Bailey, Comeau, DiPietro & PP Very Early Story For New York

New York Islander Fan Central | 10/12/2010 06:24:00 AM |

















Don't forget folks, this team is having it's regulars finally play games together, they had no full preseason games with a full lineup, they have a lot of injuries.

It's only two games against mediocre competition, but these are games they NEVER would have come back in to force overtime or win in regulation a year ago.

Five powerplay goals? Sure does not hurt the special teams numbers, but pk has been uneven and not good enough. Doug Weight still has his touch to make passes and take shots that deflect off other players for goals, but this is not a long-term answer.

Anyone else now think Josh Bailey should return to his natural position of center after some fantastic games, where he looked more dominating than John Tavares at his best last year? Incredible work in front of the goal to set up plays. His junior career suggest he can be a big scorer at this level.

Blake Comeau is absolutely making me a believer. These are not bad goals that were surrendered down the stretch a year ago, he is just working hard and seems like the game has slowed down for him where he is comfortable. He's only three goals and ten points behind where he was last February.

It's not the numbers, it's the skating, the positioning, driving the net to make plays and the passing.

Saturday night, Butch Goring in his debut hit the nail on the head, when DiPietro stopped a breakaway, and said if the Islanders come back, that's what should be remembered, but of course no one did. I felt DiPietro was hard on himself Saturday, shocked he started again Monday, but he played well enough and made big saves early.

Don't know where Gordon goes from here, but Roloson needs work, DiPietro needs to work his way back, nothing replaces two years without game action, day by day we see if DiPietro has any setbacks.

The defense I'm not that comfortable with but they have had little game time.

The good, bad, and ugly of Wisniewski is his offense, hitting but how he got flat-footed on a Dallas goal where he had space to close gap, block passing lane was a terrible effort.

This was a not a franchise player Anaheim surrendered to sign Andy Sutton, he has upside and downside to his game.

Eaton is not Sutton, he blocks shots a different way, is not physical, he lost his man for a goal Saturday but his game is steady play and it's preseason game mode in terms of NHL season for him on a new team. Milan Jurcina simply does not impress me, and it has nothing to do with same pass I gave Eaton. Mike Mottau is the full package but has to be limited because he can do too much and that get's him in trouble.

Martinek, MacDonald have been excellent.

Still, the group has a much bigger presence on the ice, even among the mistakes, they are not going to be out-muscled like they were in the past, even if on paper it is not big in hitting department. Jack Hillen needs to be in that lineup.

PA Parenteau for what little I have seen is obviously slower than Tambellini, but he seems to know where to be and the puck finds him better. This is not about his goal, but where he got other chances from.

Nielsen's game seems a grade higher, on offense, he has to score. Weight's had an outstanding start, but eventually will not have a place at center.

Watch Niederreiter's shift when the Islanders took the 5-4 lead Monday with less than three minutes left. Overall play like that is more impressive than his offense, and why Scott Gordon will want him to stay.

I guess everything was not written about regarding the media.

The comeback questions for Scott Gordon don't come as quick as the blown leads questions so he correctly walked on Ranger media fans/beatwriters, who had nothing about a team they are quick to ridicule, but not nearly interested in praising.

Sure the Ranger/Cablevision/Newsday media are selling/protecting Avery and the paper's house team, along with the few other Ranger fans out there in local press, but obviously for Avery to compare his need for rehab, that he requested at the time to this means he has learned little.

One other thing, I looked at video, Avery put his hands to his mouth before Wisniewski responded. Cablevision owned Msg did not produce a reverse angle.

The Colin Campbell joke standards are Niederreiter got three pre-meditated shots with a stick and was injured with the final one where he was skating away, while the Montreal player got one game, and an endorsement deal from a stick manufacturer.

If the tiny NY hockey media that complains the longest/loudest influence Campbell to where a suspension is given here, I guess three slashes to Avery while he was skating away would be better served for the game?

Bottom line is there is no consistency for Colin Campbell, if the Habs player got Pock plus two (seven games) for three intentional slashes, I would have no problem with a game for Wisniewski and Avery for initiating here if conduct/standards are enforced consistently.

But they aren't.

No folks, former Ranger Daily News/NHL media salesman Frank Brown, John Dellapina did not get into the NHL media department leadership for fair and balanced coverage of the New York Islanders. Of course, Larry Brooks is very upset his favorite team lost, and the player wearing Ranger laundry at this time was shown up.

All I can add is right or wrong 99.9 percent of the players are likely having a good laugh at Avery's expense, including no doubt, most of the players in his own locker room.

Yes folks, this is the same kind of media killing local hockey to where three teams cannot give tickets away for early season games, they complain about the Isles spending but don't spent on coverage? NY Times has a beautiful building.

12,000 at NJ to see Crosby in a new building with Kovalchuk/Parise? No doubt it would have been 13,000 by-partisan at Msg, announced as a sellout, and it will be in December if it's a weeknight.

Speaking of the Devils, I wonder what would have happened if the Islanders circumvented the CBA, were fined/had first round pick taken away, then did not have enough players under the cap to ice a team Monday?

Ok, now it's a Washington club they took 2/2 to overtime against last season on the road, a real test against a team they accumulated zero points in Pittsburgh, who have Mike Comrie on wing.

Tavares does not appear to be long-term, but what happened has to be monitored very closely.



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