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Good Morning, Islanders Country.
When I was in my early 20s, and Steve Stirling was the head coach, Thanksgiving Eve was the biggest party night of the year. I’d wear a blazer, pick out the perfect graphic tee, and head out to the city acting like a big shot for the night before taking a cab back home to my parent’s house in Brooklyn.
Now, I go to sleep around the time the party started.
Islanders fans need a party. They need to go to UBS Arena tonight with a day off coming up, take a lead, extend a lead, and most importantly, hold onto it. What they don’t need is a reason to chant “Fire Lambert” a day after a segment of the fanbase was disappointed to hear the head coach took the ice for practice.
I read a whole range of opinions yesterday, from indifference to disappointment, upon the non-news that Lane Lambert would remain Islanders coach and that Lou Lamoriello is the one who decided no changes were necessary.
Dominik from Lighthouse Hockey put it best: “the coaching isn’t all that, but the roster ain’t great, either. So the target of your largest portion of blame probably depends on your personal philosophy or what you think of facial hair rules.”
Don’t think Lambert is a good enough coach? Fine. Think that Lamoriello is holding the organization back? You’re entitled to that view. You have two options: you can either watch and hope to say, ‘I told you so,’ or see if this team can actually turn things around and be the team we thought they were, which, if we’re being honest, may not be that much better than they’ve shown to date.
They’ve had a rough, somewhat brutal first quarter of the season. But all things considered, a look at the Metro Standings will show you that they are tied with the Devils, a point behind the Penguins and four points behind tonight’s opponent, the Philadelphia Flyers, for second place.
They went seven games without a win and remain right there, with playoff chances only slightly diminished. With games in three of the next four days, they have an opportunity to flip the switch, move up the standings, and do so quickly.
Whatever your plans are tonight, have a great time, and I hope that’s especially true for those of you who put on their orange and blue for each and every home game. It’s been a while.
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