Kyle's roller coaster, 3 league (NCAA, AHL, NHL) season ended today in Bridgeport with a 3-2 loss to Hartford. He gets some well deserved rest for a few months before starting anew in September (please note his final stats on the right). Both the Sound Tigers and Islanders missed the playoffs, but the seasons of each team revealed plenty about the future. The 2007-2008 campaign(s) showed both management and Islanders fans exactly what they have to build on, and revealed some deficiencies that need to be addressed as well. A championship caliber team will not be built overnight, but Islanders fans are nothing if not loyal. They'll need to continue exhibiting some patience, but unlike in times past, we think it will soon be rewarded handsomely.
As an aside, special congratulations must go to Jeff Tambellini, who scored 38 goals this season at Bridgeport in 57 games and matched that total in assists, netting him 76 points. That works out to 1.33 points per game. Hopefully that scoring will begin to translate over to the NHL level.
For the Islanders and their fans, the season is never really over. In addition to rooting the Rangers out of the playoffs, we can look ahead to the entry draft beginning June 20th and the free agency period beginning July 1st. Miro Satan, Ruslan Fedotenko, Joe Vasicek, and Wade Dubielewicz are the most prominent names amongst those whom may or may not choose to continue wearing orange and blue in the future.
While the Isles may not be on the ice, this summer may prove to be a critical one in franchise history. Please check back here often for updates, player news, and draft previews and analysis.
Have a great summer, everyone, and thanks for reading!
Sunday, April 13, 2008
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1 comment:
I've booked my plane ticket to Moncton already! Not really. The team needs to be aggressive in how it is going to approach these next couple of seasons. Personally, I think shredding the team down to a youth core will probably be the most exciting and potentially surprising thing they could do to invigorate the stale cycle this franchise has been in for 15 years.
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