Rob McGowan

"Off The Post: Inching Closer to the Future"

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

Snow Is Indeed A Builder

Salvador to Jersey..
Richards traded to Dallas..
Campbell to San Jose...
The frenzy is just starting to begin...

And Snow is in his office...ready to pull the trigger on a deal...and it is.......

A 7'TH ROUNDER TO SAN JOSE FOR ROB DAVISON!

Whew...almost worried we were out of the hunt for a second. What a relief. Hey I almost feel as good as when we lost out on Ryan Smyth but signed Jon Sim!

Sure..I bet these were the thoughts of many Islanders fans this morning. I'll admit, at first sight, I did feel this way. But the day was long from over, and I stayed optimistic.

3'oclock rolled around and Hossa had just been dealt to the Penguins. I honestly didn't care too much because I didn't want to give up what it would take to get him, and we were never linked to him anyway. Rumors circled of Higgins and/or Komisarek coming to the Isles for Satan and/or Fedotenko. My fingers are rapidly refreshing every web-site that holds any minor piece of information.

Then news breaks that Chris Simon has been traded to Minnesota for a sixth round pick! Honestly, this was one of the BEST moves Garth Snow could do. Simon was not welcomed back by the fans regardless of the organization's attempts to turn the barbarian into a hero. It very well may have been a distraction to the team, and now a roster spot opens up for Tambellini for him to try to earn his way up into the lineup. And it isn't all that bad for Simon as he'll be re-united with former teammate Sean Hill, and a team that is competing amongst the top of the Western Conference standings.

So I wait and wait to see something that's gonna knock me on my back out of my seat. It's 3:15..and it's announced Marc-Andre Bergeron has been dealt to Anaheim for a third round pick. Excellent! When we got Bergeron I was excited to see his canon of a shot on our blue-line and ignored the fore-warnings about his defensive relapses. I just said to myself, 'so they'll put him only on the powerplay with limited ice time in regulation.' It couldn't fail! But let's all face it, we hated his defense just as much as we loved his shot. And that shot only scored once in a while - not nearly enough to keep him in the lineup on a consistent basis, and we were able to see why the Oilers were so quick to get rid of him last year.

So I'm anxiously waiting, texting friends who are able to watch TSN and others who weren't fortunate enough to be at a computer. We're all pumped and excited to see that two of the most disliked players on the team have been removed - especially Simon, someone we did NOT expect to be wanted anywhere.

And then time kept rolling on by, and the day was over. The Isles were done. At the deadline we did not get Bryan McCabe. We did not get Alex Tanguay. We did not get Jason Blake or anyone of great significance. The disappointment began to settle in.

But after gathering everything and soaking it all in, these are my thoughts on Snow's activity this afternoon:

-Davison must have been brought here solely for his enforcer role. With Simon being on the move, he knew this team needed to make up for toughness. (I don't think Simon was that tough to begin with, but that's over now) He has more experience than Drew Fata and will be able to play the game or two that Witt will miss (as he's expected to return Saturday) before most likely being sent down to the minors.

-Ridding ourselves of Simon - just read above. It was time to part ways. Good riddance.

-Disposing of Bergeron - he has the potential to be a GREAT powerplay QB. But unfortunately his defense needs to improve drastically if he wants to maintain a permanent roll on any squad. You can see why he was never drafted by an NHL team, and he needs to improve. Best of luck to him.

-Signing Mike Comrie for one more year - Great signing. Sure, 4 million is expensive for a -20. But let's face it..this summer NO ONE wanted to come here. We were lucky to get the guys we got (which isn't that lucky) and are VERY lucky to be where we are in the standings at this point. For the time being it's a good move.

Today's downfalls:

Vasicek, Fedotenko, and Miroslav Satan are still here. Satan had to have had the highest value amongst the three. And Snow had to have known that. So I think it is safe to assume that Snow was definately listening to offers for these guys, and probably negotiated trades that would have sent them packing. But if they were not moved that must mean that the offer in return was not up to par to these players' current value. And as much as I would've loved Tank and Vaz to be moved, and to get something great for Satan, I would NOT want to see these guys dumped simply because they would be UFA's for a return that will not help our team now or in the future.

If they can help us make the playoffs, and advance/be competitive in the playoffs...then keeping them may possibly be the better deal.

Unfortunately, after losing Bergeron, now we do not have anyone, besides Bryan Berard (which we all know is a bit of a lost cause) that can rip a slap shot from the point. McCabe would've looked great, but it was rumored that Toronto was looking for our first round pick and I am VERY happy to see that Snow is holding on to that this year. McCabe is not worth our first round pick in a draft as deep as this. There's always the summer to try to work something out, and if not, there are other fish that we can reel in.

Another positive is now the kid line will get to stay in tact and receive more opportunities to perform at the pro-level and show why they deserve to be here. This team may not make the playoffs, and if they don't, let's hope they fall low for a high draft pick.

If they do make the playoffs, let's hope they can make something happen. Let's hope they can advance.

As far as today, I am just happy that Garth Snow didn't buckle under pressure. He kept his word - he didn't mortgage the future - something many fans fail to realize that in order to bring in a 1st line center or top scoring dman would've required. He did not trade our first round pick. He tried to get rid of the players that will be UFA's, looking for solid returns - but he couldn't find the right deal. You need to pick and choose the worst of two evils, and if the right deal wasn't there, keeping them here until the summer is the lesser.

So now the deadline is over. People can leave their lap-tops, blackberries, and computers. Students like me can return to writing papers and doing other assignments. Hell, I might even shave!

This is one Islanders fan saying, "Good job, Garth!" We didn't see any 'Milbury-like' moves and still have our future to look forward too.

So here's to the Isles making the playoffs and winning a round for the first time in years. LET'S GO ISLANDERS!

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