Okposo not on Sound Tigers playoff roster

So the team President says one thing about Okposo playing in Bridgeport's playoffs and when the list is released he is not on it? I'm not sure what to make of this unless he wants to play for team USA at the World Championships which Mr Fornabaio touches on here.

All I do know what was reported 3/5 is not what happened.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio has the following from Sound Tigers team President Howard Saffan on 3/5:

The Islanders made standout youngsters Kyle Okposo and Blake Comeau eligible Wednesday to play for the Sound Tigers in the AHL playoffs.

"It was a very easy decision," Bridgeport president Howard Saffan said. "There's nothing like playoff experience."

Okposo hasn't played in Bridgeport yet this season; Comeau has been in the NHL since December. But both were eligible to be assigned to Bridgeport without clearing waivers.

"Kyle Okposo is an Islander and a Sound Tiger," Saffan said. "He's a leader. He's one of the leaders of our young stars. On Long Island, you can see lots and lots of Sound Tigers at this point. It's a natural fit."

AHL.com: Has the Sound Tiger clear day roster. Each Clear Day roster consists of a maximum of 22 players. According to AHL by-laws, only those players listed on a team’s Clear Day roster are eligible to compete in the remainder of the 2008-09 AHL regular season and in the 2009 Calder Cup Playoffs, unless emergency conditions arise as a result of recall, injury or suspension.


Nathan Lawson (G)
Peter Mannino (G)
Sean Bentivoglio
Joe Callahan
Jeremy Colliton
Blake Comeau
Jon Gleed
Micheal Haley
Tyler Haskins
Jack Hillen
Mike Iggulden
Jesse Joensuu
Dustin Kohn
Chris Lee
Junior Lessar
Andrew MacDonald
Tomas Marcinko
Kurtis McLean
Jon Sim
Trevor Smith
Ben Walter
Mark Wotton


NYI Fan Central Comments:
For those who think it's as easy at Okposo finishing the World Championships and playing games for Bridgeport think again.

Only way he can participate is if they have enough injuries/suspensions to where an emergency move is necessary to fill out a lineup. Once the player on the clear-day list can return that player is automatically activated and the emergency recall is not eligible..

This is why clear day is a big day in the AHL calender and why this is newsworthy today.

Bergenheim, MacDonald out, Mannino recalled

Newsday: Greg Logan in the Islanders Newsday blog among several items reports Sean Bergenheim was returned to New York to be re-evaluated and goaltender Joey MacDonald will likely be joining him on the injured list with a knee injury suffered in the Toronto game. Peter Mannino has been recalled while Richard Park and Nate Thompson are on the road trip and again took part in the full practice and could be activated.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio reports despite this being clear day in the AHL (roster of those eligible for playoffs) the Sound Tigers have made no trades and none of the pro-tryout players were converted to full AHL contracts so they could be placed on the list. Robin Figren was assigned to Bridgeport by the Islanders is not eligible for the playoffs but can play in games down the stretch or just work out with the team.

At this time the beatwriter was not given the list that will include some current Islanders like Kyle Okposo which team President Howard Saffan commented on recently.

Islander News Articles 2/17

Newsday: Greg Logan's article has comments from head coach Scott Gordon and goaltender Joey MacDonald.

Newsday: Mr Logan's second article is has Jeff Tambellini's comments along with Frans Nielsen while noting the Islanders struggles in the faceoff circle Monday afternoon.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Tambellini seems like a very nice young man but let's not pull punches, we heard the same thing a year ago. He was doing better but Scott Gordon decided to sit him for Andy Hilbert/Mitch Fritz which is a terrible sign for a team in last place.

Newsday: Mark Herrmann's article partly is about Pens interim coach Dan Bylsma but mostly tries to compare the Penguins rebuild with the Islanders.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Throwaway article and worthless beyond Bylsma content. Pittsburgh won a league-wide lottery for Crosby (not by finishing last) and tried to buy half the league a few years ago in a move that looked very much like how Tampa built their team this summer when it fell apart in mid-season with Palffy, and LeClair on their last NHL legs.

There is no comparing this to an organization with 368 man games lost to injury that made four of six playoffs and were in contention last year.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Dave Molinary's post game coverage and blog here.

Pittsburgh Tribune Review: Tricia Lafferty's game coverage of the Pens shootout loss.

NY Post: Dan Martin's coverage is almost all on goaltender Rick DiPietro.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Let's recap, the last few Friday-Saturdays/offdays the Post has two articles on the Islanders, game day we see one article that barely touches on the game. Not Dan Martin's doing but where is the common sense in this decision making?

Daily News: Peter Botte has goaltender Rick DiPietro's comments on his recovery and the last two years of injuries in a lengthy interview that takes up almost the entire game summary. Scott Gordon had a few words on Jeff Tambellini's shootout goal.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I wanted something different but Mr Botte's editor (same as Post) should have provided space for a second article combined with a full game story. Anyway important to post DiPietro's quotes.

Here was DiPietro's comments on being back at full strength next season:
"I don't see any way that I'm not, I'm not giving a definitive answer either way. I don't know what's going to happen. But so far, so good.

"I've seen quite a few doctors who are pretty positive about the future. That's the whole point of this season is to make sure I'm 100% and ready to fulfill my contract."

On his recent injuries:
"It's been terrible. In the summer when I got my knee cleaned up, I never thought it would cause such a problem. To look back and miss pretty much an entire season, it's brutal, Worst thing in the world you can do is sit in a rehab center and try to get healthy. Mentally, I can't take much more of this. It's just been a tough two years for everybody. I've never seen so many injuries, but there's nothing you can do."

NY Times: Dave Caldwell was sent to the Nassau Coliseum to cover Dan Bylsma's first game as interim head coach, former Islander Miroslav Satan who played here during his time as Steve Stirling's assistant coach also comments.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Nothing like that NY Times strategy of sending writers to local hockey games to cover the visiting team but not the home teams.

Espn/several sources: Pierre LeBrun has analysis on Atlanta trading former Islander Mathieu Schneider back to Montreal for a conditional draft pick Monday.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio has the Sound Tigers weekly which include comments from Jason Pitton on his season ending shoulder surgery. Also included is clear day for the AHL has been moved back to Wednesday, March 11, a week after NHL trade deadline as opposed to the usual day or two.

Will put additional news articles in later or tomorrow in this blog entry.

Bridgeport plays Tuesday again against Norfolk here along with Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Your Bridgeport Sound Tigers

One good thing out of all this is no more of the daily callups to where three or more players were in or out daily. I have never seen an Islander team have a revolving door lineup to that degree. I forgot Matt Keith even played for the Isles Friday.

These are the players who are all eligible to play for Bridgeport against Hershey:
Brennan
Colliton
Comeau
Fata
Keith
Nielsen
Okposo
Mike Morrison

Notes:
Jack Hillen is not eligible to play in the AHL, he season is over.

Jesse Joensuu is eligible to play in the AHL until the playoffs but so far has not dressed for a game, he cannot play for Bridgeport in the playoffs barring injury.

Ted Nolan talked about Nielsen having an injury in the final game.

Just to refresh this was Bridgeport's clear-day roster:
FORWARDS (13) -- Sean Bentivoglio, Kip Brennan, Jeremy Colliton, Blake Comeau, Colton Fretter, Tim Jackman, Matt Keith, Frans Nielsen, Kyle Okposo, Steve Regier, Trevor Smith, Jeff Tambellini, Ben Walter

DEFENSEMEN (7) -- Drew Fata, Scott Ford, Jamie Fraser, Dustin Kohn, Andy Sertich, Matthew Spiller, Mark Wotton

GOALTENDERS (2) -- Joey MacDonald, Mike Morrison

It should be noted all eight Islanders returning are on the list. All the players listed must dress in the Calder Cup playoffs if Bridgeport qualifies until the depth runs out at a position.

Bridgeport has six games left on it's schedule starting in Hershey Saturday.