My open letter to Garth Snow

Dear Garth,

As July 1st rolled around, I was eagerly anticipating the exciting free agent moves you were going to make. Heck, you managed to get Ryan Smyth here, so I was wondering what other tricks you were going to pull out of your hat. But as the days passed, and we lost Ryan Smyth and guys like Drury, Gomez, and Briere signed elsewhere I started to scratch my head wondering what you were up to.

But, as we have accustomed to, you stepped up to the plate and on newyorkislanders.com expressed your thoughts to Islanders fans preaching patience. I have to admit, at the time, I was a bit worried, but I gave you the benefit of the doubt and waited to see how your plans for the organization panned out. As the weeks progressed, and you continued to sign free agents it became evident to me the direction you were heading in and I was ready to follow. While we may not have gotten the top free agents that I am sure were at the top of many of our wish lists, we did acquire players of character, determination, and grit that truly deserve to don the Islanders crest. (While some may question the decision to give Guerin the "C", I think it was an excellent move.)

And as you continued to sign players beyond the names of Guerin, Comrie, Sim, and Fedotenko I became more and more of a believer. By adding more pieces to the puzzle in Sutton and Wasicek, you have created atmosphere of players that want to be here.

And let us not forget the class with which you worked out a contract with Hunter. He was a necessary piece to the puzzle and you did not disappoint. You also didn't turn the organizational back on Simon, bringing him back for another year. Both of these guys are team players that put their heart and souls out there on the rink every night.

So, what is my point in all of this? I just want to send you a personal word of thanks for doing a wonderful job in bringing this organization back to respectability and creating an atmosphere of hard nosed, nuts and bolts hockey that has been missing around here for quite a while. Whenever you were between the pipes in your playing days I always knew that you would bring intensity, grit, and dedication to your craft. And that is exactly what you have done in your role as general manager. You have surrounded our current nucleus of Witt, Sillinger, Hunter, and DiPietro with players of the same mentality; players who wear their hearts on their sleeves every single night.

You were quoted as saying, "my only message to them (Islander fans) is that for our team to finally go way beyond mediocrity and have a chance at winning the Stanley Cup, it's in our best interests for me to stay patient. So while I stay patient, for the right deals, I hope they can be for a little while, too."

Garth, we have gotten your message loud and clear....continue the great work!

Thank You,

Michael

P.S. The decision to release Yashin was probably a difficult one, but I applaud your efforts.