After the Isles 5-2 win over the Devils the other night, fans were pretty damn pleased on the e-mail and message boards. In all honesty, they had all right to be; the Isles played one of their better games of the season and got contributions from pretty much everyone. It was almost as if this team banded together and rose above the injuries to Rick DiPietro and Radek Martinek and understood what they have to do in order to win. Well, tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Isles will also have to do without Mike Sillinger, who’s nursing some bumps and bruises.

I don’t know if you guys knew it, because I didn’t, but Sillinger’s been playing at less than 100% for quite some time now. Check out what Ted Nolan said on the team’s official website yesterday:

“It’s important that we give Mike Sillinger a game off to heal some injuries,” Nolan told newyorkislanders.com. “Fans don’t know this, no one does, but Mike has been banged up for a while and has shown a lot of guts playing through it. By giving him the one game off on Monday, it will give him four days to get a little more healthy until our home game on Thursday.”

At times like these, it stinks to be a fan. You have no idea when a player is playing injured and it makes it that much worse when you’re disappointed in his play. Now, it makes sense that he only 16 points this season. This kind of thing happens every summer when I cover the Cyclones, stuff like this happens all the time and the fans get on a player that’s playing with a sore hamstring or something else that could go unnoticed. Let’s just hope it’s nothing serious though. Anchoring the second line and playing in all situations all season, Sillinger is an extremely important piece to the puzzle for this team. We’ll see how things go tonight without him.

To take Silly’s place, Ben Walter has been called up, most likely to center the fourth line. Considering how solid Andy Hilbert has looked at center over the past few games, you’d expect him to be centering Trent Hunter and Ruslan Fedotenko. If not, I don’t know what kind of combinations they’ll have tonight. It should be an interesting game though, considering how inconsistent both of these teams have been this season.

If the defense and Wade Dubielewicz can play similarly to the way they performed against the Devils, the Hurricanes may have a tough night ahead of them. However, if Dubie and the defense aren’t up to the task, the ‘Canes, who have six players with over 30 points are going to have a field day on offense.

Posted under Pregame Musings

Any long-time hockey fan has been privy to a night where they saw three fights in a game, but last night was different. Three fights that didn’t take away from the intensity of the game, they seemed to make the game even better. The first one with Mike Comrie and Mike Mottau stemmed from a hit earlier in the game and was either a draw or a borderline win for Mottau.

Nonetheless, Comrie earned full marks for sticking up for himself, the same way Richard Park [who played another solid game last night assisting on the Isles first goal of the game] did against Alex Svitov last year. In addition, he added an empty-netter that gave him 30 points for the season and cemented the Islanders win.

30 points in 37 games is far from anything to jump for joy about, but when take into account that Comrie is on pace for a career year and has five points in his last three games, you have to think the best is yet to come from him.

The second fight between Bill Guerin and David Clarkson was more to send a message to the agitator and let him the Isles weren’t about to listen to his yammering all night. I personally like Clarkson’s game a lot and think he’s been a good addition to the Devils in a full-time role this season, but I can understand how Guerin and the Isles felt the need to put him in his place. To see the captain take on a guy with 84 penalty minutes at the time is an admirable act as well. Just like Comrie, Guerin has been playing extremely better over the past few games and has been a driving force in their success.

The third fight between Andy Sutton and Mike Rupp was one that stemmed from a hit Sutton took earlier in the game and was a damn good one. I loved what Sutton was doing with the jab, but Rupp absolutely rocked him with a hook that probably shook the coliseum. Nonetheless, Sutton held his own and later added a goal that got the Islanders ahead for good. Sure, Freddy Meyer got caught in a criss-cross between Brain Gionta and Zach Parise that led to a goal and Comrie and the Isles defense let John Madden sneak his way in for a goal, but aside from that, the defense was solid and protected Dubie.

Speaking of goals from defensemen, Chris Campoli’s laser in the first was one of the prettiest I’ve seen all season. It takes a great shot to beat someone like Martin Brodeur without a rebound and Sutton and Campoli both managed to do it on the same night. Marc-Andre Bergeron got another deflection goal [which was on the powerplay as well] added to his resume as well that put the Isles ahead by two.

However, the biggest thing to come out of last night’s game were the goals by Sean Bergenheim and the play of players like Trent Hunter and Mike Sillinger, who all got involved in the offense. I’ve said it all season, if the Isles are to get to playoffs and maybe even win a round since 1993, they need all four lines to contribute offensively. Given that, I think last night was a step in the right direction for them.

Posted under Post Game Rants

While the Islanders have been riding the road of inconsistency this season, they’ve had plenty of success against the Devils, going 3-0 so far. However, with Rick DiPietro probable for tonight’s game, the Isles are going to have to work pretty damn hard in both ends to come out with a victory tonight.

As I’ve said before, nothing against Wade Dubielewicz, but the defense doesn’t give the same effort when he’s out there and DP seems to have the uncanny ability to cover up for the mistakes of the defense. I know I’ve been extremely tough on DP over the past year and a half, but you can’t complain about how he’s played this year. He’s done everything in his power to keep this team in the position that they’re in right now. Sadly, that position is only two games over .500 and out of a playoff spot. Don’t even ask me to think about where this team would be this season without DP.

However, being in the situation that they’re in, things can change pretty quickly if they start playing the way they were earlier in the season. Bill Guerin, Mike Comrie and Richard Park have really stepped it up over the past few games. The same thing can be said for the fourth line of Blake “Don’t call me Mario” Comeau, Andy Hilbert and Tim Jackman. All the Isles need now is for the hard work of the second and third lines to start turning into points. After starting the season pretty damn strong, Josef Vasicek has cooled off considerably lately and even though he hustles his tail off every game, Sean Bergenheim needs to start finishing more. Maybe once Kyle Okposo joins the team and someone has to work for their job, then we’ll start to see some of the forward splaying with more desperation.

As far as the defense goes, the temporary lapses continue to hurt them every night. During the last game, Andy Sutton took the body at center ice, which led to a two on one opportunity and a goal for the Senators. If the Isles are going to make the playoffs this season, things like that are going to have to stop. Sure, Sutton blocks a ton of shots and is the only muscle the team has with Chris Simon’s Islander career likely over, but that’s not a reason for him to take a nap on defense. Aside from that though, Freddy Meyer has actually been alright over the past few games and Bruno Gervais looked great against the Leafs earlier in the week.

If the Isles can stay out of the box and take advantage of the mistakes the Devils make, this game will be an entertaining one. But if the Islanders can’t get the rest of the offense going and continue to make mistakes on defense that induce goals, it won’t matter who’s in net.

Posted under Pregame Musings

Watching last night’s game reminded me of Mariano Rivera. What? Yes, last night’s performance by Wade Dubielewicz and the Islanders defense reminded me of how bad Rivera was in 1995, when he was a starter and not the amazingly talented closer that’s destined for the Hall of Fame once he retires [and this is from a life-long Mets fan]. It seems whenever Dubielewicz starts a game this season, the Islanders defense takes a vacation and he isn’t as sharp as he is when he comes in after DP gets rocked or injured.

Seeing this situation unfold numerous times this season has forced me to propose a weird question. Is there any way the Islanders can bring in Dubie for the last two periods and have Joey MacDonald play net until he’s ready? Nah, I’m just joking. What would be better though is if the Isles could have stayed out of the penalty box last night and played better defense against the Dany Heatley, Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza line. As a matter of fact, the Isles couldn’t even play decent defense last night when they were on the powerplay. How many shorthanded goals is this team going to have to give up before they start clamping down and stop taking short cuts on defense?

I don’t know how you guys feel this, but every time I see the Isles give up a shorthanded goal, I want to either throw my size 15 and a half Starbury’s at the TV screen or throw a temper tantrum like Eric Cartman.

But I digress.

Martin Gerber didn’t make things easier for the Isles either, as he made a plethora of quality saves, stifling the Isles attack before it could really get started. Bill Guerin did manage to get a couple of goals, but considering how bad the defense was, it didn’t matter. For most of the game, the Isles weren’t able to cash in on second chance opportunities and get traffic I front of the net. With DiPietro, Radek Martinek and Ruslan Fedotenko all nursing injuries and Shawn Bates now out for the year, the Islanders are going to have to step up their play big time over the next few games. That means everyone from Blake Comeau to Mike Comrie is going to have to basically go for broke until DiPietro and Martinek come back healthy.

Lets be honest here, those two are the Islanders two best defensive players and without them, this team is slightly mediocre. With them, they have great goaltending and an uber solid defensive pairing with Brendan Witt that can keep elite players off the scoreboard. Thankfully, both of these injuries aren’t severe and the two could be back by Saturday. If not though, expect the Devils game to be another stinker if the Isles don’t wake up and play defense.

Posted under Post Game Rants

Now that was an exciting game, albeit one that was full of ups and downs, resembling an episode of “Days of our Lives,” than a professional hockey game. However, it was nice to see the hard work of guys like Richard Park and Andy Hilbert start to turn into something that really helps this team win. For most of the season, these guys have done the little things on defense that kept the team in games. Last night that obviously wasn’t the case, as both of them scored key goals over the Leafs.

I know this may sound scary to some of you, but Richard Park’s transformation this season has reminded me of the transformation another former fourth line pest made with the Isles. His name is Jason Blake. Okay, I know it’s a stretch, but being able to turn a career fourth liner like Park into a solid contributor [six points and a +2 in his past seven games] on both sides of the puck has paid huge dividends for the Isles this year. It just feels like every assist or goal this guy racks up comes at a time when the team desperately needs a push in the right direction. If he keeps it up, it’s going to be interesting where the team puts him when Kyle Okposo comes to town.

Over the past week and change, Andy Hilbert has been doing something he hasn’t done much of since donning the orange and blue, finishing. With six points and a +2 rating over his past ten games, Hilbert is doing exactly what a fourth line center should do. While it’s obvious that Hilbert has chemistry with Trent Hunter and Mike Sillinger, putting him in a situation where he is depended on to produce offensively hasn’t worked out for him or the Islanders. Having him on the fourth line as an energy guy that can put the puck in the net every once in a while is a job he is much more suited for. Having him play center as well seems to be a better spot for him too.

Despite the play of Hilbert and Park, it was great to see Wade Dubielewicz and Mike Comrie come through in the clutch like that. I said yesterday that it was going to be tough for Dubie to get playing time. Well, the news from the papers is that DP has tweaked his knee and is scheduled to get an MRI today. That means Dubie gets another shot in net tonight against a tough Senators team. As far as Comrie goes, it felt like forever since he scored a big goal and last night’s game could be exactly what he needs to get him going.

Without DP in net, the Isles are going to have make sure they get enough offense and play as strong defensively as they possibly can. They’re already without Radek Martinek, so in order for them to stay afloat, they’ll have to continue to get the best from what they have.

Injuries are just another thing to deal with in any professional sport. Good teams find a way to win. The Isles will have to do the same.

Posted under Post Game Rants

I don’t know how you guys feel about a hockey game a day after Christmas, but I’ve always loved them. To me, nothing beats a day of Christmas leftovers, time to enjoy your gifts and a hockey game.

After winning two of their last two games behind solid defense and adequate scoring, the Islanders can continue to right their ship and get back into the playoff picture. The Toronto Maple Leafs are a team that have had their problems scoring at times this season as well. However, unlike the Islanders, the Leafs have gotten by thanks to solid and consistent performances by Mats Sundin and Nik Antropov.

Just like the Islanders limited the opportunities by Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechin over the past few games, if they can keep Sundin and Antropov off the scoresheet, their chances at winning will be much better. Nevertheless, the Leafs do have other players that can put the puck in as well, so they can’t deviate from the stingy defense they’ve been playing as of late.

As always, Rick DiPietro will also be asked to be on top of his game tonight. Over the past three games, DP has given up only six goals, but has only faced 59 shots, putting his GAA during that stretch under .900, the Mendoza line for NHL goaltenders. The question now is: is he getting tired from playing so much this season? [Thanks to reader Section 303 for bringing this up a few days ago] And if he is, when is it a good time to give him a day off? The team just had a few days off and Wade Dubielewicz has been far from spectacular this season. To make matters worse, the defense seems to take a day off every time “Yoda” is in the net.

Despite what you may think about it, the Islanders really have no choice in the matter right now. Until Dubie gives the Islanders a reason to put him in the net and DP plays so bad that he’ll be taken out of the net, it’s not going to happen. DP wants to be the Islanders answer to Martin Brodeur and the only way for that to happen is for him to get 99.9 % of the playing time in net.

Despite his low save percentage over the last few games however, I don’t think it’s much cause for concern right now. It’s too early in the season to think about if DP is tired or not. Additionally, the guy has played great for most of the season and is the reason why they are even in a position to even think about making the playoffs. As long as the Isles remain over .500 and close to a playoff spot, DP will be in net. It’s something fans are going to have to get used to if they’re not already. If not, you have 14 years to get used to it.

Posted under Pregame Musings

This post has been inevitable for a few months now. I just had to wait long enough for the numbers to basically prove the way I felt.

Originally, you can imagine how I felt about this team in the beginning of August, seeing players Ryan Smyth, Tom Poti, Jason Blake, Alexei Yashin, Viktor Kozlov, Arron Asham and Randy Robitaille part ways.

However, looking back, even though Bill Guerin, Mike Comrie and Ruslan Fedotenko haven’t been as consistent as many would have liked, the play of the players from last season has been much worse.

If you don’t believe me, take a look for yourself.

Through 36 games in Russia, Yashin has 26 points and already has 45 minutes in penalties. While I haven’t seen him play this season, those numbers confirm something. Yashin has either lost whatever amount of passion he had left for the game, or had lost a step. For the hardcore Islander fan, seeing Yashin play this way is like a sigh of relief. If this guy was lighting up the Russian league after the Isles paid him to go find a home somewhere else and then couldn’t sign Blake or Smyth, things would be rough for Garth Snow.

However 26 points in 36 games aren’t exactly horrible, as they’re quite comparable to Comrie’s numbers, they weren’t worth what the Isles were paying Yashin. The same thing goes for Jason Blake’s play with the Leafs this season. After scoring 40 goals with the Isles last season, the winger has only lit the lamp five times. Signing with Toronto this offseason because he wanted to play with a legitimate playoff contender every season, [fitting because they didn’t make the playoffs the season before and haven’t won a Stanley Cup in how long?] Blake now finds himself on a team that’s only one game over .500.

The same thing goes for Viktor Kozlov and Tom Poti, who arguably had the best seasons of their careers with the Isles last season. Leaving the Island to become a part of a new-look Washington Capitals team, Kozlov and Poti have a combined three goals and 32 points in 66 games. All of a sudden, it looks like the Islanders made out better with Josef Vasicek and a more responsible Chris Campoli, who have a combined 13 goals and 31 points in 68 games. Either way, the Islanders haven’t been hurt by the loss of Poti and Kozlov.

Continuing the trend of under-performing former Isles, Robitaille only has 10 points in 26 games with the Senators this season and Asham has four goals and seven points in 35 games with the Devils.

Ryan Smyth however, has been a different story. 28 points in 33 games is pretty much right where he should be at this point in the season, but that’s what happens when you play with Joe Sakic every night. If Smyth WAS still on the Island, who would he be playing with?

The only other player who has played reasonably well after leaving the team is Richard Zednik, who has nine goals and seven assists for the Panthers this season, after reveling in mediocrity in 10 games for the Isles last season.

However, nine goals in almost half a season aren’t going to buy you anything in this league. As a matter of fact, it never would.

So the next time you feel the need to complain about the Islanders lack of scoring this season, don’t think for one second that they would have been this Stanley Cup winning team with the players they had.

That couldn’t have been further from the truth.

Posted under Isles Thoughts 2007

First off, I just want to wish everyone reading a happy holiday season. I know that this year hasn’t been easy for a lot of you and I just hope that reading my ramblings everyday makes the garbage you all have to put up with during the day a little easier.

 

I know it does for me.

 

In the middle of taking 18 credits a semester and working close to 40 hours a week, this blog, in all honesty, is kind of an escape for me. Even though I’m a young journalist who has been published in over a dozen different print and online publications, I’ve been writing this blog for over a year and a half from more of a fans perspective because I feel that everyone is a fan. Guys like Larry Brooks, Mike Lupica, Mike Vaccaro, Greg Logan and Marty Noble are all amazing writers, but deep down, they’re probably the biggest fans in the world. They just have a different view of the action. By writing this blog, I wanted [and still do] want to share my feelings about this team and what I think is the greatest sport in the world.

 

That I believe is not only my gift to you guys everyday, but the best gift I could ever give myself. And for the record, I just want to say that nothing makes me happier than reading comments about my writing in my e-mail everyday. Thank you for making my days brighter by just being yourselves.

Anyway…

Winning their last two games before the break looks to have given the Islanders a push in the right direction. According to the Daily News, the Isles are also planning to sign Kyle Okposo as soon as the roster freeze is over as well. That may continue to get this team rolling in the right direction. As of now, this team has a 17-15-2 record, good for 12^th in the Eastern Conference. However, they’re only seven points behind the Devils for the top spot in the Atlantic division. They also have two games in hand on New Jersey. What does this all mean you ask? For all the hob-nobbery you read on the message boards and all the writers that are saying this team over-achieved earlier in the season, they’re still right in the thick of things.

I’ve been saying for three weeks now that they need a spark. Okposo may be just what the doctor order. However, guys like Richard Park, Andy Hilbert, Sean Bergenheim and Trent Hunter have stepped up their games as well as of late and given the fact that they all play on separate lines, this team could be rounding the corner and getting ready to play more consistently.

With the goaltending this team has and the way the defense has proven it could play at times, all they need is to be able to score three goals a game. With Mike Comrie, Miroslav Satan, Bill Guerin, Ruslan Fedotenko and Mike Sillinger, it really shouldn’t be a problem. If they can continue to play gritty hockey and players start to step up, this team can surprise a lot of people. Like I’ve said a bunch of times this season, I don’t think this team has what it takes to win a cup. They need another dominant scorer and a solution to the rotation on defense first. However, if they can manage to get in the playoffs, all of that doesn’t matter. I know it’s an over-used cliché, but in the playoffs, whatever happened in the regular season doesn’t mean a thing.

If this team can focus on hiding their weaknesses [scoring four or more goals a game] and play to their strengths [gritty, physical play, getting good goaltending and staying out of the box], they can catch a lot of teams by surprise.

With a few days off before they start playing again, let’s hope those thoughts resonate in their minds and they come back and play the type of hockey they were at the beginning of the season.

Posted under Isles Thoughts 2007

See when all four lines get a good chunk of ice-time? I mean that goal by Alex Ovechin with less than a minute left probably caused a few heart attacks in Long Island, but aside from that, the Islanders, over the past two games, have started playing the type of hockey that got them off to such a good start this season.

Last night, the Isles played one of their best defensive games of the season. Aside from a beautiful stick handling  lesson Alex Semin gave to Andy Sutton and the Ovechin goal that was helped out by a party going on in front of Rick DiPietro, they did a great job of eliminating second chances. Radek Martinek and Brendan Witt were all over Semin, Ovechin and the other talented Washington forwards to the point were the Caps were obviously very frustrated. 12 shots through the first two period should be a wake up call for any NHL team and while the Capitals picked up their pace in the third, the Isles defense was up to the task.

Another Islanders defenseman that played a solid game was Freddy “I look like Bill Pullman in ‘Space Balls’” Meyer. The way Marc-Andre Bergeron has played defense this season, the Isles could really use Meyer or Bryan Berard to be that defenseman that makes that first good pass out of the zone. Last night, Meyer did that on more than a few occasions and was playing tough in the corners [I saw him throwing cross checks in the corners throughout the game] and let Washington know that they had to earn every inch of ice they skated on. You really can’t ask for anymore than that from a defenseman or any player that has been put in Meyer‘s situation this season.

However, the Islanders that stuck out the most to me last night were Trent Hunter, Richard Park and Miroslav Satan. Hunter was hitting everything that moved and even though he still isn’t finishing as much as I’d like him to, he’s playing solid hockey in both ends of the ice. Did anyone else see how Hunter was picking apart the six-foot-six former first round pick Jeff Schultz? He had to have hit him at least four or five times in the third period alone. Those hits, especially in the Washington end, enabled the Isles to get the cycle going and keep the pressure on the young Capitals defense.

Richard Park had another awesome game as well and played almost 17 minutes of solid two-way hockey. Last season, Park had 10 goals on 93 shots. Through 34 games, Park has six goals on 56 shots. Anyone else see a trend here? Keep shooting Park.

As far as Satan is concerned, he proved again last night that he’s still a threat to score the big goal. Before he scored, the game almost had a cautious or scared feeling to it; no team wanted to take a chance that would cost them the game. However after Josef Vasicek made a nice little pass to him, he skated up the ice and dropped his shoulder and flicked his wrist the same way that has resulted in over 330 goals in his career. With that goal as well, Satan now has 666 points for his career. Is it weird that as I’m saying this, I’m listening to Iron Maiden’s “Number of the Beast?” Nah, only if “The Omen” was on TV at that same time. In all seriousness however, for all the talk by the fans on the message boards about how Satan should be traded before his contract runs out, the guy is playing solid hockey right now and has kept the team in a lot of games.

Sure, it would be nice if he had 15 goals right now and a few more assists, but this ENTIRE team was in a funk for two weeks and it wasn’t anyone’s fault specifically. Anyway, my point is this: Satan is playing good hockey and is a pivotal part in the Isles offense. Trading him just wouldn’t make sense to me.

On top of the play of Hunter, Park and Satan, DP didn’t allow a ton of rebounds and made the saves he had to. Getting three goals on a night when you get solid defense and your goalie comes to play usually puts you in a good situation to win.

In the case of last night’s game, that’s exactly what happened.

Posted under Post Game Rants

Isles Win? Yes, for only the third time in their last 11 games the New York Islanders got a W. You know why? Because they scored four games in a game for the first time in 23 games, that’s why. And who else better to get on the scoresheet than Blake Comeau, Andy Hilbert and Trent Hunter?

Miroslav Satan’s goal in the first got the team going in the right direction and aside from a pair of sloppy plays in the defensive end, the Isles were hanging in there. Then all of a sudden in the third period, 37 seconds goes by and the Islanders have themselves a two-goal lead. Comeau’s line was working really well out there and it was great to see Andy Hilbert start to finish. I’ve said before, there’s no reason why he can’t score 15-20 goals in this league; he gets a ton of chances. He just has to learn to finish. The same thing goes for Hunter. There’s a reason why he scored 25 goals his rookie season, he finished. If these guys can keep it going long enough and Mike Comrie and Bill Guerin can get hot, this team won’t be half bad.

But back to last night…

Comeau and Hilbert were working really well together. The fact that Comeau saw a space open up and didn’t hesitate to shoot is a very good sign. Some rookies would think pass in that situation, but Comeau just fired. That’s what this team needs right now. Aside from two or three games this season, the goaltending has been top shelf and Rick DiPietro has done everything he possibly can on the ice to keep this team afloat. It’s time the rest of the team starts trying their best to do the same.

Anyway, did anyone else notice the line changes last night? Hilbert went down to the fourth and Ruslan Fedotenko is on the second? I said a few days ago that if I was the Isles, I’d throw Kyle Okposo on the first and I’d have to make those line changes to make it happen. With the World Juniors starting soon, I think the Isles are starting to adjust the lines for when Okposo gets here. If Hilbert and Comeau can keep up their solid play that line is going to be one of the best fourth lines in the league once Richard Park goes back there when Okposo arrives.

Well, those are just my thoughts on things.

I mean, why would you sign a 19-year-old stud if you were going to put him on the fourth line?

Posted under Post Game Rants