Belated Thoughts on Doug Weight, His New Job and a Personal Story

We'll file this post under "better late than never."

It's been a week since Doug Weight officially announced his retirement from the NHL and the Islanders announced his new title as Assistant Coach and Special Assistant to General Manager Garth Snow.

Weight announced his retirement at a press conference in the Marriott next to the Coliseum in a ceremony that was done the right way for a guy of Weight's stature.

"It's very difficult and humbling to be here today to officially announce my retirement after 19 seasons," Weight opened. It was in the middle of that first sentence where he really felt it, and you suddenly started to realize that one of the greatest US born hockey players would no longer lace up the skates.

Photo by Chris Hessel

That Weight took the time to talk about every team he played for shows you the class that he was and still continues to be filled with. With each team, he had to take various pauses when speaking about the opportunities that were provided to him and how he ended up in each spot.

When Snow spoke, he brought up a word that a young player used to describe Weight at the team's end of the season dinner: presence. Snow agreed with this and acknowledged that key attribute as a huge reason why he was keeping him on in the new role.

I can agree as well with "presence" as being a perfect word for Weight. Anyone who watched parts of the press conference can see how he was able to capture the audience's attention, leaving them hanging on to every word, perhaps waiting on the next wisecrack.

Weight spent most of my childhood years on a talented St. Louis Blues team that was in the midst of a long streak of making the playoffs - one that would last 25 years and end in 2004. He along with talent like Al MacInnis, Keith Tkachuk and Chris Pronger were a huge part of those talented teams, but they would never bring home a cup.


Weight had always been one of my favorites growing up. He was one of those players you would have loved to see in his prime play for your team, but unfortunately you sort of knew there was no shot you were going to get him.
Given that, you can imagine what it was like for me to deal with Weight personally in my first year as a member of the Blog Box. Unfortunately, I didn't get to have as many interactions with Weight the player as I would have liked, but there's nothing you can do about that when someone has serious injury issues like the ones that plagued  Weight in his time as an Islander.

It was September at the first day of training camp. Sean and myself showed up to interview a few players and get some liners from them. No one skated that day as the players only did their off-ice workouts. One of the first players we bumped into upon our arrival was none other than Weight.

He was on his way out, but stopped for a few minutes to introduce himself. After joking with him that he needed no introduction, he asked our names and spoke to us briefly before helping us out with some audio for the first podcast of our new adventure. He ended our conversation by explaining that if we needed anything to have the team contact him, and he "looked forward to dealing with us this season."

So here we were, two guys who love hockey, the Islanders and idolized Weight as we did with many of the Team USA guys, having a conversation with the guy as if we knew him for years.

Presence. That is why the position the Isles have given Weight is perfect for him. This is why the NHL needs to keep Weight around.

Weight will undoubtedly play an important role in attempting to recruit prospective free agents. It's not a bad thing to have a resume like he as, not to mention a reputation.

That reputation is obvious to many players - even those who never met the guy. Upon hearing about the retirement of two Team USA mainstays in Weight and Brian Rafalski, Edmonton Oilers defenseman Ryan Whitney tweeted "Congrats to Doug Weight and Brian Rafalski on two amazing careers. Both American born players, Stanley Cup champions and great guys."

"Best part is I've never met Doug Weight but hear he is a great guy and me saying that makes my other tweet sound better."

Unfortunately, the Islanders spent much of the past year devoid of "names" in high positions to bring some credibility. Weight is a name that brings a good chunk of that back. It's going to mean a lot for some players when they hear from Weight, who spent extended periods of time with some fantastic franchises, speak so highly for the Islanders where he spent only three years.

The Islanders have made some positive waves this offseason with the re-signings of Michael Grabner and Kyle Okposo and maybe the arena bit, but this move for Weight is a very underrated one. Don't underestimate the power of his voice going to bat for a franchise that, to anyone on the outside, may not seem like it would mean as much to him as Edmonton or St. Louis.

Sean and I are both thrilled for Doug and happy we'll still be able to see him around the ranch, so to speak. Hopefully we'll be able to do some interviews with him as he makes the transition from the on-ice to off-ice stuff.

-CH

nyifyi@gmail.com

August 1st the Official Date

The first day back from a nice, long weekend brought news for fans of the NHL from all angles. While one area officially lost their team, another one - Long Island - took a (small) step towards retaining theirs.

The Nassau County Legislative Board got together as they were supposed to, one week after discussing the proposal by Ed Mangano and agreeing to vote on it.

A week ago, it seemed as though the plan would have a decent amount of support behind it, although not a majority. But when the discussions opened up on Tuesday, there were plenty of disagreements.

Legislator Wayne Wink brought up his ideas again, the main argument being the changing of the vote to Election Day on November 8th. His line of thinking was that you could get more people to vote and get a better representation of where people stand on the arena issue.

This amendment failed however, and that should be a big sigh of relief to us all. A vote on election day would have given this thing the kiss of death that it didn't need. Even if it passed on Election Day, you're losing three months that really need to happen to get workers lined up and estimates complete to do the job.

Dave Denenberg would then try to amend the referendum, asking for the vote to be held on the day that New York holds it's primary in September. Although not too far from the August date, you need to be affiliated with one of the parties to be able to vote in a primary. So, this too was a no go for the legislature.

Denenberg fought tooth and nail up until the part when he was declared out of order.

The real kicker in his antics for the day though? When the time to vote for having the referendum on August 1st came, the vote passed 11-7 with Denenberg being the only Democrat to vote yes. Was that out of spite since he already knew the minor majority needed was in place with more Republicans than Democrats? Or was he being sincere and realizing that he doesn't want to be one of the main reason why the Isles leave if a no vote happens in August?

Remember, there are still plenty of hurdles to climb here. The people have to vote on August 1, and the legislature will have to approve it once more. While I find it hard to believe they won't give it the majority it would need if the people say yes to it, I would be a bit concerned about the NIFA factor. I think that's a greater hurdle than the potential of one of the politicians saying "I'm still saying no because the people who came out to vote in the middle of summer aren't indicative of my constituents," or something to that effect.

Welcome to politics on Long Island folks. We'll provide you with some barf bags.

Please remember, especially if you are in Nassau County, that you must make your voice continuously heard in a respectful manner. If you have friends who live in Nassau, explain to them how important it is they vote for the project. Not just from an Islanders standpoint, but as something we could all benefit from. Offer to drive them to the polls or even buy them a meal after they do their civic duty.

If you're around my age, you understand the importance of trying to get something we can be proud of built somewhere here on this Island. So tell your legislation how you feel. Write to them. Write to NIFA and explain how you hope they won't hold anything up if this is what the people are asking for. Talk to those you interact with on a daily basis. If you're friends with enough reasonable people, just you being so passionate about this could make them more willing to do you a favor (and them in the long run although they might not realize it just yet).

-CH

nyifyi@gmail.com

Please make sure you are following "Vote Yes for NYI Arena" on both Twitter and Facebook for updates and some clarification on anything that may confuse voters.

Okposo Re-Signed for Five Years; Thoughts on Tuesday's Hearing

The Islanders entered this offseason with a number of items on their to-do list seeing as it was the first year that some of the major players in the rebuild were due for contract extensions.

Two weeks ago and a little more than a day after having the press conference to announce the plan for the referendum, the Islanders made a statement by re-signing Michael Grabner to a five-year deal.

Today, a day after the Nassau County Legislature officially "kicked off" their seven day review process prior to voting 'yea' or 'nay' for a special election, the Islanders made news once again as they agreed to a five-year, $14 million extension with Kyle Okposo.

Okposo's deal will be structured in a very similar fashion to Grabner's - an incremental increase until the final year where Okposo could be earning $4.5 million. With the way the salary cap works in the NHL though, the cap hit will be $2.8 million for all five years. That's not terrible by any stretch.

The amount of years is a bit surprising, to me at least. When you have a player who is still for the most part unproven, you're always going to have the concerns in the back of your mind. What this move was based on however is potential, and we know what we potentially have in Okposo. He already does have a 50 point season under his belt too.

The RFA most likely to be signed next is Blake Comeau. For him, I would only go two, maybe three years. He had a nice season and should get a decent chunk of change for it, but I'd like to see more of a consistent effort before I commit for a longer term there.

Josh Bailey is another RFA who needs to be signed, and I would think the Isles may take their time there. I don't think that they should be looking to deal him for whatever they could get, but if a deal comes up and you need to deal a young player to bring talent in, then he would be the most expendable in my eyes.

The deals the Islanders are signing now, length aside, are not bad deals and won't be coming around to bite them. They know how useful both Okposo and Grabner can be, and for $2.8 and $3 million respectively, don't break the bank. It also allows the Islanders to re-sign John Tavares next summer to a deal.

The one concern I do have is how much these deals take away from needing to get within the salary cap parameters. The Islanders have some solid players in the organization, but need to make a little bit of noise in the off-season to generate even more excitement and give this team a real shot. I don't want to see them blowing all of their available money in just re-signing their own players. I don't think this will be an issue with (relatively) small raises coming so far in relation to the expected jump in the cap floor and ceiling for next season.

CLOSE TO PASSING THE FIRST HURDLE? One of the first milestones arrived on Tuesday as the Nassau County Legislative Board had that meeting I alluded to earlier to "kick-off" their week long discussions prior to deciding if an August 1st vote is in the cards for the referendum put forth by Charles Wang and Ed Mangano.

The day started off with a rally outside of the County's Mineola offices at 8:30 AM, with many union folks in attendance holding signs and chanting. It's been estimated as many as 300-400 workers showed up for the event. Following the rally, folks assembled in the Mineola offices and did what we've come to do best: wait.

The waiting would go on for quite a while, as the Republicans and Democrats started their hearing by spending the first 15 minutes arguing about which items on the agenda they would argue about first. The Democrats got their wish, and they spoke for the first four hours about redistricting, another big issue and fine mess Nassau County has unsurprisingly been able to get themselves into.

When the time finally came, some folks tried to haggle over the date of the vote with opinions stating a vote on election day or even on the primary election day in September as being better options. Both of these were seemingly killed though, and we have a good shot at August 1st being the date - barring a NIFA smack down of the idea.

As the meeting went on, there seemed to be a good deal of support from the legislatures. There only needs to be a slight majority in order to proceed, and it appears that will happen when the vote happens at the end of the month.

It will be at that point where things will begin to get interesting as it'll suddenly become a two month sell job. Citizens need to understand what's at stake, what they are paying for in the interim and what dividends it'll pay in the long run.

One of the more interesting notes to come out of the proceedings was that as part of the contract that is being negotiated, any overages of the Nassau Coliseum contsruction would be paid by Wang himself. That is rather noteworthy, and something that cannot be overlooked in this whole thing.

Mangano says that the details of the plan will be available in June. The Legislators want to see something by July 1. I don't foresee any issues with that request. Mangano, Wang and all others involved however, MUST make everything clear as crystal. Don't say that the plan will be "transparent" and lie like many politicians do. You can't play games anymore - this is it. Answer all questions the first time around, and if you don't have the answer to one get it ASAP.

In the meantime, as fans we can keep doing what we have been doing. Advocate for a "Yes" vote, speak to friends and relatives in Nassau. Tell folks what this means to you, especially if you are a younger person living on Long Island. Remember: this is, and always will be more than just a new arena for a hockey team. This is a transformation of an entire area to make it more attractive to tourists and those looking for places to live.

DOUG WEIGHT PRESS CONFERENCE THURSDAY: Doug Weight and the Islanders have scheduled a press conference for Thursday at 11 AM, where it is expected that Weight will announce his retirement and new position in the organization.

I've missed many of the events so far this summer, but will be making the trip to the Marriott for the conference. Be sure you're following our Twitter account and I will try to update early and often.

Many folks seem split in thinking if Weight will be getting a front office position or a coaching job. I think for now he prefers to stay in the front office, but being one of the coaches is certainly a possibility. We'll see what it is he prefers tomorrow obviously. I think everyone can pretty much agree though that this isn't to announce he plans on continuing to play.

-CH

nyifyi@gmail.com

Weekend Notes: Grabner, Referendum Vote, Boogaard

I'm a bit late in getting the post that I wanted to out, so I've decided to write one entry that includes some other thoughts from items that happened over the weekend in the NHL.

I'll start off with the re-signing of Michael Grabner.

Those of you who have listened to Sean and myself over the past season may recall us saying that the best thing for the Isles to do with Grabner was to sign him to a one year deal, or even his qualifying offer. Then after that, if he proves that he is no fluke give him the long term extension.

A funny thing happened recently though which changed the thought process and in turn made me 100% support what the Isles did with Grabner here.

That funny thing was last week’s announcement of an August 1st referendum vote for the folks in Nassau County. In numerous spaces, it was written that Charles Wang and Garth Snow could help the future of the team out by investing in it now in order to try and make a statement. This could have been either by re-signing your own players or by bringing in some notable players from the outside.

The Islanders didn't give Grabner his five year, $15 million extension just for the hell of it though. They strategically chose him in order to make the statement on how committed they are to keeping this team here.

Grabner now becomes the only Islander with a contract that extends beyond the current lease (Rick DiPietro is the other). Even if it only extends for one year beyond, it still makes a point.

Getting Grabner at $3 million a season now is actually a fantastic investment because the odds are heavily in his favor that this season was indeed no fluke. As a young lad waiting to be picked in the top part of the first round in 2006, many compared his goal scoring prowess to that of a Mike Bossy. I usually hate when players are compared to Hall of Famers that they have no business of even being in the same sentence as, but in order for scouts to be able to say something as incredulous as that you have to be pretty darn talented.

If Grabner repeated or even exceeded what he did this year and had to be re-signed next year, there is no chance you're getting him at $3 million.

Good job by Snow and Wang to react quickly to the news about the vote and follow it up with the re-signing of a huge fan favorite - but one whom also happens to be really good at hockey.

R.I.P. Derek Boogaard: As a diehard fan of not only the Islanders, but the NHL in general I was shaken by the loss of New York Rangers forward Derek Boogaard over the weekend.

Boogaard was a guy I really liked, and last offseason really hopped the Islanders would take a good long look at. He would ultimately sign with the Rangers (for a deal we both bashed at the time, I might add) but beyond that he was a player who had my respect.

I go back in time when Boogaard first came up. I have also been a fan of the fights, so naturally Boogaard was a guy I enjoyed watching be it live or on YouTube.

It's always going to be tragic no matter the cause of death when you're looking at someone who was 28. But unfortunately, it appears that there’s a decent shot that cause of death may make it all the more heartbreaking.

Reports indicate that Boogaard recently checked into the NHL's substance abuse program. Boogaard had only played 22 games this year after suffering a bad injury after a fight with Matt Carkner of the Ottawa Senators that left him with a bum shoulder and a severe concussion.

Boogaard was in the process of coming back, and had been skating but was a bit out of shape from all of the inactivity. The Rangers had sent him home to Minneapolis to work on his conditioning less than a month ago.

Let's hope this story doesn't get any more tragic than it has to. We send our condolences to the family of a man we respected and always hoped would end up playing for the good guys. He is now for sure in heaven.

Random Playoff Thoughts: While watching the first couple of games of the Eastern and Western Finals, a cool thought popped in my head.

1) How nice would it be to see a Lightning vs. Sharks Stanley Cup Finals? Both teams hooked up for a big trade a couple of years ago when Dan Boyle was sent out to California, and the Lightning are having their success without having the main pieces they got in the deal directly contributing for them.

Those key pieces were moved for others that have come up in a big way, however. Matt Carle was traded in a deal that brought Steve Downie to Tampa, while Ty Wishart was sent to the Isles for Dwayne Roloson.

Funny how some of those deals work out just a few years down the road, isn't it?

2) With the way the East and West finals are set up in the NHL and NBA, it's possible the winning teams from each sport could be named the Lightning and the Thunder.

-CH

nyifyi@gmail.com

For Whom the Dice Rolls?

Throughout the entire season, even dating back as far as two seasons ago, I had made it abundantly clear that I was going to do my best to ignore and not comment anymore on the 800 pound gorilla in the room - the arena situation. Unfortunately, as we get dangerously close to the 11th hour it is obvious that I can no longer ignore this situation.

Naturally, something happens that sort of forces my hand a bit. That's exactly what today's news is going to do.

A "major" announcement is planned for 11 AM Wednesday.

When I originally started putting together this post on Monday night, it was just supposed to be talk about the possibility of a deal with the Shinnecock Indian Nation. I didn't expect news relating to this situation to evolve as much as it did over the past 24 hours, but here we are.

By now, you most certainly have heard about Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano's scheduled press conference Wednesday morning at the Nassau Coliseum.

Here's what we know so far:

- Mangano released a statement around lunchtime saying:

Tomorrow at Nassau Coliseum, I will announce a major economic development & job creation plan for a sports-entertainment center and casino.

One of the things that's bothered me all day is the use of the word "plan." I'm obviously awaiting this announcement tomorrow, but just keep in mind that it could just quite simply mean "here's another idea for how to develop the land."

- Shortly after releasing his statement, the Islanders echoed what Mangano announced in a press release of their own.

- After a whole day of speculation, the Isles confirm on their splash page that Mangano, Owner Charles Wang and Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray will all be in attendance.

- Other attendees include various Isles employees, no matter the department and some available players (Michael Grabner confirmed on his Twitter account that he will be in attendance).

- Since this is a public hearing, anyone can attend. But the Isles have taken this to the next step as season ticket representatives have called their holders to invite them, with some telling their clients that the plan is for "construction on a BRAND NEW arena to begin in June 2012 with expected completion by the 2015-2016 season."

- We also know that the Shinnecocks are somehow involved given that this is a joint announcement, with a casino possibly being constructed in Uniondale, Belmont or elsewhere on the Island, presumably in Nassau County.

When Mangano recently had his State of the Union address to the residents, he talked about a joint project with the Shinnecocks, and even threw out the amount of $400 million of public money to get things going. It seems very unlikely that something of that magnitude would get passed in this economic climate, in a county that is now controlled by the state - especially after a proposed project from Wang's side had most of $3 billion covered by private funds before it was shot down.

The fact that Mangano, Wang and Murray are all going to be together at the same event is the real kicker though. That is essentially cats and dogs living together. When everyone gets together like that, the potential for the photo ops increase where everyone can suddenly puff out their chests and say "see, I got something done!"

I think what the season ticket reps are telling the holders is interesting, and only that for the time being. It would appear to me that they are being optimistic about this "plan" going through what it needs to go through and that is presumably the earliest start date and the target date that everyone else has in their minds.

The real fear that I have is that since this sounds like whatever this is will be going to a vote on August 1st (as reported by B.D. Gallof and Chris Botta), that some of the folks in Nassau will put up a big fight. I don't say that to offend anyone who reads this who is in Nassau, but if you've followed this story long enough you are well aware by now of how some folks in certain towns have this vision that they live in some sort of a Utopian society, where building up means you are becoming too much like the city.

I'm not convinced that a public vote gets us very far. Call me a pessimist, but I think at this point I've been beaten down by this too much just as many of you have been. It seems we've been pelted with rocks from all angles from the past 10 years on the arena issue.

By the way, I find it strangely ironic that on the same day when the future of the Phoenix Coyotes is up for a vote, Nassau County announces this big shindig at the Coliseum. This could turn out to be a huge two days for the NHL and two of their franchises in question. In a span of just a few weeks, the attention can turn to just three teams in question in the Atlanta Thrashers, Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars.

The logical part of me feels that what is widely speculated by fans across various message boards is what will happen. The announcement is a joint one with a casino going up in Belmont, with the tribe paying money to Nassau for the land. Then that money, and the tax on it will then be used to try and fund the new Coliseum, which ultimately won't be $400 million but less (the original number was put out there by Mangano for "sticker shock" effect).

The other wild card in this? Charles Wang. You would have to assume he'd be on board here, or why even bother showing up, right? We'll, we've heard and seen stranger from our owner, and without knowing what square we're on as of tonight we don't know what hurdles have to be climbed if any.

None of us know what to expect tomorrow, but most of the hockey world is waiting with baited breath now for this announcement at 11 AM. Some of the major outlets like TSN and Hockey Night in Canada have picked up on the Mangano statement and are now following what's going on.

Just remember to keep a level head everyone. It's good to get excited, and at the very least we should definitely see the ball begin to roll fast and furiously after this announcement. There really is no more choice anymore on the speed that ball rolls. This is the beginning of the end. We'll find out in due time if it's good or bad.

Have a good night everyone. Rest up. Here's hoping that my pessimisim is unfounded.

-CH

nyifyi@gmail.com

Postseason Potpourri

While the Islanders may not have been able to participate in this year's playoffs, they certainly have been a treat to watch for the hockey fan in general.

I'm trying to think in my lifetime when I have seen a playoff season this crazy and I really can't think of one. The overtime games, the underdogs winning - it's all been really fun to watch.

When I think of what the biggest story has been thus far, I think you have to look at what the Tampa Bay Lightning are doing. Not only did they oust a Penguins team that was still very strong without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but they also quickly dispatched of a Washington Capitals team that up until this point had looked the best of any Caps team I've seen in the playoffs in recent years.

The Lightning are getting top notch performances from Martin St. Louis, Dwayne Roloson and...Sean Bergenheim?!

As strange as it may be to say that, it's not uncommon for solid role players to elevate their game in the playoffs. Bergenheim has always been a very solid role player, and I'm glad to see him having the kind of success he is so far in the playoffs. Some fans may be biter about his departure from the Island, but the reality of the situation is that it just wasn't working out here, and it wasn't going to.

Bergenheim was at the age where you could no longer consider him "the future." That point had come and gone, and when it did Bergenheim was at a crossroads. With many similar players on the roster, Garth Snow had to make a tough decision. Bergenheim was essentially redundant, and cutting him loose gave the Isles the ability to bring in guys like P.A. Parenteau and give him a chance, along with guys like Matt Martin and Michael Grabner.

At any rate, it's good to see him, along with Nate Thompson play well as solid role players on a strong team.


Fans from Minny, Edmonton and LI are unsurprised by Roli.

Meanwhile, fans in Minnesota, Edmonton and Long Island are unsurprised at the way that Roloson has played, carrying the Lightning on a couple of nights too. We knew dating back to his days as an Oiler that he can come up big in the post season, but he remained one of the most underrated goalies in the league. When he became one of the top available goalies on the market, many questioned why a team would want him because of his age. Sure, that has to be a concern, but when it comes to his play I think anyone who had watched him closely enough would know he had plenty left in the tank. Steve Yzerman watched closely, and when it came to giving up a B-level prospect for him in Ty Wishart when other teams balked, he went ahead with the move. Now, he looks like a genius.

Obviously, if it's not clear by now I am pulling for the Lightning to get all the way to the finals. Ideally, it would be nice to see Roli finally add a cup to his resume. He's putting to rest a lot of the talk of age.

Other story lines include the lack of intensity from teams that are fighting for their lives. In their respective game fours, both the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals looked like they would rather be doing something else. Unless that something else was golf, I can't fathom why neither team really showed up. In that final game for Washington, Alex Ovechkin played well and looked good. Unfortunately for him, the list ends there.

While he didn't score in last seasons upset to the Montreal Canadiens, you can't say that Alex Semin didn't try. When you pelt 48 shots at a red hot goaltender, even if he stops them all you did your part. But I can't say I feel the same way about Semin in the 2nd round. He's a very talented player who perhaps got away from the things that make him successful.

The Flyers on the other hand finally hit a brick wall when it came to their goaltender by committee. Going for relievers works well in baseball, and it worked well for the Flyers in the 1st round. But no matter who they had in net against the Bruins, it didn't change the way they played. Of course, it didn't help that the Flyers were missing Chris Pronger and had Jeff Carter at anything but 100%, but they are still a strong team up front and on defense. Goaltending continues to be an issue here, and it will be interesting to see how they solve this problem. Do they continue on with Sergei Bobrovski after giving up on him quickly? Do they try and find a way to sign Tomas Vokoun, even if it means shedding some salary? Or, do they give a call to a team for a cheaper but unknown options, such as the Isles very own Evgeni Nabokov (more on this in a later post)?

One of the other cool stories so far is the rise of the Nashville Predators. This is something I'll comment on more in a few days or so, but I am enjoying the success they are finally having. The team and their fans deserve it.

ISLES IN THE WC: The Islanders sent six players to the World Championships: John Tavares (Canada), Al Montoya (United States), Evgeni Nabokov (Russia), Milan Jurcina (Slovakia), Radek Martinek (Czech Republic) and Jesse Joensuu (Finland).

So far, Montoya has looked pretty good playing for former Isles coach Scott Gordon. Montoya did have one bad start and was ultimately replaced as the starter by Ty Conklin. In general, goalies are changed quite frequently after a bad game when it comes to tournaments like this. Montoya did have a relief appearance though on Monday, and played well again. It remains to be seen if he took back the starting spot from Conklin though.

Meanwhile Tavares has been one of Canada's best players. As TSN pointed out in an article on Sunday, Tavares had four goals and eight points while only averaging 13 minutes of ice time. In Canada's 3-2 win over Sweden on Monday, Tavares added another goal to bring his total to five.

I know a lot of fans were uneasy with Tavares going to represent his country, especially after the injury that he suffered last season. From my perspective though, it's definitely beneficial for a player like him. At that age, you want him playing as many games as possible. Since the Isles can't be a part of the dance this year, it's only natural to think that the next best thing is to play in some meaningful games to your country. While they may not be as important as the Olympic games, they certainly have a lot of weight up North especially for the non-Vancouver Canuck fans right now.

Now, on the other hand a player in Martinek's position should not be participating in games like this. Radek has always taken great pride in playing for two teams, however: the Islanders and his National team. I wasn't surprised Martinek decided to go, but raied an eyebrow when I took into consideration his contract status (UFA to be), his injury history and his desire to be re-signed by the Islanders.

Here's the conundrum now, however. Martinek sustained a nasty injury in the tournament, which ended his participation for the summer. His injuries are not as bad as originally feared, but still sizeable (concussion, but with no spinal injuries).

Martinek hasn't been the poster boy for durability, and neither has the Isles defense. Mark Eaton, Mike Mottau, Andrew MacDonald, Milan Jurcina and Mark Streit all sustained prolonged and season-ending injuries at some point last season, which obviously raises some red flags. Then you take into account that Martinek's injury history (excluding this past season, which we'll say is an outlier for now) isn't the cleanest, and I'm having a hard time convincing myself that the Isles have to keep him.



Martinek's decade on LI has been mired by injury.

Martinek is an excellent and very underrated defenseman, but does that mean the Isles should pay the price and possibly be scrambling for defensemen again next season? I think it's become quite clear that even this improved defense corps (from what it was in 2009-10) needs to be improved once more to add in durability.
When the Isles resigned Milan Jurcina, both Sean and I were happy about it. Not everyone was, and we had some good discussions about it on Twitter and Facebook. Truth be told, Jurcina is very injury prone himself. However, when he played and was used in the right situations he excelled and that's why I have no probelms with him coming back. When he was re-signed, I was under the impression that Martinek wasn't returning anyway.

Defense has become the number one issue facing this team right now in my opinion. It still could use a slight overhaul to add durability. If that means letting a very good defenseman go in Martinek, then so be it.

PLAYOFFS IN JUNIORS: Some of the Isles younger players are benefitting from some great play in the playoffs for their juniors teams too.
The most notable of the bunch is Nino Niederreiter, who is just tearing the WHL up in the playoffs with nine goals and 16 assists for 25 points over 18 games. His team is in the finals against Kootenay, who won the last game in a wild one 7-5. The series is tied 1-1. But for Isles fans, the story is Niederreiter and what he's done.

When you consider the slow start he got off to when originally going back down to the WHL, it is all the more impressive. I would be shocked if he didn't make the team next season - or, at the very least wasn't given a very long leash and every chance to grab one of the final spots on the roster (barring any unforseen changes upfront).

The experience is the reason why it was necessary for Niederreiter to go back down, and why it would have been as equally as beneficial if the Isles did right by Josh Bailey a few seasons ago. Hopefully Niederreiter's team can continue to streak through and make the Memorial Cup.

Casey Cizikas is also going deep into the playoffs as a member of Missagua in the OHL. Cizikas and his Majors are also in a dog fight with the seris tied 2-2 after a tough overtime loss on Sunday.

Cizikas has five goals and 10 helpers for 15 points in 13 games. For the OHL, those are very solid numbers. For Cizikas, each day he seems to add another chapter to a story that seemed very unlikely at one time.

As an Isles fan, you have to be thrilled seeing these two young forwards going deep into their playoffs. We have seen the past few years what Calvin deHaan was all about, as well as fellow defensemen Travis Hamonic and Matt Donovan. Hamonic of course is already up with the Isles, and deHaan had a solid year as the captain for the Oshawa Generals.

The forward picture was a bit more murky as we wondered what the ceiling was for guys like Niederreiter, Cizikas and others such as Kirill Kabanov. All three had solid showings in the post season, although each seemed to take a different route to get there. We want to have these battles in the future, even if it means making a tough decision to get better elsewhere in the organization.

OTHER NOTES: Obviously, both Sean and I have taken some time off to take care of some items we may have put aside. Those of you who have continued to follow us have most likely seen the Twitter and Facebook updates we've had throughout these fantastic playoffs thus far.

I've taken some time to think about what I'd like to write about as we enter some of the slower months and I have some good ideas kicking around in my head that I plan to have some conversations with the Isles on. Once I figure out what I'm able to do you guys will have a better idea.

In the meantime, feel free to continue to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and feel free to tell us what your favorite moments have been so far of the playoffs. As always, we continue to welcome all thoughts and questions, be it on the NHL or the Isles.

One last thing, don't be surprised if some things change on the blog here and there. I know over the winter I said I was going to change the format up, and I held off because I needed to learn some of the bells and whistles and by the time I got to think about what I wanted to do, there wasn't much left to the season so I put any renovations off until the offseason. So if you pop on one day and we're down, down fret and just sit tight.

I promise it won't be three weeks before my next post.

-CH

nyifyi@gmail.com

Grabner Nominated for Calder; Will He Win?

In what was pretty much just a formality at this juncture, Michael Grabner was nominated for the Calder Trophy after having a rookie season to remember.

Grabner scored 34 goals for the Islanders this season. It's funny to look back on things such as this and realize how much of a surprise it was.

Throughout training camp, it was widely thought that if Grabner didn't make the cut, Florida could very well waive him. In all honesty, if you told m they would when camp opened I would have laughed and said you were crazy.

In our preseason "Face Off," Sean and I both agreed that you could put Grabner down for 20-25 goals once he got going. When he did eventually get going, he would far exceed that.

Grabner and Skinner will now battle for the Calder. Photo by C. Hessel

Here's the scarier thought: when he really got going in January-ish, he was sitting at about nine goals. He scored at quite an alarming rate, and did so while often getting 15 minutes of ice-time or less per game, and not a whole lot of power-play time.

But are Grabner's accomplishments enough to put him over the top against his competition in Carolina's Jeff Skinner or San Jose's Logan Couture?

This is the first year that I can recall where there were a number of strong candidates. Between these three, Corey Crawford, Sergei Bobrovsky, P.K. Subban and a few others, some players who had fine years were going to be left out.

While some people think that the Professional Hockey Writers Association strike will affect who wins in the end, I really don't think it will move enough mountains for Grabner to win the trophy. Besides, this boycott started well before the ballots were handed in, and the fact that he's been nominated pretty much puts to bed any idea that this will really sway the voting in one of the other impressive youngsters’ direction.

In my eyes, you'd be hard pressed to not vote for Jeff Skinner.

Sure, you can say Skinner had a better team around him. Steve Stamkos had an even better one around him in his rookie year in 2008, however and didn't have the year that Skinner did.

We can also sit here and discuss how Carolina didn't make the playoffs, so Skinner's season doesn't mean as much.

Be that as it may, you would be foolish to do that. What this 18 year old with a boyish face did - in a men’s league - is absolutely astonishing. Especially when you take into account he was a fairly little known 8th overall pick.

Taking a look back over time, there haven't been many players who went from a late top-10 pick to being a regular on an NHL team in a matter of months. The previous two? Sam Gagner (6th overall in 2007) and the Isles very own Josh Bailey (9th overall in 2008).

Neither has come close to having a season like the 31 goal, 32 assist campaign that Skinner did at any point in their combined seven years of service. It is very tough to come from the back of the top-10 and contribute right away, but that's exactly what Skinner did.

I know my thinking is probably not one of the more popular ones around here, and some of you had made it known during our final show of the season. That's all well and good. Just remember that the rest of the competition is very impressive to, however. I think when you look at some of these facts, while Grabner will put up a great fight, he will most likely finish a close second to Skinner. I understand Skinner has more of the media behind him and whatnot too, and yes that does play a big part.

What bothers me a little bit is when people say this as if it's a bad thing. In my opinion, all of the talk around Skinner is well deserved. People should be more in awe of his feat rather than talking about NHL bias and how that will be why Grabner doesn't win. The fact we can be having a discussion like this is excellent news for the Isles, Canes, Sharks and the NHL. A rookie class like this is something the league needed, and it's good to see they finally got one.

At any rate, Grabner has his work cut out for him. Congrats to him for the well deserved nomination, and good luck!

-CH

nyifyi@gmail.com

Capuano Hits the Lottery, Isles Don't

On a day when Jack Capuano had the interim label removed and was given the reigns for the next few seasons as the man behind the bench, the Islanders weren't as lucky.


Tuesday night the NHL held their annual draft lottery. The Islanders sat with a 10.7% chance of winning the lottery and moving up to the top pick. Unfortunately, it was the New Jersey Devils and their 3.6% odds that would prevail on this night.

It seems fitting for the Devils to get the pick. All they did for much of the last few months is win, and after just falling short of the playoffs they seemed to have just a little bit more luck in them for one more victory.

After hitting the lottery, the Devils will move up to the 4th spot from 8th. The Islanders, who held the 4th spot going in, move down to 5th as do the other teams down the line to Columbus who now takes the 8th spot.

Just before the lottery show started, I made the comment that I had an odd feeling that a team not in 1st was going to win and jump up. It seemed that statistically speaking, it was time. The previous three seasons saw the worst team win the lottery and retain the first pick.

The Islanders will still be able to pick a solid player at 5th, but unfortunately for me that player most likely won't be center Sean Couturier. Unless of course a few NHL teams are buying what the scouting services are selling and he is slipping in their rankings.

More importantly, it emphasizes the Isles need to have a good offseason. As we said on the show this past weekend, this team can ill afford to have another offseason of just drafting high, putting that player in the line-up, signing guys who have toiled in the minors and hoping for extreme maturation (or in some cases exceeding expectations) across the board. Now, it most likely makes it a little bit tougher to justify putting the player we pick in June on the roster in October (forget for a moment the ability to have players come in for nine game "try outs," of course).

INTERIM NO MORE: Regardless of who is on the roster next season, we know that Jack Capuano will be behind the bench coaching them.

The Islanders officially removed the interim tag off of Capuano as they made him the official head coach.

Of course, this was all just a formality by this point. When you look at what Capuano had done with an injury ravaged roster, it is quite a feat.

Neither Sean nor myself were happy with the decision to fire Scott Gordon back in November. Sean wasn't a big Gordon supporter from the get go, but given what the team was we both felt it was a bit unnecessary.

I can't speak for him, but I can speak for myself and say I have been pretty impressed with Capuano. I didn't think he would come anywhere close to doing what he was able to do, but I was flat out wrong. This was the right decision for the team to make, especially since they still qualify as up-and-coming. Could they have gone out and looked at the Todd Richards' or Corey Clouston's of the world? Sure, but at this point if something works, don't mess with it. The best coach in the world isn't going to make this current team as constructed into a contender over night.

It's nice to have this situation settled barely into the off-season too. I remember how frustrated I was back in July 2008 when the Islanders fired Ted Nolan, which was a long time after teams normally would make coaching changes. There were still plenty of candidates to choose from, but it seemed odd to wait that long to fire a coach.

At any rate, good job by the Isles and congrats to Capuano. This is well deserved.

-CH

nyifyi@gmail.com

Isles efforts vs. Pens, Flyers Pefect Symbols of Season

For those who watched the ups and downs all season long, the final two games of the 2010-2011 season may have looked awfully familiar.

That's because they were both perfect representations of this season and the future. Everything that went right, that went wrong, that could use improvement and that are set for the future were seen.

On Long Island on Friday night, the Islanders came out very slow. Pittsburgh would get a 2-0 lead, but the Islanders - behind a very inexperienced defense changed the pace of the game, came back to tie it and took the game all the way to the shootout.

This against a team that has been without it's two biggest stars since January, and yet had found themselves vying for the Atlantic Division Title up until the very last day of the season.

The fact that the Islanders tied the game up with 35 seconds remaining showed the grit and determination that we have seen for much of the time from mid-December until now. Losing in the shoot-out to a team like that by only 1-0 shows that we're almost there. That was what everyone felt like after the prolonged losing streak ended in December. A lot of "almosts," a lot of "not quites." But the change happened before our very eyes.

Saturday night in Philadelphia, the Isles went into a building that has not been kind to them. It took 47 seconds for the Flyers to build up a 2-0 lead.

The Islanders would battle back again, tying the game twice before taking a 4-3 lead. After a few weak goals, they found themselves trailing again.

In net for the Flyers game was Rick DiPietro. His play left a lot of folks frustrated to say the least, and that too is a statement for how his season went. Not only was it frustrating at times to watch, but it was frustrating for the team, for Rick and for the NHL. I guess, if you're looking for a positive out of that situation it's that DiPietro ended a season healthy. Considering how things have gone for him, that is a step in the right direction. He now doesn't have until September to rehab something like last season. Now, he can perhaps regain some strength that may have been lost. He'll have that extra time now that won't be spent trying to come back from injury, but in trying to get back to where he was and hopefully be a capable netminder for a half of a season.

Michael Grabner capped off his rookie season by scoring his 34th goal. P.A. Parenteau wrote the last chapter in his Cinderella story for this season by getting his 20th goal. John Tavares scored one of his own, but fell one short of the 30 goal plateau.

Travis Hamonic scored his 5th goal of the season, on the powerplay. The 20-year-old was up much earlier than any of us expected. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone out there who thought he would stick around for as much as he did. But by the time we all expected him to be back down at Bridgeport, Hamonic was a mainstay on the Isles first pair, getting 22+ minutes a night quite often. He became the first Isles rookie defenseman since Denis Potvin to register 20+ assists and 100+ penalty minutes this season.

While neither of these efforts resulted in wins, I was glad to see them battle back and keep things interesting against two of the toughest teams in the East this year. It's hard to see that silver linings at time, especially in a season where you didn't finish with as many points as the previous year. But it is there. We're almost there.

A lot will be riding now on this offseason. Howie Rose summed it up perfectly when he said as the final seconds ticked off of the clock: "For once, a summer of optimism is ahead."

Here's hoping you're right Howie. The players have shown us a little bit. Now it's your turn, Garth Snow.

TUNE IN SUNDAY MORNING! As we begin to tie a ribbon around this season, Sean and I will be on one more time live for NYI FYI tomorrow morning at 11 AM. You can watch us by tuning into our UStream page. Come with your questions and comments and participate in the chat room. We'd love to hear from some of you.

I'll have a couple of reflection type posts within the next few days, so just because the season's over and our show will take a bit of a break doesn't mean we'll be completely silent. Be sure to continue to check up on us, as we'll surely do for some of you.

-CH

nyifyi@gmail.com

R.I.P. EJ McGuire; Thought on Isles - Bruins; Nelson Hurt

The hockey world received some sad news on Thursday when we all found out about the passing of NHL Central Scouting Director EJ McGuire, who lost his battle with cancer. McGuire was 58.

In all honesty, I had no idea that EJ was sick and when I logged on at lunch time and saw the news I almost choked. EJ was a guy Sean and I hoped to get on the show in the near future to talk about prospects.

He was such a great hockey mind, and one of the most involved folks when compared to others who hold high positions around the sport. When prospect videos were released, he was always the scout talking about the player and could talk about seemingly anyone for any length of time without needing much material in front of him. He never judged a player solely on his numbers.

It's folks like him that make people know so much about the future of this sport. EJ's insights were something I would go out of my way to find in order to brush up on a prospect I did not know.

More importantly, McGuire passing away at such a young age is really a killer. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

ISLES - BRUINS THOUGHTS: Michael Grabner tried his hardest to give the Isles a win over the struggling Bruins, but in the end it wasn't meant to be.

Grabner scored two goals - one on the power-play, the other short handed - but the Isles could not overcome two quick Bruins goals in the 2nd period and lost 3-2.

For the Islanders, it was one of the better efforts they have had in a loss lately. Rick DiPietro, in my opinion, looked the best he had in a number of games. Early on he made some nice saves and really kept the Islanders in the game. On the Bruins 3rd goal (Greg Campbell), Mark Katic looked just plain silly. I have a hard time faulting DiPietro for something like that.

Speaking of goalies, Wednesday night they needed the netminding to be stellar as they were icing five defensemen with under 60 games played in the NHL.

The newest member of the defense, courtesy of injuries to Jack Hillen and Milan Jurcina, was Matt Campanale. Campanale actually has a cool story about how this all came about, starting with originally planning spring break, to signing an ATO with the Sound Tigers, to signing a one-game ATO with the Islanders. Campanale would only get 8:21 of ice-time, and it's difficult to really say how he played. I don't recall seeing him make any glaring mistakes in his brief time, but he didn't do anything spectacular either. Congrats to him and his family, as he can at least say he played one game in the NHL. Who knows what happens to him in the future. In the meantime, he'll go back down to Bridgeport where he had only played two games thus far.

Josh Bailey had a better effort than he's had in the past. He was cutting to the slot area at the right times to get passes and good chances on net. If it were anyone other than Tim Thomas in net, Bailey may have ended with a couple of points to show for all of his troubles. But Thomas was very confident in net, coming far out of his crease at times to make saves. Twice Thomas made miraculous, sprawling saves on Bailey.

Radek Martinek looked a bit shaky, and has in the past few games. I'm chalking that up to the defensemen that he's being surrounded by right now as the clock winds down on the season.

John Tavares played well, had a couple of penalties and didn't get on the score sheet. However, one thing I did notice that perhaps some of you picked up on as well (if Jiggs and Butch discussed it then I didn't hear it) was that he was wearing an 'A' on his jersey with Frans Nielsen now out for the remaining games.

There aren't a ton of options on the ice right now, but I do think it's rather telling that Zenon Konopka, who has pretty much been the voice for the team all season long, did not get a letter to close out the year. I think the team has plans to try and explore other options for their money.

All in all, while it wasn't the greatest effort it certainly was not the worst. It's a shame that a decent start by DiPietro and some great play from Grabner goes to waste, but that's what happens when you play extremely short handed and have such a green line-up.

The Isles now get to return home for their last home game of the regular season as they take on the Penguins. I will be at this game, but not in the press box. I'll be a paying customer for the first time in a couple of months. I'm really looking forward to sitting down in the seats one final time this season.

If anyone is expecting similar stuff to go on like the last time these two teams met, then I'm sorry. Neither I, nor many other folks are expecting much of anything to transpire. This is a very good Penguins team battling for home ice advantage right now, and what they have done without Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin is commendable. A win for the Isles would be huge here.

BROCK NELSON HURT: On Thursday night, Isles prospect Brock Nelson was taken off the ice in a stretcher during UND's final four match-up tonight with the University of Michigan. He was taken to the hospital as a precaution, and the team is calling it a lower body injury for the time being. Hopefully it really is one big precaution. This team has had enough injury and the NHL and AHL level that they don't need it dipping into their prospect pool right now, especially with some of those higher quality prospects playing big games at this time of year.

-CH

nyifyi@gmail.com

Hurricanes Show Why They Are Still in This

The Carolina Hurricanes knew they had what was essentially a do or die game for them as they came into the Nassau Coliseum on Saturday night for their final match-up with the Islanders this season.

By the time the game was over, everyone saw why this is a team that is very much still in this playoff race.

Despite the Islanders getting a 2-1 lead and then proceeding to control the play for a good chunk after that, the Hurricanes did not back down and would score three unanswered goals in the third period on their way to a 4-2 win.

Every Rangers fan was rooting for the Isles in this one, and for a decent portion of the game they were getting exactly what they wanted. However, things would quickly fall apart for them. After the Hurricanes won, the Sabres played a back and forth game with the Capitals, earning a point as they lost in overtime. The Toronto Maple Leafs also won as they defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-2.

The Rangers have a Sunday afternoon date with the Philadelphia Flyers, and they sit one point behind the 7th place Sabres and one point ahead of 9th place Carolina.

The Islanders, meanwhile, put up a good fight against another team that has been playing some really strong hockey of late. The same individuals who have been carrying the Canes were at their top of their games - guys like Eric Staal and Erik Cole.

Jesse Joensuu was one of the top Isles forwards. I feel this was clearly one of the better games I've seen him play. Earlier this season, I felt he was playing well but I was clearly in the minority when the Islanders sent him down shortly after that. I think there is still a decent amount of untapped potential when it comes to Joensuu, and so far he is off to a good start when it comes to making a last gasp impression to the coaching staff and management. He got almost 16 minutes of ice time Saturday night, and given what he did with it, will continue to log significant minutes in the final three games.

I was disappointed with the way that Josh Bailey played. He only got 14 minutes of ice time, and to me was rather invisible. As he gets slightly less ice time and more is given to guys like Joensuu, especially with players like Frans Nielsen now missing time, one has to wonder about his future. He will be an RFA this summer, and hasn't done a ton to warrant a huge pay raise. It'll be interesting to see how that all plays out.

The Isles had to patch together a defense, but I felt they played pretty well. Dylan Reese in the past two games has looked the way he did for a majority of the games to end last season. Mark Katic has looked good to me considering his size and what he is. With the Isles on a 6-on-4 advantage, Katic did fumble the puck that led to the Staal empty net goal, and that is one play you can definitely chalk up to inexperience. But aside from that, I thought he looked steady, picked his spots as far as when to jump into the play and was very strong positionally.

Meanwhile, Ty Wishart and Jack Hillen both returned after suffering injuries against the Rangers and got very limited ice time. That gave both Katic and Reese the opportunity to log 20+ minutes, and they did quite well with it. I would imagine now with a few days off Hillen, Wishart, Bruno Gervais and Milan Jurcina will have plenty of time to rest up. I'm not really anticipating many of those guys to practice these next few days.

Al Montoya wasn't really tested with anything incredibly tough. The Carolina goals were from some tips in front, particularly Cole's goal. That's one instance where the defenseman has to do a better job there, especially on someone who has made a career out of scoring big goals in front like that. But Montoya made most of the saves that he should have and doesn't really get much blame in this one.

In a way, this was like the tale of two games. For most of the third period, the Canes wanted it more and you could feel their desperation and their pressure. At that rate, you knew it was only a matter of time before they started to break through. There's a reason they are still in this race with so little time left.

The Isles have off until Wednesday when they go into Boston to take on the Bruins. That is going to be one tough game. But, the last time these teams met the Islanders stunned the Bruins and beat them 3-2 at the Coliseum. So, we can definitely say that stranger things have happened. But while the Isles have been on a good run since that point, the Bruins have as well.

NYI FYI SUNDAY: Just a friendly reminder that we will be on live tomorrow at 11 AM. You can tune in by watching us on our NYI FYI UStream page. There you can watch us in real time, as well as participate in the live chat. So be sure to come prepared with your comments or questions.

We have a good show planned for you guys as we'll discuss the team's play this week, the re-signing of Al Montoya, the PHWA boycotts in honor of Chris Botta and more. Remember - Sunday at 11 AM!

-CH

nyifyi@gmail.com

Isles Hurt Rangers Playoff Hopes

Thursday night's installment of the Islanders-Rangers rivalry had a lot more riding on it than some people may have thought.

Just a week earlier, the Rangers were in 7th place by a decent margin and giving the Montreal Canadiens a run for their money. But a couple of losses coupled with some wins by the Buffalo Sabres have put the Rangers in a very precarious situation as they are tied with the Sabres for the 8th spot.

Surely they would come out flying and give the Isles quite the battle, right? No, not really.

Despite an early goal from Vinny Prospal on a really nice play to Al Montoya's left, the Islanders came back and scored four goals in the second period on their way to a 6-2 win over their rivals.

The Rangers had seven chances on the power play, and didn't look good at all on some of them. For some others, the Isles penalty killers did a fantastic job.

Montoya came up big and made some really nice saves when he had to. He only allowed two goals on 27 shots, and frustrated the Rangers. The smile on his face after the game said it all as he finally got a win against his original team.

The Islanders lost a couple of players to injury during the game, as Frans Nielsen was hit from behind by Marian Gaborik and Ty Wishart suffered a shoulder injury after a collision.

Nielsen has a head injury, and it will most likely be determined that it is a concussion. The NHL failed in not suspended Gaborik for at least a game. So much for the consistency that we spoke of during the radio show last weekend.

Hopefully Wishart isn't out for any significant time. He was playing really well and moving the puck well throughout the first two periods of the game.

Any time he has come up to fill in on defense, Dylan Reese hasn't looked great. But on Thursday night he played well, looked good positionally and even had three assists.

Trevor Gillies would score the final goal of the game for the Islanders. The fact that it happened was a perfect icon for how the game went for the Rangers.

Speaking of Gillies, the game had a lot of intensity to it but once the pendulum swung in the Isles favor, they had most of the hits and won most of the fights.

The Rangers are now left with four games to break a tie for 8th and keep the Carolina Hurricanes away, and they only trail by three points. Henrik Lundqvist was pulled in this one, but was seen limping for much of the day prior to the game after suffering an injury in Buffalo. He didn't look too good at all, and perhaps the injury threw him off a bit. The Rangers have a very tall task ahead of them given how the Hurricanes have played of late with the pressure on.

The Isles take on those Hurricanes Saturday night, when every Ranger fan undoubtedly does a 180 and roots for the Islanders. The Isles haven't fared too well against the Canes this season, and the last time they were here they beat the Isles 4-1 on a blizzardy night just before the all-star break.

NABOKOV NEWS: Believe it or not, Evgeni Nabokov's name has resurfaced again with the goalie looking for permission to go to play for Russia in the World Championships. While Nabokov admitted he wasn't talking to the Islanders directly, there were some conversations going on.

Today it was reported that the Islanders weren't returning calls from the KHL, and the Islanders haven't submitted Nabokov's permission slip. What goes around, comes around.

Good on the Isles to take a hard stance. Bad on Nabokov to not be a good soldier in the first place.

DONOVAN'S DEAL: The Islander signed defensive prospect Matt Donovan earlier in the week, which was speculated for a long time. The Islanders had to make a decision on him this year, and he has played really well for the University of Denver.

The Isles drafted Donovan out of the USHL, which has become a bit of a hot bed of sorts in the past decade when it comes to producing NHLers. The Islanders have fared well with all of the guys they got from the USHL, starting in 2006 with Kyle Okposo.

The Isles have to make some decisions on some other guys, but many of them are still playing in the playoffs. As time goes on, we'll get some more news on those individuals.

-CH

nyifyi@gmail.com