My thanks to Alex & Steve from Hockey Night on Long Island here and special guest co-host Tom Mascoli Islesinfo.com for a lot of fun Saturday talking New York Islander Hockey.
Always a pleasure appearing on their outstanding program.
AP: Previews tonight's game against Columbus with the Jackets averaging two goals while losing seven of its last 11 games. Rick Nash, who leads the team with 13 goals and 24 points, has been held without a point in his last three games.
Columbus Dispatch: Has the expected line combinations for Columbus tonight with a brief game preview here.
Columbus Dispatch: Aaron Portzline in a combined blog of media reporter with Tom Reed and and current sports columnist Michael Arace report rookie goaltender Steve Mason starts in goal vs the Islanders on Saturday.
Columbus has a game Sunday and comes in off a win against Nashville.
Injury Expected Return Derek Dorsett RW Finger IR. Out until at least mid-December Rostislav Klesla D Ankle IR. Out until at least mid-December Raffi Torres LW Knee IR. Out until at least late December
NYI Fan Central Comments: Not much to write about going into this game, Islanders have a win against Columbus this season in overtime after blowing a lead but have struggled badly in their building since day one being only one of two NHL clubs never to win in the Jackets home arena. (Buffalo)
How fragile will the goaltending be for New York and can they put up the kind of effort we saw in Philadelphia?
Fair to write it's a critical time for Scott Gordon and his players.
Updated 4:30pm: Sim returns to the lineup, Sillinger returns to the sidelines. MacDonald returns to the net.
First of all my Thanks once again to Alex and Steve from Hockey Night on LI for inviting me to appear on their season opening program. As always I had a great time talking New York Islander hockey with them and they do an exellent job with the program. They will be on again Saturday at 3:30pm with the second of the double-header home opening weekend.
At the time we did the show yesterday, we did not know the lineup or injury situation as even folks in the media did not know until the club took the ice.
All Hockey Night on LI programs are featured on the sidebar of NYIFC for those who could not listen live. *********************************************************************** My Point Blank: Mr Botta as always had a ton of upstanding updates for the opener, the weekly radio show he does at 1050Espn will be on tape delay Saturday from from 5:30 - 6:30 pm and include Islander general manager Garth Snow among the guest. *********************************************************************** On the blog box front to this point the club has not announced it's newest addtions to the group. I noted they took out the bloggers who decided not to return so I guess they are ready to add the new members in when they can.
Last year I was the last blog added in November and at the time I was told because of all the work behind the scenes it took a lot of time to put the blog box together so for those waiting for an answer please be a little patient.
I will add the feeders to all the new members blogs when available so you can read everyone's latest entries here. My suggestion was they add a lot of blogs because you cannot have enough hockey content, I would go at least twenty deep. *********************************************************** On the poll front the basement is off to an early lead with Comeau on the sidelines making my sixth place projection not look very good. It's early and I suspect he will win over this coach but it's not the best of starts.
I understand folks have been virtually posioned by the media about this club, all I know is they were in sixth last January and made four of the last six playoffs with about as flawed a club you can have and still did not come apart until they won another six games in a row to be right there at the trade deadline.
I have seen enough Islander seasons where they were double-digit points out by thankgiving, we saw that in 05-06 by the end of the year.
Of course for those who watched the opener they saw a club that hardly looked like a fifteenth place team. ************************************************************ Finally New York Islander Fan Central is making a small change of it's own that should be visible now for everyone.
We have claimed our own domain with the official name changing to www.newyorkislanderfancentral.com
Hopefully blogger still lets folks redirect from blogspot for those who have bookmarked or link directly here but just in case I thought I would tell everyone so you know where the find us in case it does not work the same for you.
NHL.com: Reported the New York Islanders on Wednesday claimed center Nate Thompson off waivers from the Boston Bruins and reassigned defenseman Brett Skinner to Bridgeport. Mr Botta over at My Point Blank Blog here had the story from practice earlier today along with Scott Gordon's comments about why the team made a claim on him and what he will bring to the club.
Updated: Newsday: Greg Logan has an updated blog with head coach Scott Gordon's comments on Nate Thompson being part of the answer in terms of the physical part of the roster with a skating element the coach likes and can play not only center but other wings so this will not necessarily effect Josh Bailey's status.
Some statistical career back ground here along with his AHL.com profile here.
NYI Fan Central Comments: A little surprising. We can speculate all night on the roster and what this little move does because Thompson is a center and we all know Josh Bailey is a center.
Frans Nielsen is playing center, Park, Hilbert can play center and we all know Mike Comrie, Doug Weight with Mike Sillinger are you guessed it, centers.
Something has to give sooner or later among the forwards if this coach sticks to his words of Bailey having to play on it's top three lines.
I guess if you voted Brett Skinner (meaning you did not vote for his demotion) you did not win the poll after all and dropping a defender to claim a center we will see what the ripple effect is unless Garth Snow has a defender healthier than expected or one he wants to acquire?
What does it say about Colliton or Walter when a twenty four year old center is claimed for a spot either of them needed to win in this camp along with twenty five year old Rob Hennigar's very early assignment to the Bridgeport part of camp and for that matter Mike Iggulden who got a cameo with San Jose against the Islanders?
If Thompson was claimed for enforcer skills, at this point I have to ask why did Garth Snow sign Joel Rechlicz to a three year contract?
I'm not sure Garth Snow or Scott Gordon are done yet.
Newsday: Mr Logan's 10/9 article has comments from Josh Bailey and Jack Hillen about where they have been used in practice along with what role they could have working with the veterans vs prospects for the time they are here, Scott Gordon talks about what he liked in Hillen from the beginning from his two games last season.
Islanders website: Has a team preview which included Scott Gordon's comments, Nate Thompson was listed with the defenders but overall a solid job.
Newsday: Jim Baumbach actually attended practice and had an interview with Kyle Okposo who spoke about last year's experience, what he is looking to do this season and what the coaches have him working on.
NYI Fan Central Comments: Good article, you almost read his work and expect something negative based on the blog entries which begs the question why not drop the shock jock act and do more of this? Anyone else notice Thomas Pock has been around about a week and the club has not issued one statement from him nor has Newsday done one interview?
Bridgeport Sound Tigers: Announced it's final roster for the Sound Tigers that is not so final now because it did not include Brett Skinner's demotion.
Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio in his blog entries also had the numerical roster and a few other entries about Internet game coverage changing to basically an ITV ppv format for the American Hockey League here which now have Mr Wang's neulion stamp on them as he is waiting on paperwork regarding some players.
NYI Fan Central Comments: I will be updating all this on the prospects blog including the link to the PPV television coverage.
I think I have most of the roster correct for Bridgeport in terms of numbers but have to do some changes to reflect the final cuts so bear with me for those who read the prospect blog profiles. With the turnover in Utah and Odessa it would be impossible for me to keep up with tryout contracts which is why it's best to link to their websites as updates happen which we do have for everyone.
I did see Campoli and Sutton open the market today here along with Islanders president Chris Dey with the players comments on the event.
Alex & Steve from Hockey Night on LI are having a double-header this weekend in terms of radio shows here with one on Friday at 5pm and another on Saturday at 3:30pm before the home opener to kick off the season after Scott Cullen appeared a few weeks ago. They invited me to appear on the Friday show and as always it will be a lot of fun and both do an excellent job with the program which is features on the sidebar of NYIFC.
Quick Note: Filatov was assigned to the AHL and can be recalled.
Finally: Unless something major breaks on Thursday I have scheduled our season preview at appear at 7:30am as opposed to the regular news articles but the feeders are available for the local coverage.
A bit of a step back today in terms of updates.....NOT
I guess I did not expect Bridgeport decided to fill out it's roster today.
Doing a blog reporting other teams resignings including minor league players is a bit counterproductive at this point.
The feeders and crawls will be doing most of the work in that department here with regard to the other twenty nine teams. All the free agent sites with updates are on the sidebar with the two radio shows if they are still doing live NHL signing shows.
Islander notables will have the news/blog updates. Islander and Sound Tiger transactions I will play it as it goes.
Satan/Fedotenko to Pittsburgh were added with comments.
News updates will be added to the blog already posted on today's News articles.
Tonight at 7:30pm I will be appearing as one of the guest on Hockey Night on LI with Alex and Steve who do an excellent show along with Ken Rosenblatt who is a member of the Islanders blog box and does outstanding work with his blog called Islanders Outsider that is also featured on the sidebar here with his latest updates.
After that I will do the early Friday articles but that will be about it for the weekend unless a major announcement/trade involving the New York Islanders take place or Doug Weight has a few words.
Finally: If Mr Botta does follow through on his plan to close his blog on 7/7 (which appears to be the case being that he stopped permitting comment) despite NYI Fan Central hope and earlier blog that he reconsiders. I would once again like to thank him for all he has given the New York Islander Franchise for over twenty years and wish him nothing but the best moving forward and hope he keeps following the club in his own way.
First of all my thanks once again to everyone who visited last night's interactive blog which ran for close to three hours which was a lot of fun as we lucked into the time the Isles announced Mark Streit's signing.
Great job by everyone who participated, we will have another one at some point in the future.
Special thanks to Paul Kukla from the NHL and his site who also featured our chat on their website yesterday morning.
Also special thanks to Alex and Steve from Hockey Night on LI who invited me on the program this coming Thursday (7/3) Night at 7:30pm to discuss the New York Islanders and free agency here.
We get right back at it again today, check back often for updates.
I did take down some of the crawlers that went from signings to media articles, we have those in the media section. If things pick up I may put it back in for a while.
One site that appeared to be using only credible newspaper writers for rumors mixed in some of their own gossip from fan sources so that site will no longer be used here.
Sorry for the error.
I kept up the free agency tracker pages so everyone can keep checking as news filters in on signings deals. Fan 960 out of Calgary did a fantastic job on the radio side yesterday, I moved that link into the trade tracker for those who want to listen in and see if they are following signings today here.
Same format as yesterday, one blog for other clubs, one special blog for news and transactions by New York.
One line from the media calling the defenseman the Leafs signed Goldfinger (from James Bond series) had me in tears this morning I was laughing so hard.
Just finished up Hockey Night on LI with Alex & Steve who as usual did a great job as we talked about several Islander subjects (draft, media coverage, fan meetings) as well as the NHL final. They always make it a pleasure for me to appear.
For those wishing to listen to the show it is posted on the sidebar of the blog as is the links to their website to follow their upcoming/past programs. _________________________________________________________________________
On other fronts Mr Botta in his Point Blank blog Saturday gave his thoughts on the Islanders efforts for New York to land the outdoor game again here and points to Larry Brooks article in the NY Post today here where he makes his point Dick Ebersol/Sam Flood do not want the a New York Islanders (or Devils) vs Rangers at Yankee Stadium.
NYI Fan Central Comments: Other than Mr Botta's insights, the only value here is what the Yankee rep said on the subject. I'm kind of talked out on Mr Ebersol/NBC's long friendly association with Msg to where the Garden is promoted by NBC sports at all costs and have had a vested stake in the past with the Garden. The poor ratings the Rangers have produced when featured during the regular season & the playoffs the last three seasons on national television say all we need to know about the hockey market in the city and it's marginal impact on a national level.
Pittsburgh, Buffalo carry the Eastern Conference ratings.
If the New York Islanders are not part of the game I encourage our fans not to attend or watch. I encourage the Islanders to schedule a game themselves at the same time if possible.
All I can add beyond that is Mr Brooks speculates on a decision being made in two weeks. That reads well but a year ago nothing was officially announced until training camp opened and unofficial confirmation did not hit the Pittsburgh papers until August 25th according to Rob Rossi in the Tribune Review here.
I suppose anything can happen in that regard but it seems off-base for anyone to claim something must be done within two weeks if that was not the case a year ago.
Updated: Gary Bettman in his finals press conference intends to announce the teams and venue for the winter clasic shortly here.
Islanders website: Release it's best of 2007-08 with a feature of Al Arbour night.
NYI Fan Central Comments: I do not want to be the bad guy here but perhaps given the calander says 5/24 the club could have done something on the 1980 team and held that for another day?
In the poll for the Isles website I gave them a B and it would have been an A if they simply beefed up the championship information and articles on this teams incredible past. They should have year-round access to old articles/backpages, photos, game highlights all over the site. Few teams have the Isles storied championship tradition and it's something that's needs to be addressed and should not be very hard to incorporate into the teams website.
You cannot just market the past on core of the four weekend or Al Arbour night to a new generation, that information should be available all the time.
This should be an easy one. A few snippets from the book Pride & Passion are not nearly enough. ___________________________________________________________________ As for the blog itself:
Unless something major breaks in terms of the New York Islanders, I'm going to take a few days off here for the holiday that could run well into late Tuesday. The Ridderwall, Johansson signing watch continues along with the unrestricted/restricted free agents.
The current media poll will run through the next few days as well.
The feeders all over the blog provide Islander-related updates as well so visitng here you will miss nothing.
Everyone have a good memorial day weekend, thank you as always for the great support.
Barring any family circumstances that force me to cancel at the last minute I will be appearing as the special guest for Hockey Night on Long Island this coming Saturday 5/24 (first cup anniversary) at 3:30pm for anyone who would like to call in and talk some Islander Hockey.
NYI Fan Central Comments: Alex & Steve from Hockey Night on Long Island do a great job with the show, always a pleasure to be invited as a guest. The latest show is always posted on the sidebar here for anyone who cannot catch it live.
USA.com: Kyle Woodlief's latest prospect update was released 5/20 with updated prospect rankings where he slots RW Mikkel Bodker as his fifth overall pick.
NYI Fan Central Comments: Must read independent prospect re-source for Islander fans, impeccable work, latest update is also in prospect center.
Point Blank: Mr Botta continues to update his blog with answers to questions submitted by readers on several subjects.
NYI Fan Central Comments: Great job by Mr Botta to take his time to answer the fans questions and is doing an outstanding job.
Yahoo sports: Greg Wyshynski of SportsFan Magazine in Washington DC/Senior Sports Editor for The Connection Newspapers of Northern Virginia had a few interesting comments on Mr Botta's blog entries to his readers where he credits him for the way he used his blog to pull back the curtain on how an NHL team works and how he would also use it to aggressively go after members of the MSM whom he felt treated the team unfairly. He also brought up and credited Mr Botta's take on Times reporter Selena Roberts and her comments on former Islander Eric Carins without getting as much as a quote.
NYI Fan Central Comments: My first inclination was to check whether Greg Wyshynski should be treated as a legitimate professional media source despite his listed credentials. I'm aware of what AOL Fanhouse is but I'm also very conservative with what articles are posted here. I don't know if he wrote his own title in this instance (many professional writers in publications have it written by someone else) but " brutally candid " in the headline description I did not consider appropriate or reflective of Mr Botta's blog entries now or since he began it despite well deserved praise for Mr Botta.
I'm not a fan of writers who use sensationalism to get folks to notice their articles, the quality of the content should do that on it's own merit.
Just finished up Hockey Night on LI here with Alex and Steve who do an excellent job with the show and was a lot of fun. My thanks to them for inviting me on the program once again where we wrapped up the Flyers game, talked about the trade deadline, core of the Four among several things.
Hockey Night on LI is featured on New York Fan Central on the sidebar but for those interested in listening to the show today.
Recently I did a blog and shared some things about the blog box and a dilemma I had with regard to coverage and where I draw the line with what I wish to post here from the other twelve bloggers. After some hard work behind the scenes I feel I have finally found a solution.
I created my own Islanders Blog Box for everyone to read anything one of us post on our blogs. The new feature on this blog links the feeders to all thirteen blogs and shows the lastest entries.
Feel free to share this feature and enjoy the latest from all the blog box members which will now be a permanent fixture on the sidebar at New York Islander Fan Central.
