The Islanders As I See Them
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by Bwell316
I had been in the new market for a new hockey team since the lockout ended, and I realized that the Jacobs family and the Boston Bruins were going to be this generation's version of Bill Wirtz and the Chicago Blackhawks. When they signed journeyman goalie Tim Thomas to a long term deal (after watching them fail to lock-up players like Bill Guerin) I was apalled and ready to move on, almost like realizing that you just are not attracted to your girlfriend anymore. I happened upon the Islanders completely by default, as I took my 6 year old son on the road last year to coincide with a 3 day midweek mini-vacation I had, and saw the Penguins enter the Nassau Coliseum and lose. I never realized how passionate Isles fans were, how dilapitated their building is (in a good way of course), and how much history they had in such a short time. When my son insisted on buying a Miroslav Satan jersey shirt for himself(which he proudly wears to school at least once a week), I knew my choice was clear, it was the Isles. How did they repay that faith? They made the playoffs, played Buffalo extremely tough, and then proceeded to lose most of their roster. Garth Snow, who will always have a place in my heart as the best goalie on the 1993 UMaine Black Bears hockey team that went 42-1-2 (the other goalie was Mike Dunham), did a great job not only in buying out that worthless waste of space Alexei Yashin, but bringing in Bill Guerin, Mike Comrie (with the bonus of that one being Hilary Duff), and Ruslan Fedotenko helped in the team chemistry area. I think Ted Nolan is one of the best coaches in hockey and was unfairly blackballed because of his handling of Dominik "the Diva" Hasek in Buffalo, and he isn't going to have a problem getting the Isles back in the playoffs as long as Rick DiPietro (affectionately known as DP to those of you who haven't seen a game on Long Island) stays healthy. So far this season they are 5-4, and have had a rather large gap in their schedule the past two weeks, notably because of the circus being in their arena. They are back in action tonight against the Lightning, I will be back later in the week to recap their efforts, update some injuries, and provide a little commentary. Until then remember, "We're All Islanders!"
