Robbie Schremp Picked Off Waivers For A Second Time

Schremp's Departure Ends A "Up and Down" Isles Career

Schremp Celebrating 

For the 2nd time in his short career, the 24 year old Rob Schremp was placed on waivers and claimed by another team. This time it was the Atlanta Thrashers who took a chance on the sick stick handler. Schremp had some very good moments and some not so good moments with the NY Islanders during his tenure with the team. Not only was his play inconsistent but the opinions on Schremp by Islanders fans were as well. More people than I expected, which were discovered from my own discussions with other fans, were big supporters of Robbie and will miss the flair he brings to the game. But, others are very happy that his time with the Isles is over, mainly due to his poor skating, frequent turnovers, and ineffectiveness with out the puck. Where do I find myself in all this? Probably somewhere down the middle. I liked Robbie Schremp but more as a person than as a player. He became a big part of the room during his time with the club and showed how good of a person he truly is. As for his play the hands he possesses are simply incredible but his problem is almost everything else. Things like his turnovers became extremely bothersome after they consistently were a problem, and having him on the Power Play left me scratching my head. I look at Schremp and see a guy that wanted more than anything to do well and help the NY Islanders win but he just couldn't reach the standards of what the team expected of him. Although I was unhappy to see "Schrempy" leave, I had been expecting his departure since about February 17th. The 17th was the day that the Isles re-signed PA Parenteau and in my mind was what signaled that Schremp's Isles career was almost over. The reason being, is that Parenteau and Schremp have very similar qualities. Both strive off of having good hands and offensive ability, and both have almost identical flaws. Those being their play without the puck, many offensive zone turnovers (Schremp was 4th on the team in turnovers with 38 and Parenteau was 5th with 37), below average skating, and both have a small, dainty build which leads to them easily getting knocked off the puck. With how this season has played out for the Islanders, having Parenteau become an immovable part of the 1st line with John Tavares, and PA having a career year with 14 goals and 24 assists for 38 points thus far, I would think it was a fairly easy choice for Garth Snow to choose PA over Schremp who has 10 goals, 12 assists for 22 points and a minus-19 rating. The Isles, once they made this decision, probably started to shop Schremp around but failed to find any takers which led to them placing him on waivers. I really hope Robbie Schremp puts it all together down in Atlanta because, he damn sure deserves it.