For the second game in a row, the Islanders have made me sick to my stomach.

Pretty hard to do considering the fact that as a child, I’d watch Faces of Death while eating ice cream.

Nothing like cookies and cream and monkeys getting their brains bashed in if you ask me.

Last night’s game however, proved to be much more than disgusting; it was pitiful.

After Bill Guerin scored and looked down, it was obvious- even after being traded away a few weeks ago, for a paltry fifth round pick, he felt bad for his former team.

Six unanswered goals is hard to stomach and especially considering how hard the team came out in the first period.

What is even tougher to understand is how bad the Islanders powerplay was. Spoiling two separate five on three opportunities, the Islanders powerplay needs some serious work. However, with all the injuries the Islanders have dealt with as of late, what did you expect.

Even Islanders coach Scott Gordon knows his team will going to have a rough time competing the rest of the season.

“Right now, in our lineup, we don’t have a lot of firepower,” Gordon told the AP after the game. “I think we hit four posts during the course of the game. It’s not going to come as a surprise that the puck is not going to go in as easy as it would for some teams.”

In other news, the Islanders signed 2007 third-round pick Mark Katic and 2008 sixth round pick Justin DiBenedetto to three-year, entry-level contracts.

Katic is coming off his best season in juniors producing more than solid numbers of 13 goals, 41 assists and 54 points in 63 games. With Chris Campoli gone to Ottawa, Katic will first have to prove himself in Bridgeport, but will eventually at some point in the future have an opportunity to be the slick skating offensive defenseman the Islanders will need in the future to compliment Mark Streit.

Scoring 45 goals and 48 assists in 62 games with Sarnia this season, DiBenedetto proved he could still put up big numbers without Steven Stamkos around and with the team in need of young and talented forwards, DiBenedetto not only makes the organization deeper at the position, but he could challenge for significant time in Bridgeport next season.

If the injury bug takes over again next season, who knows, we may see both of these kids.

For time being however, they have both been assigned to Bridgeport.

Posted under 2008-2009, Post Game Rants

Anyone that watches or listens to Howard Stern remembers a few years ago when former professional wrestler The Iron Shiek came on the show and bugged out, saying that he would make Paul Blair, a member of the Killer Bees, a pretty successful tag team during the 80s, “humble” for thinking he was a big shot and of course, for tampering with his cocaine.

While there was no line sniffing or camel clutches last night in Carolina, the Islanders played a solid game for 60 minutes that should have been won had it not been for a few costly turnovers, effectively humbling a Carolina team that might be heading to the playoffs.

Nevertheless, the Islanders still see the game as a step in the right direction.

“I think it shows we have a lot of potential and we can score goals,” Tim Jackman, who had two assists in his first game since signing a new contract, told the Associated Press after the game. “When we’re doing the right things, good things happen.”

Even the Carolina players thought that the Islanders came out hard and of course, being the better team that they are, they banded together and made sure they held on to their playoff spot.

“Yeah, we sat back on our heels,” LaRose told the AP after the game. “Even in the first period, they got a lot of scoring chances. We were a little upset with ourselves after the second period. We did not play well in the second, and it showed. You know, we just didn’t want to come in here with any regrets after the game.”

When I think of where this game began to take a turn for the worse, I think of Brendan Witt’s turnover that led to Erik Cole crashing the net and a goal soon thereafter. That I think deflated the team and after that, they simply hung young goaltender Peter Mannino out to dry. Was he as solid as he was in his first start last week? I don’t think so, as Carolina’s play in the third period was something he nor the Islanders defense was ready for.

Much like any young team, the Islanders earned some more bumps and bruises last night, a process that will surely continue.

However, seeing four unanswered goals and two of them coming from Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo made the game an entertaining one.

It may be hard to see right now, but I feel like this team is beginning to start to develop an identity or style of play.

Posted under 2008-2009, Post Game Rants

Goddamn it, I love being right.

Over the past few weeks, Islander fans have seen the transformation of Sean Bergenheim from gritty third liner to possibly a top six forward that can play in any game situation. It’s been a process that many may still be in shock over, but like I’ve said countless times on this site, there is no reason why this kid can’t be a 20-goal scorer in this league. He’s got so much energy and has a much better shot and even better hands than most people give him credit for. It’s only a matter of time until everyone in the league begins to see it.

It also makes his life much easier when the players around him are playing well. Yesterday, that was exactly the case as Josh Bailey and Jeff Tambellini played their best games in quite some time, while Andy Hilbert, Kyle Okposo and Blake Comeau were no bums either. Add in a strong defensive performance [Anyone see Zach Parise on the ice yesterday afternoon?] and a great first game with the Isles by Mike Iggulden [an old friend of mine and a die-hard Islander fan Anthony Natoli is extremely high on him and has been waiting all season for him to be called up. Just figured I'd throw that out there] and because of that, the Isles had a winning formula.

The first period in my estimation was perhaps the best 20 minutes the team has played all season. The forecheck was amazing, Joey MacDonald made all the saves he had to and the Islanders defense was rock solid. It was like someone finally turned a light on in this team’s collective head and they played the way they were supposed to.

When the score was 5-2, I decided to go out and watch the rest of the game later. About 45 minutes later, I get a ring from Islanders Blog Box member and a damn good friend of mine Gary Harding, who tells me Trent Hunter is out for the season. Just when things start looking good for this team, they lose an emotional leader and a key player in Hunter. Well, it could have been worse; the Islanders could have been battling for a playoff spot and this happened. However, with nothing to lose, the best thing that could happen is for Hunter to heal up this offseason and come back healthy and lead this team next season.

For now, I’m just wondering if this means Jon Sim comes back or another youngster gets a shot.

Guess we’ll just have to wait until 3 P.M., when the Isles take on the Coyotes at the Coliseum.

Posted under 2008-2009, Isles Thoughts 2009, Post Game Rants

I just want to apologize for the extra lewdness in this post; it’s all Sean Avery’s fault.

I don’t know how you guys feel, but seeing Blake Comeau finally put some fertilizer on his grapefruits and not only nail Avery near the Islanders bench in the first period, but then later blow him a kiss like he had a new man-servant, made my day.

It didn’t matter that the Rangers had the lead after the first 20 minutes, the Islanders skated hard against a much better team on paper and carried the play in the physicality and speed department. That’s what I want to see from this team the rest of the season.

The fact that the Islanders showed Avery his rear more times than my hands can count erase the bad penalties the Isles took, the mistakes they made in the neutral zone and the bad goal they gave up in the third.

Let’s face it, not many people expected the Islanders to stand much of a chance against a revamped and stacked Rangers team. Nevertheless, they kept it close for most of the game. Take away their mistakes, like running into each other and deflecting shots past their own goaltender [no sarcasm there, I swear] and I think they were the better team.

However, on special teams, it’s obvious the Islanders miss Doug Weight and have serious work to do with the man advantage next season if they are going to be a better team. Decent teams do what it takes on the powerplay and can get those extra tallies when they have to. 0 for their last 18 with the man advantage, it’s obvious the Islanders must change their approach if they are going to be a better team next season.

On a side note, I am quickly becoming a fan of both Dean McAmmond and Jesse Joensuu. Both of these guys were working their tails off last night. Aside from the play of Comeau, I think these two guys were the Islanders best players. Could McAmmond be earning himself a spot on this team for next season? Is Joensuu doing the same thing? Only time will tell with that, but overall, I think the Islanders showed tonight that they could hold the ice with a playoff team.

That in itself means a lot.

However at the same time, they are still a far way off from making themselves a team that can reach the post season in the not too distant future.

Still plenty of work to get done.

Posted under 2008-2009, Post Game Rants

Definitely a fun one to watch if you ask me.

However, it didn’t have to be that way. I understand that the Islanders season is a lost one, but the way Yann Danis has been playing, you have to keep him in between the pipes. Nothing against Joey MacDonald, but he hasn’t been as good as Danis lately. Last night, he gave up a few softies, especially early on that played a huge part in the game. Had he made those saves [I'm talking about the Nikolai Kulemin and Dominic Moore goals especially], the Isles would have been in a much better situation to take two points.

After the first period, I think the Islanders were definitely the better team. Sean Bergenheim and Kyle Okposo played their hearts out all night, even though I’d like to see them both finish a bit more. Mark Streit continues to hold down the fort and what can I say about Jon Sim. What crawled up his uniform and told him to score lately? Anyone who knows anything about the NHL knows that when he uses it, Sim has one of the nastiest wrist shots in the business. It’s just a matter of him using it. Well, Vesa Toskala found that out first hand last night.

I’m not sure how many people know this, but Sim still has a year left on his contract and considering the fact that the Isles are stuck with him [they sent him through waivers early in the season and no one picked him up], it’s good that he’s been producing lately. Nothing wrong with three goals in four games if you ask me.

It was also pretty cool to see Dean McAmmond pot one as well. Over the next 21 games, McAmmond will have an opportunity to prove to the rest of the league that he can still play in this league. Like I said before on the site, I’d have no problem with him anchoring the fourth line, where he should be able to score a dozen goals and add 15 or so assists if he’s healthy and doesn’t revert to the type of play that led to his exodus from Ottawa. Plus, he’s been around the league enough to be a good mentor to some of the young guys. With Mike Sillinger’s Islanders career most likely over, it makes sense if they keep him.

Despite the loss, it was good to see all those positives for a change. Let’s hope they can cut down on some of the mistakes they made [I thought the defense was a bit too lax as well, especially after how well they played against the Pens the other night] and give us some more offense. If that happens, the last 21 games should at least be entertaining to watch.

Posted under 2008-2009, Post Game Rants

Yann Danis is a golden god. I’m not just saying that because I’m dead sick with the flu and have watched “Almost Famous” three times in the past two days.

He’s been that good this season and last night, he was great.

However, a Petr Sykora goal late in the third was enough to ruin an otherwise spectacular night from the Isles goaltender in a 1-0 loss to the Pens.

The first period was a weird one, as neither team did much to establish a forecheck or any type of advantage. Danis did a solid job, especially of handling his rebounds, but Pittsburgh made his job way too easy. I don’t know what the book is on Danis, but the Penguins were taking shots from extremely high in the offensive zone and to no avail. It was almost like they got a tip that the guy can’t stop the shot from the point. I don’t know where they got their information and it obviously didn’t pay off for them, as both teams skated in their respective locker rooms with the game still scoreless.

The Islanders were far too timid in the first, but started to get going over the last few minutes in the first, getting several good scoring opportunities. Sean Bergenheim and Radek Martinek had great chances in the second, which was played with much more vigor, but couldn’t convert. The Islanders powerplay failed to even amount a shot on goal in the period, keeping the game scoreless. The team’s second powerplay wasn’t much better, as the Isles couldn’t get a decent shot off. As a matter of fact, they could barely stay in Pittsburgh’s zone.

Overall, while I thought the Penguins were the better team in the first, the Islanders skated much harder in the second period, making the third period an interesting one to watch. Remember, the Penguins needed this win big time, while the Islanders youngsters are doing everything they can to prove themselves. There was a lot at stake here. However, the element of desperation just wasn’t really there going into the the third period.

The beginning of the third was a bit different though, as the Islanders came out with some jam and it was there where Marc-Andre Fleury earned his paycheck for the night, making several high-quality saves. The Isles got another powerplay opportunity after a few minutes, but that was wasted once Brendan Witt was thrown on the ice as a screen in front of the net. I don’t know guys, why would Isles head coach Scott Gordon put Witt, a guy with 23 career goals on the powerplay in a 0-0 game? I know it’s not the first time he’s done it this season, but it makes as much sense as openly admitting that you enjoy listening to George Michael. Not a way to produce offense if you ask me.

Evgeni Malkin nailed a post around the midway point of the third and even had a powerplay opportunity afterwards, but they too couldn’t light the lamp, mostly due to Danis’ play rather than anything the Penguins were doing.

Things started to change soon afterwards, as the Penguins were beginning to fly on the ice. Sykora then made the Isles pay and that was enough to spoil an amazing effort by Danis.

Not fair, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.

Posted under 2008-2009, Post Game Rants

I think it’s safe to say the Pittsburgh Penguins are in serious trouble.

That team has no jam, no grit, no heart. I know they are a team that is built around offense, but I really feel as if they are missing Jarkko Ruutu and Georges Laraque, two players that enabled their secondary scorers the space they needed to thrive. If they had those two guys, I think they’d get more offense from the rest of their team. Nothing against Eric Godard, who is one of the best enforcers in the game, but the team doesn’t use him in the right way. During that period long stretch where it was 2-2, I would have sent him there to get his nose dirty. Not to necessarily cause a fight, but to take the body and make the Isles think twice about skating all over them.

Dan Bylsma is going to have it tough over the next few weeks.

On the other side of the ice, every Islanders youngster skated hard today. Sean Bergenheim was making solid passes in the offensive zone and Frans Nielsen was absolutely flying, creating scoring opportunities and keeping the pressure on in the neutral zone. Chris Campoli was joining the play and Bruno Gervais looked like Radek Martinek circa 2001.

However my three favorite highlights of the night was the 25 second stretch in the first period where the Isles had a defensive cycle going in the neutral zone that had the Penguins confused more than Lindsay Lohan on the 28th day of the month. If this is something that this team can find a way of duplicating and redefining over the rest of the season, it may be something they can carry over into next year.

The second highlight was Jeff Tambellini’s wrister that beat Marc-Andre Fleury in the shootout. Talk about a howitzer. It’s not often you get to see shots like that and not often that they come from a guy with only six goals in his career. Hopefully, this will be something that gets him going in the right direction, He’s still got one year left on hos contract an who knows what could happen in that time.

Lastly, seeing a few of the guys turning their helmets inside out was great. It shows me this team doesn’t like losing and that they want to play spoiler over the next two months.

That’s exactly what I want to see.

Posted under 2008-2009, Post Game Rants

Just after playing one of their most complete efforts of the season in their last game, the Islanders managed to get away with playing great hockey for just 20 minutes, scoring three goals in the second period in a 3-1 win.

They’ll take it though.

Both teams came out flat in the first period, but the Lightning had several golden opportunities to find the back of the net. Luckily for the Isles, Yann Danis was on his game, making the stops he had to when they counted. Now with Joey MacDonald back, it should be interesting to see what happens between the pipes for this team. Nothing against “Pickles,” but in my opinion, you have to ride the hot horse. Especially considering how well the defense is playing in front of him, you can’t and shouldn’t mess with a good thing.

What the Isles have going right now, is definitely a good thing.

Making things that much better was another solid effort from the combo of Radek Martinek and Brendan Witt, who weren’t allowing the Lightning those second chance opportunities they’ve been know for burying over the years. If you want to beat the Bolts, that’s exactly what you have to do.

Through two periods, that’s exactly what they did.

Combine that solid defense with three goals in 3:25 and you have a recipe for success. Simply put, the youngsters are stepping up and are taking shots. The defense has been extra frisky in both ends and over his past half dozen games, Danis has been better than the fat kid from the Mighty Ducks [who I saw as a guest star on “The King of Queens” the other day, weird].

You can’t really ask for more right now, can you?

However, with Mark Streit out with a supposed upper-body injury for the third, the Isles possessed the worst lead in hockey today and had to protect it without their best player. A Vinny Lecavalier goal early in the third changed the momentum a tad, but Tampa Bay couldn’t get back into it and were taking lazy penalties. Guys like Frans Nielsen and Okposo really shined the last few minutes, making beautiful touch passes and skating with their hearts on their sleeves. Just watching the progression they’ve made over the past four games has been something special.

If these guys can keep this up, the crossbars they’re hitting won’t be for long.

Things are becoming fun again.

Who said that you can’t enjoy yourself watching a team play spoiler?

Posted under 2008-2009, Post Game Rants

Isles win?

Damn skippy.

I could not believe how this this team played in the first period. Sure, they missed a few golden opportunities, but to come out with a 2-0 lead against a team like the Ducks was no simple task. Seeing Kyle Okposo light the lamp from the circle on a one-timer like that is something that I want to see more of in the future. If he can continue to make the most of opportunities like that, he may find himself around the 20-goal mark.

Speaking of players that look like they’re headed down the right bath, Kurtis “Don’t call me Kirk or Brett” McLean has looked good in both ends in his two games as an Islander. Being 28, he’s got far more polish than some of the other youngsters on the team and from the looks of it, can get a good chunk of ice-time the rest of the season. That process will become an even easier one if he continues to put the puck in the back of the net as well.

Frans Nielsen is another player who I feel had some spunk last night and even though he couldn’t cash in during the first on a golden opportunity, the pass he made to McLean on his goal was exactly what I want to see from him the rest of the season.

After those goals however, I feel like the Ducks were the better team. They were getting shots on Yann Danis and if not for him and some good penalty killing by Tim Jackman in the third and good defensive composure, they may have lost the lead. Danis rebound control still needs some serious work as well, but I don’t think it held him back enough to be a huge factor. Simply put, if the defense is skating hard and clearing the crease, those opportunities aren’t an extreme factor.

Sure the Isles were out shot 38-14 up until the last two minutes of the game, but the fact that they could hold on for dear life against a team the likes of the Ducks with Trent Hunter and Doug Weight both out of the lineup shows that this team still has some heart. While the playoffs are obviously out of the question, the fact that this team isn’t looking for a hole in the woods to crawl in just yet is good for the legion of fans that still care about this team.

Posted under 2008-2009, Post Game Rants

Well, the Islanders made it interesting, but in the end, Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals pulled out a victory.

Quickly becoming the story over the past few weeks is the Islanders inability to produce offensively, which continued yesterday afternoon, as the Isles scored only once on 28 shots on goal.

“We’ve got to keep working hard,” Okposo told the Associated Press after the game. “We just have to get some breaks. We’re getting chances.”

Scoring a powerplay for the first time in nearly ten games, it’s obvious the Isles are missing Doug Weight. Not having Chris Campoli and Trent Hunter in the lineup either played a big factor in the why the team wasn’t on the ball offensively.

In the first period, it looked like the Islanders were going to get on the board early though, as Capitals goaltender Jose Theodore was sloshing all over the crease and was out of position. The Islanders couldn’t put one on the board and soon enough, Ovechkin lit the lamp.

Like I’ve said before, playing from behind is something the Isles cannot afford to do and as we’ve seen from the team before, making mistakes seems to be something that happens in intervals with this team.

Today was no different.

However, in spite of my less than encouraging tone lately, I’d be out of my mind to not talk about how hard this team worked on the ice against a team that would be in the playoffs if the season ended today. Sure, Ovechkin had nine shots on goal, but the rest of the team had 29 and 16 of those came from Viktor Kozlov and Brooks Laich.

Alex Semin, Chris Clark, Nicklas Backstrom, Sergei Fedorov, Michel Nylander and Mike Green had a combined five shots on goal for the game. Stopping Ovechkin isn’t going to happen obviously, but the Islanders worked hard in their own end and limited everyone else’s opportunities. That’s all you can really ask for, especially from a team in the situation the Islanders are in right now.

Speaking of all you can ask for, Yann Danis bounced back after allowing a pair of flimsy goals against the Devils the other night and played one of his best games this season. Perhaps losing Wade Dubielewicz to the Blue Jackets wasn’t so bad after all? Giving up 12 goals over his past four games, Danis has given the Isles very similar numbers to what Joey MacDonald was producing before his injury.

As I’ve mentioned before though, the one thing the Isles do need to ask for more is offense.

In the end, the choice is simple, start scoring or finish with one of the worst records in franchise history.

Posted under 2008-2009, Post Game Rants