Islanders see optimism on horizon to start
Mark Streit, left, and John Tavares of the New York Islanders celebrate defeating the New Jersey Devils 6-1 in a preseason game at Nassau Coliseum. (Sept. 24, 2011) Credit: Getty
Rick DiPietro has seen an awful lot in his dozen years as an Islander, the only link to the best days of the franchise's last 18 years and, amazingly, one of only three current players (along with Frans Nielsen and Blake Comeau) who were part of the Islanders' last playoff team, in 2006-07.
The misery of the last four seasons, and the misery of DiPietro's many attempts to overcome hip, knee and facial injuries in that time, is well-known and well-documented around the NHL, where the Islanders have been one of the league's punching bags for a fair amount of time.
Nowhere in the locker room for this month of training camp has there been a trace of a defeatist attitude. DiPietro, going into a season healthy for the first time since that playoff year of 2006-07, sees a change coming over this team.
"Every camp, there's optimism, because you're 0-0 and everyone starts the same," he said in advance of the opener against the Panthers at the Coliseum Saturday. "Everyone talks about making the playoffs, winning a Stanley Cup. But you have to have that inner belief, something that goes further than just saying it.
"And I think this is a year here where guys truly believe it. We've been down a long time, but we're not a bunch of guys looking to squeak into eighth place and be happy with it. We have the right kind of team to go out and compete and be consistent every night."
It would be quite a leap for the Islanders, who have finished 13th, 15th, 13th and 14th in the Eastern Conference the last four seasons. But they have assembled a team that may indeed have all the necessary parts to be a playoff contender, starting with three regulars whose return to health could be the same as acquiring key free agents: DiPietro, new captain Mark Streit and wing Kyle Okposo, who played 25, 0 and 38 games last season.
Add that to the improvements shown last season by John Tavares, Nielsen and Calder Trophy candidate Michael Grabner, and there is more talent on display than in a long while.
"This is definitely the best team we've had since I was here," Streit said. "We have skill, speed, experience, toughness. We have to put it all on the ice now."
The players the Islanders added fall into the experience category. Brian Rolston (38), Marty Reasoner (34) and Jay Pandolfo (36) are the only over-30 regulars among the forwards, and Steve Staios (38) joined a defense that already has 2010 signees Mark Eaton (34) and Mike Mottau (33).
That there was no big signing or, as general manager Garth Snow had sought, big trade to bring in a minutes-eating defenseman left the impression that the team did not do enough to upgrade in an Eastern Conference where there's been plenty of change.
"I don't think anyone's too worried about what everyone else thinks about this team," said Pandolfo, who signed a contract this week after coming to camp on a tryout. "We take pride in what we do, and the rest is out of our control."
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