The flip side dictionary will explain that nothing to lose often translates into something to gain. It's the reference the New York Islanders like to use, especially now that they've officially passed the torch to young players like Kyle Okposo, Josh Bailey and a few others they want to build the future around.
The plan was to ease this nucleus into the lineup this season, but the Islanders have been decimated by injuries, including having franchise goalie Rick DiPietro play only five games, and are too far back to think realistically about the playoffs. More so than ever the timetable has been speeded up lately.
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| The Islanders look to players like Josh Bailey and Kyle Okposo to carry them into the future. (Getty Images) |
Rookie coach Scott Gordon said at this point, it's about taking a big picture approach. "It's not like we abandoned our older players, but at the end of the day, there was nothing to lose," said Gordon, whose team had a four-game winning streak snapped Thursday in Florida. "I knew it would be a pretty tall order to make the playoffs -- we'd have to go something like 30 and 10 -- and that's a hard thing to expect.
"But we're giving the opportunity to our younger players, and along the way, I think that made us a better team. Their enthusiasm, coming to the rink every day, there was more bounce in their step. And I liked the way the older guys have responded. They've played with more urgency and commitment in small areas. I've got to give them credit for that. It was not an easy pill to swallow."
The approaching trade deadline probably doesn't make it any easier.
Guerin and Weight, two of best American players ever produced, are both 38 and winding down fine careers that includes a Stanley Cup. They are each having good seasons in a miserable situation and more important, they are unsigned beyond this season. That makes guys who are playing attractive rental targets at the trade deadline and offers them a chance to have something to play for again.
Guerin is at the end of a two-year, $9 million contract, has a no trade clause and young children in school. But he has said he might consider waiving the clause for the right situation. Weight, meanwhile, has answered his critics by becoming New York's second highest scorer in his best season in three years. But he has lost some ice time. He signed a one-year, $1.75 million contract last summer with a team that has had trouble attracting free agents with other options to New York.
"I'm not worried about that (ice time)," Weight said. "I'm 38 and approach every game like I have something to prove, whether it's to the team or myself, but to me what's important is trying to get a winning feeling here.
"Whatever happens is going to happen. But right now we're trying to win games."
Trying harder
Bobby Ryan will always be the answer to a trivia question about who was drafted right after Sidney Crosby, but that's not a bad thing for someone who says he doesn't mind flying under the radar.
That's especially true now that the Anaheim Ducks rookie is showing why he went so high.
Crosby was clearly the star of that 2005 draft, but Ryan was taken by a team that was on the verge of winning a Stanley Cup and was stacked pretty deep at forward. That, and salary cap problems in Anaheim helped delay the young right winger's rise to the NHL. Although after getting in 37 games last season, Ryan's expected to start this year with the Ducks.
But those hopes were dashed after training camp when the Ducks told him they couldn't squeeze him into the payroll and were sending to the minors.
"It's tough, obviously it was emotional," said Ryan, the NHL Rookie of the Month for January. "The conversation was you're good enough to play this level, you've kind of made the team but our hands are tied. So it was certainly tough. I didn't know whether I was coming back into this organization or going to be moved."
He found out when injury problems created enough cap space in Anaheim to allow the Ducks to recall Ryan in mid-November. Since then, Ryan has scored 17 goals and 17 assists in 34 games and playing in more key situations for coach Randy Carlyle.
"He's starting to gain a little trust in me," said Ryan. "We've come a long way."
Icings
• Looking for a good Saturday night fight? Try the Canadiens-Maple Leafs game featuring Toronto's Mikhail Grabovski trying to take his trade frustrations on fellow Belarussians still in Montreal. Grabovski, traded by the Canadiens last summer, boiled over last month when he tried to get at Montreal's Sergei Kostitsyn and shoved a linesman. That earned him a three-game suspension, but after the game, Grabovski said "If (Sergei) wants to fight, we'll go in the street and every minute of every day I'll wait for him and we'll fight." This will be the first meeting between the teams since then.
• Big kerfuffle this week in Vancouver, and no it didn't involve Mats Sundin. Defenseman Shane O'Brien told local reporters that his team had scratched him because they didn't think he was fighting enough. It may have seemed trivial in the grand scheme of things because Vancouver isn't playing well, but it prompted a response from GM Mike Gillis, who said the team only wanted O'Brien to be more "physical." For a while any way. O'Brien is unsigned past this season.
• Commissioner Gary Bettman says the Phoenix situation is under control, but Toronto's Globe and Mail is claiming three potential buyers have lost interest after looking at the books. The NHL has advanced the organization money, Bettman has said the team needs a capital infusion to help or buy out majority owner Jerry Moyes. But after reviewing the books, Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, Phoenix Suns majority owner Robert Sarver and Arizona Diamondbacks managing general partner Ken Kendrick all walked away, the newspaper said.
They said it
"I made my decision a long time ago. When we started talking July 1, I told my agent I want to stay, just find a way. Have to find a deal that works for both of us. I've been there for all my career. They've been really good to me, taken good care of me. I didn't see a reason to wait for the open market 'cause I didn't want to go anywhere else." -- Henrik Zetterberg who gave the Red Wings a "hometown" discount by accepting a $72 million deal instead of becoming a free agent.
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