New York Islanders: Why John Tavares and 600 points is difficult to celebrate

New York Islanders captain John Tavares tallied his 600th career point vs the Blue Jackets on Tuesday night but it is difficult to understand how truly remarkable that is.

600 career points are something that most hockey players can only dream about. For John Tavares, the milestone is now reality. As much as New York Islanders fans would all love to celebrate, it is difficult to do so right now.

The Islanders are in some of the darkest days of the season so far. Not only was the point the only goal for the Islanders night during a home loss, it comes when the fans were too busy chanting about the ineptitude in the front office.

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John Tavares is on a blistering pace so far this season. He could very well notch more than a point per game this year. His numbers, much like they have been throughout his career are going relatively unnoticed due to the craziness that is constantly happening off the ice.

Last year firing the coach in the middle of the season and the horrible beginning of the year swept the fan base off their feet. This year is more or less the same. The team is plummeting down the stretch. They put on bad performance after bad performance. The fans invested money to put a billboard promoting the firing of their GM. It is the most obvious problem for the Islanders right now.

John Tavares’ 600th point puts him in the top 325 all-time point leaders in NHL history. Yet, it is barely talked about.

The team sent out this tweet to congratulate their long-time captain:

What a huge deal. Yet, this is not even the biggest story with Tavares himself.

I’ll give it the fact that John Tavares only has one playoff series win at the helm and I’ll give it that the Islanders typically miss the playoffs. But the biggest story with #91 is the fact that the Islanders and Tavares have not agreed to a contract extension. The team has multiple home arenas next year and they look like a team ready to say goodbye to a legend and to any hopes of being in contention anytime soon.

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600 points are not just a stat. It is an accomplishment and a very great one. All 600 points came as an Islander. It cements him as one of the best Islanders in history, a team with four cups and plenty of hockey all-timers. The Islanders better not ruin this. 600 points. That is so many points. But they seem to mean so little. 600 is still somehow not enough.

Congrats to John Tavares, the face of some of the darkest days of the franchise.

Things were a lot worse before he came along.

Now though, despite the big 600, it just feels wrong to really care. There are too many other things to worry about.