Dan Petriw: Isles 4 defeat Hurricanes 3

In a perfect world Strait is waived and claimed so he's no longer an option. He's been terrible. Reinhart is getting Martinek 2.0 as a partner. He's a weak link and not nhl caliber. Needs to go asap. He was on for all three goals against and directly involved with 2. I'd have to go back and watch game one again but I'd bet it was a similar amount.

In a perfect world Strait is waived and claimed so he's no longer an option. He's been terrible. Reinhart is getting Martinek 2.0 as a partner. He's a weak link and not nhl caliber. Needs to go asap. He was on for all three goals against and directly involved with 2. I'd have to go back and watch game one again but I'd bet it was a similar amount.
- Isles_since_6

just have to stay patient until cdh gets back, hopefully next week

just have to stay patient until cdh gets back, hopefully next week
- Dan Petriw

I thought Boychuk, Leddy and dare I say Hickey were the best dmen last night. Hamonic struggled big time, I think Reinhardt can use some AHL time, and Strait was flat out awful.

I thought Boychuk, Leddy and dare I say Hickey were the best dmen last night. Hamonic struggled big time, I think Reinhardt can use some AHL time, and Strait was flat out awful.
- Charlie21

i thought hammer was ok after the first... but the bottom pairing is the weakness

i thought hammer was ok after the first... but the bottom pairing is the weakness
- Dan Petriw

He settled down, but his sloppy play in his own end led to 2 penalties which in turn led to 2 pp goals for Carolina. He will be fine, but he didn't have a great game.

I thought Boychuk, Leddy and dare I say Hickey were the best dmen last night. Hamonic struggled big time, I think Reinhardt can use some AHL time, and Strait was flat out awful.
- Charlie21

I might be in the minority, I actually like Hickey, all though he is under sized and at time gets out muscled. He is very good at fundamental hockey and seems to always be in the proper position.

I might be in the minority, I actually like Hickey, all though he is under sized and at time gets out muscled. He is very good at fundamental hockey and seems to always be in the proper position.
- guno89

hickey viz bottom pairing is not bad at all

I might be in the minority, I actually like Hickey, all though he is under sized and at time gets out muscled. He is very good at fundamental hockey and seems to always be in the proper position.
- guno89

I agree 100%. I wrote "dare I say" because of his reputation on this board. Never had a problem with Hickey if used properly.

hickey viz bottom pairing is not bad at all
- Dan Petriw

I don't understand the hate for Hickey, he's been arguably our 2ns best defenseman in the first two games being Boychuk.

Penalty kill has to get better and will once the right personnel are out there. Grabs is a great penalty killer. His absence is noticeable. strait doesn't belong on the PK. He's brutal.

Things are pretty good now. Looking forward to next week. Get de Haan back, send Strait to BPT. Get Vis back, then a decision has to be made. Tough to send Reinhart down but he can't be a healthy scratch if they want him to develop. The other nugget: Carkner. When he gets back, someone else needs to be waived. My vote is for Carkner to be waived and go with Leddy, Boychuk, de Haan, Hammer, hickey, Vis and either strait or Donovan as your spare. Reinhart and Pulock to BPT to develop and are your first call ups.

I might be in the minority, I actually like Hickey, all though he is under sized and at time gets out muscled. He is very good at fundamental hockey and seems to always be in the proper position.
- guno89

Hickey was strong on Friday night. He was good last night too. He's good enough for our top six. Better option than Donovan, Carkner or Strait by a mile.

Penalty kill has to get better and will once the right personnel are out there. Grabs is a great penalty killer. His absence is noticeable. strait doesn't belong on the PK. He's brutal.

Things are pretty good now. Looking forward to next week. Get de Haan back, send Strait to BPT. Get Vis back, then a decision has to be made. Tough to send Reinhart down but he can't be a healthy scratch if they want him to develop. The other nugget: Carkner. When he gets back, someone else needs to be waived. My vote is for Carkner to be waived and go with Leddy, Boychuk, de Haan, Hammer, hickey, Vis and either strait or Donovan as your spare. Reinhart and Pulock to BPT to develop and are your first call ups.
- Jethro09

i do think the PK improved over the course of the game which is encouraging and cdh and eventually grabner returning will help too. i think strait needs to be waived and i don't think sending Reinhart to bport is a tough decesion at all..let him go work and develop and push for a recall

I'm one who tends to agree that Hickey is an NHL d man and you should always try to maintain your depth and options because it IS a long season. I'm also one not down on Bailey because if you look at Brassard who is two years older they have similar development. However if Nelson emerges as numero dos center, Bailey will be best suited as a winger or pk specialist.

I think the pk is not working because Capuano has their game so jacked up, they are not thinking in the pk situation. I think once the team gets off this adrenaline high their game will settle down and the real work will begin. I like having Cronin on the staff along with Weight and don't forget the conditioning coach and trainers.

I'm one who tends to agree that Hickey is an NHL d man and you should always try to maintain your depth and options because it IS a long season. I'm also one not down on Bailey because if you look at Brassard who is two years older they have similar development. However if Nelson emerges as numero dos center, Bailey will be best suited as a winger or pk specialist.

I think the pk is not working because Capuano has their game so jacked up, they are not thinking in the pk situation. I think once the team gets off this adrenaline high their game will settle down and the real work will begin. I like having Cronin on the staff along with Weight and don't forget the conditioning coach and trainers.
- Fan101

Baileys days as a center are over as long as he's an islander. If he turns his career around, it will be as a wing. He had a nice snipe last night. He was in the right place and finished. Encouraging.

One thing I love that I am really seeing this year is the team really sticking up for one another. JT see's one of his line mates get hit and twice be jumps in to say something about it. Not that you want your superstar getting into fights and hurting himself or taking himself off the ice. But it shows that if the captain can mix it up anybody can. This team has a different feel around them. Different atmosphere from the players to as dumb as it sounds their twitter account. A different confidence level that we have not seen. And it's amazing to see! LETS GO ISLANDERS!!!!!

i do think the PK improved over the course of the game which is encouraging and cdh and eventually grabner returning will help too. i think strait needs to be waived and i don't think sending Reinhart to bport is a tough decesion at all..let him go work and develop and push for a recall
- Dan Petriw

I think they'll waive Donovan and keep Strait around as an extra. He's not the worst option to plug for a couple of games when someone goes down.

I think they'll waive Donovan and keep Strait around as an extra. He's not the worst option to plug for a couple of games when someone goes down.
- UIF

no Strait is the worst option. he looks like an ahl dman out their right now

One thing I love that I am really seeing this year is the team really sticking up for one another. JT see's one of his line mates get hit and twice be jumps in to say something about it. Not that you want your superstar getting into fights and hurting himself or taking himself off the ice. But it shows that if the captain can mix it up anybody can. This team has a different feel around them. Different atmosphere from the players to as dumb as it sounds their twitter account. A different confidence level that we have not seen. And it's amazing to see! LETS GO ISLANDERS!!!!!
- Isles321

Even when this team sucked over the past few years, the one constant has been that the guys on the team seem to genuinely care for each other. They really came together after that Pittsburgh brawl game. You saw it too when KO fought Niskanen in the playoffs after Moulson got hit. It's great to see.

Just looking around at teams like Columbus and Colorado; like the Islanders they have a lot of draft picks on the team from the recent drafts that are maturing so you have some emerging young teams. Where they're seen later in the season is encouraging.

Just wanted to say a big thank you to the Islanders faithful. Your input allowed me to pick Nelson with the last pick in myfantasy draft and he is killing it for me!

Just wanted to say a big thank you to the Islanders faithful. Your input allowed me to pick Nelson with the last pick in myfantasy draft and he is killing it for me!
- BlueBallz

He's gonna be our second best forward by the end of the year, over Okposo. Yup, I said it.

People here are afraid to stick up for Hickey because he was played out of position, due to necessity, bashed by many poster here, and now, you can see he is a fine 18th or 19th player on the roster, a third pairing defenseman. That's not an insult, rather a complement. And on a good team, guys like Hickey are needed. Strait? I agree with Dan 100 and 10 percent. Bye.

I watched Bailey every time his hit the ice here in Raleigh, even thou he still makes bad decisions WITH the puck, when he is away from the puck he does EVERYTHING right, throws the body, pressures the puck carrier, all of it. The kid is smart, but he gets into a pressure situation with the puck, 2 on one, clearing attempt, breakaway.. he just always seems to make the wrong choice. Frustrating!


XxNYIxX

People here are afraid to stick up for Hickey because he was played out of position, due to necessity, bashed by many poster here, and now, you can see he is a fine 18th or 19th player on the roster, a third pairing defenseman. That's not an insult, rather a complement. And on a good team, guys like Hickey are needed. Strait? I agree with Dan 100 and 10 percent. Bye.
- potvin05

I don't get the Hickey bashing. He's played well here for 2+ seasons.