I want someone to find out what the Islanders +/- is with two minutes left in the third period this season. I guarantee it’s pretty damn impressive. Considering the fact that the last time I checked the team was -24 in the third period, the way this team plays with a few minutes left is simply insane.

In the end though, it wasn’t enough, as San Jose is just too damn good a team.

Nevertheless, again, I like that this team didn’t lay down. Tim Jackman’s goal was the effort of hard work and determination. This season, he’s done that every night and because of that, he deserves the sweater with his name on it. The same thing goes for Sean Bergenheim and Richard Park, who were hustling out there and at least trying to make the most out the opportunities they had. Take away that offside call in the third where Park was sprung and he may have had another one there. At any rate, Park is a shining example of an amazing role player that can produce solid numbers on any team he plays on.

Again, it’s too bad his effort was wasted in another loss.

The same thing goes for Joey MacDonald. The guy was hung out to dry tonight. I don’t even want to know what San Jose’s time in the attack zone was. With all the saves he made and all the shots the Islanders defense blocked, I think Scott Gordon is going to have a plethora of things to discuss during the team’s next practice.

The way it feels right now is that this group of players is incapable of putting a total 60-minute effort together. If they were just terrible every night for 60 minutes, I’d actually not be too mad about it, but considering that they played good hockey for the last eight minutes of the second and amazing hockey for 90 seconds, it just makes me wonder. What does this team need to do in order to play consistent hockey?

I’ve already spoken at length about the personnel decisions I believe this team would need to make in order to be a .500 team and knowing that they aren’t going to happen, I feel it’s useless to talk about them anymore.

Let the John Tavares sweepstakes begin my friends. Until then, let’s hope the lunchpailers make life interesting until April.

Posted under 2008-2009, Post Game Rants

Mike Comrie hasn’t been himself this season. Dealing with a serious hip injury for most of the early season, many wondered why he even decided to play instead of getting healthy. The reason, is a simple one. This team needed him. However, at that time, he wasn’t really in a situation to help out as much as he would have liked. Now healthy, Comrie has been a different player over the past four games and combined with the play of Kyle Okposo and Blake Comeau, or the “CoCo Kola” line as I like to call them, the Islanders have more jam than they’ve had in a month.

Last season, Comrie started off hot because he wasn’t scared to take shots on net. No toe-drags, no fancy stick-handling moves, just plain old shooting at the net. Over the past four games, he’s done the same thing and has looked great on the puck. Simply put, he’s buzzing and has both Comeau and Okposo doing the same thing. The end result is one damn good line that played a key role in the Isles victory yesterday.

Speaking of key roles, Joey MacDonald was on his game in the first period and after a shoddy no-goal call, things could have fell apart, but they didn’t. After Brett McLean’s marker, Joey Mac was rock solid and the Islanders defense rose to the occasion, blocking shots and establishing themselves through solid passing in their own zone. When you do that, you make the goaltender’s work a whole lot easier. Thankfully, that was the case yesterday afternoon.

Add in another quality game from Mark Streit and what I consider a turning point game for Sean Bergenheim and you get enough to ensure an Isles victory.

Smith’s debut- With Trent Hunter and Mike Sillinger out of the lineup, Trevor Smith made his NHL debut and truth be told, I really like the kid. Forget about the fact that he’s wearing my favorite number on the back of his jersey, he’s got a lot of spunk and has a nose for the net. I got a feeling he may be someone that Islander fans may get to know a bit better over the next few weeks.

On another note, I just want to say that while I love the work of Howie Rose on Islanders telecasts, I loved hearing Jiggs McDonald yesterday. I know I say it every time he’s back with the Isles, but that’s only because it’s true. With everything that’s gone on with his life over the past few weeks, it’s great to see him in on TV doing what I feel he’s one of the best in the world at.

Posted under 2008-2009, Post Game Rants

Don’t let the box score fool you. This was not a close game. The Islanders, in spite of their perseverance, were out-played throughout the entire game. If not for Joey MacDonald, this could have easily been an 8-4 game.

In all honesty, it probably should have been. That way this team would know how poorly they played.

The breakdowns in the defensive zone have been a prolonged problem this season and if this team is going to get their respect back any time soon, that’s first thing that needs to be fixed.

With guys like Doug Weight, Mike Sillinger, Kyle Okposo and Mike Comrie all back in the lineup, the Islanders will be much better offensively, so it’s crucial that they play better in their own end. That obviously didn’t happen last night on a few occasions, as Petr Prucha and Scott Gomez especially had way too much room on the ice and were allowed second chances to create. That was probably the biggest reason why the Isles didn’t come out with at least a point.

Another huge reason this team didn’t finish off the Rangers is they couldn’t avoid another third period collapse. Anyone that watched the game last night knows the team was -24 in the third period going into last night’s game. Something has to be done about this and soon.

The hour glass is running out boys, but this season can still be saved [I know I'm being extremely overoptimistic here. Please let me live in denial here.]

What is up with DP? The Rick DiPietro saga took another turn yesterday when Yann Danis was recalled as the emergency backup to Joey MacDonald. The word now is a groin pull, but there’s no way to really know what is going on with this guy. All I know is he’s not in the lineup and he has about a dozen years left on his contract. This is not good. The fact that the Isles are being so tight lipped about things to the point where Chris Botta and Greg Logan can’t confirm anything. And to think, a few days ago, everyone thought DP was back and the Islanders, for the time being, were out of the water.

Guess Again.

Are we at the point in the season now that we should consider ourselves lucky that no one else is seriously injured to the point where no one knows when they’ll be back. For a few minutes last night, I think Trent Hunter was the next player to join that list. Thankfully though, he just lost his air in one of the scariest moments I’ve seen in a while as an Islanders fan. The next Islanders captain in my mind at least, the last thing this team would need at this point is for another impact player to go down for any prolonged period of time.

Posted under 2008-2009, Post Game Rants

I was getting the feeling that was never going to use the picture to my left ever again.

But, as this team has proven this season, when they skate their tails off for 60 minutes and don’t make mistakes on defense, they can and will win, regardless of the team they’re playing.

Even though I got a bunch of great things for Christmas this year, thanks to my lovely girlfriend and friends and family, this was one of the best gifts I received this year.

Simply put, this team skated as if their rears were on fire.

I, on the other hand, was totally exhausted from a hectic day on Christmas and Christmas Eve, but I stayed up anyway and watched them.

They deserved it.

I think us fans deserved it a bit too.

I mean seriously, no wins in a month is something I’m used to. I’m a Mets, Jets and Nets fan too you know. But none of those teams are that attached to my happiness as the Isles. Simply put, I don’t care if they win or lose, I just don’t want to see them embarrass themselves. That’s what my menstruations over the past month on this site have mainly been about.

Like the world-famous Paul Newman said in “Slapshot”: “Let ‘em know you’re there boys!”

That hadn’t been happening as of late.

However, last night, the Islanders had youngsters and veterans, promising prospects and journeymen and franchise goalies and role players, all on the same page, working as a cohesive unit.

On the whole, Rick DiPietro was solid and thanks to a complete effort from his defense, something Joey MacDonald hasn’t gotten in quite some time, DP didn’t have to bend over backwards or even come lose to testing his surgically repaired hip or knee.

Good stuff if you ask me. Good stuff indeed.

It’s only one win though, not time to go cash in my 401K just yet.

We’ll see what happens tonight.

Hilbert Injured- Last night’s victory came at a bit of a price. Hit in the skate blocking a shot, Andy Hilbert suffered a hairline fracture in his foot, which should keep him out at least a month. I know I haven’t been Hilbert’s biggest supporter over the past two and a half seasons, but this season has been different. He’s easily been one of the Islanders best players and has shown the finish needed for him to play on one of the top lines, of any team in the league.

Posted under 2008-2009, Post Game Rants

It’s crazy when I think about it.

This is the third Christmas this site has been around.

What first started off as a way for a young college student to earn some extra [practically a tiny piece of] bread while writing about his favorite team in the entire world has slowly turned into a way for a college professor and working journalist to earn some extra [practically a tiny piece of] bread while writing about his favorite team in the entire world. During that time, I’ve seen the Isles go from a playoff team, missing a few pieces and being able to make the second round, to a team riddled with injuries, to a team that is downright poor.

I’ve seen players the likes of Jason Blake have career years and guys like Miroslav Satan have season’s so unproductive that they were almost finished professionally because of it. I’ve seen players like Wade Dubielewicz and Joey MacDonald inspire me with their hard work and guys the likes of Chris Simon and Sean Hill nearly break my heart for not using their heads on and off the ice.

In spite of everything that’s happened over the past three year’s with this team though, it’s been a complete blast. Getting to interview people such as Jiggs McDonald, Ruslan Fedotenko, Bruno Gervais, Bob Probert and Ross Bernstein alone over the past three years have made this journey an extremely enjoyable one, but reading your comments every day and trying my hardest to satisfy your needs and entertain you simultaneously has made this one of the most rewarding endeavors I’ve partaken in since I started doing this.

So rather than waste any more time in this post, let me just say thank you. Thank you for reading every day. Thank you for commenting when you feel the need to. Thank you for just being yourselves.

Happy Holidays.

Okay, time to get to business.

Right now, I feel the thing this team needs more than anything is a game against the Rangers. That’s the only thing that can instill the necessary passion needed for this team to thrive on the ice.

That, however is a two-sided coin.

They could end up looking so bad against the Blueshirts that I’ll have to deal with idiotic Ranger fans at work for the next two weeks talking how good their team is. Forget it when I tell them that their defense is a joke and that they don’t have enough offense to hold water with any of the super powers in the Western Conference. It won’t change the fact that this team is dead in the water right now. Nothing short of half the team stepping up their games and the guys this team has on IR magically coming back and playing their hearts out can save them from ending the season even worse than the pundits thought they’d finish.

Posted under 2008-2009, Isles Thoughts 2008

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

The Islanders haven’t looked like a playoff team in quite some time this season, but Islanders head coach Scott Gordon isn’t making any excuses.

Simply put, with all the injuries this team has had, you wouldn’t blame the guy if he did.

Not having Rick DiPietro in the lineup for virtually the entire season alone gives him a get out of jail free card, but even in spite of that, Gordon hasn’t made any excuses.

“Certainly, not having your No. 1 guy for the whole year has been a unique situation,” Gordon told the AP. “It would be a unique situation for any team, but certainly, as a first-time head coach in the NHL, to not have your No. 1 guy and to have to rely so much on a guy that’s done a great job at trying to make a name for himself as a proven NHL goaltender, it certainly has been a hurdle.”

Aside from the play of Mark Streit, Joey MacDonald and Doug Weight, things like this make the season a little bit easier to deal with. Anyone who reads Chris Botta’s rock-solid Point-Blank blog, knows that Islanders GM Garth Snow is sticking with Gordon for the long-term and regardless of what any of his players say about the team’s new system, the Islanders are going to give Gordon every opportunity to make things work.

Botta also did a great job on his blog recently talking about the strides the Washington Capitals have made over the years to become the team that they have. Much like Botta, I feel the Isles may have to tank the next few seasons and bring in the right people little by little if they have any chance at turning this team into a legitimate and consistent playoff contender.

The only problem is asking Islander fans to wait isn’t exactly an easy thing to do.

Being a fan of this team over the past 15 years has been like going to OTB and betting on a bad horse simply because you feel it’s got what it takes and then seeing it break every bone in it’s body and miraculously get up and do it over again the next race. Sure, there have been some moments where this horse finished, but after last season especially, it was obvious that the horse needed to be taken out to pasture. So now, while not having a completely new pony, the Islanders have a genetic misfit that hopefully can transform itself into something dependable and entertaining over the next few seasons.

If it doesn’t, then Gordon won’t need to make excuses, because he and Snow will be out of them.

Posted under 2008-2009, Isles Thoughts 2008

Thank you Joey MacDonald. You played your tail off last night. You made one show stopping save after another and did everything in your power to ensure an Islanders victory.

The only problem was your defense forgot to show up.

That and Josh Bailey and Kyle Okposo proved that they have a lot of growing up to do defensively.

I said in my pregame piece yesterday that the Wild defensemen needed to be watched and not allowed to make that first good pass out of the neutral zone. With that obviously not happening, combined with the Islanders inability to generate quality scoring opportunities did the Isles in once again.

However, before a terrible third period, I really liked what I saw from both Mike Comrie and Okposo, who were hustling and were at least noticeable.

Then, again, it happened.

This team is so bad in the third period that I’ve seen blind people play NHL 09 with more competence. I mean seriously, why do they break down the way they do? Is it that they’re all out of gas by the time the third period comes, or is it that they are simply not good enough? The way things are going right now, most of the pundits out there will think the later, but I think it’s something else. Simply put, this team is missing something and I think I know what it is now.

They have the wily veteran leaders in Bill Guerin and Doug Weight, they have solid role players in Andy Hilbert and Richard Park. They have a shutdown defenseman in Brendan Witt [and even Martinek when he comes back] and they have youth in Okposo, Bailey and Bergenheim. This team needs DP back in the lineup and they need a legitimate sniper, to even be at .500. Right now, they don’t have enough firepower and as good as MacDonald’s been, he’s got way too much pressure on himself right now.

The way it is right now, it won’t matter who is in net for this team until someone decides to step up.

Who will it be? Who can it be at this point?

Sutton breaks foot- This is not good news at all. Up to this point, Sutton was doing his job and was even producing more offensively than I thought he was capable of. With Radek Martinek already on the shelf, the Islanders defense is doing to be running thin for the next month.

Witt talks about Scott Gordon’s system to Newsday- Witt can say whatever he wants to say about not liking the system the Islanders play, but when you get caught pinching and it leads to a goal, much like last night, you have to think the problem lies elsewhere. The problem in actuality is Witt’s skating ability. Many wondered how Witt would fit in when the league changed the rules and even though he made it out in one piece. Scott Gordon’s “Over-speed” takes the up-tempo game of the NHL to an even faster pace and Witt feels out of place physically and mentally. In order for this system to work, Witt needs to either adjust his game, or go somewhere that will accept him the way he is right now, which is one hell of of a stay at home defenseman. I hate to even say things like this, but that seems to be the case right now.

If Gordon sticks around for a few seasons and all indications are that he will, players that are brought to the team in the future won’t be in the same mold as Witt.

That, I think, is something to write about.

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Posted under Isles Thoughts 2008, Post Game Rants

Doug Weight is getting closer to that milestone and the Islanders are getting better, but again it’s not enough.

One great period wasn’t for the Islanders to win last night and why should it have been? How many times has this team played great for 40 minutes this season to only come up short? So when the Islanders managed to play one of their best third periods of the season, I wasn’t holding my breath.

It didn’t matter that Joey MacDonald battled back after a few shaky goals and kept the team in the game or that Richard Park played on his best games in an Islander uniform. It didn’t matter that Bill Guerin, Mark Streit and Weight were solid. It didn’t matter that Tim Jackman was killing himself in the corner or Freddy Meyer was doing a decent job against Alex Ovechkin.

One turnover, one shot, one game.

That’s how AO rolls guys.

Nevertheless, in spite of this, the Islanders got a point and played well against a team with both offensive firepower and a hot goalie.

I, alongside the rest of the Islander fans out there should be happy with that right?

Not exactly.

Mike Comrie, Kyle Okposo and Rick DiPietro should be back the next week or two and for me, that’s when the Islanders season will really begin. I know that sounds messed up, but yes, once those guys come back and are inserted into the lineup, that’s when I start to get excited.

Take a look at what the forward lines could be then.

Comeau- Weight- Guerin
Okposo- Bailey- Hunter
Bergenheim- Comrie- Park
Hilbert- Sillinger- Sim

Are these fantastic lines? Not really, but I think it’s fair to say the Isles have a solid group of centers, especially when Hilbert and Park can play center as well. As far as the overall diversity of the lines go, I also think all four of these lines can score goals if they have to, as every guy here can score at least 15 goals if they played a complete season. Is that something to be scared about? Absolutely not, but I think this is the setup this team need to truly take advantage of Scott Gordon’s over speed system.

Add in a healthy DP with a proven Joey MacDonald and I think the Isles will be much improved. Then once Frans Nielsen and Radek Martinek come back healthy, it may be possible that the Isles can make a trade or two to put them in better shape for next season.

Will they be amazing? No, but they will be a .500 team that can get away with a mistake or two every night.

Posted under 2008-2009, Post Game Rants

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