Over the past 15 years, Islanders fans have dealt with bad trades, poor draft choices and lackluster decisions that have fragmented a once proud organization. One of the players that slipped away that is still brought up to this day is Todd Bertuzzi.

While his star has dimmed substantially over the past few seasons, to the point where he’s bounced around the league at an almost Mike Sillinger-esque pace, five years ago, the power forward was arguably one of the best in the league. Playing with players the likes of Marcus Naslund and the Sedin twins in Vancouver, Bertuzzi was a steady 40-goal scorer with the kind of toughness and desire that made many think he was the next incarnation of Cam Neeley or Clark Gillies.

A few years before that however, he was a fresh face on a young Islanders team full of them.

Scoring 18 goals in his rookie season, the shaggy-haired winger looked like he was ready to take the next step in his development, but over the next few seasons, a mish-mash of inconsistency, immaturity and lack of playing time made most feel that if he was ever going to get a chance to be a star, it wasn’t going to be with the Islanders.

Nevertheless, there were plenty of moments where Bertuzzi proved he had the ability to be a lot more than a third line grinder.

One game in particular against the Philadelphia Flyers I remember Bertuzzi deked around three defenders and beat the goaltender with one of the nastiest backhands I’ve ever seen. That same game, he landed about three or four vicious hits along the boards as well. It seemed whenever he was on his game, he played at a level that was far better than any of the players around him. To this day, I wonder what the Islanders could have been like if they had Ziggy Palffy, and Bertuzzi on the same line and on the same page. It would have been my teenage hockey fantasy [well, maybe Alyssa Milano in an Islanders Jersey anywhere else but a hockey rink was my teenage hockey fantasy, but I digress] that’s what.

Unfortunately, that situation just never came to be. For every game Bertuzzi was solid, there were three more where he took a bad penalty and didn’t hustle, causing Mike Milbury to put him on garbage pick up, where he never lived up to his true potential.

It’s a situation that will always leave Islander fans wondering.

As for me, I’ll just remember the good times, the few there were.

Photo by Elsa Hasch /Allsport

Sorry about the lack of a real update today guys, the site was down all last night and it just sprung up a while ago.
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Considering the state of the Isles right now, I thought this would be a fun piece to look back on.

Anyway, enjoy!

Why the DiPietro Deal Isn’t a Complete Loss

Friday, September 22, 2006

Last week, New York Islanders netminder Rick DiPietro signed the second longest contact in North American professional sports history, committing to a 15-year deal worth $67.5 million dollars that will give the 25-year-old DiPietro the opportunity to finish his career where it started when he was picked first overall by the Isles in the 2000 draft.

Over the summer, the majority of the hockey world has laughed over the Islanders deal and the recent front office problems the team has been having. However, none have thought about how solid the deal actually is for the Islanders.

When many first heard about the deal, they believed that DiPietro wasn’t worth signing to a long term deal mainly due to the fact that he hasn’t proven himself yet, owning only one playoff win and a regular season record that is below .500 in his young career. However, considering the fact that DiPietro was 3-15 as an 18-year old rookie on a last place Islanders team in 2001 that likely couldn’t hold its own with the Hartford Wolfpack, his career has had much more success than most would like to admit. In fact, Dipietro has a record of 53-42 over his past two seasons as the Islanders starting goaltender.

As far as DiPietro’s one playoff win is concerned, the Massachusetts-native owns a 2.08 GAA in six career playoff games with a solid .911 save percentage. It’s not DiPietro’s fault that the Islanders have had a lack of energy during the playoffs since he’s been the number one goalie.

Many analysts and media personnel also feel that the Isles charismatic goaltender isn’t a top three goalie and the deal he recently signed is a joke. Looking deeper into the contract, it’s easy to see that DiPietro will be making $4.5 million over the next 15 years, a far cry away from the salaries of Chicago’s Nikolai Khabibulin and Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo, who will make $6.75 million this season. At press time, DiPietro is the eighth highest-paid goalie in the NHL, which means the Islanders understand that DP has a lot of work to do before he becomes a mainstay in the NHL, but value his potential and his willingness to finish his career on Long Island.

The deal also allows the Islanders to have some flexibility. If DiPietro formally retires before the contract is up, his contact will end and will not count against the cap. Also, paying DP only $4.5 million over the next 15 years will also allow the team to afford a competent backup, just in case he’s injured and will give the Isles the opportunity to hunt during the free-agent season and put a better team on the ice.

While many owners laugh about signing players to long term deals that look like prison sentences to the unsuspecting eye, the Islanders realize that goaltenders like Rick DiPietro don’t come around everyday. However, anything can happen in 15 years.

Despite the obvious risk both DiPietro and the Islanders are taking, they feel that this deal will work out and bring the tradition of great hockey back to the Island.

Only time will tell.

I just figured with nothing really on my writing palette today that I’d share an old story with all of you guys. This was the first real reporting I ever did covering the Islanders, way back in 2005. With all the problems on defense right now, I thought it would be interesting to see where the defense was a few years ago. Enjoy!

New Rule Changes Promoting Offense, Islanders Defense Ready To Play

With the bevy of new rule changes this year in the NHL, one can expect many teams to try and take advantage of them. Teams will be using their skilled skaters to make the most of the new spacious offensive zone; with defensive cores trying to find a way to stifle them.

“I think these new rules should really provide teams with more offense. Teams with good puck moving defensemen like the Islanders should really benefit too, creating more goals,” said Former Islander Sergei Nemchinov.

Nemchinov isn’t the only one that feels this way; NHL officials have been preaching that the new rules would lead to more offense for a game that thanks to the New Jersey Devils, Jacques Lemaire and the neutral zone trap, has become a lot more about strategy and a lot less about speed.

“I think it’s really going to open things up. Teams are going to start playing different systems and defenses are going to back up,” said Islanders Forward Kevin Colley. “The defense is going to have to make sure no one slips in behind them with all that extra room out there. It’s going to be exciting to watch.”

The Islanders, during the last NHL season in 2003-2004, were a team that deployed the neutral zone trap. But unlike many of the other teams that used the system, the Islanders were blessed to have defensemen like Kenny Jonsson, Adrian Aucoin, Roman Hamrlik and Janne Ninimaa that have the ability to play great defense and add some offense as well. With the new rules that basically eliminate the use of the trap and three of the Islanders top four defensemen no longer with the team, the new Islanders defensive core is going to have to step it up for the Islanders to succeed.

“It’s (The new rules) going to affect the game a little bit; the icing rule and the two-line pass most of all. You’re going to have go after the puck a lot more than previously,” said Islanders defenseman Janne Ninimaa. “The fact that the goalie can’t play the puck (outside the new trapezoidal zone behind the net where the goalie can play the puck) is big for us too because Ricky (Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro) likes to play the puck a lot, so we’re going to have to get it for him. I want to see how they (the referees) call these new rules. The game is going to be different, but it’s really hard to say how different. I don’t think though that it’s going to affect anyone’s numbers. I played with these kinds of rules back home and the game’s not that different because of them.”

“The game is going to be a lot quicker and it’s going to give the defense an opportunity to play some more offense. I think it’s going to cause an increased awareness in the game, no more lollygagging up and down the ice,” said Brad Lukowich, a member of the 2004 Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning, whom the Islanders signed as a free agent in August to fill the void left by former Islander defenseman Kenny Jonsson deciding to stay in Sweden for the 2005-2006 season.

With new additions like Brent Sopel, Alexei Zhitnik and Brad Lukowich to the Islanders defense core, the Islanders will have to find a way to quickly come up with on-ice chemistry to provide the stability needed to limit opposing offences. This would usually be a bad sign for many teams, but the Islanders defense doesn’t seem staggered by the lack of time they’ve had to play together.

“I haven’t really thought about it yet (Who he’s playing with on defense), every time you bring in new guys it’s a challenge to make things work,” said Ninimaa. “The main thing is with all the new guys we have, we really have to find that way to make things work. Things are going to work; training camp will give us time for things to fall into place.”

The rest of the Islanders defense feels pretty much the same way.

“It doesn’t really matter who I’m paired with,” said Lukowich. Their all good players that have made names for themselves, I’m just looking forward to playing again really.”

Hockey fans are looking forward to it just as much.

The Islanders begin the regular season on October 5 against the Buffalo Sabres.

Sorry guys, I don’t have time for a full-fledged post today, so I figured I’d share this interview I did, at the beginning of last season, with you guys. I think you’ll find it quite interesting.

Hockey fans in the New York area would never believe that John Kenneth “Jiggs” McDonald, the former play-by-play voice of the Isles from 1980-1995 and one of the most respected broadcasters in the history of the sport, would ever have a reason to doubt his own ability.

However, after a few years removed from full-time broadcasting duty, McDonald, who has called over 3,000 games for the Islanders, Kings, Maple Leafs and Panthers during a career that has spanned over 40 years, was asked to cover the first seven games of the Islanders 2006-07 season; a request that conjured up a myriad of emotions. Despite covering a few games last season for the Panthers, McDonald was initially unsure as to whether or not he could perform the way he used to.

“I had mixed emotions,” said McDonald, regarding his return to the Island after an 11-year absence. “[I was] nervous and frightened. I didn’t want to embarrass anybody, especially myself. I haven’t done that many games over the past three years; I hadn’t done any games since last January. It’s almost like the mentality of a player; not knowing if you can get back up to speed or if you’re in game shape.

“I didn’t know if I could get up to speed with the Islanders and what was going on with them or be able to reach the standard that I set for myself over the years. I didn’t know if I’d be able to achieve that immediately. There’s something in our makeup or in the back of the mind that drives us to be our best. Some people think it’s a sign of professionalism, [trying to maintain that level], but I just didn’t know if I could or not.”

During the seven games, however, McDonald did a remarkable job filling in for Islanders play-by-play man Howie Rose and introduced himself to millions of younger hockey fans who may have never had the opportunity to hear the Hall of Famer call a game. He also reconnected with millions more that missed the sound of his voice and the keenness and candor he brought to every telecast.

“Getting back into the coliseum was really special,” he said. “I really appreciate the way people went out of their way to show their feelings towards me. It was a great trip down memory lane.”

Despite his love for the game as a child, McDonald never thought of becoming a play by play announcer, rather he pictured himself doing something in the radio industry until a once in a lifetime opportunity came his way and started him on his eventual hall of fame career.

“I had a fasination with radio from the time I was seven or eight years old, never thinking of doing play by play until I started working at a radio station,” said McDonald, who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a broadcaster in 1990, a full 14 years before he retired from full-time broadcasting duty.

“I guess I pictured myself more as a disc jockey or a radio personality. However, the first station I was with, I had the opportunity to get into sports and a play by play opportunity came along. I just felt that you could be yourself and be more creative [doing play by play than being being a disc jockey], this was during a time when radio formats were so structured, you only had so many seconds before each record, you really couldn’t have a personality.

“That first job opened so many doors for me and I found out that I really liked doing it and I came to excel at it. I was fortunate enough to get that first job with the NHL and just went from there. The feeling there was that if I couldn’t do it at the NHL level, atleast I would have tried it and would have had to accept the fact that I wasn’t good enough, but if I had stayed back and never applied for an NHL job, I would have always been wondering in the back of my mind if I could have done it. I had to take a chance at it. Thankfully, it worked out really well.”

For many Islander fans, McDonald’s voice holds a warm place in their hearts for many reasons. The last Isles play-by-play announcer to call a winning playoff series, McDonald’s voice reminds fans of players like Billy Smith, Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy and the 1993 team that beat the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins in a thrilling 7-game series without their leading scorer, Pierre Turgeon.

To this day, McDonald remembers a lot about that ‘93 team and was especially candid when describing some of the things that happened during that very special year on Long Island.

“The memory of Dale Hunter coming across the ice and nailing Pierre [Turgeon] after he scored that goal and going to Pittsburgh without him comes to mind,” he said. “I remember asking Al Arbour, ‘If the league said you could replace Pierre with one player from the team you just eliminated, who would it be?’ He just looked me right in the eye and said, ‘Dale Hunter.’ Hunter had the heart of a lion, he wanted to win at all costs, and Al recognized that.

“It just seemed that the Islanders had Washington’s number in that series, no matter what circumstance they found themselves in, they were always able to bounce back. The Capitals had a very good team that year as well, but Pierre was a tremendously talented player and [Glenn] Healy kept the Islanders alive and charged. I can’t say that there was one particular guy that stuck out on that team, instead, there were several very special personalities.”

Despite the great memories he had while in Long Island and all over the world, covering hockey for over four decades, McDonald believes that his relationship with his wife, Marilyn, to whom he has been married to for over 40 years, was the biggest factor in why he was able to have any success in broadcasting.

“You have to have a very special relationship with home to be successful in this business,” said McDonald. “In any guy’s case, the wife becomes the person responsible for raising the family. It doesn’t weigh in as much when you’re in the New York market, but teams like Dallas travel more than anybody. In New York, we were home when we played the Rangers, the Devils, Philadelphia and even Hartford when they were in the league; we were home after the game. But when you’re living in Atlanta or Los Angeles, as we were when I started doing this after just moving from Ontario with two small children, you need to have a very special partnership and I did.”

In addition to having a loving relationship at home, McDonald was also flanked with very talented color commentators during his career, like Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion during his tenure with the Atlanta Flames and Eddie Westfall, whom he was paired with for his entire 15-year stay on Long Island, that he had special relationships with.

“Bernie Geoffrion as a coach was a motivator, not so much an x’s and o’s kind of guy and on the air, it was similar. He was the opitamy of color because some of the things he said would leave you in shock in some cases, but laughing too. On occasion, he even fractured the english language, but he had a personality that was just great for TV. The fans related to him,” said McDonald. “He wouldn’t over anaylze the action on the ice, he had a way of enhancing what you’ve seen.”

“Eddie and I used to kid that we had been together longer than some marriages,” said McDonald. He was different [from Geoffrion] because he understood the mistakes on the ice that led to goals or penalties and was great at telling the viewers at home why a team was being dominated or why certain players had problems during the course of the game. He did a great job describing things for the fans at home.”

Now, at the age of 68, McDonald has taken a step back from broadcasting and is ready to settle down, living in Florida with his wife, where he enjoys fishing, bocce and spending time with his grand children and friends. This may not be as exciting as the life of an NHL broadcaster, but you won’t hear him complaining any time soon.

“It’s different, it’s been an adjustment for both of us, but it’s been relaxing,” said McDonald, who boasted when mentioning a 3-week trip to Europe he recently took with his wife; something that would have been harder to do if he was still broadcasting full-time. “I know eventually though, I’ll need to find a hobby or get a job at Wal-Mart or something like that.”