The NHL came down hard on Trevor Gillies on Friday when they announced that they suspended him for 10 games for his hit on Cal Clutterbuck of the Minnesota Wild.
I was very adamant about how I felt about what happened in the post game write-up. I still stand by those and have no problem with this suspension.
Gillies didn't hit Clutterbuck hard. Thankfully, DiBenedetto wasn't hurt from Clutterbuck's hit, either. But the fact of the matter is that it was a pretty senseless thing for Gillies to do coming fresh off of that nine game suspension. Again, the proper way to handle this situation is challenge Clutterbuck to a fight. When he declines (which generally does happen) then you let Matt Martin and Zenon Konopka take care of hitting anything that moves. A few hits to the likes of Martin Havlat and Pierre-Marc Bouchard takes care of everything and forces the entire Wild team to have to answer the bell for Clutterbuck's hit.
I know people point to the NHL's inconsistency in handing out these suspensions, and that is still the case here. We can argue all day if either of Gillies suspensions fit the crimes. While I support a lot of what happened in that Pittsburgh game, what Gillies did to Tangradi wasn't cool, hit or no hit on Jack Hillen. Continuing to pummel an injured player is terrible no matter how you slice it. That's why they came down as hard as they did on him, or so they thought.
For Gillies to come out after that suspension, and hit Clutterbuck up high - it doesn't matter from the side, from the rear, whatever - is mindless. I'm not sure what was going on in his head. But the reason this suspension is so lengthy is due to what he was just coming off of, not two minutes (of ice time) into that first game back.
The suspension most likely gives Gilles seven (potential) games left of his NHL career.
ISLES TAKE ON BLUES: The Islanders take on my favorite team from the West as the St. Louis Blues come to town. The Blues are a team that has had a rather up and down season, and they made their feelings known on the teams collapse after their hot start with their trade of Erik Johnson and Jay McClement to the Colorado Avalanche for Kevin Shattenkirk and Chris Stewart.
Stewart has been on fire for the Blues, and is the type of player we can hope Kyle Okposo turns in to. While they were drafted far apart in the first round from each other, both were first round picks in the 2006 draft. Stewart hasn't been held back by injuries though and has put together two straight solid seasons as a power forward. He is the guy the Isles have to key in on.
The Blues have some other solid players who are having good season's, like Andy McDonald. He's the guy setting up the likes of Stewart or David Backes.
Ben Bishop starts in goal for the Blues. Bishop has been up and down between the NHL and the AHL's Peoria Blues, but has had some solid games recently when Jaroslav Halak was hurt. Bishop's play led to the waiving of Ty Conklin.
Micheal Haley gets back into the line-up after missing time with a knee injury. He takes Gillies spot in the line-up. Al Montoya gets another start coming off that stellar performance against the Wild. If he puts in another one like that, it's going to be really hard to not start him Sunday against the Devils, no matter what Nathan Lawson did in Washington.
All in all, a pretty good match-up for a Saturday afternoon. Two teams that play similar styles that actually match up quite well with each other. It should be a fun one.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
Showing posts with label Chris Stewart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chris Stewart. Show all posts
March 5, 2011
October 17, 2010
Jurcina Tallies Twice as Isles down Avs 5-2
Milan Jurcina entered Saturday night's contest against the Colorado Avalanche with 15 career goals in 323 games. He would turn out to be the Islanders key source of offense, notching two goals and adding an assist as the Isles went on to defeat the Avalanche.
Jurcina's first goal came in the second period with the Isles on the penalty kill. Josh Bailey won the faceoff, which banked off the boards and went right to Jurcina for a quick shot that goalie Craig Anderson tried to catch with his glove, but missed. Later in the period, with Jurcina pinching towards the goal line to Anderson's left, Jurcina threw the puck at the net. The puck hit the post and the side of Anderson's pad in the small space he left and rolled over the goal line to give the Isles a 2-0 lead.
All of this happened after a fairly uneventful 1st period, one in which the Islanders were outplayed by the Avs. Bailey, earning the hard had for his effort in the game, told us in the locker room that Scott Gordon showed frustration after the first, pointing to the turnovers. That is an area that has killed the Islanders in the times when they haven't played well, and it certainly was the story of the first period tonight. Dwayne Roloson was very sharp, and really was the reason the Islanders were able to come out of the first unscathed.
Bailey scored a goal of his own on the powerplay to make it 3-0. He received a nice pass in the slot from P.A. Parenteau, and was able to be patient enough to wait for Anderson to go down into a split before lifting the puck over him. Bailey has been the Islanders best player most nights, and that was pretty much the case again tonight. He is really developing rapidly before our eyes, and it's been fun to watch so far.
Michael Grabner scored his first goal as an Islander, using his speed to go on a 2-on-1 with Parenteau and received the pass from him. Anderson appeared to play the pass pretty well and make the save but the puck went in anyway as Grabner got a lot on it. He had had a fairly quiet game until that point, and admitted after the game that he is still trying to learn things, but his main objective is to use his speed to push the opposing defensemen back. He did that a couple of times tonight, but still made some of those blind and dangerous passes.
John Tavares had the final goal for the Isles, adding an empty netter with 19 seconds left to seal it.
The Avs goals came from Chris Stewart and T.J. Galiardi. I was very impressed with Stewart this game. He had some good speed and has come a long way since being drafted in the 1st round in 2006. He'll exceed last years breakout numbers for sure. Anderson did not play badly either, and made a few big saves of his own. He's very quick for a goaltender his size, and will be a huge key to success for the Avs this season once again.
The defense was generally pretty good tonight. The Avs are a quick team and were able to exploit them on a couple of occasions, but in the end no real damage was done. Several guys, especially Mike Mottau once again, had the poke check working. They seemed more alert in getting pucks away from the front of the net, particularly when Roloson was sprawled out trying to make a first save. A number of Avs found themselves tied up when going for second chances as well. Jurcina was frequently involved in plays like this. He truly had his best game as an Islander, offense aside.
Here are some clips from the post game interviews (note: I only asked a couple of questions, and I want to give credit where credit is due to the others):
Milan Jurcina
Michael Grabner
Scott Gordon
NYI FYI Podcast Coming: It's Sunday, and of course that means a new podcast coming from Sean and I. Be sure to stop by the podcast site to check that out as we recap a very busy week that was in Islanders Country.
-Chris
nyifyi@gmail.com
Jurcina's first goal came in the second period with the Isles on the penalty kill. Josh Bailey won the faceoff, which banked off the boards and went right to Jurcina for a quick shot that goalie Craig Anderson tried to catch with his glove, but missed. Later in the period, with Jurcina pinching towards the goal line to Anderson's left, Jurcina threw the puck at the net. The puck hit the post and the side of Anderson's pad in the small space he left and rolled over the goal line to give the Isles a 2-0 lead.
All of this happened after a fairly uneventful 1st period, one in which the Islanders were outplayed by the Avs. Bailey, earning the hard had for his effort in the game, told us in the locker room that Scott Gordon showed frustration after the first, pointing to the turnovers. That is an area that has killed the Islanders in the times when they haven't played well, and it certainly was the story of the first period tonight. Dwayne Roloson was very sharp, and really was the reason the Islanders were able to come out of the first unscathed.
Bailey scored a goal of his own on the powerplay to make it 3-0. He received a nice pass in the slot from P.A. Parenteau, and was able to be patient enough to wait for Anderson to go down into a split before lifting the puck over him. Bailey has been the Islanders best player most nights, and that was pretty much the case again tonight. He is really developing rapidly before our eyes, and it's been fun to watch so far.
Michael Grabner scored his first goal as an Islander, using his speed to go on a 2-on-1 with Parenteau and received the pass from him. Anderson appeared to play the pass pretty well and make the save but the puck went in anyway as Grabner got a lot on it. He had had a fairly quiet game until that point, and admitted after the game that he is still trying to learn things, but his main objective is to use his speed to push the opposing defensemen back. He did that a couple of times tonight, but still made some of those blind and dangerous passes.
John Tavares had the final goal for the Isles, adding an empty netter with 19 seconds left to seal it.
The Avs goals came from Chris Stewart and T.J. Galiardi. I was very impressed with Stewart this game. He had some good speed and has come a long way since being drafted in the 1st round in 2006. He'll exceed last years breakout numbers for sure. Anderson did not play badly either, and made a few big saves of his own. He's very quick for a goaltender his size, and will be a huge key to success for the Avs this season once again.
The defense was generally pretty good tonight. The Avs are a quick team and were able to exploit them on a couple of occasions, but in the end no real damage was done. Several guys, especially Mike Mottau once again, had the poke check working. They seemed more alert in getting pucks away from the front of the net, particularly when Roloson was sprawled out trying to make a first save. A number of Avs found themselves tied up when going for second chances as well. Jurcina was frequently involved in plays like this. He truly had his best game as an Islander, offense aside.
Here are some clips from the post game interviews (note: I only asked a couple of questions, and I want to give credit where credit is due to the others):
Milan Jurcina
Michael Grabner
Scott Gordon
NYI FYI Podcast Coming: It's Sunday, and of course that means a new podcast coming from Sean and I. Be sure to stop by the podcast site to check that out as we recap a very busy week that was in Islanders Country.
-Chris
nyifyi@gmail.com
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