Islanders Claim Thomas Pock and Other News

This afternoon the Islanders announced that they have claimed defenseman Thomas Pock off waivers from the New York Rangers.

The move comes as a bit of a surprise because as Chris Botta reported this is a one-way contract which ensures Pock will be with the team for the year. One has to wonder about who other than Chris Campoli has sustained some kind of injury. Pock, 26, has been know as an offensive defenseman for much of his career. The 6'1", 210 lb. blueliner has amassed seven goals and seven assists in 59 career NHL games with the Rangers, while going 23-89-112 in 195 games with the Rangers AHL affiliate the Hartford Wolf Pack.

The biggest looser of this could possibly be Bruno Gervais. While many have assumed he would have a spot on the depth chart on this team, Scott Gordon has had him as the 7th defenseman all camp. Freddy Meyer has been playing in the 6th spot, one that many thought Gervais would have for sure. The fact that Campoli is hurt and the Islanders had been rumored to be in on the Schneider sweepstakes before he was sent to Atlanta and have now actually claimed an offensive defenseman really makes you question exactly what the team feels Gervais's role on the team is.

Isles-Devils at Coliseum: The Islanders will play their 4th preseason game on Wednesday Oct. 1 at the Coliseum. The Isles are 2-1 so far after splitting their last two games, loosing 4-0 to the Flyers and then beating the Panthers 4-2. The teams scoring problems proved to still be a problem for the game against the Flyers, and rookie Josh Bailey only had two shots in his first game. Going back to the OHL might be the best thing for him at this juncture, but it was only one game and there is still time for the team to work out some of these kinks. Two Islanders the team is putting a lot of faith in, Trent Hunter and Frans Nielsen scored 2 goals apiece to beat the Flyers. With Mike Sillinger out, many feel that Frans Nielsen will be the guy who will see a bulk of the playing time as the 3rd line center between Jeff Tambellini and Hunter. Many people are hoping that Hunter can regain his scoring touch from his earlier years, and this was a good start for him.

Botta Returns: Chris Botta has returned to blogging for the team. After going on hiatus July 7, Botta has a new site and a new format. His site is frequently updated every day. As usual, he has provided some great insight and has let readers know some information that wasn't out in the open before. He's even broke the story about Pock's one-way status. The link has been updated under our links section on the side of the page, and you should definitely check it out.

NYI FYI Radio Show Returns 10/5: Sean and I will be back for our second season of NYI FYI this Sunday at 10 PM at MYWCWP. We're very excited to get our new season underway and return to talking Islanders hockey!

nyifyichris@yahoo.com