Unfortunately, his effort wasn’t enough, as the Isles offense and forecheck looked flaccid in a 2-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils.

The first period wasn’t so bad, but the next 40 minutes saw the Islanders chasing the puck and failing to get anything going in the offensive zone. Richard Park was perhaps the only Islander to have multiple opportunities, but two crossbars nullified any hopes of him getting on the scoresheet.

The powerplay started off well enough as well, as Doug Weight cashed in after his slap shot hit off a Devils defenseman’s skate and found it’s way to the back of the net. But much like the forecheck and offensive attack, the powerplay tried to get too fancy and spent more time making passes than taking shots. The stellar penalty killing of John Madden also played a role, as he was all over the ice and was clogging up passing lanes.

Overall, the “Over Speed” system set up by new Islanders coach Scott Gordon wasn’t really a factor, simply because the Isles weren’t playing solid hockey. They were too busy watching the Devils play their game that they couldn’t play their own. We’ll see how things go over the new few weeks before I really share my thoughts on whether or not this team can play an up-tempo style.

On another note, despite the fact that he drew two penalties on the night, I don’t know if any hockey pundit could rationalize how Andy Hilbert managed to squeak his way into the lineup in favor of Blake Comeau. Is he hurt or am I missing something here? Aside from setting up Jon Sim for a decent opportunity in the second, Hilbert shanked a wide open opportunity of his own in the second, proving once again that he is not a finisher in this league.

Speaking of guys that have had trouble finishing for the Islanders, when will Mike Comrie stop using the toe drag? I counted three times tonight that he tried the move and all three times, he got his pocket picked. In order for this team to make the playoffs this season, Comrie, alongside guys like Doug Weight, Bill Guerin, Trent Hunter and Mark Streit, will all have to contribute on offense.

That didn’t exactly happen last night and that’s one of the reasons why the Islanders went home without a win.

Photo by NHL Media.

Thompson on the other hand, is a guy worth looking at, especially with injuries to Mike Sillinger. He’s put up some decent numbers in the AHL and was one of Scott Gordon’s players, making him already comfortable with his up-tempo system. If the chips fall in the right places, Thompson could be an interesting guy to watch and at 24 years of age, he has at least this season and next before the ceiling on his development begins to truly close. You can’t say the same thing about Hilbert though; he already has over 200 games of NHL experience under his belt and as I’ve said before, is someone that the Islanders know what is capable of.

As far as what this does for the Islanders this season, I think it’s fair to say that Thompson’s appearance doesn’t change the outlook on the season. Simply put, Jeff Tambellini and Kyle Okposo have to develop in both ends of the ice this season, and Bill Guerin and Doug Weight need to prove they still have some gas in their tanks. Brendan Witt will be asked to bounce back from injuries and even the steady Radek Martinek will have to try to show people he’s more than just a solid defensive defenseman.

Above all else, Rick DiPietro will have to laugh at the words of the hockey pundits around the NHL and show them he can be a top five goaltender in this league and in spite of a less than mediocre offense, can win hockey games.

Of all the team’s in the NHL, the Devils have been a team the Isles have played well against over the past few seasons and a team that will be a good test as to what to expect from this ragged group of misfits this year.

Let the times, good or bad, roll.

Photo by the NHL.

http://islanders.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=385315

Well, now that that’s out of the way, here are my thoughts:

Anyone that doesn’t like that first round pick Josh Bailey ended up making the team is out of their minds. Sure, the Islanders have a host of veterans on the team this season, but with Bailey’s cup of coffee this season, combined with getting to see Kyle Okposo, Jeff Tambellini, Sean Bergenheim, Blake Comeau and possibly even Jack Hillen develop, this team has the potential of being very fun to watch.

Are they going to make the playoffs? Who knows. If these young kids can play well enough and guys like Bill Guerin, Mark Streit and Doug Weight can pull their “weight,” then this team may have a shot to surprise a few people. Again, much like the last few seasons, the team won’t be expected to do much, but like I said, if they can stay healthy and get contributions from everybody, these misfits will challenge for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Much like the team two seasons ago, the Islanders will need to get offense from all four lines in order to be successful. Can it happen? Asking Andy Hilbert to be consistent every night on offense will be bad enough, but players like Frans Nielsen and Richard Park will have to be steady and score about a dozen goals as well. Can that happen? Stranger things have happened before.

Getting Rick DiPietro back the other day is also a sign of good news, even though his play in the team’s final exhibition game was far from solid. The team’s vocal leader and general on the ice, DP will be counted on again to lead the charge. With Radek Martinek and Brendan Witt around though, DP will have one of the best defensive tandems in the league on the ice for 25 minutes a game. Despite that, no one really knows who will fill in for Chris Campoli and Andy Sutton through the first handful of games, making the Islanders last pair of defensemen a toss up. For my money, Jack Hillen and Freddy Meyer may be the best way to go, considering Hillen’s upside on offense and Meyer’s physical ability and knack for playing smart in both ends. Bruno Gervais may be the best skater of the remaining defensemen and Thomas Pock may have the most offensive ability, but Hillen and Meyer have the poise in my mind to keep the team above water until Campo and Sutton are ready to come back.

At any rate, we’ll see what Scott Gordon decides to do tomorrow in the season opener.

I don’t think anyone will ever think that way ever again after this piece.

In the piece in question [you can read it here http://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/islanders/ny-sphow055870698oct05,0,5909873.column], Howard writes a overly-scathing column about how bad things are on the Island right now, using the type of language I’d expect in a conversation between two hockey fans and not a seasoned writer.

For example:

The Isles’ new young coach, Scott Gordon, was a winner with Providence of the AHL and is actually installing an aggressive system his players have been raving about. And that could be fun to watch. Gordon could be a bright up-and-comer, same as Peter Laviolette was here once upon a time.

Was that you screaming as if a toaster just fell in the bathtub, or am I hearing things?

The last line there is simply overkill. Even in a column. It sounds like a Ranger fan who finally got an opportunity to write a column about how much she hates the Islanders. Not what I expected to read on a Newspaper’s website.

I could deal with that though, mainly because it is a column and everyone does things their own way when they have creative car blanche. However, Howard seems to enjoy taking her readers to the limit and continues to bash the team even more as she goes on. As the piece goes on however, she begins to lose her luster and it really hurts her credibility.

Check these out:

Rooting for the Isles now puts you in the same company as those hardy Pittsburgh Pirates fans, who will be back to pull for their club next season as the Pirates go for a big league-record 17 straight losing seasons, or those long-suffering Cubbie diehards who were back on the ledge after just one game - one game! - of their Division Series against the Dodgers.

Wow, this is way too an over-exaggeration here. For the record, in their history, the Islanders have had 15 losing seasons and no more than seven in a row. This is extremely bad reporting here and way too sensational to be taken even remotely seriously. I know that most columnists like to annoy readers where they write pieces like this, but they do it with a knowledge and a tact that their readers can and will never have. Reading this part of the piece makes it obvious that Howard lacks these abilities as well.

Strike one.

The Isles’ best young player, Kyle Okposo, projects as a serviceable player but not a huge star.

Anyone that would say that Kyle Okposo only projects to be a serviceable player in this league is out of their mind and should not be allowed to write hockey. Guys like Richard Park, Blair Betts and Mike Rupp are serviceable players. Okposo is going to be a bona fide 20-goal scorer int his league and with some help, can be even better. Will he be a star? Probably not, but serviceable is way too low an estimation for someone this talented. Anyone that has spoken to people who have seen him play [check out the scouting report I wrote a few months back with Ross Bernstein] or with a knowledge of the sport should know better than this.

Strike two.

To players and agents, the Islanders have become an NHL stop of the last resort. The sharpest proof lately was how Ryan Smyth, a character player the Isles gave up a gaggle of players for and hoped to build around, couldn’t get out fast enough after coming here for an 18-game cameo during the season.

OK, I can deal with the last resort comment, but Howard again fails to make a strong point and instead tries to piss the reader off with snare. First off, Smyth left the Islanders because he wanted to play with Joe Sakic. Any knowledgeable fan knows this, so why does Howard fail to mention this? Because she’s either not in the know, or she chooses to avoid the truth for the purpose of getting her point across. As the Sports Editor of a bi-weekly, I can tell you that this paragraph is a disaster. Even a column has to be fact-checked or tightened and this piece is living proof. On another note, what in the hell is a gaggle? Why not just say Robert Nilsson and Ryan O’Marra? It makes me wonder if Howard even knows who these players are.

Also, why not mention that Nilsson is going to be the serviceable player O’Marra is coming off the worst season of his career? Hmmm, maybe because Howard has no idea what she’s talking about and is instead regurgitating every thing she’s read on Yahoo Sports on the team over the past year.

Strike three.

Newsday, what were you thinking? This is something that I could have read on BleacherReport.com or something. You guys are so much better than this. Katie Strang and Greg Logan do a great job of covering the Islanders. Keep them busy instead of forcing your readers to this kind of nonsense.

The only question is how effective can he be?

Having only seen a few scarce videos of him and read what the scouts have said, I may not be the best person to answer that question, but I think it’s fair to say that Bailey is someone that does much more than numbers can indicate. He’s a skilled two-way winger at the junior level and while he’s still a youngin’ in hockey years, sticking around this long in camp has to mean something, doesn’t it? If he does in fact make the team out of camp, I’m not going to get my hopes up on him, as he’ll most definitely play eight or nine games before being sent back to his junior tam in Windsor, but I will pay close attention to what he does on the ice so I can see what his future can be with the Isles.

While the Bailey signing was big news, having Rick DiPietro back on the ice is probably the best news all training camp. Like I’ve said a bunch of times on the site already, DP is the team’s best player and if he isn’t on the ice, it’s going to be extremely difficult for this team to thrive.

From the looks of it, Rico is happy to be back as well.

“It’s been a long time,” said DiPietro, on the team’s official site. “This is the longest I’ve gone without playing an organized hockey game. It was really exciting today. Sitting in the stall it was good to get the adrenaline going again. I went out there and felt like I was at the Coliseum in front of 17,000 fans. I was just that excited to be out there.”

On another note, I’d just like to tell everyone about my new site, AcesOverBrooklyn.com. In June, Aviator Sports announced that an Eastern Pro Hockey League franchise was coming to Brooklyn and like many people, I was thrilled. Being an Islander fan in Brooklyn is not an easy task and sometimes I wonder what would have happened to be growing up if I wasn’t built like Brett Lindros. At any rate, while I love writing my thoughts on the Islanders and while I will continue to do so, I will also be covering the Brooklyn Aces this season. You see, while being a pundit is fun, it’s not nearly as rewarding as being a full-fledged journalist. Being the Sports Editor at Bay Currents newspaper in Brooklyn as well affords me the opportunity to do so much more than share my thoughts; it allows me to be a provocateur of truth. And that’s exactly what I plan to do over there this season. If you guys have the chance, come check it out.

Who’s Hurt:

Chris Campoli
Andy Sutton
Mike Sillinger
Rick DiPietro

Who’s Nursing Injuries:

Bill Guerin
Richard Park
Sean Bergenheim
Doug Weight

This simply is not good.

However, as far as the defensive situation goes, the Islanders are lucky that they have players like Bruno Gervais, Freddy Meyer, Jack Hillen and now even Thomas Pock [who has some pretty solid seasons in the AHL under his belt and may be even be able to help out on the powerplay if given an opportunity] who can fill in until they’re healthy. With Hillen in the wings as well, Sutton’s injury may be a blessing in disguise. On the other hand, the Islanders, who are already far from the toughest team in the league, need a tough guy who can clear the crease like Sutton can.

The forward situation isn’t quite the same though.

Sillinger’s absence creates a huge hole at center [which I've already discussed at length in older posts] and if Weight and Guerin are forced to play all season injured, the Islanders are going to have a very tough time scoring goals. With no real first line as it is, this has the potential of really making this season an eyesore. The only way the Isles make it out of this okay is if these injuries are minor ones [as per Islanders policy, no one really knows how bad the injuries really are] or if guys like Jeff Tambellini [who is also recovering from a lower body injury] and Kyle Okposo can play consistent offensively in their first full seasons in the league.

That’s not asking a lot is it?

For those who can’t tell, I’m being sarcastic.

Bergenheim and Park’s injuries have the potential to be devastating as well, considering the fact that they are the heart and soul of the bottom two lines and are great penalty killers. They provide such a jolt of energy and can even pot a few here and there, making them huge commodities on any team, nevertheless a team fighting to form an identity. These two I’m not as worried about as Guerin and Weight though.

Let’s face it, they’re not the youngest guys in the league anymore and the Isles desperately need offense. They both have something to prove, as Guerin cooled off in the second half last season and Weight had the worst season of his pro career in 08. If they come back and can contribute, they’ll provide a lift in the locker room and on the ice.

If not, this is going to be a very long season.

Nevertheless, it’s great to see guys like Frans Nielsen and Trent Hunter scoring goals. With a lack of a huge offensive presence again this year, this team is going to need a good dozen to 15 players scoring 25-35 points, who can play their part on both offense and defense if they are going to be competitive. That kind of balanced attack is going to be the only thing that’s going to be able to support DiPietro in net.

With that being said, I really feel Scott Gordon’s philosophy can turn some of the third and fourth liners into better players and give the Islanders that kind of balance because good things happen to teams that skate hard every night. Looking at the team’s bottom six forwards, players such as Richard Park, Sean Bergenheim, Neilsen, Andy Hilbert and it’s easy to see that they have the speed to play within the system and eventually thrive.

Now, that I’ve gotten the meat of my post out of the way, I feel the need to vent:

As I said before, it seems like the Islanders are catching on with Gordon’s coaching philosophy, but most Islander fans aren’t able to see it unless they want to shell out dough to watch them in person. Rarely do I ever attempt to sound like an agitated fan, but enough is enough. Why aren’t the Isles’ preseason games on television? Every single Rangers preseason game is on MSG, so why can’t the Isles get at least half of theirs on the tube? You read books like Alan Hahn’s “Fishsticks” and there’s all this talk in there about how lucrative the Islanders TV deal is. Well, if it really was, then why can’t I find a game on television?

The rebuilding plan aside, there is no reason why this team should not be on TV during the preseason. I swear, the fans of this team have had to put up with so much over the past 15 years that the organization should go out of it’s way to make sure that the little things, like preseason games, get put on TV.

OK, I’m done.