Welcome to the Islanders, Ryan Smyth.

Earlier today Ryan Smyth was acquired from the Edmonton Oilers for Robert Nilsson, Ryan O’Marra and a 1st round pick in the upcoming draft. Great trade for the Islanders. Smyth is the type of player to improve a team tremendously--he's a hard worker with passion for the game. Let's see how the team plays with him in the lineup and Yashin back soon as well.

Win of Mixed Emotions

The Islanders are now 25-21-6 coming off a 4 – 2 win over the Montréal Canadiens.

Trent Hunter, who has been pulling a string of well played games, scored 2 goals. He now has 15 points in his last 14 games.

Miroslav Satan also scored two goals and looks to be more confident with his shooting.

Unfortunately, the win isn’t as sweet as it should be. Martinek went down in the 1st period with what looks like an ankle injury and will be out 4 – 6 weeks. He is a very important part of the team and one of our best defensemen. Hopefully, the team will continue to win like they did today, and he’ll come back to be the force that he was.

Yashin Bashin'

It's that time of the year again!

There comes a time in every Islanders season when the fans start to doubt our 7 million dollar man.

With Yashin out with a knee injury and his lack of production the past few weeks, people are once again questioning if he will pull through and really display the characteristics of a true captain.

It wasn’t too long ago, however, when we saw Yashin at his best. Playing with Blake, Yashin and his line were unstoppable. They were scoring practically every game, and after each goal they grinned from ear to ear. It finally seemed as if Yashin has awoken.

When the Islanders were down by a goal or two everyone wanted to see the first line out. They were exciting to watch and you could almost guarantee a genuine scoring opportunity with every shift.

They were a tough match for opponents and people started to take notice.

Unfortunately, Yashin was injured and things started to plummet from that point on.

When he came back, he simply wasn’t the same. He was slower and lurked on the ice. It was obvious that he was struggling to regain his form. And now, injury has struck again.

It is important to give him some time after he comes back from his injury before we scrutinize him. He showed us his flashes of brilliance early on in the season and showed us that he has “heart.”

“Heart.” It is what Isles fans have asked of him for so long. And I do not believe that his last injury damaged that heart. That is why we should give him time; the problem doesn’t seem to rest on his lack of heart, but rather on an actual physical injury.