This should be on NY Sports Day today as well.

Through 32 games this season, the New York Islanders have scored a league-low 71 goals.

With new acquisitions Bill Guerin, Ruslan Fedotenko and Mike Comrie not providing the offense needed to support the shutdown goaltending of Rick DiPietro, the Isles have been on a roller coaster ride all season and find themselves with a 15-15-2 record. An early season injury to Jon Sim and the recent suspension to enforcer Chris Simon haven’t helped the lethargic Isles offense either and have forced the team to call up several different players to help anchor the bottom lines, with no clear cut answer in sight.

With the team still struggling for offense and hesitant to make a move before the league’s holiday roster freeze, something had to be done.

Enter 2006 first-round pick Kyle Okposo.

Leaving the University of Minnesota on Wednesday, Okposo will be the latest piece inserted into the Islanders forward lines once he’s finished playing in the World Junior Championships in the Czech Republic. The only question is how successful can the 19-year old be without any experience at the professional level?

Scoring 19 goals and 40 points in 40 games with the Golden Gophers last season, the Islanders seem confident that Okposo will be the sparkplug the team needs on offense.

“We’re extremely excited about the possibility of Kyle joining our organization soon,” general manager Garth Snow told the AP on Wednesday. “He’s a great talent, one of the most exciting prospects in the game. Kyle has the dedication and character we want for our franchise.”

However, despite the team’s excitement about what Okposo could bring to the team, another question remains. Islanders head coach Ted Nolan has been insistent on letting young players get their bumps and bruises in the AHL, rather than with the big club. Over the past season and a half, former first-round picks Robert Nilsson and Jeff Tambellini and current Islander defenseman Chris Campoli found it increasingly difficult to crack a lineup filled with veterans.

Can Okposo be the player that Nolan finally gives a legitimate shot at helping the team, without getting additionally seasoning in the minors? Will he be able to be the sparkplug the team needs to make the playoffs this season?

And if Nolan goes against his grain with the youngster, the question of who he will play with is also an interesting one? Considering how stagnant the offense and powerplay have been over the past nine games [seven of which the Isles have lost] does Nolan decide to give Okposo top-line minutes and time with the man advantage?

For an Islanders team desperately looking for a messiah of sorts on offense, the answer to those questions will have to wait.

Posted under Isles Thoughts 2007

Talk about a busy day in Islander Country yesterday.

I mean seriously, Chris Simon’s 30-game suspension would have been more than enough for today’s post and then during the game, the Isles began negotiations with 2006 first-round pick Kyle Okposo.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been talking a lot about this team needing a spark. While I would have preferred a trade of some sorts that got rid of some of the clutter on the team’s blue line and got the team a decent second liner that could score 15-20 goals, picking up Okposo is definitely a start in the right direction. Originally deciding to stay with the Gophers this season, Okposo has now decided to join the Isles after the World Junior Championships. At first, I was curious to find out what the reason was for his leaving in the middle of the season, but after reading this quote, it’s obvious to me.

“While I’m disappointed Kyle is leaving at this point of the season, his dream has been to play pro hockey. It is unfortunate that the Islanders put him in a very difficult position. I think our team has made strides the last few weeks, and I’m looking forward to the second half of the season.”

 

Minnesota coach Don Lucia

 

That basically spelled it out for me. The Isles probably approached his agent, Neil Sheehy, and told him they were extremely serious in getting the kid signed. Things weren’t going absolutely perfect for him over there either, as Lucia was having him play center when he’s much more comfortable at the wing.

The only question now is: where does he fit? Ted Nolan isn’t exactly a fan of playing inexperienced players, just ask Robert Nilsson, Jeff Tambellini and Chris Campoli, but the team’s offensive problems need him to go against his hockey grain on this one.For my money, I’d throw him on the first line with Mike Comrie and Bill Guerin, which would allow Ruslan Fedotenko to go on the second line with Trent Hunter and Mike Sillinger. That of course would push Andy Hilbert to the fourth line with Richard Park and Tim Jackman or Blake Comeau. That in my opinion, would be at least a step above what we have offensively right now.

This kid has played well at every level he’s been at, but the NHL is much different than college. How productive can he be after being thrown into the proverbial hockey fire? I wish I could answer that question. Seeing all those thin boxscores this season and the empty seats over the past two weeks, it’s obvious the Islanders need to shake things up.

Perhaps this is the first step in that process.

Last night’s game, which was stolen by the brilliant goaltending of Ryan Miller made it that much more obvious. This team needs to start scoring goals.

Posted under Isles Thoughts 2007, Post Game Rants

It’s been a while, but the Islanders have a game today. What a fitting opponent as well in the Buffalo Sabres a team that they’ve sometimes looked unstoppable against or downright miserable. That, to me, pretty much sums up how the Islanders have played this season.

Right now, it just feels like this team’s heart beat is mirroring the lethargic one of Monty Burns [C'mon did anyone else see that episode?]. They don’t have the same passion and intensity they had before. What this team probably needs right now is something that gets them going in the right direction and something else that keeps them there.

However, while things may seem bleak, considering all the negative attention surrounding the team the past few days, all hope is not lost. The team is still a game over .500 and only seven points out of the top spot in the Atlantic. If they start scoring goals now, the motif in Islander country can change in a heartbeat.

But for that to happen, I feel two things have to happen. Ted Nolan has to give either Marc-Andre Bergeron or Bryan Berard a vote of confidence and let them be the team’s sixth defenseman. It was a cute move through the first dozen or so games, but now it’s gotten old. This platoon is taking away from both of their games and something needs to be done to get them ice time. The second thing that needs to be done is a firm establishment of a four-line system. Blake Comeau was just called up and with Tim Jackman and Richard Park, could prove to be a nice line that can play well in both ends of the ice.

The other three lines [especially the Josef Vasicek, Miroslav Satan and Sean Bergenheim line]have all shown an ability to put the puck in the net, but haven’t been able to do it on a consistent basis. Setting up a four-line system would allow everyone to get playing time and get involved. This team doesn’t have one player that can carry them on their backs on offense. That’s why it is imperative that everyone starts getting good chunks of ice time. That means getting the cycle going and taking smarter shots, staying out of the penalty box and playing sound defense.

Simply put, against Buffalo, the Isles will have to skate hard and stay out of the penalty box. If the Islanders limit the defensive lapses and keep the penalties to a minimum, they can and will play a solid five-on-five game with the Sabres. The last time these teams played, Buffalo was skating circles around the Islanders and forcing them to commit penalties. If the Isles are willing to play a gritty game, they’ll have more than a fighting chance tonight. The only question is… are they willing to do the little things that made them so successful earlier in the season?

Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Posted under Isles Thoughts 2007, Pregame Musings

Tomorrow the holiday roster freeze comes into affect and teams cannot make any sort of deal until after the New Year. Could that be the reason why Marc-Andre Bergeron has still been getting ice-time, despite his big mouth and lackluster play on defense?

Coughing up the puck again the other night against the Penguins, Bergeron cost the Islanders a goal in another big game. How many times is this going to happen this season until this team makes a move? Hockeybuzz reported a few days ago that the Isles were interested in Derek Morris. I don’t know how familiar you guys are with him, but I don’t think it would be that much of an upgrade. Sure, he’s better defensively and plays with more of physical edge, but he coughs the puck up a lot on defense as well and can’t put up the points like Bergeron can.

Aside from a few solid seasons with the Avalanche and Flames, Morris has been a bit of a disappointment as an offensive player. Nevertheless, he’s still under 30 and like other former first round picks who took their sweet time developing into good offensive players [Mike Sillinger immediately comes to mind], he could need a change of scenery or a huge vote of confidence from an organization. However, with someone like Bryan Berard sitting on bench, the Isles could deal Bergeron and pick up a third-liner who could contribute a dozen or so goals and provide some energy. With Chris Simon off from an undetermined amount of time and no one knowing how long Tim Jackman or Blake Comeau are going to stay up with the team, the Islanders need to get some more stability on the fourth line.

For long stretches last season, the Islanders were able to roll four lines and because of that, got solid offensive seasons from more players that wouldn’t have been possible before. Trading Bergeron would help fill the void left by Jon Sim’s injury as well and give the Islanders some more options on offense. Because the way things look now, despite the defensive lapses, the more important thing here is finding offense. Otherwise, the youngsters from Bridgeport are going to have to step up.

However, if the Islanders don’t have confidence in Berard, the Islanders could be stuck in a Quagmire on defense that could last all season and possibly cost the team a playoff spot.

Posted under Isles Thoughts 2007

Sorry for the late post today guys. I had a final tonight and was busy all day cramming. Anyway, as I promised: A post solely on the nefarious actions of Chris Simon on Saturday night [I was actually e-mailed today by an obnoxious Penguins fan who has been waiting for this all day, haha].

When Chris Simon swung his stick at Ryan Hollweg last season, I was probably the last person in the world who was happy about it. Simply put, I thought Simon went AWOL at the worst time for the Isles. He was playing his best hockey in two years and the team needed him. Then on top of it, it continued to proliferate the notion that hockey players are barbaric. When I was quoted the next day by Newsday writer Michael Amon, who wrote a story about the incident, I told him that I was disgusted and almost ashamed to be an Islanders and NHL fan.

After his suspension, I wrote that the Islanders should part ways with him because his actions disgusted me that much. Images of Dale Hunter hitting Pierre Turgeon still break my heart to this day and to be on the other side of that was just as bad. Hockey is a violent sport, make no mistakes about it, but from the players I’ve interviewed in my short time as a journalist, I have to say [for the millionth time on this blog] that they the most courteous and respectful athletes I’ve ever been around.

However, there is a fine line here that Simon has crossed.

Again.

This time, the Islanders need to do the right thing for the sport and cut Simon loose. I know when the team brought him back this offseason, I understood why. I even said that the team could have used his toughness against the Sabres in the playoffs last season, but enough is enough. What Simon did to Jarkko Ruutu was probably worse than what he did to Hollweg. Stepping on someone’s leg with a skate is no worse than stabbing someone with a knife. Everyone has seen the video of Steve Tuttle accidentally cutting Clink Malarchuk’s throat with his skate in 1989. Now imagine how much damage could have been done by a six foot three, 232-pound oaf stomping on your foot with a machete attached to his shoe.

On another note, while Simon’s idiocy on the ice over the past year is mind-boggling, his amount of luck is astounding. If anyone else is the world swung a hockey stick at someone’s head and stepped on someone’s foot with their skate, they’d either be in jail or out of hockey all together. The fact that Simon hasn’t hurt anyone yet is scary. If I had Simon’s luck, I’d play the lotto every single day.

The way the Hollweg incident turned out, 25 games was a fitting punishment, considering Hollweg wasn’t exactly an incident victim, having hit Simon with a borderline legal hit just seconds before. Jarkko Ruutu, on the other hand, didn’t do a thing to deserve getting stepped on [scratch that thought. I mean, really, is there anything you can do to deserve what happened to Ruutu?]. Sure, he’s a pest and plays a gritty game, but all he was doing was yapping to Tim Jackman before he went on the bench. If talking trash to your opponents causes you to get that kind of treatment, people like Duane Sutter and Theo Fleury would have never made it past their rookie seasons.

Now I understand where the Islanders are coming from, giving Simon a “break.” He’s highly respected by Ted Nolan and the guys in the locker room and the team needs him to provide the kind of physical edge that no one else on the team can provide [at this point, I’d call up Kip Brennan if he’s still on Bridgeport]. Nevertheless, actions like Simon’s shouldn’t garner a slap on the wrist and any type of emotional therapy, they should garner a pink slip.

I know I promised to talk about the lackluster play of Marc-Andre Bergeron as well, but I promise, I’ll get to that tomorrow.

Posted under Isles Thoughts 2007

Sidney Crosby is one of those players that can change the outcome of a game without even touching the puck.

Last night, his actions decided the game.

In the second period, Crosby got a little too friendly with Brendan Witt and slashed him in the leg. Did he get a penalty? Of course not. Witt then retaliated of course and got called for a penalty, which opened the door for a Tyler Kennedy powerplay goal that basically ended the game. As a matter of fact, Crosby went on to draw a holding penalty that put Radek Martinek [who basically leaned on him] in the box.

I understand that Crosby is the league’s best player and gets calls his way the same way people like Michael Jordan and other greats have gotten before him in other sports, but the NHL has to draw the line when a game is deadlocked at 2-2. At that point in the game, it could have went either way and the penalty against Witt and the latter penalty killed the team’s flow and forced them to play catch up for the rest of the game.

Simply put, the NHL has got to stop coddling Crosby. No one gave Gretzky a bottle when Billy Smith was swinging his sting at his ankles. He took his bumps and bruises like a man and earned the ice he skated on. As far as Crosby is concerned, every time he’s checked, even if it’s a clean one, the rest of his team jumps who ever were responsible. Incidents like these have to stop. What’s going to happen is Crosby is going to get laid out one day with a clean hit and carnage is going to ensue on the ice. The fans in Pittsburgh are going to flip out and beg for something to get done. The next time someone goes after someone for hitting a teammate of his with a clean check needs to made an example of.

And just to make things clear, I fully understand what I am saying here. I understand that players have to stick up for each other [I’ve done it a few times during my teenage roller hockey days], but the world can’t stop because one player gets hit. Every game I’ve seen that Crosby gets nailed in open ice with the puck, I see someone else with a gold and black jersey come to start a fight. It drives me crazy. Why the NHL allows this to go on is nonsense.

Okay, enough about that. The Isles played a decent game and could have come out victorious. But with the bad penalties called on them, the continued lackluster defensive play of Marc-Andre Bergeron and the complete idiocy of Chris Simon [I’m dedicating an entire post on the both of them tomorrow], they had no chance to come out with two points.

However, there were a few bright spots in the loss. Just like he has all season, Rick DiPietro stood tall and continued Isles in it, but again, it wasn’t enough. Sean Bergenheim and Richard Park played great games on both ends of the ice and the free agent line seems to be getting their act together, even if it is a little too slow for my taste.

With the holiday roster freeze starting on the 19^th; maybe this team can carve off some of the dead meat and get a move done that will bolster the offense and solidify the defense. There are too many hard-working players on this team for them to only be one game over .500. Some may think they’re just a bunch of over-achievers, but if you ask me, they’re under-achieving now and need something to get them out of this funk.

They need a sparkplug.

These tough 1-goal games are getting old.

Posted under Post Game Rants

The Penguins come into town today, but it may not be the team you would expect. Marc-Andre Fleury injured his ankle a few days ago and could be out for up to two months. Veteran leader Mark Recchi was picked up on waivers by the Atlanta Thrashers and fourth liner Maxime Talbot, who was having a career year with seven goals, also suffered a high ankle sprain and will miss a few weeks. Nonetheless, this team is still incredibly dangerous on offense, with players like Sydney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Sergei Gonchar and Petr Sykora.

Then add in a host of underachieving veterans and youngsters like Jordan Staal, Gary Roberts, Ryan Whitney, Colby Armstrong and Georges Laraque and it’s easy to see that this team is going to be dangerous this season. But like so many other teams in the NHL, the Islanders included of course, the Pens haven’t been able to put it together for a long stretch of games yet.

In order for the Islanders to keep the Pens locked up in their igloos, the Isles cannot afford to make the same mistakes they made defensively against the Coyotes. Defensive lapses and bad passes in the neutral zone are the reasons why Crosby and Malkin have as many points as they do. What I’d like to really see is the Islanders make a conscious effort to make that first good pass out of the neutral zone. Defensemen like Bruno Gervais, Chris Campoli and Radek Martinek need to spring the forwards through the neutral zone and feed them passes to get some open ice.

Additionally, the team needs to start getting more consistent on the powerplay, mainly by cutting out this whole dump in nonsense. I’ve been seeing it a lot more over the past three weeks and I’m surprised why no one else has mentioned it. Rather than establish possession and start a cycle in the offensive zone, the Islanders have been dumping the puck in and as a result haven’t been able to maintain possession and get a cycle going.

As, I’ve said already, in order for this team to stay over .500 and secure a playoff spot, they have to start scoring more with the man advantage and need to limit the mistakes they make on defense. The way Rick DiPietro has played this season, his nickname should be Rosie, after the robot maid on the Jetson’s. This guy has been almost automatic all season and has done everything in his power to keep this team above water. It’s time for the rest of the team to start picking up their play and get consistent.

Posted under Pregame Musings

I wonder if Bill Guerin went shopping at Garbage Goals R Us before the game? The answer: who cares. Even though they weren’t pretty, you have to love the fact that Guerin was finishing and was parked in front of the net. Maybe this is what Guerin needs to get himself going. I said before the game that Phoenix has had problems scoring and I think it was pretty evident why that’s the case. Their defensemen had serious problems making that first pass out of the zone and aside from a few defensive lapses by the Islanders, the Coyotes really couldn’t set up offensively.

One of the reasons why Phoenix was having problems creating offense was the effort of Sean Bergenheim. This guy was all over the ice, taking shots, stick handling in and through traffic and most importantly, taking the body. Last night had to be one the best games of his young career. While Miroslav Satan and Josef Vasicek didn’t take advantage of Bergenheim’s play, it’s only a matter of time until he creates space for them and they start producing.

Speaking of producing, it was also good to Marc-Andre Bergeron get a goal. The shot from the point from MAB is getting old for me, but last night he got himself to the top of the circle and fired. That’s what I think he has to do more often. Cutting down the distance the puck has to travel to the net obviously makes it easier to score and if Bergeron can keep his legs moving and take higher percentage shots, he’ll be able to score a lot more.

The only real problem I had with last night’s game was that the Islanders powerplay really couldn’t get a cycle going and gave up another shorthanded goal. If it was against almost any other team, that could have changed the entire dynamic of the game. If the Islanders can continue to score three goals a game, the defense can not afford to have lapses, especially with the man advantage.

Anyway, before I end today’s post, I just want to take a second to address something that I read on NHL.com yesterday before the game.

In this little round up piece, NHL.com staff writer Brian Compton says the following:

Time To Make A Move? – New York Islanders coach Ted Nolan has tried everything.

He’s benched guys, he’s called up players from the American Hockey League, he’s juggled lines. But if the Isles don’t start scoring some goals — they haven’t tallied more than three in a game since Nov. 1, a span of 19 games — Rick DiPietro may ask to renegotiate his contract.

“I’ve given guys plenty of opportunities, but patience can only go so long,” Nolan said. “We’re in a business. You have to produce and you have to play hard.”

The problem I have with a comment like this is that you can’t make allegations like this without having support. I don’t think DP has ever mentioned anything like this in public and if Compton was privy to information, it would make for a great story. However, it’s obvious that he doesn’t because right after he makes this statement, he reverts back to his previous point and uses a quote from Ted Nolan.

I know this segment is called the water cooler, but this is beyond rumor, it is pure nonsense. The team is in the middle of a slump, but c’mon, they’re two games over .500. It’s not like they’re the Washington Capitals or something. To see something like this on an independent site would be one thing, but to see this kind of stuff on the league’s official website terrifies me.

Here’s the link if you guys want to see what I’m talking about: http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=346442

Posted under Post Game Rants

When a goalie makes 41 saves, one usually tends to think of a great performance that guided his team to victory. Last night however, Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro was virtually left out to dry, facing an offensive onslaught that was exacerbated even further by sloppy play on both ends of the ice.

Forgive me if I sound like Mathew Perry AKA Chandler Bing here when I say “Could there be any more penalties?” Seriously, the game had absolutely no flow and was extremely frustrating to watch. However, while the penalties made the game a chore to watch, the fact that this team still can’t find ways to finish is getting to be a serious problem.

Three goals is not a bad offensive performance, but if the Isles had cashed in on a few of the opportunities they had during even strength [don’t even get me started on the powerplay. When is this team going to start shooting more with the man advantage?], this could have been a completely different game. The offense though, for the first time this season, wasn’t the big problem last night.

The defensive effort last night was sub-par at best. Buffalo was allowed to pound the net with shots and the defense was trying to stick-handle out of the defensive end, rather than make that first pass. In the second period, a few minutes before Drew Stafford got away with slashing him in the leg, Radek Martinek deked around three Buffalo defenders, but then forgot to pass the puck and wound up giving it away. Soon enough, the Sabres were setting up in the offensive zone and they’d cash in.

Things like this have to be addressed by Ted Nolan. When you’re team gets a few goals, the defense has to play its part. For most of the season, the defense hasn’t been the problem and the last thing the Isles need is for the defense to start crashing on them. It’s amazing that considering how badly they’ve played over the past 10 games, they’re still only five points behind the red-hot New Jersey Devils for the top spot in the Atlantic Division. This team needs to wake up soon before they start to dig themselves a grave they can’t get out of.

Tonight, the Isles face a team in the Coyotes that has probably more problem than they do. Earlier in the season, they weren’t getting quality goaltending and even though that problem seems to have been fixed with the acquisition of Ilya Bryzgalov, they’re still having problems scoring goals. It’s time for the Isles to start playing good hockey again.

They can start doing that tonight.

Posted under Post Game Rants

Less than two weeks till Christmas. You know what I want? Some goals!

Like I mentioned after the Islanders last game, even though three goals is certainly nothing to jump for joy about, you have to be happy with who scored. Mike Sillinger, Bill Guerin and Andy Hilbert were in dry spells that most players would give their pinky to get out of.

At this point in the season, Sillinger should have almost twice as many points as he does right now. He has been playing much better as of late, with five points in his last ten games, but is that really something to brag about? Scoring 59 points last season and over 60 the year before, Sillinger needs to be that calming influence on the Islanders offense and score the gritty points down the stretch.

The same thing can be said for Guerin, who only has three points in his last 18 games. That speaks volumes when you consider how slow the Islanders offense has been this season. Another person that is needed to be the backbone of the offense, it’s obvious that Guerin has to pick up his play. Rather than just leave that criticism on such a general note, I’ll be much more specific. Guerin needs to start choosing his shots much more carefully. His shooting percentage is 6.8, far below the 11.9 he’s shot for his career.

I know this is a puzzling thing to say considering I’ve said he needs to shoot more. What I’m trying to say is that Guerin, like Sillinger need to stop peppering the net and take higher percentage shots. How many times this season have we seen players like Mike Comrie, Guerin and others just take shots to get a freeze in the offensive zone? Way too many times for my liking. They need to work harder in the corners and in front of the net and make the most out of the opportunities they have, because they are getting them.

Andy Hilbert simply needs to finish. The guy works his tail off, but it’s uber apparent at times that he’s being outclassed on the ice. He’s like the Islanders version of “Rudy” or something. You watch him on the ice every night and you want him to be successful, but in the end, there is only so much that he can do. Sillinger and Trent Hunter [another guy that needs to finish more] are guys that open up plenty of ice for Hilbert and he needs to start taking advantage soon.

Otherwise, something is going to have to be done. I was reading Newsday the other day and there was a mention about what the Islanders might do if Anaheim is looking to dump salary. Mathieu Schneider has always been one of my favorite players and I always thought that he was an extremely underrated Isle. If the Isles somehow got a chance to pick him up, I’d totally be willing to part ways with Marc-Andre Bergeron, Hilbert and even another defenseman on this club not named Chris Campoli or Brendan Witt.

I know it’s just pie in the sky tomfoolery at this point, but it’s something to think about people.

This club needs to start scoring now, or changes are bound to be made. Two games over .500 isn’t good enough to make the playoffs anymore. This team needs to realize that.

Posted under Isles Thoughts 2007