As many of you guys know, I am currently covering the Brooklyn Aces of the EPHL for Bay Currents Newspaper and my own Aces site, AcesOverBrooklyn.com. During that time, I ran across James Brannigan, a Dyker Heights, Brooklyn-native that lit the league on fire, scoring 35 points in just 17 games. Recently signed by the Utah Grizzlies, the ECHL affiliate of the New York Islanders, Brannigan is setting his sights on being a part of the team’s rookie camp next season.

Last week, I interviewed the feisty sniper over the phone to hear about his crazy season on AOB. Here’s the post for you guys to check out:

Before a single puck was dropped at Aviator Arena this season, James Brannigan seemed like a perfect fit for the Brooklyn Aces.

Looking for a place to thrive after being used in defensive roles at Colorado College and the ECHL that didn’t show off his 97 mph slapshot, Brannigan needed a change of scenery and a chance to prove just how talented he really was. Playing amazing hockey during his time in his hometown, Brannigan was leading the league in scoring with 22 goals and 35 points when he was called up to the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL on Dec. 29 .

Now just a heartbeat away from the AHL and even the NHL, Brannigan has seven points in 12 games with the Grizzlies. Chatting over the phone from Utah in this exclusive interview done last night, Brannigan talks about his time in Brooklyn this season in addition to his hopes for the future and how he’s enjoying his time in the Mid-West.

Check it out!

As always, you can listen directly here at:
http://media.switchpod.com//users/patrickhickeyjr1/AcesOverBrooklynPodcastJamesBranniganInterview.mp3

Or you can download the file on to your I-Pod or I-Phone here:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=294739484

Photo by Patrick Hickey Jr.

Posted under 2008-2009, Scouting Report

Forgive my semi-off-topic rant in the beginning, I promise it’ll get somewhere by the end!

When I first became a journalist, I was told by another writer a few years my senior that by just being at games, you learn things that fans could kill to know and by just being at those games, you never know what stories you can get. It’s just a matter of dedicating yourself to giving up your fandom and showing up every night with your laptop, recorder and shirt and tie and just being there. You show up two and a half hours before the game and you stay until after the game is over. You basically earn the respect of the players and the organization, which basically puts you in a situation to do your job better than anyone else.

This season, I have done that on my AcesOverBrooklyn.com site, which is dedicated to my coverage of the EPHL’s Brooklyn Aces and last night I got a bit of a reward for that hard work. Dropping the ceremonial first puck at the game last night was Montreal Canadiens forward Chris Higgins, who I had the opportunity to talk to after the game. We talked about his season for most of the interview, but I did manage to sneak in question I’ve been waiting to ask someone in the Montreal organization all season:

“Your powerplay isn’t nearly as good as it was last season, what did Mark Streit mean to it’s success?”

While Guy Carbonneau has dodged the question with the New York and Montreal media all season, Higgins, a Smithtown-native, was honest about what Streit meant to the Habs.

“He was a big reason why our powerplay was number one,” said Higgins. “He’s got a great shot as many of you guys in New York now know. He’s a great guy off the ice and he deserves to be playing every minute that he’s been playing this season. I’m glad he’s been given a shot to be a number one defenseman.”

If I was Streit, a comment like this would mean more than an All-Star nod. It means that the Canadiens know now that they made a mistake letting him go. Like I said before, the organization won’t admit it, but the players he shared a locker room with know just how vital he was.

Let’s hope the Islanders don’t make the same mistake in the future.

Photo by Patrick Hickey Jr.

Posted under 2008-2009, Isles Memories, Isles Thoughts 2009, NHL

I didn’t get a chance to watch the game live last night, as I was covering the Brooklyn Aces game, but I got home a lot faster than I thought I would, thanks to my dad, who picked me up in his Cadillac, which looks more like something Adam West would drive as Batman than something seen on the roads of Brooklyn.

Aside from getting some quality time with my Pops, a rarity nowadays in my extremely hectic life, but we got a chance to talk about the team before I watched the game for myself.

Much like the game against the Rangers, the Islanders youngsters worked hard, but they couldn’t produce. They had a ton of chances, but Tim Thomas on extremely solid. Yann Danis played well and the defense was solid, but the offense isn’t producing. Again, they made it interesting as Bill Guerin got a shot to deflect off a skate in front of the net, but it wasn’t enough.

Aside from working hard every night, I don’t know what else this team can do.

With that being said, it’s kind of weird that they picked up Wade Dubielewicz again, especially considering that Danis has been solid. Nevertheless, it should be a ton of fun to see “Yoda” back in net.

The last time I was on “Hockey Night on Long Island” I told the guys there that I love writing about this team every day because something interesting is always going on.

It looks like that trend is going to continue the rest of the season.

Isles Moving?- “I’m excited, I think it’s great,” said Paul McGannon, president of NHL21, a local organization trying to help bring an NHL team to Kansas City. “New York has three teams. If they don’t want to build a new rink in Long Island, we’ll take their team. The New York Islanders have won four Stanley Cups (1980-1984). If we got the Islanders … the last time I felt that good is when the Royals
beat the Yankees in 1980 to go to the World Series.”

“Sooner or later, Kansas City is going to be tired of being the bridesmaid,” McGannon said. “We have a building, we’re ready to go, we have a hockey community ready to go … we’ll glady welcome their
team. “I think it’s a big deal, that we’re having two teams on the coast meet in Kansas City for a game, and we better sell it out. I love the regional appeal of the Blues and the Blackhawks, but we better send a message and sell the game out.”

As someone that’s spent time in Kansas City before, I can tell you that despite the fact that they have a building, this is not a hockey town. I’ve walked around Kansas City at night and it’s like walking around in Borough Park after 10 p.m.; it’s a ghost town. They have loyal baseball fans, but these guys are not hockey fans. The nightlife scene in Kansas City is similar to the feel Prospect Park or Park Slope or even the Greenwich Village Villiage. While that may be solid for their population, I really don’t think hockey can survive there.

So because of those feelings, I have a few words for McGannon:

Keep looking buddy, you’re not taking this team.

This should be a wake up call to the miscreants in Long Island politics to get their act together and get the Islanders a new building. The team has been mismanaged for too long and they have an owner that’s willing to invest and build. Cut out the nonsense.

Get the Lighthouse going.

Posted under 2008-2009, Isles Thoughts 2009

Yes. It is now official, I am the 2008 New York Islanders Blog of the year, according to the team and YesIslanders.com. Damn, that feels good saying that. In all honesty though, even if I didn’t win, I still know that my work is appreciated. Over the past three seasons, I’ve posted something every day during the regular season and have kept this site going in the offseason with tons of vent sessions to the point where I know that I am appreciated by my readers. That’s all I really ever wanted [that and some extra money hehe]. So winning this award is simply like the whipped cream on a damn good sundae.

There are guys and gals out there like B.D. Gallof, Gary Harding, Michael Schuerlein, Dee Karl, Andy Facini and Roger Farina that do a great of sharing their thoughts on this team and I want to thank them too for posting as much as they do. Without them, I’d have no one to steal ideas from. In all seriousness however, the competition between the writers, journalists and bloggers is pretty competitive in Islander Country and I think that the work we all produce is going to get even better as time goes on.

Rather than continue this love fest, let me end by saying thank you to everyone who voted for me. Thank you for making me feel that the last thing I do before I head to sleep every night is worthwhile for you and either puts a smile on your face or pisses you off so badly you want to come to Brooklyn to find me.

In the end, that’s the exact reason why I do this everyday.

Okay, down to business.

As many of you guys know, I cover the Brooklyn Aces of the EPHL on one of my other sites, AcesOverBrooklyn.com and a few days ago, the team’s and league’s leading scorer, James Brannigan, was signed by the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL, an Islanders affiliate. You know, the same team Trevor Smith was sent to last season before he came back to Bridgeport and played well enough to get a call up to the Island this season. Well, I may be a bit presumptuous here, but I really feel this guy [he's 24, he's not a kid anymore as far as hockey players go] has the talent to get to Bridgeport and maybe even the NHL one day.

He scored eight points in 24 games between Augusta and Columbia last season in the ECHL, but in just 17 games with Brooklyn this season, he lit the lamp 22 times and had 35 points. Now, sure, the EPHL is an A-League, but Brannigan was head and shoulders above every one else offensively. His skating is solid, he plays with a chip on his shoulders and isn’t scared to shoot the puck. As a matter of fact, I actually compared him to Mike Comrie in an article I wrote about him a month and a half ago. At any rate, he’s a guy to keep an eye on. Just remember where you heard his name first.

Photo of Brannigan by Patrick Hickey Jr.

Posted under 2008-2009, Scouting Report

I’m going to level with you guys today. I didn’t watch the game in it’s entirety because I was out covering the Brooklyn Aces of the EPHL for my Aces site, AcesOverBrooklyn.com. Once I got home, I was so exhausted that I just popped in some Battlestar Galactica and went to sleep. This morning however, I did sift through the game and unfortunately, I didn’t like what I saw.

From what I saw, Joey MacDonald was not on his game. He was giving up way too many rebounds and the first goal in particular was a bit soft if you ask me. Mathieu Schneider is a great defenseman, no doubt about it, but to score from the point like that on an NHL goalie isn’t an everyday occurrence. The pair of Little goals were the bi-products of Joey Mac giving up too many rebounds and the Islanders defense in front of the net not being what it should be. There’s a reason why Andy Hilbert broke his stick over the net after one of them, it shouldn’t have happened.

On a positive note, the Islanders were generation a plethora of quality scoring chances, but Johan “Call me Moose please” Hedberg was on top of his game and the Atlanta defense was solid enough to ensure a win. When you get good defense and quality goaltending, you tend to win in this league. When you don’t unless you have the offense of the San Jose Sharks or Detroit Red Wings, you tend to lose.

That’s what happened last night and that’s what’s going to continue to happen until the Islanders devote themselves to scoring more and playing better defense. Right now though, it just feels like they don’t have the right combination of players out there. Simply put, the faceoff and passing ability of Doug Weight, Frans Nielsen and Mike Sillinger are severely missed because the Islanders already have problems controlling the puck and without a good faceoff man and playmaker, that process becomes an even tougher one. With Nielsen out for at least another month, Sillinger back on IR and Weight day to day, the Islanders are going to have even more problems playing an overspeed system that depends crucially on puck control and establishing a forecheck.

This is exactly the time when guys like Mike Comrie and Josh Bailey have to step and show exactly what it is they are capable of.

Stay tuned.

Posted under 2008-2009, Post Game Rants

If you would have told me Andy Hilbert would have been that good at 6:59 last night, I probably would have slapped you upside your head.

Nevertheless, like I said yesterday, in order for this team to continue it’s winning ways, people are going to have to contribute more.

I guess it was just Hilbert’s night.

Speaking of nights, Joey MacDonald wasn’t too shabby either, huh? With an 8-7-2 record, MacDonald has gotten better with every game under his belt and should create a juicy situation once Rick DiPietro gets back. For the time being though, Joey Mac is proving just how smart Islanders GM Garth Snow was when he let Wade Dubielewicz go to Russia.

On top of Hilbert and MacDonald being on top of their games last night, I really like how Brendan Witt performed as well. One of those guys that doesn’t get much attention when he’s on top of his game, but gets crucified when he’s off it, Witt’s presence in front of the net and in the corners last night was solid. Because of that, MacDonald had more support, which of course helps the Islanders offense and helped them pound out a victory.

Sure, it would have been nice if they could have capitalized on a few of those early powerplay opportunities, but the most important thing is that the Isles came out victorious. Winners of four of their past five games, the Islanders may just be starting to find the gritty and hard working persona they’ve been looking for all season.

8-10-2 may not be exactly where this team wants to be right now, but it’s a lot better than where most people thought they’d be, right? Three points out of the final playoff spot with 62 games left isn’t so bad if you ask me.

In other news, I apologize for not writing more on Saturday as I was stuck covering the Aces game in Brooklyn and watched the Islanders game at 2 A.M. Now fully aware of my surroundings, I feel it necessary to say that the NHL is crazier than Ty Cobb to suspend Mike Mottau for only two games, while Thomas Pock got five for an elbow shiver. Frans Neilsen will be out eight to 12 weeks now from the blatant to the head crosscheck that Mottau delivered and two games is not enough. The whole argument that Neilsen wasn’t hit in the face on that play is complete garbage and anyone with two working eyes can see that. Much like what Bill Guerin said the other day, the league has to deliver stiffer penalties and suspensions or else things like this will continue to happen for years to come.

Posted under 2008-2009, Post Game Rants

A bad goal here, a deflection there, one in traffic. Simply put, this is how the New Jersey Devils operate. Do they have the greatest offense since the ’84 Oilers? No, but they do scratch, bite and claw their way to victory on most nights they play. The Islanders weren’t ready for that last night, as a three-game winning streak was halted after a 5-2 loss to the Devils.

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!

Posted under Post Game Rants, Pregame Musings