what it comes down to is that this team is finally loaded with talent…. and something is still not right behind the scenes in the organization. insiders talk about the team not liking mike and the way that he does his business, both in the locker room and in the media. weve seen meltdowns because of it. but we have also seen meltdowns when there was no real indication of anything wrong. the truth is that he has done some bad wheeling and dealing, and he has also done some good…. he HAS put together a team that we all agree has talent and should be doing, and has shown signs of the ability to do, great things. the only place left to shake things up is in the upper management…. start someplace fresh and go from there. and weve seen in the past how replacing of a GM has sparked teams to realize that ownership means business.

but those that do tout the firing of mike milbury remember one thing…. thats going to mean drastic changes to the team, in appearnce and in salary cap…. after eight years in the organization, letting milbury go is probably going to cost want a shitload of money to replace and rebuild the organization corporate office side… hes either going to lose and have to replace those loyal to milbury or end up paying more in order to keep them…. the bad part about being one of the longest tenured in the league is that nobody really knows whats going to happen when he gets fired…. how its going to hurt the organization off the ice… and to wang’s credit as a businessman, thats a very tough trigger to pull. so if he does it, fans shouldnt start whining about who else gets cut because of it.

peace.

screw this lafontaine crap!

retire his number? i grew up on long island. i still lived there when he played there and what *I* remember was a pussy player that cried cause we couldnt win. asked to be traded. refused to play in violation of his contract because the management wouldnt get him help to win. this guy was brought up after the championship years and he and flatley were to represent the next generation of the team… and he whined his way off the island. he might have done some great things afterwords, but his commitment to long island was NOT one of them. let the rangers hang his jersey. let buffalo hang his number.

i say fuck him.

peace.

Then came the Yashin and the Peca deals. It is easy to pick on Yashin for his flakiness and total lack of defensive intensity. And Mike Peca has not much outside of his leadership skills and semi-physical play left. But think back to two years ago. The islanders were the hottest team in the east and could’ve beaten any team that year (an off year for NJ & Philly).

But then they fell behind Toronto 2-0 going back to Uniondale. And then, by some miracle, Alexei Yashin woke up and led the isles back. Dave Scatchard (a Milbury addition) started to score. And Shawn Bates (another Milbury guy) scored the great penalty shot. Hip-hip hooray. We love Mike. Mike must stay.

But then the Tucker hit happened, and Michael Peca, the man who led the islanders to and nearly through the playoffs, couldn’t do it anymore. They lost the series. Laviolette lost the team without Pecs. Peca hasn’t been able to score quite like that since. Yashin seems lost now that people look to him to be a leader. Parrish can’t shovel garbage if there’s no garbage to shovel. Ozzie couldn’t do everything by himself.

So much for your plan, Mike. But all of the trades that Milbury made, all the stupid ones that we make fun of now, they are the reason that we can even talk about the isles as a playoff team (no matter how bleak it looks.)

If Mike must go, Mike must go. But at least remember that he tried, and nearly succeeded. The future was way to far for isles fans. I’m sure all of you icelander fanboys out there were thinking, “why can’t Mike just bring in somebody who can win us some games this year?” And I’m sure none of you threw your remote in digust when you heard that the isles traded for Alexei Yashin and Michael Peca. So if Mike must go, I for one will wave goodbye.

Point is, you never know. And looking back is always easier than looking ahead.

Chistov is the future of Anaheim. They would never do that trade. Neither would LA.

The Isles had the 5th pick also in 2000 and hoped Gaborik would fall to there.

My main problem is Dipietro set Isle goaltending back 3 years. They would be more stable with being patient with Luongo. At the time of the deal the focus was on Dipietro over Luongo and not Heatly or Gaborik. It was implied when they made the trade what the first pick would be.