Enough with the hope. Start Believing. BELIEVE IN NOW.

At some point, the running around in disarray, the excuses, the sad-sack ‘woe is me’ bullshit has to end.  At some point, competing and moral victories aren’t enough.  At some point, a rebuild begets whatever it’s going to build. That is where we are at. The prospect pipeline, once barren and bereft is now flowing freely. The arena situation, once a ceaseless blight upon the franchise, giving rise to the constant paranoia that one day we would all wake and find Mayflower vans had stripped down the Coliseum over night, is resolved. We have a new home assured. We have our future players assured. We are no longer a team without an identity. That identity wears number 91 in your program and number 1 in your heart.  This is where we are. The precipice of what came before versus what is to come.  We are on the bridge in between the two points, and we are closer to the destination then the beginning.

This is where we sit. The excuses are falling by the wayside. The perception is improving. It’s time to retire the rebuild, it’s lack of expectation and it’s built in excuses. This  is the moment that we anticipated one day would come.

 

It’s taken a touch longer than any of us wanted, because of the factors above and others such as the one in the owner’s box, but it’s only about a year behind schedule. The majority of the pieces are in place for long term stability and even prosperity. It’s been a painful trip, but we are close to the promised reality that we were foretold when we began stripping this thing down in 2008. It’s time to realize that future and potential.

The doormat is no more. The ‘lowly’ Islanders are dead. In their place stands a young, hungry team with a propensity for timely scoring and big hits.  A 4^th line that’ll rattle your teeth and a cadre of scorers that will get you off your seats.

This is the time. There are 10 games left to punch a return ticket to a dance we haven’t been invited to in far too long. They’ll get it done, too.  The Soundtigers are heating up with their reinforcements and a interesting tale developing with 39 in net trying to salvage a career next year somewhere far from here. Everything is starting to roll in the right direction for this franchise.

We’ve heard enough about the future, enough about the rebuild, enough about how tomorrow will be better, enough with the hope. It’s time for belief.

 

BELIEVE IN NOW.