John Tavares was probably the Isles most consistent forward through the first two games of the season. On Thursday night against Dwayne Roloson and the Tampa Bay Lightning, he scored enough points to make up for not having any through those games.
Tavares scored two goals and two assists as the Isles went on to beat the Lightning 5-1. Matt Moulson, P.A. Parenteau and Michael Grabner scored the others.
Showing posts with label Dwayne Roloson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dwayne Roloson. Show all posts
October 14, 2011
June 25, 2011
Bruno Gervais Traded to Lightning
While many were focused on the madness that was draft weekend, the Islanders made a separate transaction that marks the end of an era for one Islanders defenseman.
On Saturday the Islanders announced that they had dealt defenseman Bruno Gervais to the Tampa Bay Lightning in return for future considerations.
Those future considerations will likely be a late round draft pick in the 2012 draft.
The deal marks the end of a six year run for Gervais on Long Island, a roller coatser ride if there ever was one.
Gervais was originally drafted in the 6th round back in 2003. While many players in the later rounds were long shots, after a couple of years it looked like the Islanders may have found a gem. After a solid rookie year in the AHL with eight goals and 30 points in 76, Gervais followed that up with 17 goals and 42 points in just 55 AHL games during the strike year of 2004 - 05 leaving many to wonder what he could do at the NHL level.
Gervais showed flashes, most recently near the end of 2008 - 09 after being paired with Mark Streit. The strong play is what made the Islanders keep him over Chris Campoli when it became abundantly clear that they were very similar players, as Campoli began to show signs of regressing. Unfortunately, Gervais would be unable to keep that up for his remaining two seasons and became a depth defenseman on a team that already had plenty.
Seeing as the Islanders still do have all of that depth and not quite enough top-end blue liners, Gervais became the first casualty of a potential house cleaning on the back-end.
Current Lightning Assistant Coach Dan Lacroix seems to have successfully sold Head Coach Guy Boucher and General Manager Steve Yzerman on the idea of bringing in yet another recent ex-Islander player, of which they are three-for-three so far (Dwayne Roloson, Nate Thompson and Sean Bergenheim). Gervais is due to become an RFA on Friday but I'm assuming Tampa plans on him staying for a year.
Personal Note: Bruno Gervais was one of the first Islanders Sean and I interviewed following one of the opening days of training camp, our first in the Blog Box. We walked into the locker room with one of the other bloggers, and Bruno immediately looked in my direction. After introductions were out of the way, he looked back at me and said "Please don't tell me you're cold!" On the way out he requested that I bring a jacket next time.
It's no secret that Bruno was a great guy off the ice, and that part will surely be missed on the Island. We can take solace in the fact that there have been other players who have had the chance to see that side of him for the past few seasons and will undoubtedly pick up where he left off.
Best of luck to Bruno as he opens up the next chapter of his career.
-Chris
nyifyi@gmail.com
On Saturday the Islanders announced that they had dealt defenseman Bruno Gervais to the Tampa Bay Lightning in return for future considerations.
Those future considerations will likely be a late round draft pick in the 2012 draft.
The deal marks the end of a six year run for Gervais on Long Island, a roller coatser ride if there ever was one.
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| Photo by C. Hessel |
Gervais showed flashes, most recently near the end of 2008 - 09 after being paired with Mark Streit. The strong play is what made the Islanders keep him over Chris Campoli when it became abundantly clear that they were very similar players, as Campoli began to show signs of regressing. Unfortunately, Gervais would be unable to keep that up for his remaining two seasons and became a depth defenseman on a team that already had plenty.
Seeing as the Islanders still do have all of that depth and not quite enough top-end blue liners, Gervais became the first casualty of a potential house cleaning on the back-end.
Current Lightning Assistant Coach Dan Lacroix seems to have successfully sold Head Coach Guy Boucher and General Manager Steve Yzerman on the idea of bringing in yet another recent ex-Islander player, of which they are three-for-three so far (Dwayne Roloson, Nate Thompson and Sean Bergenheim). Gervais is due to become an RFA on Friday but I'm assuming Tampa plans on him staying for a year.
Personal Note: Bruno Gervais was one of the first Islanders Sean and I interviewed following one of the opening days of training camp, our first in the Blog Box. We walked into the locker room with one of the other bloggers, and Bruno immediately looked in my direction. After introductions were out of the way, he looked back at me and said "Please don't tell me you're cold!" On the way out he requested that I bring a jacket next time.
It's no secret that Bruno was a great guy off the ice, and that part will surely be missed on the Island. We can take solace in the fact that there have been other players who have had the chance to see that side of him for the past few seasons and will undoubtedly pick up where he left off.
Best of luck to Bruno as he opens up the next chapter of his career.
-Chris
nyifyi@gmail.com
May 17, 2011
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
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
May 9, 2011
Postseason Potpourri
While the Islanders may not have been able to participate in this year's playoffs, they certainly have been a treat to watch for the hockey fan in general.
I'm trying to think in my lifetime when I have seen a playoff season this crazy and I really can't think of one. The overtime games, the underdogs winning - it's all been really fun to watch.
When I think of what the biggest story has been thus far, I think you have to look at what the Tampa Bay Lightning are doing. Not only did they oust a Penguins team that was still very strong without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but they also quickly dispatched of a Washington Capitals team that up until this point had looked the best of any Caps team I've seen in the playoffs in recent years.
The Lightning are getting top notch performances from Martin St. Louis, Dwayne Roloson and...Sean Bergenheim?!
As strange as it may be to say that, it's not uncommon for solid role players to elevate their game in the playoffs. Bergenheim has always been a very solid role player, and I'm glad to see him having the kind of success he is so far in the playoffs. Some fans may be biter about his departure from the Island, but the reality of the situation is that it just wasn't working out here, and it wasn't going to.
Bergenheim was at the age where you could no longer consider him "the future." That point had come and gone, and when it did Bergenheim was at a crossroads. With many similar players on the roster, Garth Snow had to make a tough decision. Bergenheim was essentially redundant, and cutting him loose gave the Isles the ability to bring in guys like P.A. Parenteau and give him a chance, along with guys like Matt Martin and Michael Grabner.
At any rate, it's good to see him, along with Nate Thompson play well as solid role players on a strong team.
Meanwhile, fans in Minnesota, Edmonton and Long Island are unsurprised at the way that Roloson has played, carrying the Lightning on a couple of nights too. We knew dating back to his days as an Oiler that he can come up big in the post season, but he remained one of the most underrated goalies in the league. When he became one of the top available goalies on the market, many questioned why a team would want him because of his age. Sure, that has to be a concern, but when it comes to his play I think anyone who had watched him closely enough would know he had plenty left in the tank. Steve Yzerman watched closely, and when it came to giving up a B-level prospect for him in Ty Wishart when other teams balked, he went ahead with the move. Now, he looks like a genius.
Other story lines include the lack of intensity from teams that are fighting for their lives. In their respective game fours, both the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals looked like they would rather be doing something else. Unless that something else was golf, I can't fathom why neither team really showed up. In that final game for Washington, Alex Ovechkin played well and looked good. Unfortunately for him, the list ends there.
While he didn't score in last seasons upset to the Montreal Canadiens, you can't say that Alex Semin didn't try. When you pelt 48 shots at a red hot goaltender, even if he stops them all you did your part. But I can't say I feel the same way about Semin in the 2nd round. He's a very talented player who perhaps got away from the things that make him successful.
The Flyers on the other hand finally hit a brick wall when it came to their goaltender by committee. Going for relievers works well in baseball, and it worked well for the Flyers in the 1st round. But no matter who they had in net against the Bruins, it didn't change the way they played. Of course, it didn't help that the Flyers were missing Chris Pronger and had Jeff Carter at anything but 100%, but they are still a strong team up front and on defense. Goaltending continues to be an issue here, and it will be interesting to see how they solve this problem. Do they continue on with Sergei Bobrovski after giving up on him quickly? Do they try and find a way to sign Tomas Vokoun, even if it means shedding some salary? Or, do they give a call to a team for a cheaper but unknown options, such as the Isles very own Evgeni Nabokov (more on this in a later post)?
One of the other cool stories so far is the rise of the Nashville Predators. This is something I'll comment on more in a few days or so, but I am enjoying the success they are finally having. The team and their fans deserve it.
ISLES IN THE WC: The Islanders sent six players to the World Championships: John Tavares (Canada), Al Montoya (United States), Evgeni Nabokov (Russia), Milan Jurcina (Slovakia), Radek Martinek (Czech Republic) and Jesse Joensuu (Finland).
So far, Montoya has looked pretty good playing for former Isles coach Scott Gordon. Montoya did have one bad start and was ultimately replaced as the starter by Ty Conklin. In general, goalies are changed quite frequently after a bad game when it comes to tournaments like this. Montoya did have a relief appearance though on Monday, and played well again. It remains to be seen if he took back the starting spot from Conklin though.
Meanwhile Tavares has been one of Canada's best players. As TSN pointed out in an article on Sunday, Tavares had four goals and eight points while only averaging 13 minutes of ice time. In Canada's 3-2 win over Sweden on Monday, Tavares added another goal to bring his total to five.
I know a lot of fans were uneasy with Tavares going to represent his country, especially after the injury that he suffered last season. From my perspective though, it's definitely beneficial for a player like him. At that age, you want him playing as many games as possible. Since the Isles can't be a part of the dance this year, it's only natural to think that the next best thing is to play in some meaningful games to your country. While they may not be as important as the Olympic games, they certainly have a lot of weight up North especially for the non-Vancouver Canuck fans right now.
Now, on the other hand a player in Martinek's position should not be participating in games like this. Radek has always taken great pride in playing for two teams, however: the Islanders and his National team. I wasn't surprised Martinek decided to go, but raied an eyebrow when I took into consideration his contract status (UFA to be), his injury history and his desire to be re-signed by the Islanders.
Here's the conundrum now, however. Martinek sustained a nasty injury in the tournament, which ended his participation for the summer. His injuries are not as bad as originally feared, but still sizeable (concussion, but with no spinal injuries).
Martinek is an excellent and very underrated defenseman, but does that mean the Isles should pay the price and possibly be scrambling for defensemen again next season? I think it's become quite clear that even this improved defense corps (from what it was in 2009-10) needs to be improved once more to add in durability.
When the Isles resigned Milan Jurcina, both Sean and I were happy about it. Not everyone was, and we had some good discussions about it on Twitter and Facebook. Truth be told, Jurcina is very injury prone himself. However, when he played and was used in the right situations he excelled and that's why I have no probelms with him coming back. When he was re-signed, I was under the impression that Martinek wasn't returning anyway.
Defense has become the number one issue facing this team right now in my opinion. It still could use a slight overhaul to add durability. If that means letting a very good defenseman go in Martinek, then so be it.
PLAYOFFS IN JUNIORS: Some of the Isles younger players are benefitting from some great play in the playoffs for their juniors teams too.
The most notable of the bunch is Nino Niederreiter, who is just tearing the WHL up in the playoffs with nine goals and 16 assists for 25 points over 18 games. His team is in the finals against Kootenay, who won the last game in a wild one 7-5. The series is tied 1-1. But for Isles fans, the story is Niederreiter and what he's done.
When you consider the slow start he got off to when originally going back down to the WHL, it is all the more impressive. I would be shocked if he didn't make the team next season - or, at the very least wasn't given a very long leash and every chance to grab one of the final spots on the roster (barring any unforseen changes upfront).
The experience is the reason why it was necessary for Niederreiter to go back down, and why it would have been as equally as beneficial if the Isles did right by Josh Bailey a few seasons ago. Hopefully Niederreiter's team can continue to streak through and make the Memorial Cup.
Casey Cizikas is also going deep into the playoffs as a member of Missagua in the OHL. Cizikas and his Majors are also in a dog fight with the seris tied 2-2 after a tough overtime loss on Sunday.
Cizikas has five goals and 10 helpers for 15 points in 13 games. For the OHL, those are very solid numbers. For Cizikas, each day he seems to add another chapter to a story that seemed very unlikely at one time.
As an Isles fan, you have to be thrilled seeing these two young forwards going deep into their playoffs. We have seen the past few years what Calvin deHaan was all about, as well as fellow defensemen Travis Hamonic and Matt Donovan. Hamonic of course is already up with the Isles, and deHaan had a solid year as the captain for the Oshawa Generals.
The forward picture was a bit more murky as we wondered what the ceiling was for guys like Niederreiter, Cizikas and others such as Kirill Kabanov. All three had solid showings in the post season, although each seemed to take a different route to get there. We want to have these battles in the future, even if it means making a tough decision to get better elsewhere in the organization.
OTHER NOTES: Obviously, both Sean and I have taken some time off to take care of some items we may have put aside. Those of you who have continued to follow us have most likely seen the Twitter and Facebook updates we've had throughout these fantastic playoffs thus far.
I've taken some time to think about what I'd like to write about as we enter some of the slower months and I have some good ideas kicking around in my head that I plan to have some conversations with the Isles on. Once I figure out what I'm able to do you guys will have a better idea.
In the meantime, feel free to continue to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and feel free to tell us what your favorite moments have been so far of the playoffs. As always, we continue to welcome all thoughts and questions, be it on the NHL or the Isles.
One last thing, don't be surprised if some things change on the blog here and there. I know over the winter I said I was going to change the format up, and I held off because I needed to learn some of the bells and whistles and by the time I got to think about what I wanted to do, there wasn't much left to the season so I put any renovations off until the offseason. So if you pop on one day and we're down, down fret and just sit tight.
I promise it won't be three weeks before my next post.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
I'm trying to think in my lifetime when I have seen a playoff season this crazy and I really can't think of one. The overtime games, the underdogs winning - it's all been really fun to watch.
When I think of what the biggest story has been thus far, I think you have to look at what the Tampa Bay Lightning are doing. Not only did they oust a Penguins team that was still very strong without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but they also quickly dispatched of a Washington Capitals team that up until this point had looked the best of any Caps team I've seen in the playoffs in recent years.
The Lightning are getting top notch performances from Martin St. Louis, Dwayne Roloson and...Sean Bergenheim?!
As strange as it may be to say that, it's not uncommon for solid role players to elevate their game in the playoffs. Bergenheim has always been a very solid role player, and I'm glad to see him having the kind of success he is so far in the playoffs. Some fans may be biter about his departure from the Island, but the reality of the situation is that it just wasn't working out here, and it wasn't going to.
Bergenheim was at the age where you could no longer consider him "the future." That point had come and gone, and when it did Bergenheim was at a crossroads. With many similar players on the roster, Garth Snow had to make a tough decision. Bergenheim was essentially redundant, and cutting him loose gave the Isles the ability to bring in guys like P.A. Parenteau and give him a chance, along with guys like Matt Martin and Michael Grabner.
At any rate, it's good to see him, along with Nate Thompson play well as solid role players on a strong team.
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| Fans from Minny, Edmonton and LI are unsurprised by Roli. |
Obviously, if it's not clear by now I am pulling for the Lightning to get all the way to the finals. Ideally, it would be nice to see Roli finally add a cup to his resume. He's putting to rest a lot of the talk of age.
Other story lines include the lack of intensity from teams that are fighting for their lives. In their respective game fours, both the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals looked like they would rather be doing something else. Unless that something else was golf, I can't fathom why neither team really showed up. In that final game for Washington, Alex Ovechkin played well and looked good. Unfortunately for him, the list ends there.
While he didn't score in last seasons upset to the Montreal Canadiens, you can't say that Alex Semin didn't try. When you pelt 48 shots at a red hot goaltender, even if he stops them all you did your part. But I can't say I feel the same way about Semin in the 2nd round. He's a very talented player who perhaps got away from the things that make him successful.
The Flyers on the other hand finally hit a brick wall when it came to their goaltender by committee. Going for relievers works well in baseball, and it worked well for the Flyers in the 1st round. But no matter who they had in net against the Bruins, it didn't change the way they played. Of course, it didn't help that the Flyers were missing Chris Pronger and had Jeff Carter at anything but 100%, but they are still a strong team up front and on defense. Goaltending continues to be an issue here, and it will be interesting to see how they solve this problem. Do they continue on with Sergei Bobrovski after giving up on him quickly? Do they try and find a way to sign Tomas Vokoun, even if it means shedding some salary? Or, do they give a call to a team for a cheaper but unknown options, such as the Isles very own Evgeni Nabokov (more on this in a later post)?
One of the other cool stories so far is the rise of the Nashville Predators. This is something I'll comment on more in a few days or so, but I am enjoying the success they are finally having. The team and their fans deserve it.
ISLES IN THE WC: The Islanders sent six players to the World Championships: John Tavares (Canada), Al Montoya (United States), Evgeni Nabokov (Russia), Milan Jurcina (Slovakia), Radek Martinek (Czech Republic) and Jesse Joensuu (Finland).
So far, Montoya has looked pretty good playing for former Isles coach Scott Gordon. Montoya did have one bad start and was ultimately replaced as the starter by Ty Conklin. In general, goalies are changed quite frequently after a bad game when it comes to tournaments like this. Montoya did have a relief appearance though on Monday, and played well again. It remains to be seen if he took back the starting spot from Conklin though.
Meanwhile Tavares has been one of Canada's best players. As TSN pointed out in an article on Sunday, Tavares had four goals and eight points while only averaging 13 minutes of ice time. In Canada's 3-2 win over Sweden on Monday, Tavares added another goal to bring his total to five.
I know a lot of fans were uneasy with Tavares going to represent his country, especially after the injury that he suffered last season. From my perspective though, it's definitely beneficial for a player like him. At that age, you want him playing as many games as possible. Since the Isles can't be a part of the dance this year, it's only natural to think that the next best thing is to play in some meaningful games to your country. While they may not be as important as the Olympic games, they certainly have a lot of weight up North especially for the non-Vancouver Canuck fans right now.
Now, on the other hand a player in Martinek's position should not be participating in games like this. Radek has always taken great pride in playing for two teams, however: the Islanders and his National team. I wasn't surprised Martinek decided to go, but raied an eyebrow when I took into consideration his contract status (UFA to be), his injury history and his desire to be re-signed by the Islanders.
Here's the conundrum now, however. Martinek sustained a nasty injury in the tournament, which ended his participation for the summer. His injuries are not as bad as originally feared, but still sizeable (concussion, but with no spinal injuries).
Martinek hasn't been the poster boy for durability, and neither has the Isles defense. Mark Eaton, Mike Mottau, Andrew MacDonald, Milan Jurcina and Mark Streit all sustained prolonged and season-ending injuries at some point last season, which obviously raises some red flags. Then you take into account that Martinek's injury history (excluding this past season, which we'll say is an outlier for now) isn't the cleanest, and I'm having a hard time convincing myself that the Isles have to keep him.
 |
| Martinek's decade on LI has been mired by injury. |
When the Isles resigned Milan Jurcina, both Sean and I were happy about it. Not everyone was, and we had some good discussions about it on Twitter and Facebook. Truth be told, Jurcina is very injury prone himself. However, when he played and was used in the right situations he excelled and that's why I have no probelms with him coming back. When he was re-signed, I was under the impression that Martinek wasn't returning anyway.
Defense has become the number one issue facing this team right now in my opinion. It still could use a slight overhaul to add durability. If that means letting a very good defenseman go in Martinek, then so be it.
PLAYOFFS IN JUNIORS: Some of the Isles younger players are benefitting from some great play in the playoffs for their juniors teams too.
The most notable of the bunch is Nino Niederreiter, who is just tearing the WHL up in the playoffs with nine goals and 16 assists for 25 points over 18 games. His team is in the finals against Kootenay, who won the last game in a wild one 7-5. The series is tied 1-1. But for Isles fans, the story is Niederreiter and what he's done.
When you consider the slow start he got off to when originally going back down to the WHL, it is all the more impressive. I would be shocked if he didn't make the team next season - or, at the very least wasn't given a very long leash and every chance to grab one of the final spots on the roster (barring any unforseen changes upfront).
The experience is the reason why it was necessary for Niederreiter to go back down, and why it would have been as equally as beneficial if the Isles did right by Josh Bailey a few seasons ago. Hopefully Niederreiter's team can continue to streak through and make the Memorial Cup.
Casey Cizikas is also going deep into the playoffs as a member of Missagua in the OHL. Cizikas and his Majors are also in a dog fight with the seris tied 2-2 after a tough overtime loss on Sunday.
Cizikas has five goals and 10 helpers for 15 points in 13 games. For the OHL, those are very solid numbers. For Cizikas, each day he seems to add another chapter to a story that seemed very unlikely at one time.
As an Isles fan, you have to be thrilled seeing these two young forwards going deep into their playoffs. We have seen the past few years what Calvin deHaan was all about, as well as fellow defensemen Travis Hamonic and Matt Donovan. Hamonic of course is already up with the Isles, and deHaan had a solid year as the captain for the Oshawa Generals.
The forward picture was a bit more murky as we wondered what the ceiling was for guys like Niederreiter, Cizikas and others such as Kirill Kabanov. All three had solid showings in the post season, although each seemed to take a different route to get there. We want to have these battles in the future, even if it means making a tough decision to get better elsewhere in the organization.
OTHER NOTES: Obviously, both Sean and I have taken some time off to take care of some items we may have put aside. Those of you who have continued to follow us have most likely seen the Twitter and Facebook updates we've had throughout these fantastic playoffs thus far.
I've taken some time to think about what I'd like to write about as we enter some of the slower months and I have some good ideas kicking around in my head that I plan to have some conversations with the Isles on. Once I figure out what I'm able to do you guys will have a better idea.
In the meantime, feel free to continue to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and feel free to tell us what your favorite moments have been so far of the playoffs. As always, we continue to welcome all thoughts and questions, be it on the NHL or the Isles.
One last thing, don't be surprised if some things change on the blog here and there. I know over the winter I said I was going to change the format up, and I held off because I needed to learn some of the bells and whistles and by the time I got to think about what I wanted to do, there wasn't much left to the season so I put any renovations off until the offseason. So if you pop on one day and we're down, down fret and just sit tight.
I promise it won't be three weeks before my next post.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
March 22, 2011
Islanders 5, Lightning 2
There always seems to be some extra emotions when you go up against a player that you have come to know and in many cases, love. This idea is slightly magnified when you are one of a slew of young players who may have looked up to that player.
Despite all of the glowing remarks from the current Islanders about ex-Isles goalie Dwayne Roloson, the Islanders came out very strong. Even after they gave up an early goal to Nate Thompson, they kept pressing and ultimately tied it on a power-play goal by Josh Bailey. Good job by Bailey there to go to the front of the net. That's something I feel he has been doing with more consistency lately, and something he needs to continue to do as he tries to find some consistency at the NHL level.
Speaking of Bailey, his game away from the puck was really good too. He made some nice plays to help prevent the Lightning from getting out of the zone, and also had a couple of nice shifts where he was able to keep the puck up against the boards behind the net so the Islanders could continue to maintain offensive pressure. All around good stuff from Bailey.
In the second period, the Islanders came out firing on all cylinders, adding two goals to grab a 3-1 lead. Kyle Okposo had a nice deflection on a shot by Milan Jurcina, while Matt Martin continues to take big strides in developing an offensive game. Jack Hillen made a really nice play to get the puck to Martin, who made a nice move to his back hand on a break to get the puck past Roloson.
Michael Grabner used his speed to not only create some chances, but also draw a couple of penalties. Those are just as important as his goal scoring. With the way some of the other players have clicked, particularly on the man advantage, the fact that he'll give the Isles plenty of chances on the power-play is one of the big reasons why the Isles scoring has gone up. Kyle Okposo also does a great job of drawing penalties, which has helped as well.
Grabner would get an empty net goal to ice the game for the Isles. He made a nice play to chip the puck out of the zone and essentially pass to himself.
Frans Nielsen quietly had himself another awesome game. He scored a goal that was rather odd, after losing the puck on a breakaway. He led all Isles forwards in ice-time. He wasn't as solid as he normally has been on face-offs, but all of the other things that he did were fantastic. I would have liked to see him shoot the puck on that 2-on-0 break with Grabner. I think everyone in the building expected him to pass it, so he should have tried to fake everyone out. But that's minor stuff.
Steve Stamkos has a much better offensive game than I thought he did. I saw him make a couple of nice plays, although he did have a couple of rough turnovers. Nothing that cost the Lightning anything major, however.
Al Montoya continued to do what he's done since he came here and put forth another solid effort. I can't really blame him on any of the goals. You can make the argument about the rebound on that first goal not two minutes into the game, but I feel Radek Martinek has to do a slightly better job tying up Thompson there.
The Isles got a bit sloppy late in the game and took a couple of penalties. For the most part, the calls were legit. Travis Hamonic needs to tone it down that late in the game, with the Lightning pressing and already on the power-play. Fortunately, Sean Bergenheim felt the need to try and defend Martin St. Louis after Hamonic hit him from behind and negated the 5-on-3 for the Lightning.
All in all, this was a solid effort for a team that's been playing really well of late. To have an effort like this against one of the best in the East is a good story too. Roloson will have to wait until next season - if he plays that is - to get revenge on his old team.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
Despite all of the glowing remarks from the current Islanders about ex-Isles goalie Dwayne Roloson, the Islanders came out very strong. Even after they gave up an early goal to Nate Thompson, they kept pressing and ultimately tied it on a power-play goal by Josh Bailey. Good job by Bailey there to go to the front of the net. That's something I feel he has been doing with more consistency lately, and something he needs to continue to do as he tries to find some consistency at the NHL level.
Speaking of Bailey, his game away from the puck was really good too. He made some nice plays to help prevent the Lightning from getting out of the zone, and also had a couple of nice shifts where he was able to keep the puck up against the boards behind the net so the Islanders could continue to maintain offensive pressure. All around good stuff from Bailey.
In the second period, the Islanders came out firing on all cylinders, adding two goals to grab a 3-1 lead. Kyle Okposo had a nice deflection on a shot by Milan Jurcina, while Matt Martin continues to take big strides in developing an offensive game. Jack Hillen made a really nice play to get the puck to Martin, who made a nice move to his back hand on a break to get the puck past Roloson.
Michael Grabner used his speed to not only create some chances, but also draw a couple of penalties. Those are just as important as his goal scoring. With the way some of the other players have clicked, particularly on the man advantage, the fact that he'll give the Isles plenty of chances on the power-play is one of the big reasons why the Isles scoring has gone up. Kyle Okposo also does a great job of drawing penalties, which has helped as well.
Grabner would get an empty net goal to ice the game for the Isles. He made a nice play to chip the puck out of the zone and essentially pass to himself.
Frans Nielsen quietly had himself another awesome game. He scored a goal that was rather odd, after losing the puck on a breakaway. He led all Isles forwards in ice-time. He wasn't as solid as he normally has been on face-offs, but all of the other things that he did were fantastic. I would have liked to see him shoot the puck on that 2-on-0 break with Grabner. I think everyone in the building expected him to pass it, so he should have tried to fake everyone out. But that's minor stuff.
Steve Stamkos has a much better offensive game than I thought he did. I saw him make a couple of nice plays, although he did have a couple of rough turnovers. Nothing that cost the Lightning anything major, however.
Al Montoya continued to do what he's done since he came here and put forth another solid effort. I can't really blame him on any of the goals. You can make the argument about the rebound on that first goal not two minutes into the game, but I feel Radek Martinek has to do a slightly better job tying up Thompson there.
The Isles got a bit sloppy late in the game and took a couple of penalties. For the most part, the calls were legit. Travis Hamonic needs to tone it down that late in the game, with the Lightning pressing and already on the power-play. Fortunately, Sean Bergenheim felt the need to try and defend Martin St. Louis after Hamonic hit him from behind and negated the 5-on-3 for the Lightning.
All in all, this was a solid effort for a team that's been playing really well of late. To have an effort like this against one of the best in the East is a good story too. Roloson will have to wait until next season - if he plays that is - to get revenge on his old team.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
February 8, 2011
Who is Ty Wishart?
It may have taken a while for Ty Wishart to get his chance to show his stuff on the Islanders blue line, but when that time came it ended up being a fairly successful first weekend.
Wishart, acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning in the January 1st trade that sent beloved net minder Dwayne Roloson the other way, was called up from the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on January 31st, the day after the NHL All Star Game. Wishart had five assists in 12 games with the Sound Tigers after posting a 4-14-18 line in 31 games with Tampa's AHL affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals.
In general Wishart appeared to play well - nothing spectacular, but didn't always make any glaring mistakes. The play was enough for the Isles as they decided it was the time they gave Wishart his chance. He didn't get into the Isles first two games after the break, which were both on the road. The team returned to Long Island and held practice on Friday morning, giving us our first look at the 6'4", 222 pound defenseman in person.
I headed out to practice Friday with the main goal of speaking a few minutes with Wishart in order to get to know him better as a person and a player. I feel like there is only so much you can get by reading reports and watching videos online, so what better way than to see him in action, even if it was just a practice scenario.
For a guy his size, Wishart's skating isn't the worst in the world. It's an area of his game that is still a bit raw, but very serviceable. He is pretty mobile, and his defensive awareness is very good. When he was drafted, one of the points of emphasis of his game was that he can think the game at a high level and is almost always in the right position.
After practice on Friday, I sat down with Wishart. One of the questions I asked was if he had been told when he would get in a game. All he could say was that there was some talks about playing Saturday, but there were no guarantees. He got that chance and in my opinion, made the most of his first impression.
Chris Hessel: A lot of Islanders fans since the trade are wondering about Ty Wishart. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself - as a defenseman, how you got into hockey - things like that?
Wishart: Well, obviously it was the same thing as most Canadians. You grow up with the game. I grew up playing on a little pond in Ontario and went out West and continued from there.
As far as my game, I think I'm a two-way defenseman and hopefully I get a chance to get into the line-up and show the fans what I can do.
CH: Is there a player out there you grew up watching, a defenseman, that you try and emulate yourself after?
TW: No, not really. I didn't watch a whole lot of hockey growing up so I don't really model myself after anyone I don't think. I just try to play my own game and try to do the best I can.
CH: How did you find out about the trade (to the Isles)?
TW: The GM came in after the game in Wilkes-Barre and told me I got traded and we let the guys know and I went to Bridgeport from there.
CH: As a young player, you've been traded first in a package for Dan Boyle, who was very important to his team and then you were traded for Dwayne Roloson, another important player. What does that say to you as a message of faith, in this case from the Islanders?
TW: I don't know, but I'm definitely getting a pretty good trade card going on here! It feels like they want me and that's always a good feeling, going to a team that will give up a pretty good guy for you. That's definitely a pretty good feeling.
CH: Last year and this year both in the AHL, you seem to have picked up your play from a few seasons back. What's different for you, what has changed or what has gotten better?
TW: Confidence. My first year in the league I was pretty tentative and maybe didn't see the plays that I seem to be able to make now. It's definitely a huge confidence thing.
---
ISLES TAKE ON LEAFS: Wishart and the Isles prepare to take on the Maple Leafs Tuesday night at the Coliseum. The Leafs are a team that has struggled overall this season, but have played better of late in front of young net minder James Reimer. There is potentially some off ice problems going on behind the scenes with Phil Kessel and head coach Ron Wilson, but both have come out and denied that. Brian Burke meanwhile has said neither of them are going anywhere. Kessel has not registered a goal in 10 games, and has been pointless in the last five.
The Isles need to come out hard here and not take anything for granted. Kessel has good career numbers against the Isles (8-5-13 in 16 games) and this could be his opportunity to break out of his slump.
MISSED OUR SHOW? If you missed us live on Saturday for our latest installment of NYI FYI, you can catch up by going to our UStream page or, as always, the MyPodcast site.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
Wishart, acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning in the January 1st trade that sent beloved net minder Dwayne Roloson the other way, was called up from the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on January 31st, the day after the NHL All Star Game. Wishart had five assists in 12 games with the Sound Tigers after posting a 4-14-18 line in 31 games with Tampa's AHL affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals.
In general Wishart appeared to play well - nothing spectacular, but didn't always make any glaring mistakes. The play was enough for the Isles as they decided it was the time they gave Wishart his chance. He didn't get into the Isles first two games after the break, which were both on the road. The team returned to Long Island and held practice on Friday morning, giving us our first look at the 6'4", 222 pound defenseman in person.
I headed out to practice Friday with the main goal of speaking a few minutes with Wishart in order to get to know him better as a person and a player. I feel like there is only so much you can get by reading reports and watching videos online, so what better way than to see him in action, even if it was just a practice scenario.
I watched Wishart fairly closely from the end where I was sitting. Seven defensemen practiced, with Wishart often running drills with Bruno Gervais. There were a couple of instances where he screwed up, like making a bad pass, and he would show frustration. Others weren't as animated as he was when making a mistake.
For a guy his size, Wishart's skating isn't the worst in the world. It's an area of his game that is still a bit raw, but very serviceable. He is pretty mobile, and his defensive awareness is very good. When he was drafted, one of the points of emphasis of his game was that he can think the game at a high level and is almost always in the right position.
But this is something many Islanders fans have figured out by now after finally getting to watch Wishart in his Isles debut. Wishart played just over 15 minutes against the Senators on Saturday, registering two assists and a couple of hits.
 |
| Ty Wishart has his chance now. Photo by C. Hessel |
Speaking of first impressions, when I went up and introduced myself to Ty I could see immediately why he was named Norfolk's "Man of the Year" after this past season. A great kid with a great personality. Hopefully, things work out for him and he develops while he's here.
Chris Hessel: A lot of Islanders fans since the trade are wondering about Ty Wishart. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself - as a defenseman, how you got into hockey - things like that?
Wishart: Well, obviously it was the same thing as most Canadians. You grow up with the game. I grew up playing on a little pond in Ontario and went out West and continued from there.
As far as my game, I think I'm a two-way defenseman and hopefully I get a chance to get into the line-up and show the fans what I can do.
CH: Is there a player out there you grew up watching, a defenseman, that you try and emulate yourself after?
TW: No, not really. I didn't watch a whole lot of hockey growing up so I don't really model myself after anyone I don't think. I just try to play my own game and try to do the best I can.
CH: How did you find out about the trade (to the Isles)?
TW: The GM came in after the game in Wilkes-Barre and told me I got traded and we let the guys know and I went to Bridgeport from there.
CH: As a young player, you've been traded first in a package for Dan Boyle, who was very important to his team and then you were traded for Dwayne Roloson, another important player. What does that say to you as a message of faith, in this case from the Islanders?
TW: I don't know, but I'm definitely getting a pretty good trade card going on here! It feels like they want me and that's always a good feeling, going to a team that will give up a pretty good guy for you. That's definitely a pretty good feeling.
CH: Last year and this year both in the AHL, you seem to have picked up your play from a few seasons back. What's different for you, what has changed or what has gotten better?
TW: Confidence. My first year in the league I was pretty tentative and maybe didn't see the plays that I seem to be able to make now. It's definitely a huge confidence thing.
---
ISLES TAKE ON LEAFS: Wishart and the Isles prepare to take on the Maple Leafs Tuesday night at the Coliseum. The Leafs are a team that has struggled overall this season, but have played better of late in front of young net minder James Reimer. There is potentially some off ice problems going on behind the scenes with Phil Kessel and head coach Ron Wilson, but both have come out and denied that. Brian Burke meanwhile has said neither of them are going anywhere. Kessel has not registered a goal in 10 games, and has been pointless in the last five.
The Isles need to come out hard here and not take anything for granted. Kessel has good career numbers against the Isles (8-5-13 in 16 games) and this could be his opportunity to break out of his slump.
MISSED OUR SHOW? If you missed us live on Saturday for our latest installment of NYI FYI, you can catch up by going to our UStream page or, as always, the MyPodcast site.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
January 26, 2011
Poulin Looks Sharp as Isles Fall to Pens; Nabokov Suspended
Evgeni who?
For those wondering what Kevin Poulin may have thought about the Evgeni Nabokov claim, the 20 year old let his play do the talking Tuesday night against the Penguins.
Poulin looked sharp all game, particularly early on. That was a big plus considering he has had slow starts every time he has been in a game as a starter. A lot of debate has been going on about Poulin the last couple of days, with many wanting him to go back to the AHL to get the playing and development time he needs. That was the number one motive behind the Nabokov claim.
With Nabokov refusing to report and Nathan Lawson out a week or two with a knee injury, Poulin will get some extra chances to prove that his time is now. Tuesday he certainly made a statement as he had what I would have to day was his most solid effort.
The rest of the Islanders weren't to shabby either, but unfortunately their effort wasn't enough to topple the Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin-less Pens.
It took all of 49 minutes for the Penguins to finally solve Poulin as Craig Adams would put a rebound past Poulin.
For the Isles, it was their 10th straight loss to the Penguins on the road.
Unfortunately, we had yet another game with some pretty poor officiating on both sides of the puck. Some could say that they were letting the boys play, and it certainly appeared like it at times. However, the few calls that were made were very questionable. Fortunately, it didn't seem to cost anyone.
In all honesty, aside from Poulin there was no one in particular who really stood out to me. Michael Grabner played pretty well and made some nice plays there, but it's the stuff he's been doing for the last month or so. It's great to see him keep that up and get the puck towards the net any way that he can.
The defense looks shaky at times. I'm a big fan of Travis Hamonic, but lately he has looked a bit weak to me. He had a nice fight 26 seconds into the game with Tyler Kennedy. But defensively, you can tell that he is very young. He'll get there though.
Overall, the team has a hard time shooting off of a pass. I notice quite frequently that the Islanders will pass the puck around at the point, and they will hesitate to shoot. Despite the fact that it wasn't very accurate, this is one thing I miss that James Wisniewski provided. He had his fare share of hesitations, but sometimes was not afraid to just rip a hard slap shot. A lot of the guys are hesitant to do that, and often have weak attempts or just have the shots easily blocked as they allow the defense to get set for the shot. The urgency is something that they need to continue to work on.
The Islanders return home for a Wednesday night match-up with the Carolina Hurricanes. The Canes have been playing some decent hockey of late, and have been one of those up and down bubble teams looking for a playoff birth. They are 9th right now, just one point behind the Atlanta Thrashers. I'm looking forward to seeing them live as I will be in the press box for the game (weather permitting).
NABOKOV SUSPENDED: As expected, the Islanders suspended Nabokov after failing to report on the 2nd flight that the team set-up for him this weekend. It appears that he will not have a change of heart. So, as I mentioned earlier, Poulin has the chance for the time being to prove that he is capable of playing in the NHL.
In the end, the Isles made the right move here with Nabokov. I was on the fence about whether or not it was worth it, but the guy left his team in the KHL and expected to fly through waivers unclaimed. The Isles need a goalie.
I will be a little annoyed if the next few weeks come and go and the Isles don't attempt to add another goalie, because essentially what this whole fiasco tells us is that they are admitting that they jumped the gun on dealing Dwayne Roloson and that they still need another solid option for the remainder of this year and possibly next season.
Either way, it remains to be seen how long this saga will go on. With sources claiming the Isles are likely to "toll" the contract into next season, the Isles have all the leverage here. The All-Star break will begin after tonight's game, but it appears as though there will be no more calls from Garth Snow based on his comments from last night. Any change of heart will have to come from Nabokov and his agent.
The moral of this story? Don't think you can't find greener pastures in the KHL, have a poor showing, and expect to be able to easily just join a contender because it's convenient for you, and don't say you will report wherever you are claimed because you want "visibility for next season" and then refuse to report to the team that claimed you. While the league and the NHLPA are looking at the situation, something tells me the NHL is in support of the Isles because this sends a message to those who are willing to turn down decent offers from contenders in order to sign contracts in the KHL and expect to re-appear.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
For those wondering what Kevin Poulin may have thought about the Evgeni Nabokov claim, the 20 year old let his play do the talking Tuesday night against the Penguins.
Poulin looked sharp all game, particularly early on. That was a big plus considering he has had slow starts every time he has been in a game as a starter. A lot of debate has been going on about Poulin the last couple of days, with many wanting him to go back to the AHL to get the playing and development time he needs. That was the number one motive behind the Nabokov claim.
With Nabokov refusing to report and Nathan Lawson out a week or two with a knee injury, Poulin will get some extra chances to prove that his time is now. Tuesday he certainly made a statement as he had what I would have to day was his most solid effort.
The rest of the Islanders weren't to shabby either, but unfortunately their effort wasn't enough to topple the Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin-less Pens.
It took all of 49 minutes for the Penguins to finally solve Poulin as Craig Adams would put a rebound past Poulin.
For the Isles, it was their 10th straight loss to the Penguins on the road.
Unfortunately, we had yet another game with some pretty poor officiating on both sides of the puck. Some could say that they were letting the boys play, and it certainly appeared like it at times. However, the few calls that were made were very questionable. Fortunately, it didn't seem to cost anyone.
In all honesty, aside from Poulin there was no one in particular who really stood out to me. Michael Grabner played pretty well and made some nice plays there, but it's the stuff he's been doing for the last month or so. It's great to see him keep that up and get the puck towards the net any way that he can.
The defense looks shaky at times. I'm a big fan of Travis Hamonic, but lately he has looked a bit weak to me. He had a nice fight 26 seconds into the game with Tyler Kennedy. But defensively, you can tell that he is very young. He'll get there though.
Overall, the team has a hard time shooting off of a pass. I notice quite frequently that the Islanders will pass the puck around at the point, and they will hesitate to shoot. Despite the fact that it wasn't very accurate, this is one thing I miss that James Wisniewski provided. He had his fare share of hesitations, but sometimes was not afraid to just rip a hard slap shot. A lot of the guys are hesitant to do that, and often have weak attempts or just have the shots easily blocked as they allow the defense to get set for the shot. The urgency is something that they need to continue to work on.
The Islanders return home for a Wednesday night match-up with the Carolina Hurricanes. The Canes have been playing some decent hockey of late, and have been one of those up and down bubble teams looking for a playoff birth. They are 9th right now, just one point behind the Atlanta Thrashers. I'm looking forward to seeing them live as I will be in the press box for the game (weather permitting).
NABOKOV SUSPENDED: As expected, the Islanders suspended Nabokov after failing to report on the 2nd flight that the team set-up for him this weekend. It appears that he will not have a change of heart. So, as I mentioned earlier, Poulin has the chance for the time being to prove that he is capable of playing in the NHL.
In the end, the Isles made the right move here with Nabokov. I was on the fence about whether or not it was worth it, but the guy left his team in the KHL and expected to fly through waivers unclaimed. The Isles need a goalie.
I will be a little annoyed if the next few weeks come and go and the Isles don't attempt to add another goalie, because essentially what this whole fiasco tells us is that they are admitting that they jumped the gun on dealing Dwayne Roloson and that they still need another solid option for the remainder of this year and possibly next season.
Either way, it remains to be seen how long this saga will go on. With sources claiming the Isles are likely to "toll" the contract into next season, the Isles have all the leverage here. The All-Star break will begin after tonight's game, but it appears as though there will be no more calls from Garth Snow based on his comments from last night. Any change of heart will have to come from Nabokov and his agent.
The moral of this story? Don't think you can't find greener pastures in the KHL, have a poor showing, and expect to be able to easily just join a contender because it's convenient for you, and don't say you will report wherever you are claimed because you want "visibility for next season" and then refuse to report to the team that claimed you. While the league and the NHLPA are looking at the situation, something tells me the NHL is in support of the Isles because this sends a message to those who are willing to turn down decent offers from contenders in order to sign contracts in the KHL and expect to re-appear.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
January 13, 2011
Sens 6, Isles 4
It's very difficult for someone to say a team played pretty poorly when they scored four goals, but on a night where the Islanders would give up six to the Ottawa Senators you definitely can - well, for the first two periods anyway.
The Islanders came out very flat, as evidenced by Daniel Alfredsson's goal 32 seconds into the game. That would be the first of a few that the defensive pairing of Andrew MacDonald and Travis Hamonic would let get by them.
It has been a bit of a concern lately to see the entire Isles defensive unit give easy chances to opposing players, letting them virtually waltz into scoring areas. It doesn't help that the team's leading shot blocker in Mark Eaton is out for the year, but with Radek Martinek, Milan Jurcina and MacDonald still around it shouldn't be too much of an issue.
The Islanders essentially didn't show up in the 2nd period, allowing the Senators to score four goals while getting out-shot 17-7. The Islanders would get a goal from Blake Comeau just prior to the Sens going on their scoring run, but the excitement would only last for 20 seconds.
The third period the Islanders seemed to finally find their game - and their game plan. By throwing whatever shots they could at the net, they discovered how vulnerable the shaky Robin Lehner, making his first NHL start, was. The 19-year-old looked overwhelmed at times, and it is disappointing that it took the Isles that long to figure that out. Lehner is a really great prospect though, and much like Kevin Poulin could use some more seasoning in the AHL. It comes as no surprise that the game was that high scoring.
The power-play was an Achilles heel for the Islanders, however. Despite getting many chances on the man advantage, the Islanders could not get any momentum going. They were entering the zone really slowly, dumping along the boards and causally skating to the puck. It allowed the Senator penalty killers to get there quicker and easily clear the puck.
Jack Capuano made what is becoming his usual quick hook of Poulin in the 1st after the second Ottawa goal in favor of Nathan Lawson. Lawson was in the net for the Sens next four goals, and after the 2nd period would be replaced again by Poulin. This move is odd, but there is a recent precedent - former Isles goalie Dwayne Roloson was pulled in his 2nd game with the Lightning against Pittsburgh for Dan Ellis and then later re-entered the game as the Bolts went on to lose 7-1. With a 20-year-old in Poulin, perhaps Capuano was just looking to settle him down a bit and wanted to give him another chance to boost his confidence a bit before his possible trip back down to the AHL. Rick DiPietro is a possibility to start the next game against the Sabres.
All in all, it was a tale of two games for the Isles, with their better effort only coming in the final 20 minutes. That isn't enough to win anything, no matter what team you are. While this Isles team is depleted and young, efforts like this should not be happening this frequently. If you can put out good efforts against teams like Pittsburgh, Detroit and Vancouver, with similar line-ups to the ones iced tonight, why can't you do the same against a team that has been essentially a mirror image of yourselves this season? It really shows how long this team has to go in their progression.
We've hit the point now where games are coming at us fast and furious. As I mentioned, the next game is Satruday night, followed by a Monday matinee against the Devils. The Isles need to find a way to put out some more consistent efforts, especially against an opponent they can beat and one that they should. One thing this team still has to work on is that power-play though. The movement is too slow, and the fact that they are dumping and chasing in a very nonchalant manner isn't going to do any good.
We'll see what they work on in practice on Friday.
One last note - Trevor Gillies scored his first NHL goal in the 1st period. Congrats to the 31-year-old fighter who has travelled to many cities playing professional hockey. At least he can now say he has one, no matter how ugly it was.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
The Islanders came out very flat, as evidenced by Daniel Alfredsson's goal 32 seconds into the game. That would be the first of a few that the defensive pairing of Andrew MacDonald and Travis Hamonic would let get by them.
It has been a bit of a concern lately to see the entire Isles defensive unit give easy chances to opposing players, letting them virtually waltz into scoring areas. It doesn't help that the team's leading shot blocker in Mark Eaton is out for the year, but with Radek Martinek, Milan Jurcina and MacDonald still around it shouldn't be too much of an issue.
The Islanders essentially didn't show up in the 2nd period, allowing the Senators to score four goals while getting out-shot 17-7. The Islanders would get a goal from Blake Comeau just prior to the Sens going on their scoring run, but the excitement would only last for 20 seconds.
The third period the Islanders seemed to finally find their game - and their game plan. By throwing whatever shots they could at the net, they discovered how vulnerable the shaky Robin Lehner, making his first NHL start, was. The 19-year-old looked overwhelmed at times, and it is disappointing that it took the Isles that long to figure that out. Lehner is a really great prospect though, and much like Kevin Poulin could use some more seasoning in the AHL. It comes as no surprise that the game was that high scoring.
The power-play was an Achilles heel for the Islanders, however. Despite getting many chances on the man advantage, the Islanders could not get any momentum going. They were entering the zone really slowly, dumping along the boards and causally skating to the puck. It allowed the Senator penalty killers to get there quicker and easily clear the puck.
Jack Capuano made what is becoming his usual quick hook of Poulin in the 1st after the second Ottawa goal in favor of Nathan Lawson. Lawson was in the net for the Sens next four goals, and after the 2nd period would be replaced again by Poulin. This move is odd, but there is a recent precedent - former Isles goalie Dwayne Roloson was pulled in his 2nd game with the Lightning against Pittsburgh for Dan Ellis and then later re-entered the game as the Bolts went on to lose 7-1. With a 20-year-old in Poulin, perhaps Capuano was just looking to settle him down a bit and wanted to give him another chance to boost his confidence a bit before his possible trip back down to the AHL. Rick DiPietro is a possibility to start the next game against the Sabres.
All in all, it was a tale of two games for the Isles, with their better effort only coming in the final 20 minutes. That isn't enough to win anything, no matter what team you are. While this Isles team is depleted and young, efforts like this should not be happening this frequently. If you can put out good efforts against teams like Pittsburgh, Detroit and Vancouver, with similar line-ups to the ones iced tonight, why can't you do the same against a team that has been essentially a mirror image of yourselves this season? It really shows how long this team has to go in their progression.
We've hit the point now where games are coming at us fast and furious. As I mentioned, the next game is Satruday night, followed by a Monday matinee against the Devils. The Isles need to find a way to put out some more consistent efforts, especially against an opponent they can beat and one that they should. One thing this team still has to work on is that power-play though. The movement is too slow, and the fact that they are dumping and chasing in a very nonchalant manner isn't going to do any good.
We'll see what they work on in practice on Friday.
One last note - Trevor Gillies scored his first NHL goal in the 1st period. Congrats to the 31-year-old fighter who has travelled to many cities playing professional hockey. At least he can now say he has one, no matter how ugly it was.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
January 2, 2011
Isles Send Roloson to Lightning for Wishart
The Islanders made the first trade of 2011 by sending goalie Dwayne Roloson to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for defenseman prospect Ty Wishart.
We'll look at this deal first from a talent perspective.
In the end, the Islanders got good value for the 41 year old Roloson who is at this point a rental for the Lightning. Wishart is a 22 year old defenseman who still has some growing to do but was having a promising season so far for the Norfolk Admirals of the AHL.
The 6'4", 215 lb Wishart is about to enter that age where big defensemen with some offensive talent begin to show their true stuff. Wishart had a good first pro season before trying to do too much offensively and letting his defensive game suffer. This season he seemed to be getting back to the things that made him the 16th overall pick in 2006 by the San Jose Sharks.
Wishart is a guy I have been hot and cold on the last few seasons, but generally have liked. He's one of those guys who seemed to be in trade talks for the past few seasons, and one of those guys you wouldn't mind picking up. He was in Tampa Bay as part of the trade that sent Dan Boyle to San Jose. Many felt at the time that the best player going to Tampa in that deal was Matt Carle, but many analysts felt that Wishart had the potential to be the better defenseman because of how young he was and the style of game he plays.
The Islanders immediately assigned Wishart to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. It is unclear when he will come up. Currently on their long road trip, the Islanders have Dylan Reese up and have placed Radek Martinek on the IR for now. Perhaps we see Wishart when we come back from that trip. Wishart has only played five NHL games to date so far.
Meanwhile, Tampa Bay did what they really needed to do which was improve the goaltending. It was no secret that that was the one are they were looking to upgrade along with their division rivals, the Washington Capitals. Washington has been scouting the Islanders frequently in the past few weeks, presumable looking at Roloson.
The return for Roloson isn't the head scratcher here, but at a quick glance the timing does seem off. The Islanders are in the midst of a stretch where they have won six of their last eight games, most of that due to the play of Roloson and him getting NHL player of the week honors last week. In his final game as an Isle against one of the West's best teams in Detroit, Roloson stood tall again and made 38 saves in an OT win.
Some are upset because of how good Roloson is and the team has been playing. That's what people mean when they say the timing is off. It is not good to show signs that you are giving up 36 games into an 82 game schedule, but that is the message the Islanders appear to be giving, not two weeks after Garth Snow and Charles Wang went on Gary Bettman's radio show and stated otherwise.
Now, we don't know for sure - perhaps Wishart is a guy Snow targeted for a while, and perhaps this offer topped something Washington was offering for him. To get a real live NHL player back over picks for a 41 year old goalie is something to be happy about.
Perhaps it is slightly unfair of people to think that these deals are all about the money, but it certainly appears that way. It's the only explanation people can come up with for these moves, and no, there is not going to be a blockbuster trade coming at this time for those of you going nuts over Twitter rumors.
At any rate, I'm excited to see what Wishart can bring. I'm hoping he can continue to show us some of what he has been doing this year, which would really be great for us.
On the other end, I'm having a very hard time finding Isles fans who don't want Tampa to go deep or all the way in the playoffs this season. That's how well liked Roli was here on the Island. Good luck in Tampa, Dwayne.
NYI FYI RETURNS LIVE: Yes, you read that right. After about a year of people wondering and hoping if we would come back live we are finally doing so. We will be broadcasting today's show at 11 AM through UStream. You can watch us using this link.
We will not have a phone line, but you will be able to interact with us during the show by sending in thoughts and questions through an AIM screen name that we will provide, as well as sending us your comments on Twitter (@NYIFYI). Naturally, we will still be making the podcast component of the show.
We hope some of you are able to join us live at 11 AM, and please don't be a stranger. We have a lot to discuss, and it's the perfect opportunity to let your voices be heard.
Enjoy!
We'll look at this deal first from a talent perspective.
The 6'4", 215 lb Wishart is about to enter that age where big defensemen with some offensive talent begin to show their true stuff. Wishart had a good first pro season before trying to do too much offensively and letting his defensive game suffer. This season he seemed to be getting back to the things that made him the 16th overall pick in 2006 by the San Jose Sharks.
Wishart is a guy I have been hot and cold on the last few seasons, but generally have liked. He's one of those guys who seemed to be in trade talks for the past few seasons, and one of those guys you wouldn't mind picking up. He was in Tampa Bay as part of the trade that sent Dan Boyle to San Jose. Many felt at the time that the best player going to Tampa in that deal was Matt Carle, but many analysts felt that Wishart had the potential to be the better defenseman because of how young he was and the style of game he plays.
The Islanders immediately assigned Wishart to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. It is unclear when he will come up. Currently on their long road trip, the Islanders have Dylan Reese up and have placed Radek Martinek on the IR for now. Perhaps we see Wishart when we come back from that trip. Wishart has only played five NHL games to date so far.
Meanwhile, Tampa Bay did what they really needed to do which was improve the goaltending. It was no secret that that was the one are they were looking to upgrade along with their division rivals, the Washington Capitals. Washington has been scouting the Islanders frequently in the past few weeks, presumable looking at Roloson.
The return for Roloson isn't the head scratcher here, but at a quick glance the timing does seem off. The Islanders are in the midst of a stretch where they have won six of their last eight games, most of that due to the play of Roloson and him getting NHL player of the week honors last week. In his final game as an Isle against one of the West's best teams in Detroit, Roloson stood tall again and made 38 saves in an OT win.
Some are upset because of how good Roloson is and the team has been playing. That's what people mean when they say the timing is off. It is not good to show signs that you are giving up 36 games into an 82 game schedule, but that is the message the Islanders appear to be giving, not two weeks after Garth Snow and Charles Wang went on Gary Bettman's radio show and stated otherwise.
Now, we don't know for sure - perhaps Wishart is a guy Snow targeted for a while, and perhaps this offer topped something Washington was offering for him. To get a real live NHL player back over picks for a 41 year old goalie is something to be happy about.
Perhaps it is slightly unfair of people to think that these deals are all about the money, but it certainly appears that way. It's the only explanation people can come up with for these moves, and no, there is not going to be a blockbuster trade coming at this time for those of you going nuts over Twitter rumors.
At any rate, I'm excited to see what Wishart can bring. I'm hoping he can continue to show us some of what he has been doing this year, which would really be great for us.
On the other end, I'm having a very hard time finding Isles fans who don't want Tampa to go deep or all the way in the playoffs this season. That's how well liked Roli was here on the Island. Good luck in Tampa, Dwayne.
NYI FYI RETURNS LIVE: Yes, you read that right. After about a year of people wondering and hoping if we would come back live we are finally doing so. We will be broadcasting today's show at 11 AM through UStream. You can watch us using this link.
We will not have a phone line, but you will be able to interact with us during the show by sending in thoughts and questions through an AIM screen name that we will provide, as well as sending us your comments on Twitter (@NYIFYI). Naturally, we will still be making the podcast component of the show.
We hope some of you are able to join us live at 11 AM, and please don't be a stranger. We have a lot to discuss, and it's the perfect opportunity to let your voices be heard.
Enjoy!
December 28, 2010
Bad Goals Snap Streaks
Both Dwayne Roloson and the Islanders saw their three game winning streaks snapped on Monday night thanks to the New York Rangers. With their 7-2 win, the Rangers ended their minor slump and frustrated the Islanders all night.
Roloson had to face 52 shots thanks in part to an Islanders team in front of him that often seemed disinterested. Roloson did give up some pretty bad goals, and after the game he took the blame for the loss. However, the fact that the Isles let that many shots get through to him is still inexcusable, and I personally don't pin the entire game on Roloson.
Even the Isles goals were a bit fluky. Rob Schremp seemed to surprise Henrik Lundqvist on his shot, which Lundqvist nonchalantly went to glove but it nicked off his glove and ended up in the net. P.A. Parenteau made a little nifty pass to no one in particular and after Lundqvist made a save, the rebound went right to Parenteau who was crashing the net along with John Tavares.
The Rangers meanwhile, played the way they know how to play and have been playing for most of the year. They have developed a penchant for being a team that will out work their opponents, not necessarily out-skill them. In this game, they did both against an Islanders team that always seems to take two steps forward and one step back.
In a game like this, it's very difficult to point out anyone who stood out as being good or bad. When you give up that many shots, it's a team effort. As Schremp said in the post game interview, they had an off day and the Isles didn't. They hit a wall, which is inexcusable. Perhaps there is where you feel the effects of not doing any activity for two days during the holiday break.
Jack Capuano said that he plans to throw the tape away for this one. Fair enough, but it is something you should probably keep in the back of your mind. A couple of other stinkers like this, and then you'll have to ask your players which team they are - this one, or the one from the previous five games as they felt the need to point out as often as they could after this one.
The Islanders play the Penguins next in a game where I'll be in the press box for. I'm working on a fairly intriguing story for that one, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for that one.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
Roloson had to face 52 shots thanks in part to an Islanders team in front of him that often seemed disinterested. Roloson did give up some pretty bad goals, and after the game he took the blame for the loss. However, the fact that the Isles let that many shots get through to him is still inexcusable, and I personally don't pin the entire game on Roloson.
Even the Isles goals were a bit fluky. Rob Schremp seemed to surprise Henrik Lundqvist on his shot, which Lundqvist nonchalantly went to glove but it nicked off his glove and ended up in the net. P.A. Parenteau made a little nifty pass to no one in particular and after Lundqvist made a save, the rebound went right to Parenteau who was crashing the net along with John Tavares.
The Rangers meanwhile, played the way they know how to play and have been playing for most of the year. They have developed a penchant for being a team that will out work their opponents, not necessarily out-skill them. In this game, they did both against an Islanders team that always seems to take two steps forward and one step back.
In a game like this, it's very difficult to point out anyone who stood out as being good or bad. When you give up that many shots, it's a team effort. As Schremp said in the post game interview, they had an off day and the Isles didn't. They hit a wall, which is inexcusable. Perhaps there is where you feel the effects of not doing any activity for two days during the holiday break.
Jack Capuano said that he plans to throw the tape away for this one. Fair enough, but it is something you should probably keep in the back of your mind. A couple of other stinkers like this, and then you'll have to ask your players which team they are - this one, or the one from the previous five games as they felt the need to point out as often as they could after this one.
The Islanders play the Penguins next in a game where I'll be in the press box for. I'm working on a fairly intriguing story for that one, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for that one.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
December 27, 2010
Isles Win 3rd Straight During Blizzard
The Islanders tried to have Sunday night's game against the Montreal Canadiens postponed, but Colin Campbell and Gary Bettman denied the request. Their reasoning was that the NHL has a rule that if the two teams are in the city where the game is being played, then the game can proceed as planned.
Quite frankly, that is a really stupid rule and on a night where the NFL cancelled their Sunday night game in Philadelphia, the league came off looking rather foolish between the games on Long Island and in New Jersey.
The NY Post's Larry Brooks voiced his displeasure on Twitter, and I agree with him here. There really was no point to have these games, but the NHL went ahead with them anyway. As a result, 3,136 came out to see the Islanders win in convincing fashion over the Canadiens by a score of 4-1. Those who had tickets to the game, even if they showed up, are given the opportunity to exchange them for another game of their choosing. That's a excellent move on the Islanders part, and the decision was made a lot quicker than last years. Good stuff from the organization right there.
I shouldn't say that they won in convincing fashion because of how they were outplayed in the 2nd period. But, the effort in the 1st and 3rd periods were similar to that of the ones against Tampa and New Jersey, which is what we said on the podcast they needed to have. Montreal had some power-play opportunities, which obviously helped the shot total in their favor but the Islanders had a major power-play in the 3rd, which later became a 5-on-3. The Islanders were able to use that to their advantage and grew their lead to 4-0.
The story of the game was Dwayne Roloson once again. He made 38 saves, and was incredibly quick and so sound positionally. When the Canadiens out shot the Isles 16-7 in that 2nd period, Roloson stopped every one. Even though the Islanders effort was pretty solid, when they had a couple of lulls throughout Roloson let them know loud and clear that he had their backs. In 10 of his 18 starts this season, Roli has given up two goals or less. He has now won his last three starts, giving up one goal in each of those games.
Michael Grabner had a really nice game of his own. His rush on the Islanders 2nd goal tells you why he is here. I can't even remember the last time we saw a player who could go that fast from a standstill, but he used his speed to create a breakaway that looked unlikely and made some excellent moves to fake out Carey Price and give the Isles the 2-0 lead. We've seen some great stuff out of Grabner this year and hopefully he can keep it up.
Speaking of the good stuff, Blake Comeau has been showing us some as well. He has quietly been racking up some points in the month of December, mostly due to his pairing up with the red hot Rob Schremp. The two of them have found some chemistry this month and it was Schremp with a very nice pass to Comeau to open the scoring for the Isles. They need to keep that up, and there's no reason to think they won't. Their efforts have been unbelievable lately, and Schremp wore the hard hat after the game. A huge part of this is trying to out-work your opponent to get chances, and both are doing so lately.
If there was one thing I didn't understand it was using the line of Matt Martin, Zenon Konopka and Jon Sim on the power-play a few times during the game. I wouldn't have cared too much in the dying seconds of the game if Jack Capuano hadn't already put them out there a few times earlier. I know he mentioned a couple of weeks ago that if they continued to struggle with the man advantage he would consider putting a whole new unit of five out there, but that's not what many people had in mind. How about putting someone like Grabner there? The fact that he hasn't already is really a sin.
But in the end, the Islanders scored twice on eight chances on the power-play and won their 4th of their last five games. They go right back at it Monday night against the Rangers. No word yet on who will be starting in net, but I would imagine that news will come down within the next couple of hours.
If you haven't already done so, please be sure to check out our latest podcast here.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
Quite frankly, that is a really stupid rule and on a night where the NFL cancelled their Sunday night game in Philadelphia, the league came off looking rather foolish between the games on Long Island and in New Jersey.
The NY Post's Larry Brooks voiced his displeasure on Twitter, and I agree with him here. There really was no point to have these games, but the NHL went ahead with them anyway. As a result, 3,136 came out to see the Islanders win in convincing fashion over the Canadiens by a score of 4-1. Those who had tickets to the game, even if they showed up, are given the opportunity to exchange them for another game of their choosing. That's a excellent move on the Islanders part, and the decision was made a lot quicker than last years. Good stuff from the organization right there.
I shouldn't say that they won in convincing fashion because of how they were outplayed in the 2nd period. But, the effort in the 1st and 3rd periods were similar to that of the ones against Tampa and New Jersey, which is what we said on the podcast they needed to have. Montreal had some power-play opportunities, which obviously helped the shot total in their favor but the Islanders had a major power-play in the 3rd, which later became a 5-on-3. The Islanders were able to use that to their advantage and grew their lead to 4-0.
The story of the game was Dwayne Roloson once again. He made 38 saves, and was incredibly quick and so sound positionally. When the Canadiens out shot the Isles 16-7 in that 2nd period, Roloson stopped every one. Even though the Islanders effort was pretty solid, when they had a couple of lulls throughout Roloson let them know loud and clear that he had their backs. In 10 of his 18 starts this season, Roli has given up two goals or less. He has now won his last three starts, giving up one goal in each of those games.
Michael Grabner had a really nice game of his own. His rush on the Islanders 2nd goal tells you why he is here. I can't even remember the last time we saw a player who could go that fast from a standstill, but he used his speed to create a breakaway that looked unlikely and made some excellent moves to fake out Carey Price and give the Isles the 2-0 lead. We've seen some great stuff out of Grabner this year and hopefully he can keep it up.
Speaking of the good stuff, Blake Comeau has been showing us some as well. He has quietly been racking up some points in the month of December, mostly due to his pairing up with the red hot Rob Schremp. The two of them have found some chemistry this month and it was Schremp with a very nice pass to Comeau to open the scoring for the Isles. They need to keep that up, and there's no reason to think they won't. Their efforts have been unbelievable lately, and Schremp wore the hard hat after the game. A huge part of this is trying to out-work your opponent to get chances, and both are doing so lately.
If there was one thing I didn't understand it was using the line of Matt Martin, Zenon Konopka and Jon Sim on the power-play a few times during the game. I wouldn't have cared too much in the dying seconds of the game if Jack Capuano hadn't already put them out there a few times earlier. I know he mentioned a couple of weeks ago that if they continued to struggle with the man advantage he would consider putting a whole new unit of five out there, but that's not what many people had in mind. How about putting someone like Grabner there? The fact that he hasn't already is really a sin.
But in the end, the Islanders scored twice on eight chances on the power-play and won their 4th of their last five games. They go right back at it Monday night against the Rangers. No word yet on who will be starting in net, but I would imagine that news will come down within the next couple of hours.
If you haven't already done so, please be sure to check out our latest podcast here.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
December 26, 2010
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
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
December 23, 2010
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
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
December 22, 2010
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
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
December 18, 2010
Isles Lose to Coyotes as Roloson Rumors Swirl
Sunday, 12/19/2010 11:00 PM - As we always do on Sundays, we recorded and posted our latest podcast here. We discussed a wide variety of topics, with the main focus of course being the Dwayne Roloson situation. We also talk about who we liked, who we didn't like and who we'd like to see more of.
Enjoy.
11:27 PM - The Islanders fell to the Coyotes 4-3 after the shootout in which the Coyotes scored on all three attempts. Goalie Nathan Lawson made his NHL debut and looked OK for the most part and made 32 saves on 35 shots.
The one thing that stood out to me regarding Lawson was his rebound control. It isn't great, and you would hope that's something that he can work on. However, he isn't your normal rookie as he is 27 years old. That may be something he'll never improve on, but who knows.
The Islanders played a pretty solid game overall, the best performances coming from Jesse Joensuu and Andrew MacDonald. Joensuu got the Isles on the board with his goal off of a really quick snap shot after a beautiful cross-ice pass from John Tavares. Joensuu would later create the goal that Michael Grabner scored to give the Isles a 2-1 lead. His play seems to have been improving as of late, and I still can't completely understand why he isn't getting more minutes (he only played 12:31 tonight).
MacDonald blocked another three shots and was a very steady presence out there. He was often tabbed to shadow the Coyotes' best players and seemed up to the task more often than not. He never really fumbles the puck under pressure, and keeps things very calm from the back end when he's out there. He is proving day in and day out why for the better part of a year now he has been on the top pairing.
Travis Hamonic told us after the game that the team had "nothing to hang their head about." He's right about that - the effort was absolutely there. There were a lot of opportunities in this game for either team to really take the game and run with it, and neither did. The Islanders out-shot the Coyotes 44-35, and Jason LaBarbera made some really incredible saves.
Hamonic alluded to getting three out of their last four points as something they have to look at as a good thing and go from there. It's the small things in life, I suppose. But he does have a good point.
When asked about the power-play, which went only 1-for-8 tonight, Jack Capuano was very honest, saying "that's something we're going to have to address, and if it continues then we'll have to put a new unit of five on the ice."
He concluded his thought by saying he felt that was "the biggest issue tonight."
The power-play was certainly a cause for concern once again considering how many chances the Coyotes really gave them. The Islanders had two brief 5-on-3 chances that they killed by getting penalties of their own. Meanwhile, when they did have the man advantage the Isles movement was very slow and sluggish. I agree that at some point really soon, there needs to be a change on the power-play. The first two guys that should be on there when that change is made is Joensuu and Grabner. Enough is enough - they need minutes they can really run with, and the power-play is an area I think they can star in.
Meanwhile, for many the storyline of the game to follow was the start of Nate Lawson. Not so much because it was his NHL debut, but more so because he got the start over Dwayne Roloson.
When it was first reported that Lawson was getting the start, many people figured that something was wrong. Of course, that wasn't really the case. The Islanders announced that Rick DiPietro had some swelling in his knee that was very minor. If it was anything more, he wouldn't have practiced today. He also wouldn't have stuck around the team or answered questions for the media. Since Kyle Okposo and Mark Streit have been injured, there haven't been many opportunities to access them. DiPietro meanwhile was not sent home without talking to the media.
Generally, when you have "two number one goalies" as Garth Snow has reminded us every chance he could, then quite frankly you are starting the guy who isn't playing that night. That would have been Roloson, with Lawson backing him up.
Even stranger are the comments from Capuano in the post game press conference. He mentioned a variety of items of note:
- The decision to start Lawson was because they haven't won a lot of games here and something had to change. As far as I'm concerned, Roloson has been more than capable this season. More often than not, he gets no goal support. So I don't get that.
- They need to find ways to win games, so he doesn't know who would start the next game. "Tonight it was Nate, tomorrow it could be someone else."
- When he came to practice this morning, he explained to both DiPietro and Roloson that Lawson was coming and starting tonight. No mention of the injury as a factor.
What I took from all of that is that there is more here than meets the eye. Roloson was healthy. During warm-ups, I noticed he didn't take as many shots that a back-up for the game normally would.
I truly think we are seeing the end of Roli on Long Island. For those of you who remember Guerin-gate from a few years back, I think the Isles are attempting to handle this in a slightly different way, but it seems to be creating problems. Many prominent journalists are raising an eye brow wondering why the veteran who has done nothing but bust his hump for the team gets to ride the pine for a 27 year old rookie.
Quite simply, I think the Islanders are slowly excepting their fate and are staring to look at their other goalies as a pre-cursor to a Roloson move. DiPietro is supposed to get one of the two games in the upcoming weekend. Who gets the other is now up for debate. Heck, who starts Wednesday against the Lightning is up for debate too, apparently.
We'll keep an eye on this story throughout the night, but wouldn't expect anything huge to come out of it just yet. The NHL's holiday trade freeze comes into effect at midnight. So we still have just under an hour of fun speculation ahead of us!
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
Enjoy.
11:27 PM - The Islanders fell to the Coyotes 4-3 after the shootout in which the Coyotes scored on all three attempts. Goalie Nathan Lawson made his NHL debut and looked OK for the most part and made 32 saves on 35 shots.
The one thing that stood out to me regarding Lawson was his rebound control. It isn't great, and you would hope that's something that he can work on. However, he isn't your normal rookie as he is 27 years old. That may be something he'll never improve on, but who knows.
The Islanders played a pretty solid game overall, the best performances coming from Jesse Joensuu and Andrew MacDonald. Joensuu got the Isles on the board with his goal off of a really quick snap shot after a beautiful cross-ice pass from John Tavares. Joensuu would later create the goal that Michael Grabner scored to give the Isles a 2-1 lead. His play seems to have been improving as of late, and I still can't completely understand why he isn't getting more minutes (he only played 12:31 tonight).
MacDonald blocked another three shots and was a very steady presence out there. He was often tabbed to shadow the Coyotes' best players and seemed up to the task more often than not. He never really fumbles the puck under pressure, and keeps things very calm from the back end when he's out there. He is proving day in and day out why for the better part of a year now he has been on the top pairing.
Travis Hamonic told us after the game that the team had "nothing to hang their head about." He's right about that - the effort was absolutely there. There were a lot of opportunities in this game for either team to really take the game and run with it, and neither did. The Islanders out-shot the Coyotes 44-35, and Jason LaBarbera made some really incredible saves.
Hamonic alluded to getting three out of their last four points as something they have to look at as a good thing and go from there. It's the small things in life, I suppose. But he does have a good point.
When asked about the power-play, which went only 1-for-8 tonight, Jack Capuano was very honest, saying "that's something we're going to have to address, and if it continues then we'll have to put a new unit of five on the ice."
He concluded his thought by saying he felt that was "the biggest issue tonight."
The power-play was certainly a cause for concern once again considering how many chances the Coyotes really gave them. The Islanders had two brief 5-on-3 chances that they killed by getting penalties of their own. Meanwhile, when they did have the man advantage the Isles movement was very slow and sluggish. I agree that at some point really soon, there needs to be a change on the power-play. The first two guys that should be on there when that change is made is Joensuu and Grabner. Enough is enough - they need minutes they can really run with, and the power-play is an area I think they can star in.
Meanwhile, for many the storyline of the game to follow was the start of Nate Lawson. Not so much because it was his NHL debut, but more so because he got the start over Dwayne Roloson.
When it was first reported that Lawson was getting the start, many people figured that something was wrong. Of course, that wasn't really the case. The Islanders announced that Rick DiPietro had some swelling in his knee that was very minor. If it was anything more, he wouldn't have practiced today. He also wouldn't have stuck around the team or answered questions for the media. Since Kyle Okposo and Mark Streit have been injured, there haven't been many opportunities to access them. DiPietro meanwhile was not sent home without talking to the media.
Generally, when you have "two number one goalies" as Garth Snow has reminded us every chance he could, then quite frankly you are starting the guy who isn't playing that night. That would have been Roloson, with Lawson backing him up.
Even stranger are the comments from Capuano in the post game press conference. He mentioned a variety of items of note:
- The decision to start Lawson was because they haven't won a lot of games here and something had to change. As far as I'm concerned, Roloson has been more than capable this season. More often than not, he gets no goal support. So I don't get that.
- They need to find ways to win games, so he doesn't know who would start the next game. "Tonight it was Nate, tomorrow it could be someone else."
- When he came to practice this morning, he explained to both DiPietro and Roloson that Lawson was coming and starting tonight. No mention of the injury as a factor.
What I took from all of that is that there is more here than meets the eye. Roloson was healthy. During warm-ups, I noticed he didn't take as many shots that a back-up for the game normally would.
I truly think we are seeing the end of Roli on Long Island. For those of you who remember Guerin-gate from a few years back, I think the Isles are attempting to handle this in a slightly different way, but it seems to be creating problems. Many prominent journalists are raising an eye brow wondering why the veteran who has done nothing but bust his hump for the team gets to ride the pine for a 27 year old rookie.
Quite simply, I think the Islanders are slowly excepting their fate and are staring to look at their other goalies as a pre-cursor to a Roloson move. DiPietro is supposed to get one of the two games in the upcoming weekend. Who gets the other is now up for debate. Heck, who starts Wednesday against the Lightning is up for debate too, apparently.
We'll keep an eye on this story throughout the night, but wouldn't expect anything huge to come out of it just yet. The NHL's holiday trade freeze comes into effect at midnight. So we still have just under an hour of fun speculation ahead of us!
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
December 13, 2010
Injuries Hit, Rakhshani Debuts as Isles Fall to Nashville
The Islanders went into a building that has given them some problems in the past and once again fell to the Predators 5-0.
The game started out fairly well, but a power-play goal for Nashville on a deflection from Sergei Kostitsyn. After that, it all seemed to go downhill.
Nashville began to control much of the play at that point, and the Islanders made some really bad plays that they paid dearly for quite often. Patric Hornqvist scored two goals on the way to the rout, and Dwayne Roloson gave up a couple of weak goals for the first time in quite a while.
The Islanders did get a couple of decent chances on Nashville goalie Anders Lindback, but he was outstanding. He's another big goaltender who played that way and did not look too slow. I'm always amazed at how strong in net the Predators have been in recent history, and they always seem to be able to churn out some solid netminders. For Lindback, it was his 2nd straight shut-out.
Rhett Rakhshani made his NHL debut for this one as the Islanders called him up from Bridgeport in case Matt Moulson was not ready to go after suffering that knee injury in Saturday's game against the Thrashers. He was able to play, but Rhett got into the lineup anyway and played for Trevor Gillies. I thought he looked pretty good, but he's still raw. Obviously, Josh Bailey is nowhere near ready to come back up yet, and if I had it my way he would be down there for quite some time. By some accounts from Bridgeport, while the score sheet looks nice for Bailey, his play away from the puck is still lacking. He's 21 years old and has generally been over matched at the NHL level for the better part of two years now. No need to rush him back just yet. Congrats to Rhett on his first NHL game.
Michael Grabner played only about 10 minutes in this one. I don't understand what's going on there, but it would be nice for someone to ask about that. Perhaps that's a job for me the next time I have the opportunity to. Jesse Joensuu got just a tick under nine minutes. P.A. Parenteau? He got 17. Jon Sim got 15.
Frans Nielsen and Andrew MacDonald both got the A's in addition to the one constant that has had it in James Wisniewski. I found that interesting, but not really odd. The reports on those guys in the locker room are very good, but Nielsen and MacDonald are generally very quiet guys. They have coincidentally been two of the Isles better players this year, so perhaps it is a good way to get a point across to some of the other guys on how the game should be played.
In a not so surprising move, Doug Weight was placed on IR retroactive to November 17th, when he first sat out with back spasms. No word on when the captain will return. My guess? Not anytime soon.
Mark Eaton will miss one to two weeks of action. Here's hoping it's closer to one. Despite the Isles 1-17-3 stretch in their last 21, the team defensive effort is much better with him there than without, as we clearly saw here against Nashville.
That's all I have for tonight, but be sure to check back for any other thoughts making their way into this space.
For those who haven't checked out the latest NYI FYI podcast, feel free to do so here.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
The game started out fairly well, but a power-play goal for Nashville on a deflection from Sergei Kostitsyn. After that, it all seemed to go downhill.
Nashville began to control much of the play at that point, and the Islanders made some really bad plays that they paid dearly for quite often. Patric Hornqvist scored two goals on the way to the rout, and Dwayne Roloson gave up a couple of weak goals for the first time in quite a while.
The Islanders did get a couple of decent chances on Nashville goalie Anders Lindback, but he was outstanding. He's another big goaltender who played that way and did not look too slow. I'm always amazed at how strong in net the Predators have been in recent history, and they always seem to be able to churn out some solid netminders. For Lindback, it was his 2nd straight shut-out.
Rhett Rakhshani made his NHL debut for this one as the Islanders called him up from Bridgeport in case Matt Moulson was not ready to go after suffering that knee injury in Saturday's game against the Thrashers. He was able to play, but Rhett got into the lineup anyway and played for Trevor Gillies. I thought he looked pretty good, but he's still raw. Obviously, Josh Bailey is nowhere near ready to come back up yet, and if I had it my way he would be down there for quite some time. By some accounts from Bridgeport, while the score sheet looks nice for Bailey, his play away from the puck is still lacking. He's 21 years old and has generally been over matched at the NHL level for the better part of two years now. No need to rush him back just yet. Congrats to Rhett on his first NHL game.
Michael Grabner played only about 10 minutes in this one. I don't understand what's going on there, but it would be nice for someone to ask about that. Perhaps that's a job for me the next time I have the opportunity to. Jesse Joensuu got just a tick under nine minutes. P.A. Parenteau? He got 17. Jon Sim got 15.
Frans Nielsen and Andrew MacDonald both got the A's in addition to the one constant that has had it in James Wisniewski. I found that interesting, but not really odd. The reports on those guys in the locker room are very good, but Nielsen and MacDonald are generally very quiet guys. They have coincidentally been two of the Isles better players this year, so perhaps it is a good way to get a point across to some of the other guys on how the game should be played.
In a not so surprising move, Doug Weight was placed on IR retroactive to November 17th, when he first sat out with back spasms. No word on when the captain will return. My guess? Not anytime soon.
Mark Eaton will miss one to two weeks of action. Here's hoping it's closer to one. Despite the Isles 1-17-3 stretch in their last 21, the team defensive effort is much better with him there than without, as we clearly saw here against Nashville.
That's all I have for tonight, but be sure to check back for any other thoughts making their way into this space.
For those who haven't checked out the latest NYI FYI podcast, feel free to do so here.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
December 7, 2010
Random Tuesday Thoughts
I wanted to give you all an update on our status for the podcast this week.
As some of you may have seen in the post from the press box after Sunday's game, we were unable to get together to do the show due to some prior commitments. The plan was to do the show in the morning, but then we found out that I was going to be covering it so we put that on hold for now.
Many of you who listen know Sean does stuff with WBLI, and they recently lost a couple of people in the same week meaning that others have to pick up the slack. Sean is not exempt from this.
The end of the week we may be able to try and do something, but we're trying to figure out if it's worth it to do that or just wait until Sunday. Once we figure that out for sure, we'll let you guys know.
In the meantime, I wanted to provide you with some quick hit thoughts from the past week, as well as some observations from the Coliseum rafters on Sunday. Some of these appeared during my live Twitter updates from the game, but for those of you who were unable to follow then here's your chance.
I tend to be very forgetful, even when I write stuff down in my notebook, so this seemed like a good way to do that. Obviously, I'll save some of the juicy details for when we record the show since Sean is chomping at the bit to get his two cents in on these topics as well.
So in no particular order, here are some points I want to hit on:
-Worth noting: James Wisniewski has seen his ice time get cut down significantly, from 23 minutes on Thursday to just over 17 by Sunday. He didn't have a banner week, and a lot of deficiencies were exposed (watch the Marian Gaborik or Danny Briere winning goals).
-Heard in the Coliseum press box Sunday, from a member of the mainstream media: "The Isles are starting to look like the Blackhawks under Bill Wirtz."
-On Tuesday, Jack Capuano had Jesse Joensuu on the wing with Matt Moulson and John Tavares. I have wanted Joensuu up there for a while now. Good to see.
-In the game Sunday, P.A. Parenteau saw himself get demoted off of that first line to the 3rd. He remained there for Tuesday's practice. He got just over 13 minutes of ice time Sunday.
-After said practice, which was about two hours long, Capuano was asked what he thought about it: "I Thought it was good. There was a lot of shooting and passing. We want to have a little of that going on." Interesting concept coach. This is not a knock on Capuano, but this quote and the one he gave when asked about Doug Weight coaching the power-play ("I can use all the help I can get") has raised some eyebrows. Watch the next time the team calls a time out or something is being discussed during a quick stoppage. You'll notice Scott Allen is the one who does most, if not all of the talking. So why isn't Allen the interim coach then? Good question.
-Josh Bailey had a strong weekend down in Bridgeport after somewhat of a slow start down there. One of my Blog Box buddies wondered when Bailey could "come back home." The correct answer to that should be not anytime soon. For those that have watched from the beginning of the year, we saw how lost the kid was. He's 21 and to look as bad as he did is somewhat alarming. Let him take his time and get back on his feet and prove himself for much more than a five game sample in the AHL.
-After it was confirmed that Bailey was one of the "passengers" Capuano called out after the game against Florida, I looked in Blake Comeau's direction and said "you're next." Nothing dramatic has happened to him just yet, but that effort against Philly left a lot to be desired (see the play in the waining seconds with the Isles net empty). I think his clock is ticking a bit.
-While it hasn't translated into any wins yet, it is no coincidence that the Isles have had some of their better overall defensive performances since Andrew MacDonald returned to the lineup. At the time of his injury, MacDonald was leading the team in blocked shots. He looked solid against Philly, and led the game with six.
-Former Isles captain Bill Guerin announced his retirement on Monday. While I never got the chance to be a part of the Blog Box and interview him when he was here, I always appreciated reading comments from him. The team fell on some tough times when he was here, and he always told it like it was and held people accountable. He was always one of my favorite players in the NHL, and I was thrilled to be able to watch him for a season and a half here. I wish him luck, and look forward to seeing him in another capacity in hockey be it here, in Pittsburgh or New Jersey.
-Tavares looks a little lost too. On one of the Isles power-plays against Philly, he had a great chance for a one timer but hesitated, which led to an easy save. He's not the only one guilty of this, especially with the man advantage, but when someone is supposed to be so deadly offensively it is a cause of concern.
-Speaking of the power-play, on Sunday Frans Nielsen was playing the point for the first unit. Both Mark Eaton and Travis Hamonic saw some time on the second. It seems as though Capuano may start to tinker with the power-play lines, from the blue line in.
-On Monday, there were a couple of articles written about the Isles. They are not of a positive nature. Larry Brooks calls for the Commissioner to get involved with the operations of the Isles, while Kevin Schultz picks on some of the points Brooks brings up but seems to agree with the whole general idea.
I will save my detailed thoughts on the subject for the next podcast. However, I will say this. I liked a lot of what was in both articles. I do feel that both are very fact driven. I know very few folks took exception to Brook's article, however he uses that unique style of writing of his to convey his points. It is meant to sound a bit condescending. My basic point: I appreciate Mr. Wang buying the team in 2000. But I can't continue to give someone the benefit of the doubt because they did something for me 10 years ago. Sooner or later, something has to give and some things are going to have to be talked about, just as it was promised to us on media day.
-Kyle Okposo has finally started skating with equipment. Sean said to me he has a problem with him coming back early just to create some excitement. However, we really don't know if it's early or not. The team never came out and said anything aside from "out indefinitely" and Katie Strang reported the December-January return time table. So it would appear he's on track, and not rushing. Milan Jurcina has started skating with equipment as well. It will be nice to get yet another good shot blocker back. He was really playing well when he went down.
-Radek Martinek was named the Isles player of the month for November. He had a good month, with five points and a lot of solid defensive play. One could have made a strong case for Dwayne Roloson, though.
Speaking of Roloson, the Islanders once again failed to give him any offensive support in his last start. It is quite astounding that a guy with such a good GAA and save percentage could have such an awful record. If things don't change, and the trade deadline day approaches with teams calling about Roloson, the classy thing for the Isles to do would be to deal him to a true contender, no matter the return. I have been nothing but impressed by Roloson on and off the ice. No matter the record, no matter the score he is giving it his all. On many of the days where he is the back-up for DiPietro, he is always caught on camera giving a lesson to a young defenseman or two. If something comes up where Roloson can find himself in a better situation at the tail end of his career, the Isles must do it.
So that covers most of the important stuff. As time goes on, some things will be talked about in greater detail, but this was meant to be a quick-hit list of statements and observations more than anything.
Expect a small feature on Hamonic to come next.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
As some of you may have seen in the post from the press box after Sunday's game, we were unable to get together to do the show due to some prior commitments. The plan was to do the show in the morning, but then we found out that I was going to be covering it so we put that on hold for now.
Many of you who listen know Sean does stuff with WBLI, and they recently lost a couple of people in the same week meaning that others have to pick up the slack. Sean is not exempt from this.
The end of the week we may be able to try and do something, but we're trying to figure out if it's worth it to do that or just wait until Sunday. Once we figure that out for sure, we'll let you guys know.
In the meantime, I wanted to provide you with some quick hit thoughts from the past week, as well as some observations from the Coliseum rafters on Sunday. Some of these appeared during my live Twitter updates from the game, but for those of you who were unable to follow then here's your chance.
I tend to be very forgetful, even when I write stuff down in my notebook, so this seemed like a good way to do that. Obviously, I'll save some of the juicy details for when we record the show since Sean is chomping at the bit to get his two cents in on these topics as well.
So in no particular order, here are some points I want to hit on:
-Worth noting: James Wisniewski has seen his ice time get cut down significantly, from 23 minutes on Thursday to just over 17 by Sunday. He didn't have a banner week, and a lot of deficiencies were exposed (watch the Marian Gaborik or Danny Briere winning goals).
-Heard in the Coliseum press box Sunday, from a member of the mainstream media: "The Isles are starting to look like the Blackhawks under Bill Wirtz."
-On Tuesday, Jack Capuano had Jesse Joensuu on the wing with Matt Moulson and John Tavares. I have wanted Joensuu up there for a while now. Good to see.
-In the game Sunday, P.A. Parenteau saw himself get demoted off of that first line to the 3rd. He remained there for Tuesday's practice. He got just over 13 minutes of ice time Sunday.
-After said practice, which was about two hours long, Capuano was asked what he thought about it: "I Thought it was good. There was a lot of shooting and passing. We want to have a little of that going on." Interesting concept coach. This is not a knock on Capuano, but this quote and the one he gave when asked about Doug Weight coaching the power-play ("I can use all the help I can get") has raised some eyebrows. Watch the next time the team calls a time out or something is being discussed during a quick stoppage. You'll notice Scott Allen is the one who does most, if not all of the talking. So why isn't Allen the interim coach then? Good question.
-Josh Bailey had a strong weekend down in Bridgeport after somewhat of a slow start down there. One of my Blog Box buddies wondered when Bailey could "come back home." The correct answer to that should be not anytime soon. For those that have watched from the beginning of the year, we saw how lost the kid was. He's 21 and to look as bad as he did is somewhat alarming. Let him take his time and get back on his feet and prove himself for much more than a five game sample in the AHL.
-After it was confirmed that Bailey was one of the "passengers" Capuano called out after the game against Florida, I looked in Blake Comeau's direction and said "you're next." Nothing dramatic has happened to him just yet, but that effort against Philly left a lot to be desired (see the play in the waining seconds with the Isles net empty). I think his clock is ticking a bit.
-While it hasn't translated into any wins yet, it is no coincidence that the Isles have had some of their better overall defensive performances since Andrew MacDonald returned to the lineup. At the time of his injury, MacDonald was leading the team in blocked shots. He looked solid against Philly, and led the game with six.
-Former Isles captain Bill Guerin announced his retirement on Monday. While I never got the chance to be a part of the Blog Box and interview him when he was here, I always appreciated reading comments from him. The team fell on some tough times when he was here, and he always told it like it was and held people accountable. He was always one of my favorite players in the NHL, and I was thrilled to be able to watch him for a season and a half here. I wish him luck, and look forward to seeing him in another capacity in hockey be it here, in Pittsburgh or New Jersey.
-Tavares looks a little lost too. On one of the Isles power-plays against Philly, he had a great chance for a one timer but hesitated, which led to an easy save. He's not the only one guilty of this, especially with the man advantage, but when someone is supposed to be so deadly offensively it is a cause of concern.
-Speaking of the power-play, on Sunday Frans Nielsen was playing the point for the first unit. Both Mark Eaton and Travis Hamonic saw some time on the second. It seems as though Capuano may start to tinker with the power-play lines, from the blue line in.
-On Monday, there were a couple of articles written about the Isles. They are not of a positive nature. Larry Brooks calls for the Commissioner to get involved with the operations of the Isles, while Kevin Schultz picks on some of the points Brooks brings up but seems to agree with the whole general idea.
I will save my detailed thoughts on the subject for the next podcast. However, I will say this. I liked a lot of what was in both articles. I do feel that both are very fact driven. I know very few folks took exception to Brook's article, however he uses that unique style of writing of his to convey his points. It is meant to sound a bit condescending. My basic point: I appreciate Mr. Wang buying the team in 2000. But I can't continue to give someone the benefit of the doubt because they did something for me 10 years ago. Sooner or later, something has to give and some things are going to have to be talked about, just as it was promised to us on media day.
-Kyle Okposo has finally started skating with equipment. Sean said to me he has a problem with him coming back early just to create some excitement. However, we really don't know if it's early or not. The team never came out and said anything aside from "out indefinitely" and Katie Strang reported the December-January return time table. So it would appear he's on track, and not rushing. Milan Jurcina has started skating with equipment as well. It will be nice to get yet another good shot blocker back. He was really playing well when he went down.
-Radek Martinek was named the Isles player of the month for November. He had a good month, with five points and a lot of solid defensive play. One could have made a strong case for Dwayne Roloson, though.
Speaking of Roloson, the Islanders once again failed to give him any offensive support in his last start. It is quite astounding that a guy with such a good GAA and save percentage could have such an awful record. If things don't change, and the trade deadline day approaches with teams calling about Roloson, the classy thing for the Isles to do would be to deal him to a true contender, no matter the return. I have been nothing but impressed by Roloson on and off the ice. No matter the record, no matter the score he is giving it his all. On many of the days where he is the back-up for DiPietro, he is always caught on camera giving a lesson to a young defenseman or two. If something comes up where Roloson can find himself in a better situation at the tail end of his career, the Isles must do it.
So that covers most of the important stuff. As time goes on, some things will be talked about in greater detail, but this was meant to be a quick-hit list of statements and observations more than anything.
Expect a small feature on Hamonic to come next.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
December 4, 2010
Rangers Sweep Home and Home Against Islanders
The Islanders and Rangers played a much different game than the one they played Thursday night. While that one may have had more of a pond hockey feel to it, this one was purely defensive for both teams.
The Rangers out shot the Islanders 20-17. The lone puck that beat a goaltender was when Marc Staal's shot from the point got through three Isles on a power-play for the Rangers. Brian Boyle would add an empty netter to give the Rangers a 2-0 win.
After the Thursday night game, I didn't really bother to go into much detail about the defensive play since the game was pure offense all around. Friday, with the Islanders offense non-existent and the Rangers offense almost non-existent, the only details to point out are really only on the defensive end.
While Thursday's game was not a banner game for many of the Isles blue-liners, Friday's game was a little bit of a different story.
Two of the Islanders biggest culprits of poor play in the first go around were Mark Eaton and Radek Martinek. I felt both of them were the most solid Friday. It was quite a change from a day ago, but a very welcome sight indeed.
Eaton did a lot of what he does best - block shots. He finished the game with four registered blocks. Throughout the night, especially on the penalty kill you could see him using his stick and making some nice poke checks and stick checks.
Martinek blocked a good amount of shots too, and got more involved with the offense. He had a couple of nice shots and even made a little toe drag move on an offensive rush. The speed he showed there was something that I don't recall seeing before.
Travis Hamonic played well once again, while his defensive partner Andrew MacDonald threw some nice checks and looked very smooth again. It's not taking him very long to get back into the swing of things.
Once again, you can't say enough about Dwayne Roloson. He was solid once again, and made a few spectacular saves.
As far as the offense goes, the Islanders had some chances to get pucks towards the net and quite simply they did not. They hold on to the puck, and take too long to make decisions. When they are going on an offensive rush, there is way too much East-West movement, giving the opposing team the chance to get back in. I understand wanting to have strength in numbers, but there are some times where you can wait for your teammates to come back into the play. Sometimes, the puck carrier has to go in by himself, get the puck in deep and go from there.
Frans Nielsen got hit in the head by an elbow from Ryan Callahan, and while he did not get injured it was still a penalty. It was the right call by the refs, and the right move for Jesse Joensuu to go after him. Joensuu is no fighter, and Callahan is much tougher than he is. I give a lot of credit to Joensuu for going after him, even if it cost him 19 minutes in penalties.
Now the Isles will turn their attention to Sunday, where they will turn their attention to the Philadelphia Flyers as they return home.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
The Rangers out shot the Islanders 20-17. The lone puck that beat a goaltender was when Marc Staal's shot from the point got through three Isles on a power-play for the Rangers. Brian Boyle would add an empty netter to give the Rangers a 2-0 win.
After the Thursday night game, I didn't really bother to go into much detail about the defensive play since the game was pure offense all around. Friday, with the Islanders offense non-existent and the Rangers offense almost non-existent, the only details to point out are really only on the defensive end.
While Thursday's game was not a banner game for many of the Isles blue-liners, Friday's game was a little bit of a different story.
Two of the Islanders biggest culprits of poor play in the first go around were Mark Eaton and Radek Martinek. I felt both of them were the most solid Friday. It was quite a change from a day ago, but a very welcome sight indeed.
Eaton did a lot of what he does best - block shots. He finished the game with four registered blocks. Throughout the night, especially on the penalty kill you could see him using his stick and making some nice poke checks and stick checks.
Martinek blocked a good amount of shots too, and got more involved with the offense. He had a couple of nice shots and even made a little toe drag move on an offensive rush. The speed he showed there was something that I don't recall seeing before.
Travis Hamonic played well once again, while his defensive partner Andrew MacDonald threw some nice checks and looked very smooth again. It's not taking him very long to get back into the swing of things.
Once again, you can't say enough about Dwayne Roloson. He was solid once again, and made a few spectacular saves.
As far as the offense goes, the Islanders had some chances to get pucks towards the net and quite simply they did not. They hold on to the puck, and take too long to make decisions. When they are going on an offensive rush, there is way too much East-West movement, giving the opposing team the chance to get back in. I understand wanting to have strength in numbers, but there are some times where you can wait for your teammates to come back into the play. Sometimes, the puck carrier has to go in by himself, get the puck in deep and go from there.
Frans Nielsen got hit in the head by an elbow from Ryan Callahan, and while he did not get injured it was still a penalty. It was the right call by the refs, and the right move for Jesse Joensuu to go after him. Joensuu is no fighter, and Callahan is much tougher than he is. I give a lot of credit to Joensuu for going after him, even if it cost him 19 minutes in penalties.
Now the Isles will turn their attention to Sunday, where they will turn their attention to the Philadelphia Flyers as they return home.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
November 14, 2010
Isles Drop 10th Straight
It seems as though every time the Islanders take baby steps forward during the losing streak, they have a game like last night where they take steps back.
The Islanders lost to the Kings 5-1, in a game that didn't get out of hand as early as many feared that it would from the looks of it.
Five minutes into the game, Anze Kopitar was looking for a hat trick and Scott Gordon found himself burning a timeout. The Islanders scrambled around a lot due to only having five defensemen available last night. Usually, since defensemen are always blocking shots and getting banged up, teams will bring an extra one for the road trips. The Islanders did not. Why they didn't I'm not sure. That would be a question to ask them. It is perplexing though.
The Islanders were out shot 34-19, and were outplayed in virtually every aspect of the game - except for face-offs, for those of you who are looking for the silver lining.
Dwayne Roloson did not play poorly, and made some nice saves. Each of the Islanders defensemen, many already playing some minutes they aren't used to, got over 20 minutes of ice time, and you could see the exhaustion set in by the 3rd period.
It's a shame that the result came out this way considering the good efforts the team had in Anaheim and San Jose. I felt going in that the Islanders would have a better shot at winning this one than I originally thought given that. But some players going back to old habits, coupled with not bringing along an extra defenseman ruined that.
The Islanders have the next few days off, and finally return home for a string of 10 of the next 14. Perhaps being at home on a more consistent basis could be what the team needs, although for many of the home games sprinkled in this long road trip, they still weren't able to score despite some good performances against Montreal and Philadelphia. The Tampa Bay Lightning are the first opponent in the home stand.
After the 4th game of the season against the Avalanche, the Islanders played 10 of 12 on the road. They went 2-9-1 during that stretch, and were outscored 42-19.
The scoring issues are something that's been beaten to death by this point, and it's hard to ignore that the Islanders haven't done much offensively when it comes to 5-on-5 play. But it is a cause of concern for me.
My fear was that if the losing skid hit 10 games, then more eyes would turn to Gordon. Despite the recent words from Garth Snow, I had in my mind that I would officially put Gordon on the hot seat after 10 games. My fear is that the Isles are getting closer to letting the talented coach go. I truly hope my feelings are wrong, but the Islanders are going to have to do something sooner or later and given the finances of the team, they won't bring in any outside help when it comes to player personnel. They will most likely be content awaiting the return of Kyle Okposo within the next month or two. So for me, it all points to firing the coach.
More to come later.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
The Islanders lost to the Kings 5-1, in a game that didn't get out of hand as early as many feared that it would from the looks of it.
Five minutes into the game, Anze Kopitar was looking for a hat trick and Scott Gordon found himself burning a timeout. The Islanders scrambled around a lot due to only having five defensemen available last night. Usually, since defensemen are always blocking shots and getting banged up, teams will bring an extra one for the road trips. The Islanders did not. Why they didn't I'm not sure. That would be a question to ask them. It is perplexing though.
The Islanders were out shot 34-19, and were outplayed in virtually every aspect of the game - except for face-offs, for those of you who are looking for the silver lining.
Dwayne Roloson did not play poorly, and made some nice saves. Each of the Islanders defensemen, many already playing some minutes they aren't used to, got over 20 minutes of ice time, and you could see the exhaustion set in by the 3rd period.
It's a shame that the result came out this way considering the good efforts the team had in Anaheim and San Jose. I felt going in that the Islanders would have a better shot at winning this one than I originally thought given that. But some players going back to old habits, coupled with not bringing along an extra defenseman ruined that.
The Islanders have the next few days off, and finally return home for a string of 10 of the next 14. Perhaps being at home on a more consistent basis could be what the team needs, although for many of the home games sprinkled in this long road trip, they still weren't able to score despite some good performances against Montreal and Philadelphia. The Tampa Bay Lightning are the first opponent in the home stand.
After the 4th game of the season against the Avalanche, the Islanders played 10 of 12 on the road. They went 2-9-1 during that stretch, and were outscored 42-19.
The scoring issues are something that's been beaten to death by this point, and it's hard to ignore that the Islanders haven't done much offensively when it comes to 5-on-5 play. But it is a cause of concern for me.
My fear was that if the losing skid hit 10 games, then more eyes would turn to Gordon. Despite the recent words from Garth Snow, I had in my mind that I would officially put Gordon on the hot seat after 10 games. My fear is that the Isles are getting closer to letting the talented coach go. I truly hope my feelings are wrong, but the Islanders are going to have to do something sooner or later and given the finances of the team, they won't bring in any outside help when it comes to player personnel. They will most likely be content awaiting the return of Kyle Okposo within the next month or two. So for me, it all points to firing the coach.
More to come later.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
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