Coach Arbour Rooting For Isles
April 16th, 2007 by murph
Newsday’s Jim Baumbach spoke with the man, the myth, the Islanders coaching legend himself, Mr. Al “739″ Arbour about the Islanders playoff chances.
“I think they could surprise a lot of people,” he said. “I can’t tell you the outcome, no one can tell you that, but they finished very strong and they won when they had to win, and they really were the only team that did that.
“You never know what could happen in the playoffs. Look at the finalist from the last couple of years. They’re not the top ranked clubs.”
Just look at last year when eighth-seeded Edmonton made it out of the Western Conference, falling to second-seeded Carolina in the Stanley Cup finals.
“Ted Nolan’s done a great job with the team bouncing back,” Arbour added. “They kept a level head. They don’t seem to be too excited. They’re just playing their game and that’s it. They just worry about themselves. That’s the main thing.”
Arbour, like everyone else who followed the Islanders last week, rode the roller coaster of emotions as they overcome major odds to qualify for the playoffs.
“What a finish they had there with the goaltender who doesn’t have much NHL experience, but he did it, and they did,” he said. “It was a storybook ending.”
