Weight Signs; Other End of August Tidbits

Since a number of items have happened over the past couple of weeks that we didn't get a chance to cover, I wanted to address them all in one long quick hit update. So, here goes:

DOUG WEIGHT RE-SIGNS: The Islanders and captain Doug Weight finally closed the deal, as the center agreed to a one-year contract for $875K. There are $300K in bonuses in the contract that can bring the total up to as much as $1.15 million.

Many people had their doubts about wanting Weight back, but when he ended his season early in order to get the much needed surgery on the torn labrum and rotator cuff that he injured in November you should have known that he was thinking about continuing to play. Doug still has some left in the tank, so why not? He has said that he is recovering very well and should be able to participate in training camp, and has also said he is feeling the best he has since he came to the Islanders in 2008.

What I find interesting is that he says the shoulder has been nagging him over the last few seasons, especially since he joined the team. In that first season here, while battling groin issues as well, Weight was still able to go 10-28-38 in just 53 games, and was pretty effective as a powerplay quarterback. We already know about all the intangibles he provides, but I'm curious to see what a much healthier Weight can provide offensively this year.

Some folks seem to think that Weight will get the benefit of the doubt, and get ice time that he may not deserve. Last season, there were various players who had their ice time cut in favor of younger players when it was warranted. Scott Gordon isn't afraid to do what he has to in order to make this team perform at it's best. He is in his contract year, and the goal for this season is playoffs. Doug won't be among the leaders in 5-on-5 ice time, but you can bet he'll be near the top when it comes to powerplay time.

SIM AND HILBERT RETURN: The Islanders brought back a couple of former Islanders when they inked Jon Sim and Andy Hilbert to one-year deals. Sim just finished the final year of the three year contract that he signed with the Islanders prior to the 2007-08 season. After having a rather tumultuous first two seasons, Sim was actually not too bad in his agitator role last season, and it isn't even a guarantee that he makes the roster this year seeing as he has a two-way contract. When he had his AHL stint in 2009 after being waived by the big club, he got 23 points in 18 games. The Sound Tigers have lost some fire power and leadership down there, so it is a welcome addition for them. He is not a terrible option to have when players go down with injury or if a game requires the Isles to add a last minute "pest."

Hilbert left the Isles after the 2008-09 season, signing with the Minnesota Wild. Hilbert, who only saw four games in the NHL last season, signed a two-way contract as well. Hilbert was a guy who always did fairly well on the penalty kill, and is another guy who isn't a terrible option on the fourth line. As is the case with Sim, this is another welcome addition to Bridgeport as he had 25 points in 33 games with the Houston Aeros last season.

Many people panicked when these contracts were announced. However, the fact that they have both signed two-way deals shows that they aren't guaranteed a roster spot. They are two guys who know the system, liked playing here, and never complained about their roles. Both are willing to go down to Bridgeport and provide some offense and leadership that the Tigers are sorely lacking after the loss of guys like Trevor Smith and Greg Mauldin. The Islanders young players have been coming around nicely, and with that their ice times will increase as well, which would mean guys like Sim and Hilbert would be more likely to play in roles that suit them better. Either way, glad to have both back in this situation for depth to the club and to make for some healthy competition at training camp. Speaking of which...

TRAINING CAMP INVITES: As we rapidly approach the start of training camp, we have not yet received any word on the Islanders having any confirmed players for training camp yet. A couple of weeks ago, USA Today's Kevin Allen reported that the Islanders had reached out to agents with UFA's and said that they would welcome players for try outs. This is not a bad strategy, especially for a team at this point in the rebuild. The pickings are extremely slim now, and some of the only decent options that are out there have opted to go overseas. But there could still be some good finds, such as Fredrik Modin (Edit: Modin is reportedly signing with the Atlanta Thrashers) or Marek Svatos. Whether or not those two would be willing to accept invites is another story.

Many people seem to think there is an excellent chance we'll see one or more of Mark Parrish, Miroslav Satan or Ruslan Fedotenko in camp this year. All three former Islanders enjoyed their time here, and Parrish and Satan were training at Iceworks in Syosset as recently as last season, when there were on and off rumors of the Islanders signing them. The Islanders did end up bringing Parrish back on a minor league deal a couple of seasons ago, but that didn't last long as he was signed by the Dallas Stars for the remainder of that season. Satan ended up signing mid way through last season with the Boston Bruins.

The Islanders are no strangers to training camp invites, and actually signed most of the guys they brought in. In 2006-07, both Mike Dunham and Richard Park found their way onto the club through invites, while the 2007-08 squad picked up Bryan Berard. We are at the point now where we start to hear about guys attending camps on invites, so we'll definitely keep our eyes open for any news.

BERGIE AND MEYER MOVE ON: A couple of weeks back there was a run on teams signing former Islander fan favorites, with Sean Bergenheim signing with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Freddy Meyer signing with the Atlanta Thrashers.

Bergenheim got a 1-year deal at $700K, and gets to join a team that is much improved this offseason. He and the Islanders were at a crossroads after last season, and the team felt that it was best to part ways with the often inconsistent winger. Many people expected better offensive production out of Bergenheim, but he was generally solid defensively. However, there were times he would get into ruts where he would struggle in all aspects of the game and take some bad penalties on top of that. There were points where it seemed that he was over thinking the game and what he was doing. Now, he walks into a situation in Tampa that is probably better suited for him since he will not be looked at to be a primary source of offense.

Freddy Meyer got a 1-year, 2-way deal from the Thrashers. After loosing Andy Sutton at the trade deadline last season, Meyer became one of the Islanders better defensemen. He would often throw some punishing hits and blocked a lot of shots too. He was a guy who I was hoping would return for some depth, but with the Isles bringing in 3 new defensemen it sort of spelled the end for Meyer. He'll provide some good depth for Atlanta.

We'd like to wish these two fan favorites the best, and look forward to seeing them with their new teams this season.

GORING REPLACES JAFFE: MSG Network announced that current in-game analyst Butch Goring will be sliding into Billy Jaffe's old role along side Howie Rose as color commentator. This should come as no surprise. In the post I made a couple of weeks back about Jaffe leaving, I mentioned that Goring was going to be a top candidate. I'm very curious to see how Goring does in his new role. Jaffe did an excellent job, and provided some great insight into games. He was frequently on the national TV broadcasts, and I would imagine he still will be.

Jaffe has not said what he plans to do next, but someone is going to get one hell of a broadcasting talent. I hope to be able to watch many of the national games and have Jaffe there, breaking down the plays like a coach just like he did for the past four years during Islanders games. Good luck to him in whatever he decides to do next.

Those are the updates that I have been wanting to give you guys for the last little while. Most of the important stuff is now covered. Right now, I'm working on a couple of pieces talking about the Kovalchuk decision and the new amendment to the CBA, as well as some posts on the makeup of the Isles as we head to camp. As I said, I'm going to start pumping out these posts so be sure to look for them.

-Chris

nyifyi@gmail.com

Isles Win Home Opener

The Islanders came to Uniondale fresh off a tough 2-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils the previous night. Their goal was to come out flying for their fans in the first home game of the year. Fortunately for the Islanders, that is exactly what happened.

The Isles scored four first period goals and added an empty net goal in the 3rd period to defeat the St. Louis Blues 5-2. The Isles goals came from Mike Comrie, Trent Hunter, Sean Bergenheim, Andy Hilbert and Bill Guerin.

A last minute change saw me actually attend the game. I sat in Section 324 and had a great time. I liked the presentation of the game much better than other home openers I've been to in past years. The team had a band play live, Seven Mary Three, and I didn't think they were all that bad. The elevating stage they played on was a pretty cool sight. I also liked the player intros this year. For some reason every time they tried to use the flame throwers it wouldn't work right. I liked all the flashing lights and the smoke. I guess I'm a sucker for special effects like that but to me it was really cool.

It was great to see Scott Gordon's system work so well last night. You could see how the team used the two-man forecheck to try and cause turnovers. When the Isles did force turnovers, the transition was much quicker than anything I can recall seeing last season. Two games in, it seems Bergenheim may have been the biggest beneficiary of the new system. His style is excellent for the system, and I was shocked to see he only got 10 minutes of ice time last night. I noticed him so much that I thought for sure it was more than that. Good for him.

I also realized just how much we missed Jon Sim last year. Wow. He was really all over the place, standing in front of the net, calling for fast break passes, mucking it up along the boards, and even chirping to get under the Blues' skin. We sorely lacked that last year. Its only a matter of time before we see the fans love for Sim come out. He has been excellent these first two games.

One more player I want to acknowledge at this time is backup goalie Joey MacDonald. Facing a lot of criticism from skeptical fans, MacDonald has not let it phase him one bit. He has stepped in for Rick DiPietro and has really done a fantastic job. I couldn't have been more pleased with his efforts this weekend. His reaction time is amazing and he moves very well for a bigger goaltender. Some of the saves he's been making have made me drop my jaw. It certainly has made me feel a ton better about loosing Dubie to Russia. Hopefully he can continue like this all season, but in the early going I have come away impressed with him.

Radek Martinek left the ice with an apparent shoulder injury late in the first period. All i could do was groan as once again the Isles best defenseman might have to miss some extended time. I will obviously hope for the best but given Martinek's track record, I won't hold my breath. We'll see what happens though.

For anyone who isn't aware, the team changed their goal song this season and the reaction so far from the fans has been largely negative. The team had been using Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll Part 1" since the 1993 season, with the exception of one season where they tried something else. The new custom song was difficult to hear, and I thought it was...OK. The part that bothered me was the "Lets go Islanders" part of it. Not that I don't want it in there, but it didn't come out the best that it could have. As someone who really likes the Rangers custom song, it left a little to be desired. The "Lets go Rangers" chant fits in very well with their song. So for the most part it was OK. I would like to hear it alone, on the teams website available for download. It sounded like there was more of a guitar part than most could hear, and some sort of sing along "woooahhh" part that no one could hear. Which brings me to one part. Although I was impressed with the presentation, there was one thing that did bother me - the sound system. It was brutal at times. It was difficult to hear some of the music playing, especially the goal song. I suppose that will be the next upgrade in the future at some point down the line, just like the team has upgraded their video board.

Overall, a fun home opener to attend. I'm curious to see how DiPietro feels and when he will be ready to start. I won't be surprised to see MacDonald in net again tomorrow afternoon at the Coliseum against the Sabres. Keep Rick out as long as he needs to. I'm glad DiPietro agrees that they shouldn't be taking any chances. We need him for the long haul for obvious reasons.

NYIFYI ON-AIR TONIGHT!
That's right, Sean and I will be back at it again tonight at 10 PM at MYWCWP. As always, we'll be taking calls and IM's via AIM throughout the show. Hope to hear your feedback on the opening weekend and all things Islanders!

nyifyichris@yahoo.com

New Podcast Posted and Some More Line Shuffling

Looking to spark some more offense out of the team, head coach Ted Nolan decided to switch up some of the lines at Wednesdays practice. Bill Guerin was moved to the line with Andy Hilbert and Mike Sillinger, while Trent Hunter was moved to the line with Mike Comrie and Ruslan Fedotenko on it. The Islanders first line did a great job the first couple of games, however they have cooled off since then. Time will tell if the new lines will work, but it does come as a bit of a surprise this early in the season, especially since the Fedotenko-Comrie-Guerin line looked great in preseason and the beginning of the regular season together. Hunter and Sillinger have been relatively quiet in terms of offence, so Nolan hopes the changes benefit both of them as well as the others.

Also spotted at practice was Shawn Bates. He is very close to returning, but has been cleared to play. On the teams website, Nolan said he will put Bates through rigorous practices over the next week and if he hold up well there he will return. Hopefully Bates can come in and chip in the way he once was able to before his groin issues.

Marc-Andre Bergeron appears to be the odd man out once again going into Thursday's game with Washington. Nolan said that he has to work his way back into the lineup, and Bergeron understands that. I know he is a small guy and I don't expect him to constantly hit people off the puck, but as a defenseman he should be able to poke check the puck off an opposing players stick or at the very least be able to control the puck very well on offence. Both of those aspects have been tough for Bergeron, but I do feel that he could turn it around. We'll see though.

As Sean and I said, it is interesting to think what could happen if Bergeron is unable to make the lineup again. With the recent appearance of Jeff Tambellini, one that didn't last very long, you have to wonder if there is something going on with Jeff. I know the Isles respect him and feel he is one of their top prospects, but he has been unable to stick even after Jon Sim went down with injury. If a deal came up where both Tambellini and Bergeron could be packaged, I would imagine Snow would look into it. It's no secret the team needs help offensively, not to mention a really good top pairing defenseman, but I think they can get by on what they have right now as far as defense goes. If Bergeron has a hard time making the lineup, I think this might be something worth watching more closely as time goes on because if the team continues to score goals, something could go down. Snow has already proven that he's not afraid to pull the trigger to fix his team, and that wouldn't be any different this early in the season.

Our podcast from this past Sunday is up at http://www.nyifyi.mypodcast.com/. It was our first live show and it went very well. We tried to do as much analyzing of the games that were in the past week and picked apart some specific things we noticed. Unfortunately, no one called in but hopefully as time goes by people will. For now, enjoy it and don't forget that we will have recaps of the games this week right here.

Chris