Hey everyone, I'd like to introduce a man with a lot of charm, talent, and wit. Unfortunately, he couldn't be convinced to do this so I was chosen instead.

When it was brought to my attention that the Islanders, one of the most exciting young teams has no coverage on this most prestigious forum, I had to do something immediately. Well, it was more like "Hey man, you seem to be wasting a lot of time on this website and one or two of your posts were agreeable, wanna do some team coverage?" - I'm kinda paraphrasing here You all have Shakedown to thank (or curse, depending on how this turns out) for talking me into doing this coverage.

Now I am by no means a huge Islanders fan. I am a huge Tavares fan and by extension, I like the Islanders a lot. I also like a lot of their young guys and to me they look like one awesome bunch of budding young studs that will keep on getting better and better. I am a Leafs fan (hold your applause, please) because I live in Toronto. Not a die-hard fan, but a cautiously-optimistic one. I feel towards the Leafs the way you feel about an old girlfriend who keeps disappointing and you know you can do better, but for some reason you just can't shake her loose. I like the Islanders players a lot more than I like the Leafs ones. So I'm torn here. I am a fan of the Islanders because I like their players but I am a fan of the Leafs because I live in Toronto. Hmm, maybe I should move to New York. At any rate, the Islanders are one of the most exciting young teams these days and should have their team coverage here.

The Islanders have had a long streak of top picks (and some astute late ones) so their rebuilding process is nearing a completion. Strome (2011-5), Kichton (2011-127), Niederreiter (2010-5), Kabanov (2010-65), Tavares (2009-1), de Haan (2009-12), Koskinen (2009-31), Baily (2008-9), Hamonic (2008-53), Poulin (2008-126), Okposo (2006-7). All they need is a steady netminder to emerge, Yashin to re-sign (I kid, I kid, I can explain the Yashin rumours with the fact that Snow is doing crack and will wake up sober tomorrow and all will be well again) and one or two solid stay-home defensemen to become a regular competitor for a playoff birth.

Despite the Islanders' dismal record last year, there is a lot to be optimistic about next year. Their overall record is somewhat misleading. They started awefully: first 28 games, their record was 5-18-5. It was ugly. But next 54 games, a respectable record: 25-21-8. If you project that record over 82 games, you get 38-32-12 record for 88 points. Still not good enough to make the playoffs but much better than their overall season record of 30-39-13. Factor in the absence of Streit and Okposo for most of the year, as well as the usual improvement in the game of their young guns, making the playoffs next year is not entirely unrealistic.

Since the recipe for a good introduction includes some shortening, I will end now. I'll try to keep a regular posting schedule in this thread.

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I went to a fight the other night and a hockey game broke out.
- Rodney Dangerfield

awesome dude, looking forward to it! I see quite a few games just cause they're what's on so I'll chirp in with anything I hear. I agree that for the first time in a long time, Isles fans have something to cheer for and be optimistic for.


you mean Long Island! Going to an Isles game from the city would be roughly equivalent to driving to Hamilton from TO, the Devils are actually much closer despite being in a different state

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Thats me on the street with a violin under my chin, playing with a grin, singing gibberish.





P=1 DPts=1.2 +/-=.32 PIM=.08 PPP=.4 SHP=.6 S=.015 Blk=.2 Hit=.08
W=2 OTL=.8 GA=-.64 SV=.08 SO=3

Pro (23 keep 17)
C- Filppula,Turris,Stastny,Backstrom
D-Boyle,MDZ,Karlsson,Robidas,Goligoski,Schenn,Seiden berg
G-Anderson,Hiller,Rinne
LW-Malone,Parise,Rolston,Eriksson,Ruutu
RW-Alfredsson,Callahan,Setoguchi,Brown,Ryder,Vrbata

Farm (9 keep all, max 200 GP, 100 Goalies)
Colborne,Leblanc,Loktionov,Perreault,Tangradi,Blum ,Poulin,Markstrom

Wohoo! For some reason I caught a lot of Islanders games this past season. They were pretty interesting to watch. I wouldn't mind chipping in with a few things when I can. Welcome to the club.

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The Ultimate Fantasy Hockey League. (Keep 17)
3C 3LW 3RW 6D 2G 6BE.
G,A,+-,PIM,PPP,SHP,GWG,SOG,FW,HIT; GS,W,L,GAA,SA,SV, SV%,SO
(C) Bergeron, Spezza, Ribeiro, R. O'Reilly
(LW) Ovechkin(RW), Clowe(RW), Hagelin
(RW) Eberle, Stewart
(D) Subban, Pietrangelo, Green, Byfuglien(RW), Bogosian
(G) Crawford, Varlamov, Neuvirth

8 Person Farm:
(C), Couturier, Teravainen
(LW) Kreider
(RW) Etem
(D) Dumba
(G) Holtby, Ramo, Subban

Unbelievable. I was on earlier tonight hoping for an Islanders thread.

I really am interested in your take on Frans Neilson. He seems like a lock on the second line with Grabner and Okposo, yet he gets little fantasy attention.

I am debating dropping Boedker for either him or Peverly to round out my fwds. What do you think?

Thanks!

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19 team Dynasty League - POINTS ONLY. Daily starts: 9 fwds, 6 D, 1 goalie

G=2pts, A=1pt, Dman G=3pts, GWG=1pt, Goalie Win=3.5pts, SO=4pts, L=-1pt


Kovalchuk, Couture, Wheeler
Parenteau, Elias, Little
Desharnais, Hemsky, Zuccarello
Smith, Cogliano

Karlsson, Letang, Ehrhoff
Carle, Giordano, Martin
Hamhuis

Fleury
Schneider

Welcome to the team! I am positive you will be a stellar addition.

Enjoy the ride!

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Gates Imbeau
Assistant Manager - DobberSports.com
Writer - Fantrax.com
Regular Guest - The York Report via NextSportStar.com
Email: gates@dobbersports.com
Twitter: @GM_Gates

Well, good on Shakedown for bringing you in. Looking forward to having you help me keep tabs on my man Okposo. Been a long time from drafting him until now - hoping for a nice positive step forward for the Isle.

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Yahoo weekly starts 12 team league, keep 17 plus farm

GS, W, L, SV, GAA, SV%, SO G, A, P, +/-, PIM, SOG, GWG, PPP, SHP, HITS, FOW

3C: H. Sedin,Stepan, Stastny, R. Johansen, Hanzal, Anisimov,
3LW: Burrows, Vanek, Ott, Lupul, Dubinsky
3RW: Doan, Pavelski, Brown, Okposo,
6D: Franson, Doughty, Voynov, Subban, Markov, Gonchar, Karlsson
1Util:
2G: Price, Emery


Farm: (< 100 games): S. Elliott, J. Bernier, Galchenyuk, Etem, Eakin, Atkinson

Awesome!! Looking forward to all Islander material

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Welcome aboard. Lifetime Islander fan entrenched on Long Island here. Glad to have you. 1st request is a piece on prospect Anders Lee. Impressed the hell out of me in the scrimmage and expecting a big breakout. With all the fanfare of the others he may blossom in the shadows.

As for Nielsen get him. He is a solid player that the coaches love and will lean heavy this year. He is great on the penalty kill and will finally have some help on the wings.

Yes, please do.
No, I still stand by my original destination Hamilton's only 45 minutes away from Toronto. No biggie.

Thanks, Jeff. Your chipping in will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

I'm sure Okposo will be often talked about in this thread. He's an integral part of the Isles' success. And your patience with him should be very soon rewarded big time.

Thanks!

Thanks. Request taken. I'll try to have something on Lee in a few days.

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I went to a fight the other night and a hockey game broke out.
- Rodney Dangerfield

How timely for you! Yeah, Nielsen seems to be the natural 2nd line center behind Tavares. I like Nielsen over Boedker for the next two years (and if you're in a salary cap league, he's dirt cheap next year). But I do like Boedker's situation in Phoenix and he could explode if Turris and he find chemistry. I see decent upside in him. And if you have positional requirements, you should also consider that Nielsen is a center while Boedker is a winger and in a lot of leagues, wingers are harder to find. But Nielson should outpoint Boedker next couple of years. After that, I like Boedker. But also remember that Nielsen had a concussion to end his season last year so this should be a little concern.

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I went to a fight the other night and a hockey game broke out.
- Rodney Dangerfield