John Tavares News

May 11, 2013; Uniondale, NY, USA; New York Islanders center John Tavares and Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby shake hands after the overtime period of game six of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

As the New York Islanders assembled some success, or at least progress, in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season, you'd hear more and more other teams and hockey media note their team speed.

There was plenty of action across the NHL last night, with three Conference Semifinal matchups on the schedule.

With just three days left before the final two competitors are announced, John Tavares, Martin Brodeur, Pavel Datsyuk and Sergei Bobrovsky are the remaining athletes in EA Sports' NHL 14 cover ballot.

Let me preface this article by saying I am not a Knicks fan. But after the Knicks were eliminated in the 2nd round of the postseason the other day, it got me thinking about the Islanders.

In New York Islanders offseason news that made Isles Nation collectively respond with, "Ummma what?" yesterday afternoon, it was reported that the University of Maine had expressed interest in stealing current Isles head coach Jack Capuano away from the organization.

Wayne Simmonds seemed destined to continue the Flyers-only streak for the cover of NHL '14, following Claude Giroux's appearance last year.

Sidney Crosby of Pittsburgh and Washington's Alex Ovechkin are once again finalists for the Hart Trophy, while John Tavares of the New York Islanders is also in the running for the NHL's Most Valuable Player.

What you see is not so much an NHL hockey player as it is a metaphor for one of the oldest debates in the sport.

We've had some technical hiccups over the last few days , so apologies to readers and regular commenters if things haven't worked as well.

For a brief spot in time, the New York Islanders were the darlings of the NHL . The ne'er-do-well franchise of the past two decades had missed the playoffs in five consecutive postseasons, and failed to advance past the Eastern Conference quarterfinals since 1993.

He joins the Blackhawks' Patrick Kane and the Lightning's Martin St. Louis as finalists for the award, given "to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability." Moulson had only four penalty minutes in the 48-game season, tied with San Jose's Logan ... (more)

The award annually honors players who are good at hockey and remarkably tolerant of tools who are not good at hockey doing stupid things to try to get such players to be less good at hockey.

It was locker room cleanout and exit interview day on Long Island yesterday, as the players, coaches and Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum maintenance crew officially closed the books on the lockout-shortened 2013 NHL season.

So the WHL's top 2013 bantam draft pick will wait a season before joining the Vancouver Giants on a permanent basis.

Why have we gathered today, around his nondescript, unpainted pine casket in an empty parking lot? To say goodbye to the 2013 edition of the New York Islanders , who were laid to rest last weekend surrounded by the people who loved them best: their opponents.

Apr 26, 2013; Buffalo, NY, USA; New York Islanders center John Tavares during the game against the Buffalo Sabres at the First Niagara Center.

The New York Islanders were eliminated from the first playoff appearance in quite some time over the weekend, falling in Game 6 to the Pittsburgh Penguins .

It could have been on the cover of NHL 14. It could have been sitting in the aisles of every retail store in North America, scaring children from sea to shining sea.

Perhaps the Penguins breathed the loudest sigh of relief. They were pushed hard by the New York Islanders and were driven to overtime in Game 6. They got the series-clinching goal from the most unlikely of sources: defenseman Brooks Orpik, marking his first goal all season.