Islander News Articles 9/3

Newsday: Katie Strang has an interview with Rick DiPietro regarding his health from last season through the summer and whether he will be at a hundred percent for the season opener, also a few words about Scott Gordon and how much he wants to play this season.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
What's never brought up is how well DiPietro played after the all-star break, how his surgically repaired hip reportedly had no problems all season nor did he suffer any concussions. I did not read all these things about his health when he returned for the playoffs against Buffalo last summer despite having surgery after the series.

One other huge difference no one has written about is DiPietro will have a lot more breaks in the schedule during the second half this season unlike last year where the club did not see one three day break after December aside from the ASG which is why all this talk about locking him into a set schedule now makes little sense just like it would for any other starter.

You can bet the folks in the media who have problems with DiPietro will make sure to always point out the downside first because part of this is about his relationship with the media and his contract.

You see the negative parts about Brodeur played up in the media as soon as he struggles but when he does well we read how under-rated he is or it's outright ignored. When Henrik Lundqvist plays with a family member sick he is praised or given excuses for mediocre play over a few months but when DiPietro suffers a loss in his family he is portrayed as a selfish player regardless of what he does.

Barrie Examiner: Ian Schantz speculates Tomas Marcinko will not be back with Barrie because he's signed by the Islanders.

For New York to return to the playoffs.....

In writing this blog entry I'm going to take a few things for granted about the Islanders overall because these are things you could write about any club.

On the Isles it's slightly different going in because the trend on defense is the group overall is prone to injury. They also have forwards who are older and played out a season injured along with a goaltender who has had two surgeries the last two summers. In that regard we'll forecast less injuries overall for the team and hope for the best.

So what will it take to return to the playoffs?

1. Better survival skills to get stretches of games to overtime that produce long unbeaten in regulation streaks and pile up the points.

I always love those graphics in Islander games that they rarely if ever lose games they lead going into the third period, for me they are misleading.

Maybe Islander fans did not notice how last season ended but it took Boston ninety four points and twelve games over five hundred to secure the eighth seed. Carolina was ten games over and had ninety two points and did not qualify which used to be my personal barometer for a playoff seed. Two years ago the Islanders went on a second half run that saw them lose three times in twenty regulation games that got them to sixth place but last year this teams survival skills to force games to overtime and secure points was missing virtually the entire season.

In the Islanders seven games losing streak in January they only got the final game of the losing streak to overtime against Minnesota and were leading late. When they won six straight immediately afterward only one game did they win in overtime.

Down the stretch in March when things fell apart again losing six in a row they did not get a single game to overtime and secure one point.

That has to change for New York next season with a defense on paper that should be improved with better survival skills in games to secure points but it's about team defense, not just players on the backline.

2. Out with the old, in with the new...
Everyone is doing a lot of talk of rebuilding and youth movements in New York but if you have read this blog you know about how many veterans are here and will be key parts of this team to start next season.

For this to work out as intended and for the club to compete for a playoff spot someone like an Okposo, Comeau or a Jeff Tambellini have to step up and fill the production gap when a Bill Guerin, Doug Weight or Mike Sillinger slump or outright struggle. That is when the real youth movement/rebuilding begins as you'll see a Frans Nielsen or someone else get a prime slot.

My guess is this change will be more subtle as long as the club is in contention and producing but make no mistake for this to work these kids have to step in and score when they get their chance if this club wants to make the playoffs this season.

3. Scoring
A general term but simply put Scott Gordon has to get another productive year out of some veterans past their prime and in many cases some players have to produce more goals. This club cannot have a roster where almost all the forwards have a twenty game plus goal scoring drought.

Isles lost about forty goals with Satan, Fedotenko and Vasicek's departure on a club that was at the bottom of the league in goals. Trent Hunter did not have a point production drop but he has to find the net along with Sillinger, Comrie, Weight and Guerin among the veterans. Among these players there is no dynamic offensive star who can carry the scoring unless Comrie has a career season.

Simply put all the talk means nothing, these guys have to find the net on a regular basis.

4. Powerplay
We all know the story with the powerplay, if your not a great scoring club at even strength you have to do damage with your powerplay and last season too many nights were giving up give up quality chances with the man advantage like no other Islander club I have even seen.

There is no Berard at this time and Bergeron is in Minnesota with Aaron Johnson off to Chicago. Satan's departure dramatically changes the look along with Weight's passing skills but still they have no sniper/finisher in this department and no doubt other clubs will key on the defenders knowing there is not a lot of speed among the forward down low to get the other club running around in their own end of the ice and keep them off balance.

That's how you wear down a team with the man advantage as we see Billy Jaffe say often when he sees a team tired killing a penalty. Too many nights Isles stayed on the perimeter with their powerplay and the other team sat in it's box and waited for a mistake and attacked them, only very early last year did a forward take a puck from the corner and drive the net forcing the defense down low.

Mark Streit will be the quarterback and the Isles will likely hope Campoli and another player step up but this club cannot give up another fifteen goals with it's powerplay and look like the team shorthanded when they get an advantage.

If Richard Park or Bill Guerin are on point, it's obviously time to give Jack Hillen a full time spot or make a trade to get someone in here because for this club to have any chance at getting games to overtime and securing points on a regular basis this has to change from day one of next season if they want to be a playoff team.

5. Speed
Cue the movie Rocky II where Burgess Meredith has Sylvester Stallone chasing chickens to get some speed in those legs because this team does not only lack greasy fast speed but a lot of players who simply do not react well to the other teams speed.

Scott Gordon says he has looked at films and felt he had a fast team and talked of pressure and attacking but I think he has a ton of work ahead in this area outside of a few individuals like Richard Park who have the speed, but not the finishing skills to play a top six or nine.

For this club to return to the playoffs they need not only improved team speed but the ability to react better and counter the oppositions speed to make up for what they lack in this area.

6. Plus/Minus
You go from one of the best clubs at even strength in the league to one of the worst with most of the roster deep in the red your not scoring enough or defending enough.

Isles cut their shots against by close to two hundred , it's a misleading stat at times but clearly this team did not score enough to offset it. This could have been filed under scoring (plus/minus does not count for powerplay) but I felt required a spot for itself because it will be another key in something that has to improve for this club to return to the playoffs.

Thursday Islander Notables

NHL.com: Brian Compton has an outstanding blog entry with comments from head coach Scott Gordon and general manager Garth Snow Thursday where they both discuss the hiring process and what they will have to happen for this to work on the ice with a lot of information from both along with the plan for the young players and the veterans.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Easily the best article/blog I have read to date in terms of questions and answers from both the writer, coach and general manager. Mr Compton knew his stuff and asked about all the veterans on a roster that is building a youth movement but could skate nine players who are at least 30 years of age and the important questions of the goaltenders workload and his working relationship with the general manager.

Only place Mr Compton falls short here is not noting goaltending was not a factor for the team in that second Ranger game and Dubie was outstanding in the win at the garden prior to that.

Sportsnet.com: Chris Nichols has an article with his speculation what the line combinations will be for each club in the Atlantic and did a very good job on the Islanders not only having the players on the correct wings but noted the strong competition for spots with the options as he reviewed the first three lines.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I think Mr Nichols did outstanding with his line combos which for now leaves Jon Sim, Hilbert, Park, Nielsen, Walter, Colliton and Josh Baley (for openers) battling for fourth line spots to say nothing of the enforcer role between a Jackman or a Rechlicz?

I wrote this a while back and I see no other place to go write I think Mike Sillinger's spot on the roster could be in play sooner than later. Right or wrong I keep coming back to that along with Andy Hilbert who also worked with Scott Gordon.

Islander News Articles 8/21

Islanders website: Has the recap of last night's RE/MAX Open House
with new head coach Scott Gordon where he took fan questions, Frans Nielsen also was part of last night's event and gave his comments.

Islanders TV: Has a fourteen minute video of last night's open house with Scott Gordon.

Islanders Television: Has Scott Gordon's fifteen minute interview on FAN960.

Newsday: Katie Strang covered last night's open house with Scott Gordon's comments again as he again talked about incorporating the teams speed into the game plan and will be calling his players over the next week to introduce himself and try to get the to buy into the clubs system and philosophy.

Newsday: Katie Strang has a blog last night on the event before above article where Mr Dey's promotion was included.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I'm not sure what to make of this and I'll admit I completelty forgot about last night's event. A lot of what we read about Scott Gordon was he's all about defense and keeping shots against down, second time now I have read him talking about this club's speed to play more of an attacking style of game.

Ted Nolan on countless occasions talked about how his team had to play the style they did because they did not have the speed and skill of other clubs where by contrast we read alot about Ted Nolan not playing a 1-3-1 until the very end of the season against Pittsburgh. The former coach also was furious in a game against Philadelphia where they scored three rare first period goals where he felt they cheated their defensive system for offense. That was the game a few pucks hit the SMG boards and found their way in front of DiPietro on strange bounces and the Isles blew the lead and the game.

My take on this is the new coach is going to discover this is a very slow group of veteran forwards who are easy to predict and defend. Bill Guerin, Trent Hunter, Mike Sillinger and Doug Weight are hardly fast skaters.

This is a trend that has gone back several years and roster reincarnations here, Jason Blake carried the puck for everyone and got them setup in the zone.

I do not know what Scott Gordon is seeing in these tapes that I did not see last season, Ted Nolan talked about the lack of speed and skill often and that's not how this club would win games. For his thirty odd games Jeff Tambellini did not look fast, he looked tenative and uncertain.

I guess we'll see. This club was never faster than the stretch Bergenheim-Yashin-Robert Nilsson were a line in early March 2006.

Islander Notables & Quick Hits for Friday

Sports Illustrated: Jim Kelley feels Scott Gordon made a mistake at his press conference mentioning the Stanley Cup and then goes back to the nineties while writing a lot of things about Mr Wang's tenure that do not reflect the clubs record as a franchise that has been to four playoffs in six years.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I think what I object to most from so many of these articles is they can call up the Isles and be a part of these conference calls and get their own quotes straight from the club, but they cannot be bothered?

All due respect to Mr Kelly but I do not think he understands the Stanley Cup is expected for this franchise and it's fans, after four of them in a row for a generation it was taken for granted.

If they are not playing with the goal of winning the cup in it's plan every single year as they build up the core of the club (regardless of expectations) why bother at all?

Scott Gordon for me did say the right thing and given Philadelphia went from 30th with a rookie coach and inexperienced general manager in Paul Holmgren to an unexpected semi-final appearance with a team at times that looked helpless last season he does not understand how the NHL works. Brett Hull is an inexperience co-general manager in Dallas not receiving the same scrutiny Snow has and his club made a playoff run also.

The rest of the article for me just has the usual information gap between present day and the nineties or two summers ago because it's all the writer knows due to a lack of knowledge or information. When have coaches who interviewed for jobs and did not get them publicly object? Did we see this with any other club this year or ever in the past but for this job there should be public criticism by someone who was not hired?

Did Mr Kelly write this about half the clubs that have inexperienced NHL coaches at the helm now?

Again, a lot of franchises in this league that have not made four of the last six playoffs having the dysfunctional label slapped on them so quickly or freely. To be mediocre does not mean your dysfunctional, nothing to celebrate but nothing that merits the constant media lynching.

You would think the Blues were a first place team for all the free passes they receive in the media for another poor season along with the Hawks who again are still on the outside until they win but from a few writers are already a championship level club?

What has John Davidson done again not to merit the same public scrutiny Snow has received, how come Dean Lombardi got a free pass for firing his coach who was hired the same summer Nolan was let go?

It may well be hard to have optimism regarding the New York Islanders but you also have to be fair and have updated knowledge to do an article like this or at least point out here the Isles are not setting new standards.

Mr Kelly clearly in this case did a lazy, sloppy article nor does he note the man games lost to inury or the clubs place in the standing for most of the season.

Nowhere has an Islander team official said one word about bringing back Bryan McCabe, more sloppy reporting from Mr Kelly.

Yahoo Sports.com: Ross McKeon's article cites the trends of general managers over the last few years opting for rookie head coaches in talking about the Isles hiring Scott Gordon and notes the burnout factor in veteran coaches also.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
A lot of rookie coaches have been hired the last few years or brought in through a clubs system. That's the trend for now but trends change also and no doubt most of the men Snow interviewed will find another job if that's what they want when the trend goes the other way. Tom (John) Renney was not coaching anywhere when he was hired by Sather.

Brent Sutter a few years ago when he was rumored for this job was not criticized in the press.

Quick Hits:
* So the Francesa-Russo split got the full Newsday backpage Scott Gordon never received and more Newsday articles (four) than the Isles press conference? (three) I wonder if there was some controversy or an injury update if Mr Logan would have been around for the PC?

* No gang, I do not think it's Cablevision-related. When the season starts and Knick scrimmages start receiving backpages over baseball playoff games that's when you'll know.

* Speaking of our friends from Cablevision was this the enhanced coverage they promised a few months ago? A summer with one Islander-produced themed program and no current games or classic games? How nice of them to send Stan Fischler for a few web casted interviews with nothing on live television considering they own the broadcast rights, more like Msg minus.

* I guess only Mr Zipay can blog during vacation for his readers just to give the fans something to talk about? No way Mark Herrmann would have pulled that on another club in this town which shows everyone how poor Newsday's relationship is with the Isles.

Newsday knows it completely controls Islander perception, they write it and it goes straight to other outlets who throw in a few thoughts from a decade ago and move on quickly. There is no competition because there are no other regular writers, Newsday can now make or break Islander players, coaches, general managers and the franchise itself now by their opinion.


* Yes, I read Mr Botta's blog on Yahoo sports the other day and he did a good job for those wondering why I did not link to it. I have to be honest and tell my readers I'm still trying to decide if Mr Wyshynski's work despite his background in Virginia Newpapers and Sportsnet (I did some checking) makes the cut for coverage here as a member of the professional hockey media and have found myself on the fence about it at times. We spoke recently by e-mail about the Islanders (not this subject) because I commented on one of his articles about the club and he was very respectful even if we agreed to disagree on some things. I know Yahoo sports carries his work as does the feeder here. This is one I'm being a bit conservative on and perhaps I'm wrong here for the same reasons I did not carry an article out of the website that has the NY Sun very limited Islander coverage by Kevin Greenstein.

I did promise our readers when I started this blog I would be conservative at times when posting information, this was one of those instances.

* So the NY Times can get quotes out of Russia but not send someone to the Islanders press conference or find a writer to do an article? Instead we got a few blog updates with some links and nothing else? They send writers to cover goal judges or Kyle Okposo in Bridgeport and the new broadcasters in another language (all worthwhile features) but not when a new coach is hired?

Pathetic.

* I have to end this with something positive and for today that will be former Islander Craig Ludwig being inducted into the UND Athletic Hall of Fame. If you thought Brendan Witt made you wince when he blocked shots he had nothing on Ludwig who was down more than the goaltenders and had a memorable season for me as an Islander.

A Few Notables/Quick Hits

THN.com: Adam Proteau ranks the division and feels even though the Isles may pull up the rear in the Atlantic will likely exceed expectations to a slight degree again this season.

Odessa Jackalopes.com: New York Islanders European scout Vellu Kautonen has a few words on goaltender Juha Toivonen, the younger brother of St. Louis Blues goaltender Hannu Toivonen.

Espn.com/several outlets: Report Flyers coach John Stevens received a two year contract extension today.

Islanders, Gordon, Media & NYIFC

A bunch of things late Thursday.

* Isles released it's national slate of games next season which was reduced to three.

* For this blogger the Scott Gordon era will not be defined by year one regardless of results unless his veterans all have career years and the club makes a run at a Stanley Cup, it will be defined by year two by how much improvement the prospects/younger players show as they push out the veterans in key roles.

* Garth Snow's challenge next summer will be to land a first line prime free agent to replace a Bill Guerin, Doug Weight, Mike Sillinger. He's not going to be able to plug prospects into all the top spots unless Bergenheim, Comeau, Tambellini or Okposo all show signs they can be star players next season which is asking for a great deal.

* For now we will read about defensive systems and the coaches trends, how he gets a slow team on paper to play uptempo, score enough goals and protect the goaltender will define his impact along with getting more out of a powerplay that was terrible last season.

* Ted Nolan knew what we all saw, for this club to compete it had to play more of a defensive strategy but he also had to go for it at times because his club could not score goals. We saw those forty-fifty shots the club took with few quality chances, it was a delicate balance for Ted Nolan and it will be for Scott Gordon. There were reasons for some stretches Ted Nolan could not play a 1-3-1, especially when you score two goals or less fourteen games in a row and no one is producing.

* This defense on paper should even be better than it was a year ago with the loss of Bergeron, Berard in it's own end of the ice with Sutton coming back in a settled role along with Meyer. Huge year for Gervais and Campoli and a lot of competition for spots on the backline, someone with Streit has to hit the back of the net from the point.

* Guerin and Sillinger are playing for their future in this league at this point, same can be written about Weight. If they fail to produce here few teams will even want them for third line spots come the trade deadline. Weight has to produce like last year never happened, Guerin has to come in ready to produce consistently.

* If Scott Gordon wants his own assistants, the Isles will likely do that for him but a lot of new coaches in this league just take the people in place, we saw that in Washington and with several other clubs. This is something that will play out as Gordon gets settled.

* From the fan and media viewpoint department:
Usual shock jock game from the media with half of them writing the Isles should have hired experience while the other liked the hiring based on Gordon's credentials. The shock joke stuff you can see coming because it starts with stuff back to the nineties or things not relevant to era Snow was general manager.

Then you have those in the media who beat them down and then build back them up, those writers seemingly just go for reaction and sensationalsim also because it's good for page views but more style over substance, virtually worthless unless you wish to get stirred up.

I hate how some react to Steve Stirling, he did an excellent job as a rookie coach in this league and was a class act from beginning to end of his time with this organization that was as pathetic as the reaction to Jason Blake when he returned.

We can only hope Scott Gordon does as well point wise his first season if he has the same injury problems. Mike Milbury gave Stirling a horrible team to work with that season out of the lockout with York, Niinimaa, Lukowich, Sopel all inconsistent or headed for deep decline. Kvasha, Weinhandl played their way out of the league seemingly for good. The coach was a scapegoat because of his inexperience with the public and he was not a name coach who did fancy speeches for the media.

Steve Stirling was and is a good man, he deserved far better.

* If you want the Isles to stick to the plan, you have to support the product by attending games, otherwise Garth Snow will have to act like Mike Milbury and do things to get folks to the games as the former gm did when he hit the crossroads and needed to imporove attendance and keep his job.

Unless you want shortcuts you have to support what they are trying to do and based on how visible Comeau, Bergenheim were in games if Okposo or Tambellini give them anything this team will be in the mix or better next season if the vets produce.

* Newsday/Greg Logan Checklist:
No Al Arbour night-check.
No Rick DiPietro all-star blogs-check.
No Scott Gordon press conference-check.
Make issue of Dipietro's play based on misleading stats-check.
Be around to stir the pot on Nolan-Snow with unnamed player friction-check.
Ignore virtually anything positive-check.
Keep the Ranger angle in coverage whenever possible-check.
Ignore Aaron Johnson's comments about how well respected Nolan was-check.
Steve Zipay Ranger blog more popular at Newsday because of more updates-check.
Mark Herrmann keeps things negative with the club future viability an issue raised whenever possible-check.
Make sure Wallace Matthew, Jim Baumbach, Anthony Rieber or any guest writer/blogger they can find to take a few digs at the club whenever possible do so-check.

Gordon hiring got a small part of the back and front page of Newsday on Tuesday, introduction press conference did not receive any part of backpage for Wednesday over a Met game in Washington?

* NYI Fan Central Department:
A few days off coming, my thanks again to everyone who participated in the live blog on Tuesday and for the amazing support here for this blog since day one over a year ago now. I think I added every one's links who asked to the sidebar, if not send me an e-mail. The new CHL team has a section along with a feeder for faceoff.com.

I will keep looking to add to the blog, when games start the scoreboards and stat service scoreboards/standings will be added back in come September.

ITV video causes page to load slower, solution will be reducing the size of the box where you adjust it as you see fit and can make it full size with no delay.

* Islanders as always were first class the last few days inviting all the blog box members to it's press conference. This blog is a member of the blog box program but does it's viewpoint from from outside the box itself, however but the club always extends the generous invitation for for me to appear. I cannot recommend enough to aspiring writers with Islander blogs to apply for the blog box program if you have second thoughts and join the outstanding group of bloggers already in place.

Maybe a quick update or two Friday.

Thanks again everyone.

Islander News Articles 8/14

Newsday: Katie Strang's article has Scott Gordon's comments about what philosophy he will bring to New York and what he wants his team to do on the ice as he looked at last year's club.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Scott Gordon can talk of his team playing with aggression and pressuring the other club into situations where they don't want to play with the puck, but the reality was and is the New York Islanders are a very slow team that cannot play that kind of hockey with the roster they have.

Ted Nolan talked about this often noting the lack of speed and skill and being forced to play the way they did to compete in games with other clubs and Scott Gordon will have the same problem.

Doug Weight does not make Sillinger, Guerin, Hunter or Comrie any faster and neither will any coach at this stage in their careers. Richard Park for his speed is not an offensive player who will not finish enough.

Scott Gordon comments on paper sound great about forcing teams into mistakes with pressure but this club does not have the team speed among it's forward to play that way as it's currently constructed.

Newsday: Katie Strang in the Islanders Newsday blog leads with general manager Garth Snow refusing to discuss management contract terms and his telling Mark Herrmann it's none of his business when pressed.

Ms Strang also notes the new coach was pretty nervous but not overwhelmed and was gracious enough to stay more than two hours after the press conference to speak with reporters as he talked about his communication skills and a lot of topics. Ms Strang also notes his reaction to a question about the Isles powerplay seems he knew there was a problem.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Good for Garth Snow for calling out Mr Herrmann on this, it's not his business if that's the club policy. Ted Nolan played right into Greg Logan's hands on that one and made it an issue that could be exploited by the beatwriter who took full advantage even though Nolan never lobbied for an extension in the press.

What do you want me to write about Mr Logan being AWOL for a positive event as usual that I have not written before? It's Scott Gordon's and the New York Islanders day, this is for another time.

Newsday: Mark Herrmann goes over the history of Islander coaches and what they have to say when hired and gets in his little dig at Garth Snow in response to him not telling the length of Scott Gordon's contract as he told some sidebar stories from the new coach at the press conference.

Mr Herrmann of course makes the club's viability and possible future a point of his article based on the future of the Lighthouse project which we have read in most of his Islander updates.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Par for the course with Mark Herrmann who loves doing Islander articles about the teams relevance, viability and possible future relocation whenever he can despite nothing from the owner on this at all. I guess this is what happens on days Charles Wang has nothing to say and something negative has to be put injected into the mix when the general manager tells him club policy on team contracts is not his business on a day for some optimism.

I remember a few years ago when the Devils swept the Rangers Mr Herrmann was so bitter he did an article about how the entire media went to the Ranger side and ignored the Devils.

NY Post: Devils beatwriter Mark Everson from the Post covered the press conference with his theme on winning now, taking Scott Gordon's comment he expects to win every game as he pointed to the Giants along with the new coaches thoughts on other subjects while Mr Everson speculated his contract was a standard three year deal and Mr Wang had the final interviews with Bob Hartley, Paul Maurice and Scott Gordon.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Dan Martin apparently had the day off also for those wondering where the part-time writer was today.

Daily News: Someone named Mark Lelinwalla covered the press conference for the News in a limited space article that only had select quotes from the new coach mostly on how he expects to win every game with his philosophy.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Sad Peter Botte seems off the radar for good along with any hope of dedicated covered or a blog from the News. Even when he did occasionally write something now he is out of touch with current events which negates the abilities he used to bring to the coverage.

Boston Globe: Kevin Paul Dupont has Scott Gordon's comments and speculates on the Islanders and who will be his sucessor in Providence.

Tribune-Democrat.com: Mike Mastovich has an article on Scott Gordon's ties to the Johnstown Chiefs with comments from former Chiefs GM and coach Toby O’Brien, now a scout in the Islanders system on how well-deserved this is for Scott Gordon.


Msg.com: Had Stan Fischler attend the press conference and do individual interviews with Gatth Snow and Scott Gordon.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Of course Msg was not going to provide live coverage on it's network of the team it owns television rights to which is why the Isles have to do it themselves.

WFAN.com: Mike Francesa had an interview on radio with Scott Gordon.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Usual negative theme mostly from Mr Francesa, Isles cannot attract free agents, poor fan support, not enough talent. Gordon did have a lot to say and was asked about hiring his own assistants.

Tsn.ca: Reports Mark Parrish's agent John Vollan spoke to Vancouver radio station CKNW on Wednesday confirming the Canucks' interest in his client while Tsn notes the Islanders and Predators also inquired about the unrestricted free agent forward.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
The agent does not specifically mention the Islanders here. This all seems tied to whatever Mats Sundin decides for Vancouver but agents have a job and that's to gauge interest and talk up their client. No real spot for Parrish here unless Kyle Okposo plays in Bridgeport or Parrish plays on a fourth line and a prospect or Richard Park
are moved, not a good fit from what I can see at this time.

ECHL.com: Has a release on the Islanders hiring Scott Gordon and notes he is now one of three former ECHL coaches working in the NHL.

Sportsnet: Analyst Nick Kypreos has learned that Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Bryan McCabe has reportedly waived his no-trade clause and may be headed to the Florida Panthers but should not be tied into a McCabe-for-Jay Bouwmeester deal.