New York Islander Fan Central | 10/11/2008 11:00:00 AM
St Louis Blues
Islanders website: Has the preview for tonight's home opener against the St Louis Blues.
St Louis Post-Dispatch had two updates on the Blues season opening win along with who may be in goal tonight as they travel to New York here.
NYI Fan Central Comments: Speculating on the lines and lineups these days simply is just a waste of time for everyone. The team is keeping things internal so all we can do is play the guessing game which I'm not going to indulge in too much at all.
We'll know when the puck drops unless the club releases something otherwise, I would not count on that happening.
Having written that, I know a lot of folks see the home opener as a huge game.
For myself if it means Joey MacDonald again starts you do what has to be done to keep your franchise goaltender healthy long-term. If that means a game in Bridgeport for DiPietro or him sitting in the stands only taking pucks at practice for the next few weeks you do whatever it takes so that he is in the best position to be successful.
There are only three games in the next eleven days after tonight. DiPietro can have his own preseason camp any way they wish to do this for the next little stretch with his first game 10/23.
I want to briefly expand on a few points I brought up yesterday on Hockey Night on LI.
Nate Thompson comes here as a center with some enforcer skills as part of his resume which is an element lacking among this group of forwards and with Josh Bailey apparently injured again that's where Thompson fits yesterday.
Blake Comeau did not play a single game as a center last season so forget any comparison between both these players or that Comeau was benched for Thompson, this is not a video game, players have to play their natural position.
Fact is Bailey got hurt and the real loser here was Jeremy Colliton, who the club kept starting at center last weekend. Snow and Gordon opted for Thompson over recalling Colliton when Bailey got re injured.
I do not like the fact Comeau did not dress based on last season but it's a new season with a new coach and a new system so we have no idea what happened in camp or at summer camp for that matter.
We'll have to hope Comeau adjust better to Scott Gordon's system and wins him over when he gets his opportunity as Bergenheim did under Ted Nolan. This also means for the moment (or at least game one) Mike Comrie played some shifts on the left side (Comeau's side) if you watched closely Comrie was spotted for a few shifts in the middle.
Is Comrie still hurting so that's why he's on the left side? Why was he with Park and Hilbert who are not going to score enough to trust long-term? I don't know.
Maybe Scott Gordon is not a fan of Comrie's defense down the middle vs Nielsen and is falling into the trap of expecting Park and Hilbert to score or just feels their defense is critical?
I'm glad the information was incorrect on Gervais sitting but Pock has displayed better offensive skills so it may come down to what the coach wants from game to game. Gervais stepped into a point shot last night. Martinek got a powerplay look with his right-handed shot to offset Mark Streit's left-handed shot.
Blues come in with injuries and off a season opening win.
Updated: Tsn.ca: Reports Islander goaltender Rick DiPietro has swelling and fluid around his surgically repaired left knee which Greg Logan has a blog update in at Newsday here.
NYI Fan Central Comments: If someone is called up the problem is worse than expected, if not he will take his shots and participate in the warmup or start. Obviously Mr Logan is a bit frustrated at the injury policy but given the mistakes his headline writers have made in coverage along with a lot of over the top negative reporting from the staff at Newsday why should the Islanders be anything but conservative with information they release?
Updated 5pm: Sportsnet.ca: Reports DiPietro will miss his second straight game tonight but the injury is considered day to day and he is expected to start Monday against the Buffalo Sabres.
Sound Tigers website: Has a preview for tonight's game in Albany that also includes an update on the radio/webcast problems that folks may have had listening to the opener against Philadelphia.
First of all my Thanks once again to Alex and Steve from Hockey Night on LI for inviting me to appear on their season opening program. As always I had a great time talking New York Islander hockey with them and they do an exellent job with the program. They will be on again Saturday at 3:30pm with the second of the double-header home opening weekend.
At the time we did the show yesterday, we did not know the lineup or injury situation as even folks in the media did not know until the club took the ice.
All Hockey Night on LI programs are featured on the sidebar of NYIFC for those who could not listen live. *********************************************************************** My Point Blank: Mr Botta as always had a ton of upstanding updates for the opener, the weekly radio show he does at 1050Espn will be on tape delay Saturday from from 5:30 - 6:30 pm and include Islander general manager Garth Snow among the guest. *********************************************************************** On the blog box front to this point the club has not announced it's newest addtions to the group. I noted they took out the bloggers who decided not to return so I guess they are ready to add the new members in when they can.
Last year I was the last blog added in November and at the time I was told because of all the work behind the scenes it took a lot of time to put the blog box together so for those waiting for an answer please be a little patient.
I will add the feeders to all the new members blogs when available so you can read everyone's latest entries here. My suggestion was they add a lot of blogs because you cannot have enough hockey content, I would go at least twenty deep. *********************************************************** On the poll front the basement is off to an early lead with Comeau on the sidelines making my sixth place projection not look very good. It's early and I suspect he will win over this coach but it's not the best of starts.
I understand folks have been virtually posioned by the media about this club, all I know is they were in sixth last January and made four of the last six playoffs with about as flawed a club you can have and still did not come apart until they won another six games in a row to be right there at the trade deadline.
I have seen enough Islander seasons where they were double-digit points out by thankgiving, we saw that in 05-06 by the end of the year.
Of course for those who watched the opener they saw a club that hardly looked like a fifteenth place team. ************************************************************ Finally New York Islander Fan Central is making a small change of it's own that should be visible now for everyone.
We have claimed our own domain with the official name changing to www.newyorkislanderfancentral.com
Hopefully blogger still lets folks redirect from blogspot for those who have bookmarked or link directly here but just in case I thought I would tell everyone so you know where the find us in case it does not work the same for you.
Newsday: Greg Logan's article had comments from Doug Weight, Joey MacDonald, Kyle Okposo and head coach Scott Gordon.
Newsday: Mark Herrmann's stir the pot article was basically on how Scott Gordon learns quickly not taking chances with the franchise player as he looked back at last year. Scott Gordon who credited Joey MacDonald for how well he played along. Joey MacDonald who talked about his coach and how they told him to be ready.
Newsday: Greg Logan's other article was all about DiPietro and what they are going to do to keep him healthy along with the decision-making process in whether he plays.
NYI Fan Central Comments: I understand DiPietro not playing is a big story, but so is Frans Nielsen, Tambellini, Hillen and the game itself. Between the Newsday blog updates on the DiPietro can we please get more on the young players who have to hit the net or any discussion of any goaltender is moot. About two and a half articles were about a player who did not play last night.
NY Post: Mark Everson's Devil-Centric article had more from Scott Gordon on starting Joey MacDonald but no Islander article.
Daily News: Kristie Ackert had Devils centric article-only.
For those wondering this is how an Associated Press article is supposed to read here.
Note-Islander fans with Time Warner Cable in New York City did not have the game on Msg+2 live.
Star-Phoenix: Reported Islander prospect Jyri Niemi made an unexpected regular-season debut for Saskatoon who was expected to sidelined for two more weeks after he was injured at training camp finished the game plus-one, with one assist and two penalty minutes.
Sound Tigers.com: Reports Bridgeport also lost 2-1 to the Phantoms on Friday with Mike Iggulden scoring the lone Bridgeport goal.
Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio has comments from head coach Jack Capanuo and Trevor Smith on the loss along with a full blog entry with line combos and notes here.
Islanders website: Has the recap of Friday's 2-1 loss to the Devils with head coach Scott Gordon's comments on how his club performed along with the status of goaltender Rick DiPietro while Doug Weight also had a few comments.
NYI Fan Central Comments: What can be said folks, they had the penalty shot off some great effort by Okposo a few post/crossbars by the player who cannot be counted on to finish in Richard Park and mostly played an even game but did not make the most of it's powerplays which they put in some good work to draw.
Sim took the puck and went right at Brodeur off the wing, Tambellini got involved and was out in the final seconds with Nielsen.
MacDonald gave them every chance to stay in the game with a few big saves, second Devils goal clearly looked like goaltender interference.
I'm not surprised the Islanders played Thompson over Comeau, one plays center, the other does not. Comrie moved around a little. No idea MacDonald would start but at this point you go as slow as you have to with DiPietro and keep him healthy.
This is Scott Gordon's team, he's going to move players around and we'll see how things play out with Comrie and Comeau and we have no idea where Comrie is with his injury from a year ago or how Comeau looked in practice or if something injury is up with him.
A few mistakes on the backline and some good plays by the Devils but Islanders did a solid job overall, game hardly looked like a mismatch. Overall the Islanders defense was solid and Witt had one big hit early.
Simply put they could not finish or could not get that bounce beyond the first goal, that was a game they needed to get a point from based on how they played.
New York Islander Fan Central | 10/10/2008 06:07:00 AM
New Jersey Devils
NHL.com: Has the early preview for tonight's game against the Devils in Newark along with the Islanders website here.
Note-If things run as they have in the past Time Warner will not cover the Islanders version of the telecast live or activate it Msg+2 telecast. You can watch that on replay that finally makes Msg+ deep into the night or tomorrow afternoon.
According to the TV guide there will be no Islander pregame shows, the Devils apparently for tonight will have one, the Islanders will not have one tomorrow and no Islander post game after the home opener.
Cablevision/Newsday's Neil Best (long time Ranger fan) confirms here with his usual indifference and dig at the problem about what he plans to do about it.
NYI Fan Central Comments: Islanders have had a lot of good games against the Devils but a lot of this roster is still in training camp mode recovering from injury with a goaltender who is seeing pucks for the first time with any regularity since March. Questions with regard to the health of key veterans are all over this lineup with Comrie on a fourth line in practice. Comeau and Gervais on paper seem the odd player out based on some practices but that's a guess along with Bailey and a lot of other things.
What I do not have to guess at for the moment is Sim-Weight-Guerin are one line and Tambellini-Nielsen-Hunter are another. Hillen and Pock seem the big winners for spots in the top six and Meyer seemed to play very well from reports.
Preseason is never a good indicator but the Isles did compete with mostly a regular Devil lineup last week (without Brodeur) I guess we start there.
We actually get to see a game live on television, it's only been about six months for anyone without a computer.
As for Neil Best I still have audio tapes of 1981 semi-finals, always fun listening to the Islander fans cheering a sweep at Msg with Barry Landers and Jean Potvin going wild.
Just thank us for the rivalry saving the Rangers from moving to NJ back then as Msg bleed red ink. ******************************************* I will be appearing on Hockey Night on LI with Alex and Steve at 5pm for those who would like to listen or call in here.
Win or lose tonight I will not have a recap or articles on this game until Saturday morning.
Newsday: Greg Logan's article has head coach Scott Gordon's comments on the success of his system throughout his coaching career while the beatwriter looks at the injures and provides speculation on the lines combinations.
NYI Fan Central Comments: Scott Gordon is going to coach the way he knows how and stick to his concepts or he is the wrong coach for the team regardless of the injuries, for now he will try and get his club healthy and balance out four lines any way possible.
Best circumstances to start a season? Absolutely not, but after the way the first weekend started a year ago I hope our newer fans have learned never judge a book by it's cover.
Newsday: Mark Herrmann's mostly worthless filler article is about arcane numbers with the only value the occasional quote from the players on the few peripheral items that relate.
NYI Fan Central Comments: Instead of this numbers article we needed more on the line combinations, why Comrie is on a left wing with two fourth line player and what numbers are being called on the powerplay and shorthanded.
Newsday: Greg Logan has an interview with the newest Islander, Nate Thompson and did a little backtracking on the other first rounders like Filatov who he wrote were NHL ready the other day because he has been sent down at this time.
He also had a few words on the hit on Chris Lee that did not produce a suspension to Florida’s Rostislav Olesz and wondered because he was ok if that was the reason.
NYI Fan Central Comments: I did not see the Florida game but did the webcast/radio thing. Newsday did not report live on the game the next day. We finally got the ITV version on Thursday after this was already decided. Perhaps if Newday had a writer in Florida to tell the story and demanded action it would have influenced the league to suspend the player as we see often with media who demand action.
If this happened against the Leafs five writers would have been demanding suspension Monday night, all day Tuesday it would have produced a fan outcry on Colin Campbell's doorstep after it hit the radio shows that likely would have seen some action or at least an explanation.
Instead Mr Logan only mildly questioned the decision in a blog entry long after it had been decided.
Cannot blame the age of the Nassau Coliseum on this one.
Not good enough Newsday/Mr Logan.
For those keeping score at home that's about four articles on Nate Thompson with comments and that's excellent. Having written this the player who may just beat out Bruno Gervais from a spot in the top six on defense picked up on waivers a week ago still had not said one word in print on the teams website or in the local paper.
I don't know about anyone else but I would love to read a quote or two from Thomas Pock at this point or does he enter the Martinek-coverage zone?
Daily News: New Ranger beatwriter Michael Obernauer (big time Ranger fan according to his opening blog) produced a postage stamp article who had a few recycled words from head coach Scott Gordon's August press conference about winning the Stanley Cup but then the writer immediately brought up DiPietro's contract, not his all-star appearance last season.
NYI Fan Central Comments: Please take off that Ranger jersey when you write about our team. I do not expect a full time writer assigned to Saturday's home opener because I have never seen more indifference from the News toward the club.
NY Post: Dan Martin has a season preview where he feels the club will not stay in contention as long as it did a year ago that had no quotes from anyone but did look at the roster by position.
NY Post: Mark Everson I guess gave the Islanders-Devils somewhat of a shared preview for tonight's game with little more than Brent Sutter's comments about his club has struggled against both New York teams.
Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio's article is on Bridgeport's special teams with comments from assistant captain Joe Callahan along with head coach Jack Capuano who talks about his team and the decisions behind naming his assistant captains.
Ct Post: Micheal Fornabaio previews Friday's season opening game against the Phantoms in Philadelphia.
Bridgeport Sound Tigers at Philadelphia Phantoms WHEN -- Tonight, 7:05 WHERE -- Spectrum, Philadelphia ON THE AIR -- Webcast and Internet pay-per-view at www.soundtigers.com C Ben Walter (knee), C Micheal Haley (hand) and D Chris Lee (head) are all out for the weekend with Pascal Morency still sorting through immigration paperwork to sort and a contract to sign.
Bridgeport plays it's next game in Albany on Saturday.
AP: Ira Podell had comments from Bill Guerin, who disputed the media predictions about the club along with past knocks about management with his opinion this is a playoff team that can surprise next spring while Rick DiPietro discussed his surgeries as summer maintenance as he also defended the clubs record.
Mike Comrie talked about the young players while head coach Scott Gordon felt this team has to play more in the offensive zone because they were working well, but too long in the defensive zone a year ago.
NYI Fan Central Comments: I thought the AP was only supposed to put the quotes in the article? Instead Ira Podell writes Bill Guerin comments are about bravado, competitive spirit, or sheer denial and then writes about the clubs relevance?
That to me is over the line for the Associated Press.
Not the first time I have noticed this New York based AP Hockey writer get in a few shots at the club or not let the comments tell the story.
A little surprising Ira Podell's stat based argument went nowhere near the club leading the league in injuries or that the club was in sixth place last January.
Isn't the AP supposed to tell us the entire story, especially when they decided to discuss stats and players lost along with the standings?
I'm glad Bill Guerin defended his team and the management, some of this is out of hand and over the line. In my opinion (and I post all these articles) it sure seemed the core players on this team told the AP writer here a lot more than they have seemed willing to tell Newsday since camp started.
The real value in this article through head coach Scott Gordon inadvertently is we are picking up more and more of what he felt last year's team did not do well which had to come from the tapes of games and the hockey staff.
Newsday: Anthony Rieber had an interview with Josh Bailey's general manager in Windsor, Warren Rychel where he talked about the teams captain playing at the NHL level and that fans in Windsor will have a nice choice on Monday when both teams play.
Of course the important news of the day was Bailey left practice left practice on Thursday with an undisclosed injury as Mr Botta had more on from the teams practice on this but the team is not release details per policy.
NYI Fan Central Comments: Sure hope Bailey finally gets a chance here completely healthy, no doubt this means all bets are off for when/if he plays.
It also means Scott Gordon needs to tone down it's only the players from last years roster getting injured in drills mantra.
Mr Rieber got his implied message in about the Islanders keeping him here for PR purposes, no doubt about that. Rychel got his message out too asking why the fans could not see the exhibition game in New York.
First a full article from Mr Baumbach, now Mr Rieber? It beats their blog entries based on no information at all but given their past work it's a matter of when before they start beating all over the club for any reason they can find.
That's what they told us this summer themselves.
Newsday: Greg Logan has a blog update on Josh Bailey's new injury, the ramifications to the line combinations and what this means for Nate Thompson who plays center with Blake Comeau seemingly not on a set line.
Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio's blog updates the injuries and line combinations at Thursday's practice. Mark Wotton will remain as captain. Tim Jackman is one assistant, Jeremy Colliton and Joe Callahan alternating the other A depending on home vs road.
Anchorage Daily News: Doyle Woody has an article from the hometown paper on the newest Islander, Nate Thompson about being claimed on waivers, Scott Gordon from working together in Providence along with what's ahead and why he will wear the #45 for New York.
Boston Globe: Fluto Shinzawa has comments from Bruins assistant general manager Jim Benning along with head coach Claude Julien who had high praise for Thompson who the team tried to trade but according to Benning, there were other teams besides the Islanders who were interested in claiming Thompson.
On July 28, the Bruins re-signed Thompson to a one-year, $500,000 contract, according to the writer he had a strong training camp, serving mostly as a fourth-line center and penalty killer.
NYI Fan Central Comments: Always love finding articles from hometown papers on players, and comments from the organization that let him go. Classy stuff again from the Bruins.
Make your own judgements where he plays here, fourth line center/penalty killer.
Simply put if you do not follow New York Islander Hockey on a regular basis. only look at the standings on the final day of the season or only accept what a lot of professional reporters who cannot name five current players tell you but start with DiPietro's contract or the late nineties to supplement their lack of current knowledge this preview is not for you.
A lot of folks live for the page view/shock jock game and write things to simply get your attention or frankly to help generate interest in themselves as the club gets caught up in the middle of that avalanche far too often. Those folks will also provide the eye-candy pictures or jokes as they attempt to make a style based analysis that goes beyond any peripheral substance they can attempt to provide.
Truth is there is no comfort for a lot of the media in a substance based discussion of the current New York Islanders, worst of all this level of reporting has worn down a lot of long-time fans and influenced their viewpoint to where in the absence of quality coverage will now accept virtually anything in it's absence.
With that we begin our preview. ************************************************************************************* Last year when I did my 2007-08 preview I projected the New York Islanders to be a sixth place club.
At the time I felt the players imported would make up for the scoring lost with the returning players producing more. Satan, Hunter were in contract years, had the ability to improve and when I was done checking the numbers the Islanders on paper had replaced most of the scoring the club decided not to resign or could not resign in the case of Ryan Smyth.
On paper it looked good but either the system used by Ted Nolan or the talent was not up to that task from day one as most of the new players or returning forwards simply could not produce on a regular basis. Sillinger, Hunter and Satan did not pick up the scoring slack while at best we saw uneven performances from Comrie, Fedotenko, Guerin as most forwards had scoring slumps of twenty games or longer.
Garth Snow and Ted Nolan had most of October for this group to adjust with all the downtime or solve it's problems with players from other organizations, it simply did not improve with the coach constantly pointing out this club did not have the talent to compete in a wide-open game.
The group scored two goals or less fourteen games in a row when they were almost fully healthy (aside from John Sim) and only had eleven first period goals into mid-December. Many nights the club needed to get into the second period to generate a quality chance with a team defense that was terrible at even strength which was the virtual opposite of it's 06-07 counterpart.
The powerplay was one of the worst in franchise history just as prone to allow a chance with the man advantage as they could generate one that allowed fifteen goals with it's powerplay.
Having written about all this downside, where were the the 2007-08 New York Islanders were in January of 2008? Sixth Place.
They not only competed well in the Atlantic but very well dominating the Devils and Rangers, never looking out of place aside from it's special teams against Philadelphia which was self-inflicted too many games with respect to the Flyers talent.
Finally the flu produced one seven game losing streak that dropped the club out of it's playoff spot and despite a six game winning streak that pushed them back to within two points of eighth at the deadline, more injuries hit that finally were enough to send the club into a tailspin that they could not get out of with a lot of players unable to continue or playing hurt or ineffective during the final weeks.
From here on for the purposes of this preview lets get beyond Ted Nolan vs Garth Snow, both lied to the fans about their ability to work together.
A new coach is here in Scott Gordon but forgetting any coaches system or the usual fluff players give to the media about a new coach during the honeymoon period lets get down to talent and what players should be capable of doing under any coach which is why they are in the NHL.
Where will the 2008-09 New York Islanders Finish? If they get over the injury problems still lingering from last season Sixth in Eastern Conference.
You wrote this is a group that lost sixty plus goals from the lowest scoring club in the league, sounds like a homer preview already NYIFC?
No pulling punches, if they cannot shake these injuries and improve their overall scoring and team play as a group, a playoff spot will not happen. I will explain why I think the scoring and team play can and should improve.
Anyone who watched the games last season know Blake Comeau and Sean Bergenheim outplayed and outworked the veterans on their lines far too many nights which even Bill Guerin acknowledged by the time the season was over.
This was not a situation where they were holding back veterans but exactly the opposite and both are at a point they can and should produce as the NHL game slows down for them at this level. Jeff Tambellini is also at that same point with his offensive skill or he will not be here much longer regardless of his contract. Kyle Okposo seems capable of doing this at a younger age as he generates chances and is a huge factor in this projection. Frans Nielsen was drafted in 2003 and has been playing against NHL veterans in tournaments for years. From early preseason reviews combined with his earlier cameo's with the club he is ready to play at this level and should contribute.
Josh Bailey for as long as he hangs around is a wild card and we'll see if his skills translate to this level.
Overall it was a quiet preseason for these players aside from Nielsen's four point game in Summerside but still the club went 4-3, this was a schedule that was more about getting healthy for many including Bergenheim and Tambellini.
I do not expect any passengers from these players desperate to prove themselves and build on what they been doing for years to get to this level, if not there are players hungry for an opportunity, the depth has not been this good in a long time and just as important a lot of that depth starting with Jeremy Colliton, Ben Walter and others are at a point they make it or move on.
Bottom line these young players will do more things that do not always appear on a score sheet to win a sixty minute hockey game that last year's group were not capable of doing. This will offset some of the numbers as they produce their share of offense while continuing to improve.
Veterans and Scoring? It was a big hit to lose Jon Sim's speed, aggressive play and seventeen goals last year but no one should mistake him for a top six reliable scoring forward. Some media wrote about this but most did not, Sim seems to have fully recovered from his knee injury which is like signing an UFA who replaces one of the departing veterans numbers and hopefully can improve the club in other areas which was one of the reasons he was signed in the first place.
Doug Weight comes here and the questions are whether he was the fifty point player at this time a year ago or the player he was in Anaheim at the end of last season as a healthy scratch? Does he still has his passing skills and powerplay vision? If he is a fifty point player and can still set up a powerplay that should more than offset the uneven play Josef Vasieck provided in what seemed a season where he performed to his ceiling but still went almost thirty games between goals. if not someone is going to take Weight's spot because there are a lot of centers in this organization waiting for a chance along with the possible return of Mike Sillinger at some point.
Bill Guerin now has his friend and former teammate again at his side, coming back off a full year as captain acclimated once again with the Eastern Conference and a top six role expecting to produce more and reportedly ready to jump on anyone not pulling his weight. It's a more settled situation for him than a year ago that should provide him confidence to play within his capabilities as he often talked about his own confidence a year ago as he struggled to start and finished playing injured. He still has his shot off the wing and flashes of speed when it's time to get to high quality areas to make a play. Last year he spent far too long in low percentage shooting spots waiting for the puck to come his way, was that the system or a players declining skills?
Mike Comrie came here wanting to be the go to player on offense and a first line player, regardless how that plays out expect the most skilled offensive talents with the most upside on his wings whatever line it's called on paper that should push his play to it's highest level. He has to be healthy and should come in like Guerin with something to prove because this player only seemed to scratch the surface on the leagues lowest scoring club a year ago with his forty nine points.
Trent Hunter knows he can and should score more, his overall hard work should help the speed, skill around him produce and return the puck to him where he can be most effective. On paper this reads well, on the ice it has to happen and should because there is still an expectation of what we saw in 2003-04 before his knee on knee with Sean Brown. Hunter is the template for the kind of the character player this organization wants to build it's core around.
This time around I expect Richard Park and Andy Hilbert will be placed in roles realistic for their career production. No coach is going to make them consistent scorers unless Scott Gordon and Garth Snow get an amazing bonus that goes outside their respective career resumes. I do not see these players in this teams top nine forwards, if they are in those roles for any extended time the team will not be successful or in playoff contention unless it's in a defensive role to close out games the club is leading. We'll see where and how newly acquired Nate Thompson fits the mix as a center/winger but obviously Scott Gordon wanted him here with his speed and a physical element combined with AHL scoring ability.
Powerplay/Shorthanded: Too early to tell but virtually nothing short of declining the powerplay would be worse than last year with a unit that allowed fifteen goals with it's man advantage and turned the momentum of several games to the opposition's favor as it took the ice. Mark Streit, Jack Hillen along with Chris Campoli's eventual return and Weight's powerplay talents combined with more chances from the skilled, faster young payers has to get the other clubs defense running around down low to wear them down.
Can Weight and Streit's vision/ability to make a play create more time and open space for this unit that keeps the opposition off balance and backing in? I think so and not because Garth Snow said he solved his powerplay by signing the former Hab.
Streit sounds like a very bright player who knows how to create a chance and has improved every season since coming to the NHL, he's one element to the solution.
All I do know is nothing could be worse than Richard Park, Bill Guerin or Miroslav Satan on the point last year as the unit looked desperate and concerned about turnovers which also included Berard, Bergeron, Campoli and a host of players still here who got a look but seemed lost when the opportunity came for them to get a chance. It would not even shock me to see Snow sign Berard now that he has been released from the Flyers to improve his depth.
The powerplay is going to improve because it's not possible for it to be any worse than it was a year ago, regardless of how little Scott Gordon has had to work on his special teams.
Shorthanded this group has several players who do well in this role that were solid last season that are back, I see no major weakness on paper with this unit to begin the season but over time we will find out trends for 2008-09.
Defense: Last year this club dropped it's shots against by 198.
The media forgot to pick up on that like they forget the club was in sixth place in January or ignored the six game winning streak when they got past the flu but as flawed as last year's club was they did manage to do this and should do even better now because it's a deeper group with virtually everyone signed for at least two years.
The injuries that define the individual resume of the defense are back with Chris Campoli, Andy Sutton already out and a waiver (Thomas Pock) claimed, if injuries go four or five deep all bets are off on the clubs success but you can write this about practically any team.
Starting from there this overall group even with it's current injuries is far deeper defensively than last year's version that was even more unsettled at the beginning a year ago waiting to sign Berard before he got hurt, Sutton's early struggles, Bergeron inconsistent along with Johnson not getting a chance before a practice injury put him out along with Freddy Meyer landing on waivers as he sat around and did not get an opportunity.
Radek Martinek and Brendan Witt with his new three year contract are steady and at times outstanding at shutting down star players as they move the puck well out of danger area's while Witt is also a shot blocking machine who not only plays big, but smart as he draws penalties and frustrates the opposition and leads by example. Witt's game rubbed off well on Sutton for a good stretch of the second half as other clubs tried to get him off the ice because he simply made solid defensive plays and kept the opposition off balance. Freddy Meyer finally got his chance to show what he could do and from early indications seems to have picked up where he left off as not only a very steady defender but someone who can make a hit and raise his game. Mark Streit and Thomas Pock will have to adjust to a new team but overall the returning group settled in very well last season, were effective when healthy and should pick up where they left off individually.
Bruno Gervais will be an interesting call as to where he fits Scott Gordon's depth chart which alone explains how much deeper this group is because when healthy this is a very solid defender who knows how to work the corner and clear the zone. Jack Hillen by all reports seems to belong as this level and provides an offensive element others lack that will give this college player a chance sooner, not later as Garth Snow seems to feel signing him was like getting an extra first rounder which I do agree with.
Speed: Beyond the injuries this is the biggest concern.
Scott Gordon can talk overspeed every single day but you can only get so much speed and positioning out of some players. This was a group that broke down last year that did not play with speed. During this camp his players broke down from a practice routine that even had him quoted as saying he has never seen anything like it and pointed to last years returning players prior habits which has to be a red flag.
The Islanders are going to travel more, play more games against the Western Conference and they are going to have to keep up and adapt from the style of the Atlantic. This is where we will get our best indication about whether this club can compete and I do feel the younger players have that extra step last year's team lacked which will have a positive effect.
Toughness/Fighting/Enforcer: I see these elements not as how many fights by appointment a club can win after a goal to change momentum, but how many hits they can make to frustrate the opposition into retaliation penalties and then put them away with powerplay goals. Whether it's Mitchell Fritz, Tim Jackman, Witt, Sutton, Comrie, Guerin or DiPietro fighting it will happen as it happens.
This is not the NHL of Gillies, Howatt any longer with bench clearing brawls, this group seems to take some hits but also seems able to dish them out. I see it as a wash over eighty two games and if anyone has watched Bergenheim, Sim and Comeau all three know when and how to initiate a hit and have a bit of a nasty edge. Hunter is never shy about finishing his checks but is not a big open ice hitter. Witt and Sutton at times pick their spots.
Goaltending: Rick DiPietro has to stay healthy for this club to have a chance at a playoff spot. He begins the season with virtually no game play aside from one exhibition game where the rust showed on a goal or two and only now is seeing his first pucks since March. Last year he backstopped a club that scored two goals or less fourteen games in a row into sixth place last January and keyed a six game winning streak with his second half play after starting the All-Star game and like many players on this roster hung in with injuries as long as the could. At his best DiPietro almost adds a third defender who's stick-handling was improved last season but only got attention once again for his mistakes from the media that make his contract and personality an issue for their own reasons, not for how he performs as one of the best goaltenders in the league according to future Hall of Fame goaltender Martin Brodeur.
What's different this year is DiPietro will have far more second half breaks than he had after last year's huge break in October. Last year this team did not have one three day break after mid-December the rest of the season but now the club will also spending more time traveling so making a set schedule for the goaltenders play this far in advanced simply is not realistic despite the articles about it.
Joey MacDonald can both play at this level for a stretch of games and had limited stretches in the past with other organizations, when the chance comes he has to be ready and should be given the preseason. MacDonald had a forty five shot 2-1 overtime loss against the Devils on 4/1 where he looked as sharp as Wade Dubielewicz in his final games but that was then, this is now.
Of course, unlike last season where he was a starter now he must adjust to being a backup and sitting for long stretches.
Bottom Line: If last year's team was in sixth in January with so many flaws I do not see a reason (beyond injury) why they cannot be there again, only this time it should be a deeper group with better overall individual skills. Last year we saw a great first weekend followed by a team that was never any better. This year I expect the reverse with the club improving as the season progresses and being at it's best down the stretch.
All of what I wrote in this preview should lead to more goals in games, better survival skills to get games into overtime/shootouts and pile up the unbeaten in regulation streaks to keep the club in contention and push them over the top for a spot down the stretch.
I also believe we are going to see a much better reaction to adversity from the players along with management. I project as these young players improve and their confidence grows were going to discover this team is for real and built to last.
Depth is a funny thing, you go from not have it to having too much out of nowhere.
A lot of things are contagious on NHL teams from scoring, slumps, confidence, it goes both ways and turns quickly. The key for this group will be to prove they can get that first big stretch where they can score four goals in back to back games, all of a sudden you go from wondering if it can be done to knowing you can do it.
That's where this group will hit it's stride.
I suspect off the ice Garth Snow is going to stick to his plan and at best only if injuries happen to veterans will a similar player be brought in as a short-term fix.
On the bench Scott Gordon will have what seems an overdue trial by fire with the benefit of watching many of the clubs's AHL prospects for years as he learns the speed of this level combined with how to coach veterans. We will see how Gordon reacts to adversity he did not face in Providence if the club struggles which apparently Ted Nolan and Garth Snow did not react well to.
A good indicator if I'm correct will be how many games I write the Islanders played poorly but won because the opposition was even worse or how an ugly win still counts just the same as DiPietro carried the club. I have found myself writing that so many times the last six years despite the playoff spots it seemed a question of when, not if things would finally catch up with them whether they made the playoffs of not.
For myself, writing that early this season after games is not a big deal, however if I'm still writing it in late January every game win or lose, I suspect we'll have our answer as to what kind of team we have in 08-09.
If I thought the talent and ability was not there to finish sixth in 2008-09 it would not be my projection.
Mark it down, Sixth in the Eastern Conference if healthy.
Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio has the compelete Sound Tigers preview in about five seperate updates, including the rosters biggest questions here along with a series of blog updates here which include rule changes, final roster polishing and notables from the Ct Post beatwriter.
NYI Fan Central Comments: I think I have all the current roster changes/player numbers on the prospects blog including player numbers for the Bridgeport roster and like Mr Fornabaio I kept Pascal Morency in the mix pending his paperwork. I also inclded the injured players like Chris Lee.
I deleted Tomas Marcinko's prospect profile now that he graduated to the AHL and is signed by the organization. Too many outlets have a contradictory spelling of his first name as it went from Tomas to Thomas and back so I'm sorry for any confusion from this blog on that.
I also added direct roster links to the Utah/Odessa sites after I listed the Bridgeport players even though they are in those teams individual sections.
Finally I did change the B2 Networks link to the new AHL site for PPV games.
NHL.com: Reported the New York Islanders on Wednesday claimed center Nate Thompson off waivers from the Boston Bruins and reassigned defenseman Brett Skinner to Bridgeport. Mr Botta over at My Point Blank Blog here had the story from practice earlier today along with Scott Gordon's comments about why the team made a claim on him and what he will bring to the club.
Updated: Newsday: Greg Logan has an updated blog with head coach Scott Gordon's comments on Nate Thompson being part of the answer in terms of the physical part of the roster with a skating element the coach likes and can play not only center but other wings so this will not necessarily effect Josh Bailey's status.
Some statistical career back ground here along with his AHL.com profile here.
NYI Fan Central Comments: A little surprising. We can speculate all night on the roster and what this little move does because Thompson is a center and we all know Josh Bailey is a center.
Frans Nielsen is playing center, Park, Hilbert can play center and we all know Mike Comrie, Doug Weight with Mike Sillinger are you guessed it, centers.
Something has to give sooner or later among the forwards if this coach sticks to his words of Bailey having to play on it's top three lines.
I guess if you voted Brett Skinner (meaning you did not vote for his demotion) you did not win the poll after all and dropping a defender to claim a center we will see what the ripple effect is unless Garth Snow has a defender healthier than expected or one he wants to acquire?
What does it say about Colliton or Walter when a twenty four year old center is claimed for a spot either of them needed to win in this camp along with twenty five year old Rob Hennigar's very early assignment to the Bridgeport part of camp and for that matter Mike Iggulden who got a cameo with San Jose against the Islanders?
If Thompson was claimed for enforcer skills, at this point I have to ask why did Garth Snow sign Joel Rechlicz to a three year contract?
I'm not sure Garth Snow or Scott Gordon are done yet.
Newsday: Mr Logan's 10/9 article has comments from Josh Bailey and Jack Hillen about where they have been used in practice along with what role they could have working with the veterans vs prospects for the time they are here, Scott Gordon talks about what he liked in Hillen from the beginning from his two games last season.
Islanders website: Has a team preview which included Scott Gordon's comments, Nate Thompson was listed with the defenders but overall a solid job.
Newsday: Jim Baumbach actually attended practice and had an interview with Kyle Okposo who spoke about last year's experience, what he is looking to do this season and what the coaches have him working on.
NYI Fan Central Comments: Good article, you almost read his work and expect something negative based on the blog entries which begs the question why not drop the shock jock act and do more of this? Anyone else notice Thomas Pock has been around about a week and the club has not issued one statement from him nor has Newsday done one interview?
Bridgeport Sound Tigers: Announced it's final roster for the Sound Tigers that is not so final now because it did not include Brett Skinner's demotion.
Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio in his blog entries also had the numerical roster and a few other entries about Internet game coverage changing to basically an ITV ppv format for the American Hockey League here which now have Mr Wang's neulion stamp on them as he is waiting on paperwork regarding some players.
NYI Fan Central Comments: I will be updating all this on the prospects blog including the link to the PPV television coverage.
I think I have most of the roster correct for Bridgeport in terms of numbers but have to do some changes to reflect the final cuts so bear with me for those who read the prospect blog profiles. With the turnover in Utah and Odessa it would be impossible for me to keep up with tryout contracts which is why it's best to link to their websites as updates happen which we do have for everyone.
I did see Campoli and Sutton open the market today here along with Islanders president Chris Dey with the players comments on the event.
Alex & Steve from Hockey Night on LI are having a double-header this weekend in terms of radio shows here with one on Friday at 5pm and another on Saturday at 3:30pm before the home opener to kick off the season after Scott Cullen appeared a few weeks ago. They invited me to appear on the Friday show and as always it will be a lot of fun and both do an excellent job with the program which is features on the sidebar of NYIFC.
Quick Note: Filatov was assigned to the AHL and can be recalled.
Finally: Unless something major breaks on Thursday I have scheduled our season preview at appear at 7:30am as opposed to the regular news articles but the feeders are available for the local coverage.
As I wrote the other day I feel like we are back in the summer wondering how someone out of Blake Comeau, Sean Bergenheim or Jeff Tambellini could play on a fourth line and be effective if Jon Sim is not in that spot?
We did our poll back then, huge response where everyone seemed to go all over the board as to who will in effect be the odd man out on a fourth line, regardless of how we speculate how much that line could play.
I know Comeau was the odd man out based on Mr Botta's reporting yesterday at least in practice but I think it underscores the inproved depth and the options this coach has which is a good thing. We are going to be doing the same thing down the middle as long as Bailey or Nielsen play in this clubs's top nine.
Bottom line a new coach is here and many of these players have to prove themselves all over again to a new coach.
I'm mildly surprised both Hillen and Pock made the roster. Hillen to my understanding can go to Bridgeport without waivers, Pock again would have to go through waivers as we saw in Freddy Meyers travels last fall. I guess the smart money says Pock takes a seat next to Skinner but only Scott Gordon knows how that plays out to start the season.
Frankly I would be shocked if the defense was healthy all the way up to Sutton or Campoli's return, that's just not this groups history.
For all I know Berard's agent and Garth Snow may work something out where he signs a two way contract and returns and Skinner is sent back to Bridgeport.
I have a good question no one seems able to answer so I stopped by Mr Fornabaio's blog and posted it there.
I would like to know how come Josh Bailey born in late 1989 can only play for Windsor or New York (as we saw with Tim Connolly/Rick DiPietro long ago) while Nikita Filatov who was born in 1990 has seems to have an option to play in the AHL and be recalled which seems to be Columbus preference depending on what you read.
The Columbus Dispatch excellent reporter Tom Reed (among several) tries to explain back on 10/3 and cites the transfer issue and the IIHF here with regard to Canadian Junior league rules but in this rare exception it seems the lack of an agreement gives the Blue Jackets in this instance an advantage to recall Filatov?
I'm not sure, if Mr Fornabaio answers my entry, I will post it here but it's a question I wanted to put out and see if someone knows a bit more?
Newsday: Greg Logan has Rick DiPietro's comments about how more important than the result Monday was that he is healthy as he discussed playing last season with injury and talked about his stick-handling abilities.
NY Post: Dan Martin's limited space article is on Josh Bailey surviving the first round of roster cuts along with Chris Lee returning to New York before being assigned to Bridgeport.
NY Times: Dave Caldwell attended Islander practice on Tuesday and had a full feature on head coach Scott Gordon with comments from general manager Garth Snow.
AP Reports Kyle McLaren was placed on waivers by the San Jose Sharks.
NYI Fan Central Comments: Knee injuries, declining stats says were a long way from the day a rumor suggested a deal was going to happen for McLaren comes to New York. I do not see Garth Snow taking a chance because Skinner is here for depth while Campoli/Sutton recover.
Plenty of NHL players still have to clear waivers. Bryan Trottier/Jamie Lundmark is back on the list for Calgary.
NYI Fan Central Comments: So an article was done by the Times on Sunday and now on Tuesday. Are we going to see our next article tomorrow or by Christmas?
They don't attend the coaches press conference when he's hired but come out now, go figure it out because I simply cannot.
Ct Post: Staff reports list the current roster as follows:
FORWARDS (16) -- Sean Bentivoglio, Jeremy Colliton, Mitch Fritz, Micheal Haley (injured), Tyler Haskins, Rob Hennigar, Mike Iggulden, Tim Jackman, Jesse Joensuu, Tomas Marcinko, Kurtis McLean, Vladimir Nikiforov, Jason Pitton, Joel Rechlicz, Trevor Smith, Ben Walter (injured)
DEFENSEMEN (7) -- Joe Callahan, Jamie Fraser, Dustin Kohn, Chris Lee (injured), Andrew MacDonald, Andy Sertich, Mark Wotton
GOALTENDERS (2) -- Yann Danis, Peter Mannino
Ct Post: Mr Fornabaio in his blog had the players cut from the Islander roster Tuesday but added AHL teams can carry eighteen plus two this season.
Finally: NYIFC will be taking a break on Thursday from the daily artcles unless something major breaks, instead releasing our very long in-depth 2008-09 preview with a projection as to where the club will finish.
I'm going to be direct with my readers here, I kind of held back on Tuesday for one of the rare times since I started writing this blog and I regret doing so.
I would like to take a blog entry here and explain why.
I made a quick little note in the articles Tuesday about Newsday not even giving us an AP article for Monday's game and had a few words on it because I had never seen that before in our clubs reporting.
I wrote up a big long blog unloading on Newsday that I deleted/before editing it down to what you read in the Tuesday articles.
In it I wrote how the Ct Post never did that to it's Sound Tiger fans since the day Michael Fornabaio took that beat from the teams inception and always made sure we had articles or a reason we did not have coverage even after he was in a serious accident returning from a game. Chris Elsberry also provided coverage in the early days of the Sound Tigers.
In my deleted blog I wrote about how if Mr Rieber/Mr Baumbach can do the shock jock game at Newsday on the Islanders the last couple of days why don't they go cover the Florida game and give Mr Logan a break if he was off and give the shock jock game a rest?
I even suggested we make a media trade with Mr Rieber/Mr Baumbach for George Richards of the Miami Hearld and that by comparison would make the Bob Bourne for Bart Crashley look even by comparison. These folks snipe at the club and folks like Mark Herrmann (now Johnette Howard misreporting facts) will be the first to bring up attendance and the teams future viability meanwile despite the main page full of New York Islander advertising at this publication our team cannot even get a crummy AP article for the last regular season game?
That to me is a blatant double-standard that has gone on long before Cablevision and as quick as I can be to blame the Dolan's for not having an AP article Tuesday this practice of slamming the club and not giving adquaate coverage has has gone on long before their tenure began.
In that deleted blog I also had a suggestion for New York Islander President Chris Dey to build a media pool of professional independant reports writing about the club as they have done with Mr Botta. I brought up folks who changed jobs in Craig Custance, Pierre LeBrun (among others) and felt websites and even newspapers would be knocking down the doors to have that kind of quality reporting about one club building the teams message.
I did not write it.
I decided instead to give Newsday a pass (beyond my note) because Mr Logan did set up the Florida game in the Islanders Newsday blog with his line projections and another blog from someone else reporting Bailey would play. We got some blogs and an AP article on the Boston game so I also looked at that and made a choice.
In this case I also had another reason. With the season beginning I wanted to keep the focus on the hockey information because that's why New York Islander Fan Central is here first and foremost. I do not want to give folks who visit this blog infrequently or new readers for the first time any perception NYIFC is more about the media than the team because that will never be the case.
Anyway I wanted to do one blog and explain before getting back to the hockey. I promise I will not make the same mistake again.
What I can write other than to thank everyone for a great job on the first complete poll in quite a while and our first triple digit response (I think 144 folks perticipated) as I did extend things to the day the team announced their roster cuts.
This poll put you in Garth Snow and Scott Gordon place asking you to make the roster cuts.
Here were the final results:
Joey MacDonald 30 (20%) Yann Danis 36 (25%) Frans Nielsen 57 (39%) Andy Hilbert 87 (60%) Jeremy Colliton 37 (25%) Tim Jackman 97 (67%) Mitch Fritz 84 (58%) Brandon Sudgen (tryout/release) 60 (41%) Richard Park 13 (9%) Jack Hillen 17 (11%) Bruno Gervais 7 (4%) Jeff Tambellini 18 (12%) Josh Bailey 83 (57%) Chris Lee 83 (57%) Brett Skinner 81 (56%) Other 9 (6%)
Thomas Pock was acquired during the poll so he could not be added, Brandon Sudgen was released.
What stood out for me was how many folks felt Jeremy Colliton should go vs some of the other AHL players who got a much higher vote total along with Nielsen and Bailey.
Obviously many feel Andy Hilbert has gotten enough of a chance and it will be interesting to see how Scott Gordon uses him.
I think the vote hit the nail on the head with how close it was between MacDonald and Yann Danis for the backup spot.
New York Islander Fan Central | 10/07/2008 07:52:00 PM
2008 2009 Roster
Islanders website: Announced the 2008-09 roster that will begin the season in New York which will include Josh Bailey at the start.
Sillinger, Campoli, Sutton start on injured reserve.
If you had Skinner on your list to stay for now, you win the poll. MacDonald wins the backup spot to start. Welcome to the NHL Jack Hillen for now.
Chris Lee was cleared to fly back to New York this morning after staying overnight at Broward General Hospital where he underwent a series of tests which turned out negative.
NYI Fan Central Comments: Great news on Lee, biggest shock today was the club actually put the word New York into a release. No enforcer kept as expected, Islanders are going to give Bailey more of a look for now instead of Jeremy Colliton who frankly is the biggest loser of the day.
It will be interesting to see where Scott Gordon slots Bailey who said he has to stick in the top three lines.
When Sillinger is ready to play a choice has to be made. I would guess Skinner inherits the Aaron Johnson watch and wait role from early last season, I'm not sure who joins that list up front but it's going to be very interesting.
Looks like everyone is doing that poll we did last summer trying to fit the four left wingers into a spot because no one knows who starts on the fourth line.
A lot of depth where someone who belongs in a top three forward line slotted on your fourth line, that's a good problem to have folks and one they have not had in a long time and for a roster injury prone it's necessary.
Newsday: Greg Logan's blog update has Josh Bailey's comments about staying with the club for a little longer to start the season with the Newsday beatwriter also releasing the final roster here.
NYI Fan Central Comments: Let me get this straight, according to Greg Logan who was not in Florida or wrote a word on the Panther game about how Josh Bailey played is asking some fair questions about whether he stays but on the other hand wrote Nikita Filatov looks look like an NHL player right now because he scored a goal on Sunday?
Did Johnette Howard help Greg Logan write that because Filatov played his first game Thursday after missing all of camp with a leg injury and had only one shot against Buffalo in that one. But Filatov looks NHL ready right now based on two preseason games while Bailey might be best served to go back down to Windsor?
Perhaps so but not by Greg Logan's logic here.
Time to get those conspiracy theories going to get folks jumping all over management.
For those wondering Filatov is more than a fair bet to go down when Columbus announces it's roster if the paperwork can be done here according to Bob McKenzie of Tsn today for those following at home.
Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio has the Bridgeport practices lines and the Islander roster cuts.
Miami Herald: George Richards/Diana Moskovitz had Islander head coach Scott Gordon's comments on Chris Lee that he would likely spend the night in South Florida to make sure he is ok and that because he was conscious and able to move there was no discussion of cancelling the game.
Canadian Press: Provided a summary of the writers predictions that did not put the names to the quotes or predictions but the New York Islanders were not among this anonymous groups favorite teams.
Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio had a brief update on Bridgeport's cuts that did not include goalie Nathan Lawson, Andy Sertich, tryout forward James Sixsmith/Pascal Morency with local product Vladimir Nikiforov for now.
More Tuesday as NYI Fan Central is putting the finishing touches up on it's own preview for release in the next day or two.
Updated: Note-Newsday did not even have an AP story on last night's game on it's website today with the franchise goalie playing his first game since March.
Mr Logan blogged this morning with speculation on Josh Bailey being sent down vs many of the players selected ahead of him who will make their NHL clubs this season here as he makes a very fair point if Schenn, Filatov and Boedker develop quickly it will prove why they were rated so highly.
Cheer up. Neil Best made sure to let us know Mike Santini, who was to take over as producer of Islanders games left MSG for the baseball here.
790 the ticket covers the Panthers on radio. This station seems to pick and choose what programming they go live with from it's website but the Florida Panthers radio station is advertising broadcasting this game live beginning with it's pregame at 7pm here for a 7:30 start.
Nothing made easy for our fans who want to listen to a game, not even by the team who should be telling us this information and making it as easy as possible to access it.
NHL.com has it's live gamecenter page which should have stats/gameplay and live tracker activated at gametime here.
I'm not doing a live blog tonight for anyone checking in again, my thanks for those who did stop in while I was doing a little unscheduled practice live-blogging the other day on my own.
Newsday: Adam Abramson has a brief blog update in the Islanders Newsday blog that Josh Bailey will play tonight while Mr Botta Point Blank has more details on the lineup with Scott Gordon not saying how far DiPietro will go in this game.
NYI Fan Central Comments: Steve Zipay went all the way to Europe and is still blogging today, Greg Logan filed his previews from early last week or Moncton and took the weekend off while the Islanders played and we got no blog updates or new articles with no coverage from Boston.
Cheer up folks, cablevision allowed ITV to finally release the Devils game to the public. Why Mr Mears and Jaffe (Cablevision/Msg employee) are webcasting road games we cannot watch for days is pathetic, anyone notice the one Coliseum game has not been made available?
Panthers will be playing close to their regular lineup according to their news coverage today and only had twenty six roster players at this time.
ISLANDERS Goaltenders 39 Rick DiPietro 35 Joey MacDonald
Defensemen 38 Jack Hillen – 4 Brett Skinner 17 Thomas Pock - 44 Freddy Meyer 47 Chris Lee - 8 Bruno Gervais
Forwards 11 Andy Hilbert – 12 Josh Bailey – 10 Richard Park 20 Sean Bergenheim - 93 Doug Weight - 13 Bill Guerin 15 Jeff Tambellini - 89 Mike Comrie - 21 Kyle Okposo 57 Blake Comeau - - 27 Jeremy Colliton - 49 Mitch Fritz
Final Florida 6, New York 0 Islanders website: Has the ugly recap of this game with Bill Guerin's comments.
NYI Fan Central Comments: Not much good to write about this one, Islanders generated very little aside from the middle part of the second, powerplay went nowhere and the last five minutes sounded like the game from Tampa game where the Islanders were shorthanded and shots were beating DiPietro between the legs according to the telecast.
Worst of all Chris Lee was boarded and left on a stretcher, Isles website reports Lee is conscious and has movement in all extremities. He has been taken to Broward County Hospital for further observation.
Just not the Islanders night but a lot of scratches against a club playing most of it's full squad for a third game in four days. I would be surprised if Bailey survives the next cut along with five or six players who dressed tonight.
A few poor angle pics are available of DiPietro's new mask.
Updated: Miami Herald: George Richard and Diana Moskovitz report Lee was placed in a neck brace and placed on a backboard, then taken off the ice on a stretcher that Sunrise Fire Rescue took Lee by ambulance to Broward General Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale with one Panthers doctor claiming Lee, ``never lost consciousness.''
According to the writers Islander spokesman Corey Witt said Lee was conscious and had motion. Accompanying him in the ambulance were head athletic Garrett Timms and public relations member Seth Sylvan. Further details about Lee's injury were not released and it is unclear if Lee will be released in time to make the team charter back to New York that was scheduled to leave about 11pm tonight.
NY Times: Matt Higgins has the story of Brandon Sudgen's release from the Islanders with his story and comments along with those of Brendan Witt.
NYI Fan Central Comments: I think the bigger shock was the Times doing anything New York Islander releated in it's print edition if they cannot be bothered to cover the new coach being hired.
Of course best of luck to Brandon Sugden and his family. Classy work by the writer in Syracuse, Mr Botta in getting out his message for reinstatement, deputy comissioner Bill Daly, the teams changing their votes (the Rangers) to allow him to attend camp.
Sun-Sentinel: Steve Gorten previews a Panther club with twenty six roster players at this time and a lot of lingering injuries themselves as they play their only home preseason game tonight at BankAtlantic Center.
Miami Herald: George Richards also previews a Florida club with three players fighting for roster spots.
Delaware Online.com: Staff reports announce the Philadelphia Flyers have released former Islander Bryan Berard.
Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio reports on Bridgeport's final preseason game where head coach Jack Capuano discusses how he is trying to get the players used to Scott Gordon's overspeed system and how the process will go in terms of cuts and practice as he credited the extended roster that played several games in the last three days with a lot of lingering injuries and felt some players could make his squad.
Sean Bentivoglio is quoted in the article.
A second brief note is made on the number twelve as it relates to the club here.
Updated 6pm Monday: Mr Fornabaio has the first wave of cuts from Bridgeport here and is waiting for the Islanders moves which are expected tomorrow.
