Highlights and scrimmage report 9/14...

New York Islander Fan Central | 9/14/2007 06:11:00 PM | | | | | | | |
NYI.com provides full summary of the first scrimmage with player comments.

Among the Highlights:
Team Trottier defeats Team Bossy in first day of Lobster Cup competition as Vasicek and Dubie shine

If the Islanders had been playing on Long Island, there would have been chants of "Dubie, Dubie!" resonating throughout the Nassau Coliseum. But for today, Wade Dubielewicz had to be content to impress his teammates and coaches, leading Team Trottier to a 6-1 victory over Team Bossy on day one of the 2nd annual Lobster Cup tournament.

Team Trottier jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one period of play behind some acrobatics from Dubie and goals by Jeff Tambellini, Justin Bourne and Blake Comeau.

There wasn't a happier person in the crowd after Bourne's goal than his father Bob, who is up in Moncton along with other Islander alums.

Dubie's strong play could be attributed to his protected spot on the team. However, Dubie isn't taking his new job security lightly.

"Having the spot definitely helps," admitted Dubie, "but I need to keep that edge I've had in the past. It all has to do with the hunger to reach this level. Now I have to find a way to keep that up."

The lead increased to 4-0 in the second period on a goal by Josef Vasicek, who played well with linemates Jeff Tambellini and Miroslav Satan.

"Vasicek played especially well with Satan," said Ted Nolan. "They fed each other well. I was impressed with Josef's hockey skill. For a big man he skates well and sees the ice."

In the shootout session, which replaces power plays, Team Trottier increased their lead to 6-1 on goals by Vasicek and Tim Jackman. Team Bossy finally got on the board when camp invitee Derek Damon roofed a backhand over 2006-07 Bridgeport netminder Mike Mole.

The Lobster Cup is an intra-squad round-robin tournament between Teams Trottier, Bossy and Gillies. You can find the team rosters at the bottom of the article.


MEMOS FROM MONCTON

* Notes and quotes from Ted Nolan:

Two new players Nolan was impressed with were invitee Gordie Dwyer, who was originally drafted in 1996 by the Montreal Canadiens and Kip Brennan, who has 58 games of NHL experience.

Nolan discussed Jon Sim, Josef Vasicek and Bryan Berard as players who stood out in the first game. He also mentioned how well Bill Guerin led his group's practice.

Even though the exhibition game against the Montreal Canadiens next Friday will contain many of the team's final roster players, Nolan said veterans such as Bill Guerin, Mike Sillinger and Mike Comrie will sit out that game and play later in the preseason.

With a short Camp before the first preseason game, Nolan and his crew have precious time to work with before getting the team ready for game situations.

"We addressed beforehand the importance of camp," said Nolan. "It wasn't just about skating and practicing, we wanted to get right into our systems. We have a short time, so we're utilizing the time as best as we can."

Nolan reflected on his return to Moncton, where he coached the Moncton Wildcats to a league championship only two seasons ago.

"Moncton is a special place," said Nolan. "I owe a lot to the city. They really opened their arms to me. I also owe a lot to Charles Wang and the Islanders for giving me a chance, so if you connect the two, you couldn't pick a better place.

* Sean Bergenheim is one of the most candid individuals at Camp and willing to speak his mind. After day one, he had nothing but positive things to say, while playing on a line with Chris Simon and Richard Park

"I liked playing with Richard and Chris," said Bergenheim. "They talked a lot and really helped me out. We had a lot of chances even though we didn't score at all. It was a good start to the line."

* Jon Sim looked comfortable on a line with Mike Sillinger and Trent Hunter. If this line stays intact, Sim will most likely be matched up against the opposition's top line.

"That's no problem," said Sim. "We're a gritty line. Those are the type of lines people don't like playing against. It's important to be responsible on the ice and take it from there."

* Below are the line combinations for the three teams of the Lobster Cup:


TEAMS:

Team Gillies
Forwards
Ruslan Fedotenko - Mike Comrie - Bill Guerin
Sean Bentivoglio - Ben Walter - Jeremy Colliton
Jason Pitton - Chris Gaudet - Steve Regier
Kip Brennan - Tomas Marcinko - Masi Marjamaki

Defensemen
Chris Campoli - Bruno Gervais
Aaron Johnson - Freddy Meyer
Martin Frechette - Simon Lacroix

Goalies
Rick DiPietro
Mike Morrison

Team Trottier
Forwards
Jeff Tambellini - Josef Vasicek - Miroslav Satan
Blake Comeau - Trevor Smith - Tim Jackman
Justin Bourne - Tyler Haskins - Maxim Gratchev
Robin Figren - Marc Cavosie - Olivier Labelle

Defensemen
Brendan Witt - Marc-Andre Bergeron
Dustin Kohn - Andrew MacDonald
Mark Katic - Jordan Hart

Goalies
Wade Dubielewicz
Michael Mole

Team Bossy
Forwards
Jon Sim - Mike Sillinger - Trent Hunter
Chris Simon - Richard Park - Sean Bergenheim
Andy Hilbert - Frans Nielsen - Darryl Bootland
Derek Damon - Shawn Bates - Gordie Dwyer

Defensemen
Andy Sutton - Radek Martinek
Bryan Berard - Drew Fata
Matthew Spiller - Jamie Fraser

Goalies
Joey MacDonald
Maxime Ouellet

Was strange to see that Eric Cairns was at the Islander breakfast today in Moncton, apparently he's announced his rettirement and will be part of the clubs alumni.

Chris Botta in his Point Blank Blog
tells us how this all came about that pulled no punches.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Sad to see Cairns career come to a close but he did not play much for Florida or Pittsburgh after leaving the Islanders. He has that rough game in the Tampa series that really was the end for him with the club but he always gave all he had and was clearly a fan favorite for years and in my perspective he should leave the game as an Islander. His fights with Sandy McCarthy and Shane Corson during the playoffs where he planted Corson into the Coliseum ice is a highlight many Islander fans will never forget.

Cory Witt's media blog gave us a short update on Justin Bourne in camp playing his front of his father and contributing a goal and an assist in front of his dad, legendary Islander, Bob Bourne.

Sound Tigers website had a writer named Kimber Auerbach, do an article somewhat similar to the NYI.com report but had more of a Sound Tigers perspective.

The X’s and O’s: Behind the benches for the scrimmage were Sound Tiger assistant coaches Pat Bingham and Bernie Cassell. Bingham led Team Trottier and Cassell had Team Bossy. Bingham spoke of his choices for the shootout after saying, “I like to let my goalie choose the shooter because they obviously know best facing these guys. ‘Dubie’ did a great job to find the sleeper Jackman to clinch it.”

Frazzle and Coms: It was entertaining to watch good friends Jamie Farser and Blake Comeau battle against each other. Comeau laid the initial hit at the start of the first session and Fraser answered with a few hits of his own. “The great thing about our sport is that I can go out on the ice and deliver hits to him and then after we can eat lunch together and joke about it,” Comeau said.

Fashion Statement of the Day: Newly signed tough-guy, Kip Brennan boarded the airplane yesterday with a slick mo-hawk hair cut. Besides the crazy hair-do, he is skating well and is excited to bring an intimidation factor back to Bridgeport with the hopes of opening up scoring opportunities for the team’s goal scorers.

“Chewing the FatA” Update: Drew Fata is excited to begin work on his new team project. He is looking forward to not only showing the fans the lighter side of hockey from the players end, but meeting and interviewing the people in the stands that cheer for the Sound Tigers every night.

Welcome Walter: Three days after his trade to the Islanders, newly acquired Ben Walter commented on the last few days. “It has been a crazy few days but to that point very exciting. I was in Boston skating with the guys there preparing for the Bruins’ camp when I got the word I was traded. Knowing Sean (Bentivoglio) coming here has been great because he met a lot of these guys at mini-camp and he’s helped me adjust. I’m thrilled to be here and become a part of the Islanders organization.”

NYI Fan Central Comments:
It's only day one but it's already clear Tambellini will get the first look at left wing over Bergenheim on the second line and Nolan wants Vasicek to get the first shot at second line center. Not sure how Bergenheim will do as a right wing on a fourth line and if Bates is not healthy it's going to be interesting to see what happens when he finally is ready to play. I guess he had more surgery because he was almost ready to return for the playoffs, but the question has to be asked with two years left on his contract what happens if someone comes in and wins his spot?

It's also great to have Islander Hockey back.