Where we Stand; R.I.P. Luc Bourdon

The Islanders season obviously didn't go as well as we all would have hoped, but that happens. In all honesty, I felt they were a playoff team and they had some real good chemistry in the early going. As the season rolled on, their inability to score goals began to hurt them, not to mention a lack of creativity on the powerplay.

As things stand right now, those are two of the glaring needs staring the franchise right in the face. Being that nothing can be done with this until the Stanley Cup Finals are over, we'll have to wait to see how that plays itself out. To a lesser extent, another problem for the team is a lack of prospect depth. That is something that the team has addressed.

Two games before the end of the season came, the team announced the signing of Jack Hillen, 22, out of Colorado College. Hillen was thrown into the fire immediately for the two games, both against the Rangers and really played well for someone who had only just been playing with other kids his age. Weeks later the team announced the signing of Rob Hennigar, who was the CIS player of the year this past season at 25 years of age. Hennigar was a very effective playmaking winger at the University of New Brunswick. Although these guys aren't being highly touted or anything, its great to take a shot on guys like these, especially for a team like the Isles which has a farm system that's thinner than that of many other teams.

The Isles also seemed to luck out with many of their picks from the 2006 NHL draft. The first rounder from that year, Kyle Okposo left the University of Minnesota mid-season to begin his pro career. Kyle was effective in his 9 games for the Isles. The teams 2nd round pick from that year, Jesse Joensuu, was also signed to a contract and played in only one AHL game for Bridgeport, but looked pretty good in that game. The Isles also signed their 3rd rounder from that year, Robin Figren. Figren had played with the Edmonton Oil Kings of the WHL. Figren shined at the world juniors, and upon coming back to Edmonton he continued his hot play and received some nice words from his coaching staff, when they hinted that he would be signed by the Isles. Figren will spend next season back home in Sweeden before returning to North America to play with the organization in 2009-2010. Finally, the team also signed their 4th rounder, Tomas Marcinko. Marcinko played last season in the OHL, and averaged about a point per game. It is not completely clear where he will play next season, be it here or back home in Slovakia.

Again, none of those players appear to be anything special right now, but they have all had some good success where they have played. Maybe the Isles lucked out with some of those players from the later rounds. Okposo is going to become a great player in this league, and he'll have a running mate in 3 weeks when the Isles select 5th in the 2008 NHL draft. There are a number of players at the top of this year's draft who are going to be excellent, and many can step in immediately to help NHL clubs. So that should be fun to watch. In the coming days I'll give a better rundown of where I would rank the '08 draftees and talk in depth about some of the players.

The Isles have taken advantage of their ability to only sign people with the playoffs still going on. You can't go wrong with the moves they have made. As far as solving the problems of the NHL club, we'll probably start to hear more rumors and such once trading can begin again. Should be fun when that happens.

R.I.P. LUC BOURDON
As many of you have heard already, the hockey world lost one of their top prospects yesterday when Vancouver Canucks defenseman Luc Bourdon crashed his motorcycle into a tractor trailer near his home town. Bourdon was 21. As someone who has really followed prospects a lot, Bourdon really appealed to me and once I got to see him a bit more he quickly became one of my favorite d-man prospects in the league. Last season he got a taste of NHL life and he seemed to do well with that. He was only going to get better and would have lived up to his top 10 selection in 2005 very quickly. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family. I can only hope that we don't have to hear something like this again.

So What's the Deal?

OK, that didn't go too well, did it? Apologies to all for letting the blog to go into a coma. Obviously, we didn't intend for that to happen. We had done pretty well throughout the summer and for the first month of the season, and then things sort of got hectic for us between the radio show, school and working.

Looking at it now though, we should be able to post frequently even if it is something short. We had so many positive responses both on the blog and regarding the radio show. So, officially the blog is back from the dead.

A few things that I'm working on over the next few days for the blog. One thing I plan on doing is a small recap of where the Islanders stand right now with the signings and re-signing they have made since the season ended. Another thing I'm currently working on is a piece on my take on the whole Chris Botta resignation since that brought on a lot of discussion.

That's pretty much it for now. You'll hear from me soon. I promise.

Isles Lose close one to Flyers

The Islanders were coming off of a 4 game winning streak, and the Flyers were unbeaten at home. Obviously, something had to give. Unfortunately, the Isles winning streak ultimately ended.

The Islanders lost to the Flyers 3-2 in a very tough game. Rick DiPietro played so-so in my opinion, but I felt the first 2 goals were not his fault. The first was off a give away in front of the net by Ruslan Fedotenko, while the 2nd was a breakaway where Bruno Gervais fell and lost his balance, leaving Scottie Upshall alone for the breakaway. The Isles had come back 2 times down by one goal off of goals by Mike Sillinger and Chris Simon.

Overall, I felt the Islanders had come out strong. However, the powerplay did not look very good at all. Marc-Andre Bergeron has been good filling in for Bryan Berard, but he had a bad game last night. It was his turnover that lead to the shorthanded goal by Mike Richards half way through the 3rd period.

The Islanders play the Penguins Thursday night in Pittsburgh. That should be an interesting one as the Isles look to rebound. It will be tough, but I think if they come out with a good effort and tighten up the defense a bit more then they should be OK.

Islanders end Successful Week

The Islanders finished the week by going 2-0 with wins against the Rangers and the Devils. The team is playing really good hockey right now and all is well in Islander country.

The win against the Rangers was the 2nd time in a row that the team rallied from behind. Against the Rangers, they came back from 1 goal down 2 times before Miro Satan scored the game winner.

Against the Devils, the Islanders came out hard and played what I thought was an excellent game. A great effort in front of the net helped Josef Vasicek score to make it 1-0 Isles. The team came out a bit slow in the 3rd period, but got some life back when they had a 5 on 3, which Satan converted on for his 3rd straight GWG. In both games, Rick DiPietro played very well and stood tall. He looks like he is getting stronger with each game and I think this will be the year where he finally makes jaws drop all season.

Also, the Islanders re-acquired defenseman Freddy Meyer yesterday by picking him up off re-entry waivers. The Coyotes were trying to call him up but the Islanders reclaimed him at half his salary. Freddy is now down in Bridgeport.

All in all, it was a great week for the Isles as their homestand came to an end. They now go on a 4 game road trip, all against the other 4 teams in the Atlantic division. The Atlantic is the toughest, and the Isles were not supposed to compete with them. But as things stand right now, the team has 18 points in 13 games and is 5-1 against the division. Good stuff.

NYI FYI ON AIR TONIGHT AT 10 PM: Sean and I will be on air tonight at 10 PM on www.mywcwp.com. As always, we'll be taking calls and IM's through AIM. For those unable to listen live, we'll have a podcast of the show up at www.nyifyi.mypodcast.com. Hope to hear from many fans tonight!

The Fans are Returning In Record Numbers

Islanders fans, give yourselves a pat on the back!

Thank you for supporting this team, and showing them how much they mean to us.

The Sports Business Journal reports that the New York Islanders have had a 34% increase in attendance this season. That is the HIGHEST IN THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE!

Here is the article from NewYorkIslanders.com- http://islanders.nhl.com/team/app?articleid=342748&page=NewsPage&service=page

Keep it up! Let's rally this team from start to finish, and show them that we are with them. You know why? Because We're All Islanders!

-Sean

PS- Sorry for my lack of posting. Things have been crazy. As all of you know, NYI FYI is a smash on WCWP, so a lot of my time has gone towards that and the podcasts. Thanks for your support.

Isles Come From Behind to win for Arbour

Down 2-0 going into the 3rd, it seemed unthinkable to me that the team would lose on Al Arbour night. However, it did seem possible against one of the most talented teams in the Eastern Conference. But just like the slogan said in the old days when Arbour used to coach, the outcome was never in doubt.

The Islanders fought back hard, and ultimately Miro Satan scored the winner with two and a half minutes to go in the 3rd. The Islanders had scored 3 unanswered goals against the Penguins in the 3rd to win the game. It was a vintage Al Arbour game as well- a strong come from behind effort, and handing a loss to the Penguins as they were very familiar with back in Al's prime days.

The ceremony after was outstanding. being in the stands, I can easily say it was the greatest thing I have ever witnessed in the NVMC yet. As a 20 year old fan, I haven't been able to witness very much yet. But this was one of the best times I ever had at a sporting event. It is something I will remember for the rest of my life.

I know many fans were hoping for a 740 banner to be raised, but the isles raised a 1500 one instead. Rumor has it there are plans to raise a 740 banner later in the year, maybe on an upcoming alumni night.

Other than all the festivities for Arbour is the fact that the team went down 2-0 to one of the powerhouses in the east and still managed to fight back to win. The team did an excellent job containing Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Satan played the hero part, getting the tying and winning goals. The GTG was on a vintage Miro wrister off of a very nice pass from Josef Vasicek, something that he hadn't found in the first month of the season. The second and GWG was a second effort off of a rebound by Marc-Andre Fleury and Miro was there to bang it home.

The crowd was very loud, the atmosphere intense. It felt like a playoff game in there. The players wanted it for Al, as did the fans. A great job all around for the Isles.

Enough can't be said about Ted Nolan in all of this. It was ultimately his decision, and he ran it by Garth Snow and Charles Wang. After approval, they invited Arbour to come back and coach for one game. It really shows how much Nolan respects the Isles for giving him his second chance in the NHL, and also speaks volumes to how much he respects the Islanders roots. Nolan had a very tough job ahead of him at the beginning of last season, and that was to begin a culture change on Long Island. After seeing Ted as coach for 1 season and 1 month, I can honestly say I have seen more amazing things that I have seen in any of the previous seasons as an Islander fan. Things like this get recognition around the league, as can be seen from the many positive articles being published about the team today. Great job all around, especially by Ted Nolan. He is a keeper.

Here is a video of some of the main points of last nights game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55H9idRz4vk

Oh, and by the way, the Islanders are second in the division with a record of 7-4-0. Not to shabby for a team the was predicted by "experts" to be at the bottom of the league, don't ya think?

On a more serious note, Rick DiPietro took a Crosby stick to the eye in the 2nd period and did not return. His eye is OK though, and he will get looked at again on Monday. Right now his status for Tuesdays game against the Rangers is unknown. We'll keep you updated as always.

NYI FYI ON THE AIR TONIGHT: Sean and I will be on the air tonight at 10 PM on http://www.mywcwp.com/. We'll be taking calls and IM's and are asking fans who listen to call in or IM to share their favorite Arbour Memories from over the years. We have a nice show planned tonight, and the 2-0 week makes it much easier. After the show we will be putting up the podcast which will be available at the link on the side of this page titled "NYI FYI Podcasts." Enjoy!

Chris

Isles beat Lightning 4-0; Al Arbour Night Tonight!

On Thursday, the Islanders defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-0. Bill Guerin, Josef Vasicek, Ruslan Fedotenko and Trent Hunter all scored for the Isles. Rick DiPietro came up huge and bailed the team out on a couple of occasions to get the shut out.

The team played a much better game then they did the previous Saturday against the Carolina Hurricanes. They came out a bit slow in the first period, but by the end of the period they began to play like we all know they can. That carried over into the 2nd and 3rd periods.

Team defense overall was very good. Chris Campoli had 4 blocked shots. he has really come around this year and looks like he has improved on his rookie form of 2 years ago. Very excited to see him develop even more over the next few years.

All 4 Islander goals were scored at even strength, which is good to see being that the team had struggled with 5 on 5 play so far this year. The absence of Bryan Berard has been noticeable, especially on the power play. But he has been skating in practice and could return on another week or two.

Tonight is a very special night in Islanders country as Al Arbour returns to coach the team for 1 game. Radar will be coaching in his 1500th game for the team when the puck drops at 7 PM against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. I am going to the game and cannot wait! Hopefully the team helps Arbour get his 740th win as a coach. With big events like this, the team has played well over the last few seasons. Being that this is a big event, I would expect your typical blue collar Islander effort. The Penguins are a very tough team to beat, but the team could very well pull it off. We shall see.

Absent tonight from the lineup is Sean Bergenheim. Ted Nolan said Bergie is sore, and now reports say it's his shoulder that is giving him some problems. Right now it looks like it's a day-to-day thing, but at least for tonight, Bergie is out and Ben Walter is in. The team called him up from Bridgeport this morning and it looks like he will make his Islander debut tonight. Good luck to him on that, I'll try and take notice of him while at the game.

Sean will also be at the game. We could be more excited for this one. Should be a packed house and a playoff atmosphere!

Chris

Isles Lose to 'Canes 8-3

Many people wondered how the Islanders would respond to a 6 day layoff. The only activity the team had over the past week was practice. The lack of game activity definitely showed last night with the loss to the hurricanes.

Ruslan Fedotenko, Marc-Andre Bergeron and Mike Sillinger scored the goals for the Isles, however Sillinger's goal came with 5 seconds left. The team definitely showed the signs of rust, and that's really what it comes down to.

Most of the goals given up were very soft, however not one person is to blame for this. While Rick DiPietro didn't have his head in the game, he didn't have much help from the defense. The forwards had trouble holding the puck and did not play with as much fire as they have shown in the past.

With their next game on Thursday, it doesn't appear the team will get days off this time around. As a matter of fact, I expect Nolan to work the team very hard and I expect them to be prepared for Thursday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The team is better than what the game last night showed. We know it, the fans know it, and the team knows it.

ON THE AIR TONIGHT: Sean and I will be on the air once again tonight at 10 PM on http://myweb.cwpost.liu.edu/dcox/website/listen.html. As always, we will be taking calls and instant messages via AIM. For those unable to listen, we will be putting up the podcast version and we hope to have that up quicker than we have in the past.

Islander Tidbits

On Monday, the Islanders received word about the status of defenseman Bryan Berard. He will miss the next 2-4 weeks with a groin injury. He hurt the groin in the second period of Saturday's game against the Devils. Fortunately for the Islanders, Berard will only miss a handful of games with the way the schedule is set up. The team plays 5 games in the next 3 weeks. So it is possible Berard will only miss the 5 games and not much more.

As do many fans, I enjoy looking at power rankings that come out from the major sports media each week. The Isles shot up the lists of many power rankings. Here are a few of note:

http://www.tsn.ca/fantasy_news/feature/?fid=548 - TSN 12th
http://www.sportsline.com/nhl/powerrankings - CBS 12th
http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/powerRankings - Fox Sports 9th
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/powerranking - ESPN 14th

The team took a big jump in all of these from the last week. It is definitely a nice thing to see. Some weird things going on with ESPN's though in my opinion.

Right now, it appears that the team is going with the same lines as last week. The idea of don't fix what isn't broken. Still no word on Shawn Bates and his status for Saturdays game. We'll keep you updated on that front.

Check back for other news and notes as well.

Guerin gets Winner to Beat Devils 4-3 in OT

Bill Guerin scored with 3.7 seconds left in overtime to give the Islanders and 4-3 win over the New Jersey Devils. It was a game that probably should have never gone to overtime though, as the Isles blew their second consecutive 2 goal lead. However, the Isles still found a way to win it and finished the week winning both their games.

Early in the game, turnovers looked like they were going to kill the Isles. Their second turnover in the first minute of the game led to a Zach Parise goal. As much as the Devils have struggled this year, you can not turn over the puck continuously to guys like Pairse, Patrik Elias, Brian Gionta and Dainius Zubrus.

The Isles came out much stronger in the 2nd period, scoring 3 goals. The first was scored right after a power play ended. Josef Vasicek took a blocked shot attempt by Miroslav Satan and moved to the front of the net and beat Kevin Weekes to tie the game. Shortly after that, Satan got one himself has he moved around Paul Martin and then a sprawling Weekes and slipped the puck passed him for the 2-1 lead. With about 8 minutes to go on the period, The Isles were on the power play. A nice pass from Ruslan Fedotenko to Bruno Gervais produced a one-timer shot from Gervais, that hit the crossbar and landed somewhere in the crease. The puck bounced out to Mike Comrie who quickly shot it passed Weekes for the 3-1 advantage. The team went into the 2nd intermission with a 2 goal lead, the worst in hockey.

The Islanders came out a bit sloppy again in the 3rd, and the Devils seemed to control more of the play. A fluke goal was scored by Jay Pandolfo when he shot the puck and it deflected off of Andy Sutton's leg and sailed over DiPietro. The Isles then failed to convert on a 4 minute power play and once it concluded, Brian Gionta tipped a Paul Martin shot in to tie the game at 3.

In Overtime, after some great end to end action that saw a flurry of saves and even Chris Campoli spoil a breakaway by Sergei Brylin, it was the heroics of the captain, Bill Guerin, who had a loose puck bounce his way and he hammered it home for the win on the power play.

Obviously, even though they scored 2 power play goals the team seemed to have trouble with some of the set ups and what not. That is most likely due to the loss of Bryan Berard, who left the game early on with what is being described now as a groin injury. With a week off, I really hope Berard can take the time to get healthy enough and get some practices in. It also appears Shawn Bates could be back for the game next Saturday as well, so it should be interesting to see who will sit in favor of him.

So a successful week in islanders hockey, and now we must wait until next Saturday until we see the Isles again.

WE'RE ON THE AIR TONIGHT: Sean and I will be on the air again tonight, at 10 PM on http://myweb.cwpost.liu.edu/dcox/website/listen.html. We're on webradio, not on the FM station. Just as last week, we will have a phone line and an AIM screen name running so you can send us your thoughts and questions. We'd love to hear from any fan as we love discussing hockey in general, but especially the Islanders. Hope to hear from some of you tonight. For those who can;t listen, we will put the podcast form up. We'll let you know when it is there.

Guerin's Hat Trick helps Isles beat Capitals 5-2

Through 6 games, all Bill Guerin had to show offensively was 6 assists. Even though he played well in those 6 games, a sniper like him always like to put pucks in the net. He would have been happy with one.

Guerin not only scored his first goal as an Islander in the game, but he also had his second and third. The monkey on his back had been lifted. Two of his goals came on the powerplay, something the Isles had trouble with over the last 2 games.

However, it was Bryan Berard's power play goal for the team that would end up being the game winner. Berard one-timed a pass from Chris Campoli at the point with 10 minutes left in the 3rd period to put the Islanders up for good. Berard now has 2 goals and 2 assists in 4 games with the team. Campoli had 4 assists and was noticeable all game. He was strong at both ends of the ice and has impressed many through each game this season.

Sean Bergenheim also scored for the Isles, his first goal since March of 2006. It was nice to see Bergie get the first one after coming back from Europe this year. He has really done wonders on the 2nd line playing with Josef Vasicek and Miroslav Satan.

Alex Ovechkin and Tomas Fleischmann scored for the Capitals. Their goals came about 5 minutes apart after a goal by Ruslan Fedotenko was disallowed. It appears that the goal should have been allowed, but the NHL said they didn't have enough evidence and the call on the ice stands. After that, Washington seemed to get momentum and quickly got on the board with Ovechkins goal.

Even after all that, the Isles were able to get it together and get a powerplay, the one that Berard converted on for his game winner. Despite all the scoring, Rick DiPietro was once again spectacular, making 27 saves on 29 shots. The Isles were out shot, and many times it looked as though Rick didn't have time to relax as he always had to be on his toes.

A game like this could be just what the doctor ordered for the team. Bill Guerin finally scoring should make things easier for him. It would be nice to see Satan and Mike Sillinger step up their game a little bit, and hopefully they can start that next game. Sillinger has been a 60 point scorer the last few years and the Isles would really like to see him do it again this year. Both he and Satan have yet to score a goal this year.

The next game is Saturday night against the Devils at the Coliseum. The Devils have had some early season problems and Marty Brodeur has looked shaky at best. Hopefully the Isles can pull one out and have a very successful week.

New Podcast Posted and Some More Line Shuffling

Looking to spark some more offense out of the team, head coach Ted Nolan decided to switch up some of the lines at Wednesdays practice. Bill Guerin was moved to the line with Andy Hilbert and Mike Sillinger, while Trent Hunter was moved to the line with Mike Comrie and Ruslan Fedotenko on it. The Islanders first line did a great job the first couple of games, however they have cooled off since then. Time will tell if the new lines will work, but it does come as a bit of a surprise this early in the season, especially since the Fedotenko-Comrie-Guerin line looked great in preseason and the beginning of the regular season together. Hunter and Sillinger have been relatively quiet in terms of offence, so Nolan hopes the changes benefit both of them as well as the others.

Also spotted at practice was Shawn Bates. He is very close to returning, but has been cleared to play. On the teams website, Nolan said he will put Bates through rigorous practices over the next week and if he hold up well there he will return. Hopefully Bates can come in and chip in the way he once was able to before his groin issues.

Marc-Andre Bergeron appears to be the odd man out once again going into Thursday's game with Washington. Nolan said that he has to work his way back into the lineup, and Bergeron understands that. I know he is a small guy and I don't expect him to constantly hit people off the puck, but as a defenseman he should be able to poke check the puck off an opposing players stick or at the very least be able to control the puck very well on offence. Both of those aspects have been tough for Bergeron, but I do feel that he could turn it around. We'll see though.

As Sean and I said, it is interesting to think what could happen if Bergeron is unable to make the lineup again. With the recent appearance of Jeff Tambellini, one that didn't last very long, you have to wonder if there is something going on with Jeff. I know the Isles respect him and feel he is one of their top prospects, but he has been unable to stick even after Jon Sim went down with injury. If a deal came up where both Tambellini and Bergeron could be packaged, I would imagine Snow would look into it. It's no secret the team needs help offensively, not to mention a really good top pairing defenseman, but I think they can get by on what they have right now as far as defense goes. If Bergeron has a hard time making the lineup, I think this might be something worth watching more closely as time goes on because if the team continues to score goals, something could go down. Snow has already proven that he's not afraid to pull the trigger to fix his team, and that wouldn't be any different this early in the season.

Our podcast from this past Sunday is up at http://www.nyifyi.mypodcast.com/. It was our first live show and it went very well. We tried to do as much analyzing of the games that were in the past week and picked apart some specific things we noticed. Unfortunately, no one called in but hopefully as time goes by people will. For now, enjoy it and don't forget that we will have recaps of the games this week right here.

Chris