Little off-season talk.

[Itchin' to go]

I know its real early but with fresh playoff memories in your head...

Who's the one free agent you'd love to see in Wing uniform next year, by position or name?

Any NHL/rule changes you think or would like to see next year?

Will Stevie Y eventually GM the Wings?

Will Stevie GM for another (nhl) team first?

Ryan

[fish eater]

Yes! I love this thread. I thought about starting a UFA thread earlier bro, but you beat me to it.
Depending on what the Cap increases to, we have anywhere from 12 to 17 million to spend. So let's spend it!:lol:
The first and foremost target, in my fish eater fantasy land, IMO, is Chris Drury. I would love to see us get Chris. I think he's a hell of hockey player, he's dynamite in the post-season clutch, calm under pressure, tough as nails, and way better foot speed than former 2nd line center....Bobby Lang.

IMO, we have to have a 2nd line center. People have talked about injuries to D-men, turnovers, penalties and travel as our downfall. And while all of these things are true and do play a part in it, I feel that the biggest thing that led to our downfall, that nowone is really focusing on, is 2nd line production. It was our Achilles heel all season long. Lang could never get it going. Jason Williams was useless on the 2nd line. We tried so many guys on that 2nd line. Calder, Cleary, Bert, Lang, Sammie, Mule, and on and on.:dizzy: In the Anaheim series, we even had to break up Hank and Dats to try and find some 2nd line offense. Their numbers, play and production instantly suffered. Especially Homer's. The line didn't become productive again, until the 3rd period of the final game when they were re-united on the PP. Look, the rest of our lines are set. We have 1 almost dominant scoring line with 13, 40, 96. We have enough scrappy bodies for 2 solid checking lines. We just need to find a 2nd line that can come in and score when the 1st line is being defended by Pronger/Niedermayer. We're not very far away here. 2 or 3 wise excellant moves, ya know offseason decisions, and hey we can win this thing next year.
We could have a 2nd line like one of the following:
Sammie-Drury-Franzen or.....
Sammie-Drury-Bert (if the price is right for a short term deal)
Lang was supposed to be that guy. That 2nd line mis-match. Unfortunately, he just never was.
I'm guessing that Drury is gonna command somewhere in the 5 to 6 million per season range. Buffalo is Capped out and they have enough money to re-sign either Briere or Drury, not both. Come on over Chris.:) Remember when he played for the Avs? God, that kid used to absolutely kill us in the post-season. He was clutch in every aspect of life. Didn't he even win a little league World Series as a pitcher or something like that? I wanna say like Massachusetts in 88 or something. Somebody help me out here.:help:

[ckhanna]

Wow Fish Eater!! Had that though out huh?? It will be interesting to see what moves will be made. As long as Mr I still has the open check book. Drury would be a great addition. It always sucks to see the Pavs and Hank line get split up.

[redwingsdude]

I'm not exactly thrilled with the idea of a $6 million+ second line center. I love Drury, but no thanks. We've been overloaded with centers for a while now, we need a capable winger in case we need to split up Z and Pav at some point. And yes, he pitched and won in the little league world series.

Jason Blake might be expensive for a 30 goal-scorer, but I definitely wouldn't mind having him on the team.

Keith Tkachuk, fat jokes aside, is still a very good player. He played some center last year, so he knows how to pass again, and can still put in 30 goals if he wants to. He'd probably be cheaper than Blake, as Blake is younger and will probably be overpaid.

There are some good d-men available as well. Schneider is always a possibility, but he's getting older, and there are more defensively responsible players out there. Timmonen, Markov, Stuart, Rivet etc. Not superstars, but very good players.

I just want to see them dump Lang, Bert, and Calder, unless the asking price is severely lowered.

[d2upnorth]

What did Bertuzzi do for the Wings this season? What did he do in the play-offs?
How come we didn't dance with who brung us?
D2

[romayer]

Just one name: GIGUERE. He is an UFA and would command about 5 million in salary - I would rather spend that on a stellar goalie than a 2nd line center.

PS: Nobody better give me crap for picking somebody we hate, because I have the Chelios example in my pocket :lol:

[Chris@hydeboats.com]

The best free agent for the wings in my mind is Ryan Smyth. Hard working guy with a scoring touch. Plays similar to Homer with more talent. He is cup hungry as well. I don't see the Islanders letting him go easy, but he would be a perfect fit. Drury is also a good choice, but not worth the money in my opinion. I wouldn't take Lang back. Bert is a question mark. If he wants to play for the kinda money that Dom took this year its a no brainer. I feel he never really got healthy and the off season will help him a lot. The bert of Vancouver would make us very hard to play against. Add Smyth in the mix and the NHL could ship the cup to Detroit.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Stevie in the GM role. Holland will most likely retire when Nick does and be hired on as a consultant. Thats what makes the Wings so consistant everyone is groomed in house and the guys that retire stay on as advisors. A great organization. Stevie will never take a paycheck from another NHL team.

Our goalie situation does have me slightly concerned.

[fish eater]

I'm not exactly thrilled with the idea of a $6 million+ second line center. I love Drury, but no thanks. We've been overloaded with centers for a while now, we need a capable winger in case we need to split up Z and Pav at some point. And yes, he pitched and won in the little league world series.
Jason Blake might be expensive for a 30 goal-scorer, but I definitely wouldn't mind having him on the team.
Keith Tkachuk, fat jokes aside, is still a very good player. He played some center last year, so he knows how to pass again, and can still put in 30 goals if he wants to. He'd probably be cheaper than Blake, as Blake is younger and will probably be overpaid.
There are some good d-men available as well. Schneider is always a possibility, but he's getting older, and there are more defensively responsible players out there. Timmonen, Markov, Stuart, Rivet etc. Not superstars, but very good players.
I just want to see them dump Lang, Bert, and Calder, unless the asking price is severely lowered.


You make some great points. However there are a couple that I agree with and a couple that I disagree with. Your right, the drawback to Drury, is another 6 million dollar center. However, after seeing this postseason, it is clear that Pav and Hank can't be split up. They are in a completely different world when their on the ice together. For whatever reason, Pav seemed to suffer the most without Hank in the post-season. If we want to win Cups, we have to have a 2nd line Center that plays hard, wants it all, and goes to the net. Chris is all of the above. IMO, we have plenty of wingers right now as it is. The weakness up front is from the Center position. If we wanna wear people down by rollin 4, we only need 8 capable Wingers.
Homer, Sammie, Mule, Cleary, Maltby, Flip, Hudler, Kopecky, Girigorenko(we'll see?), possibly Bert if the price is right.
There's 10 right there. PLUS, keep in mind I didn't list Hank or Dats, but one of them will be playing the wing. So that makes 11. Lang is the center that's gone. The 4th line center is a toss up, that doesn't really matter a ton. So the only other center is Drapes. We all just watched his post-season correct?:rolleyes: To sign yet another Winger, would be a mistake. That leaves us even thinner at Center, and hinders the development of a younger player that has to take that next step. I.E. Huddles, Flip, Grigs, Kopecky, Mule.
If I really needed a Winger, I would really like the idea of Blake. He looks like a postseason player to me. Ryan Smyth would be my 1st choice. They both look like intense players with adequate foot speed.
Tkachuk would not be on my target list at all. Did you see him in the Atlanta series? Horrible foot speed. Awful awful recovery rate. No way (IMO) would he fit in our team scheme or in the game pace of a Conference Finals.

As far as D-men. I really like Markov. I'm not sure what kind of price he commands in this market, but I really want him back. I liked his postseason play alot. True, your not gonna get any kind of O out of him at all, but he brought a tenacity in the Defensive zone that was desperately needed. Schneider...........this is a tough one for me. I'm torn on what I would do about Schneids. Again, like always it depends on salary demands and shrewd business decisions. He is getting older, and his carelessness of the puck sometimes irks me. Then again, he (I thought) was having an outstanding postseason, and with the exception of Nick, there is no other legitimate QB for a PP unit. I guess I would be fine if Schneider left or stayed. I'm not a big fan of Rivet. I don't like his defensive game. There were some weakness' of his exposed in the SJ series. Timmonen would be nice. Again, what kind of price. Also, I wonder if I'm just enamored with Kimmo cuz of his younger age. I'm biased toward getting some younger bones and ligaments back there in our end. Stuart could be an option. He's a tough defender with some attitude. To me he looks like a 5 at this point in his career. I can't see him beating out our top 4. That again creates the catch 22. Say, we are able to re-sign Markov, and you add a depth guy like Stuart. Who are the PP points? Senior and Junior? Will Junior stay healthy? Will Junior take the next step? We'd end up having 4 or 5 conservative defensemen who aren't known for leading the break out. The blue line dilemma is definately going to be Kenny % Co. toughest decisions. I hope they get it right, I trust em.:)

[fish eater]

Just one name: GIGUERE. He is an UFA and would command about 5 million in salary - I would rather spend that on a stellar goalie than a 2nd line center.

PS: Nobody better give me crap for picking somebody we hate, because I have the Chelios example in my pocket :lol:


Bro, I am right there with you. Believe me, I would love to have Giguere. IMO, and I hate to compare him to this guy, but he almost seems to be like another friggin Roy in this league.
However, he is not going to become a Red Wing. 2 reasons.
1-Babcock is our coach. That's the biggest killer of any remote chance of signing Giguere.
2-I feel that you under-estimate Giguere's new contract. He is going to command (and he'll get it) much more than 5 million in salary. The new max contract next season is increasing to what? 7.9? Giguere will get that, 7.5 per at the least. The guy has been to the Stanley Cup Finals twice in 4 years, won a Conn Smythe, could very easily win a 2nd Conn Smythe this year, and I hate to say it, but is the favorite to hoist the Cup here in a week or 2. All of that, is going to command a stud contract. Put it this way. Louongo got I think like 6 million a year with the new extension he signed with Vancouver last year correct? Well, at the time he had no post-season experience on his resume.:tdo12: And compare that to Jiggy's resume.:tdo12:

[William H Bonney]

Bro, I am right there with you. Believe me, I would love to have Giguere. IMO, and I hate to compare him to this guy, but he almost seems to be like another friggin Roy in this league.
,,,,,:

:evilsmile

I HATED him with Montreal and LOVED him with Colorado. My turning point was when the Wings pounded 10 or 11 goals on him. And as he's leaving the ice,, he has the BALLS to tell the Montreal brass behind the bench that,,, this was the last game he played in a Canadians uniform.:SHOCKED: Then wins the Cup the same year after he's dealt to Colorado. :evilsmile


Giggy is the "Roy" of this era(along with Marty,sorta)

[mwp]

I personally thing Buffalo will Keep Drury and let Briere (or however you spell his name)Daniel Brier go,especially after that Lower body injury which turns out was his knee.I would like to see them go after Ryan Smith.It will cost them but he fits the Wings to a tee.One other guy is Scott Hartnell of Nashville.Big,tough,and gritty and always a pain against the Wings.You would be doing two things if you sign him.One,taking a good player away from a rival team and two,filling one of your needs.It should be an interesting off season.Like Fisheater said,the Wings are not far away from being there at the end.Would we still be having this conversation if Schneider and Kronwall were healthy,probably not!!!!

[redwingsdude]

Fisheater, trying to retain Danny Markov would be great, but I was talking about Andrei Markov, who would be GREAT at the point on our powerplay. If we don't sign Schneider, we might have some money available, though Andrei will be worth quite a bit coming off this recent season.

I was going to mention Hartnell as well. He's a big strong kid who can put up 25 goals on a good second line, and shouldn't cost too much.

Briere and Drury will both cost about $6 million I'm thinking, and Briere is the better player. Drury's 30 goals and defensive play are great, but Briere is going to be a top center for years to come, while Drury will never get top minutes as he is an effective checker. Drury will probably be more expendable than Briere because they are young, fast, and produce a lot of goals, Briere just fits better IMO.

No doubt Smyth is a good player, but Homer at $3 million on the first line is as good as it gets. Smyth is going to want close to $6 million per year, and needs 5+ years. If he's eating up an extra $3 million, how are we gonna re-sign Zetterberg? The guy scores on rebounds and close in shots, putting him on our first line with Zetterberg and Datsyuk isn't going to make a line like Alfie-Spezza-Heatley, Smyth might score 40 goals if he's lucky, but he isn't a sniper or a playmaker, and isn't worth the money he's asking.

I'd love Giguere, but it's just not going to happen.

[fish eater]

Fisheater, trying to retain Danny Markov would be great, but I was talking about Andrei Markov, who would be GREAT at the point on our powerplay. If we don't sign Schneider, we might have some money available, though Andrei will be worth quite a bit coming off this recent season.
I was going to mention Hartnell as well. He's a big strong kid who can put up 25 goals on a good second line, and shouldn't cost too much.
Briere and Drury will both cost about $6 million I'm thinking, and Briere is the better player. Drury's 30 goals and defensive play are great, but Briere is going to be a top center for years to come, while Drury will never get top minutes as he is an effective checker. Drury will probably be more expendable than Briere because they are young, fast, and produce a lot of goals, Briere just fits better IMO.
No doubt Smyth is a good player, but Homer at $3 million on the first line is as good as it gets. Smyth is going to want close to $6 million per year, and needs 5+ years. If he's eating up an extra $3 million, how are we gonna re-sign Zetterberg? The guy scores on rebounds and close in shots, putting him on our first line with Zetterberg and Datsyuk isn't going to make a line like Alfie-Spezza-Heatley, Smyth might score 40 goals if he's lucky, but he isn't a sniper or a playmaker, and isn't worth the money he's asking.
I'd love Giguere, but it's just not going to happen.


Woops. My bad RWD. I didn't know Andrei is a UFA. Thanks for clearing that up. In that case, then yes, I agree with you. If the price is right, (my educated guess would be that Andrei would fetch around 3.75-4.25 per) then yes, I would love to have Andrei on our d corps. He's younger, bigger, faster and better defensively than Schneides.
I pretty much agree with your entire post. I just (and so do the Wings) feel that Center is a more glaring weakness than Winger. Your analysis of the available wingers is right on. Smyth is to expensive. He's gonna fetch a big big deal, and I agree, he's not enough of a playmaker to warrant that kind of money. Buff will re-sign Briere over Drury and that is a huge mistake. Both played hurt in the Eastern FInals and Drury was still the better player. Buffalo's biggest downfall is 2 things.
1-Butterfingered defensemen
2-Grit, physical and mental toughness
Drury has more of #2 than Briere.
So here's my question then. Do you, or anyone else have any other free agent listings of available Centers? If we didn't want to tie up big money on Drury, then we have to find a bargain #2 Center. Everyone knows that Lang is gone. Was he an underachiever? Yes, absolutely. But he still ate up ice time, and took a ton of draws. He has to (and will be before a Winger) be replaced. In a salary capped sport, there's always some very nice bargains laying around out there. Somebody else's cast off, that everyone gives up on, that might flourish in our system. Sammie and Cleary anyone?;) Who are the attractive, gritty 2 to 3 million dollar Centers entering UFA? You know what? Isn't Andy Mcdonald's contract up? I would take him. I love his speed and hustle. Ask Lilja how good of a forechecker Andy is.;):(:lol:

[neil duffey]

im not going to put any input into this thread because its all pretty much whati think:D but ill kick back and read it all day long... all ic are abotu is GOOD BY LANG!

[Itchin' to go]

Found a list of ufa's and salaries for ya fisheater, thought it might help with the discussion.



Current UFA's to be, ranked in generally best to worst

Edit: By the way this is a list from a couple months ago of ufa's TO BE and I didnt have time to edit players. If some wants to pick away at it, have at it. The only ufa I took off was Pavel cause I didnt like seeing him on there.


C 06 Salary

Daniel Briere 5
Chris Drury 3
Scott Gomez 5
Peter Forsberg 5.75
Robert Lang 3.8
Michael Handzus 2.13
Yanic Perreault .7
Mike Comrie 1.54
Josef Stumpel 1.75
Stu Barnes 1.1
Eric Belanger 1.3
Mike Peca 2.5
Bryan Smolinski 1.88
Todd White 1.47
Dean McAmmond .73
Patrik Stefan .9
Wes Walz 1.44
Tyler Arnason .95
Byron Ritchie .45
Wayne Primeau .5
Pierre Turgeon 1.5
Glen Metropolit .5
Radek Bonk 2.39


W

Paul Kariya 4.5
Ryan Smyth 3.5
Jason Blake 1.56
Darcy Tucker 1.6
Ladislav Nagy 3
Vyacheslav Kozlov 2.37
Brendan Shanahan 4
Marco Strum 2.1
Peter Sykora 2.9
Keith Tkachuk 5.7
Ray Whitney 1.5
Bill Guerin 2.4
Dainus Zubrus 1.85
Scott Hartnell 1.75
Todd Bertuzzi 5.27
Fredrik Modin 2.2
Mark Recchi 2.28
Jeff O'Neill 1.5
Anson Carter 2.5
Eric Lindros 2.5
Taylor Pyatt .7
Scott Walker 1.52
Owen Nolan 1.23
Ruslan Fedotenko 1.65
Kyle Calder 2.95
Tomas Holmstrom 1.43
Radek Dvorak 1
Martin Gelinas .95
Mike Johnson 1.9
Viktor Kozlov .87
Nikolai Antropov 1

D

Kimmo Timmonen 2.28
Sheldon Souray 2.31
Brian Rafalski 4.2
Brad Stuart 2.15
Roman Hamrlik 3.5
Eric Brewer 2
Andrei Markov 2
Matthieu Schneider 3.3
Scott Hannan 2.16
Sami Salo 1.5
Craig Rivet 2.56
Chris Phillips 2.1
Tom Preissing .55
Darryl Sydor 2.12
Jaroslav Modry 1.82
Danny Markov 2.5
Vitali Vishnevski 1.55
Cory Sarich 1.9
Tom Poti 2.75
Daniel Tjarnqvist 1.63
Greg De Vries 2.17
Brent Sopel 2.4
Aaron Miller 2.47
Martin Skoula 1.57
Patrice Brisebois 2.25
Brad Lukowich 1
Bryan Berard 2.25
Sean O'Donnell 1.6
Ken Klee .7
David Tanabe .9

G

Dominik Hasek 1.85
J-S Giguere 3.99
Martin Biron 2.13
Manny Legace 1.4
David Aebescher 1.9
Matthieu Garon 1.22
Curtis Sanford .53
Curtis Joseph 2
Ed Belfour 1.5
Mike Dunham .5
Jussi Markkanen .85
Kevin Weekes 1.95
Niklas Backstrom .75
Johan Holmqvist .6
Robert Esche 1
J-S Aubin .53
Jamie McLennan .62
Brian Boucher .47
Jocelyn Thibault 1.5
Ty Conklin .53
Patrick Lalime .5

[fish eater]

Wow sweet! Really appreciate the menu. Hmm, let me see what I would want. And wether or not I would want fries with that........
Again, like I said, I would really want Drury. The price is gonna be a bit high, but we have the money. Like I said. We have around 15 million of Cap room.
If Drury isn't the target for the 2nd line Center, then who else would I feel comfortable with?
I really like Yanic Perreault for his face off abilities, intangibles, and he comes at a low cost. However, he's not really a 2, more of a depth center. I really like Walz cuz of his price and his excellant speed, but again, he's not really a 2, he's a 3 or a 4. Man, pickings are kind of slim. You know the thing I notice in the Center choices? Alot of defensive liabilities, or 1 way centers. There's not (IMO) an affordable option that jumps out at me as a potential so-so adaquete two way center. I feel that Scott Gomez is the best option in the bunch. Unfortunately, so does every GM in the NHL. He's a 2 way Center and he is going to get alot of Benjamins.:tdo12: I'm trying to think of the guy that could possibly thrive in our system. An underachiever that could blossom being in the locker room of such a classy organization. Hmm........what about....perhaps Handzus or Comrie or Stumpel? Could one of them be the guy that locks into the puzzle? They wouldn't break the bank, and that would leave us with plenty of money for a nice D-man. I really like the idea of straight up replacing Schneides with Andrei Markov. And then, I would do whatever it takes to sign Chris Phillips. I'm very curious to see what kind of raise he gets. That guy is a phenominal defender.:tdo12:

[William H Bonney]

The name that stood out like a sore thumb(for me, anyway) was Michael Peca. I've HATED that guy on every team he played for(because he was so gritty and nasty), if only the Wings coulda got him a couple years ago. His best days are behind him,, but I still like him. Outta all the centers,, none of those names really get me pumped up,,, Forsberg ya,, but he ain't comin' here. Handzus,,, maybe,,, Arnason,, maybe. I just don't wanna see a 36 or 37 yr. old downhiller,, signed.

[redwingsdude]

Gomez will probably be in same area as Drury price-wise, so if the Wings really do want to pony up the cash, the have their pick. But there will be a bidding war, and there are several teams that need a true #1 center, whereas we need a second line center, or even third if Babs does in fact split up the Euro twins. I just don't see it happening. Gomez is a pure passer, and I think he needs top line minutes to be worth his paycheck, if the Wings do get a big-name center, I'm sure it would be Drury.

Comrie is really interesting, I didn't know he was that cheap. I wouldn't mind paying him $2.5m-$3m to put up 55-65 points. He could definitely put up Lang-like numbers with second-line ice-time, and be MUCH cheaper.

The Wings had their chance at Stumpel at the trade deadline, and if he wasn't worth a couple hundred thousand for a few months then, he isn't worth a full-season paycheck now. He's going to be 35 in a few months, and his stats only looked good after he got hot towards the end of the season. I don't think he's a good enough player anymore to be a good second-liner, maybe in Florida, put not on a deep team like Detroit.

When looking at d-men, Chris Phillips jumped out to me as well. He's a solid and physical d-man who is just as good or better than Danny Markov, and likely only a bit higher paid. I'd love him on the Wings. Salo and Vishnevsky are pretty good d-men and if they don't make huge raises this summer, they are both good deals.

[William H Bonney]

When you go up and down the Wings current roster,, there's not a whole lot that I'd really change, with the exception of Lang,, and maybe Maltby but he resigned for peanuts and he knows the end is near,, so I guess just keep him. When you really look at it,, Malts was actually "over-paid",,,,,, I think the dude averaged 6 minutes of ice time in the Conf. Finals and not much more than that in the other 2 series. We know Lang is gone,,,, but I wouldn't be surprised to see the Wings "stand-pat" this summer and see what happens up until the trade deadline next season.

[redwingsdude]

The Habs re-signed Andrei Markov for 4 years at $5.75 million per year! :yikes:

Good d-men look like they're going to be expensive again this year.

[neil duffey]

The Habs re-signed Andrei Markov for 4 years at $5.75 million per year! :yikes:

Good d-men look like they're going to be expensive again this year.
:rolleyes: he was worh 3... what ever... if ya ask me, the nhl in the cap era is screwed. little teams that have no real chance, sign their one or two good to better than av players for retarded amounts, then come time for a lagit team to wana pick em up... oh look, this guy wants 6 to 7 mill all of a sudden. bull crap.

[Nimrod1]

I think you sign Bert at the low end, short term deal. Then I like Mike Comrie, reasonably priced. Drury would be a real nice addition, if not too high priced, I'm reluctant to spend more than 5mil on him, needs to be for a few years at least. Let the rest ride, give the kids a chance to step up and learn during the regular season, and fill the holes, add extras at the dead line. What we really need to know is who will be a ufa next year, so we know who might be available at the next trade dead line. Of course it all is dependant on what happens with Dom.

ps BYE-BYE LANG!!!!!!!!!

[fish eater]

The Habs re-signed Andrei Markov for 4 years at $5.75 million per year! :yikes:

Good d-men look like they're going to be expensive again this year.



Ouch, that's a little bit rich for my blood. Don't get me wrong, Andrei is a nice player, but that's a mil and a half shy of being Nick Lidstrom money.:tdo12: Thanks but no thanks.

[Dedge]

OK my soul is starting to heal, so I can begin to post on the Wings threads again.

OK, for center I would have to say Drury as a number one choice. By I am also going to agree with WHB, in that my left eyebrow raised all on it's own when I read that Peca was a free agent. How old is he though? Anyone here know? I also like Comrie too.

I won't comment on defense quite yet, because I would really like to see defense stay the same as it was this year.


Dan

[fish eater]

OK, for center I would have to say Drury as a number one choice. By I am also going to agree with WHB, in that my left eyebrow raised all on it's own when I read that Peca was a free agent. How old is he though? Anyone here know? I also like Comrie too.
Dan


Peca is 33 and I think he only played about 34 or 35 games this year. He's had a tough time staying healthy the past few years. He had that nice playoff run with Edmonton, but other than that, he hasn't been all that good. I used to really like Peca. If it was 5 years ago, I would have agreed wholeheartedly. Get him. Now I'm not so sure. The one thing that's nice about Peca is I don't think you would have to break the bank to sign him. I gotta believe his stock has really fallen. Other than the 1 or 2 exceptions, his playoff years are really terrible as well. He has a reputation of being a playoff no show. Look at his postseason statistics with the Islanders!:sad: