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Good Morning, Islanders Country.
We’ve reached the bye week, the lull in the hockey season during which we can spend some time away from a team that gives us so much joy, anxiety, happiness, and despair. In all seriousness, the Islanders really needed this bye week.
Patrick Roy needs to find a place to live, the team needs to practice, players need to get healthy, and we all need a mental break from a mind-bending first 49 games of the season that have left us befuddled too many times to count.
It feels like they’ve played three or four seasons already.
Remember, this was a team that went winless in seven straight, then registered points in 17 of 19 games before Christmas break only to fire their coach on Jan. 20. They were out of a playoff spot on Thanksgiving, in 2nd place near the end of December, but now find themselves 7th in points percentage in the Metro.
They appear on a path to molding an identity, but it remains unknown whether they can find themselves in time to find themselves in a playoff spot by the end of the season. There’s 33 games to play, and the hope is that time away can ironically help bring them together when they return to the ice after the break.
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