Under a different structure, Edmonton Oilers defenceman Andy Sutton would have appealed his sentence. But under the current collective bargaining agreement, his only recourse is to plead his case with commissioner Gary Bettman, who is the boss of all things NHL, including Brendan Shanahan, the senior vice-president of player safety.

Posted under NHL

The NHL suspended Edmonton Oilers defenseman Andy Sutton for eight games for last Wednesday's incident when he charged Carolina Hurricanes forward Alexei Ponikarovsky, the league announced Sunday. Sutton will be forced to forfeit his pay based on a pro-rated scale for the games...

Posted under NHL

The judge was not lenient. In fact, the eight-game suspension Brendan Shanahan handed down to Edmonton Oilers defenceman Andy Sutton equals the longest he has rendered since taking over as the NHL's senior vice-president of player safety.

Posted under NHL

When the NHL’s lord of discipline, Brendan Shanahan, finally put the gavel down on Andy Sutton, he smacked the Edmonton Oilers defenceman with a five-game sentence on Tuesday. Sutton, who hit Colorado Avalanche rookie winger Gabriel Landeskog in the head with a hefty shoulder check last Friday night, took his medicine begrudgingly.

Posted under NHL

The Edmonton Oilers were still restocking their defensive corps before the puck dropped Sunday at Rexall Place. With Andy Sutton in New York for a hearing at the NHL office with Brendan Shanahan, the league’s vice-president of player safety and hockey operations, and Cam Barker a late scratch because of a shoulder injury, Alex Plante stepped right into the lineup for the game against the St. Louis Blues.

Posted under NHL

Defenceman Kurtis Foster, who joined the Edmonton Oilers on July 1, 2010, was dealt to the Anaheim Ducks on Friday for fellow defenceman Andy Sutton. The Oilers wanted more grit on the back end, and Foster, who was brought in to replace Sheldon Souray’s big power-play shot, didn’t do enough to stay. He struggled early to put up points and was a healthy scratch a few games last season.

Posted under NHL

With all the hoop-la lately regarding what the Islanders will do with the number one pick this upcoming draft, it’s easy to forget that they also have the 26th pick [edit] in the first round, courtesy of the trade that sent the under-achieving Mike Comrie and the unhappy Chris Campoli to the Senators.

Now, while Islanders general manager Garth Snow has kept mum on his intentions, I offer a few thoughts as to what the team should do with their picks.

Option One- Draft John Tavares and a talented blue liner. Many believe Tavares could be the player to build around, but he’ll just be one piece to the puzzle that will get the Isles back into the playoffs. A guy like Calvin De Haan, who scored 63 points in 68 games with the Oshawa Generals this past season, may be a great choice. With Campoli gone, the Islanders could use more depth on the powerplay and De Haan has the talent to be that man. I don’t know how you guys feel, but I miss the days when the Islanders had a bunch of talented defensemen who could score. Considering that, De Haan has the potential to help the Islanders offense quite a bit.

Swedish D-man David Rundblad is a little bit older and while he doesn’t have the same offensive ability, he may be the better skater of the two and has more size, making him the Andy Sutton with a better shot of the future. However, he may be spending more time abroad before jumping to the NHL, making him a tougher guy to consider drafting.

Option Two- Draft John Tavares and a goaltender. Of course, now it’s obvious what I think the Islanders should do with the first pick, but with the 29th, they may consider getting a young goaltender, just in case Rick DiPietro injures another hip. Wait, he’s already injured both of them over the past two seasons.

If Edward Pasquale is available when the Islanders go for their second pick, they should consider picking him up. Winning 32 games in the OHL this season with a solid .911 save percentage this season, Pasquale could be ready to thrive in a few seasons just in case DP doesn’t come close to finishing him record-breaking contract.

Oliver Roy is another quality goaltender the Islanders could look at. Winning 35 games in the QMJHL this season, Roy is a guy that may be able to play 40 games a season and take some of the pressure off DiPietro.

Photo by Patrick Hickey Jr.

Posted under Offseason 2009

The only thing worse than watching the Islanders lose 6-2 is watching the Islanders lose 6-2 in person.

In the end, I felt horrible for my g/f, who had her first NHL spoiled by the exploits of Phil Kessel and the Bruins, who dominated the living crap out of an Islanders team that was sluggish in both ends of the ice.

Despite that however, you could see that Islander fans and the organization feel better about this team than their record indicates, especially Islanders head coach Scott Gordon.

“We have some elements of team identity to carry over into next season,” Gordon told the Associated Press after the game. “The second half of the season flew by with the attitude and commitment we had.”

After a dismal first half, the Isles were a different team in the second, as many of the youngsters carried them. Up until April, the Islanders were playing close to .500 hockey in the second half, no small feat for a team missing players like Rick DiPietro, Trent Hunter, Andy Sutton and Mike Sillinger. During that span, Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen, Blake Comeau and Sean Bergenheim proved that could be everyday NHLers, while Josh Bailey and Jeff Tambellini showed that they may be able to contribute a bit more than they did earlier in the season as well [keep your fingers crossed.] Even the super youngin’s like Jesse Joensuu, Mike Iggulden, Trevor Smith and Joe Rechlicz have shown some potential and will be fighting for a job in training camp next year.

Doug Weight came back for the last few games of the season and showed his support for the team by signing a one-year extension, while Yann Danis fizzled out after a three-week stretch of excellent hockey in February and March.

Sounds like a Soap Opera doesn’t it? Now imagine writing something about a team like this every day for a year and watching half the other dudes and dudettes give up halfway through.

Seeing the Blog Box occupied only by the uber dependable Gary Harding for the last game of the season yesterday was pretty disappointing. Those guys have a privilege and to just give up because the team is losing says way more than any of their writing ever could.

That’s one of the reasons why I’d rather write at home [aside from the fact that I cover minor league hockey, live in Brooklyn, run three other sites and teach college English and journalism] anyway. What I’m trying to say here is that the Islanders should pay attention to these things very closely. When your most dedicated super fans can’t show up to watch the game from one of the best seats in the house and do something hundreds of young journalism students would die for, you know you have a problem.

Simply put, this team needs more offense, needs to stay healthy and needs a new building. Once that happens, all the fans that gave up will have a reason to believe again and this team can gain it’s respectability back.

Nothing short of John Tavares, the lighthouse project and Rick DiPietro back in net can fix that.

Site News: Now that the season is over, I will update less often, probably once or twice a week, in order to give myself a much needed break. Thank you to everyone that helped support me this season. Hopefully next season we’ll be able to talk Islanders hockey a bit longer.

Photo by Patrick Hickey Jr.

Posted under 2008-2009, Post Game Rants

Growing up an Islander fan and seeing the team miss the playoffs for nearly a decade, you get used to cheering for the hard worker. You know, guys like Patrick Flatley, Claude Lapointe, Kenny Jonsson, Steve Webb, Mike Peca and now of course, Richard Park and Sean Bergenheim.

Seeing the way these guys have played as of late is one of the only reasons why I haven’t put my foot through the TV. The same thing goes for Kyle Okposo, Blake Comeau and Mike Comrie, who have played their tails off over the past week.

In spite of the happiness these guys have been giving me lately however, I find myself watching this team score more goals than everyone thought they were capable of, but making crucial mistakes on defense that cost them games. Defense was supposed to be one of the team’s strong points this season, but I think the Isles are really missing Andy Sutton and Radek Martinek right now. That combined with a less than mediocre game from Rick DiPietro and the Islanders were sunk in the water.

So, as a result, the hard work of five or six players every night goes down the toilet…again.

But why?

I’ve said it before this season and I’ll say it again; right now, it just feels like the Islanders have to play as close a perfect game as possible to come out on top. One mistake, one defensive zone breakdown, one bad goal and this team has trouble coming back. It doesn’t help matters either that they are too concerned with playing dump and chase than establishing a forecheck and playing puck possession hockey. Sure, they play with a sense of urgency over the last two minutes and lately have shown enough spunk and jam to clean up a few messes, but in the end, it isn’t enough. This team is missing two many pieces and that, combined with DP’s problems, will make this team a big time contender in the John Tavares sweepstakes this summer.

I hate saying it, but as of right now, this team is a good two or three seasons from getting to where they were they need to be.

Weight gets 1,000 and 1,001- Seeing Weight’s kids run around with the banner trying to get the numbers right was one of the most adorable things I’ve seen in quite some time. It was about time he got that monkey off his back and even though it would have been great to see him get the point in front of the fans at home, the PA announcer in Phoenix did a stand-up thing and let Weight have his moment. Hopefully, now that he’s healthy again, he gives us a few more before the season’s over.

Bailey’s first- See what happens when this kid shoots? I know he’s a great passer, but he needs to stop being Adam Oates or Brendan Morrison and turn into someone like Doug Gilmour. With his stick-handling, skating and passing ability, I don’t see any reason why Bailey can’t eventually be a 20-goal, 65-point guy in this league. He’s just got to shoot more and be willing to make mistakes. Right now, he’s trying to be too perfect and much like his teammates, is failing at it.

Posted under 2008-2009, Post Game Rants, Random Rant

In lieu of all of the losses lately, it’s gotten me thinking: would thinks have been different if Rick DiPietro was in net, rather than Joey MacDonald?

During a few of the earlier games this season, where Mac’s lack of positioning played a part in several goals, I would have to say yes.

However, with guys like Brendan Witt, Radek Martinek and Andy Sutton all out of the lineup, I think MacDonald did as good a job as anyone in the NHL… and that includes DiPietro.

Nonetheless, it would be idiotic to think that in spite of his injuries that DP isn’t still the Islanders franchise player. Without him, they haven’t been .500 team.

While it would take a toll on any player to see his team floundering without him, I think it’s been extra tough on DP, especially with the huge contract and constant expectations put on him.

“I’m not even sure I can put into words how hard it’s been,” DiPietro told Newsday. “It was a long summer, a lot of rehabbing, and a lot of things to get ready for this season, and then to have it not work out like it did in the beginning and have to go back and do it all over again—it’s tough. Definitely you realize how much you enjoy playing the game and the competition of being in net for the games, but now I’m rested and maybe we can go on a run to finish out the last half of the season.”

What is capable of at this point though?

Over the past two seasons, DP has had surgery on both knees and his hip. Can he still be the goaltender the Islanders need at this point? Can he be one of the players that helps lead them to the promise land of consistent entry in the NHL playoffs every season? Can he be the one that takes this team from semi-laughing stock and gets them the respect the need to get a new building as well?

I don’t know.

That’s the biggest problem for me as well. Over the past few weeks, I haven’t been able to escape the feeling that this team is missing something. It’s obvious that Kyle Okposo, Jeff Tambellini and Mike Comrie aren’t that something and we all know how much Radek Martinek is missed right now, but he isn’t the key to this team.

Again, is that key DiPietro?

Posted under 2008-2009, Isles Thoughts 2008