The Maple Leafs are in town tonight, and UBS Arena will resound with assorted -- and inevitable -- "welcoming" chants for the prodigal alumnus, John Tavares.
It's become a tradition; fun in some ways; but a tradition nonetheless.
The Maple Leafs are in town tonight, and UBS Arena will resound with assorted -- and inevitable -- "welcoming" chants for the prodigal alumnus, John Tavares.
Whadaya gonna do? It's tradition.
"It's just passion of Islander fans," New York Islanders forward Mat Barzal said. "It's just a thing. Our fans are passionate and emotional, and clearly, they don't forget things too quickly."
But for this evening, if there were going to be festivities, the home team's warriors had better take to the ice a vastly different outfit than the one that showed up on time and then fell flatter than the landing strips at JFK.
Tavares-hooting has almost become a laughing matter, but the serious business will be how coach Lane Lambert's team comports itself.
"We didn't sustain anything," Lambert lamented after his club was subdued by Vancouver on Tuesday night.
True enough, Skipper. And here's The Maven's advice. GET THEM TO SUSTAIN TONIGHT.
Brock Nelson, who did his bit by scoring his club's two goals, made a magnificent point:
"We've got to get momentum." I can name a few momentum-movers. BO HORVAT, MAT BARZAL, and NOAH DOBSON.
For my two cents worth, the second-best observation came courtesy of Kyle Palmieri: "We didn't show our best."
Why not, pray tell? Did they think they were playing the Woodside Whippets of the Long Island City WMCA Roller Hockey League?
They were playing one of the three best teams in the NHL, so how could they not bring their best?
But the Canucks have disappeared from the rearview mirror. The Maven's advice for tonight: PLAY YOUR BEST.
Adam Pelech returned to the lineup against the Canucks and clearly was below par. His long rest produced rust; that was obvious, but in the clubhouse afterward, I awarded Adam First Star For Best Quote: "No excuses!"
That had better be the theme tonight: NO EXCUSES.
The Canucks were sitting ducks. having played back to back to back. They looked as fresh as a May daisy. The Isles? More like Tuesday's second hard rose.
In conclusion, Brock Nelson pointed out the absolute key issue: THE STANDINGS.
Philly refuses to fade, nor Pitt nor the Canes.
You know the rest.
Tonight the Islanders must SUSTAIN for 60 minutes with their BEST GAME and, please, as Adam Pelech said: NO EXCUSES!