New York Islander Fan Central Changes

The twitter box was pushed back to 2pm.

Some late changes/questions/answers:

New York Islander Fan Central is available for those using mobile devices, the twitter pages should also be viewable via mobile to everyone who accesses both sites.

The RSS to New York Islander Fan Central has been given a better place to access only blog entries from this site/infrequent as they could be.

Some folks again asked for comments to be allowed, despite likely infrequent entries. I will go with it again on a trial basis, in a moderated format.

A scoreboard that fits this page has been added, other one good but not customizable to fit page. Google news/blogs link added to access recent/archived entries to replace Islanders website which is accessible all over NYIFC anyway.

Small things but for those checking this site/twitter page, important so you can read the latest, from anywhere, got some questions on it so wanted to have it ready for opener to all.

Also the way to contact NYIFC has been upgraded with profile information. Our old NYIsles1/Islanders-Sound Tigers user-name has been changed to read New York Islander Fan Central.

Islander Notables

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The twitter box will be re-posted 12pm Saturday.

Islanders website reported, Rick DiPietro will start against Dallas Saturday.

AP: Has comments from Gordon, most of the players on start of Islanders season.

NYIFC Comments:
When it's written by Ira Podell, you can bank on some negative background commentary from him, the quotes from team are what's relevant, not his viewpoint, even if it's positive.

NYIFC Comments:
Does not seem to be Scott Gordon's style to announce a starter this far in advance, DiPietro's start against Dallas last season has no relevance. From what I could gather in limited bodies of work, Roloson faced more pressure and arguably played better, but DiPietro beat the Devils with their top line.

Two games vs daily practices for weeks. Only the coach/staff know.
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Cablevision/Msg/Newsday media spin doctor, Neil Best claims former Ranger/Islander Patrick Flatley will be labeled an Islander as Butch Goring's replacement analyst on MSG's hockey program, who will only work about half their shows.

NYIFC Comments:
So in effect Goring's role in the stands at the Coliseum during home games has been eliminated, his full-time job in Msg studio has been replaced by a former Ranger/Islander and he will only be there part time. This around the time Denis Potvin was reportedly without a job?

To be fair maybe Msg did contact Potvin.

So it's official. Msg will cut costs/content on the New York Islanders in the studio, during games in the stands, and despite being at home for training camp for the first time thirteen years Msg did not even produce a single minute of content.

It says a great deal a game in Quebec can be seen on internet, but not one from the Coliseum or Prudential Arena from our so-called partners.

Goring was not permitted to cover anything from Coliseum on television/radio or internet during pre-season (no internet games were even allowed on tape delay) nor was a show even produced for the club/or the Devils entering the new season for the first time in memory, while the Dolan's teams/games are spammed day and night.

Billy Jaffe's full-time contract was eliminated.

Bottom line hopefully a few folks can still read between the WiFi lines Cablevision is installing at the Coliseum as to how little control the New York Islanders/New Jersey Devils/Buffalo Sabres have as Msg's " partners " in any kind of coverage agreement.
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Islanders website: Also reported a radio agreement with WRHU 88.7 FM, Radio Hofstra University, to broadcast games throughout the 2010-11 NHL season. Former color commentator, Chris King will move over to the play-by-play position and various Hofstra broadcast students will have the opportunity to serve as the color analysts and sideline reporters.

NYIFC Comments:
I need professional media confirmation to know if Msg has final approval of the Islanders radio rights, with any station anywhere before I can go further. This may be the only place Msg would allow them to have a radio agreement, or they have no say in any radio agreement at all. Hofstra has college games to air for football and basketball. This contradicts the past when the Islanders appeared on Bloomberg, ESPN 1050, and the recent Islander radio network.

I did not research if Buffalo is going only with simulcast as they did a year ago, or have an expanded radio agreement or whether Msg controls approval rights to this.

Updated:
Ken Belson of the NY Times, informed me he was told by Islanders and MSG, approval by the Garden is only regarding television broadcasts, not a radio deal.
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Do I care whether Rex Ryan, Darryl Strawberry, Michael Strahan, other past Jet QB's or Tom Suozzi drops the opening night puck? No.

The lack of credible print/internet coverage has done a good job driving folks away, regardless.
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News Durham Region: Report Calvin deHaan was named captain of the Generals, with coach Chris DePiero's comments who's team also has Islander draft pick, Tony DeHart.
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Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio breaks down the Islanders roster.

NYIFC Comments:
The Ct Post staff kindly responded Friday night with a Rss link to Mr Fornabaio's newspaper coverage here which will appear on blog sidebar in media section.



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NYIFC In 2010-11

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NYIFC stepped things up here during camp to set folks up for NHL season as best as possible, the response as usual has been fantastic.

There is no plan on paper at NYIFC for this season, no promise that can be made beyond NYIFC being visible all season (the one promise made) along with the prospect blog.

The new look created here over the summer is fantastic and something that I'm very proud of along with the appearance of NYIFC Prospect Blog, which is a second to none encyclopedia of the teams prospects.

There will be no polls, comments sections was closed since 09, the era of the daily blog entries year-round ended in April of 2009.

NYIFC responds to all-emails, but it takes a little time.

I have decided like last season to work here mostly through twitter, which in effect is one big box filled with updates, just like a blog entry.

Keep checking and you will usually see something new written, and a space to respond via twitter.

On occasion there will be written blog entries at NYIFC, a year ago it ran one or two every week or so which is a lot for most writers, but nowhere near our former high standard.

I may step things up at times and write more entries, I may not.

Occasionally, it's easier to do one entry here instead of ten or twenty twitter updates.

For those who have followed NYIFC, or it's predecessors, for well over a decade you know the scoreboard or standings have no bearing whatsoever on how much is ever written.

Having written this, I will be taking a step back in terms of twitter updates this season.

Last year all eighty two games had twitter updates with game articles, which even included going full-time here for Bridgeport playoffs with NYIFC. I do not wish to go on line and start writing after every game, win or lose.

At this point I'm considering doing twitter updates every few days, or about a group of games at once.

The idea the last few weeks was to set everyone up for the season as best as I could.

Media:
NYIFC has never been a media blog, anyone who has that perception would be completely incorrect.

I'm not going to do a lot of updates about the media this season because long-time readers of NYIFC know where we stand on the subject. The same will hold for the Lighthouse/Nassau Coliseum coverage unless a definitive plan is announced.

Since day one doing daily articles here in a digest it has examined the writer viewpoint along with their game update to go with team/player quotes. It has asked fair questions of work, no more, no less. This blog has also given out praise for quality work countless times.

When you see articles from fringe sports writers, who at best write one or two NHL updates a year packed with blind, unreasoning assaults on the team, not based on fact or a solid knowledge of the team (see Jay Greenberg/NY Post), I do not believe it's unreasonable to question that viewpoint, or the outright bias/agenda behind it.

Marc Berman was a season ticket holder, a decades long NY Islander fan, covering the club ten years ago for the NY Post. When he was critical (often) it was knowledge based, not someone showing up twice a year just to throw cheap-shots for page views, who could not name five players.

Bottom line there are countless archives on all these subjects, there is virtually nothing further I can add beyond the fact that many of these writers (especially in NYC) surface to take shots at the Islanders and an owner who had not been given the same taxpayer handouts/exemptions as others to fund arena/stadium, and won't take the club seriously unless they spend (just not on Yashin or DiPietro) yet all those newspapers are guilty of not spending their resources to cover the New York Islanders.

These publications seem to have no problem, however spending their resources on the laughingstock Knicks.

Very hypocritical. Many markets have their teams struggle far longer and don't see the coverage cut or outright dropped. The Panthers have outstanding coverage, compared to all three local hockey teams, and have gone the longest without playoffs.
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2010-11:
On the ice I see a team that has as good a chance as any to make the playoffs and compete for a Stanley Cup as any in this conference. They could finish anywhere from 1-15 depending on what falls into place vs what does not.

Some things will work, others will not.

If the 09-10 New York Islanders w/250 man games lost can take 3/4 to overtime against Washington, defeat Chicago, Vancouver, Detroit, Colorado, Phoenix, play even with division winner Buffalo, take 3/3 at home to overtime against Pittsburgh, they can win the Stanley Cup this season.

There were four one goal losses to Philadelphia, some badly blown leads from beating out several teams for playoff spots, and they were in contention in March/April.

09-10 is now over.

Welcome to NYIFC for the 2010-11 season. I hope it ends with a Stanley Cup for the New York Islanders.

My Thanks To Everyone.



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Looking Back A Decade

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One nice thing about doing a mailing list called Islanders-Sound Tigers that dates back a decade is I can look back and check past articles/very old postings, where we can laugh at all the things myself and everyone got wrong over the years, and view full articles.

A few things turned out correct as well.

Ten years ago Butch Goring was ripping his 0-5-1 club off the ice in preseason, the locker room was renovated then also. Cablevison back then did not make him to go Msg to do the post-game or interview himself to save money on announcers.

Charles Wang and Sajay Kumar were beginning their first season as owners. Bryan McCabe was already being traded again for Alexander Karpovtsev. I was complaining about poor city coverage and Rick DiPietro was making his debut for the Chicago Wolves of the IHL, getting a shutout and an ejection all in the same 5-1 win.

Many were calling for an improved Islander team based on a stronger defense with Gary Galley/Kevin Haller to go with Roman Hamrlik, Kenny Jonsson and Chara, who with Brad Isbister almost negotiated their way out of the season. Taylor (not Nelson) Pyatt was impressing in camp, Tim Connolly was on his way to a roster spot. Eric Cairns was out four weeks, Aris Brimanis and Yevgeny Korolev made up the final two spots with....Matthieu Biron.

John Vanbiesbrouck, Wade Flaherty were between the pipes. Alexei Yashin was returning from his holdout in Ottawa.

Newsday was providing a twelve page pullout for the start of the Islanders season.

I predicted a 38-32 record with a bunch of ties and a playoff spot/run. Goring was complaining about his lack of right-handed centers.

Cablevision was actually playing preseason games against the Islanders again for a short time. Pavel (Bossy) Brendl & Jamie (Trottier) Lundmark were being sent down, Stephan Qunital was doing his Redden to waivers dance for Hobey Baker Winner........MIKE MOTTAU.

Marc Savard was being called out by writer Eric Francis in Calgary, who roasted the Islanders over Chara-Isbister, then a week later wrote an open letter demanding Savard take $700,000 after Brad Isbister signed for $ 385,000.

The more things change......better not happen this decade. Tons of articles on Sound Tigers ten years ago.



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New York Releases 23 Man Roster-Niederreiter In/deHaan/Martin Out

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Islanders website: Well before the 3pm deadline announced it's 23-man roster for opening night, which included Calvin deHaan going to back to juniors, Matt Martin to Bridgeport, while Nate Lawson was placed on injured list with Rob Schremp, Kyle Okposo and Mark Streit.

Nino Niederreiter got the call from Garth Snow he will receive his opportunity, along with Michael Grabner and PA Parenteau. Jon Sim & Trevor Gillies are among the thirteen forwards, the club has nine games to make a final determination because beyond that it's New York or juniors.

"It's a great feeling," said Niederreiter, who skated on a line with Doug Weight and Josh Bailey on Wednesday morning. "I was waiting for a call to (Isles GM) Garth (Snow), and I got to know that I'm on the team. I'm really happy about it."

NHL.com: Brian Compton had Michael Grabner's first NY comments where he agreed with his Florida's general manager's assessman of his play and discussed his opportunity here. Head coach, Scott Gordon commented on the plan for Grabner with New York.

These were the line combination's at practice before final cut:
Forwards
91 John Tavares - 57 Blake Comeau - 15 PA Parenteau
26 Matt Moulson - 51 Frans Nielsen - 7 Trent Hunter
12 Josh Bailey - 93 Doug Weight - 25 Nino Niederreiter
17 Matt Martin - 28 Zenon Konopka - 16 Jon Sim
14 Trevor Gillies & 40 Michael Grabner

Defensemen
3 Calvin de Haan
4 Mark Eaton
38 Jack Hillen
8 Bruno Gervais
47 Andrew MacDonald
27 Milan Jurcina
24 Radek Martinek
10 Mike Mottau
20 James Wisniewski

Goaltenders
39 Rick DiPietro
30 Dwayne Roloson

Long Term Injured Reserve:
21 Kyle Okposo
2 Mark Streit
44 Rob Schremp
52 Nathan Lawson

Tavares-Comeau was most likely a misprint.

NYIFC Comments:
Shocked Niederreiter was kept for now? No, because we have seen this trend before but again this player is almost a full year young than Tavares-Bailey when they secured spots at this level, he did not have a dominating camp offensively. Parenteau did not have a good statistical preseason in few games.

Doug Weight for now will see an elevated role apparently.

Again it must be noted waiver claims, trades could happen at any time. Today was a deadline to reach twenty three players or less by 3pm. Disappointing Calvin deHaan was not retained, but the defensive depth is in Bridgeport to fill possible injuries, next summer they have to work in both deHaan and Hamonic along with others.

Matt Martin could be back sooner than later, but did not require waivers. For now Bridgeport has an answer to it's three man goaltender problem with Nate Lawson here on what is listed as long-term injured reserve, however he did skate.

NHL Notables:
Oddly, Edmonton received permission to send Sheldon Souray to the Washington Capitals AHL affiliate which is the Hershey Bears here but is not seen as the precursor to a trade.

Souray's best chance at being claimed would come in a recall waiver which will likely happen when injuries start piling up around league.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio has the latest on what these moves mean for Bridgeport,

Nate Lawson is out two weeks with a knee injury here.

To the best of my knowledge, Ryan Parent/Jeff Tambellini and all players placed on waivers have cleared. Cablevision's AHL payroll has three players making around ten million dollars including their summer signings.



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Decision Day For New York At 3PM

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Today is the day New York Islander fans will know who likely is going to start the season here on Saturday.

This is the roster deadline, however in some ways today feels like March deadline, with so many players on waivers combined with clubs needing to cut players/salary, this day has taken on far more significance with the new cap restrictions.

No folks, you can't stand pat with twenty six players and keep quiet, twenty three by 3pm.

Players signed in summer, hyped for their ability are on waivers or could be heading to the AHL or another club, based only on practices and a handful of exhibition games. Dave Andrews may be wondering if AHL needs a hard cap by the end of tomorrow.

On paper New York needs to cut three player, or place them on an IR list that already includes Schremp, Streit and Kyle Okposo.

Current Lineup:
Comeau-Tavares-Parenteau/Niederreiter
Bailey- -Grabner
Moulson-Nielsen-Hunter
Gillies/Sim-Konopka-Weight

Matt Martin

Wisniewski-MacDonald
Martinek-Eaton
Hillen-Mottau
Gervais-Jurcina
deHaan

Matt Martin, Calvin deHaan, Nino Neiderreiter would not have to clear waivers, Gervais, Jurcina, Gillies, Hillen, Parenteau would have to clear waivers along with Jon Sim.

On paper, twenty three reads nice and meets the requirement, however it also means three players sit in the stands every game.

Of course, the injuries pile up here, that's a given. A few years ago Berard, Bergeron, Aaron Johnson (cut by Nashville) sat and waited their turn, in a short time all three were playing or hurt, more defenders were signed.

Speculation:
Miroslav Satan signed a game by game contract in KHL, Bill Guerin with his twenty goals at age thirty nine wants to continue his career. One of his best friends is on this team as captain, you can bet he is lobbying all parties to bring back the former captain.

A player could be claimed off waivers, trades/signings could still happen after 3pm tomorrow. On paper, I did not see games/practices, however one thing for sure is Parenteau did not have Matt Moulson's statistical preseason from a year ago.

Every move this team made from sending Niederreiter to Quebec/acquiring Michael Grabner suggests Niederreiter or Parenteau will not be here.

Niederreiter is almost a year younger than Tavares/Bailey were as rookies, while Okposo started his draft year in school, it's not the same thing.

Unless a game is set up to be about fights, Jon Sim is a better alternative than Trevor Gillies. Matt Martin demonstrates potential that suggest he could be the best fit, however Sim outscored Hunter and Nielsen a year ago, plus he stands out with his hard work/physical game.

It also means Joensuu/several prospects could not take his spot which is not a good sign.

On defense, Garth Snow is faced with what I believe is the toughest decisions of his managerial career to date.

Unless the plan is to work in Hamonic and deHaan next fall, one or both will still be on the outside in two years.

How do you sign Jurcina in summer and then not use him for the final preseason contest on a club that only had three days of games using Anders Eriksson? Is this the end for Bruno Gervais? The decision to sign Mike Mottau changed the playing field, he was a Devil regular and will be in this lineup with his two year contract.

Where does Jack Hillen fit this defense given the progress he has shown?

I know I want Ryan Parent claimed by the Islanders. If it means both Gervais or Jurcina demoted so be it. Nashville got him back and moved him, he spoke to the teams website on 10/1 about returning to Nashville before being traded again Tuesday.

I cannot envision any scenario short of a franchise offensive talent being imported via trade where Andrew MacDonald is not on this team. Even with James Wisniewski here for one season, MacDonald is the player who best emulates Streit's overall game on offense and defense.

Everything I read in this camp once again suggests Radek Martinek (even with his injury history) is a player who has demonstrated his defensive game cannot be replaced. This is the day I believe we will get an answer to that question as he enters the final year of his contract.

Today may be anti-climatic, however it could very well go the other way.


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No Excuses, Time for New York To Start Winning

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Garth Snow/several members of the organization made it clear over the summer, it's time for this franchise to start winning, that there cannot be any excuses to be back in the top tier of the entry draft next June.

They will not be given a pass in this entry.

The injuries to Kyle Okposo and Mark Streit do not change that. Eight defenders are here with one way contracts, Okposo has been out before and had a twenty goal scoring drought last season, at this stage of his career he is not a franchise offensive star.

The very brief preseason schedule cannot change anything. Every team has a few days off to prepare, the Islanders have five days to finalize their lineup before Saturday.

Garth Snow made his inquiry on Kovalchuk over the summer, this indicates he did not add what he felt his roster needed. At this time he still has not traded for or signed a scoring winger. Instead a player with six goals and fourteen points as late as 2/10 is on one wing (Blake Comeau) with twenty year old John Tavares, the other features a current choice of a player with a one-way contract, who has cleared waivers before in PA Parenteau, or Nino Niederreiter, who was not even kept in New York for the final preseason game, and is trying to make the NHL almost a year earlier than John Tavares did.

Seems like there is a big hole here that has gotten bigger since the summer.

The recent past indicates Trent Hunter is not the player to fill that spot. Another season with Jon Sim in the top six, or even a healthy Doug Weight is not any kind of answer and indicates a failure in development.

Management has spoken, Joensuu, Figren, DiBenedetto, Marcinko and Rhett Rakhshani are in Bridgeport. Matt Martin is injured/still here, but does not seem to possess top six ability based on last season in Bridgeport.

Asking for one player to break into a top line role in Comeau, who did not have a good 82 game season is asking a lot. Asking for Parenteau to step into a first line role out of the AHL seems to be asking for too much.

Can it work? Anything can work.
Is this the progress that management said must happen this summer? I don't see it based on those changes. PA Parenteau is not the NHL's best kept secret, even if he turns into the next Matt Moulson. Comeau was being benched so Trevor Gillies could play three minutes deep into last season.

Bottom line this is not the middle of the season, where it's tougher to replace players. Garth Snow has had time to plan his roster. The loss of Okposo and Streit are huge, but they cannot be the excuse that ends this season.

The general manager should be smart and patient, but the time will likely come where he has to act, he cannot be given any excuses.

Quick Hits:
New York has the worst hockey media in North America.

The little professional coverage from outside markets will be brutal for the most part, with a lot of bias based on ignorance/or other items, from people who do not follow the team on a regular basis or stuck in the late 90's.

Seems more than a few are still a little bitter about the 80's as well.

It's not going to get much worse beyond non-coverage or articles out of nowhere bashing the club. We all know the deal with Cablevision in terms of television/newspaper coverage which is nothing less than an insult because they have to sell Cablevision's hockey team which has only hurt hockey and their own product.

Islander management's LI campaign is also giving many a reason to not cover the club, practically spamming it into every release.

Only thing that is relevant are the quotes of the players/management, hopefully the club utilizes it's one true resource and stays ahead of the limited media by breaking their own news.

Sadly, some of that media coverage also comes from those with a vested interesting in selling the teams they cover to the public via their editors. Hence those who would blame Nino Niederreiter for being sticked to the face, then slashed from behind by Michael Cammalleri of the Canadians need to take off the Canadians jersey or go find a seat in the stands and stop pretending to be professional about anything.

I cannot waste my effort's speculating on the Colin Campbell double-standard of punishment.
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For those who are scoring the salary cap at home, Garth Snow did not have to sign Mike Mottau and give him a two-year contract to reach the cap floor, he has a lot of defenders who could have filled this spot. This was a club where Dylan Reese saw a month of NHL action a year ago.

Many contracts in this league have bonus money in deals for incentives. John Tavares, Okposo, Bailey, and other prospects signed here were given max entry-level contracts, and had to be given bonus incentives.

The NHL is not about what corporation can lose the most money as teams buy out or demote their mistakes or place them on waivers to eliminate the salary cap hit, as they approach seventy million plus in money invested on total payroll. The NHL is also not about what franchise can front-load the most contracts.

Chicago was bleeding red ink last season, their owner is on record for how he had to use his corporations money to offset the losses/front-loaded contracts.

Items like this are what drove the league into a lockout, many teams well below forty million pre-lockout are over fifty million now.

Granted in hockey's smallest big media market, competing with hundred million dollar baseball teams/two NJ football teams called New York, it only makes things more impossible for New York hockey to be reported accurately.



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New York Makes Several Roster Cuts Sunday

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Islanders website: Reported Sunday morning Forwards Justin DiBenedetto, Micheal Haley, Rob Hisey, Jesse Joensuu, Mark Katic, Tomas Marcinko, Rhett Rakhshani, David Ullstrom, and Jeremy Yablonski, along with defensemen Dylan Reese, Travis Hamonic and goaltender Mikko Koskinen have all been assigned to the Sound Tigers.

Dean McAmmond, Jed Ortmeyer, Anders Eriksson, Manny Legace and Krys Kolanos, were all released from their tryout agreements.

On Saturday, Dustin Kohn was placed on waivers, Robin Figren, Kevin Poulin, Anton Klementyev and Tony Romano were assigned to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and Joel Martin was released from his professional tryout.

The current roster now consists of 28 players, with the league requirement of getting to 23 by Wednesday, Oct. 6 at 3 p.m.

NYIFC Comments:
Five players have to go, a cut to twenty three means some players will require waivers to be reassigned, some will not. Also many teams do not carry three healthy scratches. This does not account for trades the Islanders may make to acquire additional players.

This leaves, John Sim, Andy Hilbert, Nino Niederreiter, Trevor Gillies, PA Parenteau, & Matt Martin at forward to be decided.

On defense, Calvin deHaan, Bruno Gervais, Milan Jurcina, Jack Hillen are likely on the bubble for a defense that had Wisniewski-MacDonald, Martinek-Eaton and Mike Mottau dress together Saturday.

deHaan got the Coliseum game Saturday.

A three day body of work for a preseason is tough to make decisions off of and I see some transactions coming. Jesse Joensuu scored two goals and was sent to Bridgeport so game results are not going to be the only determining factor here.

I would suspect as long as Matt Martin is out, that's one player off the roster, Gillies, Parenteau require waivers to be sent down, the Islander targeted him in July as a scorer, so I don't see three games enough of a body of work to demote him.

Andy Hilbert I don't see here, but Sim may be the better fourth line alternative over Gillies in many select games.

Bruno Gervais going to Quebec may have been about his roots there, but he spot in top six seems very tenuous.

With Lawson, Poulin hurt for a good part of camp, Koskinen for the moment will likely be Bridgeport's starter.

A lot of teams with as many players and decisions on who they can trade not only to trim roster to twenty three, but under the NHL cap.

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