New York vs Rangers 7pm Msg+

New York Islander Fan Central | 10/27/2008 03:24:00 PM | |















Islanders website: Released it's new/old third jersey with a 360 degree picture of Bill Guerin.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Looks very good with the white lettering and numbers.

Newsday: Apparently after Greg Logan could only manage going to Peter Botte of the Daily News to take a little dig on the club's injury policy in a blog about Doug Weight-Brandon Sutter among other things Jim Baumbach decided to help out Mr Logan here in a surprise middle of the day article that basically played doctor and ripped DiPietro's contract here and the decision behind it.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
The problem Mr Logan/Newsday has with DiPietro and the Islanders is out of hand.

Mr Baumbach is way out of line here writing DiPietro is far from the best goalie in the league that he is now just known as an injury-prone one considering where DiPietro had this team last January in the standings but it does reflect how much this beatwriter/newspaper wants to run down this player over this injury policy and for other reasons that go back to last season.

When he won or made the all-star game these same reporters were nowhere to be found which is the rub in the reporting, no one even bothered writing when he got hurt in the skills-competition.

I saw the shock-jock game from Baumbach/someone coming a mile away and I suspect we will see more of the same from the usual Newsday suspects who are going to tear down DiPietro and the club every chance they can.

This is very much about their access and it's no holds-bar, the fans get caught in the middle and the media counts on the fans using that to rip the club.

Don't buy this spin folks, there are legitimate reasons to blame the club for things they have made mistakes about but this is not one of them. It all comes down to the media playing for the worst in the fans because they do not like a policy or a player.

Islanders website: Has the preview for tonight's game against the Rangers.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I'm sure our fans will get a look at what we hope are some version of the 1972 uniforms as the story line then becomes will this club finish where the 72 version finished in the standings?

No Martinek, Witt, Meyer or likely Sutton and DiPietro hurting or not playing.

I hate to spoil the party but no NHL team is going to play good hockey for very long with those kinds of injuries facing them. I think any game now is going to be tough for the veterans and kids who all have to be pressing and now do not have the best options on the ice in the positions they need to be in for the system to work.

We saw how tough it was to finish against Carolina and how easily they gave it back after they scored. Carolina missed some great chances too.

Tonight's game:
One team got a game to overtime on a bad goal Saturday in the final ten seconds, the other took sixty shots and missed a penalty shot in the last seconds.

One team plays a very tough trap to keep shots down for it's goaltender and comes in healthy with most of it's games scripted like chess. The other right now has no identity and fighting just to get it's bearings with injuries in a new system with it's depth stretched to the max and a lot of flaws in it's roster makeup along with a new coach just getting his first look at the league.

For the Islanders plan to have a chance, it's roster has to stay healthy. That has not happened which effects everything so no idea what to expect game by game.

We can only hope the fore checking keeps generating more chances as it has and the defense pinching keeps scoring. Tonight the Islanders have to get in the trenches and outwork the Ranger defense and play the game in their end of the ice, the kids need a big night resulting in a few goals so they get some confidence going.

Seven games is a long time without a goal from Nielsen, Tambellini, Okposo. Hopefully that line with Thompson, Park, Hilbert stay together and keep plugging so Sim and Bergenheim can play on lines more likely to score.

Anyone notice how many goals this defense has produced while in March a year ago after the Bergeron trade no defender could score?

There are signs some of this has been working, but the losses will cause a lot more frustration.

Another game, another opportunity to get something started, the point differential is already a big problem considering the early conference standings.

This comes down to what the Islanders can do here with what they have and the home ice disadvantage for both local teams is always a factor with so many opposing fans at the Coliseum and the Garden.






AddThis Feed Button