It appears that the moves that Mike Milbury made after the new collective bargaining agreement was reached were not just unpopular with Islanders fans, but they also proved to do absolutely nothing to get this team moving in the right direction.
The Islanders have made the playoffs the last few seasons while their high-priced rivals from Broadway have had to watch them from the comfort of a temmates living room as the Rangers haven't made the playoffs since the last decade.
So, although it has been shown that it takes more than a top 5 payroll to win in this league, New York still hasn't gone deep into the playoffs since they knocked out the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins in '93.
Many people will never forgive him for letting captain Michael Peca leave. One of the best two-way players in the league, Peca didn't just kill penalties, he turned them into offensive possibilities for the Islanders, making penalty killing an exciting part of the game for fans.
The defensive unit was gutted, with blue line standouts Kenny Jonsson and Adrian Aucoin gone.
Watching this team make moves has been like watching a carousel... the names keep changing but they're not going anywhere.
The fans will have to just watch and wait to see if the team can go on a tear in the remaining games of the season to try to jump into that number eight spot. But it won't be easy - not just because the Islanders have been playing up-and-down hockey, but because the other teams that they're fighting with are suddenly on fire. Atlanta was losing 4-1 against the Devils the other night, only to see the Thrashers come back to win the game at 5-4. Toronto has been tough lately as well, and Montreal has been on fire.
Time will tell if Milbury has made the right moves. So far this season it just seems to be business as usual on the Island.
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