New York 3, Pittsburgh 2: AL ARBOUR # 740

Islanders Website: Has the recap on the Islanders 3-2 comeback win for Al Arbour's 740Th win as an NHL head coach on what was an incredible night.

ITV: Has Al Arbour's eight minute press conference after the game with Ted Nolan.

Islanders Website: Also had some fantastic pictures of Al Arbour and the game.



NYI Fan Central Comments:
Normally I spend this space to talk about the game which I will do tomorrow in a separate blog. Beyond the comeback that made you wonder if the ghosts came back to the Nassau Coliseum to haunt Pittsburgh once again for tonight this blog will talk about the show the New York Islanders put on and what it meant to see Al Arbour behind that bench again for me. I have posted a lot of articles, video and will do more of that but I have not shared my personal thoughts about Al Arbour as a hockey fan.

I cannot get the smile off my face as I write this. I'm so happy for him as a fan that he had one more night like this and will go out a winner forever now.

Al Arbour did not look out of place on that bench in his familiar spot and at times I found myself forgetting this was a special night as he leaned in and talked to players or had his paper in his hand and he seemed to go right back to his spot behind the bench out of instinct.

Once again you could see the presence Al Arbour has behind a bench and as I worried if the team could win this game for him and felt older, Al Arbour seemed to get younger and even more involved. He did not look like a seventy five year old man who could not stand through a ceremony less than two years ago with leg problems that kept him in a wheelchair. I was shocked to see him walking up stairs at the Coliseum at practice the last two days and privately wondered if he could last the entire game standing this week. I was amazed to see him walking on the ice between periods but it was like he was twenty years young.

I saw the man who accomplished more than any coach in the history of pro sports in terms of team victories. Only team in pro sports history to win nineteen straight playoff series, last team to win four straight championships in any sport. An organization that won because of it's heart, character and the class of the people running it that made it a team that was unique and never about the individual which is why they won like no other team and as long as they did.

For the younger fans reading this blog you got a look at what New York Islander tradition means tonight. Incredible first class show put on by the organization tonight from top to bottom after a game result you could not script any better. The class of Al Arbour, Bill Torrey, the championship and community alumni and people like Scotty Bowman and Pat LaFontaine.

SNY had Neil Smith on live television praising Al Arbour tonight.

For a minute I saw that confetti coming down and the building going wild with the players on the ice and for a second I found myself thinking of the past cup celebrations with the current team and what it would be like if it happened again.

In the old days players did not do a group photo with the cup so that was not a tradition when the Islanders were champions.

The New York Islanders did something tonight I have not done in countless years, they made me think a Stanley Cup was possible here again someday.

11/3: New York vs Pittsburgh FSN 6pm coverage

Video Tribute to Al Arbour:



Updated 3pm:
ITV: Has Al Arbour behind the bench at practice, addressing the team Saturday.

Islanders Website: Has the early pregame for tonight's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

"It will be a special night for the alumni, the organization and everyone involved," said Arbour. "I'd like to thank Ted, Garth and the owner for making this possible for me. It's a great thrill for my family and me to be back in our hometown of Long Island."

NYI Fan Central Comments:
If the Islanders cannot win the Stanley Cup this year, I want a win tonight.

Lot's of pressure on the Islanders and the staff here with an outstanding skating and scoring team that will not lack the confidence Tampa did. Bergenheim out and Ben Walter went to the Island according to the Ct Post.

A little risky and unheard of having a banner ceremony after a game. If they lose badly it could ruin it for some but hopefully the fans attending will separate the two regardless of result and understand that Al Arbour did not want any pregame distraction for the team if he is going to be behind the bench.

I will be in attendance tonight and will update the blog tonight or tomorrow. I hope Islander fans of all generations have a great night and congratulations to Al Arbour.

As for the game I have a personal observation, could be dead wrong but it would be very interesting to see this come down to a shootout and something Al Arbour never saw in his career to decide a game he coached. Islanders are due to play one and I just have this feeling were going to get one tonight.

Dany Sabourin has challenged for the starters spot with solid play and is expected to start according to some publications. Ray Whitney sat out practice with a groin injury as a precaution and Georges Laraque is expected to play. Ben Walter should be in the lineup for the Islanders.

Islander News Articles 11/3:

Newsday: Mark Herrmann has highlights on Al Arbour's press conference and how the current teams feels about him coaching them Saturday.

"Well, he coached one of the dynasties," Guerin said of Arbour after practice Friday at Nassau Coliseum. "There are not too many coaches out there you can compare to Vince Lombardi, but he's one of them."

As his news conference went along, the coach seemed more and more like the old Arbour. He joked that he hadn't read the contract. Snow said, "Trust me," to which Arbour replied, "I've heard that one before."

When it was mentioned that one of his former players called him a father figure, Arbour cracked, "Well, he didn't say that in those days, I tell you that. They called me all kinds of names in those days. I was very hard on some of the players, for one reason. I wanted to bring the best out of them."

NY Times: Legendary writer during the Islander dynasty era George Vecsey came out for Al Arbour's press conference and does an outstanding article.

“I wanted to be Guy Lafleur or Mike Bossy,” said Nystrom, who is still affiliated with the Islanders. “Al would talk to me quietly and tell me what he expected. He was a psychologist. We would practice three-on-two endlessly because Al wanted to cut down on our goals allowed. We might not always do it right, but we knew what he wanted.”

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Yes everyone, believe it or not this is the kind of daily coverage we used to get at the New York Times for our hockey games. Vecsey called the Islanders the greatest team of it's generation back when they were winning the Stanley Cup and his work was at a level far above anyhing today. I only hope the Times let's him go cover the game tonight.

Daily News: Peter Botte makes a rare appearance today in the Daily News to cover the press conference.

" I'm sure I'll be a nervous wreck," Arbour said after watching his new assistant, Isles coach Ted Nolan, run practice yesterday. "I know Ted better do a good job (tonight) or I'll be on his back. ... Whatever they want me to do, I'll do. I'm hoping to have a good time."

"It's going to be an exciting time, an honor for all of us to get a chance to play for such a legend in the game," DiPietro said. "But this is a real two points. There's consequence to this game, so our main focus has to be Pittsburgh."

NY Post: Larry Brooks who was Islander beatwriter in 1980 showed up and covered the press conference.

"I don't understand the game today," said Arbour, who turned 75 Thursday and was surely underestimating himself. "I can't believe what I'm seeing."

"It's a no-name team, but it has a lot of character," said the Coach, accompanied on the trip to what he called, "home," by his wife, Claire. "They play hard every night."

Pittsburgh Post Gazette: Shelly Anderson has Pens coach Michel Therrien's classy words about Al Arbour. Ryan Whitney was held out of practice with a groin injury.

"He had such a good career and was such a great coach," said Therrien, who hopes to meet Arbour. "I remember the first time I coached against Scotty Bowman, that was something special to me because I grew up watching him. And watching Al Arbour win all those Stanley Cups, to see him behind the bench is going to be special."

Cbs Sportsline: Wes Goldstein has an excellent feature on Al Arbour.

"That first year he came in, we knocked off 100 goals against as a team," said Hall of Fame defenseman Denis Potvin. "We had allowed the most goals ever by a team in its inaugural season, but he had a system and a style of play that made us responsible, and ultimately it was a major reason for all our success."

"He took over that team when they were starting out and brought it up to the level of a champion," former Islanders captain and current New Jersey Devils coach Brent Sutter said. "You can't understate the role he played there."

Newsday: Bob Glauber reports Islanders owner Charles Wang is interested in purchasing a team in the new UFL Football league that could play at Hofstra University starting next August.

NY Daily News: In the latest Ranger defeat and humiliation in court John Dellapina reports the Islanders were one of three teams to vote to keep control of their website.

Sound Tigers Website: Reports on Bridgeport's 5-2 loss at Binghampton Friday night. Blake Comeau and Frans Nielsen had the Sound Tiger goals.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio reports in his blog Ben Walter will be called up to likely replace Sean Bergenheim in the Islander lineup Saturday and writes about the loss to Binghampton.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio's game coverage is on the Sound Tigers getting lot's of shots but not finishing, second round pick Dustin Kohn and Gregg Johnson were scratched as Joe Rullier made his debut.

It's just a funk that — it's tough for us," Capuano said. "You can't fault the effort. You can't fault the way we played."

Press & Sun Bulletin: Has the Binghampton Senator's coverage.

Welcome Home Al Arbour

Updated 3:00pm
Islanders TV: Has Al Arbour's sixteen minute contract signing and press conference.

Any coverage I can find on this I will add to the bottom of this blog so keep checking back for updates throught the rest of the day.

NYI.com: Has the first of several updates on what the club is planning to honor Al Arbour starting with FSN which will do a special one hour pregame with special highlights and interviews from former players.

NYI.com: Also has Al Arbour's stats as a head coach who is first in games coached and wins with one organization and second in playoff games coached and wins.

NHL.com: Dan Rosen had a feature article Thursday on Al Arbour, how the idea of him coaching again came about and a lot of other things in a must read with comments from Chico Resch and Denis Potvin.

“I got a call from Charles Wang and he talked about it and I said let me think about it,” recalled Arbour, who turned 75 Thursday. “I called Ted Nolan and said they want me to do this, but I didn’t want to cause any problems. He said; ‘Don’t tell the owner, but it’s my idea.’ I said; ‘OK, let’s do it.’ ”

“He called me and said; ‘I don’t know the line combinations,’ ” Nolan said. “So, I talked to him about naming Mike Sillinger’s line (Bryan) Trottier’s line, and calling Mike Comrie’s line (John) Tonelli’s line. So, every time he said Tonelli, Comrie knows he’s going over the boards. We’ll coach in code.”

“Al Arbour is getting ready now,” Denis Potvin, the former Islander great and Hockey Hall of Famer, said last week. “There was never a game he wasn’t ready.

ITV: Has highlights of the game day skate Thursday with Al Arbour watching from the stands. Steve Mears and Chris King report on Arbour watching game tapes and will run practice Friday.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
In the video Arbour is shown the current white home jersey. Could not see if the special patch was on it but going by that I'm guessing we will not see the classic white home jersey Saturday, I could be wrong.

NHL.com: Darryl Haberman had this excellent article from 5/23/2001 on Al Arbour.

"We had a group of character players, character people," Arbour recalled. "They cared very much about each other and were very professional about how they approached the game. They would show up to the rink, go to the dressing room and prepare themselves. Once they got on the ice, they would help each other out, make sacrifices for each other, and nobody wanted to let the other guy down. I think that was the secret right there."

An old article from Islanders-Sound Tigers Mailing List:
1974-75: From Crawling To Running
A Comeback For the Ages

The Isles drew the Penguins as their quarterfinal opponent.
Pittsburgh was an offensive powerhouse, with six 20 goal scorers. The
first two games were in Pittsburgh, where the Isles had never won and
where the Pens had lost only five times all season. When reporters
told Arbour that the Pens were favored to win the series, he
replied "We were underdogs against the Rangers too. Odds mean nothing
in the playoffs."

Denis Potvin suffered a pulled muscle in the opener, and the
Islanders, still recovering from the emotional high of the Ranger
series, lost 5-4. Potvin returned for the second game, but wasn't his
normal self, and the Pens skated away with a 3-1 win.

The series moved back to Nassau Coliseum with the Islanders desperate
to get back into it. Arbour put together a line of Andre St. Laurent,
Bobby Nystrom and Garry Howatt (the "buzz-saw line") against the Pens
top line of Syl Apps Jr., Andre Pronovost and Lowell MacDonald. It
didn't work. Each of the Pens' top three scored a goal, and despite
the Isles unleashing 47 shots on Penguins goalie Gary Inness, the
Pens won 6-4 to take a three games to none lead. Potvin was hurting,
and Nystrom was slumping, having yet to score in six playoff games
after scoring 27 during the season.

Even with the big lead, the Pens were careful to respect their
opponent. "Those Islanders are like a disease you can't get rid of.
Most clubs, you get ahead of them 3-0 and they start making
reservations to get out of town," said Bob Kelly of the
Penguins. "But not the Islanders, they keep clawing and scratching."

"For three games, it looked like we were just happy to have beaten
the Rangers," said Potvin. "We felt like we'd accomplished everything
right there, it was our Stanley Cup."

The team faced an uphill climb. Only one team in the history of
professional sports had come back from a 3-0 deficit in a best of
seven series, the 1942 Maple Leafs.

One of Arbour's most famous speeches came after game three. "Al had
been having a lot of problems with his back, but he showed up for
games and practices, which showed us a lot," said Parise. Arbour had
a slipped disc, and was in and out of the hospital during the
Pittsburgh series. "We had a practice after the third game, and right
before we went on the ice, he called all of us around and made this
speech."

"Men," Arbour said, "I have to apologize to you for not being able to
coach you in the manner that I'd like. As you know, the back has been
giving me a lot of problems and I feel as though I owe you an apology
for not doing more for you all."

The players were stunned that their coach was apologizing for them
being down three games. If they were stunned at that, they were
floored at his next comments, as reported by J.P. Parise.

"He said, 'If there's anyone here who doesn't feel we can come back
and beat these guys, get off the ice immediately.' He said it with so
much conviction, it showed how much he believed in us. He made us see
that by concentrating on a shift at a time and not looking three
games ahead, it wasn't insurmountable. It worked."

"Who said we can't do it?" asked Westfall.

Chico Resch was back in net for game four, and the Isles finally got
into the win column with a 3-1 victory. Resch made 27 saves in the
game. But the Isles had to go through Denver for the win -- John
Denver. A concert by the popular singer had been scheduled for the
Coliseum but NBC, which was televising playoff games, wanted to show
the Penguins-Islanders contest. Denver was a hockey fan and
rescheduled the show, even though it was a sellout.

"We were looking to Philadelphia and forgot to beat the Islanders
today," said Penguin defenseman Dave Burrows. "We'll get them back
home."

Torrey tried to change the team's luck any way he could. They flew on
a different airline to Pittsburgh and stayed in a different hotel. "I
was going to do whatever it took," the GM said.

Arbour stuck with Resch and the Isles won game five 4-2, with the
insurance goal coming on a 200 foot shot into an empty net by Drouin.
Resch made 36 saves in the team's first ever win at the Igloo in
Pittsburgh.

"You could see everything turning," said Westfall. "They weren't
playing with the air that they were the team to beat. We weren't
thinking like a beaten team. We just kept saying, 'Let's keep trying
and don't change a thing.'"

The team flew back to LaGuardia and took a bus to the Coliseum. As
the team drove down the LIE, Hawley Chester, the publicity director,
spotted yellow forsythia blooming on the shoulders of the parkway,
the first sign of spring. "Look at that. The forsythia are blooming,"
he said. "Did you ever think this team would be playing hockey when
the forsythia bloomed?"

In game six, Gary Howatt scored twice, Resch was again solid, and the
Islanders evened the series at three with a 4-1 win. Resch stopped 31
shots, and got help from his goalposts as the Pens clanged the iron
not once, not twice, but three times. Ron Schock and Pierre Larouche
hit the posts just seconds apart during one sequence, leading Chico
to give the iron bar a little kiss, which delighted the crowd. Two of
the Islander goals were empty netters.

Penguins center Syl Apps' father had played for the 1942 Maple Leafs.
After game six, he was sitting in the locker room shaking his head in
disbelief. "I've never seen so many posts. Resch doesn't even bother
to get in the way of some of those shots. He lets the posts do the
work for him."

Before game seven, Pens coach Marc Boileau ordered Inness and backup
goalie Bob Johnson out of the nets during practice so the Pens could
shoot at empty nets. "Resch has them psyched out, eating from his
hands," said the coach. "We averaged more than four goals a game all
year but Resch has given us only four goals in three games. No goalie
should do that to us."

All of the pressure was on the Penguins now. The goaltending duel was
Resch vs. Inness, and they didn't disappoint. The game was scoreless
for two periods, with both goalies spectacular.

There were several fights early on, with Gillies taking on Bob
Paradise, and Lewis dueling with Bob Kelly, one of the top fighters
in the league. Apps hit the goalpost in the first period at least
once more. Pronovost hit the other post in the second, and Resch made
amazing stops against Larouche and Apps. The Pens had to be wondering
if they would ever score again.

Finally, with 5:18 to play, and the game headed towards sudden death,
Bert Marshall made a series-deciding decision.

"Bert went down the boards and took the puck away from a Penguin,"
remembers Westfall. "It wasn't where you'd expect to see Bert
Marshall. I was starting out of the zone when I saw what happened and
I stopped and headed for the net, yelling 'Bert! Bert!' all the way.
He shot it to me and I backhanded it into the corner of the net."

Westfall beat Inness on the backhander. "What could I do?" asked the
Penguins netminder. "He kept moving in from the side. I stayed as
long as I could, then I had to move with him. The instant I did, he
put it past me. Westfall's an old pro, he never panicked."

After Westfall's goal, the Islanders could have relied on Resch, but
for the final five minutes, they didn't allow a shot.

When the final buzzer sounded, Resch went into a little dance he
later called the "Chico Cha-Cha."

"Everybody was so proud of the fact that we didn't quit," said
Gillies. "We had enough pride and character to keep plugging to win
four straight."

The Isles had joined the '42 Leafs in the history books.

Updated 12pm:
NYI.com Prior to the game, there will be a ceremonial opening faceoff featuring two very important people in Arbour's legendary hockey career. Immediately after the game, Arbour will be joined on the Coliseum ice by his wife Claire, the Arbour family, Ted Nolan, the 2007-08 Islanders and several of Al's former players as the franchise raises a new banner celebrating his 1,500th game as the head coach of the Islanders.

Updated 2pm:
Usatoday.com: Kevin Allen has a feature article on Al Arbour Friday.

Updated 5pm:
Newsday: Mark Herrmann had three blog updates today on former Islander Ken Belanger about his former coach, a second on the veteran hockey media turnout for the press conference and a third on Sean Bergenheim out Saturday due to a reported upper body injury even though he practiced today. He had no comment on why he will not play and a replacement will be called up from the Sound Tigers for Saturday's game.

Islander News Articles 11/2

Newsday: Mark Herrman has reaction to the Islanders 4-0 win Thursday against Tampa Bay starting with Mike Sillinger.

"I've got a lot of years left. I'd like to play 1,000," DiPietro said. "I don't know what the equivalent is for a goalie, but it would be exciting to have a day like Sillie had today."

Newsday: Mark Herrmann has an interview with Islander legend Butch Goring on what one thousand games means, what the Islanders will do with Al Arbour's 739 banner if they win Saturday and Fedotenko's comments about playing his old team.

Neil Best: Has a blurb on Islander television ratings up a hundred fifty percent and some words about Al Arbour night and what FSN is planning.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Imagine what they would be if Msg did not hide half the games on FSN-2 which has limited HD and put some of their ITV shows on FSN on gameday.

NY Post: Dan Martin in his limited space reported Rick DiPietro had problems getting into the locker room after the game as the lead in to his story.

NY Post: Michael Starr reported four Islander games will be appearing on New York Chinese Radio station WZRC. (1480 AM)

Daily News: Brian Bohl's work was only allowed a paragraph or two of space in today's New York Daily News. The News does not see fit to employ an Islander blogger to supplement coverage.

Tampa Tribune: Erik Erlendsson had comments from Ruslan Fedotenko on meeting his former team for the first time.

Tampa Tribune: Mr Erlendsson Bolt's Report had several in game updates from last night for those interested.

St Petersburg Times: Eduardo A. Encina also had Ruslan Fedotenko's comments and a game article here.

Regina Leader Post: The local hometown paper for Mike Sillinger had a quick blub on the game.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio had two updates. One on the kids day for next week and the otherhere on tonight's game on the road against the Binghampton Senators. Head Coach Jack Capuano, Tim Jackman, Blake Comeau and Steve Regier quoted on what the club needs to do to start scoring.

New York 4, Tampa Bay 1

NYI.com: Has the recap of Thursday's 4-0 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

"Superstars have a great way of coming back to have superb performances," said Nolan about DiPietro. "We knew he was going to rebound and he did."

"It just goes to show the type of guys we have on the team; they're a class act," said Sillinger. "They're a bunch of guys who really stick up for each other. The teams that win are the teams that care the most for each other. For these guys to give me and my wife Rolexes and shaking my kids' hands, that's a really classy thing.

"The guys have been working hard all week," said Nolan. "And they worked hard tonight for 60 minutes."

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Classy ceremony by the Islanders for Mike Sillinger. Charles Wang and Garth Snow on the ice. Al Arbour upstairs watching.

You take the two points and enjoy the shutout win against a team that's been struggling and you credit the Islanders for some good stretches and you credit Rick DiPietro for outstanding play and a few posts. Defense got stronger as the game went along and made a few key blocks and more confident.

That written, Islanders easily could have given up for goals early and as skilled as the Lightning are when you see Sutton and Bergeron allow to two on zero by over reacting you wonder if this is ever going to work because that was not about Tampa's skill but just a defense that has major chemistry problems that go beyond coaching.

A few other stretches you saw it too where Tampa did not finish but got the puck into high quality area's of the ice and that was more about breakdowns and poor reads.

I know folks reading a blog after a 4-0 win do not want to hear the downside but this is about building chemistry for the long-term. I know the schedule can be part of this too with no game conditions and it's like going through the preseason again in terms of games, but if I did not write this it would not be an honest game assessment.

Witt as usual was fantastic and let Andre Roy take a bad penalty. Martinek did very well as did Gervais and Campoli, who stepped up and made the play that led to the second goal. Bergenehim did not seem to play after he took that penalty with Brad Lukowich. Simon finally got back on the ice in the third period.

Credit to Bill Guerin for a good shot, credit to Marc Denis for bad goal to allow.

Satan had a few nice plays but did not finish. Hilbert looked good shorthanded and hung in after high stick by DiPietro. He finishing skills look no better than last season.

Nice rush on the second goal and Vasicek got enough of the puck where it hit defense man Paul Ranger and bounced in. Third goal was best of all with Comrie making a skilled rush and Fedotenko finishing. Hunter scored on a delayed penalty for the 4-0 goal on some very nice pressure.

Once the Islanders got up 3-0 Tampa skated but they did not have the confidence and looked like a beaten team even with the chances and the goal posts. Tortarella's second period timeout reflected he knew his team needed a jump.

Ok, another game Saturday and no more need to talk about rust because things are going to get busy quickly now. Islanders are now 6-4 with a lot of players due to break out. You put the two points in the bank and you credit DiPietro for some outstanding play.

And you of course congratulate Mike Sillinger for game number one thousand and the classy player he is.

Welcome to Al Arbour Fan Central

For the next few days I will be turning this blog over to our former coach as he will sign a contract Saturday and replace Ted Nolan as head coach. Not the greatest header but I did what I could and it was from the heart. Have the pin from his retirement banner night but no picture of the banner itself which hopefully can be changed to seven hundred forty to go with his fifteenth game behind the bench.

I will try and add in as many old articles as I can from my old mailing list and other sources but I do not want to miss whatever current and national coverage is included. New York Times: Jason Diamos had an article on the game from his banner raising night 1/26/1997 for those interested.

During his tenure as the coach of the Islander dynasty, one of the
most succinct, most meaningful phrases Al Arbour would scrawl on the
blackboard was "Winning is fun."

11/1: New York vs Tampa Bay 7pm FSN

NYI.com & Associated Press: Have preview for tonight's game against Tampa Bay.

Islanders TV: Chris King and Steve Mears archived seven minutes of practice Wednesday. No lineup changes expected but Brian Berard was healthy enough to skate in a coaches warmup suit.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Some may look at Tampa's 6-1 loss at New Jersey last night and see a club that has not won on the road all season. I watched this game and it was 2-1 with less then fifteen minutes left before the Devils took control and there were a lot of fights from a team that skated very well. The final score did not reflect how hard they worked. If Johan Holmqvist plays it will be his third game in four days, Marc Denis did come in when the Devils broke the game open.

You can bet coach John Tortarella will be pushing everything he can out of his team, Islanders better shake off any rust and excuses early and get into the trenches.

Tampa Bay has been outscored 9-2 on its current trip and 24-10 in five road games, it will try for a ninth straight victory over the Islanders since losing 3-0 on March 21, 2004 even though many of those losses were with Garth Snow and Mike Dunham starting. DiPietro is 2-5-0 with three ties and a 3.01 GAA in 10 starts versus Tampa Bay.


Note-I'm not sure many know there is a message board here but there is a game thread posted for every game for folks to talk about the games or post their own Islander-hockey related topics.

Feel free to stop by and talk about the game.

Updated 11am:
Newsday: Mark Herrmann had two blog updates on Mike Sillinger's night and a quick word from Ruslan Fedotenko meeting his former team tonight.

Regina Post Leader/Cam West News: Greg Harder
had an excellent feature on Mike Sillinger that's a must read with more than anything Newsday has provided for their hometown player. Bill Guerin is also quoted.

"I hate to sound modest about it because I'm very, very proud," Sillinger said from his Long Island, N.Y., home. "I just can't believe I'm at 1,000 games.

"There's not a lot of players who have done it. When you sit back and reflect, I guess you want to give yourself a pat on the back. It's quite an accomplishment"

"I'm very thankful," he said humbly. "Ever since I signed here last year, the Islanders organization has been fantastic to my family and myself."

Islander News Articles 10/31:

Media Blog: Chris Botta in his Point Blank blog reports the Islanders will honor Mike Sillinger with a brief ceremony tonight as he plays his 1000th career NHL game.

NYI.com: Have had several updates on Mike Sillinger's career numbers.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Amazing a player with his talent, ability and professionalism has been with so many teams but in the end many teams want him because he's such a character player who does so many things to win a game that do not show on a score sheet beyond his amazing face off ability. He never seemed to be in a situation earlier in his career where he was a major part of a winning teams core, even with Detroit. It's clear why so many teams want to trade for him.

In this organization the loss of him to this roster would be devastating at both ends of the ice and in the leadership department.

Congratulations to Mike Sillinger. Hopefully Islander fans give him a well deserved standing ovation for not only what he did last season but for a very good career.

Newsday Mark Herrmann has an article on Mike Sillinger and tonight's game against Tampa Bay. Former Red Wings teammate and Islanders assistant coach Gerard Gallant give his recollections, along with Ted Nolan.

"I was a first-rounder, so I knew I was going to get an opportunity to play in the National Hockey League. But never did I ever dream I would last this long," Sillinger said. "I'm in my 17Th season now and I think the average is seven. So I'm plus-10."

"He's a guy who comes out and plays the same way every night. He plays it hard," Gallant said. "People talk about him being traded a lot, but a lot of teams like him."

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio discusses the Sound Tigers numbers game on defense with Joe Rullier added on a tryout contract and the same six defenders dressing for every game to this point.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio also
had a brief blog update along with noting Robert Nilsson recalled to Edmonton.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Sound Tigers play their first of many three games in three day stretches starting Friday at Binghampton so this should solve itself.

Men's Fitness Magazine : Nate Millado has an outstanding feature on Rick DiPietro's diet, fitness, equipment and his training routine. A lot of things are discussed many folks have not read in the newspapers about his career.

NY Sun: Kevin Greenstein in dropping the Islanders to 13th in his power rankings felt a good pp is not enough to carry them.

1983 New York vs Edmonton: Odds/Ends

Good day to go back into a little history as we all escape cabin fever from so few Islander hockey games.

Just a quick note-Islanders will wear white Saturday and raise a banner for Al Arbour. If anyone recalls he wanted no fanfare for the game, just to coach so we shall see. Please let them wear the 1970-80's white jersey's for one game. I saw a picture of Butch Goring at the NHL team store in the current jersey and it did not look right.

Newsday: Mark Herrmann updated the Islanders blog and reported
at 3 p.m. the new NHL Network (channels 401 or 429 on Cablevision will show the Islanders-Oilers game from May 17, 1983.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Good news, bad news. The good news is it's on today for those who would like to watch it and are able to.

The bad news is once the free preview ended after a few days it's not worth the money to see them barely cover the Islanders. Only you know if your provider has this station.

Better news is the ITV service has a lot of great classic games and features. I still own Pride of the Islanders VHS from the 80's and was shocked to see it on ITV also because it was made in Terry Simpson's first year and that's twenty years old.

Oh yes, in those days they had had the basic version of Pride of the Island and the collectors edition with special clips from Al Arbour's vault. No, I got the basic one for those asking.

If you can access ITV for a lot of great old features I suggest you do.

Best News (not Neil Best) today's game was on FSN before the season opener in Buffalo and I was able to put it on DVD along with Vancouver, Minnesota cup winning games. Hope you did too because Msg has never shown them all in one day. I would not bet on it happening often.

Islander books I still have:
25Th anniversary book
Boss-The Mike Bossy story
The Dynamic Islanders-From Cellar to Stanley Cup

Do not have the Incredible Islanders or Denis Potvin's book. I have no interest in either Alan Hahn-Peter Botte book because of the poor editing and what many claimed was misinformation.

I recall some older fans were correcting Hahn's recollections in the 1980 book which he did not do with Mr Botte. I saw it last year for twenty four dollars at a Barnes and Nobel and reading it you could sense it was written by someone who was too young at that time. Also it was just not a very long book in terms of pages.

All this 1980 stuff had me thinking back to the channel nine days when we would see the road games.

Anyone old enough around here to remember the days of Tim Ryan calling Islander games? I cannot remember who did the color commentary but I can give you Tim Ryan calling a heck of a fight as an Islander announcer.



That series with the Kings in 1980 which was only a best of five. Anyone remember before Morrow scored in ot Bill Smith let up an early goal from center ice or the next game when Alex McKendry took Mike Bossy's spot and scored in the 6-0 series clincher.

Anyone want to take a guess who called that game on WOR-9.
It was not Jiggs McDonald.
It was not Tim Ryan.
It was not Stan Fischler.
It was not Jean Potvin, he did the radio side with Barry Landers for those who remember in the 80's. If I recall they did the Chemical Bank Feature album the Chemistry was just right on the 1980 Islanders.

Hints?
Family history in New York broadcasting, later called Mets games.
Family member was announcer of Islanders 1981 sweep of Rangers on radio from Ranger side.







Answer: Steve Albert

Islander News Articles 10/31

Newsday:Mark Herrmann reported on the Islanders visiting a local school before practice.

Newsday: Mark Herrmann had two blog updates on Mike Sillinger's 1000th game coming up on Thussday and a second blog here on Ted Nolan using owner Charles Wang's seats to attend a basketball game at Msg.

NYI.com Chris Botta had a great article on the teams website with Scotty Bowman giving his thoughts on Al Arbour who will be behind the bench Saturday to coach his Fifteenth Hundred game.

"As a coach, of course, Al Arbour put his stamp on the NHL forever. What he'll probably always be remembered for is how he molded a true TEAM. He had some brillinat players that had Hall of Fame careers like Denis Potvin, Billy Smith, Trottier, Bossy, Gillies. But it was Al who got them to be part of the team fabric. If the all-stars do not buy in to Al's concept, the Islanders do not become a dynasty.

"Al also worked wonders with the role players. Because he emphasized a team game and preached that the team always came first, the other players saw the commitment of the stars and the result was a team that worked as hard as any team in the league during that time. Al had a role for everyone on that team and was successful in getting each player to accept his role.

"Al had so much success as a coach because of his no-nonsense personality. I'm told that if there was ever a problem on the ice or behind the scenes, Al was a master communicator. He never let problems fester.

"And, of course, he was as good as anyone as a bench manager. They used to say the Islanders could beat you any style you wanted to play them. Al always pulled the right strings.

"He's always been a good friend and I'm so proud of everything he has accomplished. Saturday night is going to be an amazing time for Al and Claire and their family. I wish them nothing but the best."

Detroit News: David Goricki rates the top college current NHL goaltenders and has DiPietro second to Marty Turco.

Pittsburgh Post Gazette: Dave Molinari who has the best mailbag among newspapers in the Eastern Conference in my opinion answered a question on Eric Cairns and why he was not picked up by another team with a quick blurb on his current role with the Islanders.

Hockey News/several articles: Report
the Boston Bruins traded defenceman Brad Stuart and forward Wayne Primeau to the Flames on Saturday for defenceman Andrew Ference and forward Chuck Kobasew.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio has an updated on the club's inability to finish off teams with comments from team captain Mark Wotton.

Mikka Kiprusoff signs

Cam West News and countless articles: George Johnson reported Flames goaltender Mikka Kiprusoff signed a six year contract extension for thirty five million dollars (US) Monday in what many consider a bargain at 5.8m a year.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Writer does a great job here with the following points:

*Nikolai Khabibulin of the Hawks is raking in $6.75 million this season.
*Jose Theodore of the Avalanche, will make $6 million.
*Sutter ups the length of term and lands him for $5.8 million.

* All credit here must go to Sutter for signing him at below what appeared to be market value.

* It seemed certain that a goaltender of Kiprusoff's could command $7 million a season.

It should be noted Kiprusoff got this contract in his thirties after he left another team while a first overall pick like DiPietro signed his contract at 4.5m a season for fifteen years where he said he felt he left money on the table at the time at a much younger age. Many may recall Brent Krahn was the next goaltender taken by the Flames that year at ninth overall.

As a fan you have to love when a player decides to stay with the club he established himself with, Only downside is we only see teams like the Flames very infrequnetly as if they are in another league. That could change next season and the Islanders do visit Calgary for the first time since before the lockout.

This could be a new trend among goaltenders. The Emery, Lundqvist and Miller future contracts could be effected by this.

For a little laugh check the NHLPA website. Things may be different now in season but back in the summer it always seemed when a player got a huge contract at what many felt was above his market value he was profiled on that site.

Islander News Articles 10/30:

Newsday: Mark Herrmann has an article about Brendan Witt's shootout abilities after an upbeat practice Monday with more comments on the long layoff between games with the upside and downsides that come with. Four on four play was concentrated on as well.

"I think it's your mental edge," Witt said. "We had the energy." He said that when a team plays game after game, things flow naturally, adding, "It makes it easier to make plays if you don't think a lot."

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Isles TV: Is is the next best thing to attending in person for those looking for a little more beyond the Newspaper coverage. Mike Comrie, Brendan Witt and Ted Nolan interviews are part of the six minute recap. Practice was at Iceworks for those wondering after the lights went out last week and the club moved a practice to the Coliseum.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio had the following from team Sound Tigers President Howard Saffin on Trevor Smith's demotion to Utah.

"We see a kid with that much promise, we don't want to see him sitting on the bench," "It's no different than why (Jeff) Tambellini is with us rather than the Islanders."

Updated 9:30am
Calgary Sun: Steve MacFarlane had a very intersting article on former Islander Eric Godard's improved play with comments from teammate Adrian Aucoin.

Monday Updates:

Newsday: Mark Herrmann updated the Islanders blog today and reported Ted Nolan kept his lines together and the club has moved on from Saturday's loss.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Interesting Nolan quickly went back to Fetotenko-Comrie-Guerin Saturday but today the practice report had Guerin back with Mike Sillinger and Andy Hilbert which he did not give much time to Saturday. Simon's gotten some shift's in Andy Hilbert's spot also during games.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio reported in his blog today Trevor Smith has been sent to Utah so he can get more playing time and because the Sound Tigers have had a surplus of forward at different times.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
It's also been interesting watching the Islander-Bridgeport-Utah connection with all teams have a forward surplus at times. Oilver Labelle was sent to the Utah, now Trevor Smith. Bootland cleared waivers and played in Norfolk Saturday.

I added a feeder to what I think is their primary newspaper in Salt Lake to their section on the page yesterday.

USHL.com: Has a link up for anyone wishing to ask Islander prospect Blake Kessel a question.

Tsn.ca: Reports Colin Campbell suspended Randy Jones of the Philadelphia Flyers two games and had the following comments:

"While it is my determination that Jones did not intend to injure his opponent, he did deliver a hard check to a player who was in a vulnerable position,"

"There have been suggestions by some that this hit was comparable to incidents earlier this season where players received significant game suspensions for blows to the head. These comparisons and suggestions are wrong,"

Espn.com: Scott Burnside of course provides the counterpoint that put the pressure on Campbell to issue a suspension and mentions the " Culture of recklessness in Philadelphia " mentioning the old Broad Street Bullies.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Last I checked there is nothing in the NHL rulebook about players being allowed to deliver hard checks who put themselves in a vulnerable position. This seems like an unfair suspension because a star player got injured or Campbell felt pressure to give Jones some kind of suspension despite his comments the comparisions to other recent incidents are wrong.

I'm glad Bergeron did not suffer a serious injury and will return at some point and Jones was very classy in his comments. Bergeron is an outstanding talent who is good for the league. I did not see any merited suspension here.

I think Scott Burnside (as usual) does not get it right and I don't think Randy Jones was watching old Dave Schultz highlights before he went out and checked Bergeron to get pumped up to play.

Tsn.ca Also reported former Capital Peter Bondra retired from professional hockey today to become the general manager Slovakia's national team.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Almost seems unfair a player with his career stats exits the NHL this quietly and hopefully the Caps pick a night to honor him. NHL's loss is Slovakia's gain.

Updated 7pm:
Newsday:
Elizabeth Moore in the business section and Noel Rubinton in the busness blog section had updates on the Lighthouse project timetable and reaction to a donation by Charles Wang and Scott Rechler blog for the community surrounding the Coliseum.

NHL.com Released some beautiful pictures of Devils opening night in the Prudential Center that I thought everyone would enjoy. Very happy for the Devils fans.

Islander News Artilcles 10/29

Newsday: John Jeansonne has an early Monday update on the how the club will have to pick itself up from the loss Saturday with comments from Mike Sillinger, Rick DiPietro, Ted Nolan and Bill Guerin.

Bill Guerin:

"Everyone's got to pick themselves up," "It was a rough night for us. But we're going to play the rest of our games."

Mike Sillinger:

"You could say it was the layoff, but I think they were the better team, the hungrier team. You could say we were rusty, but one thing we had was energy. And we still have a lot of .energy left. I guess it's just back to the drawing board. Go to work and get out of a little funk here."

Rick DiPietro:

"Just figure out what I did wrong and what can be worked on." "And forget about it."

Media Blog: Chris Botta's blog explains how the post game interview process works between player and media and what league rules are in an interesting read for those who did not know.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I would love to see this staff have the media pressure of a Stanley Cup final at Nassau Coliseum as a reward for all they do. I remember when Howard Milstein purchased the team and had his press conference and brought in the Stanley Cup Chris Botta did not like the idea and his initial instincts were correct.

A few words: Randy Jones & Patrice Bergeron

Tsn.ca: Bob McKenzie had his take on Randy Jones hitting Bergeron today and I wanted to write something about it but have not had a chance today until now.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I saw the hit and some of the reaction to Jones hitting Bergeron and even though some are blaming the Flyers for all three incidents as an organization they must all be treated as seperate occurances. My first reaction was concern for Bergeron but I also watched the play and saw a player shove a player in the back with both hands who was turning and in a spot where he was vulnerable. Similar to a hit Michael Peca put on a Montral Canadian several years ago as an Islander.

This was not Gary Roberts taking a full charge from center ice where he picks up speed and then takes his hands and slams Kenny Jonsson's head in the boards. This was one where Jones shoved Bergeron who was off balance at a point where he was just far enough away from the boards where he could hit his head on the dasher and did.

I think McKenzie got it right here in this article and agree he likely will get a suspension because of policitcal pressure on the league but I did not see anything that merited a suspension but there was no intent and far different than the two other instances involving the Flyers.

Any suspension here seems like just caving to political pressure. That said of course it's a loss for the league to lose a player of Bergeron's ability and it's great it was reported he will be ok.

Were talking Colin Campbell here folks, only thing consistent about Campbell is his inconsistency in decision making.

10/28: NYI Fan Central Q & A

I thought today would be a good time for a little Q & A to answer some questions that I have been getting in my e-mail recently about the blog and I will continue to do it from time to time.



Q: How come the weekly prospect updates are not included here?

A: I like the Islander weekly prospect updates, but we have someone named Mr Prospects on the message board doing it on a game by game basis for us already and his work is ahead of the Islander updates and the quality is outstanding. The blog itself has a link to the prospect profiles on the Islander website and the link to the Islanders website here gives that weekly update anyway because of the feeder.

Q: Will you be doing player interviews?

A: No, as I explained I think that's for the younger fans who would like a career in reporting and is not a skill that goes to my strengths.

Q: Have I sold out to the Islanders website?

A: I'm not really sure what this means but as I wrote this week nothing is going to change in terms of the content here. There will be times I am very critical of the organization and times when they are praised for things they try to do. Not providing an outlet for the fans to send Jason Blake their best wishes was something I was very critical of recently because this was done for other players in the past.

All I can promise is I will be fair and most of my commentary on the club will come down to how much they win or lose and how they play.

Q: You miss some writers and publications in your tags.

A: Unfortunately there is a two hundred character limit for tags so in a longer update there is no space but I always credit the publication on the page somewhere. My rule to this point has been to make sure the writer gets credit first, then the publication they write for in the tags.

Q: Do I want personal publicity for myself?

A: Absolutely not. I specifically asked my blog quietly be added to the box with no announcement. I offered my blog because only because I thought it could help the organization. I would never accept any personal recognition because the New York Islanders are the story here and what we as fans can quietly do for them. Anyone who does otherwise to self promote themselves is not in it for the Islanders and we could do without those kind of fans.

I'm going to wind this up by giving my brother's question a plug here because he's always reading my old board at Hockey's Future and played a little joke on me.

Yes, this is payback for sending me this junk bro, everyone gets to read my answer to you.

Q: What's going on, I looked at HF board and saw Nyisles as moderator on the Islander board again? Why would you agree to do that?

A: I have no idea what you are talking about. Someone named Nyisles was named moderator on the old board? Is that moderator number four or five now that has been there in the year I have been gone because it sure is not me but that's a heck of a coincidence.

Oh well, hopefully Killer Carlson's jokes let up long enough so anyone can get in a hockey comment once in a while. Good luck to the next Nyisles at Hockey Future, I'm expecting my royalty check from the sequel.

Updated 10/30 7:50 am:
I was told in the comment section my harmless joke was offensive to the person it was written about. I'm very sorry if this was taken the wrong way because it was not my intention. Please visit the comment section (below) for what I have to say about this and HF in detail. Thank You.

Islander News Articles 10/28:

Newsday: John Jeansonne had reaction from Ted Nolan, DiPietro, Sillinger and Bill Guerin.

"We were rusty at the start, but I don't think that's an excuse to lose 8-2," forward Mike Sillinger said.

"I don't want to sit and make excuses," DiPietro said. "We did have an extensive layoff, but whatever it was, hopefully it's out of our system."

Newsday: Mark Herrmann wrote an article on the Devils Prudential Center and asked why the Islanders cannot get the arena renovation they need with an updated timetable of what's going to happen next in the approval process.

Note-Steve Zipay's Ranger centric article mentions the Islander signings are outscoring the Ranger signings and gives the numbers vs salary, but little else.

Daily News: Brian Bohl does a game update.

Newsobserver: Lorenzo Perez Herald Sun: Provide the Carolina centric coverage.

NY Post: Mike Puma is the latest now to cover an Islander game for the Post in his limited space.

NY Post: Jay Greenberg & NY Post: Former Devils employee Larry Brooks of course do all they can to rain on the Devils parade for opening a new building by basically insulting the Devil fans, the City of Newark and the overall team for reasons that only show why hockey in New York is desperate for quality writers who want to make our sport more popular, not ruin it with articles that reek of envy in a sad display.

NY Post: Rumble section on sports celebrities led with Al Arbour coming back to coach next Saturday and a funny story on how he benched actor and Ranger fan Tim Robbins in a charity game a few years ago.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio has reaction from the players and coach on Saturday's loss at Norfolk. Jeremy Colliton's shorthanded goal accounted for all of Bridgeport's scoring. Darryl Bootland cleared waivers and skated on the right side with Frans Nielsen and Tambellini.

"I question our team's conditioning, first off," forward Jeff Tambellini said. "Three in a row, that's a joke. It's unacceptable to be blowing games when you have leads. Winning teams don't throw away third-period leads."

"We were doing everything we were supposed to do," coach Jack Capuano said. "We came out in the third period, and some guys thought it was going to be easy."

Norfolk Virginian Pilot: Has the Admirals coverage.