by Kelly Monteith

Created on: September 23, 2010

Islanders GM Garth Snow's inability or his unwillingness to sign big-name players in the offseason may or may not come back to haunt him, sure, the majority of players led by John Tavares are young, the question is will the new youth movement sweeping the league worh for the Islanders.

Having completed his first full season in the pros, Tavares like those before him in their rookie year, ran out of gas, so Snow and company are hoping Tavares took  the lead from another first round player before him, Steven Stamkos, and worked hard to get himself in shape in the offseason, and here's hoping all the players on the team took the lead, themselves and worked hard in the summer for the long road ahead.

The thought process for Snow is they can and will work with what they already have, without breaking the bank.

The $64,000.00 dollar question heading into the up coming season must be will Rick DiPietro finally play a full season for the team.

DiPietro's contract, which stunned the hockey world, is a 15 year deal, which is now down to 11, and with several knee surgeries under his belt and only 13 games played in total, many on Long Island are holding their breath to see if this is the year they see their number one goaltender.

Snow did the right thing last season, when he signed goalies Martin Biron and Dwayne Roloson, as insurance policies in case DiPietro could not play, but now things have changed,  Biron is now with the Rangers, and some may question whether or not the 40-year old Roloson would be able to take over the 50+ games he would have to play if called upon.

Although there has been some improvements up front, it is without question the goaltending situation which is worrisome.

Teams like Pittsburgh have it all-including goaltending and if the Islanders are modelling themselves after the Penguins and the Blackhawks of the league, then it must include a player like Rick DiPietro and the Islanders cannot simply rely on the Tavares on their team to win games.

In the long term fans may become impatient, especially since they've seen this movie before and with Islanders owner, Charles Wong hungry to build a new arena, the time is now for this team to step up, for if the fans see the same results as seasons past, they may, without hesitation turn their backs on the team. 

Look for the Islanders to do great things this season, but it may take several seasons before the Islanders even smell a playoff spot. 

Learn more about this author, Kelly Monteith.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.