The Islanders stuck to the basics and made some changes after getting shut out 1-0 on Friday afternoon. The slight changes they did make resulted in a 3-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils about 24 hours later.
Showing posts with label Mike Mottau. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mike Mottau. Show all posts
November 27, 2011
November 18, 2011
Isles Withstand Late Surge by Montreal
When you go to the net, good things happen. Ditto for hustling to loose pucks.
The Islanders had a good grasp of this concept on Thursday night against Montreal. Three of their four goals were scored by either crashing the net or winning battles for loose pucks.
The Islanders had a good grasp of this concept on Thursday night against Montreal. Three of their four goals were scored by either crashing the net or winning battles for loose pucks.
October 16, 2011
Tavares Gets 3rd Career Hat Trick to Down Rangers; NYI FYI Sunday at 11 AM
This weekend, it's John Tavares's world and we're just living in it.
Tavares was outstanding once again, and followed up a two goal, two assist performance on Thursday night with a three goal, four point night against the Rangers as the Islanders continued their fast start.
Tavares was outstanding once again, and followed up a two goal, two assist performance on Thursday night with a three goal, four point night against the Rangers as the Islanders continued their fast start.
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
November 22, 2010
Mike Mottau Update; Would the Islanders Claim O'Sullivan?
The Islanders received some discouraging news regarding the status of defenseman Mike Mottau as he remains overnight in an Atlanta hospital. After taking a puck off of his right eye in Sunday's game against the Thrashers, the swelling apparently has not got down.
This could be a huge blow to the Islanders defense if he has to miss significant time. Mottau was one of the more reliable Islanders defensemen this season in my eyes, although he like many of the others had fallen on hard times lately. The Islanders really don't have anyone else in the system as of this moment to be able to come in and fill the void for those minutes. Both Dustin Kohn and Mark Katic are injured in Bridgeport, while Anton Klementyev and Travis Hamonic are both very raw. Hamonic is further along however, and is one of the Islanders top defensive prospects, and a very highly regarded young blueliner across the league.
If Mottau is going to miss time, and at this point I'm assuming he would, it may not be terrible to give Hamonic a shot. It can certainly be better than what some others are providing lately, and if it's a significant injury it gives Hamonic some time to adjust. If the Islanders only need someone to fill in briefly, then Klementyev is the way to go so that Hamonic can continue to log top minutes in Bridgeport.
Obviously, and more importantly, we wish Mottau and his family the best in this time. Sometimes, things are bigger than hockey. This is one of them. The thing to be very careful with here is the eyesite. That is priority number one.
Meanwhile, I have had a few people ask me if I felt that the Islanders would claim Carolina's Patrick O'Sullivan off waivers. I say no dice.
My reasoning is actually quite simple. O'Sullivan provides more of the same as some of the other players here, and some of that is what's causing problems now. The last thing this team needs is a 3rd waiver claim playing for them, let alone one with a slew of attitude issues.
With the Islanders already carrying Rob Schremp and Michael Grabner, they won't make the claim unless they dump one of those two. Schremp was in and out of the line-up under Scott Gordon since coming back from injury, while Grabner has four goals on the season in some limited time of his own. Jack Capuano said the other day that part of his goal of making the system a bit easier was that he wants players to go out and do what they do best, and sort of not have to worry as much about the constant forechecking aspect.
Grabner and Schremp are two guys that can succeed if they are given the freedom to do so. Capuano likes both, and the Islanders will give them time to get it down. Schremp still has some work to do, but Grabner has been playing fairly well his last couple of games.
With trade winds swirling around and scouts watching the Islanders closely, you're more likely to see something from that end than another waiver claim.
Be sure to listen to our latest podcast here.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
This could be a huge blow to the Islanders defense if he has to miss significant time. Mottau was one of the more reliable Islanders defensemen this season in my eyes, although he like many of the others had fallen on hard times lately. The Islanders really don't have anyone else in the system as of this moment to be able to come in and fill the void for those minutes. Both Dustin Kohn and Mark Katic are injured in Bridgeport, while Anton Klementyev and Travis Hamonic are both very raw. Hamonic is further along however, and is one of the Islanders top defensive prospects, and a very highly regarded young blueliner across the league.If Mottau is going to miss time, and at this point I'm assuming he would, it may not be terrible to give Hamonic a shot. It can certainly be better than what some others are providing lately, and if it's a significant injury it gives Hamonic some time to adjust. If the Islanders only need someone to fill in briefly, then Klementyev is the way to go so that Hamonic can continue to log top minutes in Bridgeport.
Obviously, and more importantly, we wish Mottau and his family the best in this time. Sometimes, things are bigger than hockey. This is one of them. The thing to be very careful with here is the eyesite. That is priority number one.
Meanwhile, I have had a few people ask me if I felt that the Islanders would claim Carolina's Patrick O'Sullivan off waivers. I say no dice.
My reasoning is actually quite simple. O'Sullivan provides more of the same as some of the other players here, and some of that is what's causing problems now. The last thing this team needs is a 3rd waiver claim playing for them, let alone one with a slew of attitude issues.
With the Islanders already carrying Rob Schremp and Michael Grabner, they won't make the claim unless they dump one of those two. Schremp was in and out of the line-up under Scott Gordon since coming back from injury, while Grabner has four goals on the season in some limited time of his own. Jack Capuano said the other day that part of his goal of making the system a bit easier was that he wants players to go out and do what they do best, and sort of not have to worry as much about the constant forechecking aspect.
Grabner and Schremp are two guys that can succeed if they are given the freedom to do so. Capuano likes both, and the Islanders will give them time to get it down. Schremp still has some work to do, but Grabner has been playing fairly well his last couple of games.
With trade winds swirling around and scouts watching the Islanders closely, you're more likely to see something from that end than another waiver claim.
Be sure to listen to our latest podcast here.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
November 21, 2010
Byfuglien Extends Isles Streak to 13; New Podcast Posted
Dustin Byfuglien scored in overtime on a wide open shot from the slot in overtime to give the Atlanta Thrashers a 2-1 victory, and hand the Islanders their franchise record 13th loss in a row.
The Islanders effort was a bit better in this game than it was against the Florida Panthers, however the defense was still a bit shaky. Losing Mike Mottau, who took a shot off of his right eye in the 1st period didn't help that cause. Lets hope that he is OK and doesn't miss a beat because we are down to really our final options on defense in Dustin Kohn and the very raw options in Travis Hamonic and Anton Klementyev.
Rick DiPietro got the start, getting into his first game action in 18 days and was the Islanders best player on the ice tonight. He stopped 33 of the 35 shots that were thrown his way. His movements were really good, and he seemed to be able to make some really nice saves, especially through traffic.
Michael Grabner had a fairly good game tonight, using his speed to create some chances. He scored the lone Islanders goal by poking at the puck after a shot.
A breakdown by John Tavares led to the winning goal. He was battling with Byfuglien when the two went out of the zone. Tavares stumbled, and then failed to get back into the play with any kind of urgency. The defensemen who were on the ice both seemed to move away from the goal, allowing Byfuglien to walk into the slot area uncontested and take a really powerful wrist shot.
Tavares has made some bad defensive plays during the losing streak, and this one was among the worst. The other that sticks out in my mind was the Chris Pronger goal against Philadelphia a few weeks back, when both he and Blake Comeau were standing in the same area.
After the game, an obviously annoyed DiPietro spoke to reporters. One thing that was very interesting was that he talked about going to war with the guys on this team, and how there wasn't anyone he'd like to do that with more. It sounded to me like a player who is very well aware of the amount of scouts that are following them. When you have lost 13 games in a row, fired a coach and called up the best options from the AHL, your next step will have to be doing some house cleaning. I think we are getting close to that point.
If this past week was any indication, then we are in for another busy one.
NEW PODCAST AVAILABLE: Our latest podcast is now uploaded and ready for download. As always, you are encouraged to subscribe to the podcast. It was quite the week, as many of you know, and we run through everything except for detailed thoughts on the Scott Gordon firing, which we already did on Monday. Enjoy.
*Update: During the podcast, just as I did here in this post, we mentioned possibly calling up Dustin Kohn to replace Mike Mottau. I completely had a brain cramp and forgot that Kohn is injured over in Bridgeport. We apologize for the error.*
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
The Islanders effort was a bit better in this game than it was against the Florida Panthers, however the defense was still a bit shaky. Losing Mike Mottau, who took a shot off of his right eye in the 1st period didn't help that cause. Lets hope that he is OK and doesn't miss a beat because we are down to really our final options on defense in Dustin Kohn and the very raw options in Travis Hamonic and Anton Klementyev.
Rick DiPietro got the start, getting into his first game action in 18 days and was the Islanders best player on the ice tonight. He stopped 33 of the 35 shots that were thrown his way. His movements were really good, and he seemed to be able to make some really nice saves, especially through traffic.
Michael Grabner had a fairly good game tonight, using his speed to create some chances. He scored the lone Islanders goal by poking at the puck after a shot.
A breakdown by John Tavares led to the winning goal. He was battling with Byfuglien when the two went out of the zone. Tavares stumbled, and then failed to get back into the play with any kind of urgency. The defensemen who were on the ice both seemed to move away from the goal, allowing Byfuglien to walk into the slot area uncontested and take a really powerful wrist shot.
Tavares has made some bad defensive plays during the losing streak, and this one was among the worst. The other that sticks out in my mind was the Chris Pronger goal against Philadelphia a few weeks back, when both he and Blake Comeau were standing in the same area.
After the game, an obviously annoyed DiPietro spoke to reporters. One thing that was very interesting was that he talked about going to war with the guys on this team, and how there wasn't anyone he'd like to do that with more. It sounded to me like a player who is very well aware of the amount of scouts that are following them. When you have lost 13 games in a row, fired a coach and called up the best options from the AHL, your next step will have to be doing some house cleaning. I think we are getting close to that point.
If this past week was any indication, then we are in for another busy one.
NEW PODCAST AVAILABLE: Our latest podcast is now uploaded and ready for download. As always, you are encouraged to subscribe to the podcast. It was quite the week, as many of you know, and we run through everything except for detailed thoughts on the Scott Gordon firing, which we already did on Monday. Enjoy.
*Update: During the podcast, just as I did here in this post, we mentioned possibly calling up Dustin Kohn to replace Mike Mottau. I completely had a brain cramp and forgot that Kohn is injured over in Bridgeport. We apologize for the error.*
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
October 3, 2010
Full (Almost) Roster Gives Isles 2-1 Win over Devils; Other Notes
In their only home preseason game, the Islanders iced what many consider to be the closet thing to their opening night lineup. For the first time, people were able to see how certain guys had chemistry with others, and more importantly, how good Rick DiPietro looks.
DiPietro made 25 saves, while Josh Bailey and Blake Comeau scored for the Islanders to help defeat the Devils 2-1, while just under 8,000 fans came out to the Coliseum for their preseason fix.
Doug Weight had an assist on Bailey's goal, making a nice pass from behind the net. The assist gave him three total in the two games he played. That's a great thing to see for a guy who has been injured for most of his stay here on the Island so far.
One of the things I was most interested in was to see how Scott Gordon was going to allocate the minutes among the defensemen. One look at the boxscore, and you can see that James Wisniewski led the way with 25:52, followed by Mark Eaton at 25:24 and Radek Martinek at 24:35. Newcomer Mike Mottau, getting his first game in as an Islander, logged 24:06 of ice time. The Islanders are going to rely heavily on Wisniewski to lead this crew. It appears that Gordon likes Mottau very much, and to be honest I have liked what I have seen out of him when watching him the past three seasons for the Devils as well. While the blue line may not have a huge amount of offense, they certainly are solid defensively.
Calvin de Haan played just under 10 minutes. I'm curious to see what the Islanders do with him, and to be honest while he has shown flashes of being a very good defenseman, isn't quite there yet. I won't say that his shoulder injury last season caused him to take a step back, but you can clearly see that he is still trying to work out the kinks, which is only normal for a 19 year old who suffers an injury like that. I really think he should go back to juniors, and something tells me the Islanders will agree with that.
The team did have their split squad in action once again, with the "B" team dropping their game against the Montreal Canadiens 7-2. Montreal had most of their NHL roster on the ice for that one. All but a handful of the Islanders skaters in that game were cut this morning and sent to Bridgeport, or released. I'll touch upon this later in the post.
The story out of Quebec City, however, was the battle between Nino Niederreiter and Mike Cammalleri. Earlier in the game, Niederreiter laid this hit on Cammalleri, one that he felt was unnecessary and illegal. After taking exception to the hit, and with the game getting out of hand, Cammalleri went after Niederreiter, essentially waiving his stick in his face, seemingly clipping Niderreiter. After that, while Niederreiter tries to skate away and with the referees watching, Cammalleri slashed Niederreiter on the back of his legs. Niederreiter did not return for the 3rd period with bruises from the slash. Cammalleri was thrown out of the game for his actions.
I don't really know what possessed Cammalleri to do what he did. Niederreiter is 6'3", Cammalleri 5'9". The difference in height is what probably made him go berserk like that, feeling that the hit was a shoulder to a head, but there is no place for that. The league is currently reviewing the situation, as they should. Many speculate that he will be handed down some kind of suspension. He should.
Unfortunately, I was not able to see the games and due to prior obligations, did not get to attend the preseason game at the Coliseum. However, some of my fellow Blog Boxers were able to attend or watch, and they wrote some good things. For more details of what they saw - which is a breath of fresh air for you guys and a break from my opinion - be sure to check out what they have to say.
Dee Karl of Islanders 7th Woman
Dominik of Light House Hockey
I'll add more as they post their stories from the game, so be sure to look out for that.
ISLES ANNOUNCE ROSTER MOVES: The Islanders announced on Saturday morning that they have trimmed their roster by 17. There are no surprises there. One thing that bothers me, however, is that all six players who were here on tryouts got cut. While that probably won't matter in the scheme of things, to me I felt that bringing in a guy like Dean McAmmond or Jed Ortmeyer on a two-way deal would have been a good idea. Meanwhile, there is no indication that they will even head to Bridgeport for a chance to crack their roster. So, it now appears that those players were just brought in to fulfill roster requirements for the preseason games. Oh well. Who knows, maybe someone ends up coming back in another couple of days.
NYI FYI PODCAST COMING: Sean and I plan to make a podcast this afternoon. Now with preseason games complete, we'll have some interesting topics to discuss now that we have actually seen the players perform on the ice and in game situations. Look for that at some point today. I'll be sure to post a link when it's up and running as well as a reminder.
-Chris
nyifyi@gmail.com
DiPietro made 25 saves, while Josh Bailey and Blake Comeau scored for the Islanders to help defeat the Devils 2-1, while just under 8,000 fans came out to the Coliseum for their preseason fix.
Doug Weight had an assist on Bailey's goal, making a nice pass from behind the net. The assist gave him three total in the two games he played. That's a great thing to see for a guy who has been injured for most of his stay here on the Island so far.
One of the things I was most interested in was to see how Scott Gordon was going to allocate the minutes among the defensemen. One look at the boxscore, and you can see that James Wisniewski led the way with 25:52, followed by Mark Eaton at 25:24 and Radek Martinek at 24:35. Newcomer Mike Mottau, getting his first game in as an Islander, logged 24:06 of ice time. The Islanders are going to rely heavily on Wisniewski to lead this crew. It appears that Gordon likes Mottau very much, and to be honest I have liked what I have seen out of him when watching him the past three seasons for the Devils as well. While the blue line may not have a huge amount of offense, they certainly are solid defensively.
Calvin de Haan played just under 10 minutes. I'm curious to see what the Islanders do with him, and to be honest while he has shown flashes of being a very good defenseman, isn't quite there yet. I won't say that his shoulder injury last season caused him to take a step back, but you can clearly see that he is still trying to work out the kinks, which is only normal for a 19 year old who suffers an injury like that. I really think he should go back to juniors, and something tells me the Islanders will agree with that.
The team did have their split squad in action once again, with the "B" team dropping their game against the Montreal Canadiens 7-2. Montreal had most of their NHL roster on the ice for that one. All but a handful of the Islanders skaters in that game were cut this morning and sent to Bridgeport, or released. I'll touch upon this later in the post.
The story out of Quebec City, however, was the battle between Nino Niederreiter and Mike Cammalleri. Earlier in the game, Niederreiter laid this hit on Cammalleri, one that he felt was unnecessary and illegal. After taking exception to the hit, and with the game getting out of hand, Cammalleri went after Niederreiter, essentially waiving his stick in his face, seemingly clipping Niderreiter. After that, while Niederreiter tries to skate away and with the referees watching, Cammalleri slashed Niederreiter on the back of his legs. Niederreiter did not return for the 3rd period with bruises from the slash. Cammalleri was thrown out of the game for his actions.
I don't really know what possessed Cammalleri to do what he did. Niederreiter is 6'3", Cammalleri 5'9". The difference in height is what probably made him go berserk like that, feeling that the hit was a shoulder to a head, but there is no place for that. The league is currently reviewing the situation, as they should. Many speculate that he will be handed down some kind of suspension. He should.
Unfortunately, I was not able to see the games and due to prior obligations, did not get to attend the preseason game at the Coliseum. However, some of my fellow Blog Boxers were able to attend or watch, and they wrote some good things. For more details of what they saw - which is a breath of fresh air for you guys and a break from my opinion - be sure to check out what they have to say.
Dee Karl of Islanders 7th Woman
Dominik of Light House Hockey
I'll add more as they post their stories from the game, so be sure to look out for that.
ISLES ANNOUNCE ROSTER MOVES: The Islanders announced on Saturday morning that they have trimmed their roster by 17. There are no surprises there. One thing that bothers me, however, is that all six players who were here on tryouts got cut. While that probably won't matter in the scheme of things, to me I felt that bringing in a guy like Dean McAmmond or Jed Ortmeyer on a two-way deal would have been a good idea. Meanwhile, there is no indication that they will even head to Bridgeport for a chance to crack their roster. So, it now appears that those players were just brought in to fulfill roster requirements for the preseason games. Oh well. Who knows, maybe someone ends up coming back in another couple of days.
NYI FYI PODCAST COMING: Sean and I plan to make a podcast this afternoon. Now with preseason games complete, we'll have some interesting topics to discuss now that we have actually seen the players perform on the ice and in game situations. Look for that at some point today. I'll be sure to post a link when it's up and running as well as a reminder.
-Chris
nyifyi@gmail.com
September 28, 2010
Okposo out 3 Months; Mottau signed to 2-year Deal
As the old saying goes, "when it rains, it pours." No, I'm not referring to the weather on the Island lately, but the news surrounding it's only professional sports franchise.
The Islanders got even more bad news on Tuesday, as a second opinion on Kyle Okposo's shoulder revealed that he has a torn labrum, which Katie Strang reports will keep the star winger sidelined until December. His injury, like Streit's, will require surgery. Fortunately, the timetable isn't as bad since Streit's was so awkward and had three different injures.
What is unclear at this time, however, is what Okposo did to hurt the shoulder. The injury apparently occured during the powerplay scrimmage they had last week Thursday, which was only open to the mainstream media.
Whatever the case may be, now the Islanders prepare for three months without their defensive anchor and their best all-around forward. Now, everyone will be holding their collective breaths as the team - finally - begins to play some preseason games.
We'll see who steps up now. Obviously, we were already looking for a breakout season from Josh Bailey. Now, we'll sort of need it to happen. A full season of Rob Schremp will be good for us, and given the recent history of talented 1st overall picks, John Tavares can realistically eclipse the 30 goal mark. There are some young players around who might surprise in the exhibition games who could possibly make the squad such as Nino Niederreiter, David Ullstrom and Jesse Joensuu.
The Islanders can also look and see who goes on the waiver wire, or who is made avaliable by a team that has no cap space (Michael Ryder of the Bruins, Brian Rolston of the Devils).
Garth Snow talked about how this provides an opportunity for the younger players to step up and earn that spot. Ironically, he said the same thing after Mark Streit's injury. Just two days after that announcement, however, he announced the signing of defenseman Mike Mottau to a two-year contract, worth $800K per season. Mottau spent the last three seasons with the Devils.
Islanders fans might remember Mottau best for his hit on Frans Nielsen a couple of seasons ago. I sure do, and even voiced my displeasure with it. However, now that that's in the past, I am not too concerned with that.
Obviously, he is not Streit. Snow talks about Mottau's puck moving ability, but he is more of a defensive defenseman. The Islanders were not going to come anywhere close to Streit, even if they ended up getting Sheldon Souray instead. I still personally would have liked Souray, but given that the Islanders have no interest, perhaps there is something there, and perhaps his trade demands have truly turned more teams off to him than I originally thought. So be it.
Mottau gives the Islanders even more good depth. The offense from the blue line doesn't appear to be there, but it's going to make James Wisniewski, Andrew MacDonald and Jack Hillen step their games up. When you add Mark Eaton, a healthy Radek Martinek and mix and match Bruno Gervais and Milan Jurcina if needed, it's not the worst thing in the world. This defense is collectively better than the defense last year, disregarding Streit.
Some people are wondering why they gave him a two year deal. To be honest, in the scheme of things I'm not sure if it really matters. Perhaps it was the only way to get him here. If so, well, this team has Wisniewski, Gervais, Jurcina and Martinek all in their contract years. I think this tells us a little of what they think of Gervais so far, and his order on the depth chart. Jurcina was brought on as a Scott Gordon project, and if he doesn't do well, won't be back. Martinek has had a hard time staying on the ice in recent years, and is a candidate to be let go after the season if he gets hurt again.
As far as what else Mottau brings to the team, for those of you who may not know (I honestly didn't) NYI FYI friend Andy Strickland had an excellent entry on his new site about Mottau and things you may not know about him. Some really good stuff there, and shows you how much of a character guy he is to boot. Right now, it appears he's a good option for a lower pairing, but can play more minutes if need be.
Before I leave you guys alone for now, I want to give credit where credit is due. When Streit went down with his injury, I mentioned how that the Islanders could send the wrong message if they simply went with a young defenseman and didn't even try to bring in a solid vet to fill the role. I honestly didn't think they would, as they had seven defensemen on one-way deals. But here we are, with Mottau signed and at eight defensemen again. Regardless of the player, or the terms, the Islanders are trying to keep their word. I respect them for that, and am very curious to see if the offense is handled the same way.
-Chris
nyifyi@gmail.com
The Islanders got even more bad news on Tuesday, as a second opinion on Kyle Okposo's shoulder revealed that he has a torn labrum, which Katie Strang reports will keep the star winger sidelined until December. His injury, like Streit's, will require surgery. Fortunately, the timetable isn't as bad since Streit's was so awkward and had three different injures.
What is unclear at this time, however, is what Okposo did to hurt the shoulder. The injury apparently occured during the powerplay scrimmage they had last week Thursday, which was only open to the mainstream media.
Whatever the case may be, now the Islanders prepare for three months without their defensive anchor and their best all-around forward. Now, everyone will be holding their collective breaths as the team - finally - begins to play some preseason games.
We'll see who steps up now. Obviously, we were already looking for a breakout season from Josh Bailey. Now, we'll sort of need it to happen. A full season of Rob Schremp will be good for us, and given the recent history of talented 1st overall picks, John Tavares can realistically eclipse the 30 goal mark. There are some young players around who might surprise in the exhibition games who could possibly make the squad such as Nino Niederreiter, David Ullstrom and Jesse Joensuu.
The Islanders can also look and see who goes on the waiver wire, or who is made avaliable by a team that has no cap space (Michael Ryder of the Bruins, Brian Rolston of the Devils).
Garth Snow talked about how this provides an opportunity for the younger players to step up and earn that spot. Ironically, he said the same thing after Mark Streit's injury. Just two days after that announcement, however, he announced the signing of defenseman Mike Mottau to a two-year contract, worth $800K per season. Mottau spent the last three seasons with the Devils.
Islanders fans might remember Mottau best for his hit on Frans Nielsen a couple of seasons ago. I sure do, and even voiced my displeasure with it. However, now that that's in the past, I am not too concerned with that.
Obviously, he is not Streit. Snow talks about Mottau's puck moving ability, but he is more of a defensive defenseman. The Islanders were not going to come anywhere close to Streit, even if they ended up getting Sheldon Souray instead. I still personally would have liked Souray, but given that the Islanders have no interest, perhaps there is something there, and perhaps his trade demands have truly turned more teams off to him than I originally thought. So be it.
Mottau gives the Islanders even more good depth. The offense from the blue line doesn't appear to be there, but it's going to make James Wisniewski, Andrew MacDonald and Jack Hillen step their games up. When you add Mark Eaton, a healthy Radek Martinek and mix and match Bruno Gervais and Milan Jurcina if needed, it's not the worst thing in the world. This defense is collectively better than the defense last year, disregarding Streit.
Some people are wondering why they gave him a two year deal. To be honest, in the scheme of things I'm not sure if it really matters. Perhaps it was the only way to get him here. If so, well, this team has Wisniewski, Gervais, Jurcina and Martinek all in their contract years. I think this tells us a little of what they think of Gervais so far, and his order on the depth chart. Jurcina was brought on as a Scott Gordon project, and if he doesn't do well, won't be back. Martinek has had a hard time staying on the ice in recent years, and is a candidate to be let go after the season if he gets hurt again.
As far as what else Mottau brings to the team, for those of you who may not know (I honestly didn't) NYI FYI friend Andy Strickland had an excellent entry on his new site about Mottau and things you may not know about him. Some really good stuff there, and shows you how much of a character guy he is to boot. Right now, it appears he's a good option for a lower pairing, but can play more minutes if need be.
Before I leave you guys alone for now, I want to give credit where credit is due. When Streit went down with his injury, I mentioned how that the Islanders could send the wrong message if they simply went with a young defenseman and didn't even try to bring in a solid vet to fill the role. I honestly didn't think they would, as they had seven defensemen on one-way deals. But here we are, with Mottau signed and at eight defensemen again. Regardless of the player, or the terms, the Islanders are trying to keep their word. I respect them for that, and am very curious to see if the offense is handled the same way.
-Chris
nyifyi@gmail.com
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