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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!harpo!decvax!ucbvax!citrin
From: citrin@ucbvax.UUCP (Wayne Citrin)
Newsgroups: net.sport.hockey
Subject: Islanders-Caps/Islanders-Canadiens (or Nordiques)
Message-ID: <347@ucbvax.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 20-Apr-84 18:03:10 EST
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.347
Posted: Fri Apr 20 18:03:10 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 21-Apr-84 07:24:43 EST
Organization: U.C. Berkeley
Lines: 33

Give the Caps credit.  They're a good team and barring some disastrous
trade we'll be seeing more of them in the future.

I confess that I was surprised that the Islanders took only five games to
win this series, but in retrospect it seems reasonable.  After all, this
was only the Caps' third playoff.  They had just won their first playoff
series ever the week before.  Remember that it took the Islanders seven
years from the time they first made the playoff until they won their first
Stanley Cup, and that it took them three years from the time that they
became strong Cup contenders until they won.  Be patient and remember that
the Caps will need more experience and possibly a couple of upset losses
(this series wasn't an upset) before they'll be ready.

Some other remarks:  the superiority of the Islanders' depth made a great
deal of difference.  It has long been known that the Islanders can put
four strong lines on the ice each night, but the new twist this year is
the strength of their reserves.  Bill Torrey was criticized for carrying
seven extra players at the end of the year but it turned out to make the
difference in the last two games as players every bit as good as some regulars,
like Anders Kallur, Nats Hallin, Gord Lane, and Gord Dineen, made real
contributions.  One of the Islanders' extra players is a rookie goalie who
is every bit as good as their regulars.  This says good things about the 
team's future.  One of their regular goalies is going to go next year and
my guess is that it won''t be Melanson.

As for the Islanders' next opponents, I think they can beat Quebec or
Montreal, although I'd like to see them play Montreal simply because there
are still a lot of people who won't consider the Islanders real champions
until they beat the Canadiens in a playoff series.  The Islanders have
not had a chance to play the Canadiens since they started winning the Cup.

Wayne Citrin
(ucbvax!citrin)