It seems my post detailing the curse of the number 15 for any Islander player (post 1980) has blown up in my face. The Billy Harris Hex hasn’t stopped PA Parenteau, the current owner of number 15 for the Isles, as his point per game production can attest. Thinking back, he had a bit of a shaky start. He was out of position during a preseason game that lead to a goal and in general, had made many grandma passes on the ice that were too slow and the other teams had an easy time of knocking them down.

Click on the photo for PA’s career statistics

PA’s fast start and the Islanders fast start are by all means inter-connected. Given that 7 out of his 8 points have come on the power play, and that historically in his career he has been a fair to decent point producer, Islander fans could be in for a special teams treat. He’s 27 years old now, and has had a little taste of playing in the NHL with the Blackhawks and Rangers. Even if his role is as a power play specialist, the team could have and has done a lot worse over the past years. With so many players that have potential given the chance (Schremp, Moulson, Bailey, Grabner, Parenteau, Niederreiter) in the past 2 years, some of them are bound to make the adjustment and be proper NHL offensive threats. Matt Moulson is continuing to make Garth Snow look like a genius, and Josh Bailey is starting to make him look like a super-genius.

If PA can keep up the production, the team stands a great chance of becoming relevant again. Can you buy the hype? I think my next article will be about how the number 8 is jinxed.

No related posts.