John Tavares lifts Isles to playoff berth

John Tavares vs. Rangers' goalie - Robert Kowal - flickr.com

The New York Islanders have been plagued by bad luck for the past six years. After surprisingly making it to the playoffs in 2007, the Isles went back into a slump in which they wouldn’t make the playoffs for six years. This year, they were able to clinch the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference and played the top seeded Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Islanders went 8-0-3 in the month of April in order to earn a playoff berth. Only one of their three losses were in regulation, showing the resilience and determination of the young team. One player in particular who helped the Isles play astoundingly in April was John Tavares.

Tavares was drafted first overall in the 2009 draft from the London Knights. In his first two years his play wasn’t as consistent as it was in London. This year he has shown that he is an elite center and a contender for the Hart Trophy.

Tavares played 48 games in the regular season, ranking first in games played and in those games he scored 28 goals, constantly helping the team be competitive. He finished third in goals scored, only behind Alex Ovechkin and Steve Stamkos. Tavares is among the elite scorers of the league. Some may argue he’s only good at scoring, but he’s fifth overall in goals created which makes him a diverse offensive player. The one thing that Tavares must work on is his maturity level, as a 22-year-old he must gain experience and help the younger Islanders.

"We just keep getting better and that's the exciting part for us. We didn't seem to put any of our focus on the outside, we just worried about in here, the belief in here and knowing that when we play our game, we're a tough team to play against, no matter who we're playing,” said Tavares in a New York Newsday article.

Tavares is able to lead the team when he is on the ice due to his tenacity and heart. He can score in the first few minutes of the game or in overtime.  With Tavares playing well, the Islanders can be a top contender for the championship next season.

The Dragons lose with pride, but have high hopes for the future

Courtesy of Tom Henning

Although the HSMSE Girls Varsity Basketball team lost to the Institute for Collaborative Education on Friday December 9th, 2011 by 13 points, they had an improvement in their offense. They also had indicators of what needed to be done to go forward and achieve more wins.

Normally, 16 points would be a low score in basketball, but it is a good sign for the Dragons. In their previous two games, they only had six points each game and a combined total of six offensive rebounds. "I think it's a great improvement. I see a lot of us trying harder now and being more focused and putting in more energy and taking time to see what's happening," said Leah Cabrera. They made more shots with the opportunities that they had, including two three-pointers that helped boost their offense.

The game also gave some hints on what to improve in the future. There was only two offensive rebounds, which obviously will not get them far. "A shot goes off and some people are just kinda watching the person shooting, which is typical of high school basketball, but I think it's a problem," said Nick Diunte, the coach of the Dragons. They also need to improve their passing game if they want to continue to improve. Their weak passing game has caused turnovers and has resulted in the ball being easily intercepted. "I feel like we just have to get stronger and more accurate passes and that'll help get the game flowing better," said Donna Fintzi.

Despite their loss, they have made vital improvements and now know what they need to do to progress further. The loss will also not have an impression on their future games. Donna said, "We're improving ... I think we tried our hardest."

Big improvement for a small team

With a small club, the HSMSE Girls Basketball team has been playing less than stellar. A record of 0-4 has haunted the struggling Dragons, they have been improving since their first few games.

Their game on December 9th, 2011 was exceptionally exciting for the girls. They put up a season record for points. With 16 against visiting Institute for Collaborative Education.

Donna Fintzi and Mikaela Bloch led the team with five points each. With the other players contributing six points, the team made major improvements that helped them rack up baskets. "I think it's a great improvement. I see a lot of us trying harder now and being more focused and putting in more energy and taking time to see what's happening," said Leah Cabrera.

They played exceptionally well on defense. Before this game, their opponents averaged 40 points. One visible improvement on defense was the ability to stop their opponents from scoring after turnovers. I.C.E managed to get multiple back to back steals in the first half. The Dragons managed to limit fast break points on the other end.

They struggled on passing, a problem they suffered from game one. "I feel like we just have to get stronger and [get] more accurate passes and that will help to get the game flowing better," said Donna Fintzi. They got over those passing troubles by dominating the paint. The Dragons saw a weakness in I.C.E's defense and started running to the basket. In the second half, they focused on their shooting and that helped later in the game. Another major problem was offensive rebounding. "I think it's the fact that we are undersized, and also that a lot of our players are standing around and watching. I think that is somewhat due to the inexperience. A shot goes off and some people are just kind of watching the person shooting which is typical of high school basketball," said coach Diunte.

Hoping that they can pull off a win, Head Coach Diunte said the team needs to practice on passing. "I feel that next practice we are probably going to take a step back and focus on like the mechanics of the pass a little bit more and then add passing under pressure a bit. So I think those things will help us play better if we can you know pass correctly and then also on the same time be able to pass under some pressure."