The Islanders aren't boring

[Ingvar]

The Islanders are boring but there’s nothing wrong about it - there’s no wrong way to win. But that doesn’t mean I have to like them and I was pretty happy when they lost - it will make finals much more entertaining.

 

[Ms Maggie]

Full disclosure, Pens fan.

Yeah, they're boring. Not drive an ice pick into your ear boring, but kinda boring.

Who cares? I'll take a boring, winning team.

 

[HugginThePost]

I guess the point is for people who don't like the Isles to complain about the way the team plays, and to try to minimize their success.

Personally, I don't see a huge difference between a forward or defenceman blocking a shot and the goalie doing the same thing. I understand that some people are only interested in goals, but don't understand why preventing them is so bad.

I don't think taking hitting out of the game would be good. It's one of the biggest selling points of the game in the less sophisticated markets, which is where the league is struggling most. I do agree that the league should seriously come down hard on the type of hits that are most likely to cause injuries.

One of the best ways to attract better players is by having success. It's also the best way to attract fans and increase revenue.

These past two years, where the team has been much more successful, are a good sign, and the new arena will be another huge plus for the team. Team revenue went down in both the 16/17 and the 17/18 seasons. It was up, and the highest ever, last season. Winning is good, and most of the team's fans, who are the ones who generate most of the revenue, certainly don't find it boring.

I think you may be overestimating the number of people on here that don't "like" the Islanders. I truly believe it's just a case of them not playing an "entertaining" brand of hockey. Unless you're a fan of the team, it's hard to watch. You can pull out all the stats you want, the eye test proves them to be a dull team. They sit back and wait for the other team to make a mistake.

No difference than watching a counter striker in Martial Arts. Sit back, sit back, sit back see an opening and try and get your shot off. Most of the time the attacking participant appears to be more exciting.

It's no different than back in the day with the Devils.....all but Devils fans hated their play style. But, it won cups. I'm glad that Tampa made it through, because if it was Dallas and the Islanders, each waiting for the other team to make a mistake, it would have made for a long series.

 

[HugginThePost]

Wow, you drastically misunderstood the whole Cup winning teams/Copy-Cat league part. The whole reason everyone is happy the Islanders lost was because IF THEY WON, everyone would copy their style of "making hockey boring." That was the argument. It wasn't anointing us champions -- especially when we were down 3-1 in the series and I've included "Tampa is just better" in like, 90% of my posts the last two weeks.

I'm glad you found the Blues not entertaining, because THAT was the point. All good teams who win have to play good defense. It's been half the game for 125 years (Even if your "good defense" is nothing more than having Fuhr or Hasek save your bacon 60 times).

So when I see 10 Cup Champions playing better defense than us, but we're the ones called boring; it's a little frustrating... An example of that would be THIS POST:




I hate the Penguins, too, And when they were good and winning, they limited shots, limited zone access, blocked shots, held teams to 2.2 goals per game and scored slightly more than their opponents.

This is why exciting Edmonton, exciting Toronto, exciting Colorado all lost. And why after exciting Tampa lost in the first round last year, they spent their entire 2019-20 season working on adding defensive structure to their game and becoming GOOD defensively. They switched from being a "Let Vasilevskiy bail out the skaters 40 times a game like Hasek's Sabres" to "let's play a COMPLETE game."

We all know the Islanders forwards aren't dynamically gifted like Tampa, Toronto or Colorado. Tampa tried playing Freewheeling Beautiful Offensive Hockey last season and it did not go so well. So this season, the Lightning are basically playing "ISLANDERS HOCKEY with gifted scorers" and we're playing Islanders hockey with hard-working forwards. And because of that, we're boring and they remain exciting.

I would be willing to bet they had those stats because they had possession of the puck the majority of the time. Yes, good defense is critical in winning cups, but so is having possession of the puck. I don't know the stats, for the TBL vs. NYI series, but I'm guessing it's pretty skewed one way.

Again, when most of the game is spent in your own zone, with all five players boxing out the goal and blocking shots, it gets old....in a hurry.

Also, Colorado didn't lose because they are an exciting team that doesn't play defence, they lost because they lost their starting goalie nad the back up couldn't get the job done when they needed him.

You could say the same about the Oilers goalies, they both got outplayed by Crawford.

What I'm saying is you can't look at a series and say, "Oh, it was this one thing".

Luck, as always, played a big part in some of these series to.

 

[KevFu]

I would be willing to bet they had those stats because they had possession of the puck the majority of the time. Yes, good defense is critical in winning cups, but so is having possession of the puck. I don't know the stats, for the TBL vs. NYI series, but I'm guessing it's pretty skewed one way.

Again, when most of the game is spent in your own zone, with all five players boxing out the goal and blocking shots, it gets old....in a hurry.

But that's what the Islanders do... they try to get the puck and hold it a really long time and only take a shot when it's a perfect shot. People saying Barzal is "selfish" for holding onto the puck so long...THAT'S THE STRATEGY.

The whole Corsi/Fenwick analytical era is built on the premise that "you have to have the puck to shoot the puck." The Islanders generally have terrible CF/FF percentages because they realize that shooting the puck... GIVES IT AWAY and you have to go get it.

So in Game 6 (without our top defenseman), NBC was showing possession time; and it was like 18/15 last time I saw it on the screen early in the third period. The shots were way more lopsided than the time with the puck. Now, what we DO WITH IT, maybe not all that exciting to you (although I don't see how people could say that about Barzal or our fourth line forechecking and cycling with big hits). Remember the delayed penalty call where the Islanders held control of the puck for 90 seconds with their net empty before the whistle blew to award the PP? (Which time? It happened three times in the series). THAT'S what the Islanders want to do all the time.

And that's why the comparison with all those Cup teams isn't out of line. The difference is that you, the viewer, expect that Kucherov/Point, Crosby/Malkin, Ovie/Kuznetsov, Kane/Toews, Carter/Kopitar, etc will just explode for a brilliant goal at any given moment they have the puck; but when the Islanders have the puck, you don't expect it (and don't get it very often, either).

 

[DANOZ28]

this thread reminds me back in the day everyone complained my wild played the trap , which of coarse i disagreed with.

 

[HugginThePost]

But that's what the Islanders do... they try to get the puck and hold it a really long time and only take a shot when it's a perfect shot. People saying Barzal is "selfish" for holding onto the puck so long...THAT'S THE STRATEGY.

The whole Corsi/Fenwick analytical era is built on the premise that "you have to have the puck to shoot the puck." The Islanders generally have terrible CF/FF percentages because they realize that shooting the puck... GIVES IT AWAY and you have to go get it.

So in Game 6 (without our top defenseman), NBC was showing possession time; and it was like 18/15 last time I saw it on the screen early in the third period. The shots were way more lopsided than the time with the puck. Now, what we DO WITH IT, maybe not all that exciting to you (although I don't see how people could say that about Barzal or our fourth line forechecking and cycling with big hits). Remember the delayed penalty call where the Islanders held control of the puck for 90 seconds with their net empty before the whistle blew to award the PP? (Which time? It happened three times in the series). THAT'S what the Islanders want to do all the time.

And that's why the comparison with all those Cup teams isn't out of line. The difference is that you, the viewer, expect that Kucherov/Point, Crosby/Malkin, Ovie/Kuznetsov, Kane/Toews, Carter/Kopitar, etc will just explode for a brilliant goal at any given moment they have the puck; but when the Islanders have the puck, you don't expect it (and don't get it very often, either).

I do remember that delayed penalty.....90 seconds of passing it around the perimeter without getting a single shot off. The Islanders may want to have possession of the puck all the time, but they fail to do so a lot of the time.

Again, I believe the stats prove this to be the case? I remember seeing the possession times being flashed up, and it was always quite lopsided in favor of the Lightning.

I will agree with you about Barzal, the kid is a beaut!! But he can only do so much.

 

[Igor Shestyorkin]

You're right, they're not boring. They're very boring.

 

[Igor Shestyorkin]

the injury excuse is for losers. Every team
Has injuries at this point. The isles are down one of their biggest spark plugs and best defensive forwards in Cizikas. Make no mistake this is a huge loss. You don’t luck your way this far. You want to make excuses the series could very well be 3-2 isles. If not for a bad icing call that lead to a TB goal. Shit happens.

Was this trying to compare a Casey Cizikas injury to a Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos one?

Interesting.

 

[Pure Slaughter Value]

This thread is signifcantly more boring than an Islanders 5 on 3.

 

[SI90]

Was this trying to compare a Casey Cizikas injury to a Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos one?

Interesting.

absolutely not BUT Cizikas is a huge part of what the isles do and why they’re successful defensively and why that 4th like is the so called best 4th in hockey. Throw in Pelech who’s the isles best shutdown defender and that’s an incredible loss.


Obviously Cizikas isn’t the player Point is but that doesn’t mean he isnt valuable.

 

[Igor Shestyorkin]

absolutely not BUT Cizikas is a huge part of what the isles do and why they’re successful defensively and why that 4th like is the so called best 4th in hockey. Throw in Pelech who’s the isles best shutdown defender and that’s an incredible loss.


Obviously Cizikas isn’t the player Point is but that doesn’t mean he isnt valuable.

Fair enough. I see your point. No pun intended.

 

[Coach Parker]

If Islanders fans are happy then who cares? Outside fans find it boring and don't tune in but if they are happy it doesn't really matter. I didn't enjoy watching and I was cheering for them but I can see how they could enjoy it.

 

[Riseonfire]

If Islanders fans are happy then who cares? Outside fans find it boring and don't tune in but if they are happy it doesn't really matter. I didn't enjoy watching and I was cheering for them but I can see how they could enjoy it.

This is literally every fan watching other teams in the playoffs after elimination/not qualifying. Only standout team I can see in the last number of years is the '09 Caps if you love 'not boring' hockey.

 

[SI90]

I tell you what, they’re incredibly boring right now. Wish they were playing.

 

[swiftwin]

The only people who don't find the Isles exciting are the advanced metrics nerds. Who cares if they don't take many shots. It's more exciting than teams like Vegas who just throw everything at the net and hope some miraculous tip goes into the net.

 

[Anisimovs AK]

I didn't specifically mention him - it was inteded as a geneic question.

But while not necessary top in talent, he is one of their best players.

No he isnt. Hes like their 5th or 6th best forward

 

[Chips]

The only people who don't find the Isles exciting are the advanced metrics nerds. Who cares if they don't take many shots. It's more exciting than teams like Vegas who just throw everything at the net and hope some miraculous tip goes into the net.

I'm fairly certain 99% of the people who find the Isles boring are primarily doing so by eye test, since idk most people who only "watch" stats

 

[notDatsyuk]

I'm fairly certain 99% of the people who find the Isles boring are primarily doing so by eye test, since idk most people who only "watch" stats

Boring is a point of view. Stats can be, and too often are, used to support a particular point of view. Fewer shots are used by some people to 'prove' a team is boring, but can just as easily show that, like some of the great Russian teams, they only shoot when they have a good scoring chance.

More than anything else, 'boring' is an indication of how you feel about a team.

 

[Crosscrease14]

The only people who don't find the Isles exciting are the advanced metrics nerds. Who cares if they don't take many shots. It's more exciting than teams like Vegas who just throw everything at the net and hope some miraculous tip goes into the net.

'watching' hockey is for boomers.

Just watch that sweet data roll across the screen in real time like the matrix

 

[SlapshotTheMovie]

Wow, you drastically misunderstood the whole Cup winning teams/Copy-Cat league part. The whole reason everyone is happy the Islanders lost was because IF THEY WON, everyone would copy their style of "making hockey boring." That was the argument. It wasn't anointing us champions -- especially when we were down 3-1 in the series and I've included "Tampa is just better" in like, 90% of my posts the last two weeks.

I'm glad you found the Blues not entertaining, because THAT was the point. All good teams who win have to play good defense. It's been half the game for 125 years (Even if your "good defense" is nothing more than having Fuhr or Hasek save your bacon 60 times).

So when I see 10 Cup Champions playing better defense than us, but we're the ones called boring; it's a little frustrating... An example of that would be THIS POST:




I hate the Penguins, too, And when they were good and winning, they limited shots, limited zone access, blocked shots, held teams to 2.2 goals per game and scored slightly more than their opponents.

This is why exciting Edmonton, exciting Toronto, exciting Colorado all lost. And why after exciting Tampa lost in the first round last year, they spent their entire 2019-20 season working on adding defensive structure to their game and becoming GOOD defensively. They switched from being a "Let Vasilevskiy bail out the skaters 40 times a game like Hasek's Sabres" to "let's play a COMPLETE game."

We all know the Islanders forwards aren't dynamically gifted like Tampa, Toronto or Colorado. Tampa tried playing Freewheeling Beautiful Offensive Hockey last season and it did not go so well. So this season, the Lightning are basically playing "ISLANDERS HOCKEY with gifted scorers" and we're playing Islanders hockey with hard-working forwards. And because of that, we're boring and they remain exciting.

Yes they found a way to play defensively and still not be boring. The islanders havent. You think for a single seconds the pens controlling the game tempo is anything like what the islanders are doing your homer flag is flying.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

I am actually finding the playoffs boring without the Isles in it anymore.

 

[Brownies]

I did not find them boring, but my standards have been lowered so much after watching Guy Boucher's Sens.

 

[dlawong]

How about only allow blocked shots* in the 3rd period to make games more exciting. This definitely means more goals and also reduce potential player injuries.

Alternatively, block shots* ok 5 on 5 but not on PP - will definitely produce more goals.

*Falling down to block not allowed. Accidental blocks ok.

 

[dlawong]

How about only allow blocked shots* in the 3rd period to make games more exciting. This definitely means more goals and also reduce potential player injuries.

Alternatively, block shots* ok 5 on 5 but not on PP - will definitely produce more goals.

*Falling down to block not allowed. Accidental blocks ok.

Sorry. Posted this on the wrong thread.