New York Islanders Podcast: Deciphering John Ledecky’s Code

The New York Islanders season ended in bitter disappointment as the team missed the playoffs for the second straight year. How ownership reacted to the disappointment was equally disappointing.

New York Islanders owners are committed to excellence. We get it. It might as well be branded on their foreheads the number of times John Ledecky repeats his favorite buzz word. But over the last two years, the product that he owns has not become the excellence that he so often preaches.

After what has now been two seasons of the John Ledecky Scott Malkin show as majority co-owners the Islanders have missed the playoffs twice. Ledecky was there three years ago when the Islanders were bounced from the second round of the playoffs, his goal then was clear: year-over-year success. Get better every season.

The Islanders have done the exact opposite. Since winning that playoff round in 2016 the Isles have responded with a 94 point season in 2016-17, missing the post-season by a single point. And then this year, missing out on the post-season by a whole 17 points.

And what do we get from ownership? “We failed” as well as a review of everyone in the organization. Which is odd that management gets a few more weeks to get their reviews in order while players got their reviews done a day or two after the season was over. Where is the accountability?

What Else Goes On?

Because it’s the end of the year we go over a few things to close off the 2017-18 NHL season:

• The last few games of the season were all about milestones. Could Anders Lee hit 40 goals, could Ryan Pulock be the top scoring rookie, and could Brock Nelson hit his 20 goal quota?
• We owe some people an apology for calling some places Islanders when in fact they were not. We try to remedy that with some Island trivia.
• Who could be better next season? Andrew Ladd voted himself, and we both agree, but who else? Nick Leddy? What about Cal Clutterbuck and Casey Cizikas?

Next: Garth's 2017-18 Season Evaluation

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