Highlights and Scrimmage Report 9/15

New York Islander Fan Central | 9/15/2007 06:11:00 PM | | | |

NYI.com checks in with action from day two where Mike Comrie delivered a hat-trick in his first Islander scrimmage.

It took only one scrimmage to see the potential the Islanders’ number one line has for the 2007-08 season. Mike Comrie scored a hat trick, while linemates Ruslan Fedotenko and Bill Guerin set up all three of his goals for a 4-3 Team Gillies win over Team Bossy, Saturday, on Day 2 of the Lobster Cup.

“We started off a little slow,” said Fedotenko, “but then we picked up our game. Scoring three goals was pretty good for our team. Both of my linemates are great players. They see the ice really well, read the play and get open. It was fun playing with them for the first time.”



“I felt good out there,” said Campoli. “Bruno and I were feeding off each other really well. In the first period he jumped into the play a lot and then I started doing in the second. It was a good balance.”


MEMOS FROM MONCTON

* Notes and quotes from Ted Nolan:

Today was the first time Nolan had a chance to see captain Bill Guerin in action, and he didn’t disappoint.

“I’m impressed with the leadership of Guerin,” said Nolan. “He doesn’t just float around Camp waiting for the start of the season. He said from day one he wanted to be the go-to guy, and he’s demonstrating that.”


Coach Nolan spoke today about two of the defensemen at camp, Andy Sutton and Bryan Berard.

“Sutton was ok yesterday, but much better today,” said Nolan. “Big guys take a little longer to get their engines wound up. All indications are he is going to get better and better. He has a little feistiness in him, and can move well for a big guy. Berard has a great opportunity here. Look at Park, who came into camp without a contract last year, and now he’s one of our core veterans. Berard has the chance to do be that guy this year.”


* If people are wondering why there hasn’t been any fighting at Camp yet, it’s because a “no fight” policy was implemented for two reasons by Ted Nolan.

“We’re not here to fight with each other,” said Nolan. “We’re all on the same team. Plus, you don’t want to have a 260 pound man crushing a 17 year old kid who is going back to juniors. It just doesn’t make any sense.”


Team Gillies

Forwards
26 Ruslan Fedotenko - 89 Mike Comrie - 13 Bill Guerin
67 Sean Bentivoglio - 29 Ben Walter - 72 Jeremy Colliton
42 Jason Pitton - 65 Chris Gaudet - 48 Steve Regier
37 Kip Brennan - 60 Tomas Marcinko - 8 Masi Marjamaki

Defensemen
14 Chris Campoli - 8 Bruno Gervais
2 Aaron Johnson - 44 Freddy Meyer
61 Martin Frechette - 70 Simon Lacroix

Goalies
39 Rick DiPietro
33 Mike Morrison


Team Bossy

Forwards
16 Jon Sim - 18 Mike Sillinger - 7 Trent Hunter
12 Chris Simon - 10 Richard Park - 20 Sean Bergenheim
11 Andy Hilbert - 51 Frans Nielsen - 27 Darryl Bootland
59 Derek Damon - 17 Shawn Bates - 54 Gordie Dwyer

Defensemen
25 Andy Sutton - 24 Radek Martinek
4 Bryan Berard - 49 Drew Fata
6 Matthew Spiller - 62 Jamie Fraser

Goalies
31 Joey MacDonald
1 Maxime Ouellet

Chris Botta's Point Blank gives his first impressions on Andrew MacDonald, Blake Comeau,Justin Bourne and Olivier Labellle with the qualifier that he is not a scout, does not make hockey decisions and his take is simply a hunch based on what I detect about a player's guts, dedication, hustle and professionalism.


Cory Witt's media blog does an update on prospect Mark Katic, getting advice from Steve Webb on what it takes to make it to the NHL.

Kimber Auerbach does another side game summary and provides the following:

Combo: It looks as if one of the Sound Tigers top lines is taking shape. The combination of Jeremy Colliton and Sean Bentivoglio centered by Ben Walter may become a main-stay in Bridgeport. The three were in the middle of many scoring chances and almost scored when Walter fed Colliton a pass in the slot. Colliton tried to fire the puck over Ouellet but at the last second, Ouellet threw his glove up to snag the shot out of the air. Look for the line to produce points throughout camp and into the season.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Good start for the new line of Fedotenko-Comrie-Guerin even if it's only a scrimmage. Bergenheim again played with projected fourth liners Park and Simon.

Bates played. Sim took Hilbert's spot with Hunter and Sillinger. Campoli-Gervais were paired as were Johnson and Meyer. Berard played with Drew Fata.

Greg Logan updates his Newsday blog where he addresses a lot of subjects.

Among those highlights:

There was a smile on coach Ted Nolan’s face, and his tongue was planted firmly in his cheek after the scrimmage when he said, “Oh, I don’t know if you noticed that Comrie kid out there, but I said, ‘Boys, we’ve got ourselves a player.’

“The one thing I’m really impressed with is his leadership. Even in practice [on Friday when Comrie’s team didn’t scrimmage], he was taking control, asking questions and skating. He doesn’t go through the motions and wait until the season starts. We talked about it before coming here, and he wanted to be the go-to guy. He wanted to be the man. Early indications are that he’s demonstrating it with his actions.”

When Comrie wasn’t scoring, he was generating opportunities for linemates, Bill Guerin and Ruslan Fedotenko, whose physical play in the corners and in front of the net helped give the diminutive Comrie room to operate. Not that he needs a lot of space to thread a pass or make a move that puts a defenseman on his heels.

“He’s a good passer, but you also have to have players who know how to jump in holes,” Nolan said. “Guerin knows how and Fedotenko knows how. Whoever has the chance to play with Comrie has to have that hockey sense like he does. Like [Miro] Satan has great hockey sense, but he also has to have people playing with him who can get him the puck. Whoever plays with Comrie, there won’t be a lack of getting in the holes, I’m sure.”

CAMP NOTES AND QUOTES: Judging by the first couple of scrimmages, forward Andy Hilbert is in danger of being displaced by free agent Sim as left wing on a line with center Mike Sillinger and right wing Trent Hunter. Sim is strong, plays a physical game and has an underrated scoring touch. It looks to Nolan like a good fit. “I like the way Sim is playing the last couple of days,” Nolan said. “The thing that really impressed me about him is his feistiness. He’s got the skill, and he loves to compete. That was one of the things Garth [GM Snow] and I talked about. Sim plays all aspects of the game. You look at Fedotenko and Guerin, these guys can play both ends of the rink. They’re not just one-dimensional.”

The 6-6, 245-pound Sutton was the Isles’ major free-agent signing on defense. He and partner Radek Martinek did a good job controlling play in their end today. “I thought Sutton was OK yesterday, and he was much better today,” Nolan said. “Those big guys take a little while to get that big engine warmed up. He’s going to get better and better, and he has a little meanness to him. We like what we see for sure. He skates well. I wouldn’t want to be a forward going into the corner with him too often.”

In Friday’s scrimmage, Team Trottier was a 4-0 winner in regulation over Team Bossy. The goals came from free-agent center Josef Vasicek, who also had an assist, and forwards Jeff Tambellini, Blake Comeau and Justin Bourne, son of Islanders great Bob Bourne, who is attending camp along with former Isle Gerry Hart, whose son, Jordan, is playing defense for Team Trottier. Vasicek was impressive working with Tambellini and Satan.