Islanders News: But that’s not the lesson here...

6 months ago  /  Lighthouse Hockey

Take stuff with you. | Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images


The players are allowed to grieve and feel like they were close, but hopefully management sees the big picture. On the latest Islanders Anxiety podcast, Dan and Mike dissected the “we’re not far off” talking point that came out of clean out day, where Islanders players implied that because each game against the Hurricanes was close, the team itself is close to that level.
We all know that’s not it.
You can lose (and win) playoff series on bounces and tough luck and injuries and whatever, and yes, only one team wins it all, only eight teams even win a round, etc. The Isles under Barry Trotz were often on the right side of that knife’s edge (remember needing seven games just to get past Philly!). But you cannot count on “we were close”-ing your way through four rounds when you can’t beat an opponent, two years in a row, that itself is a “favorite” that has yet to get to the finals.
It’s not the players’ decision, and we can forgive the players their grieving about a group that came close a couple times and has come fall short ever since. But for management — i.e., the one guy in charge — a true reckoning is needed, with decisive changes, somehow, though he’s handcuffed himself with prior commitments.
Islanders News

In addition to the season wrap mentioned above, the guys had fun with the latest episodes and Dubas fan-fic coming out of Master Leafs Theater. [LHH]
Andrew Gross shares audio and his thoughts on breakup day and what’s next. [Newsday Island Ice podcast]
Patrick Roy is excited for what’s to come. [Isles]
Roy and Lou Lamoriello — who in a change from last year’s silence, actually made himself available to media on this day — reflect on the season. [Isles]
Prospect Report: Justin Gill and the Baie-Comeau Drakkar are in the QMJHL final, while Isaiah George will be in the OHL final with London. [Isles]
Brock Nelson’s year isn’t done, he’s headed to Czechia to play at the IIHF World Championship. [Isles]
Former Islanders coach (among many, many teams) Rick Bowness is retiring for good, stepping down from Winnipeg’s bench, which is where he began. [TSN]



In honor of Rick Bowness hanging ‘em up, here is my brother dancing behind him at the Coliseum in 1997.pic.twitter.com/e06P8Kp6Gd https://t.co/oRkUNxdO1b— Michael Leboff (@TheBigLeebowski) May 6, 2024




Elsewhere

Jeremy Swayman made 38 saves as the Bruins took Game 1 from the Panthers, 5-1.
Can anyone solve Swayman? [Sportsnet]
The Kings remain undecided on their coach, but they are certain in Rob Blake as GM and insist they won’t buy their way out of the Pierre-Luc Dubois catastrophe. [NHL | Athletic]
The Senators are set to hire that gutless puke Travis Green as their next coach. [TSN]
Justin Bourne on the latest Leafs fall and what happens next. [Sportsnet]
Sheldon Keefe expressed confidence in himself and the Leafs, ahead of an awkward week where Leafs brass could be making a change. [Athletic]
In another trademark stroke, Jonas Siegel starts his “what went wrong with the Leafs?” analysis with the firing Kyle Dubas. [Athletic]
Meanwhile, Mitch Marner ponders his future and says he wants to stay a Leaf (cause they’re “looked upon as kind of gods” there), while everyone piles on him for another playoff spent on the perimeter, and he gave three minutes of interview time before PR staff cut it off. [NHL]
Why a Marner trade makes sense...for the Leafs, at least. [Sportsnet]
What went wrong with the Knights? Pity the LTIR dwellers. [Athletic]

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