Mike Brophy

Veteran hockey columnist Mike Brophy writes Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday on Sportsnet.ca and appears regularly on Hockeycentral.

John Tavares.

After a long drought, the Islanders finally have hope for the future.

Leave it to Sidney Crosby to provide a little wakeup call.

Just when the New York Islanders thought they had everything figured out, sitting comfortably in the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and riding a four-game winning streak, Sid the Kid matches his career high with a six-point effort as his Pittsburgh Penguins doused the Islanders 6-4. Evgeni Malkin did his part scoring a hat trick. It was one of those welcome-back-to-earth games.

Still, not too many on Long Island are complaining. This, after all, was supposed to be yet another of those 20-or-so win seasons when the only interesting thing about the team would be if it got another stab at picking first overall in the NHL Entry Draft. But a funny thing happened along the way to the draft - the Islanders have actually been competitive. Not only competitive, but also quite interesting to watch.

Nobody will ever mistake this year's team for the dynasty club that won four straight Stanley Cups starting in 1979-80, but nor will anybody mistake it for the sad sack team that has missed the playoffs the past two years and 10 of the last 14 seasons.

Many people are shocked by the Islanders emergence, but not GM Garth Snow. Or so he claims.

"I tend to agree that most people on the outside didn't have much belief in us (as a team)," Snow said. "But the guys in the room and the people in our management group believed in this team. We knew if we played to our capabilities we'd have a really good shot at being where we are now, if not even a little bit better."

Of course it helped that the Islanders got the No. 1 pick in last year's draft and were able to secure the new face of the franchise in John Tavares. The 18-year-old junior scoring whiz has done a nice job of quieting the critics who suggested his skating might be a hindrance at the NHL level by scoring 17 goals and 31 points in his first 50 games. With 32 games remaining, Tavares is in a dead heat with Colorado's Matt Duchene and Buffalo defenceman Tyler Myers for the Calder trophy as the NHL's best rookie.

The fact is, youth is the lifeblood of this organization. Beyond Tavares, who clearly is a special player, the team will continue to build around the likes of Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey. Okposo, 21, leads the Islanders in scoring with 10 goals and 33 points in 49 games and will surely top last season's output of 38 points. Bailey, just 20, has 12 goals and 25 points in 49 games.

The Islanders have also been very wise in obtaining pieces of the puzzle from other organizations. Matt Moulson, for example, was signed by the club as a free agent last July and has rewarded the Islanders with 19 goals and 32 points in 50 games.

Also, the Islanders claimed Rob Schremp off of waivers from the Oilers and after a slow start with his new team, he is suddenly looking very much like the gifted prospect people thought he'd be when Edmonton chose him 25th overall in 2004. Schremp, who is just 23, was unable to score with the Oilers in seven games spread out over three seasons and was a healthy scratch a number of times upon his arrival with the Islanders. But he seems to be finding his NHL legs with 10 points in his last 11 games including one of the best goals of the season when he swatted a puck out of mid-air with his glove and then batted it baseball-style into the net. If Schremp, who led the OHL in goals (57), assists (88) and points (145) in 2005-06, continues to improve at his current pace, he'll offer the Islanders a nice 1-2 punch along with Tavares.

"Everybody knows how skilled Robbie is," Snow said. "He's getting his opportunity now - really his first opportunity (in the NHL) - and he's making the most of it. The fact that we had flexibility in being able to move Josh to the wing has really opened up some ice time for Robbie."

The other good news for the Islanders is the fact goaltender Rick DiPietro is healthy, back playing, and winning games. He shut out the New Jersey Devils this week. If he can continue to contribute, then Snow can part with one of Dwayne Roloson or Martin Biron at the deadline.

Nobody is suggesting the Islanders are Cup threats this year, but given how far they have come thus far, a playoff spot could become a reality.