Islander News Articles 2/17:

Newsday: Greg Logan's recap had Ted Nolan's comments on the win, Rick DiPietro praised the teams defensive effort as the best in a while with Ruslan Fedotenko crediting his line mates and for taking more chances offensively. Sean Bergenheim felt the players in front of the goal recently which has been worked on in practice has made a difference but felt Atlanta did not play well. Mr Logan wrote Blake Comeau laughed off what Grant Exelby did to him when he went after him.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
This game should earn the club a Newsday back page and a second article Sunday.

Newsday: Greg Logan had an update on Trent Hunter's contract negotiations and the trade deadline.

NY Post: Mike Puma had coverage of Islanders saturday win against Atlanta.

Daily News: Peter Botte should make a note being that he actually attended the game that the Islanders defeated Atlanta Saturday, not Toronto.

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Craig Custance has the recap with gm/coach Don Waddell. All Kari Lehtonen said was he really does not want to remember anything from tonight, except the nice ice girls.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio's recap is about a club that has won eight of ten and only two points out of a playoff spot. Bridgeport has allowed 130 shots in the past three games and won them all, Mike Morrison had his fifth shutout of the year. Drew Fata credited the goaltending and feels the defense is clearing the rebounds.

Sean Bentivoglio and Ben Walter scored 15 seconds apart that tied the team record for its fastest two goals set Feb. 3, 2002, David Morriset and Jason Podollan.

Matt Keith and Andy Sertich returned to the lineup. Jeremy Colliton had another big game with a goal and several big plays.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio's second article was about Harbor Yard's makeover from a basketball court to a hockey rink.

Hartford Wolf Pack at Bridgeport Sound Tigers
WHEN - Today, 4 p.m.
WHERE - Arena at Harbor Yard
ON THE AIR - No radio; Webcast and B2 Networks Internet pay-per-view at www.soundtigers.com

New York 4, Atlanta 1

Islanders website: Has the recap of tonight's 4-1 win against the Atlanta Thrashers where they set an all time franchise record for lowest shots against in a game with eleven with was set in March of 1977 against Detroit. Ted Nolan felt it was one of the best efforts since he has been here and praised Ruslan Fedotenko and a lot of the players for turning their games around, Sean Bergenheim feels nothing has changed for him but his shots are going in, Blake Comeau talked about Atlanta being frustated which led to a spear against him.

Totals 1st 2nd 3rd T
Atlanta 4 2 4 10
New York 20 17 12 49

Rick DiPietro set an all-time record for assist by an Islander goaltender in a single season. Plus thirty nine shot differential is also a new Islander team record.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
This team is playing and working like they want to stay together, it could have been seven or eight goals the way they worked. It was that impressive top to bottom.

An all time record for lowest shots against in a game with Freddy Meyer, Andy Sutton, Radek Martink, Marc Andre Bergeron, Bryan Berard and Aaron Johnson as the six defenders with Mike Sillinger's defense out of the lineup. Sutton was a wall in front of DiPietro.

I have written it several times, defense is about names not chemistry and tonight this group proved it.

The Thrashers got some early power plays but the Islanders owned this game from beginning to end and it was easily the best effort of the season and maybe it years because they simply dominated play.

Berard sticking up for Comeau was very impressive. Park's play to Satan completely fooled Lehtonen. Bergenheim again crashed the net for a big goal and could have had a few more. Isles took advantage of Bergeron's shot again with a big goal but did not set up a screen with a five on three. Fedotenko, Hunter and Vasicek looked dominating at times with Hunter moving very well and Fedotenko playing like a man who cannot be stopped, his second and third effort created his goal.

This team keeps scoring like this they should be ok, it has to continue.

Write what you want about Atlanta being tired but forty nine shots after the high shot total against Philadelphia and something is obviously working very well in terms of getting pucks to the net.

How do you change this mix the way these kids are playing, their speed is a huge factor. Nielsen had a good night on face-offs, these kids start scoring it's only going to get even better.

More tomorrow afternoon on this game but what a great night in front of another sellout.

I have written all year it changes quickly, it's changing again in favor of the Isles and they are earning it. It needs to happen again on Monday.

AHL.com: Reports the Sound Tigers again gave up forty shots on Saturday night and once again the Sound Tigers goaltending held together and Bridgeport shuthout the WBS Scranton Pens 4-0 with Mike Morrison in goal. Ben Walter, Sean Bentivoglio, Jeremy Colliton and Jamie Fraser scored for Bridgeport. Steve Regier had two more assists.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
That's 5-1 in six games for coach Jack Capuano's squad with a lot of players on call to the Isles.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio's post-game blog felt it was Bridgeport's best game of the season.

Bridgeport plays Sunday 4pm against Hartford at Harbor Yard.

Islander notables Saturday

Media Blog: Cory Witt updated his blog and reports it looks like Kari Lehtonen will get the nod for Atlanta in goal along with some other items.

Mike Comrie and Trent Hunter will wear the “A” on their jersey's until the injured Mike Sillinger and Brendan Witt return to the lineup.

The Islander telecast will have a pregame tonight for what that is worth.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
The format of Msg doing content for three teams on occasional pregames at best has been a total failure on every possible level.

In my opinion Islander fans are not interested in Al Trautwig or Stan's Fischler opinion of the Islanders and only seem to appear to make sure to plug the Garden's team.

This is a format that needs to be dumped because now I see these pregames and go out of my way to avoid them.

If a game is on FSN-2 we do not even know there is a pregame because the cable guide for Time Warner does not list a game, just tv guide channel programming.

Newsday: Greg Logan's blog was on Bryan Berard who had a lot to say about all the time he has been on the bench this year, the powerplay and his role and what he's trying to do when he is in the lineup. He also talks about how the turnovers may stick in Ted Nolan's mind but likes being here.

I'm not sure if I will have a postgame blog afterward. It will either be tonight or Sunday afternoon.

A few words: Howie, Billy and Deb

I do not want to be critical of the on-air performance because I think in general all three do quality work overall.

Having written that I was taken aback at how little credit Howie Rose and Billy Jaffe were giving the Isles in Toronto. Mr Rose either seems too excited after any chance to score when the Isles are struggling to do anything or when they are scoring barely raises his voice after a great save or play and sometimes both announcers talk through important plays.

Mr Jaffe has a little too much cheerleading in his coverage but Islanders are so starved for someome to show them a little love in the media it's easy to look past it. Only downside to his on-air work is Islanders could play a terrible game and somehow be winning and he see's all the positives or they could be losing and playing well but all he does is point out the negatives.

Of course, I just was critical of both after a good win so that goes in several directions at times. Again, to me the overall work has quality.

But that's not why I'm doing a blog today about them.

Deb Kaufman has full access to Ted Nolan and seems to be leading the media with quesrtions after games, specially on the road in terms of questions for the coach.

She has a blog at Msg that was updated on Feb 1st and 6th here but before that had not written one article since October 22nd?

Mr Jaffe has had a few recent sit downs with Chris King on Islanders television and sometimes does the practice reports. We all know on occasion he's on Versus for games as well. But he also has a blog at Msg here and outside of one blog on Feb 1st, has done only two blogs this season for the team aside from telling Islander and Ranger fans to respect the national anthem.

Mr Rose also has a blog at Msg here which has not been updated all season but had two blogs in the playoffs against Buffalo and one on March 29th 2007.

My question is if they are around the club on game days and have a blog why not give the fans some information on a consistent basis? I'm sure Ms Kaufman still has to do pregame interviews and get the coaches comments but overall the pregame has been eliminated from Islander television coverage this year for the most part.

Devils have Steve Cangialosi, Ken Daneyko, I'm not sure if Mr Fischler has been to Newark. Butch Goring's appearances have been infrequent.

I think these are fair questions. I know the updates have been so rare I do not post them here nor am I asking for daily blogs but how about once a week?

Butch Goring is not included for those wondering.

You may ask why did I not include Chris King and Steve Mears in this?
1. They do not have blog space at Msg because they are not employees of the Garden.
2. Both do most of the practice reports on game day for Isles TV and do postgame shows from the Coliseum on the radio.

2/16: New York vs Atlanta 7pm FSN

Islanders website: Jason Lockhart has Ted Nolan's comments on how his players have stepped up with a few words about most of them.

Islanders website/AP: Preview's tonight's game against the Atlanta Thrashers.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I watched parts of Atlanta's come from behind shootout win against the Devils, Thrashers fell behind early but were very fast and physical and got the game to overtime in the final seconds and simply refused to not come out with two points and were very hungry. Second period they simply took the momentum.

Boulton and Holik were hitting anyone they could find. Kovalchuk and Hossa outstanding at times as the Thrashers were all over Martin Brodeur every chance they could get.

Simply put the Islanders are going to have to find a way to be better and come out with two points and the defenders are going to have to protect DiPietro. I do not want to over use the word must win every game but this is where the Isles are now, win one lose one is worthless.

They have to get on a winning streak because it's the only way to gain ground on a group of teams that are ahead of them. Anything less is not going to get it done in terms of playoff positioning.

What happened the last time these two clubs met in New York should be plenty of motivation if the standings are not.

Same lineup for the Isles according to early reports.

This is Atlanta's third game in four days for what that is worth. Hedberg played against the Devils and won a ten round shootout.

Islander News Articles 2/16

Islanders website: Erik Boland reports on how the line of Hunter, Vasicek and Fedotenko have combined for five goals, eight assists and 44 shots on goal in a four-game stretch that has seen the Islanders go 2-1-1 with Trent Hunter's comments. Ted Nolan talks about his teams defensive pairings with all the injuries.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
It should be noted the print edition of the newspaper only included the Ranger article. Which means if you actually purchase Newsday you will not find Islander coverage or know to attend tonight's game if wanted to attend.

Sound Tigers.com: Report Joey MacDonald faced forty nine shots and led Bridgeport to a 6-3 against Albany Friday. Justin Bourne and Jason Pitton scored their first goal of the season in the win.

Albany Times Union: Pete Dougherty has the River Rats coverage on the loss.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio blogged on the win with Jack Capuano's praise for Jason Pitton.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio's game coverage had Jack Capuano's praise for his goaltender and talked about the teams defensive play allowing shots from the outside as part of a system adjustment. Kyle Okposo had an empty net goal and an assist to Steve Regier. Jeremy Colliton set up two goals, Tim Jackman scored and had a helper.

Bridgeport plays Saturday at home against WBS Scranton.

Islander/NHL notables

Canadian Press: Released a full article on Islander defenseman Aaron Johnson with assistant coach Gerard Gallant's comments on how he works with praise for his attitude.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
This is from yesterday. It's too good not to put here for everyone and gives us more on the young defender than we have read this season. Johnson had his first point as an Islander against Toronto.

Updated:
JKP, reponds and says the the CP writer was Neil Stevens, I guessed it was Pierre Lebrun.

Thanks JKP.

Espn: Scott Burnside Friday afternoon lists the Islanders among the sellers at the trade deadline, but does not credit them for the recent wins?

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I bring this up because how can Mr Burnside note Chicago and Edmonton were showing signs of having more wind in their sails but not the Isles who are unbeaten in three? Hawks are 3-1-1 in five games.

Islanders are only six points out of sixth place today so how does that put them automatically in the sellers category today?

It could become that way in a week but for the moment it's time to take a step back until we see. Mr Burnside has been infamous for counting the Isles out early and should know better by now.

NHL.com: Reports Rod Brind'Amour had surgery on his knee and likely out for the season.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Players like Rod Brind'Amour make this a better league, his loss hurts the sport.

Vancouver Sun: Elliott Pap reports Canucks assistant gm and former Islander, Steve Tambellini was hesitant about going to see his son Jeff with the Isles earlier this year with the players fathers and mentors but said Garth Snow was outstanding about it and called the experience fantastic as the Canucks are about to do the same thing.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I guess that did not make it into the New York Times Ranger coverage or Lynn Zinser's blog like Brian Burke-Pat Lafontaine did and will not when the Rangers play Buffalo Saturday.

THN.com: Ken Campbell writes no NHL gm is in a more vexing position at the trade deadline than Garth Snow and does his own speculation at what the team may do at the trade deadline with Mike Comrie's comments about resigning and a bond this club has which is hard to find.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Considering some of the earlier articles Mr Campbell wrote on the team, this is a good one that's fair across the board. He did not know Meyer was resigned but the rest seems to be solid. Wonder if that sit down interview he had with DiPietro at the all-star break helped soften his stance?

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio blogged on today's practice and updated the injuries for tonight's game while Sound Tigers.com did a preview.

Islanders website : Had an update on the effort at games concerning the Light House Project Mike Bossy was profiled in a core of the four preview.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Best pure goal scorer I have ever seen. Never double shifted, always had to play defense and did far better than he ever got credit for as someone Al Arbour trusted on the ice at the end of games. If Mike Bossy played on an offensive club geared for run and gun hockey he could have scored a hundred in a year, he used to say he never looked at the net because it never moved. He knew how to find openings in goaltenders and to date is the only player in league history to score fifty goals nine years in a row. I have no doubt it would have been ten if his back injury which caused his early retirement did not kill him that final year which he talked about in his book titled the Mike Bossy story.

I miss his blog from last year, he did a very good job with it.

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Bill Tiller in my opinion is very unprofessional here with poor journalism that makes me look long and hard at what I put in my blog in terms of credible media sources. Even worse for hockey fans his work appears in the Hockey News here.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
How can the sports editor at the Atlanta Journal Constitution permit that level of content?

In my estimation any of the twelve other folks blogging for the team at the blog box here and even I could provide any of the local newspapers with far superior coverage than this.

Projecting out the standings PT III

Islanders are not making me look too good here with my projections but they are breaking some trends both ways which means things meet in the middle. From the last
update here Isles were two points off my projected pace of 93 points.

Going into doing this I wrote there will be no changes in projected results, regardless of injuries, trades/whatever.

Projections vs game results.................93 points projected.
Jan 29, Senators-Loss 54 points 24-21-6.....Isles lost
Jan 31, Kings-Win 56 points 25-21-6.........Isles lost two points below pace set.
Feb 2, at Canadians-Loss 56 points 25-22-6..Isles lost
Feb 5, Ducks-Loss 56 points 25-23-6.........Isles lost
Feb 7, at Penguins otl 57 points 25-23-7....Isles lost three points below pace.
Feb 9, at Wild W 59 points 26-23-7..........Isles lost ot four point below pace set.
Feb 12 Flyers L 59 points 26-24-7...........Isles won two points below pace set.
Feb 14, at Maple Leafs L 59 points 26-25-7..Isles won even with pace set.

Currently the Islanders with the recent wins in games projected to be losses are back on the pace I projected them to have 93 points. They broke the Flyer/Leaf trends this year and at ACC with wins and the Pens game should have gone to ot and in Minnesota team has the lead late.

Isles now have to go 5-1-1 to stay on the pace I had them on which is for 93 points.

Feb 16, Thrashers W 61 points 27-25-7
Feb 18, Sharks W 63 points 28-25-7
Feb 20, at Capitals ot L 64 points 28-25-8
Feb 21, Lightning W 66 points 29-25-8
Feb 23, at Devils L 66 points 29-26-8
Feb 26, Penguins W 68 points 30-26-8
Feb 28, at Thrashers W 70 points 31-26-8

The first blog on this projecting out all the games is here for those curious.

Updated Poll Results

Thanks for the big turnout on the poll everyone.

Here are the numbers going into the final day:

35 of 37-Want Bill Guerin to return for the second season of his contract.

32 of 37-Want the Islanders to trade Miroslav Satan who does have a no trade clause and can simply veto any deal and walk in the summer with no return.

28 of 37-In somewhat of a surprise to me given his poor production and age want Mike Sillinger to return for the third year of his contract.

22 of 36-Want the Islanders to resign Trent Hunter who is unrestricted this summer and has not had the production playing with Sillinger and an assortment of left wings this season.

36 of 36- Voted that Brendan Witt should return for the final year of his contract, despite what could have been a huge return before his knee injury which may make any discussion moot.

27 of 38-Voted that the club should bring back Mike Comrie. I tend to agree because they need every top six forward they can get and in the right mix of speed and skill could be so much better. But there are good reasons to find someone else also and save the money plus he could bring a good return as a rental.

31 of 36-Voted to trade Ruslan Fedotenko who is looking like the player he was the first twenty games and scoring some big goals. I wonder if the trends are going to go the other way based on the last few games. We have his comments about resigning here today for reference.

31 of 37-Voted to trade Josef Vasicek which is hard to disagree with because even though he has had a good week also, has lived up to his reputation of being inconsistent in terms of scoring, despite the great start. I ask the question why can't Frans Nielsen score if given a full shot, same for Ben Walter. Of course they may not be able to play the same kind of defense which coaches look for above anything with prospects.

Good job everyone. Going to be very tough to top this poll moving forward.

Newsday's Islander Insider

Newsday: Greg Logan has the Islander Insider with Ted Nolan's comments he believes teams have tried to bully the Islanders without Simon in the lineup, but the enforcer must be aggressive within the rules of the league with the issue of what player could be demoted for Simon to return to his spot on left wing also speculated about.

Miroslav Satan did not want to comment what will happen if the Isles ask him to waive his no trade clause but will comment if that does happen at some point. Mike Comrie expressed his desire to return and told us about what's happened on this front to date, while Ruslan Fedotenko declined comment on whether he's negotiating with the Isles, but made it clear he liked the organization and wanted to stay.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I don't want to be critical of Greg Logan daily but how does he approach Satan, Comrie and Fedotenko and not the longest tenured player in Trent Hunter or at least get a no-comment from him or his agent? We read all the comments after his arbitration hearing last summer, it's time we get some kind of read on what's going to happen here. I read his blog comments where he blasted Simon earlier and of course he is entitled to that. I question why Mr Logan did not report on his trip to Winnipeg earlier and the teams website instead had to post the article for the fans afterward.

Regardless of how you feel about Simon there is an obligation to report everything if you are going to provide coverage.

Islander News Articles 2/15:

Newaday: Greg Logan's early article on the win against Toronto (without quotes)is about how the Islanders finally got the calls from the league's Toronto office located no more than 100 yards from Air Canada Centre with credit to the Bridgeport connection and their effort in the win.

Newsday: Greg Logan's article on the game from above (with quotes) had Rick DiPietro on how big the five on three penalty kill was and Fedotenko on how successful the powerplay was.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Not a word in the newspaper from Ted Nolan, no second article? Funny how the goaltender felt sooner or later the Leafs would start getting the calls but to be fair Martink put the puck in the stands for the five on three.

Newsday: Greg Logan had an earlier blog on Andy Sutton and the defense.

Newsday: Neil Best has a full interview with the Isles' senior VP of sales marketing and operations, Chris Dey about the club's attendance disparity between weeknight's and weekends and the challenge to get corporations involved to increase the current subscriptions to 10,000 from 6,500.

Saturday and Monday are both expected to be sellouts according to this article.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Updated Friday 1pm:
Seems to me the title of this article was changed since it's release on Thursday night.

Ranger fan Neil Best calling the Islanders home a Mausoleum and bringing up the two Ranger games at the Coliseum boosting attendance?

Funny, but neither Ranger weeknight home game was a sellout earlier and the Devils have had these problems for years too, desite their success. Announced Msg sellouts also seem fabricated and have for years given the empty seats at Msg for games and easy access for Islander fans in the city to show up in big numbers for the head to head games.

Maybe I'm wrong but if Newsday dumped Ranger coverage and doubled up Islander coverage more people would become interested and purchase tickets, including corporations. Considering all the Islanders advertising in Newsday there is no excuse for even coverage with a team in the city given the media in Manhattan not extending the Isles the same courtesy in terms of print space with no blogs.

Neil Best? He lobbied long and hard for more Ranger radio reception in Eastern Long Island earlier this season here and never lifts a finger for the Islanders to get them more coverage. First he does an article on the television contract and writes without it we would not have a team today despite being around for over twenty four years without the current deal, now this?

Toronto Star National Post & Toronto Sun had the Leaf centric coverage.

Toronto Sun: Bill Lankhof had an article on Chris Simon with Ted Nolan and Rick DiPietro's comments not only on Simon but the Isles. Wade Belak defended Simon to a extent saying he contributes a lot while blaming the players on the other teams and no rules to police their actions.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Mr Lankhof noted his trip to the Manitoba Youth Centre, but not Newsday?

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio has an article on Kyle Okposo and how he has adjusted to the pro ranks with with Jack Capuano's comments on how well he has progressed.

Bridgeport recalled forward Justin Bourne from Utah.

Bridgeport Sound Tigers at Albany River Rats
WHEN — Tonight, 7
WHERE — Times Union Center, Albany, N.Y.
ON THE AIR — Webcast and B2 Networks Internet pay-per-view at www.soundtigers.com

New York 5, Toronto 4

Islanders website: Has the recap of tonight's 5-4 win at Toronto with Ted Nolan's comments praising his club's sense of urgency and his powerplay with Freddy Meyer's thought's.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Excellent win, loved the hard work in the corners and how hard all the lines competed in this one. Outside of the first goal DiPietro was very solid and was his best when they needed him to be.

I don't know what game Howie Rose and Billy Jaffe were watching but I thought that was a heck of an effort top to bottom tonight and the Isles deserves a lot more credit than they were giving them.

They easily could have had another three or four goals with the chances they were earning.

Islanders were the better team on the puck, won the battles in the corner and earned the power plays they got and made the most of it.

Power play was outstanding with cross-ice passes to players cutting to the net like Bernard for a goal, or a beautiful pass to Comrie for another, with Vasicek getting a high quality chance which Fedotenko buried. Satan made some great passes to set up some goals.

Just a good team effort in this one.

Despite the pp goals the Isles scored the kids were outstanding early with Bergenheim hustling all over the ice and that kid group setting the tempo. The shift at the end of the first period when Comeau, Nielsen and Tambellini had the puck for a minute with the goalie pulled on a delayed penalty was one of the best shifts of the season that I have seen from this club and it was a joke Nielsen got
cross-checked without a second penalty coming to Toronto.

Of course nothing's easy and a goal find it's way in off a deflection to make it 1-1 and a second goal off one point shot makes it 2-1, but the Isles did not panic and got it right back and regained the lead which they extended into the third.

Goes without saying the calls were going to start to even out and in the third they did. Park and Hilbert made some great reads to kill the five on three and Sutton did all he could to be Brendan Witt when he had to be with a big block.

Freddy Meyer's first Islander goal with an open net made it 5-3 which was the game despite the Leafs making it 5-4.

I liked what I saw tonight from the Islanders, the chances and how they worked to get into high quality area's was very impressive.

They needed a regulation win in Toronto for the first time since before 2002 and got it. AP claims they won in regulation March 28th 2002 at Toronto but I was sure that was a 5-4 overtime win.....whatever.

Fedotenko's playing like he was earlier this year, very visible with the chances he was getting, now his shots are going in as he's getting to the high quality area's.

For Fedotenko and the Isles, it has to continue.

Islander Notables

National Post: Sean Fitzgerald reports Chris Simon was the last to leave the ice at Air Canada Center today while Ted Nolan had his media conference so Simon could avoid the Canadian media?

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Article had no problem quoting Simon from the other day, however.

Salt Lake Tribune:Maggie Thach had an updated on Grizzlies prospect Jordan Hart, son of former Islander Gerry Hart who was featured several time in the summer at prospects camp.

Globe and Mail: Rick Wharnsby reports Islanders had a change of heart in making available suspended forward Chris Simon to conduct an interview session with reporters at the Air Canada Centre on Thursday morning. Mr Wharnsby claim's other than a shrug of his shoulders by the Islanders media relations man here, there was no explanation given for Simon being kept hidden in the back room of the dressing room after the morning skate.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Again article had Simon's quotes from Wednesday.

Islanders website: Now reports in it's updated pregame Brendan Witt is out two-four weeks.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
That folks, could be the end considering the remaining depth on defense.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabio blogged from Sound Tigers practice.

Newsday: If Newsday updates it's Islander blog it usually appears around 5:30pm for those interested. Of course Mr Zipay is blogging on Ranger off-days.

Point Blank: Chris Botta did a blog last night about the league claiming the Isles did not properly disclose an injury to Bruno Gervais and explains the process as to how this is supposed to work.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Did not know there were set rules on this. Considering teams release lower or upper body injury all the time and are protective as possible I'm not sure where a mistake was made here or I'm not reading it properly.

I'm not even sure Gervais could perhaps return tonight.

Can Isles enter Forsberg race?

Daily Herald: Tim Sasson reports the Chicago Black Hawks are still trying to sign Peter Forsberg, despite being outside of the playoff picture at this time.

The article speculates it's likely BlackHawks gm Dale Tallon has presented Forsberg a deal for at least two years past this one, perhaps in the neighborhood of $5 million a year.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Lot of downside and risks with Forsberg but if this team wants a veteran to add to Guerin who will be in the final year of his contract next season, they can still make a long-term contract offer. If negotiations with Chicago are serious obviously the playoffs are not the only priority for Forsberg.

If the Isles have decided against signing Comrie, this allows them to move him at the deadline and add some young speed and skill to Forsberg.

Something to ponder for 7/1 because Peter Forsberg will attract free agents to whatever club he signs with.

2/14: New York at Toronto 7:30pm FSN

Islanders website/AP: Has the preview for tonight's game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Here's where we are folks:

Toronto just beat Montreal/Ottawa. They outshot Buffalo big and lost 1-0 with Ryan Miller winning the game.

Islanders last win in Toronto was a year ago in a shootout if you recall the Frans Nielsen shootout goal, before that was an overtime win in 2002. I do not have a clue when the last time the Isles won in regulation but they need that result tonight.

Islanders go in with no Brendan Witt, Bruno Gervais among the other injuries.
Islanders lost 8-1 playing their fifth game in seven days to open the season last time the team went to Toronto.

Toronto's injuries:
02/07/2008 Darryl Boyce C Shoulder IR. Out indefinitely
02/13/08 Chad Kilger C Personal reasons Questionable for Feb. 14 vs. N.Y. Islanders
02/07/08 John Pohl RW Ankle IR. Out until at least mid-March.
01/17/08 Mark Bell LW Eye IR. Out until at least mid-March

Simply put looking past all this the Islanders have to continue to do what they have been doing against Pittsburgh, Minnesota and Philadelphia and work the Leafs defense for some dirty goals and find a way to hold down a strong offensive club. They have to have a big special teams game with DiPietro not giving up any soft goals.

What Isles must do

The article on the Leafs game had this on the Buffalo Sabres.

On Jan. 23, the Sabres sat in 14th place in the East with 46 points, six points out of the final playoff spot. The Sabres have now plucked 18 of a possible 20 points to climb all the way from 14th place in the NHL's Eastern Conference standings to seventh in a matter of three weeks.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
If the New York Islanders want to get into the playoffs this is what they are going to have to do. A year ago they lost only three of twenty games which brought them from a club a game over five hundred on 1/31/07 into playoff position.

We all know that's not the case this year.

For those wondering even with the Isles win against Philadelphia several games since have been three point games among the teams Isles are battling with for a playoff spot. So many head to head games where there will be games Isles have to win simply to keep pace.

That Islander schedule which see's them play inside the division most of March also see's the same situtation for Carolina-Atlanta-Florida-Tampa-Washington.

Team---Games Played---Points
7. Buffalo Sabres 57 64
8. Boston Bruins 57 63
*****************************************************************
9. New York Rangers 59 63
10. Carolina Hurricanes 59 60
11. Atlanta Thrashers 59 60
12. Florida Panthers 59 58
13. New York Islanders 57 57
14. Toronto Maple Leafs 58 55
15. Tampa Bay Lightning 57 54

And we all know they have to do it without Sillinger, Campoli, Witt, Gervais, Sim, Simon and Bates.

Islander News Articles 2/14:

Newsday: Erik Boland covered practice and reports on Chris Simon's return with comments from Ted Nolan. Several Islanders felt his suspension was excessive.

Also reported is Brendan Witt is expected to be out seven-ten days, while Bruno Gervais is expected (rib muscle strain) is probably out five more days.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Not much of a preview for an important game tonight by Mr Boland. Those injuries could be a season killer because it means Bergeron-Berard-Johnson must play a regular shift with Martink, Meyer and Sutton. All three must provide offense by getting the puck to the forwards without hurting the club on defense.

Daily News: Peter Botte was actually permitted to go out and cover an Islander practice which is a bigger headline here beyond his article on Chris Simon with the player and Ted Nolan's comments.

Also reported is Brendan Witt could miss longer than seven-ten days with his knee sprain.

Sound Tigers website: Reports on Bridgeport's 3-0 against Worcester Wednesday. Trevor Smith, Tim Jackman and Kyle Okposo each recorded a goal and an assist in the victory.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio recaps the Sound Tigers win with Mike Morrison and Jack Capuano's comments.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio has the Sound Tigers weekly with the upcoming games and a lot of information on several team subjects. Dustin Kohn is recovering from his shoulder injury with more on Kip Brennan's suspension.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio also has a game recap in his blog.

Globe and Mail: Tim Wharnsby reports on the Maple Leafs 1-0 loss at Buffalo with Mats Sundin's commments "We have another game [tonight] and if we play as good as we did [against Buffalo], we'll have a good chance of winning,"

Chris Simon will play 2/21

Islanders website: Has Chris Simon's comments who thanked the fans for supporting him and Ted Nolan's comments he will make his return against Tampa Bay next week as he skated with the team today.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Going to be very interesting to see who is sent down or traded to accomodate his return to left wing in this lineup, especially if this team is selling at the trade deadline.

Islander full time left wings:
Ruslan Fedntenko
Jeff Tambellini

Islander forwards who primarily play left wing:
Sean Bergenheim
Blake Comeau (until last week)

Islander forwards who have played left wing but can play other positions:
Richard Park
Andy Hilbert

TSN.ca: Reports Chris Simon will travel to Toronto for tomorrow's game.

Video of Kip Brennan suspension

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio's blog provides a link to this video from YouTube as well which I did not see when I linked to his updates earlier.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Geoff Peters elbowing Pascal Morency should bring a response from Brennan but I do not think that's the correct one because he could have seriously injured Peters and it goes outside the box. I know in the context of a game it's easy to react that way.

Also with Daryl Bootland's earlier trade the physical depth Bridgeport had earlier is somewhat diminished.

At this point no suspension for Geoff Peters had been announced by the AHL. Geoff Peters is not to be confused with Andrew Peters who plays for the Buffalo Sabres even though this is Buffalo's affiliate.

Kind of interesting Sound Tigers TV had all the goals but did not include this in the two minute highlight package of the game provided, they do have postgame also.

Elite Prospect.com: Has a 2/11 report from a newspaper which I cannot translate prospect Jesse Joensuu I think is rumored to be signing with the Islanders.

Anyone who can translate this for everyone with the exact wording would be much appreciated.

Thank You

Islander News Articles 2/13:

It's limited coverage like today on our team that really put me in the position of having to provide the Islander tv updates on the sidebar of this blog.

Newsday: Greg Logan has the recap of the Islanders win with comments from Ted Nolan, Ruslan Fedotenko and Trent Hunter.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Witt reportedly has a sprained knee which means they are likely to lose him for a while.

As for Newsday, the super bowl is over so what's the latest excuse for one article after an important game? Meanwhile Mr Zipay is already blogging for his team with more updates coming today from practice.

Of course many know sometimes Islander coverage is not even included in the city edition of the paper. This important game merited two articles. Of course Mr Logan recently has made his second articles about the opposition?

Daily News: Peter Botte recaps the Isles win with Ruslan Fedotenko, Jeff Tambellini and Trent Hunter's comments.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I saw the story on Anders Kallur's sister a few days ago and did not even post it here but in a limited space article begging for more information and at least the coaches quoted comments Mr Botte includes it. Could be more but seems like Mr Botte wanted to get all his filler in for his short article and go home.

Do a seperate feature on Andy Kallur's sister, do not supplement it in an article that needed more hockey game coverage. We can bet the News will not be doing anything extra on the core of the four in early March or Andy Kallur.

Of course Leon Carver's sports department provided space for an article on a Hartford Wolfpack coach in the Daily News that was the same size as the Islander game update.

It only get's worse at the NY Post as Devils, Rangers articles are written for
off-day's but no Dan Martin/anyone covered last night's Islander home game. The Post even has an insulting poll asking what is your favorite NY championship team with the New Jersey Giants one of the choices but no Islander clubs.

Philadelphia Daily News Ed Moran & Philadelhia Inquirer: Tim Panaccio have the Flyer centric coverage who is critical of the Nassau Coliseum ice surface.

Phillyburbs.com: Wayne Fish also has coverage as does Rob Parent in the
Daily Local.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio has a full recap on Brennan's suspension with player comments.

Worcester Sharks 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

Sound Tigers.com: Has Kip Brennan and Howard Saffin's statement on the fifteen game suspension handed down by the AHL.

Michael Fornabaio: Has several blogs on the suspension.

New York 4, Philadelphia 3

Islanders website: Has the recap of the Islanders 4-3 win at home against the Philadelphia Flyers Tuesday night with the Islanders firing forty seven shots with Jeff Tambellini scoring his first goal of the season and Sean Bergenheim scoring goals in consecutive games.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Islanders needed to break through with a win and they did it. A Brendan Witt knee sprain is a huge price to pay but in a knee on knee hit usually one player get's the worst of it.

The shots on goal in the first period were a lot of angle shots, Tambellini had a excellent early shot that almost surprised Nittymaki and Bergenheim was hitting anyone he could find. The goal came off some sloppy player and hard work in front where Trent Hunter found the net off a scramble.

Flyers second power play they had a lot of pressure and got their game going before finally scoring on their third power play where DiPietro seemed to over-react and went down like he did in the skills contest. Philadelphia had a lot of jump in their game and Comrie's power play pass to Richard's for a breakaway could have given the Flyers all momentum but their defense was giving up chances which Tambellini cashed in on with another good shot that this time found the net. Bergeron and the defense did not react well on the Flyers second goal.

Bergenheim's speed and skill to finish his goal was just fantastic and reminded me of the Carolina goal. That's two straight games this kids hustle produced important goals. Nielsen was a bit quiet in this one but Comeau made a lot of good plays and was noticable even though he is adjusting to right wing.

Park's line had some good shifts and made a good read for his third period breakaway. So did Hunter with Fedotenko and Vasicek, who just wore down the Flyers for the game winning goal. Islanders powerplay bombed away with a lot of chances but did not score again while Lupul's shot found Knuble to make it 4-3.

Flyers had some big scrambles in front of DiPietro, even with Witt in the lineup.

Coverage was a little weak on Versus with the announcer saying the Isles and Flyers had not play an overtime game since the lockout, even though Hunter scored in the final seconds of ot to win a game last year at the Coliseum.

Ok, Islanders needed a win and got it and we saw some desperation. They threw a lot of shots at the opposing goal and it was far from perfect but now have to go beat a team in their own building where they have not won since 2002 and likely do it without Brendan Witt and with Bergeron, Berard and likely Aaron Johnson on the backline.

No other choice, the desperation has to be there. They have to force the Leafs into mistakes and work hard.

That's three straight games this club has scored three or more goals.

Islander Notables

Islanders website: Did a profile on Stefan Persson to preview the core of four weekend.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Add Kenny Jonsson's best x 2 and add in an elementc of knowing when provide offense and that's Stefan Persson. His play coming in off the point to tie game one of the 1980 finals is still one of the fastest setups for a goal I have ever seen. If you watch the old replays you see Bossy circle but you never see Persson until the sticks go up to celebrate.

Newsday: Greg Logan has a blog with Garth Snow's comments on the club's scoring and the future in terms of the prospects.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Mr Logan does a very good job here with the article and on top of it goes out of his way to explain how and why the copy editor wrote a headline that turned out to be a harmless error, excellent work top to bottom today.

Media Blog: Cory Witt reports Dubie and Marty Biron will be miked by Versus tonight as the backup goalies.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio reports Kip Brennan was suspended fifteen games for an incident in Saturday's game.



Win or lose no postgame until tomorrow morning.

High River Times: John MacNeil had a fantastic feature on Jeremy Colliton on his callup last week to the Islanders, how it's been playing for Ted Nolan, fighting his son Brandon earlier this year and being part of the organization since he was drafted.

My Fellow Bloggers

I wanted to do a blog today to express my thoughts in an e-mail response I sent to my fellow blog boxer Tom Liodice Monday on a bunch of items concerning my fellow members of the Islanders blog box and perhaps let some folks know a little about me because they have not seen me at the blog box and will not.

Tom, as some may know is my former co-moderator from HF who also wrote at the site for a while after me and always goes out of his way to give me a lot more praise and thanks then I deserve for his hard work to become what I consider an excellent upcoming writer, who today does a great job on his blog at Tiger Tracks where in my estimation he has a wonderful gift where he can cover a game live and does it so well you feel you are in the building which is a talent that I do not think can be taught.

Tom as many know not only goes to the Coliseum but goes to Harbor Yard and had been doing that for years before the Isles announced a blog box. When his work was featured in a paper last year, I sent it to him a link to it and when the Isles singled out our blogs together earlier this year I got more satisfaction seeing both blogs listed than I ever would have just seeing my own because I know how dedicated he was. If you listen to him on Hockey Night on LI among the radio shows, he does a fantastic job.

Tom in his e-mail had some questions and concerns so I thought I would address them here even though I did respond to him.

Anyone who has visited this blog from the beginning knows how I would be doing hockey content but I have been forced to re-examine things at times and this is one of those circumstances.

With regard to myself and as I have written on several occasions my blog was added after the season began quietly which is exactly how I wanted things to be so even though this blog started in July it was not on the Islanders website until around November.

I made it very clear to the folks from the Isles beforehand I am not interested in sitting in the blog box or interviewing players because I have no interest in a journalism career or to become a member of the media.

My thoughts at that time and and now are those seats should be reserved for folks who want a career in journalism or who will go interview the players for everyone.

My opinion is we need these folks in the blog box at the games to break through into an industry that I feel has no fans of this team covering it in the print media that you have seen me hold under the spotlight and will continue to.

Truthfully, I wish I was younger and had a background in journalism or this offer was made back when I was at games the team was winning the Stanley Cup but I do not have that background nor do I feel it is a strength of mine and my time for that has passed.

I offered my blog because I thought I could do something to help the Islanders for the thirty years of great memories they have provided me and because I care. My only motivation in offering this blog was to try and do something that could help but do it in a way where I am not the story but the Islanders are.

Having written that Mr Botta/Mr Witt were still willing to offer me a place at the blog box and have done nothing but go out of their way to acknowledge the blog on the teams website.

Doing a blog like this has a lot of things that surface unexpectedly that have presented some challenges for me this year which I wish to share with my fellow bloggers at the box and my readers because I have had a dilemma with the coverage as I look at things and make my own determinations as to what is a media source?

When Brian Bohl had Peter Botte's spot at the Daily News earlier I asked this question, when Kevin Greenstein wrote about the Isles in the New York Sun I asked again.

My cyberspace hockey background from Islanders-Sound Tigers and HF guidelines was to always use what was termed
" credible media sources " which has always been understood to mean a newspaper and a professional writer so when I set out to do this blog I have kind of kept to the same template which you see in the daily articles coverage as I link the publication and a professional writer.

Everyone is familiar with the debate between bloggers and professional hockey writers and I have written here this blog is not a media source and I stand by that.

Having written that I went on IslesNation last night with Steve and Tony who do a great job and Hockey Night on LI with Alex and Steve earlier this year who also do an excellent job but are not established newspaper media sources and yet I linked them to this blog just as I would a newspaper?

It made me wonder have I crossed a line without even knowing it and perhaps without considering it have not written about the other folks who are in the blog box attending games?

I know Tom and linked his work here because we did co-moderate at HF, but what of the other bloggers who put in all this time and effort for us?

My first impression was a lot of folks from the blog box likely do not visit this blog and I did not consider it which I had not, but I'm not going to give myself an easy out here.

Even thought I am not a member of the media I try and hold this blog to a very high standard which begins with my example which means I should have considered the bloggers.

What I wrote the other day about the other bloggers is how I feel. They all do a great job for the fans and all of them offer something special and worth your time to visit and be a part of. These folks get into the trenches and interview which I am not interested in and do the heavy lifting for us as I sit here and write a game summary and tell you what a link to an article says and provide commentary.

Beyond what I just wrote there were other concerns that I will share.

* Did these folks want me to link their blogs here or mention them? As I told Tom I check out the other Islander bloggers about once a week and I noticed most do link to the other blogs as they see one another at games and as Tom told me are a pretty tight-knit group and the bonds they have are unmistakable.

These folks do outstanding work but how would they feel about me placing their work on this site without permission?

I have written on some of these blogs and praised the work but to this point only one blogger (besides Tom) wrote this blog and that was back in the summer.

* I was also concerned if I am critical of the print media would this make problems for them linking their work here being that they have to see these folks at games?

It still leaves me with some of the same dilemma's in terms of blogging from outsides websites and what to post here, plus I need my fellow bloggers input as to where to go from here in terms of their work?

Having written that if the members of the blog box wish to have me link their sites, have suggestions or wish to have their work included here in some manner it would be my pleasure if they would contact me and offer advice.

Beyond that all I can do is thank my fellow bloggers for the great job you do for us and hope to see you covering our team in the print media if that's what you wish to aspire to because the work in all of them have been outstanding.

2/12: New York vs Philadelphia 7PM VERSUS

Islanders website: Has the preview of tonight's game against the Philadelphia Flyers with Ted Nolan's comments that his team is looking forward, not back and have been playing better.

Bill Guerin, Miroslav Satan and Bruno Gervais did not practice. Gervais is questionable for tonight. Simon Gagne has a concussion.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Time to face the hard facts.

Isles need to be ten games over five hundred or hit ninety two points.

Isles have not won five in a row since December 1994.

Isles are not the team that had a strong plus/minus a year ago and were among the best at even strength.

Isles do not have team speed that other clubs have.

Isles are lowest scoring club in the league with a pp that also is tied for the league lead in goals against.

Isles do not have one thing you can point at to use as an edge going into games.

Isles should have gotten the game to overtime against Pittsburgh, should have won in Minnesota, it's been building but tonight it's time for a breakthrough win and an end to this streak. Flyers have lost three in a row.

Either this team starts winning now and get's back in the race or it's just not going to happen for them this season. They could win four of five and not jump over more than one or two teams.

A lot of clubs seem to break that losing streak against the Isles. Tonight the Isles have to be the better team and play desperate hockey.

It's time we see the character, grit and heart advertised.

Islander News Articles 2/12:

Newsday: Greg Logan's article was very interesting and far different than the title written by the person who wrote the headline. Ted Nolan talks about what his team must do and that the trades are up to the gm. Mike Comrie talks about how the club is going to have to win now and when pressed on his contract and resigning said he likes playing here. Bruno Gervais is questionable.

NY Post: Dan Martin's article has Mike Comrie and Ted Nolan's comments.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
First off folks, do not make the mistake of reading a headline titled:
" Nolan uses trade threats to motivate Islanders " and put that on Mr Logan, most papers have folks to write headlines beyond the writer and it's done to capture attention. As for Mike Comrie he correctly is more concerned with now and we'll see what the Isles think of him if he is here after the deadline if the club has not gone on a streak that will bring them into contention.

My take is contention or not they need Mike Comrie's offensive skills beyond this year and is a top six forward. My guesswork on him is he wants a place to finally call home and will sign an extension, but call that only my guess.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio has Jeremy Colliton's comments on his experience of playing in the NHL and updates the Sound Tigers sick/injured list which includes coach Jack Capuano and Kyle Okposo.

Bridgeport's next game is Wednesday so keep an eye on Utah first unless another call to Johnstown is made.

AHL.com: Reports the Flyers recalled Kyle Greentree for the game against the Islanders.

Appearing on Islesnation tonight at 8pm

The folks over at Islesnation.com who do an outstanding job talking Islanders were kind enough to invite me to appear on tonight's show at 8pm for those interested.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I'm a little under the flu bug myself tonight so hopefully I can hang in and do a good job for everyone. Lot's of blankets and sweaters from the couch for this one.

Updated 9:15pm
Just finished up Isles nation and had a lot of fun talking Islander hockey. My thanks again to Steve and Tony for inviting me to appear on the program who did a great job. Some hockey talk is a perfect way to help feel a little better for those wondering.

Islesnation is on the sidebar for everyone but in case you want to listen to tonight's show:
(check back late tonight or tomorrow)

Islander notables

* From Ted Nolan's press conference (sidebar) Chris Simon may return to practice but he has to speak with Charles Wang and Garth Snow.

* Bruno Gervais is a little banged up and is questionable for the Flyers game.

* Miroslav Satan got a rest today with another player, not sure who.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio blogged on Jack Capuano still out with an illness and the flu running through the club with some other items.

Rocky Mountain News: Jim Benton had Ryan Smyth's praise for his former Islander teammate, Richard Zednik.

Islanders core of four weekend plans

Islanders website: Had a release for the core of four weekend celebration coming up March 2nd to salute the players who were a part of all four championships which March 1st to salute the Islander fans.

The honored guests are:

Bill Torrey
Al Arbour
Mike Bossy
Bob Bourne
Clark Gillies
Butch Goring
Lorne Henning
Anders Kallur
Gord Lane
Dave Langevin
Wayne Merrick
Ken Morrow
Bob Nystrom
Stefan Persson
Denis Potvin
Billy Smith
Duane Sutter
John Tonelli
Bryan Trottier

Trainer Ron Waske and equipment manager Jim Pickard, who were with the team for all four Stanley Cups, will also be honored as part of the event. Hall of Fame broadcaster Jiggs McDonald will serve as the Master of Cereonies.

A special ceremony for the Core of the Four members will begin at 3 pm on the Coliseum ice. All fans in attendance will receive an Allstate commemorative Core of the Four banner. Throughout the game, the Stanley Cup will be on display at the concourse for photo ops.

I love that logo and the colors.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Going to be almost impossible to top the classy ceremony from Al Arbour night, but no doubt the Islanders will do a great job as always.
We should see that 740 banner raised too.

Early poll results

One day in and the response on the poll has some interesting trends that speak beyond the ice for next season.

As of day one:
Fourteen of fifteen votes are to keep Captain Bill Guerin.
Fourteen of seventeen votes are to trade Miroslav Satan
Mike Sillinger is more of a split with ten of sixteen voting to trade Sillinger.
Hunter is virtually split down the middle with eight voting to resign and seven saying it's time for a trade.

Brendan Witt stays by a fifteen-nothing count at this time.
Folks apparently see the long term value in Comrie because for now twelve of seventeen votes are to resign him.

The early results have Fifteen of sixteen votes calling for a Fedotenko trade with fourteen of sixteen calling for Vasicek to be moved.

Islander News Articles 2/11:

Newsday: Greg Logan goes one on one with Garth Snow, who is not giving up on the season and expects his team to get back into playoff contention with a draft ahead that is much deeper than a year ago.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I did not know Miroslav Satan has a no trade clause which he would have to waive if the Isles did make a trade that involved him. Bergeron is restricted and will be a very close call.

Daily Local:Anthony J. SanFilippo reports Flyers winger Simon Gagne suffered his third concussion in five months on Sunday against Pittsburgh.

Colorado Springs Gazette: David Ramsey is calling for Gary Bettman to get involved and change the rules so NHL teams cannot take prospects from college's during the season and cites the Brock Trotter, Kyle Okposo situations.

Denver Post: Mike Chambers points out the rules in juniors prohibit NHL teams from signing players after ten games and that this is a rule that the college program needs with Minnesota coach Don Lucia's comments.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I agree there should be a rule that prohibits NHL teams from signing players and taking them out of school after a certain point in the college season like juniors, but having written that these kids get hurt in college and they are potentially risking millions. In the end it's up to the NHL and the NCAA to work something out.

Let's call it what it is here too. The College's want their money/exposure and for high profile players like Okposo and DU leading scorer leaving does not help the business of college hockey.

Richard Zednik ok after throat cut by skate

NHL.com: Brian Compton reports on a very scary incident involving former Islander Richard Zednik as his throat was cut open by a skate blade Sunday night to where he had to have emergency surgery but is ok.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Will not post video. I remember folks fainting after the throat of Sabres goalie Clint Malarchuk in a similar scenario was cut a long time ago, ironically also in a game involving Buffalo. Malarchuk story is the worst I have ever read in all my years as a fan at any on ice hockey game.

Just glad Zednik is apparently ok.

Islander impressions in a sentence

One sentence to sum up each player at this time, hope I did not miss anyone.

Bill Guerin-Visible, but has to produce more, whether it be fair or not and must stay out of the box, he should stay becauase he still has his scoring hands.

Mike Comrie-His skills makes a difference and with more speed around him will do more, Isles need to resign him.

Andy Hilbert-Last call or showcase time on the top line with a year left on his contract and a second year of disappointing production, despite strong defensive play.

Josef Vasicek-Playing better but not producing like a second line player on a team that needs more speed and skill, move him at the deadline.

Trent Hunter-Better defense than Vasicek but same in production department, all depends on what's offered for him but if he wants huge money, time to say goodbye because he's not scoring and this team is too slow.

Ruslan Fedotenko-Getting chances and finally seems healthy but is not producing like a player with a three million dollar contract, should be moved if possible at the deadline.

Miroslav Satan-A lot of heart to come back and play on a bad knee, but his inconsistent production all season and for the better part of two years should mean it's time to go at the trade deadline.

Mike Sillinger-I know he's hurt but his age and lack of production this year overall makes me think it's time to move him, despite his defense and faceoff ability because this team is simply too slow in too many positions.

Richard Park-Is a serviceable third and fourth line player but he simply is not consistent enough to play on a top line for too long. He's staying but may take a job from a prospect who can do more.

Sean Bergenheim-Did not have a great year but it's clear the talent is there and many games was more visible than the veterans, give him a long-term deal before Gandler makes problems because that year out of the league hurt his game.

Blake Comeau-You pick a wing for him and leave him there in a regular spot next season, he's a keeper.

Chris Simon-Will come in handy after the deadline if veterans are moved but
long-term it's time for a new direction because his offensive skills were not visible and he has too much mileage age and baggage despite his leadership.

Jon Sim-Will be back next year with two more years on his contract in a huge stable of left wings, if healthy his speed will help but it usually takes two years to get back speed with that injury.

Shawn Bates-Basically you can write the same thing as Sim, except it's fair to speculate if his career is over because of his health and one year left on his contract.

Jeff Tambellini-How he plays from here will determine next year as he get's a regular shift for better or worse, so far it's been incomplete for how he's been used but his play in Bridgeport since December suggest he's ready.

Brendan Witt-He stays unless a huge offer comes to the Isles with prospects and picks as his game is needed on the backline.

Andy Sutton-You trade him and his two remaining years as quick as the Flyers did with Alexei Zhitnik if a good offer comes.

Radek Martinek-You leave him and his contract extension right where they are next to Brendan Witt next season and hope he stays healthy.

Marc-Andre Bergeron-You take a chance and move his shot at the deadline if a good offer comes but you don't unload him for nothing.

Chris Campoli-You do nothing but hope he's ready for camp.
Bruno Gervais-You get his name on the same three year deal Campoli got.

Freddy Meyer-Isles invested another two years in him which means he has to play.

Bryan Berard-One and done, good offensive signs but defensive struggles and injuries make him too much of a risk.

Aaron Johnson-Seems to me that signing Meyer means Johnson needs another team to play for this summer if he cannot get that chance at the deadline.

Wade Dubielewicz-Earned an extension with some very solid play in games the team gave him any chance.

Rick DiPietro-Unfair but that soft goal a game has hurt and he's not facing forty shots a game recently, he makes five good or great saves to hold them in but he's been great until recently and a steal for what he makes.

Poll: Decide who stays or goes?

Thanks to everyone who voted in the recent poll. The overwhelming response was to start benching veterans and play kids.

Of course, that became moot when most of the prospects were called up just to fill out a lineup, but the response for the most part was to start getting ready for next year.

Which brings us to this weeks poll where you vote whether to keep or move the core of this team. Comrie, Satan, Vasicek, Fedntenko and Hunter are pending UFA while Sillinger, Witt and Guerin are signed through next season.

Of course I will set this up so you can vote to keep a player under contract, resign a pending UFA or made a trade.

We are only a handful of games from the trade deadline and the Islanders are days away from fifteenth. They are also only six points out of a playoff spot and a winning streak over a week could put them right back in a mix of clubs for the eighth or seventh seed.

In a few weeks it's up to the Hockey committee, for the next week it's up to you.

Reasons why you made a decision are welcome here and on the message board and I'm curious to read the comments behind the votes if you are willing to share.

Latest from Mr Prospects

I thought today would be a good day to take Mr Prospects latest update and give it a blog posting of it's own for all the time and effort given to bring this to the message board for everyone.

Febuary 8
QMJHL-Shawinigan 5,Drummondville 3-Simon Lacroix, 1 assist,+1.
Rimouski 5, Halifax 2-Maxime Gratchev, 1 goal(6),1 assist,+ 2.

OHL-Barrie 7, Kingston 3-Tomas Marcinko,1 goal(15),1 assist,even.

USHL-Waterloo 5, Soiux Falls 2-Blake Kessel,1 goal(12),1 assist,+ 2.

College-Clarkson 4, Cornell 1-Tyrell Mason,Shea Guthrie,1 assist each.
Denver 1, Minnesota 1 (OT)-Rhett Rakhshani, no points, + 1.
Colorado College 5, St. Cloud 3-Jase Weslosky,26 saves,30 shots.
Ohio State 3, Nebraska-Omaha 3(OT)-Shane Sims,1 assist.
Harvard 3, Union 2-Doug Rogers, no points.
Colgate 2,St. Lawrence 1-Brian Day,no points.

Islander News Articles 2/10:

Newsday: Greg Logan recaps the loss with Jeff Tambellini's comments on his missed breakaway, Ted Nolan who thought they could not play much better but was not happy how his club did not come back on the winning goal.

Newsday: Greg Logan had more from Sean Hill on his suspension.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
The Daily News has a full Ranger article and a three part Sunday feature but did not cover the Islander game. The Devils game was covered by a reporter.

Jay Greenberg was permitted to travel to Philadelphia for an extra Ranger article from Philadelphia with Larry Brooks and of course Mr Brooks had his usual Ranger centric Sunday feature. Mark Everson had a full Devils article.

At Newsday Ranger beat writer Steve Zipay controls the Sunday hockey agenda where it's usually more Ranger centric but about the NHL in general.

It's not the Islanders folks, it's the people in the offices making the decisions and it seems to come down to who is a fan of what team. This is why we need more Islander fans in the decision making process at these publications and that starts with Islander fans covering the team who will push the editors hard for print space and blogs.

Anyone think Greg Logan should have picked up on this and maybe just let the blog on Sean Hill be enough and used the space for his second article on the Islanders? Instead all we got in his second article is Aaron Johnson's scratch. He did not even report Colliton was sent back to Bridgeport, despite Mr Fornabaio telling us he could not get back in time to play against Portland and was sent down.

Star-Tribine: Michael Russo recaps Minnesota's win with Mark Parrish's comments on how he tried to convince the refs Blake Comeau knocked out his teeth, even though they were missing already which is very funny.

Pioneer Press: John Shipley recaps the game with Bill Guerin's comments that it was not a good point because his team did not finish the job.

The News: Has more on Jon Sim and Hockey weekend in Canada where Sim and Devin Smith of the NHL Association donated ninety sets of hockey gear through the NHL Dreams and Goals program and was praised by mayor New Glasgow Mayor Ann MacLean who presented Sim with a hand-tinted photograph of the Westside rink Sim skated on as a youth.

Chronicle Herald: Tom Mccoag has more on Jon Sim.

Sports Illustrated/AP: Has Brian Burke's and Chris Botta's comments on what happened with Pat Lafontaine and the Ducks gm Tuesday night and points out Lafontaine has been to several Islander games this season.

Sound Tigers website: Recaps the Sound Tigers loss to Portland.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio reports on the Sound Tigers 5-2 loss to Portland in a very physical game in front of the biggest crowd of the year at Harbor Yard. Kyle Okposo got a favorable bounce for his goal. Jeremy Colliton was sent back to Bridgeport but did not arrive in time to play. Kip Brennan was given a match penalty for sticking up for a teammate. Pat Bingham was behind the bench for Jack Capuano who had the flu.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio's game recap also includes Kyle Okposo suffering from the flu and the Sound Tigers race to qualify for the playoffs with only thirty games left and Bridgeport on the outside.

Islanders website: Had a late Saturday feature on Kyle Okposo's two goals and assist which included his comments after the Portland Pirates loss.

Portland Press-Telegram: Has the Pirates coverage.