Who Says Size Doesn't Matter?

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Apparently, Islanders' head coach Scott Gordon says so, when myself and others asked him postgame after the Los Angeles Kings out-worked, out-muscled, and out-scored his New York Islanders in their Columbus Day Matinee game Monday afternoon.

Gordon talked about his team's play and in answering previous questions spoke about "taking too many shortcuts," "starting and stopping," and "circling themselves out of good positions into bad positions."

In reference to these questions, I had asked Gordon if he could attribute this to the size of the Kings' forwards. After a brief, awkward silence and staring contest, Gordon replied, "No. The size of their forwards isn't going to stop you from starting and stopping. It's not what dictates the circle—the stop and start."

In all fairness, I didn't get the opportunity to follow up my original question with one that was pertaining to what I intended to ask, because someone beat me to the punch—that's just how it goes in the media sometimes.

I am no expert, but as a hockey player, if you are out matched in terms of size, you will have a tough time positionally.

Your defensemen will have a tough time boxing out the forwards, your (in the Islanders' case especially) small forwards will not be able to thwart any kind of attack physically, and in reference to Gordon's stop and starts and circles, you will constantly be out of position because you are chasing around the puck carrier too often.

For a good idea on the size difference between the Islanders' forwards and the size of the Kings, look no further than the photo attached to this story. Islanders Center Josh Bailey is doing his best at covering (or attacking) the Kings' Drew Doughty.

It's one thing when the coach is dodging questions and those of us on the outside have one opinion or another, but what do you do when another member of the mainstream media you run into after the game cites the size of the oppositions' forwards as one of the main problems that night?

In my first post here on Bleacher Report last week, I spoke about how the Islanders future rests in the hands of their youth. Well, they better bulk up in the next season or two because everyone else seems to be getting bigger and stronger.

Coming up next this week, we will compare the size of the Islanders' forwards and defensemen to that of the other teams in the Atlantic Division.

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