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Day one of Garth Madness went pretty much as expected, although on paper, there was an upset.
(1) Ladd Signing defeated (8) Thompson Waived
(2) Injuries as an Excuse defeated (7) Drafting Cody Rosen
(6) Trivino over Josi defeated (3) Bouchard/Regin Signings
(4) 2012 Draft defeated (5) Conacher signing
We head to the Scott Gordon regional on day two of Garth Madness
1) The J.F. Berube Debacle vs (8) Blake Comeau waived
The J.F. Berube Debacle
The Islanders claimed Berube off waivers from Los Angeles just before the start of the 2015-16 season. Jaroslav Halak was questionable to start the season. When Halak returned, Berube remained on the roster. Snow was fearful that Berube would be claimed if he were to be waived. So the young goaltender played just seven games in the 2015-16 season.
Something strange happened prior to the start of the next season, Snow failed to attempt passing Berube through waivers, claiming that a team was interested in claiming the goaltender. So Berube waited, waited until December 10 to make his season debut. Fans weighed on the situation, media weighed in on the situation and even Allan Walsh, the agent to both Halak and Berube weighed in.
Walsh was right. It's simple math. There are two nets in the practice. One guy is left watching. The situation became clearer when Halak was surprisingly waived after an awful game in Minnesota. Snow attempted to justify his decision.
"Thomas (Greiss) and J.F. have played well this year, and obviously with the injury to Christopher Gibson in Bridgeport, our depth has been compromised. We have two young goalies there we think highly of and goalies abroad as well that are playing well. We still think it's a strength of our organization."
Berube struggled as Greiss's backup. After Halak was waived, Berube had a 3.47 GAA and .884 save pct. Once Halak came back from his AHL exile, Berube was regulated to street clothes. The saga ended at the expansion draft when Vegas selected Berube as part of a deal Snow made with his friend, George McPhee. Berube signed with Chicago on July 1.
He reflected on his time with the Islanders. "They had to know it was bad for my development, too. We can sit here and find a million reasons. I think at the end of the day they were just scared to lose me on waivers. They had (Christopher) Gibson who was probably the next guy to be called up if there was an injury, so he was injured. I don’t think they had anyone who was able to come up, and I ended up in this weird situation where I was kind of a prisoner there. But you know again, I respect their decision. I wouldn’t take anything back. I think I can use that as an experience now. Being a backup, it’s hard. Sometimes you can go a week or two without seeing a game. Now I know what it takes to get ready and get prepared to play a game."
Blake Comeau waived
Comeau was selected in the second round of the 2004 draft. In 2010-11, Comeau was one of five Islanders to score at least 24 goals. Big things were expected of him the following season.
Comeau did not deliver, going pointless in his first 16 games. Snow was shopping him around, but there were no takers. He eventually waived Comeau, thinking he would clear and find his game in Bridgeport. Calgary would claim him. He has bounced around the league since unable to find the 2010-11 magic.
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(2) No Taylor Hall vs (7) Jon Sim signing
No Taylor Hall
The afternoon of June 29, 2016 will go down as one of the craziest in offseason history. Nashville and Montreal swapped Shea Webber for P.K. Subban, Steven Stamkos decided to return to Tampa, and New Jersey traded Adam Larsson to Edmonton for Taylor Hall. All it took to pry Taylor Hall from the Oilers was Adam Larsson. The Islanders had a comparable defenseman to Larsson in Travis Hamonic, who requested a trade closer to his Western Canadian home only to rescind the request following the season. Snow apparently did not find an offer he liked to part with Hamonic. So Hall went to a division rival and Hamonic returned to the Islanders and had an awful season.
Hamonic was eventually traded to Calgary for a first and two second round picks. Snow was going to use the picks to acquire a proven player to help the current team, instead he has held onto them. Even though he struggled the last year plus of his time here, Snow has yet to replace Hamonic.
Hall is on an unbelievable point streak and is likely to be a Hart Trophy finalist.
Hall and John Tavares together, oh what could have been. Silver lining, the Islanders could have two lottery picks in June’s draft.
Jon Sim signing
The summer of 2007 proved to be a difficult one for the Islanders as Ryan Smyth, Jason Blake, and Viktor Kozlov all left via free agency. Snow attempted to fill the void by signing veteran forward Jon Sim to a three-year deal. Sim scored 17 goals for the Atlanta Thrashers the year before.
Sim played just two games his first season with the Islanders. He missed the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Sim would finish with 23 goals in four seasons with the team. He split time between New York and Bridgeport.
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(3) Jaroslav Halak Waived vs (6) Ryan Strome to Bridgeport
Jaroslav Halak waived
This selection could have been tied to the Berube debacle. Although it is not totally about Jaroslav Halak being waived, it's about the amount of time he spent with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Did he deserve to be waived? His numbers weren't great, 6-8-5 with a 3.23 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage in 21 games. Thomas Greiss was clearly outplaying Halak.
Halak, to his credit, went to Bridgeport and was a model teammate. He played 27 games, going 17-7-1, with a 2.15 GAA and .925 save pct. He probably spent about ten games too many in the AHL. When he returned to the Isles, he was lights out, 6-1, with a 1.58 GAA and .949 save pct. He ended up playing 28 games with the Islanders last season.
Perhaps if he had gotten the callup earlier the Isles may have made the playoffs.
Ryan Strome to Bridgeport
The fifth overall pick in the 2011 draft scored 50 points in his first full NHL season. Big things were expected from Strome in the 2015-16 season. Unfortunately he stumbled out of the gate, scoring one goal in 12 games. Both Strome and Brock Nelson were under performing. Since Nelson had to clear waivers to be sent down, Strome was the guy. He spent three weeks in the AHL.
Once recalled, Strome briefly found his game, five points in five games. It did not last as he scored five goals in the following 56 games. Strome is a player who needs a kick in the pants to get going, didn’t thing that the organization used the proper boot.
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(4) Thomas Greiss Extension vs (5) Sebastian Collberg
Thomas Greiss Extension
Thomas Greiss far exceeded anyone’s expectations his first two seasons with the Islanders, playing 91 games and setting career highs in just about every category.
The journeyman player 99 games over his first six seasons in the league. He led the Isles to their first playoff series win in 23 years.
Last season, Greiss became the number one when Halak was waived. Snow rewarded the German with a three-year, $10M extension. Garth has this annoying habit of giving players one more year than necessary
This season has been a different story for Greiss. 3.84 GAA .891 save pct
and has given up 5 or more goals 9/24 games. It’s extremely likely the Islanders will buy out Greiss
Sebastian Collberg
Garth Snow’s love affair with Collberg began at the 2012 Draft. Snow was set to select him but Montreal grabbed him right before the Islanders picked in the second round. Two years later, Snow got his man as Collberg was centerpiece of the trade that sent Thomas Vanek to Montreal in the final minutes of the 2014 trade deadline.
Collberg couldn’t adapt to the North America game. He was often a scratch, both by injuries and coach’s decision. He scored seven goals in 85 games with the Sound Tigers and even had a stint with the Stockton Thunder of the ECHL.
He was placed on unconditional waivers on May 13, 2016 which allowed him to continue his playing career in Europe.
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