I don’t know what’s so hard to understand about why Smyth went to Colorado.

Colorado = Stanley Cup Contender
Islanders = Cellar dwellers
Oilers = Cellar dwellers

Posted by Thomas on 09/18/07 at 09:30 PM ET

It probably was the chance to play in front of a world-class goalie like Jose Theodore that tipped the balance in Colorado’s favor. Nothing like knowing you’ve got a guy in goal who put up a 13-15 record with a 3.26 GAA and a .891 Save Percentage to make you say, “Hey, that’s the team for me.”

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 09/18/07 at 11:01 PM ET

Wow. Razzing our backup goaltender. Especially when yours is about as bad as they get.

How many series did Osgood blow by allowing turds in the the 3rd period of crucial games?

Posted by Thomas on 09/18/07 at 11:10 PM ET

Islander made four of the last five playoffs and had 92 points last season. Did Colorado even make the playoffs last year.

Smyth basically said it all, he liked the Islanders and they were in the running until the end but wanted to play in the Western Conference.

We could have kept him by offering him something absurd for his skills but they did not do it nor should they have.

Posted by NYI on 09/18/07 at 11:27 PM ET

Islander made four of the last five playoffs and had 92 points last season. Did Colorado even make the playoffs last year.

I guess if I were an Isles fan, I would have to live in the past as well.

Smyth basically said it all, he liked the Islanders and they were in the running until the end but wanted to play in the Western Conference.

...which is a politically correct way of saying “the Isles are a shit team, and I want to play for a contender...so I’ll take a pay cut to play for a team that will be playing in late May at the very least”

We could have kept him

Keep telling yourself that.

He’s not Yashin. The chance to win apparently means more than money. That’s why he ditched Edmonton, and that’s why he ditched your team of scrubs.

Third best team in New York. Yikes.

Posted by Thomas on 09/18/07 at 11:33 PM ET

Ha ha. I like your style Thomas.

Isles needed to overpay to retain. Colorado’s living and organization is what attracted Smyth, with a likely promised captaincy when Sakic retired.

Despite hot Long Island air to the contrary (see further above the comments), despite the fact that the Isles made the playoffs while the Avs missed it just last year...the Avs in the last several years have shown a far better winning tradition and results. For while the Islanders have made the playoffs in the 4 out of 5 years, they have never gotten past the 1st round. The Avs, however, have gone deeper, only being knocked out once in the 1st round. And if you go back even farther than the Wikipedia’s last 5 years, there is a cup in 2000-2001. And the fact that the Avs have been tops in their division for a long period of time.

Another big factor: The Colorado Avalanche have the NHL record for the longest consecutive attendance sell out with 487. Those seats are full to capacity almost every game. Add this to a very good quality of life over there, and it becomes very clear.

Colorado was not surprising as a landing place. And the Islanders DID think they were in the running till the end, but many were asking themselves many questions when Smyth chose to sign elsewhere.

So silly words by one that somehow the Avs did not make the playoffs is merely scratching the surface and severely deluded.

The Isles have a lot of work to do to shake perceptions, included player ones. If the Isles really wanted to retain Smyth, they needed to press an offer that would make a difference. And it still is unclear when the organization and GM clearly was making plans Smyth as a large part of it, only made a slightly better offer. But that might have been b/c they were rebuffed beforehand, back when Wang made some personal offers before the FA period started. Who knows.

However, back to you Tommy. I am not so sure that the Isles deserve the shit team moniker. Yes, we have had some shaky days, but we have competed recently, and despite having some hard work to do with such major personnel changes. Certainly isn’t an easy road, and we might just fight not to be mediocre. But I’m not sure that branding of yours applies.

Cheers,

BD

Posted by B.D. Gallof from NYI Country on 09/19/07 at 07:05 AM ET

Wow. Razzing our backup goaltender. Especially when yours is about as bad as they get.

Well, Tommy boy, let’s just see about that. Your “backup” makes six mil and, last year, posted a losing record, an over 3.0 GAA and a sub .900 SV%. Our “bad-as-they-get” backup made $800k, posted an 11-3-6 record with a 2.38 GAA and a .907 SV%. In fact, Ozzie was better than your starter in both GAA and SV%.

I know your hatred for the Wings clouds your judgement most of the time, but maybe you could at least try to temper your venom with the facts from time to time.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 09/19/07 at 11:02 AM ET

Wait, Colorado is a Cup contender? Man they sign two players over the summer and they are running for the Cup. Now if they have good goaltending this year then maybe I would say they are a Cup contender. But if Colorado is a Cup contender now then pretty much the whole league is.

Posted by Josh from Mich on 09/19/07 at 01:17 PM ET