Islanders Buzz : Arfe the Isles The Biggest NHL Surprise at Midway Point?

And the least surprising occurrence of the year will be the Isles falling out of contention by mid-Feb, and ultimately missing the playoffs by 10 points....

No

We all pretty much knew that most of the problem for the last ten years was coaching, so it’s not THAT surprising. That said, this team is still a couple of players away from serious contention, which is also obvious. I thought before the season that they’d be as good without Tavares as they were last year, given Trotz. I’ll amend that now to say they’ll probably be a little bit better....but that may not translate into a playoff spot, unless Lou tweaks the roster a bit....

What am I missing?
Surprise? What is surprising? I gotta think that everyone had them as a middle of the road team, which they are. They finally have a coach and a playing well. But people here are acting like they’re a contender. Nope!
Middle of the road. 18 points from being number 1 in the conference and 15 points ahead of Ottawa (last in conference).

So what’s the surprise?

What am I missing?
Surprise? What is surprising? I gotta think that everyone had them as a middle of the road team, which they are. They finally have a coach and a playing well. But people here are acting like they’re a contender. Nope!
Middle of the road. 18 points from being number 1 in the conference and 15 points ahead of Ottawa (last in conference).

So what’s the surprise?
- Blueshirts16

Really who would that be? I think any realistic Islander fan will tell you that they have been a pleasant surprise so far and for the first time in decades have a real front office and coaching staff. I don't think you'll find one Islander fan who thinks they are a serious contender at this point. At the same time lets not act like they weren't getting destroyed at every turn before the season started and predicted to finish dead last or near the bottom of the league by just about everybody. Sitting one point out of 3rd in the division with a game in hand and 1 point out of a wild card spot with 3 games in hand in the second week of January is something nobody expected. So at this point I would say they are a big surprise so far

i thought all along that trotz would give them the 10 more wins this year to get into the playoffs. the one BIG thing that needs to be fixed right now is the PP. they need to change the players. maybe not all of them but toews or pulock need to be part of pp1 . and not sure sending ho sang down was the right move either. but maybe trying to give MDC a shot or someone is looking at him in a trade package.....

isls will make the playoffs

Being at the 9 spot but only 6 pts from the #2 Conference spot WAS, legit question is will they get better, stand still or fall? Last night's loss had shades of Isles past giving up a late goal but positives like the #2 goalie playing a solid game against a motivated hot CAR team looking at their WC spot makes for good intrigue. Isles fans think they played the wrong vet forward, demoted the wrong forward JHS and played the wrong goalie in an important game but plenty of time to find their way.

Really who would that be? I think any realistic Islander fan will tell you that they have been a pleasant surprise so far and for the first time in decades have a real front office and coaching staff. I don't think you'll find one Islander fan who thinks they are a serious contender at this point. At the same time lets not act like they weren't getting destroyed at every turn before the season started and predicted to finish dead last or near the bottom of the league by just about everybody. Sitting one point out of 3rd in the division with a game in hand and 1 point out of a wild card spot with 3 games in hand in the second week of January is something nobody expected. So at this point I would say they are a big surprise so far
- Vukota

I think that had more to do with peoples expectations of the Devils Carolina and Philly rather than an attack on the Islanders.

I’m not at all surprised by them. They’re a decent team in the top 15.

And I’m not criticizing the Islanders here at all. If they were in first or second with a commanding lead in points, then I’d be surprised.

They finally have an organization

We are making the playoffs. #TrustInTrotz

Potential is there for next year. Ownership needs to bite the bullet, waive Ladd next year, bury him in the AHL to free up cap space. Clutterbuck is another terrible snow deal. I dream of Panarin and or Duchene.

Potential is there for next year. Ownership needs to bite the bullet, waive Ladd next year, bury him in the AHL to free up cap space. Clutterbuck is another terrible snow deal. I dream of Panarin and or Duchene.
- guno89

That's not how that works

eh, i expected serious defensive improvement considering the long overdue coaching/management change. what i think is surprising is how god awful a lot of teams in the league are, and as long as the isles keep following through and getting the 2 easy points against those teams, they should make the playoffs.

championship contender though? not yet. give it another year or two and i think they will be right there.

I think that had more to do with peoples expectations of the Devils Carolina and Philly rather than an attack on the Islanders.

I’m not at all surprised by them. They’re a decent team in the top 15.

And I’m not criticizing the Islanders here at all. If they were in first or second with a commanding lead in points, then I’d be surprised.

They finally have an organization
- Blueshirts16

I was going to mother eff you as a rags fan with a crap ton of bias... this second thread was a better save than queen lundqvist could ever hope to make!

I was going to mother eff you as a rags fan with a crap ton of bias... this second thread was a better save than queen lundqvist could ever hope to make!
- cmimbri

I’m not a child.
And I’m not sure where in my first post there was any bias or criticism or trash talk towards the Islanders. Sensitive?

I’m not a child.
And I’m not sure where in my first post there was any bias or criticism or trash talk towards the Islanders. Sensitive?
- Blueshirts16

worse..u r a rangers fan

worse..u r a rangers fan
- nyislsbossy

You're so facking lame

I think that had more to do with peoples expectations of the Devils Carolina and Philly rather than an attack on the Islanders.

I’m not at all surprised by them. They’re a decent team in the top 15.

And I’m not criticizing the Islanders here at all. If they were in first or second with a commanding lead in points, then I’d be surprised.

They finally have an organization
- Blueshirts16

Then you're one of only handful who thought that coming into the year

I knew all the time that a team that finished far out of the playoffs last season and lost its best player in the offseason would have 50 points at this season's mid-point and in contention for a playoff spot.

Yeah, right......

For the past few seasons, this entire fan base knew how much talent was actually on this team. and this entire fan base knew the biggest issue was the lack of a professional coaching staff and front office. The talents on this team were blatantly not being utilized properly.

When Pajama boy walked out the door, the entire league wrote us off and had us fighting for Jack Hughes.

When the team finally bought into an actual NHL system, and hired an amazing goalie coach, the team is now competing for a top spot in the entire Metro Division, not just a wild card spot.

So to answer the question... our fan base is NOT surprised at all that we are doing well. We've known all along how good this team could've been the past few seasons, and how good this team is this year. It was more than obvious our former GM and coaches were in way above their heads. As for outsiders looking in...they wrote us off the minute @ss face high tailed it outa here.

Nobody doubted there were good forwards on this team but with departure of de Haan and injured vets there was doubt on defense. Now they argue over who sits with Toews added. Also everyone doubted Greiss could handle the load as number one but now Lehner is posting number one stats. Team is not likely to fade but fans wonder if they can get better.

For the past few seasons, this entire fan base knew how much talent was actually on this team. and this entire fan base knew the biggest issue was the lack of a professional coaching staff and front office. The talents on this team were blatantly not being utilized properly.

When Pajama boy walked out the door, the entire league wrote us off and had us fighting for Jack Hughes.

When the team finally bought into an actual NHL system, and hired an amazing goalie coach, the team is now competing for a top spot in the entire Metro Division, not just a wild card spot.

So to answer the question... our fan base is NOT surprised at all that we are doing well. We've known all along how good this team could've been the past few seasons, and how good this team is this year. It was more than obvious our former GM and coaches were in way above their heads. As for outsiders looking in...they wrote us off the minute @ss face high tailed it outa here.
- Dedshark

You are obviously smarter than me. I knew we had weak coaching, but did not realize how big a difference a good coach would make. Losing both PJ Boy AND DeHaan caused me to expect this to be a rebuilding year. You can put me in the category of "pleasantly surprised", as I think Vukota put it above.

You are obviously smarter than me. I knew we had weak coaching, but did not realize how big a difference a good coach would make. Losing both PJ Boy AND DeHaan caused me to expect this to be a rebuilding year. You can put me in the category of "pleasantly surprised", as I think Vukota put it above.
- JohnScammo

I didnt mean to make it come off as "im smarter than everybody." I have just honestly felt like we've had a good amount amount of talent on this roster for quite some time now. I remember watching last year and feeling like majority of our losses came from simply horrendous team play and systematic gaping holes. Guys were ALWAYS out of position. Or they truthfully didn't know where they were supposed to go because the "system" made no sense to them. I remember one opposing team player said they found it difficult to play against us because there was no system to attack against.

It makes you wonder what this team could have been like right now had JT stayed. It doesn't even matter now though. We are doing better than we were last year with him, and we saved on an 11-12 million cap hit.

I didnt mean to make it come off as "im smarter than everybody." I have just honestly felt like we've had a good amount amount of talent on this roster for quite some time now. I remember watching last year and feeling like majority of our losses came from simply horrendous team play and systematic gaping holes. Guys were ALWAYS out of position. Or they truthfully didn't know where they were supposed to go because the "system" made no sense to them. I remember one opposing team player said they found it difficult to play against us because there was no system to attack against.

It makes you wonder what this team could have been like right now had JT stayed. It doesn't even matter now though. We are doing better than we were last year with him, and we saved on an 11-12 million cap hit.
- Dedshark

No, you really didn't come off that way. I'm just saying that I always wanted a real coach and a real GM to evaluate the talent on the team. I couldn't figure out whether Snow had picked lousy players to go with his lousy coaches and their lousy system.......or whether he had actually managed to pick some good players, but failed to get them the decent coaches to allow them to display their talents. Very glad it was the latter.

That’s Exactly how it works!