[Chris TMC]

From the Atlantic Division Report by Patrick Hoffman:

Quote

Last season, the Atlantic Division was one of the best divisions in all of hockey. Four out of the five teams finished with over 90 points – the Penguins, the New Jersey Devils, the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers.

Early into the 2009-2010 season, it appears that history is looking to repeat itself as all four of those teams have winning records just over a month into the season. Even the New York Islanders are trying to get into the act as they are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games.....New York Islanders (5-6-5, 15 points, 5th in the Atlantic Division, tied for 9th in the Eastern Conference)

The team struggled to get wins in the early going but watch out folks because the Islanders are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games and are getting offensive contributions up and down the lineup, playing solid defensively and getting the goaltending they need to win hockey games.

Rookie stud John Tavares has done his part so far by posting 11 points (5g, 6a) in his team's first 16 games. He goes hard to the net, makes great passes, has an accurate shot and creates a lot of offense. Right with him in terms of excellent play is 26-year-old Matt Moulson, who also has 11 points (6g, 5a). Behind Tavares and Moulson, Kyle Okposo has 10 points (3g, 7a), Jeff Tambellini has 8 (6g, 2a) and Doug Weight has 6 (0g, 6a). Not too bad, right?

The Islanders also finally have some stability in goal. Dwayne Roloson is 4-1-3 with a 2.70 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage while Martin Biron is 1-5-2 with a 2.83 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage.

It will be interesting to see what happens on Long Island when Rick DiPietro is finally healthy.

Wow, its wild to actually read positive things about this team coming from non-Isles fans. Well sometimes its wild to read positive things even from Isles fans lol. But really- Ill take the positives wherever I see em. And this was even written before the Isles latest 6-3 win over Atlanta, multipoint games from Tavares and Moulson, and moving back into 8th place. :) Pretty cool huh? The article talks about the other division teams as well. Do you think its on the money?

[MooseJawDixon]

Chris TMC, on Nov 8 2009, 10:51 PM, said:

From the Atlantic Division Report by Patrick Hoffman:


Wow, its wild to actually read positive things about this team coming from non-Isles fans. Well sometimes its wild to read positive things even from Isles fans lol. But really- Ill take the positives wherever I see em. And this was even written before the Isles latest 6-3 win over Atlanta, multipoint games from Tavares and Moulson, and moving back into 8th place. :) Pretty cool huh? The article talks about the other division teams as well. Do you think its on the money?

Hmmm. Let's see. No DP yet. Oh heck never mind...mix one part Kool-Aid (grape flavor) and two parts water... ^_^

What you're seeing is the beginning of a team where several very high-ceiling players are growing and emerging almost at once and you can have exponential improvement. If DP returns and can steal some games, I think the Islanders can actually challenge for the 8th seed.

The biggest key to the Islanders will not be injuries, or DP...it will be the development of Frans Nielsen as a legitimate second line scoring center...and Josh Bailey (one assist in last 16 games!) should be moved to right wing to both make room for Rob Schremp and to take advantage of his growing strength on the wall (and his shot).

The Islanders will need to acquire at least one top pair defenseman. At present they have a bunch of second pair Ds and their defensive depth is gone with Martinek's injury.

This point has been edited by Chris TMC: 09 November 2009 - 03:28 PM

[Chris TMC]

MooseJawDixon, on Nov 8 2009, 11:34 PM, said:

What you're seeing is the beginning of a team where several very high-ceiling players are growing and emerging almost at once and you can have exponential improvement. If DP returns and can steal some games, I think the Islanders can actually challenge for the 8th seed.

The biggest key to the Islanders will not be injuries, or DP...it will be the development of Frans Nielsen as a legitimate second line scoring center...and Josh Bailey (one assist in last 16 games!) should be moved to right wing to both make room for Rob Schremp and to take advantage of his growing strength on the wall (and his shot).

Josh has 2G in his last 5 games, is doing well on faceoffs, is getting plenty more SOG, and most importantly the kid just turned 20 a few weeks ago. I guess I just dont have the sense of immediate urgency that you do, Im not expecting him to have already maxed out to his potential when he isnt old enough to buy a beer yet.

MooseJawDixon, on Nov 8 2009, 11:34 PM, said:

The Islanders will need to acquire at least one top pair defenseman. At present they have a bunch of second pair Ds and their defensive depth is gone with Martinek's injury.

Quote from here:

Quote

"To me, he's one of best kept secrets in NHL," Gordon said. GM Garth Snow agreed and wouldn't rule out a trade: "It's a big hole for us to fill. If something makes sense, we'll do it."

That being said, it must be pointed out that Garth has said such things before. The man just isnt willing to give up assets unless he thinks its a real win for the team. I dont see him just trading for a Dman for the sake of trading for one... I think it would have to be a great deal for the Isles.

[State 0f Chaos]

If all 5 Atlantic Division teams made it into the playoffs, that would be awesome. It's a very strong division, so it's possible, although unlikely. If there is an odd-man out, I'd say it'll be the Islanders to be honest. In a weaker division, I think they'd be a lock for the playoffs at the moment (they wouldn't win the division, though), but having to compete so many times against great teams for every single important point will make it difficult in this division.

Either way, things are always interesting in the Atlantic.

[Chris TMC]

With the Isles most recent win, there are eight teams in Eastern Conference that have at least 17 points- and five of them are in one division. :)

State 0f Chaos, on Nov 9 2009, 05:10 PM, said:

If all 5 Atlantic Division teams made it into the playoffs, that would be awesome. It's a very strong division, so it's possible, although unlikely. If there is an odd-man out, I'd say it'll be the Islanders to be honest. In a weaker division, I think they'd be a lock for the playoffs at the moment (they wouldn't win the division, though), but having to compete so many times against great teams for every single important point will make it difficult in this division.

Either way, things are always interesting in the Atlantic.

This year, yeah Id have to agree- if there is one team more likely not to make the playoffs, at this time Id say it would be the Isles, as well- but not by all that much, Ill say that.

I was looking at some stats over the past few years- the Atlantic has sent 4 of 5 teams to the playoffs for the last three seasons, and sent 3 of five for a number of seasons before that. Heres what I was looking at:
http://i38.tinypic.com/2irn2c.jpg

The Devils are definitely the most consistent team of all... beautiful stats over the last 7 years.
And the Flyers would be right there with them if not for 06-07. Still really remarkable.
The Rangers and Isles average out to a record thats only 6 points apart and have both made the playoffs 4 of the last 7 seasons. Its essentially a draw over the last seven- the Isles get the "bringing up the rear" label all the time only because their 2 year span of not making the playoffs is recent.
Pittsburgh is the funniest one... definitely the most INconsistent, since they did one of the biggest flipflops imaginable lol.

When it comes down to it the Atlantic really is a sick division... and the stats so far this season show the Pens and Devs on top (no surprise there) but the Rangers, Isles, and Flyers are all pretty close. It really is nice that as of right now all 5 teams making the playoffs is a possibility. You couldnt say that in 06-07 or in 08-09. In 07-08, it actually was possible... but injuries and bad luck said no to that. This season it could go many ways for all of us, depending on injuries and on plain old luck.

This point has been edited by Chris TMC: 09 November 2009 - 11:46 PM

[Chris TMC]

Another example of the Atlantic being tight- stats as of tonight:
http://i37.tinypic.com/23stagy.jpg

[Rattler]

Since the NHL realigned its divisional format in 1998, no division has placed all five teams in the playoffs.

It could happen this season.

Entering Thursday night's action, the Penguins, Rangers, Devils and Flyers all held playoff positions, while the Islanders were in a three-way tie for the eighth in the conference.

"It doesn't surprise me," said Flyers center Blair Betts, who spent the previous four seasons with the Rangers. "The Rangers, the Flyers, the Penguins and the Devils have had pretty strong teams over the past few years and the Islanders are a young, gritty team with a lot of hard workers, so I kind of expected that. In my opinion, this is the best division in the league."

Flyers captain Mike Richards agreed, saying the Islanders became an instant threat with the arrival of No. 1 overall pick John Tavares.
But could all five teams in the Atlantic reach the postseason, leaving only three playoff spots to be divided between the Northeast and Southeast divisions?

"That's pretty tough considering all the times we play each other," Betts said. "But if there is any year it could happen, this is it."

View the full article

This point has been edited by Chris TMC: 13 November 2009 - 03:49 PM

[Potvin29]

The problem is the number of inter-divisional games. Because teams play more games against their division rivals it is very hard for all 5 teams to qualify because usually one or two teams gets beat up by the rest of the division requiring them to win the majority of their out of division games and thats just unlikely because if you are going to lose in the division you probably will lose out of it too.

It is possible especially with the loser point in play. If a lot of division matchups end in OTL's then the bottom Atlantic teams can stay close to the leaders and do it.

DO I think it will happen? No not really. I remember one year when the Northeast had 5 strong teams and almost qualified all of them. The fewer divisional games you have the easier it is for a whole division to make the playoffs. But remember, there are 3 guaranteed playoff spots and only one of those belongs to the Atlantic. That means there are 4 other Atlantic teams fighting for only 5 spots. It will be very hard for the Isles or whomever to earn that spot in 5th place in the Atlantic when a 2nd place team in the Northeast or Southeast will have a better divisional record.

This point has been edited by Potvin29: 15 November 2009 - 05:09 PM

[Chris TMC]

Potvin29, on Nov 15 2009, 05:08 PM, said:

The problem is the number of inter-divisional games. Because teams play more games against their division rivals it is very hard for all 5 teams to qualify because usually one or two teams gets beat up by the rest of the division requiring them to win the majority of their out of division games and thats just unlikely because if you are going to lose in the division you probably will lose out of it too.

It is possible especially with the loser point in play. If a lot of division matchups end in OTL's then the bottom Atlantic teams can stay close to the leaders and do it.

DO I think it will happen? No not really. I remember one year when the Northeast had 5 strong teams and almost qualified all of them. The fewer divisional games you have the easier it is for a whole division to make the playoffs. But remember, there are 3 guaranteed playoff spots and only one of those belongs to the Atlantic. That means there are 4 other Atlantic teams fighting for only 5 spots. It will be very hard for the Isles or whomever to earn that spot in 5th place in the Atlantic when a 2nd place team in the Northeast or Southeast will have a better divisional record.

The Isles 2 seasons ago were the team that positively beat up on the Devils and Rangers, but they were still the ones who didnt make the playoffs.

But even past that strangeness, I agree that divisional games are a big factor in this. The Atlantic is the toughest division in the NHL... 4/5 making it for the last three seasons is remarkable enough- but that divisional strength makes it THAT much harder for all 5 teams to pull this off.

This point has been edited by Chris TMC: 15 November 2009 - 06:26 PM

[NYI Fan Central]

Things are not as division centric as they were a few years ago. It's no longer eight games vs other teams but back to six and there are more games against the West.

A few years ago Isles were done traveling to the West by November 15th for a game in Dallas. This year they will wrap road games in Northeast (Boston, Buffalo, Montreal) by tomorrow and be done with ACC Leafs by early December and the finale in Ottawa at end of December.

Isles already done with Washington on road.

This point has been edited by NYI Fan Central: 15 November 2009 - 08:47 PM

[Potvin29]

I think it is intriguing because right now all 5 Atlantic teams are in but it's hard to se it staying that way. You have Washington as the hands down favorite to win the South and Atlanta is currently in with Tampa knocking at the door. I think it's probable Atlanta could fall but either team could step up and really push to qualify 2 from the south. In the North you have Montreal, Boston, and Ott all sitting 3 or less points out and two of those clubs are playoff teams from last year. Plus the Isles have played 3 more games Tampa and Ott at this point. Either way it's too early to tell But I will be surprised if both the North and South Divisions only qualify 3 teams. Washington, Buffalo, Montreal, and Boston are all heavy favorites to make the playoffs which means one Atlantic team can't. We shall see though.

[MooseJawDixon]

Chris TMC, on Nov 8 2009, 10:51 PM, said:

From the Atlantic Division Report by Patrick Hoffman:


Wow, its wild to actually read positive things about this team coming from non-Isles fans. Well sometimes its wild to read positive things even from Isles fans lol. But really- Ill take the positives wherever I see em. And this was even written before the Isles latest 6-3 win over Atlanta, multipoint games from Tavares and Moulson, and moving back into 8th place. :) Pretty cool huh? The article talks about the other division teams as well. Do you think its on the money?

It shouldn't be surprising. We're at the one-quarter pole and the overall team play is competitive. This is where the loser points come in. An overtime or shootout loss still signifies you were tied after 60 minutes. The Islanders have only lost six of 20 games in regulation, and that is more remarkable given that the goalies have really only "saved" about two games so far (and been responsible for about four lost points). You're right that it'll be interesting when DP returns. If he regains his form he will not just be a small upgrade -- he will be a significant upgrade. As long as there aren't more injuries on defense (this is the weak link! it's not the offense!) the Islanders should "grow as a team" with the youngsters up front and should be at least within striking distance of the 8th seed.

But let's note that, on a points per game basis, the Islanders are 11th right now. A few teams have four games in hand. That still needs to improve.