After hearing so much about the added emotion when going up against a former teammate, the Isles started the game off very quietly.
They gave up an early goal as they did in Tampa, but for much of the first period they couldn't get anything going. The first period ended with Atlanta having a 12-3 shot advantage.
For the first couple of minutes of the second, it looked like things could possibly turn around for the Isles as they controlled some of the play. But that and a goal to tie it from John Tavares was not enough to tilt the scale the other way.
Rob Schremp now has two goals for Atlanta. Photo by C. Hessel
Naturally, Atlanta would grab the lead on a goal by Rob Schremp. Atlanta was on the power play, and Schremp was able to just take an awkward looking shot and got the puck past Al Montoya. As a matter of fact, Schremp didn't seem to know that it went in right away.
When all was said and done, the Islanders would get out-shot 34-15. They were also severely outplayed, even when they had the man advantage. The final score of 2-1 doesn't really indicate how the game went.
Matt Martin was pretty frustrated after this one, and you really can't blame him. "I think (the effort) was pretty poor. We came off a good road trip and got five or six points."
"When your at home you have to play better than that, dictate the pace of the game and we just didn't bring it at all tonight."
Late in the game, P.A. Parenteau was interfered with on what would have been a nice break in on Chris Mason with just about a minute left, but nothing was called. After the game, Parenteau was pretty upset with the lack of a call there as he should be. For much of this game, there were some questionable calls and non-calls.
Some may say that the Isles don't have to worry about a game like this in a season where the playoffs are unlikely, but try telling that to any of them. Martin pulled no punches.
"We weren't ready as a group. It's unacceptable at this time of the year. They were just better. They wanted it more."
They absolutely did. The Thrashers had a game plan - throw as many shots as you can towards the net and crash it with big bodies like Andrew Ladd and Blake Wheeler - and they executed it perfectly. When the Isles were on offense, the Thrashers seemed to be able to pick up on their plays with some ease. The Islanders, obviously frustrated, tried some fancy plays that didn't come close to working. Hence the low total of shots on goal against what has been a pretty poor defensive team.
Some additional thoughts:
- Matt Moulson seems to have gone a bit quiet and could use a goal in the worst way. He had a couple of good chances in this one, but was unable to put one past Mason.
- You have to feel for Montoya, who wasn't tested with anything crazy but did well when facing a lot of shots in close. To give him next to nothing in offensive support is unfortunate.
- Andrew MacDonald took a shot up high, but didn't miss any time and said he was fine after the game.
The Isles take on the Flyers next in what will be another tough match-up. If they come out with an effort similar to this one, expect the score to be worse than 2-1. A lot worse.
Garth Snow was asking for 2nd round picks for each of Radek Martinek and Zenon Konopka. He didn't get what he was asking for either players, and thus they remained. That's actually what they would have preferred, anyway.
The only player that the Islanders did lose however was forward Rob Schremp. He was placed on waivers on Saturday, and had to wait until noon on Monday before knowing his fate. The Thrashers were fairly active in the weeks leading up to the deadline, and one of their moves on the final day was claiming him.
Schremp obviously was a little disappointed in having to leave the Islanders, but in all honesty this works out for both sides. Schremp gets a fresh start elsewhere, and the Islanders get to move on.
I had a comment from a reader who felt I was being a little tough on Schremp when I wrote about him after news broke of the waiver. However, I still stand by what I said. We make it a point, both in this space and on the show to point out guys who are having bad stretches or doing things wrong. We did numerous times earlier in the season. The team has generally played well in the last month though, and Schremp was one of the only guys not giving a complete effort, dogging it on defense and what have you. Even in limited time it was noticeable. The coaching staff gave him more than ample time to try and figure it out, but it didn't happen.
Meanwhile, the Thrashers have been trying to find ways to improve their offense in any way that they could. Their pick-up of Schremp, along with the other moves they made leading up to the deadline show that they obviously understood the need for a jolt on the power-play.
Schremp was always a fun guy to talk too, and quite the character. I enjoyed watching him grow last season, and enjoyed speaking with him a few times this season. All the best to him in Atlanta and the playoff push.
There was a lot of interest in both Martinek and Konopka, but ultimately it wasn't enough to make opposing GM's jump at it. I agree with the way Snow handled himself this deadline.
I was very adamant, both on the show and in posts here that Snow could get a 2nd round pick for Martinek if he wanted too. I was wrong, along with many other folks. However, that's what happens when there quite simply aren't too many sellers.
Snow wasn't coming down from his asking price, and GM's balked. They instead chose to go with the same price from other teams, for players that were either better or more durable, in the case of Martinek. The only thing you could argue that could have been done differently is construct a carbon copy of that Niclas Wallin deal from last March (Wallin and a 5th for a 2nd). But even that was a stretch. The purpose here was to try and gather assets to use in the summer, and not necessarily to draft young kids.
Snow tells Katie Strang of Newsday that he did take a look at some players who were under contract beyond this season, but was more just browsing. Perhaps that is something he will look at more in the summer.
Deadline day wasn't as active as it was in the past, with only 16 deals completed. Some teams got things out of the way earlier this year. Deadline day, in all honesty got about what I expected this year. I didn't think it would be the type we have seen in the past (25-30 deals) but expected maybe a few others.
The biggest deal was the Dustin Penner trade to the L.A. Kings for Colton Teubert, a 2011 first and a conditional 2nd rounder. The return is a bit much for a player like Penner, but for the L.A. Kings it's fine. They were so bad for so long, and have hoarded all of this talent at all positions. Having played well after hitting a bump in the road earlier, they could make this deal and are a better team for it.
The Oilers, meanwhile picked up a really talented, hard hitting defenseman. It'll be interesting to watch that team grow together over the next season or two.
We can only hope some seeds were planted for possible dealings in the summer. Many of the guys who didn't move today - Ales Hemsky, Steven Weiss, David Booth, etc - will surely be available in July. That's where some of those spare picks can come in handy.
The Islanders had a large and loud crowd on hand Saturday night to see them take on the Washington Capitals. Unfortunately, by the end of the night those who were in support of the Caps walked away happy.
The Isles had a 1-0 lead on a nice looking goal by Kyle Okposo as he Faked shifted into the slot and snapped a shot past goaltender Michael Neuvirth. It was just Okposo's 3rd goal of his injury shortened season.
The Isles would get a 2-0 lead on a knuckle ball shot that Neuvirth barely had a chance to see. It only took 33 seconds into the second period for Hamonic to get his 3rd of the season.
It was at that point where the Caps began to press, and get some of their chances. The Isles had been out-shooting the Caps 20-9 at one point, but things slowly turned in their favor.
Brooks Laich came out of the box after serving a penalty and Neuvirth hit him with a pass. He powered his way to the net and took a real nice shot that got through Montoya. Laich, who will be a UFA this summer, showed why many Isles fans on messages boards have been hoping that the Isles would make a run at him. He brings an element to a game that not many can provide, and certainly with much more consistency than anyone currently on the Isles.
Mike Knuble and Alex Semin would score about three minutes apart in the third to give the Caps a lead they would hold on to. Knuble's goal was on a broken play in front after Jack Hillen was taken behind the net, leaving Ty Wishart as the only defenseman covering and Josh Bailey scrambling to try and help.
Jack Capuano told us in the post game after that he thought they competed well against a tough team, but did have some lapses.
The one glaring issue however, was the power-play. "I felt our power-play was flat tonight," Capuano was quick to point out. I couldn't agree more, and on Twitter I pointed out that the Isles were playing too much on the perimeter with the man advantage. It's fine to get some looks for the defensemen and to try and create rebounds, but the Caps blocked a ton of shots coming in from the outside, especially early on. That is when you have to make changes and adapt to what your opponent is doing.
The locker room was very solemn after the game last night and for obvious reasons. Not only did they lose a game they could have easily won, but they also can be losing some friends. One look at Nathan Lawson's or Rob Schremp's face, and you could tell there was some pain there.
That is the other aspect in all of this. However, at the end of the day it is Garth Snow's job to build a successful hockey team. Having spoken to both Schremp and Lawson in the past, I can tell you they would probably say themselves how they haven't stepped up in the way they should have. In the case of Lawson, he seemed like he feared his NHL career may be over just as quickly as it started.
Regardless of that, we'll see what happens. There's a decent chance Schremp may be claimed by someone, while it's expected Lawson will clear waivers by noon Monday. There were a decent amount of scouts milling around the Coliseum, and the Isles even had scouts at some of the other games going around. There wasn't much talk in the press box of anything going on when it comes to the Isles. But as I said yesterday, expect the unexpected. If there's one thing we learned so far this year in the NHL, it's that almost anyone can be had for the right price.
NEW NYI FYI EPISODE: As usual, Sean and I will be getting together for our latest installment of the NYI FYI radio show at 11 AM. Please feel free to watch us and participate by going to our UStream page. There is a chat room that is up and running there, and we always read thoughts and questions from there. You can also feel free to @ us on Twitter with your thoughts and questions.
The Islanders announced on Saturday that both Rob Schremp and Nathan Lawson have been placed on waivers.
The Schremp move comes as no surprise. When the Isles sent down Jeremy Colliton and Jesse Joensuu, I said on our Twitter page that it was most likely for a last ditch attempt at trying to showcase Schremp to the rest of the league. In keeping with what has been the norm for him for the better part of two months, Schremp was unimpressive in his 17:55 minutes of ice time. I let my feelings be known about how I felt about his performance in the game recap.
Obviously, as expected there is no market at this time for a guy like Schremp. In a league where you value every player that is on your roster thanks to salary cap constraints, no one is trading anyone of value for a million dollar player with a ten cent head. For some guys, the second chance isn't enough. Sometimes they need a third or a fourth to finally "get it." Schremp is an obvious candidate for that because of his talent level.
I'll say that there is somewhat of a chance that Schremp could be claimed by another team looking to possibly bump up their power play. But that remains a long shot. If not claimed, Schremp may stick around but could see significant time in Bridgeport for the last 20 games of the year.
Lawson, above, and Schremp were waived. Photo by C. Hessel
Lawson, on the other hand will not be claimed. If he clears, he is likely to stay up unless the Isles claim Ty Conklin, Pascal Leclaire or Curtis McElhinney on waivers, or make a trade for another one. I'm not anticipating them doing any of that, so I'd expect to see Lawson remain.
One other possibility is that Rick DiPietro could be close to returning. However, this is an unlikely scenario. We haven't heard anything from DiPietro as far as even skating on his own. It still appears that he is likely out for the season and is a non-factor when it comes to this move (this was the fourth week of that 4-6 week time period, by the way).
Both moves are just to give the Isles some flexibility in the event they find a move they would like to make between now and Monday. It is not written in stone that they will no longer be Islanders. With the Islanders unlikely to make any moves of significance by Monday, I would be a little more surprised if they didn't remain in the organization or with the team.
MARTINEK'S VALUE: Last Sunday, Sean and I got into a whole discussion about the deals that have already been made in the NHL and about how they may effect the market going forward.
Let's face it - no one expected the amount of trades that have happened already. With a week left before the deadline, it's becoming harder to envision what players will still be around to move.
In all seriousness, there is still a lot of players on trading blocks across the league. One thing we learned over the past two weeks was that defensemen are in very high demand.
The league has suffered a lot more injuries than it has in past seasons, with teams such as the Montreal Canadiens being affected on defense.
So far rentals like Tomas Kaberle headed to Boston, Eric Brewer went to the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ian White landed in San Jose. On waivers, Craig Rivet and Nick Boynton were claimed for teams looking for depth.
But what about some other shut-down guys? Teams would love to add a player like Ottawa's Chris Phillips. But what about those that lose out on him? This is where the Islanders can potentially come in.
It has been mentioned in various reports, for example in TSN analyst Daren Dreger's daily column, that the Isles have been shopping Radek Martinek around in hopes of landing a 2nd round pick for the oft-injured blue liner.
Some folks may look at that and scoff, but look at what the market has brought back in return this season. Team's are not afraid to toss these higher draft picks around since it has been said that this is a "weak" draft year.
White brought the Hurricanes a 2nd round pick. Brewer got the Blues a 3rd and prospect Brock Beukeboom.
While Martinek isn't on the same level offensively as these guys, he is better defensively. Last season, the Sharks gave up a 2nd round pick to Carolina for Niclas Wallin and a 5th rounder. Wallin is essentially a clone of Martinek in both age, style and for the amount of injuries each have suffered.
Wallin is no longer in the league right now, as some people suspect could be the case with Martinek after the summer. But this is the kind of deal Snow should be looking at. We know he likes to add first, second or third round picks. Martinek alone could be worth a 3rd with the prices that are being paid, and if you throw a 4th or 5th rounder in with him, Snow could easily walk away with a 2nd.
While Martinek may be down with an injury for now, and something that didn't look serious, the fact that he is just listed as "day-to-day" for now is unsurprising. The Islanders can't risk any further injury to Martinek. As a matter of fact, it would not surprise me to see Martinek suddenly better and available for Tuesday's game in Washington if he's still here.
The decision is Snow's. Last year, he decided it wasn't worth a 3rd or 4th rounder to deal away guys like Martin Biron or Richard Park, feeling it wouldn't make sense to take those two away from the roster with a return like that.
Does he feel the same way this season though, with an oft-injured 35 year old defenseman in his final year, and with eight defenseman (Ty Wishart and Jack Hillen will be qualified) on the roster so far for next season, as well as Calvin deHaan knocking at the door?
We'll find out over the next couple of days.
CAPS vs. ISLES, "WHITE-OUT": The Caps visit the Isles tonight for "White-out the Red" day. Fans have organized a white-out for a game where it looks like the Coliseum may be pretty packed.
The Isles have had great ticket deals, not to mention some hot play since the Pittsburgh game and fans have taken notice. They have let the team know that they are proud of them right now.
The Isles come off a tough loss in Philadelphia. Meanwhile, the Capitals come off an even tougher one against the Rangers. Al Montoya needs to be at the top of his game once again, despite how much the Caps are struggling to score goals this season.
The Caps tried to address that today by claiming Marco Sturm off waivers from the Los Angeles Kings. It appears we will not be playing for the Caps just yet.
For those going, remember to wear something white.
The Islanders played the Flyers well enough to win. Unfortunately, the Flyers skill level shined through just enough to give them the 4-3 OT win over the Isles.
This was a really fun game to watch because of the intensity that both teams brought. The Flyers did not take the Islanders lightly. The Isles were up to the task of trying to take down the big, bad Flyers.
Although the game wasn't all that high scoring, it had the feel of a pond hockey game. There was a lot of north-south play, a lot of pressure put on the goalies thanks to turnovers from sloppy plays on both ends, and a ton of shots.
The Islanders were ultimately done in by a long shift with a lot of scrambling in their zone as all four guys on the ice collapsed right around Al Montoya. That left Andrej Meszaros wide open to get a pass and take a quick wrister from just above the hash marks.
Both Montoya and Sergei Bobrovsky made some really solid saves when they had too. There were some tough ones, like the Flyers third goal from Jeff Carter that deflected twice before skipping past Montoya. He would redeem himself in overtime though, when he made a nice split save when Kimmo Timonen was allowed to walk in from the blue line.
Matt Martin scored two goals, including the one to tie it with 27 seconds left. His first goal was off of a nice feed from Micheal Haley. Martin positioned himself perfectly in the slot to receive the one-timer. Martin has been making the slot area his home the last two or three weeks, and that is an excellent sign. You can see that he is starting to think an offensive game slightly better even though the results have not completely come to fruition just yet.
Frans Nielsen was perhaps the Isles best forward. He scored the first goal on a really nice wrister after beating his man one-on-one. Nielsen did a lot of the other stuff that you have come to expect out of him too. He seemed to be the straw that stirred the drink on his line, which consisted of Kyle Okposo and Michael Grabner. Both of them had some nice chances, thanks to some nice plays and positioning by Nielsen.
Although they gave up a lot of shots, the Isles defensive unit was not as bad as I feared they would be. They blocked a ton of shots, and just tried to keep things simple. They didn't go out of position to do anything, and didn't try and manhandle any of the Flyers forwards in a one-on-one play. This Flyers team is so fast, experienced and skilled that you really can't afford to make any glaring mistakes against them.
Mark Katic made his NHL debut, and didn't really get involved too much. But he looked pretty good a couple of times. He is a VERY offensive minded defenseman, but each time he pinched in deep he got back rather quickly. Being an excellent skater like that gives you the chance to be able to pinch more often as long as you are mindful of when you have to cut back the other way. I don't suspect he'll be here for very long with Milan Jurcina's injury not appearing too serious, but it's always good to get a young, still raw defenseman a taste of what could be in store for him in the future.
On a negative note, in order to make room for Katic both Jesse Joensuu and Jeremy Colliton were sent down to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. This meant that Rob Schremp found his way back into the lineup after three games as a healthy scratch. I thought that Schremp had an opportunity now to try and prove that he should not have been scratched and that he had his head in order, but it wasn't meant to be.
What has gone on here with this player is really a shame when I think about how he was playing not even a month ago. He was even doing some of the little things right when not scoring, like back-checking or playing solid enough defensively. Now, he just plays like he's disinterested, and when he touches the puck it's like it has entered a black hole. He isn't even using his skills to keep the puck away from opponents. He seems to be trying to deke them out of their skates every time which usually ends up with Schremp easily being knocked off the puck. The regression here is such a shame.
The Islanders take on the Washington Capitals on Saturday night in what will be their final game before the trade deadline on Monday afternoon, with trade talks heating up (or have they already boiled over?) around the league. LOTS of deals have gone down already, but there are still plenty of guys out there who will undoubtedly be looking for new homes over the next few days.
Is Radek Martinek one of them? I know a couple of days ago I promised a little post on his value, and I still have that in the plans. I hope to get that out there in the next day or so (as long as he's still here, but I might put it up anyway even if he leaves before Monday). But, it's not a foregone conclusion that he will be dealt away.
For those of you attending Saturday's game, the fans have organized a "Whiteout the Red" campaign, where fans are encouraged to wear white. The concept is cool, and would have been much cooler if the Isles walked away with three out of four points on this road trip, but it's a nice way to get behind the team and tell them you don't care about a draft pick and want to see them win out. Judging how well the Caps have played in NVMC in recent years, anything folks need to do to get behind the Isles is greatly encouraged. A whiteout seems like a nice way to generate some excitement among the fans and players. Kudos to the Isles fans who have put time into getting the word out. Hopefully, it hit enough people.
In the span of just two games, we got to see both the best and worst of Nate Lawson.
Lawson didn't look good at all against the Boston Bruins, and they chased him just a couple of minutes into the 2nd period, after scoring their fifth goal against him. He looked very uneasy and sloppy in covering the posts. When he came out of the net trying to make what would normally be a confident play, he seemed to slide way out of position. We already knew about some of his rebound problems, and we saw some of those again Thursday night.
Al Montoya came in and looked OK. He has issues with rebounds as well, and you can certainly see signs in his game that tell you he's a guy who has played only against NHL talent for the better part of five years, but his effort on Thursday was better than Sunday - which wasn't hard to accomplish.
It appeared like there was a bigger crowd than normal at this game. It's a shame that the Isles came out with this kind of game. People were obviously excited to see this team coming off the brawl and four straight wins. At the very least, they were expecting an exciting game and figured the Isles would give the Bruins a run for their money.
Within a couple of blinks of the eye, it was 2-0 Bruins and the Islanders were reeling and scrambling all over the place. Quite frequently throughout the night, the Bruins had periods where they were just dominating puck possession and all five skates for the Isles would be deep in the zone allowing the Bruins to get better shots. That created a lot of the rebounds that they would cash in on.
The Isles can't afford to get into lapses like that. A game like this can ruin all of the good things they have worked on the last couple of weeks. You don't want old habits sneaking back into your game.
Meanwhile, Josh Bailey and John Tavares had good efforts in this one. Tavares scored a beauty of a goal for his first of the night, and that's something we've seen more and more out of him. He's well on his was to crack the 30-goal plateau this season, which would be a huge accomplishment. Bailey scored again on a nice slapper in the slot after Blake Comeau's shot was blocked. Bailey has been racking up some assists lately, and has started to put the puck in the net again over the past two games. Hopefully he can get out of what has essentially been a season long slump for him.
The Isles don't have much time to stew over this one, which is good. They get right back at it Saturday night against the Los Angeles Kings.
PARENTEAU RE-SIGNED: On Thursday afternoon, the Isles announced that they have re-signed winger P.A. Parenteau to a one-year extension, worth $1.25 million.
As Sean and I have said on the show over the last couple of weeks, while we are still hoping that there is a better option for Tavares to play with after trades or free agency, you can't argue with bringing him back for another go. Parenteau is on pace for 50 points and hasn't been terrible on the power-play.
He has improved as a player over the last couple of months, but there are still some holes in his game here and there. Obviously, this is a deal that has many people wondering if it means the Isles aren't serious about adding another forward or two over the summer, but I'm not going to be quick to jump to that conclusion. Last summer, the Isles used what few bullets they had in the gun to go after defense. With a number of options for next season on the blue-line already, I still feel that the Isles are going to try and use their bullets this summer to go after forwards.
Should they fail in their attempt to bring in someone from the out side, then they have Parenteau as a fall back, one that they know can give them 50 points skating along side Tavares and Matt Moulson. If they are successful in bringing someone in, then they shift him down to the 2nd or 3rd line while still giving him significant power-play opportunities.
One thing I do think that this confirms is that Rob Schremp will no longer be a part of this team in 2011-2012. Schremp has been in and out of the line-up all season, and has also been demoted to 4th line duty now. As the Islanders as a collective unit try and get better, Schremp has regressed. The game after Jack Capuano talked about having some "selfish players," Schremp was the only one who was affected as that was the fist time he was demoted.
I saw some of the comments fans were making after the Parenteau announcement. I'm firmly in the camp that it is way too early to say that this affects how the team makes their decisions in the summer. Last season, Garth Snow said he wanted to go hard after defensemen, specifically two. Early in free agency both Milan Jurcina and Mark Eaton were brought in. When the opportunity presented itself at the end of July, Snow dealt a 3rd round pick to Anaheim for James Wisniewski. While Wisniewski wouldn't stick around for very long, Snow saw the opportunity there to possibly get better despite having a full (when healthy) defense.
So hold tight and be happy that a player who has shown some success and shown that he wants to be here returns for just a year at a fair price. We'll see what the remainder of the season and the off-season brings before we revisit this.
The fact that the Isles won by a score of only 5-3 is quite impressive when you consider how the game began early in the first.
In what has become a rare occurrence, the Islanders actually scored the games first goal on a nice play with Matt Moulson hammering home a rebound in front. It was the wingers 1st since signing his new deal.
The teams would go on to trade goals, leaving little time in between. After 20 minutes, we were all tied at three.
Kevin Poulin had some trouble on the first couple of goals that the Sens scored. The first one I'm pinning on both he and Milan Jurcina, who didn't have one of his finest nights. There needs to be some better communication there, and as Howie Rose mentioned on the telecast, perhaps they haven't played together enough to have those kinks worked out. Jurcina has been in and out of the lineup all season with various injuries.
Rob Schremp was able to break out of his little slump, notching two goals and earning the game's first star. I still wasn't overly impressed with his play, but being in the right spot at the right time is something he was getting away from, normally opting to curl back to the blue line for a low percentage shot. Glad to see him get back to some of the little things that were making him successful. Hopefully he can continue to turn it around.
Ty Wishart made his Isles debut and registered two assists. He looked comfortable out there and made some good first passes out of the zone. I had an opportunity to speak with Ty after practice Friday. We played that interview during the show that we recorded on Saturday. I plan to write a story on it in the next day or two, so be sure to look for that.
All in all it was a good effort for the Isles in what ended up being a scrappy game. The Senators took some unusually dumb penalties but were fortunate enough the Isles had some problems with the man advantage tonight expect for that one big 5-on-3 coming out of the 2nd period. Robin Lehner replaced Brian Elliot after the 1st period and provided much better rebound control and made more timely saves. Overall, the rookie stopped 23 of 24.
The Isles have a couple of days off before taking on the Maple Leafs at home on Tuesday.
To listen to the show recorded Saturday afternoon, including that Wishart interview, download it from our podcast site or watch through our UStream page.
As if this weren't already obvious, the Islanders really missed Kyle Okposo while he was out recovering from shoulder surgery. On Tuesday night, we got to see Okposo at his best.
Okposo scored two goals and added an assist as the Isles beat the Atlanta Thrashers 4-1. Clearly, he was the best forward on the ice for the team.
We got to see a little of everything from Okposo, proving in just his sixth game back that he appears to have worked out many of the kinks in his game. The all-star break probably helped him out too, but he drove to the net all night and was rewarded for his work.
Michael Grabner had a strong game upon his return from winning the distinction of the fastest skater during the skills competition at all-star weekend. We saw him use those wheels at times, but no one was able to hit him with a home run pass that we have been used to seeing at least once a game. I did see a player with an active stick though, stealing pucks on a few occasions to bring the play back the other way. This is very important, and worth noting when you think of the player we originally thought we were getting and seeing where he is now.
P.A. Parenteau continues to surprise me as he looks to have done a complete 180 from what we saw early on in the season. In an ideal situation he isn't on the first line, but you can't argue with something that has been working for the better part of a month. Earlier this season, Parenteau doesn't score the goal he did because he probably doesn't move his feet that much. Earlier this season, Parenteau stops at the boards there and either coughs the puck up or tries to put it around the boards. Tonight he closed in, made some quick moves and elevated a sneaky shot between the legs of Brent Sopel and to the right of Ondrej Pavelec. The elevating of the shot, by the way, is another thing that doesn't happen a couple of months ago.
The only thing that stood between Kevin Poulin and his first NHL shut out was a freak goal scored by Freddy Meyer from behind the net. Meyer kicked the puck back towards the front of the net where it deflected off Travis Hamonic's stick before hitting Poulin's pads and going in the net.
Speaking of Hamonic, he had a rough game defensively. There was certainly some rust from the five day break coming into play, but in all honesty defensively he has looked shaky of late. It's something he'll continue to work on, but if someone like Meyer is going to beat you to lose pucks for fluke goals, then you have to learn better to use that size to your advantage. Hamonic did score a goal though, his first in the NHL. Congrats to him on that.
An interesting note for this one was that Rob Schremp played 4th line wing. If you recall the last post I wrote in this space before going on a slight hiatus, I spoke about who Jack Capuano was referring to when he mentioned "selfish" players after the effort last Wednesday against Carolina. My one guess was Schremp, and those who listened to or watched our show this past Sunday generally agreed.
By demoting Schremp, Capuano all but proved who he thinks one of the key culprits are. He only got 12:45 of ice time tonight. He will be a player to keep your eyes on as the Isles head to Pittsburgh Wednesday night. We'll see if he remains in.
As many of you know by now, I was one of the few who braved the elements on Wednesday night to sit in the press box at the Coliseum. The effort wasn't great, but we'll get to that later.
Moulson, left, and Isles fans got their wish. Photo by C. Hessel
While getting reactions from certain players in the locker room after, I was thinking of what I would try and write about during the all-star break. The item at the top of my list was Matt Moulson.
When people talk about leaders on the team, I'm not sure too many think about Moulson. I'll admit I was never one to consider him when it came to that.
In general, the media always gravitates towards Matt. I would normally take the time to speak with other players for more of a unique angle. But for this game, I went with the crowd over to Moulson's stall.
When asked about the effort, Moulson looked up from the ground, his long hair dripping from under his backwards hat: "It sucked."
Later on, he was asked about his future on Long Island, where he reiterated his stance on wanting to be an Islander beyond this year. Once we moved over to speak with Rick DiPietro, Moulson stayed seated at his stall, head in hands at times and glancing into space during others. I've seen every player take these losses personally. It comes as no surprise to me that Moulson was like that, but as I said this was the first time I took notice of him after a game.
I wondered what he was thinking about. You could tell things were going on in his head about the loss, his future and the team.
Now, Moulson and the fans have to wonder no more. Moulson got his new deal to remain with the Islanders as he and the team agreed to a three-year, $9.4 million extension.
I always maintained my stance during the show and in this space that Moulson and the Isles would agree to a two- or three-year pact. But as losses mounted and rumors got louder, I could see the writing on the wall: changes were going to be made (some already had been). Moulson could see that writing too. If no extension was agreed to soon, then he would be shopped an moved in February.
The Islanders got very good value for a guy who is well on his way to what will be his 2nd consecutive 30 goal season. Over the three years, Moulson's cap hit will be at $3.13 million. He and John Tavares have had some good chemistry throughout their time together, and the Isles can't afford to break that up. They are also best friends, and Moulson even told Katie Strang of Newsday that Tavares "wouldn't have to shed a tear now."
As me and many fans have said, depending on how they played out the Moulson negotiations could go a long way in proving that the team is willing to shell out some money to keep some of their own and give hope that maybe they can reel in a good player or two during the summer. We'll see what happens now, as history has a funny way of repeating itself, but this is certainly encouraging.
One more point: Moulson is represented by Don Meehan, the agent for Evgeni Nabokov. I had some folks ask questions on whether that situation would screw up negotiations with Moulson. I didn't think so at any point in time. We can clearly see from this deal that was not the case.
The agent's job is to work for the player. If Meehan was going to let that affect future dealings with the Isles, then he would have lost credibility as an agent since each player is supposed to be dealt with on an individual basis. Meehan obviously had conversations with Nabokov before he went public with the claim that his client would report to any team that claimed him in order to get his deal for next year. It's not his fault that Nabokov lied to him. So this was never going to be an issue in dealing with Moulson, Josh Bailey or any other Meehan clients.
Isles/Canes Thoughts: On a night like Wednesday, one can't help but wonder if the weather dictated the play of the team.
The Canes took it to the Isles all night. Photo by C. Hessel
The Islanders came out really flat to start the game as the Hurricanes dominated the first couple of minutes. I made the comment on Twitter that they could not allow the Canes that much time. As up and down as they have been this season, they are very skilled.
Those skilled players stole the show and helped in part to defeat the Isles.
The other part was that the effort was not there again. Perhaps that was due to many factors such as the weather which affected the crowd (4,900 and change) but that can't be an excuse. Less people showed up in December after Christmas to see them knock off a pretty good Montreal team.
In the post game, the interview that I found the most compelling was coach Jack Capuano. He mentioned that he felt some players were being "selfish." Those of us who were in the room looked around at each other.
The first guy who popped into my head was Rob Schremp. After going on a good stretch, he hasn't been playing as well and I notice him doing some things that would define selfish.
Lately, he has been pulling the "Jason Blake special." He'll get the puck on his stick, enter the zone, and then circle back to the blue line. Both defencemen will have their sticks raised waiting for a pass that never comes as Schremp will throw it towards the net himself.
Coincidentally, this has been going on since Schremp has gone on his cold streak, one that also cost him a game as a healthy scratch. Quite simply it could be a case of a young player trying to do too much amid loses and a personal cold streak which can easily be translated into selfish play.
Aside from Schremp I'm having a hard time figuring out who else could be included under that umbrella.
The coach said that when the team returns from the break, they will get right down to business. He hinted that if some recent trends don't go away, then changes will be made. Everything would be fair game - replacing with players inside the organization, outside the organization or line changes. He went as far as to mention he would have to sit down with Charles Wang and Garth Snow to determine changes if it go that far.
Clearly, the coach is unimpressed with certain players.
Who do you guys think he was targeting with these comments?
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.
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.
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.
The Islanders will be playing tonight's game with five defensemen and 13 forwards as Jack Hillen has become ill, as reported by Chris Botta and Katie Strang.
Earlier, it was reported that Rob Schremp would be back in the line-up but it was unclear for who. With us now learning that Jon Sim is serving as the extra forward, we know he was the odd man out.
The Islanders have lost nine in a row now, despite picking up their first point in three weeks on Thursday against the Sharks in a shootout loss.
Dwayne Roloson stood on his head for that game, saving 37 of 38 shots. Because of his recent performance he will get his 5th start in a row, which is much deserved.
The Islanders already have some defensemen playing more minutes than they are accustomed to, so now the job gets enough tougher with only five defensemen going against a very strong Kings team that boasts some great weapons up front. Should be interesting to see how they handle that.
Regardless, the offense HAS to get going. The Islanders weren't as good offensively against the Sharks as they were in the game against the Ducks. As strong as the Kings netminders have looked this season, you have to take that chance of throwing more pucks at the net. The Islanders can't hesitate to shoot, which is still an issue. The power-play needs to move around a little more. That's one thing I don't like with P.A. Parenteau there. While I appreciate the fact that he has put up a lot of points with the man advantage, he seems to be very reluctant to shoot and holds the puck for too long on the half wall. Then he gets pressured and has to make a fast, and sometimes incorrect decision. I had hoped that Schremp's return would solve some of that, but it really didn't. Now he gets his shot back in the line-up, and hopefully he has adjusted himself a little bit.
If the streak gets to 10 games, then we will be in danger territory. Not that they weren't there already, but I had quietly thought to myself that Scott Gordon's time would be ticking away if it ever got to this point. Hopefully, it does not. We'll see what tonight brings.
The Islanders will be facing the Sharks shortly as they try to stop their losing streak from entering into historic territory. With players such as Dany Heatley, Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, Dan Boyle, Devin Setoguchi...we can go on all day...it's going to be really tough.
The Islanders had a decent effort against the Ducks, but fell short losing 1-0. That is as tough as they come, considering the Islanders only gave up 14 shots. The team was a bit tighter than they had been, and they just need that to carry over into these other games. Meanwhile, the offense has gone absolutely silent as evidenced by the Islanders going 0-for-6 on the power play against the Ducks.
P.A. Parenteau was back in the line-up last night, while Rob Schremp was a healthy scratch. Apparently, the same deal will apply for tonight. Dwayne Roloson gets his 4th straight start in a row, and he simply deserves it right now. If he plays like he has the past couple of games, then the Islanders are in this game. The offense really needs to get in gear.
The Isles need to come out forechecking hard. Perhaps Matt Martin can try to make an early statement by knocking down one of the big guns, which is something he definitely hasn't shied away from. This is a game where the defense needs to step up and be solid. Any lapses or breakdowns and the Sharks will eat it up, no pun intended.
What the Isles do have going for them is that either Sharks goaltender is beatable. I'm not the biggest fan of Antero Nittymaki or Antti Niemi, so we'll see if that's a match-up that can swing in the Islanders favor. Based upon the performance of back-up Curtis McElhinney, they can't take anything for granted.
9:30 PM: The Islanders announced this afternoon that Sim cleared waivers and was on his way to Bridgeport. The Sound Tigers have had all sorts of problems scoring goals this season, and he will surely help. Good veteran presence with Andy Hilbert still injured as well.
8:45 AM: The Islanders had some news come through on what ended up being a very busy Monday for the team. It started with the announcement that Philadelphia Flyers forward Danny Briere had a hearing with the NHL Monday morning to discuss his actions stemming from the game Saturday night.
Those of you who logged on Monday morning saw my prediction of one game for Briere. What I forgot to do was take into account that fact that he fell under the NHL's rule of being a "repeat offender" (18 months). I figured he would get one game for sure, possibly two. I know some people are upset about only three games, but it wasn't going to be anything more than that. Frans Nielsen wasn't hurt on the play.
Coincidentally, the 3rd and final game of the suspension covers the rematch between the Isles and Flyers on Saturday, November 6th. Whether or not the NHL intended for that to happen remains to be seen. In my opinion, I think that it did play somewhat of a factor.
Now, moving on to items that more pretain to the Islanders, Jon Sim was placed on waivers with the intention of sending him down to the minors with Rob Schremp set to return. In our last podcast, Sean felt that he was going to be the odd man out, while I felt he was going to stick around more and perhaps Trevor Gillies would be up and down. I'm a little surprised only because Sim was getting a lot of PK time, something that neither the returning Schremp or Gilles does. Michael Grabner is going to be returning as well, and although not the strongest defensively, was being used on the PK just prior to getting his injury. Perhaps Gordon sees something more that can be worked with there or from someone else, and will get them a chance to play some PK minutes.
Grabner returning gives the Islanders one of their better skaters back, and you can see at times how the lack of speed has affected the team. Schremp has improved his skating in the offseason, and will be a welcome addition back to the team. They could really use some of what he provides. As far as five-on-five play is concerned, it's still up in the air how either player will help the Islanders there. Schremp has always been an excellent power-play producer. We'll now get to see if any of the improvements he has made can help at even strength.
Unfortunately, the defense is a slightly different story on the injury front. Milan Jurcina has now gone down with a hamstring injury that will keep him out of the lineup for two-to-four weeks. That isn't terrible, and definitely doable. As I had written just last week, Jurcina wasn't really getting more than 19 minutes a game, and his spot on the 3rd pairing is something I think Jack Hillen or Bruno Gervais can fill in adequately for now. The Islanders are going to miss his size and shot blocking though, and have lost two of their better guys in the latter department between Jurcina and Andrew MacDonald. Mark Eaton does block a lot of shots too, but unfortunately he seems to block them in the wrong direction lately. We'll hope he can fix some of those problems sooner rather than later as he will now be called on to be solid for the next few weeks.
We should find out today if Sim clears waivers (he should). Of course, we'll try to have any updates for you guys as the off-day moves along.
Coming off the heals of yesterday's announcement that Nino Niederreiter is heading back to Portland of the WHL, the Islanders prepare to take on the Montreal Canadiens at the Coliseum for the 2nd part of a home and home.
Sending Niederreiter down was the right move for various reasons, some of which I discussed here yesterday. Now he'll get solid playing time, be a leader on his team, and perhaps make the Portland Winterhawks one of the powerhouses in all of junior hockey. Niederreiter is a great player and a good kid who is taking it all in stride.
Matt Martin will stay up and take Niederreiter's place for now. I felt Martin had a solid game on Wednesday night, so we'll see if any of that carries over to tonight. I thought he was going to make the final roster of Niederreiter originally, but as Scott Gordon said the injury he sustained during camp hindered his chances near the end.
Michael Grabner remains out, and will probably not play Saturday against the Flyers either. Trent Hunter is playing tonight. The Islanders are making a change at forward, however, in the form of Bruno Gervais. Yes, that is not a typo. The Islanders, who have used Gervais as a forward in practice, are going with a little experiment for at least tonight. It is a bit odd, but one would suspect that perhaps Trevor Gillies is out of the lineup tonight. He was supposed to be scratched Wednesday, but ended up playing with Hunter out and logged a whopping 55 seconds of ice time. The Islanders can't do that against a fast team like this, so it appears they just decided at the last minute to go with Gervais rather than call someone up. Will be interesting to see how this works out.
Dwayne Roloson gets the start again. He looked sharp to me on Wednesday, and the result was more of a product of those in front of him. If they are not going to skate, and are going to stand around, then expect a similar result to Wednesday. I do not anticipate this happening. Gordon most likely let them hear it after that performance.
SCHREMP TO BRIDGEPORT: If you caught it on his Twitter account last night before the comment got deleted, Rob Schremp is in fact heading to Bridgeport for a conditioning stint. He seemed to jump the gun with reporting the news, but myself and a few others saw it. The Isles made the news official today, and he is playing tonight against Manchester. He had been skating with the team a little this week, so you knew he was close to returning to action. It'll be good to get his creativity and improved skating into the lineup within the next week or two.
KABANOV TRADED IN QMJHL: As I had re-tweeted yesterday, Kirill Kabanov was traded to the Lewiston MAINEiacs from Danny Flynn's Moncton Wildcats. The deal had been rumored for about a week, which covers a good chunk of the time where Kabanov was in Russia for a "personal issue." Kabanov spend about two weeks back home.
It's not right to jump to conclusions at all, but one has to wonder if these things are related. When he left, it seemed very odd to say the least. usually when players head home for personal reason's you hear about why. There have been only some theories on why he returned to Russia, nothing concrete though.
At any rate, Lewiston gave up quite the package for the talented winger, sending away goalie Jordan Kennedy, a second round draft pick in 2011, a fourth round draft pick in 2011, a first round pick in the 2011 CHL Import Draft, and a fourth round draft pick in 2012. Problems aside, there is a reason why the kid was at one time regarded as a top three pick. We'll see what this change does for him.
3:12 PM - The NHL has suspended Montreal Canadiens forward Mike Cammalleri one game for his actions against the Isles' Nino Niederreiter Saturday night.
This move is unsurprising, and I'm glad that he was suspended at the very least. I was hoping more for two games, but after comments coming out about Niederreiter's hit, I was hoping for just one at that point and not your typical inconsistency from Colin Campbell. Good stuff. The first Isles-Canadiens game at the end of the month should be fun.
1:09 PM - The Islanders have announced today that forward Rob Schremp is out three to four weeks with a lower back strain. Chris Botta seems optimistic that we could have him back in two weeks.
Obviously, this isn't a major injury, and for that we should be thankful. We'll have a little bit of a rough go for the first few games, but then Schremp will be coming back. For the time being, we look to John Tavares, Josh Bailey, Matt Moulson and Blake Comeau to pick up (even more of) the slack. I have not seen anything in any of their play that screams to me "regression." Throughout the entire preseason, these guys were some of the most hard-working individuals that I noticed. They were already poised to have breakout years of their own, without all of this factored in. I have faith that it makes these guys want it more.
Obviously, strong defense and goaltending is going to be key here. The Islanders strengthened their defense in the offseason, and we are going to hopefully see it come to fruition. For the most part, they will be playing minutes that they are best suited for. Keeping the puck out of our net just became all that more imperative until we can get some of the injured scorers back.
Very interested to see now how many of those forwards still with the team stay past Wednesday, or if they try and bring someone in on waivers after all. One interesting note, is that none are centers like Schremp. Curious who will fill that role as Bailey seems to be very comfortable at wing. Right now, we're most likely looking at Tavares-Frans Nielsen-Doug Weight-Zenon Konopka. Our depth at center will pay-off right now.
Keep an eye on us later, as news continues to come out as we rapidly approach the day when rosters need to be finalized.
As some of you have seen from our Twitter account, I was able to go to training camp this past Sunday. While Sean and I had gone on Friday, the players did not do anything on-ice, but had their weigh-ins and fitness tests. We were able to talk with some players, which was nice, but it's much better to go to an actual practice to experience the sights and sounds.
I went to the practice with the idea of bringing you extensive coverage, almost in the form of the show "Hard Knocks" (which it appears the Islanders already have in the works, but more on that later), only not as good obviously. My goal was to take videos, pictures and get some quotes. So here we are, 10 videos, 200 pictures and three interviews later.
I got there shortly after 9 AM, with the players set to start skating at 9:15. Dwayne Roloson and Mikko Koskinen were already out on the ice facing some shots from the coaching staff. One of the first players that I noticed was Doug Weight. He looked like a completely different player than the one we had been used to seeing. He is absolutely correct in saying that he has plenty of gas left in the tank. This was a great sight to see, because a healthy Weight definitely helps this team. Sure, it's not going to make a monumental difference, but it would be nice to see him get in a lot of games this year.
Shortly after all the players assembled on the ice, General Manager Garth Snow came down from the balcony and sat on the top bench in the stands where me and the other bloggers (Tony Stabile of Hockey Independent, Christian Arnold of Islanders Hockey Blog and Gary Harding of Eyes on Isles ) were situated. He gave us all a nod hello, and then proceeded to check his Blackberry frequently. Newsday's Katie Strang arrived shortly after that, and sat next to Snow for a bit. They exchanged some pleasantries, but didn't talk a whole lot.
It was at that point, just shortly after 10 AM, when some commotion started up on the deck where some coaches and management were situated. Me and the other bloggers turned to see what was going on. I can tell you that after hearing some rumors over the summer, and not being sure what to believe, I was a little surprised to see Charles Wang and his son arrive to watch the practice.
It was the first time that Wang had been around the team in a little while. There were reports out there that said Wang simply didn't care anymore, and had distanced himself from the team. He walked over to where Snow and Strang were, greeted everyone around them and even talked with Strang about how their summers were.
The players for the next group were milling around, but most of the ones that I was able to see, when not running around to take photos and video, went over to greet Wang and his son. The biggest greeting came from Rick DiPietro, with the two embracing in a hug and the owner wishing the goaltender a "Happy Birthday." None of the conversations were just your typical simple things. The owner personalized many of the other conversations, asking how players were feeling after suffering injuries, or how their summers went. Trevor Gillies showed a fascination with what game Cameron, Wang's son, was playing on his cell phone.
Back to the players on the ice. Rob Schremp looks like he picked up some speed since we last saw him. He told our media scrum after the practice that his knee was feeling much better, and how excited he was that so many players improved their game with the time off.
Group two, which was actually named group one (confused yet?), had more of the higher profile players in it such as John Tavares, Mark Streit, James Wisniewski, Josh Bailey and Nino Niederreiter.
Wisniewski led the players of this group in the on-ice stretches, which tells me a little something about what the Islanders expect out of Wisniewski, and what Wisniewski is expecting out of himself. He was genuinely excited about getting the opportunity to further breakout with the Islanders after having a very solid year for the Anaheim Ducks. While you only have access to the audio, I can tell you that in my short time doing this, I haven't seen a player's eyes light up as much as Wisniewski's did when I approached him and asked him about what he thinks about Long Island so far. Wisniewski is in his contract year, and will make $3.25 million this season. I agree that it is not something to worry about right now, but it is something to keep in the back of your mind. This is a guy, however, that I think everyone is going to want to keep around long term after watching him for a few months.
Bailey told me after the practice that he gained about eight pounds of muscle in the offseason, and it showed. He's a guy who often goes overlooked when one analyzes the current state of this teams offense (and he may or may not feel that way, but he seemed really thrilled that I specifically seeked him out after practice). For those of you who checked out the two-part podcast from Friday, we discussed the idea that while the teams primary scoring from Tavares and Kyle Okposo needs to come around, the secondary scoring of guys like Comeau, Schremp and Bailey needs to be there. As you can hear from my one-on-one with Josh, he knows what he needs to do and is prepared to do it. I can say that from speaking to him, he seemed very poised to put himself on the map, and in the process help this team along in it's goal to make the playoffs.
Niederreiter has looked OK so far to me in camp. As far as the last forward spot goes, I have liked what I've seen out of Matt Martin and David Ullstrom a lot. I don't want to say that anyone has been better or worse than anyone this early in camp, but my early feeling tells me that Niederreiter might not be there just yet. But I have a wait and see approach here because I would like to see some more, and after the scrimmage and a couple of pre-season games see where he stands.
One thing I got to do was learn a little bit more about head coach Scott Gordon. While it sounds dumb, people don't realize what a coach is like other than what they see on TV. Some guys have reputations that come from just observing them in that aspect. I can tell you from what I have seen, he is a better teacher than I thought he was. The practice was full of interruptions thanks to the coach and his whistle. If he saw something he didn't like, he blew the whistle and talked about it. You can see some good examples of that in the videos. He spent a lot of time throughout practice talking to prospects Martin, Jesse Joensuu Calvin deHaan and Travis Hamonic.
At any rate, those are just some of the observations that I had from my day at camp. I tried to take note of players I am particularly interested in seeing. It's an intruguing battle, especially for that forward spot. Very curious to see if someone separates themselves from the pack, if at all.
Like I have been saying, I wanted to try and give you guys an inside look of what goes on at Islanders training camp. I took a lot of video. Here are a couple of my favorite ones. The others can be found at our new NYI FYI YouTube channel.
I was able to get some audio clips as well. I apologize for the background noise for some of these, but there was an awful lot of commotion going on in the locker rooms. The Schremp interview was part of a large media scrum, but we only give you the ones that I got to ask. The big one was asked by Stabile, and that was about him recovering from the knee injury he suffered near the end of last season.
Rob Schremp:
Josh Bailey:
James Wisniewski
Finally, I sorted through all the photos that I took and was able to come up with a photo gallery. I had some really nice shots, some that could be better. But hey, I'm learning. It was a lot to do for one person, but I enjoyed it and hopefully, it'll get better with time. Click on the photo below to access the photo gallery:
The next time I will get to see this team in action will be Saturday at the scrimmage. I'm not sure how that will work, since this whole thing is a learning process, so I wanted to be sure I gave you all at least one real good up close look at the New York Islanders training camp. I really hope you enjoy the coverage as much as I enjoyed getting it all. As I said, it was a lot of work and I had some technical issues that caused me not to get this up sooner, but better late than never.
While it may have not had the feel of a training camp just yet, you could sense the excitement in the air for many of the players at Islanders Ice Works in Syosset on Friday.
The players, many of whom have already been at Ice Works skating informally, had to take their physicals and perform off-ice exercises as they prepare for yet another training camp.
By the time Sean and I were able to get there this morning, some of the players had already come and gone. However, we were able to catch up with John Tavares, Blake Comeau and Bruno Gervais.
All three have interesting story lines surrounding them as we enter camp. For Tavares, the big question is what kind of a follow up he'll have to his overall good rookie season last year. Comeau was on a hot streak until his season was cut short due to a broken foot, and he now has to use the camp in order to find that level of success once again and go into the season with it. Gervais was very up and down last season, and with three new defensemen in the fold, his job got a little tougher.
All three are very well aware from these stories and you can hear that in our interviews with them.
In lieu of a lengthy post for the training camp primer, Sean and I got together and made a two part, one hour and 30 minute podcast for you guys to listen to. We go through the different battles, speak about many of the players and the stories surrounding them and really focus in on Gervais, Comeau and Tavares and play those interviews for you.
As always, these podcasts can be found at our NYI FYI podcast site here. You can even subscribe to our podcasts through iTunes by using the links on the side of the page to be sure you keep up with us as we record shows.
For those of you who don't feel like listening to the preview and analysis and are only interested in what the players had to say, then feel free to check out the NYI FYI site and look for the sound bites on the right side of this page.
In the Bruno Gervais interview, a couple of questions came from Christian Arnold of Islanders Hockey Blog. He asked some good questions, so we left those in and just wanted to give him a shout out for that.
A couple of items of note before we leave you to enjoy all of our coverage from the day. Tonight, the Islanders announced lines for the two training camp squads. These are obviously going to change as we go along with camp, but Scott Gordon seemed to make some very interesting combinations up. I feel that the Mark Streit - James Wisniewski pairing was a very likely scenario, so it is obvious to have them as the top pairing on one of the squads. I'm very curious to see how the Josh Bailey - Frans Nielsen - Nino Niederreiter forward line does. Matt Moulson - Rob Schremp - Kyle Okposo is another very interesting one to keep an eye on as well.
As far as injuries go, we are going to have to wait a little longer to see enforcer Zenon Konopka and new defenseman Mark Eaton. Konopka has suffered some lower back issues and has no timetable set for his return, while Eaton has some back spasms and should be able to practice late next week. Let's hope that happens, and that Konopka returns quickly. He was a guy that many players spoke highly of today since he brings an element that the team has lacked for a few years.
Looking for ways to expand our coverage for you guys and bring you some extra goodies, we have created a newsletter that you can sign up for on the NYI FYI main website. Sean has been adding a lot to the site over the last couple of weeks, and we are trying to make that the main hub for all things NYI FYI and make it easier to access all of the items we have to offer. So please, definitely check that out and take a look around.
That's all we got for now. Tomorrow, with players finally jumping onto the ice I'm sure there is going to be a lot to discuss and analyze and we'll be sure to give you some sort of summary.
Update - 11:30PM: The NHL has rejected Ilya Kovalchuk's contract with New Jersey. There seem to be differing opinions on the ramifications and the time period and what happens next as of right now. Hopefully tomorrow it will be a bit clearer and we can provide you with some commentary on it.
Hello all!
It's been a couple of days, but there have been some newsworthy items over the past week when it comes to the Islanders and NHL in general.
First off, there is all of the uncertainty surrounding the Lighthouse Project. At first glance, some of you probably say "yeah, and the sky is blue and grass is green." However, the Town of Hempstead finally came back with their proposal, and it was quite the scale back. The project is slightly less than 50% of what owner Charles Wang envisioned for the plot of land. Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano has come out and publicly stated that he is siding with Wang against the Town and Supervisor Kate Murray.
Managno backing Wang comes as a slight surprise to some due to the fact that he has had his own idea for the land, namely a casino that would be built by the Shinnecocks. When you realize how the game of politics is played though, it isn't all that surprising. Mangano has enough economic hardships going for him in the county, and loosing the Islanders and having the surrounding area go into depression will surely kill any hope he has as far as future political aspirations.
I know that Sean will disagree with me on this, but something is going to happen on this land and when all is said and done it will include the Islanders. The casino plan is a very interesting one indeed, but many people have problems with a casino going up close to an area such as Garden City. I think in the end, those fears will be realized and some of the residents in the surrounding areas who are vehemently against the Lighthouse will be forced to take the lesser of two "evils". The TOH seemed to leave the door slightly open, never once saying that this was a take it or leave it offer (but also telling us it is not a starting point, either). They will meet somewhere in the middle, and everyone will be there shaking hands for the photo opportunities.
Schremp and Kohn Accept: Both Rob Schremp and Dustin Kohn accepted their qualifying offers, coming in the final hours before the July 15th deadline. Both will receive slight raises over what they got last year. Kohn is still a very unknown commodity for the team, and right now it appears as though he may find himself in Bridgeport again to start the season. Schremp played pretty well for the Islanders last season, and in the months up until he got hurt was beginning to go on a tear. If he plays similar to the way he did for a good portion of the 2nd half of his season, he will be extended once again next summer. Schremp knows he still has a lot to prove, so he is a story line to follow again for this season.
17 for #17: Ilya Kovalchuk finally ended his saga, signing with the Devils, which many people assumed he would do for a couple of weeks. But it wasn't for the rumored seven year, $60 million deal the New York Post reported a couple of weeks back. Instead, Lou Lamoriello decided to sign Kovalchuk to a 17-year, $102 million contract. Best of luck with that one. True, the Devils locked up one of the top five forwards in the league to a very cap friendly figure, but there is no way he plays until he is 44 - and that's not the plan anyway. The deal is obviously extremely front-loaded, so Kovy makes the money he wanted for the years he wanted and can do his thing for as long as he can. It has been established that he isn't the biggest fitness buff out there, but his skills and finesse might be enough to carry him along for much longer than people may think. The Islanders were serious on trying to sign Kovy, regardless of if you want to believe it or not. They wanted to go short term with him, and did talk big money. It is believed that short term meant one year. Still, the interest was genuine and that's all you can really say. Kovy had plenty of offers out there though that were for much longer than one year. He chose one of them, and that is that. We roll ahead...
Now what? Well, there seems to be some differing opinions on what the Islanders may do now, if anything at all. The do still seem to be interested in adding scoring. On the free agent market, you still have Alex Frolov, Lee Stempniak, Paul Kariya and Max Afinogenov. The trade market seems to be fairly quiet for now, as Simon Gagne was dealt to the Lightning shortly after Kovalchuk re-signed with the Devils. That won't last as the Devils may be foreced to part with a forward or two to ensure they can re-sign Zach Parise after next season. Brian Rolston and Jamie Langenbrunner have come up in rumors over the past day.
Garth Snow has said that he wouldn't rule out the possibility of adding another defender to the roster. There are still guys such as Willie Mitchell and Shaone Morissonn out on the free agent market. Many teams seem to be waiting to see what Mitchell's health status is, and riughtfully so. Some team out there is going to get one heck of a d-man on a great deal, who eats minutes and plays a great shut down role. Maybe it can be the Islanders. If they decide to go the trade route, then we may start to hear the names of Kevin Bieska from Vancouver and Sheldon Souray from Edmonton bandied about. Bieska has one year at $3.5 million left on his deal and is on the outs with the Canucks. He will start next season elsewhere for sure. Souray has two years remaining at a cap hit at $5.4 million per year. Souray was placed on waivers a few weeks ago but went unclaimed. There is a thought out there that the Islanders might be interested in a swap of Brendan Witt for Souray, a move that would add $2.4 million towards getting to that cap floor. Jason Gregor of Oilersnation.com cites an executive from one of the Isles or the Oilers at the end of this entry, telling us that it is something that could be kicked around. Souray, when healthy would be a good addition to the Islanders blueline. Would he be willing to waive his no trade to come here? That could be another issue all together. As always, we shall see. Things should heat up a bit once again now that Kovy-gate is over and done with.
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