Islander News Articles 1/4:

New York Islander Fan Central | 1/04/2008 12:30:00 AM | | | | | |
Newsday: Steve Zipay who is the Ranger beatwriter covered Thursday's Islander-Panther game where apparently there was a misunderstanding with Rick DiPietro's new pads that could mean a two game suspension because the league did not approve them before he played in them.

"I got those pads a week before I got hurt, started wearing them and breaking them in and started using them in the game today," said DiPietro, who wore the new white pads in the warm-ups and changed to his old ones after the first period after a phone call from league officials in Toronto. "Usually before I get them, they've been sent to the league. I guess it's my fault, but I was under the impression that they'd been approved."

"I thought we did the right thing," the goalie said. "Once we found out after warm-up that they hadn't been approved, we called and let them know and made sure they were legal and everything measured out fine, so it's their call. We called and told them. I'm not trying to sneak anything by Kris King [an assistant to Campbell who oversees equipment issues] or anybody."


NYI Fan Central Comments:
I think the AP had more on the game than Zipay who used most of his space on DiPietro's pads. For a goalie who changes pads a lot this miscommunication could cost him two big games on the road. I'm not counting on any sympathy from Colin Campbell given the rules and his wonderful relationship with the Islanders.

For those curious the three blogs Mr Zipay does for the Ranger games was not done for the Islanders, however Mr Zipay did promise Ranger fans a full update on their game.

Newsday: Steve Zipay's second article is on Mike Sillinger's return with some comments from Bill Guerin on DiPietro's play and his pads with a few other items.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Interesting comment from Bill Guerin that they do not tell him anything other then when to be on the bus.

Newsday: Mark Herrmann advises the Islanders to put Kyle Okposo in the NHL immediately and of course goes back to the pre Garth Snow era and how the Islanders have not developed a prospect since Ziggy Palffy. He also does a recap of the words between Don Lucia and the Islander gm.

"Patience is important," Islanders general manager Garth Snow said yesterday. "We want him to be as good as he can be as soon as possible, but expectations have to be realistic."

To be fair, this is a new Islanders regime. "We believe in our coaches, here on Long Island and in Bridgeport," Snow said.


NYI Fan Central Comments:
Funny how Mr Herrmann points to Zigmund Palffy as a successful prospect but does not recall Palffy bolted the Islanders and returned home as a prospect. If he can quote Andy Kallur's comments when Pat Flatley joined the club he should know Palffy's development was anything but a smooth ride.

Bottton line unless a trade or injury happens to provide a spot for Kyle Okposo, the Islanders can give him Tim Jackman's spot on right wing for limited minutes or play him in Bridgeport or on a junior team.

NY Post: Dan Martin does about a paragraph on the game when he's done writing about DiPietro's pads. He provided quotes from Ted Nolan and reported Garth Snow spoke with the league last night and will do so again today.

"Garth will deal with the league," Ted Nolan said. "There are a lot of distractions in this game. When it involves the goaltending situation, it's a little more magnified."


Daily News: Peter Botte's limited space devotes one paragraph to the game after he is done talking about DiPietro's pads. He did report an e-mail from NHL VP of hockey operations Mike Murphy where he had no comment.

Mineola American: Has an article on Mike Bossy going shopping with the United Way and during the holidays.

Miami Herald: George Richard & Sun-Sentinel: Steve Gorten & Palm Beach Post: Brian Biggane have the Panthers coverage of their win.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio previews game one of the doubleheader this weekend in Norfolk.

WHEN — Tonight and Saturday, 7:15 p.m.
WHERE — Norfolk (Va.) Scope
ON THE AIR — WAVZ-AM 1300 (Saturday only); Webcast and B2 Networks Internet pay-per-view at www.soundtigers.com