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I wish to start this entry a little differently.
There are times this blogger does not have a lot of patience with those not interested in a fair and reasonable discussion regarding the New York Islanders.
There are times this blog goes after media double-standards and does not hold back if something is unfair. If Peter Botte can take digs at Rick DiPietro, NYIFC can take our own shots will Mr Botte's editor at the Daily News let him cover even less games than DiPietro plays?
That would also go to media that refuse to spend money on covering games, but will be the first to question Charles Wang's payroll?
NYIFC finds it disingenuous so many in the hockey media, who barely cover our team or check in once a year are so interested in marketing their views will play instant expert on all thirty teams, but usually need an outdated playbook a decade old or even longer for that yearly article.
Toronto Star: An article today proves my point omitting Wang's committee was something he said he would abandon if unsuccessful which he did, ignoring Dallas followed same model with Brett Hull, disregarding several playoffs Yashin/DiPietro contracts brought to Islanders, also the first time Mike Milbury's team missed playoffs (excluding first season) he resigned as Charles Wang's gm, who never hired him, but retained him.
Dolphins owner, Steve Ross, for those wondering was a minority partner in Howard Milstein's New York Islanders here but this writer did not report it.
Bottom line, no one is an expert on all thirty teams, most are not experts on one, but please do not insult our intelligence.
Media who go with that self-serving approach produce so much incorrect information, it's insulting to even the fans who do not follow any team closely.
This simply begs the question are these professional media people so desperate to impress their bosses, maintain a living or simply make a name for themselves at any cost, they must know all or pretend as such?
It would be great/refreshing once in a while to see some of these folks, drop the pretense and just say they are not sure and do not follow x team closely enough or are only going by stats or simply that they could be wrong.
Even better if someone wrote because I work for x employer part of my job is to sell x team because it's good for our advertising, my ability to make a living in hockey/sports media because I'm building my own career resume.
As for NYIFC the great part about writing NYIFC/Islanders-Sound Tigers all these years going back to 1999 is there has never been any interest in hockey journalism beyond asking Kevin Allen long ago what the exact process is to become an a member of the PHWAOA which Mr Allen was kind enough to write about in 2008 for NYIFC here.
Does that mean everything NYIFC writes here on the New York Islanders, on twitter or anywhere else is absolutely correct and everyone else is wrong because I follow the games/articles?
Absolutely not.
There is always room for fair and reasonable points from everyone. This blog goes into entries hoping for good counter-points that contribute and make discussions even better, that help our knowledge, there are many in e-mails.
Any outsider who tells you what is happening in a teams locker room or what owners/players or general managers are thinking are wasting your time, they don't know.
Same for fans and media that love character question topics, unless you are in that room and around these people, it's insulting to go there and says more about the character of the person asking that question.
Unless a player is quoted, and these days you really need supporting video, it should not be trusted as reliable because many quotes are taken out of context, by the third of fourth article, the headlines can turn a story into something very different.
Speculation is one thing, but anyone throwing out gossip (positive or negative) is again simply being disingenuous.
NYIFC simply gives it's viewpoint with as much supporting knowledge as can be provided. It's a place of knowledge that will not insult it's readers with sourced based information and does not play the sensationalism game. That level of reporting even at the professional level is misleading at best, unfortunate at it's worst.
The viewpoints here are very basic.
1. How the player skates during games.
2. What the player says in direct quotes.
Of course, you look at stats of other players who come to your team, but like many of the articles are usually misleading.
I hope this answer the questions a few folks have asked.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Tavares Best Game Ever in New York Win at Philadelphia. Defensive Chemistry?
New York Islander Fan Central | 1/19/2012 10:26:00 PM
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None of this changes the big picture at this time, which would be the standings, however tonight was special and not because they finally beat a team they could have easily been 3-0 against this season.
Without Sergei Bobrovsky's outstanding goaltending it could easily have been 7/8-1.
John Tavares and this teams defense was simply that good.
The 4-1 final score/shots against will not reflect how dominating John Tavares was against the Philadelphia Flyers, nor will it reflect how much better this team is on defense with Steve Staios/Mike Mottau's lack of speed not in this lineup.
Nabokov was given the third star with forty statistical saves where he was solid, however not required to be great. Tavares got first star to give folks an idea how the game played out.
Even including the five point game in Vancouver, tonight was Tavares best career game.
Tavares almost created breakaways or was going around players one on one almost every other shift, he forced the Flyers to take penalties, or finally the Isles made them pay as quickly as they converted the goal to give them breathing room in Washington.
The shots against will make it seem Nabokov was under huge pressure, many Flyer shots came from bad angles or in the third when Philadelphia pressured. Like the Caps game this defense is much quicker and able to skate in the defensive zone with Reese in and Staios out, and keep the other team to angles. They can compete for pucks in the corners which creates transition with speed the last two games that looked very similar to the second half of last season.
Dylan Reese even had to fight because the Flyers were getting frustrated, he more than held his own and got the take-down.
It was effective, New York outworked Philadelphia, had the better chances and like in Washington were the better team and earned the two points.
Martin's shorthanded play sprung Bailey for a top-shelf goal. Tavares work fed Moulson to open the scoring after one was correctly disallowed in the first on a kick.
These last two games were fun to watch, it did not look like off nights for the other team, but the New York Islanders outworking the opposition and taking two points.
The last two games were impressive for the first time this season, it was not about a bad game for the opposition or it's goaltender.
A lot of twitter comments during game.
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Sadly, Radek Martinek has been shut down for the season by the Columbus Blue Jackets with post-concussion syndrome.
Ct Post: Mr Fornabio reports Jeremy Colliton is getting close to returning to a Bridgeport team on a seven game winning streak.
None of this changes the big picture at this time, which would be the standings, however tonight was special and not because they finally beat a team they could have easily been 3-0 against this season.
Without Sergei Bobrovsky's outstanding goaltending it could easily have been 7/8-1.
John Tavares and this teams defense was simply that good.
The 4-1 final score/shots against will not reflect how dominating John Tavares was against the Philadelphia Flyers, nor will it reflect how much better this team is on defense with Steve Staios/Mike Mottau's lack of speed not in this lineup.
Nabokov was given the third star with forty statistical saves where he was solid, however not required to be great. Tavares got first star to give folks an idea how the game played out.
Even including the five point game in Vancouver, tonight was Tavares best career game.
Tavares almost created breakaways or was going around players one on one almost every other shift, he forced the Flyers to take penalties, or finally the Isles made them pay as quickly as they converted the goal to give them breathing room in Washington.
The shots against will make it seem Nabokov was under huge pressure, many Flyer shots came from bad angles or in the third when Philadelphia pressured. Like the Caps game this defense is much quicker and able to skate in the defensive zone with Reese in and Staios out, and keep the other team to angles. They can compete for pucks in the corners which creates transition with speed the last two games that looked very similar to the second half of last season.
Dylan Reese even had to fight because the Flyers were getting frustrated, he more than held his own and got the take-down.
It was effective, New York outworked Philadelphia, had the better chances and like in Washington were the better team and earned the two points.
Martin's shorthanded play sprung Bailey for a top-shelf goal. Tavares work fed Moulson to open the scoring after one was correctly disallowed in the first on a kick.
These last two games were fun to watch, it did not look like off nights for the other team, but the New York Islanders outworking the opposition and taking two points.
The last two games were impressive for the first time this season, it was not about a bad game for the opposition or it's goaltender.
A lot of twitter comments during game.
***************************************
Sadly, Radek Martinek has been shut down for the season by the Columbus Blue Jackets with post-concussion syndrome.
Ct Post: Mr Fornabio reports Jeremy Colliton is getting close to returning to a Bridgeport team on a seven game winning streak.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Positives For New York But Nothing That Changes Standings
New York Islander Fan Central | 1/16/2012 09:06:00 PM
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The quality of the New York Islanders play has been mostly solid/steady, outside of the game in Phoenix you could make the argument the club has not had a real clunker since the Bruins/Pens stretch in November.
Most games the Islanders skate well enough to take the play at the opposition, even in recent losses. The opposing goaltenders have had to play well from Rinne to Bobrovsky to Hiller's save on Parenteau that turned the Anaheim game.
Overall, some fantastic progression from Tavares to superstar status(not just all-star), Matt Moulson looks dominating, Okposo is playing like a top pick, and visible, scoring in games for the first time since before his injury.
Hamonic/MacDonald are progressing well, and mostly solid efforts from Nabokov.
Parenteau has thirty seven points in forty three games, that's more than anyone could have expected.
Grabner's speed has finally returned, perhaps he needed this long to get back the jump after his groin injury, still it's a one line Islander team on offense, that simply is getting almost no production from it's other lines at even strength.
Bailey, Niederreiter have been getting their chances, or making their chances, Martin's hitting.
The veterans on up front and on defense, have given them virtually nothing in terms of offensive support. Rolston began his twenty nine point second half with the Devils, January 9th a year ago. Reasoner will be out a lot longer, Pandolfo is not a scorer at his natural right wing spot, much less playing a spot he's never played in his career.
A few nice plays from Staios, Eaton, Mottau and Jurcina, a few big mistakes as well which will be the theme. Outside of rare Jurcina goal, expect no offense.
Streit's delay of game for falling into net losing his balance is the latest in a series of absurd calls which began with the ot delay of game against San Jose, he had a three point game.
Rick DiPietro is going to have his surgery, the Islanders including his knee swelling has been a theme every single year and is the story, not the sports hernia.
Bottom line, a team holding firm at five games under, winning a few, then losing a few is a club going nowhere near a playoff spot, that's not even a discussion any longer unless the group wants to go 10-0-0 to get near the eighth seed, which they have given no sign they are capable of doing.
Losing deHaan to another shoulder injury is terrible. This team could use him here along with Ullstrom, after getting a few goals over the weekend.
Poulin was sent down after the Nashville loss, impossible to criticize him or the Islanders for how he was handled. Nabokov was playing well enough to get on a run, it was time to see if he could hold up physically and he did.
He seems happy enough to be here by his comments, we'll see what that holds if he stays past the trade deadline and continues his solid play.
A few teams are spiraling downward toward the Isles spot in the standings as the disparity between pretenders and contenders widen.
Bridgeport's won seven games in a row, with a lot of players on PTO. They are still outside the playoffs and really need another seven in a row to discuss them having a playoff chance.
Impossible to see any veteran holding much value at the trade deadline if Garth Snow decides to sell. The big question on Nielsen is coming as he approaches the trade deadline/UFA as a good defensive player, but simply not a five on five scorer.
Parenteau also enters this discussion.
Of course Garth Snow should be willing to gamble on younger players who have played well in the recent past, but are struggling on their current teams.
No law he cannot get his veterans for next year at the deadline.
Having written this, every team is looking for players to improve, that's one of many reasons there is little/no major activity beyond Mike Cammalleri, likely saying the magic words to force Montreal to move him by going public with his complaints.
The quality of the New York Islanders play has been mostly solid/steady, outside of the game in Phoenix you could make the argument the club has not had a real clunker since the Bruins/Pens stretch in November.
Most games the Islanders skate well enough to take the play at the opposition, even in recent losses. The opposing goaltenders have had to play well from Rinne to Bobrovsky to Hiller's save on Parenteau that turned the Anaheim game.
Overall, some fantastic progression from Tavares to superstar status(not just all-star), Matt Moulson looks dominating, Okposo is playing like a top pick, and visible, scoring in games for the first time since before his injury.
Hamonic/MacDonald are progressing well, and mostly solid efforts from Nabokov.
Parenteau has thirty seven points in forty three games, that's more than anyone could have expected.
Grabner's speed has finally returned, perhaps he needed this long to get back the jump after his groin injury, still it's a one line Islander team on offense, that simply is getting almost no production from it's other lines at even strength.
Bailey, Niederreiter have been getting their chances, or making their chances, Martin's hitting.
The veterans on up front and on defense, have given them virtually nothing in terms of offensive support. Rolston began his twenty nine point second half with the Devils, January 9th a year ago. Reasoner will be out a lot longer, Pandolfo is not a scorer at his natural right wing spot, much less playing a spot he's never played in his career.
A few nice plays from Staios, Eaton, Mottau and Jurcina, a few big mistakes as well which will be the theme. Outside of rare Jurcina goal, expect no offense.
Streit's delay of game for falling into net losing his balance is the latest in a series of absurd calls which began with the ot delay of game against San Jose, he had a three point game.
Rick DiPietro is going to have his surgery, the Islanders including his knee swelling has been a theme every single year and is the story, not the sports hernia.
Bottom line, a team holding firm at five games under, winning a few, then losing a few is a club going nowhere near a playoff spot, that's not even a discussion any longer unless the group wants to go 10-0-0 to get near the eighth seed, which they have given no sign they are capable of doing.
Losing deHaan to another shoulder injury is terrible. This team could use him here along with Ullstrom, after getting a few goals over the weekend.
Poulin was sent down after the Nashville loss, impossible to criticize him or the Islanders for how he was handled. Nabokov was playing well enough to get on a run, it was time to see if he could hold up physically and he did.
He seems happy enough to be here by his comments, we'll see what that holds if he stays past the trade deadline and continues his solid play.
A few teams are spiraling downward toward the Isles spot in the standings as the disparity between pretenders and contenders widen.
Bridgeport's won seven games in a row, with a lot of players on PTO. They are still outside the playoffs and really need another seven in a row to discuss them having a playoff chance.
Impossible to see any veteran holding much value at the trade deadline if Garth Snow decides to sell. The big question on Nielsen is coming as he approaches the trade deadline/UFA as a good defensive player, but simply not a five on five scorer.
Parenteau also enters this discussion.
Of course Garth Snow should be willing to gamble on younger players who have played well in the recent past, but are struggling on their current teams.
No law he cannot get his veterans for next year at the deadline.
Having written this, every team is looking for players to improve, that's one of many reasons there is little/no major activity beyond Mike Cammalleri, likely saying the magic words to force Montreal to move him by going public with his complaints.
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