Islanders Defeat Sens in Shootout; NYI FYI Podcast for March 3rd Up

The game between the Islanders and Senators on Sunday afternoon wasn't the most exciting game, but for the Islanders and their fans it was exciting enough that the team finally was able to secure a home win.

Rick DiPietro sent to Bridgeport, Isles Likely Ready to Move On

In a somewhat surprising and long overdue move, the Islanders waived goalie Rick DiPietro on Friday, effectively ending his season and possibly his career in a New York Islanders uniform. DiPietro officially cleared waivers on Saturday afternoon and will head to Bridgeport.

Isles 5, Devils 1; Team Sale Rumor; New NYI FYI Episode

The New York Islanders capped off a relatively successful and busy week on Saturday night with a convincing 5-1 win over the New Jersey Devils. In a matter of a few games we went from a five game losing streak to a two game winning streak and renewed hopes for some Isles fans.

Media Day Brings Plenty of News, New Captain

Since I didn't get to go to media day last season, I wasn't going to bypass the chance to go this year. But little did I know that this one would be more busy than others in the past.

On Tuesday night, the news broke that the Islanders plannned to announce the new captain and rumors spread about who it could possibly be. Smart on them for making the announcement when anyone in the media who mattered was standing there before them.

Mark Streit was the best and most logical choice for captain at this time. Many folks, myself included, thought for sure that Tavares signing his extension would also bring on the 'C' but we were wrong, and believe me at this time that is a good thing. Tavares just turned 21 on Tuesday.

Mark Streit gets the 'C'. Photo by Chris Hessel

Streit has been a captain for the Swiss national team, so this isn't anything new to him. He's been a part of the Islanders leadership structure since signing his five year deal back in 2008, so you could see this coming. He's got two years left on the deal, and that should give ample time for any of the kids to properly develop and hopefully go on some nice playoff runs prior to getting their crack at it.

Streit is obviously looking forward to the challenge, and with good reason. Can you imagine being the team captain and taking a team like this one back into the playoffs? Can you imagine doing that after missing an entire season with a shoulder injury? It would make it that much sweeter.

It remains to be seen who will be named the alternate captains, and Head Coach Jack Capuano said he and Garth Snow hadn't talked about that yet. They'll go with rotating ones throughout the pre-season though and go from there.

Aside from that, it was a nice day of watching the team go through their drills. One thing I quickly picked up on was how much less vocal Capuano is than Gordon. That's not a good or bad thing, just an observation. Capuano's drills did seem to be a little more of a 'hands off' approach and werent interrupted as many times as Gordon's were. But if guys messed up on a play and laughed about it, Capuano did remind them to get back in line and get ready to try again. We've seen how well the team responded to Capuano at the end of last season, so lets hope it resumes from the beginning of camp.

The goalies looked pretty good. Rick DiPietro's side-to-side movements were faster than in years prior, and there was virtually no odd moments of stretching during down time. That was a pretty frequent occurrence last season. However, the Islanders are taking their time with DiPietro. All three goalies in the first group (Al Montoya and Mikko Koskinen the others) rotated on a fairly regular basis. Meanwhile, group two saw Evgeni Nabokov get most of the time in net (while Kevin Poulin and Andres Nilsson generally split time). When you think about where both of these guys are, this makes sense. Nabokov has stated many times he's using the camp to get into game shape the fastest way possible, and the Isles seem to be trying to accommodate that. I was pretty impressed with Nabokov's glove hand as he made three or four real nice snatches out of the air. If he can get back to the level he was at not too long ago, we might have something fun to watch.

The line of Tavares, Matt Moulson and Nino Niederreiter looked pretty impressive to me. The three of them compliment each other so well. Tavares looks to have improved his skating yet again. Don't forget the fact that he now has nothing weighing on his shoulders for the next several years after signing the long-term extension. He has nothing to worry about now but on-ice performance and within the first few days of camp, he's showing even more improvement.

I'm really hoping Milan Jurcina can stay healthy for much of the year. Jurcina really impressed me last season, and I really liked how effective he was particularly on the PK. He looked really strong during some of the defensive drills. It's great that he's healthy right now, but will that last? Groin injuries seem to have been the only things that can slow him down, so if the Isles new health philosophy changes that we'll have some solid play to look forward to there.

As I mentioned, it was the first time I got to participate in media day but the event was an enjoyable experience. I viewed it as the "kick-off" of sorts for the season, even though the team had been at it for a couple of days already. There is certainly a different feel surrounding the team, and Jack Capuano looks like a man who means business. I don't want to say he seemed really laid back last season, but he has a much different feel going into his first full season as head coach. He'll still be a players coach and still fool around here and there, but it seems there are more levels of seriousness now with a clean slate for all.

In all honesty, Charles Wang and Snow didn't tell us anything we didnt already know. A reporter asked Wang a question about the announced proposal from ABLI that came down yesterday just before the press conference started, but he refused to comment. I can't blame him since he likely hadn't seen all the details yet. But more on this news in another post.

It was a nice day put together by the Isles, to get all the media under one roof and give us the opportunity to get lots of good coverage just prior to preseason games being played. The Isles first one is in Boston on Friday night at 7 PM.

I got to speak after practice with Travis Hamonic and Islander hopefuls Jay Pandolfo and Steve Staios. Look for posts surrounding those individuals over the next few days as well.

For a photo gallery from Wednesday, be sure to check out this link.

-Chris

nyifyi@gmail.com

Attention Nassau Voters: Long Island Needs a Facelift

If someone asked me what this process was like, I wouldn't even know where to start. When you're a die-hard Islander fan who is a Suffolk County resident, words cannot describe how helpless you feel at times.

It's very painful to sit on the sidelines and not know what you are about to witness. It's even tougher when you have many friends who live in Nassau County, all of who are in their young 20's. You get responses like "voting is irrational" or so much complacency it drives you mad. One thing I'll never understand is how someone in West Hempstead can have such a blah attitude about what the surrounding area they live in looks like.

Nothing will be as bad, however, as what the area will look like with a "no" victory on Monday. A no victory means there is no building up of an area on an island that should have a sports and entertainment destination given what activities go on around here. Instead, all a no vote does is still increase taxes and put up more Starbucks, Targets, WalMarts and -gasp!- low income housing.

It's really disturbing to me to see how short sighted some folks have been in the entire process. I'm 23 years old, and graduated from SUNY Stony Brook in 2009. Since then I've heard so much about how "I'm the future" and that "Long Island needs to look after" kids like me.

That's great and I would fully agree. One problem: I don't see it. Not one bit.

There is absolutely no reason why it should take me 16 months to find work. There is no reason why I should graduate with 5,000 other students, with 17% of those having jobs on walk day. None.

I can't begin to tell you the amount of people I've had conversations with - folks entering retirement age - where I tell them what I'm being trained for at work and the programs they have me in and they think its the greatest thing ever. "Long Island needs more people like that" is usually a response I get.

But then don't try to ask them for something that helps your future. Good lord, don't do that.

A common complaint is that people "don't want to see their taxes go up." A fair complaint, sure. But a simple look at the track record of politics on LI and you'll see a trend (hint: they always go up). And what exactly have they gone up for? If you're having trouble answering that, don't feel bad (more money for snow removal for blizzards that don't happen!).

We live in a nation where states set aside money for the study of cow flatulence. Yet here, we can't get people to open their eyes about the area they live in and understand the situation. Private financing to revitalize the area around Nassau has come and gone. We had the chance to do that for a number of years, and no one had the guts to call Kate Murray and her cronies out for stalling on that. Now, we offer the only solution left. It's unfortunate we've come to this, yes. But it's all that's out there. A guys patience can only go on for so long, and I can't believe Charles Wang has given Long Island this long of a chance to wake up, but that's a story for a different day.

I know I'm probably preaching to the choir at this point. But if you were on the fence or a "no" voter who happened to stumble across this entry, know this. There are many people out there my age who are depending on you to help make this happen. Contrary to popular belief, there are many of us who want to stay here and spend our money here. But we're never given that chance.

Some of you may not think you can change the world, and are at an age where it may not seem fitting for you to pay more in taxes. But what about those who have young kids? What about your grandchildren? I can guarantee you that some of you who vote "no" will end up being the same ones complaining when your son or daughter is forced to move because of how high taxes soared when that low-income housing complex (complete with many inhabitants living on welfare) went up in Uniondale.

I have lived on Long Island my whole life, and going to Islanders games is a family affair. It brought my family closer together. My mom and dad lost track of the sport and because of me, they're back into it. If we had the chance, we'd be voting yes. But we don't have that option.

Nassau County, you have that chance to do it for us. You may not know me from a hole in a wall, but my story is on par with many others. Before you pull that lever for your vote I need you to think: Who do I know that's out of a job? Who do I risk losing that I don't want to lose? Who in my life has dreams and desires that won't come true here if I say no?

I like to think of myself as living an ultimate dream and desire. A kid always wishes he could talk to the players he idolized growing up. Thanks to the Islanders, I had that chance this past season and will continue to do so as long as voters let me. I'm not alone in this and I can see it from the various other people out there who have gone out to try and make a difference.

There are a lot of us who you'll be making a decision for. Let's keep those with high aspirations here. Let them make a difference on this Island they grew up on.

-Chris

nyifyi@gmail.com

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

Isles Look for 3rd Straight on Snowy Sunday; Podcast Posted

The Islanders take on the Canadiens tonight at 7 PM on a very snowy day on Long Island.

The ironic aspect of this game is that just last season, Long Island was hit with it's biggest snowstorm in years on a December day when they played the Canadiens. I attended the game, being the nut that I am.

Many fans chose to stay home for that one, and I don't see where the situation would be any different here.

For those of you who are heading out, please be careful and use your best judgement. While it doesn't seem to be awful right now, take into account that that most likely will not be the case a few hours from now.

We hope that you all enjoyed your Christmas, for those of you who celebrate it, or Boxing Day for those of you who are up North. To everyone else, well, we hope you're enjoying the holiday season. We have been, which is why we sort of disappeared the last couple of days.

Since I last wrote, the Islanders had an excellent effort in which they defeated the Devils 5-1. Josh Bailey, who could have easily walked away with two goals in the Tampa game, made up for those missed opportunities on Thursday. His steal and fake of Martin Brodeur on the first Isles goal was an awesome play all around, and the sign of a much more confident 21 year old. He'll need to continue that this week against tough opponents in Montreal, the Rangers, the Penguins and the Red Wings.

Prior to that game I had said the Islanders needed the same exact effort as they had for half of that Tampa game. They did exactly that, and walked away with two points in a rather convincing fashion.

Despite the Devils, and more shockingly Brodeur's struggles, that was a good win for the Islanders. Young players like Bailey and John Tavares were excellent and noticeable and confident. Tavares has been putting together some nice games, and now he has goals in two straight games. Blake Comeau is keeping up his decent play as of late as well and added a goal of his own against the Devils.

Meanwhile, the Islanders prepare to face a team that they haven't fared well against in recent history. Rick DiPietro is now off the IR, but it is Dwayne Roloson with the start - as it should be right now. Matt Martin will also be returning after serving his two game suspension.

Sean and I got together early this morning to record a podcast before the snow started. You can download and listen to the podcast here.

We covered a wide variety of topics, and were sure to give plenty of time to the Nelson Peltz rumors and our thoughts on Charles Wang and Garth Snow on Gary Bettman's show on XM's NHL Hour.

We'll have more later after the game.

-CH

nyifyi@gmail.com

Bailey Returns as Isles Win in OT; Snow and Wang Going on XM

In a surprise move to myself and very few others, the Islanders called up Josh Bailey from the Bridgeport Sound Tigers to replace the suspended Matt Martin. Bailey had an impressive 11 games with them, putting up 17 points. His last couple of games there his efforts were pretty good, although fans of the Sound Tigers who also frequent this blog e-mailed us that they had some concerns about his play away from the puck. They did admit thought that it was better than when he first went down there.

Bailey ended up having a couple of good rushes, and was very active away from the puck and on the fore-check. While he didn't get on the score sheet, he very well could have come out of this game with two goals if not for some spectacular saves from Dan Ellis. Bailey got to play on a line with Michael Grabner and Frans Nielsen, which is a huge upgrade compared to some of the line mates he has had. That line looked really good.

John Tavares had a nice game too, as he has had in the last little stretch here. He hadn't scored in nine games prior to his overtime winner, but he had plenty of nice chances. It was nice to finally see his hard work pay off with the goal and an assist as well. He had been quietly picking up some assists here and there, so hopefully the floodgates can open a bit. I know he scored a goal, but the Islanders should really do right by both Tavares and Matt Moulson and get someone other than P.A. Parenteau on that line.

Overall, it was refreshing to see the Islanders pick up their play after a sluggish start. Usually, it is the other way around - the Isles would start of well, give up a goal and it all snowballs from there. This time, after being out shot 16-3 in the first, the Islanders kept pressing and for the 2nd half of the game controlled a lot of the play. Good stuff and a nice change of pace.

Dwayne Roloson was stellar once again, much to the surprise of no one. He hasn't started much lately, but he was able to step in and stop 34 of 35 shots, making some really great stops and earning the 1st star of the game. If this was an audition for a trade to the Lightning, then he was surely impressive. Congrats to him on his first win since October 18th.

Mark Eaton made a return to this game as well after battling through a hamstring injury. He did what he does best - block shots. He registered four for the evening. He makes this Isles defense close to complete, and you can see how improved the defensive effort is now with Eaton, Andrew MacDonald and Milan Jurcina all back from injury and the continued stellar play of Travis Hamonic.

Jesse Joensuu only got five minutes of ice time. I wouldn't be surprised to see him end up getting sent down when Martin returns from his suspension. I'm not sure if there is something Jack Capuano doesn't like about Joensuu's game, but I can't understand why he is not getting any minutes. I think he has been playing well given the minutes he's getting. Perhaps there is something that I am just not seeing.

The Islanders take on the Devils now on Thursday night in New Jersey. The Devils have looked worse than the Isles at many points, so to expect the Islanders to walk out with the two points is valid. Martin Brodeur, who has struggled, will get the start. One should never look past him however. The Islanders still need an effort like they had from the 2nd period on against the Bolts.

Wang and Snow to be on Bettman's Show: Many fans recently have grown impatient with Garth Snow and Charles Wang, and when news came out about a potential Nelson Peltz purchase, many became filled with hope. While we have heard a bunch from Snow recently, Wang has been awfully quiet.

Some fans have been bringing signs to games and calling into various radio shows demanding answers from management. They will now have their chance on Thursday night on Gary Bettman's radio show at 6 PM on XM. The Commissioner is fulfilling a promise he has been making to Isles fans as he has insisted that he planned to get Mr. Wang on his show. Now, he'll have the both of them. I don't want to say that the timing is odd, but it's ironic that it comes at the same time when rumors come out about a possible sale while negative articles come out left and right.

Your guess is as good as mine when it comes to wondering about the kinds of questions that they will be asked or provide some hard hitting responses to. I want to urge all of our readers though who plan to call in to PLEASE be very respectful and make your point immediately. Don't drag on and don't come off as a raving lunatic. Every question can be approached in a very civil manner, so do that for this. Perhaps we'll get some more answers to the questions we all have right now, but if I were a betting man I wouldn't put money on it.

-CH

nyifyi@gmail.com

Off Day? Hah!

9:52 - The Isles proved me wrong as they have called up Josh Bailey.

I will say that I am not overly impressed with this, and I truly did get the impression that he would be down for a while.

Fans of the BST were still concerned recently that Bailey would go stretches where he looked invisible because of some fore-checking and defensive deficiencies, but would suddenly appear as he put up some of those points. Hopefully it is fixed, because this is it now. After his next NHL game he has to go through waivers to be sent down again.

8:08 AM - No one told me that the off days were going to have this much going on. I suppose when you're record isn't great, that's to be expected.

Tuesday was a rather interesting one to say the least if you're an Islanders fan. Of course, we'll hit some of the juicy stuff later. First we'll have to start off with some unfortunate news.

The Islanders once again practiced with two goaltenders - Dwayne Roloson and Nathan Lawson. Rick DiPietro did not practice. Jack Capuano stated that it was still just your typical maintenance stuff.

Of course, that "maintenance" word might have even deeper meaning now that DiPietro was officially placed on IR with the swelling in his right knee. For those of you who listened to our last podcast, when Sean and I gave our take on the Roloson situation I downplayed DiPietro's injury. Meanwhile, Sean maintained that he'd "believe it when he sees it" when it comes to any injury of his being minor.

As of right now, I'll only slightly nod my head in his direction but not completely tip the cap yet. Matt Martin was suspended for two games as punishment for his elbow to the head of Vernon Fiddler. The Islanders were already at the max roster limit, which we pointed out during the show on Sunday. They have to call up another forward to take the spot of Martin - unless of course you want to see Bruno Gervais play wing again. Even though we're under the holiday roster freeze, there can be call-ups for emergency. This would qualify.

I'm seeing some people say they want Josh Bailey to be called up. If the Islanders were smart in this situation, and I think they will be, Bailey will not and should not be up. I love what he is doing. The points he is putting up with the Sound Tigers is phenomenal. However, the total package is still not 100% there yet - fore-checking, defensive play, etc. Hasn't the kid been rushed enough in his very short NHL career thus far? Not only that, but he was constantly shifted from one position to another, and seemingly was not given ample time to adjust to that let alone to the NHL game. Josh is going to be down in Bridgeport for the next little while it sounds like. At least that's what my take was after listening to Garth Snow on "The GM Show" a couple of weeks back.

All in all, I have a wait and see approach on the extent on DiPietro's injury. Perhaps it's truly wishful thinking, but I still firmly believe that the Islanders called up Lawson to get a look at what he can do when they inevitably ship off Roloson. DiPietro probably is banged up, but my feeling is a) the Islanders are using it to see what others can do for more than just one game and b) to create a roster spot.

Meanwhile, Mike Mottau was also placed on IR and will be out the rest of the year with a torn labrum in his hip. Mottau had been out since taking a puck off of his eye in Atlanta. Some may be wondering "how the heck does that happen?" Apparently the injury is something he had suffered prior to the year, and most likely re-aggravated it while rehabbing recently. He had started skating with the team.

The news of Mottau's injury is a bit of a blow, but it obviously gives some more thought to the idea that Travis Hamonic will stay up for most of the year. The shame in this is that the Islanders were slowly having better defensive efforts coming on the heels of getting Andrew MacDonald and Milan Jurcina back. I was looking forward to Mottau coming back. Now, we can only hope that the surgery takes care of the issue and it doesn't linger next season. We know all too well how persistent those hip injuries can be.

The biggest story of the day, however, was the rumor of a potential buyer for the team. On Monday night, ESPN's Pierre LeBrun made a mention in his chat that former Isles goalie and current Hockey Night in Canada analyst Glenn Healy told him that Nelson Peltz has expressed interest in purchasing the Islanders. Of course, it didn't take the news too long to spread, and by Tuesday morning the story gained more steam.

Furthermore, Chris Botta in his Fanhouse piece on AOL was able to confirm from multiple sources that Peltz has been kicking the tires for the past year or so, and it appears he will continue to do so.

Before anyone gets too ahead of themselves, let me bring out a key point here. This does NOT mean that Charles Wang has the team up for sale. It could be and we just don't know it, seeing as how tight lipped things can get with the organization, but do not read into it any more than that. I saw some folks on Twitter getting all excited, with some talking as if it were a done deal.

I'm sure Peltz isn't the only one who kicked tires, but he may be the only one who has been persistent enough in making it known that he wants the team.

The connections with Peltz, however certainly are very eerie.

First off, he is currently on the Board of Directors at Wendy's/Arby's Group. The Islanders have a relationship with Wendy's as many fans know by now. Peltz is also the former owner of Snapple Inc., which had it's headquarters on Long Island in Valley Stream for a number of years before relocating to Plano, Texas.

Peltz, who hails from Brooklyn, lives in Bedford, NY. When not there, he is most likely at his other homes in Paris or Palm Beach, Florida.

According to the recent list of wealthy folks from Forbes, Peltz is now worth $1.1 billion which ranks 880th.

Of course, as Botta's source says in the article, Peltz will only buy the Islanders on his terms, which makes sense. Any potential buyer who has interest in keeping the team right where it is doesn't want to deal with all of the politicking that has gone on. Keep in mind though, Peltz has been more than generous over the years to George W.Bush's and the campaigns of Republicans in general. It's possible the TOH Republicans would be willing to do him a favor they weren't willing to do for Wang if they can settle their own debt problems.

Some are wondering if he would move them to his hometown over in Brooklyn if he bought them. I'm not too sure he would do that. I think the preference of the league is to get something worked out in Uniondale. In fact, those who listened to deputy commish Bill Daily on the commissioner's show on XM last Thursday heard him say that they were working with the town to find a solution, and he was pretty adamant about it. Is part of that solution the sale of the team to someone who is willing to accept the proposal the town presented?

Obviously, the selling of teams takes an extremely long time and if anything comes of this, it won't be for a bit. But, the idea of tire kicking for the past year is very vague and who knows what's gone on. I believe the source Botta uses when he says it's nothing for people to get all excited about right now. Time will tell, and it's certainly something we'll be keeping our eyes on.

De Haan Gets an 'A' - Isles prospect Calvin de Haan was named an alternate captain for Canada's World Junior team. He is the captain of his OHL team, the Oshawa Generals. The Islanders are doing Calvin right when it comes to his development, and all of these feathers in his cap are going to help him greatly in the same way they would have helped Bailey out if they didn't rush him. With both de Haan and Cizikas on the roster, and Nino Niederreiter on Switzerland's team, we'll be sure to focus on the WJC a little bit. Congrats to all these prospects.

Up Next - The Islanders take on the Lightning at the coliseum, have gone 1-1 against them so far this season. The usual Islander killers of Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and Ryan Malone will all be in the line-up.

We don't know for sure who will be in net for the Isles yet. Something tells me it will be Roloson though. We shall see. We will also see who the team ends up calling up to replace the suspended Martin. Be sure to check back for updates.

-CH

nyifyi@gmail.com

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

New Podcast Posted on Scott Gordon

As promised, Sean and I recorded a podcast for your listening pleasure and posted it up at the podcast site.

You'll notice that we both have some differing opinions. For those of you who have been following along for some time now, you know that I liked Gordon while Sean wasn't his biggest fan. We both discuss the situation from our points of view, and ironically we can both draw the same conclusion when it comes to who is ultimately to blame for it all, and it is not necessarily Gordon.

Sean's biggest issue was the timing of the firing. He didn't want Gordon to remain past the season, but wanted to see him finish out the year. I didn't agree with Gordon leaving in the first place seeing as he was quite simply not given ample resources to get the job done. There comes a point in time where folks begin to get upset and start to question the validity of statements and actions from others, namely those who run an organization.

Regardless of all of that, Gordon is gone, a move that pretty much needed to happen. Coaches don't last too often when a 10 game losing streak occurs under their watch, and regardless of if it was their fault or not, sports is a very "what have you done for me lately" business. In the last 10 games the Islanders have lost, lost and lost some more, while the same can generally be said for the majority of the teams under Charles Wang's watch.

I can say that I know a lot of fans are upset by the firing, and are at the point of growing impatient with Wang, not knowing what is going on with the future of the franchise despite encouraging words telling people that they won't be in the dark as much anymore. But, it is what it is for now so we'll leave that topic alone.

As far as the podcast goes, it is a bit on the longer side, coming in at about 55 minutes. We did not intend for it to be a full length show, but we wanted to be able to address this situation alone. We do not cover any other topics aside from this.

Since the podcast has some very differing opinions in it some you may not agree with, we encourage you to either leave comments here or on the Facebook page, share your thoughts with us on Twitter or even shoot us an e-mail. A lot of people have opinions on this, so don't feel afraid to share yours.

Within the coming days, we'll start to hear more about possible candidates for the job. I have thought of some others not mentioned in the podcast that I will include in another post touching upon some of those guys. There is some more on this issue that I would like to put out there, but in a much more rational and thought out way. I simply cannot bring myself to write it in any sort of legible manner, particularly at this time at night after a very trying and emotional day. Seems like those thoughts could be a good way to transition into discussing the new candidates.

-CH

nyifyi@gmail.com

Thoughts on Scott Gordon, Game vs. Ducks and Other Items

3:54: Roloson is in net tonight.

3:13 PM: I realize that it has been a few days since the last post, and I apologize for that. Sean is on his vacation, and I had to take care of a couple of matters before being able to sit down and write some thoughts down.

I'll start with the recent talk of Scott Gordon and his status as Islanders coach. I made a mention after the Ottawa game that Darren Dreger made an interesting comment about how much longer losses could mount before something would have to happen. Obviously, when a team is struggling one assumes that the coach would be the one to go. I'm not convinced that the Islanders would dump Gordon in-season when he is already in the last year of his contract. However, nothing is impossible, and if they did dump him it would be nothing short of a HUGE mistake.

When Ted Nolan left and various candidates were mentioned, I was a big proponent of bringing in John Tortorella or Paul Maurice. I knew of Gordon as a dark horse candidate, a guy who was being eyed with so many teams turning to younger coaches such as Cory Clouston. When the Islanders announced him as coach, I was pretty content and was excited to see what he could provide to the rebuilding team.

After a little bit I wasn't his biggest fan, I'll admit that. Those of you who have been followers from the beginning may remember that. I had to take a step back and realize that this was a young NHL coach who had his own learning to do when it came to system adjustments.

If rumors are true, then the Islanders need to take a step back themselves and realize what is going on here. Gordon is left with a very inexperienced, cheap roster that has a ton of injuries on it with Kyle Okposo and Mark Streit missing significant time. I don't like using items like that as excuses, and it wouldn't be if some of the players were more developed or the team could spend money. It's just the reality of the situation now.

As far as Gordon losing the team, I don't believe that at all. Players are just not giving it their all. You can see it, notably from Blake Comeau. A few games ago I made the mention that he was at the very least still fore checking hard. That's not even the case now. Comeau has had inconsistency issues at all levels, with many different coaches. I'm not going to buy the idea that Gordon has lost him. I will say though, that tuning out the coach is a very plausible idea when he's in a contract year. It rarely happens in sports, but the Islanders elected to do it this way. It's very dangerous territory.
I don't blame any single person for the seven game losing streak, but when I analyze the situation I can't help but continue to glace in Charles Wang's direction. Since media day, when allegedly we were going to get more updates than in the past, we have heard nothing about the future of the team. I understand the cost cutting due to this, but the fact that there doesn't seem to be any contact with anyone is disconcerning. There comes a point in time where one says "alright, enough is enough already, let's start thinking about it more and stop being stubborn." I supported the project, although admitted it was slightly too big to get approved fully. I'm at the point now where I blame everyone in that fiasco. I can only hope that through all of the silence that he is actually going to meetings behind closed doors.

At any rate, Katie Strang couldn't get a solid answer from Garth Snow on Gordon's status as he cited a team policy that explains how they don't talk publicly about the coaching staff, but he and the coach were happy with the improvement the past two games. Fair enough.

I hope Strang's source that says that Gordon's job is not in danger is correct. It would be a grave error on the part of the Islanders.

Quick Hits from Last Week: I wanted to make an extensive post or even a podcast to go over some things just like we normally would when Sean is here, but like I said I was unable to be able to do much for that. Perhaps this weekend could be a little bit better. Although we are both on the record with our predictions in the last podcast, I want to re-iterrate my stance and say I still feel the Islanders win in Anaheim tonight. The games against the Kings and Sharks are going to be tough, but if the Islanders can get back on their game they can match up with both of them. They did last season.

We were both off on our predictions last week as I thought they would go 2-1 while sean was feeling 1-2. He doen't have them winning any of the games this week. We'll see.

When it comes to a Sin Bin pick for the week, there are a number of guys to choose from. My instinct was to go with Rick DiPietro because he let the games get away from him and kept coming out of the net and gave up some bad goals because of that. But Comeau sure gave him a run for his money, and it's a toss-up. I'm going Comeau.

Isles vs. Ducks: The Islanders are in Anaheim tonight to face the Ducks. Anaheim is coming off a 3-2 overtime win in San Jose last night, while the Islanders last played Saturday night. Zenon Konopka made the trip after haing his injured foot looked at. He blocked a shot late in the game against the Flyers to injure it. As a precaution, the Isles re-called Jon Sim from Bridgeport.

The Ducks had a poor start to the season, but have won their last four games. Their defense is still suspect, however, just as much as the Isles defense is. I would expect a high scoring game.

Ryan Getzlaf injured his ankle last night, and there has been no word yet on if he'll play or not. He was supposedly going to test it out some time today.

No word yet on who's in or out for the Islanders. If the team announces it in the next little while, I'll have it here. If not, then you'll have to rely on Katie Strang or Chris Botta.

Here's hoping we have a win to analyze tomorrow.

-CH

nyifyi@gmail.com

Niederreiter signs, Media Day and Kabanov

The Islanders had a pretty eventful day for their media extravaganza. According to Chris Botta, there were a number of people there and the Islanders put on a good event. I join him in giving a congrats to Kimber Auerbach, Katrina Doell and the rest of the staff.

The biggest news of the day was the announcement that the team had signed Nino Niederreiter to his entry-level contract. This is not a surprising move. Many of the top-10 picks had already signed their entry-level deals, but that doesn't mean they have to be in their team's lineups. However, for all the guys that have signed this offseason, it appears as though they will all be given a chance, or at least for nine games to showcase their stuff. For example, it appears as though the Carolina Hurricanes, who signed their own 1st round pick Brett Skinner to his contract as well yesterday, will give him the chance to stick with their club.

I'm not sold on the idea that this means that Niederreiter should make the club. He has the size for it, so that is not the issue. Like I said in the post yesterday, he has played OK so far, and there is still a lot more preseason left. Matt Martin has looked really good to me, so on my own personal list I have him penciled in as the guy who's got the early edge.

Obviously, we'll have to see what the next couple of weeks bring. My gut tells me to expect Niederreiter here for at least a nine game try-out, which might not necessarily be a bad thing. My only fear is that since he was one of the youngest players in the draft, that it could screw around with his head a bit. The Islanders have not been afraid to put their 1st round picks into the lineup as we saw with Josh Bailey in 2008, and almost saw with Calvin deHaan last season.

After practice on Sunday, I had asked Bailey if he talked to Niederreiter, as a fellow first rounder who may not have been a top-two talent but made the jump right away, about his own personal experiences. He had said he only talked to him a little here and there, but not really too much. I would wonder now, with this out of the way, if he does talk a little bit more to Niederreiter.

Aside from that, there were some interesting tidbits from the press conference. I'll start with something that I don't plan to talk about much - The Lighthouse Project. Charles Wang stated that he wants to keep the team here, and continues to look for options, but will not leave earlier than 2015. This we sort of knew, however some people speculated that if he were to move the team, then he would do so sooner rather than later. Not the case.

While the team may be here until at least 2015, a decision would most likely come within the next three or four years. There needs to be a point where they have to decide in order to give themselves plenty of opportunity to explore and go through with an eventual option.

Personally, that's all I have to say on it. I feel that at some point, cooler heads will prevail and this team stays in Nassau. It's been very taxing emotionally to talk about this subject. I know Sean likes to talk about it a lot, and for me I just don't have the heart for it. I'm doing the same thing I've always tried to do, and that's enjoy Islanders hockey. I get to see this team for at least five more years, and that's all I can do. After the meetings, rallies and all the other stuff that I and many other fans took part of, there's not much else we can do, and it is out of our control. I am glad that Wang said that he doesn't plan to be as silent on the subject anymore. Maybe, when something more comes out, I can provide better analysis for you guys. But this is all we really know right now.

Scott Gordon is entering his final season as the head coach. It is generally unusual in sports for teams to let coaches go into a final year of a contract, as players can view the coach as a lame duck. I truly feel that this collection of players has the ability to ignore that and still work as hard for Gordon as they always have. The team is talking about taking that next step, and I don't think the coaches contract is in the forefront of any of their minds right now. Gordon doesn't seem phased by any of it, and I have to give him a lot of credit for that. I don't think I would be able to go through with something like that.

From what I have seen, there is no reason why Gordon should not be extended. I understand that everyone on this team is talking playoffs, and I am really glad to see it. Obviously, a playoff berth gets him an automatic extension. But some people feel that if they don't make it, Gordon is gone. I don't necessarily agree with that idea, however it really depends on how the year goes.

Lets say the Isles have a slightly better year than last year, which shows improvement. Bailey, Kyle Okposo and John Tavares all show improvements. I would think you have to extend him, playoff berth or not. If you don't then you are making a big mistake here. If the team tanks, then sure, that could be another story. This scenario, of course, is based on players staying generally healthy. If any of the key guys go down for extended periods of time, then all of this goes out the window, and it would be a travesty to dump him then.

Some people think money is going to play a huge factor in this. To be honest, I don't think it matters. The Islanders hired a coach that, at the time, was the candidate to hire. Other teams that were in the same situation hired excellent coaches from the AHL. Heck, even the Pittsburgh Penguins fired Michel Therrien and replaced him with AHL coach Dan Bylsma. It's just the trend these days. Sure, it's not something that should be overlooked, but despite some things that may (or may not) have happened in the past, I highly doubt a coaching decision will be made based on pay grade. If he provides results (last season was good given what Gordon had to work with) and the players respond and like him (the have and do), then the team would be absolutely insane to not bring him back, and deserve any criticism they would get.

Garth Snow said that he has all the resources he needs to be able to still make moves, and he will continue to look for top players if it makes sense for them to do in the long-run. Some people take that to mean that it would have to be someone under contract for a few seasons. But that may not be true. James Wisniewski arrived here with only this season left on his contract. It is very possible, that with Wang's blessing, Snow could add a player, perhaps to help out the offense.

Many fans, including this one, have looked towards the Boston Bruins and their situation with Michael Ryder. Ryder had a bit of a sub par year last season for the Bruins (18 goals) but has shown the ability to frequently net 20-25. That is not a bad option for this team, and he has this season at $4 million left. I'm sure there are some other names out there, but I only bring up this one because he seems like the most likely candidate to move elsewhere, and the one who happens to make a lot of sense.

KABANOV LATE AGAIN: Kirill Kabanov showed up late for practice again, and an irate Gordon let him hear it in front of everyone. I say, good. This is how he will have to be handled. The Islanders realize this, and have not tried to hide any of it and sweep it under the carpet.

It is no secret that Kabanov has had a tumultuous last couple of seasons. While I understand how young he still is, it is disappointing when I see many kids the same age act much more mature. I remember at the draft, him telling us that he was "good like an angel." He looked for cameras to tell everyone how he was going to try his best, and prove to the Islanders how grateful he was that they are giving him a chance.

Deb Placey hinted on her Twitter account that Kabanov has one strike left. I don't see it that way. The Islanders wouldn't put him on that short of a leash. Not with that talent. After he was late last week, Snow said that he refused to go into a pitch count for him because they weren't handling it like that.

I'm hoping that Kirill gets his head straight, obviously. I don't think this is anywhere near the end for him. He's got a couple of years to develop, and the Islanders will hope that the maturity comes along in those couple of years as well.

I'm glad that he's taking all of this in stride, and agrees that he should be getting punished. As he admits, he doesn't have any excuses other than he just screwed up and slept late again. It's all part of the project that is Kirill Kabanov.

-Chris

nyifyi@gmail.com

Notes From the Week

Update - 11:30PM: The NHL has rejected Ilya Kovalchuk's contract with New Jersey. There seem to be differing opinions on the ramifications and the time period and what happens next as of right now. Hopefully tomorrow it will be a bit clearer and we can provide you with some commentary on it.

Hello all!

It's been a couple of days, but there have been some newsworthy items over the past week when it comes to the Islanders and NHL in general.

First off, there is all of the uncertainty surrounding the Lighthouse Project. At first glance, some of you probably say "yeah, and the sky is blue and grass is green." However, the Town of Hempstead finally came back with their proposal, and it was quite the scale back. The project is slightly less than 50% of what owner Charles Wang envisioned for the plot of land. Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano has come out and publicly stated that he is siding with Wang against the Town and Supervisor Kate Murray.

Managno backing Wang comes as a slight surprise to some due to the fact that he has had his own idea for the land, namely a casino that would be built by the Shinnecocks. When you realize how the game of politics is played though, it isn't all that surprising. Mangano has enough economic hardships going for him in the county, and loosing the Islanders and having the surrounding area go into depression will surely kill any hope he has as far as future political aspirations.

I know that Sean will disagree with me on this, but something is going to happen on this land and when all is said and done it will include the Islanders. The casino plan is a very interesting one indeed, but many people have problems with a casino going up close to an area such as Garden City. I think in the end, those fears will be realized and some of the residents in the surrounding areas who are vehemently against the Lighthouse will be forced to take the lesser of two "evils". The TOH seemed to leave the door slightly open, never once saying that this was a take it or leave it offer (but also telling us it is not a starting point, either). They will meet somewhere in the middle, and everyone will be there shaking hands for the photo opportunities.

Schremp and Kohn Accept: Both Rob Schremp and Dustin Kohn accepted their qualifying offers, coming in the final hours before the July 15th deadline. Both will receive slight raises over what they got last year. Kohn is still a very unknown commodity for the team, and right now it appears as though he may find himself in Bridgeport again to start the season. Schremp played pretty well for the Islanders last season, and in the months up until he got hurt was beginning to go on a tear. If he plays similar to the way he did for a good portion of the 2nd half of his season, he will be extended once again next summer. Schremp knows he still has a lot to prove, so he is a story line to follow again for this season.

17 for #17: Ilya Kovalchuk finally ended his saga, signing with the Devils, which many people assumed he would do for a couple of weeks. But it wasn't for the rumored seven year, $60 million deal the New York Post reported a couple of weeks back. Instead, Lou Lamoriello decided to sign Kovalchuk to a 17-year, $102 million contract. Best of luck with that one. True, the Devils locked up one of the top five forwards in the league to a very cap friendly figure, but there is no way he plays until he is 44 - and that's not the plan anyway. The deal is obviously extremely front-loaded, so Kovy makes the money he wanted for the years he wanted and can do his thing for as long as he can. It has been established that he isn't the biggest fitness buff out there, but his skills and finesse might be enough to carry him along for much longer than people may think. The Islanders were serious on trying to sign Kovy, regardless of if you want to believe it or not. They wanted to go short term with him, and did talk big money. It is believed that short term meant one year. Still, the interest was genuine and that's all you can really say. Kovy had plenty of offers out there though that were for much longer than one year. He chose one of them, and that is that. We roll ahead...

Now what? Well, there seems to be some differing opinions on what the Islanders may do now, if anything at all. The do still seem to be interested in adding scoring. On the free agent market, you still have Alex Frolov, Lee Stempniak, Paul Kariya and Max Afinogenov. The trade market seems to be fairly quiet for now, as Simon Gagne was dealt to the Lightning shortly after Kovalchuk re-signed with the Devils. That won't last as the Devils may be foreced to part with a forward or two to ensure they can re-sign Zach Parise after next season. Brian Rolston and Jamie Langenbrunner have come up in rumors over the past day.

Garth Snow has said that he wouldn't rule out the possibility of adding another defender to the roster. There are still guys such as Willie Mitchell and Shaone Morissonn out on the free agent market. Many teams seem to be waiting to see what Mitchell's health status is, and riughtfully so. Some team out there is going to get one heck of a d-man on a great deal, who eats minutes and plays a great shut down role. Maybe it can be the Islanders. If they decide to go the trade route, then we may start to hear the names of Kevin Bieska from Vancouver and Sheldon Souray from Edmonton bandied about. Bieska has one year at $3.5 million left on his deal and is on the outs with the Canucks. He will start next season elsewhere for sure. Souray has two years remaining at a cap hit at $5.4 million per year. Souray was placed on waivers a few weeks ago but went unclaimed. There is a thought out there that the Islanders might be interested in a swap of Brendan Witt for Souray, a move that would add $2.4 million towards getting to that cap floor. Jason Gregor of Oilersnation.com cites an executive from one of the Isles or the Oilers at the end of this entry, telling us that it is something that could be kicked around. Souray, when healthy would be a good addition to the Islanders blueline. Would he be willing to waive his no trade to come here? That could be another issue all together. As always, we shall see. Things should heat up a bit once again now that Kovy-gate is over and done with.

-Chris

nyifyi@gmail.com