Mon 9 Jul 2007
The Isles today introduced the newest Captain, Bill Guerin, along with his new 3 teammates, Mike Comrie, Ruslan Fedotenko and John Sim.
From the sounds of the conference, Guerin is humbled and honored to take the C from Alexei Yashin, and move this team forward.
“I’m completely surprised, but thrilled about this tremendous honor,” said Guerin. “I want to thank the organization for the vote of confidence and I will not take this captaincy lightly. Thank you Garth. Thank you, Charles. I’m excited about joining a team with such a wonderful history. I speak for all four of us when I say this is a group of players that wants to be here and play as team.”
Guern and Mike Comrie already reached out to the community and have bought 25 tickets to give to children with cancer for every game this season. A great step to bring some good news to Islander country.
As for the C, I already hear that many are not happy with that. They (the unhappy ones) thought that maybe Witt or Silly should get it. Maybe they should. But with these guys, I do not expect any animosity. BIll Guerin is a heads-up classy guy, that has earned respect from everywhere he has been. He has a couple of Stanley Cups under his belt, and that helps. And considering the last man that wore the “C”, it is a marked improvement.
Notice that Garth has a real good smile on… He looks real happy, as we all should. I hear that there is one more big move coming… Will it be that big defensemen that we think will bring the team to an even higher level? Time will tell.
Well - how did we do, you ask? When you look at the division, I think we ended up holding our own. Let’s look at the other 4 teams in the division.
Rangers - signing Drury and Gomez will be big, but between the forwards and Lundqvist, you have the defense, and I can sum that up in one word. YUK! I see a lot of 8-7 games in their future.
Devils - Major losses (Rafalski, Gomez) will bring Marty’s numbers back to earth. He will break the records of Monsieur Roy, but it will not be a walk in the park anymore.
Pens - pretty much the same, just a year older and another step scarier.
Flyers - night and day difference. Will not be a cakewalk for a while.
If this division is not the best in the NHL next season, I will be severely surprised. But we should be able to hold our own, and the coaching staff will make sure we do just that. OK Garth - take the pics and get that D man.
July 9th, 2007 at 5:05 pm
In theory, I certainly have no problem with Guerin receiving the C. It might have been more effective to make this decision in training camp, as there are guys currently standing who might have earned that shot as well, Witt, for one. Still, I agree with your observation about Guerin. I still would like to see us stronger on the back line and with the addition of a scorer by October.
As for the division, the Rangers made gains, but didn’t they also lose a few guys as well? Their defense is still unimproved. I think the Pens are the most frightening team, overall.
July 9th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
I feel better than I did before about this. After watching the pres conference, I feel that, while we still need more, it’s a lot better than I thought before. I have no problem with Guerin getting the”c”. His track record speaks for itself. I don’t think that Witt or Silinger will have any problem with it either.
July 10th, 2007 at 8:20 am
1) If Fleury ever lives up to his hype, the Pens will be a Cup champ. Until then, they will merely be the Oliers of the VERY early 80’s. Lots of offense but not quite yet good enough to win it all
2) Rangers with Lundqvist will always be a playoff contender. They have plenty of offense, but as you correctly pointed out, their defense is suspect and why they aren’t a serious Cup threat
3) The Flyers can be the turn around team of the year. They way under achieved last year. If Biron can be a true #1 goalie they will return to the playoffs
4) For the past 2 years we at FAUXRUMORS have been predicting the demise of the Devils only to see them rebound. Finally, we believe they wil fall short of the playoffs in their inaugural season in ‘beautiful’ down town Newark.
5) Isles still have plenty of $$ to spend to further improve their team. If it stays as is, they wil have to over achieve like last season to make the playoffs.
July 10th, 2007 at 10:00 am
Sorry, I can’t agree with this one. Count me among those who think it should have gone to either Mike Sillinger or Brendan Witt. It’s rarely a good idea to hand over the C to a player that has yet to wear the team’s uniform (don’t we remember the Trevor Linden fiasco - and Linden was then and still is a far better leader than Guerin could ever hope to be). I will agree that neither Sillinger nor Witt are likely to raise any complaints as it just isn’t in the style or either player.
Now, I must raise an issue about a couple of comments about Guerin here.
First, he doesn’t have multiple Stanley Cups, he has one. He was a bit player on that ‘95 Devils team, yet that Cup win only propelled the Legend In His Own Mind mentality that he’s kept throughout his career. Since then, he’s been a playoff bust, usually leading teams to underachieve (please don’t cite the ‘98 Oilers 1st round comeback over Colorado, that was Curtis Joseph’s version of Prime Time, the first round.) And calling him a “heads-up, classy guy” is questionable at minimum. Here’s a guy who whined his way out of New Jersey, whined his way out of Edmonton, overplayed his hand in Boston (thinking as he was relatively local, he was God), and getting himself bought out in Dallas. Yes, he put up some nice numbers last season, but it was on a team with zero pressure and expectations. When sent to San Jose, it was business as usual.
I’m not buying into his alleged surprise at being named captain. To the contrary, I’m beginning to think it was a condition he set for signing with the team. We’ll see if it works out in the fall.
July 10th, 2007 at 10:09 am
Sorry Rich - as you know - sometimes I shoot from the hip.
You are entitled to your opinion, however, I got it from some very strong sources, that the captaincy was a 100% decision of GM and Coach, and Guerin knew ABSOLUTELY NOTHING until the PC and the jersey had the “C” on it. I trust the source 100% and you have to believe me on this one…
In the first moment I thought the same way. However, it doesnt matter what letter is on - it means that you are a leader, and I truly think that Witt or Silly will even care. If it improves the team and makes them more competitive, then so be it.
I sense you are not on his (Guerin’s) Christmas card list? I will take Guerin before Yash anytime (and remember, I was a big Yash supporter).Maybe the difference in numbers is less than last, but the team will be a better presence with this captain than the last, and for most in Islander country, that is important.
July 11th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
Does anyone know the terms of the contracts that Guerin and the rest of the gang signed?
July 11th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
Guerin got 2 for 9 - No trade clause
Comrie got 3.5 or thereabouts for 1
Fedotenko got 2.7 for 2
Sim got 3 for 3
I am shooting from the lip…But I think I am close…
July 11th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
I am glad to see the post by Rich. When I played sports the ‘c’ was voted on by the players. Some deals go through with an unspoken understanding, possibly in the case with Guerin. I would be interested in knowing why Witt and Silly were not chosen more so than why Guerin was. When more Isles dig in a plant some loyal roots like DP, then we’ll have a shot at something more than by the skin of our teeth results. When the Isles ‘dis’-organization creates an atmosphere for players to do that then I’ll stop hoping and believe again.