Thank God And Good Riddance

This made him a Youtube legend, but his drive, compete level and overall gamesmanship was about as effective as a peewee player in the bigs. Shremp got himself a rude awakening after his draft year when it was realized that he couldnt skate, 5v5 play was a bust and he didnt seem to care enough to use the gifts he was given to actually make an impact.

MacT was right about him from the get go. and after years of being hounded by fans and MSM alike, he finally gets his last laugh. Shremp was placed on waivers and picked up the next morning by the New York Islanders. So Shrempy finally gets his shot, all be it on the worst team in the league. And now all the Shremp boasters will finally get to see just how bad he is, on a regular NHL shift.

My prediction, he will get 30-40 games before he either gets traded or sent back on waivers. And if the worst team out there has no use for him, all the people that didnt buy into the hype will be vindicated.  

Nuclear Deterant.

So,

Here we are at the last game of the pre season, and there are a couple decisions to be made on the roster spots still available. One of those decisions are going to be if Macintyre has a spot on this team. Some people say that a deterant is everything and others say that as long as someone can take care of buisness it is all they need. ( a la Stortini )  Sure I like Macintyre, and he really does bring an element we havent seen here since Big Georges left. But on the other hand, when there is so many youngsters on this team, Quinn is going to revert back to his idea that "if you cant eat up mins" for him, you wont be playing. and I have to agree with him.
Its funny that the best fighter they have is the lowest player on the depth chart. I personally think that the team is better off with a guy that can skate/hit/fight and even chip in a couple goals a year. IMHO this means Stortini, or possibly JFJ.

Best case scenario is that he becomes an extra forward and plays a handfull of games this year. Worst case and he gets picked up on waivers and he kicks the crap outta Stortini this year......

Team Makeup

Let me start by saying that I was, and still am very high on having Quinn as the new head coach. I think he can bring a dynamic to this group that we havent seen yet.

But there is a disturbing trend going on and I hope it gets nipped in the ass right away.

By this I mean the crazy lineup combo's. Oh sure I understand that Quinn is looking at all his options and seeing if there are any surprises there that he can use. But by now it should be clear that moves like JFJ on the top line, are NOT going to work on the best of nights. I like the philosophy of finding duo's rather than 3 person lines with chemistry. It is a good way to use players to their strengths and maximize potential by finding players that compliment the duo rather than a single player. But on the same token, the team IS built in such a way that there is going to be 2 scoring lines, a shutdown line and an energy line. It may not be to Quinn's taste, but simply put, the team isnt designed any other way. And until some moves can be made that put "Quinn's" team together, he should be looking at a lineup that at least works with the players.

I am honestly hoping that the opening day roster has predictable lines. I dont want to see Pouliot centering the second line with JFJ on the wing with Hemsky and Horcoff.

I am holding out hope that this is what we will see, and Quinn has just been taking a longer look than we are used to seeing because he needs a full evaluation of the organization. I have not yet been able to see the practices, but I would hope that the guys that are GOING to be on the team are showing Quinn what they can do, and the rest are just trying out for potential callups.

When this team skates out for the regular season I want to see a cohesive unit that supports their other team mates. I want to see a team that plays to its strengths and win's because of it.

No more gambles, no more guesses. Tonight is the night that will make or break several players on this team. Come next saturday we should ( I would hope ) see a team that can compete with the rest of this division.