2012 FNHL Cup Champions

New York Islanders

Led By GM: Jay Reardon

Row 1: David Tremblay, Jamie Storr

Row 2: Konstantin Glazachev, Nikolai Zherdev, Viktor Kozlov, Denis Ezhov, Jordan Leopold

Row 3: Maxim Lapierre, Alexei Mikhnov, Chuck Kobasew, Niklas Kronwall, Dmitri Kosmachev

Row 4: Yevgeni Tunik, Adam Henrich, Valterri Tenkanen, Scott Hannan, Michael Barinka

Row 5: Ivan Khomutov, Stefan Meyer, Anton Kadeykin

Deserted Island Now Island Of Champions

The New York Islanders have done it. They have gone from one of the more pathetic and worst franchises in the entire FNHL to the champions. They were the only team in the Eastern Conference to go to the finals in back to back years and now after their second shot at it, won it. The New York Islanders had only their second winning season in FNHL history this year and not only won the Conference Title but the FNHL Title as well. They had a difficult time as time went on through the playoffs after losing 1 game to Buffalo in the first round, they lost 2 to Washington in the second but Jamie Storr saved the day. After going down in the series 2-0 to Washington, Storr came in and won four straight games to send the Islanders to the third round against Carolina. Tremblay took back over then and they outlasted the Canes in 7 games. In the FNHL Finals, the Islanders beat Nashville 4-2 to win their first ever FNHL Cup.

No GM in this league has had such a dramatic turn around to actually win the cup. Teams such as Anaheim, Atlanta, Florida, etc. that have had the same GM for a very long time and have had constant losing seasons hope to be the next ones in line. An important lesson is to be learned here... The Islanders didnt have a winning season until Season 9 of the FNHL. In the last two years though they have been all the way to the end. So basically, even if you haven't had a winning season in a long time, some turnarounds can be very fast. The Islanders are a young team so it is possible we can see them back here again next season, but for now Jay Reardon enjoy that your team is the best in this league. Enjoy the fact that you stood by them when they were bad and now they aren't. Enjoy that after all those nights of being depressed that they lost yet another game or that they missed another year of playoffs, that all that doesn't matter anymore. From now until the end of next season... nobody is better than you or your team.