Asking The Crowd: Part 3

Part three of our series starts now:

Question: Do you feel confident with the goal-tending? please explain why yes/no

From Matt Clausen (Follow Here)

I'm perfectly content with the goalie situation, I would've loved to see a starter imported more in the vain of Jonathan Bernier, but this year's UFA goalie class sucked, and the Leafs aren't dealing James Reimer, so there goes that. Look, people need to put last season in perspective, it was 48 games, a lot of games were effectively 4 point games where you either gained or lost two points on your division irreverent of the actual standings. The Islanders played their best goalie to give them a chance to win night in and out, and that was Evgeni Nabokov, and the dude was gassed against PIT. We outplayed OTT against PIT so had we had a more rested Nabby, maybe, maybe we advance? 

Anyway, Nabokov will be fine, the Islanders need to rest him more night in and out, and Kevin Poulin will be more than capable of handling the work and I hope to see him get 20-30 Starts. KP only has 21 NHL games to his resume, so it's time to see what he can do as the back-up this year.

Also, what fans are forgetting is that Garth can go out and still make a deal for a backup or even a starter if Nabby and Poulin aren't succeeding (You'll also see Anders Nilsson called up if he's performing first), so if a back-up becomes available and the Isles are in buy mode (which I hope they will be after so many stagnant deadlines and off seasons), they'll swing a deal. If you have to meet your demand for a backup right now, I'd look at Justin Peters in Carolina, but again, not likely.

From Tom Ballantyne (Follow Here)

Of course I do. There's no reason to not feel confident. Nabby will have another strong season, and Poulin will be a sharp backup. The combination of those two should have no problem winning games as long as the offense is there all season long.

From Kevin Cosgrove (Follow Here)

I'm eh on the tending. I think Nabby is ok at best but I think Garth can get someone at the deadline to help via trade. It's not any Worse than last year but at least it's a 1 year deal, poulin is serviceable, and then we make a splash via trade or FA next year.

From Michael Willhoft (Follow Here)

I alluded to it earlier, but I'm confident that Nabokov and Poulin can split time in such a way as to provide a steady presence in net, something like Nabokov starting 50 games and Poulin starting the remaining 32. If and when the Isles get to the postseason, I'd assume Nabokov would get the starts, unless Poulin has the hot hand. Not having to ride Nabokov for 95 percent of the team's starts -- like last season -- will help the Islanders in the long run. While a Nabokov/Poulin tandem won't be the best duo in the NHL, it should be good enough for the Isles considering the type of offensive numbers than can put up.

From Myself (Follow Here)

I feel like I am in the minority on this one.  Most feel that Nabby and Poulin can give us effective goaltending all season long.  To me, Nabby is another year older and Poulin has never played enough to warrant enough confidence for me to not be worried.  Can Poulin be a great backup, sure! But its certainly a question mark.  Quiet frankly he needs to be or else the Isles are in trouble for this season.  If that is the case acquiring a goalie mid-season could be in order. This is certainly one of the most interesting topics that will last from the beginning and most definitely to the end of the season.