State of New York Islander Prospects

Too big for a twitter update and long overdue considering Isles website is not providing weekly updates this season on it's prospects, despite the good news on senior forward, Rhett Rakhshani, from Denver Pioneers, signed to a three-year contract on Wednesday.


NYIFC Comments:
I have followed Rakhshani over the years, he was a Hobey Baker top ten finalist but did not make final three cut Denver Post and expect him to be an impact player at the NHL level but for now he will report to Bridgeport on Thursday and make his debut on Friday against Manchester per Ct Post Michael Fornabaio's twitter while Sound Tigers have him listed for Saturday debut as of Wednesday night here.

Rhett Rakhshani 40 21 29 50 +12

Prospect blog at NYIFC links to stats and player profiles are updated and were correct when doing research for this entry.

It should be noted unless 2008 prospect Kirill Petrov is bought out of his contract with Ak Bars or Garth Snow gets the cooperation he was asking for last December see 12/5 Islanders Authorized Petrov has a binding contract with another team and it's fair to write as much as Petrov may want to come he was well paid with Ak Bars even if he was sent to their minor league team before WJC and has an agent who will look out for his client (as in one-way contract) which will have agents for other signed picks Jesse Joensuu, Robin Figren and several others watching and waiting.

This update includes 2009-10 season stats and current signing status. Any player can leave school for an NHL contract but must be signed upon graduation or club losses his NHL rights. CHL prospects must be signed within two years of time they are drafted and with no European transfer agreement there is no current time limit for anyone to be signed.

To summarize: CHL Prospects Kevin Poulin, Travis Hamonic, Jared Spurgeon and Jyri Niemi must be signed by June 1st, and a decision must be made upon senior college prospect Doug Rogers graduation within thirty days.

If signings happen moving forward this is where folks should look inside the organization first.
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Forwards:
Casey Cizikas- Mississauga St. Michael's Majors OHL
Islanders website profile/drafted 4/92/09 OHL
Prospect does not have to be signed until 6/1/2011 per current cba.
68 25 37 62 32
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RW Brian Day-Colgate ECAC
2006 draft 6th round
Junior in college does not have to be signed until he graduates.
34 21 15 36 +14
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Jason Gregoire Fighting Sioux, North Dakota USHL
Drafted 3/76/07
Sophomore in college does not to be signed until he graduates.
43 20 17 37 +7
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Anders Lee-Green Bay Gamblers USHL
Drafted 6/152/09
Transferred to Green Bay, is not a senior.
57 35 29 64 +34
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Troy Mattila Dartmouth Sophomore
Drafted 7/190/06
12 1 1 2pts
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Doug Rogers-Harvard Crimson ECAC Senior
Islanders website profile/drafted 4/119/06
Senior Season 09-10, must be signed upon graduation.
28 6 6 12 68 .088 -2
*******************************************************
David Toews-Fighting Sioux, North Dakota WCHA Sophomore season
Islanders website profile/drafted 3/66/08
32 4 11 15 +10
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Corey Trivino-BU Hockey East Sophomore season
Islanders website profile/drafted 2/36/08
28 4 11 15 E
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Kim Johansson-Kristianstads IK Pantern Division 1
Islanders website profile/drafted 5/41/06 2006
37 7 20 27
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Kirill Petrov-Ak Bars Kazan KHL-Demoted Neftyanik Almetievsk
Islanders website profile/drafted 3/73/08
Neftyanik Almetievsk Russia 2 - - -- -
Ak Bars Kazan KHL 8 0 00 4
Russia U20 WJC-20 6 4 6 10
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David Ullstrom-HV 71 EliteLeague
Islanders website profile/drafted 4/102/08
2009-2010
HV71 Elitserien 47 5 11 16
HV71 J20 SuperElit 1 1 01 2
Listed as 2010-11 HV71 Elitserien player meaning he may have been signed. ********************************************************************
Defenders:
Emil Axelsson-Örebro Allsvenskan 09-10
Islanders website profile/drafted 7/210/04
2009-2010 Örebro Allsvenskan 44 0 22 55
Listed as 2010-11 for Orebro which means could be signed already
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Calvin deHaan Oshawa Generals OHL
Islanders website profile/drafted 1/12/09
Does not have to be signed until 6/1/2011
34 5 19 24 +5 14pim
**************************************************************
Matt Donovan-NCAA Denver Pioneers Freshman
Islanders website profile/drafted 4/96/08
College Freshman Previous Affiliations Cedar Rapids RoughRiders - USHL
35 7 14 21 +9
Donovan also played WJC for USA
**************************************************************
Travis Hamonic- TRADED BRANDON WHEAT KINGS 1/10/2010
Islanders website profile/drafted 2/53/08
11 33 44 +12 65pim
Needs to be signed by 6/1/10
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Blake Kessel-New Hampshire Hockey East
Islanders website profile/drafted 6/166/07
Sophomore
38 10 28 38 +11
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Simon Lacroix-Shawinigan QMJHL (Traded to Foreurs Val-d'Or 6/5/09)
Islanders website profile/drafted 7/196/07
67 11 30 41 69pim -6
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Aaron Ness-Minnesota WCHA Sophomore Season
Islanders website profile/drafted 2/40/0839
2 10 12 +1 Sophomore Season
Per Father Jay Ness comments returning to school in 2010-11 for his Junior Season.
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Jyri Niemi-Saskatoon WHL (Drafted KHL June 2009)
Islanders website profile/drafted 3/72/200850
8 21 29+9 67 pim
Has to be signed by June 1st 2010 per CBA
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Shane Sims-Ohio State CCHA Sophomore Season
Islanders website profile/drafted 5/126/06
34 5 12 17 +3
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Jared Spurgeon-Spokane WHL
Islanders website profile/drafted 6/156/08
10 35 45 36 37
Per CBA must be signed by 6/1/2010
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Goaltenders:
Anders Nilsson- Luleå Elitserien
Islanders website profile/drafted 3/62/09
Luleå J20 SuperElit4 2.95 .899 |
Luleå Elitserien27 2.65 .897 |
Sweden U20 WJC-201 3.00 .875 |
Sweden U20 (all) International5 2.27 .919
Listed as playing for Lulea Eiitserien for 2010-11
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Kevin Poulin-Victoriaville QMJHL
Islanders website profile/drafted 5/126/08
61 35 16 0 2.63 .916 7 shutouts
Must be signed per CBA by 6/1/2010
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Stefan Ridderwall- Djurgården SEL
Islanders website profile/drafted 6/173/06
2009-2010 Djurgården Elitserien 26gp 2.30 .917
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Jase Weslosky-Bemidji State Confirmed Transfer
Islanders website profile/drafted 4/108/06
Transferred to this school but apparently did not play hockey with no stats accumulated.



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New York Should Have Made Playoffs

We can now write the epitaph of the 2009-10 New York Islanders season because from here on it is an extended exhibition schedule even if Jackman, Weight, Sim, Park play and Jeff Tambellini, Matt Martin, Jesse Joensuu with others sit in the stands or compete for a playoff spot in Bridgeport.

Last year's exhibition season lasted about fifty games, this year it will go about fifteen but it never should have come to this.

I know a lot of New York Islander fans are caught up in that rebuilding word that Garth Snow does not like to use here but the bottom line is this team should have made the playoffs or been there to the final days of the regular season after how well they played to put themselves in a playoff spot.

For a short time this team was making a run at sixth place, ahead of Philadelphia, Ottawa and Boston, it was not last year with 582 man games lost to injury or the previous one with 402 that both led the NHL.

If the team fell off the playoff map in December when they were four under with a very tough schedule ahead that would have been understandable however the Islanders did rally, proved they can win against the top clubs and went all the way up to three games over, the upcoming schedule from there had a lot of teams they should have gotten points from.

It did not happen for a lot of reasons that go beyond Tavares, Okposo and Bailey not producing enough but of course that is a part of it. Given what an AHL player in Matt Moulson gave them this should have been a playoff team.

The scoring most nights dried up and this team when they did score (Atlanta/Pittsburgh) allowed too many goals on poor changes/transition where tough questions need to be asked. The special teams struggled all season, the five on five play/third period scoring was not there when they needed it most and frankly a lot of veterans failed to produce any big goals with Bergenheim, Comeau, Nielsen not giving them any production or inconsistent scoring at best by their own play or how coach has used them.

No one can call Sean Bergenheim, Blake Comeau or Jeff Tambellini's season progress and despite Comeau's six goals recently the rest of his season looked a lot like his first year.

This was not a good year for Trent Hunter, Richard Park, Jon Sim, Doug Weight, Tim Jackman or Nate Thompson when he was here. Trevor Gillies is not going to give this club offense when he dresses.

Losing thirteen out of sixteen games or whatever is it now and falling out of any realistic contention frankly is not acceptable because this conference is so painfully mediocre from top to bottom there is no game the New York Islanders could not win on a given night.

I do believe the hard work most games have been there, this team has had few poor efforts where they were blown out of games, they just did not have enough clutch scoring or big stops on defense with the goaltending allowing some goals you cannot give up combined with the special teams doing a poor job.

I have written a lot of entries on club's scoring this year but as much as they have struggled and are in the bottom mix, there are teams firmly in a playoff spot that are within a few goals of the Islanders.

This is not a club 30th in offense that are forty goals or more behind the 29th place team.

I know now the injuries are piling up again big-time between Schremp, Hunter, MacDonald, DiPietro and no doubt a few players have skated with injuries but you look at the Ottawa game before the Olympic break as one of many where a few points were there for this team and they failed to get them.

This is where this season and playoff spot were lost and where the questions moving forward should come from because they should have outright won a spot or been there to the final days.


Next Fifteen:
As for the final fifteen games it's asking a lot for this group to win consistently with inexperience/size defense. Scott Gordon's post game after Boston game said it all on backline issues with Mark Streit over thirty minutes against Blues.


Rick DiPietro:
If his knee problems continue to keep him off the ice going into next season some serious questions have to be asked about his career. Garth Snow sounded like a man who is going to keep Dwayne Roloson for insurance regardless.

Garth Snow:
If you go by General Manager's Garth Snow's interview on Thursday he talked a lot but did not say much which is fine because most general managers do not talk often at all. Actions will define what he really thinks of his players moving forward but he did give an endorsement of his head coach which was the most notable moment.

I have no problem with his suggestion at the general managers meeting to have a play in tournament for the final spot. I do think it devalues the regular season, this has been used in the AHL and someone in other sports decided on wild cards for baseball and football in the past, but it's not going to happen. .

What's Next at NYIFC?
We keep doing twitter updates for the rest of the season with a mix of articles/information and see what Bridgeport does. I don't think a game or recap with articles/comments has been missed this season even in twitter format. I know it's not our old format of several blog entries daily here but more was written here than I expected to do. Is there any difference between ten twitter updates vs two blog entries with links?

Beyond that I don't know what I intend to do with NYIFC but there will be no announcements or entries about it regardless of what's decided.

My thanks as always to everyone for their kind support.



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Not a great deadline for Garth Snow or New York

Almost feels like the beginning of the season all over again.

DiPietro's status in question, depth issues on the backline.

Of course with nineteen games left it's not the beginning, New York remains barely on the outer fringes of a playoff race. (see previous entries for details)

The deadline has now passed and it was not general manager Garth Snow's finest day but if you were expecting first rounders and big names for Dwayne Roloson you should have checked the market because teams were not paying that price in Philadelphia, Chicago or Washington for goaltending.

No doubt the same teams that were not lining up to pay Martin Biron last July were in no rush to take his remaining contract given his season to date either.

Having written this circumstances were tough and beyond the general manangers control in some cases. Today was a time most teams were playing conservative in the front-loaded contract, post-lockout capped NHL and as usual the injury problems have hit this team for two plus years became a big factor.

This was a very mild deadline with the major moves coming before the Olympic break.

The general manager had no idea Andrew MacDonald would break his foot the game after dealing Andy Sutton but now a minor league player in Dylan Reese comes up to attempt to do the impossible and replace Andrew MacDonald's twenty five plus steady minutes on a day Snow could have tried to add someone with an NHL background today and where the toughest questions for him need to be asked.

Even Aaron Johnson has more NHL background than Dylan Reese and was traded for today with Martin Skoula going from Pens to Leafs to New Jersey.

It also says something Garth Snow (for now) did not try yet to recall Witt and risk losing him to re-entry waivers. That defensive depth chart is very thin right now.

As much as I wanted to see Doug Weight go to a team in a playoff spot with perhaps Richard Park this team is still in some realistic contention and the return for them at best would have been low round picks or conditional compensation.

If you expected Snow to do better there you have not been paying attention to the market.

The goaltending front is back to square one and even tougher because we don't know where things go from here with Rick DiPietro. If he returns it's three goalies for two spots where in reality for games to matter you need one hot goalie stealing points and one occasional backup.

Not three players.

Dwayne Roloson enters this summer signed for next season.

Up front, I guess a left wing comes up to replace a right wing in Hunter or Bergenheim leaves the bench for now.

What's next is New York plays a very different Atlanta team but one that added Chris Chelios (via AHL pending waivers) plus a few players.

Maybe a few players get hot like Blake Comeau has, many are overdue for a hot streak. Garth Snow stood by his players or frankly the market was not worth moving them for the return which is really the bottom line w/new injuries for this day.

Note-ALL NYIFC Trade deadline feeds, links and sections have been removed. Prospect blog was updated to include all Bridgeport transactions.



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Sell Mode & Playoff Contention For New York?

Can you go into sell mode and still win enough games to make a playoff run?

It is possible but highly unlikely in terms of the 2009-10 New York Islanders.

This team most nights has worked very hard which is a credit to the character of the players, Scott Gordon and his coaching staff but having written this it's time for the tough questions.


Should General Manager Garth Snow Be In Sell Mode?
Absolutely. Standings and team numbers at the bottom in virtually every area simply do not lie that this group as it currently stands is not deep enough to win consistently and have too many basic flaws as constructed in terms of size, speed, physical/fighting elements and most of all players with finishing skills.

Outside of Tavares, Okposo, Bailey, MacDonald there is not a player on this roster Garth Snow should not consider moving if the right offer came along when the trade freeze ends. Mark Streit even enters this discussion if the return brings a talent that upgrades the roster significantly.

I detailed my thoughts on the failed prospect movement in a recent entry so no point being repetitive.

The Playoff Race:
Most years a team this far below five hundred simply are not in any kind of realistic contention. It's taken a painfully weak Eastern Conference for the New York Islanders to even barely remain in the conversation and as hard as they worked to gain an actual spot earlier, that's how quickly they lost it against bubble teams in the same spot or behind them at the time.

Having written this the window is starting to get very narrow with the sixth and seventh place teams now seven or more points ahead with two games in hand.

You know the math and the ugly numbers because I have written it enough times in these blog entries. New York in it's remaining twenty games would now need to go 18-1-1 to reach the usual eighth seed cut off of ninety five points.

Hoping for an eighth seed cut off at ninety points which is very low? Ok.
15-3-2

Can it happen?
Anything can happen.

Will it happen?
Highly unlikely.


Reasons Why This Cannot Happen:
Given the teams rank in goals scored, five on five, special teams where does this kind of dramatic turnaround begin with a roster that has rookie Matt Martin on the first line one game, Blake Comeau the next and then Trevor Gillies dressing for Blake Comeau to play three minutes?

Are Sean Bergenheim or Frans Nielsen ready to start finishing, and can the veterans like Park and Weight, who had huge games against struggling Tampa begin to do this on a nightly basis?

Expecting Trent Hunter to break out of his latest long slump, in it's third year or Jon Sim to start scoring, as he did in Atlanta when he had back to back seventeen goal seasons? Is Rob Schremp ready to make a giant step forward in his early development, and score a bunch of goal to go with some excellent playing making ability?

John Tavares is getting closer to some goals, but asking for him to produce big numbers on a sustained basis with Bailey or Okposo is obviously too much at this very early point in their careers.

Steven Stamkos veteran supporting cast in Tampa can score and are productive/established first line talents, the New York Islander veteran supporting cast cannot produce to that level and are not first line talents.

The Tough Calls At The Deadline?
Andy Sutton: Despite the best hockey of his career and the physical element he brings, age and injury history are simply too much to ignore. If you want proof recall how he got hurt earlier this year.

Trent Hunter: Not discussed in media but it's three years of long slumps at key moments on a team that needed him as a veteran in his prime to produce despite all the other things he does very well. It's fair to write the player we saw before Sean Brown's 2004 knee on knee with that extra step is not returning.

Dwayne Roloson: He's demonstrated he can perform at a high level when he's used as a number one goaltender, he has failed to demonstrate this sharing the net and we have no idea what he would do in an extended backup role.

Bruno Gervais: Is getting a full chance and despite a lot of uneven play has performed better lately. Having written this deHaan, Haronic, Katic, Kohn, Hillen and all the other defensive prospects in the system are getting closer and a mix of veterans and young players are necessary.


Long-shots?
Rick DiPietro: I don't care about the contract which is still a bargain but maybe he needs a fresh start. If the return is equal to his franchise potential when fully healthy, it's something to be considered. Garth Snow did not use all those high picks on goaltenders simply for insurance.

Mark Streit: How do you not listen if the return brings a franchise talent who can match his contribution years before free agency.

Everyone else in the conversation should be moved and it's not even a close call between Weight, Jackman, Park, Meyer, Martinek and Sim because most will be gone regardless at the end of this season if some do not retire. Great character players who give all they have but cannot produce enough goals.

If the return and potential are equal and improve the dynamic you have to take a chance on moving Bergenheim, Nielsen, Comeau, Tambellini (see earlier entry) this is also why Jesse Joensuu, Matt Martin, Robin Figren and many others were signed.

Yes, if Petteri Nokelainen can be on his third team Frans Nielsen can be traded despite his defensive ability.

No folks, this is not the Florida Panthers who have not seen a playoff in a decade who lost most of their stars to UFA and are promising more changes. The New York Islanders made the post-season every year they did not lead the league in injuries, if they fail to make the post season it will be the first time it was not entirely about injuries.

That makes this time different.

What Will Happen?
I do not know but I expect Garth Snow to stick to his plan, trade a few veterans to create openings for next year and hold onto all of his youth because most of them are not heading to UFA.

I'm not expecting much to happen as many trade deadlines are anti-climatic for teams that should be in sell mode. Teams in buy-mode do not trade away productive players with long term contracts which is the return Snow will want because rentals heading to UFA solve nothing.


Scott Gordon:
I have no idea what the general manager thinks of his first coaching hire moving forward as he enters the final year of his contract, however what is decided here will indirectly speak to the general managers viewpoint on his coaches performances and whether he agrees with him on some players.

Like most coaches some lineup decisions have been questionable and it's fair to ask are the young players improving or failing in part due to Scott Gordon's lineup decisions or simply does the problem goes beyond coaching?

This is where we find out if the longest tenured coach in the Atlantic does work well with his general manager, or if the current record of Al Arbour being the last coach to work a third straight year is about to be broken or not.

Beyond that we will have our answers between the time the trade freeze ends with the March 3rd deadline.




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REGARDING NEW YORK & THE PLAYOFFS

What can be written now I have not been writing here in these infrequent updates?

I suppose the New York Islanders will go win ten in a row scoring four goals a game, let's hope so.

We knew this was a team with flaws in terms of size or physical play or veteran players who could finish. We also knew the special teams numbers and five on five play were at the bottom before, during and after the winning streak.

Those were terrible signs moving forward,

I felt the winning streak would help turn those numbers as the team got more confident in themselves, it did not happen nor has a fourth line with Doug Weight and Richard Park produced any significant offense however no combination has.

You have to be able to do one thing well to build off of to get out of a losing streak whether it be a hot goaltender, powerplay or penalty killing.

None of the above has happened whether it be Bryce Salvador's goal in the second Devil game or the St Louis goal against Tampa. Powerplay has been an outright disaster.

Doug Weight said something just as the losing streak started that was spot on, he said (not exact quote) you can throw pucks on goal and get bounces but he added you have to have players who can finish.

We all now know the Islanders have given back all the ground they gained and more with their recent losing streak and again sit at four games under break even. It's very disappointing they beat a lot of teams you would not expect them to beat and then lose to all the bubble teams.

The good news is the hard work has been there. The shots taken per game, the opposition blocks and shots missed by the Islanders do not reflect a club being out shot by huge numbers being pinned in their own end of the ice.

Scott Gordon is repeating himself a lot after games as well. His players have worked hard, he cannot be over critical when they do that.

It can turn around, pucks can start going in, the difference is spotting Roloson is working as poorly it did in October when this was done with Biron, both goaltenders now with Rick DiPietro are letting in that one bad goal a team scoring a goal or two per game cannot allow.

Moving forward (as in six days of games) unless the team strings together some wins immediately they will have to be sellers at the deadline with some very tough choice on some prospects and veterans.


Brendan Witt:
I'm disappointed Brendan Witt is in Bridgeport but his knee injuries have been frequent and it has effected his game. Witt had at least three knee injuries over the last two years and played through it as long as he could and you could see his game pick up in December 2008 when he finally got back some mobility. I will not knock Witt because he gives all he has to give over sixty minutes.

As always, Witt was first class and his usual positive self in Monday night's interview with Michael Fornabaio of the Ct Post.


Tambellini/Comeau:
I'm very disappointed in how Jeff Tambellini has been used and that Blake Comeau plays right wing (unless Trevor Gillies dresses for three minutes) Matt Moulson as a left wing is part of a reason for it. Scott Gordon cannot create five left wing spots and some of this goes beyond him to his players also.

You can read my previous entry on failure of prospects for all the repeat comments.

Rick DiPietro:
Some excellent interviews where he has opened up. His bad goals in some games have been a big problem but he apparently is healthy and should only get better. He beat
Miller and Martin Brodeur within a few days.

Ilya Kovalchuk:
Very disappointed he is no longer with the Thrashers and terrible for the Atlanta hockey market and the league in general. I would not be happy even if Garth Snow got him for our team at a similar cost.

I'm a huge fan of players staying with the team that drafted them. I suspect Thrasher ownership could not give him his money front loaded which is why a deal could not get done and what no one will talk about if he does sign a front-loaded deal with a corporate team willing to give him thirty or forty million over the first three years and lose money.

I will hold out hope the Thrashers will be offering him a contract come July.

What's Next for the Islanders?
They go play the Predators at home, travel to Pittsburgh, finally two games before the break which includes trade freeze. They need a 4-0 stretch here or the playoff gap grows to seven-eight point range with six teams blocking them.

In short playoff contention becomes unrealistic.


Finally:
NYIFC will be taking a full vacation during the winter Olympics rooting for Mark Streit but not covering games, that includes all Bridgeport games which are available here and on the prospect blog.

My Thanks as always to all our readers of NYIFC and our twitter entries.



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