Apathy/Waning Interest

Sorge Georos

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Apr 28, 2009
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Hello All...so obviously this is a vent thread.

When I was a little kid, my brother and dad told me I was an Islander fan (and that we respect the Devils) and that was that. This was around 2002 and I knew nothing about the nightmarish decade that began after the OTLs against Roy and finally gave way into this decent team with Yash, Parrish, and Peca. To me they were just a reasonably entertaining playoff team.

Then Yashin went on the Newsday milk carton, Kvasha was Kvasha, Brad Shaw happened and I realized the team was kind of stagnant. The end of the 2006-07 year was obviously one of my high points of being a fan because of the miraculous play of Dubie and the mathematical unlikelihood we overcame (therefore stats are for dumb basement dwellers right ;) ). But my brother didn't even give a crap when Dubie made that pokecheck and would rather watch an early season Yankee game than Game 1 against the Sabres. What was the point? We all knew the team was going to lose 4-1 in the first round. He basically checked out when Wang hired our disturbingly long-tenured backup goalie GM after firing a Cup Winner 40 days in. He grew up during the Palffy/Milstein/Spano years and just when the team finally looked like a contender, they plateaued into an average team with a couple veterans who scored 25 goals at best.

Fast forward another painful 7 year rebuild later. I had enough of the 8th seed nobodies and the rebuild was the only way we would ever be relevant, so I followed faithfully. Once again, this was the first Islanders rebuild in my time as a fan so I could afford to. Fast forward again to the Boychuk/Leddy trade and this was the happiest I'd ever been as a hockey fan. And the arena nonsense was finally over!! Halfway through the season it looked like it was our time, we routinely outshot our opponents, played a sustainable style, and had a bunch of youngsters in the wings. It was only gonna get better.

But then Okposo's eye injury happens and the team just isn't the same. Teams like the Caps, Bruins, and Rangers--older teams that were less talented than us are STILL better than us 3 years later. That's what frustrates me the most. The Rangers have been good for 10+ years and they trade away their picks every year, but the few prospects they do have ALWAYS pan out. Meanwhile we trade away the fruits of entire losing seasons for scrappy lunch-pail guys like Clutterbuck who can be found in free agency every year. Or guys like Strome, Hamonic, and De Haan plateau at best. Why can't we have a Pastrnak for a change? I don't expect that immediate outcome from a late 1st rounder, but none of our fully developed top ten picks have come close to what he's done as of now! And I hate to jump the gun, but the Leafs had had the same picks that we had and they've all become dynamic stars. It just makes me sad.

It's nice that we finally spend to the cap ceiling, but Snow has wasted this freedom on overrated "soul" guys, declining veterans, and Jordan Eberle. I'm still furious at Snow not even attempting to sign a young, core player like Okposo who loved it here because "we weren't winning with this core..." and he replaces him with a 31 year old for .5 million less and an extra year. That offseason might have been the kicker with me.

All this is to say I know what my brother was talking about a decade ago. You wait out years and years of a painful rebuild, and just when it looks like you're finally on the cusp of competing (2001 and 2014), the team regresses to mediocrity. Regardless that we won another game where we blew a 2 goal lead in the 3rd, I feel like this team is maxed out even if JT resigns with us. Barzal and Ho-Sang are good kids but the Isles are like the Yankees with Joba, Hughes, and Kennedy--they cannot develop players at the NHL level.

To be fair, I was like this with the 2013-15 Yanks. It's hard to follow a team that you know is headed in the wrong direction, that you know is staving off a rebuild to its detriment. Fortunately, the Yankees made wholesale changes to their player development system and Cashman is a freaking Ninja while Snow is not. And the Yanks were good for 20 years so of course they're inevitably going to suck for a few years. With the Isles, it's just one long-ass rebuild with a glimmer of false hope and ANOTHER longass rebuild. And the boards here are unbearable with all our prospects being labeled busts after 5 games and every snakebitten player (*cough* JT *cough*) having their hearts questioned which drives me crazy. I understand the prospect pessimism but I REALLY despise the latter thing and every lazy, baseless narrative that comes with it.

If you read through this poorly written slog then thank you and god bless you. I obviously don't begrudge anyone who disagrees with me on something. Just saying how I feel with the team. I seriously, SERIOUSLY applaud the older fans who went through every single god-damned fail of a rebuild but still watch every game. Then again, you fellas got to see the Cups lol.

On the brightside, hockey teams don't necessarily improve linearly. Teams like the Blues and Lightning have had these disappointing stretches before becoming consistent contenders. Maybe we're just a little win streak away from me loving hockey again.
 
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majormet

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Interesting post....

Having followed, Islanders, Giants, Mets and Nets as a fan, you realize that the franchise is a carousel, there is a window when your team competes and then a down period leading a rebuild. A lot has to depend on drafting or getting the best pick the year that a generational player comes along.

In the case of the Isles, it was much easier to build a monster team in the 1970's because there were half the teams in the league, but they got all 4 of their core players in the draft (Potvin, Trottier, Bossy, Gillies) and then made the key trades along the way (Merrick, Butch, Langevin) and at one point after Lanny mcDonald beat them in 1977 it seems like they were a snake bitten team. They won their 4 cups, and I was rooting against the drive for five, I got Trumpified, (we are going to win so much you will be sick of winning LOL), well the 5th time around I was bored and thought that we would win 8 or 9 9 more since we had Lafontaine and Flatley coming up, well they lost to Edmonton and hung around for a few years before the team dealt Gillies and Tonellli and the rebuild was in place.

Isles rebuild #1 failed because Dave Chyzowski and Scott Scissons were colossal failures, Dean Chynoweth and Brad Dalgarno picked fights with the wrong Red Wings.

One day in 1993 with the team floating, they make the Turgeon and Steve Thomas trades and Bill Torrey's magic salvaged the rebuild for one good near Cup run in 1993 and then a terrible 1994 against the Rags with poor Ron Hextall in the net.

After that the team went many years and then ended up with the #1 pick overall and botched it going for DiPietro when they already had Luongo, that was an epic fail.

So the years in the wilderness continued with playoff teases, trading for Yashin, trading for Ryan Smyth and some really bad years came about until they finally got John Tavares, and the epic fail here is going to be the failure to keep the nucleus in play during the summer of 2016. A lot of posters on this board called for Cappy's head when we first missed the playoffs and begged for Guy Boucher, if we did that I think we would have had a better chance of keeping our core players.

JT will leave and we will draft some new guys and maybe we land a steal, but that is not the Isles for you, we end up drafting risky players more often than not.
 

Sorge Georos

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Apr 28, 2009
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Thanks for the reply majormet!

I def agree with you that the 2016 offseason was just awful for this team. The team did regress from 2014 to the year they beat the Panthers, but it was still a playoff team. And young team's are inconsistent and bounce back all the time.

But that July is when I first felt the team was going in the wrong direction. What pisses me off the most is that Snow straight up didn't want to retain Okposo. The failure to retain the core was self-inflicted and the excuses were lame and not rooted in rational decision-making. Plus it was inevitable we'd pay the price for years of piss poor development. Strome's regression still absolutely stings because he was SO good in his first full year. We need an overhaul of our development system ASAP!

I understand that success is cyclical, but I feel like the window barely opened even a crack and slammed shut within 2 years.
 
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PK Cronin

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Feb 11, 2013
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I'm too young to remember '93 but old enough to remember '94 onward...so I've had about as miserable of a time as an Islanders fan as you can. Still watch every game. It's easily the best sport and the most easily accessible. I used to be really into baseball and football, but it's too hard to follow both from outside the market and the pace of both of those games has slowed to the point that it's nearly unbearable to watch it live.
 
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majormet

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Thanks for the reply majormet!

I def agree with you that the 2016 offseason was just awful for this team. The team did regress from 2014 to the year they beat the Panthers, but it was still a playoff team. And young team's are inconsistent and bounce back all the time.

But that July is when I first felt the team was going in the wrong direction. What pisses me off the most is that Snow straight up didn't want to retain Okposo. The failure to retain the core was self-inflicted and the excuses were lame and not rooted in rational decision-making. Plus it was inevitable we'd pay the price for years of piss poor development. Strome's regression still absolutely stings because he was SO good in his first full year. We need an overhaul of our development system ASAP!

I understand that success is cyclical, but I feel like the window barely opened even a crack and slammed shut within 2 years.

You study all the successful teams in sports and they expand the window by locking up their core players, Chicago will always have Kane, Seabrook, Keith, Toews, Crawford, and replace the spare parts and stumble into some successes. Isles phase 3 of their rebuild was winning a playoff series, but if you don't sure up your core, you regress, 25% of the forwards turned in offseason, KO (2nd best scorer) Frans (3 zone player) and Martin (physicality) and they are replaced by Ladd (one dimensional slow starter), Chimera (old role player) and PAP (never even suited up).... that is on the GM and why his head should have been on a plate this offseason.

As for Strome, I feel in his case, he overachieved and the league picked up on that and he never adapted. Cappy for all the hate on the board, actually had a few players develop on his watch (Frans, CDH, KO, Martin, Hamonic, Hickey) and Strome did not.
 

majormet

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I'm too young to remember '93 but old enough to remember '94 onward...so I've had about as miserable of a time as an Islanders fan as you can. Still watch every game. It's easily the best sport and the most easily accessible. I used to be really into baseball and football, but it's too hard to follow both from outside the market and the pace of both of those games has slowed to the point that it's nearly unbearable to watch it live.

That is the beauty of hockey your team can be bad and you still will watch and there are 16 playoff spots. Baseball went bad when they focused on the pitch count, pitchers barely go into games any more and there are way too many pitching changes, game is pretty slow and boring, but I will watch but not every game

Football is 11 minutes of action over 3 hours, and the players are just less likeable these days

Basketball has declined the most, with 3 star studded teams and the rest of the league is poor
 

Sorge Georos

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I'm too young to remember '93 but old enough to remember '94 onward...so I've had about as miserable of a time as an Islanders fan as you can. Still watch every game. It's easily the best sport and the most easily accessible. I used to be really into baseball and football, but it's too hard to follow both from outside the market and the pace of both of those games has slowed to the point that it's nearly unbearable to watch it live.

Baseball's always been the #1 for me even though the rankings for me can change depending on success. There are some superfans like you whose level of dedication doesn't wane as much based on team success and I applaud you for that.

Even I can't consistently watch full baseball games like I did when I was a kid, though, so I feel ya. I just love it for it's reliability of being on everyday (some hate it for that same reason) and as a "while you're doing something else" kind of thing. Also love how you can talk stats with people without being constantly belittled and misrepresented.

Hockey will always be the #1 spectator sport, though.

Football's ads are so freaking annoying and pass interference is hurting the game. I have no problem with player safety initiatives though.
 

Sorge Georos

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That is the beauty of hockey your team can be bad and you still will watch and there are 16 playoff spots. Baseball went bad when they focused on the pitch count, pitchers barely go into games any more and there are way too many pitching changes, game is pretty slow and boring, but I will watch but not every game

Football is 11 minutes of action over 3 hours, and the players are just less likeable these days

Basketball has declined the most, with 3 star studded teams and the rest of the league is poor

Periods of relative parity are the exception and not the rule for the NBA. I was fortunate to grow up between the Lakers and LeBron dynasties so I got to experience some sort of spontaneity.

Being a Knicks fan sucks though, so I just try to follow certain players because it's easy to find highlights on YouTube.

As far as things like pitch counts and relievers, it's kind of like short shifts and safe, defensive hockey. It's not great for viewership but it's so much more efficient that it won't go away.
 

majormet

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Periods of relative parity are the exception and not the rule for the NBA. I was fortunate to grow up between the Lakers and LeBron dynasties so I got to experience some sort of spontaneity.

Being a Knicks fan sucks though, so I just try to follow certain players because it's easy to find highlights on YouTube.

As far as things like pitch counts and relievers, it's kind of like short shifts and safe, defensive hockey. It's not great for viewership but it's so much more efficient that it won't go away.

Tony Larussa was the first guy to really stretch a game, die hard Mets fan and I actually enjoyed watching the new guys come up in September, maybe I was sick of the same stale players we have had for years...
 
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Sorge Georos

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I don't even necessarily think you HAVE to retain everyone. I was fine with letting Nielsen go, because the best teams in the salary cap age can't pay so many 2nd/3rd liners in their 30s and must rely a lot on cheap ELC players. My problem was that we didn't replace them with good young players, but older worse players.
 
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Sorge Georos

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Tony Larussa was the first guy to really stretch a game, die hard Mets fan and I actually enjoyed watching the new guys come up in September, maybe I was sick of the same stale players we have had for years...

Yeah I love September roster expansion too, and you had good reason to considering the talent of your callups. Please be patient with Dom and Amed! Not everyone lights the world on fire right away.
 

majormet

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I don't even necessarily think you HAVE to retain everyone. I was fine with letting Nielsen go, because the best teams in the salary cap age can't pay so many 2nd/3rd liners in their 30s and must rely a lot on cheap ELC players. My problem was that we didn't replace them with good young players, but older worse players.
I think Nielsen was more of the core guy.... KO needed to be replaced by a younger scoring option that is going the in house route
 

majormet

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Yeah I love September roster expansion too, and you had good reason to considering the talent of your callups. Please be patient with Dom and Amed! Not everyone lights the world on fire right away.

Judge wasn't that good in 2016 and now look at him. Smith is a good player but I hope he can hit for average. Rosario looks to be the real deal. I like Nimmo too
 

Sorge Georos

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Judge wasn't that good in 2016 and now look at him. Smith is a good player but I hope he can hit for average. Rosario looks to be the real deal. I like Nimmo too

The worry with Smith was always whether the power would play, not the average. That swing is so sexy.
 

Islanders4Cups

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Sorry but you cannot compare others sports to hockey in my opinion. Hockey plays 4th rung on the ladder in the US when compared to football, baseball and basketball but it is by far the best sport and my favorite. Not even close.

I applaud you ‘90s folks for standing by your team.

That said, I grew up on LI an Islanders, Mets and Jets fan since the mid ‘70s. These are my teams and I am a lifer no matter what happens.

Each franchise has had their ups and downs (mostly downs)and each franchise IMO plays second rung to their cross town rival but who cares.

If I can stick out the last 15 years of being a Jets fan in Patriot land given the Jets history before that, that is about the best example of futility I can give. Another example growing up is rooting for the Mets in the mid 70-mid 80s while the Yanks won a bunch of WS.

All I can say is stick with your team and you will be rewarded. My point is, If the Red Sox and Cubs can do it, the Islanders will someday.
 
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Mr Misunderstood

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Apr 11, 2016
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OP, I know you're a Yankees fan but what you have written about the Islanders goes the same for the Mets. You have those years of promise with a young core 99-00, 06-07, 15-16 and then implosion for a few years.

It doesn't make sense because of the talent that has been collected and the way that the players perform when they bust onto the scene, but then you have to look at the upper level of management. Both team's high levels cannot keep themselves out of the spotlight for things that happen off the field: Wilpons with Madoff, their disconnect about Terry Collins with their GM, and overall spending (see Madoff) and then the Isles with the arena, Garth being Garth at the draft, etc.

Success always trickles down from the top. Like the Spurs for instance, I don't even know the owner/s name/s (Peter Holt apparently)! They have been the most successful team in any sport over the last 20 years and its because they set the standard that its all about winning and doing it as a team. No egos, no flair, just win. I'm sure the NY media circus plays into how much we hear about our beleaguered owners (Dolan, Woody Johnson, Wilpons) but still, its almost as if they can't get out of their own way.

All that being said, I will never stop rooting for my stupid, loser teams because that's what being a fan is all about.

Go JIMs
 
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Sorge Georos

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I still don't know how the Mets only got one playoff team out of the Reyes/Wright/Pedro core. At least you guys made a WS in 2015 though. You just can't rebuild around pitchers this day and age.
 

WagnerGrad96

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I haven't been more optimistic as an Islander fan since 1994. This is a good team and it's a great time to be an Isles fan. I loved hearing the cheering crowd in MSG last night when the Isles scored.

Apathy? I don't see it. Waning interest? Not among the Isles fans I know.
 

Bones45

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This is why people become front runners. Why torture yourself over the same lousy team, year after mind numbing year? Life to too short to root for the Isles, Mets and Jets.

I root for the Isles, but really root for all NY teams ---- and an exciting game -- aside from the Rangers. They can go suck it.
 

Mr Misunderstood

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This is why people become front runners. Why torture yourself over the same lousy team, year after mind numbing year? Life to too short to root for the Isles, Mets and Jets.

I root for the Isles, but really root for all NY teams ---- and an exciting game -- aside from the Rangers. They can go suck it.

Life is too short to argue about the Barclays Center cupholders, but, here we are
 

Strummergas

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After last season, I haven't had the same interest in the team as I have in the past; even through the dark ages of the late 90s. Maybe if they had a more impressive off-season (Duchene) it would've stoked my flames a bit more, but I was really let down by the follow-up to 2015-16. Yeah, the young players are exciting, but young players are ALWAYS exciting; potential vs. where they actually hit their ceiling. How much longer can I put my faith in "the kids"? We've seemingly been in a perpetual rebuild since Yashin was bought out. Actually, that rebuild seems to have crested with the playoff win over the Panthers. Now, the roster has turned over and our franchise player is likely to walk out the door at the end of the season. It looks like it's headed downhill yet again.

I was away for the start of the season. I missed my first opening night since who knows when. I kind of didn't care. As a season ticket holder, I haven't even been to a game yet. I kind of don't care. I haven't really had the chance to even watch them on TV; last night was the first game I saw in it's entirety. I kind of don't care. Yeah they got two points against the Rangers, but almost blew it. I should be happy that we defeated our rivals and/or upset that they almost handed the game over in the 3rd, but I kind of don't care.

I'm 40 years old. My earliest memories are of Cup #4. Aside from a couple of years in the late 80s, I've watched each season with a diehard's passion even when it was obvious that the team was terrible. When they moved to Barclays I was thrilled to finally become a season ticket holder. I've traveled to watch this team play. And this year, I kind of don't care.

I'm opting out of my auto-renew on my season tickets when that period comes up and I'm not renewing at all if John Tavares plays for another team. If he walks, I'm walking with him. Not to another franchise, just away. I'm not on board for yet another rebuild. I can no longer justify spending so much time, money, and energy following this team and just hoping that maybe one day they'll finally get it right. Hell, I'm tired of hoping that they'll even be competent franchise, let a alone a successful one.
 
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Rehabguy

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I haven't been more optimistic as an Islander fan since 1994. This is a good team and it's a great time to be an Isles fan. I loved hearing the cheering crowd in MSG last night when the Isles scored.

Apathy? I don't see it. Waning interest? Not among the Isles fans I know.


Same here. This is a fantastic team Snow has built. The offensive upside of this team is the best I've seen in decades. So much potential firepower. Good record 3-3-1 for a team with inexperienced rookies playing prominent roles and with a new top line still trying to gel. I don't know what's not to like. Super stoked about this year. They're going to go far. Book it!
 
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Bones45

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Same here. This is a fantastic team Snow has built. The offensive upside of this team is the best I've seen in decades. So much potential firepower. Good record 3-3-1 for a team with inexperienced rookies playing prominent roles and with a new top line still trying to gel. I don't know what's not to like. Super stoked about this year. They're going to go far. Book it!

Then I think your username is correct. :)
 

Strummergas

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Sep 3, 2006
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Queens, NY
All I can say is stick with your team and you will be rewarded. My point is, If the Red Sox and Cubs can do it, the Islanders will someday.

Maybe, but I don't want to be like that Ranger fan in '94 who held up the sign that said "Now I Can Die In Peace". Surely, I can spend the next 40 years doing something more constructive with my time than watching this fledgling (at best) franchise stink up the joint year after year.
 

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