Monday, September 28, 2009

Isles weak by NHL.com preview standards

The NHL.com staff has been previewing teams for the past couple of weeks and when it came time for the Islanders to get some love - they got anything but that. Could you expect less? No, because that's how bad they really are.

The Isles were almost dead last in all major offensive categories in the Eastern Conference last season. Writing previews that hold John Taveres on a pedestal is nice for the fans, giving them hope for the future, but will he really make a difference? Let's hope so Islanders faithful.

The Canadian scoring prodigy, who broke Gretzky's records at one point in junior hockey, has the weight of the world on him - and that's no pun since Doug Weight has been his mentor with the Isles through training camp.

The Isles need to improve on face-off percentage, road wins, defensive scoring, power play and penalty kill efficiency, and just about everything in between. With thousands of tickets still available for the season-opener this Saturday against the Penguins, nothing has really changed on the island. The Lighthouse hasn't been agreed upon, the Islanders are still the bottom-feeders of the NHL and John Tavares hasn't done anything yet. Call me a pessimist or feel the pain of being an Islanders fan. Maybe things will change on Saturday.

(Photo from FanHouse)

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