Team is winning but what's with Anders Lee?

[doublechili]

Think Lee needs to play with a slower center, which the Isles really don't have since Judas betrayed us...

I actually have a hunch that Lee and Koivula might match up well eventually.

 

[majormet]

I actually have a hunch that Lee and Koivula might match up well eventually.

Yes when Lee becomes our 7 million dollar 3rd line captain like Dustin Brown, which is not optimal but somehow got LA 2 cups

 

[MJF]

If we lose again tonight and Lee comes up empty the TRADE LEE movement is only going to grow stronger.

 

[GrandmaSlices51631]

If we lose again tonight and Lee comes up empty the TRADE LEE movement is only going to grow stronger.

Kings are not particularly quick, this is going to be the game Lee likes to play. Seems to me that Lee has not fundamentally changed as a player, I don't believe he's taken a step back.

He's been slotted on a line with one of the fastest players in the league driving the line. That effects a lot more then meets the eye, Lee is finding himself playing a much different game then he is used to and it's magnifying his weaknesses. I believe he needs to be put on a line where his strengths are magnified.

I challenge anyone here that disagrees to...

1) Name 10 players in the league who are better skaters then Barzal (hell, name 5!)
2) Name 10 players in the league who are worse skaters then Lee

You're hard pressed to do either, which is why it doesn't make any sense that Lee is being deployed with him. I don't know more than Trotz and it's easy to punch letters on a keyboard I get that, but considering the discrepancy in pace and style that these two play, it seems clear the team would benefit from putting both guys in a better position to produce.

 

[LAIslanderFan]

Although this may seem like I'm exaggerating, I honestly haven't liked Lee, since after his rookie year.
Seeing him play in his first season, I thought he was going to be a great player for the Isles for years to come.
The only issue I had, was his poor skating ability. My assumption, was that he would work hard on that in the offseason and improve. That clearly never happened and that's on him. Even when he was scoring all those goal playing with Tavares, I didn't like the fact that he was so one dimensional and had no imprint on the ice other than in front of the opponents net. Essentially Tavares and Bailey were doing all the work, taking the hits, battling and Lee was just a totem pole in front of the net. Seeing Tavares and Bailey carry the puck through the neutral zone and not even give Lee a look or a thought to pass it to him, was clearly a huge problem. Now that he's needed to do more than just stand in front of the net, he's a huge liability. The idea that Bazal is to blame for his lack of scoring is ridiculous.
I would think most good players in the league would love to play with Barzal.

Lee going forward is going to be a big problem. The only way to hide his deficiencies is to try and disguise them playing on a line with highly skilled players like Barzal, but that's just going to hinder Barzal's game. As drastic as this may sound, I wonder of the Isles can move him and if another team would even consider taking him. He'll never ne more that a 20 goal scorer and that will even be a challenge going forward in the next few years.

 

[ThreeLeftSkates]

He'll never ne more that a 20 goal scorer and that will even be a challenge going forward in the next few years.

He has scored 102 in he past three years, 13th best in the league. This sentence will not age well, barring injury.

 

[Strummergas]

He has scored 102 in he past three years, 13th best in the league. This sentence will not age well, barring injury.

There are some posters that you can bet good money on the complete opposite of what they predict will happen and win almost every time.

 

[Islanders4Cups]

Lee is a warrior. Downplay him all you want, but there aren’t many players that go to the dirty areas, take the punishment Lee does and sustains. Lee is a great captain and a very good player on this team.

 

[buud]

take the punishment Lee does and sustains

don't know if anyone else saw, but Lee seemed to really stun Nurse, a few games ago, with a solid body. he is a rock.

i also think he improved his skating. his edgework? probably will always be amongst the bottom dwellers, but his straight away speed is decent, for a guy his size. his stride is not real fluent, but it is real strong.

nobody really talks about his vision and hands, which are pretty good too. he doesn't make a lot of bad decisions, works his ass off, and is a great leader, a guy that is admired and respected by those who know him. players, coaches, staff, media.

i have no problem with his contract/value.

 

[MJF]

don't know if anyone else saw, but Lee seemed to really stun Nurse, a few games ago, with a solid body. he is a rock.

i also think he improved his skating. his edgework? probably will always be amongst the bottom dwellers, but his straight away speed is decent, for a guy his size. his stride is not real fluent, but it is real strong.

nobody really talks about his vision and hands, which are pretty good too. he doesn't make a lot of bad decisions, works his ass off, and is a great leader, a guy that is admired and respected by those who know him. players, coaches, staff, media.

i have no problem with his contract/value.

Lee's hands were always A+. Anyone who can deflect shots out of the air like he can never should have his vision and hands questioned.

 

[Islanders4Cups]

Captain Lee standing up for his teammate, fighting 6’6” Brian Boyle last night and earning a Gordie Howe hat trick be it an empty netter.

Lee is starting to put up points as well.

Last 7 games
4 goals 4 assists.

Great leader.

 

[bronxirish]

Although this may seem like I'm exaggerating, I honestly haven't liked Lee, since after his rookie year.
Seeing him play in his first season, I thought he was going to be a great player for the Isles for years to come.
The only issue I had, was his poor skating ability. My assumption, was that he would work hard on that in the offseason and improve. That clearly never happened and that's on him. Even when he was scoring all those goal playing with Tavares, I didn't like the fact that he was so one dimensional and had no imprint on the ice other than in front of the opponents net. Essentially Tavares and Bailey were doing all the work, taking the hits, battling and Lee was just a totem pole in front of the net. Seeing Tavares and Bailey carry the puck through the neutral zone and not even give Lee a look or a thought to pass it to him, was clearly a huge problem. Now that he's needed to do more than just stand in front of the net, he's a huge liability. The idea that Bazal is to blame for his lack of scoring is ridiculous.
I would think most good players in the league would love to play with Barzal.

Lee going forward is going to be a big problem. The only way to hide his deficiencies is to try and disguise them playing on a line with highly skilled players like Barzal, but that's just going to hinder Barzal's game. As drastic as this may sound, I wonder of the Isles can move him and if another team would even consider taking him. He'll never ne more that a 20 goal scorer and that will even be a challenge going forward in the next few years.

Can you elaborate on how Lee hasn’t worked on his skating? You clearly must have some inside info to be so sure that the guy hasn’t worked in the off-season on his skating. Why else would someone make such a strong argument about something? Do tell.

 

[crasherino]

Captain Lee standing up for his teammate, fighting 6’6” Brian Boyle last night and earning a Gordie Howe hat trick be it an empty netter.

Lee is starting to put up points as well.

Last 7 games
4 goals 4 assists.

Great leader.

It worked out fine yesterday but that move could have really backfired. There are times when you step up and settle a score. And then there are times you have to be patient and get your payback. Lee did what he felt he had to do - I respect that. I can't kill him for it, but we lost him for 17 minutes and could have had the game go in a different direction. I'm sure Pelech and the rest of the team appreciated it though.

 

[Mr Misunderstood]

Captain Lee standing up for his teammate, fighting 6’6” Brian Boyle last night and earning a Gordie Howe hat trick be it an empty netter.

Lee is starting to put up points as well.

Last 7 games
4 goals 4 assists.

Great leader.

December is usually when Lee starts hitting his stride

 

[ThreeLeftSkates]

It worked out fine yesterday but that move could have really backfired. There are times when you step up and settle a score. And then there are times you have to be patient and get your payback. Lee did what he felt he had to do - I respect that. I can't kill him for it, but we lost him for 17 minutes and could have had the game go in a different direction. I'm sure Pelech and the rest of the team appreciated it though.

The 10 minute misconduct was not expected, I doubt it is common for the circumstances of the play. He was just being a good captain, delivering a message.

 

[CupHolders]

View attachment 290997

December is usually when Lee starts hitting his stride

Well yeah... There’s a reason why it’s called... ‘ders’cember!

 

[Islanders4Cups]

It worked out fine yesterday but that move could have really backfired. There are times when you step up and settle a score. And then there are times you have to be patient and get your payback. Lee did what he felt he had to do - I respect that. I can't kill him for it, but we lost him for 17 minutes and could have had the game go in a different direction. I'm sure Pelech and the rest of the team appreciated it though.

I understand your point, but I think the Isles have been soft in this area in past years. Lee saw it and didn’t accept it no matter who it was. It sends a message not only to the opponent but other players on the team that everyone has your back.

I can tell you, no one would take a run at the 80s Islanders without some immediate payback. It’s a tight knit group. The players talk about it. It is an unbelievable locker room we have here. Lee did a great job leading as a captain.

 

[Costigan77]

I understand your point, but I think the Isles have been soft in this area in past years. Lee saw it and didn’t accept it no matter who it was. It sends a message not only to the opponent but other players on the team that everyone has your back.

I can tell you, no one would take a run at the 80s Islanders without some immediate payback. It’s a tight knit group. The players talk about it. It is an unbelievable locker room we have here. Lee did a great job leading as a captain.

Nobody ran at Pelech. It was a clean hit and Pelech didn’t protect himself. Boyle also showed immense restraint in not destroying Lee. I really don’t understand why Islander fans got hyped up by this “fight.”

Also maybe Pelech will finally find a stick that isn’t made of toothpicks

 

[Islanders4Cups]

Nobody ran at Pelech. It was a clean hit and Pelech didn’t protect himself. Boyle also showed immense restraint in not destroying Lee. I really don’t understand why Islander fans got hyped up by this “fight.”

Also maybe Pelech will finally find a stick that isn’t made of toothpicks

Because the mere fact that Lee got in there and did it despite the mismatch, despite the fact that Pelech put himself in that position. Lee didn’t see it that way and responded the right way even if he was right or wrong. If Boyle restrained himself, which is your opinion, that’s his issue. The fact the Cats were behind, maybe he missed an opportunity to lift his team or maybe he saw he had a powerplay locked up already. I think Lee tied him up nicely.
Like I said, the Isles had been slow to respond in previous seasons and this was refreshing to see.

 

[crasherino]

Because the mere fact that Lee got in there and did it despite the mismatch, despite the fact that Pelech put himself in that position. Lee didn’t see it that way and responded the right way even if he was right or wrong. If Boyle restrained himself, which is your opinion, that’s his issue. The fact the Cats were behind, maybe he missed an opportunity to lift his team or maybe he saw he had a powerplay locked up already. I think Lee tied him up nicely.
Like I said, the Isles had been slow to respond in previous seasons and this was refreshing to see.

I’m all for standing up for your teammate in the appropriate time and I for one LOVE hockey fights. But I don’t think that was the time and place for that. He took himself out of the game for 17 minutes and got his ass handed to him. There’s something to be said for standing up for your teammates, sure. But there’s also something to be said about taking a clean hit like a man dusting yourself off (or getting stitched up as the case may be) and moving on. It’s one thing if a team was taking liberties all game. That’s not what happened. It was a clean hit and Pelech hit himself with his own stick.

I love Lee and like the fact that he wants to stick up for his teammates but not sure that was the right time to do it. And we have Ross Johnston to do that if need be.

 

[broncs918]

I said it when he signed ,worst contract on the team...one dimensional player ,great hands in front of the net but offers nothing else.
Great human off the ice but is probably only worth $3 mil a yr,May score 40 but horrible D and slow skating will give up 50 ,puts teammates in bad defensive position to cover for him and is a turnover machine,pay attention to him ,as soon as he touches the puck the opposing team has it.

 

[Strummergas]

Also maybe Pelech will finally find a stick that isn’t made of toothpicks

Yeah, him and the rest of the League. That's just the way sticks are made now. They crumble if you look at them the wrong way.

And I seriously can't believe you're taking exception with the team sticking up for each other; especially during the regular season. If it's the playoffs, I doubt you see that same reaction from Lee. He probably goes up to Boyle and "has a word with him".

Besides, when was the last time an instigator penalty was actually called? Seems like an eternity to me. Sure after watching the replay, the hit seemed clean. But in the moment, it was probably pretty difficult to ascertain. Boyle hit Pelech and he crumpled to the ice bleeding from the mouth. That's what Lee saw and he responded as if it was a dirty play; because clean hits usually don't have that type of result.

 

[Strummergas]

I said it when he signed ,worst contract on the team...one dimensional player ,great hands in front of the net but offers nothing else.
Great human off the ice but is probably only worth $3 mil a yr,May score 40 but horrible D and slow skating will give up 50 ,puts teammates in bad defensive position to cover for him and is a turnover machine,pay attention to him ,as soon as he touches the puck the opposing team has it.

I have a soft spot for posters who value being right to the detriment of the team, as opposed to being wrong to the benefit of the team.

And said posters who declare their victory after one quarter of the first year of a player's new contract are even cooler.

 

[CupHolders]

Don't see the problem here...

It was a perfectly clean hit by Boyle. In normal speed didn't look clean. Lee felt he had to stand up for his teammate. Just as the Isles stood up for him on a clean hit by Kornwall a year ago. In both cases the team made sure to win.

Pelech owes Anders a beer, Anders owes Boyle a beer, Johnston owes Brady Tkachuk a clean face punch, just because...

Let's keep it moving.

 

[PK Cronin]

Nobody ran at Pelech. It was a clean hit and Pelech didn’t protect himself. Boyle also showed immense restraint in not destroying Lee. I really don’t understand why Islander fans got hyped up by this “fight.”

Also maybe Pelech will finally find a stick that isn’t made of toothpicks

Not sure why you think Boyle was taking it easy on him, he was very obviously trying to throw punches but couldn't get his balance right.

I’m all for standing up for your teammate in the appropriate time and I for one LOVE hockey fights. But I don’t think that was the time and place for that. He took himself out of the game for 17 minutes and got his ass handed to him. There’s something to be said for standing up for your teammates, sure. But there’s also something to be said about taking a clean hit like a man dusting yourself off (or getting stitched up as the case may be) and moving on. It’s one thing if a team was taking liberties all game. That’s not what happened. It was a clean hit and Pelech hit himself with his own stick.

I love Lee and like the fact that he wants to stick up for his teammates but not sure that was the right time to do it. And we have Ross Johnston to do that if need be.

I didn't have a problem with the hit, but I also don't have a problem with Lee stepping up and fighting in that particular instance. Pelech grabs his face so Lee probably thought it was a high hit, it's very hard to tell in the moment and I don't blame him for stepping up. Team toughness, players willing to take hits, give hits, and fight, goes a lot further than having designated guys who are willing to drop the gloves. Pelech didn't really complain I don't think and came back after getting stitched up, that's where the thing stopped. It's not as if the Islanders were targeting Boyle or any Panthers player after that play, so I think he dusted himself off and got back out there too.