The John Tavares Countdown is back on

I got scared there for a little while what with the winning streak. But things seem to be simmering down a bit. I would like to see Atlanta pull away a little bit to be honest and we’ve still got a long way to go, but I like our chances for getting the number one overall. Besides, Atlanta has already had Marc Savard, Marian Hossa, and Ilya Kovalchuk. They clearly don’t know what the hell to do with good players (I will acknowledge a level of hypocrisy considering the people who have been through the Islanders’ organization in the past 15 years).I do root for the Islanders while watching, but the they need this kid.

Anyways, it’s 134 days and 14 hours before John Tavares becomes an Islander.I should mention that I’m not superstitious when it comes to sports. Only players get to have superstitions since they actually have a role in the outcome of a game.

I should also mention that I don’t want to hear anything about this defenseman from Sweden. He can be a good defenseman for another team—we need to stay focused.

Anyway, to keep you up to date on Tavares, he was the OHL player of the month for January and he’s leading the OHL in scoring with 78 points in 43 games. Just imagine Tavares scoring goals like this with Okposo on his wing scoring goals like this.

Losing Weight

This really sucks but perhaps there’s a silver lining. I thought that a productive veteran like Weight would get some decent offers at the deadline but that seems unlikely with Weight out for six weeks. It does mean that Weight will be around for next season which is good news for the 09-10 season.

Rebuilding

Just because I’m getting a little tired of people complaining about the Islanders, I looked to see what teams finished last a few years ago. Check out the three worst teams in the 2003-04 season: Pittsburgh, Washington, and Chicago. I’d say they’ve done alright for themselves since then and the Islanders have my full support for following their model.