NYI Fan Central Final Review: Ruslan Fedotenko

Today's final review is on forward Ruslan Fedotenko.

Entering 2007-08:
Fedotenko in his last season with Tampa seemed to play his way out of the top six forwards and he did not seem to keep John Tortarella's confidence after being such a dominating player in the Lightning cup run a few years earlier. Isles paid a lot on a one year contract and decided to give him a spot in their top six hoping they would get over eight two games what he gave Tampa in that cup run.

2007-08 Season:
Call it a tale of three seasons for Fedotenko where he bonded with Mike Comrie and Bill Guerin in Moncton, started the season very well but then his game fell off due to injury/inconsistency and found himself on several lines & another hot streak that was a big part of the Isles six game winning streak before another injury ended his season.

For a lot of reasons he seemed to be inconsistent after it really seemed like this may work early with reports of how much the club liked his game and wanted to get an extension done. It went from looking like a great signing to a poor one very quickly.

Still this was another in a long line of forwards on this team who had about three goals in thirty games and that will mostly define his tenure here. When Fedotenko started struggling with arm problems he also was invisible in games where he did not generate chances, he seemed to try and play through it also which may not have been a good idea but says a lot about his character which was a reason the club signed him last summer.

Moving forward:
Fedotenko is an UFA and the clock is ticking. Seems as if the Isles made their decision even though he did express a desire to return. Anything can happen but if he cannot produce as a top six forward and standout among the competition why will the Isles bring him back at another players expense who could do better?

Isles have Sim, Bergenheim, Comeau, Tambellini all as left wingers with Park and Hilbert who can also play the left side.

Final Grade:
When he was healthy and on his game he did an excellent job here and not just by the numbers but his overall impact on a game. Unfortunately that did not happen nearly enough for the responciblity given to him. Part of that was about injuries but part of it also seemed about him being inconsistent.

Ruslan Fedotenko receives a generous C because of the injuries but this grade leans toward a D because he did not live up to his expectations.

Islander News Articles 6/2

Los Angeles Times: Helene Elliott has a few words from former Islander & Red Wings coach Dave Lewis who was traded before the Islanders won their first stanley cup for Butch Goring and replaced Scotty Bowman in Detroit before Mike Babcock was hired as coach.

NHL.com: Brian Compton has a full feature with comments from former Islander scout Jimmy Devellano who today is the Detroit Red Wings Senior Vice President and Alternate Governor with Bill Torrey's comments about his tenure in New York and how his scouting help bring together the pieces for a dynasty.

Tsn.ca: Compares the core Red Wings to some of the great dynasties in league history.

THN.com: Brian Costello looks at the top picks in the upcoming draft and feels this group will eventually go down among the best ever as it's compared with the draft class of 1979 after the WHA disbanded.

Point Blank: Mr Botta in his blog describes his 6/10 upcoming column in the THN and his thoughts on writing as opposed to being in media relations as THN.com THN also has a small picture of the 6/10 issue.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Wherever Mr Botta decides to work I will be happy for him and know he will do an outstanding job. I never met him but my impression from my own experience is he will miss doing his blog after 7/7 for the same reasons I decided to return to hockey cyberspace after a year off. At first you love the time off but when the puck drops there is a void.

New York Islander fans need his blog and he obviously still will be a fan of this team by his own words and even his views as an outsider would be of great value to everyone.

Updated 3:15pm
THN.com: Adam Protrau made his point once again from last summer the Islanders overpaid for Ruslan Fedotenko but toned down his stance he was the worst UFA signing from last year with brought some strong reaction from Islander fans and this blog at the time.

Islander News Articles 2/26

Newsday: Greg Logan reports according to an NHL source, the Islanders have made an offer to right wing Miroslav Satan in addition to their previous offers to centers Mike Comrie and Josef Vasicek. Ruslan Fedotenko's agent is engaged in discussions and has made it clear his client wants to stay, but it's doubtful that will lead to a contract before Tuesday's 3 p.m. deadline. Forward Chris Simon also is headed to free agency without an offer.

Garth Snow's comments are included while Mr Logan has a lot of speculation across the board.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I think Comrie and Fedotenko's comments speak for themselves on the video. If Satan got an offer to resign we'll know soon enough and the silence could mean anything as we found out with Trent Hunter.

What we do know is going into Tuesday the clock is running on resigning these players or getting something for them. As Hossa and Richards go off the market it increases the value of the Islander forwards if Snow does want to make a deal.

No outright law here that says the Isles are not in the mix for Richards either. Prospal traded to Philadelphia and the Bolts wanting to dump that big salary after signing Dan Boyle could make him a target for Snow if the Isles can unload some salary the other way.

SooNews.ca: Craig Huckerby reports Ted Nolan will be the subject of a tv documentary Tuesday night on CBC Newsworld at 10pm. Ted Nolan: Behind The Bench follows Nolan's dramatic return to the game of hockey following his controversial departure eight years ago.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Hopefully the Isles can work something out so the fans here have some access to the program. Curiously quiet day for the Isles head coach who was on the ice at Iceworks.

Updated-Ted Nolan was interviewed on Msg Network Monday.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Bridgeport just played three games in three days and rested Monday. The Isles play Tuesday night so if a few players are reported as not being at Sound Tigers practice tomorrow that's where we get an idea of what the Isles are trying to do if anything because they have no spare players in the NHL and have to have someone around just to have a complete roster.

Tsn.ca:Darren Dreger reported shortly after midnight Mike Comrie is close to signing a one year contract extension with the Isles.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
That's a new twist into this and maybe something both sides want. Garth Snow did about the balance about him being a first line center vs a second line center, a one year contract basically becomes a restart for him.

It also ties him to the club for as long as Bill Guerin's contract runs.

Newsday: Shaun Powell writes his first Islander-centric article of the hockey season to basically call the Coliseum a dump who had comments from Islanders senior vice president Chris Dey and compare it to Newark's Prudential Center and the ballparks rising for the Yankees and Mets.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I understand the Isles need to have this done for too many reasons to write in one blog posting, but Mr Powell goes a bit overboard. Does he write Madison Square Garden which is four years older than the Coliseum and the second oldest NHL facility is a dump?

The biggest problem with the current Nassau Coliseum is it's lease with Smg taking the parking, concessions and even a percentage of the gate. No massive renovation solves that problem.

Newsday: Steve Zipay reports the local television ratings for all winter teams and FSN in March will now be named Msg plus. Michael Bair, president of MSG Media, says the station wants to capitalize more than we have on the Islanders and Devils he concedes have undernourished on some level for a number of years.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Undernourished? More like left starving to death. The idea in buying the rights was to keep the Islanders and Devils coverage kept behind the scenes so the Garden could control it's competition, they pay big money for the priviledge. They want to enhance coverage put some exhibiton games on television and find space for some ITV programming.

Now the Isles who cannot get any games on Msg at all compared to the Devils have to be televised on a channel that's under the Garden's name? It just get's worse and worse folks.

Ironic how whenever the Garden has an update on it's programming rating numbers are released Mr Zipay takes the Garden's report and runs with it. Last time it was reported ratings were reported by Msg's pr department so why would this be any different?

I'm not accepting these ratings numbers as factual until an independant media source steps up and reports these numbers from Nielsen.

Even in that limited report Isles ratings are down since the last time they released the numbers. Funny how the Rangers are always bumped to Msg-2 or FSN for the Knicks, if they were really more popular that would not be happening.

NY Post: Tim Bontemps is the lastest assigned an Islander article with some mild speculation on Miroslav Satan as the Pens game is previewed. Michael Therrien said yesterday he wasn't sure when Fleury would start, because he has yet to practice with the team.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio has a few words of speculation in his blog on the trade deadline but nothing specific.

AHL.com: Kimber Auerbach had a full feature article on Kyle Okposo that is a must read.

Mark Everson from the Post does a trade deadline article with virtually nothing significant on the Isles to a point the Isles are not even in the headline and given a quick sentence of speculation. Daily News has no article from Peter Botte and only a short sentence of speculation in a Ranger centric coverage from John Dellapina.

Times/New York Sun had nothing or a an AP article.

Islander/NHL Notables

Islanders TV had full interviews with Ruslan Fedotenko and Mike Comrie on the team and the trade deadline today after practice which is now on the sidebar here for those interested.

It's best you click and listen to get your own impressions directly from them. Very good job on the interviews and the questions. Someone yelled out in the background Mike Comrie is going nowhere while he was doing his interview.

Steve Mears and Chris King also reported from Islanders practice at Iceworks for about seventeen minutes on ITV, all players practiced and a lot of things regarding the trade deadline were speculated on.

Brendan Witt walked around and Jon Sim skated on the side.

Fox Sports.com: Al Strachan had a very interesting article where he does a little creative accounting with his theory being that an accumulation of high draft picks guarantees the development of a powerhouse is simply unsupportable.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Mr Strachan works for the Toronto Sun to the best of my knowledge and makes some good points here about smart drafting in the lower rounds being a major factor of a club's long-term success but he only needs to look at the Toronto Maple Leaf team he covers as proof you cannot continue to trade top picks for quick fixes or go for it at the deadline every year.

Islander News Articles 2/25

Newsday: Greg Logan reports NHL sources say the Islanders are fielding offers for forwards Miroslav Satan, Ruslan Fedotenko and Mike Comrie, all of whom are headed to free agency this summer and that the real offers start coming in today.

Garth Snow would like to sign Comrie by tomorrow if he agrees to fit in the salary slot for a second-line center. A lot more speculation here dominates the article with only one unnamed Western Conference personnel expert comments.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
At this point it's up to everyone to separate the fact from the fancy and as always, it is interesting how un-named NHL sources always seem to know the Isles business and talk to the local media which was the same back when Mike Milbury was general manager.

You do not see this as much with the Devils or Rangers.

We will get our answers today or tomorrow. With a game scheduled tomorrow night a sign to look for are possible call ups from Bridgeport in advance to replace traded players to fill a lineup.

Newsday: Greg Logan had a late blog on Bryan McCabe with all the twists and turns from most of the last year including the Sun article posted here last night where he said he did not want to be traded but would be interested if Cliff Fletcher approached him. His speculation is the Islanders would want the Leafs first rounder to take McCabe's contract.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
That's my price to add McCabe to the Islander roster and take the Leafs off the hook for his salary. I think Cliff Fletcher would get a lot of grief for trading a top ten pick for a franchise desperate for top draft picks and a rebuilding and doubt the Leafs will part with the pick under any circumstances.

Just remember this is the same Cliff Fletcher who gave the Islanders a first round pick with Kenny Jonsson a long time ago. It says a lot about McCabe if they go to that extreme to move him when a buyout is not part of a no-movement clause according to section 11.8 (b) of the CBA:

A no-move clause may prevent the involuntary relocation of a Player, whether by Trade, Loan or Waiver claim. A no-move clause, however, may not restrict the Club's buy-out and termination rights as set forth in this Agreement.

I also find it hard to see the Islanders having this many defenders under contract going into next season. McCabe, Witt and Sutton all take up over ten million of cap space and none of them are complete defenders who can be considered top two defenders. To do this leaves no space for a franchise defender to solve the problem and limits money to improve the offense with top six forwards.

Pittburgh Tribune Review: Rob Rossi reports Pens Goaltender would love to return from injury and start against the Islanders on Tuesday. He started five games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and went 3-2-0 with a 1.41 goals-against average and a
.950 save percentage

NYI Fan Central Comments:
That team has stepped up huge with Crosby and Fleury out, a ton of credit to the Pens who have proven they are far more than about one player and will be a very dangerous team down the stretch. Mike Terrien for all his critics pushes hard and gets results.

Espn.com: EJ Hradek obviously does not feel the way David Amber does about the Butch Goring trade but reviews some other past trades.
Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio reports on the Sound Tigers shootout loss to Albany with Mike Morrison and Jeff Tambellini's comments.

Micheal Haley got back into the lineup, replacing Justin Bourne. Jeff Dwyer and Andy Sertich were scratched again on defense. Walter was out, the team hopes for the last time, and Kip Brennan served the eighth game of his 15-game suspension.

The three papers covering the River Rats seemed to have provided AP/Staff reports on the game unless the Troy Record here has an update later.

Check back for more incoming updates:

New Jersey 4, New York 2

Islanders website: Has Ted Nolan's comments who felt his team was not ready at the start in today's 4-2 loss against the Devils in Newark. Bill Guerin credited the Devils but felt his team did not show enough fight in this one and spoke about the playoff race and Ruslan Fedotenko had comments.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
This trend all season of allowing goals with a powerplay have been killing them and it was again a big factor today. The biggest trend today was the Devils were simply the better team who took the game from the Islanders and had the better chances and outskated/outworked them with the game tied in the third.

Hilbert's goal got them going, Satan not finishing his breakaway was big and Brodeur made a big save on Bergenheim. Brodeur did not have to be great while DiPietro gave his team every chance to win. Parise ate up Johnson four on four on the game winner and Gionta beat Gervais for the 4-2 goal. New Jersey dominated the third and most of the first period.

Not going to be overcritical, this team has played a lot of hockey this week and it's been a tough grind and we all know they are playing with injuries. Devils had a nice break going into this game.

Considering Witt is out and Gervais just came back combined with all the minutes that have been on Meyer and Martinek this was expected considering how the Devils have been playing lately who just moved into first overall.

Updated 10pm:
Big picture it's a huge loss today with Boston, Rangers gaining two more points Saturday and the Flyers gaining a point with most teams having games in hand.

Anything less than 92 points (it could take more) I just do not see as enough. Five hundred hockey leaves the Isles with 87 points if they go 10-10 and now the Isles have only nineteen games left so they need to go 10-9 for 87 points.

Garth Snow, Ted Nolan and the hockey committee now have some decisions to make and we finally see what direction this club will take for the remainder of the season.

I expect some changes.

Islander News Articles 2/17:

Newsday: Greg Logan's recap had Ted Nolan's comments on the win, Rick DiPietro praised the teams defensive effort as the best in a while with Ruslan Fedotenko crediting his line mates and for taking more chances offensively. Sean Bergenheim felt the players in front of the goal recently which has been worked on in practice has made a difference but felt Atlanta did not play well. Mr Logan wrote Blake Comeau laughed off what Grant Exelby did to him when he went after him.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
This game should earn the club a Newsday back page and a second article Sunday.

Newsday: Greg Logan had an update on Trent Hunter's contract negotiations and the trade deadline.

NY Post: Mike Puma had coverage of Islanders saturday win against Atlanta.

Daily News: Peter Botte should make a note being that he actually attended the game that the Islanders defeated Atlanta Saturday, not Toronto.

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Craig Custance has the recap with gm/coach Don Waddell. All Kari Lehtonen said was he really does not want to remember anything from tonight, except the nice ice girls.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio's recap is about a club that has won eight of ten and only two points out of a playoff spot. Bridgeport has allowed 130 shots in the past three games and won them all, Mike Morrison had his fifth shutout of the year. Drew Fata credited the goaltending and feels the defense is clearing the rebounds.

Sean Bentivoglio and Ben Walter scored 15 seconds apart that tied the team record for its fastest two goals set Feb. 3, 2002, David Morriset and Jason Podollan.

Matt Keith and Andy Sertich returned to the lineup. Jeremy Colliton had another big game with a goal and several big plays.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio's second article was about Harbor Yard's makeover from a basketball court to a hockey rink.

Hartford Wolf Pack at Bridgeport Sound Tigers
WHEN - Today, 4 p.m.
WHERE - Arena at Harbor Yard
ON THE AIR - No radio; Webcast and B2 Networks Internet pay-per-view at www.soundtigers.com

New York 4, Atlanta 1

Islanders website: Has the recap of tonight's 4-1 win against the Atlanta Thrashers where they set an all time franchise record for lowest shots against in a game with eleven with was set in March of 1977 against Detroit. Ted Nolan felt it was one of the best efforts since he has been here and praised Ruslan Fedotenko and a lot of the players for turning their games around, Sean Bergenheim feels nothing has changed for him but his shots are going in, Blake Comeau talked about Atlanta being frustated which led to a spear against him.

Totals 1st 2nd 3rd T
Atlanta 4 2 4 10
New York 20 17 12 49

Rick DiPietro set an all-time record for assist by an Islander goaltender in a single season. Plus thirty nine shot differential is also a new Islander team record.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
This team is playing and working like they want to stay together, it could have been seven or eight goals the way they worked. It was that impressive top to bottom.

An all time record for lowest shots against in a game with Freddy Meyer, Andy Sutton, Radek Martink, Marc Andre Bergeron, Bryan Berard and Aaron Johnson as the six defenders with Mike Sillinger's defense out of the lineup. Sutton was a wall in front of DiPietro.

I have written it several times, defense is about names not chemistry and tonight this group proved it.

The Thrashers got some early power plays but the Islanders owned this game from beginning to end and it was easily the best effort of the season and maybe it years because they simply dominated play.

Berard sticking up for Comeau was very impressive. Park's play to Satan completely fooled Lehtonen. Bergenheim again crashed the net for a big goal and could have had a few more. Isles took advantage of Bergeron's shot again with a big goal but did not set up a screen with a five on three. Fedotenko, Hunter and Vasicek looked dominating at times with Hunter moving very well and Fedotenko playing like a man who cannot be stopped, his second and third effort created his goal.

This team keeps scoring like this they should be ok, it has to continue.

Write what you want about Atlanta being tired but forty nine shots after the high shot total against Philadelphia and something is obviously working very well in terms of getting pucks to the net.

How do you change this mix the way these kids are playing, their speed is a huge factor. Nielsen had a good night on face-offs, these kids start scoring it's only going to get even better.

More tomorrow afternoon on this game but what a great night in front of another sellout.

I have written all year it changes quickly, it's changing again in favor of the Isles and they are earning it. It needs to happen again on Monday.

AHL.com: Reports the Sound Tigers again gave up forty shots on Saturday night and once again the Sound Tigers goaltending held together and Bridgeport shuthout the WBS Scranton Pens 4-0 with Mike Morrison in goal. Ben Walter, Sean Bentivoglio, Jeremy Colliton and Jamie Fraser scored for Bridgeport. Steve Regier had two more assists.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
That's 5-1 in six games for coach Jack Capuano's squad with a lot of players on call to the Isles.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio's post-game blog felt it was Bridgeport's best game of the season.

Bridgeport plays Sunday 4pm against Hartford at Harbor Yard.