Sportsnet: "Islanders’ Mathew Barzal: ‘I’d love to play my career on Long Island’

[Pure Slaughter Value]

6. The original arena host Jill and her modeling history.

I miss Deidre, one of the original Ice Girls/Shovel Chicks.

 

[mm11]

kid blazed onto the NHL scene playing center as a 20-year-old and put up 85 big ones. Playing for a coach that may unshackle him, I suspect those numbers again. He has won NHL hardware and has won multiple playoff series against guys like crosby, mallkin (2X) , The great 8, Backstrom, kutzetnov, Barkov, huberdeau, Giroux, and Couturier to name a few. #13 should get his payday from the NYI considering he publically stated he likes it on Long Island. time will tell where the cookie crumbles I guess

Yes, left out also beat Pastranak, Bergevin and Marchand in the playoffs as well. All this before age 25. Kid is just going to get better and better and entering his prime. Isles could make out like bandits, signing him to a 8ish per year for 8 years

 

[CupHolders]

Do you know our history post Dynasty?

1. We had owners that owned the team solely to prove to the NFL they could run a football team. Once that bid was rejected we were run into the ground

2. The team was then sold to a man with no money. Literally didn't have the money in order to purchase the team but the league vetted him as viable. He served time in prison.

3. Don Maloney was our GM

4. Mike Milbury was our GM

5. Charles Wang was willing to spend a billion of his own money to renovate the Nassau Coliseum. It was squashed by local government. Once his bid failed we were moved to a Basketball arena where the biggest supporter was an SUV that owned one section of the seating at the end boards.

There's just way too many other things to mention but the above gives you a good idea that Isles fans generally don't get too panicky about the franchise. We have a brand new arena and billionaire owners. If we have to trade a player like Barzal it'd suck but most of us will deal with it.

Maybe hit the bottle pretty hard but panic? Nah.

Thanks to the current ownership group of Malkin/Ledekey the Isles are now one owner above 50%… for major owners who have NOT been incarcerated at some point in their lives.

Most fans remember Spano. But there was also Kumar (Wang’s partner) Gluckstern (one of the “Pigs at the Trough” group) and half of the “Gang of Four” with Stephen Walsh and Paul Greenwood.

That’s five previous owners who have served prison time for financial crimes. Leaving six owners who have not… yet.

 

[MakeTheGoalsLarger]

Is UBS arena in
Long Island?

 

[Mint Berry Crunch]

Is UBS arena in
Long Island?

No, but it is on Long Island.

 

[miscs75]

I miss Deidre, one of the original Ice Girls/Shovel Chicks.

The original favorite of quite a few fans. That whole crew was legendary. The second major wave with those twins and Tattoo Lou’s was pretty epic too.

Thanks to the current ownership group of Malkin/Ledekey the Isles are now one owner above 50%… for major owners who have NOT been incarcerated at some point in their lives.

Most fans remember Spano. But there was also Kumar (Wang’s partner) Gluckstern (one of the “Pigs at the Trough” group) and half of the “Gang of Four” with Stephen Walsh and Paul Greenwood.

That’s five previous owners who have served prison time for financial crimes. Leaving six owners who have not… yet.

Gluckstern and Milstein, the mall moguls. Weren’t they the ones who wanted to fold the team and build a mall where NVMC is.

 

[PeE eL DuBoiS]

"It's really great to be here in *pause* Long Island with you"

He's going to leave and play in Arizona

 

[Rubi]

Is there a more jaded group than Islander fans?
They do have good reason though.
Look on the bright side.. the Leafs are saddled with a bloated $11M contract and they still haven't won a cup and many of their fans are regretting ever signing him.
Honestly I don't think Barzal is the guy thats going to bring the cup back to Long Island.

 

[Foppberg]

Is there a more jaded group than Islander fans?
They do have good reason though.
Look on the bright side.. the Leafs are saddled with a bloated $11M contract and they still haven't won a cup and many of their fans are regretting ever signing him.
Honestly I don't think Barzal is the guy thats going to bring the cup back to Long Island.

Alone? Probably not. Not everybody can have a McDavid/MacKinnon/Leon/Barkov etc

 

[mm11]

Alone? Probably not. Not everybody can have a McDavid/MacKinnon/Leon/Barkov etc

Barzal did go head-to-head with Barkov in the playoffs and did kinda win that series. #13 certainly could use some forward help though

 

[mm11]

Thanks to the current ownership group of Malkin/Ledekey the Isles are now one owner above 50%… for major owners who have NOT been incarcerated at some point in their lives.

Most fans remember Spano. But there was also Kumar (Wang’s partner) Gluckstern (one of the “Pigs at the Trough” group) and half of the “Gang of Four” with Stephen Walsh and Paul Greenwood.

That’s five previous owners who have served prison time for financial crimes. Leaving six owners who have not… yet.

Think mike Milbury said the NYI lead the league in owners who did prison time.

 

[AvroArrow]

So what's the consensus about Barzal as a player ? Just wanna confirm if he's a superstar or overrated before he potentially leaves

 

[miscs75]

"It's really great to be here in *pause* Long Island with you"

He's going to leave and play in Arizona

His name isn’t Auston Matthews. He doesn’t have ties to that hockey hotbed.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

So what's the consensus about Barzal as a player ? Just wanna confirm if he's a superstar or overrated before he potentially leaves

I actually think the answer can be both. A player can both be a star AND be overrated.

A 90 point player is a star. If people talk about that 90 point player as though he's a perennial 120 point player and one of the top 2 players in hockey, he's overrated. Both descriptions can apply to him.

 

[MikeyMike01]

Is UBS arena in
Long Island?

No, but it is on Long Island.

Should’ve built an entirely underground arena smh

 

[seabass45]

Tavares said this.
Gaudreau said this.
It's almost better when they say that they want to be paid a boatload of cash.

Didn’t JT Miller also say this? The whole situation is dumb, there aren’t many players who respond to the question of if they want to extend with “no”. Some of them are honest about it and others less so. We’ll reevaluate in a year and if he decides he wants to go to UFA then I hope they trade him.

 

[Bizz]

translation: "I'm totes signing a 8x11 with the Maple Leafs as soon as I'm a free agent!"

 

[Pure Slaughter Value]

Didn’t JT Miller also say this? The whole situation is dumb, there aren’t many players who respond to the question of if they want to extend with “no”. Some of them are honest about it and others less so. We’ll reevaluate in a year and if he decides he wants to go to UFA then I hope they trade him.

Has to be "then they have to trade him at the deadline".

 

[WangMustGo]

we went through this with Tavares, and I don’t believe a single word of his agent crafted apology. His uncle played with one team his entire career (the buffalo bandits) and John swore that was his goal. He lied every time he spoke once he met aryne. the day he met her was the day the lies started.

hopefully Barzal is different but if he isn’t signed by the deadline he needs to be traded for all we can get. Go look up jezebel in your dictionary. Next to it you’ll see Dr Aryne Tavares’ picture. The Leafs were cursed with bad Karma the moment Tavares signed there. And they’ll never sniff a Stanley Cup till he’s gone and they deserve it. Funny thing is quite a few leaf fan bloggers are coming to the same conclusions and post that they can’t get rid of him soon enough. Calling him the ultimate LOSER

and Dr Tavares may she continue to infect all her patients with her STD’s since she has publicly has come out complaining about islanders fans creating issues with her medical practice. But as I say she brought all on herself. She even had an account on hfboards where she tried unsuccessfully to say she wasn’t at fault.

No they dont neec to trade him at the deadline. He will be an RFA at the end of the year. Barzal isnt going anywhere step away from the ledge.

 

[Petey But Really Jim]

we went through this with Tavares, and I don’t believe a single word of his agent crafted apology. His uncle played with one team his entire career (the buffalo bandits) and John swore that was his goal. He lied every time he spoke once he met aryne. the day he met her was the day the lies started.

hopefully Barzal is different but if he isn’t signed by the deadline he needs to be traded for all we can get. Go look up jezebel in your dictionary. Next to it you’ll see Dr Aryne Tavares’ picture. The Leafs were cursed with bad Karma the moment Tavares signed there. And they’ll never sniff a Stanley Cup till he’s gone and they deserve it. Funny thing is quite a few leaf fan bloggers are coming to the same conclusions and post that they can’t get rid of him soon enough. Calling him the ultimate LOSER

and Dr Tavares may she continue to infect all her patients with her STD’s since she has publicly has come out complaining about islanders fans creating issues with her medical practice. But as I say she brought all on herself. She even had an account on hfboards where she tried unsuccessfully to say she wasn’t at fault.

John Tavares is a loser star. He’s like Kirk Cousins.

 

[BelovedIsles]

Barzal has a lot to prove this year. Right now, he's overrated and barely earning his 7 mil. He's at a crossroads of his career. Are you a franchise center, or not? Can you carry a team? I see PPG potential, don't see him carrying an offense though; he needs skill to potentiate his. Would like to see him with more talent on his wings. Would also like to see him produce more on his own. There are just a lot of question marks with him. Put up another 65 pt season, he doesn't deserve more than 8.

 

[QcFlames12]

Didn’t JT Miller also say this? The whole situation is dumb, there aren’t many players who respond to the question of if they want to extend with “no”. Some of them are honest about it and others less so. We’ll reevaluate in a year and if he decides he wants to go to UFA then I hope they trade him.

Yeah Miller said he wanted bank.

I understand it's a PR move and such but it almost always ends up burning the fan base.

Players should be able to choose where they play and live but telling the fan base something that might not be true isn't the right way to go about things.

 

[TGWL]

Barzal has a lot to prove this year. Right now, he's overrated and barely earning his 7 mil. He's at a crossroads of his career. Are you a franchise center, or not? Can you carry a team? I see PPG potential, don't see him carrying an offense though; he needs skill to potentiate his. Would like to see him with more talent on his wings. Would also like to see him produce more on his own. There are just a lot of question marks with him. Put up another 65 pt season, he doesn't deserve more than 8.

It's make or break year for his pay day, for sure. If he is going to command 8.5/9 million, he'll have to produce. The cap is going to go up eventually and you don't want to lose a player like Barzal, but you can't just hand out contracts that high while receiving production that doesn't justify it. There's always the losing the player vs being slightly overpaid argument, but you need better production from him to justify it.

Islanders should be different. I think many non-Islanders fans are in agreement with Islanders fans that he offense will be better utilized with more freedom, whether that takes a slight hit on the backend team defense or not, it probably needs to happen.

 

[Foppberg]

Barzal has a lot to prove this year. Right now, he's overrated and barely earning his 7 mil. He's at a crossroads of his career. Are you a franchise center, or not? Can you carry a team? I see PPG potential, don't see him carrying an offense though; he needs skill to potentiate his. Would like to see him with more talent on his wings. Would also like to see him produce more on his own. There are just a lot of question marks with him. Put up another 65 pt season, he doesn't deserve more than 8.

He kind of reminds me of Duchene in a way. For years he underperformed based on the amount of skill and potential he had, Barzal is a much much smarter player though, I fully expect him to have a great year with him playing for a big contract + away from the suffocating Trotz system.

 

[Pens x]

“ “I want to stay on Long Island... I haven’t thought about being anywhere except with the Islanders.”
-John Tavares, 2018

Only one way to prove it, Barzal. I wonder if Lamoriello is will botch this.