Tavares and the excuses

[GrandmaSlices51631]

I do, it's just that I don't think it's all that relevant to an arena project. Certainly not something that would sink it, everything else being equal.

Fair enough, the way I see it is the Islanders were bottom-5 in attendance in 16-17 - both in terms of Overall Ticket Sales (537,149) and Capacity (82.9%) - Now, if you take a look around any Islanders game, ~90% of the Jerseys fans are wearing say Tavares.

So, you take the big draw out of the equation and attendance is probably going to go down. How much, we don't know, but the Islanders minus Tavares almost certainly means decreased attendance. Coupled with the fact the team did not make the playoffs last year and does not look like a playoff caliber team this year, would you pour hundreds of millions of dollars into an arena and hope for the best?

From a sheer marketability standpoint, it raises major questions. The Islanders are bizarre enough in the world of New York sports, who do you put on the billboard, Leddy?

 

[xECK29x]

Right now he isn't worth anywhere near what he is going to get.

 

[Islesfan22]

Wow just saw JT missed empty net. Even had time to stop the puck. Struggling with confidence right now but im sure he will turn it around

 

[FourRings]

Wonder if the contract is distracting him.

 

[Kevin27NYI]

Last guy I thought would be distracted

 

[67 others]

I find it comical that for the past few years Tavares proves to be a slow starter(Compared to his 2nd half production) and every year people start hitting the panic button.

Trust me as an avid hockey fantasy pool guy that I am always trying to buy low on JT early on. Scoring is not what it used to be. 67-75 points is good enough to be top 10-20 in scoring the past few years.

12 goals and 14 assist in 32 games in 14-15 "What's wrong with Tavares? He should be over a PPG"
Finishes season with 86 points

13 goals and 10 assists in 31 games in 15-16 "What's wrong with Tavares? This is Horrid!"
Finishes season with 70 points.

9 goals and 14 assists in 32 games 16-17 "What's wrong with Tavares?? OMG, he hates us and wants to leave"
Finishes season with 66 points in 77 games. 6 more points and he is near top 10 in scoring and he missed 5 games.

Tavares is routinely a strong 2nd half scorer. So while these rookies are blowing their gas cans scoring at a goal per game pace, keep in mind by game 20, team defenses start to tighten up, goalie stats get better and 99% of rookies cool off drastically as their body realizes it cannot push itself that hard in this 82 game a year league

 

[Bones45]

I think there is a good chance the isles win the Belmont bid and then we would see the owners offer Tavares a huge, 8 year extension. Even if he has another down year.
They are not going to want to lose a 27 year old, franchise player.

Isles win Belmont bid, JT signs elsewhere, owners are stuck paying for arena for 4000 nightly fans. Isles return to 1996 mentality. Out of town Isles fans, don't understand what the big fuss is about.

Mark it down.

 

[BelovedIsles]

The Islanders are bizarre enough in the world of New York sports, who do you put on the billboard, Leddy?

None other than Alan Quine.

 

[Richie Daggers Crime]

From a sheer marketability standpoint, it raises major questions.

The arena is a long-term, 20+ year project. Viability can't and won't hinge on marketing one dude, no matter how good he is, IMO. If the people negotiating this project are that callow, then it's doomed.

 

[BMOK33]

He's a slow starter and he's also the streakiest professional athlete I've seen other than maybe Carlos Beltran who would regularly dissapear for 6-8 games at a time. In past years when Tavares has gone cold the team has generally gotten scoring from elsewhere and usually did well in 14-15 and 15-16 for the most part in games where he didn't score. That's not happening right now though.

 

[macleod50]

He'll be fine.

 

[GrandmaSlices51631]

The arena is a long-term, 20+ year project. Viability can't and won't hinge on marketing one dude, no matter how good he is, IMO. If the people negotiating this project are that callow, then it's doomed.

IMO it's more a matter of prudence. Sure an Arena is a long term investment and an extremely costly one at that. For a team that is bottom-5 in overall attendance, losing JT would make the first few years at Al Arbour Arena very interesting and not in a good way.

I know everyone is gung-ho about the prospect of a new arena. But at the end of the day, the team needs to be competitive. The Baby Booming generation of Islander die-hards will not be around forever, with no star and n0 playoffs I see the whole project as a potential big time failure. Also factor in Long Island flight, which is a real phenomenon, even native Islanders are settling down elsewhere to raise families.

These are the guys who talked about growing a fan base in Brooklyn, where is that fan base? (I can almost guarantee we will be a bottom-5 team in terms of % Capacity)
These are the guys who supposedly interviewed every name in Hockey, to appoint a new team president, where is he?

Ledecky and Malkin have deep pockets but they have not steered this ship out of danger, in fact the organization is lacking stability. What they do is their prerogative but a new arena with no playoff success, no superstar and Garth Snow in charge sounds an Arena that on a good night might have 8,000 people there.

 

[Richie Daggers Crime]

IMO it's more a matter of prudence.

I hear you. I just disagree. I think it'd be overwhelmingly more prudent, from an investment/business standpoint, to be pragmatic and make the arena an attraction independent of hockey personnel, because that's always in flux and isn't something that can be anticipated or counted on. Honestly, the amount that Tavares, the player, can move the needle, aside from fan pressure (which may be the source of all of this nonsense), is minimal.

Just my 2¢. I understand and respect your perspective.

 

[webersshot]

Out of curiosity what would you guys be willing to give up for max pacioretty. I ask only because his contract is up in 2 years and he has the most trade value on our team.

 

[periferal]

You guys are sick and need your heads examined.

Literally my thought to any fan who thinks garth snow will lead us to a Stanley Cup.

 

[periferal]

Sigh... These posts are the equivalent of the "Shoooot!" morons at games. Tired, predictable, vapid and ignorant.

Never agreed with you more.

 

[LeapOnOver]

Tavares has always had ebbs and flows. This is nothing new. However, even when he's snake bit he's still commanding the game. This thread is ridiculous. I've said before I'd trade Tavares if the price is right, but to say he hasn't separated himself from the rest of the class is absurd. Guy controls the puck every shift. Even when he's not scoring he's still wearing down the opposing D. He's an absolute machine and not all of what he does translates to the scoreboard. Close this thread up!

 

[Kevin27NYI]

Out of curiosity what would you guys be willing to give up for max pacioretty. I ask only because his contract is up in 2 years and he has the most trade value on our team.

Beauviller, 2018 first, 2018 second and Kulemin.

 

[Goombha]

I get that hating Tavares is the cool thing to do right now, but to say that he doesn't want to be here is not an only an exaggeration but is the definition of reading between the lines. If Tavares has a bad game it does not mean he is thinking of leaving, it may just mean he had a bad game.

Tavares should not be playing with both Eberle and Lee. It is fascinating to me that posters JUST NOW are figuring out Tavares has always been a bit of a streaky player. Stop grasping for imaginary straws.

You sure do know a lot about everyone and everything.

 

[Goombha]

Ho-Sang can really help him out right now. He's got plenty of alarm clocks to share.

 

[Strummergas]

Vintage HF Board thread right here folks.

 

[Jester9881]

It's been six games. Of those games, only one team that will not factor into a race for the division lead this season (Buffalo). Four of the remaining 5 are known for strong team defense, with two of those teams goaltenders completely standing on their heads (StL/Ana). Only one of the four losses wasn't close (a blowout), and it happened in that teams home opener, against a top defensive team playing a Vezina caliber goaltender.

Just thought this discussion could use some context

 

[Goombha]

Kane and Crosby - 8 pts in 6 games; Mcdavid - 5 pts in 4 games; Tavares 3 pts in 6 games. Surely it must be the opponents each of these guys have faced.

 

[Doshell Propivo]

Kane and Crosby - 8 pts in 6 games; Mcdavid - 5 pts in 4 games; Tavares 3 pts in 6 games. Surely it must be the opponents each of these guys have faced.

What exactly is the point of this post? All three of those players are better than Tavares and the fact that they have more points than him should not be a surprise.

But more importantly, is this somehow supposed to prove that Tavares "sucks???" Cherry picking stats (6 games into the season!) is idiotic. Sometimes I feel like Islanders fans have the attention span of a gnat.

 

[BelovedIsles]

What exactly is the point of this post? All three of those players are better than Tavares and the fact that they have more points than him should not be a surprise.

But more importantly, is this somehow supposed to prove that Tavares "sucks???" Cherry picking stats (6 games into the season!) is idiotic. Sometimes I feel like Islanders fans have the attention span of a gnat.

JT can flirt with Kane's echelon.

Truth be told though, JT has been giving up on plays, not fighting as hard for the puck, losing puck battles (which is his bread and butter) making poor decisions with the puck. Not a good start.