, as others have stated, Smyth signing for less money was a real slap in the face. Have we really fallen So far?
Unless something unexpected occurs, it’s going to be a Long season. We won’t be fighting for a playoff spot for sure. I also want to know where the heck all this money came from to be tossed around with a cap? Also, no one had figured or assumed that each guy was going to be offered more money by other teams? And, well, with all the room we had under the cap, why didn’t we counter?
July 2nd, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Well Gary, we know we’re die-hard fans. Let’s see who else is…
July 2nd, 2007 at 3:59 pm
As I posted over at islandersarmy, I can’t find a reason to watch this team in 2007-08. The fact that Smyth signed for less money with the Avs suggests that he was never really interested in remaining an Islander and that Snow was foolish to put all of his hopes in him. Add to that the blunder of letting Blake and Kozlov walk and we’ve got a disaster brewing here. I am glad to see Poti go, however. I guess you can be an optimist and figure that Snow has a backup plan, but there are hardly any quality UFAs left, and honestly they should be at about “Plan F” at this moment anyway.
It’s safe to say the current Islanders roster amounts to the least talented team in the NHL at the moment. There is not legitimate NHL scoring threat in the lineup. Satan is close, but he doesn’t make his own plays and there is nobody left to pass the puck to him.
This team might struggle to win 20 games next season and draw 7k fans a game. How long until they’re the Vegas Islanders now?
July 2nd, 2007 at 5:03 pm
Three quotes come to mind:
“Money is honey” - Max Bialystock
“Go west young man” - Horace Greeley
“What a revoltin’ development this is” - Chester A. Riley
July 2nd, 2007 at 5:14 pm
I wish I could come up with something to say here, but I’m speechless. There is nothing good to come out of this for us. Even if he were to sign the best of what was left, we’re still going to have major holes. This whole mess has set us back a few years. I hope Garth has a few tricks up his sleeve, because we’re going to need it.
July 2nd, 2007 at 6:09 pm
I am depressed!!
I just can’t believe everyone is gone and so quickly! I feel the team has been raped!
It just hurts when the Islanders are referred to as the laughing stock of the NHL or the Hapless Islanders. I don’t want to go through that again this year.
I am usually very optomistic when it comes to “my team”, but I desperately need something to hold on to…anyone have any suggestions?
July 2nd, 2007 at 6:28 pm
I am copying my reply from the last post, does anyone have an answer to the question posed below?
Jason Says:
July 2nd, 2007 at 12:30 am
It is officially panic time. Not even a 100 Kilogram chill pill is gonna fix this one.
Anyway, here is a question. Were other teams allowed to wine and dine free agents during the period of exclusivity?
It just seems odd that within 12 hours, just about all the free agents are signed. I am judging this based on Baseball, where free agents sign over a 3 month period.
I mean, how does Ryan Smyth even know what Colorado is like? On second thought, maybe he heard from Mike Hampton about the school system over there.
July 2nd, 2007 at 6:37 pm
Everybody relax.
They still have quality goaltending and a pretty solid defense. If Ted can keep the goals against to the low 2’s they can be competitive. The key is the goaltender. He has to come up big. I think last year was Rick’s stepping out year and he will only get better and better over the next 5 years or so. Satan and Hunter have to come up with big years and they will have the ice time to do it. Sillinger is good for 25 also.
July 2nd, 2007 at 6:51 pm
That is a Great question, Jason. That thought struck me as well. You can’t tell me that there was Some contact over the passing months. That all transpired Too Quickly.
July 2nd, 2007 at 8:37 pm
It’s a little hard to find optimism today after watching the team get filleted like a fluke. Garth tried, but after everything he gave up to get Smyth, this was a disaster. Maybe he should try to sign Vanek to an offer sheet.
July 3rd, 2007 at 10:24 pm
OUCH….. Gary, please help me to be optomistic, Isles need something now, the only rock we have is Rick D., He needs to stay healthy and injury free (please stay in the net).. Could we please find HELP up front BIG TIME….A long time die hard fan, who is shaking his head right now…Is Yashin still available?
July 3rd, 2007 at 11:02 pm
I think its pathetic that we go thru this every year. We wait till the last minute everytime. I still say it was the worst decision to trade Peca and fire Lavi, and since that 2001-2002 team has dissipated, we are no longer the most desirable team. I honestly think we’ve been this way since 93-94 and I know this organization has “tried” to change, but seriously who do we have left to sign thats decent? No one wants to play on the island and thats sad.
I do have faith in Garth and I understand his concept about signing the right players who actually want to be on long island. What I don’t have faith in is Wang who knows nothing about hockey. We are sadly the lowest team on the totem pole and I keep hearing “we have to build from within”…how long have we been saying this for? I just hope over the next few weeks we start seeing some developments. I love how bossy and snow say for us to have patience. What islander fan has patience???? We’ve been patient for years now! Cmon now.