Isles end preseason with question marks

First off, thoughts are with Chris Lee, removed from the ice on a stretcher tonight after being checked from behind by Rotislav Olesz. Lee was conscious and had movement in his extremities when he was taken off.

As for the game, a 6-0 loss to the Panthers ... yikes. Granted, it was the closeout of a preseason road trip, as well as the third game in four nights, but the Islanders didn't dress a patsy lineup of fill-ins, either -- although the top three defensemen were not in the lineup. Also, Lee's injury -- which you could understand sucking the air out of even a playoff game -- didn't happen until midway through the third, so it's not like the Isles were on autopilot for the whole game while their thoughts were with a friend.

First-rounder Josh Bailey returned to the lineup, playing 17+ minutes without registering a shot. And Rick DiPietro, facing live action for the first time in six months, shook the rust off for 60 minutes, although Bill Guerin says he wasn't worried about any of the goals DiPietro let up, and Botta described his play as strong.

Nonetheless, the Isles have closed out preseason play with some intriguing questions:

Is Josh Bailey ready for the big time?
Almost assuredly not, but perhaps they'll keep him around for a little more experience before shipping him to juniors for grooming. That's no disappointment, though. The kid impressed with his character and effort and won himself a contract. He's done nothing to cast doubt on GM Garth Snow's decision at the draft.

(Speaking of Bailey, Bob McKenzie notes that this year it looks like the top 5 picks from this summer will start the season on NHL rosters -- for the first time since 1990. What a class and what a sign, perhaps, of the ascendancy of youth in this league. As graybeard Doug Weight and others noted in Newsday the other day, this is ultimately a good thing: Players with skill are coming in more prepared than ever before, raising the level of play for the league.)

Will DiPietro be ready for the workload he wants right off the bat?
Considering his lack of work after finally being cleared to play, I wouldn't bet on it. On top of that, it's simply unwise to push a rehabbing guy that hard, that soon. Frankly, I'll be upset if he is carrying a 2007-08-like workload early on. This is the 15-year-deal guy here; we need to think long term. In my book, we're lucky if he's in passable form in his first regular season start. I wouldn't push it by giving him back-to-back season-opening starts like he wants.

Have the Islanders picked up Scott Gordon's system enough, given the compressed preseason timeline?
This is an interesting one. Ken at Islanders Outsider addressed this issue last week, after the Devils shutout (before the Isles beat the Devils in the return game):

The result only concerns me as a symptom of a larger problem—that the combination of a shortened training camp, a pile of injuries, and a new system to learn are conspiring to keep the Islanders from hitting their stride in time for the start of the season.

It really seems as though the team will have turn on like a switch in order to hit the ground running next Friday in New Jersey. With only three preseason games remaining, we hardly have a well oiled machine here. Maybe those three games will be sufficient to get enough players reasonably fit and comfortable with each other and the system. But, right now, I feel like they need more time.

Now that those three games have passed, I still wouldn't bet on the team being fully up to "overspeed" (sorry, bad pun), given their scoring struggles in preseason, which closed with another shutout. But, on the nights when they've been on their game, the reports have been encouraging. So we'll take some solace in that.

* * *

At this point, the beginning of the season looks like it will be a mixed bag, with nights where they tease us with what Gordon's system can do, interrupted by other nights that betray real growing pains. Considering where we were this summer, in coachless limbo, I can stomach that.

Bailey, Botta impress in debuts

The other day I wrote that I'd be beyond shocked if Josh Bailey doesn't return to his junior team this season. So naturally today's story out of Newsday is how Bailey has impressed at camp, and his prospects for drawing an NHL paycheck this year are already better than they were two weeks ago.

When I blog, sometimes the devil on one shoulder says, for the topic of the moment, "Go on, just emit the first opinion that comes to mind." On the other shoulder is a different figure. This figure is no angel but nonetheless a little less threatening than beelzebub: an editor. And the editor in me says: "How stupid will this statement show you to be in one week, one season, one year?"

So yesterday the devil in me -- who hasn't seen Bailey play -- said: "The kid is 18, he wasn't one of the acclaimed gems of this draft, the trade-down-and-pick to get him was controversial: no way in hell he makes the team." The editor counters: "Actually, he just might make the team, but only for nine games. Almost inconceivable that the Isles will put more than that on him at this age."

Well, we'll see! The oddsmaker in me still points to his age and expectations to figure the Isles will think more long term (heck, even think monetarily, considering the value of a cost-controlled, entry-level contract) by shipping him back to juniors before game #10.

But if Bailey continues to impress, if he fills a hole created by Mike Sillinger's injury, if in those first nine NHL games he is a bright spot of what could be a tough season ...

When I read Scott Gordon comparing the situation to that of Patrice Bergeron as a rookie, the devil in me scoffed: "Bergeron is an elite player, invaluable to the Bruins! No comparison!" Then my editor checked to see that Bergeron was a 45th pick overall -- one whose only "flaw" was a lack of size. As Gordon recalled, Bergeron's play and stability forced the Bruins to keep him up at age 18.

While Bailey has a different set of assets and a different future role on the club, if he can show the same kind of character and usefulness now ...

... I'll be elbowing that devil off my shoulder, again.

The Botta Resurrection
As for the other "B" in this post's title, most visitors will already know former Isles PR man-turned-blogger Chris Botta has launched the new Point Blank. After his 40 days (okay, quite a bit more) in the post-Islanders-employment desert, he has fully returned to ascend to a role that is, frankly, more directly valuable to the info-craving Isles fan.

For the first 24 hours, a dizzying array of posts on a variety of topics. His insider access already shines through, particularly with his review of the Islander D-men and scouts' takes on them. Finding an excuse to run a photo of Alyssa Milano in heels and tight-fitting clothing doesn't hurt, either, and demonstrates an astute mastery of the Web's tried-and-true eye-candy tactic.

Between Bailey's prospects, Gordon's promise, and Botta's insider prose, this season is already shaping up to be a lot of fun.

Each day reveals a little more of Scott Gordon

The Islanders preseason starts tonight, baby! The primordial look at Team Gordon.

And he is really the story here. This edition of Islanders training camp gets its intrigue almost solely from the coach making his first impression on the job, and not from players trying to make impressions to win a job.

The Islanders are fully stocked with NHL contracts, so the only possible "surprises" are young Jack Hillen on defense and the feature story-like tale of Brandon Sugden. You can throw first-round pick Josh Bailey in there if you want, but shock is not strong enough to describe how I'd feel if the Islanders kept the 18-year-old from returning to juniors to continue his development.

Anyway, each day reveals a little more about new coach Scott Gordon. Today, Greg Logan dropped lots of early impressions from vets new and old, like Doug Weight and Brendan Witt. With the all-important caveat that it's early, and everyone wants to embrace a fresh start, the quoted vets like Gordon's get-down-to-business approach.

For example, is it really OK that Gordon is focusing on teaching, drilling, learning, and not scrimmaging? Witt thinks so:

"I like it better that we practice because we’re working systems. The last couple years, my first time on ice was the intrasquad game. It’s kind of nice to get to practice and learn the system before you even go in any exhibition games."

What of the "overspeed" concept. Is Gordon really trying to make players become "faster"? Weight clarifies:

“He’s not talking about the way you skate as a style,” Weight said. “He’s saying, ‘You’ve got to move your feet more and move them more often.’ We’ve talked about it, and I’m a guy that slows the game down. But when I’m at my best, I’m playing my fastest while slowing the game down. You get more room the faster you are, and you can still make your snowplows and still make your fakes and buy yourself room.

Logan has plenty more in both his online post on this topic, as well as his regular article about Weight's fresh start, in which Weight re-iterates that he thinks two seasons ago was his best form in nearly a decade.

The other salient point is Gordon's desire for the defensemen on breakouts to consider hitting the center more rather than sending it up the boards to the wings.

That should be fun to watch. Look for some unsightly early turnovers as they adjust, and -- maybe, just maybe -- some pretty breakouts if the Isles' D rise to the challenge of bringing more options and zip to the proceedings.

Plenty of stories in Isles camp

Be still my heart. As training camp opens, the first signs that Newsday is actually ramping up coverage have emerged. Sure, it's early, but it's nice to see them, over the past couple days, covering multiple angles before a regular veteran has even set skate to ice. Any guesses on how long it lasts?

To that point, although the Islanders roster was just about "set" with all the players they have signed and the seven D-men they have on one-way contracts, this camp will still be teeming with storylines. To wit:

(In honor of Radiohead's incredible summer tour, some lyrics to introduce each topic)

A jigsaw falling into place / So there is nothing to explain ("Jigsaw Fallng into Place")
New coach Scott Gordon is serious. So serious, the team won't be repeating the time-honored tradition of intrasquad scrimmages -- he wants the time to teach his system and hardwire it to the brains of each player. Players will soon learn what former P-Bruin Ben Walter already knows: Gordon's is a system that emphasizes forechecking, defensive diligence, and the soon-to-be-legendary (or infamous) "overspeed." Gordon's proven young players hungry for a job can learn this; this season's success likely depends on whether the veterans get on board.

Trapped in this body and I can't get out ("Bodysnatchers")
The Islanders' NHL roster is not totally young, and not all that healthy. You're pardoned if you suspect the Isles fell prey to a package deal with a hip surgery salesman in Colorado. (I hope they didn't order the truecoat.) Turns out Mike Comrie was paparazzi'd on crutches this summer because he, too, had hip surgery. Not as involved as Mike Sillinger's, not as pivotal as Rick DiPietro's, but hip surgery nonetheless, on a player whose game depends on agility. Captain Bill Guerin is also returning from (shoulder) surgery; half the defensive corps finished last season on the shelf. Who's nagging recovery becomes the cause for sub-par production all season before they are reshelved?

Destiny, hold my hand, protect me from the world ("Anyone Can Play Guitar")
Kyle Okposo has nine games of NHL experience. But by all accounts, at 20, already a good head rests on his shoulders. His entry-level deal kicks in now. The factors affecting the value of his next deal begin calculating in October. There will be ups and downs; I imagine his ceiling is a great second-line winger or a dependable first-line winger with scoring punch and physical presence. But that is TBD. I'm tempering my expectations here, hoping the Isles do the same and guide him carefully through inevitable streaks and slumps.

Infrastructure will collapse, voltage spikes ("House of Cards")
Speaking of injuries, D, and youth... As mentioned, the Isles have seven D-men on NHL contracts. That does not include Jack Hillen, who went from completing four years of NCAA play to a home-and-home series versus the Rangers. Welcome, kid. Hillen, not big but very poised, has the type of vision and passing that would seem to fit Gordon's system well. He's already receiving praise for adapting to that system quickly. If push comes to shove, does Hillen make the team? Would the Isles actually waive or demote one of last year's regulars? Magical injuries may intervene.

I only stick with you because there are no others ("All I Need")
What do we have in goal for the non-DP 25% of the season? The Isles pledge to reduce Rick DiPietro's workload -- this time, before they're forced by injury to do so. Even though DP, true to form, insists he wants to play every game. We know that Joey MacDonald is Dubie's default replacement. But how will he do? His record is ... incomplete. It's taken him a long while to get to this moment. But it's not his fault he was stuck in the system of the NHL's most successful club of the last 15 years. That could be a bad thing (Roman Turek?), or a good thing (Tim Thomas?).

How come I end up where I started? ("15 Step")
Real camp starts Saturday. Let the stories and intrigue begin!

Gordon commits to youth, hopes for speed

Strangely, some observers cite the Islanders' number of veterans, or the roster's "average" age, as reason to scoff at the notion of a youth movement. But most of these veterans are stop-gap mentors on short-term deals who will fill out the roster and carry the team while the team accumulates, retains, and develops its prospects.

The youth movement is a decisive shift in philosophy. It's not about finding a magic box of young studs -- it's about the commitment to youth. No one (well, almost no one) is claiming the current crop of green NHLers will carry them to the promised land now.

On that note, the overarching storyline for this year will be how the youngsters perform and how they're evaluated after what should be considerable more ice time under new coach Scott Gordon.

Jeff Tambellini, come on down. In Gordon's thorough interview with Newsday, he mentioned replacing the lost "scoring" of Miro Satan and company with more minutes for guys like Sean Bergenheim and Tambellini:

"If Bergenheim scored 10 goals last year and you give him more minutes, does he score 16 goals? Jeff Tambellini played a minimal amount of minutes. What happens if his ice time doubles?"

Gordon also acknowledges the Great Tambellini Mystery (i.e. "Is he legit, or is he just a AAAA player?"). Brackets in the following are my explanatory notes:

"Somewhere along the way, he's not being himself. From what I've been told, he hasn't had the confidence up here that he has down there. If we can get him to be in the right state of mind, hopefully, he moves closer to the 38 [goals he had in the AHL] than staying near the one [goal he had with the Isles]."

The other interesting part of the interview is his discussion, not for the first time, of increasing team speed through intelligent play. You could understandably call that a pipe dream; or you could call it good coaching. Either way, it will be fun to watch develop -- and fun, particularly, to see how the veterans on their last NHL legs receive it.

Gallantly changing roles

I suppose if you wait until after the draft and start of free agency to change coaches, you can wait until the eve of training camp to remove your top assistant coach. That's just how we roll.

So even if there's nothing under the surface to the Isles sudden announcement that Gerard Gallant, Ted Nolan's top assistant -- who was retained for Scott Gordon with the rest of the staff -- is moving to a "consultant" role upstairs, it will still be added to the annals of "unconventional" (to put it kindly) moves by Islanders management over the last two, eight, twelve, fifteen (pick your regime) years.

Many signs point to Snow valuing Gallant. That Nolan's assistants were (originally) retained is one; that he escaped blame for last year's powerplay, which he ostensibly ran, is another.

So one initially wonders if Gallant and Gordon found they had different philosophies, whether in styles or in powerplay tactics. But it could be simply as publicly stated, that Gallant -- after a summer of reflection to change his mind -- wants more time with family and to watch his son play junior hockey.

Greg Logan says Gordon gave no hint of this change when he sat down to interview him this week for a feature; but if it was truly just Gallant's personal choice, that wouldn't be Gordon's place to announce it, anyway. Actually, if Gordon knew something was up, he could have pushed management for the announcement after that interview, effectively saying, "Look, I had to dance around this topic in the interview. Can we clear it up so I don't get off on the wrong foot with our lone beat reporter?"

No drama here. But until training camp starts (please, soon!), we're going to be parsing whatever bits of news that comes about. Now ... who will be Gordon's new assistant?

Speed kills, hopefully doesn't injure

Just when I was having coverage envy over the transcripts provided by LA Daily News beat man Richard Hammond from his extensive interview with new Kings coach Terry Murray [those links are broken up into several posts by topic], Newsday checks in with some thoughts from Scott Gordon about the logistics of settling and his practice philosophy.

Not quite the pages and pages of stuff on youth, coaching, toughness, etc., that Kings fans got on Murray, but it's only Gordon's first week. Murray's sit down happened after a month on the job, a job he won much earlier in the offseason.

Anyway, the salient thing for me was a little expounding on Gordon's love of speed: Not only does he see speed potential on the Isles roster (agreed), but he wants to instill a higher tempo by practicing drills at an "overspeed" rate. A rate in which, from the sounds of it, players are pushing the limits of their balance, "past their comfort level."

That way, the theory goes, even when they dial it down to a "safe" speed during real games -- which is probably necessary to properly read and react without overskating plays, anyway -- they'll still have high tempo as their default.

This is an interesting concept, one that I imagine will require the right kind of sale to convince players. ("You want me to increase my odds of losing an edge and crashing into the boards?") And it's the first specific tactic to come up where critics might chide -- particularly after an in-practice injury: "Ack, but he was a goalie. What does he know about players doing X?"

I'm eager to see if this takes, and if we'll notice the difference.

Portrait of the Coach as a Young Man

Back in that innocent, transitional time when hockey trading cards still came with bubble gum, new companies joined the game to turn our larks into another cold, heartless quick buck. But for a while there, while different companies tried different gimmicks ("Ooh! A hologram!") to gain traction, it was quite a ball.

Pro Set's strategy revolved around quantity, but they had a nice product with some fun gimmicks. One was cards for coaches, something I thought was long overdue but which sadly never caught on (I guess a guy in a suit isn't as appealing as a rotund manager in a baseball uniform). Thankfully, Al Arbour was back with the Isles long enough to have his own place in trading card history.

Another fun thing from Pro Set was their "Series II" within a season that went way beyond (again, in quantity) what other companies included in their batch of late-traded players. These series included the infamous coaches' cards but also pretty much any traded vet or new youngster they could get a shot of.

Sometimes that youngster was a future star whose free agent status would dominate NHL talk in summer 2008 (oh, *sniff* he was so young)...


...and sometimes, he was just a backup goalie and future promising young coach who would get his first big shot in 2008 (*sniff* oh, the Nordiques were so bad then):

What does Gordon see?

So New York reporters took a look at new Islanders coach Scott Gordon yesterday and liked what they saw: He was nervous about the big press to-do ("Ooh, fresh meat," they told themselves), but he stuck around an extra hour answering questions and he generally made sense. He explained his strengths in defensive systems, but he also left the appetizing suggestion that his team won't be strictly a modern-age trapfest: The man likes him some team speed and some forechecking.

Speed -- whether it scores or it recklessly runs off the rails -- is never boring. So the reporters and fans may have gotten what they want. GM Garth Snow definitely got what he wants. But other than an NHL job and better travel to games, did Gordon get what he wants?

Perhaps the more answerable question is: What does a new NHL coach see when he looks at the Islanders? Let's consider. Feel free to add yours:

Franchise Goaltender? Check. Outsiders may consider him merely "franchise" by default because of the contract, but Rick DiPietro showed last year that he has the head and the ability -- when healthy -- to carry a team. He was a huge key to their strong start, and before he was injured, longtime observers noticed how much he'd matured, both in efficiency of movement and in puckhandling decisions. The inevitable, exaggerated "is he playoff material?" debate can wait until he actually gets a fair shake in the playoffs.

A Margin of Error? Check. Gordon's not taking over the Sharks, who have the players and the expectations to win It All now, but have lacked the delivery. Instead, Gordon's taking over a team committed to youth (i.e. growing pains are expected), run by a GM who's plan and employment depends on making it work for the long haul with his hand-picked coach. Even if the club struggles this year, and possibly next year, it is likely Snow will stick with him for longer than a GM in another situation would.

Likewise, blame might fall on the players -- even the prospects: Remember, Snow thought the Islanders were a playoff team last year. He also thought the prospects should've played more under Ted Nolan, because we don't know what we have until they get their chance. With Gordon, they will get their chance.

A Defense He can Work with? Check (I think). Brendan Witt will jump on several grenades to stop a goal, then hobble his remaining flesh up ice to finish a check. Marc Streit provides enough puck-moving smarts to let us think the powerplay will inevitably improve. Andy Sutton can deliver intimidating open-ice checks (granted, it was under Ted Nolan's scheme) without getting all Pilon'd out of position. Radek Martinek is one steady Vaclav out there. Freddy Meyer, when given the chance last year, was a balanced mix of all of the above. And Chris Campoli and Bruno Gervais, when healthy, have the makings of solid 3-4 defensemen but may well be used as 5-6.

There are some "ifs" here, but this blueline corps has the mobility and a bit of size to do whatever Gordon asks. That said, I'm sure Gordon wouldn't refuse a Pronger if one fell from the sky.

Proven Scorers? Rain check. If he's looking at this lineup, Gordon has to be honest with himself and know there's not a single forward that makes him say, "Count on 20 goals from that guy." There's potential, sure, but you don't know when age catches up to Bill Guerin (Father Time says: "Soon."). You know Doug Weight, if he fully revives, will get his points from assists, not goals. Mike Comrie's season may depend on the chemistry that develops with his wingers (Kyle Okposo?). Okposo has 20-, juuust maybe 30-goal potential at this level, but that's a lot to ask from a rookie still in his first year as a professional. Jeff Tambellini received a long-term commitment that implies he will be a 20-goaler someday, but the jury is still far, far out on his NHL potential.

The glass-half-full perspective for Gordon is: a) This is where the speed and forechecking game comes in (if you can't blow them out, blow them up and convert the turnovers); and b) the assortment of pesky forwards with hands should get their share of goals: Bergenheim, Comeau, Sim, Sillinger, Hunter, Nielsen ... all guys who should at least score in the teens during a full season.

Of course, two 20-goal scorers and a bunch of guys in the teens is what the 30th-scoring Islanders had last year. Fedotenko, Vasicek and Satan tied for third-most on the team with 16 each. Gordon has to know scoring will remain a big chore, and if it improves, it will likely come from improving the 29th-ranked powerplay. Welcome to the party, pal.

Mid-Season Talent Infusion? Negative. Suppose the Isles are nibbling around a playoff spot at mid-season, but some injuries or glaring weaknesses threaten to spiral them downward. Will Snow swoop in and save the day? Of course not. It's not in the plan, it's not in the budget, and the Isles do not have the cupboard nor the inclination to part with any assets that could bring back legitimate help. Gordon must know this season's success depends wholly on the roster he saw during his job interview.

But that's where that margin of error comes in. I'm by no means down on the season's prospects -- if anything, I'm pleased with the hiring and ready to see how he works. But that is the perspective on the club I imagine a coaching candidate like Gordon took into the interview. It's a mixed bag, to be sure, but there are some bright spots -- not the least of which is the unspoken promise that he will get plenty of time to make the most of his make-or-break shot in the NHL.

Imagining Gordon's strengths, obstacles

The Isles haven't even had the press conference yet, but I've been mulling new coach Scott Gordon's reception -- and somewhat late start -- since I heard the news last night. Generally speaking, before he's even said a public word about his new job, a lot of fans and pundits at least endorse the move.

So if most agree it's a sound, smart hire -- or at least it's August and we're all feeling sunny -- what do we expect to go right, and what do we fear may go wrong?

On the plus side, we have:

• his track record of working with young players
• his commitment to defense, which is sort of important when you can't score
  
• glowing reviews from peers, and
• the fact that his position during his playing days was the same as the other two most important people in the Islanders organization. Between Gordon, Garth Snow, and Rick DiPietro, the Islanders are now run by an Axis of 'Keepers. We all know goalies are crazy; now they're running the asylum.
  

On the minus side -- not minuses, really, but potential obstacles:

• The introduction. Gordon's first three months will be potentially the most critical part of his tenure: How he runs training camp, how he sets rules, how he adapts to the "luxuries" that NHLers are used to, and how the season starts. The Isles could easily start the season struggling. A few bounces or bad calls are the difference between a Laviolette-ish start and a less-than-Stirling start. How he carries the team through that (or whenever their first slump hits), will go a long way toward how the team receives him, and how long a leash he'll have the next time the seas get rough.
• As I've mused and Chris Botta gently warns, despite the youth movement the Isles have several important veterans who will need to be won over. All of them -- even Doug Weight -- signed on with the understanding that they would be playing for veteran-friendly "player's coach" Ted Nolan. Gordon is actually only a few years older than those guys: he entered the NHL around the same time and may be on the same generational wave length. Conversely, those guys went on to 15 years of million-dollar salaries, while he's spent the time busing through places like pre(post-pre?)-NHL Atlanta, Roanoke, and Providence. Not until next pay day will he have a remote understanding of how those wealthy vets shop for groceries.
• Speaking of veterans and starts, how will Weight and Co. react the first time they're told they're not back-checking enough?
• The "circus" factor: Although it appears owner Charles Wang has finally, fully entrusted hockey operations to Snow, Wang has -- how do I put this -- um, "changed his mind" before. But even if Wang stays out of things and lets Snow and Gordon do their job, NHL reporters will continue to bring up Wang, Milbury, Yashin, and even Little Big Horn because they are easy past references that require little checking into what's actually going on with the team right now. When the team slumps, Gordon will need to be able to brush off media innuendos and resist the paranoia that can set in when you're new to your position at a place where goofy things have happened before.

More to come, but I guess I'll let the man speak before speculating further about his future. One thing's certain: It's a relief a guy named "Gordon" wasn't hired when our club was sporting that other logo.

NOW we're ready for camp

Al-riiiiight. The Islanders, having discovered later than anyone else this summer that they were in need of a new coach, persevered and found a sound choice in their new general.

They certainly could have done worse than last year's AHL coach of the year. And considering the backup catchers and role players of the world are often the observant fellows who make astute coaches later on, I'm not a bit disappointed to realize new Islanders coach Scott Gordon is that Scott Gordon -- one of the poor saps who tended goal for the dearly departed Quebec Nordiques when they were dredging the bottom of the NHL in search of 31-point seasons and bounties named Sundin, Nolan, and Lindros-er-Forsberg and Friends.

At my old stomping ground, I audited the "retread" candidates for the Isles job who had established NHL careers. From that analysis, I found I desired none of them. Those who think Joel Quenneville would have been the right pick for this team, ah, well, they weren't season ticket holders for the Blues during his time in St. Louis, and they might even be columnists who only follow the Isles when they draw the short straw. That's not a knock against "Coach Q" [note: it may be a knock against eat-and-run columnists]; it's just a relatively sober analysis of the man and the team at stake.

So, since I liked none of the above, you may count me as one of the fans of the Gordon hiring. He's respected, he and Garth Snow hit it off, and he gives them as good a chance as any to grow together and provide the continuity that the Islanders have not known since Al Arbour's (amen) first tenure with the team. He's also likely to jibe with the guy who's tied to the franchise for 15 years, which is no small concern.

Of concern: a) he wasn't allowed to pick his own staff (it seems all assistants will be retained, although that could help him with the NHL transition), and b) he's going to play a tight defensive system, which while arguably necessary will not make for exciting firewagon hockey.

But besides Isles-centric concerns, it will be interesting to watch how the latest NFL-esque copycat trend of hiring "young" (ha!) first-time NHL coaches works out. [Next trend: hire winning offensive coordinators!] Who will become the "brilliant hire" and who will become the one who "just couldn't relate to players at this level"? For the armchair GM's, we'll get to watch John Anderson in Atlanta, golden child Peter DeBoer in Florida, Todd McLellan in San Jose, and now Scott Gordon on the Island.

May the best former Nordique win.