You’ve heard all the nicknames over the years. It’s time they stop. What the Isles are going through is no different from anything any other team is dealing with, but the fact that the Isles need a new place to play just exacerbates the problem. While he doesn’t want to move the team anywhere, Wang knows that time may be running out and that something needs to get done soon.

“I’m not contemplating it; I’m not negotiating with anyone, but I continue to keep my options open – and they should be open all the time,” Wang told Newsday on Tuesday. “Ultimately, if you don’t want to go to a (Islanders) game because the arena is a dump, I lose, the county loses, everybody loses. I want this thing to proceed. We can talk and talk, but we’ve got to get off our butts. Let’s get it done.”
Isles-Penguins Pregame Thoughts- The last time these two teams faced off, it was pretty entertaining to say the very least. Take Sydney Crosby out of the equation, who is battling a sore groin and the Islanders may have the edge here. The Penguins are trying to stay in the playoff hunt, as they are four points behind the Sabres and the Islanders have nothing to lose. Because of that, I expect this game to have the intensity of a playoff game.
I’d also like to see players the likes of Sean Bergenheim, Josh Bailey and most importantly Kyle Okposo to continue producing. With Mike Comrie gone, one of these guys is going to have to be the secondary scorer this team needs in the future. Considering the fact that the Isles will most likely not go out and look for another young veteran to fill Comrie’s shoes next season, one of these guys is going to have to be more than what they are right now. Promise can get you to the National Hockey League, but consistency is the only thing that can keep you there. It’s time for these guys to start to show that they truly belong here.

The Isles and Scott Gordon however, have nothing to lose.

That alone will make for an intriguing game tonight.

I don’t know how you guys feel, but these games, regardless of where these two teams are in the standings, always put a smile on my face. Sure, there have been plenty of moments over the years I’d like to forget, times when Theo Fleury was too busy clucking like a chicken to be taken seriously or when Dan Cloutier looked like Chuck Liddell and absolutely beat the crap out of Tommy Salo, but there are good moments as well. If my memory serves me correct [I may be wrong, I was nine at the time.], my boy Pierre Turgeon scored his 50th goal against the Rangers in ’93 and who could forget when Robert Reichel scored four goals against them the day before Thanksgiving? For me, regardless of how successful the Isles have been over the past 15 years, those are some great memories that will always make this rivalry the most special one in hockey today.

If that wasn’t enough, the games between these two teams always have that added intensity from start to finish and it’s good hockey from regardless of what side of the rink you watch from.

I think that’s what the Rangers need right now more than anything. They do not look like a playoff team and every player that they’ve brought in this season, with perhaps the exception of Nik Zherdev have underperformed. Even Chris Drury and Scott Gomez, two players who were solid last season and played an instrumental part in the team’s success are struggling and have only a combined 73 points on the season. Youngsters the likes of Nigel Dawes, Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan were also expected to carry some more responsibility and have much their tasks with mixed efficiency. Whatever direction GM Glen Sather wanted to take this team in has failed and it’s only on the back of Henrik Lundqvist that this team is still in the playoff hunt.

Battling their biggest low of the season, the Rangers are in trouble and the youth and grit of the Isles may be the last thing this team needs to face. If the Islanders can continue to maintain the same defensive pressure they showed against Pittsburgh and can get quality shots on whoever is in net, they’ll be in great shape. The youngsters on the Isles are beginning to establish themselves and the Rangers are in a downward spiral.

Should make for a good game, right?

However, one guy that has to seize the opportunity that has been given to him to Jon Sim, who was expected to be so much more than what he’s turned out to be since signing with the team two years ago. With six goals and two assists in 40 games, Sim was once on pace for about a dozen goals, which is where you’d expect him to be, but the physical play the team expected him to bring, alongside the notion of being a top-notch pest, have been no where to be found.

As a matter of fact, I think Sean Bergenheim has done a much better job at being an antagonizer than Sim has. Obviously, Scott Gordon has seen this as well and that’s why Sim has been riding the pine the past few weeks. Nevertheless, like I said before, this is an opportunity for Sim to show the rest of the league that he can be a factor out on the ice.

If all goes well, maybe someone will want to pick him up at the trading deadline.

Pregame Thoughts- When I look at the Philadelphia Flyers, I automatically think of the where the Islanders can be in a few years. Combining home-grown talent with some effective trades and key player signings, the Flyers are an example of how to build a team properly. If the Isles have their way over the next few seasons, I’m sure they’ll be built in an extremely similar way.

This afternoon however, the Islanders won’t be busy idolizing the Flyers. Instead, they’ll be trying to keep guys like Jeff Carter, who is having his best season in the NHL this year, with 34 goals already and Simon Gagne and Mike Richards off the scoresheet. If the Isles can find a way to shutdown the Flyers’ top two lines, they’ll put themselves in a solid situation today.

With both Yann Danis and Joey MacDonald both playing excellent hockey as well, this is going to be a great way to spend an afternoon.

That was a night as well where the Isles’ youngsters stepped up again and played well enough to help induce an Islanders win.

If Danis and the Isles’ babies can step up again, the Islanders can and will hold their own with the Panthers.

Seeing Kyle Okposo, Josh Bailey, Frans Nielsen and Blake Comeau play the way they have been as of late has almost given me a renewed sense of vigor. For a while there, watching this team play was like driving a screwdriver through my head. Now, it’s become fun again. Once Sean Bergenheim gets back in the lineup and Scott Gordon finds a place where he fits, the team should be even more energetic and fun to watch.

The way the veterans have stepped up as well has made this season an interesting one. What this team decides to do at the trading deadline should provide plenty of things to talk about too.

That alone should be enough to get me through the season.

Goalie Controversy?- Only with this team, I swear. Who would have that thought that Danis could hold down the fort the way he has over the past five games. No one in the NHL, that’s who. Like I’ve said before, nothing against Joey MacDonald, but Danis has been the better goaltender and the Islanders defense has supported him much better than they have Joey Mac. Because of that, you’ve got to give Danis every opportunity to make the most of his chance.

What happens in the end of this all however, is completely up in the air.

“We both want to play and I think we’re both capable,” Danis told the Associated Press the other night. “You know, I’m not worried about it. I’m feeling really good. I’m feeling big out there. This is a huge opportunity that I’ve waited a long time for. I was hoping to get in a few games and show what I can do. I wasn’t expecting what’s happening right now.”

When you also consider the fact that his team is playing for their pride at this point and MacDonald has already had 36 starts to prove himself to the team and the rest of the league, it’s only fair that Danis gets a similar shot as well, right? I mean seriously, what’s the worst thing that could happen? The team is already in last place.

Why you ask? They claimed Wade Dubielewicz off waivers in a depth move, while the Islanders, dealing with injuries to both Joey MacDonald and Rick DiPietro are forced to keep Yann Danis and Peter Mannino in between the pipes. Don’t be surprised either if Columbus assigned him to their AHL team either after a week or so.

All in all, just a low-class move by the Jackets, who already have two stud goaltenders in the injured Pascual LeClaire and white-hot rookie Steve Mason. They even have a competent third-stringer in Fredrik Norrena. They also have another goalie in Dan LaCosta who isn’t too bad either, going 12-11 with a stead .912 save percentage in the AHL. So why sign Dubielewicz? I wish I could get inside the Blue Jackets heads on this one. I know goaltending is extremely important in today’s game and depth is always important, but this is like kicking a cancer patient. The signing of Dubielewicz would have been a blast to watch over the second half of the season.

[Edit- It has come to my understanding that Norrena went to Russia, leaving LaCosta as the team's backup, hence the reason why the BJ's wanted to go and get a veteran backup, problem solved]

Now, the Islanders fans will be the one to pay the price, making the last 40 or so games as fun as listening to the extended version “In a gadda da vida,” with a migraine.

Snow staying mum on possible move to KC- After lighting up hockey message boards and websites over the past few days after announcing a preseason game against the Los Angeles Kings next season, the Islanders and their general manager Garth Snow aren’t giving away any more details.

“I’m not worried about (the perception). It’s a preseason game,” general manager Garth Snow told the Associated Press before Thursday’s 2-1 loss to Boston. “The last few years, and even before I became GM, we always played preseason games in different markets. This is just another opportunity for us to bring this organization and our team to a different market.”

Yes, everything Snow just said here is true, but Kansas City is extremely desperate for a hockey team. From the quotes I had on the site yesterday, it’s obvious that they would take this team and be thrilled. The way the economy is right now, many people are wondering if the Tri-State area can support three teams. Simply put, this is the time for every single Islander fan to either put their heart and soul back into supporting this team or go to Modell’s and buy a Rangers or Devils jersey. It’s that easy my friends.

You alone have the power to decide if this team stays on Long Island. Go to games, start a blog, anything to support them. If not, they may not be around in a few seasons and in the end, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.

Let’s now pretend that the team is not playing the hated-Broadway Blueshirts. Let’s be unbiased and fair in assessing the quality of this team. Between the pipes, I feel like they have one of the top three tandems in the league in Henrik Lundqvist and Steve Valiquette. On defense however, I feel they are extremely overrated. Sure, Dan Girardi and Mark Staal are exciting and promising youngsters, but overpaid veterans the likes of Michal Rozsival, Paul Mara, Dmitri Kalilin and Wade Redden make this defense nothing special in my opinion.

If their mediocre defense wasn’t enough, I think their offense has been just as average. I mean seriously, how many people who follow this sport would have thought at this point in the season that Doug Weight and Mark Streit would have more points than Markus Naslund, Chris Drury and Scott Gomez? Definitely not me. Now ask yourselves this question: Is this because Naslund Drury and Gomez have been that bad this season, or because Weight and Streit have been that good? I, personally, think it’s a little bit of both.

The Rangers do have players the likes of Aaron Voros and Ryan Callahan that have been very good role players this season, but that alone doesn’t produce a first place team. If not for the on and off again play of Nikolai Zherdev and the goaltending they’ve gotten this season, the Rangers would be battling for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. There’s a reason why they were trying so hard to get Mats Sundin and may in fact get Brendan Shanahan back before the All Star break; they desperately need offense.

Because of this, the Rangers are far from untouchable. If the Islanders can continue to skate the way they have been the past two games and get a quality outing from whoever is in net, they’re be in great shape. The line of Kyle Okposo, Blake Comeau and Mike Comrie was skating their tails off in Buffalo and if they can continue to battle and someone like Trent Hunter can start contributing a bit more [ he hasn't scored since Dec. 4 and only has three points in his last nine games], the Islanders should be able to make this an entertaining game.

Stay tuned.

The only question is, what DP will the Islanders get?

Will they get the wild and crazy, puck-chasing lunatic that lives on the edge and gives Islander fans ulcers, or will they get a mature leader that can help take this team out of the mud and somewhere respectable?

Only time will tell on that one, but it should at least provide a bit more positive thought amongst the fan base. I think every Islander fan out there knows which DP needs to show up if this team has any chance at saving their season. Up to this point, it’s been obvious this team is missing something and with DP back, alongside a healthy Mike Sillinger, Mike Comrie and Kyle Okposo, the Islanders won’t have any more excuses.

Then it will all be about how bad this team wants to win and what they’re willing to do to get to where they feel they should be. Again, should make for a very interesting second half of the season.

As far as tonight’s game against Minnesota goes, the Islanders are in a rare situation. In my opinion, the Isles have a better offense than the Wild, especially with Owen Nolan on the shelf, but that all really depends on Marian Gaborik. Only in his second game back, the Islanders need to take advantage of his rustiness and try and get something past Niklas Backstrom or Josh Harding, both of who are two damn good goaltenders. The same thing goes for the Minnesota defensemen, who like any team coached by Jacques Lemaire are also pretty good at what they do.

However, they also have a few defensemen that are very adept at making that first pass out of the defensive zone, in Kim Johnsson, Marek Zidlicky, Martin Skoula, Brent Burns [now comfortably back at the blue line after a month and change as a forward] and Marc-Andre Bergeron. If the Islanders are going to produce offensively tonight, they have to establish a forecheck early and pressure these defensemen, especially Bergeron, who, as many Islander fans are well aware of [I still have an ulcer from watching this guy for a season and a half] has a tendency to cough up the puck. If they can then capitalize on those opportunities, this is going to be a fun game to watch.

Once they get as close to completely healthy and some of the youngsters begin to get more comfortable as well , I really think this team can gain the respect of the rest of the league.

However, as we’ve seen before, playing 500 hockey may not be good enough to make the playoffs anymore in the NHL. I’ve also said before that if this team is healthy, I feel they can make the playoffs, but it’s really a toss up at this point. Overall, this team has to commit itself to staying with their game plan. That means the forecheck has to be consistent for 60 minutes. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been as repetitive as a Green Day hook, constantly saying these things. I’m sick of it. From the look on some of the veteran’s faces on Wednesday, I can tell they’re sick of it too. There’s only so much they can do though. The same thing goes for the host of role players on this team. Richard Park, Jon Sim, Sean Bergenheim and Andy Hilbert aren’t 30-goal scorers and even though they work their tails off every night, I really feel that this team needs a career year out of these guys for this team to really be able to compete with the rest of this league.

So how does this relate to the Boston Bruins?

Just like the Isles, the Bruins lost a tough game their last time out, but overall, this is a much better team. 8-1-1 over their past ten games, Boston has one of the league’s most underrated, yet effective playmakers in Marc Savard and Phil Kessel, who finally seems to be coming into his own. Patric Bergeron, Milan Lucic, Blake Wheeler and David Krejci aren’t to be underestimated either, as they have legitimate talent and are more than just spare parts. Add in a dominate duo in net between Manny Fernandez and Tim Thomas and it’s easy to see that the Islanders can and will be in deep trouble if they don’t commit themselves to working extremely hard in both ends of the ice.

It just seemed like every time you thought the Islanders had learned their lesson on defense and got the offense going, the Devils came back and put an end to their party. That’s usually he case when a team like he Islanders that is slowly starting to find their identity plays a team that already has one like the Devils.

Nevertheless, the Islanders feel they are just starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“Our season didn’t start the way we wanted it to, but if you take the positives out of some of those games where we blew a three-goal lead or a two-goal lead in the third period, in some cases, it was 40 or 50 minutes of good hockey,” GM Garth Snow said in an expansive interview Friday with Newsday. “I think we’re headed in the right direction, and we’re just going to get better as the season goes on and as players gain confidence in this system. I think we’re on the right track.”

With a game against Buffalo today, the Islanders need to quickly forget about last night and concentrate on doing the the things that broke them out of that ugly skid they were in early this season, which was establishing a forecheck, playing well in front of Joey MacDonald and getting offense from a wide variety of sources. If they do that, they’ll be able to hold the ice with any team in the NHL.

We’ll see what happens tonight.

Also, in other news, I just wanted to let you guys know about another site I have, AcesOverBrooklyn.com, where I cover the Brooklyn Aces of the EPHL. Simply put, this site is what I wish I could do with this one, as it is filled with journalism, rather than just be shooting off my opinion every day. It’s also filled with pictures, video, podcasts, polls and everything else you’d expect from someone covering a team with every free ounce of their time.

Check it out today!

Regardless of what the pundits think, I think it’s fair to say that this team is starting to understand what they have to do in order to win.

On top of that, Joey MacDonald is playing his best hockey of the season and with Andy Sutton and Radek Martinek both back in the lineup and the return of Brendan Witt looming, the Isles defense will be as close to 100 percent as possible.

With that being said, a team like the Canucks, with all their offensive ability and strength in net, will be facing a much better Islanders team than they would have faced two weeks ago.
Because of that, this should be a fun one to watch.

The Josh Bailey Experiment Continues- Through his first handful of games this season, Bailey has been a lot better than anyone could have possibly thought. From what the team’s coaching staff has said thus far, it looks like Bailey may be sticking around.

“He hasn’t played at a junior pace. So, that’s very encouraging. Whether he’ll be able to maintain that through these nine games will probably dictate whether he stays here or goes back to junior,” Gordon told the AP “I think the bonus for us if he’s able to stay here is that it accelerates his progress for next year.

“If he goes back to junior, granted he’ll play a lot. But he’ll play at a pace that he should be above. Then, it’s a situation where he comes in next year and has to start over getting back into our system versus what they’re doing in Windsor. If he’s able to come in here and play at an NHL pace through nine games, at least we’ll have a better read on what the right thing is to do for this year and next year.”

If he stays here the whole season, I’m cool with that. However, if he ends up hitting a snag in his development, the Isles will be stuck with another Jeff Tambellini. As of right now, Bailey looks like a completely different player, but it’s way too early to judge what this kid is truly capable of yet.

After the powerplay and Joey MacDonald ran rampant the other night, Islander fans now a tiny morsel of hope. Can the powerplay continue to produce? Can Joey MacDonald do his best Wade Dubielewicz impersonation? Can Trent Hunter pretend he’s in .38 Special and “Get Back to where He Belongs” [being the 20 goal scorer every Islander fan knows he should be]? Alright, enough with the 80s music references. In all seriousness, if the Isles can commit themselves to playing smart defense and can take advantage of mistakes on the powerplay, they can play with any team in this league.

It’s just a matter of the stars being aligned properly for those to happen on a consistent basis.

What I’m looking for the most in this game is for the Islanders to come out strong and take the body. Without Brendan Witt, they are really missing their best physical presence and I think some rough stuff could open up the ice more for guys like Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey.

Speaking of Bailey, it should be interesting where he ends up tonight, although from what Islanders head coach Scott Gordon said the other night, it’s a pretty safe bet were he’ll be.

“Just watching what I saw from Josh the other night (against Philadelphia), it was an opportunity to see what he can do with Kyle and see how it goes,” Gordon told the AP. “We have a lot of young wingers that have offensive potential, but the reality is we don’t have that high-end playmaking center. So, when we look at Josh and what he brings to the table, he has a different element than Richard Park or Nate Thompson, and with Mike (Comrie) being out of the lineup (with a hip injury), it opens up a hole for us.”

Kind of a smack in the face to Frans Neilsen, but it’s the truth. While I think if he continues to develop, Neilsen could be a 30 assist guy in the NHL, Bailey has the pedigree this team is looking for right now. He is the playmaker they need in the lineup, especially without Mike Comrie and Mike Sillinger out as well, who aren’t playmakers and are more of the dangler-type. If he can open some eyes during the rest of this mini-tryout, it’s going to be very interesting what this team decides to do with him next season.

At any rate, we’ll see what he comes up with tonight.

However, things haven’t been going all that well for them and if the Islanders play smart, they may just be able to sneak out of dodge with a win.

After Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza, Filip Kuba, and Daniel Alfredsson, the Senators have virtually no offense to speak of. Their defense has also been lackluster, as they are -34 this season as a team and are still at 6-7-2. Martin Gerber hasn’t started his season off on the right foot either, losing his spot as the team’s starting goaltender to former 30-game winner Alex Auld [it doesn't really count though since it was on the Canucks. With the offense they had that year, with six players scoring over 55 points, it's pretty safe to assume Pat Jablonski could have won the Vezina there. If you don't know who Jablonski is, you should be ashamed of yourself. Go read a hockey almanac for Christ's sake!], who has been eerily solid. Nevertheless, this is a team the Islanders can defeat.

How you ask?

Score on the powerplay! That’s how!

All season, the Islanders have gotten a plethora of opportunities with the man advantage. Even with the rampant amount of injuries they’ve had, they still have to produce when they’re a man up. No more excuses.

We’ll see what happens tonight.

The Josh Bailey experiment continues: After committing two penalties in his first game, can Bailey step it up in game two?

From the looks of it, Bailey and his teammates are getting more comfortable with each other with every second he spends on the ice.

“I didn’t know what to expect. It was just nice feel like you are a part of things again,” the 19-year-old Bailey told the AP after his first game on Tuesday. “The first period, I needed to make a couple of adjustments. A couple of plays, I was a little slow on. As the game went on, I got more comfortable out there.”

“I think Josh is going to be a player,” Weight told Newsday. “He came into camp, and guys had certain expectations. Every day, he turned everybody’s heads. He’s got great talent and great savvy for the game. I think he’s got it in his mind [to stay in the NHL]. He’s very stoic and very calm. I think he’s real excited to be in this league. When guys have the talent and the mind he has and the urge to be great…I thought he fit right into place.”

Hopefully, Bailey can break through and fill in more than admirably for Mike Comrie.

So what does this team need to do in order to get out of the rut they’ve gotten themselves in?

Here are a few of my thoughts:

1- Be more physical, especially in the defensive zone- Giving up 18 shots in the final period on Saturday, this team needs to play with more desperation and more of an edge. Mitch Fritz got into a tussle while up here with the Isles, but I say that isn’t enough. Guys need to start finishing checks on every single shift. Everyone from Mark Streit to Frans Neilsen has to do this in order for it to be effective as well. Being that physical will also open up the ice more and give the few playmakers the Islanders have, guys like Doug Weight and Neilsen room to find the Bill Guerin’s and Trent Hunter’s.

2- Score on the powerplay- Currently ranked 25th in the NHL, Streit and Weight have been brought in to help out and while they have, other players have to start contributing. For starters, the Islanders need to overload the powerplay with guys that can score. Nothing against Neilsen, but he should be one of the last people who get a shot on the PP. Alongside Weight and Guerin, Hunter should play on the other wing with Streit and Chris Campoli. The second unit should be something along the lines of Mike Comrie with Sean Bergenheim and Kyle Okposo with Andy Sutton and Bruno Gervais at the point. While it’s not as deep a unit as I would like it to be, there would be enough diversity to give the Islanders options. The first unit would be all about getting traffic in front of the net and the second would be about puck possession and generating offense from the circles. Once Mike Sillinger comes back, I think this team’s powerplay will get much better, but until that happens, something else needs to be done.

3- Play smarter defense- Going along with my first statement about the team’s need to play tougher, I think the defense needs to cut down on their turnovers. I know it’s not as easy with Rick DiPietro still injured, but overall, this team needs to make smarter passes in their own zone and commit themselves to eliminating traffic in front of Joey MacDonald and limiting second chance opportunities. If they can do that, this team won’t have to score four goals a game every night to stay in games.

For starters, Miroslav Satan seems to be reborn in Pittsburgh, and already has eight goals, compared to the 16 he had last season with the Islanders. Another former Islander, Ruslan Fedotenko hasn’t enjoyed that same amount of success, but with Crosby out of the lineup for a tad, it’s obvious that’s played a part. Speaking of Crosby, he will be in the lineup tonight, making things that much more difficult for the Isles.

Nevertheless, if they get ahead early, stay out of the penalty box and play a consistent 60-minute game, we’ll see what happens.

In other news, Greg Logan of Newsday reports that Sean Bergenheim will be back in the lineup tonight and that Tim Jackman has been called up to replace Mitch Fritz. Nate Thompson has a strained groin, so he’ll be out of the lineup as well. While Jackman isn’t the enforcer Fritz is, he’s a grittier player, who has more talent offensively. He’s been playing well in Bridgeport this season and should fit in fine with the team again this season.

Joey Macdonald will also be in the net as well, cementing his spot as the team’s starting goaltender with Rick DiPietro injured. Like I’ve said before, you can’t really ask for more for this guy. Who you can ask for more out of are the youngsters, Jeff Tambellini especially, alongside guys like Brett Skinner, who have done little or nothing this season.

Also, According to Newsday, Josh Bailey, Mike Sillinger and Martinek all practiced yesterday and are all close to returning. Once they come back, things are going to get mighty interesting with this team. Who stays? Who goes? Who knows. At any rate, it’s going to be fun seeing Bailey, Kyle Okposo play with guys like Doug Weight and Bill Guerin.

In other, other news:

I was quoted by the New York Times hockey blog today for my coverage of the New York Islanders.

You can check that article out here as well.

http://slapshot.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/isles-move-to-the-back-of-the-line/

It was a few days before Christmas that year and the way they were playing at that point, it made the holiday season that much more enjoyable.

I wish I could say the same thing about these bunch of guys.

At 2-7-1, this bunch of Islanders lack the depth at forward and defense that those guys had, but there still are players this season that have put a smile on my face. Doug Weight and Mark Streit for example are proving that they are more than just half-hearted acquisitions disguised to make this bunch of misfits resemble a decent team. Their play with the man advantage has been solid and they’ve kept this team at the sub-par level, rather than deplorable. Without them, I don’t even want to know how bad this team would be. As of right now, I think they are easily the team’s only potential All-Stars.

While the Columbus Blue Jackets aren’t quite as bad as the Isles right now, they’ve had a few problems of their own, mainly with goaltending. If the Islanders can generate scoring opportunities and take shots, they should be able to hold their own. Otherwise, the game will be sadder than watching High School Musical 3 with your girlfriend this past weekend [whatever I do in my personal life is my business!], but they’ll be no super hot Vanessa Hudgens or Ashley Tisdale to make you forget that your actually enjoying the movie, despite the fact that you own gonads [why am I talking about this?]. It’ll just be another sad experience in a season that’s been full of them. Far worse than the time when you realized your girlfriend owns your soul and chick flicks are now fair game and even sadder now that you’ve realized that enjoy them.

All jokes aside however, this is a must win game. It feels way too early in the season to be saying something like that, but this team needs to start gaining some confidence.

A good 60-minute effort can do that.

While many already believe this team is done for the season, which as of right now I’d have to agree and say the John Tavares sweepstakes are looking like a done deal, the Isles played hard against a good Philly team and may in fact just need a few more games to really get things going.

On another note, please don’t even get me started with Rick DiPietro being put on IR on Thursday. All it does is prove that something else is going on and of course the fans of this team are left in the dust. My hunch is that DP is seriously injured and the team would rather keep fans out of the loop as to not make it look like they are giving up on the season.

From the way they’ve played thus far this season, it looks like exactly that.

This has nothing to do with Scott Gordon, but the Islanders youngsters have looked out of place and aside from a handful of guys that bust their humps on every shift, guys like Doug Weight, Trent Hunter and Mark Streit immediately come to mind, the Islanders are a team that has to play perfect hockey in order to win against even the most mediocre of teams.

They cannot commit costly penalties and must convert on the powerplay. Otherwise, every game will end in 7-1 loss or a 3-2 squeaker that could have been saved if they had a legitimate sniper and a defense.

Simply put, I haven’t seen an Islanders team this bad since the year before they picked up Mike Peca and Alexei Yashin.

So against a Montreal team that is red-hot, the chances of the Isles squeaking out a win solely depend on how badly this team wants to be considered more than failure. It’s completely up to them.

Sink or swim guys.

Sink or swim.

Scary stuff if you ask me.

For that reason alone, this is a game where the Islanders cannot make avoidable mistakes in. Otherwise, this game will be over before the end of the first period. Costly penalties and turnovers did them in on Monday against the Rangers, a team that is playing good hockey right now. The Flyers on the other hand are more like a sleeping giant. They have most of the pieces on their team in place, but haven’t gotten great goaltending this season and their defense hasn’t been that strong either. With that being said, the Flyers will jump all over the Isles if they have an opportunity.

The Isles can counteract this however if they get another solid game out of guys like Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo. As I’ve said before on the blog, the line of Doug Weight, Bill Guerin and Sean Bergenheim are playing solid hockey right now, they just have to start finishing. Once that happens and guys such as Jon Sim and Jeff Tambellini start to become factors, this team can hold it’s own. However, until then, this season is going to be a disaster.

Aside from Mark Streit, the Islanders haven’t had a consistent presence on the score sheet this season. We know that this team doesn’t have any legitimate offensive juggernauts, but is it asking so much to have a few guys that can score 45-60 points? As of right now, it looks like Streit and perhaps Weight are going to be the only players close to that. After that, the Islanders offense looks extremely grim.

Because of that and without Rick DiPietro and a bunch of other important players that I’ve mentioned a thousand times not in the lineup, the Islanders defense has to be pretty damn close to perfect for them to break out of this funk they’ve started their season in. If they work hard however, get a quick goal and perhaps a few powerplay opportunities, things could end up differently. So far this season both Marty Biron and Antero Niittymaki have been far from perfect as well, which leads me to believe this game could get hairy really fast if both teams get sloppy.

I personally feel like DP has never been healthy this season and has tried to play through whatever has been ailing him. Either that or his conditioning is so poor that he ended up getting injured again. At any rate, at least the drama is over Yann Danis is in town and the Isles are going to have to step it up on both ends if they are planning to pick up any points against the Rangers today.

With Andy Sutton, Mike Sillinger, Radek Martinek, Brendan Witt and now DP out of the lineup, let me be the first to stop the obscure terms given out by the organization and that the Islanders are suffering from a “heart and soul” injury and the estimated time out of the lineup for “heart and soul” may be the start of the 2009-2010 season. Last season, the Islanders were in the hunt until about the last 20 games, when injuries completely took over. That made one think that if they were healthy and the youngsters stepped it up, this team could still be competitive.

However, with guys like Kyle Okposo and Fran Nielsen looking out of place through their first handful of games as full-time NHlers, the Islanders are sinking faster than a fat man’s face in a gallon of Edy’s ice cream. Simply put, these youngsters have to play their hearts out over the next 70 plus games or else this season is over.

With that being said, the Islanders need players like Doug Weight, Mark Streit, Bill Guerin and Trent Hunter to continue to play well and produce. These guys are the ones that have to set an example for the youngsters like Okposo, Neilsen and Jeff Tambellini, who for the most part, have looked lost this season.

Games against the Rangers are always a good way to rile up the team, so here’s to hoping tonight does the same thing. I don’t know about you, but a two-goal game from a youngster and a few powerplay tallies would be a good sign of things to come if you ask me.

In the games the Islanders have won this season, it’s easy to see how hard they’ve worked in both ends of the ice. Practically swarming the puck the entire game, the Isles have proved Scott Gordon’s coaching system works, as long as they stick to it. However, for the majority of the young season, the Isles have looked tentative and seem unable to push the kind of pace on the ice they need to in order to win hockey games.

Perhaps as the season gets going and they get key players back this will change, but as of right now, this is starting to look like the beginning of a very long season.

On another note, according to Newsday, Andy Sutton is very close to returning and Mike Sillinger skated with the team for the first time this season a few days ago. If Witt is out long term, Sutton’s return is a crucial one. Even though he isn’t the defender Witt is, he’s a solid defenseman who can even help out on the powerplay if he has to. He’s also the crease clearer this team desperately needs right now. Guaranteed if Sutton is the lineup against the Sabres and he was on the ice for a few of those goals in front of the net, there could have been a few that he could have got in the way of. His toughness too is something this team desperately needs as well.

The same thing goes for Sillinger, who if healthy, gives this team an offense threat and a guy that can win important face offs. With Mike Comrie, Doug Weight, Sillinger and possibly Josh Bailey at center, the Isles will be solid depth wise at that position. Nothing against Frans Nielsen, but he’s another youngster on this team that while showing flashes of brilliance at times this season, has for the most part, looked out of place.

Can’t think about any of this tonight though, as the Isles will simply have to stick to the guns they have and hope they’re firing.

It is something to think about as the season continues though.

Aside from Brad Richards, Mike Ribeiro and Brenden Morrow scaring the bejesus out of opposing defenses, they still have Mike Modano and Phillip Boucher, alongside role players like Steve Ott, Sean Avery and Stephane Robidas and not to mention, a hot stud rookie in Fabian Brunnstrom [a few more goals and we'll see him in a “I Can't Believe It's not Butter” Ad] and an amazing goaltender in Marty Turco.

Simply put, this is a team the Islanders can and will have a ton of problems against if they are not on their game.

However, there is a ray of hope here.

Through his first six games, Turco has a deplorable 4.05 ERA and a Rosie O’Donnell-esque save percentage of .844. If the Islanders can get consistent pressure on the guy and generate some scoring opportunities, they may have an opportunity to break the game wide open.

If not, expect another tough 2-1 game that can go either way.

On another note…

Could Parrish work again with the Isles?

Just got off the phone with good buddy of mine, one New York Islander Blog Boxer Gary Harding. For those of you that don’t know, Mr. Harding is an extremely knowledgeable hockey fan and one of the few people I enjoy talking about the game with. [Anyway, enough brown-nosing. Gary gets enough hits on his site and he knows he's my homeboy, even if he owns a Josef Vasicek jersey, eww] During the course of the conversation, Parrish came up and we talked about how much Parrish could teach a guy like Kyle Okposo about being a prescence in front of the net despite not being a huge guy.

For those that don’t know, according to Eric Duhatschek on the GlobeandMail.com Hockey Blog, Parrish just signed a 25-game tryout contract with Bridgeport after scoring only 16 goals in limited duty with the Minnesota Wild last season. With Nate Thompson’s play not doing much for me and Richard Park being able to play center, I say throw Parrish on a wing with someone and see if he’s still got it. 15 goals from the guy in a third or fourth line role would do more than suffice and would help the youngsters develop some more, while giving the Isles another depth winger who can net the tough to come by garbage goals they desperately need right now.

However, they are two teams that are very different from one another.

The Islanders on one hand are hoping, almost praying, that guys like Sean Bergenheim, Kyle Okposo and Jeff Tambellini can develop into superstars and take them to the next level. They’re also hoping that guys like Mike Comrie, Trent Hunter and Richard Park can have career years, while keeping their fingers crossed that Doug Weight and Bill Guerin can prove they have some gas left in their tanks.

The Panthers on the other hand, missed the painfully obvious memo last season that most of the kids they’ve drafted over the past few years have turned into decent players, rather than the superstars they’ve envisioned. Sure Jay Bouwmeester, Nathan’s Famous Horton and David Booth are great players that any team would like to have, but even the biggest Panthers fan would have a problem explaining what went wrong with guys like Stephen Weiss, who was supposed to a point a game player in this league at one point and Rusty Olesz, who prefers to hit people from behind nowadays, rather than put the puck in the net; something he hasn’t shown too much proficiency doing yet anyway. After that, they have former high picks like Shawn Matthias, Kamil Kreps and Anthony Stewart, who are servicable players that are merely taking up space on the bottom two lines. Add in acquisition Corey Stillman, who has never been the same player since leaving the Lightning and it’s easy to see how similar, yet different these two teams really are.

So with that being said, what do the Islanders need to do to come out victorious tonight? The same thing they did against the Lightning: SKATE! If the Isles keep those legs moving, they will draw penalties and with the way Hunter and Weight have played over the past few games, the Isles can and will pot few with the man advantage.

However, there is another way the team can give themselves a chance at victory tonight and that is having a healthy Rick DiPietro in net. Newsday beat writer Greg Logan seems to think DP is in the net tonight and I have to agree. He’s been off the ice first in practice, which is customary for the starting goaltender of the next game and I think after the 6-0 loss in his first game in the preseason, his conditioning may finally be where it’s supposed to be now. If he is healthy, the Islanders just got their best player back and a third defenseman on the ice that will keep the Panthers at bay behind the goal line.

If not, Joey MacDonald will get the call and that in itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Despite the one game against Buffalo, where the team’s defense called in sick, Mac has been good enough for the Isles.

At any rate, regardless of who is in net, this should be a fun one to watch.

Well, today is the day. Kyle Okposo will make his NHL debut tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs. According to the team’s official website, Okposo will be playing with Blake Comeau and Richard Park. Talk about a high energy line in the making. As long as he doesn’t get seriously hurt, this call-up will only be a positive experience for the 19-year old and will be one of the only positive things fans can take from this season.

However, Okposo’s arrival can also help the Islanders in other ways. Hopefully, it will start to change Ted Nolan’s philosophy on playing veterans over inexperienced youngsters. While Blake Comeau and Sean Bergenheim have been getting more and more playing time as the season has gone on, primarily in part to injuries, Jeff Tambellini, who many would say is the most talented of the three, hasn’t been given a real opportunity to showcase his talent. If Okposo is effective in the nine games he plays with the Isles, maybe Nolan will be more inclined to give the rest of the youngsters more playing time.

Nonetheless, as an Islander fan, you have to be excited to see the future on the ice tomorrow. This has the possibility of changing the team for the better and getting them on the right track for the future. This season may be lost, but fans now have the opportunity to see what the future can hold for the team. And unlike what many people think, I don’t feel that this is an attempt on the organization’s part to make a last ditch effort to sell tickets. Okposo was nearly a point a game player in college and the AHL. Regardless of what anyone thinks, he’s ready to play in the NHL. Sure, having more seasoning in the AHL would be beneficial for him, but when was the last time the Islanders gave a youngster a real shot this early? How long were players like Robert Nilsson, Ryan O’Marra, Bruno Gervais and Bergenheim in the minors before they were given a chance? How many recent Islander picks were even given chances?

My thoughts exactly. This team needs to attempt to start developing their young talent now the same way the Blackhawks and Penguins are right now. This is the way you build a successful team now. It’s time the Islanders admitted they’ve made mistakes overpaying players with name recognition to come here and focus on playing their youngsters.

Giving Okposo, their most promising prospect, an honest shot at showing what he is capable of is a great push in the right direction.

Eight points behind the last playoff spot with ten games to go, the Islanders had seven Bridgeport Sound Tigers in their lineup for their last game and will probably feature something similar tonight against the Montreal Canadiens. Not good. When injuries decimate your team like this, you really need a miracle to get things done and find a way to win.

Great teams with great leaders find those ways to win, but I don’t think the Isles have that one guy that can say “Let’s do this guys; Let’s win every game we have left and shove the last playoff spot up everyone’s ass!” [That marks the first time I’ve ever used that word on this site. What word? Do I really have to say it again? I’m trying to be somewhat professional here!] Instead they have a bunch of grinders that would make great supporting characters on a great team.

Bill Guerin isn’t Brad Pitt, he’s more like Vince Vaughn, great in small doses, but intolerable as a star. The same thing can be said for Mike Comrie, who plays with the finesse and flair of Patrick Stewart, but ends up looking more like George Takai. And that’s no offense to these guys, they’ve played hard for this team, they just haven’t gotten the results they should have.

For all the chances both of them have had, Comrie and Guerin should have 30 goals each and Comrie should have about 15 more points [especially considering that guys like Guerin and Richard Park have hit more goal posts than Andy Hilbert does in his worst nightmares]. But I’ve done enough bitching about these guys this season. It’s old, it’s boring, and it’s almost to the point of being cliché now.

So what can we do as Islander fans now to make sure they don’t go crazy? Focus on watching the youngsters. Watch Steve Regier, Jeff Tambellini, Ben Walter, Blake Comeau and Matt Spiller tonight. Watch them take to the ice and show this team what they have. Walter scored a nifty little deflection goal the other night off a howlitzer of a shot by Comeau, that was the other thing that made me smile a little bit during that Tampa Bay game. Hopefully these kids turn themselves into players that can star for this team for years to come, so they don’t have to rely on trying to revive someone else’s career here.

It’s time to start writing a new script people and the Islanders are sending out an open casting call.

Rick DiPietro has to shake the cobwebs and get his act together right now. The powerplay has to produce, now. Players like Miroslav Satan, Ruslan Fedotenko, Bill Guerin, Mike Comrie and Trent Hunter have to step up and play big time minutes and prove that they’re worth the money they signed for.

The defense as well, as depleted as they have been, cannot make any more excuses and need to play as hard as they’ve ever played. Radek Martinek, Brendan Witt and Freddy Meyer have to do whatever they have to do to stop Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier, while Bryan Berard has to make himself a force on the powerplay. Anything less will simply not be good enough. I’m not just talking about tonight’s game either. This team will have to play top-notch hockey against every team they come across for the rest of the season. Otherwise, this season is over. Kaput. Fin. Ok, you get the idea.

This team may have not been built to win a Stanley Cup this season, but they have shown at times that they are good enough to make the playoffs. The only question is, which team is going to show up, the one that has an offense as dangerous as the Philadelphia Phantoms, or the one that plays in your face defense and grinds in both ends of the ice. The fact that the team itself doesn’t seem to know how to press its own buttons at this point in the season is also scary. They can’t seem to turn up the intensity when they need to and there’s no telling if they’ll be able to do it again.

Your guess is as good as mine guys. All I can keep thinking is what could have been with this team. What would have happened if Jon Sim, Andy Sutton, Mike Sillinger and Chris Campoli would have stayed healthy this season? What if Chris Simon didn’t wig out a second time and take valuable minutes away from youngsters like Jeff Tambellini and Blake Comeau? What if Satan put together a decent season and didn’t stink up the joint like he has most of this season?

Much like the timeless question of “How many licks it takes to get the center of a tootsie-pop?” I’m afraid that the world may never know what could have happened to this team if they wouldn’t have under-performed and got decimated by the injury bug.

If the Islanders ever needed a win this season, it would be tonight. Hopefully, they learn from the mistakes they made on defense and play tighter against the Jaromir Jagr, Sean Avery and Brandon Dubinsky line. Even though they weren’t a huge factor in the outcome of the game, they had way too much room on the ice and the Isles were lucky it didn’t come back and hurt them.

While that may be a huge concern tonight, it’s not the only one. There’s a question as to who gets the start in net today, Wade Dubielewicz or Rick DiPietro. I for one think DP should sit for as long as Dubielewicz is playing well. Competition for playing isn’t something DP has ever had to deal with in his playing career and it will probably do him some good. He hasn’t had the same luster and polish to his game that he had in the fist half and it’s hurt the team on a few occasions. As far as big games go, I understand that when you sign a goalie to a ridiculous contract like the one DP signed last season that you expect him to play in games like these, but you have to ride the hot hand.

I also think that the Isles defense, over the last five starts Dubie has had, has been much better than they usually are. I think they know that they have to skate harder and they’re not going to have DP playing the puck all the time, so they’re naturally more physical and hustle a little more. That’s what this team needs right now, an injection of hustle, grit and passion.

Send Bergie Up!- Speaking of quality attributes in a hockey player, Sean Bergenheim, despite his lack of finish this season, has grown immensely as a player over the past few weeks. He’s skating with more of a purpose out there and isn’t the uncontrollable firecracker he was his first two seasons with the team. I personally think that he could have twice as many assists if he played with people that could finish more as well. He brings energy to whatever line he’s on and takes the body, something the Islanders don’t have too much of aside from Trent Hunter. What I’m trying to say here is that Bergie should get a shot on the first line and with the team struggling on offense, it should happen SOON. Andy Hilbert can go and play with Miroslav Satan and Richard Park and it won’t hurt the Isles at all; as a matter of fact, it can only help them at this point..

Taking Bergenheim off of that line won’t kill its production either because Hilbert and Park will still create space for Satan for hustling in the corners. Bergenheim’s role with Bill Guerin and Mike Comrie would give that line the energy and spunk it desperately needs right now.

Just my crazy thoughts on what looks to be another crazy game tonight.

With three consecutive wins, the Islanders couldn’t have asked for a better opponent than the San Jose Sharks, who have been dealing with offensive and injury problems of their own. All the Islanders have to do is try and mirror their performance against the Thrashers, which means play physical, draw penalties, get traffic and then finish. If they can do that, there aren’t many teams in the NHL that can stop them.

I mean c’mon, the Thrashers and Flyers are anything but cellar-dwellers and the Maple Leafs have the talent to do plenty of damage in the Eastern Conference, but have no chemistry. If they can keep up this type of play and do some tweaking at the trading deadline [maybe picking up another well-rounded defenseman and a young winger with some spunk], they could be a sleep team. However, all of this wishful thinking hinges on how long the Islanders can keep winning. If they go on another seven-game losing streak though, all of this goes out the window of course. That’s when the Isles see what they can get for some of these unrestricted free agents and start building for next year.

That’s why the play of Ruslan Fedotenko, Miroslav Satan and Trent Hunter is a two-sided sword. If Fedotenko and Satan stay hot, the Isles can trade them and start building towards the future. I really don’t even want to think about trading Hunter, as I think he should be the team’s next captain once Guerin’s tenure is over. Sure, his goal numbers are down, but he’s still on pace for his typical 40-point season and I really think he’s ready to turn the corner. The guy epitomizes what this team is all about. He works hard on every shift, takes the body and isn’t scared to get in front of the net. Fedotenko and Satan can be extremely effective players at times, but lack the consistent effort the Hunter puts forth every night. If the Isles trade him, it will be a grave mistake.

But like I said, if the Islanders keep winning, I doubt if anyone will be traded.

Coming off an impressive 4-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, where they racked up a season-high 47 shots on goal, the Islanders face-off with another conference rival in the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight. However, that is pretty much the only thing the Flyers and Maple Leafs have in common. As a matter of fact, the Maple Leafs are in the same situation as their Valentine’s Day opponents. Not getting the offensive support from their newly acquired talent, the Leafs have to string a couple of wins together or else they could be sellers at the deadline and looking to rebuild.

 

What does this mean for the Islanders you ask? It means that the Leafs are doing to be extremely desperate out there and the Islanders are going to need to match that level of intensity. The line of Frans Nielsen, Jeff Tambellini and Blake Comeau will be asked to play a solid game in both ends of the ice, similar to the way they played against the Flyers and Sean Bergenheim, Trent Hunter and Ruslan Fedotenko will have to continue to build off their recent success.

 

With Brendan Witt nursing a knee injury [after a collision in the Philly game] Bryan Berard and Aaron Johnson are both going to have to step up to the plate and play play big time minutes. The same thing goes for Radek Martinek, Freddy Meyer and Marc-Andre Bergeron, who haven’t been nearly as solid as they were at other points in the season [Bergeron has been his usual streaky-offensive self as of late and hasn’t nabbed a point in his last 11 games]. It would also be nice if Mike Comrie, Miroslav Satan and Bill Guerin started scoring more regularly, as they have a combined four goals in their past 10 games.

 

Rick DiPietro also needs a bounce back game after a sloppy outing against the Flyers. Like I said before, the defense will be much thinner than usual and they of course will have to step up, but DP needs to make the saves he was making earlier in the season. Make no mistake about it, this is crunch time. This is the time when someone who signs a 15-year contract steps up and puts the team that has invested so much in him on his shoulders and takes them for a ride. While I’ve stated before that I don’t know if this team has the goods to make the playoffs, they’ve shown at times that they can if they stick to their system.

 

Beating a team they should beat, like the Maple Leafs would keep the Isles in the hunt for at least another day and could provide them with the spark they need to keep going.

What would be nice is if this team could manage to stay out of the penalty box, start taking the body and then get a few powerplay goals under their belts. Earlier in the season, this team was one of the least penalized teams in the league. They knew they weren’t a team that could score a lot, so they stayed out of the box and capitalized on mistakes. Right now, they’re the ones that are making the mistakes and other teams are taking advantage. If they don’t start to win right now, this season is going to be over faster than an episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. But make no mistake about it, there won’t be a talking Milk Shake and politically incorrect humor involved. Instead, it will be the beginning of what will be big changes for this organization. If not, then expect to revel in mediocrity for a while…

I got my wish: A few days ago, I said I thought the Isles needed to call up some youth. The next day, Frans Nielsen and Jeff Tambellini are called up. In the next day’s post I said it would be cool to see a “Kid Line Version 2.0,” with Blake Comeau, Nielsen and Tambellini. Two days later, I get my wish. While the Islanders have broken my heart more times than my first teenage girlfriend, granting this wish may provide some interesting hockey tonight. By the way, even though they’ve been playing like crap in both ends of the ice lately and this season looks like it’s quickly heading to the dumpster, I still love this team like a fat kid loves cake.

In other news, Jeremy Colliton has been called up by the Islanders on an emergency basis to fill in for Miroslav Satan. A young center in the mold of Travis Green, Colliton only has six goals this season, but two of them have been shorthanded. In addition, he’s done a solid job all season on defense, which should allow him to play on the bottom lines and give someone like Richard Park or Sean Bergenheim to move back up the depth chart and play the spark plug game they’re known for.

We’ll see how it goes.

Then injuries to Radek Martinek, Brendan Witt and Chris Campoli happened. Now, this team has been forced to rotate in Bryan Berard, Freddy Meyer and Aaron Johnson to fill in and as a result has had to play Marc-Andre Bergeron and Bruno Gervais, much more than they should be. While I like what Bruno does out there and think he’s a great skater, he’s an 18-20 minute a game defenseman right now. In a few years, that will change, but considering how unpolished his offensive game still appears to be, he shouldn’t be playing 25 minutes a game.

As far as Bergeron goes, I wish this team could just play him on the powerplay. In all honesty, he’s a glorified forward out there. With his hands and shot, I don’t understand why he doesn’t play wing anyway. Then it would make sense if he gave up the puck a lot. On even strength this season, he has been a disaster and has coughed up the puck more times than he’s scored or played a part in goals. I understand that he’s been solid on offense, but they do have Bryan Berard waiting to get in games, who is a much more physical player, plays with more passion and if given a chance to play consistent minutes, could possibly put up similar numbers.

On top of all of that, Witt and Martinek aren’t back to their normal selves yet. They just look tentative out there. Los Angeles has a few talented offensive players and Witt and Martinek need to be smart out there. Rick DiPietro was left out to dry the other night against the Senators and despite the Kings record this year, if they get the same type of back door chances, the Islanders will be done before the puck drops.

A few chances on the powerplay and a solid defensive showing is what this team needs tonight. Let’s hope they get it.

Boston is another team that has been going through their fair share of problems, dealing with injuries to Manny Fernandez, Patrice Bergeron, Tim Thomas and Glen Murray over the course of the year. Just like the Islanders, they’ve also had problems scoring. Nonetheless, they still have players like Marc Savard, Phil Kessel and Zdeno Chara that can’t be allowed any space on the ice. If they get the space they need, they will burn the Islanders every chance they get.

The key to an Islanders victory tonight will be their physicality. If guys like Trent Hunter, Brendan Witt, Sean Bergenheim and Freddy Meyer can establish a physical presence and lure the Bruins into some dumb penalties, the Isles powerplay will then have to finish the job. If they’re aren’t a lot of penalties, this game is going to be a tight one, as these teams are extremely similar [despite the fact that the Isles don’t have a real first line and the Bruins have a legitimate first line center].

Tim Thomas is coming off of a really start as well, giving up four goals in two periods against the Canadiens. The other goalie on the Bruins Alex Auld, gave up four goals on seven shots. If the Isles can pepper the net with shots, play physically and get an early lead, this is going to be a fun game to watch if you’re an Islander fan. However, like the game against Edmonton a few weeks ago, if the Isles don’t take advantage of opportunities and give the dangerous players on the Bruins room to shoot, it doesn’t matter who is in the net, the Isles will be in deep trouble.

Last year at the All-Star Break, I’m pretty sure the Isles won their last game to get to the .500 mark. This year has been quite different as far as the win total goes through the first 50 games of the season, but the situation is the same. The Isles are on the brink of not making the playoffs and need to start playing as consistent as they possibly can. Getting the win tonight is a good way of starting that process.

I know I’ve said that players like Ruslan Fedotenko and Josef Vasicek are on pace for their usual numbers this year, but I forgot to mention that they’re getting more ice-time this season than they’ve pretty much ever gotten over the course of their NHL careers. They need to start producing more. There’s no other way to say it.

Sure, people like Richard Park, Tim Jackman and Blake Comeau are working their tails off every night, grinding it out in the corners and Bill Guerin is starting to score more, but the people that the Isles spent money on last season need to start producing. Fedotenko’s scored 26 goals in this league before and with the ice time he’s getting, he should have twice as many goals as he has now. Vasicek, on the other hand, needs to park his rear in front of the crease more.

During yesterday’s game, he was taking low percentage shots, instead of looking to start a cycle and get in front of the net. Then, once he and his line started to cycle, Vasicek was auditioning as Wayne Gretzky behind the net instead of getting in front of the net and scoring garbage goals.

However, despite the play of Fedotenko and Vasicek over the past few weeks, Miroslav Satan has been the biggest offensive disappointment on this team. He’s showed flashes of brilliance at times, and yesterday he was playing well in both ends, but he has to start to develop some type of consistency and start scoring. Satan is supposed to be a sure-fire 30-goal scorer. This season though, he’s been on pretty much every line the Isles have because he can’t get going for any prolonged period of time. If Vasicek starts doing his thing in front of the net and Sean Bergenheim can start finishing as well, Satan will have things much easier. Nevertheless, despite Vasicek’s size and Bergenheim’s tenacity, Satan is obvious the skill player on that line and it all starts with him.

If this team can start producing more on offense, they can begin to separate themselves from rest of the other mediocre teams in the East that are barely hanging on to their playoff hopes. They have an All-Star goaltender; they just have to start supporting him more.

However, on the other side of the ice, the Islanders have a few players playing great hockey right now as well. Bill Guerin has 12 goals and 15 points in his past 19 games, while Mike Sillinger has nine points in his past nine. Mike Comrie also has 11 points in his 12 games. Sure, those numbers pail in comparison to the offensive juggernauts on the Flyers, but at least this team is starting to get steady contributions from the players they need to.

Earlier in the season, getting consistent offense from anyone besides Comrie was pretty much a crapshoot. Now at least the Islanders, who have a half-dozen players over the 20-point mark, have more options than before. The cataylistic [I just made up that word by the way] play of Richard Park has also helped the Isles get some points on the board this season. As a result, teams may have to start preparing differently against them.

Now, if they could only get Miroslav Satan, Josef Vasicek and Sean Bergenheim to finish on the ice a little more, then they’d be solid.

I’ve also been having conversations with people lately about how disappointed they are in the play of a certain Islander… named Ruslan Fedotenko. As far I’m concerned, I think he just started the season hot. He’s on pace for a 14-goal, 40-point season. Last time I checked, that’s pretty much what he does every season. Sure, it would have been nice for him to break out and score 30 goals this year, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.

Just like Fedotenko, Vasicek too started his season playing very well and cooled off. Looking at where his season is going, he’s on pace for the type of season he usually puts in and will probably have anywhere from 15-18 goals and 30-35 points. Again, just like Rusty, Vasicek has the potential to score more goals and be a more complete player, but I don’t think that is going to happen this year either.

Out of the bunch of these players though, I think Bergenheim and Satan are the biggest disappointments. Bergie works his tail off every night and gets plenty of opportunities, while Satan is supposed to be a top-line winger. Instead, hasn’t been able to finish and has been on more lines this year than a fat man at Dunkin Donuts.

If these guys can start to contribute more and Guerin, Comrie and Sillinger can stay consistent, this team shouldn’t have a problem scoring goals.

Against a team with the offense of Philadelphia, the Isles better hope these players start producing tonight.

Just like Ottawa, the Canadiens have plenty of scoring options and have depth at both forward and defense. Goaltending also isn’t an option. Cristobal Huet is one of the most underrated goaltenders in the NHL and Carey Price is having a solid season as the team’s backup. Again, just like the game the other night, this is going to be a good test for the Islanders and it’s going to come down to how well they can take advantage on the powerplay and how effectively they can take the body.

With both Radek Martinek and Brendan Witt still on the shelf, youngsters Bruno Gervais and Chris Campoli have to step it up in both ends of the ice [Campoli hasn’t been contributing on offense much lately after starting the season on fire], while Freddy Meyer and Bryan Berard have to play solid in their own end and make smart plays in the neutral zone. Injuries are just something that every team in the NHL has to deal with and the Islanders are no different. The only question is, can the Islanders continue to get consistent performances from their sixth and …gulp seventh defensemen until Martinek and Witt are ready to come back?

I think that this is going to be a tricky question to answer. Berard and Meyer haven’t gotten a ton of playing time this season, but seem to be getting better after every game. However, they lack the defensive and skating ability of Martinek and the overall grit and vigor that Witt brings to every game. Simply put, these guys are going to have to continue to rise above the flaws in their games [Berard’s defensive game and Meyer’s lack of polish in both ends and inability to make himself noticeable] and make themselves the players the Isles need them to be right now. This is the kind of situation is one that both of them, if they can take advantage of, can increase their value as players and either cement their roles on the team or allow them to be traded and get the Isles some help on the forward lines.

With a bunch of players looking at unrestricted free agency and the Isles having some cap space, things can get done at the trading deadline. If Berard and Meyer can step it up, things may be that much easier for the Isles to get something done.

For a guy that’s been labeled as a power forward, he can pass extremely well. I also like what I’ve seen from his skating as one of his goals he has already came from just taking the puck up the ice, drawing a defenseman near him and firing a rocket that deflected off the D-man’s stick and went in. You can’t teach hockey instincts like that and it seems the Isles won’t even have to try with Okposo. Okay, no more hyping the kid up, we’ll see what he has in store for us as the season goes on. Could it be he ends up with the team this season? Guess we’re just going to have to wait until the trading deadline to see if the Isles deal any of those players that will be free agents at the end of the season.

As far as today’s game is concerned however, there will be no second guessing or waiting for anything to happen; that is, if the Isles hope to come out with a victory. Simply put, this Senators team scares the crap out of me. They have it all, two goaltenders most teams in the league would love to have, plenty of primary scoring threats, a host of solid role players who can contribute and a defense that can contribute on both sides of the ice. Considering that, there’s a reason why this team is leading the charge in the Eastern Conference; they are the real deal.

So if you ask me if the Isles can beat this team playing their kind of high-energy game, even the hardcore fan in me would laugh in your face, while the journalist side of me would try to find a way to say it formally. If the Isles get in penalty trouble early and get down a few goals, this will be over faster than Kip Brennan’s fight the other night [If you haven’t seen it, it’s on Isles TV]. However, if the Isles can play their game, which means cycling the puck, staying out of the box and taking the body, they’ll have more than a fighting chance.

We’ll see how it goes.

So what does this mean for the Islanders? It means that despite the inconsistent play, injuries along the way and lack of scoring, they still have as much of a shot at getting into the playoffs as anybody. They just have to get back to what was so successful for them earlier in the season and they need to get more scoring. That’s the bottom line. While the defense has been sloppy at times, it’s never been too much of a concern and Rick DiPietro is an All-Star for a reason. He’s done everything in his power to keep this team afloat and if they could start to get more offense, then things wouldn’t be so bad.

Against a team like Calgary, with a ton of offense on both their forward lines and the blue line, the Isles are going to have to play solid defense and stay out of the box. Unfortunately for Islander fans, Flames defenseman Adrian Aucoin may miss the game, as he is day to day with a groin injury. Coming off two horrendous years with the Blackhawks, Aucoin already has seven goals and 22 points, shrugging off the naysayers last season who thought he was finished. I remember last season when the rumors surfaced that the team may have been interested in trading for him. Considering how flimsy the defense has been at times and how badly this team needs a defenseman like Aucoin, who can play well in both end of the ice, I still think that would have been a great deal for the Isles.

This will be the first look Isles fans get at Eric Nystrom however. He was hit in the face with a puck on Tuesday, but that shouldn’t stop him from being in the lineup today. With only one goal in 34 games this season, it’s fair to say his rookie season in the NHL has been a disappointment thus far, but it should still be cool to see him on the ice.

But anyway, the Isles will need to start finishing on offense soon or players like Ruslan Fedotenko, Josef Vasicek and Miroslav Satan [who was moved to the top line the other night and didn’t seem to playing much better] can officially put themselves on the trading block. However, like I said earlier, with things being as close as they are right now, you wonder who they’re going to be able to get for them. It’s quite a problem to have underachieving players that you might not be able to get anything for at the end of the season.

Hopefully, the Isles can get going on offense and make things a bit easier for DP.

For example, Gagner has four shootout goal winners this season and only three goals in regulation. If that doesn’t spell out inconsistency, then I don’t know what will.

For the Islanders to come out victorious in this game, the mental lapses will have to be kept to the bare minimum. This team has players on every single line that can do damage if they get a breakaway or a get an odd-man opportunity. The only question is how many of those opportunities will they get? However, the Isles can change their recent fortune if they get the offense going. On the other end of the ice, Dwayne Roloson and Mathieu Garon have had mixed success this season and if the Islanders can convert on a few powerplays and start an effective cycle on even strength, they should be able to hang in there.

Throughout the season, this team has given a ton of mixed efforts on the ice. They lose their luster and energy sometimes at the drop of a hat. Hence the reason why they’ve lost the last two games in overtime; they deserved to win in Florida and got the goaltending they needed to come out with two points against the Avs. However, if they can establish the cycle, set the pace and get physical with this young Edmonton team, this could be a really fun game to watch.

Players that need to have big games for the Islanders are Josef Vasicek, Ruslan Fedotenko and Sean Bergenheim. All three of them started the season out strong and have all showed flashes, to only revert back to their inconsistent selves.

Vasicek hasn’t scored a goal since December 15^th and only has two goals since Thanksgiving. Fedotenko started the season out averaging a point a game after the first eight or nine games and is now on pace for another typical 14-goal, 20 assist season of his. For the money the Isles are paying him, 14 goals just isn’t going to cut it. Bergenheim, despite his spunk and vigor, needs to start finishing more. He should have at least eight goals by this point in the season, considering all the opportunities he’s had.

Anyway, like I said, this team has the pieces to score enough goals to get by, but if they don’t start finishing, even teams like the Oilers are going to be able to take them down.

All game, guys like Sean Bergenheim, Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko had opportunities that they didn’t cash in on. Mike Comrie and Richard Park had a combined seven shots on goal, but considering how that line has played lately, you really can’t get on them.

While a few even strength goals would have been nice, the Islanders powerplay was abysmal. They couldn’t get a cycle going and weren’t getting shots through to the net or they were missing the net entirely. By the end of the game, Jose Theodore made only 23 saves and the Avs that were the ones taking a ton of shots. The Islanders defense didn’t help matters either, as it failed to clear the net and Colorado got on the scoreboard and after the midway point of the game, just lost their spunk. Colorado was skating all over them and even though DP should have stopped the Marek Svatos backhand that ended the game in overtime, he can barely be blamed for the Isles losing the game.

Simply put, the Isles need to start converting with the man advantage and need more scoring. We’ve seen that when this team gets three goals a game, they usually put themselves in a good situation to win. However, even with DP in net, one goal from a fourth liner isn’t going to cut it if this team wants to make the playoffs.

In other news, Kyle Okposo has been assigned to Bridgeport. However, if the Islanders play a couple more one-goal games like this, I don’t expect him to stay there very long. The only question is, who do you send down? Andy Hilbert has played excellent hockey since being moved down to the fourth line and Blake Comeau and Tim Jackman have both been solid.

As far as I’m concerned, it comes down to how much you’ve invested in these players. Comeau was drafted here and will be given every opportunity to prove his worth. Hilbert is one of Ted Nolan’s favorite players and is another one who won’t get benched. Jackman however, was a depth signing over the summer and despite the fact that he’s filled in nicely and has earned his spot on the fourth line, may get send back down in favor of Okposo.

After that though, the only question is, where do you put him? For my money, I’d throw him right on the first line with Comrie and Bill Guerin. Sure, Park has played well over the past few weeks and deserves the extra playing time, but he’s always been a fourth liner and will still be able to contribute from there, especially with the way Hilbert and Comeau have been playing lately. However, I think it would only be fair if Park continued to get some playing time on the powerplay. He’s been too good lately to just play even strength and on the penalty kill.

Now that I’ve given my sentiments on the Okposo situation, where do you think he should play? And would you call him up now?

Yesterday, I couldn’t fathom how the Islanders could blow something this routine, especially considering the fact that this is their franchise player we’re talking about and the Isles have a pretty damn good equipment manager in Scott Boggs. Now it seems that it was actually NHL that flubbed it. All I can say is things like these are why the NHL isn’t taken seriously by a lot of people anymore and why Gary Bettman never seems to have many fans at any given time.

Now that we’ve established the fact that DP will be available to play, it makes sense to talk about the team’s opponent today in the Colorado Avalanche. This isn’t your normal Colorado team by the way, as they’ll be without both Ryan Smyth and Joe Sakic. Nonetheless, they still have a few players that need to be addressed on defense in order for the Islanders to come up with two points.

Paul Stastny is already a point a game player who can take over a game. Milan Hejduk is a proven goal-scoring commodity in this league and players like Marek Svatos, Andrew Brunette and Wojtek Wolski can all hurt you if you give them a chance. Then add in solid defensemen like John Liles, Scott Hannan and Bret Clark and you have a team that can still be a force.

However, despite their depth on the forward lines and skill in the defensive end, their goaltending has been suspect at times. For the season, their goaltenders have a combined save percentage under .900. That means if the Isles can pepper the net, get a cycle going and get a few powerplay opportunities, they should be in good shape. The way Mike Sillinger, Bill Guerin, Mike Comrie and Richard Park played the other night offensively, the Isles look like they’ll have another productive night in the offensive end, the only question is can some of the other Islanders pick it up too?

When was the last night time Josef Vasicek or Miroslav Satan scored a goal? Can Sean Bergenheim, Ruslan Fedotenko and Trent Hunter start finishing more? If they get in front of the net and can be a thorn in the side of the Colorado defense, especially the big Hannan, these guys could have some success tonight.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

]]> http://www.thedriveforfive.com/2007/12/19/buffalo-pre-game-thoughts-wheres-the-passion-i-want-four-lines/feed/ 0 http://www.thedriveforfive.com/2007/12/15/isles-pens-pregame-thoughts/ http://www.thedriveforfive.com/2007/12/15/isles-pens-pregame-thoughts/#comments Sat, 15 Dec 2007 17:04:58 +0000 Patrick Hickey, Jr. http://www.thedriveforfive.com/2007/12/15/isles-pens-pregame-thoughts/ 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.

As of right now, the Isles don’t have one. Sure they work hard on defense, block a lot of shots and take the body, but so do half the other teams in the NHL. In order for this team to make the playoffs and possibly make it past the first round for the first time in 15 years, they have to get a combined effort from everyone on the team.

All season, guys like Brendan Witt, Richard Park, Rick DiPietro and Josef Vasicek have busted their humps and done everything necessary to help the team on the ice. Then you have guys like Andy Sutton, Chris Campoli [who was amazing early in the season and disappeared] and Radek Martinek that have shown flashes, but are just now starting to really play the way the team needs them to. Then lastly, you have the rest of the team, players like Mike Sillinger, Mike Comrie, Chris Simon, Trent Hunter, Andy Hilbert, Bill Guerin, Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko [did I miss anybody?] that can’t finish.

If half of these guys could get a few offensive streaks going, this team would be much better than 14-12-2.The thing that probably grinds my gears about this entire situation though is that combined, these guys have over a dozen 20-goal seasons under their belts. It’s not like they don’t have a history of scoring goals. Hilbert is probably the only player on the list that should be expected to struggle because he’s never been a consistent offensive player in the NHL. Everyone else simply has no excuses.

While the Isles are struggling as of late, the Sabres are a far cry from the team they were last year. This is a team that the Islanders can beat if they play smart on defense are don’t waste time on offense. During their last game, the Islanders were much better on the powerplay and were taking more shots from the point. If they keep that up and the big bodies like Simon, Hunter and Vasicek plant themselves in front of the net, the garbage goals will come. Then the space will start to open up again and Satan, Comrie and Guerin will have the room they need to shoot.

If not, DiPietro is going to have to continue to be the straw that stirs the drink.

Jeff Tambellini was called up yesterday afternoon and was slotted on a line with Miroslav Satan and Mike Comrie. Simply put, chances like this don’t come along too often. Tambellini, who again this season is scoring at a point a game pace for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, may be the spark the Islanders need to get going offensively. If he is, it couldn’t have come at a better time.

As of right now, the Isles offense is anemic as it could possibly get. One of the reasons I think why is because they haven’t been running four complete lines and have been putting pressure on the top three lines to produce. Now, for one of the first times this season, the Isles will be running four lines that all bring something different to the ice. Additionally, for the first time this season, Andy Hilbert is playing where he belongs, the fourth line. With Richard Park and Chris Simon, Hilbert won’t have the pressure of scoring added to his defensive responsibilities, making him more of an asset to the team and making the offense he does contribute more helpful than necessary.

But back to Tambellini…this new line with Comrie and Satan has some pretty interesting possibilities. With Comrie’s passing ability and Satan’s shot, Tamby may have more open ice than he’s ever had in the NHL before. Everyone knows what a good skater he is and that combined with his grit and good hands, this line should be one to look out for.

With that move, the Isles have spiced up their other lines, putting Mike Sillinger on a line with Sean Bergenheim and Trent Hunter and Josef Vasicek with Ruslan Fedotenko and Bill Guerin. Not the most conventional line combinations, but they’re different. That’s what I think this team needs right now. Things just aren’t working right now and every one needs a fresh start. Vasicek’s big body and the work of Fedotenko in the corners should give Guerin some space and adding Bergenheim with Sillinger and Hunter give the Isles a hard working line that can play well on both ends of the ice.

However despite the changes, the Islanders will have to play better defense and get better goaltending than they got the other night against the Thrashers. If they don’t, it won’t matter whose playing with whom. They’ve gotten some mixed results against the Bruins and Tim Thomas this season, so tonight’s new look should provide some interesting hockey.

On top of that, the Islanders defense, which was chipping in a ton of points through the first dozen games, has cooled off as well, making the Islanders the lowest scoring team in the league with no threat of moving out of there for the time being. Guys like Bryan Berard, Chris Campoli and Marc-Andre Bergeron have to start taking more shots especially with the man advantage. Over the past two weeks, it feels like the team as a whole is just clutching their sticks way too tightly.

However, asking DP to play his heart out against a team with such a deep roster will not be easy, but what else can the Islanders do? The defense has been playing very well as of late and like any good hockey team, they have to play to their strengths. If the Isles can someone keep the Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley line off the scoreboard and take the body, all while getting the powerplay going, this could be an interesting game. However, if the Islanders don’t skate and commit lazy penalties, Rick DiPietro is going to be facing a lot of shots and it’s not going to be fun to watch.

While I’ve already mentioned the ineffectiveness of Comrie, Fedotenko and Guerin lately, Mike Sillinger, Trent Hunter and Andy Hilbert, the Isles second line, have only 17 combined points. Coming into today’s game, Spezza has 18 and Heatley has 26. If that doesn’t show how anemic the Islanders offensive attack has been as of late, I don’t know what does.

In all honesty, the only line that has been producing consistent offense this season has been the Islanders third line, as Miroslav Satan and Josef Vasicek have 15 goals between the two of them. If they can get going tonight, that would take some of the pressure of the other lines. Additionally, maybe Fedotenko will start to feed off the hard work of Satan and Vasicek and make that line even stronger than it already is.

We’ll see how things go against Ottawa.

Watching seven one-goal games in a row is a tough job for any hardcore NHL fan, or journalist, but imagine how the Islanders have been feeling lately. It’s almost as if the playoffs started two weeks ago and the team is getting ready to embark on a memorable stretch run. Ok, maybe I’m stretching a little bit, but this team, despite its problems on defense and scoring at times, has managed to play well enough to win.

Like I’ve said before, good teams find ways to win. Make no mistakes about it, this team is good. However, it’s still impossible to know just how good they will be because anything can happen at this point in the season.

Despite that though, you can imagine the smile on my face when I checked out Ross McKeon’s power rankings on Yahoo Sports today and saw that the Islanders are in the number five spot. Respect is a tough thing to earn for any professional sports team playing in a small market, but somehow the Islanders are starting to slowly show the rest of the NHL that they’re no joke.

Later, I even managed to quickly read an article in USA today about the job Garth Snow has done as GM, picking up quality players for less money than the players that were here last season. It’s till funny to me how the media ripped about Snow when he became GM. Now, it seems that he too is starting to gain the respect that he deserves. Aside from giving up Robert Nilsson and Ryan O’Marra for a player that that didn’t sign with the team in the offseason [Ryan Smyth, duh] Snow has done a great job as GM.

As a matter of fact, I probably would have made that deal myself as well. The Isles needed something and O’Marra and Nilsson weren’t ready yet and there were plenty of doubters that never thought they’d develop into the players the Isles thought they’d be. You got to give up something to get something in the business and those prospects were what Edmonton wanted for Smyth.

Done deal.

Anyway, Snow could had laid down and threw up a white flag when Tom Poti, Viktor Kozlov and everyone else ran out of Dodge this summer. He didn’t though and the team now has a solid core of players that want to win. That has everything to do with the hard work Snow and his staff put in this summer.

Anyway, the Isles have another big test tonight against the Canadiens, another team that came into this season with a lot to prove. They’ve gotten good goaltending from both Cristobal Huet and Carey Price this season and have gotten balanced scoring from guys like Alexei Kovalev, Saku Koivu, Chris Higgins and Tomas Plekanek. Actually, on paper, they remind me a lot of the Isles, despite the fact that they have a two-goaltender system. They work hard on both ends of ice and force the opposition to make mistakes. However, the Islanders, in my opinion, are a better team physically and can cycle puck better on offense.

The Canadiens however, have more speed and player better defense and force the opposition to make long passes and take risks to get into the offensive end. In order for the Islanders to be successful tonight, we’re going to have to see the continued grit of players like Sean Bergenheim, Richard Park, Chris Simon and Trent Hunter, with plenty of second chance opportunities in front of the net and some big hits in the corners.

As well, I’d like to see Mike Comrie start to shoot the puck a little bit more. Over the past few games, he’s been looking pass too much. He’s got a great shot and needs to start using it more. That will open the door for guys like Ruslan Fedotenko and Bill Guerin to nab a few garbage goals and will get that line rolling the way they were earlier in the year. The way the other lines have played, the Isles have gotten by with just enough offense. If that first line starts playing the way they were through the first three games, this team will be dangerous.

We’ll see what happens tonight.

However, you know who’s leading the Rangers in goals this season? Michal Rozsival. Yep, it’s true. Ranger fans all over the area should start a church devoted to Henrik Lundqvist. The guy has been that good this season and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. If Lundy is in the net, I think tomorrow will be a tight-checking game where both team’s look to capitalize on the others mistakes. That’s how the last few games have panned out in Islander Country anyway. If Valiquette is the net, the Isles may be able to pepper the seldom-used goalie with shots and score a few. However, considering how close the Isles are in the standings with a few games in hand, you’d expect the Rangers to bring out their best.

Over the past three games, the Islanders play on defense has gotten much tighter and I really see them being led on the ice by Radek Martinek and Brendan Witt. Those guys are just so important in terms of stifling the offensive attack of the opposition. At the same time though, they are so underappreciated by the rest of the NHL that no one besides fans on Long Island see Witt blocking shots and Martinek fighting for loose pucks in the corner and making that first pass out of the zone.

Simply put, the Islanders success the rest of the season may actually depend on how good those two play against the best forwards in the league. They make life so much easier for DP and everyone knows how important he is to the team. Tomorrow against the Rangers, I see Martinek and Witt playing a huge role.

At the same time however, I think Mike Comrie’s line and Mike Sillinger’s line are due for a big game and as we’ve seen in the past, especially last season, the Islanders usually play their best hockey against the Rangers. So with that being considered, it wouldn’t surprise me to see a few goals being scored. However, I will stick to my guns and say that it’ll be a close one.

With that being said, I think the grinders will play a big role in the game as well. I’d really love to see someone like Andy Hilbert, Sean Bergenheim or Richard Park light the lamp and the way their lines have played on defense the past few games, you’d think they’d get plenty of ice time in the game. I see all three of those players scoring a dozen goals this season and there’s not a better place to start putting notches on the belt than against the Rangers. Is there?

I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, but it’s felt like the Islanders haven’t had a back to back game yet this season. After a decent game against the Flyers, where they were missing that one thing to get them over the top, they square off against the Devils at the rock. For some crazy reason, Martin Brodeur still doesn’t have his 500^th win yet, and I’m sure the Islanders will be trying to keep it that way. I know a lot of Islander and Rangers fans aren’t big fans of Brodeur and some even consider him cocky, but take it from someone who has interviewed him, the guy is a class act. When you’re as good as he is, you can afford to be a little cocky.

When I look at DP and the way he presents himself, I see Martin Brodeur, A LOT. However, I think they’re two totally different goalies in two types of situations. I think for a long time, people didn’t know how good Brodeur was because of the players on defense that played their hearts out for him every night. With DP, I think people know he’s good to a fault, but don’t have much respect for him because he plays on a small market team with no superstars on defense or offense. If he manages to win more games than he did last season, I think that motif will really start to change.

However, with that being said, the Islanders will have to pepper the net with shots tonight and force Brodeur to play on his heals, something he’s been doing much more lately since the Devils seem to prefer to acquire top six defensemen from waivers than by drafting or trading for them. If they can keep the puck away from the talented forwards on the Devils and keep the quality shots away from DP, you can chalk up two points to the Islanders.

For some reason against the Penguins and Flyers, the Isles just came up short. They worked hard in both ends, but had moments of softness that took away from their overall game. With a few games in hand on the competition, the Islanders, if they play smart, can start to build a cushion on the other teams in the division. Winning tonight against the Devils would be a great way to start to do that.

]]> http://www.thedriveforfive.com/2007/11/16/the-season-starts-now/feed/ 0 http://www.thedriveforfive.com/2007/11/15/defensive-questions-character-emerging-pens-pre-game/ http://www.thedriveforfive.com/2007/11/15/defensive-questions-character-emerging-pens-pre-game/#comments Thu, 15 Nov 2007 14:53:35 +0000 Patrick Hickey, Jr. http://www.thedriveforfive.com/?p=90 After a disappointing loss to the Flyers on Monday, the Isles now have another solid Eastern Conference team to deal with in the Pittsburgh Penguins. Loaded with offensive depth, the Pens are going to be a solid team for years to come. Nevertheless, they do have a few weaknesses. Marc-Andre Fleury may have won 40 games last season, but is still a ways away from being an elite goaltender in the NHL. If the Islanders pepper the net with shots, they should be able to get a few past Fleury.

Considering how offensive-minded the team is, they make plenty of mistakes in transition and if the Isles continue to work hard in both ends of the ice, they should be more than capable of holding their own. However, if the Islanders make mistakes in their own end and don’t work hard on the boards, similarly to the way they played against Philly, the Isles are doomed to suffer a miserable fate.

The game against Philly proved in my mind that the Islanders can hold their own with any team in the NHL, as long as they stick to their game plan that is. Even without Bill Guerin in the lineup, the Isles were strong on the puck most of the time, and stayed in the game throughout. Not many teams would have been able to play against a team like the Flyers without their captain, and a talented offensive defenseman like Bryan Berard in the lineup, but the Isles did. Like I’ve said a few times already, I don’t think this team has the kind of team that can win a cup obviously, but I do think they can make the playoffs playing this way.

Once they get in the playoffs, everything is different though. With a solid goalie like DP, they could surprise a few people, but then again, I’m absolutely out of mind for talking about the playoffs after 14 games.

Continuing to focus on the current developments of the team, Andy Sutton and Marc-Andre Bergeron’s play in their own end has gotten noticeably better. Ted Nolan said something on the pre-game show the other night that the competition on defense has brought out the best of Bergeron. You have to wonder what’s going to happen once Berard comes back. For my money, I’d start a seven man rotation and depending on what team I was playing, I’d shift around Berard, Sutton, Bergeron and Bruno Gervais. Chris Campoli, Brendan Witt and Radek Martinek do too much on both ends of the ice to be taken out of the lineup, while Sutton, MAB and Bruno are much more one-dimensional.

Anyway, we’ll see how the team comes out against the Penguins. I’m expecting a lot of goals. We’ll see though.

I know it’s early in the season, but it’s definitely an important test nonetheless. If you don’t believe me, just take a look at the teams they’re playing this week. The Rangers, Penguins, Flyers, Devils and Sabres. That’s four good teams in seven days. That’s quite a difference from playing just a handful of games in three weeks, like they have lately. Now, the Isles will have to make sure they have their motors running sort to speak and will have to prove their hot start wasn’t a fluke.

Also, Bill Guerin and Radek Martinek got busted up in the last game and may not be 100% for Philly tonight. That’s not a good situation for the Isles to be in, considering that Shawn Bates, Sean Bergenheim and Bryan Berard are all out too, but are close to coming back. Luckily though, guys like Richard Park and Bruno Gervais have been stepping up their play as of late, making those injuries seem unimportant. The only question is, how long can this group of gritty guys keep it up?

We’ll see tonight against the Flyers.

For my money, I’d be willing to say that this team has the guts and character to win. They may have a bunch of underachievers, veterans past their prime and youngsters with potential, but when you mix all of it together, it equals a winning product. While I don’t believe that this team has what it takes to win a Stanley cup yet, I do think that if they keep this play up they can and will make the playoffs.

Lat year at this time, I was wondering how they were going to put it all together.

Speaking of last year…

Last year in Islander Country: http://www.thedriveforfive.com/?p=84

I vent about how I felt Sean Hill should have been traded [remember how bad he was in the beginning of the season last year?] and that Radek Martinek and Chris Campoli need playing time.

The Drive for Five is now a year old!

It’s crazy to think I’ve been doing this for a year already and all the things I’ve written about. But I digress. This is probably the last thing you guys want to hear. You came here to read about hockey, so let’s get started.

One more day until the Islanders next game and you wonder how they’re going to come out. Tampa Bay is a quick team that relies on Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier for most of their scoring, which means the Islanders may have their hands full. Expect to see Brendan Witt and Radek Martinek playing against them all night long.

Aside from them, the Islanders don’t have much to worry about because the other forward lines on Tampa aren’t nearly as imposing. To be honest, I never quite understood why they never kept Corey Stillman a few years ago, he really gave that team the depth they needed to win the cup. Brad Richards is this generation’s Adam Oates or Craig Janney, the guy is a great passer, but they always put him on a line with scrubs. If they went out and got a good 25-goal scorer to play with him, that team would be 25 times better.

Anyway, the same way Carolina controlled the game the other night because of the Islanders ineptitude on defense and

lack of focus, Tampa Bay, despite their lack of depth on offense, will do the same thing. Guys like Prospal, Boyle and Paul Ranger, who is really starting to develop into a quality offensive defenseman, will bite the Islanders in the arse if they’re not careful.

Keys to the game- Every time the Islanders have played well this season, they’ve consistently drew penalties. Guys like Richard Park, Trent Hunter and Sean Bergenheim have to work hard in the corners and keep their legs moving. If they can do that, the chances with the man advantage will come and the team will generate offense.

As well, Rick DiPietro went puck crazy during the team’s last game and needs to stay in the net. Someone from the Islanders Booster should bring their bungee chords just to play it safe.

If DP stays in the net and the Islanders get a few chances on the powerplay, they should be able to keep pace with the Lightning. A few goals from Mike Sillinger and a few other players struggling wouldn’t be so bad either.

Last year in Islander Country- This is a new segment for the site that I’m going to start today. As many of you may already know, the site crashed at the end of May and as a result, all the old posts were lost from the site. Considering today is the site’s birthday, I’m going to start reposting all of the old pieces, so I can rebuild the site. It will be a slow and tedious process, but it should make for an interesting little side note every day and will be a cool way of seeing where the team was last year in oppose to this season.

Last year at this time, http://www.thedriveforfive.com/?p=60 the Isles defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2, courtesy of some solid play by Mike Sillinger, Shawn Bates and Richard Park and a game winning goal by Alexei Yashin. It was also the game that got the Isles over .500 for the first time of the season after losing five of their fist seven games to start the season.

Record last season at this point in the season 5-4-2-12 points

Record so far this season- 5-4-10 points

Big game against Brent Sutter and the Devils today that could get pretty feisty and may even prove to be a solid test for both teams. I mean, let’s face it, this isn’t the same Devils team that was so dominant a few years ago. Crap it’s not even the team that had over 100 points last season anymore. Gone are players like Scott Gomez and Bryan Rafalski, who helped keep the team afloat and on top over the past five years, replaced by the likes of Dainius Zubrus and Karel Rachunek.

On paper, aside from Martin Brodeur being a better goaltender than Rick DiPietro and having gritty defensive players like John Madden and Jay Pandolfo, I think it’s almost obvious that the Islanders have a better defensive core and forwards than New Jersey. Nevertheless, players like Zach Parise and Brian Gionta cannot be given room on the ice to do their thing. If things get out of hand Radek Martinek and Brendan Witt may be in for a long night.

So far this season, Parise is averaging a point a game and despite having only one goal, he’s continuing to grow as a player and works his tail off. The way this kid plays, the goals are sure to come. Gionta too may be primed for a big game, considering the fact that he only has a goal to his credit this season as well.

However, considering how well the Isles played against the Capitals the other night, with three of the four lines looking like they’re clicking, the Devils may be the ones with their hands full. Johnny Oduya, Paul Martin and Sheldon Brookbank are all decent defenders in their own regard, but they’re no one special that any team in the NHL can’t impose their will upon.

Despite playing well so far this season, players like Mike Comrie and Ruslan Fedotenko will also be asked to put some points on the board, while Mike Sillinger still looks for his first goal of the season. With only eight shots on net through the first seven games of the season, will tonight be his night?

I’m sure I can speak for most Islander fans when I say it would be nice for Silly to break out of his slump the same way Guerin did the other night.

Regardless of that though, if the Islanders continue to forecheck and get in the opposition’s face, they’ll get plenty of penalties called. That’s where their game has started so far this season. The way the powerplay has looked, you have to love their chances not only against the Devils, but anyone. When this team is playing a blue-collar game and skating in both ends, they look like a playoff team. However, as we’ve seen at times this season, if this team doesn’t skate, they don’t look bad, they look horrible.

At this point in the season though, it’s way too early to say which Islander team is going to come to the rink tonight. Regardless, the way both of these teams have so up and down so far this season, this should be an interesting game to watch.

]]> http://www.thedriveforfive.com/2007/10/20/isles-devs-pregame-musings/feed/ 1 http://www.thedriveforfive.com/2007/10/08/park-extended-washington-pregame-musings/ http://www.thedriveforfive.com/2007/10/08/park-extended-washington-pregame-musings/#comments Mon, 08 Oct 2007 16:41:58 +0000 Patrick Hickey, Jr. http://www.thedriveforfive.com/?p=37 Before I get into my usual pregame extravaganza, let me just say kudos to Garth Snow for re-upping Richard Park for another two years.

Simply put, the guy is one of those players that every good team should have. I don’t know if any of you guys remember, but last season, Park took on big Alexander Svitov at the end of an Islanders rout of the Blue Jackets, when he really didn’t have to. The Isles had the game won; Park could have just forgotten about Svitov’s bullying the entire night and spent the night comfortably in bed.

However, Park decided to take the giant on and even though he caught a few haymakers for his trouble, the guy earned mega brownie points in my book and from that point on, I was sold on him.

Not only is the guy a great penalty killer, but he has no qualms about blocking shots and getting dirty in corners if he has to. Let’s face it guys, there was a reason why the fans and coaching staff loved this dude in Minnesota.

The man just sweats passion.

Having him locked up for another two years may not be looked at as a groundbreaking signing by the rest of the NHL, but to me, Park’s play epitomizes the heart of this Islanders team and his presence there is extremely vital to their success. Once Chris Simon comes back as well, Nolan will have more trust in his fourth line and I guarantee we’ll see much more of Park.

Okay, on to Washington…

This year’s Washington team is ready to take their game to the next level. Rather than have guys like Ovechin and Semin play on lines with no supporting cast, the Capitals went out and spent some money this offseason, stealing away Tom Poti and Viktor Kozlov in the process, making them a very potent club offensively. This game could get a little hairy like the season opener, but if the Islanders defense can clamp down like they in the third period of game two, the Isles will be just fine.

This will definitely be a game where a big guy like Andy Sutton can make up for some of his sloppy defensive play thus far because there will be plenty of scoring opportunities.

Line to watch:

Andy Hilbert-Josef Vasicek-Miro Satan

While the “Free Agent Line” was busy scoring goals the first two games, the second line was buzzing at times as well. If Hilbert can continue skating the way he has been and Vasicek gets in front of the net, Satan is going to have plenty of room to maneuver.

What does that mean?

Goals.

Also, I’m really looking forward to seeing Chris Campoli get more time on the powerplay. If the Isles continue to play gritty, they’ll get a few shots with the man advantage and Campo should see some action.

With this guy playing so well, you wonder if the team is ever going to sign Berard.

Anyway before counting chickens, we’ll see how the surging Isles and Campoli play this afternoon.

Let’s Go Islanders.

I think it’s obvious that this year’s team will have a ton of grit and passion, but in all honesty, I am worried that the team will have some problems scoring goals.

What makes me think this way you ask?

Andy Hilbert on the second line, that’s what.

The guy would be a great fourth liner and someone like Jeff Tambellini or Sean Bergenheim would be a great fit in there with Josef Vasicek and Miro Satan, so why throw a defensive forward in on your second line?

I don’t know because simply put, it doesn’t make sense to me that way.

Looking at the Isles forward lines on paper, it feels like they have a first line, two third lines and one fourth. To me, it feels like either someone has to step up or Ted Nolan has something up his sleeve.

Then it hit me.

Hilbert is a lunch paler and both Vasicek and Satan have had problems maintaining solid work ethics on the ice. Ted Nolan has got to be trying to use Hilbert’s energizer bunny qualities as a way of keeping these talented, yet inconsistent players on their toes. Either that or he doesn’t believe Tambellini is ready to stay here on a permanent basis.

Will it work? I have no idea, but I sure hope so.

If that wasn’t enough, I’m also worried about the offensive ability of our defense. Resigning Radek Martinek today to a three-year contract, the Isles defense should be ok offensively if Marc-Andre Bergeron and Martinek stay healthy and get opportunities on special teams, but what’s the deal with Bryan Berard? Is he on the team or what? Last thing I heard, he was practicing with the team, but a agreement on a contract hasn’t been met yet.

Like I’ve said earlier in posts this summer, having a healthy Berard in the Isles lineup can mean big things for the Isles powerplay and their overall success this season. Considering how well they played at even strength last season, any help they can get at special teams will be a huge help.

Aside from all of that, I’m really anxious to see Bill Guerin, Ruslan Fedotenko and Mike Comrie together on the top line. We know what to expect from Guerin, but I really hope that “Tank” and Comrie step up and turn into the players people thought they’d be at this point in their careers.

The Islanders success this season might just depend on it.

I don’t know about you guys, but if this is the last Isles game I get to see until October, I want to see some hard-hitting and tough play in the corners for the entire 60 minutes. As well, I want to see the Islanders maintain a consistent offensive presence and take more than five shots in the last period.

If the Islanders can do that, I really won’t be upset if they fall to the Sabres. Let’s be honest here guys, the Islanders were never supposed to have a chance in this series and the fact that they’ve been in every game played says something to me. With a little more toughness up front and another puck moving defenseman, I think this team can surprise a few people.

However, this series isn’t over yet and a win against the Sabres today could give the Isles a chance to take the series to game seven win a win at the coliseum.

Can it happen?

Stranger things have happened before.

I mean c’mon, we’re living in a world were Michael Jackson is the father of multiple children. I’m sure that if the Isles manage to come back and win this series that the world will still continue to function as we know it.

Despite that however, I hold firm on the belief that this team could have faired a lot better against the Sabres if they had both Radek Martinek and Chris Simon in the lineup. All series, they’ve lacked the ability to break through Buffalo’s blue line and haven’t been in the Sabres faces nearly enough for my taste.

But then again, I do come from the Rich Pilon, Mick Vukota and Steve Webb school of playoff hockey. In all honesty, I don’t think I’d ever be able to hide my love of great checks and tough hockey. Sadly, this series, sans a few hits from Sean Hill, Brendan Witt and Trent Hunter, has been completely void of that.

After Jaroslav Spacek’s elbow throwing at the end of game one, I thought Arron Asham was going to have his name faster than an old lady at a bingo hall; it never happened. After Jason Blake got boarded by Teppo Numminen in game four, I expected to see Brendan Witt drop the gloves with someone; that didn’t happen either. What I’m trying to say here is that the Isles haven’t played as desperate as they needed to during this series and despite getting more than adequate goaltending from both Dubielewicz and DiPietro during the course of the series, they still find themselves on the brink of elimination.

Why you ask?

They haven’t been nearly as physical enough.

If the Isles can go out on a mission and take Buffalo out of the corners and force them to make perfect passes out of their zone, they’ll have plenty of opportunities on offense. However, that alone won’t induce a victory for them. In addition to playing a hard-nosed game, the Isles have to actually hit the net when they shoot, something they failed to do in game four.

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not ready to let this season go down the tubes yet and hopefully the Isles can stick around for at least one more game. I’m at the point where I’m actually contemplating selling my soul to the Robot Devil [Futurama reference, get with it] just to see this season go on for a few more days.

Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

And do it all night long.

Despite the fact that the Islanders still aren’t out of this series, make no mistakes about it, they’re on some extremely thin ice. Failing to amount any serious kind of offense throughout the series, the Islanders have kept themselves out of two games that they could have came out victorious in if they scored a few more goals.

Let’s be honest here, while the Islanders haven’t played their best hockey in this series and have failed to put forth a solid effort for a full 60-minutes, the Buffalo Sabres have totally underestimated them and haven’t played their best hockey either. With that being said, if the Isles can get back on track as soon as possible and reclaim some of the passion they had in game 2, they could still shock the rest of the league and take the Sabres down.

In order for that to happen though, they Islanders need to get the powerplay going.

Unable to break the wall the Sabres have set up along their blue line during the power play, the Isles have been forced to basically play dump and chase with the man advantage and haven’t been able to get the cycle going. As well, when they finally get the cycle going in Buffalo’s zone, they’ve been passing the puck way too much, instead of taking shots and peppering Ryan Miller, who’s looked far from invincible in the series.

If the Isles can get more than 22 shots against Miller and get some bodies in front of him, they can and will be able to score some goals. However, in order to maintain the puck long enough to get it into the Sabres zone, the Islanders need to play physical and have to attack Buffalo’s defensemen, who have been playing a huge role in the team’s offense during the course of this series.

If the Sabres defenseman can’t make the first pass out of their zone, the Islanders are going to have a ton of chances on offense. As well, they’ll limit the load on DiPietro, who’s been forced to make over 30 saves a night all season. Despite the fact that it’s obvious that DP can handle the workload, giving the opposition the opportunity to take that many shots seriously limits the Islanders puck possession time and time in the attack zone, therefore eliminating any chance the team has at amounting any type of serious offense.

In the end, tonight’s game will come down to how desperate the Islanders are willing to play. Do they want to fight in the corners and skate as hard as they possibly can and hang on Buffalo all night long, or do they want to sit back and kill penalties and watch the Sabres skate again?

I guess we’re going to have to wait and find out.

Knowing that, it seems that Islanders head coach Ted Nolan isn’t going to take any chances and is going to bench anyone that isn’t up to the task.

One of those players in game 2 was Alexei Yashin.

Anyone else notice that Yashin got barely any playing time in Game 2? I did. Looks like Nolan is going through the same things that Peter Laviolette, Steve Stirling and Brad Shaw all had to deal with at one time or another, as Yashin’s play in the playoffs so far has been lackluster to say the very least.

Despite going through similar stretches during the regular season, it’s kind of hard to argue with 50 points and a +6 in 58 games. Maybe I’m stretching here, but if Yashin doesn’t get hurt down the stretch, maybe he leads the Isles in scoring and the team doesn’t have to fight as hard as they did to get into the playoffs.

For the time being though, guesses and hunches about what Yashin could have done aren’t going to help the team now. Going into the playoffs, I thought Yashin was at least going to have a little bit more jump in his game than he’s had now, considering that he had. Aside from drawing a penalty in game two, what has Yashin done so far in this series?

Not much.

It’s kind of sad when you think about how things have gone with Yashin. Here we have a guy that was supposed to give this team the kind of offensive presence they haven’t had since Ziggy Palffy got traded and aside from a decent first year with the Isles in 2002, what else has he done? I mean, sure, you can say that the guy didn’t have a consistent pair of linemates for a majority of the time he’s been here, but what about now? Viktor Kozlov and Miroslav Satan aren’t exactly Oleg Kvasha and Brad Isbister; they have talent and have proven it time and time again over the course of their careers. I may be stretching here, but they may be two of the best players Yashin’s ever played with.

In Ottawa, Yashin’s favorite linemate was Shawn McEachern. Last time I checked, Kozlov and Satan could skate rings around that guy. With the goaltending situation taken care of and the Isles having noticeably more jump, it’s time that Yashin starts playing the kind of hockey he was playing in the beginning of the season.

That means keeping his legs moving and getting himself in a position where he can use his shot. There’s a reason why NHL scouts still think that Yashin is one of the most talented players in the league; that’s because he is. However, his talent has never been under question. Sadly, his lack of desire has.

Let’s face it, he’s the captain of this team; it’s time for him to start leading by example. If not, the Isles are going to have a tough time taking the Sabres down.

Like I said yesterday, the Islanders need to get back to the gritty, blue-collared and physical game that got them into the playoffs and have to stop trying to beat the Sabres at their own game. That means that guys like Sean Hill, Brendan Witt, Trent Hunter, Arron Asham and Chris Campoli need to start throwing their bodies around more.

I still don’t understand why this team looked so pensive against Buffalo, were they scared to make huge mistakes and get down early?

Were they intimated by the Sabres skating ability?

Was Buffalo just that damn good on Thursday?

Why I disagree with the later, I do think that the Islanders didn’t want to put themselves in the same situation with the Sabres that they were in on March 30, when they lost 6-4 and found themselves down early. As well, the Sabres are one of the best skating teams in the league and it’s easy to just stand there and watch when a team can do the things on offense that they can do. If the Islanders are going to have any chance at making it to the next round, they have to find a way of stopping the flashy Sabres from finding open ice.
One way of doing that is to start taking the body.

Another way for the Isles to stifle Buffalo’s offensive attack is to have every Islander skate hard, in an effort to outwork the Sabres. How many times this season have we seen guys like Alexei Yashin, Viktor Kozlov and Ryan Smyth draw penalties in the corners because they kept their heads down and kept fighting for the puck? If the Islanders can keep skating, they’ll draw penalties and keep the play in the Buffalo zone, which would give whoever’s playing goal for the Isles a break.

I’ve said it a thousand times this season and I find myself forced to say it again, the Islanders defense needs to try and limit how many shots the opposition takes. I still can’t believe they managed to get this far facing easily over 30 shots a game and if there going to make it further, they have to start playing more aggressively on defense and need to clear the front of the net and not botch any assignments.

If they don’t do that, it doesn’t matter who’s in net.

Speaking of which, tonight the Senators come to town and regardless of what happens tonight, I know one thing: This is going to be a great game. Ottawa has a solid team with Danny Heatley, Jason Spezza and company, but is most likely going to be without their best defenseman Wade Redden, which means the Isles may have an opportunity to take advantage.

However, the scariest thing about the Senators is their depth, as they have nine players with at least 16 points, so the Isles will have to make sure they play tough on both ends of the ice if they want to go home with two pints. This also looks to be a game where players like Shawn Bates, Park and Jason Blake will have an opportunity to use their speed and take advantage of Senators D-men like Tom Pressing, Andrej Meszaros and Joe Corvo, who have pinched in on offense much more than usual this year. 

Hopefully, the Senators throw Gerber in net tonight, because Emery has been solid all season and I’d really like to see another high scoring game. Islander fans really haven’t been treated to a really explosive offensive team since 91-92 and 92-93 when Derek King, Steve Thomas and Pierre Turgeon were scoring all of those goals. This year, if Satan, Blake, Kozlov and Sillinger stay hot and the “new” Yashin comes back strong, the Isles have the potential to have a few players with at least 25 goals. 
But anyway, getting back to tonight’s contest, as long as the Islanders play a disciplined game and stay out of the penalty box, while playing gritty and physical at the same time, I don’t see why they can’t increase their lead in the Atlantic Division. 

Damn that sounds good saying that.  

Let’s go Islanders. 

I hope Gary and Derek are ok after that comment I made about Travis Zajac. In any case, it felt good to be appreciated on the air for my sense of humor and for my amount of hockey knowledge. Gary made a comment during the show asking me if I read a hockey encyclopedia before going on after I mentioned Craig Janney. Brother, I am a hockey encyclopedia, ha-ha. I can’t tell you how much useless knowledge is crammed into my brain when it comes to hockey.

Simply put, Hockey is one of the biggest joys of my life, aside from having a career I love and a beautiful girlfriend that appreciates me. Nothing makes me happier than getting the opportunity to showcase my ability. For that, I owe you guys a firm hand shake and smile for giving me that chance.

Thank you.

OK, MOVING FORWARD TO TONIGHT’S GAME…

The Flyers are in town and the Islanders will have to put their last loss against the Penguins behind them and come out firing on all cylinders. Guys like Trent Hunter, Viktor Kozlov and Miroslav Satan need to start scoring consistently if the Isles are going to make due with Yashin. While some people think the Isles are destined to deflate as the season goes on without Yash, I think that they will get a solid team effort on both sides of the ice and will play well without him.

The Flyers are a team that has gotten some inconsistent goaltending this season and has shown a penchant for not being able to score when the chips are down. It’s so bad that Peter Forsberg and Petr Nedved have only EIGHT GOALS combined this season. However, with big names like this, the Isles need to understand that they can break out at any time and need to stay focused, play a smart game and get some offense.

As I’ve mentioned before, while Yashin is without a doubt the most important offensive player on the team, he’s not the only player that can produce offensively. The Isles have four lines full of solid two-way players that have speed, grit and energy. That’s what wins hockey games. If they come out with some “spunk and jump” tonight, there’s no reason why they can’t dominate the Flyers.

Not because it was Sunday, a day usually dedicated to my relaxation, or even because the Jets managed to win, but because upon visiting NHL.com like I usually do every morning, I saw something I don’t think I’ve seen many times in my life; the Islanders in first place in the Atlantic Division. 
However, what separated this instance from the other times I was fortunate enough to see the Isles in first place was that before, I knew it wouldn’t last long. This time, I think the Islanders are capable of playing even better than their playing right now. Considering the fact that there are a few players on the Islanders that aren’t playing their best hockey at the present time and the entire team has been inconsistent at times, I definitely think this team can stay in first place if they continue doing what they’ve been doing. 

Two weeks ago, I wrote an article for the Kingsman, one of the two college newspapers in Brooklyn College, where I compared all three local teams. It was there where I said that while the Islanders don’t have the offensive attack of the Rangers or the consistent goaltending of the Devils, they have the grit and depth that the other two teams lack. However, the Islanders have had problems with consistency of the past few years and that has kept them from achieving the success many fans have hoped for. 

In spite of the consistency problems, Ted Nolan, over the past few weeks has had this team playing their hearts out every night and has reinvigorated a team that many didn’t expect to make the playoffs. Before the season started, many counted out the Isles due to the emergence of Garth Snow as general manager and the fifteen-year contract that was given to Rick DiPietro. Do you guys hear anyone talking now? I didn’t think so. 

TOMORROW’s GAME… 

The Islanders are a team that has momentum on their side. Aside from the great play of Yashin & Blake, it seems that every night someone else is coming through for them. Tomorrow night, against the Penguins, they’ll need for that trend to continue. I’m figuring now that Miro and Trent have broken out of their slumps that Andy Hilbert will finally get going. 

Everyone else that hasn’t been scoring that much this season at least has a goal and have been hustling consistently [Shawn Bates and Arron Asham come to mind]; I know Andy has a ton of shots on goal his past few games and I admire the guys ability, but enough is enough, this is New York and we want results! You had a decent season last year playing for two horrible teams, it’s time to prove to the rest of the NHL that you’re the real deal Andy, don’t let us down. With Sidney Crosby most likely to be back in the lineup after missing a few with a groin problem, the Isles are going to have to be on top of their collective games. I expect to see a lot of hitting tomorrow as well for the simple fact that the Pens seemed pretty pissed [Noah Welch and Chris Thorburn especially] towards the end of the game a few days back and with Crosby back in the lineup, they’re going to be out for blood. 
Either way, this game looks to be an interesting one. 

Let’s go Islanders.

Consisting of experienced veterans like Mark Recchi, John LeClair and Sergei Gonchar and blue-chip youngsters like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Ryan Whitney, the Pens are a team that shouldn’t be taken lightly. In order to come out with two points, the Islanders will have to have to play similar to the way they played against the Hurricanes, which means staying out of the penalty box, taking the body and playing smart in addition to getting a few goals.
 
TRENT…

Despite not scoring as much as many would like, Trent Hunter has been playing some solid hockey as of late, hitting anything that moves and has exemplified what it means to play smart hockey. If it weren’t for a few goal posts and cross bars, Trent could easily have five or six goals. Nevertheless, Hunter is bound to get going offensively sooner or later and as long as he’s taking the body and playing hard, I don’t mind if he doesn’t score 20 goals this season.

Speaking of players getting going offensively, maybe two empty net goals over the past three games will give Miroslav Satan the confidence he needs to be the sniper the Islanders need be successful. Don’t get me wrong, Miro hasn’t been horrible for us, but he should be all means have at least 8 goals and about 18 points for us by now. There is no reason, with Jason Blake and Alexei Yashin getting most of the attention from opposing defenses, that Miro can’t score 30 goals and add another 35 assists; he just needs to get his confidence back somehow.

BACK TO THE PENS…

If the Islanders we saw on Wednesday night were the real deal, the Penguins don’t stand a chance. During that game, my dad made a comment about how the Isles looked like they were playing playoff hockey.

You’re damn right.

The Isles played the way every hardcore fan knows they are capable of. They played great defense, got good goaltending and scored when they had to and rolled four lines with jump. There’s no reason why they can’t play that way every night, especially with how incredible Yashin, Blake and the goaltending have been. All they need is for the supporting cast to keep their heads up and keep the tempo at the level it’s been the past few games.

However, that’s the weird thing about hockey. One night a team can be phenomenal, going as far to look like a playoff team and the next they can look like the Charlestown Chiefs. Regardless of which team shows up tonight, the game should nevertheless be interesting.

Let’s Go Islanders.

Much like their last game against Toronto, the Isles can not afford to give up a few quick goals and play catch up the rest of the game; rather, they have to establish themselves in the offensive zone and play physically in the neutral zone, in effect forcing the Hurricanes to work for every inch of ice they skate on. The amount of grit players like Trent Hunter, Richard Park, Chris Simon and Arron Asham bring to the ice tonight will be a key ingredient in a victory. As well, Alexei Yashin and Jason Blake will have to continue their hot play as of late and will most likely find themselves matched up against Brind’amour, who is not only the team’s best defensive forward, but is also leading the team in scoring.

This is a great opportunity for the Islanders to reassert themselves after a sloppy game in Toronto, but they will have to play a smart game and not commit unnecessary penalties; that means you Alexei Zhitnik! The season is way too short to take penalties for doing things like slamming your stick against the back of the net because you don’t agree with a referee’s call. I can put up with a hooking penalty that is caused by not skating once in a while, but to do both, especially when your team is trying to claw its way back into a game against a conference rival is unbearable.

The Isles have the depth on defense and on the forward lines that many teams would die for; I mean c’mon, Miroslav Satan isn’t even a top line winger on this team, while anywhere else he’d be without a doubt. It’s time for the Islanders to stop showing flashes of brilliance and start playing consistent hockey. A win against the Hurricanes would keep them on the right track, because truth be told, they’ve been playing solid hockey as of late.

BY THE WAY…

For those of you who don’t know, Wednesday is considered the “hump” day of the week because it marks the middle of the week and tells us writers that we’ve gotten through the rough days and the weekend is almost here. To help add some more content on the site, every Wednesday I’m going to talk about players that are over the hump [meaning playing well] and players that are under it, in an effort to bring out the best and worst of the team for you, my readers.

OVER THE HUMP…

This one is obvious. Playing their hearts out the past four games, Jason Blake, Alexei Yashin and Rick DiPietro have been on top of their games and have kept the Islanders over the .500 mark for the majority of the season.

After suffering a groin injury early in the season, DiPietro has bounced back and played marvelous hockey during his past five games. Alexei Yashin has been hot since the first game of the season and has played extremely well on defense, in addition to bring out the best in Jason Blake. Despite putting up solid numbers the past two seasons, Jason Blake has finally began to get some exposure outside of the Long Island area and in spite of that has still produced a point a game, proving to everyone that he’s the real deal.
 
UNDER THE HUMP…

Through a quarter of the 2006-07 season, Andy Hilbert has failed to score a point. Need I say more? Unlike most of the Islanders, who have found at least one other line mate to consistently play with, Hilbert has been played with everyone from Yashin to Shawn Bates and still has yet to register a point. It’s so bad at this point that the only goal he’s scored this season has come during a shootout.

BACK TO THE GAME…

Take the body, play smart and stay out of the penalty box. I know I sound like a broken record, but if the Islanders can do that, they can play with any team in the league, even the defending Stanley Cup Champions.

Let’s see what they do tonight.

Given that, this is a game that the Islanders can and must win. They have the offensive firepower to hold their own with the Leafs and without Sundin in the lineup, the defense can focus on some of the other players that can hurt them. That will give players like Asham and Hunter the opportunity to lay hits on people like Darcy Tucker.

Getting points in their last five road games, the Isles have been a changed team since they were taken to school by the Lightning a week and a half ago, combining both fantastic goaltending by Dipietro and Dunham with the consistent dominance of Alexei Yashin and Jason Blake has effectively formed the key ingredients of a team that has been simply amazing as of late.

Ted Nolan has got these guys going in the right direction and has them motivated all season. Despite a few hiccups along the way, the Islanders have been one of the sleeper teams in the conference. I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but Stan Fischler so far has nailed it right on the head. Usually the biggest Islanders basher in the tri-state area, “The Maven” said in an article on MSG that the Isles were going to sneak up on teams the same way the Rangers did and like I’ve said already, so far so he’s been totally right and I hope it stays the way all season.

That also goes to tell you that despite the fact that he was practically ripped apart by the media during the off-season, Garth Snow [and Neil Smith] did a pretty decent job of putting a solid team on the ice and Ted Nolan has taken care of the rest.

BACK TO THE GAME…

Hating the Maple Leafs as much as I do, I really want to see the Islanders take the body tonight. Nolan has been rolling four lines consistently and because of that, we should be flying tonight and should put forward a team effort. Look for guys like Witt, Hunter and Asham to insert themselves into the game and fuel a hard fought Islanders victory. If guys like Hilbert and Satan get going offensively, we might even see a blow out.

But let’s see what happens.

Let’s Go Islanders.

I surely hope not.

After shutting out the Stars a few nights ago, the Islanders head into the Sunshine state to tackle Brad Richards, Martin St. Louis and company, looking for a fifth consecutive road win. Like the game against Dallas, a win against the streaky Lightning would continue to increase the Islanders reputation against the NHL’s elite.

In a way, the Lightning and Dallas have some similarities in the fact that they both have hot goaltenders right now in Marty Turco and  Johan Holmqvist, but unlike the Stars, the Lightning have been getting more than ample scoring from their first two lines, making them much more dangerous.

THE KEYS TO THE GAME:

It is essential that the Islanders stay out of the penalty box and take the body as often as they can. This is a game that Trent Hunter, Arron Asham, Chris Simon and Brendan Witt need to assert themselves in. If the Isles can play smart and continue what they’ve been doing the past two games, taking quality shots and using their speed and grit to get scoring opportunities, Tampa Bay doesn’t stand a chance.

But if Lecavalier, St. Louis and company find a way to get open ice, via the power play or sloppy defensive play, the Islanders are going to getting demolished again. Another way the Islanders can guarantee a win tonight is to get some production from people like Andy Hilbert, Victor Kozlov and Miroslav Satan.

While Kozlov and Satan have been streaky at times, Hilbert has been ice cold this season.  The Isles need at least a dozen goals and about 15 assists from our fourth line center and as of now, I don’t see it happening. Nolan has tried everything in an effort to get him going, including throwing him on the second line for occasional shifts and he still has no points this season.

For the Islanders to content this season, they will need all four lines going strong.  Let’s hope it happens.

ON ANOTHER NOTE… 

Alexei Yashin and Jason Blake have been playing amazing and have kept the Islanders in so many games this season. I love that Alexei is passing the puck so well [reminds me of how he was on the Senators] this year and it makes me feel even better that Blake is taking less shots, and scoring more. It’s funny to me that all this time the Islanders have been looking for suitable partners for Yashin and they never thought about Blake until this season.

I guess that’s just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. It’s just going to be hilarious when we look back and see that Yashin had his best season as an Islander when he was paired with a former fourth line pest.