New York 5, Toronto 2: Individual Progress Not Team Building

So do we double-down after Saturday, again beating up an Islander team that won, despite giving up a season low in shots against, plus closing out the game very well?

Afraid so.

With respect to PA Parenteau, who made an excellent rush, or Moulson to give the Isles the 3-2 lead with his usual great work in front, it was far from a good team effort against a tired club that lost 8-0 the night before.

I watched the 2010-11 New York Islanders play out the second half and came away convinced that very hard working team was something built to last, despite the late season wave of continued injuries before they finally fell back.

I see nothing happening here aside from the natural progression of individuals, or anything positive on a team level that will carry over to 2012-13.

The Isles breakdowns were noticeable, the Leafs having the extra man around the pucks in the walls/corners stood out the most even when they did not get shots.

Both New York goals before Moulson scored illustrate where I'm going.

Center Josh Bailey returned from injury and was placed on right wing, where he scored some recent goals and many started forgetting he is a center. Now the last two games he's on left wing where he started as a rookie?

Despite Tavares feeding Bailey for a nice finish, how is this good for him moving forward?

David Ullstrom broke in as a center. This blog asked earlier why is he coming up to play left wing? We were told he was switched there by Bridgeport, the Isles played him as a left wing before his concussion.

Makes sense.

Now the last few games Ullstrom is playing right wing which begs the question why? Who cares that Grabner made a nice poke check and he tapped in his centering pass.

That is not progress for Ullstrom, just as it was not progress to move Matt Martin to right wing for a few shifts recently.

I fail to understand this kind of coaching, many other former Islander coaches played forwards on off-wing, it never worked.

It's not a new NHL concept or only about the Islanders.

Bottom line this club has to get better on the walls, they have to get more numbers around the puck and work as a unit. Moving players off their natural position and switching them around usually brings a franchise nothing but confused players and a team that does not read or react well.

That means many games you are chasing the puck, or outnumbered.

When you are small, slow, not very physical, with a low scoring defense it's just another obstacle for these kids.

It's kind of the same philosophy you use with Hamonic-MacDonald, put them together and leave them alone unless one get's hurt, don't make one play the opposite side.

Sorry folks, that is what stood out most in the 5-2 win.

Okposo worked hard early, when he got hurt he did seem to fade. When Tavares hit the boards hard making his usual brilliant move it made me wonder should he be playing any more twenty minute games at this age?

The fourth line goals against were on breakdowns, to put that on one player would not be fair but it begs the question why not put Reasoner in the stands if simply to balance the forward lines?

Moulson-Tavares-Parenteau
Bailey-Nielsen-Okposo
Grabner-Cizikas-Ullstrom
Martin-Reasoner-Niederreiter

vs...

Moulson-Tavares-Parenteau
Grabner-Nielsen-Okposo
Ullstrom-Cizikas-Niederreiter
Martin-Bailey-Pandolfo

Despite the late pp goal, it did not look good watching Streit skate right into two Leafs in front of his own net.

Bridgeport plays Wednesday.

Ice Background, Hockey Content

Friday's test code is a new ice background for something I'm working on elsewhere but for some hockey filler just to write anything I found it funny the Canadian/Toronto media did not go hard after Leafs owner Richard Peddie's deposition which Jim Balsillie wanted from the league which the judge in Arizona is not going to allow.

Mr Balsillie also wants team finances going back several years including how several teams in one market apparently do in ticket sales, revenue and not just worthless Forbes estimates which you can bet means New York market.

Why do I have the feeling if Mr Balsillie wanted Wang's deposition the Canadian or Leaf media would be relentless and tell us about the Isles struggles on the ice, the Jacobs family in Boston got a little rip job from the Canadian writers too, but not the Leafs after forty plus years without even appearing in a final?

These publishes/editors/writers know who pays the bills up there and provide advertising and you can bet the Leafs are one big reason such a move will not happen which all these writers are crying for as they bash the Arizona market daily, so why not put some blame on Richard Peddie.

Don't bite the hand that feeds you.

Seems those Long Island papers Friday had some serious opposition to the Lighthouse, questioning EIS on water despite seemingly daily floods all over New York, size of project and scaling back things and how other businesses are already hurting for customers. One paper the other day asked how much is the current empty parking lot hurting the drainage system?

I never knew a barren parking lot was considered suburbia by so many.

When the public comment period ends after Monday then things will really get down to business because there is nothing left for TOH but to sit down with Wang-Rechler and what if anything they will have to do for approval or is that hundred foot high wall that has killed every plan for twenty years about to come into view?

If that happens I don't want to hear anything from Tom Suozzi but how the taxpayers now pay for an Smg buyout immediately and a brand new Nassau Coliseum plus an announcement this team will never be moved regardless of who owns it. NYC in the early eighties gave Msg an eighteen million dollar exemption (about triple both teams payroll back then) and tons of perks like low-cost electricity for the Garden to keep their teams from moving. NYC handed the Yankees and Mets millions/billions for their ballparks with permanent revenue streams and full ownership of the facilities.

Either Tom Suozzi get's this project approved or taxpayers pay up and he breaks the bad news.

Talk has been cheap since he took office and he let this sit for years before and after a developer was selected. He can blame Tom Gulotta or anyone he wants but it's his job now to make the New York Islanders a business that can have a chance to be profitable for whoever owns this hockey team in the future and solve this problem if he cannot get LH approval or the TOH in line.

It got solved in Pittsburgh so it can be solved here with no Lighthouse.

New York Islander Fan Central Twitter Page

New York Islander Fan Central Audio-Podcast Homepage

Islander News Articles 3/11

Scott Gordon did not seem to like being asked about tanking in his press conference.

Newsday: Greg Logan's game coverage of Islanders 3-2 overtime loss at Toronto Tuesday night with comments from Kyle Okposo and Mark Streit.

Toronto Sun & The Star & Globe & Mail with
National Post covers the Toronto Maple Leafs on their overtime win.

Sun Media: Eric McRae has Mike Bossy's comments on why he hit so often with his shot vs today's players among several subjects.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Dave Molinary reports Miroslav Satan has not reported to the AHL and could face suspension.

Globe & Mail: Tim Wharnsby on Tuesday had an article on Mike Iggulden about the last time he played at Air Canada Center as he comments about the Islanders. Brendan Witt had pregame comments on Nicklas Hagman and his suspension.

ECHL.com: Islander prospect Rob Hennigar was ECHL player of the week ending 3/8 with eight assists and 10 points in four games as the Grizzlies picked up road wins at Ontario and Phoenix. He leads the ECHL in March with eight assists and 12 points and is tied for the lead with four goals in five games.

AHL.com:Recaps Bridgeport 2-1 win at Lowell Tuesday night.

1. LOW Ruggeri, (1) (Bergfors, Tallackson), 8:42
2. BRI Sim, (5) (MacDonald, Colliton), 16:20
3. BRI Lessard, (8) (Wotton, Colliton), 17:40

Peter Mannino had thirty saves in goal.
Jon Sim had his fifth goal for Bridgeport.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio has coverage of Bridgeport's 2-1 win at Lowell Tuesday with comments from goaltender Peter Mannino, Junior Lessard and head coach Jack Capuano with blog entries here.

Lowell Sun: Has Devils coverage of their loss on home ice.

Toronto 3, New York 2 Overtime

NHL.com: Recaps New York's 3-2 overtime loss against Toronto Tuesday night.

In overtime Streit's pass did not find Tambellini, Toronto got the pressure, the Islanders started scrambling and Mikhail Grabovski took advantage.

Who was that mad-man fighting in Bruno Gervais uniform? He did well for himself, landed one and got the take down.

Bad news was Bergenheim going off with an injury, he was not even hit, just skating.

Not a classic game at all but given some past nights in Toronto it was one of the better ones by the New York Islanders. I think Streit turning over the puck for Mitchell shorthanded chance and losing control on a breakaway would best reflect how things went for a good part of the game or pick McAmmond coming in alone in the third shorthanded before he lost the puck.

Toronto is good at getting games to overtime or at least going into the deadline.

Not sure what happened on the 2-2 goal. Martinek's pass deflected off Comeau's skate and went right to Ponikarovsky who is not the player you want to give the puck to with his nineteen goals who went top-shelf. Toronto was better after that goal but did not have anything sustained most of the night.

Islanders for the most part controlled play/skating for the first two periods but did not test Martin Gerber with quality chances, Leafs got little also at MacDonald even after the opening goal beat him which was a screen or one he did not play well that handcuffed him.

Leafs had nothing sustained until that third period powerplay, MacDonald was solid in that stretch.

Kyle Okposo for a right wing is doing everything coming off left wing. He is just like Jason Blake in 2002-03 where every shift he winds up on the left side or drifts to a side where he is obviously more comfortable, I never see him shoot off right wing or even create many plays from his natural side anymore. Second period he took a backhand on right wing and he was pulled down which drew the first powerplay.

Second powerplay he drew was coming down middle-left. Third was coming off left wing. Heck of an effort to keep drawing powerplays, not a night the refs were letting them play.

Mark Streit got his shots, Gerber made a few saves but Isles did not create great chances with the many advantage or the kind where a shooter was facing an open net or a shot he had no time to react on.

Bailey, Nielsen, Bergenheim again getting involved. Mike Iggulden looks sold and is not shy about taking his shot.

Not too physical early besides Jackman getting hit very hard and Leafs crashing the net when they could.

Gerber did not have Comeau's shot for the 2-1 goal.

Incidental or not Jason Blake had been hitting/bumping Islander goaltenders.

McLean-McAmmond-Jackman as a line with Rechlicz spotted? I guess McLean and Rechlicz depart for Thompson-Park when they return.

Mark Streit giving up the puck three times or four if you count the game winner? He did have a very nice hit just as Jackman got into his fight.

I did not notice Luke Schenn until he took a third period shot which is a good thing for a defender.

Nice job bringing in the Sarnia prospects (Katic, DiBenedetto, Matt Martin) to watch the game. Katic has to be signed by 6/1 or he can re-enter the draft.

Considering both teams are post-trade deadline and out of contention when you look back at the road record an ot-loss in Buffalo was the best they could do until they won at Atlanta.

Montreal will be a team under some major pressure to win Thursday who had to comeback to win against Edmonton to overtime on home ice tonight, that should give them a lot of momentum.

New York at Toronto 7:30pm Msg+

AHL.com: Reports Joel Rechlicz was recalled for tonight's game against Toronto.

Fox Sports: Has the latest on the Toronto Maple Leafs who come in off a loss to Ottawa with former Islander Jason Blake having six shots in the 2-1 loss.

03/09/2009 TOR 1 @ OTT 2
03/07/2009 EDM 4 @ TOR 1
03/05/2009 TOR 2 @ WSH 1
03/03/2009 NJD 3 @ TOR 2
02/28/2009 TOR 4 @ OTT 3

Updated Player Pos Injury Expected Return
03/08/09 Jonas Frogren D Lower body Questionable for March 9 at Ottawa
03/08/09 Niklas Hagman RW Head Questionable for March 9 at Ottawa
03/08/09 Tomas Kaberle D Hand Questionable for March 9 at Ottawa
03/04/09 Vesa Toskala G Hip/groin IR. Out for the season
03/08/09 Mike Van Ryn D Out for season.
01/05/09 Jamie Heward D Concussion IR. Out indefinitely
01/28/09 Olaf Kolzig G Arm IR Out for the season

All questionable players did not dress against Ottawa on Monday. Van Ryn's season is officially over according to the Toronto Sun.

Leafs made the following moves at the trade deadline:
1. Forward Nik Antropov to the Rangers for a second round pick.

2. Traded forward Dominic Moore to the Buffalo Sabres for Carolina’s second round draft pick in 2009.

3. Toronto obtained goaltender Olaf Kolzig, defencemen Jamie Heward and Andy Rogers and a fourth round draft pick in 2009 from the Tampa Bay Lightning for defenceman Richard Petiot.

4. The Maple Leafs claimed goaltender Martin Gerber off waivers from the Senators and defenceman Erik Reitz from the Rangers.

Martin Gerber starts in goal. Former Islander Jeff Hamilton played against Ottawa on Monday and had a point.


NYI Fan Central Comments:
For the Islanders side we see what the kids minus Joensuu can do on the road vs Toronto where they have had some very poor games and a pathetic overall road record despite how competitive they have been. Rechlicz is likely in to help in the physical department in case the Leafs target Brendan Witt.

Of course the Leafs have been terrible but one thing that seems to happen when the Islanders go there is they play a very poor game. Jason Blake has been producing for them.

Islander Notables

NHL.com: Dan Rosen has a feature on Kyle Okposo with comments from head coach Scott Gordon and Blake Comeau.

Ottawa Citizen: Alan Panzeri reports Martin Gerber will start against the Islanders Tuesday night while Curtis Joseph plays tonight against Ottawa.

Espn.com: Scott Burnside in an NHL-centric article praised the Islanders recent play.

Islanders website: Recaps the Islanders recent home stand with comments from Scott Gordon and Josh Bailey.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Almost seems like the teams website is trying to make up for the lack of newspaper coverage with some recent features, first on Bergenheim, now today?

Anyone else notice NHL.com has more features on Islander players than Newsday has this season?

Don't want to beat up Newsday (as usual) but if the beatwriter can get us the anonymous quotes and tell us Jon Sim is not getting a fair deal with Mark Herrmann writing the coach did not treat Bill Guerin fair, doesn't the paper have an obligation to do player features?

AHL.com: Reports Jesse Joensuu and Joe Callahan were assigned to Bridgeport on Monday.

Brendan Witt's elbow, suspension?

Of course if this becomes a battle of the media, Witt will get a huge suspension because the New York Islanders have no media to lobby anything for them while the Leaf media will defend their laundry. Witt's been here a while with no history but a long career and has been outspoken against Colin Campbell which should never be a part of this.

Not defending anything one way or another, the pictures and video's I have viewed all come from the other side so I cannot see where exactly Witt's elbow landed whether it be the head, jaw, or neck which seemed to make a huge difference for Mike Mottau.

If Witt thinks his hit was illegal he will sit some game.

What I can write is if Niklas Hagman has concussion problems like with Kenny Jonsson all it takes is for a hit to graze someone that could knock them out. I just cannot tell enough here to know where exactly the elbow landed either way nor am I writing he only grazed Hagman. Witt had no stick and threw out his arm and the elbow caught him.

How bad and where I just cannot tell nor does that mean he receives a pass.

Both players were moving toward one another quickly. By the still picture you could make a case Witt threw out a leg too but we saw that a week ago not even come close to a penalty or review where the Islanders felt it was intentional.

Does this mean Witt should not be suspended? Absolutely not.
The intent, what the ref saw, the players comments and maybe another replay will give us that answer.

How long did it take even with slow-motion replay to determine Mottau hit the neck and that was considered different from a head shot, weeks?




Of course in another era Gary Roberts charged from center ice, took both hands and slammed Kenny Jonsson's head into that wonderful hard plexiglass, got a five minute penalty and no suspension.

What I can write is I have no faith in anything Colin Campbell and what his crack staff decide because the decision making has obviously been about who you are vs what was done far too often. The Islanders are out of the playoffs so Witt is an easy suspension target to set an example like a new official calling mandated penalties in a game long decided because they are graded.

That recent punch Sidney Crosby threw against Florida a while back to someone while they were down on the ice (to a sensitive area) with no suspension combined with Pronger vs Simon tells me all I need to know about rules vs special treatment for some players.

I guess it would be funny if he got a long suspension and somehow was traded to Toronto. Maybe Campbell rules the Leafs get the Islanders first round pick.

I bet that would be what their media really wants.

Islander News Articles 2/27

Tsn.ca: Has the infamous NHL sources which report Islander captain Bill Guerin is willing to waive his no-move clause to accept a trade if the right opportunity is presented but hasn't asked for a trade. It's believed he has discussed his trade potential with Garth Snow and has acknowledged a willingness to consent.

Apparently the same league sources (or a different one) told Mr Botta this earlier which he presented on Point Blank as an exclusive with his personal speculation.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
We'll know when if he's traded, not before. This is not Miroslav Satan who is not quoted as much and the same thing could have happened with him a year ago. Snow would not be doing his job if he did not speak to Guerin and address what his options are if presented with a deal involving his captainn who has control of his destiny.

Newsday: Greg Logan's coverage of the Islanders shootout loss against Toronto's theme from head coach Scott Gordon and Jon Sim was that the team did not quit and has played hard as the coach talked about building for next season.

Mr Logan reported Brendan Witt said he has a disciplinary hearing scheduled Friday afternoon with the NHL office. Martinek left the game " woozy " after hitting his head/jaw on the dasherboard.

Newsday: Mr Logan's other article could be a repeat but is worded somewhat differently which is mostly a game recap with no quotes.

Newsday: Jim Baumbach had comments from former owner John Pickett about Stephen Walsh and Paul Greenwood.

NY Post: Dan Martin has a very good recap of the game with comments from head coach Scott Gordon, Jon Sim and Brendan Witt who acknowledged there are going to be repercussions, will likely be suspended, apologized to Niklas Hagman and is fine with how the league treats blows to the head.

Daily News: Peter Botte's painfully short six paragraphs barely touches on the game with mostly speculation on trades.

At this time this was posted here the short article does not even contain any quotes.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Daily News barely covers home games with no room for extra hockey related news but it did not stop their editor finding a writer named Rich Shapiro on Thursday to do a full separate article (beyond business article) about hockey related mistakes of Paul Greenwood and Stephen Walsh when they were Islander executives under John Pickett here.

That article was longer than Scott Gordon got from sports editor Leon Carter when he was hired which unfortunately tells too much of the Daily News story of their coverage (or lack thereof) of our hockey team.

Toronto Sun & The Star & Globe & Mail with
National Post covers the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Mark Harrington & James Bernstein reports Newsday plans to eliminated free web content in it's newspaper in the near future which was announced here which was discussed before the season started at this blog as Msg also is losing revenue.

Already the sports media department at Newsday comment and for the most part defend their employer here.


NYI Fan Central Comments:
Frankly the coverage is so poor on our hockey team Newsday should be paying New York Islander fans to endure it most days and that's being kind. The disparity is only growing wider and wider in favor of the hockey team Cablevision owns recently when we were first told it would enhance hockey coverage.

This is not going to bode well for the Islanders PR department who spent a lot of advertising money and will not get a bump in city coverage to make up for it. This could be why we have not seen ads for a while for games where before they were all over the sports section and front page but this late in the season there are not many games left at home.

NYIFC will not be subscribing under any circumstances (nor has it purchased Newsday once since Cablevision took control or prior for a long time) and if it means no Newsday updates at this blog life goes on as I wrote about last summer. Neil Best and Anthony Rieber are already defending the move somewhat and praising Cablevision who pay their salary.

It would not shock me if there is free content it will only be for Cablevision-owned teams.

Charles Wang and Chris Dey must love this decision from a company that would not even clear webcasted pre-season games until days after they were played in September. If I were them I would hire some more team sponsored independent bloggers/writers with professional print or media backgrounds like Mr Botta to cover games and get player/coach comments.

No, I'm not talking about amateur bloggers but find out if a Newspaper is cutting staff and sign up a Craig Cumstance or Pierre LeBrun who changed outlets from papers to websites.

As I wrote the other day those hundreds of millions saved by getting the Islanders out of this market are big bucks for Cablevision, plus they can attempt to expand Msg hockey marketing freely without the New York Islanders. I do not think the decision is about hockey but the incentive sure does not hurt.

NY Times-Lynn Zinser went to Msg, Dave Caldwell went to Newark, AP went to the Nassau Coliseum.

Rocky Mountain News: Rick Sadowski in their blog reports the publication will be out of business fifty five days short of the 150 year anniversary by the time they play the Islanders Monday, but did have a few words on what looks like the final game covered against New Jersey on Thursday.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio's coverage of what is likely the Sound Tigers final trip to the old Spectrum before the Phantoms move to a new location under new ownership out of state with blog coverage here.

Norwalk News/The Hour.com: Mike Madar has a feature on the Bridgeport Sound Tigers defense.