Islanders players pull a “Sens Uber”, throw their team under the bus

Ever since the Ottawa Senators players Matt Duchene, Thomas Chabot, Chris Tierney, Dylan DeMelo, Alex Formenton, Chris Wideman, and Colin White were exposed earlier this week in a leaked video from an Uber driver, there’s been a lot of serious talk about privacy in today’s NHL. With iPhones and Android devices in everyone’s pockets these days, we’re all at risk of being captured saying or doing something stupid at any moment.  

In case you somehow haven’t seen the leaked Uber video of the Sens players slamming power play coach Marty Raymond, check out the video below:

Ugly, ugly stuff for an organization that’s had a NIGHTMARE of a year with public relations.

While it may not rank nearly as high on the “shocking expose meter” as the Sens’ leaked video, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman did leak some private conversations he had with New York Islanders players prior to this season, that seem to indicate that they weren’t exactly thrilled with how things went in Long Island this offseason. We’re talking, of course, about the departure of captain John Tavares, now of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Check out these quotes from Friedman, taken from the latest 31 Thoughts podcast:

“One of the Islanders players told me, actually TWO of them told me, they thought this season was going to be a disaster. They really did. They thought the organization would have a hang over about losing Tavares and it was just going to be a nightmare.”

“And they both said that they realized Lamoriello and Trotz, they had a plan. They were gonna come in, this is how we’re gonna do things and every day is shaped towards this is how we’re going to do things. And they realized, they had hope.”

“These Islanders guys who admitted that they thought this year was going to stink, they had a positive attitude after training camp. They believed in what these guys were selling them. And so much about it is, can you sell ice to the Eskimo? And it looks as if these guys have convinced the players that there’s reason to believe.”

Call it The JT Effect? 

For what it’s worth, the Islanders have indeed gotten off to a good start this season going 8-4-2 in their first 14 games to lead the NHL’s Metropolitan Division. They don’t seem to be missing Tavares, but there’s no real way of telling whether the front office and coaching overhaul is the reason behind the team’s success. Our guess? It can’t hurt… former head coach Doug Weight and general manager Garth Snow didn’t exactly have the best track records.