Mother Nature isn’t the only one capable of bringing down a storm. We had so much to discuss that we broke this episode into two parts.
In Part 1, Mike and Dan find the Islanders at a low point after an average
road trip and a disastrous return game.
In three games this week, the Islanders left us with layers of anger and frustration. They finished their trip with two bad games, one that somehow yielded a win and another that landed like a lead balloon. They then came back to UBS Arena to face the surging Sabres and once again no-showed a matinee game full of kids, an all-too familiar scenario for them over the last decade-plus. The Isles are still in a playoff berth as of now, but only because the teams below them are scuffling. Management has made no indications that any changes are coming, and the same assortment of deck chairs keeps getting rearranged, leading to no surprises and predictable outcomes.
A game against a Flyers team hunting for the same playoff berth on Monday is huge for both clubs. The Islanders follow that with back-to-back(!) games against a Rangers team that would love to play spoiler, even as they wave their second white flag in seven years. Then it’s a game against Nashville, that old boogie man. With just two weeks before the Olympic Break, these winnable games will all have an effect on how the rest of the Islanders’ season should be treated.
In Part 2, we react to the first concrete reporting on the Islanders moving their AHL team from Bridgeport, CT to Hamilton, ONT, and also wrap up the Mitch Marner Chronicles in another massive Master Leaf Theatre.
The Bridgeport Islanders leaving their home of over 25 years was first teased months ago, but a recent report in The Athletic put out a lot of details we didn’t know already. While the team has yet to make anything official, we give our initial reactions and concerns about the move, while also feeling sympathy for the fans who supported the Sound Tigers/Baby Islanders organization during an usually long time for one minor league team to stay in one place.
Then it’s on to another epic-length Master Leaf Theatre, as Mitch Marner makes his return to his hometown and his former favorite team’s home rink. As expected, the takes afterward were equal parts dramatic and ridiculous, with some writing about the fan reaction in delusional or Shakespearian terms, and others calling out the evening’s failings, including those of the Leafs themselves in a gutless 6-3 loss. We add some new voices to the Master Leaf Theatre canon, which is always a treat, and enjoy some unexpected twists from classic artists of the genre. We had so much to get to that we forgot to mention the Leafs selling an autographed Marner Knights jersey on the concourse during his return game. That tells you all you need to know about how this “hostile” this environment was.
We’ve done a lot of this over the last two weeks, so we’re going to take a little hiatus unless something crazy happens.
Thanks for listening to this two-part episode. The severe weather impacted us in a few way and this was the best solution.
REFERENCES
- Islanders plan to relocate AHL affiliate from Bridgeport to Hamilton: Sources by Pierre LeBrun, Eric Stephens at The Athletic
Master Leaf Theatre material:
- Where did it go wrong for Mitch Marner and the Maple Leafs? by Elliotte Friedman, Sportsnet
- Mitch Marner hears boos (so many boos) in his return to Maple Leafs ice. As it should be by Rosie DiManno, Toronto Star
- Behind the boos: Inside Mitch Marner’s return to Toronto as a Golden Knight by Joshua Kloke, The Athletic
- Maple Leafs faithful rain jeers down upon Marner in tense reunion by Sonny Sachdeva
- ‘Going to be loud’: Why Toronto will be booing Mitch Marner by Luke Fox, Sportsnet
- Maple Leafs fail to match intensity of Mitch Marner’s return by Luke Fox, Sportsnet
- SIMMONS SAYS: Maple Leafs Auston Matthews behaving rather uncaptain-like by Steve Simmons
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