A few years ago, a band named Five for Fighting came out with a song entitled “Superman,” which exclaimed “It’s not easy to be me.” Well, if you’re Trent Hunter, I think it’s fair to say it’s not easy to be you either. After scoring 25 goals in his rookie reason, Hunter had many Islander fans thinking he was the next big thing. However, since then, he has failed to top the 25-goal plateau, leaving many fans wondering what his true potential really is.

I personally think that there is so much more to this guy’s game than goals. He kills penalties, takes the body, works hard in corners, blocks shots, plays in all game situations and never gives up. There’s a reason why he’s on the banner of this website. To me, he epitomizes what hockey is all about. However, despite my ardent feelings about his character on the ice and what he CAN do, the fact of the matter is he has to score more goals.

Last season, writers all over the internet were writing him off as an offensive talent after a slow first half, to only watch him come back and score 20 goals. This season, while Hunter’s shooting percentage was a lackluster .054, he did set a career high in assists with 29. To me, that shows that Hunter can change his game and put himself in a position to help his team win. Nonetheless, that doesn’t excuse the fact that he only lit the lamp 12 times. Simply put, anyone who takes over 200 shots in this league is either on a horrible team, is a proven offensive threat or is someone who simply has a nose for the net and consistently puts himself in a place to score. While the Islanders record is almost indicative of the first term prescribed here, I do think that the other two ring true in a certain respect as well.

Recently signing a five-year deal with the Isles, Hunter isn’t the same wide-eyed rookie who scored his first NHL goal against the Maple Leafs in 2002. He’s a veteran who can help lead this team out of the mediocrity they’ve been infested themselves within for the past six seasons and find a way rejuvenate the fan base. They’ve already shown on numerous occasions how much they appreciate his effort on the ice, it’s Hunter’s turn to turn in a 25-30 goal campaign next season and prove to them he can be someone who can be the captain of this team one day.

The voice of the New York Islanders during the team’s glory years, hall of fame broadcaster Jiggs McDonald is synonymous with the team’s success and is respected as much as any of the former players that held the Stanley Cup above their heads for the team.

However, over the past two seasons, McDonald has had the chance to come back and do more than a handful of the team’s games, thus getting a front row seat to all of the action and has come to his own conclusions on the direction the team is going in. Chatting over the phone from his home in Florida, McDonald tells The Drive for Five what he thought of the Islanders’ season and what hockey fans should expect from them in the future.

The Drive for Five: What do you think the Islanders did right this season?

Jiggs McDonald: The number one thing was sign Bill Guerin. Bill brought a maturity to the dressing room that I didn’t think they had for a while and naming him the captain was absolutely the right thing to do. He’s a gentleman through and through and he’s a great teammate. He’s a classy individual that brought that experience and something into that room that just wasn’t there before.

TDFF: What do you think the Islanders were missing this season?

McDonald: Had Mike Comrie been healthy the entire season and had there been another goal-scoring forward, or maybe consistency from guys like Miroslav Satan, Ruslan Fedotenko or a Josef Vasicek, just a little more from any one of those, it would have been a far different year. Then you get into the injuries and there’s no controlling that, every team has to deal with that, but it’s hard to believe the severity of the injuries and the people who got injured on the team.

TDFF: Considering the plethora of injuries this season, which injury do you think played one of the bigger roles in them not making the playoffs?

McDonald: Jon Sim’s. I think he’s a guy that can be an irritant and can really get under your skin. I think you would have seen a better offensive team if he was in the lineup night after night.

TDFF: After all the injuries, the Isles were forced to call up a lot of young players. How do you think they performed? Was there anyone that stood out?

McDonald: The coaching staff was forced into a youth movement because of all of the injuries and a lot of guys called up have shown an ability to score at the minor league level, but have never really proved it at the NHL level. I don’t want to think that Jeff Tambellini is one of those players. I just think that for some reason, he didn’t get the quality ice time he needed and they didn’t play him enough and put him in key situations. They never really put him in a situation to show what he could or couldn’t do. I think it’s a reluctance on Ted’s [Isles coach Ted Nolan] part to play Jeff when a lot of us though he should be on the ice.

TDFF: Charles Wang was quoted in Newsday a few weeks ago saying that the youngsters proved Ted Nolan wrong. Do you think that these kids are ready to play big time minutes?

McDonald: Yeah I do. I really liked what I saw of Jack Hillen. Boy, he looked to me like he was very poised and calm out there. He’s fresh out of college and just seemed to handle himself very well out there. As far as the rest of the kids go, yeah, turn them loose, let them play and develop. Look at Pittsburgh. I think there are enough veterans on this team to guide them and maybe you don’t even sign the free agents, maybe you just go with the youth movement and develop this team and bite the bullet. Drafting fifth overall from everything I’ve heard, the Isles are probably going to get a guy that could step right in and help them without any seasoning. All reports are that the top seven picks are players that can help their teams right away. I think there’s a strong possibility that this could be someone who could be a rookie of the year candidate as well. There’s no guarantee of that, but he could be a significant addition to that lineup at the very least.

TDFF: With that being said, do you think Ted Nolan is doing to have to change his coaching style?

McDonald: Yeah, he’s going to have to accept the fact [that these kids deserve a chance]. Don’t get me wrong by any means, I think he’s a great teacher and a great people person for this team. I’ve felt this way since the road trip I was on with the team in Phoenix in the 2006 season and the guys told me how much respect they had for him and how he was a man of his word. Mike Sillinger told me he liked him and that he was honest and that he was good with everyone and was a players coach. He told them if they work hard for 45 minutes every night then that was it and he’s right, that’s it. Now, he’ll be asked to work with a little younger team than he’s accustomed to and will have to put more responsibility on their shoulders, but I think he’ll be able to adjust just fine.

TDFF: On another note, what do you think of the workload Rick DiPietro had this season?

McDonald: His workload has to be cut down and it should be cut down next season. Coming off of the surgery he had a year ago, I thought they were going to cut his workload down a little bit.

TDFF: Considering that, were you shocked at any point in the season how little Wade Dubielewicz had played this season, before DiPietro’s injury?

McDonald: He should have gotten more playing time. I guess what I would like to see and it’s something I think Ted and the coaching staff will definitely do next season is to just look at the schedule and look at who they’re playing, where they’re playing, how many number of games in how many nights they’re playing in an effort to really make sure that they don’t overwork DiPietro. I think he needs a little more rest.

TDFF: With Joey MacDonald under contract and Dubielewicz a free agent, what do you think the Islanders will do and if Dubielewicz is not resigned, do you think he’d have value on the market?

McDonald: The first question isn’t for me to answer, but I do think that Dubielewicz has proven himself with the coaches or certainly should have. I think he’s proven that he can be a solid backup and play more. If he is allowed to leave it wouldn’t shock me if a team like the Devils looked at him. If you look at the number of games Marty Brodeur plays every year, you could tell that Kevin Weekes isn’t a very happy guy. But as Marty gets older, you’d obviously want to rest him more and I think Dubie is someone that could play well in a spot like that. I think Toronto would be interested too because they’re not happy with [Andy] Raycroft and they’d definitely consider a new backup goaltender. So yes, I think there will be plenty of interest in Dubie this offseason.

TDFF: Lastly, what youngster do you think will have the best season for the Islanders next season?

McDonald: I think Kyle Okposo will take the nine games he had this season and grow with it this summer. I think they’ll have him in a few upper body building routines and he’s going to be asked to get bigger and stronger. He’ll come back a bona fide number one pick and a guy that will have an outstanding season next year. He’s a smart player and even though I didn’t see every game he played, I noticed that he’s not the type of player that the puck follows around, but he knows where he has to go and knows how to get open and shoot the puck. He’s got a great release. I look for big things from him this year.

16 goals, 41 points, $4.5 million. That’s like a half a million bucks a goal right there.

Ok, I’m done with this post. Oh, wait, this site prides itself on being more than just a simple rant. Even though I think whatever I have to say after that first line isn’t going to convey how poorly Miroslav Satan played this season, I think I’ll still give it a whirl.

Coming off of a 35-goal season with the Islanders in 2006, I expected Miroslav Satan to continue to put up similar numbers and be a driving force in the team’s offense. However, over the past two seasons, Satan hasn’t been the same player and has consistently become far less lethal a shooter as he used to be. His play making skills, which were always sharp, but extremely underrated [49 assists in 2002] having been too solid either on the Island, making him perhaps the highest paid fourth liner in Islanders history. That is, next to Alexei Yashin.

At times, it felt like the only reason why he was in the lineup was to score during the shoot out, which was always solid in. However, with his offensive game dipping and players like Andy Hilbert, Richard Park and Sean Bergenheim establishing themselves as solid penalty killers with the team, Satan lost even more value as a player and is basically no longer needed on this team. At any rate, Satan should have easily had 25 goals this season. He played with a streaky Joe Vasicek and an energizer bunny in Sean Bergenheim, who have him a ton of space on the ice. The only problem was Miro couldn’t finish. Because of that the Isles were stuck with him during the trading deadline like a broken toy on Christmas.

If he had any value to this team, the Isles would have either done one of two things this trading deadline. One, is just like Trent Hunter and Freddy Meyer, they would have resigned him. Two, they would traded him to team where they know they could have gotten someone that could fill his shoes. However, none of that happened because Satan had no worth on the market. This offseason, expect the Islanders to either let him walk or offer him either 2/3 of half of what he was making this season. Shocked and pissed off at the Islanders low balling, he’ll go to another team and sign a three-year deal where he’ll score 20 goals a season before retiring.

Make no mistake about it, his days as a top-tier forward are over. If the Isles are smart, they either part ways with him now or pay him third line money. In the end, it’s up to them, but I think the effortless play he exhibited over the last half of the season showed just how much he wants to be a part of this team.

Early in the season, he was a firecracker that couldn’t be controlled. He skated like a maniac and took dumb penalties. On offense, he’d do every thing right, but never ended up with the big goal. On defense, he was a little more irresponsible than many thought he’d be and didn’t have the polish that came along with being a former first round pick. He had everything to prove and even though it was obvious the passion was there, the consistency was lacking.

Who am I talking about? Sean Bergenheim.

That was his first half of the season. Over the second half, he blossomed and turned into much more than a spunky winger who could provide much more than an energy boost. He even made the players around him better and finally started to look like a real goal scorer. Scoring seven goals in the 32 games after the All-Star break, Bergenheim scored several big goals for the team and played a much more focused game than he ever did in his other stints with the team. He was also taking the body more and gave the Isles another well-rounded winger to complement guys like Bill Guerin and Trent Hunter.

Despite that though, there are still many that don’t feel he’ll ever be an elite player like the Islanders envision. I, however, definitely see him in the mold of someone like Brendan Morrow. His development will take longer, but in the end, I think the Isles will have someone who can score 25 goals and add 30 helpers a year. When that happens is the tough part though. There are plenty of circumstances that could either boost or hinder his development. It didn’t help him last season that he played with Josef Vasicek and Miroslav Satan, two of the most inconsistent players on the team. However, if he’s moved to another line, one that showcases him, instead of looking good on paper, I think he can be a dangerous player.

If I was making up lines for the Islanders next season, I would throw Bergie on a line with Kyle Okposo and someone steady in both ends of the ice… someone like…Mike Sillinger. Guerin and Comrie have chemistry on one line, maybe they finally give Tambellini a real shot to be a goal scorer with them. Richard Park and Blake Comeau have undeniable chemistry and with someone like Trent Hunter, that would be a great line that would work hard in both ends of the ice. However, I digress. Putting Bergenheim with someone like Okposo, who can skate with him stride for stride and someone who can cover up for him on defense and feed him the puck in the slot like Sillinger will easily turn a 10 goal scorer into someone much more dangerous and dependable.

In the end though, that’s all up to the Islanders. Bergenheim has proven he can play, the Isles just have to give him the room he needs to thrive.

Being an NHL goalie is one of the most difficult jobs in all of pro sports. Unlike the role of a pitcher in baseball or a quarterback in football, who aren’t directly responsible for the outcome of a game, a goaltender is. In the end, no one can is responsible for stopping the puck from going in the net, but him.

Now imagine doing that if you’re Wade Dubielewicz, who’s generously listed at 5’10 and 180 pounds. Most reporters however will tell you he’s probably about two inches shorter and 10 pounds lighter, hence the reason for his nickname, “Yoda.” Despite his small stature however, Dubielewicz played solid goal all season for the Islanders.

Devastated with injuries to their defense and losing starting goaltender Rick DiPietro for the last quarter of the season, Dubielewicz was forced to step up and was stellar with a patchwork defensive core behind him. Going 9-9-1 with an impressive .917 save percentage and a more than respectable 2.70 GAA, while assuming the role of the team’s starter, Dubielewicz was been one of the few bright spots on what was a sub-par season for the Islanders. While he isn’t happy that the team’s injuries cost them a chance at making the playoffs, he was glad he got another opportunity to prove is more than just a solid backup.

“Without Ricky’s injury, you don’t get that kind of opportunity,” Dubielewicz told Newsday. “You don’t really want it to come in this situation, but a guy my stature and my status, you’ve got to take what you get. I just want to show the brass and the guys on the team that I can play at this level, not only in a backup role, but a more prominent role.”

However, this wasn’t the first time Dubielewicz has proven to be a goaltender any team could depend on. After DiPietro suffered two concussions in less than a month last season, Dubielewicz took over for struggling Islanders backup Mike Dunham, winning the last four games of the season and helped secure the team a playoff spot. While the rest of the NHL still seems to consider Dubielewicz a mystery man of sort, the Islanders coaching staff knows full well how capable he is.

“Dubielewicz is very capable, and that’s why you have two goaltenders…Wade’s a great story within himself,” Islanders head coach Ted Nolan told Newsday. “This guy is a battler, and I wouldn’t put anything past him. He’s a treat to watch compete.”

Despite those sentiments however, the Islanders signed goaltender Joey MacDonald to a two-year contract last season, with the last year being a one-way deal. That means that despite playing some of the best hockey of his career and keeping the team in games for over a month and half of the regular season, Dubielewicz may be out of a job with the Islanders come this offseason.
Dubielewicz isn’t a pessimist though. Rather than hark on what may happen, he decided to simply focus on his game. With the Isles season now over, he’ll have to ponder the chances of staying with the Isles or catching on somewhere else.

That is something he’s rather not see happen though.

“I think my value goes up over time,” Dubielewicz told Newsday. “They can see I’m consistent and that my size isn’t a big factor. If I went to another team, I’d probably have to spend a lot of time knocking down those hurdles again.”

While the last quarter of the Islanders season was filled with misery, injuries and bad bounces, Richard Park took his game to the next level and proved that he can be much more than a fourth line pest. Scoring 12 goals and 32 points this year, Park was more productive than his previous season with the team, but numbers only tell half the story.

Despite all the sour spots on this team this season, Park was one of the only reasons to watch them every night. He played in every situation and worked hard on every shift, sometimes much more noticeably so than his teammates. If that wasn’t enough, he brought out the best of every player he was on the ice with and helped make Kyle Okposo’s first cup of coffee in the NHL much more adventurous than it could have been otherwise.

When I think of Park, I think of a guy that could win the Unsung Hero award on any team he plays on. Last season, his two goals on the last day of the season got the Islanders in the playoffs and this season I think he really established himself as a leader on this team, However considering the fact that real hockey fans are harder to find than people who play Dungeons & Dragons, the exploits of a guy like Park will continue to go unnoticed. However, that doesn’t mean that he isn’t important to this team. Luckily, the Islanders organization knows that and have him locked up for next season.

Even though he needs to start finishing more, Park looks like he will get serious ice time on the Islanders third line next season, that is unless they go out and sign a player or two or bring back Josef Vasicek. For my money though, regardless of where he is slotted, Park is a guy that has to get 12-14 minutes a game. His energy out there is too positive and he’s got too much grit to be on the bench. If he gets a few lucky bounces next season and stays healthy, Park could score 20 goals. For a team starving for offense, Park could continue to develop into a key role player in this league.

Ted Nolan and Garth Snow have a model they want to build this team around and I think Park is the perfect player for the system they’re trying to create. He can provide some offense, plays solid defense and can block shots. If they had a few more of him, maybe they’d be in the playoffs right now.

Missing the playoffs for the second time in three seasons, the New York Islanders will obviously have a lot of problems to sort out this offseason. However, with a host of unrestricted free agents on their roster, the Isles may have an opportunity to drastically change their team and finally start the rebuilding process that many feel should have started in the 1999 and 2000 entry drafts, when the team had a combined six first round picks.

Watching the play of rookies Kyle Okposo, Blake Comeau, Jeremy Colliton and Frans Nielsen over the last quarter of the NHL season, one would be hard pressed to say that they weren’t ready for serious ice time. However, with head coach Ted Nolan’s long held ideology of giving playing time to veterans over youngsters, the question remains to be seen just how crucial these players will be to the Islanders next season.

Regardless of what his coach may think about the matter, Islanders owner Charles Wang seems to think that it’s time for the team to look in another direction, with the youngsters being the GPS system to lead them past the wasteland of mediocrity they were in all season.

Winning the fifth pick in this year’s draft as well, the Islanders will be have an opportunity to build through the draft and organization, similar to the turnovers teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks have had over the past five seasons, who, not ironically, find themselves in the playoffs this season, while the Islanders do not.

“If you look at what has happened - and it certainly has changed in the last two months or so - they’ve proven him wrong,” Wang told Newsday. “We all may have a predetermined way of looking at something. But what we should do after the season is look in the mirror and say, ‘What have I learned from this thing?’ I’m sure Teddy will say, ‘Boy, these kids are good. These kids add energy. These kids add a spark.’ He’s said that to me many times, as he’s said it to you and all the players many times. They are the future.”

With veterans Bill Guerin, Mike Sillinger, Trent Hunter, Richard Park, Andy Sutton and Brendan Witt and other developing youngsters like Chris Campoli, Jack Hillen and Sean Bergenheim, the Islanders rookies may have the support and confidence to rise to the next level. Wang has even said that he has no problem going out on the free agent market and landing another free agent to play with them if it’s someone that can really help them.

“Right now, we’re going to build it through the draft and through our young players,” Wang told Newsday. “But I’ve never said no to them if they feel there’s some unrestricted free agent who could make the big difference.”

Getting the opportunity of a lifetime, the youngsters in the organization know that next season will be a pivotal one and they seem ready to take their future and run with it.

“I thought we really started to gel the last few games,” Okposo told Newsday. “It’s something I hope I’ll be part of for quite some time.”