Islander News Articles 4/12

Will fill in a few things later or Sunday on the Isles in this entry, will give the Sound Tigers their own blog entries with a link to Frozen Four.

Newsday: Greg Logan's game recap of the Islanders 3-2 loss to Philadelphia begins with defenseman Mark Streit's comments he feels his team needs a goal scorer as he felt the defense and the return of Rick DiPietro would be good enough on the backline. Sean Bergenheim discussed what a player like John Tavares or Victor Hedman would do for this team and felt his line could have had a few more goals today.

Head coach Scott Gordon felt his special teams have struggled the last ten games.

Newsday: Mr Logan had features on Josh Bailey and Kyle Okposo on how he felt in his return as he was asked about playing at the World Championships here.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
ITV Has the full Scott Gordon press conference so you have the exchange with Mr Logan and the media on hand.

Newsday: Mr Logan in the Islanders Newsday blog around gametime bloged on an early season issue with Doug Weight-Bill Guerin and the beatwriter in an article where Weight was awarded the good-guy award from the local chapter of the Writers before Saturday's game for his cooperation with the media on a team Mr Logan felt has a lot of what he wrote were " good guys " in terms of being accessible.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I find it interesting Mr Logan feels hockey is a sport which the athletes understand their responsibility to promote the game, their franchise and the importance of the media as a connection to the interests of the fans, but the writer himself only did the bare minimum vs his Newsday counterpart in the only paper that covered the Islanders full-time.

That alone mandates far more coverage for all these " good guys " who need to connect to our fans to get people to come to games and promote New York Islander Hockey.

We did not read nearly enough from our beatwriter unless it was about un-named sources complaining about the coach or the Newsday staff that went after the Islanders like no other club in this league that decided to go by the NHL injury policy. When it came time to question Rick DiPietro's health, Mr Logan was all over it but when he started the ASG, he was nowhere to be found.

I don't want to play the role of " bad guy " here and it would be very easy for me to ignore these things but someone has to write this because it has caused damage beyond the on-ice results and hurts the teams exposure and ability to promote itself.

In a few days, I no longer will be writing about it so I hope a few fans see it and ask the same tough but very fair questions moving forward. Mr Logan does not control the print space the editor provides but where Steve Zipay had extra blog entries after games with players quotes and additional information, as Mr Fornabaio does the same for Bridgeport I rarely saw this for the Islanders all season aside from the recent game in Carolina where he did a late night blog with more quotes.

NY Post: Dan Martin's game coverage.

Cherry Hill Courier Post: Chuck Gormley's coverage of the Flyers win Saturday.

Philadelphia Inq/Daily News: Combined Flyer coverage.

Delaware County Times: Also has Flyer coverage.

Associated Press: Reported Boston lost 6-1 to Buffalo on Saturday so they will not win the President's Trophy, finishing second to San Jose but after such a loss will likely want to finish strong heading into the playoffs.

Associated Press: Report the Detroit Red Wings have resigned forward Johan Franzen to an 11-year, $43.5 million deal Saturday, which averages $3.95 million per season for the twenty nine year old.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Funny how the Wings keeps copying Charles Wang with longer term signings but virtually no criticism to keep their core together.

Newsday Islander Insider

Newsday: Greg Logan's Friday Islander Insider had a full review of Josh Bailey's first NHL season with summaries on Kyle Okposo, Blake Comeau (where Bill Guerin had some interesting comments about his play) Frans Nielsen and Sean Bergenheim who's World Championship participation is in question because of his groin injury despite returning the last two games.

Head coach Scott Gordon is asked about Joel Rechlicz penalties in the Carolina game and that game itself where Richard Park commented. Bill Guerin also discusses about how tough it was losing this season and felt Mark Streit would be an excellent choice to be named captain.

Other items as well.

Islander-Sound Tiger NHL Notables

AHL.com: Reported Joel Rechlicz was returned to Bridgeport but a lot of these have been paper transactions.

Point Blank: Mr Botta has an exclusive interview with defenseman Jack Hillen.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio reports Islander Prospect Kevin Poulin is in Bridgeport, with Matt Martin, Justin DiBenedetto to Bridgeport also from the Sarnia Sting possible soon.

Mr Fornabaio apparently is not allowed to say much on Bridgeport's relocation to New York for playoff games but I will let his words speak for themselves.

Newsday: Greg Logan had an Islander Insider on Rechlicz who may stay down in Bridgeport because Sean Bergenheim could be activated among several subjects with a team comparison to the Detroit Red Wings.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Mr Logan does a nice job telling us about the Wings success and how old and run down their facility is, he does even better informing us owner Mike Ilitch receives all the things Smg receives today instead of Charles Wang.

What he fails to point out in his comparisons is the Wings for years were spending anywhere from sixty to eighty million on team payroll that set them up for their current reputation as a model franchise to attract players.

Mr Logan also failed to note the Wings have had attendance problems deep into the playoffs here and reportedly going into the lockout needed to make the finals simply to break even financially here.

The thing about NHL revenue no one writes about is if you spend 120m to generate 100m as a return that is generating a lot of revenue but it's still losing money and plenty of it which no one writes at all in these worthless estimated team financial evaluations.

For billion dollar companies who happen to own sports teams as a sidebar it's a smart risk to take that advantage but it eventually erodes the financial system.

This is what clearly is going on with Dallas and Colorado who could finally not buy their way out of a bad season or sustain their spending with the later maybe qualifying for revenue sharing here.

The Montreal Canadians have had financial problems too despite any revenue they generate here they have had a history of losing money even being a team that was not spending 80m a year on payroll before the lockout.

Bergenheim, MacDonald out, Mannino recalled

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

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

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

Islander News Articles 3/8

Islanders website: Announced late Saturday night they will play the Vancouver Canucks in a pre-season game in in Terrace, British Columbia, on September 14th with general manager Garth Snow's comments.

Terrace edged out more than 7,100 entries and joins previous Kraft Hockeyville winners Roberval, QC (2008); North Bay, ON (2007); and Salmon River, NS (2006).

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Those who recall the Islanders played in the North Bay game in 2007. I sure would like to see some local games announced around New York for this team.

Newsday: Greg Logan's game coverage Sean Bergenheim, Kyle Okopso, Brent Sutter recaps New York's 7-3 win against the Devils with Trent Hunter's season ending broken ankle here.

NY Post: Mark Everson's Devil centric article included one sentence from Scott Gordon to cover the Islanders side. Jay Greenberg showed up and did an article with the usual negative theme on the Devils.

No Islander centric coverage or article for their home game.

Newsday: Eden Laikin in an article on the Lighthouse specifics again claims Wang's threat to not sign a new lease is buried deep within a portion of the report that surfaced last week was a not-so-subtle ultimatum by Wang.

Town officials have until April 28 to decide whether answers are enough on the documents submitted by Lighthouse Group, and whether the plans are ready for state and county review.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Maybe Eden Laikin only read the documents last week but even hockey fans could go right to the Lighthouse site and read what was not buried deep within a portion of the report that was submitted at the meeting and is very misleading to be called an ultimatum.

I read this as soon as it was posted on the Lighthouse website, it was not discovered last week.

Daily News: Peter Botte's coverage had more Devils quotes and content while Bergenheim received a quick paragraph with nothing from head coach Scott Gordon.


NYI Fan Central Comments:
Almost a waste of our time putting up the links to this content if the best we can get is a paragraph from the home team. At least when PA Sportsticker recap is there we actually receive a descent sized article.

Newark Star Ledger: Rich Chere's Devils coverage.

AHL.com: Recap of Bridgeport vs Philadelphia Saturday which the Sound Tigers won 3-2 in a shootout after coming back down 2-0 but went 0-10 with the man advantage.

2. PHI Matsumoto, (23) , 5:09 (SH)
2. PHI Ross, (22) (Sirianni, Kane), 10:37 (PP)
3. BRI Sim, (2) (Packard, Colliton), 7:29
3. BRI Haskins, (8) (MacDonald, Smith), 12:00

10 Tyler Haskins Goal
23 Trevor Smith No Goal
71 Kurtis McLean Goal
27 Junior Lessard Goal

Kris Mayotte is the new Bridgeport goaltender at this time. Apparently Nate Lawson is out of the lineup. Peter Mannino backed up.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio's game coverage of Bridgeport's shootout win against Philadelphia with blog entries.

Philadelphia Inq/Daily News: Likely last game update ever on the Phantoms who will leaving Philadelphia after this season.

Bridgeport plays at home against Hartford Sunday at 4pm.

Islander News Articles 2/22

Newsday: Greg Logan's game article has comments from Yann Danis and Mark Streit about the goaltenders first Islander shutout.

Newsday: Mr Logan's other article was a recap of the press conference with general manager Garth Snow and head coach Scott Gordon's comments.

Newsday: Mark Herrmann has his usual hodgepodge of misery about the team and the Lighthouse with a few words from Bruno Gervais on the trade of Chris Campoli questioning how long our fans can be patient and dismissing them from competing next season already.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Mr Herrmann went nowhere near the Islanders man games lost to injury or that in the four games against the Atlantic this week the Islanders won two, lost a one goal game (less open net) to a team the Islanders are virtually even in scoring with and aside from some self-inflicted mistakes against the Flyers trailed 2-1 on the road last week in the third period before they made a few more.

I get no satisfaction questioning Mr Herrmann but he does not apply the same journalistic standards to the Cablevision-owned team he also covers for Newsday. In fact in their case he goes in the exact opposite direction keeping the glass full at almost all times.

Can the 2009-10 New York Islanders be a bad team and not compete? Absolutely, but not for the reasons Herrmann gives us.

NY Post: Dan Martin's coverage was mostly on general manager Garth Snow's press conference but Bill Guerin and Bruno Gervais also comment on trade/teams direction.

NY Post: Mark Everson's mostly Devils centric coverage did include comments from Yann Danis on his shutout but did recap the game and the Islander goals.

Daily News: Peter Botte's article split coverage and content from both the Devils and Islanders with Garth Snow the only Islander quoted content.

Newark Star Ledger: Rich Chere's Devils coverage and blog entries.

Ottawa Citizen: Ken Warren had comments from Ottawa gm Bryan Murray on how the trade with the Islanders came together that was worked on for close to a month.

CP: Seemed to have to most comments from Chris Campoli after their loss to Montreal.

Point Blank: Mr Botta had an excellent article on Sean Bergenheim after the Islanders win with a good postgame breakdown with the forwards comments.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I only feel it's fair to provide a small sampling here because this is Mr Botta's content and you should visit his blog.

Ct Post: Staff reports recap Bridgeport's 3-2 shootout loss to Springfield Saturday with Michael Fornabaio's blog entry here.

Ct Post: Mr Fornabaio previews Sunday's 1pm home game against Portland.

The Republican: Gary Brown
has Springfield coverage of their shootout win.

Islander News Articles 2/8

Newsday: Greg Logan's game recap of the Islanders loss to Tampa has comments from Bruno Gervais on the game winning goal Gary Roberts got position against him and Yann Danis on the loss.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I cannot remember the last time a Bruno Gervais quote made it into Newsday.

Newsday: Mr Logan's other article is mostly a repeat of his pregame blog on Bergenheim where apparently he was skating for two weeks but could not get in the lineup because of Nate Thompson with the head coach adding " I think if his focus is on scoring goals, then it's not in the right place, He's got to make sure he's skating and finishing his checks, and the rest will take care of itself."

NYI Fan Central Comments:
You mean like it has for Thompson, Hilbert, Jackman and Park recently? All due respect to these players but they simply cannot carry any kind of offense load for long if at all.

I understand where the coach is going with Bergenheim and wants players thinking defense but to phase out Bergenheim who was getting pushed to the fourth line before his injury (after three goals) for other players without his skills simply does not make a lot of sense in a team that supposedly is going with prospects but leaves first round picks like Bergenheim-Tambellini in the stands while they reside in 30th place?

I have no idea what Scott Gordon sees in Nate Thompson who is virtually invisible when he plays.

St Petersburg Times: Damian Cristodero & Tampa Tribune:Erik Erlendsson has the recap of the Islanders 1-0 loss at Tampa with a very good write-up by both local papers on Mike McKenna for his first career shutout.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Very nice job by both Tampa publications on McKenna.

AHL.com: Reports Bridgeport finally won a game in Norfolk 3-2 on Saturday. Dallas prospect Tobias Stephan had thirty saves in goal for Bridgeport.

2. NOR Lundin, (3) (Bochenski, Konopka), 4:46 (PP)
2. NOR Keller, (8) (Bochenski, Jackson), 6:18
2. BRI Iggulden, (19) (Walter, Smith), 16:25
3. BRI Colliton, (4) (MacDonald), 11:43
3. BRI Joensuu, (14) (Smith, Kohn), 19:03

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio recaps Bridgeport's game (phone interview with Jack Capuano) in Norfolk against the Admirals Saturday with blog entries here.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
For some reason the Ct Post has not been sending Mr Fornabaio to Norfolk the last few double-headers or for maybe the later game.

Ct Post: Bridgeport plays Sunday at 5pm in Philadelphia to wrap the weekend.

Norfolk Virginian Pilot: Paul White's Admiral coverage of Norfolk vs Bridgeport and Jesse Joensuu's goal in the final minute.

New York at Tampa Bay 7:30pm Msg+

Islanders website: Doing a very classy blog on the Dad's week trip with entries.

St Petersburg Times: Damian Cristodero reports Mike McKenna will start against the Islanders even if starter Mike Smith dresses as backup. Andrej Meszaros, his upper left arm injury likely will keep him out of Saturday's game.

For New York looks like Bergenheim slides into Park's spot on left wing with Nielsen and Hunter while Park takes Thompson's spot on fourth line.

Yann Danis is expected to be in goal based on Scott Gordon's comments before Florida game.

No word on Mark Streit but I guess based on coaches comments Callahan could be the one to replace Pock for the duration of his injury. I guess we will see where that goes vs Jack Hillen.

Islanders give up the chances and let McKenna settle in like he did after going in for Ramo they are not going to win here.

Updated:
Newsday: Mr Logan in the Islanders Newsday blog reports Sean Bergenheim will return to the lineup, Mark Streit will miss tonight's game.

Head coach Scott Gordon is quoted on Bergenheim along with the left winger who will skate with Richard Park and Tim Jackman. Andy Hilbert moves up to the line with Nielsen and Yann Danis starts in goal.

Sportsnet/several sources: Report Jussi Jokinen was traded to Carolina for two players and a fourth round pick.

Sporting News: Ray Slover insists the Islanders must trade Mike Comrie, Doug Weight and Bill Guerin if possible.

It should be noted Mr Slover did not note Weight's production.