Number Running

Five games into the season seems like a good time to take our first look into the numbers of the '08-'09 campaign. Sure it's early, but what can we tell so far about this year's Islanders versus last year's team?

They're pretty much the same. Or as the great Denny Green likes to say, they are who we thought they were.

Looking at 6 major metrics, we'll see that the team hasn't moved by more than four spots (in terms of ranking within the league) in any of them. For a team that by all accounts had a disappointing season last year, this is not what you want to see.

There are X-factors aplenty - learning the new system, the early injuries to our D-line, the fact that DP has only played one game so far...etc. But over the course of any season, issues will arise. You can only hang your hat on these for so long before they become the norm and define your entire year. So let's take a look at how we stack up year-over-year:

2007-2008 ; 2008-2009
Goals for 2.3/gm (30th) ; 2.2/gm (26th)
Goals against 2.9/gm (23rd) ; 3.2/gm (21st)
PP% 14.5% (29th) ; 11.1% (25th)
PK% 81.8% (19th) ; 80.0% (21st)
Shots/gm 29.7 (10th) ; 30.2 (10th)
Shots allw'd/gm 30.3 (21st) ; 32.4 (25th)

Beyond this, last year we averaged earning 0.96 points per game, and so far this year we are at 0.80 points per game.

Sure, at this point in the year a 3-game hot streak can completely change this picture. Just as a 3-game cold streak will, in the other direction. The point is, as I watch this team I can't shake that feeling of deja vu. That is what prompted me to look into these numbers in the first place...I keep feeling like I am watching last year's team with some new faces.

We'll check back into things in a few weeks, and see how the team is shaping up as we head deeper into the fall.

MC