First of all for those of you who like to follow athletes on twitter there are currently four New York Islander players who are actually on Twitter. They are -
Matt Moulson - http://twitter.com/MMoulson
Rob Schremp - http://twitter.com/RobSchremp
Michael Grabner - http://twitter.com/grabs40
Bruno Gervais - http://twitter.com/bruno_gervais8
Anyone else is simply not who you think it is.
With that out of the way let us get to the business at hand.
Islander fans have been talking about the play this season of the Islanders and how exciting all of the games have been so far this season.
The record stands at the moment at 4-2-2. The two regulation losses to the Capitals and Panthers the Islanders were outplayed in very small periods of time in those two games.
One bad bounce and the either or both of the games could be in the win column.
The Islanders are showing that they may be in a rebuilding phase but the rebuilding phase is starting to show progress to make the hockey world take notice.
Let's not get ahead of ourselves and proclaim the Islanders as a contender however if you look at the body of work over the eight games this season you can tell two things.
1) The Islanders themselves believe they can win every game they play and will not be intimidated by the best the league has to offer.
and
2) Playing the Islanders is no longer an easy two points. Other teams are going to have to battle the Islanders every step of the way. This team will not take a night off.
Now what the team has to start doing is to make its fan base believe what they already know. The Islanders are competitive, young and exciting.
If you buy a ticket to watch this team you will no longer feel as though you would have been better off watching Avatar at home for the 6th time.
What you will see if a healthy Rick Dipietro, or is steady as oak back-up Dwayne Roloson.
You will see a defense corp. that will not wilt before your eyes in the 3rd period but a group that can and will stand tall and hold leads. One or two injuries will not cripple team defense as it has in seasons past.
You will see a very young and very fast group of forwards all on the upswing and one 39 year old who is keeping up with them in Doug Weight.
You will see a 21 year old sniper John Tavares coming into his own in the NHL beginning to carve out his place in the NHL along side its elite players.
You will see last years success story in Matt Moulson prove he is no one hit wonder.
You will see young forwards making the progress Islander fans have hoped they would.
What you will not see if you buy a ticket in the old barn to see the Islanders play is the home team embarrass itself on the ice, putting a 3rd rate product out there with coaches and management who don't seem to care.
What you wont see is visiting teams come in and treat the Coliseum ice as if they own it.
What the Islanders need to see is more Blue, Orange and White in the stands instead of blue and green empty seats.
Islander fans you are out there. I know there are tens of thousands of Islander fans who still remember the early 80's or younger fans have had their fathers tell them about the great Islander teams of the period.
For the fans who have written this franchise off I say this - It is time to come back to the team. It is time to fill the stands of the Coliseum again and breathe life back into that arena.
Sure its an old outdated arena. Fill it with 15,000 plus fans and no one is going to care.
If you remember the glory days of the Islanders and how much fun it was to go to the Coliseum come on back.
If you remember the Islanders playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs then come on back.
You will not be disappointed at the effort and skill this young team is putting on the ice.
Post your thoughts in the comment section below.
2 comments:
Finally, someone calling for alittle action by the fans... you couldn't have put it any better. This team is young and exciting, in every game, and will battle to the final whistle. We the fans have spoken loud and consitantly, begging for a product on the ice that is worth paying to see, well you have it. Now back up your words and show up, the only embarrassing thing about going to see the Isles is the half full house, too quiet and somber to be a home game, with a 2-0-1 home record. Lets see it fans!
cant wait to see the islanders get a hockey lesson again.....fryday night get ready to see your team lose again against the mtl habs and by the way your thing about no habs no.....they will probably be more habs fan than islanders fan in your arena...anyway dont get discouraged you guys will probably have a team that could finally make the playoffs in a couple of years.
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