The New York Islanders continue to struggle and a lot of fans are pointing out that Ilya Sorokin isn’t playing at the same elite level as he did a year ago. But how much of the Isles problems are due to Sorokin’s drop in play? We discuss this ongoing social media debate today.
Plus, the Isles signed forward Alex Jefferies, their 4th round pick in 2020, to an ELC. He will start with a tryout deal in Bridgeport. We discuss what skills he brings to the table and what the signing could mean for Bridgeport and the NHL team.
We also break down the lack of urgency and confidence the Isles have been showing and preview tonight’s vital game against the Detroit Red Wings.
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29 Comments
Sorokin has not been the same goalie this year as he was last year, but neither has the team been defensively in front of him. Both need to play better next season. On the positive side, Sorokin makes highlight reel saves look routine. On the negative, he's been caught out of position and allows the soft goal way too much this season.
Gil, nothing on the penalty kill? That’s another reason for illya’s goals against. Even with the lesser shots per game he’s still leading the league with seeing the most rubber. I hope varly plays more so we definitely don’t make the playoffs. I mean he’s 7-7-4 so far this season. I don’t want the participation trophy. We need senile Lou out of here.
Fans finally realized that the S in Sorokin’s name doesn’t stand for Superman like it did last season. I disagree with you Gil that this downturn and inconsistency has something to do with Ilya. Have a good night Gil. See yeah tomorrow night. PEACE
WHEN SIROKIN IS STANDING 3 FEET OUTSIDE THE NET AND TOO FAR LEFT OR TOO FAR RIGHT LIKE IN THE CAROLINA AND RANGER GAME HE IS 100% RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LOSSES. EVEN THE CARIOLINA ANNOUNCERS STATE "LOOK AT THAT WIDE OPEN CAGE."
SIROKIN/VARLAMA NEED TO BE TRADED NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You can't blame ilya for the typical louzer move with the 8 year deal. Players get too comfy with job security. Plus this aging team in front of him is degressing. There is only so much 30 can do on a nightly basis to get isles a win. And when that pop gun offense rears its ugly head again that puts pressure on 30 to be near perfect every game. And 30 plays behind a slow d that lacks puck movers. Either get some offensive punch to take pressure off of goalies or trade 30 in his prime before he regresses and isles are stuck with another aging contract. And YIPEE isles sign another 4th round pick to go to ahl B'port. Not like isles have any grade a prospects or first rounders there waiting for a call-up ready to come to the rescue. At least caps got beat by laffs to remain in 9th. Now another game with wings in 8th. Isle loss and they are 5 pts. back of det.
And things are only going to get worse in front of 30 as this team regresses next 3-5 years. He may want out. A question the next gm will have to answer.
Ifound who is responsible if we don make it ! ZAMBONI guy!!! We all know that this team is good enough to win cup……If you dont believe me ask Lou 😂😂😂😂 lets go WINGS…..cant take it no more
I’m not sure what happened to this entire team as far as play in their own end. I understand Lambert’s system was flawed but one season compared to the amount of time with Trotz undid everything? Also isn’t Korn and Greco the coaching staff for goalies? Also some of the defense play is terrible especially times spent in their zone. Maybe after the season we’ll see that there were some injuries? Who knows
Could it be that he is tired or maybe the time spent in his zone can get you exhausted. I hope he bounces back
I feel for Sorokin this year i really do! And i have a hard time putting much blame on him for the islanders struggles. You mentioned gill about him facing 35-40 shots on goal alotta nights. That is true and a horrible stat. But whats even worse was alotta nights opposing teams were putting upwards of 70+ shots a night in total. So even if not all on goal sorokin was under duress most of the games. When your head is constantly on a swivel with pucks winging by your head with no chance to relax. Its gonna be hard for him to defend the ones that are actually on goal. Not to mention the amount of games he played in a row without a day off!! Im with you gill and say hes still a top 5 goalie in the league. And i feel like he would still be putting up elite numbers if we could only keep the puck out of our own zone. Good show as always!
Good 🌄, Gil, how are you? Before I begin, let me say that I was wrong for what I said about The late Chris Simon. When I said he did what he did to Mike Grier, he was a member of The Edmonton Oilers, but he was of First Nation Decent, so he should've known better. Ilya Sorokin is being used for 🎯 practice too many times, which means THE DEFENSE IS NOT DOING THEIR JOB LIKE THEIR SUPPOSED TO. As much as I ❤ The Islanders to death, I hope The Islanders clean it up, that Lou Lamoriello's drafts smartly, VERY SMARTLY. You're right, Gil, this isn't all Sorokin's doing, but it is a COMMUNITY EFFORT. The Islanders sign Jeffries he's 22 years old, and he sounds like Boss and Trots put together. Maybe they're losing their ❤ and urgency, and their lack confidence in whats going on. They're in The Motor City tonight, and The Red Wings will have revenge on their 🧠, like I said yesterday, SO THEY NEED TO BE PREPARED IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD. They can't lose tonight, not even in a SO. HAPPY BIRTHDAY 🎂, TOM POUTY. Also a HAPPY 🎂 TO JOHN "JT" TONELLI. He assisted on Bobby Nystroms Stanley Cup Winning goal in 1980, and also, he so scored on 01/06/1981, he scored 5 goals in one against The Toronto 🍁. Hear from you tomorrow, Gil, and LET'S GO ISLANDERS.
I totally agree here Gil. Look at his buddy Shesterkin. Similar styles but Igor has the team in front of him where Ilya has been hung out to dry so many times… I also think you hit the nail on the head when you said they may not believe in themselves after all the inconsistencies. This stuff could be very deflating.
Can’t truly evaluate as he might feel like he is left out to dry so many times. Maybe he has been off his game…but a good D and a good PK can change things quick.
Good morning Gil , llya Sorokin is fine 🎉but not as good as the last two years and he also got his money 💰 lol why don’t they use semyon Varlamov a little more or trade him.. the islanders defense is horrible 😊 bottom line why the islanders are losing because the players are not that good. They don’t score and the power play is terrible 🎉 butch goring saids you have to score on the power play. In the summer they need to strip the team. Scotty and i went to the game the other night and he will not watch them anymore. I will still watch but if UConn is on or the Mets , I will watch that. Scotty bought partial seats for the Knicks this year and did very well selling them and now he has the playoffs tickets 🎫 big bucks lol they are not cheap i guess because of Manhattan 😊 next year buying season seats. Scotty left for Medellín Columbia yesterday with the Nypd baseball ⚾️ team. Going to play a few games over there. In June they are going to San Diego CA.. I will go to that. I never been in California 😊9/11 we play fdny at citi field on September 5 th the time should be 6 pm. Enjoy your day today Gil.. today going to breakfast 🧇 with a friend that lost his wife last year ..
Sorokin is not main problem but when u pay a goalie almost 8.5 million a year he’s suppose to be elite not pretty good. His year is fine if paying 5 million but not top money so he better get back to form next year or isles screwed
i certainly trust Roy, the greatest goalie in nhl history, ….if he says sorokin is part of the problem ., he is….and he's no longer facing 40.50 a night and defintely lets in a stinker a game at least…and hasn't stolen many if any games at all this year …so yes he's part of the problem. i said at beginning of season when he was getting shelled under lambert that that was very dangerous and could ruin a young stud goaltender and break his confidence and even lead to injury (which may be part of it)….i hope roy can be part of the solution …not just identify sorokin as a problem…help him…we need to improve the pk for sure…big part of sorokin problems as well..but to be fair gil we can't call sorokin a top five goalie just because we like him and saw when he is on his game how good he is…all we can do is judge from his stats and this year he is not top five, maybe not even top ten….
.i get the feeling that roy is really not happy he took this position behind the bench and i am not sure that he's the type who is going to want to sit behind the bench for a subpar team with an impossible task of improving an old tired, talent challenged squad…is there any talk / thoughts gil that lou steps down end of season as gm, stays on as president and roy moved to gm??
This is the worst defense on this team since the 90's. I rather have Scot LaChance back than Aho
I will forever stick up for Sorokin before you make a negative comment known who he is and look at his career, his record in the KHL possibly they’ll never be broken, he’s Russia’s goalie, the poor kid is probably ripped apart he’s a winner and he’s on a loosing team, equal him to McDavid theses guys don’t lose, a great goalie can win a game, Lunquist did it for years, he’s stuck on a losing team, great show spot on thank you Gil
Good morning team. Gil, thanks again for giving it to us straight. I really love having Sorokin and Varly as our duo. I hope we keep Sorokin for a very long time. You're right. His play has diminished this year vs. last year, and he is partially to blame for the recent losses, but it can't be placed completely on his shoulders. There are 5 other players, on the ice. That being said, some of the angles Sorokin does take while attempting to stop the puck, can be questioned. Our opponents see this while prepping to play us, and they attempt to exploit it, if it's there. I truly feel for him. Sometimes he has the full support of the team, and other times he left out to dry. I'm confident it's something, with Roy's help, can get fixed. I would love to make the playoffs, but that hope is very close to being shut down. What's everyone's thought? Have a great day, all. Red Wings tonight. Let's show them we're not ready to go away yet. See you all tomorrow. Until then.. Let's Go Islanders!!
Gm Gil. Smoke and mirrors. The Isles D is minor league quality and I think Sorokin is burned out. Nobody is lining up to loot the Isles for their playoff run. Sorokin's play is now matching that of the players around him. He is one of 3 or 4 players who I would retain.
And A Very Important Bye the Way, if the Islanders continue their way players, GM, and ownership, they will be The Coyotes of the east, we’ll be watching games with 5000 fans in attendance at the UBS, the master plan has failed !!!
Hello Gil. Take a look at the penalty kill and the breakdown on the defence in front of him. When you have four players in front him letting the offense go through all of them and score a goal is ridiculous. Lots of goalies rely on the team in front of them to attack the offensive player coming down the center and score, there is problem. When Illya keeps them in the game the offense is terrible. So overall the Islander have two good goalies, its the team that play consistently in front of him. Lastly the turns overs and clearing the puck are two areas that need to be cleaned up.
Probably too late in the season but maybe alternating Varly and Ilya even every game might be an idea. Ilya gets relieved of some of the beating, Varly earns his keep even more, and maybe the rest of the team starts to play with the realization that they affect the guys between the pipes just as much as the goalies maybe affect their play. I have no confidence that our boys can make the playoffs. If they do, I have no confidence they can make a deep run. Maybe we should be thinking forward already about how we are going to put things in place to correct the problems of this season. If it works in the very short term great but if not so be it with eyes on next year. Then again with Lou at the helm I also don;t think his normal problem solving patterns will fix what ails the tea at this point.
Good question. One big question concerning Sorokin coming to the NHL was his tendency to be a little wild and lose his net. With the lack of support, he has to make crazy saves that draw him out of position.
He plays on a team where 90% of the bums do not recognize who they are playing in front of. This goalkeep is being wasted during his most formidable years. W-A-S-T-E-D. This is on Lou. The moment Ilya came over, we should have been "deliberately" building around him.
Sorokin does not seem as sharp this year but I agree with you he is not the problem. Great Podcast. Thanks. Go Isles tonight.
I don't think it's his fault really. The players in front of him are, well lets just say it flat out awful! This is not a good team and I'm concerned about our future going forward. Which direction are we going? What moves can be made?
I am a huge fan of Sorokin. He clearly is not the main reason why this team is sinking
However
His comment after losing to Carolina was
Shit happens
It is what it is
Really
Doesn't exactly sound like a guy who is excited about being with NYI
Bench him play Varly
His stats on low and mid level
Shots are bad . He continues to allow weak and momentum killing goals .