Islanders want to shed 'rebuilding' label

With a burgeoning group of young players, a bolstered blue line and a healthy goaltending tandem, the Islanders seem ready and willing to finally shed that pesky "rebuilding" tag that has followed them the past two seasons.

Offensively, the Islanders have John Tavares coming off a 24-goal rookie campaign and Matt Moulson looking to prove his breakout 30-goal season was no fluke.

Defensively, the team added gritty, offensive-minded James Wisniewski and veterans Mark Eaton and Mike Mottau to a stable of promising young defensemen that includes Jack Hillen and Andrew MacDonald.

Returning in goal is last season's team MVP, Dwayne Roloson, and the injury-plagued Rick DiPietro, whose training camp has gone off without a hitch.

Poised to make that next step, however, the Islanders recently suffered sobering setbacks. They lost two of their top players - defenseman Mark Streit and forward Kyle Okposo - to serious shoulder injuries.

Both suffered the injuries during intrasquad scrimmages within the last week. Streit is expected to miss six months with a torn labrum, a torn rotator cuff and a dislocation of his left shoulder. Okposo suffered a torn labrum in his right shoulder and is not expected back until December.

Streit and Okposo led the team in ice time, finished in the top three in scoring and served as alternate captains last season.

"Those are big, substantial losses in leadership on and off the ice," said captain Doug Weight, who has been sidelined with a groin/hip flexor injury this preseason. "It's hard to see guys go down like that. You could see the pain in Kyle's eyes when he got hurt and then with Mark being out too, it's been a tough couple of days for us."

Despite the losses, Weight said the team must forge ahead. "It's up to us pull the rope a little tighter so we can put ourselves in a good position for when we get them back," said the 39-year-old veteran.

The Islanders hope the silver lining to losing Streit and Okposo is the competition among players to fill the vacancies.

Several young players - Nino Niederreiter, Matt Martin, Jesse Joensuu, Calvin de Haan, Travis Hamonic and Mark Katic - now have a chance to earn roster spots that otherwise might not have been available.

General manager Garth Snow invited several veterans to camp for tryouts to fulfill the preseason roster requirement. Anders Eriksson and Jed Ortmeyer have a chance to stick with the club.

Snow said he hopes to see the team's supporting cast step up to the challenge. "This is a great opportunity for other players to win ice time," he said.

Regardless of who makes the roster on opening night, the objective remains the same. Injuries or no injuries, the Islanders are sick of being stuck in the bottom of the standings, sick of packing their bags in April. Sick of "rebuilding."

"We're sick of being mediocre," DiPietro said. "It's time to take the bull by the horns. No excuses."