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Islander NHL Notables/Defense

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Denis Potvin was hired by the Senators as it's new broadcaster, according to team1200 radio in Ottawa.

NYIFC Commments:
Our so-called Cablevision partners to date cannot even be bothered with a release announcing Billy Jaffe's replacement.

Anyone who believes Howie Rose is leaving the Mets a second early to report on camp regardless of record is dreaming, this would be a good time for his latest vacation so he can do every scheduled New York Islander game this coming season.
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Having more depth on defense does not necessarily mean your team on the ice will be better because it takes six players as a unit, not just two players in front of the goalie.

Meyer-Sutton individually were excellent defenders for long stretches last season, their level of play at times will be tough to replace.

They also have to be in roles they are used to and comfortable with.

I have gotten it wrong a few times this summer, noting only seven defenders on one way contracts, there are now eight.

Mark Streit, James Wisniewski, Radek Martinek, Bruno Gervais, Andrew MacDonald, Jack Hillen, Milan Jurcina, Mark Eaton.

Outside of Jurcina, all eight have been playing significant minutes when healthy for years. This will not be like Berard, Bergeron or Aaron Johnson a few years ago, where one can sit in the stands.

Plus there is second rounder Dustin Kohn, all-star Mark Katic, Dylan Reese and the two prospects in deHaan, Hamonic among other signed or recently selected draft picks.

Cannot see Gervais, Martinek, Jurcina all making this team if everyone stays healthy through camp, and what if deHaan-Hamonic out perform some of these players?

After the way MacDonald played last year, he would need a brutal camp to lose a spot or a badly mismanaged numbers game by the front office, and no chance he clears waivers with that contact vs his steady play. Would Garth Snow move what he felt was an extra number one pick in Jack Hillen?

Martinek's best has proven far better than Gervais so far.

Unless defenders start dropping with injuries (which happens a lot) someone will be without a spot who is used to playing. This 82 game season is spread out over six months, no Olympic break this time, more recovery time.

Bottom line Garth Snow should have a trade/transaction. Jurcina could be Garth Snow's equivalent of Ken Sutton, who went from solid Devils defender, to someone without a spot very quickly after signing here.

Eaton's a steady defender, who sees twenty minutes, he's going to play.
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Notables:
To waste more time on Tsn's preview than it was given here on twitter would be pointless, they could have picked this team first and it would have been brutal, incomplete and lazy.

30 in 30? TSN should trying going 1 for 1.

The NHL preview done in August was the most in-depth and the most accurate.

A lot of signings have done far worse than the four playoffs in five years, Alexei Yashin led the Islanders to after seven years with no playoffs (none since) with nothing close to an established first line player besides Satan.

I guess Yashin needed to talk to Canadian media like Sundin or Alfredsson to excuse their failures with far superior teams, but he didn't and the Islanders media is a disaster in selling it's players to newspapers in New York, where the sport is off the media radar entirely.
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So the one team beatwriter behind the Dolan's paywall finally found out month old information on the prospects playing the Bruins's prospect next week?

Not like she is running to Syosset to report on informal workouts daily, or put together some comments, while Cablevision has it's Ranger reporter working much harder to sell the house team.

It's time for Ms Strang to get busy, like her counterparts have been busy doing several updates about informal workouts, unless Cablevision's editor is holding back coverage/information?
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Meanwhile, our great TV partner is even having kids camps on the doorstep of Harbor Yard, which even the Ct Post wondered about because Harbor Yard is Islander-Sound Tiger country.
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The New York Islanders should absolutely have some practices and team events inside NYC during this training camp because this is a NY team, with solid fan support inside the city (especially at Islander games at Msg), and must reach out to it's fans everywhere because the print media coverage is not going to be there, win or lose.
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Notice Ilya Kovalchuk did not get one positive local article in New York about resigning with the Devils? He handled himself very well during what happened. Mark Everson at the Post lived up to his nick name (Neverson) and disappeared for the good news or to hype the signing, he was quick to point out possible penalties to NJ or who they could lose because of cap space.

Glass always as empty as possible, now that Kovalchuk is signed we may never see another article from him and never when he does well.

Good news for Kovalchuk is he did not leave a Canadian team so he will not be berated for the rest of his career.
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Will be interesting to see if Kirill Petrov will be free to leave Ak Bars, to participate in Islanders camp and these games next week? He was on earlier Islander website expected to participate list. Ak Bars season starts this week.

What does it mean Kabanov, Niederreiter were not with their junior teams and will report here, which include David Toews and others? Not much. We all know the nine game rule, it's either NY or juniors for these players depending on how much impact they have.
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Wonder if Nassau/Mangano have tried to land a sponsor for naming rights to help renovate/replace the Coliseum? The Cablevision Garden will now likely also be the JP Morgan Chase Garden in a great deal for them.

Dolan's print media version of Fran Healy, Neil Best, never moved faster on a weekend unless it was to report the one solid rating the Dolan's hockey team received last season on national television.
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Maybe Arthur Staple wants to explain how only the 222 goal Islanders have a " weak forward corp, " while his employers team with same 222 goals is described as a forward group that could use, " more youth and some more moxie " in selling Tim Kennedy signing?

Welcome to James Dolan's Media World, hockey content controlled by Ranger fans and former beatwriters/book-writers or employees who write what they are told and how, or they find a new job.

Not a Met fan, but I respect how they pull few punches in coverage in being critical of the team they own on the air.
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Sure looked like former Islander-Sound Tiger, Steve Valiquette was thrown under Lundqvist new bus last week, along with his other backup goalies. Not their fault he would not sit when he was having his usual two month slump packed with three or four goals on less than twenty shots. What's next Valiquette was the reason he could not stop a beachball in the Olympics for Sweden?

No doubt former Islander broadcaster, Jim Cerny has to sell Biron's season and two wins before DiPietro's return in January about three goalies being under contract, not his sub-par play in a two-goalie system, where he lost out to Roloson, who was eleven games over five hundred at one point.

But that does not reflect his season or what happened on the ice.

Biron has the same kind of season again as a caddy, he's going to be under Lundqvist bus quickly. Those three-four goals Biron gave up in many of his late season wins here were not quality performances.

He could have re-signed here and I would have written the same thing, he lost out in a two goalie system to Roloson, to spin it any other way would not reflect what did happened. If DiPietro returned in November and he took his job, when winning it would be more than a fair discussion.

Sure, you can make the point DiPietro should have sat while Roloson played virtually ever game, because despite 2-0 against Buffalo/NJ, Roloson was not the same goalie afterward, and he had them in contention.

Many feel it was a factor in the teams decline leading up to the deadline, it's not an unfair point to make.
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On the former prospect front, Doug Rogers was invited to Tampa Bays' summer prospect camp, while Jared Spurgeon was invited to Minnesota's camp.



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NHL.com: Brian Compton's in depth interview with Doug Weight, pulled no punches on his resigning, the prospects, the teams lack of media respect at times, and goaltender Rick DiPietro among several subjects.

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One local paper owned by another NHL team used the work "weak" in describing the Islander offense, but did not use the exact same term to describe the team owned by the paper or the Devils despite all three locak teams scoring 222 goals last season.

The Comcast Flyers, packed with front-loaded contracts scored fourteen more goals than the 250 man games lost by New York last season.

The respect factor in some cases has nothing to do with the New York Islanders, but respecting the fans intelligence to not see through this selective reporting.

Brian Compton of NHL.com also noted this indirection.

Having written that no one cares or wants to write about how many man games to injury a team losses.

I'm guilty of pushing that point here often because so few media have reported it.

Edmonton had same problem last season, while Colorado lost second most games to injury here but qualified for 2010 playoffs.

After a while writing about all those one goal losses (via special teams games NY lost to Philadelphia) Weight is correct that if you want respect you have to win.

Weight also said in January, (paraphrasing) you have to have players who can finish the hard work when describing the Islanders offensive struggles. That obviously has not been answered to this point on paper about the 21st ranked offense in the NHL.

Mildly interesting Weight mentioned it was tough to make contact with Rick DiPietro, but in the end he will practice/play and that will give us our answer if to if he can hold up.

Mikko Koskinen, Kevin Poulin, Nate Lawson, and likely Anders Nilsson future contract offer depends on it.

As for Weight himself can he take a lesser role, or a seat in the stands if Andrew MacDonald or another defender is the better second pp point option? It's one thing to play hurt, but for his minutes he must produce in whatever role his is given or he was not the right signing if he cannot take a seat for a player who brings more to a specific game.

The Post Dan Martin (part time Islander beatwriter) was assigned to do some fluff on Henrik Lundvist for print edition, while Weight got a brief blog entry from Martin's editor.

The New York Islanders regardless of record will have the worst newspaper coverage out of all thirty teams.

In the end as I have written more and more, Islander fans are going to have to see through reporting standards or lack of them in many cases. Out of town NHL media or National outlets like TSN are also influenced by what they read when they do write/discuss a specific club due to their own lack of knowledge.

I suggest watch the games and make up your own minds based on how the team plays, what players/management are quoted as saying.

For myself, any one of the fifteen clubs in the East can finish first based on a year ago. All have some on-paper weaknesses at this time. No reason if the Islanders last year could compete with top teams in the East & West they cannot compete now.
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James Wisniewski is in Detroit with David Booth and some Red Wings practicing, no local reports on players skating, despite usually many players/prospects at Ice Works.
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Kovalchuk decision due Wednesday again by 5pm, I suspect another rejection means another NHLPA filing and arbitration hearing.

Updated-Now extended mutually per NHL/PA until Friday.
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The Lee Stempniak/Raffi Torres signings still leaves some players available along with many forwards from the 2008-09 Islanders. I see some invites coming for camp but that will not necessarily mean a player will be signed.

With so few preseason games including split-squad, spots will most likely be decided at practices because veterans have to participate in games.

I will keep writing this roster will likely go right to the opener as teams up against the cap will have to make trades and let players go.

Will a Niederreiter, Kabanov, Petrov make the club/sign? We have a long way to go before those questions are answered.

All I will maintain is my guess Garth Snow will have a trade before the opener. Can only have x number of one-way contracts.
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NYIFC Notables:
I will not be adding Islander player individual twitter feeds, too much non-hockey discussion. Isles have a website for this. It's been tough with too many NHL writers using their accounts for non-hockey subjects in summer.

As for NYIFC twitter, I appreciate and thank all who have joined but respectfully ask comments be kept to hockey-Islanders, if you joined to sell products or advertise, please unsubscribe.

NYIFC since April 2009 is not allowing comments after entries beyond e-mails.



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