Bergenheim at WC, Fraser interview

IIHF.com: John Sanful has Sean Bergenheim's comments after Finland's 5-1 win against Germany Saturday at the World Championships.

Bergenheim played over eight minutes with a shot on goal and an even rating.

Finland next faces Norway on Monday afternoon.

Sarnia Observer: Greg Maker has a full interview with Jamie Fraser on his season in Bridgeport with Jack Capunano's comments and what's ahead for Islander training camp.

Isles need to extend Snow & Nolan

Bottom line here folks is that if the Islanders are committed to developing their prospects and taking pains to do so the general manager brining in these players and the coach have to have some security to make decisions that may mean short-term losing.

Otherwise both of these men will feel the pressure to win now and go with a player who will give them the best chance to win now which is usually a veteran.

It seems from my viewpoint Mr Wang is not sure whether this gm or coach are the right ones to develop prospects.

No doubt New York also brings pressure to win now so the fans will support the product which is going to put developing prospects to the test.

This is where all the talk of the Islanders plan will face it's toughest test and whether the general manager and coach will stick with that plan with no long-term security.

Ted Nolan speaks out

The Sault Star: Peter Ruicci has Ted Nolan's comments Thursday, prior to serving as a guest speaker at the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships awards banquet that it's tough situtation not having a contract beyond next season and will not approach the Islanders about an extension but he wants to fulfill his obligation, do really well next season and hopefully they'll want to re-sign him but will be coaching somewhere in the future as he credited the fans.

He also said he feels he learned this year is that he can coach again and that he has more confidence in himself now than ever before.

He also felt the team didn't have people who had real good years and not making the playoffs was hard and that the playoffs should be automatic, that winning championships that should be the hard part. The vast majority of the time his players worked hard. But working hard and getting things done are two different things.

Nolan also denied any problems with Garth Snow and Rick DiPietro, despite what was written in the New York papers.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Hopefully the Islanders and Ted Nolan sat down and worked out how they want him to discuss his contract in the paper when asked but by this article that does not seem likely. Clearly we now know he's not going to Charles Wang and force the issue but for this coach it is a tough situtation according to his own words.

It's not going to get any easier forcing more prospects onto the roster unless they can produce.

The Barrie Examiner: Ian shantz has a few words on the Colts and speculates recently signed Tomas Marcinko will not be back with Barrie.

IIHF.com: Finland plays it's first game of the tournament on Saturday against Germany.

A quick look at the UFA/RFA lists...

Some of these players are group IV, V which basically means they are unrestricted but here is the full list.

Anyone have a player or two they feel can help here?

New York:
ufa: bryan berard, kip brennan, rob davison, wade dubielewicz, ruslan fedotenko, michael morrison, miroslav satan, josef vasicek

rfa: luciano aquino, sean bergenheim, jeremy colliton, drew fata, bruno gervais, tim jackman, aaron johnson, matt keith, masi marjamaki, michael mole, frans nielsen, steve regier, matthew spiller, jeff tambellini, ben walter.

Anaheim
ufa: jean-sebastien aubin, joe callahan, joe dipenta, mike hoffman, jay leach, mark mowers, geoff peters, teemu selanne, bruno st. jacques, doug weight

rfa: darryl bootland, ryan carter, gerald coleman, stephen dixon, andrew ebbett, jonas hiller, shane hynes, jason king, andrew miller, corey perry, geoff platt, brian sutherby

Atlanta
ufa: milan bartovic, eric boulton, kevin doell, darren haydar, johan hedberg, bobby holik, jason krog, joel kwiatkowski, steve mccarthy, karel pilar, mark popovic, mark recchi, steve rucchin, jesse schultz

rfa: joseph crabb, guillaume desbiens, kari lehtonen, nathan oystrick, brett sterling

Boston
ufa: bobby allen, alex auld, sean curry, jeff hoggan, glen metropolit, jordan sigalet, brett skinner, aaron ward

rfa: mike brown, stanislav chistov, chris collins, chuck kobasew, petteri nokelainen, pascal pelletier, nathan saunders, mark stuart, nate thompson, t.j. trevelyan, dennis wideman

Buffalo
ufa: dmitri kalinin, teppo numminen, nolan pratt, michael ryan, jocelyn thibault

rfa: steve bernier, paul gaustad, clarke macarthur, mark mancari, daniel paille

Calgary
ufa: craig conroy, eric godard, david hale, kristian huselius, curtis joseph, brent krahn, daymond langkow, curtis mcelhinney, owen nolan, eric nystrom, mark smith, jim vandermeer stephane yelle

rfa: derek couture, cam cunning, ryan donally, tomi maki, adam pardy, brandon prust, grant stevenson, andrei taratukhin, david van der gulik

Carolina
ufa: keith aucoin, ryan bayda, wade brookbank, tim conboy, trevor gillies, john grahame, bret hedican, michael leighton, trevor letowski, joey mormina, sergei samsonov, glen wesley

rfa: pat dwyer, patrick eaves, mark flood, tim gleason, joe jensen, chad larose, daniel manzato, kevin nastiuk, brandon nolan, tuomo ruutu, dennis seidenberg

Chicago
ufa: kevyn adams, mike brodeur, jim fahey, wade flaherty, david koci, patrick lalime, yanic perreault, prestin ryan, jason williams, andrei zyuzin

rfa: rene bourque, adam burish, dustin byfuglien, corey crawford, colin fraser, jordan hendry, andrew ladd, steve marr, danny richmond, martin st. pierre, james wisniewski

Colorado
ufa: andrew brunette, jeff finger, adam foote, peter forsberg, eric healey, jaroslav hlinka, jeff jillson, john-michael liles, scott parker, dale purinton, joe sakic, kurt sauer, wyatt smith, jose theodore

rfa: jason bacashihua, johnny boychuk, darcy campbell, daniel dasilva, philippe dupuis, mitchell love, cody mccormick, cody mcleod, brad richardson, marek svatos, michael wall, tyler weiman, wojtek wolski

Columbus
ufa: nate dicasmirro, ron hainsey, jan hejda, zenon konopka, derek mackenzie, michael peca, mark rycroft, dan smith, dick tarnstrom, david vyborny

rfa: dan fritsche, pascal leclaire, joakim lindstrom, mikko maenpaa, marc methot, alexandre picard, tomas popperle, aaron rome, clay wilson

Dallas
ufa: stu barnes, nolan baumgartner, trevor byrne, niklas hagman, johan holmqvist, dan jancevski, bryce lampman, antti miettinen, mattias norstrom, toby peterson, brad winchester

rfa: brandon crombeen, trevor daley, loui eriksson, nicklas grossman, marius holtet, vadim khomitski, steve ott, vojtech polak, konstantin pushkarev, marty sertich, jussi timonen, janos vas, francis wathier

Detroit
ufa: adam berkhoel, chris chelios, carl corazzini, mark cullen, aaron downey, dallas drake, brad ference, mark hartigan, dominik hasek, andreas lilja, darren mccarty, garrett stafford, brad stuart

rfa: jonathan ericsson, valtteri filppula, igor grigorenko, james howard, logan koopmans, francis lemieux, ryan oulahen, kyle quincey

Edmonton
ufa: curtis glencross, marty reasoner, allan rourke, geoff sanderson

rfa: jonas almtorp, troy bodie, jeff drouin-deslauriers, glenn fisher, denis grebeshkov, jean-francois jacques, frederik johansson, t.j. kemp, joni pitkanen, marc-antoine pouliot, tim sestito, jarret stoll, zach stortini, danny syvret

Florida
ufa: wade belak, jassen cullimore, rob globke, magnus johansson, branislav mezei, steve montador

rfa: jay bouwmeester, gregory campbell, kamil kreps, drew larman, martin lojek, stefan meyer, garth murray, rostislav olesz, anthony stewart, adam taylor, martin tuma

Los angeles
ufa: rob blake, brendan buckley, kevin dallman, jeff giuliano, jon klemm, ladislav nagy, richard petiot, scott thornton, brian willsie

rfa: erik ersberg, gabe gauthier, peter harrold, petr kanko, matt moulson, patrick o'sullivan, joe piskula, dany roussin

Minnesota
ufa: keith carney, pavol demitra, todd fedoruk, sean hill, steve kelly, andre lakos, petteri nummelin, serge payer, branko radivojevic, erik reitz, brian rolston, chris simon, aaron voros, wes walz, joel ward

rfa: shawn belle, pierre-marc bouchard, kurtis foster, matt foy, danny irmen, miroslav kopriva, peter olvecky, john scott, clayton stoner, stephane veilleux

Montreal
ufa: andrew archer, mathieu biron, patrice brisebois, jean-philippe cote, yann danis, brett engelhardt, jonathan ferland, duncan milroy, michael ryder, bryan smolinski, mark streit

rfa: jimmy bonneau, marvin degon, josh gorges, mikhail grabovski, jaroslav halak, andrei kastsitsyn, janne lahti, maxim lapierre, corey locke, ryan o'byrne, cory urquhart

Nashville
ufa: dan ellis, martin gelinas, alex henry, jan hlavac, darcy hordichuk, josh langfeld, shane willis, nolan yonkman

rfa: brandon bochenski, matt ellison, martin erat, dov grumet-morris, kevin klein, ville koistinen, janne niskala, rich peverley, oliver setzinger, ryan suter, john vigilante, shea weber

New jersey
ufa: arron asham, sheldon brookbank, noah clarke, frank doyle, jean-luc grand-pierre, grant marshall, richard matvichuk, ian moran, mike mottau, jay pandolfo, karel rachunek, erik rasmussen, jason ryznar, bryce salvador, barry tallackson, jari viuhkola

rfa: david clarkson, ivan khomutov, olli malmivaara, jordan parise, rodney pelley, petr vrana

Rangers
ufa: sean avery, mitchell fritz, andrew hutchinson, darius kasparaitis, marek malik, paul mara, michal rozsival, brendan shanahan, martin straka, jason strudwick, stephen valiquette

rfa: ivan baranka, nigel dawes, bruce graham, josh gratton, chris holt, hugh jessiman, rick kozak, david liffiton, david leneveu, greg moore, pierre parenteau, fredrik sjostrom, matt zaba

Ottawa
ufa: matt carkner, mike commodore, niko dimitrakos, shean donovan, chris kelly, matt kinch, martin lapointe, justin mapletoft, wade redden, luke richardson, randy robitaille, cory stilmman

rfa: jeff glass, josh hennessy, arttu luttinen, brian mcgrattan, andrej meszaros, antoine vermette, jesse winchester

Philadelphia
ufa: jesse boulerice, riley cote, jim dowd, rory fitzpatrick, martin grenier, jaroslv modry, vaclav prospal, darren reid, jason smith

rfa: rejean beauchemin, jeff carter, triston grant, nathan guenin, martin houle, randy jones, lars jonsson, scott munroe, ryan potulny, stefan ruzicka, patrick thoresen, r.j. umberger

Phoenix
ufa: david aebischer, ryan caldwell, jon disalvatore, bryan helmer, niko kapanen, matt murley, travis roche, joey tenute, mathias tjarnqvist, pete vandermeer, radim vrbata, craig weller, michael york

rfa: brendan bell, daniel carcillo, marcel hossa, matt jones, alexei kaigorodov, al montoya, joel perrault, tyler redenbach, bill thomes

Pittsburgh
ufa: kris beech, ty conklin, pascal dupuis, mark eaton, david gove, adam hall, marian hossa, connor james, ryan lannon, georges laraque, ryan malone, alain nasreddine, brooks orpik, gary roberts, jarkko ruutu, nathan smith, jeff taffe

rfa: mark ardelan, paul bissonnette, tim brent, patrick ehelechner, daniel fernholm, jonathan filewich, marc-andre fleury, ryan stone

San jose
ufa: brian boucher, curtis brown, brian campbell, tom cavanagh, brennan evans, j.d. forrest, mike iggulden, graham mink, brad norton, sandis ozolinsh, dmitri patzold, tomas plihal, patrick rissmiller, jeremy roenick, alexei semenov, jody shelley, craig valette

rfa: riley armstrong, ryane clowe, christian ehrhoff, marcel goc, lukas kaspar, mike morris, joe pavelski, dan spang, brad staubitz, jonathan tremblay

St. louis
ufa: alex brooks, petr cajanek, micki dupont, mike glumac, mike johnson, ryan johnson, juuso riksman, martin rucinsky, yan stastny, jean-guy trudel, matt walker

rfa: david backes, chris beckford-tseu, francois-pierre guenette, martin kariya, jay mcclement, hannu toivonen, jeff woywitka

Tampa bay
ufa: mathieu darche, chris gratton, doug janik, andreas karlsson, junior lessard, craig macdonald, norm milley, andre roy, david schneider, tim taylor, kyle wanvig

rfa: jonathan boutin, ryan craig, mike egener, justin fletcher, zbynek hrdel, marek kvapil, ryan munce, alexandre picard, jay rosehill, mario scalzo jr., karl stewart

Toronto
ufa: scott clemmensen, jay harrison, david ling, dominic moore, john pohl, mats sundin, andrew wozniewski

rfa: reid cashman, alex foster, chris harrington, john mitchell, ben ondrus, jaime sifers, matt stajan, kyle wellwood

Vancouver
ufa: greg classen, brad isbister, trevor linden, drew macintyre, aaron miller, brad moran, brendan morrison, markus naslund, byron ritchie, curtis sanford, mike weaver

rfa: jozef balej, marc-andre bernier, mike brown, zach fitzgerald, colby genoway, nathan mciver, rick rypien, ryan shannon, james sharrow

Washington
ufa: dean arsene, josef boumedienne, matt bradley, frederic cassivi, matt cooke, sergei fedorov, cristobal huet, olaf kolzig, jason morgan

rfa: steve eminger, eric fehr, boyd gordon, mike green, jameson hunt, brooks laich, shaone morrisonn, stephen werner

Final Poll Results

Usual impressive job by the readers in this weeks poll which was what you would do with the Islanders first round draft pick and another great turnout.

I voted for Alex Pietrangelo and that the club should take best player available.

Zach Bogosian was the consensus along with someone out of Stamkos, Fliatov or Doughty will drop to the fifth pick.

No one felt the team would go off the board and take someone rated lower on the prospect list or that the Isles would trade down, but a few felt the team would trade up.

Final results were as follows:

Zach Bogosian D 12 (26%)
Alex Pietrangelo D 7 (15%)
Luke Schenn D 7 (15%)
Mikkel Bdker RW 1 (2%)
Colin Wilson C 3 (6%)
Kirill Petrov RW 0 (0%)
Cody Hodgson C 5 (10%)
Filatov, Stamkos or Doughty will drop to Isles 15 (32%)
Kyle Beach 1 (2%)
Isles trade down 0 (0%)
Isles trade up 2 (4%)
Isles go for offense regardless 2 (4%)
Isles take best player available 18 (39%)
Isles go off the board for another prospect 0 (0%)
Isles trade pick despite gm's comments 0 (0%

NYI Fan Central Final Review of Jeff Tambellini

Today's NYI Fan Central Final Review puts the bright spotlight on Jeff Tambellini, who scored close to forty goals in the American Hockey league in 2007-08.

For my part I'm going to do an Islander-centric review.

2007-08:
I kind of feel like I did a year ago about Jeff Tambellini. I kept writing all summer this was his make or break year where we find out if he can play at the NHL level or he is the next Justin Papineau, based on what the organization has said we still do not know.

I'm kind of disappointed the Islanders did not do more to find out from the beginning but Garth Snow/Ted Nolan are paid to put the best tweleve players on the ice and it was obvious early he was not one of them.

When Tambellini played here early (in limited minutes) he was invisible unlike Comeau and Bergenheim who did generate chances so what are they supposed to do?

I have gone across the board regarding Tambellini. I remember an early game (mid-November/Dec) he was placed with Comrie and Guerin, that line got pinned in it's own end most of two periods and could not win a puck, the next day he was back in Bridgeport and you could see the coaches frustration.

Afterward he went back to Bridgeport and dominated like I have never seen him do and I was convinced he was finally ready for the NHL to where he could make an impact and that things had changed.

He came up and outside of a goal against Philadelphia and some outside shots he never really generated anything with his speed or natutal ability. I want to see the quickness, him creating chances and using his skills.

Comeau and Bergenheim do. Colliton took a puck against the Rangers at Msg and drove to the net for a breakaway like he had the instinct. Frans Nielsen in limited looks has shown it too. Kyle Okposo in his nine games showed it also.

How come this has been missing from Jeff Tambellini's NHL game for parts of three seasons? It's like since that goal against the Devils in 2006 he has been in a fog when he comes up here or trying to impress with defense and prove he can check well.

I saw no real difference from that version of Tambellini vs the one who finished out this season playing with veterans and receiving more minutes, he is easily removed from the puck, does not do well on the board and does not seem to use his speed or is comfortable with the level of competition.

I guess what I'm writing is something is missing from his AHL game. According to Greg Logan's speculation there has been disagreements regarding Tambellini even among the players with one view being he's had his chances while others feel he needs a full opportunity.

Looking ahead:
From all reports Jeff Tambellini is a quality prospect with a lot of character who's been great for Bridgeport. He's a restricted free agent and will likely be back because the prevailing thought is he has not had a full opportunity yet but at his age it's long-overdue for him to break out so the pressure should be on from day one of camp with again no roster spot guaranteed with Comeau, Bergenheim, all left wings and none of them a first line player at this point. Jon Sim is also a left wing and that does not consider a lot of other left wingers who could be brought in.

Tambellini was traded from Los Angeles (with Denis Grebeshkov) a few years ago for Mark Parrish so it would not be the first time an organization had decided he is not going to make it.

I think this is a player management should be on the fence about because you could make a good case he is not going to develop into a top six scoring forward. He's not a player who is going to beat anyone physically or dominate in the corners and his defensive play does not seem to be NHL caliber.

Final grade:
Tambellini's Islander grade for the lack of showing his skill, speed and shot which several other prospects have is a F because he did not force Ted Nolan to give him more playing time which the other prospects did with their insticts.

I did not care about the numbers this year for Tambellini, but there is no excuse to be removed from the puck as easily as he was combined with not creating the chances Comeau and Bergenheim did with his speed or skills, it's not two years ago and his offensive intincts should be better than both those players.

Islander News Articles 5/1

St Catherines Standard : Bill Potrecz has a full feature article on Islander prospect Sean Bentivoglio about his first season in Bridgeport with his comments.

Tsn.ca: Scott Cullen has a feature called off-season game plan where he breaks down the Islanders. Only actual quotes are Ted Nolan's from an old Newsday article.

When bad media attacks

It's kind of funny to me the same Daily News that went above and beyond to report Newsday pulled a report on an Islander-Ranger game at Yankee Stadium here after Al Trautwig stuck a shoe store in his mouth and said a game involving the Islanders was confirmed was even quicker to pull a report claiming a player had a life-threatening problem.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Why didn't the Daily News just admit they made an incorrect report instead of pulling it? If the Daily News is going to call out Newsday for pulling a far less significant issue than a supposed life-threatening situtation doesn't it demand Leon Carver and his people awake from their slumber and just admit an error was made?

Just remember folks, these are some of the same people who attempt to tell us what's happening in the Islander lockeroom covering the team in a few short paragraphs for occasional home games and all of us take every word as gospel, even the speculation.

As for what happened to Avery, no one wants anyone to have an serious health issue and you hope long-term the player is ok which is all that matters. Having written that this player went straight at Rick DiPietro's head last season after his first concussion and gave him another one with no regard whatsoever for his long-term health so apparently he does not feel the same way.

I guess for some it depends on what uniform you wear each season or whether you want to rock the ambulance or shed a tear.

Folks who remember Pat Lafontaine will understand this.

Bottom line another poor day from the brutal New York Hockey media.

Newsday: Barbara Baker in Newsday asks Clark Gilles about coming back down 3-0 in a playoff series and his experience from the 1975 Islanders who were the last NHL team to accomplish this.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
The headline written vs Gillies comments are two different worlds. The Islanders not only did it against Pittsburgh but rallied a second time down 3-0 against Philadelphia to tie that series 3-3 before losing game seven. For all the lack of Islander coverage you would think Newsday would not have the budget to be bothered hunting down Clark Gillies for something this trivial considering how many teams go down 3-0 in a series. It's one thing if a team rallied to force a game seven but
at 3-0 why bother aside from it being a small footnote?

NYI Fan Central Final Review: Frans Nielsen

Today a quick review of Frans Nielsen's very brief Islander tenure in 2007-08.

2007-08:
Frans Nielsen was expected to be with the Sound Tigers for the majority of this season despite getting a look from the Isles a year ago and scoring in a big win against Montreal. He again was recalled and beginning on February 5th once again in his very limited time displayed a level of ability at both ends of the ice where he did not look out of place with the speed of the NHL game. This year he scored against Philadelphia and Pittsburgh before an injury shut him down until the final week.

Moving forward:
Frans Nielsen is at a point like Tambellini and Bergenheim, he must clear waivers to play in the AHL. Isles have a lot of centers who can play defense, a lot of wings who cannot score. He brings a nice level of grit, skill and offensive ability that needs time in the NHL with a game better suited to the NHL vs the AHL. It's tough to say but will Garth Snow give him that chance and make a spot for him or will he become the next Petteri Nokelainen which to me would be a mistake.

One thing for sure is a decision has to be made for someone who had thirty eight points in forty eight games in the AHL and now has to clear waivers. I would like to see him get a full opportunity but with Park, Bates, Hilbert, Walter and Colliton among others he's in a very big group. Some of those players have options, the Isles have to play him here or risk losing him.

To me there is something about Nielsen's game that has always stood out and part of it is an edge that Bergenheim also plays with.

Bettman, Aaron Johnson, Espn and Hejda

Cape Brenton Post: TJ Colello has Aaron Johnson's comments after being honored before tonight's World Championship exhibition game in Port Hawkesbury here where Slovenia defeated Norway 6-4.

Colmubus Dispatch: Aaron Portzline reports the Blue Jackets have re-signed defenseman Jan Hejda to a three-year contract worth $6 million.

Hejda, 29, could have become an unrestricted free agent on June 1. He’ll make $2 million per season through 2010-11. Hejda had no goals, 13 assists and a plus-20 rating that was tied for 10th-best in the NHL.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Just seeing how the market is being set for defenseman, that's why I posted this here.

Scripps Howard News Service: Ray McNulty, blames Gary Bettman for the decline of hockey because they left ESPN.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Mr McNulty is one of those former writers from the NY Post (among other publications) here who obviously had blinders on when Espn/Espn2 decided to drop most of it's hockey coverage when they still had the NHL rights to a point Gary Bettman was better off finding someone who would give the league more attention. The ratings game has been spun a lot of directions, the one the folks who are in ESPN's corner never bring up is how low ratings and coverage were on Espn/Espn2 before the lockout.

For all the abuse Mr Bettman takes he is one person. He does not own Comcast or have the right to tell the Wirtz family how to show the Blackhawks in Chicago or what Ed Snider should do with Comcast Flyers or Mike Ilitch what to do with Wings games in Detroit. You think the Six Canadian clubs care one bit about Espn?

If anyone thinks Gary Bettman does not have resistance one team sued the league for control of it's own website this year and lost.

That owner controls the rights to four NHL teams game telecasts.

There are things to blame Gary Bettman about and some of them are fair but many go beyond the commissioner who is not at fault for equipment and body training methods improving which hurt the product by making the space on the ice smaller. You have to put some things on all the owners, the NHLPA, the folks who own the rights to the games and the competition committee.

Nothing is as easy as Gary Bettman deciding this is what's he is going to do and that's final. How many times has Bettman said x owner owns the club, he gives advice when asked but he does not own x team.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio has a blog on the AHL playoffs and a few words on the Islanders/Sound Tigers heading into the World Championships.

Why can't hockey writers be questioned?

Globe & Mail: William Houston of the Globe & Mail asks his readers should Hockey Night In Canada commentator Don Cherry be allowed to put down Jermain Franklin, a TSN reporter who asked a question of San Jose Sharks coach Ron Wilson and was ridiculed on Cherry's Coach's Corner for doing so.

Mr Houston speculates at TSN, the hockey people are upset with Cherry over his denouncing Franklin on Monday night and says can you imagine TSN's Mike Milbury airing a clip of a muddled query by Hockey Night host Ron MacLean or one of dozens of leading questions by reporter Cassie Campbell, and then belittling MacLean or Campbell on the air?

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I really have nothing to write about Don Cherry, Ron MacLean or anyone else in terms of what happened in this instance. But I do have to ask why not put the print media under the spotlight and question their hockey viewpoint, what they are asking and why?

Bill Guerin jumped on a Newday writer earlier this year with the Ranger-hangover questions. It was more like the writer had Ranger hangover and after a few questions Guerin got tired of being asked. Any writer asking questions can create any theme they want to an article.

For all the talk of bloggers being fans the only difference seems to me (beyond some professional writers having their credentials) is the bloggers at least wear the teams colors in public.

Seems Newsday pays Steve Zipay to cover media, same for Richard Sandomir in the Times, Bob Raissman in the Daily News and Mr Mushnick over at the Post. Why not do articles questioning the hockey writers and their agenda with coverage and what teams they are die-hard fans of?

Over on the political channels they tell you going in when someone from a media outlet does an interview who they prefer or what party they have a vested interest in.

How come Newsday completely omits Greg Logan's tenure as a Ranger beatwriter in his profile?

I think it would be great to hire someone to watch the writers work a lockeroom and see who they like vs who they do not like and then follow the coverage. I would love to see who Greg Logan wants to speak with after games and who he goes to for quotes vs who he avoids at all costs.

You could do that with all the local hockey writers. Larry Brooks and Jay Greenberg are visibly disgusted with Rick DiPietro after beating the Rangers and are seeing complaining before leaving the Isles lockeroom without a comment.

Watching Peter Botte and the latest Post part-time writer and who they go to would be more fun than the interviews themselves.

Mr Botta could probably write a book about those kinds of experiences.

You see trends in the reporting, some seem fair, others do not. Writers can make or break players or teams and the fans take everything written (including writer speculation vs actual quotes) as gospel.

If Mr Logan wants to speculate Rick DiPietro is hurt that's fair enough
(turned out he was right) but when he's covering games and sees him playing well after the all-star game but the other team simply is scoring on good setups and only goes to the numbers to make a statistical argument he should sit, it's fair to ask is Mr Logan watching the games or was there an issue between him and the goaltender?

Anyone who thinks for a minute sportswriters do not rip players or create issues with players they do not get along with do not understand these writers want quotes, have deadlines and there are some players or teams they simply do not like.

Sports editors and publishers push these folks to stir things up as well to sell papers, a majority of this kind of coverage usually comes from that.

And sure you can bet some players want no part of some writers or any writer.

Of course Isles are not like other clubs where the writers compete with each other but still there is pressure to produce quotes and information.

In the Isles lockeroom the Newsday beatwriter can make or break you as what's written usually is what's quoted in the Canadian press and websites which gives fans their perception of a player. It's why a Radek Martinek can only be under-rated if he's playing well in league circles.

Alexei Yashin was someone who did not fill Alan Hahn's quotebook so he was not protected by the former beatwriter. Mr Hahn flat out misreported Mark Parrish signed only a one year extension in August 2005 and speculated he only took a year because of Yashin.

Sounded nice at the time but the only problem was Parrish did not sign, he signed in September just before the club left for camp. Mr Hahn was so busy running down Yashin in print (who was just named captain) he did not even bother to correct himself.

Mr Botta later ripped Alan Hahn and questioned Newsday's overall coverage back on April 7th 2006 here so it's not something new that I'm introducing here.

Same thing with Mr Logan and Ted Nolan's contract. Out of nowhere the coaches contract becomes this big issue because Mr Logan seemed to want to make it an issue. Ted Nolan said he did not have an agent but next thing we know game day coverage is not even written for articles about so-called rifts where the coach could be leaving or fired?

All Ted Nolan said was he has not met with the club about a contract extension, he was asked and gave an answer. What's the man supposed to do, lie or not answer the question? I guess he did not repeat Garth Snow's comments that management contracts are not for the public discussion.

To me that is simply poor journalism designed to stir things up and makes me question the writer. If Ted Nolan went to Mr Logan and said he feels he deserves a contract extension that's another matter and fair game.

What I do not like about Mr Logan's work most is he seemed to go out of his way to portray DiPietro as someone hurting his team by playing and created this entire issue about his games being cut back, despite playing as much as he did a year ago and facing close to two hundred less shots (something Mr Logan never wrote once) but not a single time did he write the other veterans were hurting the club by continuing to play while injured.

In fact he seemed to bend over backwards to protect the veterans in Newsday, but not Rick DiPietro. Even when Ted Nolan was blowing up at them the final days.

Doesn't that work both ways?

It's almost funny seeing Ted Nolan's answer when pressed about how many games Rick DiPietro should play next year because it's something he cannot answer for certain in advance nor should he even try. I guess that's why he jokes about him playing eight one games instead of eighty two.

I got an e-mail asking why I'm critical of Mr Logan and some of the writers recently?

All I can tell you is what I told the person who wrote me, I do things based on the article for that day. One day I can be critical, the next I have written the writer has done a good job with a lot of information. It's up to them and have credited Mr Logan for good work on a lot of occasions also. I defended Greg Logan for the headline writer making a mistake about Nolan threatening trades (which Mr Logan talked about) and I never criticize a writer for space given to them in a paper for coverage.

I see someone like Mr Fornabaio at the Ct Post and I honestly cannot recall one instance where he wrote something to stir something up. He covers the games, writes the comments and does his own speculation but I have never seen him write to create an issue.

That's why I think his work is excellent. The hockey tells the story.

Nielsen, DiPietro, Snow, Johnson & Nystrom

IIHF.com: Lucas Aykroyd reports Frans Nielen's shoulder injury will keep him out of the World Championships for Denmark.

The World Championships begin on May 2nd. It looks like Sean Bergenheim for Finland will be the only New York Islander participating.

Ottawa Citizen: Announced Tuesday the formation of the goalie equipment working group which will meet June 11th in Toronto. Rick DiPietro will be a player representative with Martin Brodeur and Ryan Miller. Garth Snow will be representing the NHL with Jim Rutherford (Carolina) Doug Risebrough (Minnesota) and Brett Hull (Dallas), Dany Heatley and Mike Cammalleri (Kings) represent the skaters.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Isles website also updated this with a quick word from Garth Snow.

Cape Brenton Post: Greg Macvicar reports on Team Norway playing Team Slovenia in International Ice Hockey Federation exhibition game tonight will honour retired Montreal Canadians forward Mike McPhee of River Bourgeois and New York Islanders defenceman Aaron Johnson of Port Hawkesbury during the ceremonial faceoff.

Calgary Sun: Randy Sportek has agent Wade Arnott's comments on his client, Eric Nystrom who is an unrestricted free agent this July with the writer speculating about the Islanders.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Sorry folks, too much Robert Nilsson/Frans Nielsen coverage has had me writing Robert in a few posts lately. Obviously it's Eric Nystrom. Hopefully he signs with the Isles so I can get his name correct if for no other reason.

Of course Robert Nystrom is Bobby Nystrom's correct name. For twenty points anyone want to take a shot at his correct middle name ?

NYI Fan Central Final Review of Andy Sutton

Today the focus shifts back to the defense with a final review of Andy Sutton.

2007-08
Have to give credit to the Islanders staff when due here because when they seemed to overpay to sign Andy Sutton who's been a defender who struggled with confidence and turnovers and played his way off of Bob Hartley's top four late last season I was very skeptical he would prove reliable. I wrote constantly about Dany Markov for those who read this blog at the time.

After a very shaky couple of weeks early, struggling with Marc-Andre Bergeron and Bryan Berard I saw nothing that made me feel differently and wondered if the club made a mistake giving this inconsistent defender who was always getting injured a three year contract? I saw a lot of bad turnovers, a player who did not look confident and a player who took some poor penalties. I liked the big hits early but if they are penalties they do not help.

Having written that after those early problems he settled in and shocked me with a level of solid play and consistent defense to where he seemed like a bargain and made the team defense stronger. He did an excellent job protecting the goaltender and looked like a great fit in the Isles defensive system and looked good with whoever he was paired with while Gervais-Campoli/Martinek-Witt were kept together.

He took the tough job as the new defender and got more out of less, he looked good with Freddy Meyer and also with Rob Davison. He looked good with whoever he was paired and it was obvious it was more important to the club for him to stay on the ice and eat up minutes with strong defensive plan than engage in fights. Offensively the system did not help him but he did have a big goal against the Devils, he seemed to pick his spots better to step up and hit but did it in a way where he did not cause a turnover or force a penalty to be taken.

When Brendan Witt went down he stepped up even more and did not miss a beat. His defense was a big part of the club's winning streak before his season ending injury against San Jose. He looked like a stopper on the backline and you could see the opposition try and get him off the ice.

Looking forward:
He's signed for the next two years and what he brings to this defense is lacking in terms of physical play and steady defenseman is this league are always a commodity.

Problem is his career resume in terms of injury does not lie and plays on a group of defenders with the same problem. If the right offer comes along for Andy Sutton who's stock should be at a high right now given his defensive play last season that improves the club how do you say no?

Of course with Brendan Witt as a pending UFA how do you move him when he seems the closest fit to Witt's game on the roster? I think we saw this player at this best and it was impressive.

Final Grade:
He did the heavy lifting as a new player with a lot of the fringe defenders and his play only got better as the season moved forward regardless of who he was paired with. For a player who was not in great demand who did not finish well in Atlanta he proved a lot of folks wrong with his consistency.

Andy Sutton gets a very solid B.

Update on " Shave to Save Campaign "

Just a quick update on the " Shave to Save Campaign " Michael Schuerlein posted about a while back on his site Isles blogger they are up to $ 2,260.00 with a May 10th goal of $ 10,000 according to their blog update here.

“Shave to Save” campaign is asking for donations that will go towards research for a cure for Multiplemyeloma here as is the network for donations.org here.

It's best you visit Mr Schuerlein's blog Islesblogger.com for the full details if you can help these folks out in any way.

Hennigar, Hillen, Aquino, Isles notables

Tsn.ca: Reports Rob Hennigar was named one of Canada's best university athletes Monday at the BLG Awards. Islanders website updated the earlier release to include Garth Snow's praise for his accomplishment while Canadian Press has Hennigar's comments.

BLG Canada.com: Gives some background as to what the Borden Ladner Gervais awards are all about and Rob Hennigar's accomplishments here.

Newsday: Katie Strang again updated the Isles blog with a Jack Hillen interview.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Could be old comments from when Hillen was here at the end of the season, tough to tell from the content but a lot more from a player who seems to be someone the Isles are going to give a chance to play full time in the NHL.

Times Herald: Notes Islander prospect Rookie of the Year Luciano Aquino in the IHL Turner Cup Finals with the Ft Wayne Komets.

Ft Wayne Journal Gazette: Justin A. Cohn has blanket coverage on the Komets and a blog.

Newsday: Mark Harrington reports on Cablevision's bid to purchase Newsday with former U.S. Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, whose Park Strategies Washington Group Llc is listed as a lobbyist for Rupert Murdoch's NY Post.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I don't think folks understand how bad a situation this is going to become.
A. The Post owns Newsday's Islander coverage.
B. Cablevision owns Newsday's Islander coverage.
C. The Daily News owns Newsday's Islander coverage.

You take a team off television or limit them only to games, knock their newspaper space down to nothing to a point they cannot market themselves and then your opposition buys the only paper in your market the Isles are going to have an impossible task to market themselves which is already nearly impossible.

They are not having these town halls just to tell us the direction on the ice, it's also because of a media who will not tell the New York Islanders story so folks will purchase tickets.

The man who talked Charles Wang into purchasing the Islanders (Al D'Amato)
and used to work the other side of the street in the past for Smg (and likely still does) now is paid by Rupert Murdoch who's Fox merger with Msg killed Islander ratings and sportschannel a decade ago?

Now Mr D'Amato wants Rupert Murdoch's NY Post (a paper without a full time Islander beatwriter) who's merger with Msg hurt the Isles on television to have ownership of Newsday so we can lose all coverage here too?

That may be the good news.

Cablevision (Charles Dolan/James Dolan) that made Islander television a necessity because they hid our team to drive down ratings also now could own the only paper that covers our team? These are the people who took over the teams television rights from Murdoch's Sportschannel and took them off television a decade ago, and hid our
playoff games on Metro. How are you going to feel knowing Msg owns the articles printed on the games?

What's next Islanders will be in Newsday plus when the new format comes out that features only the Garden-owned teams on the sports pages?

Roy Boe in 1972 did not even have these kind of roadblocks.

And the third party in this disaster is Mort Zuckerman who treats the Islanders like dirt in his Daily News and all but threw the club crumbs for coverage last season and those crumbs are getting smaller each year.

Pick your poison folks because if you think the New York Islanders are hurting now in the stands partly because of poor coverage and limited space you have not seen anything yet if one of these three entities purchase Newsday.

When Hockey mattered in New York

Good day for a little Islanders-Sound Tigers mailing list retrospective from the hockey media on 4/29/2002 after the Islanders tied Toronto 3-3 in the 2002 playoffs.

In those days only Cablevision was hiding Islander Hockey on Metro.

I'm doing this today just to remind everyone it was not too long ago hockey had a media presence in New York. Isles were getting close to or more than double digit articles in Newsday, look at the blanket coverage from top to bottom all over New York.

Back then the New York Islanders winning was very important in New York.

The links to these articles likely no longer work but if anyone wants them let me know by e-mail and I will send them.
****************************************************************************
Newsday 1: Islanders Push It to Limit Get even in many ways, force Game 7

Newsday 2: For Finale, Home is the Place to Be

Islanders 3: Mariusz Shows Up in the Nick of Time Scores first two goals of playoffs, plays physically

Newsday 4: Webb makes an impact at home, on the road.

Newsday 5: Ow, Canada, Leafs still offer hope

Newsday 6: NHL will not evolove until flagrants are fouls

Newsday 7: Peca shoots from hip on check

Newsday 8: Wang: Tucker was trying to hurt Peca

Newsday 9: Coliseum crew pulls off quick makeover

Newsday 10: Not a total loss: Travis Green on Leafs

Newsday 11: Maple Leafs say, Flu bug as tiring as Isles wining

NY Post 1: Isles lay into Leafs

NY Post 2: Gave of their lives

NY Post 3: League won't hit Leafs for cheap shots

Daily News 1: Isles get mad, even

Daily News 2: Yashin unbelievable

Daily News 3: Campbell swallows his whistle

NY Times: Isles force game seven

NY Times 2: Leagues soft power aides Leafs strategy

NY Times 3: Fans booing anthem need a penalty box

Toronto Sun 1: Leafs fail to sink Isles: Tucker credits the Isles grit

Toronto Sun 2: Isles PP proves the difference

Toronto Sun 3: Injury intent denied

Toronto Sun 4: Hits were hard but not dirty: NHL

Toronto Sun 5: Peca pining for clear-cut suspension laws

Toronto Sun 6: Isles, Leafs have battle scars

Toronto Sun 7: Strong Case for defence

Toronto Sun 8: Corson accused of a kick

Toronto Sun 9: Leafs knocked off their game plan

Toronto Sun 10: Maple Leaf is abused on Island

Toronto Sun 11: Superpest adds his two cents: Steve Webb

Toronto Sun 12: Game seven loss to Devils lingers for Leafs

Toronto Sun 13: Isles feeling loose

Toronto Sun 14: Isles watch

Toronto Sun 15: Leafs watch: Mixed bag on Baby Leafs-SoundTigers and Cujo's birthday

Toronto Star 1: Get Ready for a Wild one

Toronto Star 2: Leafs, Isles doing nothing for the game of hockey

Toronto Star 3: Isles frustrate Leafs and get to Joseph

Toronto Star 4: Lumme finds home with Leafs

Toronto Star 5: Leaf chances are being killed on penalties

Toronto Star 6: Battle of Tawdry hockey goes to Isles

Toronto Star 7: TV smelled blood so real, that other stories got overlooked.

Islander News Articles 4/28

Calgary Sun: Steve MacFarlane has an interview with Rob Hennigar, what his experience was like coming to the Islanders and what Ted Nolan said to him about training camp.

Daily Gleaner: Also reports Rob Hennigar finds out tonight if he's the top male athlete in Canadian Interuniversity Sport at the 16th annual BLG Awards dinner in Calgary.

The Sault Star:
Ben Leeson reports Ted Nolan was on hand to help open the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships and is a planned guests for Thursday's award dinner with Bryan Trottier.

Calgary Sun: Mr MacFarlane also does some speclation on Eric Nystrom who is an unrestricted free agent and mentions the Isles.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Nystrom is a year older than Bergenheim for those wondering why two players from the same draft class have different free agent status.

Newsday:
Daniel Wagner had a few words on the Marriot Hotel which is tied to Charles Wang.

For those asking nothing updated on Kim Johansson or Robin Figren from the Europan Prospect sites.

Updated 4:00pm:
Islanders website: Also linked to the Calgary Sun article on Hennigar, tonights BLG dinner with comments from Garth Snow.

Isles left wing lock

It's very interesting looking at the Isles on the left side and wonder where they go from here in terms of free agency?


They simply do not seem to have any openings on the current roster unless a Jeff Tambellini, Sean Bergenheim or Blake Comeau were traded.

Of course given what the organization has said all three should be on the roster come training camp come September. In Tambellini's case if he is resigned as a restricted free agent (as is Bergenheim) he no longer can play in the AHL without clearing waivers.

And here is where it gets very tricky given the Islanders have constantly said Tambellini cannot be a fourth line player.

Bergenheim
Comeau
Sim
Tambellini
Hilbert
Park
Bates
Regier
Joensuu (played left wing in his Bridgeport debut)

We know the top four here with Sim all are natural left wingers and how Comeau struggled when moved to the right side. Unless Hilbert is moved or is the fourth line center where is there an opening?

I did not even mention Fedotenko.

The right side even without Satan goes into the summer with Guerin & Hunter signed.
If Okposo does make the NHL roster there goes another spot.

Seems like Isles are locked in on the left side.

Preliminary WC Rosters Bergenheim & Nielsen

International Ice Hockey Federation: Released all preliminary rosters for the upcoming World Championships that begin this week which include Sean Bergenheim for Finland and Frans Nielsen for Denmark.

Denmark had fifteen forwards listed, Finland thirteen.

Please note that the official player entry procedure begins on May 1 at the first directorate meeting which means this is subject to change.

No other players who are currently Islander players/prospects are listed, including Russian players/prospects.

So what will Isles do with Fabian Brunnstrom?

Just a fun question for a Sunday afternoon.

I would think unless the Isles overwhelm him with money to where he does not mind playing in Bridgeport one of the things for signing here would be a guaranteed top six forward spot.

One his agent says he may not be ready for at this time with others saying he could be a bust.

Cue Mark Gandler (Bergenheim's agent) and Jeff Tambellini's agent because they are going to want to have a talk with Garth Snow if he spends that kind of money as their clients are restricted.

So let's just speculate for a moment Isles do win his rights and sign him.

What Islander left wing is Garth Snow trading for him to get his spot on the team next year? Bergenheim, Comeau, Tambellini or Sim are the left wings and all must play at this level or go through waivers.

Is Comeau going back to the right side where he looked lost last year and play the fourth line if Okposo makes the club. Is Bergenheim or Comeau moving to center?

We all know Guerin and Hunter are not playing fourth line.

What makes me laugh most is reading the papers. Toronto, Detroit, Philadelphia, Vancouver among others all have their media people out lobbying for him coming to their team or they already claim their club has an inside track.

How can all those teams have the inside track? Someone has to be on the outside.

Newsday?
If the Isles do bid Garth Snow may have to talk to a paper in another town before we get an answer to that one even though Katie Strang on the Newsday blog is making a nice effort to update us on peripheral items.

If they want to impress me get a quote from Garth Snow saying the Isles made a bid or declined to make a bid. If he's twenty three he should fit a team working in prospects somewhere.