Minnesota 4, New York 3 overtime

Islanders website: Has the recap of Saturday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
That's just a horrible loss and very expensive in the standings. They played very well and deserved a lot better against a fast team that they outplayed for a good part of the game, holding their shots down. So many strong signs and they seemed destined to win after Bergenheim crashed the net and made a great play to give them the lead, everyone worked hard in this game and they easily could have had a few more goals.

Fedotenko did not have his man on the rebound that tied the game. Isles were skating so well they did not even take a penalty down the stretch, Minnesota did on Bergeron.

Comrie made a nice play at his blueline and was patient to find Guerin for the 1-1 goal. That line got the game tied in the third on an unexpected goal from Hilbert.

Hunter-Vasicek-Fedotenko had good pressure again. Satan had a few shots blocked from high percentage areas. Islanders crashed the net well in this game and moved the puck well along the wall in the offensive zone.

Too bad Tambellini did not finish his breakaway but he got the puck up and Backstrom got his pad on it. Did that line see the ice the last ten minutes or overtime?

I loved that second period wrap around by Comeau and a few very good shots from him. I thought he had Backstrom, he also had a few other great chances.

Burns, Rolston and Gaborik seemed to be flying all night along with the other kid for Minnesota who assisted on their second goal.

Powerplay at the end for the Isles looked far too conservative and Sutton is not going to hit the net in that situation. Too bad Ted Nolan shortened his bench and kept the kids off the ice.

DiPietro in the third did all he could, the first goal he gave up was terrible by Foster and on this team that's a killer. As well as he played late in the game that again is one that comes back to hurt his club. He looked like he did not see the puck well in the first a few times where he reacted like he did not know where shots were going.

Gaborik beat Satan clean on the winner, Martinek kicked the puck and it went right to Burns.

Minnesota's speed and skill was impressive. Islanders need some players like that on this roster badly.

Sorry the news reports on lines and lineups were so off:
Parrish played despite concussion reports and even he looked fast on that ice. DiPietro gave him a healthy slash in the second.

Satan in means Colliton out, the merit system should have forced another player to the bench, he did not play left wing as Greg Logan reported he would.

Johnson out, Bergeron in. He played well and his shot from the point is something they cannot do without.


Islanders have to bring this effort to every game now. It's a very tough loss but how they skated and worked was encouraging. First a close loss, now an overtime loss.

Tuesday night has to be a win.


AHL.com: Reports Bridgeport is trailing in the third against Portland, Kyle Okposo has a goal and four shots.

Sean Hill explains

Newsday: Greg Logan has the full story on former Islander Sean Hill suspension for testing positive for a banned substance a year ago, why he did not talk after season which was not popular with his teammates outside of Rick DiPietro and how come he appealed as opposed to sitting out his suspension during the season. He also explains why he took and passed a lie-detector test.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
All we know as fans is the organization found out two weeks before game five and we just got that a day ago. The players found out on the day of game five.

If he passed a drug test that he did not take a banned substance I tend to believe him. We can speculate forever, what's done is done and we'll never know for sure.

He did not survive for over fifteen years in this league by using banned substances.

20,000 Thanks everyone !

It would not be appropriate if I did not stop and thank everyone as NYI Fan Central hits the twenty thousand mark today.

Thanks everyone for your kind words and support.

Not too shabby for a blog started in late July that has done virtually no advertising.

What can I write other than to thank everyone who visits and the Islanders for carrying New York Islander Fan Central and all the response. Folks may not agree with everything written here but I do feel I have kept my promise of putting in the work here and that is not going to change.

Special thanks to Mr Prospects for taking the time to do his daily prospect updates on the message board for everyone. And my thanks to the folks on the radio programs it's been my pleasure to talk with.

Also congratulations to the other folks in blog box, I have read most if not all the blogs and the work is outstanding. As someone who is not a participating member at the box doing the interviews or sitting there covering games, these folks all do a great job for the fans and all of their sites add something special.

I highly suggest checking them all out.

Thanks again everyone.

2/9: New York at Minnesota 6pm FSN-2

Islanders website/AP: Has the preview of tonight's game against the Minnesota Wild who have given up only twelve goals in their last seven games but are 2-3 in last five games.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Were kind of getting close to the last stand for the 2007-2008 Islanders unless they plan on breaking the streak of not winning five in a row since December 1994 down the road. They went to Pittsburgh and the kids worked hard and so did the other lines and easily could have won the game.

Now it has to carry over and they have to win here because nothing else works in terms of any hope of staying in the playoff race as they are only three points out of fifteenth. Satan, injured knee and all goes to left wing with Comrie and Guerin in as close as they can get to a first line which means Hilbert changes positions again.

Ted Nolan already said the kid line remains in tact which means another night on right wing for Blake Comeau while Satan is on the left.

Does the coach break up the Hunter, Vasicek, Fedntenko line after they showed some good signs in Pittsburgh? Doubtful, but I would put Vasicek on the bench before Bergenheim or Park sits.

Hopefully Bergenheim does not get a seat on the bench but it's either that or
Park-Hilbert.

Isles defense is going to have to stop the Gaborik show with Rolston.

Frankly, DiPietro has to raise his game because his one soft goal a game off deflections, screens or whatever have been a killer and has been going on for a while. That may not be fair but recently he has not been facing forty shots that often. When you see him look up after goals it's easy to see he thinks that's one he should have had.

Isles final West Coast game this season.
6pm start on FSN-2. College basketball play on Msg before the Knicks.

Islander News Articles 2/9:

Newsday: Greg Logan reports Miroslav Satan will play tonight on the left side of Comrie-Guerin and the line with Tambellini, Comeau and Nielsen will again be kept as a unit with Ted Nolan's comments on how the line played and Blake Comeau's comments.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
We can complain about his scoring slumps and some other things about Satan's game but no doubt Miroslav Satan wants to do all he can to help this team. Given the reports of six to eight weeks he could be risking big money in free agency by playing now if he blew out his knee.

NY Times:Tal Pinchevsky has a full feature on Mike Sillinger and his concern about the upcoming trade deadline where he was offered a no-trade clause when he signed his contract, but Sillinger rejected it, claiming that it was not fair to the organization. Charles Wang, familiar with Sillinger’s reputation for moving around, called to assure him of his place on the team at the time. Sillinger makes it clear he wants to stay with New York and agent Don Meehan says he had found a home here but his play makes him attractive to a lot of teams.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Given his lack of production this year, his age combined with how much he still brings to this team in so many ways, Garth Snow, Ted Nolan and the hockey staff have a very tough decision at the deadline here given the prospect centers in the organization. Of course with Josef Vasicek as a second line center not producing how do you replace Sillinger or find a veteran to come here for a rebuilding? He is not an UFA this summer so if you trade him you cannot get him back without another deal.

Of course the basic question is if a club makes an offer that's too good to refuse that brings a top prospect and a draft pick how do you turn it down?

Mike Sillinger is traded a lot because he can flat out play and helps teams on and off the ice which is why he is in demand.

Star-Tribune: Kent Youngblood reports on the Wild. Mark Parrish is out with a concussion while Sean Hill who has been out since January 11th with an ankle sprain will return against the Isles according to Jacques Lemaire.

Sound Tigers website: Has the recap of Friday's 3-2 win over the Lowell Devils. Trevor Smith scored in the final minute on an assist from Kyle Okposo to win the game with the Islander prospect scoring his third goal.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio blogged on the win.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio's game report was on how the players stepped with all the recalls and how Jackman and Brennan set the tone with some physical play. Trevor Smith and coach Jack Capuano comment on a win against a struggling Lowell team.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio's other article is on Pascal Morency and how hard he's working to get back into the lineup since November with Jack Capuano's comments.

Lowell Sun: Has the Devils coverage.

NY Times: Dave Caldwell has a two part feature on the Sound Tigers-Hartford Wolfpack rivalry with Howard Saffin and Jack Capuano's comments as the history of the rivalry and franchises are included with player and fan comments on both sides.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
A full feature on Ted Nolan, Mike Sillinger and now Bridgeport. Why is this paper not covering Islander games again?

Ottawa Citizen: Dave Gross does a full feature on all of Mike Milbury's poor Islander trades but also writes his deals are not among some of the worst in league history.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I hate sloppy articles that only tell part of the story just to make things even worse. Yes Mike Milbury traded Zigmund Palffy to the Kings but was clearly under orders to move his salary by the Milstein ownership who wanted him dealt to the Rangers for financial compensation. Milbury got Palffy's name on that five year contract before that despite his holdout.

Also not included are his fantastic trades to acquire Kenny Jonsson and the pick from the Leafs the Isles selected Eric Brewer or Roberto Luongo with that cost interim Leaf gm Cliff Fletcher his job.

Prospect Doug Rogers on local television

Islander Prospect Doug Rogers of Harvard will be on live tv Friday at 7pm on SNY against Union for those curious.

SNY has college hockey on a regular basis for those curious.

Newsday's Islander Insider

Newaday: Greg Logan released the Friday Islander Insider which has Mike Comrie's comments on wanting to be a part of this organization.

He praised the core group of guys, an ownership that wants to win that treats the players extremely well, what he considers the best coaching staff in the league and a situation that he says he wants to be a part of. Ted Nolan and Comrie commented on why he struggles at times and how the opposition keys on him as a wide range of things were discussed.

The coach also talked about Sean Hill's suspension and praised the way he competed and his enthusiasm for the game saying it was a lot of fun to coach him. Mr Logan wrote the Isles did not know he tested positive until two weeks before the suspension was handed down as the appeals process was nearing an end.

The AHL prospects, specifically Blake Comeau are written about with what he needs to do more of with Ted Nolan explaining how different the AHL is compared to the NHL.

Teemu Selanne praised Sean Bergenheim who he knows from working out with the following comments:

I'm expecting a lot of things from him. He has all the skills, all the tools to be a great player in this league. I think he's at the point that the only thing he needs is more ice time and confidence. When he reaches that level, he's going to be really good because of his skill level and skating and how strong he is with the puck."

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Mr Logan makes sure to point out Comrie maybe was just giving the politically correct answer and that could be true but did say he has a solid relationship with Ted Nolan.

I know this may not be popular but Mike Comrie can help this team as an offensive player which they lack badly and as long as his demands are within reason should be brought back next season regardless of the final record because they need some core offensive players to build around.

Isles get some speed and skill around him with finishing abilities his game will improve and he will have more time to make plays. All due respect to Andy Hilbert, Richard Park and some of the other left wings but these are not top six forwards in terms of being productive to where opposing forwards will key on them.

The other left wings employed at this time are not first line players yet.

In the end maybe Mike Comrie is not a first line player but he is a second line player at the very least and an offensive talent lacking on the roster and should be resigned if possible. With Satan's possible departure they need a scoring veteran as a fixture.

Good article by Mr Logan here, let's see some more with extra blogs......
A lot more.

Terry Frei cheapshots Garth Snow

Denver Post: Terry Frei who's work also appears at Espn and usually never has a kind word for the Islanders today took a shot at gm Garth Snow for trying to rationalize Kyle Okposo's signing with " sophomoric whining " that respected UM coach Don Lucia was impeding Okposo's development in an article on prospects leaving college in season should be stopped with Bill Daly's comments.

Why today?
Undrafted DU sophomore forward Brock Trotter, the Pioneers' leading scorer, signed Thursday with the Montreal Canadiens who immediately left Denver for the Habs AHL team in Hamilton.

Yes folks, that's the same university Islander prospect Rhett Rakhshani returned to after the WJC.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
It should be noted Brock Trotter was undrafted. The Habs signed him after the player made clear he was available. Wade Dubielewicz also went undrafted out of Denver.

Mr Frei should do a little research because the whining from day one came from Don Lucia, who could have kept his opinion to himself for Okposo's sake as the player and his family did but fired the opening shot. Mr Lucia even took a second little dig at the Islanders or Bridgeport/AHL when he he said Okposo would not be playing in front of the 10,000 a night he had at Minnesota with Bridgeport.

Most hockey fans are well aware of Don Lucia's being outspoken of NHL teams who sign his players early from when the Calgary Flames signed Kris Chucko after his sophomore year in 2006 here he outright accused the Flames of trying to get him to leave school in season and later in a Star Tribune article heresaid the Flames are an organization that is not big on college hockey who put Chuko in a difficult situation by contacting him during the season to get him to leave which is not very professional.

Perhaps Mr Frei should write the entire story on Don Lucia if he's going to cheap shot Garth Snow in the Denver Post or the motivation behind his article should be questioned.

I don't blame Garth Snow here one bit because Okposo was being played out of position and there were problems which speak to the coach and his decisions. To be fair this is the first time the Islanders had a problem with someone's development.

Seems like Mr Frei just wanted to get in his usual dig at the Isles. On that front there are other places that are fair game for criticism of the gm given the recent struggles, but not this.

I wonder what Mr Frei would have written this if Brock Trotter reported to the Avalanche affiliate or if he was their prized pick? I did not see the Canadians gm criticized here.

With the Islanders in Minnesota it will be interesting how much more of this we will read with writers associated with the Gophers or the College programs looking at the Isles current record as a reason to question the Okposo signing.

Zipay vs Logan: Passion vs Paycheck II

Earlier this year I did a blog and titled it Logan vs Zipay, Paycheck vs Passion
here and today I feel the need to do a second one being that Mr Zipay's page is among the most post popular pages at Newsday.

Steve Zipay yesterday thanked his readers for how popular his blog has become at Newsday here with the latest news, updates, commentary and other observations from the Garden, the morning skates and on the road and tell his readers to sample newsday.com's other Ranger centric blogs, to the left of the page.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
It should be noted that the Islander blog roll on the our teams page is completely empty which begs the question why can't Mr Logan or someone put some time in linking to Islander pages if he's doing what he claims is all he can for our fans to increase coverage? Clearly the beat writer has some control here because Mr Zipay told the fans earlier this year he intended to build up the Ranger page.

All due respect to Mr Botta's opinion of Greg Logan's efforts but I think there is no excuse for the Islander page not having Islander blogs or websites listed. If the Islanders disagree with me here, so be it, but why not create an Islander blogroll on the newsday page unless the plan is to keep folks from visiting or Mr Logan just does not care to be bothered.

Am I asking for something that unreasonable given I link things to this blog all the time and it takes only a few minutes? I don't think so.

Mr Logan told us last season increased page hits and views last year as a reason for the club being provided more print space in the paper, especially when the club traded for Ryan Smyth. So how come he's not doing more to increase page hits and views by adding Islander related sites to an empty Islander page and game day blogs with reports on the morning skates as Mr Zipay does?

Put Mr Botta's blog there or Cory Witt or anyone. I could care less who they add but there is no excuse one page is full of updates blogs with links to hockey sites helping to create page views while the so-called home paper to the Islanders is not doing the same thing.

Makes me go back to Part One, Paycheck vs Passion.

Let's see the Islander page at Newsday set records for hits and views next month, let's get two blogs a day and a full blog roll for the fans.

Islander News Articles 2/8

Newsday: Greg Logan has Bill Guerin's comments and explanation from the official on why he disallowed the tying goal and said he hopes the effort was a step in the right direction. He also praised the kids for their how well they played and that this team needs a quick bunch of guys. Rick DiPietro talked about a tough break on the winning goal and how hard the team worked but in the end it was not enough, while Mike Comrie said it get's more frustrating with each loss and they have to start winning to stay in the race.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Newsday only had one article despite the superbowl no longer being a factor which Mr Logan told us about in his interview with Chris Botta would cut out the second article after games. Not very good when the only local paper covering the team does not have a word in the newspaper from the head coach after an important game.

Maybe that picture of the Ranger game on the hockey page in the print edition (no Islander picture) was not necessary?

No Islander blogs from Mr Logan after the game to make up for the second article but we are getting the weekly Islander insider today before noon.

Daily News: The associated press article in the Daily News on the game was two pages, double the print space Peter Botte is allowed for home games.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Makes little sense to me but nothing hockey-related out of Leon Carver's sports department does. If the space is there for two page A.P updates why isn't the same space available for Peter Botte's home updates?

The Post of course was AP only, meanwhile Larry Brooks got space for a second Ranger article and Mark Everson got a full article for a Devils off day article.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Dave Molinary leads the excellent coverage on the Pens win last night.

Tribune Review: Rob Rossi has the Pens coverage.

NY Times: Ranger beatwriter Lynn Zinser in her coverage reported the Isles denied Duck GM Brian Burke's request for a credential to Tuesday night’s game for Pat LaFontaine. Burke wanted LaFontaine to sit with him in the press box, but instead got him a ticket and sat with him in a box. The Islanders said LaFontaine would have been welcome in a suite reserved for former players.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
There is space for this in the Rangers game article but no one from the Times covered the Islander game against Anaheim? Ms Zinser forgot to include Pat Lafontaine was on the ice at Al Arbour's ceremony after the Penguins game and was right next to Charles Wang.

Let's see if Chris Botta or someone can tell us more of the Isles side of this before someone in the media rips them. I wonder if Ms Zinser made it an issue when Dave Checkettes of the Blues was not permitted in John Davidson's suite when he was given his day at Msg.

Too bad the Times did not bother coming out on Tuesday night.

A Novia Scotia Newspaper called the News: Kevin Adshare has an update on Jon Sim who's home in New Glasgow this weekend to take part in Hockey Day in Canada activities.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio has an article on Ben Walter, who's played well with Jack Capuano's comments on his scoring/overall play and reports on the changes in Bridgeport which include the following lines:

Steve Regier/Ben Walter/Tim Jackman
Trevor Smith/Sean Bentivoglio/Kyle Okposo
Bridgeport signed Jean Desrochers to fill Colliton's spot
Pascal Morency will be available to play

Lowell Devils at Bridgeport Sound Tigers
WHEN — Tonight, 7:30
WHERE — Arena at Harbor Yard
ON THE AIR — Webcast and B2 Networks Internet pay-per-view at www.soundtigers.com

Pittsburgh 4, New York 3

Islanders website: Has the recap of the Islanders 4-3 loss at Pittsburgh on Thursday with Ted Nolan on the quick whistle that wiped out the tying goal and Mike Comrie's comments on how his club has to do more.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
We all know the ugly numbers, six games with no points. Big picture stinks and it was a terrible loss in what was close to a must game and of course it looked like the puck was loose and should have been a game tying goal.

I think it's also fair to write if Ty Conklin played well Comrie may not score either goal and it's a 4-1 loss. How many great saves did the Islanders really force him to make tonight?

I'm not sure where to go with a game review here, Ted Nolan had his kids on the ice in the third period on the power play and in the last two minutes and that's what he has to keep doing.

I guess I should start by being critical of Ted Nolan for moving Blake Comeau off left wing. When Bill Guerin praises him as being the best player for this team recently you don't change his position so Andy Hilbert can go play the first line left wing spot, despite him finding Comrie for a goal off Conklin's mistake.

I can see the coaches reasoning putting him with the Bridgeport callups because they know one another but if he's doing well on left wing and the first line needs a left wing, the best fit was Comeau, not Hilbert who simply is not going to score consistently enough to play on a third line much less a first line.

Comeau did his scoring off left wing the last time the Isles visited Pittsburgh for those who recall.

Now that I got that out of the way, the Islanders did play well overall and had a lot of effort and deserved a better fate. Colliton was very physical early, rocked Sydor and was the most noticeable of the forwards called up. His faceoff loss cost them when Ryan Malone does what he always seems to do against the Isles and that's score a goal. Frans Nielsen was very animated on the bench a few times. I saw a few good plays from Tambellini but I want the player who's dominating the AHL to show that presence and confidence at this level.

Vasicek's line was very good with Fedontenko and Hunter having a lot of jump but as well as they played Vasicek was the weak link on that line tonight. His poor defensive coverage late in the game should have cost them the game earlier when his man beat him for a shot that hit the crossbar. Hunter found Fedntenko for a great goal. Vasicek protects the puck well but in the end he looks like a player who simply is always trying to make the perfect play.

At this point someone has to tell me why Ben Walter does not deserve a chance considering he's been productive for Bridgeport while Vasicek looks like someone who may not score another goal all season. He's not a defense stopper.

Martinek was very sharp tonight on defense and did have that extra jump, Witt was a warrior but shorthanded Hilbert got beat on a play for the Pens second goal.

In Mike Comrie I see a player who wants to win here very badly who struggles with his consistency. His two goals were more off Conklin's poor play but he was very visible beyond his goals. I was very impressed with him fighting with Talbot.

What should I write about Andy Sutton? He took two unnecessary penalties that cost the game and turned the momentum in Pittsburgh's favor. They are the kind where you don't see them on television but you hear Howie Rose tell us there's going to be a penalty to the Islanders.

On this team he should stick up for himself or save a goal but using the stick on a player he's chasing up by the blue line who's not in a dangerous spot is a terrible decision. On this team they cannot afford these mistakes.

What can I say about the game winning goal? DiPietro made one great save just before the Pens scored their first goal but for the most part he did not steal much for his team and the change of direction went in.

Park moved to right wing I think for Bergenheim to play the left side as he should, these players must be put in the positions they have been used at Bridgeport.

Overall it's a very bad loss, in terms of how they worked and competed it was encouraging.

On to Minnesota where we see Mark Parrish, Sean Hill.

2/7: New York at Pittsburgh 7:30pm FSN

I already had the Islanders game preview thread in another link.

Cory Witt in his media blog reported it's Ty Conklin in goal for Pittsburgh here with no other changes.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Earlier I did not have much to write in terms of a preview for this game and was not going to do one until I heard Ted Nolan's comments on ITV where he talked about the team looking better in practice and that they can get back to what kept them in contention to this point.

We know the numbers and the Isles struggles and how well Pittsburgh is playing without Crosby, Roberts and Fleury. Of course, we all know the standings.

Having written that for myself, this comes down to one thing. Do the Isles believe they can win the opening shift. Player for player can they simply outwork another teams line and do it with hustle and energy and establish their game from the opening faceoff and see if it can carry over the to the next line and the one after that?

In other words get in the game and be competitive and outwork the opposition from the drop of the puck. If Pittsburgh makes more plays and scores, big deal but it's time to see this team work and skate.

I know were are talking different circumstances and generations but in 1975 when the Isles were down 3-0 to Pittsburgh Al Arbour went into the room and told his team win a shift, then another one, then a period and forget the big picture. Can you outplay your man on the other team the next shift?

That's kind of what I see this team having to do because the big picture is just overwhelming. Win a shift tonight, then another one. Gut out a win tonight, score a few dirty goals by outworking the Penguins defense and play some strong team defense and stay out of the box and do it step by small step and if DiPietro has to make forty saves keep the shots to where he has a chance.

Small steps. One win can complete change things, Islanders lost six in a row last year and even though the intangibles are far weaker for this team than the one that rallied a year ago, there is no reason they cannot beat a team they have had success against.

Note-Not sure win or lose if I will be blogging after the game, if not tonight check back in the morning.

Updated 6pm:
Newsday: Greg Logan updated his Newsday blog which had Satan's comments he was playing with a knee injury that was supposed to keep him sidelined up to two months. He intends to return in a few days if possible by his comments. Bill Guerin praised Blake Comeau while Ted Nolan talked about looking forward to see his youth in prime opportunities to achieve. Mr Logan talked of his Friday feature on Mike Comrie and the Isles trip to Minnesota against Sean Hill.

This will also be the Isles first game against Mark Parrish since he was traded to the Kings at the end of the 05-06 season.

Islander News Articles 2/7:

Newsday: Erik Boland added a few quotes to his mini article posted Wednesday from Ted Nolan on Miroslav Satan who will be rested the next couple days, then see how he reacts in Minnesota when he will be
re-evaluated and on Jeremy Colliton with the young wingers comments that he is confident he can contribute at the NHL level.

NY Post: Dan Martin covered practice and reported Satan will travel to Pittsburgh and has Ted Nolan's comments on Jeremey Colliton, who he feels is getting better and better and deserved this opportunity.

Pittsburgh Post Gazette:: Shelly Anderson's article is on Ryan Whitney and coach Michel Terrien but the Pens site at the Post-Gazette is outstanding with almost a daily Q/A for the fans by beat writer Dave Molinary and fan chats on a regular basis.

Preview lists Ty Conklin and Rick DiPietro as tonight's starters.

Tribune Review : Has the following report on the Pens:

Kris Beech will make his debut since he was claimed off waivers Jan. 26. .
Tyler Kennedy participated in a full practice for the first time since he was diagnosed with mononucleosis on Jan. 23 but is not expected to play tonight.

Max Talbot briefly left practice yesterday after blocking a shot. He was helped off the ice by teammates but returned to finish the session and is expected to play tonight.

The ice surface at Mellon Arena is a concern with a sizable hole in the ice toward the left corner behind the goal line in the south end. The hole was covered by a spare net during practice. The Penguins shoot twice in the south end.


Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio reports in his blog Johnstown Chiefs forward and team leading goal-scorer Jean Desrochers will be called up to Bridgeport for at least two AHL games this weekend.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Yes, that's the team in the movie " Slapshot " for those wondering.

Ending the day on a good note

With all these negative blogs on the print media today I thought I would wrap up Wednesday coverage on a positive media note with some folks who do an outstanding job in Tony and Steve over at Islander Nation where I put in a late call and had a great time talking Islander hockey with them for a few minutes.

Islanders fans are very fortunate to have some great radio internet call in shows for the fans between Islesnation, Hockey Night on Long Island here with Alex and Steve among several.

In that regard it's been a great year in terms of media.

Keep up the great work and thank you.

Newsday's Islander blog fails fans in January

Neil Best: Who does the media blog for Newsday and wrote recently he is a Ranger fan since he was a teenager here reports in the Islanders primary paper and the only one with a blog on the club the January page views are in, and for the first time in its nine-month history, WatchDog topped all Newsday sports blogs with the Ranger blog by Steve Zipay was a close second and the Giants blog a close third.

Both set new monthly highs.

Oh yes, Mr Zipay had two blogs from practice on the Rangers day off. Islander fans got Erik Boland who did a quick newspaper update and no blog update.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Is this what Greg Logan meant in his recent q/a with Chris Botta during the all-star weekend here
when he wrote:

As the primary news reporting source on the Islanders, I feel an even stronger obligation to the fans to provide as much information as possible because I sense how much they are relying on Newsday for insight.

Call me incorrect but I think if Newsday did Islander blogs with practice reports, in-game reports and game notes and even some postgame as Mr Zipay does for his beat several times a day Islander readership would be stronger at Newsday and call for more coverage space in the paper.

Isn't that what primary sources of information are supposed to provide?

I don't care of it's Greg Logan, Mark Herrmann, Erik Boland, Katie Stang or whoever doing the Islander blogging but the best way to keep page views down is not to give the readers a constant influx of information.

Islander Notables

Islanders website: Had a combination practice update/game preview for tomorrow's game in Pittsburgh with Ted Nolan on his new line combinations. Miroslav Satan was not placed on injured reserve and may only be out for a short time.

I put up the post game practice report for those interested.

The practice combinations were as follows:

Defensemen
2 Aaron Johnson - 8 Bruno Gervais (Red)
25 Andy Sutton - 44 Freddy Meyer (Blue)
4 Bryan Berard – 47 Marc-Andre Bergeron (Orange)
24 Radek Martinek – 32 Brendan Witt (Grey)

Forwards
10 Richard Park – 89 Mike Comrie - 13 Bill Guerin (Red)
15 Jeff Tambellini – 51 Frans Nielsen – 57 Blake Comeau (Blue)
20 Sean Bergenheim – 72 Jeremy Colliton - 26 Ruslan Fedotenko (Orange)
11 Andy Hilbert 63 - Josef Vasicek – 7 Trent Hunter (Grey)

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio had the Sound Tigers weekly with the fallout in Bridgeport from the callups and the upcoming games with a lot of items.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I do not put a lot of stock in practice line combinations on an off day but just so we can follow it looks like Blake Comeau is being asked to move to right wing even though he has played the left wing every game.

Bergenheim moves back to the left side.
Vasicek's line is either a second line or a fourth line.
The usual break up Comrie/Guerin experiment seems to be over.

My guess is the defense stays the same if Johnson practiced with Gervais.

Jeremy Colliton recalled, Brennan sent down

Islanders website: Report Jeremy Colliton is up on an emergency recall with his comments.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio reports in his blog beyond the Jeremy Colliton callup Kip Brennan was sent back to Bridgeport, Tim Jackman skated at practice for the Sound Tigers. Pascal Morency may be day-to-day. Sean Bentivoglio does indeed appear good to go according to the beatwriter.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Not sure where Jeremy Colliton fits because he's been used a lot as a center, but it's clear he was recalled to replace Satan. Some may recall Colliton in his very brief callup early last season was used as a right wing.

I guess seven defenders dress or Johnson moves to wing for the road trip unless another move happens which is not a bad strategy to have Bergeron or Berard for the powerplay only.

For those wanting the youth recalled: Bergenheim, Comeau, Colliton, Nielsen are now with the club. Any more injuries or illness up front I guess were looking at Walter,
or perhaps Trevor Smith.

Post beatwriter Dan Martin's response

I sent an e-mail to Dan Martin of the New York Post regarding Islander coverage with some questions the other day.

I will reprint my e-mail and his response in full.

To: Dan.Martin
Subject: Islander Coverage

Mr Martin,
Perhaps you could answer a few questions for me?

Why is it the New York Islanders are receiving such a small amount of coverage in the Post (today's preview against Anaheim) while Mark Everson usually has space for full articles on days off and has full road Devils coverage. Several extra writers are brought in for Ranger coverage on off days.

Why is there no space for an Islander blogger at the Post given you or someone comes out to some of the home games, does it cost the editor that much in time and revenue to allow this to supplement coverage?

I intend to use your response in my blog for Islander fans to read so I hope you can respond and perhaps answer why since Evan Grossman left to work for NHL.com the drop in Islander coverage has decreased substantially unless Larry Brooks wants to rip on the club Sunday.

Thank You
New York Islander Fan Central
******************************************************
I received Mr Martin's response this morning:

Hey, I'm not involved in the decision-making process when it comes to how our sports department covers teams, but I do know that when Evan left, his spot was not filled due to a variety of reasons, some of which I am not privy to. That means that we're a man short and I have to cover the team in addition to my other general assignment responsibilities. And while I don't know exactly why certain things are covered and others are not, the fact that the Islanders have largely struggled in recent years- while the Devils have not- is a factor. I understand your frustration as a fan, but the reality is that as long as the NHL's popularity is as low as it is now and the Isles don't have more success, I don't see things changing.

Finally, while I'm getting back to you as I usually do when fans take the time to
e-mail me, I'd rather you didn't post my response on your blog, but that's your call.

Thanks.
-Dan

NYI Fan Central Comments:
All due respect to Mr Martin's preference, however I'm not doing my blog with a partial focus on the media coverage to win a popularity contest but to get answers for our fans who spend money on the Post and see a small article buried at the back of the sports section and usually only for home games and ask questions.

I feel it's important for fans reading my blog to get the writers take why this team is being covered as it has been in the New York Post. I let him know up front I intended to blog with his response here and see no reason why this should not be printed when as fans we are looking for answers.

Which is why it is my call to print my e-mail and his response word for word.

What can I say about Mr Martin's response?
When I see a game preview that's two paragraphs for the New York Islanders I think we as fans are entitled to an explanation as to what's behind that decision. I have written countless times the writer reports on the team his editor tells him to cover and provides him the print/blog space. I'm not blaming Mr Martin for the lack of space given because it is not his decision.

Having written that Mr Martin did not answer to a Post blog to supplement Islander coverage and told us the Devils success in the standings is why long-time beat writer Mark Everson has dedicated Devils coverage and the Islanders do not.

I personally disagree with this and question how an Islander team that made the playoffs last season and have been to four of the last five playoffs never hired a full time replacement for Mr Grossman or at least provided space for a professional writer to blog on the team to supplement the coverage or has not had a small measure of success. Given the reports we have been told about increased attendance and television ratings close to two hundred percent higher I would think that is a good reason to allow a full time coverage and a blog in the Post.

I also think it's a fair point to make low Ranger national ratings here and a team that has trailed the Islanders most of the season until this week has not seen a cut in their coverage and neither have the Devils who the Islanders are 5-0 against and did lead them for a few months earlier.

I feel my questions were fair and so is this response.

So will it be different for Ted Nolan?

Back on August 2nd, I did a blog on the trends of second year coaches for the Islanders in recent history going back as far as Butch Goring here and felt then Ted Nolan regardless of results is part of the long-term answer for the Islanders.

It's a fair point to make right now this club could finish worse than Brad Shaw's Islanders given the apparent lack of scoring.

We can all do our share of second-guessing and wonder why some things are done a certain way and sure we can question performance that has not been very good but there is no doubt the respect this team has for it's head coach. Bill Guerin talked how the coach has been a calming influence recently in an interview.

I still feel exactly the same way today as I did back in August. Ted Nolan is part of the long-term answer here regardless of the final record.

Having written that will owner Charles Wang decide to make a change as was done with Peter Laviolette and Steve Stirling during or after their second seasons or will he decided to bring back the coach?

It was this staff with Ted Nolan a part of it that decided to buyout out Alexei Yashin and not bring back Jason Blake, Tom Poti, Viktor Kozlov or Richard Zednik and the players targeted by the hockey committee for most of the season have not produced enough overall to merit brining them here. Granted those players for the most part have been as inconsistent as the players who have taken their spot and it's fair to ask what would have been different here?

Will Nolan's return as coach make it any easier to convince Mike Comrie, Ruslan Fedotenko, Josef Vasicek, Trent Hunter or Miroslav Satan to resign at a reasonable price if they want a core of players to have in place come July?

There is no active coach in this league right now I think gives the Islanders a better chance to turn this around and get back in playoff position and even though he did not use injuries or illness as excuses this team without Campoli, Sillinger and Satan likely to join them he is facing the biggest coaching adversity of his professional hockey career.

My vote for what it's worth is to bring back Ted Nolan as this teams head coach next season regardless of what happens on the ice. I see him as part of the long-term solution.

Quick comment on poll

Nice job on all the folks contributing to the poll.

All I can add is they are running out of players to call up from Bridgeport unless they want to cancel out Okposo's rookie status and play him ten games and that's without benching veterans as many selected. He may be the most qualified right wing remaining on the depth chart.

Another call up will be needed to replace Miroslav Satan if he's out for any length of time unless Kip Brennan/Tim Jackman are expected to replace Satan's offense? Does Jeremy Colliton become the next one called up to play out of position or is Ben Walter next?

Projecting out the standings updated

Islanders remaining games:
Jan 29, Senators-Loss 54 points 24-21-6
Jan 31, Kings-Win 56 points 25-21-6
Feb 2, at Canadians-Loss 56 points 25-22-6
Feb 5, Ducks-Loss 56 points 25-23-6

To date Islanders are two points off the pace I set them on and have dropped to thirteenth in the conference with the loss to the Kings as they remain at 54 points.

Next set of games I called for points and wins in my projections. Given how the teams that used to be below them are gaining it's not looking good at all if they cannot generate some goals and play some defense.

Islander News Articles 2/6:

Newsday: Greg Logan covered the loss with Ted Nolan blaming himself for allowing Miroslav Satan to return, Rick DiPietro not allowing for injury excuses and Satan's take on his injury.

Newsday: Greg Logan also had a full feature on the Ducks, Teemu Selanne.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
All due respect but Mr Logan should understand the lack of Islander coverage merits Islander-centric coverage in all articles, especially on a day he writes in his blog there was enough future stories that they could not even fit in the paper. Let the Times do the Selanne feature and tell the folks without computers who will not read your Friday insider what's going on.

Daily News: Peter Botte got a few more paragraphs today for Islander coverage but had the ugly fact the Islanders are now thirteenth in the Eastern Conference with the mix of old players and young legs not being nearly enough in a game J.S Giguere was barely tested.

NY Post: Islander coverage will be up later if they assigned Dan Martin or another writer.

Orange County Register: Has the Anaheim coverage.

Anaheim 3, New York 0

Islanders website: Has the recap of Tuesday's 3-0 loss to the Anaheim Ducks. Ted Nolan talks about the club's character and how they have to buckle down and find a way. Rick DiPietro talked about how the players have to put in the work and notes several clubs have injuries. Ted Nolan took responsibility for Miroslav Satan playing hurt for a while now.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
What can I write folks? The scoring graphic going into the game speaks for itself as to all the players not producing. The Isles did skate and try tonight, the talent to get into the high quality area's for shots simply is not there nor is the finishing ability. Makes for some very ugly hockey.

Comeau came out in front at the beginning of the second for a good chance, Satan had his chance where he got hurt but mostly a lot of low percentage shots from where the opposition wants you to shoot from and when Hilbert got his chance in a prime spot Giguere made the save. Anaheim clogged up the neutral zone and the Islanders only drew one early power play while the Islanders took several poor penalties in the offensive zone. Vasicek's call for the five on three was marginal.

You don't want Bergeron's shot or Berard on your defense welcome to Aaron Johnson and Bruno Gervais on your only power play, pick your posion?

Islanders are good at taking penalties and Anaheim did all they could in the first period to go offside's and looked as poor as their record recently. Hilbert forced them offside's on a few big plays. Billy Jaffe made the correct point the Isles should key on Neidermayer because Schneider did not look right with his hand injury.

Finally Scott Niedermayer's shot through a screen gave Anaheim their goal off Bill Guerin's second marginal penalty. Comrie had an offensive zone penalty, Comeau took a retaliation penalty. Anaheim is not very good nor did they have to play very well to wear down the Islanders.

Anaheim should have had a 2-0 lead going into the third but DiPietro made a fantastic save and kept his team in it for two periods. Still it did not give the Isles any energy to force the puck deep and work Anaheim's defense. Finally DiPietro gave up the Marchant's backhand goal to make it 2-0 which was not a great goal. Meyer-Sutton-Comeau lost a forward on the third goal.

Anaheim if anyone watched close in the third completely took the wall from Rick DiPietro as he tried to move the puck to where his outlets helped the Ducks keep the puck and apply pressure.

Game over. Shutout 3-0 by a team that lost six in a row and did not score more than one goal in any of those games.

I think the young players did as well as they could in these circumstances outide of Nielsen struggling on faceoffs. Tambellini just looks like with Guerin and Vasicek and it's too bad Bergenheim found himself as a partial fourth line right wing because he needs to play his natural position.

The players paid to score simply are not giving this team any chance at all and I do think they are trying, it just does not seem to be good enough.

Another week of this and it's fair to say it's almost over. This club shows no sign of being able to come out of it and produce enough to get them some wins. There are losing streaks where you score and cannot win, this is where a weakness that has been there all season seems to be insurmontable.

I don't think where they play makes any difference for those who think getting out on the road will help.

2/5: New York vs Anaheim 7pm FSN

Islanders website: Has the preview of tonight's game against the Stanley Cup Champion Anaheim Ducks with Ted Nolan's comments on practice and how the new players did.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I suspect if Richard Park can go Jeff Tambellini will be on the sidelines even if some folks may disagree unless a left winger changes position or they create some new lines or a veteran forward get's benched. Nielsen will likely take Sillinger's spot at center while Brennan will be in for Jackman on the right. From those who follow Bridgeport know Brennan is a top enforcer who will do a good job if a fight is needed.

Two very desperate club's here struggling to score and on big losing streaks. One is likely getting back Teemu Selanne, the other losing Mike Sillinger. Something has to give for the Islanders in the next week or two or it's fair to say this team can find itself around thirteenth and double digits out of the eighth spot facing the trade deadline. Maybe the younger player raises the skill level and their speed buys the veterans more time to get the puck where they need it.

Islanders have to gut out a win here any way possible whether it be ugly or great.

No other alternative given the teams gaining points in the division. There is no time for any illness, injury or excuse. No doubt Selanne's return if he plays is a big boost for Anaheim.

Note-I do game threads on the message boards to discuss the games with pre and post games. Feel free to participate.

Updated 3pm:
Media Blog: Cory Witt reports Aaron Johnson will dress on defense as Bergeron-Berard get the night off while Richard Park is a game time decision which will decide if Jeff Tambellini will play.

Also covered is Mike Sillinger's injury.

Updated 5pm:
Newsday: Greg Logan has Mike Sillinger's comments to where his hip hurt to the point where he could not move any more and if tried he would have no power or lateral movement.

Lineup changes are speculated based on Richard Park who is a game time decision.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Loss of Mike Sillinger is enormous and it's fair to speculate if three weeks could be his season if this becomes chronic. Ironically if that's the case it could mean he avoids being traded and will return for the final year of his contract.

Islander News Articles 2/5:

Islanders website: Has the practice report on Mike Sillinger's hip injury keeping him out three weeks, Ted Nolan on the players recalled and a practice update.

Teemu Selanne could make his debut for Anaheim Tuesday.

Newsday: Mark Herrmann blogged on the loss of Sillinger, the players recalled and Ted Nolan working his team extra hard at the end of practice.

Newsday: Mark Herrmann reported on Ted Nolan losing Mike Sillinger and what he brings to the club with Trent Hunter's comments on his line mates loss, but an opportunity for others to step up and the coach having an intense practice to control the process, even if it may not change the result in games.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio has comments on the recalled players to the Islanders with Jack Capuano's comments while Sean Bentivoglio could return Friday after missing four games with a strained oblique. Pascal Morency took part in his first practice since Thanksgiving.

Los Angeles Times: Eric Stephens reports Teemu Selanne wants to play Tuesday but it's up to coach Randy Carlyle. Schneider (sprained wrist) is questionable for and center Samuel Pahlsson (abdominal strain) is improving but not ready to play.

Ottawa Sun: Earl McRae has a full feature on former championship Islander goaltender Billy Smith who is fifty seven and living/working in Ottawa as a salesman for Magna Stainless Steel And Aluminum Co on the Senators goaltending situation in relation to how Al Arbour used him and Chico Resch.

Newsday: Jim Baumbach and the panel of Newsday experts of course never fail to disappoint failing to rank the Islanders 1980 Stanley Cup overtime winning goal by Bob Nystrom as one of it's top great moments in NY sports history in a New Jersey Giants feature but does mention several of their teams could be.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Sure are a lot of Ranger fans inside Newsday's sports department. How does a Stanley Cup winning overtime goal against a team that had a thirty five game streak without a loss not be a top five great New York sports moment vs a team that plays in the New Jersey Meadowlands and calls themselves New York?

How nice of Newsday's panel to give one of only two teams in New York sports history that won four championships or more an honorable mention. Considering all the people claiming back in 1983 the Islanders could not beat Edmonton how does that not rank in the top five?

Meanwhile the Rangers beat a 35-34 Vancouver team in a seven game final and that ranks higher? I nominate the Islander team that swept Vancouver in that case.

Sadly Mr Baumback tells us the Devils do not count even though they play in the same parking lot the Giants have until this year.

Michael Fornabaio on possible changes

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio reported in his blog from Sound Tigers practice Monday morning that Tambellini, Nielsen and Brennan were not at practice and appear to be going to the Islanders, Tim Jackman is apparently in Bridgeport but sick.

Mr Fornabaio also reports rumor is there could be more to come, but that's it for the moment.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
A lot of players missing practice for Monday morning unless they are here.

I can see Brennan replacing Jackman if he's sick with Tambellini replacing Park and Nielsen replacing Hunter, but that's just speculation based on the Newsday article reporting players sick or hurt.

If I'm not mistaken Mike Sillinger has been playing hurt so Nielsen could be up to take his spot at center.

Greg Logan blogs around 5pm if he does an update and the Isles do their update after practice.

Usual good work from the Ct Post beatwiter.

Islander News Articles 2/4:

Newsday: Greg Logan reports Richard Park and Trent Hunter are the latest victims of the flu bug while Ted Nolan is holding off possible callus until Monday but will only dress six defenders against Anaheim. He praised the players who have been sick or hurt for two weeks yet continue to stay in the lineup.

Boston Globe: Kevin Paul Dupont had an update on former Sound Tigers head coach Greg Cronin at Northeastern University.

Los Angeles Times: Eric Stephens reports former Islander Mathieu Schneider will likely return Tuesday from a wrist injury with his comments.

Update from Mr Prospects

As many of you know from visting the message board Mr Prospects updates the daily results of the Islander prospects on a game by game basis and does a fantastic job for all of us doing something I simply do not have the time to do or nearly as well.

I wanted to single out Mr Prospects efforts for helping this blog out and bring you his 2/1 update in a new blog on the main page.

Thanks as always for the great effort you put in to visit and update the message board and how much I appreciate it.

2/1 Update:

QMJHL-Shawinigan 4, Drummondville 1-Simon Lacroix, 1 assist,-1.
Rimouski 3,Gatineau 1-Maxime Gratchev,no points, even.

OHL-Guelph 3,Sarnia 0-Mark Katic, -1.

College-Minnesota State 5,Denver 1-Rhett Rakhshani,1 goal(9),even.
Colorado College 5,Clarkson 2-Tyrell Mason and Shea Guthrie, no points.
Cornell 2, Colgate 1 (OT)-Brian day,no points.
Brown 4, Harvard 2-Doug Rogers, no points.
Bowling Green 5, Ohio State 2-Shane Sims, no points.

USHL-Soiux City 3,Waterloo 1-Blake Kessel,1 assist,-1.
Omaha 2,Lincoln 1-Jason Gregoire, 1 goal(21),-1.

Latest poll is up, I hope all bases were covered and in this one you can pick several responses.

Not looking good but far from over...

Many folks forget the Isles were a team one game over five hundred a year ago on
1/31/2007 so any idea the season is over at this point and the Isles must be sellers at the trade deadline are misguided.

Bottom line we just have to see what happens on the ice next and if this club can gut out a close win and get some confidence in itself re-established.

That written the trends are not good and different from last season and that's where the club has significant differences that will likely determine what happens from here.

Greg Logan made some very good point in both Newsday articles:
Last year the Isles had five players, who scored 20 to 40 goals.
No one has reached the twenty goal mark yet for this club.
Most of the forwards are in huge slumps.
The Islanders are last in the NHL with an average of 2.36 goals per game.

Ted Nolan talked about players having confidence and having to believe they can score but the career trends of many of these players indicate they are not the kind of players who are goal-scorers or who can be relied on for big goals in critical moments.

In addition this power play has allowed ten shorthanded goals which is now tied with Carolina for worst in the league which says a lot about the players on the power play and frankly the coaching strategy behind it.

On defense I also see some significant problems with mistakes giving up the kind of chances that can kill a club playing low scoring games that even the coach admits they have to play because he does not have a high scoring club that can come back down two goals.

Worst of all last year's club had the survival skills to get a game to overtime which was reflected in it's five on five numbers. This year's team is completely the opposite at five on five with the plus/minus reflective of this.

Even this teams biggest strength which is it's penalty killing can only do so much and is allowing some goals.

So how does it turn around?
Hockey is a game of confidence and we see it all the time with players who start scoring and relax and mention the goal helped them calm down. I think a lot of players are pressing and know the pressure is on them and they are struggling. Ted Nolan is correct in that they have to get into the dirty area's of the ice, bang in some goals, win a game and see if it can snowball where more players get on the score sheet. Those crossbars against Montreal go in and we could be talking about a win on Saturday.

Same thing for the defense where Marc-Andre Bergeron said a while back he expects to sit after his next mistake before injuries made that impossible. Granted Ted Nolan has left him in and the mistakes keep coming anyway. No doubt Campoli's absence is felt on the backline but this also goes to the forwards in Mike Sillinger and Bill Guerin who were well out of position covering forwards in critical goals given up against Ottawa and Los Angeles this week.

Defense is a team concept, even with some glaring mistakes by individuals.

I'm not sure what's going to happen next. A lot of times you see a club struggle like this it becomes a free fall and frankly another week of this and the Isles will find themselves in fourteenth. When you get prospect updates at 10pm on a Saturday it's fair to speculate patience could be running out in some players.

It's also fair to write players as old as Witt, Sillinger and Guerin are having a great deal asked of them at this point in their careers as Mike Comrie is under the full pressure of having to produce as a first line player. I suspect they are a little worn down and do not have the veteran support to help them create chances.

Were about to find out the on-ice character of this group and if they really are willing to do what it takes to turn this around or perhaps it's fair to write this team collectively is simply not good enough which many suspected going into the season.

All season I have been writing things change quickly. We went from reading articles about the Isles looking to resign Vasicek, Hunter, Fedotenko, Comrie and Satan to now that could seem like a mistake.

For things to turn around things are going to have to change again. I'm not sure there is much else Ted Nolan can do with line combinations or the players he has.

Not looking good but far from over.

A quick word on HF

Quick Note-Please stop sending e-mails about HF Isles board because it's not my business nor have I visited the site since 2006.

My advice is to take a step back from the keyboard for a few hours after games and not kill the site with threads complaining about the team. Be considerate of everyone and give the mods a break because their job is to keep topics on track and you should want to help them if you enjoy the forum as many of you tell me.

I cannot tell you how disappointed I was that last year when some members contacted me and told me they could not visit the site any longer because of the constant complaining and ruined threads.

I used to ask for everyone's help all the time that last year but some just could not help themselves and it forced me to stop asking for help and hold every single person accountable which made it tough for me to talk hockey or have much fun at the end of five years doing the job.

Bottom line when you joined you agreed to the sites rules and just because the team is struggling does not give anyone a license to ruin the discussions because they are annoyed about the games. If you like the board as you have told me you should want to do your part to help out and keep it a good forum regardless of the team record which starts by the example you set.

I'm not responding to any more e-mails on this so please stop sending them.

Islander News Articles 2/3:

Newsday: Greg Logan has comments from Bill Guerin, Miroslav Satan and Ted Nolan on the club's inability to finish their chances and the teams scoring problems overall, despite hitting some goalposts. Ruslan Fedotenko has two goals in twenty seven games among several players in huge scoring slumps.

Newsday: Greg Logan's other article is on the Isles considering calling up Frans Nielsen and Jeff Tambellini from Bridgeport which Ted Nolan said he and Garth Snow will talk about on Sunday. The coach also said it's pointless to complain about the officiating, alluding to Trent Hunter's penalty that seemed like a dive where he protested because his club always seems to get the short end of the stick in those situations.

NYE Fan Central Comments:
It's kind of interesting to me last week Greg Logan answered Chris Botta's e-mail during the all-star weekend and talked about during the superbowl the extra article would be eliminated for the Isles but here on the day of the super bowl the extra article was printed?

His blog also talks about the fans patience during his latest vacation but frankly does not answer to the question if Anthony Rieber/Mike Casey can sub for Steve Zipay and Mark Herrmann, Katie Strang have done some Islander blogs why should this team miss any days from blogging regardless of who is on vacation?

I think it's a fair question to ask of Newsday's sports editor.

Montral Gazette: Herb Zurkowski has a feature on the Islanders struggles with Rick DiPietro, Ted Nolan, Bill Guerin and Miroslav Satan's comments.

Montreal Gazette: Legendary writer Red Fisher has a funny story about the Nassau Coliseum back to it's early days and did a full feature on Rick DiPietro having to carry the club on his own too many games and gave an example of it in the third period of yesterday's game with so many turnovers.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Great job top to bottom from Red Fisher and a must read.

Montreal Gazette: Pat Hickey writes about the Canadians penalty killing being a big factor in their win with Alexei Kovalev praising Rick DiPietro as a good goaltender and that they had to get traffic in front of him.

Islanders website: Jay Norton has a full feature on the Islander prospects with comments from Jack Capuano about Jeff Tambellini, Frans Nielsen, Kyle Okposo, Ben Walter, Jeremy Colliton and the rest of the prospects which included injured defender Dustin Kohn who turned twenty one on Saturday and the direction in Bridgeport whether these players are called up now or in the future.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Islanders website released this at 10pm on Saturday and it included Bridgeport's 2-1 shootout win at Hartford. Fair to speculate changes could be coming sooner than later. I do not think Jay Norton is associated with a seperate Ct Newspaper that rarely visits the Sound Tigers and does articles nor is it linked like the Times article unless he is one of the bloggers?

AHL.com: Reports Joey MacDonald made thirty nine saves while Trevor Smith scored to lead Bridgeport past Hartford in a shootout 2-1 Saturday. Kyle Okposo and Smith had the shootout goals.

Sound Tigers website: Has a recap of the game.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio's game article was on Joey MacDonald's third straight win since the all-star break with comments from coach Jack Capuano on the his goaltender and the club's defensive play.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio's blog has a recap of the Sound Tigers win and reported Tim Jackman was sent to Bridgeport but that may be only a transaction on paper again like the all-star break but the Sound Tigers are off until Friday.

Hartford Courant: Bruce Berlet has Wolfpack centric coverage in Newsday's affiliate.

Pittsburgh Post Gazette: Brooks Orpik had a few interesting comments about the Islanders defensive system as opposed to his own club.

Edmonton Sun: Jason Hills reports Islander prospect Robin Figren had wrist surgery Thursday correct a lingering problem and is expected to be out about
three-four weeks. Oil Kings coach Steve Pleau praises his efforts while the speculation from the writer is Figren will sign a pro contract with the Islanders in the off-season.