Monday 4/25/11:
This has become routine for me: the end-of-season, April exit interview with the Islanders’ GM. In year four of my blogging experience, I really wish it was taking place sometime in June. How many different ways can you ask what it will take to get there? How many years will the problem be “injuries”?
But there I was again, standing at Bonnie’s desk in the lobby while she announced my arrival over the phone. I’ve become too familiar even to her. She tells me, “Go right on back.”
Wait. Do I like this or not? No escort, no waiting patiently to be retrieved in the lobby, just freedom to proceed through the hallowed halls.
If that was the case, since it was only 10 am, I wondered if I could stop in the break-room and make myself a cup of coffee. Nah, the white cotton button-down Ralph Lauren shirt I had on would ultimately be a magnet for it. I kept walking.
Every year, his desk becomes more cluttered. Unlike my own desk, which is cluttered with personal items and photos, Garth Snow’s desk is being taken over by work. Piles of file folders and papers that all require his attention stacked inches high on the perimeter of the desk framed a Blackberry that kept buzzing directly in front of him.
I peeked in the doorway and noticed there was someone already sitting in Garth’s office. It was Eric Cairns. Lucky me! Two interviews, one room! “I thought you might have some prospect questions, so I asked Eric to join us,” said Garth.
I unpacked my recorder and my FlipCam and unfolded my notes that I was still scribbling on the car ride in. (Yeah, well prepared.)
I asked, “Should I start with prospect questions then?” I put my recorder on the desk in front of Cairns in the only spot not taken up by books. “Oh no,” said Cairns. “I’m allergic to those.”
“What?” I was so hoping he was kidding.
“I freeze up,” he said. He was serious.
“It’s just me,” I said. “This won’t be difficult. I just wanted to ask you what you thought of how well our prospects are doing in their own post season.”
“Nino?” he asked tentatively.
“Yes, and Kirill. I hear they’re doing very well. Are you surprised?”
“No, not at all.” In a quiet tone he proceeded to tell me how they knew that Nino would be the player he is turning into – how it was apparent at training camp and how he took to heart the few tips he was given. He also told me what a great job the Lewiston MAINEiacs are doing with Kabanov (the kid who was his house guest last summer and who, as of Tuesday, scored his 8th and 9th Lewiston playoff goals).
As usual, Cairns spoke with amazing recall of facts and figures – none of which I got on tape. Somehow, the tape recorder – which I knew was on because it caught me saying “it’s on” – mysteriously turned itself off. I noticed it was off when I picked it up to move it in front of Garth, since it’s usually difficult to hear him sitting in the same room, let alone trying to record it on a 10-year-old Olympus. My heart almost stopped when I noticed the little red light was not on, but I didn’t say a word about it aloud. In my head, I used the “F” word as a noun, a verb and an adjective.
Still on prospects, I asked about the upcoming draft.
Garth rattled off the pick positions in the June draft and where they came from. He laughed at me when I told him to just tally them up for me. “One first, two seconds, a third, a fourth, two fifths (and not Johnny Walker) and a seventh.”
While it seems there would be a lot of research with that many draft picks, it’s no more or less than in previous years. When I asked if any prospects had already been targeted for the pre-draft visit to Long Island, Garth said it was too early for that.
The Islanders have drafted well in recent years, and will continue to add depth to the organization by trying to find the best prospect available at the time. Garth feels that with another high draft pick, “we know we’re going to get a good player who is going to help us in the future.”
Hmmmm… does that answer mean he’s NOT thinking of trading the first-rounder for someone he can use immediately? Or is that just the proper answer to the question I posed?
While drafting is important, development is even more important. I have spoken with a few people who are very excited to have 2008 draft pick Matt Donovan signed to a three-year entry-level contract. Donovan didn’t take the Canadian Junior route, opted instead for the University of Denver. With the ink still wet on his contract, he will come to camp with many others, maybe even including this year’s first- rounder, all competing for positions in the lineup.
Garth continued. “[If] players come into training camp and perform at a high level, there’ll be a position available. I think we’ve shown in the past, whether it’s a Matt Moulson or a Nino Niederreiter – even Josh Bailey for that matter – if the player plays at a high level during training camp, then they’ll earn a spot on the team. I think the competition, especially this September, will be a healthy element to our training camp.”
With training camp once again on Long island, the fans are sure to have an opportunity to see all the prospective players prior to final rosters being determined. However, last year’s preseason split-squad games drew some criticism that Mr. Snow didn’t quite understand. “The way that preseason game schedule materialized for us was very similar to baseball, where we had two nights where we played split-squad games, and that’s pretty much a common theme in baseball. I know other teams in the NHL have embraced that. For us, it gave us more practice time than what we had in the past. Personally, I liked having two games on one night.”
While I have been repeatedly asked by readers if practices will ever be open to the public, I was told that season ticket holders always have the opportunity to attend a practice if they make arrangements with their ticket rep.
I turned our attention to the IIHF World Championships, which some of the Islanders will be competing in. While Mr. Snow has said he is always happy to support a player representing his country, I was wondering how he felt about players who had spent considerable time being injured this past season but are still competing in the Championships.
“Every case is different. Which player are you referring to?” he asked as I nudged the recorder closer to him as he sat back in his chair. “That would be Jurcina,” I said looking for a hint of how he REALLY felt.
“Yeah. We obviously would have a reservation if he wasn’t 100% healthy for the tournament (as with Jack Hillen, who turned down Team USA’s offer). In his case, I think it would be a good opportunity for him to play in a ‘playoff atmosphere.’”
I asked how he felt about JT playing for Team Canada, considering the injury he sustained the last time.* He chuckled at my feeble attempt at leading the questions to force an answer. “I realize it’s a great opportunity for John to put on a Canadian jersey and play with some very talented players from throughout the NHL. In John’s case, he finished the season healthy and he wants to play in a playoff atmosphere and with players who have a high skill set, and I think it’s going to be good for his growth as a player.”
Al Montoya, the fist Cuban American in the NHL, will be playing for Team USA, an honor Garth is familiar with. I asked him if he was surprised at Montoya’s recent success.
“No. Especially when you see a player who was selected that high in his draft. I think he probably went through a period of time in the AHL where he may have gotten, for lack of a better word, bored. I think he proved to the hockey world that he is a quality NHL goalie, and we’re looking forward to having him back here in September.”
While ex-Sound Tigers coach Jack Capuano has a new contract, Bridgeport is currently without a head coach. I asked how that was going, and while he said there is someone on the radar, no formal plan or offer has been made yet. Additionally, this week, the Harbor Yard Arena was renamed and the Islanders have taken over it’s management.
Probably not wanting to tip his hand about any negotiations that may be going on or forthcoming, Garth turned his sights on September. “I think it’s going to be a healthy competition, and whoever performs at a high level and whoever can help us win hockey games will have ice time.”
That being said, there is no definitive answer on Zenon Konopka.
During the media call for the Jack Capuano contract, it was mentioned that the Islanders would investigate the injury problem and see if they can determine the cause and the cure. I asked if that investigation had begun. “Yes, it’s begun and it’s not finished,” said Garth. “It will be interesting and informative to see the results of it.”
For two years, injuries have put a wrench in the gears of making the playoffs. He turned to pull a folder off the desk behind him and opened it to a printed page of injury statistics. “Last year, we were in the middle of the league with man-games lost; the year before we had the most man-games lost. But it’s always a concern. In 2008-2009, we led the league with 582 and in ‘07-’08 with 414. So…that’s why we’re having this evaluation. We have to get better in this area.”
Every year, actually every interview, I manage to phrase a question just slanted enough to raise an eyebrow and the ire of our GM. This year it was “With the amount of injuries the team has sustained these past two years, has it given you the idea to come up with a better Plan B ?”
There was a brief pause. “Well, I think we had a great Plan B depth-wise. When we came into the season, Mark Streit and Kyle Okposo sustained significant injuries, and we started out of the gate at – I think it was – a 5-1-2 record, right around there – might have been 4-1-2. And when Andrew MacDonald blocked a shot in Tampa Bay, he broke his hand and was out for six weeks. Shortly after that, Jurcina was injured. So once our depth started sustaining injuries, we went into that funk. Ironically, we came out of it when Andrew returned to the lineup.”
The Isles depth, their insurance policy, was then stretched too thin. But the Isles weren’t the only ones sustaining injuries, especially from blocking shots. The problem is so prevalent, it was brought up at the GM’s meeting.
“We’ve looked at adding protection to the gloves; making the cuffs longer. The skates – the Achilles tendon part of the skate, to make that bigger; padding and cut-resistant socks, wristbands, all different sorts of ways to prevent injuries. Even shoulder pads to make the outer part softer. It’s something that is always addressed at the GM meetings; how to create a safer environment and to avoid injuries.”
The players already look like they wear body armor, yet they still get hurt. When I mentioned that there was a joke on the radio that the NHL was looking to make blocking a Zedeno Chara shot a penalty, he chuckled but reminded me how dangerous it is.
“He’s got a shot that’s well over 100 MPH. Radek Martinek blocked a shot and missed some time.” Actually, he’s lucky his arm didn’t shatter.
With the competitive balance that now exists in the league, it’s good to look at a team such as Nashville, who has proven to be a top team in the regular season, making it to the postseason six of seven years, but who has never made it out of Round 1 – until now. That is the type of success the Islanders desperately need.
I asked Garth if the Nashville Predators could be used as a template for success. “I think David Poile has done an excellent job drafting and developing. That organization should be applauded for how they have built their team. I think a lot of the credit goes to David.”
If you listen to Pierre Maguire and some other broadcasters who spent the first round of the playoffs in Nashville, you’ll hear how much the Preds fans are part of the winning equation. If perception is everything, this playoff season should do wonders to change the hockey world’s perception of hockey in the South.
With all the setbacks the Islanders have had this year, when I asked Mr. Snow (again) what he was most proud of this season, the failure to make the playoffs taints the good things that came of this season.
“It’s never a good feeling when you don’t make the playoffs. The silver lining is a player like Travis Hamonic gets an opportunity because of the injuries and performs at an extremely high level. A player like Andrew MacDonald, who was probably scheduled to play on the third pairing, has proven he’s a top-four defenseman. There are always opportunities for other players to prove that they can play at this level when injuries occur, and I think that is an encouraging sign for our organization.”
I decided to ask Garth the same question that John Tavares thought was a good one. I wanted to know, years from now, what he would remember most about this season.
“For me, during that 21-game span, that ¼ of a season, you really find out what certain players are made of. I think that’s part of the learning process of a younger team; to learn from those experiences and make sure it doesn’t happen again. Long-term, that could be one of the…” He paused, looking for the right word. “I don’t want to say ’better’, but one of the key moments that will help our younger players take a positive step forward.”
Everything for a reason I always say. But yes, adversity does tend to build character. It was almost as if the youngsters were left to fend for themselves as the veteran leadership that was supposed to be on the bench was sidelined by injury. Weight, Streit, Motteau and Eaton left a huge void in that veteran presence.
“I said it last off season – I like the team that we built last summer. Unfortunately, we really didn’t get a chance to see the team play for any significant period of time. So I’m looking forward to having a healthy group to start the season next year. I think it’s going to be a special season as long as we remain relatively healthy.”
However, that group included Captain Doug Weight. It won’t next season, and it doesn’t seem as though another veteran will be brought in to take his place.
When I asked Garth if there was anything he’d do differently, no one instance stood out for him.
“Hindsight is always 20/20, but you make the best decision at the time with the information that you have. So whether it’s certain things, whether it’s call-ups, maybe different line combinations that I could have recommended to the coaching staff – there’s always things that you look back on and you wonder if it would have made a difference for us in that 20-, 22-game span. I think going through that adversity is going to make everyone in our organization better.”
Well, I was looking for something on Scott Gordon, but didn’t get it. Then again, how can you argue with the success that Jack Capuano managed to pull from the rubble to at least make the season respectable?
You can’t.
*Exactly what I was worried about having Islander players at International games happened to Radek Martinek. While anything can happen to any player (such as getting hurt in a lawn mower accident), I cannot imagine the Islanders organization is comfortable taking that chance with John Tavares. Yet, he is there and having a damn good tournament.
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