Garth Snow was asking for 2nd round picks for each of Radek Martinek and Zenon Konopka. He didn't get what he was asking for either players, and thus they remained. That's actually what they would have preferred, anyway.
The only player that the Islanders did lose however was forward Rob Schremp. He was placed on waivers on Saturday, and had to wait until noon on Monday before knowing his fate. The Thrashers were fairly active in the weeks leading up to the deadline, and one of their moves on the final day was claiming him.
Schremp obviously was a little disappointed in having to leave the Islanders, but in all honesty this works out for both sides. Schremp gets a fresh start elsewhere, and the Islanders get to move on.
I had a comment from a reader who felt I was being a little tough on Schremp when I wrote about him after news broke of the waiver. However, I still stand by what I said. We make it a point, both in this space and on the show to point out guys who are having bad stretches or doing things wrong. We did numerous times earlier in the season. The team has generally played well in the last month though, and Schremp was one of the only guys not giving a complete effort, dogging it on defense and what have you. Even in limited time it was noticeable. The coaching staff gave him more than ample time to try and figure it out, but it didn't happen.
Meanwhile, the Thrashers have been trying to find ways to improve their offense in any way that they could. Their pick-up of Schremp, along with the other moves they made leading up to the deadline show that they obviously understood the need for a jolt on the power-play.
Schremp was always a fun guy to talk too, and quite the character. I enjoyed watching him grow last season, and enjoyed speaking with him a few times this season. All the best to him in Atlanta and the playoff push.
There was a lot of interest in both Martinek and Konopka, but ultimately it wasn't enough to make opposing GM's jump at it. I agree with the way Snow handled himself this deadline.
I was very adamant, both on the show and in posts here that Snow could get a 2nd round pick for Martinek if he wanted too. I was wrong, along with many other folks. However, that's what happens when there quite simply aren't too many sellers.
Snow wasn't coming down from his asking price, and GM's balked. They instead chose to go with the same price from other teams, for players that were either better or more durable, in the case of Martinek. The only thing you could argue that could have been done differently is construct a carbon copy of that Niclas Wallin deal from last March (Wallin and a 5th for a 2nd). But even that was a stretch. The purpose here was to try and gather assets to use in the summer, and not necessarily to draft young kids.
Snow tells Katie Strang of Newsday that he did take a look at some players who were under contract beyond this season, but was more just browsing. Perhaps that is something he will look at more in the summer.
Deadline day wasn't as active as it was in the past, with only 16 deals completed. Some teams got things out of the way earlier this year. Deadline day, in all honesty got about what I expected this year. I didn't think it would be the type we have seen in the past (25-30 deals) but expected maybe a few others.
The biggest deal was the Dustin Penner trade to the L.A. Kings for Colton Teubert, a 2011 first and a conditional 2nd rounder. The return is a bit much for a player like Penner, but for the L.A. Kings it's fine. They were so bad for so long, and have hoarded all of this talent at all positions. Having played well after hitting a bump in the road earlier, they could make this deal and are a better team for it.
The Oilers, meanwhile picked up a really talented, hard hitting defenseman. It'll be interesting to watch that team grow together over the next season or two.
We can only hope some seeds were planted for possible dealings in the summer. Many of the guys who didn't move today - Ales Hemsky, Steven Weiss, David Booth, etc - will surely be available in July. That's where some of those spare picks can come in handy.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
Showing posts with label Atlanta Thrashers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Atlanta Thrashers. Show all posts
February 28, 2011
February 1, 2011
Okposo Scores Twice, Isles Beat Thrashers
As if this weren't already obvious, the Islanders really missed Kyle Okposo while he was out recovering from shoulder surgery. On Tuesday night, we got to see Okposo at his best.
Okposo scored two goals and added an assist as the Isles beat the Atlanta Thrashers 4-1. Clearly, he was the best forward on the ice for the team.
We got to see a little of everything from Okposo, proving in just his sixth game back that he appears to have worked out many of the kinks in his game. The all-star break probably helped him out too, but he drove to the net all night and was rewarded for his work.
Michael Grabner had a strong game upon his return from winning the distinction of the fastest skater during the skills competition at all-star weekend. We saw him use those wheels at times, but no one was able to hit him with a home run pass that we have been used to seeing at least once a game. I did see a player with an active stick though, stealing pucks on a few occasions to bring the play back the other way. This is very important, and worth noting when you think of the player we originally thought we were getting and seeing where he is now.
P.A. Parenteau continues to surprise me as he looks to have done a complete 180 from what we saw early on in the season. In an ideal situation he isn't on the first line, but you can't argue with something that has been working for the better part of a month. Earlier this season, Parenteau doesn't score the goal he did because he probably doesn't move his feet that much. Earlier this season, Parenteau stops at the boards there and either coughs the puck up or tries to put it around the boards. Tonight he closed in, made some quick moves and elevated a sneaky shot between the legs of Brent Sopel and to the right of Ondrej Pavelec. The elevating of the shot, by the way, is another thing that doesn't happen a couple of months ago.
The only thing that stood between Kevin Poulin and his first NHL shut out was a freak goal scored by Freddy Meyer from behind the net. Meyer kicked the puck back towards the front of the net where it deflected off Travis Hamonic's stick before hitting Poulin's pads and going in the net.
Speaking of Hamonic, he had a rough game defensively. There was certainly some rust from the five day break coming into play, but in all honesty defensively he has looked shaky of late. It's something he'll continue to work on, but if someone like Meyer is going to beat you to lose pucks for fluke goals, then you have to learn better to use that size to your advantage. Hamonic did score a goal though, his first in the NHL. Congrats to him on that.
An interesting note for this one was that Rob Schremp played 4th line wing. If you recall the last post I wrote in this space before going on a slight hiatus, I spoke about who Jack Capuano was referring to when he mentioned "selfish" players after the effort last Wednesday against Carolina. My one guess was Schremp, and those who listened to or watched our show this past Sunday generally agreed.
By demoting Schremp, Capuano all but proved who he thinks one of the key culprits are. He only got 12:45 of ice time tonight. He will be a player to keep your eyes on as the Isles head to Pittsburgh Wednesday night. We'll see if he remains in.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
Check out our show from this past Sunday by going to the podcast or the UStream sites.
Okposo scored two goals and added an assist as the Isles beat the Atlanta Thrashers 4-1. Clearly, he was the best forward on the ice for the team.
We got to see a little of everything from Okposo, proving in just his sixth game back that he appears to have worked out many of the kinks in his game. The all-star break probably helped him out too, but he drove to the net all night and was rewarded for his work.
Michael Grabner had a strong game upon his return from winning the distinction of the fastest skater during the skills competition at all-star weekend. We saw him use those wheels at times, but no one was able to hit him with a home run pass that we have been used to seeing at least once a game. I did see a player with an active stick though, stealing pucks on a few occasions to bring the play back the other way. This is very important, and worth noting when you think of the player we originally thought we were getting and seeing where he is now.
P.A. Parenteau continues to surprise me as he looks to have done a complete 180 from what we saw early on in the season. In an ideal situation he isn't on the first line, but you can't argue with something that has been working for the better part of a month. Earlier this season, Parenteau doesn't score the goal he did because he probably doesn't move his feet that much. Earlier this season, Parenteau stops at the boards there and either coughs the puck up or tries to put it around the boards. Tonight he closed in, made some quick moves and elevated a sneaky shot between the legs of Brent Sopel and to the right of Ondrej Pavelec. The elevating of the shot, by the way, is another thing that doesn't happen a couple of months ago.
The only thing that stood between Kevin Poulin and his first NHL shut out was a freak goal scored by Freddy Meyer from behind the net. Meyer kicked the puck back towards the front of the net where it deflected off Travis Hamonic's stick before hitting Poulin's pads and going in the net.
Speaking of Hamonic, he had a rough game defensively. There was certainly some rust from the five day break coming into play, but in all honesty defensively he has looked shaky of late. It's something he'll continue to work on, but if someone like Meyer is going to beat you to lose pucks for fluke goals, then you have to learn better to use that size to your advantage. Hamonic did score a goal though, his first in the NHL. Congrats to him on that.
An interesting note for this one was that Rob Schremp played 4th line wing. If you recall the last post I wrote in this space before going on a slight hiatus, I spoke about who Jack Capuano was referring to when he mentioned "selfish" players after the effort last Wednesday against Carolina. My one guess was Schremp, and those who listened to or watched our show this past Sunday generally agreed.
By demoting Schremp, Capuano all but proved who he thinks one of the key culprits are. He only got 12:45 of ice time tonight. He will be a player to keep your eyes on as the Isles head to Pittsburgh Wednesday night. We'll see if he remains in.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
Check out our show from this past Sunday by going to the podcast or the UStream sites.
December 12, 2010
Quebec Nordiques, Mohawks, Bad Goals, Tavares Fights...Isles Lose
3:42 PM - As promised, we have posted our latest podcast here. We went over a wide variety of topics from the last two weeks since we did not get a chance to get together and record last week. A majority of this podcast is spent talking about news items from the past several days, with some emphasis on the Larry Brooks opinion piece last Sunday and the plight of the Nordiques fans last night.
Enjoy it, and once again, welcome new followers.
9:53 AM - As far as out of the ordinary and compelling are concerned, this game was the most of both as we've seen this season.
As I sit down here to write this, I realize that there are many different angles one can take this from. There was undoubtedly a lot to this game, with a very wide range of emotions that often changed from one minute to the next.
Obviously, the biggest story line of the game was the loyal fans of the now-defunct Quebec Nordiques coming down for the game. As they said in the various different articles written about their plight, they were not in essence here to tell the league that they need to move one of these two teams, rather that they think the league made a big mistake in depriving them of NHL hockey in the first place (and they did). Many of the folks who spoke with Isles fans basically reiterated this, but said that obviously if it came to moving a team they were more interested in the Phoenix Coyotes, Atlanta Thrashers and the Florida Panthers.
The Islanders welcomed the folks from Quebec City by giving them a shout out during one of the intermissions. I know a number of fans took exception to this, but the Islanders knew about this trip, and in essence really had nothing they could do about it. Besides, they were all rooting for the Islanders, starting pro-Isles chants, and it was the loudest and most passionate group of "Isles" fans that have been in there in quite a while.
The Nordiques supporters - all 1,200 of them - were very respectful. I know many Isles fans went in feeling threatened, but came home pleasantly surprised at how things went. Like I said, it added some much needed energy into the building.
Like I said earlier, the Quebec Nordiques never should have left. Perhaps that is the small market fan in me talking, but it seemed like the wrong thing to do. Sean and I have made our feelings known on this both here in this space and on the podcast. In fact, Sean took the time to compare the Nordiques situation to our own here after they had the Blue March in October. I know for me personally, I hope something there works out. Of course, my dream scenario includes the Islanders here in Long Island.
I mentioned that some fans took exception to the Islanders welcoming the fans to the building. While I don't think it was really necessary to do that, I'm not going to go all bonkers on the organization for acknowledging the fact that a good chunk of the crowd was there to make a statement. Besides, when one looks at the Islanders situation, perhaps the organization fed off of the energy from the Quebec fans. This could have been them sort of telling Nassau County "we support this, you better not make us leave." They could have EASILY used this as a threat. Think about it - you have 1,000+ screaming their heads off for a cause they believe in while the Islanders can't seem to make any progress on any type of development, regardless of who you blame.
Meanwhile, former Nordiques goalie and current Islanders GM Garth Snow took the time to address the media ahead of this game. That is something that Isles fans know the GM doesn't do very often. It's on the Islanders home page under a tab titled "Future." Point blank, Snow tells everyone that the Islanders will play until their lease is up and not any longer than they have to. This has been the company line, but Snow has always stepped away from anything regarding the building. Lately, he has been pretty adamant about not playing in the building after 2015. The whole experience is something the Islanders could easily set up to their own benefit when it comes to their situation here.
I will say, however, that both Kate Murray and Charles Wang are to blame for what's going on here as both have been stubborn on several different issues. By many accounts, Murray is willing to discuss things more regarding her counter while Wang wants to hear none of it.
Thanks to those from Quebec. I see that I am getting an unusual amount of traffic from Canada tonight, so a big welcome to those of you who are first time readers. We hope you do stick around and continue reading here in the future as true hockey fans. The Isles fans appreciated how classy you acted tonight, and how you really energized the crowd with your pro-Isles chants. It made the experience a lot more enjoyable than it has been in the last two months.
Meanwhile, fans of the Nordiques, Isles and Thrashers got to see quite the game. It had a little of everything it seems, including the Islanders blowing yet another lead.
Prior to the game, the Islanders decided to do a team bonding exercise in the form of giving everyone on the team mohawks. As Zenon Konopka said on the Twitter video, they feel that they are a tight knit group and wanted to try something to change their luck. It didn't.
The Islanders were actually playing really well until two fluke goals did them in. I can't really describe them because they were the strangest that I've seen, but Rick DiPietro's reaction here pretty much summed up the game nicely.
After the 2nd odd goal, Howie Rose explained that this game could blow the roof off of the Islanders frustrations. On the very next play, that is exactly what happened when John Tavares slashed Alexander Burmistrov across the back to goad him into a fight/wrestling match. Tavares was essentially done for the game, which had just a tick under five minutes remaining. It was certainly a questionable and surprising set of actions from the usually mild mannered Tavares.
The Islanders would try to battle back, getting a goal on the power-play late in the game to cut the Thrashers lead to one. It was their first PP goal in 47 opportunities. By this portion of the third, many of the Quebec fans had moved down behind the Thrashers goal and all you saw was powder blue jerseys with an occasional Isles royal blue mixed in. Their reaction to the Isles goal was pretty neat and generated a lot of noise that in turn made the Islanders buzz, getting some other excellent chances in the final minute plus with DiPietro pulled. Unfortunately, they would fall short.
Like I said, the Islanders had a fairly solid effort until the 3rd, when it all unravelled and collapsed after two bad, weak goals. It was certainly a very fitting end for what ended up becoming a very strange and very odd day.
PODCAST COMING: Sean and I will be returning after our brief hiatus and will record a podcast on Sunday morning. Be sure to check out the podcast site for those of you who are not already subscribed. If you aren't you can do so following the link.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
Enjoy it, and once again, welcome new followers.
9:53 AM - As far as out of the ordinary and compelling are concerned, this game was the most of both as we've seen this season.
As I sit down here to write this, I realize that there are many different angles one can take this from. There was undoubtedly a lot to this game, with a very wide range of emotions that often changed from one minute to the next.
Obviously, the biggest story line of the game was the loyal fans of the now-defunct Quebec Nordiques coming down for the game. As they said in the various different articles written about their plight, they were not in essence here to tell the league that they need to move one of these two teams, rather that they think the league made a big mistake in depriving them of NHL hockey in the first place (and they did). Many of the folks who spoke with Isles fans basically reiterated this, but said that obviously if it came to moving a team they were more interested in the Phoenix Coyotes, Atlanta Thrashers and the Florida Panthers.
The Islanders welcomed the folks from Quebec City by giving them a shout out during one of the intermissions. I know a number of fans took exception to this, but the Islanders knew about this trip, and in essence really had nothing they could do about it. Besides, they were all rooting for the Islanders, starting pro-Isles chants, and it was the loudest and most passionate group of "Isles" fans that have been in there in quite a while.
The Nordiques supporters - all 1,200 of them - were very respectful. I know many Isles fans went in feeling threatened, but came home pleasantly surprised at how things went. Like I said, it added some much needed energy into the building.
Like I said earlier, the Quebec Nordiques never should have left. Perhaps that is the small market fan in me talking, but it seemed like the wrong thing to do. Sean and I have made our feelings known on this both here in this space and on the podcast. In fact, Sean took the time to compare the Nordiques situation to our own here after they had the Blue March in October. I know for me personally, I hope something there works out. Of course, my dream scenario includes the Islanders here in Long Island.
I mentioned that some fans took exception to the Islanders welcoming the fans to the building. While I don't think it was really necessary to do that, I'm not going to go all bonkers on the organization for acknowledging the fact that a good chunk of the crowd was there to make a statement. Besides, when one looks at the Islanders situation, perhaps the organization fed off of the energy from the Quebec fans. This could have been them sort of telling Nassau County "we support this, you better not make us leave." They could have EASILY used this as a threat. Think about it - you have 1,000+ screaming their heads off for a cause they believe in while the Islanders can't seem to make any progress on any type of development, regardless of who you blame.
Meanwhile, former Nordiques goalie and current Islanders GM Garth Snow took the time to address the media ahead of this game. That is something that Isles fans know the GM doesn't do very often. It's on the Islanders home page under a tab titled "Future." Point blank, Snow tells everyone that the Islanders will play until their lease is up and not any longer than they have to. This has been the company line, but Snow has always stepped away from anything regarding the building. Lately, he has been pretty adamant about not playing in the building after 2015. The whole experience is something the Islanders could easily set up to their own benefit when it comes to their situation here.
I will say, however, that both Kate Murray and Charles Wang are to blame for what's going on here as both have been stubborn on several different issues. By many accounts, Murray is willing to discuss things more regarding her counter while Wang wants to hear none of it.
Thanks to those from Quebec. I see that I am getting an unusual amount of traffic from Canada tonight, so a big welcome to those of you who are first time readers. We hope you do stick around and continue reading here in the future as true hockey fans. The Isles fans appreciated how classy you acted tonight, and how you really energized the crowd with your pro-Isles chants. It made the experience a lot more enjoyable than it has been in the last two months.
Meanwhile, fans of the Nordiques, Isles and Thrashers got to see quite the game. It had a little of everything it seems, including the Islanders blowing yet another lead.
Prior to the game, the Islanders decided to do a team bonding exercise in the form of giving everyone on the team mohawks. As Zenon Konopka said on the Twitter video, they feel that they are a tight knit group and wanted to try something to change their luck. It didn't.
The Islanders were actually playing really well until two fluke goals did them in. I can't really describe them because they were the strangest that I've seen, but Rick DiPietro's reaction here pretty much summed up the game nicely.
After the 2nd odd goal, Howie Rose explained that this game could blow the roof off of the Islanders frustrations. On the very next play, that is exactly what happened when John Tavares slashed Alexander Burmistrov across the back to goad him into a fight/wrestling match. Tavares was essentially done for the game, which had just a tick under five minutes remaining. It was certainly a questionable and surprising set of actions from the usually mild mannered Tavares.
The Islanders would try to battle back, getting a goal on the power-play late in the game to cut the Thrashers lead to one. It was their first PP goal in 47 opportunities. By this portion of the third, many of the Quebec fans had moved down behind the Thrashers goal and all you saw was powder blue jerseys with an occasional Isles royal blue mixed in. Their reaction to the Isles goal was pretty neat and generated a lot of noise that in turn made the Islanders buzz, getting some other excellent chances in the final minute plus with DiPietro pulled. Unfortunately, they would fall short.
Like I said, the Islanders had a fairly solid effort until the 3rd, when it all unravelled and collapsed after two bad, weak goals. It was certainly a very fitting end for what ended up becoming a very strange and very odd day.
PODCAST COMING: Sean and I will be returning after our brief hiatus and will record a podcast on Sunday morning. Be sure to check out the podcast site for those of you who are not already subscribed. If you aren't you can do so following the link.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
November 21, 2010
Eaton: "We Cost Someone Their Job"
The Islanders dressing room was scarce after a tough 4-1 loss to the Florida Panthers, and the few players that were there were very solemn. One individual who seemed to be taking it real hard was defenseman Mark Eaton.
When I asked him about the effort, Eaton was pretty much speechless. That is understandable given the current situation. After you lose 12 games in a row, there is only so much more you can say.
Eaton is a very quiet individual, who usually would let his actions do the talking. Many folks from the Pittsburgh Penguins still think of him very highly. General Manager Ray Shero called Eaton a "quiet leader" after learning about him signing with the Islanders.
Eaton spent four seasons with the Penguins, winning a Stanley Cup in 2008-09. The cup win seemed unlikely at one point during that season. With the Penguins struggling, the team fired head coach Michel Therrien on February 15th and replaced him with Dan Bylsma, their AHL coach from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Although this is obviously a team that is on the opposite end of the spectrum than the Penguins, that team also had a number of young players on it and went through a prolonged slump of their own.
Regardless, I had asked Eaton if any of that experience has come in handy after the Islanders fired Scott Gordon, with this young team. "It's come up, but we have to know it's not necessarily the coach. It's the guys in here."
That has basically been somewhat of a company line since Gordon was fired, with Doug Weight echoing those same sentiments early last week. Matt Moulson called out some of his teammates during his post game press conference after the Panthers game.
Eaton added, "We need to look ourselves in the mirror and know that we're not doing the job."
"We cost a guy his job. We need to let that motivate us."
The Islanders don't have much time to try and find some of that motivation, with a 5 PM game today against the Atlanta Thrashers. In some ways, that could be good and bad. It's always been said that it's good to immediately get into the next game after a bad showing the previous night. But, when you haven't won in almost a month, then more of the feelings are going to be that of helplessness.
Now Eaton, and some of the other veterans on this team need to try and find ways not not only bring the best out in themselves, but instill some confidence back into the younger players.
More to come later, including a new podcast after the game today.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
When I asked him about the effort, Eaton was pretty much speechless. That is understandable given the current situation. After you lose 12 games in a row, there is only so much more you can say.
Eaton spent four seasons with the Penguins, winning a Stanley Cup in 2008-09. The cup win seemed unlikely at one point during that season. With the Penguins struggling, the team fired head coach Michel Therrien on February 15th and replaced him with Dan Bylsma, their AHL coach from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Although this is obviously a team that is on the opposite end of the spectrum than the Penguins, that team also had a number of young players on it and went through a prolonged slump of their own.
Regardless, I had asked Eaton if any of that experience has come in handy after the Islanders fired Scott Gordon, with this young team. "It's come up, but we have to know it's not necessarily the coach. It's the guys in here."
That has basically been somewhat of a company line since Gordon was fired, with Doug Weight echoing those same sentiments early last week. Matt Moulson called out some of his teammates during his post game press conference after the Panthers game.
Eaton added, "We need to look ourselves in the mirror and know that we're not doing the job."
"We cost a guy his job. We need to let that motivate us."
The Islanders don't have much time to try and find some of that motivation, with a 5 PM game today against the Atlanta Thrashers. In some ways, that could be good and bad. It's always been said that it's good to immediately get into the next game after a bad showing the previous night. But, when you haven't won in almost a month, then more of the feelings are going to be that of helplessness.
Now Eaton, and some of the other veterans on this team need to try and find ways not not only bring the best out in themselves, but instill some confidence back into the younger players.
More to come later, including a new podcast after the game today.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
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