Scouting Reports main page | Division Rankings
New York Islanders
Overall: 22
Atlantic Division: 5
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| Berard (34), fomer stellar rookie, has declined. (Scott Levy/B. Bennett Studios) |
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The
Islanders said they
needed a hoist, but a
boost would be more like it, the kind you get from signing
your best players and finding a goaltender who doesn't have
a sunburn on the back of his neck from the goal light.
Citing an unsafe scoreboard hoist and other purported
structural inadequacies
at the Nassau Coliseum, new owners Howard Milstein and Steven
Gluckstern tried to get out of their lease, which by the way runs
through 2015 and offers them no share of concession and
parking revenues. But the courts, backed by engineers who
said the arena is sound, told Milstein and
Gluckstern to stay put. One
county executive called the owners "pigs at the
trough."
The Islanders are no longer homeless, but if they don't
sign restricted free-agent right wing Zigmund Palffy, they,
and their season, may be pointless. Palffy scored 45 goals
last year,
including a league-high 17 on the power play, but take away
Robert
Reichel's 25 goals, and nobody who spent a full season on
Long Island last year scored more than 14. Backliners Kenny
Jonsson, 26, and Bryan Berard, 21, lead what could be, in
three or four years, the league's best defense corps. The
promising mix
includes 1997 All-Star Scott Lachance; Eric Brewer, the fifth
pick in the '97 draft; and the NHL's biggest player ever,
6'9", 240-pound Zdeno
Chara.
The No. 1 goaltending spot falls to Tommy Salo, better
known for catching punches (for example, the
highlight-worthy whuppin' by the Rangers' Dan Cloutier last
season) than pucks. Salo is a tourniquet until
19-year-old phenom Roberto
Luongo
is ready. Last month New York held its first
Tri-Isle-a-thon.
Luongo, who can't swim, did
well in the bobsledding and bowling events, but he toppled into
the lake during the canoe race, and two players and two
trainers had to save the man who is supposed to keep the
Islanders from
sinking.
"I believe in this team's future with every ounce of
my soul," says coach and general manager Mike Milbury.
Unfortunately, the roof will cave in on his season one way or
another.
—By Brian Cazeneuve
Fast Fact
The Islanders and the Stanley Cup champion Red Wings were the most difficult teams to shut out last season. Each was whitewashed only twice.
Keys To Success
- Center Trevor Linden and defenseman Bryan Berard must
rebound from terrible seasons and become elite players again.
- Ownership needs to sign restricted free-agent holdout Zigmund
Palffy sooner rather than later. No Palffy means no offense—
and no chance—for the Islanders.
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