The Path to Hockey Heaven

Beer. Ice Girls. Testosterone.

A general synopsis of my college experience.

Important components, however, of another monumental event, this Sunday's Core of the Four Celebration in Uniondale. Two years ago, when the Isles held the 25th anniversary celebration of the first Cup I was unable to attend because of work, which had me out of state of the time. There will be nothing that keeps me from attending this Sunday however, as it will afford me an opportunity to see something that every Islander fans should be honored to witness in their lifetime, our Captain, number 5, making his way back home while carrying Lord Stanley's Cup.

The discussion of the dynasty years and the Cup finds me again considering our modern day organization, and its effort to return to greatness. If you've been reading my blog all year long, you would have noticed a trend. I felt from early on that the Isles were not built for a playoff run and needed to recognize that the best hope for a championship would come in the form of building, a term used frequently by GM Garth Snow as the trade deadline approached. We have a goaltender just heading into his prime, and we simply need to build a team around him that can make a run into June. You can hit up the Times blog to the right to get my thoughts on all of the Islander trades (just search for my blog name, or conversely, spend 4 hours trying to find me by conventional means). I was not afforded an opportunity there to address the trade that did not happen, and the source of the biggest disappointment for me on Tuesday. We could not move Satan for a pick. Miro, a notoriously streaky goal scorer, has seemed to bottom out when we most desperately needed scoring this year. A first round pick, or maybe even a second round pick in a deep draft was a big lost opportunity for a team interested in building. I've been told by BD and Tom Liodice that he was not even asked to waive his NTC. Having said all this, I do not know if there was universal reluctance by GM's to take on Miro given his knee problems, to be fair to Garth. I'm equally surprised that we could not move a hot Fedetenko to a playoff contender for a high pick, if not Miro. All in all, I walked away Tuesday night feeling as if there were opportunities lost.

Regardless, its history now. Its time to get behind this team and our GM as we all strive for our common goal.

Until then, I will relive my college years in the friendly confines of a hockey arena, the path laid before me by champions.