Newsday sports editor Hank Winnicki believes interest in the NHL in increasing, but felt it couldn't have been much worse than it was a couple of years ago. He also says among Newsday's sports blogs, the Islanders rank in the top 10. In April, the Rangers blog led in traffic.
Mr Winnicki also says there are a lot of Islander fan blogs but there's only one by the guy who's covering the team and in the locker room, he thinks people see the value of that.
NYI Fan Central Comments:
I would see the value if I saw a dedicated blog updated often by someone who understands the Isles need more coverage and picks up the slack for the poor coverage in the city. Instead the Rangers have far more blog updates in Newsday than the Islanders. That's something he seems to want no part of and it's unacceptable.
Again, I disagree with Mr Botta because the teams does need quantity and as much as possible in terms of blogs. You can have quality and quantity also.
In fact it should be a given.
Newsday does not give Islander fans that, at best we receive even space with a team that should not be covered at all in Newsday given the city's papers treatment of the Isles. Mr Winnicki should be the first one to understand this and provide greater coverage to help offset the problem.
Can you imagine the complaining if the Islanders had blogs in the city papers that outworked the Ranger blogs five to one or better?
Both major Flyer publications (Philadelphia Daily News/Inquirer) declined coverage for a team in their own state because of the late start time.
Globe & Mail: William Houston's article from 5/24/07 on coverage of last year's final by the media had some different comments from the sports editors which again includes Newsday's Hank Winnicki.
University of New Hampshire: Dick Umile, head coach of the University of New Hampshire men’s hockey team, announced the seven-member incoming freshmen class of 2008 which includes Islander prospect Blake Kessel.
Updated 5/24:
Nashua Telegraph: Mike Zhe has a few words from the Islanders prospect on the University.
Islanders website: Profiled prospect Mikkel Boedker today.
Point Blank: Mr Botta blogs with a few words for anyone who would be interested in applying for his former job with the Islanders.
Michael Fornabaio in the Ct Post blog had a picture of his ticket stub from his first Sound Tigers game.
Of course NYI Fan Central can go one better:
*************************************************************
Curtain rises on Sound Tigers
By MICHAEL FORNABAIO
10-5-01
BRIDGEPORT -- Over a year since the team's inception, just four weeks
after training camp began, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers' inaugural
season finally begins tonight.
The Sound Tigers left here Thursday at noon for Rochester, N.Y., and
the first game of an 80-game schedule against the Americans tonight
at 7:35. The team also plays the Syracuse Crunch on the road Saturday
night at 7:35.
"I'm not really sick of training camp," defenseman Ray Giroux
said, "but I'm definitely eager to get started and have them count."
"It's time to get going," coach Steve Stirling said. "As training
camp winds down, a lot of the younger guys get a little antsy. They
know the season's near, and they're ready to go. They're as ready as
they're going to be."
With talented goaltending, experienced defensemen and a group of
forwards with potential, there's a lot of optimism about this team.
"I feel pretty good about this group," Giroux said. "We've got a good
blend of veterans, a good blend of young guys. We've got guys who can
put the puck in the net, guy that are great defensively."
The defensemen themselves are a solid group. All but one of the six
defensemen have NHL experience, and that one, Dick Tarnstrom, has
played in Sweden's top league for the last seven years.
Chris Armstrong begins his seventh pro season. Ray Schultz is in his
fifth, Evgeny Korolev and Giroux each begins his fourth, and
Branislav Mezei, the 10th pick in the 1999 entry draft, is in his
second.
"There's no reason our defense shouldn't be extremely solid every
night," Giroux said, including the goaltending trio of Rick DiPietro,
Dusan Salficky and Stephen Valiquette in that assessment. "It's a
good mix, good players. I think we're pretty talented. The defense is
going to be good, as are the forwards."
Some of Stirling's plans for the forwards changed when center Jason
Krog dislocated his left shoulder in a New York Islanders practice
this week.
Krog had been held in Islanders camp because of minor injuries to
other New York players, but he was a player expected to be one of
Bridgeport's top centers.
"Up front, we'll have to maneuver a little bit. Without Krog,
obviously, that throws us a little curveball," Stirling said. "That
hurts us down the middle. It's bad news, but the good news is guys
like Mapletoft and Guite are given an opportunity to step up."
With a shortened center corps, Stirling said he might double-shift a
veteran forward, Marko Tuomainen or Jason Podollan for instance, in
the middle to allow Bridgeport to play four lines.
"It's up to whether we put all the pieces together," Giroux
said, "but I think we have all the pieces."
UP AND DOWN -- Defenseman Marko Kiprusoff was called back to Long
Island. Tarnstrom, who had been practicing in Bridgeport but wasn't
among the 20 players initially assigned Monday, was kept with the
Sound Tigers for opening weekend. Bridgeport returned defenseman
Scott Ricci to Trenton of the ECHL for the start of the season.
