The Drive for Five is now a year old!

It’s crazy to think I’ve been doing this for a year already and all the things I’ve written about. But I digress. This is probably the last thing you guys want to hear. You came here to read about hockey, so let’s get started.

One more day until the Islanders next game and you wonder how they’re going to come out. Tampa Bay is a quick team that relies on Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier for most of their scoring, which means the Islanders may have their hands full. Expect to see Brendan Witt and Radek Martinek playing against them all night long.

Aside from them, the Islanders don’t have much to worry about because the other forward lines on Tampa aren’t nearly as imposing. To be honest, I never quite understood why they never kept Corey Stillman a few years ago, he really gave that team the depth they needed to win the cup. Brad Richards is this generation’s Adam Oates or Craig Janney, the guy is a great passer, but they always put him on a line with scrubs. If they went out and got a good 25-goal scorer to play with him, that team would be 25 times better.

Anyway, the same way Carolina controlled the game the other night because of the Islanders ineptitude on defense and

lack of focus, Tampa Bay, despite their lack of depth on offense, will do the same thing. Guys like Prospal, Boyle and Paul Ranger, who is really starting to develop into a quality offensive defenseman, will bite the Islanders in the arse if they’re not careful.

Keys to the game- Every time the Islanders have played well this season, they’ve consistently drew penalties. Guys like Richard Park, Trent Hunter and Sean Bergenheim have to work hard in the corners and keep their legs moving. If they can do that, the chances with the man advantage will come and the team will generate offense.

As well, Rick DiPietro went puck crazy during the team’s last game and needs to stay in the net. Someone from the Islanders Booster should bring their bungee chords just to play it safe.

If DP stays in the net and the Islanders get a few chances on the powerplay, they should be able to keep pace with the Lightning. A few goals from Mike Sillinger and a few other players struggling wouldn’t be so bad either.

Last year in Islander Country- This is a new segment for the site that I’m going to start today. As many of you may already know, the site crashed at the end of May and as a result, all the old posts were lost from the site. Considering today is the site’s birthday, I’m going to start reposting all of the old pieces, so I can rebuild the site. It will be a slow and tedious process, but it should make for an interesting little side note every day and will be a cool way of seeing where the team was last year in oppose to this season.

Last year at this time, http://www.thedriveforfive.com/?p=60 the Isles defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2, courtesy of some solid play by Mike Sillinger, Shawn Bates and Richard Park and a game winning goal by Alexei Yashin. It was also the game that got the Isles over .500 for the first time of the season after losing five of their fist seven games to start the season.

Record last season at this point in the season 5-4-2-12 points

Record so far this season- 5-4-10 points

It may be a day before Halloween, but no one is laughing in Islander Country. After an 8-3 drubbing at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, it’s obvious the Islanders have some serious work ahead of them on both sides of the puck.

Aside from a few good games on offense, most of the Islanders forward lines in my mind haven’t clicked yet. After the first two games, the “Free Agent Line” of Bill Guerin, Mike Comrie and Ruslan Fedotenko was broken up and the usually solid line of Mike Sillinger, Andy Hilbert and Trent Hunter was broken up as well. The only line that has been playing solid over the past few games has been the Miroslav Satan, Josef Vasicek and Sean Bergenheim line.

After that, the Islanders have a non-existent fourth line, which consists of Chris Simon, Richard Park and whomever Ted Nolan feels like playing with them. For the first few games, Bergenheim was skating with Park and enforcer Daryl Bootland, who was taking Simon’s place until he served out the rest of his suspension last year. At that time, the fourth line was at least getting minutes.

Now, with Bootland spending more time at charity events than on the ice, Nolan has put defenseman Aaron Johnson on the fourth line, making them a complete waste of ice time. It’s completely obvious to the casual hockey fan that Johnson looks uncomfortable out there. To the hardcore hockey fan, it’s a complete waste.

I understand that the team doesn’t want to use Jeff Tambellini in a fourth line role and would rather let him develop in Bridgeport, but what about Blake Comeau, Ben Walter Tim Jackman or Frans Nielsen? One of those guys could easily play a fourth line role and provide more energy than Johnson. At this point, I think the Isles need desperately to bring someone up that give the team a little bit of a spark. Guys like Hunter, Hilbert Park and Bergenheim do it every night, but I think someone like Nielsen in particular would be a great fit right now.

For the time being, it looks like Shawn Bates isn’t ready to come back yet. I guess Nolan wants to make sure he’s in game shape, considering how little he’s played over the past year. Right now, I really don’t care who they put in that spot on the fourth line right now. I know however, that Aaron Johnson isn’t getting it done and if they get enough ice time, Park and Simon can be effective role players.

They just need someone on the ice with them that isn’t going to keep them off it.

Through nine games this season, the Islanders have no plus players on the team. Well not exactly. As of today, Daryl Bootland is the only player on the team that is not a negative player. Yes, you heard it right.

I don’t know what this means to some of you, but to me, I think it’s time for the Islanders to shake things up with the defensive pairings. I’ve already gotten into how mediocre Andy Sutton has been so far this season in previous posts, but I also think that Chris Campoli and Bruno Gervais need to be split up.

They’re both very good skaters and I think that if Gervais was paired with Sutton, it would help the defense overall. The same thing can be said of Berard when he comes back. The guy is still getting his bearings and if he was paired with Campoli, he wouldn’t have to worry as much about playing defense.

The way Bergeron has played this season, you have to wonder if he’s going to keep his spot  on the team once Berard comes back. They both do the same thing on the ice and the Islanders can’t afford to have two defensemen that can’t play in their own end. As much as I like what Bergeron can do, you have to let a guy like Gervais, who plays responsibly, get playing time until things change.

Brendan Witt and Radek Martinek will come around as the season goes on, so I’m not worried about them. I was looking through some of my old posts and wasn’t shocked that Witt took his sweet time last season getting started. He’s not the youngest player anymore and with all the days off the team has had so far this season, it’s not surprising that he’s not playing as well as I think he can.

Nevertheless, it’s not because he’s not working on the ice, it just looks like he hasn’t gotten his legs going yet. The guy has been on the ice for way too many goals this season and it’s because he isn’t skating the way he should be. The guy blocks shots, takes the body and does everything else he has to do to help the team. I’m positive that he’ll revert to his old self again.

The same thing could be said for Martinek. Once he stops relying on grabbing people to keep them away from the net [evidenced by a few of the penalties he’s gotten called on this season] and starts really skating, he’ll be another d-man that will be a huge factor in the team’s success.

For the time being though, the Isles have serious things to work on before they can separate themselves from the rest of the team in the division.

The Isles just didn’t have it last night.

Plain and simple.

They were flat on defense, failed to keep their legs moving and couldn’t stop a hungry and motivated Hurricanes team that got romped the night before. Six days off may be too long a break in the beginning of the season, but the Islanders just didn’t skate. It wouldn’t have mattered if they had four games in six nights like Carolina did. They committed lazy penalties and even fell for set dump and chase play that resulted in a goal. Any time you do things like that, your chances in victory are quite miniscule to say the least.

Overall, it was definitely not a great game to watch if you’re an Islanders fan.

Scary to think, Bergeron may have been the Isles best player on the ice last night. Despite the fact that he was shooting way too much, the guy played over 20 minutes in an 8-3 loss and was only a -1. That to me says that he at least understands that he has to play more noticeable defense. A few times last night, he was pinching in and trying to help the offense, which made me wonder when he was going to get caught, but he was skating much harder and pushing people around on Carolina, which allowed him to get back on defense. That kind of play is what I expected to see out of the entire Isles defense, but surprisingly, I only really saw Bergeron doing it.

Also, it just felt like there was way too much passing going on during the powerplay and when they actually got quality shots on Grahame, they couldn’t finish. Carolina’s defense was far from perfect, giving up 31 shots, many of them good scoring chances, but Grahame was that good. If this game was closer, he would have been a first star and had a few of them on Sports Center. However, the guy had plenty of support and the Isles just never really got going as a team.

The only line I think really played well during even strength was the Josef Vasicek, Sean Bergenheim and Miro Satan line. Those guys had some jump and at times, early during the game of course, I thought they were going to be the catalysts that got the team back in the game. However, like I just said, no one on the team was finishing in the offensive zone and the Isles never got back in it.

Lastly, Isles fans saw the return of the DP that loves to wander around the net and guess what? Like it usually does, it bit him right in the rear. So far this season, before last night’s game of course, the guy was uber solid, mainly because he kept his arse in the net where it belongs. Why we would decide to go for a stroll against a team like Carolina is beyond me.

Let’s just hope over the next four days, until their next game, they work out these problems and come out much stronger on both ends of the ice.

According to Yahoo, Marc-Andre Bergeron is back on the powerplay. Well, at least until Berard comes back that is.

I know I’ve done my fair share of ripping when it comes to good-ole MAB, but that’s just because I strongly feel that a good defenseman has to play defense. I love the 24 points in 28 games as an Islander he’s put up, but my heart stops beating when he coughs up the puck.

Reading some comments I’ve gotten via e-mail about him, I think it’s the general consensus that Ted Nolan isn’t trying to keep him out of the lineup, he just wants to teach him a lesson. That’s why I believe he wasn’t used as the 12^th forward the other night. Nolan didn’t want to disrespect him by putting him in an awkward position. Then if the guy would have gotten hurt, the Isles would have been in trouble down the stretch.

That’s why Aaron Johnson was in there, instead of Bergeron. The Isles know that Bergeron is going to have his ups and downs, but they want to try and limit them as much as possible. Now that the guy knows what is being asked of him, I think it’s safe to say that he’ll be trying much harder on the ice to be a competent and reliable defender. Well, at least I hope so.

With Bergeron back on the ice and Shawn Bates perhaps suiting up tonight, the Isles may actually be able to suit up a full lineup, rather than using players like Johnson and Daryl Bootland, who are just going to ride the bench. With Bates on the fourth line, guys like Richard Park and Chris Simon can finally start getting some more playing time as well. Through his first few games, Simon has been a non-factor, spare a fight or two along the way. Just how I mentioned in my last post that the Vasicek line is important in the Isles success this season, if that fourth line can play 10 minutes a game in both ends, things are going to be great.

This team will have plenty of gas in their tanks and won’t breakdown like they almost did last year. I’m sure that all of you will agree that last year was exciting, but I’d rather see consistent hockey all year round then some of the stuff we’ve seen over the past few years.

But I digress. If Bergeron starts playing defense and Bates is back in the lineup and is able to contribute, the Isles will almost look like a different team altogether. Ok, maybe that’s a stretch, but like I said, if the fourth line gets some more minutes and Bergeron can be depended on, everyone’s lives will be much easier.

When does this team play again? Right now it feels like the season hasn’t even started yet. Whoever comes up with the schedules in Toronto needs to look at things like this and see how little sense they make.

Why should I have to wait a week to watch my favorite team play? It’s bad enough I’m a Jets fan and have to wait a week for another embarrassing failure to come across the television set. While it’s obvious that hockey is a sport that’s tough on the body and there is a long season ahead of us for all the fans, coaches and players, a game a week for almost three weeks is insane. That just doesn’t work for me.

Anyway, two days until the Hurricanes come to town. The way they have played this season, the Isles can’t afford to play games in the defensive end. Four players on the ‘Canes, Rod Brind’amour, Justin Williams, Eric Staal and Corey Stillman are averaging a point a game so far this season. That’s some scary stuff. Then add in the fact that Matt Cullen seems to be rejuvenated since he was brought back to the team in the offseason and Cam Ward has turned back the clock to his 2006 playoff days, and again, it’s obvious this team isn’t a joke.

In order for the Islanders to come out with two points against Carolina, they have to continue to do all the little things that have gotten them wins this season. That means skating in the corners, establishing a forecheck and taking advantage on the powerplay. If they can do that, Carolina’s offensive prowess won’t mean a thing. On the other hand, if the Islanders defense continues to induce turnovers and commit penalties that stem from being lazy and not keeping their legs moving, the Canes are going to have a field day.

Also, guys like Miro Satan, who played awesome last week against (who was that game against? It feels like a month ago!) the Devils and Sean Bergenheim need to keep the energy up and make sure they get chances. When that line with them and Josef Vasicek is going strong, I think it changes the entire dynamic of the team. Every expects Satan to get going eventually, but if he stays strong and Bill Guerin and Mike Comrie, who are on different lines as of now, play well, it’s going to be extremely difficult for opposing defenses to plan against that.

With all the days off the Islanders have over the next few weeks, hockey fans in the area may be hard pressed for some great hockey action, but I personally think this break may be the best thing for the Isles right now.

With injuries to players like Shawn Bates and Bryan Berard and Brendan Witt taking pucks off his feet all season long, the Isles could definitely use a few days off. Also, with Berard out, Marc-Andre Bergeron or Aaron Johnson will be forced to step it up in practice, which in turn could create a little bit of competition once Berard comes back.

I don’t know how you guys feel, but I think that aside from the play of Witt and Campoli, everyone else’s hasn’t been exactly solid.

Radek Martinek had a strong game last week and Berard was starting come around and play in both ends, but they’re still not exactly where they need to be. Gervais has been strong on defense, but hasn’t really stood out and made the smart play like he did last season. Andy Sutton is starting to become a force in front of the Islanders net, but he sure did take his sweet time doing so, didn’t he? Even during the Isles last game, DiPietro got scored on after a shot from Brian Gionta went through Sutton legs, making him look like Bill Buckner.

I wasn’t exactly a huge fan of the signing when it happened, but I always thought that Sutton had a better shot and was a better skater than most people gave him credit for. I also loved the fact that he’s huge and loves to throw his body around. However, a big part of me wondering why it looked like a party was going on in a few Atlanta Thrashers messages boards when he signed with the Isles. It was probably worse than how Islander Country jumped for joy when Alexei Yashin was bought out.

Now, eight games into the season, I know exactly why the fans in Atlanta had some problems with Sutton’s play. Despite his strength and grit in front of the net, Sutton doesn’t always make the smartest play with the puck and can miss his assignments in the defensive end. As well, his play on the powerplay hasn’t been exactly solid. I think I’ve seen him miss the net with his shots from the point more than he’s actually hit the net or done anything positive.

However, it’s still early in the season and I think the guy can step it up and be a positive addition to the defensive core. Last season, players like Sean Hill and Witt didn’t exactly start off strong. My betting money is on guys like Martinek, Berard and Sutton will get stronger as the season goes on.