Even though the Islanders will have some money to technically spend this offseason, trying to get to the salary cap limit, don’t expect another Bill Guerin or Mike Comrie signing.

As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t go making bets on a Sean Avery signing either.

If the Islanders have their way, Guerin and Comrie, along with guys like Andy Sutton, Richard Park, Mike Sillinger and Brendan Witt will be the only established veterans on this team. With the added money the Isles will need to spend, I totally expect them to lock up guys like Sean Bergenheim, Bruno Gervais, Frans Nielsen, Jeremy Colliton, Ben Walter and Jeff Tambellini for a few years. However, that still means they’ll have some dough to throw around.

However, by no means necessary do I see this team willing to fork over the type of cash Tampa Bay, in their infinite, or shall I say, finite, wisdom, did to pay for a 20 goal scorer by the name of Ryan Malone. Eight Million for the first three years? Never going to happen on Long Island again. That is unless they get a new home and start winning with unproven players. And we all know what the chances of that are right now. Nonetheless, the Isles will be able to treat their youngsters accordingly and will be in a situation to reward them for hard work. That will put them in a better place to rebuild this team.

And that my friends is what this team really needs.

Over the next few years, I think you’re going to see this team start to take a “Money Ball” approach to hockey. Considering that most of the players they drafted fit the type of mold they are trying to promote in the organization, in the next few years, fans of this team will start to see a philosophy change that can result in a renewed vigor in the fan base and a reputation change in the league.

It worked for teams like Pittsburgh, Chicago and Philadelphia and it can work for the Islanders, even though they have a much steeper slope to fight against than any of the aforementioned teams did. With players like Kyle Okposo, Trent Hunter, Richard Park and Witt in the lineup every night for this team next year, a lover of the sport like myself will watch them and enjoy every second. Nonetheless, the competitive side of me wants to see them competitive and successful.

We’ll have to wait and see though when I can have my cake and eat it too.

Posted under Offseason 2008

When I heard the news the Islanders were extending qualifying offers to Sean Bergenheim, Bruno Gervais, Jeff Tambellini, Frans Nielsen, Jeremy Colliton and Ben Walter, I couldn’t help but smile a little bit.

Anyone that has been to this site over the past year and change knows that I am a huge believer in Bergenheim and Nielsen. I’ve said it before, but I really believe Bergenheim can develop into a 20 goal scorer and be an adequate pest. He just has so many things going for him in his game. All he has to do is be more consistent. If he does, I think he can be someone every team in the NHL would love to have in their organization.

While I haven’t seen as much of Nielsen, I think he’s a quality playmaker with good puck-handling skills. With that being said, I see him this season as someone who can score 15 goals and add 25-30 assists. I know it’s a big task, considering the Isles leading scorer had 49 points last season, but I have a lot of faith in his ability. I also think with regular ice-time, Colliton and Walter can be solid players. Colliton I see as a penalty-killer type in the mold of Richard Park with a little bit more of a physical game, while Walter is a guy I see scoring 35-40 points on a third line.

In my mind, I think these are six players that have established themselves at the AHL level and are ready to prove themselves.

Only time will tell if they can deliver.

Also, the Isles are supposedly going to announce a buyout on Shawn Bates’ contract soon. What does that mean for the team? Not much, considering the former “Lucky 7’s” line member hasn’t played in 80 games combined over the past two seasons. However, it does say that the Islanders are serious about establishing a youth movement. That, I believe is a step in the right direction. Again, many Islander fans are sick of waiting for this team to develop into a Cup contender, but this is the only way it can happen. Let’s face it, the Islanders don’t have the money of the New York Rangers and by developing quality players from within, they’ll finally be able to attract talented free agents, rather than second and third-tier players who want to try and revitalize their careers.

We’ll have to wait a while to see how that turns out too.

Posted under Offseason 2008

This was supposed to be the “can’t miss” draft. The draft where the Isles got another youngster that could have helped them escape the mediocrity that has infested the organization over the past 25 years. Instead of going after Luke Schenn or Nikita Filatov, two players that could have immediately made an impression on the Island [the thought of Schenn delivering checks or Filatov dipsy-doodling around defenders had me salivating like one of Pavlov’s dogs], the Islanders acted like an obese person who went on weight watchers instead of getting the gastric bypass they needed to finally wear a T-shirt and pair of shorts in public.

You simply don’t try to rebuild your prospect base in a draft this deep. It’s common sense. If the Islanders had decided to do something like that last season, I wouldn’t have been angry, considering they didn’t have a first round pick, but with the amount of impact players that were available in this draft, I can’t help but feel disappointed.

While I don’t have anything particular against Joshua Bailey, I get the feeling that something else was going on at the draft that made them trade down. Sure, he had 96 points this season in the OHL, but he I have the feeling he is not the young impact player this team needs right now.

I hope the Islanders seriously have inside information here and are really as high on Bailey as they say they are and aren’t drunk on incompetence. Forgive me if I’m out of line here, but it’s really hard to have faith in a team that’s drafted busts like Ryan O’Marra, Robert Nilsson and Petteri Nokalainen over the past few years. The only legitimate player to be drafted by this team over the past four years was Kyle Okposo, but that was Neil Smith’s doing, not Milbury or Snow.

From the scouting reports I’ve read, Bailey is more the Mike Peca type, a player that can play in all situations and chip in some offense. While Peca was one of my favorite Islanders when he was here and someone in that mold can help, there’s no telling when this kid is going to be ready and like most fans of this team, I’m simply sick of waiting.

I know the youth movement will take some time and I know I will have to wait, but I’m not exactly thrilled about it. Seeing guys like Bailey, Okposo, Jack Hillen and Sean Bergenheim develop into solid NHL players will hopefully worth it.

I hope.

Posted under Offseason 2008

With so many intangibles present, it seems almost impossible to guess who the Isles will have a chance at taking with the fifth pick.

For my money, I’d like to see them pick up Nikita Filatov. Sure, he has the body of Jerry Mathers circa 1960 and might not be able to be as dynamic as teams want him to be his first few years in the league, but he is a sniper who I believe can develop into a point a game player in a few years. That’s what this team needs right now.

Imagine if you will, Kyle Okposo playing with someone that didn’t score 49 points and is scheduled to make four million dollars this year. Imagine two blue chip prospects earning their stripes and developing into the types of players a perennial playoff team can depend on.

Sounds fun, right? Sounds like something you’d like to watch, doesn’t it? Sounds better than expecting Ruslan Fedotenko and Josef Vasicek to defy the hockey gods and reality and score 25 goals, right?

That’s what I thought.

The Isles defense, on the other hand, is one of the only things I’m not too worried about, with guys like Chris Campoli, Bruno Gervais, Dustin Kohn, Andrew MacDonald and Mark Katic all ready to contribute or in the wings. I‘m not saying by any means that I wouldn’t love to have Peterborough’s Zach Bogosian, Guelph’s Drew Doughty, Kelowna teammates Tyler Myers and Luke Schenn or Niagara’s Alex Pietrangelo, as these guys could prove to be the next big time defensemen in the NHL, but beggars can’t be choosers.

Simply put, the Islanders are begging for more offense.

I wouldn’t be surprised either if the Islanders traded away a veteran or two today from the blueline either, which could necessitate the need to pick up one of the aforementioned defensemen. Stuff like that happens on draft day all the time, especially with this team. Labeled the “can’t miss draft” by many hockey insiders this year, the only way the Islanders could totally screw this up is if they trade their first pick entirely.

Simply put, this team needs to get younger and more dynamic as soon as possible.

Grit, character and heart are great attributes to have and to preach, but last year they were substituted for over-paid veterans, unused youth and inescapable injuries. If this team truly wants to turn the corner, they fully adopt the youth movement and get this ship moving in the right direction… today.

Draft Filatov and pick up a solid offensive D-man this offseason, Islanders. Or better yet, keep the search for a powerplay quarterback in house. Give Chris Campoli a real opportunity to see what he can do playing 25 minutes a game in all game situations. The end result may not only surprise the Islanders, but the NHL as well.

Posted under Offseason 2008

When I first read what Greg Logan reported in his blog about a certain former Islanders captain, I literally spit the soda I was drinking out of my mouth onto my two-year old cat.

“No way,” I thought to myself. No way could this team possibly be thinking about bringing back a player that never did what everyone expected him to do. No way would this team pay a man to play for them that they are already paying NOT to play for them.

It’s the kind of logic that could kill a Vulcan.

While Alexei Yashin is probably still a sure-fire 60 point a year player in the NHL if he’s healthy, he is the complete opposite of what this team needs now. Rather than AGAIN try and find a band aid for the gaping wound on the heart and soul of this team, the Islanders need to develop the youngsters they have and let a scab form over their identity, before it heals completely.

I don’t know how the rest of Islanders country feels about this, but I feel like the team still hasn’t healed from the Yashin’s time on the Island. Sure the team made the playoffs a couple of years when he was here, but he was never the player the Islanders needed him to be. Never once did he break 90 points or be the bona fide offensive dynamo they needed. Instead, when he first got here, guys like Mark Parrish, Mike Peca and Shawn Bates developed into solid players and Adrian Aucoin became a Norris Trophy candidate. Those players were the real reason this team managed to change the hockey motif on the Island, not Yashin.

After the lockout, Miroslav Satan was brought in to finally silence the critics that said 79 needed a legitimate scorer to play with. That didn’t work either and while Satan scored a solid 35 goals, Yashin still wasn’t what the team needed. A year with Ted Nolan seemed to change Yashin at first, but injuries and a late season slump sealed his fate with the team.

Even though the Isles offense was anemic this season, bringing in Yashin will do much more harm than good. Notice that I’m not even talking about the fact that the Islanders are paying Mike Comrie four million bucks to play center next season. I mean seriously, how much could Yashin want? It has to be more than what Comrie’s making, especially given the fact that he finally learned to play in playoffs in Russia this offseason. Given that, it doesn’t make sense financially for this team to take a chance on him. With the cap space this team has and the amount of youth present, they could bring in the right people and build what could be a legitimate cup contender, given they have the patience and common sense need to do so.

Please say you do. Please.

Posted under Isles Rumors 2008, Isles Thoughts 2008

In his rookie season, Chris Campoli was a heck of a lot of fun to watch. He took risks on offense and had enough speed to cover up for them on defense. Considering how bad the Isles were that year, he was one of the only real reasons to watch the team in my opinion. Truth be told, I saw a lot of a young Bryan Berard in his game that year and I thought that with a little more seasoning, he’d be ready to be a top-pairing d-man on this team.

However, his second season with the blue and orange was a middling one, void of the offense prowess he had shown a season before. In Ted Nolan’s dog house most of the season, Campoli had to fight to get his job back and in the process, showed that he had the skills to be much more than a “good” offensive defenseman. On numerous occasions that year, it seemed he was, again, just a short stride away from being the kind of defenseman this team really needed him to be.

This season, Campoli was well on his way to being both a more than respectable physical presence and a powerplay quarterback for the Islanders. Rumor has it though his shoulder problems were much worse than the team led on during the season and that it had popped out of place on numerous occasions during the season. I don’t know when it happened, but after about his 30th game, I saw a huge drop off in his play. He wasn’t chipping the puck into the zone as much and wasn’t as eager to play physically. Those to me are the signs of an injured player. Nevertheless, 18 points in 46 games put him on pace for about 32, which would have been more than any other Islanders defenseman this season. Now, again, don’t forget he was probably playing injured through most of the year. To me, that means that if this kid can stay healthy, he can and will be the well-rounded defenseman this team is in desperate need of.

Nothing against Brendan Witt, Andy Sutton, Radek Martinek and Freddy Meyer, but none of them have the skating ability [maybe Martinek did a few seasons ago] Campoli has and none of them have the offensive upside. One may make the argument that Bruno Gervais is a better skater, but he has yet to translate solid offensive numbers in the AHL and QMJHL to the NHL. Campoli on the other hand has and with more confidence from the coaching staff, could be someone to help turn this team around next season.

Posted under Isles Thoughts 2008

With the Stanley Cup Finals over, the dog days of summer have begun, which means the Islanders, as well as the rest of the league, can begin to put the pieces together for next season. In next few posts, I’ll outline what I think the Isles need to put this season’s disappointing year behind them.

The youngsters must develop.

In his brief call-up last season, Kyle Okposo proved that he could play in the NHL. After what will probably be the most important off-season of his life, Okposo will no doubt come into camp bigger and stronger than he was last season. But what does that mean in terms of his production? Far from the likes of players like Sydney Crosby or Alexander Ovechkin who seem to have magnets on their sticks, Okposo is a blue-collar power forward who has to fight in the corners and in the slot to get chances. That doesn’t mean he won’t surprise many with his skating, stick handling ability and release though. Nevertheless, he’s not going to be the type of player who leads the league in scoring.

Because of this, defenses around the league will not plan around him and in order for him to score the 25-30 goals I think he is capable of, he’s going to have to work on every single shift. The same thing goes for a guy like Sean Bergenheim, who has all the talent in the world, but no consistency to put it all together. Guys like Chris Campoli, Blake Comeau and Frans Nielsen will also have an opportunity to show Ted Nolan that they can contribute on a permanent basis.

For Campoli, who was in Nolan’s doghouse two seasons ago, before earning the respect of his coach, he will be asked to possibly quarterback the powerplay and continue to develop his physical game. Now entering his fourth season in the NHL, I believe Campoli will be able to make due on the promise of his rookie season and score anywhere from 10-15 goals and add 35-45 points, giving the Islanders the well-rounded defenseman they lacked for most of last season.

Comeau too will be another player the Isles will need to play in all game situations. While his offensive game needs a bit more luster, I think Comeau will be another solid depth player on the team next season, scoring anywhere from 10-15 goals too, while adding the same amount of assists. Killing penalties and getting in front of the net on the powerplay, Comeau will be another fun youngster to watch next season. My only real problem with his game is that he didn’t stick up for himself nearly as much as he should have, which could hurt him in the long run, especially if players believe they can get away with taking liberties with him.

Aside from these promising youngsters however, the Isles have two more that I believe will be forced to make an impression this season, or else their careers in the blue and orange will be over. Jeff Tambellini has more talent than most of the players on the team, but can’t find a way to crack the lineup. Next season, with guys like Miroslav Satan, Ruslan Fedotenko and Josef Vasicek all likely gone, Tambo will finally have the opportunity he needs. A proven scorer in the AHL, Tambellini could prove to be a sleeper if he can live up to promise.

The same thing goes for Bruno Gervais, who seems to get injured every time he’s ready to prove himself. With youngsters in the organization ripening on defense and veterans with one-way contracts sandwiched between him, Gervais needs to establish himself asap. Otherwise, he’ll find himself as trade bait if the Isles go looking for another goal scorer to help out Mike Comrie and Bill Guerin.

Posted under Offseason 2008

Some of this may be old news, but considering I spoke about the Snow and Dubie situation on Tuesday, I figured I’d handle this stuff today.

Isles resign Jackman- For all intensive purposes, Tim Jackman isn’t someone who means much to the success of this team. However, he worked hard when he was up here and was willing to drop the gloves whenever he had to. I still think he has a lot more offensive potential than people give him credit for and think he could pot 10 goals a season if he got significant playing time. At 26 years old, he’s still young enough to give a two-way contract and provide depth at the NHL level, but old enough to set a good example for some of the babies in Bridgeport. Overall, I think it was a good signing. The guy played like he wanted to stay here and never looked out of place while he was on the ice. Add in the fact that he had 36 points in 44 games in Bridgeport and this was practically a no-brainer.

Milbury calls Tiger Woods what? Tiger Woods should have thought twice before he said no one watches hockey anymore. That’s all I’m going to say about that. Well no, I’m going to say much more than that actually. For a golfer to say no one watches hockey is like the owner of TAB saying that Mr. Pibb sucks. Let’s be honest here, we’re not talking about Baseball and the NFL, we’re talking about two cult sports that have loyal fan bases. Watching golf is the essentially like a being a Trekkie/Trekker, while watching hockey puts you more in the Dungeons & Dragons realm of consciousness. Either way, you’re looked down upon by most other sports fans. I personally grew up enjoying both sports and do enjoy hitting off the tee from time to time, but overall, hockey is a much-more rewarding sport to play and watch in my opinion.

As well, the ideals presented in golf are those of the purely individualistic kind. There are no playoff beards or five minute fighting penalties in golf. It’s because of that Woods’ ignorant comments don’t surprise me. Because in actuality, golfers live in a world where the only thing that matters is themselves. Hockey players however, as I have said numerous times on this site, are the greatest athletes in the world and are the friendliest to the media that I have ever encountered. They stick up for each other and care about the general welfare of the sport. That’s why “Mad Mike” said what he did. And for the record, there aren’t many times when I’d stick up for the guy, but in this case, he nailed it right on the head.

Tiger Woods is a Meathead.

Posted under Isles Thoughts 2008, NHL

I’ve mentioned more than a few times over the past two years that in my opinion, Newsday’s Greg Logan is one of the best beat-writers in the business today. He gets information that isn’t found anywhere else and gets quotes that no one else can get. The other day, he proved himself again, getting a great quote from Islanders GM Garth Snow about goaltender Wade Dubielewicz who rejected a two-year contract the other day.

“There wasn’t much confidence from our coaching staff to play him,” Snow told Newsday of Dubielewicz. “That’s where we ran into trouble playing Ricky too many nights. We need a backup goalie our coaches will have confidence in from Day 1.”

There aren’t many times when I say something like this, so let me watch how I mix my words.

Are you crazy Mr. Snow?

The reason why DP played in so many games last year was because HE wanted to. Anyone remember the game two seasons ago in Phoenix where he was playing so badly that Ted Nolan wanted to pull him? Anyone remember what happened after that? DP waved him off. He knows this is his team and if he could, he would play in 82 games a season. That’s just how DP rolls. He wants to be the next Martin Brodeur. That is why Dubielewicz played twice in the first 33 games, not because Dubie came into training camp in poor shape [another thing brought up in Logan’s piece] or because the coaching staff had no confidence in him.

If you look at Dubie’s career stats for the Isles [16-13, 2.55 GAA and a .920 Save Percentage], there’s no reason why he still shouldn’t be the backup goaltender of this team or any other team in the NHL. As a matter of fact, I’m sure you could make the argument that Dubielewicz almost single-handedly took this team to the playoffs last year [when his buddy Mike Dunham was stinking up the joint] and kept them in the hunt this year when the defense was as thin as paper and no one was scoring.

To say that the team had no confidence in him is an absolute joke and a tribute to the nonsense players had to put up with when Mike Milbury was GM of this team.

If DP gets injured again next season and Joe MacDonald can’t fill Dubie’s shoes, expect to hear “I told you so,” a lot from yours truly next season.

Aside from that, Logan also got Snow to speak a little bit more about the youth movement. He also spoke about how he believes Miroslav Satan, Ruslan Fedotenko and Josef Vasicek most likely won’t be receiving qualifying offers and how youngsters Sean Bergenheim, Bruno Gervais, Jeff Tambellini, Frans Nielsen and Jeremy Colliton will. While I won’t be having fun playing with rookies on NHL 08 on my Xbox 360 this summer, I’ll be more than happy to see them play this fall and see them play with more passion and dedication than a bunch of second-tier players looking for a big check.

I also don’t expect the team to really go out and pick up too many veterans because of this, from the words of Snow, I think it’s a definite.

“I don’t want to be in a situation where I compromise the ice time of some of our younger players who we’re committed to giving the opportunity to make the team,” Snow told Newsday. “If we start loading up with too many bodies, then that squeezes out some of our young guys. I don’t want to do that.”

Posted under Isles Thoughts 2008