Islander Notables

New York Islander Fan Central | 8/27/2010 12:26:00 AM |


I thought it would be nice temporarily to use the New York Islander Hall of Fame plaques as the NYIFC header.

A bit large, but if this blog entry is boring at least you can read the plaques a little.

At least a dozen more names should be added to the New York Islander Hall of Fame, starting with Jiggs McDonald, Ed Westfall.

I don't care if the team does it in a small/private ceremony on a weekday without the press. It's something as important as milestones for Weight, Sillinger the last few years.
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Player value changes as summer unfolds, some agents/teams become more desperate to sign client/fill need. For my money I would take Raffi Torres at his one year contract with Vancouver over Milan Jurcin, a hundred times out of a hundred at virtually the same price.

Reese, Kohn among several with prospects can compete for Jurcina's spot.

Having written this, that's hindsight now.

The market has changed a lot for when Jurcina signed vs Torres, expect to see more of the same.
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Do Niederreiter-Kabanov (see tweets to articles) skipping CHL/QMJHL camps mean they are locks to sign here? Tavares-Bailey trends notwithstanding, they have to make the club within the nine game rules before a decision has to be made in place before they must return to juniors.

It's up to how they play in camp/preseason.

Also someone can sign and participate in the WJC, whether they play here or in juniors.
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All due respect to Antti Niemi, but at best he is a mediocre goaltender on a good team, who won a final against another team with very mediocre goaltending.

Given a choice even without DiPietro, I would prefer Roloson with one of the Isles prospects starting with Nate Lawson's .920 save percentage the last few years.

The Hawks as long as they place Huet on waivers have every right to let him play in Switzerland, same as the AHL. What they cannot do is keep his contract in the NHL plus let him sign a contract in Europe.

As for Niemi several NHL teams with mediocre goaltending not breaking down the door to sign him. How can Flyers/Caps open with such mediocre players in net or no experience not take a chance?
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The source/page view game is getting so bad even the NHLPA is correcting the reports. Too bad the few professional writers simply don't demand a name be put to a quote or tell whoever they speak with the days of anonymous sources in their writing are over.

Unfortunately, that would hurt page views or ability for many to present themselves as the messenger, while they write about what they are doing for us.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

In the end folks, it's up to you to accept/not accept what is professional. My advice is to raise your standards and see through agendas/those selling anything to make a living for themselves above all.

I understand where they are coming from. If they don't produce shock-jock material or throw countless sources into a story to keep folks linking to their work, someone else will be hired who absolutely will.

Seems the best things written are the ones that simply let the players tell the story. Not very exciting, not many page views or retweets, but best quality.

The quality NYIFC still loves to post or tweet about.

Gaylord Times 8/17 had fantastic information on Weight-Tavares who took vacation together, with best quality I read all summer on both players.

On 6/28 The Evening News: Had a feature on Weight being inducted into the Lake Superior State Athletic Hall of Fame, that gave us direct quotes about last season from him about his injuries.

These are the quality updates, too bad the Islanders website did not even give them special recognition. If I can find it, certainly the interns working there producing feature articles can?

Sure the twitter Q/A's with players are fine.
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All I really know about IIHF Rene Fasel is the transfer agreements collapsed on his watch for many years, maybe it's not his fault?

The KHL/Russian leagues are a big part of that problem while Sweden/Finland finally pushed through new agreements, but this man is not part of the answer with the decline in European talent being drafted, or seemingly developed. What's happening does filter to every level of development.

In a small way it's like roller hockey no longer being played in most NYC parks, just something that for the most part became less and less visible.

I also learned this week Mr Fasel is a part-time dentist, which makes me wonder how much authority he really has over anything.
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Speaking of professional reporting when are the New York Islanders so-called broadcast partners at Cablevison that hide 1/4 games on Msg+2 going to step up and formally issue a press release as to what new Msg employee will replace Billy Jaffe?

Hopefully that person will not have to read promos for their FoxWoods WNBA team, or it will not be a cost-cutting decision to bring in someone already with a contract employed by Cablevision.

Former Islander beatwriter Alan Hahn on Msg the other night selling James Dolan's Knicks after virtually ignoring the Isiah circus or every other publication's criticism of his boss? Where's the current person assigned by Newsday to go discuss the New York Islanders on other outlets?

Note-I did send an e-mail to Bob Raissman of the NY Daily News, who hired a new Ranger fan/beatwriter to replace Michael Obernauer, who did less blog entries than Greg Logan (which is saying a lot) to provide us a professional report on the true circumstances of Jaffe's dismissal.

Howie Rose in 2003 finally received three year contract after many reports he would not return.

Of course, I also requested full time coverage, a professional media blog for the New York Islanders at the NY Daily News.

Might as well get our money's worth and fight for a little coverage.

If an answer is provided it will be posted at NYIFC.

Problem is people like Bob Raissman, Phil Mushnick, Richard Sandomir have far more important media stories to cover. Cablevision's media reporter works for Msg.
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Today's news Steve Stirling was hired by the Binghampton Senators as their assistant coach brings a mixed reaction (see twitter entries for links) because he is qualified to be a head coach in the NHL/AHL.

Good luck finding someone to get a 92 point season out of the 2003-04 Islanders with all those injuries to the playoffs. This coach got a fifty point season out of Oleg Kvasha when he had to produce with Yashin/Parrish out, and one final twenty five goal year out of Czerkawski after being buried in the AHL.

Those 92 points were before the shootout era for those thinking about the 88 point Flyers, who made last year's finals.
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If Ed Mangano finally makes Nassau/TOH residents pay for a new/renovated Coliseum through taxes or floating bonds (which Wang suggested years ago) like every other entity in NY/NJ did for their teams (including infrastructure), I will take back every word of my Ed Mangano Memorandum of Understanding with himself entry.

For the moment, I will settle for a public statement this team will never leave Nassau County and are a public trust regardless who owns them from Ed Mangano.

Kate Murray can keep her suburbia, the people who voted for her can now also pay up to provide the New York Islanders a modern facility being that Nassau-TOH over two decades fought every idea any owner ever had to make the team self-sufficient without involving the taxpayers.



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