I still remember the wink.
June 26th, 2009. The New York Islanders had just selected phenom John Tavares with the first overall pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. As Tavares approached the stage with the cameras all over him, he gave a subtle wink. A gentle nod to the Islanders faithful back in Uniondale that “I’ve got this from here.”
For the first time as an Islanders fan I felt a sense of respect. You see, I was born in 1988 and missed the glory days. I started going to games in 1995 and my first jersey was of Zigmund Palffy. Sure, I felt great when Alexei Yashin and Michael Peca joined the team in 2001-02. I felt like we were making our way back as a franchise when we took Toronto to seven games in the playoffs.
But this was different. This was the feeling of having the star quarterback as your friend in high school. Sitting with the cool kids at the lunch table. I finally felt like we, as New York Islanders fans of the past 25 years, had a ticket to the show. Tavares was that ticket.
I’ll never forget his first goal and the emotion he showed. I’ll never forget his overtime goal against the Washington Capitals in the 2015 NHL playoffs when he jumped on a loose puck and beat Braden Holtby in front of the home crowd. And I sure as heck will never forget his double overtime winner against the Florida Panthers which sent the Islanders to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in my lifetime.
Theres a lot of things I wont forget about John Tavares. I started to think about it after the trade deadline this year when all parties stated his desire to stay and not be offered on the trading block. I spoke with friends about while I do believe he would stay, I wouldn’t be mad at John Tavares, the person, if he left. I tried to put myself in his shoes. He gave his heart and soul to the team, the front office and the community over his nine years as a New York Islander. He turned players like Matt Moulson and P.A. Parenteau into bona-fide wingers in the NHL. He led with grace and confidence that we hadn’t seen since guys like Gillies and Potvin. The guy would always end his post game, on-ice interviews by thanking the fans. He was, at the time, a class act.
As I said, I told myself I wouldn’t be mad at Tavares if he had thoughts about leaving; when I said that, I never really believed he would leave. But I did believe he had the right to explore, to talk with other teams, to see what else was out there. I am a fan that does believe management and ownership had failed him. Why wouldnt he want to leave? Why wouldnt he want to go a place where the team was built and they were ready to contend for a cup year after year? He wasnt getting any younger and you have to believe it weighed on him that he could go down as one of the greatest players to never win a cup.
So again, let me say, at the time, I didn’t fault Tavares for exploring his options.
But then May 22nd came and Lou Lammoriello was hired. I will say that while I hoped it would happen, I didn’t think Lou would fire Doug Weight. I didnt think he would demote Garth Snow, although I knew it needed to be done.
I started to think, there is no way Tavares leaves now, right? One of the top hockey minds in the game has come on-board to right the ship. He will find you a goalie, a strong defense and will promise you that the future is brighter than ever under his watch. What else is truly needed for Tavares? After all, he had stated to us how much he loves Long Island, his teammates and management. There was no doubt he was leaving.
Then June 5th came and I got the notification on the home screen of my phone that Garth Snow and Doug Weight had been relieved of their duties. I smiled. I ran around my office to the two people I knew who are hockey fans and said “it’s happening! Lou is cleaning house!”
Finally, June 21st came. A day I never thought I’d see. A respected NHL coach who was two weeks removed winning the Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals decided to take over the helm of the New York Islanders. Are you kidding me?
There was no way Tavares was leaving now. He had everything he needed. Everything he had been missing since he joined the league in 2009; a legit general manager, a top-notch coach, offensive fire power, a secondary scorer in Mathew Barzal and wingers who were proving their worth in Josh Bailey and Anders Lee. In due time, Lou would get us a goalie and some ‘D’ help and we would be on our way.
Then last week came. I read the tweets, watched NHL Network, listened to podcasts. Every writer and pundit still said if they had to bet, they would say he was staying. He was a loyal person and has always been that type of guy since juniors, etc.
Then he opened it up to six teams including the Islanders. While I still believed this was just his agents work and he would always return, I started to think and question everything.
Thursday came and went. Friday came and went. Then it was Saturday. All reports said that if it got to Saturday, it was not good for the Islanders. Like all fans, I checked twitter religiously. I refreshed Hockey Buzz. But nothing. No hints, no clues, no rumors. Quiet.
In a way, Tavares treated this past week the way Snow and the Islanders treated the time leading up to the 2009 NHL Draft. It was between Tavares, Matt Duchene and Victor Hedman and Snow didn’t give any hints or clues. As Islander fans, we dreamed of Tavares but we really didnt know. Seems it all came full circle.
Finally the reports were out, the alerts were sent to phones throughout Long Island and Tavares tweeted his announcement. Reports say he told Lou the previous night. Who knows?
I wasnt shocked. Only because when Saturday came and went, that was my moment of shock. The realization set in. This is really happening. At to the Toronto Maple Leafs–the exact opposite of the New York Islanders. Hockey royalty.
So here we are. As many have said, I’m not mad at Tavares for his decision. I’m mad at how he handled it. We heard for years of how professional, loyal, mature and humble he was. To leave four or five teams in the dark and hamstring their free agency efforts wasnt right. I respect his decision, I truly do. To put it mildly, however, I am torn.
I’m torn because John Tavares has been a part of my life for the last nine years. That’s longer than my current career, my wife, my apartment! So many great memories have been made because of John Tavares. He has been like the big brother I never had. He represented us at the All Star Game, at NHL Awards, at major announcements for the team (i.e. new stadium, Belmont).
He was our guy. He gave us hope. He made us believe that we weren’t the laughing-stock of the league anymore and even if some people did put us down as a franchise, we still had a top-10 player to throw in your face. He made me believe that other players would want to play here. He gave me hope that every July 1st we would be able to land a top free agent because big John Tavares was leading the team.
And then just like that the balloon popped. He left. He broke up with us. Gave up on us. while its easy to sit here and see his press conference and say he wanted a new beginning and chase a dream, he gave up on us as fans. Screw the former front office and ownership. He gave up on us as fans. While it may have been polite, he basically tweeted us that we were trash and he was leaving us for the cheerleader.
I guess its safe to say the big brother, quarterback friend we thought we knew, dumped us for the shiny, new object that lives up North.
To say its been a wild ride since Lou joined the organization since May 22nd would be an understatement. The highs I had of telling friends and other hockey fans that we finally had a smart, respected general manager and then landed a Stanley Cup winning coach and getting rave reviews after the NHL Draft, I was ecstatic.
Then the ball dropped. It felt just like a late game lead that the Islanders just couldn’t hold onto and close out.
So what changed? What could have been going through his mind? I know we will never truly know, but did Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen and Matt Martin leaving have anything to do with his thoughts? Both Okposo and Nielsen will be by Tavares’ side during his wedding in a month.
While I know Lou and Trotz are a much greater combo than Snow and Weight, how much did Snow and Weight mean to Tavares? When he pledged allegience, was it to those two guys or the franchise in general?
So here we are, Monday, July 2nd. Watching the signings of Leo Komarov and Tom Kuhnhackl. I try and tell myself how these are good signings and why they make sense, but all I can think is how do we replace #91?
At the end of the day, we will recover. We always do. We’re the strongest fan base in the league.
Let me close by saying this. I know many want to boo Tavares when he comes back in February. I will not boo him. I just can’t boo a guy that did so much for us and led us for nine years. We are better than that. And hopefully, come the 28th of February, we are sitting in first place with Barzal leading the league in points and Tavares is having his struggles adjusting to the spotlight in Toronto.
Bubs Grubs 