Still Strong on the Island
 

The Islanders are once again shooting the lights out in New York.
 
After rushing all the way to the WCHL Finals two years ago, the Islanders took a slight step back last year, struggling against the cap and eventually struggling against the New York Rangers in the playoffs, getting ousted in the second round. Now, the Islanders are back, hanging in for a home ice berth in the first round and strong challange for another WCHL Finals run.
 
"We have a young team, but an experienced team in the same breath, and that youth and wisdom will benefit us greatly," explained seasoned veteran Ray Whitney, who has netted 57 points this season to sit third on the team in scoring.
 

The ageless Ray Whitney keeps piling up the points, now with the New York Islanders.
 
Unlike years past, the Islanders aren't blessed with a high powered offense, rather relying on the determination of netminder Carey Price and a solid defensive core to remain in contention in the Eastern Conference. It's been a sort of rebuild and retooling all at once in New York.
 
"We've had to change things up on the fly. The cap sort of forced that on us," said General Manager Jimmi Bornstrom from his hidden lair in Eastern Europe. "We are trying to rotate our core in a more youthful direction as a result."
 
In fact, the Islanders are the youngest team in the league, with an avergae age of 25.7. Only one other team, the Carolina Hurricanes, have an average age of under 26.
 
The youngest players on the roster are Taylor Hall and Oliver-Ekman Larsson, and that duo combined for 33 goals and 94 points so far this season to rank sixth and ninth respectively in team scoring.
 

Taylor Hall and Oliver Ekman-Larsson have both been boons to the New York Islanders.
 
"Hopefully we can continue to chip in," said Hall. "We know we need to kind of hit the ground running here, and we are doing so."
 
So, despite an offense without a big name hitter, the team sits third in goals per game and fourth on the powerplay. The offense will boost the team come the playoffs if it can continue at that pace.
 
The lone weakness for the Islanders is the penalty kill, which sits at 22nd in the league, but even that is mitigated by the fact the Islanders are the third least penalized team in the WCHL.
 
Looking towards the playoffs, the Islanders could still finish anywhere from third to seventh in the Eastern Conference in all likelihood. Interestingly, the only team the Islanders likely have no chance of facing in round one is the Ragners, who have all but locked up first place in the conference.
 
"We're ready for anyone, even them," said Bornstrom. "They are a great team, but we've beat them in the playoffs before and we'd love to play them again. Whatever it takes to win the cup, that's what we want to do."

The Devil Gets His Due
 

The Devils have been knocking teams around all year.
 
One season after declaring a retooling project for his squad, Trevor O'Neil finds himself sitting in a very lofty perch.
 
The long-time General Manager of the New Jersey Devils swung an early season deal for Jarome Iginla and Kari Lehtonen, and the team has been riding the momentum of that trade ever since.
 
"It's panned out for us big time," acknowledged O'Neil. "Jarome has brought a great deal of leadership to this team and Kari's been a backbone for our defense."
 
Lehtonen has been a rock in net for the Devils this year. posting 41 wins after coming over from the New York Islanders, Lehtonen has 45 wins already this year and is on pace for 57 wins, and has an outside shot at reaching 60 wins this year.
 

Without Kari Lehtonen, who knows where the Devils would be this season.
 
"If he can keep it up, this season could be legendary for him," said Iginla, who has seen Lehtonen ply his trade for years with the Islanders. "He's not just an all-star, he's arguably the best tender in the game these days."
 
Lehtonen sits third in wins and save pecentage and second in goals against average, making him a Vezina and Hart Trophy candidate. This play and helped vault New Jersey to a 46-14-5 record, good enough for third in the Eastern Conference, and their .746 winning percentage is second only to the New York Rangers in the entire WCHL.
 
Forget rebuild, focus on the WCHL Cup.
 
"We have a great netminder, some offensive depth and a solid defense. We have holes, but we have a pretty sturdy ship as is," said O'Neil.
 
That ship could sail through the Eastern Conference playoffs if they keep up their pace. And those playoffs are only a mere formality away, as the Devils maic number to clinch a playoff spot is just 11. Even going 5-11-1 would guarantee them a ticket to the dance.
 
In those playoffs, the Devils just need most players to keep doing what their doing, but if one player could pick it up, it would be Iginla. The power forward has netted just 19 goals in 59 games as a Devils and only 20 goals on the season. That's a far cry from the usual 30 to 50 goals he good for.
 

A few more goals from Jarome Iginla would help.
 
"I hope to see things improve soon. It's tough, but I got to keep working at it and it'll come together," said Iginla, who scored tonight.
 
If Iginla does get going, it'll just be another piece of firepower for a Devils team which is already potent enough as is. That could be all that's needed to get the Devils back to the WCHL Finals.

Happy Birthday Mike McFarland! Long live the Cornrow Kid!!!!!
 

 
Keep rocking that pimp ass bling bbboooooyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!