Looking Back At Pat Lafontaine HOF Induction/Islanders Night Honoring Him In 2003 & Media Coverage

This would be an image of Pat Lafontine before the announcement of the New York Islanders playing the Rangers every year in what was Announced as a " Charity Challenge " in November of 2000.

The article came from Pat Lafontaine's Companions In Courage Website . Charles Wang, Charles Dolan are all quoted as to why they decided to do this.

Even Mr Kumar was in attendance.

Our point in this entry was to look back,  examine the media/Islander coverage for Lafontaine's HOF induction and specifically what the Isles did on Nov 8th 2003, to honor Lafontaine before a game with Atlanta.

Lafontaine was inducted, Monday, Nov 3rd, 2003 in Toronto.

For the first time since the closing of Islanders-Sound Tigers in 2006 changes have permitted New York Islander Fan Central to make available our complete archives, this includes the daily articles from newspapers in full when Pat Lafontaine was inducted and what coverage was provided November 2003  up to the induction and the Isles ceremony.

11/4/2003 Islander News Articles/Lafontaine Coverage

Our archives also include the Islanders website itself. 

To be completely transparent here for everyone. I found an old site out of business today to document the coverage separate of our archives to see if anything was missed here.

I also found something a little extra Companions In Courage's Newsletter detailing what happened on 11/8/2003 page 4 at the Nassau Coliseum.

Islanders Honor Newest Hall of Famer with “Night”

Among those joining LaFontaine and his family on the ice were Bill Torrey and Bob Nystrom. FoxSports’ Howie Rose emceed the event that included excerpts from LaFontaine’s Hall of Fame induction speech. The New York Islanders honored the newest member of the Hall of Fame – Pat LaFontaine – with a special night on November 8th at Nassau Coliseum.

Part of the pre-game event included a brief video retrospective of Patty’s career, along with a presentation on the charitable work that LaFontaine is performing with his Companions in Courage Foundation. The Coliseum crowd was treated to the debut of a video that was created by Display Presentations Ltd. that shows a walk-through of the completed “Lion’s Den” rooms.

Per LaFontaine’s request, there were no gifts presented to him. Rather, he asked that the night be used to present “a gift to the children of Long Island.” He wanted the night to focus on the building of a Lion’s Den room at Schneider Children’s Hospital in New Hyde Park. More than $20,000 was raised through the Islanders and the evening’s sponsor - JPMorganChase.

Andrew Parton of JPMorganChase presented Pat with a check for $10,000 toward the build-out of the room. He also noted that each fan in attendance was given a commemorative Pat LaFontaine puck.

“It’s in keeping with his reputation as a great humanitarian, that Pat would deflect the attention away from himself on ‘his’ night,” said Jim Johnson of the CiC Foundation. “It’s the way he’s conducted himself for the last 20 years.


Why should tonight be any different?”

Here was the " Skinny " on the Isles Website
LaFontaine Honored

Hockey Hall-of-Famer Pat LaFontaine was honored before the game.
Legendary Islander General Manager has the line of the night,
saying, "I drafted him, I signed him, I traded him." After the fans
booed, Torrey continued, "Two out of three's not bad."

LaFontaine's Honorable
Patty refused to accept any personal gifts in honor of his induction.
Both the Isles and Chase Bank donated $10,000 to his Champions in
Courage Foundation.

These were the articles on gameday 11/8/2003

Media Disgrace:
Islander News Articles 11/9/2003

NYIFC Comments: 
There were always questions from my end on the Isles retiring Lafontaine's jersey that day, obviously Lafontaine did not want any gifts. Did the Isles offer, or did Lafontaine turn that down?

We don't know.

Alan Hahn largely had other things to write about at Newsday.

Peter Botte did his usual lazy job and these days works much harder not covering the Isles beyond twitter insults. Evan Grossman from the Post I guess could not be bothered that day. Ron Dicker was the Times last full time beatwriter.

I thought folks would enjoy this.

New York Signs Brock Nelson

Islanders website : Reports Brock Nelson has signed an entry level contract. 

Isles twitter reports it's a three year ELC. 

UND.com Also confirms signing and that Nelson will turn pro.

Michael Fornabaio reports Nelson is expected to join the Sound Tigers in the near future on an amateur tryout.

NYIFC Comments:
As much as folks may have been disappointed with Anders Lee not signing yet/returning to school, Brock Nelson was the one Garth Snow traded up for that draft experts were very impressed with.

Nelson was the player Snow needed to get under contract after Kessel/Gregoire used the Wheeler loop-hole to sign elsewhere. 

Nelson on an ATO with Bridgeport would not make him playoff eligible because he's was not on clear-day/residence list. He could get a game before the season ends.

New York Pre-Season Game In Barrie/Notables

Islanders website announced a preseason game in Barrie against the Ottawa Senators on September 30th.

“The New York Islanders are excited about the opportunity to host a game in Barrie, one of Canada’s true hockey communities,” New York Islanders General Manager Garth Snow said.  “With several of our players such as John Tavares, Josh Bailey and Matt Martin having been a part of the OHL, we know how passionate fans are about hockey.”

NYIFC Comments:
For those scoring at home:
Edmonton Oilers, September 27th, Regina SK.
Ottawa Senators, September 30th, Barrie.
New Jersey Devils Oct 2nd, Brooklyn.

What's of note is the Isles are hosting the game in Barrie, with the Isles controlling the arena in Bridgeport, plus the usual Coliseum game, it could mean a longer preseason.

If there is a season.
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Obviously by now folks know Matt Donovan was recalled, he will debut vs Devils.
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Lottery Watch:
New York's weekend dropped them back into the lottery. Toronto/Anaheim controls the ROW as the first tie-breaker. Isles control the tie-breaker vs Minnesota.

Any wins/points could change the entire mix.
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Notables:
NYIFC twitter feed fired back at an article on Pat Lafontaine, where this blogger believes it comes from and pulled no punches in the comment section.  

This blog was one of the few to be critical of the Isles for not using it's website to rally support for Jason Blake when he announced he had Leukemia.

Management was praised by Jason Blake for their support in his first year when he left the club long ago.

This blog was critical last summer when former coach Steve Stirling was hospitalized during the AHL finals, and it was ignored by the Islanders/teams peripheral media.

In the past we have seen the clubs website chronicle the finals exploits of Brent Sopel and Aaron Asham. Let's be clear the Isles not inserting an image of Pat Lafontaine on the teams 40th anniversary website calendar is not a big deal but perhaps a bit petty?

Omitting his efforts with Steve Webb's earlier this year in an article is not appropriate because NHL.com did include Lafontaine and Webb together, and has featured Lafontaine/Webb/Royals.

To the other side of that, the teams skinny (game recap) has consistently detailed Lafontine's career accomplishments vs games played or records during the 2012 season. 

Having written this there are two sides to a story, selective reporting/questionable standards either way should never be ignored.

Pat Lafontaine was honored by the team in Nov 2003 with a night after he was inducted into the Hall Of Fame. To the best of our knowledge, Lafontaine declined to have his number retired.

Lafontaine was announced at the Coliseum on Al Arbour, night and was on the ice. He is pictured with Sidney Crosby on another occasion at a different game.

Before the Metro Ice Challenge fiasco, the Islanders and Rangers agreed to donate to Lafontaine's charity based on head to head game results.

In short, everything is placed on the table for transparency here, otherwise why bother? 

Jack Capuano's Return Is The Correct Move

I feel it's important to start this entry by noting the Islander website archives go back to the summer of 2005.

Within seven days, the club announced two new assistant coaches for Steve Stirling after the lockout. Dan Bylsma on 8/18/2005 & Jack Capuano on 8/25/2005.

One left the Islanders, the other stayed, both became head coaches in the American Hockey League, both replaced coaches at different stages in their teams progression/circumstances.

Jack Capuano's Islanders had success against Dan Bylsma's Penguins at home last year, Capuano's team just became the only one to pin back to back losses on the Penguins since Jan 10th-11th.

Capuano's job status was a subject this blog pondered over several times, as even Mark Streit was called out indirectly by his head coach, and the captain fired back. It was pondered over with Kyle Okposo riding the bench with Josh Bailey, who played a lot of games out of position where the coaching was again questioned here with management.

Michael Grabner has also seen some time in the stands with Nino Niederretier, and several other veterans.
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The Decision Had Been Made Coach Stays:
What Charles Wang said on Sunday was expected regarding his general manager/head coach.

On 2/2/12 (15:08) Garth Snow appeared on Gary Bettman's NHL Hour, and praised the job his head coach had done in detail. At that time the Islanders were two games under five hundred.  (same as 4/1/12)

Garth Snow discussed, Capuano's great relationship with the players/communication skills, x/o's second to none. (cue goals off faceoffs as part of that comment)

Mr Snow on 2/2, also employed the rebuilding word  which he avoided for years which was blogged about in detail here also. 

Is Coaching The Problem? 

2010-11:
Capuano inherited a 4-10-3 club that bottomed out at 5-18-5 losing over six hundred man games to injury, his team in Bridgeport was struggling when named the interim coach. 

From that point Capuano got his teams overall record to 29-33-12 before a final wave of injuries in mid-March.

This blog documented the thirty plus regulation losses by one goal/open nets. There were signs this team had a deep offense, a defense with some mobility, there were reasons to expect what happened in the second half combined with the return of Streit/Okposo would produce a playoff team with a chance to win a Stanley Cup.

The praise for the hard work shown by the 2010-11 New York Islanders was a theme opposing coaches used often which was not token praise. 

Reality:
Then we discovered every year is different, games are not played on paper, and for every player who progresses there is one who takes a step back, the mix changes, and with it things that worked.

2011-12:
The changes altered the chemistry, some of those decisions made upstairs doubled-down on the problems that cost Scott Gordon his job by the same players returning from injury. 

Some fair gambles in free agency did not work, they forced Capuano to fall into the trap of his predecessors with Blake Comeau, a notorious poor producer in the first half even when left at one position.

Okposo returned looking  as slow, tentative, as the player who was still working his way back from injury, his 2010-11 stats hidden somewhat by the success of  Michael Grabner on left wing.

New Captain, Mark Streit,  in his thirties, returned from a year injured to find Steve Staios as his opening night partner on defense, who's trade value in March 2010 equaled former Islander, Aaron Johnson/3rd rounder.

It was a flawed team with obvious weakness from opening night, which looked nothing like the club from the second half of 2010-11.

This club never won more than three games in a row.
Terrible on home ice. 
Was one of the worst five on five teams in hockey.
Terrible production on the back-line.
Blocked the most shots in the league as a reflection of the pressure on the slow, low-hitting defense.
Horrible holding leads.
Poor under pressure where games hung in balance. 
Almost no easy nights. (5-1 Tampa games)

Despite all those obvious weaknesses. The club basically remained in a box between six under and five hundred after October, to this day never entering serious playoff contention.

As soon as a free-fall seemed apparent, the club rallied.

The clunkers seemed to pace most other clubs, the ugly wins reflected the overall roster's weaknesses. 

Talent, Coaching?
There was individual progress, however players who took steps back.  Yes, there were questionable moves by the coach with his pulling of goaltenders at odd times.

Character? Fan blogs are not in locker-rooms, only the people in the room/management can speak to an individuals character in terms of how they play hockey.

Folks who go there on the outside are wasting your time.
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Playing To Your Career Trends Not On Head Coach:
I did not see the weakness incorporated into the lineup or their failure as the fault of Jack Capuano.

Marty Reasoner, was hurt in camp and never got started.. I cannot put what I saw on the head coach, sometimes you discover why a player is a free agent beyond statistics.

Brian Rolston had a very strong second half for the Devils a year ago, he cleared re-entry waivers in Dec 2010, he played to his lesser trend. Capuano cleared positions, power-play minutes to get the best out of his performance. Finally/correctly, he decided it was not going to work.

Staios, Mottau, Jurina, Haley, Pandolfo, Reese, Moulson, Nielsen, (beyond short-handed goals), Bailey all played to their career trends, outside of Frans Nielsen all those players were scratched.

Nieslen's five on five production was consistent with his career offensive struggles, despite his recent improvement. 

Michael Grabner played to his 2010-11 trend before his injury. Andrew MacDonald played to his very early career trends with Travis Hamonic which is good on a team with this many weaknesses.

Tavares progressed as a first overall pick should. 

PA Parenteau took a big step forward statistically.

Evgeny Nabokov finally got healthy, and showed his trends from San Jose as a reliable starter. Rick DiPietro's recent trend of injuries made him a non-factor. Al Montoya played to all his career trends late last season, and as a struggling AHL backup prior to his acquisition.

Matt Martin's scoring did not progress as you would hope, despite hit totals.

Kevin Poulin, Anders Nilsson both played to the trends you would expect with highs and lows.Calvin deHaan, Mark Katic's injuries are part of their trends.

David Ullstrom, Casey Cizikas, Rhett Rakhshani, have no NHL trends, they did not seem held back by the coaching of Jack Capuano. 

Okposo, Streit looked like players who missed a year or were asked to do too much. Both looked closer to their career trends recently in terms of their impacts on games.
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Ultimately:
Based on what I have written and seen since October, Jack Capuano should return as head coach for 2012-13.

Capuano was as good (or bad) as the talent (and weaknesses) on the roster provided to him.  

Those weaknesses should improve with talent/natural progression from inside the organization.

Having written this we wrote that a year ago after Ty Wishart played twenty second half games at a plus five, and seemed very reliable on defense entering his 5th NHL season. The former first round pick never got more than a token look as the veterans struggled badly on the backline.  

In 2011-12, I did not see a coach who lost his team, the losing was always met by a team that rebounded with wins which speaks to the coach.

No doubt Jack Capuano was one reason some players wanted to resign here who had options.

Overall I saw nothing long-term that Capuano cannot produce the success Dan Bylsma did when they finally reach that next level.

The 2011-12 roster was not that team from opening night.

The remaining question here is does Jack Capuano want to return?

Charles Wang's 4/1 Interview In Ottawa Pregame

Comments on the loss to Ottawa are on twitter. 

Our earlier summary via twitter comments on Charles Wang's Interview out of context




NYIFC Comments:
Only so much time we can wait for the Isles website via Msg to make this available.

For those looking for inconsistency from the owner, the GM spoke with Gary Bettman on  Feb 2nd, and made clear at that time he was satisfied with Jack Capuano as his coach with the club two games under five hundred.
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Matt Martin has won the Bob Nystrom award.