Despite calling the season “an opportunity squandered’’ and saying the first-round KO “still stings,’’ captain John Tavares believes the Islanders have a deep, young, Cup-contending nucleus and projects another loud building in Brooklyn tantamount to Nassau Coliseum.
However, Tavares, named Wednesday as a finalist for the Hart Trophy given to the league’s MVP, says his concern for next season is the lifestyle adjustment and logistics for the players in the transition to Barclays Center.
Tavares – and several teammates – will move a little closer to Brooklyn but will still live on Long Island, where the Islanders plan to practice in a revamped facility in Cantiague Park. The team will hold morning skates at Barclays Center, forcing them to spend all day in downtown Brooklyn.
“I certainly think it’s going to be a different feel – the daily life,’’ Tavares said Thursday after his final official visit to the Coliseum for an exit meeting with coaches. “It’s not a 5-to-10 minute drive anymore. That’s an important thing and going to be a challenge for next season. Getting comfortable, making sure to establish how to handle every day. It’s the challenge we’re going to face playing in Brooklyn. Trial and error.’’
The Captain hopes Barclays Center will become a frenzied venue like the Coliseum was in its final season. Tavares has said multiple times the Coliseum was “a difference-maker’’ during the 47-28-7 Long Island swan song – a passionate season that ended Monday night in Washington in a 2-1 Game 7 loss.
“We want to make it a tough place to play right off the bat,’’ Tavares said of Barclays. “Not too many teams enjoyed coming here [to the Coliseum]. We want to bring that same kind of feel to next season. They don’t want to make Brooklyn a quiet building. They’re going to be loud, going to be rambunctious to break in the new digs. When you create an atmosphere like we had this year, and reestablish some great hockey, we want to build on that.’’
Tavares, only 24, said he does not think GM Garth Snow needs to do much, though a top-pair defenseman to pair with star Travis Hamonic would be tipping point. The second pair of Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy is sturdy.
“I think management will do their thing, but I certainly feel it’s a special group,’’ Tavares said. “Guys who are here are going to be here, from young players to guys we signed, a lot of us are hitting that time of our career, a seven-to-eight year window where you want to be at the top of your game and want to be going deep. We’re not that far off. We’ll see what management does, but the years of drafting and acquiring young players has come to fruition.’’
Tavares offered one final lament.
“People here deserve more, deserve more in the postseason,’’ said Tavares, referring to the franchise not winning a playoff series since 1993. “As fun as the season was, we didn’t get where we wanted to be.’’
Linemate Kyle Okposo chimed in: “I think we underachieved this season,’’ adding of Brooklyn, “We have to mold that place into a home.’’
Second-liner Josh Bailey said: “We feel we have a team capable of winning a championship. A lot of guys were saying [at a team dinner Wednesday] this franchise has turned a corner.”