The New York Islanders: An Inspirational Team Story

Author: Max Greenberg

I do not know how they continue to do it, but the New York Islanders show up when it matters most and thrive in the playoffs. Even after going into the postseason on a low note, they continue to win and have given the insanely stacked Tampa Bay Lightning a run for their money.

It is crazy to think that not even a half decade ago, the Islanders were a complete mess. Their ownership and front office were incompetent, their arena situation was in limbo, and the on ice product was a total joke.

And especially after losing John Tavares in the 2018 offseason, who knew how low this team would go. Let the current version of the Islanders be a lesson as to why heart, hunger, and chemistry can result in major success for an organization.

When Barry Trotz took over for them in the 2018-2019 season, they did not just make the playoffs, they placed second in the tough Metropolitan division and even won a series. But they still had their flaws and questions, as their forward core was nothing scary and they got swept by the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round.

This caused many, including myself, to believe that their run of success that year was a fluke, and that they did not have it in them to make the playoffs the next season. And while they did not exactly impress during the 2019-2020 regular season, they still made the playoffs, and the 2020 playoffs in the bubble is about when I really started to see them as legit.

If there is one thing they showed during that run, it is that they forecheck hard, continue to forecheck hard, and will not stop forechecking as hard as they possibly can. They made a killing off of this in their first round domination of the Washington Capitals, and it helped them come out on top in a hard fought seven game win against the Flyers.

They would fall to the eventual Stanley Cup Champions Lightning in six games, and despite their incredible run, there were still people who thought they might not make the playoffs this year. I personally believed in them enough to predict them to get first place in the East division, but came in fourth, and still had to prove that the year prior was not just a stroke of lucky momentum.

It is safe to say that they have quashed that thinking for good now. Even though they are coming off an 8-0 loss to the Lightning and find themselves tied 3-3 in the series as I am typing this, you still must tip your hat to what they have accomplished.

The Islanders are nowhere near the most flashy or talented team in the league, but they play to their strengths. And they do it effectively.

There are still going to be people who question if they can win a Cup with the way they play, and that is understandable. In the NHL, winning a Cup typically requires high end offensive talent, something the Islanders do not have outside of Matt Barzal, who while talented, is not exactly in the elite echelon of forwards.

But they have proven that they are built for the playoffs, as they have had repeated success. One thing they do have that most other teams do not is a coach who has the players completely behind him, and that has allowed them to sustain success with the play style they have.

I personally believe that they are more than capable of winning a Cup with the roster they have, if they were incapable of doing so, they would not have the track record they do. Remember (with the exception of one awful night) they are playing tough against a team that is $18M over the salary cap.

The Islanders went from having nothing to having everything, from an inspired on-ice team, one of the best head coaches in NHL history at this point, a reputable GM who acquires players who are built for the playoffs, and to two incredibly passionate owners in John Ledecky and Scott Malkin.

The most well-run organizations are typically the ones that come out on top in pro sports, and the Islanders are currently one of the most well-run organizations in hockey, from top to bottom. And one more thing, as a Nashville Predators fan, please please please get Trotz the Cups he deserves.

SPORTS ARE OUR UNIVERSE

What Does the Future Hold for the Pittsburgh Penguins?

Author: Max Greenberg

Editor: Brian Symons

Oh how the mighty have fallen. After dominating the league for around a full decade and winning consecutive Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017, the Pittsburgh Penguins have made their gradual descent towards irrelevance.

Ever since winning their last Cup, their only playoff series win has been beating the Philadelphia Flyers in six games in 2018. They followed that up with a six-game loss to the Washington Capitals, a sweep at the hands of the New York Islanders in 2019, an embarrassing four-game defeat to the Montreal Canadiens in the 2020 Cup Qualifiers, and most recently, falling in six games to the Islanders again.

Not even finishing first place in the East Division this year could save them from another underwhelming playoff appearance. And honestly, the way they lost this year was absolutely humiliating.

It is not as if they were a bad team, and you could even argue that they were better than the Islanders in some aspects. But they continually shot themselves in the foot, by means of lackluster goaltending, a boneheaded move by Tristan Jarry that resulted in the game-winning overtime goal for the Islanders in Game 5, and lapses in the defensive zone.

There are some people out there who may think it would be wise for the Penguins to run it back with their core once more, since they may have won the series without their egregious errors. But let’s face the facts, this team has been trending nowhere but downhill for four years now. And is it really smart to keep rolling with a team that continually kills their own chances of winning?

Well let me put it to you this way, the Penguins have some tough decisions to make this summer. They do not have any important unrestricted free agents this offseason, but next offseason is what they have to think about right now.

Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Bryan Rust, and Jeff Carter are set to hit the open market in the summer of 2022. Meaning that they are eligible for contract extensions this offseason, and Ron Hextall needs to start thinking about whether it is worth extending all, some, or even any of them.

I have heard rumors that the players want to stay and that the organization would like to extend Malkin and Letang. But they should not be so fast.

I especially would not re-sign Letang if I were Hextall. He is 34 years old and has a history of significant injuries, and chances are he is not going to make this team much better moving forward, let alone increase their chances of winning another Cup.

This might be considered blasphemy in the eyes of Penguins fans, but I absolutely would not extend Malkin right now, and honestly, I would lean toward letting him walk next year. He also is 34 and is coming off one of his worst years from a production standpoint. Yes, he used to be one of the best players in the NHL and was one of the main reasons the Penguins were so good for so long, but his time has passed him by.

Carter was brought in as a rental for this and next year only and Hextall should not even think about bringing him back. Even Rust, who has broken out in the past two seasons, is 29 and not a player I am itching to extend if I am Hextall.

You probably get where I am going with this. The current core of the Penguins is outdated and it is time for them to focus on the future.

Even Tristan Jarry, who I thought had a real chance to be special for them, has flopped and proven to be unreliable. By virtue of aging and some critical mistakes by Jim Rutherford, this team is all but done, and every player needs to be expendable to them.

They are at the point at which they should not even prioritize holding onto Sidney Crosby for dear life. Yes, I just said that.

I am not saying that they should actively shop their best players such as Crosby, Malkin, and Jake Guentzel, that will only take down their value in trade circles. But they should be open to offers for all of them, and if some team offers a king’s ransom for any one of those players, especially Malkin, they must take it.

That would especially be worthwhile since they have only picked in the first round of the draft TWICE since 2013. And one of those first round picks was Kasperi Kapanen, who they traded away, only to trade another first rounder to re-acquire.

Although I said I blame mostly Jim Rutherford and the aging of the players for the demise of the Penguins, they should not even rule out firing Mike Sullivan. They just need a fresh start.

Yes, the Penguins might endure several seasons of painful losing if they were to blow it up like I am suggesting they should. But sooner or later, every team has to completely start over, and the Penguins are at or near that point.

SPORTS ARE OUR UNIVERSE

2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Who Are the Contenders So Far?

Author: Max Greenberg

Editor: Mark Awadallah

At the time of writing, we are five days into the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs and how great does it feel to have some semblance of normalcy. We have roaring crowds in arenas (except for those in Canada), overtimes galore, and it just feels so much better after watching last year’s playoffs in empty arenas in the hub cities. If there has been one thing that has been slightly disappointing, it is that the teams that have looked like contenders were already expected to do so. At least in my view. Here, I will go over each division and say who I think the real Cup contenders are. Since the playoffs this year are largely division oriented, I feel like this is the best way to do this.

Central

Let’s start with my personal favorite division--the Central. The first round matchups are the top-seeded Carolina Hurricanes against the fourth-seeded Nashville Predators, and the second-seeded Florida Panthers against the third-seeded Tampa Bay Lightning, who are the defending Cup champions. I firmly believe that the only two teams, at least at this point, you could consider contenders are the Hurricanes and Lightning. As the division winners, the Hurricanes had an incredible year, with everything seeming to click. Their offense, led by dangerous players such as Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, and an emerging Martin Necas, has the perfect blend of talent and chemistry, and this sets their defense up to remain one of the best in the league. Even their goaltending seems to have been figured out, as rookie Alex Nedeljkovic has taken over the crease and is looking very solid. He has not faced a ton of shots in the playoffs so far, but when he has, he has looked very good. Rod Brind’Amour has his squad dialed in, and after a few years of having to mold together, they are finally a full-fledged Cup contender. The Lightning just got Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov back for the playoffs, and Kucherov especially has been on fire since his return. The same core from the past few years is still around, and a trade deadline acquisition in David Savard only made them deeper. Game 1 between them and the Panthers was a showdown for the ages, and with a 2-0 lead, I do not see them blowing this series. It is a shame, because the Panthers finally got good again this year and have gotten contributions all throughout their lineup. But the task seems simply too daunting for them at this point.

East

The first round matchups in this division are the top-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins against the fourth-seeded New York Islanders, and the second-seeded Washington Capitals against the third-seeded Boston Bruins. The only team in this division that I really see contending for the Cup is the Bruins. Maybe I am being a little too harsh, given all three of the games between the Capitals and Bruins have gone to overtime. But I think the Bruins are the only team in the East that is well-rounded enough to go far in the playoffs. They have the star power on offense to do so, and Taylor Hall has been an excellent addition and has made them even better. Their defense is still very solid, and Tuuka Rask is still doing his thing. I would say that the only areas of concern for the Bruins are that David Pastrnak has yet to score a goal in the playoffs, and they have gotten virtually nothing from their fourth line. But Pastrnak is still contributing and can light the lamp at any time, and competes with enough offensive ability to the point where they can overcome a lack of production from their bottom line. I don’t trust the Capitals’ defense and goaltending situation, and the same goes for the Penguins, who have struggled mightily in the playoffs the last few years. The Islanders are a hard-working team that will be a tough out in the playoffs, but they do not have anywhere near the offense needed to be a true threat.

West

The first round matchups in this division are the Presidents’ Trophy winning team the Colorado Avalanche against the fourth-seeded St. Louis Blues, and the second-seeded Vegas Golden Knights against the third-seeded Minnesota Wild. As one would expect, the two teams from this division that I see as legit contenders are the Avalanche and Knights. For the most part, the Avalanche cake-walked their way through the Blues, and Nathan MacKinnon is on an absolute tear to start the playoffs, with five goals and two assists in just the first two games. The rest of their team is still loaded, with players such as Norris caliber Cale Makar and Vezina caliber Philip Grubauer. They did have a scare in last night’s game, and will most likely have to play at least the rest of the first round without Nazem Kadri, who has gotten into trouble with the rulebook yet again. But I do not see the Blues having anywhere near the talent to match up with the Avalanche, who are stacked in every phase of the game. The same can be said for the Golden Knights, who are bringing back everyone from last year plus Alex Pietrangelo. I worry for their sake because of their bench boss, who has a bad track record in the playoffs, but if there was one reason to call them favorites for the Cup, it would be because of Marc-Andre Fleury. I mean, all I have to say about him is, wow. He turned in yet another Vezina caliber regular season, and in the playoffs, he has made some unbelievable saves, and in my mind, has easily been the best goaltender so far. Anytime you are getting elite goaltending, you are a huge threat, and with how talented the Knights are, you have to respect them as legit contenders. If there is a potential dark horse team in these playoffs, I think it is the Wild. They shattered their expectations for this year, led by likely Calder Trophy winner Kirill Kaprizov, and Cam Talbot, who has returned to being a brick wall in net. They have quite a good team in front of them, but the one issue everyone will point to when talking about them is their center depth. Because of that, I do not think they will be able to best teams later on in the playoffs, and I do not think they will advance past the first round, but they have an otherwise good team and should be taken seriously.

North

The first round matchups in this division are the top-seeded Toronto Maple Leafs against the fourth-seeded Montreal Canadiens, and the second-seeded Edmonton Oilers against the third-seeded Winnipeg Jets. I consider it a real shame that one of these teams will make the third round over some others, because I do not respect any of these teams as legit contenders. The Maple Leafs still have the same issues that have plagued them in previous years: questionable defense and spotty goaltending.

Yes, I know the talent is still there, and yes, I know Auston Matthews had an unreal regular season. But they have never won a playoff series even with the insane amount of talent they have, and with the same issues resurfacing, it’s difficult to call them Cup contenders. The Oilers also have the same issues as in previous seasons: reliance on two great players and insufficient goaltending. They are already down in their current matchup, only scoring one goal against Connor Hellebuyck, and even though Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl will likely start to light up the scoreboard soon, they have nowhere near enough contributors to be among the truly feared. The Jets are the team I am picking to come out of this division, mainly because they are the most well off in arguably the most important area come playoff time -- goaltending. They also have a lot of talent in their top six, but like the Oilers, they have nowhere near enough depth to get near the Cup. And then there are the Canadians, who nobody can get a true handle on. At one point, they look like one of the elite teams in the league, and at others, they barely look NHL caliber. In previous years, you could say that Carey Price could take them far, but he is just not that good anymore. They are inconsistent and do not have anyone on their team that you could say gives them a chance to go far in the playoffs, so I do not think they will.

SPORTS ARE OUR UNIVERSE