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Good Morning, Islanders Country.
The Isles are missing … something. And no, I’m not talking about the pursuit of the ever-elusive scoring winger, although that would help. They’re missing their edge. They’re missing their intensity. They’re missing their identity.
All of that adds up to a collective ‘something’ that can’t be found on a stat sheet. We don’t doubt the Islanders are working hard and that the effort is there - even on nights when the first periods say otherwise. But for years, we heard that the Islanders, if nothing else, were a hard team to play against.
Can we honestly say that’s been true in most games this season?
For those of you that saw Rocky III, you know that fame and complacency became Rocky’s weakness. In the scene when he’s taken to the Los Angeles gym, Apollo Creed tells him, “when we fought, I trained hard, but I didn’t have that look in my eyes …you had it, you won .. gotta get that look back, Rock, eye of the tiger.”
It would be human nature for the Isles to get a bit complacent and a tad overconfident after consecutive deep Stanley Cup Playoff runs, but for a team not talented enough to win on talent alone, that’s tempting fate.
Many fans gave them a pass, and rightfully so, for the absurd set of circumstances and obstacles that confronted them last season. But so far, they’ve yet to prove that last year was a complete aberration, as they sit currently 9th in the Eastern Conference, the same spot they finished a year ago.
If they want what they may feel entitled to, a chance to play for the Stanley Cup, they’ll have to return to the hyper-focused, committed style of hockey that separated them from other teams and find the intangible ‘something’ that could make the difference between making the playoffs and not.
Coming up, Aatu Räty leaves an impression, and ownership is staying out of Lou’s way. Plus, the Sharks Asst GM was circling UBS Arena, Bridgeport has their All-Star, Mats Hallin propels a third-period comeback, and Bryan Trottier’s book signing.
Let’s dive in.
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