Can DiPietro/Roloson Be Effective Sharing Crease?

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This entry is done under the presumption Rick DiPietro will make it through camp, open the season, and remain healthy, regardless of some what folks may think about that.

DiPietro has not seen many games/pucks for two years, improvement to his former level does not happen in a vacuum, nor does someone shake two years of not playing and emerge near the player they used to be, it takes time.

Which brings us to Dwayne Roloson, who was outstanding last season. He started with some ot losses, some poor goals, but once he won the job from Biron and saw steady work, the better he played which he made clear during interviews.

DiPietro returned on 1/8, less games for Roloson changed the level of his play, he was not the same goalie after 1/12. Some solid individual games, but never quite getting back to the very high level he was at for a sustained stretch.

What some will forget is the Olympic break absolutely would eventually have had the same effect, but whether it be Biron after the break or DiPietro, who returned on 1/8, Roloson never got back to the level he was at earlier.

This makes former goaltender Scott Gordon's problem, what if Dwayne Roloson must be used as he was last season before 1/12? What if DiPietro cannot regain his skills playing part of the time or flat out needs a full year (or longer) to raise his game back to where it was when he was an all-star?

As an Islander fan who have seen both goaltenders play for years, I see a problem here. It's not about either players ability to work together, or willingness to share the crease if necessary, but simply can they come off the bench when needed and win/steal some games when required, maintaining a high playing level.

What if both these goaltenders simply need to play number one minutes to be as effective as the club will need for this team to be in contention? Roloson's last year in Edmonton suggests he needs to start. DiPietro's earlier years sharing the crease with Garth Snow suggests he needed to start.

I keep looking at this and it brings me to Nate Lawson, who played in a straight goalie rotation at Bridgeport last season on a low-scoring club, and for a second season posted a .920 save percentage.

No, I'm not suggesting Lawson is making the club, despite three goalies in Bridgeport for two spots. Last year even without DiPietro, Bridgeport had three goalies before Koskinen got injured, and the AHL weekend-centric schedule makes it much different.

No, not a chance Roloson is being traded unless this club is out of contention at the trade deadline, or even if DiPietro returns to his sixty game forum far sooner than anyone could have expected.

What I do see here is a potential problem, despite DiPietro's return healthy, a great positive in the long-term for this franchise.

Some Notes From Friday:
* I believe prospect camp opens Monday with the Bruins games, Wednesday and Thursday in Boston.

* Kirill Petrov played eight minutes in Ak Bars second game. David Towes made his debut for Brandon Friday, but will be in Islander camp, so don't draw conclusions yet based on who is playing where for a little longer. An entry was done on this, it's past late. Ak Bars owns his rights, they can allow him to come to camp or remind Petrov he has has a binding contract/obligation, unless he wants to give back his income.

Islanders website last month put him on the projected list for Boston prospect games.

* Tons of twitter updates with new interviews/Bobby Hughes signing with another team/Jeremy Colliton #27 among new road jersey's available, which had updated rosters as of Friday w/correct player numbers, all prospects.

*Petteri Nokelainen is among several former Islanders on the outside entering camp, Bruins media giving more information on games next week than Islanders, but no shock there.

* Daily News new Ranger beatwriter contacted Islander player rep Bruno Gervais on Donald Fehr, but his boss sends no one to camp or informal workouts?

* Yes folks, Peter Botte has a twitter account, it's not Islander centric at all or I would add it to media sidebar beyond link. We'll be lucky to see his work before Yankee season ends.

* No Msg Islander/studio replacement for Butch Goring announced at this time.

* Other print media added to twitter section.

* Almost seems like NHL.com has to make up for the Islanders lack of print media, don't count on that for long.

* No mistakes this year on NYIFC domain renewal because that was done today, so regardless what happens these pages will remain visible all season, I can now promise you that much.

* Going back to labeling blog entries for those who asked.



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Josh Bailey/Kyle Okposo Interviews

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NHL.com: Brian Compton has an interview with Josh Bailey, where he discusses the 2010 team, previews, the injuries that have plagued the club and what he believes is the Islanders development plan, and opportunity for players.

Mr Compton also reported on the informal practice.

NYIFC Comments:
Until camp officially opens next week, management cannot work with players. I'm not sure of the exact date prospects can work with management but New York rookies will play at Boston on 9/15-9/16.

Outstanding work by Mr Compton here again after his excellent interview with Doug Weight.

Josh Bailey impresses me every time he speaks, even more than his play which is only getting better. He seems to understand what the team is trying to do, easy to see why character players like this are targeted by organizations and drafted earlier.

Josh Bailey more than anyone here outside of John Tavares, understands what it will take for Nino Niederreiter to earn a contract with the club and remain here, his insights into that were excellent.

As a fan on the outside, I wonder where he fits in the Islander plans as a left wing, or at the position they drafted him at center? With Schremp, Nielsen, Tavares down the middle, seems his natural position at this time is closed to him.

Rob Schremp was rightfully qualified and demonstrated he has NHL ability. Scott Gordon made it clear early last season, Schremp either plays center or he does not have a spot here. Frans Nielsen is not moving to a wing, Gordon did not change Tavares position last year.

I would suggest this as the article you read today if you can only pick one.

Updated:
NHL.com: John Kreiser also has a late feature on Kyle Okposo with his comments.




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Richard Park Signing in Switzerland Official

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AP: Reports Richard Park has signed a three-year contract with Swiss club Geneva-Servette, general manager, Chris McSorley spoke with Mark Streit regarding Park, who did play in Switzerland during the lockout.

NYIFC Comments:
Nothing but thanks and the best of luck to Richard Park, who's effort won many games here and was a huge positive in the team going to the playoffs in 07-08. Without his huge goals in Philadelphia and New Jersey that final weekend, the team does not qualify.

Cablevision-Msg: Superficial release on Msg employee Butch Goring's transfer of duties to Islander broadcast booth which was allowed/ordered to be posted on Islanders website, includes his comments on being reassigned within the company.

NYIFC Comments:
Nothing on Cablevision/Msg announcement of a new Islander personality hired to take Goring's role on telecast or in studio. So a full half hour pre/post game most of the time, we'll see.

Obviously no comment from any Islander employee on these transgressions.

The release is also incorrect. Eighty Islander games did not appear on MSG Plus last season, eighteen schedule games were on Msg+2, which many do not have access to in a standard television format, others were assigned there late in the season on virtually no notice, and some outlets did not carry these channels in HD.

Not one single game appeared on Msg despite several Devil games being given the primary Garden outlet. These details never seem to make it into hockey rating releases.



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Ilya Kovalchuk's Agent Jay Grossman On New York

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Sporting News: Craig Custance had comments from Ilya Kovalchuk's, North American agent, Jay Grossman, about discussions with New York, in a long interview about the process that took all summer.

On reports of an offer from the Islanders:

"They inquired. They called, we had some discussions. They had to get to the floor, obviously. We had a number of calls of that type of nature, with teams that would have been interested if we were interested in a specific kind of contract. Our objection going in was to put Kovy in one place for the remainder of his career."

NYIFC Comments:
Not terribly important, but after a summer of brutal reporting for page views first and foremost, felt it was worth folks knowing what Grossman has to say specifically about Islanders part of these negotiations.

Darren Dreger's claims from what he wrote were his sources about what the Islanders could offer took on a media life of it's own, if nothing else this proved reporting standards must absolutely be reigned in.

Note-I initially posted Scott Cullen's name instead of Mr Dreger's, that error has been correct.



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Butch Goring's Employer Assigns Him To Islander Broadcast Booth

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Cablevision's Newspaper has reported Msg employee Butch Goring will also become the Islanders new color commentator, replacing Billy Jaffe in the television booth.

NYIFC Comments:
Butch Goring like everyone who appears on a hockey broadcast for the New York Islanders, Devils or Buffalo Sabres, is an employee of Msg regardless of what they do.

Butch Goring remains an Msg employee under contract to Cablevision-Msg, his salary is paid by Cablevision-Msg. He is not an employee of the New York Islanders.

Once again, I'm going to call this as I see it.

Msg/Cablevision just saved salary by eliminating a position (or Goring's studio replacement will be paid far less by Msg) and I suspect that was the plan all along from a company that replaced it's WNBA teams logo with that of a Casino to make extra revenue.

Charles/James Dolan's Newspaper/media people will report what they are told to report.

New York Islander management choices? About the same as when the Islander pre-game was pulled, or it was time to collect the full Metro Ice Challenge money from the same company, that ironically pulled Islander games off television long ago around the time Goring was coach.

No choice.

So now the former head coach Charles Wang allowed Mike Milbury to fire a decade ago, that drew very strong justified criticism at the time from fans/alumni, will move from the stands/Msg studio to the broadcast booth and will be discussing how Mr Wang's team performs during live play?

Only Msg knows if Rob Carlin will remain to do road interviews with head coach Scott Gordon.

A great deal is being asked of Butch Goring here, who has no background doing live game commentary in a broadcast booth or someone who paid his dues like Denis Potvin for years in such an assignment. Only he knows if he had the option to decline and remain employed with Msg.

Of course, Goring has a life filled with hockey experience beyond what can absolutely be strongly argued is a Hall of Fame career. He paid his hockey dues long before going to Anchorage Alaska, to coach the Aces after leaving New York, only to deal with another bad ownership after Howard/Ed Milstein, that did not live up to it's financial commitments. He then coached the Krefeld Pinguine to the DEL championship as head coach in Germany.

Of course, many recall Goring's brief time as Bruins head coach after leaving the Islanders as a player.

After what Msg did to sanitize Joe Micheletti's performance when he left the Islanders booth, this will not be easy for him, but as long as he is muted about his Msg employer his performance will not be an issue for them beyond salary.

So do all the savings on salary for Msg now mean a full post game for the New York Islanders or some programming?

If Sam Rosen can run downstairs and ask all the questions of Cablevision's coach, surely Howie Rose can finally start doing exactly the same and interview Scott Gordon as Deb Placey/Rob Carlin work the full locker room for every televised game, and not depart the air so quickly after the final horn?

Sorry folks, I think the world of Butch Goring, and felt he was treated terrible a decade ago after an excellent first season as coach where a team that won 24 games, played much better than projected.

I'm not the biggest Billy Jaffe fan, the team could be playing awful and be up/down by three goals and his commentary would reflect the scoreboard more than how the team was actually playing.

Bottom line, this has not been fair to Billy Jaffe, who did nothing on camera to not be rehired, this is not fair to Butch Goring, it's not fair to the New York Islanders or our fans.

Seems the only place it is good for will be Cablevision/Msg bottom line.

As I wrote after Msg/Cablevision announced Jaffe would not be rehired you have to make up your own mind about what some will actually now claim are the Islander broadcast partners, despite a record that obviously screams otherwise.

The media will not be giving that to you in Newsday about their own employees and what ultimately was their decisions.
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At this time there is no official confirmation from a team website Richard Park has signed in the NLA
with Genève-Servette in Switzerland. To the best of my knowledge their regular season opens Friday.




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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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