Peter Laviolette Fired by Carolina Hurricanes

Tsn.ca: Has reported the Carolina Hurricanes have fired head coach Peter Laviolette and replaced him with his predecessor in former Canes coach Paul Maurice.

The Hurricanes website is showing the press conference live with general manager Jim Rutherford and new coach Paul Maurice for those interested which began at 11:30am EST here.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Given the recent article from the paper in Carolina that said he was almost fired and back to the summer when management waited a long time to make an announcement he was returning this seemed a matter of when, not if.

Sing no sad songs for Peter Laviolette, he won a Stanley Cup and proved he is a top flight NHL coach and will be hired by another club. Mike Milbury saw something in him long ago and his judgement was correct about his ability to coach.

Twist here is Paul Maurice is taking the job of the man who replaced him.

Desert News: Dan Rasmussen had an excellent feature article on Utah Grizzlies head coach Kevin Colley who talked about his career, how his life has changed with his injury and what he had to go through to recover from what happened.

He also had a lot of praise for the Islanders-Sound Tigers as he talked about someday making back to the NHL as a head coach.

AM New York: Lisa Freedman has a feature about the Islanders organist since 1979 in Paul Cartier.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Mr Cartier has always done an amazing job for the Islanders, you can tell the difference when he is not at the organ, good stuff at how he got the job and how things work behind the scenes for those interested in doing this.

Updated 5pm:
NY Times: Jeff Z. Klein had an interview with former Islander Bryan Berard who is playing in Russia this season.

Islander Notables

College Hockey On-line: Candace Horgan has an indepth article on Islanders 2006 draft
pick Rhett Rakhshani, who was named assistant captain for the 2008-2009 season along with comments from Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky and his teammates.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Rakhshani has flown under the radar a bit because he was not in summer propsect camp but the writer does an excellent job here with Rakhshani telling us where the Islanders come into play along with a lot of in depth information on his journey to college hockey and being drafted by an NHL team.

Daily News: Ellott Olshansky also had a full two part feature Friday afternoon on Rakhshani with comments from Islander assistant general manager Ryan Jankowski along with mentioning prospect Blake Kessel, a defenseman at New Hampshire was also given Hockey East player of the week consideration.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
The New York Daily News that does not cover our games or provide a blog on the club put up a two part feature on a New York Islander prospect in the middle of a Friday afternoon? This received more space than anything the News has reported on in years regarding the club.

I'm speechless and have no idea what to make of this even if reposted from another publication which I believe it was.

Utah Grizzlies: Announced Ryan Kinasewich has been named Utah captain with comments from head coach, Kevin Colley.

Daily Gleaner: Bill Hunt notes Rob Hennigar, the offensive leader in CIS hockey last season, has not registered even a shot on goal in his first three American Hockey League games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

Islander News Articles 10/1

Newsday: Greg Logan's article is on forward Jeff Tambellini with comparisons to how things worked under Ted Nolan vs Scott Gordon as he the left wing praised Frans Nielsen for how well he has looked.

Mr Logan had more speculation on when Rick DiPietro could be cleared to play which could come by the weekend but given the clubs injury policy just does not know.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
It's up to the player to do well and make an impact so the coach can give him more minutes.

Bergenheim did this, so did Comeau and for now so has Kyle Okposo. Justin Papineau never did and to date two coaches who gave Tambellini games on the top lines were not impressed to this point.

Steve Stirling went all out in 03-04 to give Mattias Weinhandl a good look and moved players to off wings for him to be put in the best possible position to produce and failed. Even after leading his team in scoring during the lockout he did not come in and play well enough to be a top six forward. He was placed on waivers did not make an impact with Minnesota and has not played in the NHL since.

Sure Ted Nolan could have given Robert Nilsson a serious look to be fair all the way around but Tambellini had a month under Brad Shaw when he was acquired and a few weeks in the top six under Ted Nolan late.

Ct Post: Micheal Fornabaio recaps practice on Tuesday with head coach Jack Capuano's comments on the opportunity the players have along with a lot of players in on try-outs as the club heads to Albany for it's pre-season game Wednesday.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio also has an article on Utah Grizzlies head coach, Kevin Colley and his assistant Jeff Dwyer.

CHL.com: Announced today that forward Mike Lesperance has been called up to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers from the clubs CHL affiliate in Odessa because of all the injuries.

Again here is Bridgeport's exhibition schedule with games beginning 10/1:
10/1: Bridgeport at Albany.
10/3: Bridgeport vs Hartford-Northford Ice Pavilion in Northford, CT at 7 p.m.
10/4: Bridgeport vs Lowell Devils- The Rinks at Shelton at 7 p.m.
10/5: Bridgeport at Hartford-Champions Skating Center in Cromwell, CT at 4:30 p.m.
**************************************************************************
More Wednesday:

Brandon Sugden, Dwyer hired in Utah/Notables

Point Blank: Mr Botta has an interview with Brandon Sugden and his efforts in trying to get reinstated as Mr Botta gives his opinion on how he would help the Islanders if he were allowed to attend camp.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Classy work from Mr Botta, not sure if it's going to mean he will be reinstated but hopefully something can be done regardless of what franchise he plays for. I'm a little surprised Mr Botta did not mention Tim Jackman who is a right wing with a two year contract who should also be ahead of Sugden on the depth chart if he were signed here to an AHL contract.

Newsday: Mark Herrmann has a few words about the NHL off-season with Bill Guerin and Doug Weight taking batting practice at Shea Stadium this afternoon.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Classy stuff from Mr Herrmann on Chris Botta and Ted Nolan, the rest read like his usual pro Ranger/negative Islander infomercial that makes his viewpoint virtually worthless for all hockey fans and reflects a writer with an agenda against the club which is disappointing but the kind of shock jock coverage he does as he jumps from sport to sport at the paper.

Among the low lights:
Markus Naslund is still in his prime at age thirty five? I guess that means a lot of veteran Islanders have one more good year in them?

Funny he did not think Martin Brodeur at thirty six was in his prime, must be the uniform?

Wade Redden despite his poor performance and decline the last two seasons according to Mr Herrmann is the kind of solid, skilled defenseman the team has craved but forgot to mention the absurd price paid for his services which would have been front and center if Mr Wang paid that kind of money. Hockey writers all over North American questioned (which would be the kind take) giving Redden that kind of contract, Mr Herrmann ignored it like someone officially on the Cablevision payroll.

I guess Mark Streit did not make the cut for this article and the lower contract he signed with New York.

Worst of all Mr Herrmann waves his new Cablevision-Newsday Ranger pom poms big time and declares it's very cool to announce Cablevision management is retiring the numbers of Andy Bathgate, Adam Graves and Harry Howell as he does a great
Al Trautwig impersonation of declaring it's not a cheesy, showy, trendy grab for attention (which I would guess is his implied slam at the Islanders) for only honoring players who are far more deserving that Graves, Howell or Bathgate and have far more championship rings than all three combined.

Maybe it's time for the Islanders to announce an Ed Westphal night who is far more deserving than Bathgate or Graves who only had a twenty year career in New York as the club's first captain and long-time broadcaster.

No shock at all here Mr Herrmann had to write something negative about Rick DiPietro implying Scott Gordon will have to get along with the goaltender and brings up his contract.

Of course what's an article from Mark Herrmann without something on the Isles future viability and his personal speculation on them moving to Kansas City which he only brings up every other article if they do not get the Lighthouse, despite the club's cable contract and for now binding leases with Nassau County and Smg nor ownership never mentioning a word along those lines.

Makes you want to run right out and purchase tickets.

Mark Herrmann updates on the New York Islanders: Loss for all New York area hockey fans.
Would not be a bad thing for our fans if Mr Herrmann was the next one to move on from any coverage of our club, twenty years is more than enough for this fan.

Chris Botta would be perfect in this spot.

Carolina News Observer/Insurancenewsnet: Had an update on Canes forward Eric Staal's long-term contract negotiations which led to a few words on Rick DiPietro's long-term contract from 2006 and the local insurance firm that handles such negotiations, the Isles did not comment.

Salt Lake Tribune : Announced former Sound Tiger Jeff Dwyer announced his retirement to become Kevin Colley's new assistant coach in Utah.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
This was not the same Dwyer last year who went to Europe after attending Islander training camp where he was a late cut, that was Gordie Dwyer. Jeff Dwyer played for Bridgeport and Utah.

If that's not enough for you there is referee Gord Dwyer.

Good luck to Jeff Dwyer and Kevin Colley in Utah.

Globe & Mail: William Houston in an NHL update reports long time CP writer Pierre LeBrun is now a writer for Espn which was first announced back in early August.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I kind of feel Mr LeBrun's quality work will get lost in the community that is Espn with insider updates and a lot of worthless content from shock jocks Scott Burnside and Teri Frei as the coverage seems to center around Espn-zone market clubs and pre-packaged articles.

E.J Hradek's updates I do not get a lot out of and whatever John Buccigross does on hockey never had any real value or information.

Seems like the quality went into a free fall when Al Morganti stopped writing at Espn.

I guess someone had to take Barry Melrose spot, a blank screen would have done the job for me.

Islander/NHL notables & Quick Hits

St Pete Times: Beatwriter Damian Cristodero has the first of a two part blog interview with former Lightning coach John Tortorella who interviewed with San Jose, Atlanta and the Islanders this summer but according to the writer were not the right fit but for now will start the season with Tsn along with former Islander Ray Ferraro.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I did not read Jim Kelly of SI making issue of Tortorella about his other interviews this summer when he was in San Jose or Atlanta?

Good luck to John Tortorella and Ray Ferraro at Tsn, I only wish the Islanders could make full time use of Ray Ferraro on television because I think he would do a fine job here.

Someone along those lines should be making the same call to Ted Nolan or Garth Snow should find a way to use his talents in this organization because there is always room for quality hockey people somewhere. Butch Goring has helped out for a few years behind the scenes and left under poor circumstances.

Pioneer Press: John Shipley has the latest from Mark Parrish who wants a chance to prove himself with another club as he talked about his role in Minnesota.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Good luck to Mark Parrish but he had to know the system played in Minnesota going in when he signed his contract and should not make excuses for his struggles. Parrish is not a first-line answer if Guerin gets hurt or if Okposo struggles to where he does not earn a roster spot. With Hunter locked in for five years Parrish has no spot on right wing here but it's likely tempting to his former teammate turned gm.

Cbcsports.ca/several outlets: Report former Islander Brad Isbister has signed a one year/two way contract with the Senators.

ECHL.com: Has Kevin Colley's comments from his press conference Thursday as he was named head coach of the Utah Grizzlies.

Quick Hits:
* Trevor Linden will have his number retired by the Canucks this season.

* Mats Sundin is still making up his mind whether he will play anywhere.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
No problem at all here for me when any player is not sure if he wants to play anymore. After all the years of wear they have every right to do what's best for them. I perfer that to someone who takes another teams offer and clearly stayed a year too long.

Guerin, Weight, Colley, Wang & Expectations

NHL.com: Adam Kimmelman has a preview of the Islanders season where he looks at the offense, defense, goaltending and makes comparisions with last year's club and the coaching change.

Sporting News: Craig Custance has an article with captain Bill Guerin's comments about the expectations for the veterans on the club, the push for a playoff spot along with Doug Weight as the writer notes the nine players over age thirty and questions are they working in prospects or playing to win now?

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Islanders have nine players over thirty but the players with the long-term commitments are on defense in Streit, Martinek, Witt, Sutton.

Sillinger, Weight, Guerin are all in the final year of their contracts.
Sim and Richard Park have two year remaining on their contract.

On weak part here was linking to a Scott Burnside ranking from 7/25 from Mr Custance.

At least someone from a media outlet outside of Newsday picked up the telephone and got some comments.

NHL.com: Dan Rosen reports on the NHL media tour through the New York area which includes Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro.

Salt Lake Tribune: Maggie Thach reports former Islander and Sound Tiger Kevin Colley will be the Utah Grizzlies' new head coach taking over for Jason Christie, who recently announced he will take a job as an assistant coach for the AHL's reigning Calder Cup Champion Chicago Wolves.

A news conference to announce the new coach will be held at the E Center on Thursday at 1 p.m.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Notable because an assistant coach who just completed his first season will take over as head coach at age twenty nine. Chicago Wolves new coach (John Anderson was hired by Atlanta) so his replacement took a long time to hire an assistant.

Best of luck to Kevin Colley of course and Jason Kristie with the Chicago Wolves.

Quick Hits:
* Not taking sides but Sam Wyly yearly goes to court in what is nothing less than a yearly personal vendetta against Charles Wang that goes back to a proxy fight back in 2001. Last October Newsday reported a federal judge turned down his appeal and had some strong words for Mr Wyly here.

Of course that did not make it into Newsday's sports blog to make up for a lack of hockey information which is where fair questions have to be asked.

* Funny reading an article out of Toronto where the writer was happy to get anything to be rid of Bryan McCabe. I'd perfer Van Ryan and the cap space than the fourth and McCabe with that contract.

* Best of luck to Wade Flaherty who after a 19-year professional career, has ended his playing career in North America to join the Shanghai Sharks of Asia League Ice Hockey.

Boss, Bergie, AHL, WC, Mr Prospects & Tom Liodice

NY Times: Jeff Hale, staff editor on The New York Times sports desk did a blog on former Islander Michael Bossy Saturday and what his current role is with the club in the business department as the talk turned to hockey.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Good interview and as always great stuff from #22 who's never been shy about talking about the game and being frank about some things he does not like. I missed his blogs last season when the club had him doing that as part of his role.

HockeyCanada.ca: Reports Sean Bergenheim played in Saturday's World Championship exhibition with Finland vs Canada and had a penalty in the 3-2 loss.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio is doing his usual great job on the AHL playoffs and filling in the blanks on contracts regarding some Islander-Sound Tiger players and elgibility.

Noteable:
With prospects Jason Gregoire and Blake Kessel still playing games I followed through on my message board change. Mr Prospects did such a great job on that thread here all season for everyone, my thanks again to him for a fantastic job.

Like Tom Liodice over at Tiger Tracks both have a great talent. Tom in live blogging and writing, Mr Prospects in following prospects daily which is not something I had the time for here besides some articles.

IIHF.com: Released Germany's World Championship roster with former Islander Uwe Krupp as head coach and I think former Islander Jason Holland on the roster. (if it's same Jason Holland?)

Team Switzerland : Also announced it's lineup with Paul DiPietro. (It's the same Paul DiPietro who killed the Isles in 93 playoffs w/Montreal)

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Yes, I'm still annoyed with Paul DiPietro. Mike Lupica ripped him big time back in those days but back then the Isles actually had writers who got behind the team.

Finally:
Great turnout on the poll. No, I cannot alter the choices once it's started. Maybe I should have broken up the top three but I kind of felt those three would not drop to the Isles or most would have voted Stamkos.

Only going to get tougher next year when the Stanley Cup Champion New York Islanders select 30th.

Updated Sunday:
Victoria Times Colonist: Sharie Epp has a full interview with former Islander and Sound Tiger, Kevin Colley who is an assistant coach with the Isles ECHL affiliate in Utah.

Vancouver Province: Ben Kuzama had an article on new Canucks gm Mike Gillis that also had a lot of comments from Garth Snow and some of his experiences as gm in his first two seasons.

Islander News Articles 10/14:

Newsday: Greg Logan has the recap and reaction to the Islanders 3-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.

"We didn't go to the net hard enough," Islanders coach Ted Nolan said. "We had some chances, but we didn't go through the seam to get to the rebounds. In the third period, we skated much better, and a lot of that had to do with young [Sean] Bergenheim. He skated hard and created a lot of chances for us. I thought Vasicek was our best player tonight. If he plays like that, we've got ourselves a player."

"Overall, we played a smarter team game," DiPietro said. "That's the big key. In Toronto, we tried to do too much with the puck at both blue lines. As we know, those are dangerous areas. We've shown we can score goals, but the big thing for us to continue to improve on is team defense, especially on the road."

Newsday: Logan confirms Jon Sim blew out the anterior cruciate ligament and the medial collateral ligaments in his left knee in the home opener against Buffalo, will undergo complete knee reconstruction surgery sometime within the next two to four weeks and miss the rest of the season.
Comments from Bergeron on being scratched and Ted Nolan are also part of the article.

"I had a bad game last game, and I could have played a lot better," Bergeron said. "So I'll be sitting out. My game is not where it needs to be right now, obviously, but it's early in the year."

Sutton and Bergeron haven't quite clicked, for whatever reason," Nolan said. "If you don't work, there's always somebody going to take your job. [Bergeron] let his game slip a little bit and Berard started to get his game going. We want to have competitiveness within our own team. That's no slap against someone. It's the nature of life."

For the Philadelphia Centric Coverage:

Philadelphia Inquirer:
Philadelphia Daily News:
Phillyburbs:Delco Times:

Sound Tigers Website: Has the recap of the 3-2 loss to the Lowell Devils.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio's aricle was about six penalties in 14 minutes, killing Bridgeport's momentum, and two goals.

"When you take that many penalties, when you give up that many five-on-threes, you get out of synch, certainly," Bridgeport coach Jack Capuano said. "When you give them that many chances, it's a shooting gallery on the five-on-three."

"The loss tonight (Saturday) doesn't sit well with us," said Bridgeport captain Mark Wotton, a top penalty killer. "We'll take tonight and learn from it. We talked after the game. We know what we're doing wrong, and we're going to correct it."

Ct Post: Also has an outstanding feature article on Kevin Colley. His career, what happened the night he suffered his injury and why he's now a coach in the ECHL. Steve Stirling and others contribute quotes.

Lowell Sun: Has coverage of the Devils new affiliate.