Islander News Articles 4/8

Will add in more articles and fill in blanks Wednesday:

Scheduled blogs:
Stay or go (good timing) 2009-10 New York Islanders.
Announcement on plans for NYIFC, Bridgeport playoffs and WJC with final date ever still 4/17.

Newsday: Greg Logan recaps the Islanders 9-0 loss against Carolina Tuesday night which he reports is the worst in franchise history with a few pregame comments from Doug Weight at this time.


NYI Fan Central Comments:
I looked through some 72-73 games with some 9-1 games or 9-2 games, Islanders had a loss in Calgary 11-4 in 1981 when they dominated the NHL. I know Brad Shaw his first week had a 8-1 loss against Vancouver at home and I will never forget the 8-1 loss
at home to Winnipeg in 1988 that ended the Terry Simpson era.

I guess this game is the worst disparity loss in club history.

Newsday: Mr Logan in the Islanders Newsday blog had a very late entry on the loss where he did not feel it was as bad as the 9-2 game and make it a point to bring up injuries all season (including Blake Comeau's) but also correctly pointed out there is no excuse for a team being outplayed, outshot to the degree they were in that game.

Also included (among several other items) are Yann Danis comments on the goals he allowed and a late lottery update with Colorado's shootout loss.


NYI Fan Central Comments:
Mr Logan did an excellent job in this update. He absolutely made a great point on the goaltending and was very generous including about this teams overwhelming injuries and their very competitive record in a game they did get back two key players and still were terrible in every area.

I do have to ask once again where have all these kinds of updates been from him in Newsday's blog all season win or lose after games that Mr Zipay does after almost every game for his beat?

I do not think this is asking an unfair question on my part once again.

Newsday: Eden Laikin reports The Long Island Association Tuesday used a full-page ad in Newsday to announce its support for the $3.7-billion Lighthouse Project that would surround a renovated Nassau Coliseum with 150 acres of shops, condos, eateries and offices.

The ad was signed by LIA president Matthew Crosson. A spokeswoman said he was unavailable to comment. The LIA did not pay for the ad, which appeared courtesy of a barter agreement between the Islanders and Newsday, according to a source familiar with the deal. Newsday would not confirm the barter arrangement or say how much such an ad would cost.

Neither Lighthouse nor Islanders officials returned calls.

Also reported LIA's chief economist Pearl Kamer was paid by the Lighthouse Group to study the potential economic impact of the project: revenue, job growth and numbers of school-aged children. Kamer said Tuesday there's no conflict between her role as a Lighthouse consultant and a part-time LIA employee.

Town officials said they stopped the recent Petition mailing when questions were raised about whether the Lighthouse project qualifies for stimulus money or whether the request is too late but one supporter of it is Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford), according to a letter he wrote to Gov. David A. Paterson's office last month.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Wonder if that barter agreement included Newsday ads on the teams website and throught hockey games? Kind of funny Newsday would not confirm something it's own reporter asked them about for a story?

Makes me kind of happy this blog is heading for syndication not doing any more of these kinds of updates.

NewsObserver.com: Chip Alexander's article on the Canes dominating is already up.

The News: Adam Richardson in the Pictou local Newspaper selected Islanders goaltender and local product Joey MacDonald for his player of the year award.

The Republican: Gary Brown has comments from former Islander draft pick Ryan O'Marra on his struggles in the AHL as he had a few words on his time with the Islanders.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio in the Sound Tigers blog examines the ramifications of losing Blake Comeau for Bridgeport and again reviews the clear-day rules for playoff roster in terms of who can be added and when.

Islander News Articles 3/11

Note-Game preview will post at 2pm tomorrow. There is a good chance I will not have a post-game afterward until Friday if at all.

Newsday: Greg Logan's article has comments from goaltender Yann Danis who will start in his hometown against his former team. Head coach Scott Gordon praised Danis play and talked about his goaltending moving forward.

Montreal Gazette: Pat Hickey reports Carey Price will start against New York on Thursday as he recalled Wednesday's practice.

Islander New Articles 3/9

Will fill in the blanks Monday if available.

Newsday: John Jeansonne recaps New York's 3-2 win against Phoenix with comments from head coach Scott Gordon, Yann Danis and Josh Bailey for a team 9-2-2 in their last thirteen home games.

Team Cablevision got a live game blog on the Newsday website, blog updates from Katie Strang and Steve Zipay for the game and an extra article. Mark Herrmann writing from Toronto (baseball) reminded Islander fans in a brief update they now only trail Tampa Bay by four points and could lose Johathan Tavares.

No blog updates in the Islander Newsday space today which apparently now is advertising it's Newspaper during games and on the teams website. Steve Zipay worked on his off-day last week according to the paper.

NY Post Dan Martin with comments from Yann Danis, Scott Gordon and Coyote coach Wayne Gretzky & Daily News.

Arizona Republic/AP: Covers the Coyotes.

AHL.com: Jon Sim has two goals in Bridgeport's 6-3 win against Hartford Sunday at Harbor Yard.

1. BRI Sim, (3) (Lessard, Lee), 2:09 (PP)
1. HFD Pyatt, (15) (Parenteau), 13:06 (PP)
2. BRI Colliton, (7) (Sim, Mannino), 10:33 (PP)
2. BRI Sim, (4) , 14:51
3. BRI Colliton, (8) (Lee, Smith), 0:41
3. BRI Smith, (27) (Colliton), 3:31
3. HFD Rissmiller, (8) (Parenteau), 12:02
3. HFD Ouellette, (12) (Owens), 12:37 (SH)
3. BRI Haskins, (9) (MacDonald), 19:47 (EN)

Peter Mannino started in goal (21 saves) for Bridgeport who drew close to 14,000 this weekend for games.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio's game coverage of Bridgport's win against Hartford and blog.

Hartford Courant: Covers the Wolfpack.

Islander News Articles 3/3

Newsday: Greg Logan's game coverage has comments from Jon Sim, Jesse Joensuu and Bruno Gervais.

Newsday: Mr Logan's other article was more speculation on Guerin & Doug Weight with head coach Scott Gordon again commenting on the beatwriter's Saturday article that he does not think Mr Logan's report tells the full story and maintained he has no problems with Guerin staying here as he had no objection with the decision for him to sit out pending a possible trade.

The coach speculated the comments may have been from players no longer here like Campoli, Comrie as sour grapes and maintained he has continued to talk with his captain since the Canadian trip (Jan) several times and has no problem with him and it could be from other areas.


NYI Fan Central Comments:
I wonder how some players feel about this all getting into the paper, causing somewhat of a distraction or if they felt this would go on the record anonymously and if they want to continue to speak with Greg Logan/Newsday?

One thing for sure is Mr Logan is getting max play out of this. The silence from Mr Botta is deafening as he is clearly in the middle in terms of confirming or denying which may have someone unhappy with him in the end but he did get Brendan Witt's comments who made it clear he has no problem with Scott Gordon Point Blank and felt what was reported in the paper should stay in the room.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
As always, visit Mr Botta's blog for the full article he produced.

NY Post: Dan Martin's coverage has some of the same comments from Scott Gordon on Bill Guerin but added Garth Snow did not speak to other teams without Guerin's approval. Jon Sim comments on the teams play, defended Guerin as a " good guy " and that the team would have to be professional if he does return to play.

The coach also maintained the importance is on the younger players making progress and that it works out well for everyone else with Guerin or whoever having an opportunity to win a Stanley Cup.

Daily News: Peter Botte's limited space only has room for Jon Sim's quotes about Guerin as he speculated about possible trades and had no comments or game recap beyond light attendance, who scored and Hunter's late injury that forced him out.

Daily News: Thomas Zambito did receive about the same space for a sports section article on the latest legal update concerning former Islander execs Paul Greenwood and Stephen Walsh.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Nothing from Joensuu, Danis, they deserve better. So does the team the way it has played.

Denver Post: Teri Frei recaps Colorado's loss on Monday but had a full interview with Ryan Smyth Monday here.

"You see the banners and the history the Islanders have had," Smyth said, gesturing at the huge pictures of Islanders past and present and the Stanley Cup flags hanging from the rafters. "There's just something special with what went on."

"It was an emotional time," he said. "I didn't think a trade would ever happen out of Ed-monton, but it did. The Islanders welcomed me with open arms, treated me with a great deal of respect. I have nothing but great things to say about that organization. "We made the playoffs, we got beat out in the first round, but the ownership — Mr. (Charles) Wang — was nice, and was nice about having me and we sat down and chatted for a while. Garth Snow was fresh at being a general manager in the league and he treated not only me but the whole team really well."

Smyth said he did feel a twinge of regret for not re-signing with the Islanders "because they gave up quite a bit to have me. I think overall, it was tough for me to make a quick decision about something that involved not just me, but my whole family. They made offers right up to July 1, and they were right in the mix, too, when we finally made our decision to come to Colorado. I have a great deal of respect for how they treated me in those two months."

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Funny how Mark Herrmann did not write all of that in his no top players will sign here article when he only printed a few words from Smyth. Not like Smyth was obligated to throw that kind of praise around about a team he only played a month or so for two years ago.

Metro News.ca: Perry Lefko has an interview with Mike Sillinger about all the times he has been traded in his career but had nothing about his future playing status or the current team.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Funny thing is Sillinger has not been part of the NHL trade deadline for a long time now, maybe by default because of his injuries but he will finish his entire three year contract and talked like a man who will be in Saskatoon this fall.

USA Today.com: Mike Brehm reports Yann Danis ended January with three consecutive wins, and his play in February earned him USA TODAY's Clutch Goalie title for that month. The computerized formula factors in shutout time, saves, penalty kills and the amount of time playing in a tie game to figure out who's best when the score is tight.

His comments are from the Islanders website in the article.

Harvard Crimson: Jake Fisher has a feature on Islander prospect co-captain Doug Rogers who is credited as a major reason for the Harvard's success. The 6’1, 195-pound center has recorded a point in each of the last five games and leads Harvard with four goals in that stretch.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabio's previews Tuesday's home game against Norfolk and has the Sound Tigers weekly here which happen to include some Jesse Joensuu comments pre-callup.

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 2/11

Newsday: Greg Logan's game recap has comments from Andy Hilbert, who credited Yann Danis goaltending and how competitive the team is playing now but feels it's still it's not enough if you lose, Bill Guerin discusses his pass back to Doug Weight while Yann Danis shares a story about the referee placing the net back on it's moorings in overtime.

Newsday: Michael Frazier has more on the Daily News article earlier Tuesday on a potential Islander move to Flushing but nothing really that we have not read to this point with Islanders lease preventing a move.

Newsday: Mark Herrmann speculates whether Kyle Okposo could play for team USA at the next Olympics with his comments along with defenseman Jack Johnson.

NY Post: Dan Martin's recap has head coach Scott Gordon on why he went with Nielsen, Okposo and Bailey in the shootout with Okposo and goaltender Yann Danis comments on the game.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
For those who actually follow the team Nielsen shot against Luongo and scored earlier, Okposo and Bailey both have been included in some Islander shootouts. I would not chalk it up to going with kids in shootouts when it's happened already.

Dan Martin covers home games and should know Nielsen scored against Luongo in a shootout at home. Josh Bailey I'm very sure took his first shootout attempt at home also earlier this season.

NY Daily News: Peter Botte's article gives us a few quick paragraphs on the game with quotes from Kyle Okposo and head coach Scott Gordon but most of the article is a repeat of the Daily News article on Islanders moving to Queens.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
You think Mr Botte simply could have linked to the article instead of 1/4 of it being about re-written material instead of a game summary.

Where did they get this headline writer? Islanders take a royal beating losing a shootout. If you did not watch you would think they lost 10-2.

Newsday: Mark Herrmann's article that was deleted early Tuesday on Avery was finally released for the paper now where Mr Herrmann now feels the Islanders are more interesting than the Rangers.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
I that wrote article may have been pulled because it was not pro-Ranger. I guess not, but of course Mr Herrmann had a little dig at the Islanders.

Los Angeles Daily News: Has Rich Hammond's game recap with Jack Johnson's comments with print coverage here.

Newark Star Ledger: Rich Chere reports Devils defenseman Johnny Oduya expects to play against the Islanders tonight.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio's article features defenseman Chris Lee along with Sound Tigers weekly here.

San Antonio visits Bridgeport tonight at 7pm for a rare weeknight home game against the Western Conference.

In a few weeks weeknight games will become the norm for Bridgeport with one six game stretch in eight days.

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.

Islander News Articles 2/7

Newsday: Greg Logan's article is on Chris Campoli taking Mark Streit's role for a game with head coach Scott Gordon's comments.

Nate Thompson was placed on IR, Sean Bergenheim was taken off IR.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Hate to think Bergenheim sat for Thompson, let's hope that's coincidence.

Yes, took Friday Newsday Insider off here, that's why there is a feeder. Only notable was Scott Gordon's comments on Danis looking more like a number one goaltender than MacDonald earlier in terms of numbers which was kind of a curious comment.

Bottom line nothing has been decided for next year with either goaltender.

NY Post: Dan Martin had an article on Yann Danis for Saturday paper despite not being with the club in Florida.

NY Post: Jonathan Lehman has a few quick words on the goaltender as a mini-preview was written for tonight's game.

St Petersburg Times: Damian Cristodero previews tonight's game and updates Tampa's injuries:

D Jamie Heward (concussion), F Paul Szczechura (lower body), G Olie Kolzig (arm), D Marek Malik (ankle) are out; G Mike Smith (upper body) and D Andrej Meszaros (arm) are day to day.

UPI: Reports Wade Dubielewicz lost 4-1 in his Columbus debut against Pittsburgh.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Hard to believe how long it's been since he signed here, he would have played a good five games by now here.

Of course he (or anyone) would have been hard pressed to match Danis play in goal.

One thing for sure is the 2008-09 New York Islanders have had playoff caliber goaltending this season.

Windsor Star: Jim Parker compares Cody Hodgson with Josh Bailey and wonders if Bailey would have been better served to play this season in Juniors?

AHL.com: Reports Norfolk shutout Bridgeport 3-0 on Friday.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio reports head coach Jack Capuano was not happy with his top end forwards despite getting forty shots against Norfolk because they did not get in front of Riku Helenius, making his first AHL start in goal. The Sound Tiger coach feels they have to pick up their game but did not single anyone out.

Jordan Hart played for Bridgeport.

Peter Mannino was sent down to Utah on Thursday, Bridgeport received goalie Tobias Stephan from Dallas on a conditioning assignment Friday because Dallas does not have an AHL affiliate.

Nate Lawson faced forty three shots in goal for the Sound Tigers.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
At least he does not have to coach Avery yet. These double-headers in Norfolk have not been kind to Bridgeport this season, round two Saturday.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio did a live blog on Bridgeport's 3-0 loss to Norfolk.

Norfolk Virginian Pilot: Paul White has Admirals coverage.