Rob McGowan

"Off The Post: Inching Closer to the Future"

Long Island, NY • United States • 25 Years Old • Male

D-Day Approaching, Let's Speculate Some More

Apparently I should have kept my mouth shut; the Isles looking for their seventh win in a row faltered under a young and weak defense, allowing the New Jersey Devils to win their first game against us in almost a year. It honestly was only a matter of time before the Atlantic Division leading Devils recorded a win against our 5-0 season streak. It was also only a matter of time before we lost again. And...it was only a matter of time before our defense faltered in a loss. You have to wonder how much this game will impact Garth Snow's decision making come Tuesday.

If Bergeron was going to make his case to stay with the team, he really made a great impression when he roofed a shorthanded goal for John Madden over DP's blocker side. As sad as this sounds, but as soon as I saw that it was a 2 on 1 against Bergeron, I knew they were going to score unless DP would be able to come to the rescue. However it's hard to make a save when your own teammates are re-directing shots into the twine. Johnson, who fanned on a poke check allowing Parise to speed right through him and wrist one passed DiPietro, surely is forcing Garth Snow to scratch his head - or punch a wall.

If this team is going to make a hard-fought playoff push the defense must be improved, especially with Sutton out for several weeks and Witt yet to return. It was reported in Newsday today that Fedotenko and Vasicek were not offered contract extensions - seems like most of us (myself included) that were wishing for the two of them to go may get what we want. Let's just hope it's for the right deal. Maybe Berard and/or Bergeron will be thrown into one of those deals in order to sweeten the pot.

Satan has stated that he has not been asked by management to waive his NTC at the moment. This could mean the Isles plan on retaining him through the end of the season, or that they just haven't gotten the right deal yet and are going to wait until the last minute to see what desperate teams are ready to do - personally I hope it's the latter option of the two. Satan has had one of his weakest offensive outputs of his career, but despite that being said, he is still Miroslav Satan - a winger with a history of being an offensive threat that hasn't been much of a liability on the ice defensively. He either scores, or just plays a smart game. Unfortunately for the Isles smarts is not enough at this point as goal scoring has been an issue all season.

It was recently reported as well that McCabe has stated (via Spectors Hockey) that he has spoken to his wife and does not want to move being that his wife is 7 months pregnant. However he did say he would listen to whatever Fletcher had in mind - more or less McCabe is saying he's 50/50 on the subject and it's still possible he may be dealt. If it is back to Long Island his wife may not be so disappointed with that as she'd be back home with her family (I'm assuming) during her pregnancy. It's also been said that the Rangers may be making a pitch for him as well. (Figures they need to add to our frustrated waiting, doesn't it?) But that's just me speculating. As much as I'd like to see Caber back in the blue and orange, let's not be too surprised if it doesn't happen considering all the intangibles.

Tomorrow is going to be a long one, and Tuesday is going to be intense, to say the least. Snow has shown that he has the ability to work his trade magic to the last minute of D-Day. Will we see something surprising again? We have no idea. It will be fun to say the least, unless you're one of the above mentioned players who probably have their suitcases out and ready...just in case.