Islander News Articles 1/10

Newsday: Greg Logan had head coach Scott Gordon's repeat comments from his post-game in Calgary on playing more young players, Doug Weight for his part does not want to become a player with a lesser role as long as he is productive.


Earlier Friday:
AHL.com: Reported Yann Danis and Trevor Smith were sent to Bridgeport.

Newsday: Mr Logan in the Islanders Newsday blog speculates that Trevor Smith's demotion means Frans Nielsen could be ready to return.

Friday's Islander Insider was pushed back to Saturday.


NYI Fan Central Comments:
Ask me again on Tuesday if this actually matters. Danis is going to have to play in the NHL soon if DiPietro cannot so I would expect he see another start in Bridgeport.

NY Post: Dan Martin has comments from Josh Bailey, Kyle Okposo and Mike Sillinger on how the veterans are helping the Islander young prospects and their role.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Not sure when Dan Martin got these quotes from Mike Sillinger or the players on the road trip.

Point Blank: Mr Botta had a few words from general manager Garth Snow on Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey not being named to the young stars team.


NYI Fan Central Comments:
As always I feel NYIFC readers should visit Mr Botta's outstanding blog for the comments he produces. I will only give a short overview here.

Kind of ironic the first overall pick, Steven Stamkos has one more point (14) than Okposo (13) who has played forty games was selected. Josh Bailey has only three less points than Stamkos.

The Guardian of PEI: Reports former Islanders Bryan Trottier, Bill Smith, Bob Bourne and Cliff Ronning will be part of the Oldtimers’ Hockey Challenge Monday at 7 p.m. at the Civic Centre.

Daily Gleaner: Reported on Rob Hennigar's game winning goal for his ECHL team after being send down from Bridgeport recently.

Los Angeles Times: Diane Pucin has a few words on the KHL all-star game today (telecast details inside) which will be an outdoor game in Red Square with one squad named after former Islander Alexei Yashin.

Calgary Sun: Reports former Islander assistant coach Wayne Fleming apparently quit as coach between periods for Avangard Omsk who is captained by Jaromir Jagr.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Dave Molinary reports former Islander Ruslan Fedotenko is out four-six weeks after breaking his hand in a fight during a recent game.


NYI Fan Central Comments:
Tough break for Fedotenko. I would guess Michael Terrien has about two weeks left to turn things around at best in Pittsburgh regardless of his contract. He was fired from Montreal 1/17/03 for those looking for a connection.

Sarnia Observer: Dave Paul reports on Sarnia's shootout loss. Islander prospect Mark Katic was the number one star of the game with a goal in regulation.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
No trades for Sarnia involving Islander prospects at the deadline.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio reports Bridgeport lost 4-1 at Providence Friday, Joe Callahan who scored the lone Sound Tiger goal and head coach Jack Capuano comment.

Ct Post: Mr Fornabaio's blog does a good job breaking down the matchups and explaining where the game was lost here along with other items.

Saturday Bridgeport is home to Hartford with nothing on weather canceling the game at this time.

Providence Journal: Has coverage of Providence win against Bridgeport at home Friday.

We are not doctors, we are NY Islander fans

It's very easy for us as fans of the New York Islanders to sit back and pretend to play doctor with regard to these players, this goes for the media as well.

None of us are doctors.

This is a losing season, a lost season already so there is a lot of frustration, especially over things that cannot be controlled.

Injuries are something no team official or player can control.

The latest news on goaltender Rick DiPietro means a lot of things.

They are absolutely not taking any chances if there is any degree of doubt and he cannot get through practices or workouts without issues as he tries to do more.

He had a setback last week and Thursday Danis had to be recalled again.

Is the right thing being done? No idea, I'm not a doctor, neither are you.

It's easy for us as hockey fans to suggest DiPietro should call it a season and shut things down but DiPietro can sit until August and have the same problems after practicing for a few days and that is something no one is taking about.

This season at best has been one long training camp for him and that may continue for a while longer.

Having written this it's getting to a point where sitting for the remainder of this season has to enter the radar soon if these trends continue. It could come as soon as the latest examination or not at all but you don't sit someone down as a precaution to save them for next year, that makes no sense.

I have no doubt DiPietro wants to play and try to help the club, this is what professionals do and we saw him play through pain as he did in the 2007 playoffs where no one said he should stay home after game two when he won in Buffalo.

I also believe management is trying to work with the doctors and not push but not hold him back either.

No doubt it's a very delicate balance, as hockey fans we do not care about the details all we see is someone taking a step back for every one he takes forward, it's frustrating.

If folks think this is about his contract or his personality I submit we do not know him personally and to make any of this about his contract only reflects a biased viewpoint against him that is worthless to any discussion regarding his health.

Bottom line we are not doctors, we are New York Islander fans.

Looks like no Okposo-Bailey for Young Stars

NHL.com: Has an update on players heading to the Young Star game during all star weekend.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Article goes back and fourth naming the returning players and filling in the first timers. From what I read no Okposo or Bailey who are 19th and 24th among NHL rookies in scoring here.

Could be wrong but I do not think I am given what I read.

Islander News Articles 1/9

Another blog entry has already been written and is scheduled for released around 3:30pm. If there is an Islander Insider I will try and get that in first.

Newsday: Greg Logan's early recap (no quotes at this time) reviews the game and the key moment which was the goal twenty three seconds after the Islanders tied it on Tambellini's second of the season.

Note-Mr Logan's early game article above was altered into almost a full update on Rick DiPietro with far less about the game. Thursday night's edited version shortly after the game is a lot different than what is in Friday's newspaper.

Newsday: Mr Logan had more from head coach Scott Gordon and Rick DiPietro on the goaltenders condition and why he did not play in Calgary with a reevaluation coming when the team returns to New York.

Newsday: Mr Logan's article has Mark Streit's comments on being named to the all-star team.

Canadian Press: Has Mark Streit's comments on making the all-star team in an interview and what it will be like returning to Montreal.

Globe & Mail/Canadian Press: Recaps Calgary's win against the Islanders.

Calgary Herald: Scott Cruickshank recaps tonight's 5-3 win by Calgary against New York.

Calgary Herald: Vicki Hall has Kyle Okposo's comments about playing against his boyhood idol, Jermome Ignila as both players comment while Scott Gordon praised Okposo's play.

Calgary Sun: Has Flames coverage on the game while Steve MacFarlane had Eric Nystrom's comments that it's tough to see the current Islanders struggle based on his experience growing up around the club but be back on top soon. Mike Comrie also talks about how brutal losing is and the toll it takes but feels the Islanders have some great young prospects that are learning as they go.

Sarnia Observer: Reports at press time there have been no trades involving the Sting heading into Friday's noon trade deadline in the OHL.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Sarnia a while back was one of the teams considering trades because they were struggling but won some games. Matt Martin, Mark Katic, Justin DiBenedetto are Islander prospects who play for Sarnia.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio's article is on goaltender Peter Mannino who had struggled recently but also has not played in almost two weeks with the limited games and the Islanders situation in goal forcing Danis to get a start. Mannino and head coach Jack Capuano comment.

Ct Post: Mr Fornabaio previews Friday's game against Scott Gordon's old team in Providence.

The Hour.com: Mike Madar has an article on Mike Iggulden and Andrew MacDonald being named to the Canadian All-Stars and has a complete Sound Tigers report.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Excellent report, very well detailed, surprising for a paper not providing daily coverage.

Calgary 5, New York 2

Congratulations to Trevor Smith on his first NHL goal.


AP: Has the recap of New York's 5-2 loss to Calgary on Thursday.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
This game was there for the Islanders.

They hung in, killed the double-minor to Okposo, another penalty and then tied the game on a great shot by Tambellini off a Gervais play who did a nice job on offense tonight and was better with Streit. Right off the faceoff Calgary seemed to have an immediate odd-man rush MacDonald stopped where the defense disappeared.

And therein lies the story of this game and many others, what happened to the coverage?


Calgary did not turn into the 1981 Islanders at this point and bury them, the current Islanders simply faded away.

Soon after Calgary scored the 3-2 goal on another breakdown where a bounce, a breakdown or a deflection finds it's way onto someone's stick for a high quality chance that leads to a goal.

It's the theme of almost every loss.

Martinek stumbled on a goal against, Pock threw a nice hit but was not in position later for a goal. Witt is struggling an awful lot out there with the speed of the other clubs and is getting no bounces as we saw on the second goal.

Calgary for their part did not play great but created better chances MacDonald stopped (who was fantastic) than the ones they actually scored on.

Physically the game was a mismatch and anyone who tells you a defense with it's top five only missing two man games to injury vs what's happening here is not telling you the entire story.

On the other end of the ice the young players just keep getting better and it's not the goals but the little things. Okposo diving to keep a puck in on a powerplay and taking a few full windup shots and his work down low. Trevor Smith driving the net and not just shooting the puck into the goalie but showing the hands/composure to pull the puck back and give himself the open net, just before that Jackman and that line had another good shift and Jackman almost finished.

Bergenheim early got into a good spot to shoot.

Islanders just missed a few goals tonight and seemed to go for it on offense and got in close on Kiprusoff, when they did a price had to be paid. To their credit they skated well and forced Calgary to take a lot of penalties, the powerplay did not have a good night.

Islanders also got no breaks. The goal Glencross scored a puck shot from the point is redircted/blocked and out of nowhere it's on his stick in perfect shooting position in the middle of the ice. The second goal Witt blocks the pass it goes right to Rene Bourque who shoots it through him and past MacDonald.

Without MacDonald it could have easily been eight or nine but he failed to handle a soft shot early and it forced the Islanders to take a penalty that led to the 1-0 goal where Mike Cammalleri not only scored but in his motion put down Martinek and no Islander stood up for him.

That I did not like all with no response from his teammates.

Disappointing but there were a few good signs from the young players. Scott Gordon in the post-game talking about Hilbert and Nate Thompson coming back soon cannot mean any of these young players sit?

All due respect to Hilbert but Trevor Smith has shown better hands in five games than he has in almost two years.

Only thing that's going to get worse is the frustration from the players losing to this degree.

Quick CHL notables

Canadian Press/several sites: Reports prospect John Tavares was traded from the Oshawa Generals to the London Knights.

Our Sports Central: Has most of the trades completed in the Canadian junior leagues.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
The OHL's trade deadline is Friday. The league instituted a trade freeze on Canadian junior team players from Dec. 11, which was the start of selection camp, until the world junior tournament concluded Monday.

NYIFC has the prospect blog with the feeds at the bottom of the page for most of the trades and the newspaper/league links for most clubs. I know Sarnia was considering a trade of prospect Matt Martin a while back and last year the Oil Kings was considering a trade of Robin Figren. If I see something Friday I will do a blog entry.

A Tavares trade was on the radar for a while now, it does not change his NHL draft status for those wondering.

There are three Canadian Junior leagues, the Western Hockey League (WHL), Quebec Major Junior Hockey league (QMJHL) and the Ontario Hockey League. (OHL)

Anyone with questions e-mail/respond and I will do my best to answer what I know about the trade deadline process in this league.

New York at Calgary 9pm Msg+2

Jiggs McDonald's final game who did a great job as always and had a lot of chemistry with Billy Jaffe.

Islanders website: Jason Lockhart had an excellent feature on Mark Streit with his comments about making the all-star team. The website had another release and a brief ITV tribute.

Calgary Herald: Jean Lefebrve has comments from several Flames they cannot have a let down playing the Islanders along with several radio and media predicting the game will be a mismatch here.


NYI Fan Central Comments:
First team I have seen the print and radio media predict a game, I guess one of them forgot the Islanders were not only a playoff factor but made four of six playoffs and were in sixth at this time a year ago?

Calgary Sun: Also covers the Flames.

Associated Press: Also has the ugly sidebars heading into tonight's game.

Injury Expected Return
12/30/08 Jim Vandermeer D Ankle IR. Out until at least mid-January
12/30/08 Rhett Warrener D Shoulder IR. Likely to miss 2008-09 season
01/04/09 Wayne Primeau C Foot Out indefinitely
01/06/09 Brandon Prust RW Jaw IR. Out until at least late January

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Calgary comes in a dominating club at home that just beat the Sharks big with players like Jerome Iginla, Mike Cammalleri & Damon Langkow and even Todd Bertuzzi at the top of their leaderboard. The Islanders come in with injury questions (Weight/Martinek/DiPietro) and a club on the verge of making some terrible history going back to 72-73 if they lose tonight.

Of course they also won in Calgary last season in a shootout which most will not remember.

Not much to write here, if the Islanders team defense is not on it's game it could be a very long night for whoever starts in goal. What few are talking about is the Islanders have been competitive on this trip but are not getting the results as they have lapses as mistakes/penalties snowball where the opposition seemingly always makes them play the price which ultimately decides things. You cannot lose games to a fourth line with Jason Strudwick on it or allow a two goal game by Mike Grier.

I would guess Martinek was not flown back to Calgary just to practice. It seems Meyer will now not play as the injury parade never ends when someone returns.

A nice four day break after this game.


Updated:
Newsday: Greg Logan in the Islanders Newsday blog reports Rick DiPietro will not play tonight with swelling in his knee although head coach Scott Gordon maintains he could have played while both the coach and player comments. Yann Danis has been recalled, DiPietro will be sent to the doctor when the club returns home.


NYI Fan Central Comments:
DiPietro or the coach are making sure at this point there are no doubts at all, apparently the practices have caused another issue where he could play but no one is taking any chances. DiPietro is not ready to call it a season nor is that on the radar but if he cannot practice for more than a few days at some point soon without something happening it has to enter the discussion.

Of course he could stay off skates until August and still have swelling or problems the next day.

Yann Danis according to Mr Logan was called up, it is not on AHL transactions at this time.

Clarification from Mr Botta

In my blog entry regarding Mr Botta on Wednesday I wrote goaltender Rick DiPietro should shut things down for the year regardless and based my comments upon his January 2nd entry of Point Blank here where at one point he wrote the following:

Seriously, is there any case for playing DiPietro more than just every other game for the rest of the way?

Really, what would be the point of him playing any more - to get back in the playoff race, 14 points out of 8th place and with six teams between the Islanders and Pittsburgh?

Mr Botta was kind enough to contact me and clarify he meant that his line on the Islander goaltender is that, at most, he should play every other game.

NYIFC apologizes to Mr Botta for this misinterpretation and thanks him for the clarification.

Islander News Articles 1/8: Streit is an All-Star...

Updated:
Newsday: Mr Logan in a late blog entry confirms Islanders defenseman Mark Streit was informed by the NHL after practice Wednesday he has been selected to represent the Islanders in Montreal at the upcoming all-star game and reports according to Elias Sports Bureau, Streit is the first player from Switzerland to be named to an NHL all-star team.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Congratulations to Mark Streit for a well-deserved honor, a little dig by head coach Scott Gordon about him playing forward in Montreal given some of Bob Gainey's comments?

Newsday: Greg Logan's article is on the recent production from the line of Blake Comeau, Mike Comrie and Kyle Okposo with comments from all three about what they have done and must continue to do.

Newsday: Greg Logan in the Islanders Newsday blog discusses the media process and the confusion Rick DiPietro's gameday status has created as head coach Scott Gordon talks about the process and that he talks with the goaltender on a daily basis and what goes into the decision as to whether he plays or sits out.

Mr Logan also reports Freddy Meyer missed practice with a groin problem but Radek Martinek rejoined the club, appears ready to return and it appears certain the Islanders will be represented at the all-star game when rosters are announced Thursday.


NYI Fan Central Comments:
Mr Logan has to know a blog entry titled " It's DiPietro's call now " is only going to stir things up against the player which seems the intention unless Newsday has a blog headline writer for him? I have to ask the same question I just put in an e-mail and ask here if this were Mike Sillinger or another player would we see a blog entry along the same lines that it's Sillinger's (insert player name) call now?

For DiPietro who has kept a low profile and from day one said he does not want his injury to become a distraction, Mr Logan for his part seemed to go out of his way here to create a distraction and my question would be what was the point of that blog title?

From what I understand all NHL teams had to be represented at the ASG. I would think Mr Logan would know this but in his later entry includes the league does not mandate each team receive an All-Star entry and notes no Islander was named to the All-Star team in 2006 or 2001.

To be fair there was no NHL all-star game in 2006 so no one would have been named, in 2001 he would be correct.

Canadian Press: Selects Mark Streit as who they would send to Montreal to represent the Islanders at the ASG.

Point Blank: Mr Botta also includes according to multiple league sources Mark Streit will be named to the Eastern Conference all-star reserves on Thursday when rosters are made official to the public at noon.

Newsday: Mark Herrmann did a feature from Msg on Long Island product Mike Komisarek of the Montreal Canadians who was selected to the NHL all-star team.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Sorry folks, Mr Herrmann did not bring up Komisarek signing with the Islanders this summer as a free agent but a very good article.

Buffalo News/several media outlets: Mike Harrington reports Jarkko Ruutu of the Senators received only two games for biting Andrew Peters of the Senators.


NYI Fan Central Comments:
Tomas Pock should have the NHLPA sue this league given the double-standards in decisions by Colin Campbell and the committee of people he says have input into these decisions. I suppose Ruutu has no such reputation that he gets three games less than Pock for biting or is no penalty call on the ice during incidents grounds for only a set minimum of games?

The only consistent element in these decisions is there are no rules.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio recaps Bridgeport's 4-3 shootout win against Houston Wednesday at Harbor Yard where a late penalty turned a 3-0 Sound Tiger lead into a tie game. Head coach Jack Capuano, Mike Iggulden and Kurtis McLean comment.

Ct Post: Mr Fornabaio also had a game notes entry for the paper and a blog recap on the game with several items.

Houston Chronicle: Has a brief recap of the Aeros shootout loss.

No Sound Tigers for Planet USA

AHL.com: Reports no Sound Tigers were named to the Planet USA all-stars Wednesday.

No changes at this time from AHL.com regarding the Islanders or Sound Tigers.

Jack Capuano or Pat Bingham were not named to the staffs of either roster.

Islanders 411, No man games lost to injury?

I find it kind of interesting the Islanders opened a special site with a pdf file for all things statistical regarding the team however the biggest stat of this season is the same one the club did not let the public know about last year and is not talking about nearly enough this year.

Man games lost to injury.

The Islanders led the league with over four hundred last year and are about a hundred above that pace this year.

This is the biggest reason why at the half way point of this season the club is 30th overall as we are in what is an extended exhibition schedule for the next forty one games.

No one talks about it in the media because the Islanders do not bring it up nearly enough themselves, the media in other cities does not even realize how banged up this club has been until the club visits and then write about a club that was competitive but just too banged up.

The Flyers Tuesday released the man games lost to injury, other teams do also and it's no violation of league policy or however they want to disclose information here.

Mr Botta.....All Due Respect

But in this instance you are dead wrong writing the Islanders communication was KeyStone Kops unless you were in Edmonton and present when DiPietro and Joey MacDonald were questioned by Mr Logan or around the club when this decision was reached.

The Islanders are in Western Canada getting ready for a game against the Oilers, the team takes the morning skate and it's decided at some point before or after DiPietro will not play.

The beatwriter goes to both goaltenders and reports what both had to say the following morning after the game with their quotes (only part of which could have been printed in the blog/paper) which conflict somewhat but there is no timeline and as I wrote yesterday none of us were in the room or know what the plan was or if it had to be changed.

From where I sit this was an overreaction by Mr Botta and not called for. At the very least he could have spoken to Scott Gordon at some point and gotten an explanation/answer.

This would have been a very good time if instead of writing about KeyStone Kops he intead wrote and told us how this is so different from when he was working for the club vs his past experiences in such matters.

Instead this is the kind of shock jock material Mr Botta himself would usually dismiss or tell us to ignore as he did last summer with some of Newsday's staff.

Similar circumstances a week ago when Mr Botta was in the room at Msg, he reported DiPietro would start against the Rangers only to have MacDonald get the nod because of a groin strain which the coach (a former goaltender) said is normal at this point.

Was that communication KeyStone Kops as well or were the Islanders taking no chances which would seem to be the correct move after all that's transpired? That means nothing is written in stone and things change quickly as they have with Sillinger and a lot of the injured players all season.

A few days later Mr Botta wrote DiPietro should shut things down for the year regardless which is his viewpoint and could be correct in the end.

As I wrote yesterday Mr Botta defended the trainers and for the most part pointed out Scott Gordon's mistakes but also defended him which is fair because unwritten rule is you never take any one side and keep things open-minded for all viewpoints depending on what the news of the day is.

That's the quality I come to expect from Mr Botta which makes his viewpoint one to be read and respected.

For myself I can be critical of a writer/paper one day and praise the work the next, that's what you have to do.

Mr Botta for his part does not blame anyone but writes the communication is Keystone Kops and just leaves it, he does not tell us who he thinks should be blamed after not putting it on DiPietro or MacDonald?

Now Mr Botta blogs again and tells his readers his old friends from the Islanders are not thrilled with him while he now says this version of the DiPietro saga was mishandled?

We do not read about the Sillinger saga or earlier what was the Bailey, Okposo/insert the name of the injured Islander saga.

DiPietro if many recall on 11/26 he had an interview with Dan Martin that flew under the radar here.

If I had any control in running the Islanders I would not be thrilled with Mr Botta either here, this was overdone.

A lot of fair reasons to be critical of the 2008-09 New York Islanders who sit in 30th place with no one happy about things are going and a lot of frustration on all sides.

This was not one of them.

Islander News Articles 1/7

Newsday: Greg Logan's article is on defenseman Mark Streit with Scott Gordon's comments he should be given Norris Trophy consideration as the defender talks about what it would be like to return to Montreal as an All-Star.

Mr Logan also has Doug Weight's comment about maybe being named to the all-star roster but is also excited for Streit to be selected.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
It a perfect world both would be going, it may well come down to who is selected from other teams at other positions. I do not see two Islanders selected but if I had to pick one Streit leads NHL defenders in scoring and is playing close to twenty five minutes and doing an excellent job on defense.

He absolutely deserves consideration for the Norris if things continue this way for the remainder of the season.

Newsday: Mark Herrmann had a lot of speculation on the Islanders all-star where he felt Mark Streit will be selected but Doug Weight should also be an all-star and credits him for wanting to stay here and how he felt the club cannot give up on the season. Mr Herrmann also endorsed Richard Park for being a pick because he has been the best overall two-way player.

Buffalo News: Mike Harrington reports in Buffalo's win against Jarkko Ruutu bit the gloved right thumb of Buffalo enforcer Andrew Peters — yes, bit — during a scrum near the teams’ benches with 6:47 left in the first period Tuesday in HSBC Arena.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Ruutu was the player Chris Simon kicked for the suspension last December. It will be interesting to see where this goes. Considering what Sidney Crosby got away with recently clearly NHL discipline and it's enforcements has a lot of double-standards in the judgements.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio has comments from Andrew MacDonald & Mike Iggulden for being named to the Canadian all-stars with head coach Jack Capuano.

Ct Post: Mr Fornabaio previews tonights game against Houston at Harbor Yard.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio in the Sound Tigers blog has the selections for Canadian All-Stars.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
With Kurtis McLean not selected, I'm not sure Jack Hillen or Trevor Smith will make the cut for team USA, I would guess Nate Lawson does not have enough games but we'll see Wednesday.

Our Sports Central.com: Reports Long Island product Vladimir Nikiforov has been recalled to the AHL's Bridgeport Sound Tigers after being named to the ECHL all-stars last weel.

Islander Notables

AHL.com: Reports AHL-All-Stars will be announced Tuesday and Wednesday at 2pm for each club.


Updated:
Complete list of Canadian all-stars in above link listed.

Updated:
Islanders website: Andrew MacDonald & Mike Iggulden were named to the AHL All-Star team Tuesday.

NHL.com: Announced the reserves for the NHL all-star game will be made Wednesday for the Western Conference and Thursday for the Eastern Conference.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I'm considering doing a Newsday for both all-star games and taking a break. It will be interesting if Cablevision owned Newsday sends a writer to Montreal after DiPietro was left high and dry in Atlanta last year by the sports editor.

Islanders website: Jason Lockhart wrapped up the WJC with the final stats and summary for David Ullstrom, Jyri Niemi, Kirill Petrov and Blake Kessel.


NYI Fan Central Comments:
I was going to put the WJC links in the prospects blog but decided against it, we already have prospect updates there from the Islanders. I will keep the section up for reference until Thursday morning for everyone on the sidebar.

Point Blank: Mr Botta questioned the communication process today based upon Mr Logan's blog entry on DiPietro and Joey MacDonald's comments about when they were informed about starting/not starting.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Not to hit this very hard but there was obvious friction between Mr Logan and Mr Botta over lack of communication also a while back and this is just writing/blogging about hockey.

Mr Botta had more comments from Brendan Witt than what first appeared in Newsday where he spoke out about the defense and Scott Gordon's system. Witt then made it clear he does not want to be traded to Mr Botta. It forced Mr Logan to go back and put it in the Islanders Newsday blog.

I have seen a lot of articles over the years where the quotes are edited down and by the time an article is written it comes off different than what's intended. One paper has more, the other less.

It's not as easy with one newspaper covering the club, every quote in full will not make the paper but it does influence perception fair or not.

The communication process is a fine line with one goaltender working back from injury and the other not as sure of his starting status. I submit unless we are in the room when this happens we do not know what the communication is or if it's good or poor.

Is it really any worse than Steve Valiquette getting the call for a start on Saturday during the day when the other goalie was not able to go?

If there is a problem beyond what other clubs do Mr Botta should have told everyone who he thinks is wrong because he did not blame DiPietro or MacDonald, I guess that leaves the coaching staff or the trainers who he has defended?

He just kind of let it just sit there after stirring up perception something is not being handled properly.

I'm not sure it was necessary in this instance or he should have simply told his readers who he thinks made a mistake.

Blog Notables:
I eliminated the NY Times Islander feeder from the sidebar because it pulls out old game summaries too often. Islander website was also pulled because too much repeat content which the other feed already provides. I guess we will miss that Dave Caldwell feature ripping the club the next time but it's not worth getting three week old game updates from their feed.

I'm going to take time off on the polls or until I think up a fresh topic.

Islander News Articles 1/6

Sports Network: Recaps Edmonton's 3-2 win against the Islanders along with Associated Press here which notes a loss Thursday ties the franchise record from 72-73 for most consecutive games on the road without a win.

Newsday: Greg Logan's coverage has Scott Gordon's comments on the officiating in the Islanders 3-2 loss and a team official reporting nothing is wrong with goaltender Rick DiPietro.

Newsday: Mr Logan's other article has comments from Doug Weight and Bill Guerin about the Islanders long-term plans and whether one or both would be traded and how that may effect the other.

Newsday: Mr Logan's late entry in the Islanders Newsday blog has more from his press conference on the officiating from head coach Scott Gordon with Rick DiPietro on why he did not play while Joey MacDonald talks about the winning goal.

Edmonton Sun & Edmonton Journal: Recaps the Oilers 3-2 against the Islanders Monday.

Edmonton Sun: Robert Tychkowski has Bill Guerin's comments on the Islanders lockeroom and how things have been good among the players despite the record.

Edmonton Sun: Derek Van Diest had defenseman Mark Streit's comments about why he signed with the Islanders who praised the organization and despite the record is very happy he signed here. Scott Gordon comments and credited his strong play and lobbied for him being named to the All-Star team.

CamWest News: Joanne Ireland has Oilers coach Craig MacTavish who credited the Islanders hard work and felt the record does not reflect the results.

Mr Botta at Point Blank had some comments from Team Sweden officials about David Ullstrom after Monday's loss for the Islanders prospect at the WJC along with some postgame against Edmonton here.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio's article was on Sound Tigers Pascal Morency with head coach Jack Capuano's comments.

Ct Post: Mr Fornabaio's Sound Tigers weekly among several items has questions with defenseman Chris Lee and all-star rosters released for team Canada Tuesday at 2 p.m. The 24-man PlanetUSA roster comes out Wednesday.

Edmonton 3, New York 2

Edmonton Sun: Robert Tychkowski was providing in game updates with comments on Edmonton's 3-2 win against New York between periods.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Not for anything it sure seems the breaks and calls for the 08-09 Islanders is about as one-sided as the outside perspective at times which has little time or space for man games lost to injury or what happens in the game.

Four powerplays in three games?

I have not done many post-games here on officiating, this will be one of them.

Only the Islanders know what the story is with DiPietro who is in training camp mode? Either he is hurting or they or going slow working him in. Given the standings and MacDonald playing well it does not really matter.

Someone want to explain how Sean Bergenheim being hooked in the second is not a penalty or a penalty shot?

Apparently I do not know the rules but since when does a distinct kicking motion mean the skate must face forward on the 2-2 goal. The skate kicked out, whether it knocks the puck down or goes in that is a kicking motion.

Marginal stuff but things like this takes a fragile club, backs them in and gets the other team in the game. Islanders did virtually nothing the second half of the game and only had four harmless shots in the third aside from Jackman's chance or Okposo's post.

Islanders started great with an excellent shot by Okposo off a turnover to open the scoring and Bailey making a great pass to Comeau for the 2-0 pp goal. The play was sloppy at times but even.

Edmonton seemed a pass or play short until the puck started deflecting in off the fourth line players, this happened to Brendan Witt. Pock did not have Strudwick on the 2-2 goal and you can see the Islanders backing up more after a good effort where they did not give up a lot and did make some good plays to block shots.

Billy Jaffe and Jiggs McDonald had it right, the fourth line creates two goals it's likely a matter of how long before the top lines for Edmonton gives them something.

Momentum all with Edmonton after that.

Third period Islanders had Okposo's post over ten minutes in and that was about it.

Jackman gets a goaltender's interference call where he is clearly hooked but barely touches the Oiler goaltender, meanwhile MacDonald is run heavily by two players and no call against?

Oilers finally get the 3-2 goal where Campoli seemed to think the puck was in the corner and was outnumbered.

Islanders absorbed too many hits, Witt was bounced around a few too many times.

Of course a late cross-checking penalty where Trevor Smith was hit and no call, Islanders do nothing with the goaltender pulled and another loss.

A lot of times the Islanders lose games because of how they play, tonight the officiating had a lot to do with the final result and they deserved better.

Too many turnovers by the Islanders but they played well for the most part with a lot of line changes.

Doug Weight did an excellent job in the broadcast booth. A little fire from Scott Gordon after the game, he has his teams back but gave them a little too much credit for not generating much in the second half of this game.

Canada wins WJC 5-1 over Sweden

IIHF.com: Sweden lost to Canada 5-1 in the WJC final game on Monday, David Ullstrom had a penalty.

Kirill Petrov was a plus one in Russia's 5-2 win against Slovakia here.

New York at Edmonton 9:30 pm Msg+2

Joey MacDonald stated in goal for the Islanders.

Edmonton despite all the struggles comes in off a 4-1 win against Dallas Saturday after home losses to Calgary and Ottawa are two games over five hundred which places them tenth in the Western Conference only a point out of the eighth seed.

Injury Expected Return
12/30/08 Steve MacIntyre LW Face IR. Out until at least early January
12/30/08 Fernando Pisani RW Ankle Out until at least late January
01/03/09 Ales Hemsky RW Nose/concussion Out until at least early Jan
01/03/09 Marc-Antoine Pouliot C Concussion Questionable for Jan. 5

Dwayne Roloson in goal has posted 10-6-5 record with 2.63 gaa/921 save percentage.

Ales Hemsky 34 10 25 35 1
Shawn Horcoff 37 10 18 28 2
Sheldon Souray 36 12 16 28 0

Former Islander Denis Grebeshkov with 2 goals, fourteen assist is on the Edmonton backline with Robert Nilsson according to the Edmonton Sun's Terry Jones having a plus two against Dallas in a game where the Oilers played well here despite the benchings and missed practice.

Edmonton Journal: Had Joanne Ireland on their win against Dallas.

From the Islanders side of things we'll have to see what they bring to this game on the fast Edmonton surface. Speed gives them trouble in most games adjusting, they have gotten back into games recently and played some strong third periods and had a very good middle part of the first but overall they have been spotty and it's cost them.

Seems whatever offense they generate in terms of finishing comes off something that Richard Park does. When Park, Jackman and Tomas Pock score that's a game the Islanders should win.

I would expect Rick DiPietro to start but anything is possible depending on how he reacts to practice. Goaltending is not the problem for this team regardless who starts. Islanders need to draw more powerplays than they have been on this trip so far.

As of Sunday night no reported callups from Bridgeport.

I will add updates to lineup as made available, aside from a change in goal I expect the same lineup.


Updated:
Newsday: Mr Logan in the Islanders Newsday blog reports Doug Weight is out for tonight's game, Radek Martinek went home for final medical clearance, Jon Sim is likely to dress even though he is not a center with line shuffling.

30th Overall? Cannot see it happening.

Team portrait of the 2000 - 2001 New York Islanders professional ice hockey team on center ice at Nassau Veterans' Coliseum, Uniondale, New York, 2000.

That year's Islanders were Mariusz Czerkawski, Roman Hamrlik, Dave Scatchard, Tim Connolly, Brad Isbister, Claude Lapointe, Mark Parrish, Kenny Jonsson, Bill Muckalt, Oleg Kvasha, Garry Galley, Taylor Pyatt, Jason Blake, Zdeno Chara, Aris Brimanis, Juraj Kolnik, Mats Lindgren, Mark Lawrence, Jeff Toms, Steve Martins, Kevin Haller, Mike Stapleton, Branislav Mezei, Eric Cairns, Jason Krog, Craig Berube, Ray Schultz, , Steve Webb, Anders Myrvold, Mathieu Biron, Evgeny Korolev, Robert Petrovicky, Jesse Belanger, Chris Terreri, Wade Flaherty, and John Vanbiesbrouck.
****************************************************************
That's the last Islander team that finished 30th in Charles Wang's first year as owner, it's almost laughable comparing the talent here now to that overall group and see this roster finishing 30th overall as they did.

Butch Goring deserves having his number retired just for coaching that disaster for close to two seasons after he did an excellent job his first year.

I projected this club to finish sixth going into this season in the East. If they were not decimated by injuries all year I absolutely believe they would at the very least be in contention for a playoff spot at this time.

That Pittsburgh game where they were twenty minutes from five hundred on home ice was the beginning of the end.

Do I see this full roster finishing 30th as that group did? It took only one win for an entire month to barely drop to the bottom so for me the answer is no.

If you think veteran players looking for a job next year or prospects playing for future employment/roster spot intend to lose games you are kidding yourself.

Islanders at the WJC 1/5: Championship Game

The big day is here at the WJC, Canada was five seconds from a huge upset Saturday, tonight they play Sweden with Islander prospect David Ullstrom at 7:30pm for the gold.

Earlier Monday it's Russia with Kirill Pertov in the consolation game against Slovakia at 3:30pm.

Given Petrov has been coming back from injury it's possible he may not play or see more time as others ice-time is scaled back.

Islander News Articles 1/5

Updated:
Newsday: Greg Logan's article is on Mike Comrie's latest return to Edmonton (second as an Islander) and the booing from the fans that comes with it from his time as an Oiler. Comrie comments on playing with Kyle Okposo/Blake Comeau, his health and his future along with his relationship with management.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Sounds like a man who wants to stay and be part of things long-term. At his age when healthy his offense will not be easy to replace. Nothing would surprise me here whether he is resigned or traded.

Newsday: Mr Logan in the Islanders Newsday blog had an interview with Richard Park who is now the third forward to hit double digits in goals. Park in the interview says the club is trying to build some good habits and that regardless of results what can be controlled is the teams work ethic and playing right until the end, staying positive and building confidence from the effort. Park feels this is a better club than the one that lost in Boston last month and that they are here to win games.

Mr Logan speculates it would be wise to hang onto Park past the trade deadline and that he is mentally strong enough to handle what is ahead regardless if a Bill Guerin is traded.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Park's been outstanding and brings so much not on a scoresheet to a team and without his huge goals the last weekend of 2007 the Islanders do not make the playoffs. If the team had size, scoring and a top six unit Park makes sense as part of this roster long-term on the fourth line who can be spotted on other lines. He's done outstanding here on every level and been a much better big game player than I have given him credit for.

I would guess he is not going anywhere.

Having written this if I were general manager I would have to move him at the deadline. His career trends do not lie and if Garth Snow is expecting him to become the next Jason Blake that is not likely. Last December he went on a scoring run, beat Washington in overtime and then went thirty plus games without a goal.

As a checking forward this club must get younger, bigger and develop more consistent skilled scorers for it's top lines. This is why they signed Figren, Joensuu, Marcinko and have a lot of other prospects who will push out veterans or prospects.

Richard Park is signed for next season.


Quick word on Sunday morning coverage:
Post-game comments from Scott Gordon & the players did not make it into game story, just a written recap. Not much time for a recap to make the printed version of the paper with the late start time. Good job by Mr Logan to have a recap written while many other teams games do not have an article from the West coast the next day.

ITV had the coaches press conference.

Edmonton Sun & Edmonton Journal: Have the latest on the Oilers entering Monday's game against the Islanders.

Union Leader: Ed Klajman has Blake Kessel's comments on his WJC experience despite not winning a medal as the reporter noted he lead the US in plus/minus entering Sunday's game.

National Post: Had an article on both WJC games Sunday noting Jyri Niemi's goal against Germany.

Aaron Ness Dodge Holiday Classic MVP

WCHA.com&Gophers Sports: Recaps Minnesota winning the Dodge Holiday Classic Saturday with Islander prospect Aaron Ness named MVP of the two game tournament scoring his first career goal with 8:28 left in regulation after Minnesota trailed 2-1 entering the third period. Ness collected a loose puck and launched a shot from above the faceoff circle into the upper corner of the net.

Ness also set up Minnesota’s first goal, which tied the score at 1-1 late in the first period. The freshman fired in a shot that deflected off the body of Tony Lucia into the goal with 1:27 left in the opening period.

Star-Tribune: Roman Augstoviz had an update on the health of Minnesota coach Don Lucia who had to miss the games but was in the pressbox for the final and is undergoing a battery of tests.


NYI Fan Central Comments:
I was sent an-email about Ness early Sunday on winning the MVP and scoring his first goal. He did not get picked for team USA so this was one instance where it worked out well for him.

Best of luck to Gopher coach Don Lucia, despite any problems last season this goes beyond anything hockey related and we hope he is back behind his teams bench where he belongs soon.