Isles downed by Sabres

Well, there was not much good this postseason for the Islanders. "Doobie" didn't get the job done in the opener, and though Rick DiPietro did a good job upon his return to the ice, the team fell short. The officiating stunk, but good teams are supposed to get over bad officiating.

The final was a sort of micro-cosm of the Islanders recent woes. It looked as though the team would recover from a 4-1 deficit, and they nearly tied it up when Miroslav Satan had the puck at the Buffalo goal with but 12 seconds left. The Sabres goaltender, Ryan Miller, made a blind stab at the shot and managed to come up with the puck in the very last seconds of the game.

Shortly before the game, the Islanders learned that veteran defenseman Sean Hill was hit with a suspension for testing positive for banned substances. He has the dubious honor of becoming the first NHL player suspended for violating the league's ban on performance-enhancing drugs. A very stupid and foolish thing for him to have done, and also to have gotten caught. This conduct hurt the team. Sean now has the stigma of being a cheater to follow him for the remainder of what otherwise would have been a good career.

I have to give props to the Buffalo Sabres, they are truly a great team. Players like Chris Drury and Tomas Vanek, and Daniel Briere are all hitting their stride, and this team just could go all the way to winning the cup. For the Islanders, there is but the solace in having fallen to the eventual champion, provided Buffalo hangs in there.

The offseason is going to be one of woe for the Isles. It is clear that the big money tied up in Captain Alexei Yashin is a hindrance if they want to try and re-sign Ryan Smyth or Jason Blake, who finally lived up to his potential. It is likely that one or both of these important cogs in the Islander machinery might leave via free agency. One option for GM Garth Snow is to buy out Yashin, or even place him on waivers. I would hate to see that happen, but given the way the system works nowadays, it might be a necessary move. I would really like to see the Islanders retain the services of Ryan Smyth, but like the Yashin contract, it might be too rich for our tastes.