The “P” word is getting thrown around a lot on Long Island, and it isn’t “P for patience.”
The Islanders feel, after several years of development, forming a solid nucleus and preaching a rebuilding effort, it is their time to return to the playoffs.
Yes, the playoffs.
“You look around this room, there’s so much talent, so many young players, there’s no reason why we can’t make it this year,” center Frans Nielsen said. “I really believe we have what it takes.
“There’s a feeling that enough is enough right now. We got to be in the playoffs this year. … We have a feeling in here we can beat any team in this league.”
The Islanders are indeed a confident bunch entering the lockout-shortened season despite last year’s 14th-place finish. They feel after five playoff-less seasons, they are ready to contend for the postseason.
“We’ve been in the same phase for a little while, it’s time we really challenge ourselves and really develop our game and get into the playoffs,” said star center John Tavares, who is coming off a 31-goal, 81-point season. “We have to work for it, understand how hard it’s going to be, and we got to put everything into it.
“We believe we have the talent, we’ve been building for a few years. We have to bring that consistent effort night in, night out. When things aren’t going well, we have to find ways to win.”
Nielsen has seen a different intensity during the abbreviated training camp, a competitive fire and raised level of effort that was lacking in practice last year. The hunger is there, not only to get back to the postseason for the first time since the 2006-07 season, but also for so many members of the team to make the playoffs for the first time ever.
“It sucks watching TV in May when other teams are playing,” Nielsen said. “You can see how much fun everybody is having and you want to be a part of that.”
Coach Jack Capuano isn’t one for predictions, but he was pleased to see his players show so much confidence in themselves.
“I wouldn’t want to hear anything else,” he said. “That’s why we’re here, we’re here to win hockey games.”
Of course, every team is optimistic at this point in the season, Tavares noted, and the Islanders have to back up their brash talk. They finished just one point ahead of the Canadiens for the Eastern Conference basement last year and haven’t placed any higher than 13th in the last five seasons. Few prognosticators have picked the Islanders to challenge for a playoff spot.
“We have big expectations on ourselves,” Nielsen said. “What other people say I don’t know. I don’t read newspapers.”
Consistency is important, as the Islanders did show glimmers of hope last winter, but also suffered through several prolonged losing streaks.
“We can sit and talk about it, but we have to go out there and do it,” Tavares said.