Boss, Bergie, AHL, WC, Mr Prospects & Tom Liodice

NY Times: Jeff Hale, staff editor on The New York Times sports desk did a blog on former Islander Michael Bossy Saturday and what his current role is with the club in the business department as the talk turned to hockey.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Good interview and as always great stuff from #22 who's never been shy about talking about the game and being frank about some things he does not like. I missed his blogs last season when the club had him doing that as part of his role.

HockeyCanada.ca: Reports Sean Bergenheim played in Saturday's World Championship exhibition with Finland vs Canada and had a penalty in the 3-2 loss.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio is doing his usual great job on the AHL playoffs and filling in the blanks on contracts regarding some Islander-Sound Tiger players and elgibility.

Noteable:
With prospects Jason Gregoire and Blake Kessel still playing games I followed through on my message board change. Mr Prospects did such a great job on that thread here all season for everyone, my thanks again to him for a fantastic job.

Like Tom Liodice over at Tiger Tracks both have a great talent. Tom in live blogging and writing, Mr Prospects in following prospects daily which is not something I had the time for here besides some articles.

IIHF.com: Released Germany's World Championship roster with former Islander Uwe Krupp as head coach and I think former Islander Jason Holland on the roster. (if it's same Jason Holland?)

Team Switzerland : Also announced it's lineup with Paul DiPietro. (It's the same Paul DiPietro who killed the Isles in 93 playoffs w/Montreal)

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Yes, I'm still annoyed with Paul DiPietro. Mike Lupica ripped him big time back in those days but back then the Isles actually had writers who got behind the team.

Finally:
Great turnout on the poll. No, I cannot alter the choices once it's started. Maybe I should have broken up the top three but I kind of felt those three would not drop to the Isles or most would have voted Stamkos.

Only going to get tougher next year when the Stanley Cup Champion New York Islanders select 30th.

Updated Sunday:
Victoria Times Colonist: Sharie Epp has a full interview with former Islander and Sound Tiger, Kevin Colley who is an assistant coach with the Isles ECHL affiliate in Utah.

Vancouver Province: Ben Kuzama had an article on new Canucks gm Mike Gillis that also had a lot of comments from Garth Snow and some of his experiences as gm in his first two seasons.

NYI Fan Central Final Review of Miroslav Satan

Today's review puts the focus on Islanders right wing Miroslav Satan.

2007-08:
Going into his contract year a lot was expected of Miroslav Satan given the changes made to the roster and the veterans needing to produce more offense on a club that lost a lot of goals off it's roster last summer. Many expected a big year after what was an off one by Satan's offensive standards.

Simply put it did not happen and he struggled for the most part with his inconsistent production from beginning to end.

There are a lot of ways you can go with this, was it the defensive system or the coach again putting him on the point where he is not longer the player he was in Buffalo that Ted Nolan saw a decade ago?

From what I saw this was simply a player who looked like he has declined and picked up right where he left off the year before. He started slow, he a few nice goals where he dropped the shoulder and charged the net and he had the big goals on Al Arbour night, but in the end he went from being a streaky player to one where he was virtually invisible in the second half.

I'm not putting it on Vasieck, Bergenheim or his other centers or wingers, he simply did not produce consistently regardless of who he was with.

Worst of all I do think he was trying his best. I saw him dive to create plays and work hard on defense and penalty killing when called on early.

Part of me want's to give him high marks for playing with a knee injury that reportedly was supposed to keep him out for eight weeks but if Alexi Yashin did not get a pass for playing hurt and being unproductive, why should Satan who did not seem nearly as hurt as Yashin but did not get into the high quality area's?

For a few games Nolan even tried a makeshift first line as Satan shifted to the left with Comrie-Guerin. Nothing got him going nor did he generate his chances beyond a rare goal. He never complained in public about trying to play on the point for the a terrible powerplay as Bill Guerin called it.

Looking forward:
I don't have a clue what's going to happen. Reportedly he was offered a two year contract, but did not want to negotiate in season. Suppoedly he was never asked to waiver his NTC at the deadline. With Guerin, Hunter under contract and Okposo perhaps waiting for a right wing spot come camp or the year after there may not be a spot for him. His skills may be on the decline, he has had a couple of poor years in a row and the Isles did not have a great three years with him here. One thing I do know is they need more speed and skill than Satan gave them for his paycheck and overall ability whether he was hurt or not.

Tough call, but I think it's time to take a chance and walk away, even if he his skill and shot are tough to replace. Even in the world of crazy UFA contracts I cannot see a club willing to overpay here, someone else may end up with a bargain on a team loaded with speed/skill who can get him the puck with time and space.

Final Grade:
Even if I wanted to give Satan a full pass and high marks for playing hurt with an injury in the second half, why did he start so slowly, why was he outworked by Bergenheim and Vasicek and the other wingers with most of half a season? Where was his urgency from day one to step up as a remaining veteran and be visible for the new veterans with his play?

Thanks for the two goals on Al Arbour night, but first half, second half, no matter how you slice this, Miroslav Satan gets an F and a pink slip.

Some quick notables

To answer one e-mail, I can time-release blogs, this way the blog keeps updating with new articles.

Ct Post: Micheal Fornabaio blogged in more detail on the great game in Albany last night. He also looked at the eliteprospects.com report on Kim Johansson and indicated it could mean he's just released from Malmo, not necessarily signing with the Islanders or anyone. The bad news of the day is that former Islander coach Steve Stirling was reassigned and will no longer coach the Norfolk Admirals here.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I may be the only one but I really liked Steve Stirling and felt he did a fantastic job here as a rookie coach getting a club without Yashin, Parrish and other injuries for long stretches in the second half to a ninety two point season and a playoff spot in 2004. He got a fifty point season out of Oleg Kvasha when he needed him to step up and play center. I really like Ted Nolan but what Stirling did his first year was far more impressive then what the Isles did the last two seasons because he had even less to work with.

I wish him luck in whatever he does, classy man who not only did a good job his first season but did a great job in Bridgeport leading the Sound Tigers to a Calder Cup Finals appearance in their first season.

In terms of Kim Johansson we just have to see how it plays out. As I indicated earlier he could be moving to another club in Europe or signing with the Isles. There is no rule that he cannot sign with a club in Europe for next season then do a deal with the Isles unless it's in the contract he must play for his new European club.

With a little more than a month left before he can re-enter the draft it is something that bears watching.

Point Blank: Mr Botta had a great blog the other day on draft rankings and how as fans sometimes we become experts based on one report we read one day. I used to be a lot more in tune with the draft and had a lot of great help back in the mailing list days as I had a poster named Kevin who just did these incredible breakdowns months before on the top one hundred prospects in detail. I do not have that anymore and usually rely on Kyle Woodlief who's work is amazing but like anyone his ratings can be far different than someone else.

That was one reason I did a poll on this now. I was hoping for some feedback to go with the voting and hoped I got the concensus top players correct. With this being such a great draft class some of those second rounders would be first rounders in a weaker class so it's the right time to do a lot of reading from whatever we can find.

International Ice Hockey Federation.com: Updated the rosters for team USA, Russia (no Igor Volkov) and Canada for the World Championships while Katie Strang at Newsday did a brief blog here with no new information whether Sean Bergenheim can play for Finland tomorrow vs Canada given his injury.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Given he was not announced as confirmed for Finland's roster I guess that's new information?

Canadian Business.com: Had an interesting feature using their own standards to determine the value of all NHL players, teams vs salary and production this season.

Cape Brenton Post: T.J Coletto reports Islanders defenseman Aaron Johnson of Port Hawkesbury will be honored this coming Tuesday prior to a World Championship exhibition game between Team Norway and Team Slovenia.

So how is Garth Snow adding an enforcer?

I look at this roster and the general manager's comments about adding an enforcer/heavyweight and wonder where he plans on fitting such a player?

Just a quick review of the Isles depth chart excluding their own UFA which clouds the picture even more if one is resigned:
Bergenheim-Comrie-Guerin
Comeau-Sillinger-Hunter
Tambellini-Park-XXXXX
Sim-Nielsen-Hilbert
Bates

For the record folks Tambellini has to play in the NHL now or clear waivers and the same goes for Frans Nielsen. We can debate Okposo playing in the NHL or Bridgeport later but for now I'll keep him off the list.

So where does Garth Snow plan on adding this enforcer to his forward group without trading someone?

I'm not even talking about Hennigar, Ben Walter (rfa) Colliton or last year's closest thing to an enforcer who did not fight much in Tim Jackman.

Backline does not seem to have a spot either with Witt, Meyer, Martinek, Campoli, Gervais & Sutton signed with Hillen. Johnson also is restricted if Isles decided to qualify him. Only seems logical Dustin Kohn gets a longer look next year.

I'm not seeing it in terms of adding a pure enforcer unless it's someone who can produce offense and play physical like a Darcy Tucker but why would Toronto let him go and how much does he have left? Obviously he's no fan favorite with Isles.

Not as easy as bringing back Eric Godard or handing a Donald Brashear type a spot on a club that cannot score.

Should be interesting to see how Garth Snow does address this because I'm having a head time seeing it. I cannot see him going back to Chris Simon and how do you justify a spot for him with those young players on left wing the organization wants to play?

Former Islander Aaron Asham is not going to help with offense if you are thinking he is available, he did nothing for his team in the playoffs.

Who's roster spot are you giving this enforcer? We know Witt, Sutton can fight while Guerin and Comrie should not be fighting. Davison can fight supposedly but did not do much of that here if he were resigned.

Easter Epic revisited in Albany Thursday-Friday

We have a hundred shot game in the American Hockey League playoffs.




AHL.com: Reports Philadelphia defeated Albany in the fifth overtime in game five of their best of seven series which set an all time records for the American Hockey League in longest game played and shots against.

Albany goaltender Michael Leighton faced one hundred one shots in defeat.

The scoreboard did not go over a hundred shots and had to start over at zero. Leighton somehow got the third star, Monroe was credited with an assist on the game winning goal.

A reported 1,809 people in Albany just saw something historic.

SCORING 1 2 3 OT 2OT 3OT 4OT 5OT Total
Philadelphia Phantoms 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 3
Albany River Rats 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2

SHOTS 1 2 3 OT 2OT 3OT 4OT 5OT Total
Philadelphia Phantoms 9 15 14 20 17 12 12 2 101
Albany River Rats 15 14 3 11 6 6 11 1 67

Munroe, Scott 2 142:56 67 65
Leighton, Michael 3 142:58 101 98
*****************************************************
1st 2nd 3rd OT 2OT 3OT 4OT Total
Islanders 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 3
Capitals 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2

The "Epic" concluded at 1:58 a.m. local time, 6 hours and 18 minutes after the first face-off. Kelly Hrudey stopped an amazing 73 shots over the 7 periods, including 40 straight from the end of the second period on. His 73 saves still stands as an NHL record, though Jean-Sebastien Giguere (2003) and Roberto Luongo (2007) have both recorded 72-save games. Mason stopped 54 shots, including 36 from the end of regulation until LaFontaine beat him to end the marathon.

Isles World Championship update

Sportsnet.net/several outlets: Report Jason Spezza & Dany Heatley were added to the team Canada roster.

THN: Ken Campbell's update is on the Swedish team at the World Championships which will include former Islander Kenny Jonsson &
Fabian Brunnstrom's removal from the Swedish World Championship roster.

His agent JP Barry comments on what apparently is now a draft lottery of his own for the twenty three year's old services with fifteen teams expressing interest, as of this point the Isles are not included in that group.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
No idea who this player is nor can I recall such a public process for an undrafted player out of Europe in the recent past. If someone reports the Isles also submitted a letter I will follow up on it.

USA Hockey.com: Announced Defenseman Mark Stuart (Rochester, Minn./Boston Bruins) and forward Adam Burish (Madison, Wis./Chicago Blackhawks) have been added to the roster of the U.S. Men’s National Team.

What would you do with fifth pick in draft?

Took a little extra time to come up with the latest poll and think it's a good one that once again puts us in the driver seat on draft day with the Isles fifth overall pick. In this case you can pick from many options.

I separated the 2008 draft section from the Isles prospect section today. I will keep adding to both sections but with prospects needing to signed who are Islander picks already vs possible new draft picks it was time to create an individual spot for both here.

As usual I'm not going to make it easy and respect my readers too much to give you an easy option of Stamkos, Filatov or Doughty who seem unlikely to drop as far as five which leaves the Isles in a position if they do not take the best player available according to most of the lists from CSB or Red Line Report do they go best forward available even if that player is ranked lower than five by some?

Cue Pierre McGuire and Mike Milbury.

I will also give you the option of trading up or trading down as well as going off the board and trading the pick outright. It would be great if you post and tell us who you are drafting if you go off the board and I will make sure that's included when I update along with any general thoughts on the Isles upcoming draft.

Isles TV with more season-ending interviews

I'm not sure how folks follow the Isles TV section here on this blog but I wanted to point out a mistake to my readers that I made in my comments.

A short while back I asked where was Bill Guerin's season ending comments on Isles TV and was critical of him not doing an interview.

That was a mistake on my part because apparently the Islanders after posting a bunch of season ending interviews and then stopping for a while have started adding in more intereviews the last few days that today included Bill Guerin.

Just wanted to point this out for the readers here who are curious what these players said at a time when the season just ended and were leaving for the summer. I guess they could not add twenty plus interviews at once just as I am not doing twenty player reviews at once.

Bergenheim, Satan, Fedotenko, Guerin, Johnson, Campoli, Sutton among others have been added the last few days to the early interviews and I expect we will see something from everyone.

Quick Prospect Notable on Kim Johansson

Nothing definitive but Islanders fifth round pick #141 overall in 2006 according to
elite prospects.com has made a change to Kim Johansson's status as confirmed leaving Malmo for an unknown team as of 4/23.

Note-European Hockey.net does not have this on their transactions page at this time so take the information for what it is but both sites are very reliable and conservative with information along these lines. I would not waste anyone's time posting this otherwise.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Johansson according to terms of the new cba falls into the same group as Robin Figren and Tomas Marcinko in that he must be signed by June 1st or he can re-enter the draft this summer. It could mean a signing with the Isles or the prospect signing with another club in Europe which likely means he may not be signed by the deadline.

With about a month left it's something worth watching for now. I asked Michael Fornabio in his blog because he's always three steps ahead and does a great job for the fans.

2007-2008
Malmö J20 SuperElit 26 5 14 19 32
Malmö Allsvenskan 30 0 1 1 24
Team Sweden U20 (all) International 3 1 0 1 0

Five years ago....Claude Lapointe

A little Islanders-Sound Tigers look back today at some interesting things Claude Lapointe had to say five years ago when with Philadelphia. Hard to believe it's been that long.

For those curious about the former Nystrom award winner he never returned to the NHL after his problems in Philadelphia. He played four games with Bern, a Swiss A league club in 2006-07 but was injured.

Despite reports of retirement in 2007-08 he played eighteen games for Trois Rivieres Caron and Guay of the LNAH with a goal. (Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey)
*******************************************************************
By Tim Panaccio
Inquirer Staff Writer
4/24/03

Claude Lapointe still doesn't know why the New York Islanders soured
on him.

He knows only that on the first day of training camp last September,
general manager Mike Milbury called him into his office and told him
in rather unflattering terms that he was unwanted.

"Right away, he said he was going to trade me," recalled Lapointe,
who joined the Flyers at the trade deadline in March. "He said there
were better players than me and that I belonged in the minor leagues.
He told me the only reason I was there with the Islanders was because
of my salary [being high].

"From day one, I felt unappreciated the entire year, and it showed in
my ice time. I didn't get the time I deserved. But that's OK. It was
for the best. I'm here now."

Lapointe, who pronounces his first name as "Clode," cost the Flyers
virtually nothing - a fifth-round draft pick this summer.

While it's well known that his final season on the Island was one of
acrimony between him and the club, you'd be hard-pressed to find a
league scout who wouldn't see value in a man who has long been
regarded as one of best defensive centers in the NHL.

His worth to the Flyers is simply this: gritty, veteran depth at the
bottom of the lineup to match the same at the top. Lapointe had a
goal and two assists in Tuesday's 6-1 rout of the Toronto Maple
Leafs, which advanced the Flyers to tomorrow's Eastern Conference
semifinal round against Ottawa.

It was his first playoff goal since April 28, 1993, when he played
for the Quebec Nordiques.

Lapointe spent the Toronto series working straight up on a number of
veterans - Shayne Corson, Darcy Tucker, Travis Green, Robert Reichel,
even Mats Sundin. Some nights he centered a skill line with John
LeClair and Mark Recchi. Others, he worked with Donald Brashear and
Marty Murray or moved to wing to work with Jeremy Roenick or Keith
Primeau.

In a very short time, Lapointe has proven his versatility. Whenever
the Flyers have a key defensive draw, he's usually on the ice with
Primeau in case Primeau is thrown out of the circle.

Guys like Lapointe have their own niches. Lapointe's is the defensive
draw and penalty killing.

"It's very important," he said of face-offs. "That's one thing I take
pride in. I practice it pretty much every single day. At the end of
games and there's like three or four minutes left and you're up by
one goal, you want to win that face-off."

With the Islanders in a youth movement under coach Peter Laviolette,
the 34-year-old Lapointe was gradually phased out for 28-year-old
Shawn Bates, who played for Laviolette in Providence of the American
Hockey League.

"In New York, I had a tag number on my back that read fourth line
only," Lapointe said. "I got maybe five or six minutes a night under
Laviolette. It's a lot different here. I love being here."

Under Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock, Lapointe isn't an old piece of wood
to be thrown into the fireplace. He's something worthy of putting on
the mantel.

Hitchcock compares Lapointe to Guy Carbonneau, who was a key player
on the Dallas Stars' 1999 Stanley Cup squad. Carbonneau was a veteran
checker who came up big in the playoffs.

"Carbonneau could always make the good plays at the right time... ,"
Hitchcock recalled. "My feeling was, we wanted to use Claude the same
way we used Carbonneau. When you have proud, competitive people, when
you get into the playoffs, those players seem to stand out. Their
pride takes over."

Hitchcock reasoned that after being devalued by the Islanders,
Lapointe's pride would overtake him once he got to Philadelphia. So
the coach decided to test his versatility by moving him around the
lineup.

"My feeling was," Hitchcock said, "why not put him in a situation
where he can have an impact instead of a little bit of a role? Give
him a bigger bite."

Lapointe averaged 15 minutes in the Toronto series and figures to get
decent time in the series against Ottawa, as well. He's never gotten
past an opening round in the playoffs in his 13-year career. He
admits it hasn't been easy to play with LeClair and Recchi one night
and then jump back into a strict checking-line role the next.

"It was hard," Lapointe said. "I try to use my common sense and read
off Johnny and Mark... . One thing about coming here, when you feel
appreciated, your mind and attitude changes. You go on the ice and
feel like you're a different player. I think Hitchcock sees that."

Said Recchi: "He's been a terrific player and skater since we got
him. He kind of energizes us."

Yesterday, Recchi accidentally called Lapointe "Marty" as in the
Bruin, Martin Lapointe.

"Hitch called him Marty the other night [in Game 7]," Recchi added.

Lapointe laughs that stuff off. And, he said, after spending seven
good years with the Islanders, he laughs off how things ended there,
too.

"Someday, I will ask Peter Laviolette, 'Why did you do that to me?' "
Lapointe said. "I did my job for the last 12 years the same way. He
never gave me a chance. He took his boys who played for him in
Providence and gave them my job."

Right now, no one is going to take away Lapointe's job with the
Flyers.

Espn Poll

Espn: Ranked all one hundred twenty pro franchises on several categories. They claim this nationwide poll done by Markitecture, Inc, it does not say when it was specifically done.

New York Islanders were ranked seventy fourth.

BNG (Bang for the Buck): Wins over the past three years per revenues directly from fans 68.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Considering how much Smg takes vs Cable contract that seems like a generous number.

FRL (Fan Relations): Ease of access to players, coaches & management 67.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
There is no team in pro sports that has been more accessible to it's fans than the New York Islanders with all the open houses and outreach programs the last two years combined with all the blogs introduced the last two years. Mike Bossy himself said at the first open house this never would have happened in his time. Isles have to do this with no newspapers to tell their story properly and they have gone above and beyond.

OWN (Ownership): Honesty; loyalty to players and city 58.

NYI Fan Central Commments:
Mr Wang deserves a much higher grade for his honesty/loyality to this market for the money he puts up for this franchise. No doubt you can write he was too loyal to Mike Milbury. Having written that he stands up at the podium and tells you what he's going to do whether we agree or not and he took a big media beating for firing Neil Smith which was deserved but he stood up and told the public why he made a change.

AFF (Affordability): Price of tickets, parking and concessions 76.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Espn claims through padded attendance numbers Isles are last in the league in avgerage so that number seems far too low.

STD (Stadium Experience): Friendliness of environment; quality of game-day promotions
116.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Considering how successful Loudville was last season and all the efforts made this year for the efforts to get kids to games this ranking is very reflective on the age of the Nassau Coliseum. Of course Pittsburgh and Msg are older and hardly beautiful while the Coliseum seems to have a ton of great promotions.

PLA (Players): Effort on the field; likability off it 61.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Effort on the field/ice in this case was spotty and that's being kind. I really do not have a favorite among the players and have no idea how likeable the players are off of it.

CCH (Coach/Manager): Strong on-field leadership 5.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I hope Charles Wang and Garth Snow see that whenever this was done, Ted Nolan finished first among NHL coaches. He did not do better than Stirling or Laviolette in year two but people feel this man is a leader.

TTR (Title Track): Titles already won or expected -- soon 66.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Seems like a very low ranking considering the Isles past but also seems offset by the playoff record since 1984. I don't know.

Some quick hits

Amazing how many articles referencing the New York Islanders this time of year.

From the dynasty or the comebacks down 3-0 or just the incredible memorable wins and even the playoff beards this time of year. The history and the legacy are just fun to see everywhere even without the team in the playoffs. Other teams just do not have this kind of incredible tradition.

Islanders website: Reports Bill Guerin was nominated for the King Clancy award with his comments and Garth Snow's.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Glad he got nominated, we'll see if he gets picked in June. He could be fantastic off the ice but on the ice he played large stretches of the season where he did not work as hard as he is capable. In terms of on ice I think the gm went overboard with his praise. A player who had one assist after the opening weekend going into December who's veterans were called out by the coach on several occasions is not above and beyond.

Ted Nolan admitted last week he went easy on his veterans and it was a mistake, one the captain has be directly accountable for also.

Everything and more, Mr Snow? Scoring thirty with a bunch of big goals and a playoff spot is everything and more. Worst offensive club in the league where the captain called the powerplay awful is not everything and more.

If his name was Yashin people would be looking for a buyout and Yashin had no one nearly as talented as Comrie all those years.

Updated:
To be fair the King Clancy award is given to a player who exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in the community. If Mr Snow feels his contribution was above and beyond off the ice I cannot say and do not know. It was reported he did a lot of great things, I do not want to give my readers any impression my comments are about anything but what I saw watching him play hockey games which is where my disagreement with the gm is here.

I felt that had to be added in here to be fair across the board. I have no idea what Bill Guerin does off the ice or in the community.

Vancouver Sun: Elliott Pap reports player agent Mike Gillis has been named the new general manager of the Vancouver Cauncks with speculation assistant gm Steve Tambellini could be replaced.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Another player agent makes the jump to general manager. Interesting the great class of potential general mangers for the Isles job two years ago are not exactly looking like incredible talents right now, although Chiarelli did a fantastic job getting Boston to the playoffs this year. I wonder how folks would feel with Dean Lombardi's record or Brent Sutter's fighting with his veterans, despite a solid year.

Some playoff notables:
All those former Islander defenders play game seven's.

Hamrlik Montreal-Won
Chara Boston-Loss
Aucoin Calgary-Loss
Poti/Erskine-Loss

Mike Keenan is still the most destructive coach in hockey and once again his giant ego just had to tinker until he kills him team. Pulling Kiprusoff for Curtis Joseph and within a minute he let up a softie that basically put the game away. I know Calgary was outshot and outplayed badly before he did this but it's like he cannot help himself and has to try something/anything instead of trusting his world-class talent.

Without that absurd move it's a one goal goal down the stretch instead of a Calgary club that seemed resigned to it's fate after falling behind three.

Kiprusoff and his agent should be demanding a trade unless Keenan is fired, it was that dumb a move by a coach who's team was outplayed and outshot badly and did not need a gimmick but a leader.

Speaking of ego too bad Washington did not win for another reason.

Dick Ebersol and Sam Flood would have looked like Msg employees on Dolan's payroll if Montreal and the Garden's team got the NBC games vs Washington-Pittsburgh which is the best matchup of all for ratings.

It would have been very entertaining watching them put a spin on showing a
Montreal-Ranger matchup over the leagues best draws by a mile. I think they would have gotten some heavy abuse from the hockey media also if they tried to pull it off.

Funny how last Sunday NBC's partner Versus did not get the hockey games when NBC showed the pope but Msg plus did? That's how friendly Msg and Mr Ebersol are.

It will be fun watching Ed Snider Comcast/Versus in Philadelphia vs the
Dolan-Ebersol connection fight for NBC games with Crosby in the middle. Personally the league needs to go where Crosby goes unless they wish to dig up the Detroit-Colorado rivalry now that Ovechkin is out.

In my opinion Ovechkin-Crosby was the only real ratings draw they have. None of these matchups will pull in big numbers.

For some reason I found myself pulling for Washington and was happy to see big crowds and a great building from a fanbase that even after going to a final looked lost after leaving Landover. What is Ted Leonsis waiting for to add Alexei Yashin to that speed and skill with his world-class shot?

If he stays healthy he will put up eight points in his sleep with everyone targeting Ovechkin, Backstrom, Semin.

USHL.com: Announced former Islander J.P Parise was named the general manager and head coach of the Des Moines Buccaneers.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Congratutions and best of luck to JP Parise.

Article also credits Parise for his prior work as director of prospect evaluation at Shattuck St. Mary's Prep School in Faribault, Minn as one of the premiere prep school hockey programs in the world that has produced the likes of Sidney Crosby and Kyle Okposo.

Newsday: Katie Strang had another blog on the Islanders Newsday page with Pat Lafontaine's comments on his latest charity endeavor where he praised Ted Nolan for his coaching and gave his thoughts on the young players and the Isles future.

NYI Fan Central Final Review of Rick DiPietro

Today's NYI Fan Central final review puts the bright spotlight on goaltender Rick DiPietro.

2007-08:
Rick DiPietro for the most part aside from a few early bad goals was simply outstanding beginning to end. He was a first time all-star who someone kept his team in contention scoring two goals or less fourteen games in a row at a time the veterans should have been at their best and healthy. Isles season should have been over right there, instead they got up to six games over break even before injury/illness and the club's inability to score and a terrible powerplay finally finished them.

Go watch his games on that West Coast trip, every point they got he stole for them as the club was horrible in Colorado, Edmonton, Vancouver, Minnesota before finally beating a tired Senators team.

Isles led the league in one goal wins for a good part of the year, Rick DiPietro was the biggest reason. His movements seemed more compact for a good part of the season, and most nights was an asset with his stick handling.

Unfortunately he could not get enough games to overtime with the lack of scoring in front of him and a defense that even though they cut the shots against by close to two hundred from a year, still made glaring mistakes at times where no goalie had a chance.

Anyone who only looks at his second half stats and not the quality goals against where he kept them in several games after the All-Star break simply were not paying attention or looking for a reason to complain for reasons beyond the game.

He said he was playing hurt, I challenge anyone to look at the game highlights from the All-Star break on, right through his final game against Montreal and tell me how his goal tending was not outstanding and carried the club most games? One look at the goals against the oppositionn scored tells the story.

If that's not enough the six game winning streak with all those injuries that got them into contention should be, injured hip and all.

Unfortunately Mr Logan had a need to create some controversy at a time he lost a family member and went overboard with his own speculation and found a few games after that where he struggled to make his injury seem like he was hurting the club by playing.

We did not see that theme a year ago against Buffalo when he also played with an injured hip and from his play there he did not look hurt either.

It was unfair and unprofessional on Mr Logan's part. He played hurt and aside from a game in Philadelphia and a game in Tampa played very well. He deserved far better for his overall season from the teams only regular beatwriter as he created a
so-called rift even Nolan denied.

You could make a case Brendan Witt was this club's MVP, you could throw Radek Martinek in that mix, but without Rick DiPietro early this team is out of contention by Christmas, it's not even close.

Looking forward:
He reportedly had no problems with his hip after last season's surgery so there is no reason to think there should be a problem this time around. Despite all the talk of limiting him the only thing that needs to be limited are schedules where a team plays three games in twenty days to start the season. If he had the five three days plus breaks the Rangers had from mid-February through the end of the season it would not even have been an issue.

Isles did not have one three day break after December and only a pair of two day breaks for close to a month starting around Feb10th.

I have no doubt DiPietro will be played based on how he performs, not some advanced program determined by media speculation. He played sixty games the last two years, if the schedule provides he will play more if he's healthy.

I only see a goaltender who is getting better. Hopefully the club in front of him gives him a chance.

Final Grade:
He receives an A for keeping the club in contention early, for holding the lowest scoring club in the league in contention, for being named to the all-star game and for his play right through his final game in Montreal. Martin Brodeur felt he is one of the best goaltenders in the NHL, Isles are lucky to have him.

Garth Snow's things to do list

Now that Garth Snow has talked about his plan it seems a good time to go over his things to do list.

The scouting staff and the general manager have a lot of work to do going into this draft but while that is on going here is my little to do list for the gm.

1. Make some final decisions/offers on Satan, Dubielewicz, Fedotenko, Davison, Berard & Vasicek.
2. If Marcinko is signed, finish something with Robin Figren.
3. Time to get Bergenheim's name on a long-term deal along the lines of Hunter.
4. Time for Jeff Tambellini to also get his three year deal also or be taken to arbitration.
5. Make the same offer to Gervais that Campoli received.
6. Qualify everyone restricted, including Aaron Johnson.
7. Sit down with Ted Nolan and ask does he want changes on his coaching staff.
8. Sit down with Howard Saffin and Jack Capuano about the direction in Bridgeport.
9. No harm asking your college prospects if they are interested in leaving school early and signing them now.
10. More scouting combines, prospect workouts and interviews.

Isles World Championship Update

Eurohockey.net: Reported Sean Bergenheim was playing for team Finland at the Ceska Pojistovna Cup on the European Hockey tour, he had the only goal for his club against Russia a few days ago and had to go for an MRI according to a European publication here.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I guess we'll see if Bergenheim can play or has been invited to play for team Finland at the World Championships if he is not hurt too badly. With the first round games coming to a close teams will be leaving spots for NHL players but now will be finalizing rosters with teams gathering in a few days.

Updated 5:30pm
Katie Strang again updated the Isles newsday blog with Bergenheim's agent Mark Gandler saying his client is day-to-day with a slight groin pull here with his comments on negotiations for a new contract.

Team USA here announced Paul Martin and Zach Parise were added today to the roster for the US.

I did not see Kyle Okposo on the list but perhaps playing in the WJC championship does not allow him to participate?

Bill Guerin on Espn

Media Blog: Cory Witt updated his blog on what programs Bill Guerin will be on today as well as Newsday with Katie Strang also doing another update on the Isles page.

Islander News Articles 4/22

Newsday: Katie Strang reports in the Islanders blog at Newsday Tomas Marcinko has been signed by the Islanders with comments from Garth Snow, Islanders Asst GM and director of amateur scouting Ryan Jankowski and Pro Scout Toby O'Brien.

Islanders website: Has more on Tomas Marcinko's signing.

Regina Leader-Post: Greg Harder has a full update on Mike Sillinger's injury with the Islander center's comments.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
It did not seem this serious and will keep him off skates until August but apparently he will be able to continue his career.

SW Iowa News: Patrick Donohue had a few words on Islander prospect Jason Gregoire and his teams upcoming series.

Media Blog: Cory Witt reports in his blog Bill Guerin will be appearing on several Espn shows.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Interesting but how come Islanders TV did not have his looking back/looking forward recap of the season? I know Chris King could not get everyone but he did have Sillinger and Hunter, some words from the team captain are appropriate.

I do not even recall his words in Newsday either after the final game, just a few quick comments after the last game in the AP and he was gone.

Newsday: Ellen Yan reports Rupert Murdoch is close to purchasing Newsday for five hundred eighty million dollars.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
So the paper that virtually eliminated Islander coverage in the Post now will own Newsday combined with Rupert Murdoch behind the Fox-Msg merger that took Islander coverage off sportschannel which has hurt their ratings for years?

Tough running a team with no newsprint to hype the product or sell tickets. Wonder if Mr Murdoch will apply the same standard to hockey coverage he does at the Post and eliminate all Ranger coverage from Newsday. Only good news is Murdoch was so sick of Dolan's garden the merger was ended but Msg got full control of what was Fox Sports New York.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio had Howard Saffin's comments on the business end of the Sound Tigers with the problems selling tickets for weeknight games as the attendance trends and start times are discussed along with corporate support in Bridgeport.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio's blog has several features but today's includes some pictures from the Islanders-Canucks Stanley Cup Finals with one picture showing Mike Bossy with what looked like him scoring his overtime goal in game one.

Seems like only one open spot at center

Funny thing looking through this roster with all the talk of UFA and prospects.

The club is locked into a lot of players.

By all reports Mike Sillinger will be back for the final year of his contract.

Mike Comrie is signed for next season.

That leaves a possible replacement for Josef Vasicek and his sixteen goals and a fourth line player which could include:

Richard Park
Andy Hilbert
Shawn Bates
Frans Nielsen
Jeremy Colliton
Ben Walter

To say nothing of bringing in an unrestricted free agent at center.

Seems to me not much room to maunever unless something unexpected happens.

Islander/Sound Tiger Notables

islanders website: Had an article on Trent Hunter with his comments on resigning with the team, giving advice to the younger players and praises Bill Guerin.

Islanders also had another prospect update which is down to Jason Gregoire and Blake Kessel which was added to the prospect section.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio updates his blog on the AHL playoffs and Bridgeport sell-off next Sunday.

Happy Twenty First Anniversary plus two, Pat Lafontaine.



Updated 7:45pm
Newsday: Katie Strang had a blog update on the Islanders page about Rob Hennigar with his comments.

NYI Fan Central Final Review of Jon Sim

Today a quick look at Jon Sim.

2007-08:
Jon Sim went into 2007-08 with a lot on his shoulders playing for a new club and coming off two seventeen goal seasons in Atlanta. He seemed one of the players management targeted early and gave extra years specifically to land him.

I saw a player in pre-season games/his two regular season games who had a nice ability to get in quality area's of the ice and not waste his speed and quickness with a lot of peripheral skating, a few times he went straight at the net from the corners or behind the goal. I remember one very impressive goal in preseason against Montreal he just took the puck and drove straight into the crease and started banging away. It was something lacking on this roster all season but it's fair to write on a limited offensive roster Sim would have had the same problems because it seemed contagious in 2007-08. All we know is he was supposed to play with Hunter and Sillinger and we could be back to square one come October with that line getting another chance.

Moving Forward:
All I know is every player who had this kind of injury needed an extra year before regaining their quickness and hit a wall in recovery. I know from reports Sim would have returned for the playoffs and was practicing at full speed. Maybe the summer makes a difference but we saw this with Peca, Martinek, Nokelainen and a lot of players where things are not a hundred percent for a full two years before they get their full speed back. Sim is not a young player but he has two more years on his Islander contract and we will find out come September.

Bergenheim, Comeau and Tambellini are all left wingers who should be here in September. Sim is a career left wing, he has to score and provide grit and speed.

A lot is being asked.

A little Tim Ryan Ch 9 Islander Hockey

A little spring dancing between Bob Nystrom and Mike Milbury and one amazing fight with Mel Bridgeman. I used to love Tim Ryan's work on channel nine calling Islander hockey. If I have the time line correct, Mr Ryan was replaced by Steve Albert in 1980 before Bill Torrey contacted Jiggs McDonald for 1981.

I have to admit I do not know who is doing the play by play here unless it's George Michael of Sportsmachine fame.

I know for a short time John Potvin was in and how of the booth in his Islander career before going into the radio side after his official retirement. John Sterling also did play by play on WMCA radio in those day for the Isles.

Here is something incredible. The Channel Nine opening to Islanders Hockey back in the 1980's on WOR with Jiggs McDonald.

Islander News Articles 4/20

Kingston Daily Freeman: Msg employee Stan Fischler does an article wondering where the hockey coverage is in New York, takes a few shots at the Daily News Bob Raissman and quotes from some of Chris Botta's recent blog on the subject

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Where was Stan Fischler when the Islanders were put on Metro channel during the playoffs in 2002 and the Dolan machine was doing all they could to regulate and control Islander and Devils coverage/content to the point the sports editors finally decided to cut coverage to all three local teams?

Where was Mr Fischler for all the years the Isles could not get a preseason game on television unless it was against the Garden's team?

Can't have it both ways. You want to be criticial start with your own networks coverage of the Islanders and Devils. Also seems clear your speaking for Dolan's suits who are offended at lack of Ranger coverage.

Too bad, your network is a big part of the probkem.

It's damaged the Isles in Manhattan to a point they have no regular coverage. Phil Mushnik at the Post told me recently hockey coverage for the Isles is a luxury and talked about the cost.

Mr Dolan himself appeared on WFAN live and when grilled on hiding the Isles-Leafs playoffs on Metro because he owned the Rangers he just laughed back in those days.

Unfortunately the other sports all got the last laugh because they forgot about hockey and that includes the Garden's team.

Turns out the Garden needed all three teams to market hockey, despite the Ranger fan reporters in the media selling the product with limited space. This year the Rangers not only played the Devils but were covered just like the Devils.

In the end Msg created this problem and by limiting two teams (now three with control of Sabre hockey) have done a lot of damage to their own product. When Msg network p.r department issues releases on improved hockey ratings, I do not believe a single word of it because it does not come from the independent people who do the ratings or did them last year telling us hockey in Manhattan drew horrible ratings.

Backpages? Regular season hockey in New York has not received a single back page in a good four-five years for a game. I don't know where Stan Fischler has been but clearly he's just a salesman for the Rangers and needs to do this to keep future employment in a stable of spin doctors and has been since the forties despite his time with the Isles and Devils on sportschannel.

Islanders have had the most backpages (Newsday) but very infrequent. New York City will not be on the Ranger bandwagon for more than a few days if they make a deep run or win the cup. The business of baseball is big ratings, advertising dollars and now a critical resource to these publications.

Oh yes, eight million will attend games this season for both clubs, publishers and editors cover what they want first and what the public wants second.

Having written that Msg helped create this problem, give all three teams the exact among of coverage and content on both networks and you help hockey.

Limit the Garden's competition and you limit the scope of coverage for hockey.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio had a blog update on former AHL player Ben Guite, who helped Colorado advance.

NYI Fan Comments:
No criticism of Mr Fornabaio here but how come his editor did not give him some print space for a few extra articles to wrap the season? I have noticed the drop in print coverage this year.

Unchartered waters for Nolan and Islanders

Last August 2nd I did a blog on whether the second year trend for Islander coaches will surface and cost Ted Nolan his job.

I'm very glad the Islanders have decided to make sure that trend finally breaks, even if it's not in a contract extension but just seeing through Ted Nolan's contract.

The pattern has almost be the same, first year solid/signs of improvement, second year message team takes steps backwards, coach goes.

We saw this with Butch Goring who worked miracles his first year to reach twenty four wins and was fired in his second season.

We saw it with Peter Laviolette who did not survive his second summer.

Finally Steve Stirling after a miracle playoff berth his first season with Oleg Kvasha hitting fifty points (more than any Islander this season..ouch) did not make it through his second year after the lockout.

Ted Nolan's first two years have had a lot of the same trends as these coaches, it looks like he will be back for a third year.

I still see Ted Nolan as part of the long-term answer for this organization and think he's someone who can bring the Stanley Cup back to New York under the right circumstances.