What Biron Means to the Islanders

First, required reading from islandersindependent.com about the Martin Biron signing and his latest take on the Rick DiPietro situation, a situation he had pegged from the start.

Martin Biron was the goalie I wished the Islanders would target out of the gate. While I was not really upset about Dwayne Roloson (he did play 63 games last year as a 39-year-old), Biron gives the Islanders a goalie tandem that could be our best goalie tandem since Glenn Healy and Mark Fitzpatrick. DiPietro can take his time and get better for good, if that is even possible at this point.

A couple of interesting notes after seeing the news breaking on Twitter and reading about this yesterday afternoon:
1. Biron and Roloson both have the same agent, Mark Witkin. The Roloson move made sense for Roloson, but, if you're Biron, are you wondering what your agent is thinking? Or is the market that dry for goaltending help? The only other potential "impact" goalie to move this offseason was Edmonton bringing in Khabibulin to replace Roloson.

2. Did Snow and Gordon make this move to make absolutely sure that DP does not come back too soon? I know the doctors and coaching staff will say one thing, but I can see DiPietro acting like a petulant teenager when he gets close to being game-ready. This way, DiPietro cannot persuade anyone and does not have to because the Islanders have major-league quality depth at the most important position in hockey.

Though the Biron deal fell into the Islanders' laps, they are also showing they are planning for more than a 12th- or 13th-place finish this year. What else do you think GM Garth Snow has up his sleeve? Alex Tanguay? A trade for Jonathan Cheechoo to help the Sharks clear out cap room? Sign Phil Kessel to an offer sheet? I've heard all of these are possible from my Twitter friends. I don't think the Islanders are done yet and they need more scoring and more grit. Grit is something that will be cheaper much closer to the season. But, scoring doesn't grow on trees.

Now, how does Islanders Country feel about the franchise goaltender? Personally, I have always liked DiPietro. I have always wanted to see him succeed and still believe he could be one of the top five goaltenders in the league for a long time. But, knowing that he put himself in front of the team by trying to play when he shouldn't put the team at a big disadvantage both before the season (no goaltending depth in the organization, thinking DP would be fine) and early in the season (DP was on the bench, but was really injured and could not play) was a bad move. It was almost as bad for the front office to believe him.

When the team got off to a rough start, the fingers were justifiably pointed at the most important position in hockey: goaltending. Yes, Joey MacDonald had a good November, but eventually, everything caught up with him. Sure, Yann Danis had some nice starts along the way, but December and January killed any chances the Islanders had of a good season.

But, look at the other side of the coin. If the Islanders had capable goaltending when DiPietro went down, maybe the Islanders are not one of the worst teams in the league, do not win the Draft Lottery, and do not select John Tavares for a franchise rebirth. Also, the organization may not have reacted this same way this offseason with respect to signing and drafting goaltenders to both fill out the Opening Night roster and replenish the farm system. If DiPietro put the team first, goaltending might actually be more of a question mark right now.

I had very low expectations for the Islanders coming into last season and I was hoping the kids learned. I said early in the year that I would be more upset with a 7-2 loss in March than I was in October (the Columbus Day game against Buffalo was bad, but I hoped we learned from it). That did not happen and they came in even lower than I expected. But, last season was a big sacrifice for everyone: players, coaches, front office, ownership, and, most of all, fans.

This year, a lot of that "learning" has to pay off. It already has in the front office, who will not be fooled again by listening to the franchise goaltender. No matter what other signings or trades the Isles make between now and October 3rd, when the season starts, guys like Kyle Okposo, Josh Bailey, Blake Comeau, Sean Bergenheim, and (gulp) Jeff Tambellini have to learn from all of this and come out the other side much better for it. Otherwise, it'll be another long season.

Blog Box-ing

As free agent signings have died down, and before we turn our attention back to baseball in the days ahead, I wanted to weigh in on the latest Islander drama.

Chris Botta, in his blog (http://nyipointblank.blogspot.com), brought a lingering story to the front burner. In the rhetoric towards the end of last season, Islander coach Ted Nolan did not see eye to eye with Islander General Manager Garth Snow on player moves. The most public disagreement came in a radio interview on WFAN's "Mike and the Mad Dog" on March 6, 2008. Snow sounded surprised with Nolan's decision to start backup goalie Wade Dubielewicz over Rick DiPietro, who was just returning to the team after the death of his grandmother. Snow backed up DiPietro and has a good relationship with the franchise goaltender, but Nolan made the decision and Snow questioned him publicly. According to Botta, Nolan publicly complained to the press on a regular basis late in the season about the lack of NHL-ready players on the team after injuries ravaged the lineup and the lack of any personnel moves to improve the Islanders chances down the stretch.

Hockey, and sports in general, have some time-tested management strategies. The Islanders bucked that strategy when owner Charles Wang announced a management-by-committee approach, where the General Manager and Head Coach report directly to the owner. Player management and player use are discussed by committee. Snow and Nolan have not adapted well to this system.

Chain of command is important for several reasons in sports management. Ownership and upper management hire a coach for his expertise and ideas of changing a franchise around on an "X-and-O" or game-by-game basis. Ownership hires a GM for his expertise and ideas of changing a franchise with respect to personnel. Has Garth Snow ever coached? Has Ted Nolan ever been a GM? Yes, the owner has the final say, and the owner knows the concept of management, but what may have worked at a computer company will most likely fail in the arena of sports.

This concept is quickly going the way of the "College of Coaches", which was employed by the Chicago Cubs in 1961-62. Instead of having one manager, Cubs ownership decided to rotate eight managers throughout their organization. Players became confused. The team floundered. The concept has never been used since. The current state of the Islanders could be another reason why the "chain of command" works time and time again.

Snow makes the personnel decisions. Nolan makes the in-game decisions. If there are questions, the chain of command dictates Snow and Nolan hash it out, not in front of the owner and certainly not in front of the press or fans. Lack of communication led Nolan to publicly question Snow and Snow to sound astounded on a radio show when told who would start in goal. A large part of successful management is excellent communication. But, diplomacy is tougher to surface when the lines of communciation parallel to the top of the organization.

NHL Free Agency (a.k.a. Christmas Morning)

July 1st marked Christmas Morning around the NHL. However, for the New York Islanders, it is normally a holiday we do not celebrate. We leave the milk and cookies and a note for Santa, and we have our tree decked out, but Santa never comes. The chimney is empty and no presents are left when we wake up the next morning.

In fact, last year, we woke up to find the milk, cookies, and Christmas tree gone at first light, as Ryan Smyth, Jason Blake, Tom Poti, and Viktor Kozlov bolted the first chance they got. This off-season, General Manager Garth Snow has kept expectations at a bare minimum, preaching the new, post-Mike Milbury mantra of building through the draft and promoting from within. It makes sense when you have Kyle Okposo waiting in the wings. It does not if you think Andy Hilbert belongs on the third line.

We barely put up the tree this year, electing to spare the tinsel and the ornate decorations around the house. But, Snow surprised us. He made a nice play for defenseman Mark Streit. Yes, he overpayed for the Swiss assassin, but a) we had the room under the cap and b) you have to overpay to convince most people to play here in the short-term. Snow followed up the Day One Streit surprise with the affordable signing of class-act Doug Weight to a one-year deal. Weight will be reunited with Bill Guerin in an attempt to recapture the magic of the 2006-07 season, where Guerin scored 28 goals with Weight riding shotgun. The deal (1 yr, $1.75 mil) is incentive-laden, as it should be.

However, the question is: are the Islanders done shopping this off-season? Snow is intimating that he is finished for all intents and purposes. I think he should make a couple other moves. The Islanders have 24 players under contract, and only 23 can be protected from the waiver draft before the season begins (remember the waiver draft in which we poached Chris Osgood in 2001?). EDIT: 17 of the 24 players currently signed are signed to one-way contracts (source: On The Islanders Beat blog by Greg Logan on newsday.com), so no players have to be exposed to the waiver draft yet because the 7 players to qualifying offers may still be two-way deals, allowing the Isles to stash them at Bridgeport.

Here are my suggestions:

1) One more top-six forward. Coming into the off-season, we needed a playmaking center (Weight) and a finisher to play among the top-two lines. Snow has to fit this into the overall "building from within" plan, but a short-term deal for a veteran or a trade for an under-30 building block would be a huge win. But, even with the rebuilding plan, someone has to score and the organizational depth does not exist to compete nightly without some more outside help. Cap space can be a commodity in trade as the season approaches, so this may not happen right now. Outside of Okposo and possibly Rick DiPietro, is anyone really untouchable right now?

2) Get Team Tough(er). Coach Ted Nolan is all about grittiness, but the Islanders are not team tough. There are quite a few UFAs who were available this off-season who are "shift disturbers". Teams can no longer carry one-dimensional pugilists, but guys who get under the other team's skin, like Sean Avery (signed by Dallas), Bobby Holik (signed by New Jersey), and Daniel Carcillo (RFA) could be (or could have been) had. Georges Laraque is still out there and would be a deterrent for the liberties taken against our club for the last few years. Carcillo may not be worth an offer sheet, knowing his penchant for taking dumb penalties and flying off the handle.

3) Take a shot at a young RFA. The Islanders have set themselves up well. They have cap space to burn, a lot of draft picks made in a stacked draft, and the determination to stay young and improve. They can afford to let loose with some draft picks. How about making a play for Jay Bouwmeester (http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app/?service=page&page=PlayerDetail&playerId=8470151)? He is a franchise d-man and it would cost the Isles some serious first-round picks in the next 3 years. But, would any of those future first-rounders measure up to Bouwmeester (12 and 15 goals in his last two seasons)? Plus, J-Bow has had 389 games of NHL experience at the young age of 24 and has received some instruction from the color analyst for the Florida Panthers...Denis Potvin. Other RFAs listed in the top 50 Free Agents by The Hockey News (July 1, 2008 issue) have mostly signed with their previously-contracted club (Shea Weber, Corey Perry, Mike Green, Jeff Carter, Andrei Kostitsyn), but there has not been a single word on Bouwmeester. Could this be in Snow's plans?

Whether the Islanders continue to "kick the tires" for any of the other free agents this off-season, you have to like what Snow has done this year. He has truly learned from last year that Islander fans need Christmas in July instead of picking off the leftovers in August.