Evgeni Nabokov - #20, #1 Goaltender

I added this thought to my post, Depot. If that happens they vault to 3rd in the conference and are no longer our worry, and Washington ain't making the playoffs this year.

So we have to worry about Ottawa and Winnipeg, which with games in hand and head to head we hold our own destiny. Comes down to what we do with those games in hand.

re the games in hand...
these next 2 weeks without our most physical defenseman
are going to be telling if they even matter.

Not trying to be mr debbie downer, I've seen this crud before. If we were a team with players
who have BENN THERE before last year, made the playoffs and are having a down year because of injuries or whatever reason, I'd be optimistic of this team having a legit shot.

Now, talk to me again after tonights game against the Habs should we win
and this debbie may not be as down.

One shift, one game, let's see. JT has surpassed most everyone's expectations with his play, who knows if he just takes this team on his back for the next 2 months

I'll say it again. It's all in the games in hand. We squander them, we squander any slim hope of post season play.

Okay, enough already.

Write this down, carve it into your arm with a pocket knife or pee it into the snow.

Nabby will get on a remarkable hot streak, we will not trade him before the deadline and we will make the playoffs.Even though that contradicts my take on Nabby previously I have changed my opinion.

And you can take that to the bank. I will revisit this post when it happens, but you saw it here first.

I'd love to pee on Snow
but only if I can sh!t on Wang.

I feel exactly the same way. I was not a fan to begin the year. I was all about Monty. thought nabby was washed up. he has proved many of us wrong.

Nice to see some optimism in here. It's a welcome change.

Nice to see some optimism in here. It's a welcome change.

Yes, it is. And I'm buying into it. It's nice to see Rifle take a stand. I believe he's the first to guarantee us making the playoffs. It's going to take the stars aligning for this team making the playoffs. I think any positive energy that this team can get would be a positive.

Nice to see some optimism in here. It's a welcome change.

Yes, it is. And I'm buying into it. It's nice to see Rifle take a stand. I believe he's the first to guarantee us making the playoffs. It's going to take the stars aligning for this team making the playoffs. I think any positive energy that this team can get would be a positive.

Well, except for last night.

Nice to see some optimism in here. It's a welcome change.

Yes, it is. And I'm buying into it. It's nice to see Rifle take a stand. I believe he's the first to guarantee us making the playoffs. It's going to take the stars aligning for this team making the playoffs. I think any positive energy that this team can get would be a positive.

Well, except for last night.

Well he was on an remarkable hot streak until the first shot.

I wonder how people think about keeping or trading him after lasts nights game. Does it sway opinion?

Of course a couple more losses and it will all be mute, we will have no shot and he must be put on the market.

Don't think last night makes a difference in keeping or trading him. He had an off night for sure, but even great goalies are prone to a clunker. Bad timing for him to have one, but we are still not out of it.

Tough call all around. Value now or nothing later?

Don't think last night makes a difference in keeping or trading him. He had an off night for sure, but even great goalies are prone to a clunker. Bad timing for him to have one, but we are still not out of it.

Tough call all around. Value now or nothing later?

I agree, I guess I was trying to say after an absolutly great game and then a ho hum game to follow, are opinions swayed. I think people got a little too excited after philly, but might go too far after this one the other way.

Much like how high people get after a win and how suicidal people get (or hateful) after a loss.

There is no denying he has played superb elite hockey ever since that last Rangers loss in December.

Sounds basic, but I try and sign him for two years.

We can trade him if he's FORCED out (Poulin, Nilsson or even Mikko - I don't ever count him out) but a professional organization intent on winning BUILDS. That means (I had to look it up) having more talent after every signing than prior.

Sign Nabby and we also have a more stable goaltending situation when we court (*cough*) defensemen this summer (*cough*). Add one or two reliable under 60 defensemen and we have leverage to sign a 2nd line center. Do that and we're in the playoffs next April.

I count on Snow getting a pick unfortunately, or nothing and he walks.

I know some who don't wait and get high before and during the game.

I know some who don't wait and get high before and during the game.

Sometimes you have to self-medicate to get through three periods of Islander hockey.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=387690


Tsn.ca is reporting that nabakov is "not available" for trade.

Hope this is true, sign him to a 1 yr extension please.

Hope this is true, sign him to a 1 yr extension please.

I'm sure, off this year, he can get 2 years from someone. Might as well be us. Get it done Garth.

OK. The Nabokov decision is going to be another one that will be debated here for quite some time.

I want to see the Isles in the playoffs as badly as anyone else. But I'm also looking at this realistically. The Isles are sitting in 13th, in a virtual three-way tie between 12th and 14th. As of today they would need to leap-frog 5 teams to reach the 8th seed. They would need to make up 8 points to get there. Yes, they have 1 game in hand on Toronto & Washington and 2 games in hand on Winnipeg & Montreal. The Isles have lost 2 games to Toronto and 1 to Montreal in the past month. They are only 1 point ahead of 15th spot Carolina with 2 games in hand.

If the Islanders were sitting in 9th or 10th with the game in hand, I'd say there's a chance, but with the number of teams between them and their goal, you have to understand just how remote their chances are. In today's NHL you have to play fairly consistently from game 1 through game 82. The Islanders have been shut out 8 times including 4 times in November. It's very difficult to make up ground lost in the first half of the season even if a team goes on a hot streak to end the season.

Nabokov was picked up with the intention of trading him. His value is as high as it's going to get right now. He's playing extremely well and there are a couple of teams that are desperate to improve their goaltending situation for the playoffs. I understand that the optics of trading him would amount to throwing in the towel, but in this business tough decisions must be made and we've seen our share of bad ones. Trading Nabokov and adding the right pieces to this franchise wouldn't be one of those. Keeping him, missing the playoffs, and watching him walk away in the off-season would be.