Isles Come From Behind to win for Arbour

Down 2-0 going into the 3rd, it seemed unthinkable to me that the team would lose on Al Arbour night. However, it did seem possible against one of the most talented teams in the Eastern Conference. But just like the slogan said in the old days when Arbour used to coach, the outcome was never in doubt.

The Islanders fought back hard, and ultimately Miro Satan scored the winner with two and a half minutes to go in the 3rd. The Islanders had scored 3 unanswered goals against the Penguins in the 3rd to win the game. It was a vintage Al Arbour game as well- a strong come from behind effort, and handing a loss to the Penguins as they were very familiar with back in Al's prime days.

The ceremony after was outstanding. being in the stands, I can easily say it was the greatest thing I have ever witnessed in the NVMC yet. As a 20 year old fan, I haven't been able to witness very much yet. But this was one of the best times I ever had at a sporting event. It is something I will remember for the rest of my life.

I know many fans were hoping for a 740 banner to be raised, but the isles raised a 1500 one instead. Rumor has it there are plans to raise a 740 banner later in the year, maybe on an upcoming alumni night.

Other than all the festivities for Arbour is the fact that the team went down 2-0 to one of the powerhouses in the east and still managed to fight back to win. The team did an excellent job containing Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Satan played the hero part, getting the tying and winning goals. The GTG was on a vintage Miro wrister off of a very nice pass from Josef Vasicek, something that he hadn't found in the first month of the season. The second and GWG was a second effort off of a rebound by Marc-Andre Fleury and Miro was there to bang it home.

The crowd was very loud, the atmosphere intense. It felt like a playoff game in there. The players wanted it for Al, as did the fans. A great job all around for the Isles.

Enough can't be said about Ted Nolan in all of this. It was ultimately his decision, and he ran it by Garth Snow and Charles Wang. After approval, they invited Arbour to come back and coach for one game. It really shows how much Nolan respects the Isles for giving him his second chance in the NHL, and also speaks volumes to how much he respects the Islanders roots. Nolan had a very tough job ahead of him at the beginning of last season, and that was to begin a culture change on Long Island. After seeing Ted as coach for 1 season and 1 month, I can honestly say I have seen more amazing things that I have seen in any of the previous seasons as an Islander fan. Things like this get recognition around the league, as can be seen from the many positive articles being published about the team today. Great job all around, especially by Ted Nolan. He is a keeper.

Here is a video of some of the main points of last nights game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55H9idRz4vk

Oh, and by the way, the Islanders are second in the division with a record of 7-4-0. Not to shabby for a team the was predicted by "experts" to be at the bottom of the league, don't ya think?

On a more serious note, Rick DiPietro took a Crosby stick to the eye in the 2nd period and did not return. His eye is OK though, and he will get looked at again on Monday. Right now his status for Tuesdays game against the Rangers is unknown. We'll keep you updated as always.

NYI FYI ON THE AIR TONIGHT: Sean and I will be on the air tonight at 10 PM on http://www.mywcwp.com/. We'll be taking calls and IM's and are asking fans who listen to call in or IM to share their favorite Arbour Memories from over the years. We have a nice show planned tonight, and the 2-0 week makes it much easier. After the show we will be putting up the podcast which will be available at the link on the side of this page titled "NYI FYI Podcasts." Enjoy!

Chris

Isles beat Lightning 4-0; Al Arbour Night Tonight!

On Thursday, the Islanders defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-0. Bill Guerin, Josef Vasicek, Ruslan Fedotenko and Trent Hunter all scored for the Isles. Rick DiPietro came up huge and bailed the team out on a couple of occasions to get the shut out.

The team played a much better game then they did the previous Saturday against the Carolina Hurricanes. They came out a bit slow in the first period, but by the end of the period they began to play like we all know they can. That carried over into the 2nd and 3rd periods.

Team defense overall was very good. Chris Campoli had 4 blocked shots. he has really come around this year and looks like he has improved on his rookie form of 2 years ago. Very excited to see him develop even more over the next few years.

All 4 Islander goals were scored at even strength, which is good to see being that the team had struggled with 5 on 5 play so far this year. The absence of Bryan Berard has been noticeable, especially on the power play. But he has been skating in practice and could return on another week or two.

Tonight is a very special night in Islanders country as Al Arbour returns to coach the team for 1 game. Radar will be coaching in his 1500th game for the team when the puck drops at 7 PM against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. I am going to the game and cannot wait! Hopefully the team helps Arbour get his 740th win as a coach. With big events like this, the team has played well over the last few seasons. Being that this is a big event, I would expect your typical blue collar Islander effort. The Penguins are a very tough team to beat, but the team could very well pull it off. We shall see.

Absent tonight from the lineup is Sean Bergenheim. Ted Nolan said Bergie is sore, and now reports say it's his shoulder that is giving him some problems. Right now it looks like it's a day-to-day thing, but at least for tonight, Bergie is out and Ben Walter is in. The team called him up from Bridgeport this morning and it looks like he will make his Islander debut tonight. Good luck to him on that, I'll try and take notice of him while at the game.

Sean will also be at the game. We could be more excited for this one. Should be a packed house and a playoff atmosphere!

Chris

AL ARBOUR WILL RETURN TO THE ISLES BENCH FOR ONE NIGHT!

The New York Islanders have announced the return of head coach Al Arbour.

Well, sort of.

Al Arbour will sign a one day contract on November 2nd, and will be behind the bench for the Isles on November 3rd against the Pittsburg Penguins. It will be on this night that Arbour will have coached his 1,500th NHL game with the Islanders. Ted Nolan made the discovery recently that Arbour had coached 1,499 games with the Islanders, and thought it would be fitting to have the Hall Of Fame coach step behind the bench one more time, in order to get his 1,5ooth game with the team.

Nolan will be with Arbour behind the bench that night. This will certainly be a special day in Islanders Country. I for one plan to be in attendance. It gives the younger Islander fans the opportunity to step into the past, if only for a few hours, and experience a piece of New York Islanders history.

Arbour wants a win. If he gets it, I guess that banner at the Coliseum will need to be updated. Personally, I believe that they should have a banner made up just in case he gets the win. At the end of the game, bring the team out, thank Al for coming out and congratulate him over the P.A. system and unravel the new banner over the old one. I think it would be a nice touch.

-Sean