Voice of the Islander Fans

New York Islanders: Will the Most Recent Successes Last?

2012-01-03T10:52:00.002-05:00

Two impressive victories over the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames have begun to let optimism shine on the Islanders again. Will or can it last?

The Islanders have shown that they are capable of being responsible in their own end of the ice. Any NHL coach will tell you that team defense is the key to success at the NHL level. Right now the Islanders are minimizing their mistakes which this season have been glaring at times. Opposing forwards are not being given time to create quality chances in front of Evgeni Nabokov.

The defense is also keeping the puck to the outside of the slot where offensive chances are few and far between. Giving up outside shots 25 times a game as opposed to ten quality chances in the slot is going to be the key for this team moving forward into the second half of the season.

The offense has shown signs of being a bit more balanced as Head Coach Jack Capuano has chosen to break up his most effective line of John Tavares, Matt Moulson and P.A. Parenteau. Tavares and Moulson are now teamed with struggling but talented right wing Kyle Okposo. The results so far have been good as Okposo has managed to replace Parenteau's passing ability by giving Tavares more room on the ice using his size to draw players to him. Tavares has responded by creating many more scoring opportunities.

Parenteau, who in my opinion should be signed to a multi-year contract has played very well with Frans Nielsen and Brian Rolston. He also is still teamed with Tavares and Moulson on the top Islander power play unit.

The rest of the Islander forwards have shown signs of life with Josh Bailey still looking to define his role with the team. Bailey is a perplexing player to watch. At times he can look like he will fulfill the promise as he has shown in short stints. The problem is these flashes of brilliance are followed by long periods of maddening inconsistency and poor decision making. More experience will serve him well.

Matt Martin is growing as a player and given some more time can really turn into a player the Islanders need badly. Its one thing to skate around and simply bang bodies all game. Its another to bang bodies, agitate the opponent, score a few goals here and there and contribute at all facets of the game. Martin has the tools to become a fine power forward in the NHL.

Michael Grabner has been hampered with a few injuries here and there slowing him down at times. Once healed he should return to being the weapon he was last season.

In goal Evgeni Nabokov has stabilized the position with his solid play over the past two weeks. The difference now is the team in front of him is performing and minimizing the high quality scoring chances against. Al Montoya remains out with a concussion has as of last report has not even resumes skating. Rick DiPietro is traveling with the team to Carolina but it is very doubtful he will get the nod over Nabokov.

The goals for the Islanders moving forward this year are to keep the offensive chances of the opponent to a minimum. Nabokov's goaltending should be enough to keep them competitive in every game as long as he stays healthy.

As far as goals for second half of this season, is a playoff berth still a plausible goal? As anything with the Islanders there are a lot of "ifs" attached. They currently sit last in the Eastern Conference nine points behind the Winnipeg Jets for the last playoff spot. In front of the Islanders blocking their path to that spot are the talented but underachieving Washington Capitals, Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning.

Despite that fact the Islanders chances could be boosted by the fact that there are only three points separating fifth from eighth place in the East. Maybe that is enough if the Islanders can put together a solid stretch of ten games to minimize the distance between themselves and the coveted eighth playoff spot.

The Islanders can either make the second half of the season an exciting chase or another lost season. Which way do yo think it will go?

Another Lost Season: Thoughts of a Die Hard Islander Fan

2011-12-27T10:17:00.003-05:00

So here we sit three games later from my last column proclaiming that these next three games were going to go a long way in determining whether the Islanders would be relevant this season or just another joke of a season where the team says all of the right things and does all of the wrong things.

You can talk about injuries all you want but the team cannot use that as an excuse this time.

So why are the Islanders so horrible?

We can start with coaching. Every analyst and writer said this was the the year the Islanders were going to make that big step to being relevant. What they have done is taken a huge step back.

Who gets the blame his time? All experts believe the Islanders have the tools to compete so the finger of doom must point directly at Jack Capuano. It is time for Jack to go as the losses pile up and the Islanders become more of a laughing stock than they already are. The problem is firing Capuano will be like a punch line in the channels of the NHL media. I can see the TSN report now. "Leafs.. Rangers.. Canadiens.. Canucks... Jets... Red Wings oh and haha.. the Islanders fired another coach. Lets get back to the Leafs.. The Rangers.." etc and so on and so forth.

We can all see the headlines like they are already written. We can see the bottom line coming like a headlight on a black highway at night.

You cannot fire the players. They tried that already by making an example out of Blake Comeau sending him packing. The only solution is to clean house upstairs. The problem is does anyone believe that Charles Wang will fire Garth Snow, Jack Capuano and his entire upper management team for basically doing nothing. Sure they try, but they have no credibility with any established players or agents. When your a player and Garth Snow calls you and says "hey the Islanders are interested in bringing you in" I wonder if any player agent takes him seriously or entertains the thought at all.

It is time to fire Snow and his entire staff including the coach and all of his assistants. Charles Wang needs to do something drastic and bring in a veteran GM with a pedigree of winning. Bring in a coach who has won something at the NHL level. Bring in a general manager with years of experience. Charles Wang has said he will spend money to make the Islanders better. If that is true then the time has come to spend that money on upper management and coaching. Enough of the AHL never was's trying to find another Peter Laviolette. Its not going to happen.

The Islanders are an absolute embarrassment of an organization and it really pains me to admit that but I cannot condone what is going on here any longer. I love the Islanders. I love their history. That history has to mean something and if it does, Charles Wang will do something before its to late. Screw the arena and focus on making the on ice product the best it can be by putting people in charge that have a background and success at this level.

I was one of the guys watching the Islanders get pounded in the 1990's by the original Winnipeg Jets 8-1 being one of about 1,500 people in attendance. I am one of the guys who sits in the stands as the Islanders blew a 5-1 lead against the expansion Ottawa Senators and lose 6-5 against a team that could beat absolutely no one. I was a guy who chose to saw the good in the 15 year contract to Rick Dipietro. I was a guy who chose to look at whatever positive I could out of Mike Milbury's bone headed trades. I was also one of the guys sitting in the stands wondering how the Islanders could play 20 games and win only one in 2010.

I have reached the end of my rope.

Now I'm sitting here questioning why I am still a fan of the organization. I have been one of the biggest Islander apologists out there and even I have reached a point of throwing my hands up and saying "why do I do this to myself?" There is no joy in rooting for the Islanders any more. Admitting your a fan of the team always is met with a snicker or a look of sympathy from a fan of any other NHL team.

When you reach that point as a fan which many other Islander fans have already reached then what is there to do any more? Hope for a miracle? As we all know as Islander fans there are no more miracles left. Despite the once a decade success the Islander have enjoyed since their days of dominance in the early 80's the only thing Islander fans can depend on is disappointment and misery.

When will the suffering end?

New York Islanders: Its Time to Make a Statement

2011-12-22T10:11:00.002-05:00

Injuries, injuries, injuries.

Every team has them. Its time to stop with the excuses. Now is the time for the Islanders to do something with their 2011-12 season. Right now. Tonight against our higher profile, richer, more glamorous and big spending neighbors in Madison Square Garden. This is not just another game against the Rangers. The Rangers themselves are under the cameras of HBO's outstanding "24/7: Road to the Winter Classic" along with the Orange Crud.. excuse me the Philadelphia Flyers. A game which by all rights should be Islanders vs. Rangers in Yankee Stadium, but that is another column for another day.

The Islanders have floundered along long enough with people, writers and fans making excuse after excuse of why the team still flounders at the bottom of the NHL standings every year and HBO will be sure to capture at least a part of the Rich Man Poor Man mini story arc sure to be showcased in episode 3 of the HBO's popular mini-series.

The time has come for the young talented Islanders to make the kind of statement they did last year against the Penguins and the last part of the season. The Islanders started off this season in the same fashion as last season with early success followed by a long poor stretch. Before all of the Penguin fans jump all over me for condoning the Islanders so called goonery from last seasons fight filled affair with the Penguins, I do not mean the Islanders should emulate the Thunder Bay Bombers from "Youngblood" and simply take the Rangers apart with their fists.

What I mean is the Islanders have to play solid hockey and come away with two points on Garden Ice in front of HBO's cameras. The Rangers are enjoying a fine season with their newest high priced free agent for once being exactly what they needed to be successful in Brad Richards.

If the Islanders want to make something of their season this year then go out and beat the Rangers in front of HBO on their home ice and steal just a bit of the spotlight from them. The Islanders have been playing well and its time for the team to take it to the next level and what better way to make a statement for your own confidence than to take it to your fiercest rival in front of their own crowd when the spotlight is brightest?

If not, they can go back to being cellar dwellers and hope the next top five pick can be the one that pushes them to respectability.

They have two opportunities to do so tonight and on December 26th both at the Garden against the Rangers with a home game against the Canadian version of the Rangers in the equally high profile Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday.

Three games that could very well define this season for the Islanders or in turn break down whatever chance this team has to be any assemblance of successful. It is all in their hands as the Islanders have the ability to do it, but will they? Tune in tonight at seven o' clock and find out.

New York Islanders: Two Steps Forward and Two Steps Back

2011-12-14T10:30:00.003-05:00

The Islanders are on a bit of a merry go round right now.

After ending their annual horrid stretch of futility, the team gave everyone a bit of hope by stringing together some solid performances and getting some points and managed to get to within five points of eighth place in the East.

Enter Pittsburgh.

The Islanders played well enough in the first jumping out to a 2-0 lead before folding like an accordion in losing 6-3.

Last night against Montreal, they managed to make it competitive coming back from 3-1 down before losing 5-3.

The most troubling element of these losses was the play of Al Montoya who for the first time does not look so good.

The Islanders will not put together the kind of streak they need unless for the first time this season they can all manage to achieve some level of consistency as a group. The talent is int he locker room but in these losses it always seems like one aspect of the team whether it be offense, defense or goaltending fails in grand fashion.

Evgeni Nabokov will probably get the green light on Thursday against the Dallas Stars and hopefully he can rebound from his sore hamstring and give the Islanders some stability in the crease.

It seems like the Islanders go well enough during a game until something happens in game that completely derails the team, whether it be a blown call a bad goal against or a failed power play.

This young team has the talent to compete every night the problem is they are failing to compete every night because of one problem or another. Jack Capuano and company have to feel like they are trying to plug a leaky dam with and are running out of fingers.

The Islanders are still capable of salvaging this season, hopefully they can develop some consistency before the whole damn gives way.

New York Islanders: Embarrasment on a National Scale

2011-11-22T13:38:00.003-05:00

There is one thing about being an Islander fan that us Islander fans never seem to get used to. That is being embarrassed. That is just what happened against two of the leagues best being completely out-played, out-worked, and out-classed against the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins.

One of those things is understandable. Being outclassed by the leagues best is OK for a young team supposedly on the cusp of a major step forward.

Being out-worked is not one of them.

How many times has the opposition scored the first goal? While you think about that, how many times has the opposition scored on the very first shot of the game?

The Islander started this season like we all expected them to. Hard working, fast skating and competitive. What has happened since them is absolutely unacceptable. So what are the major problems here? Is it time to clean house?

Think of it this way. The Islanders have failed every test set before them this season to this point. One quarter of the season is over and there they sit again, at the absolute bottom of the NHL with one point separating them from the even more disappointing Columbus Blue Jackets.

The difference this season from last is that the Islanders actually look worse than they did during their horrid but similar futile stretch last season. Maybe we would see one game like the one we saw last night against the Penguins. But how can you show an utter lack of caring and work ethic for so many games in a row?

Its disgusting, disappointing and something needs to be done about it. Its almost like the Islanders believed their hype and thought all they had to do was show up and presto! They would be competitive every game. The Boston Bruins alone have made a mockery of the Islanders this season with how they have bombed them off the ice like they are a High School team. Last year the Islanders would have been in the faces of the Penguins and Bruins and both teams may have left the Islanders with two points, but they would feel those effects of a hard fought contest and not the pond hockey exhibition the Islanders are putting on these days.

What can the team do? The Islanders core of Tavares, Moulson, Okposo, Bailey, Streit and DiPietro, are all signed to contracts. The veterans on the team, Rolston, Pandolfo, Eaton, Mottau, Jurcina and Staios all have little or no value.

Jack Capuano has been absolutely lost behind the bench and appears to have lost his young team already and who could blame them. Putting Grabner with Tavares and Moulson makes no sense whatsoever. None of the three is a play maker as they are all shoot first guys. Benching Okposo for three games does what exactly besides wreck his confidence? What on God's green earth did anyone have to gain by starting rookie Anders Nilsson last night against the Penguins? Your paying Rick DiPietro to play hockey and he has not been horrible this year, so why the heck do you go with a rookie?

It's no secret that the fans have turned on Rick DiPietro. It was in my mind the biggest danger when he signed his 15 year contract. Not injuries, not poor play but his own fans turning on him which seems to inevitably happen with players signed to very long contracts.

That being said, why the hell didn't Rick start last night? Say what you want it makes absolutely zero sense to stick the kid in goal last night. None at all.

Jack Capuano gave the Islanders something last season. He gave them an attitude, some confidence, and a strong work ethic. Why has the team taken such am incredible step backward is beyond any one's comprehension to explain. The second half of last season the Islanders were a team no one in the NHL wanted to play. Right now, the Kellenberg High School team could kick their ass.

Someone has to be responsible. Something has to be done. What exactly that is is up to one man, Charles Wang and secondly Garth Snow assuming Snow gets to keep his job.

Maybe its time to bring in a veteran coach and a veteran general manager and let them have a go with this team and give them more than 30 days to do it.

New York Islanders: Same Old Islanders?

2011-11-15T08:18:00.003-05:00

Well this is not how we expected the season to go did we?

The Islanders sit at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and are risking digging themselves another impossible hole that could result in the team's season being over before Christmas again.

The numbers are ugly, the performances of late have been ugly.

What the heck is going on? This year was supposed to be different. This was the year the Islanders made a run at the playoffs and were competitive. The Islanders right now have three major problems that are fixable. Can or will they be fixed before its to late?

1) Porous defense. Plain and simple the team is allowing way to many good offensive chances against. Its kind of hard to win games when the other team is up one zip on you in under a minute into the game. The Islanders have had a lot of problems this year and letting the opposition skate directly down the ice after the opening face off and score has got to stop.

Marl Streit and Steve Staios have been the only defensemen to play anywhere near his ability and even Striet is a minus six. Its easy to see why GM Garth Snow took the shot at Christian Erhoff in the off season. The rest of these guys are not performing. Mike Mottau, Milan Jurcina, Mark Eaton, Andrew MacDonald and Travis Hamonic have all bee mediocre at best.

So what do you do about it? Bring back in the young guys who finished the season last year? Do you make a desperation trade? No you cannot do that. What you can do is hammer the point home with the group of verterans you have that its time to wake up before your playing meaningless games in December.

2) Goaltending Merry Go Round. All three net minders have been good. Is it a major distraction when the team has no idea which of the three goaltenders its going to be? I doubt its a major distraction, but it has to be at the very best a little distracting.

All three goaltenders have played from good to very well this year, with Al Montoya being the best of the three. Its time for the team to pick two guys and run with them. If that means trading one, then get it done soon.

3) What the heck is wrong with the secondary scorers? Islander fans have been waiting for what seems like years for Kyle Okposo to emerge as a bona-fide NHL player. Blake Comeau has been abysmal, and Josh Bailey has not been good. They are all now liabilities to the team. In a combined 40 games they have one goal and four assists and are a minus 16.

The three of them need to have a stunning turn around. Tavares, Parenteau and Moulson cannot do it all by themselves.

The Islanders are headed for another lost season if things do not turn around and this time they cannot blame injuries for it. The team has looked disjointed, uninspired and lost at times. Something needs to happen soon before the hole gets to big to climb out of.

New York Islanders: Islanders Play Two Games in One Night

2011-11-11T12:33:00.003-05:00

No its not what your thinking. They did not get rained out and play a double header. Don't you know true double headers do not happen any more?

That aside, the Islanders were dominating the Colorado Avalanche last night just about through two periods leading three zip late in the second period.

Then something happened.

The Islanders totally imploded after the Avalanche scored a late second period power play goal.

Then the Avalanche came storming back in the third period putting 16 pucks and two goals on the Islanders before ending it on yet another power play in overtime.

Not to say the Islanders did not have their chances and they did not play a perfect game mind you. Goaltender Al Montoya bailed them out in the second period when the Avalanche threw 19 shots at him and some really good chances also.

Three goal leads in the NHL are supposed to be safe leads. Now this is obviously not the first time a three goal lead has been blown, but this is a game that should have been all Islanders at the end. It wasn't.

So what went wrong? The first thing you can look at is that what was supposed to be a strength for the Islanders is looking like a weakness. They allowed 47 shots on goal. Now The Avalanche are a good young team but no one is confusing them with the Capitals.

The Islanders defense has been spotty this season with the lone bright spot being Mark Streit.

What can the team do to fix the problem? Well, they tried to fix the problem with someone named Christian Ehrhoff in the off season but he decided he did not want to be on the Island.

The Islanders are going to have to make due with what they have and they have a compliment of defenseman that should be able to handle it. Hopefully they can straighten this out and find five guys to play with Streit that can hold the opposition down.

New York Islanders: Winless Streak Must End Now

2011-10-31T12:11:00.003-04:00

Five games. It doesn't seem like a lot especially when two of them are 1 point overtime losses.

How Islander fans always know that things can spiral out of control. Of course we know. We're Islander fans are we not?

Last season a promising start was derailed by a horrific win less streak that killed the season before it had the chance to get under way. Will this season be any different?

The Islanders played one of the better games that they have played all season against the San Jose Sharks in defeat Saturday night. The 3-2 overtime loss was amplified by the fact that a mystery call led to the winning goal in overtime as Travis Hamonic was whistled for a delay of the game call when clearly the puck bounced off the glass before it went out of play.

Non of the four officials on the ice seemed to agree and Travis was assessed a 2 minute minor that resulted in the winning power play goal for the Sharks.

There is no question the Islanders are not the same team that went through that horrid win less streak last season. Problem is, Islander fans are concerned. These games are strikingly similar to some of the games during the streak last season. Overtime losses, close one goal defeats, valiant efforts. When does it all end.

It has to end with the Islanders next game against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night. If there is such a thing as a must win game in November, this is it. The Islanders have to get a win under their belt and it has to be now.

Plug that hole before the erosion of losing spins out of control again. The Islanders and their coached are all saying the right things, they are all doing the right things. Except winning. Winning fixes everything. Get that win and people stop worrying. Lose, and the beat goes on and not in a good way.

New York Islanders: Islanders Top Line Flexing Offensive Muscles

2011-10-18T08:03:00.005-04:00

Wow.

That is what you have to say at the scoring totals of the Islanders top line of John Tavares, P.A. Parenteau and Matt Moulson.

John Tavares is looking like the player that Islanders fans went nuts for at the Draft Party when he was drafted. His only criticism of the game he plays was his skating and strength. That issue has obviously been solved with Tavares working extensively with his skating coach to build up his strength on his skates. If the first four games of the season are any indication Tavares has been much tougher to push off the puck and has demonstrated a nose to find open space on the ice.

P.A. Parenteau is another story and is in a lot of ways the polar opposite of Tavares. If you called him a late bloomer you would be accurate. Last year was his breakout season when he scored 20 goals and had 33 assists primarily playing with Moulson and Tavares. So much is made of Garth Snow's pick ups of Michael Grabner and Matt Moulson. Do not forget about P.A. Parenteau. He has become a valuable asset to play with Tavares and is an excellent play maker. He currently has one goal and six assists in four games.

Matt Moulson was basically signed to make John Tavares more comfortable in his rookie season. He lit up the preseason two years ago and people said, he wont score in the regular season. Score he did. he netted 31 goals. The next year, people said he wont score near that many again. Then he went ahead and scored 30 more. He currently has four goals and six points in four games.

The chemistry exhibited by these three cannot be ignored any longer. Long gone are the days where three guys played together for a season or multiple seasons. Now coaches are always looking for the right mix and will mix and match lines. I happen to believe this is the wrong approach. Teams should be built the way the Islanders are building theirs. If you fine three guys who exhibit some chemistry and you stick with it.

To start the season Nino Niederreiter was slotted to play with Tavares and Moulson. Is it a stroke of luck that he pulled his hamstring and is now on injured reserve? The Islanders first line is in tact and should stay that way no matter what. These guy are playing like they are wirelessly connected and that is something you simply cannot teach.

Islander head coach Jack Capuano has a lot of other pieces besides his first line which should remain together untouched. I love the aspect of the high draft pick and two guys that Garth Snow plucked off the scrap heap and are now lighting up the NHL. He should absolutely try and find two more lines with chemistry and absolutely not touch the first line. They should lead the Islanders this season if the first four games are any indication.

It works. Stick with it and ride it for as long as it can possibly lasts. If its one month, great. If its the whole year, great. If its the rest of these young men's careers, great.

New York Islanders: Offense Wakes Up, DiPietro Concussed

2011-10-14T13:33:00.003-04:00

The Islanders season is three games old and this season already is different from the past few years in quite a few ways.

First of all the Islanders came into this season with a positive on ice outlook for the first time in many years. That in of itself is a major change.

In addition to that the Islanders came into this season with stability, a powerful young offense teeming with potential to improve on a very sucessful second half last year. They have an expereinced veteran defense with a few young stars on the rise and rookies ready to step in if anyone falters or gets injured.

The Islanders also have a lot of depth in goal, with Al Montoya, Rock DiPietro, Evgeni Nabokov all on the main roster with 2 excellent prospects backing them up yes the Islanders are deep, young and very talented.

The offense was non existend against the Panthers on opening night and struck twice in game two against the Minnesota Wild.

Last night the Islanders faced their most skilled opponent yet in the Tampa Bay Lightning and quite simply rolled right over them chasing ex team mate Dwayne Roloson out of the net and beating the Lighting 5-1.

The Islanders first line of Matt Moulson, John Tavares and PA Parenteau skated like they were joined by some new Apple technology bridghing thier brains together and frustrated Tampa's veteran defense which includes Zdeno Chara wanna-be Victor Hedman.

Al Montoya was sharp again stopping 34 of 35 shots and the defense was poised and calm against a high powered offense forcing most shots tot he outside of the prime shooting areas.

Rick DiPietro came into this season healthy for the first time in four years and came in with a much improved attitude knowing that he had a lot of competition in the crease this season. Not only did he come in healthy but he also looked very sharp in pre-season games giving fans hope that he would become the all star goalie again we all know he can be.

Then something very familiar happened.

Brian Rolston hit him in the temple with a shot in practice causing a concussion that has Rick out indefinitely. Is there anyone that you can think of that has had worse luck than Rick? Rick did everything right so far this year and for his troubles gets rung like a bell by a shot in practice.

Rick should stay far away from Atlantic City and Las Vegas because his luck cannot possibly get any worse. The Islander fans while skeptical DP can regain his pre injury form had some hgope with his performance in pre-season. Now they say oh well it is a good thing we have Nabokov now.

I cannot help but feel awful for Rick. Yes that's me, an electrical contractor making a small fraction of what Rick makes feeling bad for a guy who gets to play pro sports and make millions of dollars. All the guy wants to do is play and show everyone he can still be a number one goalie and now this.

I hoe this is not a major issue for Rick and he can come back in quickly and get a few games under his belt. I remain a skeptic, but that does not mean i cant root for the guy.

New York Islanders: Laying an Egg On Opening Night

2011-10-10T08:56:00.003-04:00

In the grand scheme of the season that is about to unfold the 2-0 shutout loss to the Panthers on opening night really is not that big of a deal and is not indicative of how this season will unfold for the young Islanders.

What it did do was disappoint a sold out Nassau Coliseum crowd that was absolutely jacked at the start of the game. As the game unfolded you could feel the frustration and dissapointment in the Coliseum. That is something the Islanders cannot afford to do.

Fans who went to the game to see the young Islanders take the first steps of a season filled with opportunity and expectations all left disappointed. Short of Al Montoya's performance there was nothing for fans to point at and say "yeah, well at least.."

The game was a total bust.

The sad part is that so many of the Islander fans that showed up were leaving the Coliseum who were going to stop by the box office and buy tickets if they were impressed by what they saw left saying "no, I'm not spending money on that team."

The Islanders had the chance to come out flying and feed off of the rabid crowd at the start. Instead they came out like it was a mid December game that had no meaning. Call it nerves, call it what you will no matter how young they are the team is a group of professional athletes. The effort on opening night was inexcusable.

Is it a reason to panic?

No one is panicking yet but the Islanders better show their fans that there is a reason to be optimistic pretty soon starting with Monday's game against the Minnesota Wild. That is unless they want to play in front of a half empty coliseum. Everyone knows that the Nassau Coliseum is not going to draw anyone to see the Islanders play. The only thing that will draw people to see the Islanders is wins and exciting hockey.

That is not what we saw opening night.

New York Islanders: Expectations High For a Change

2011-10-05T10:23:00.003-04:00

Do not look now, but it appears that the New York Islanders have earned a bit of respect in the NHL circles.

Predictions still have the Islanders for the most part finishing out of the playoffs but not at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

Thats progress, but well short of what this team is capable of doing.

Now that that is out of the way let us look at what is apparent about the Islanders that has not been apparent in the past. The NHL season begins on October 6th and the Islander begin their campaign Saturday the eighth against the revamped Florida Panthers.

What can we expect from this group? Seriously?

The Islanders who failed in another bid for a new arena that has been an anchor around the teams neck for a while, seems to have been pushed to the side for the time being while the politicians and the powers that be fumble around looking for a new solution to the arena issue.

Belmont Park, A new complex on site with a parking garage, all that will be sorted out at some point.

Let's focus on the team itself on the ice.

The Islanders young core has a few additions this season to add to the mix. Notable adds are Marty Reasoner who will essentially take the place of Zenon Konopka in the Islanders lineup is also capable of killing penalties, winning face-offs and scoring the occasional goal.

Former long time Devil Jay Pandolfo has also been added to the mix and should provide some veteran leadership to the group and is a capable third or forth line penalty killer.

Veteran defenseman Steve Staios has the chance to make a nice impact to bring stability to the Islanders defense and will most likely be paired with the returning from injury Mark Striet.

Evgeni Nabokov has decided to continue his career with the Islanders and play out his contract and at the very least brings the Islanders a veteran net minder who has had a lot of NHL success under his belt.

Ryan Strome has signed a three year entry level deal and will at least get the obligatory nine game look to see if he can be the next 18 year old to crack an NHL line up. Odds are he goes back to juniors but there is always the chance he "wows" the Islanders brass to stay for the season.

Nino Niederreiter has made the team also and will likely get some top six forward minutes as he starts his full time NHL career. He has been hampered with a minor injury but saw time with John Tavares and Matt Moulson in the pre-season.

Brian Rolston is a serviceable forward who should be able to help the team across the board in all aspects of the game most notably penalty killing and giving the team three lines that are a scoring threat.

The new comers give the Islanders a couple of proven NHL veterans to lean on when the young Islanders either start to crack under the pressure of a long NHL season or need a guy who has "been there" to speak to about remaining consistent over an 82 game NHL season.

The Islanders biggest problem as of late seems to be the issue of remaining consistent and avoiding a season killing win-less or losing streak.

Every team has losing streaks, the key is to minimize the damage and get past it before it manages to kill your season.

From top to bottom the Islanders put what can be the most complete NHL team the franchise has seen since the 2002 season.

Dare I say this, the goaltending appears to be solid with the addition of Nabokov, the return of Al Montoya and the resurgence of Rick DiPietro who has had a solid pre season and managed to stay off injured reserve so far.

The defense is back and healthy from top to bottom.

The forwards are young, hungry, talented and have been spotted with a few veterans to steady the ship through the rough patches.

The team has stated that they think the rebuild is over and the time to win is now.

I whole heatedly agree that. The old barn in Uniondale will be a fun place to be this year and I am not talking about Rhianna concerts and monster truck rallies.

NHL: The Summer of Tragedy Darkens the Hockey World

2011-09-09T14:39:00.003-04:00

Never before has the NHL seen such a summer.

Some aspects of it were just like any other summer in the NHL. Free agents became rich, some players were over paid, some were underpaid. Some player retired with huge fanfare, some retired with little or none. Some are still not signed to contracts. Some are unwanted. Some chose to continue their careers in other leagues scattered around the world.

Hockey is a worldwide sport and players looking to extend careers or revitalize them have many professional leagues around the world to choose from if the playing in the NHL is no longer an option.

The one league that has stepped up and really tried to offer players competitive salaries is the 18 team Russian based Kontinental Hockey League, otherwise known as the KHL.

European and Russian players are not only looking at the KHL as a back up plan to the NHL, but a league where they can stay close to home and play the sport they love.

When former NHL All-Star Pavol Demitra decided to leave the NHL and continue his career in the KHL I am sure he knew he would be giving up some of the luxuries of playing in the NHL.

I highly doubt that in his mind he thought he would be tragically killed in a horrific plane crash while heading to his first game in his new league with his new team, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. the crash claimed the lives of everyone on board with the exception of one crew member and one player, Alexander Galimov who survived but are in critical condition.

To gauge the tragedy in terms we as hockey fans can understand, for one moment close your eyes think about how you would feel if God forbid your favorite hockey team suffered such a horrific fate.

The feelings go beyond just hockey. This is life and death.

As if the plane crash that claimed the lives of so many was not enough, earlier this summer the NHL lost three other players in three separate incidents.

New York Ranger player and former Minnesota Wild fan favorite Derek Boogaard passed away to an apparent lethal mix of alcohol and pain killers.

Vancouver Canucks forward Rick Rypien who battled depression for years claimed his own life in an apparent suicide.

Nashville Predators defenseman Wade Belak was also a victim of depression and though authorities have not announced his cause of death, but suicide is feared to be the means.

These 4 separate events all in total mark the darkest summer in NHL history and something that will haunt the sport of hockey's players, personel and fans for many years to come.

Think of lone Lokomotiv surviving player Alexander Galimov, if he does survive, and that is a big if, what kind of life will he have knowing that all of his team mates did not make it, and he did? One hopes that he will be spared and can live a healthy long life. Lets not forget about the surviving crew member who will also battle the same issues, if they survive.

Soon the puck will drop on the 2011-12 NHL season and lets hope that the NHL pays tribute to those lost no matter the circumstances and reminds everyone of the importance of air safety.

The NHL should also have psychiatric care available for players who need it. It is time for professional sports leagues to try and help players where they can. If it saves one life, then it is worth it.

KHL officials have already said that Lokomotiv will play this season that the other 17 teams will donate players and that they will promote players from its "youth team" to fill out the roster.

Let us hope that Russian aviation takes this as a calling card to improve their bad safety record so that this tragedy does not happen again to anyone.

Air safety should be 100%. Hopefully they get a wake up call as a result that will prevent future senseless deaths.

Prayers go out to the two survivors of the Lokomotive crash, and the families of all of the families touched by the tragedies of the darkest summer in the sport of hockey.

To see video of the ceremony in place of what was supposed to be the opening game of the KHL season, please click here:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Video-Dynamo-Minsk-8217-s-hockey-funeral-for-L?urn=nhl-wp12157

New York Islanders: New Coliseum Voted Down: You Cannot Defeat Stupidity

2011-08-02T08:52:00.003-04:00

It is the enemy of progress on Long Island. Stupidity has killed the Lighthouse Project, and stupidity has now infected the 88,389 people who went to the polls yesterday to vote down progress.

88,389 people voted it down is because of three main reasons.

Reason 1) They are partisan, and will vote against anything that their political party does not endorse.

This is the main problem in this country. People will say no the economy is or the wars in the middle east are or the dependence on foreign oil is or the environment is.

The biggest problem in this country is partisan politics. Our founding fathers as far back as George Washington saw that this could become a problem which is why the day the Republicans and Democrats basically seized the power in this country was the day all of the problems were seeded.

Can you imagine living in a world where people ignore what is morally right and wrong and make all of their life decisions based on what their political party tells them to?

We are in that world people.

Reason 2) They are misinformed.

No voters say Charles Wang is a billionaire and he can afford to build it himself. This statement shows one thing. People are misinformed. Nassau County owns the land the Nassau Coliseum sits on as well as the building itself. The people want Charles Wang to build an arena on land that is not his and donate $350 million to build it?

If Charles Wang owned the land or the county sold it to him then you would have a point with this, but he doesn't. Hey as long as the "no" voters want Wang to build stuff for free, maybe he can build me my new kitchen for free too. Hey he can afford it right?

No Voters also said "I will not vote for anything that increases my taxes." OK. Every year our school taxes go up an average of 5-12%. How does this happen? Oh yes, WE VOTE TO INCREASE THEM IN THE SCHOOL BUDGET VOTES IN MAY.

Critics of the project said that taxes in a worse case scenario would increase $58 dollars a year. That is $1.12 per week. Keep in mind that this was a one time increase. Keep in mind not an increase every year like our school budgets but a one time increase.

Unlike school budgets where districts tell the voters "vote for the kids" and do not offer any information as to where the increases every year are actually going but at the very least we knew where our $1.12 per week was going.

Don't people realize that in the case that the Islanders leave Nassau County and the Coliseum closes as a result, that all of the people that work at the Coliseum will be our of work, all of the tax revenue collected by events at the Coliseum will be gone, all of the people that came to all of the events at the coliseum wont be coming to Nassau County to spend money shopping or eating, boosting the local economy.

Lets not mention what will happen with the coliseum site. What will they put there? A shopping mall? Office buildings? Hotels? Senior Housing? Assisted Living?

Yeah, I know what your thinking, that's exactly what Long Island needs, more of what we have to much of.

Reason 3) They are stupid - Being smart and rational thinker is not a requirement to vote in the United States, but it should be.

This is a statement quite a bit of the no voters used. "Why do I have to pay for a new arena? I can go to Madison Square Garden or the new Brooklyn arena to see a show and pay nothing."

Is gas free? Are train tickets free? Is parking in New York City free?

Next.

This is another statement no voters told reporters on the way out of the polls -

"Traffic and taxes are two things I don't want." Talk about dense.

Here is another gem.

"The Yankees, Mets, Giants, Jets, Nets are all built new arenas and stadiums with private money and it didn't cost me anything, so why should I pay for this?"

Yankee Stadium and CitiField were built with tax free bonds that otherwise would have been collected by the state and the city. Yes, that is tax dollars that should be in the city and states coffers that they signed off on letting go.

The land that Yankee Stadium is built on was DONATED by the city until the project was completed. Then the city took the land that the old stadium was on, which is far smaller by the way than the land the stadium currently occupies.

Where did the land come from that the new Nets arena in Brooklyn come from? Imminent Domain. Yeah, that's a way to build a fan base in Brooklyn. Tell your residents to leave your home and take this check so we can build a sports arena.

How did the Giants and Jets help finance their new stadium? Extortion. Oh excuse me they offered their fans "Personal Seat Licences" for the right to buy season tickets. Yes, in order to keep seats that many fans have had for many years, fans had to pony up thousands of dollars per seat for the right to even purchase the tickets they have already been paying for.

Has the average fan tried to buy a ticket for a Yankee, Met, Ranger or Knick game lately? If you did, you would find that for a family of four for seats that will impress no one you would have to pay at the very least $500.00 to anywhere around $1600.00 just for the tickets.

The average fan cannot afford it. This is something that was not true for the Islanders. Sure pro hockey is not cheap, but you could spend $160.00 and take a family of four to the Coliseum for a game and sit where you know, you can actually see all of the action without binoculars.

Who knows what is next but we are back to square one. We are guaranteed only one thing and that is four more seasons of Islanders hockey in Nassau County. If County Executive Ed Mangano has a plan B, he better get to it soon just do not depend on the intelligence of your voters to get it done.

New York Islanders: The Real Truth Behind the Arena Project

2011-07-31T21:08:00.003-04:00

Im sitting here trying to fond the angle to play with this article and decided to go and talk frankly about what is going on at the moment.

First a little background on what has been done to this point.

Charles Wang bought the Islanders for many reasons. One being most prominent is that he is a Long Islander and wherever he went, people said hey Mr. Wang, help out us Islander fans and buy the team.

Men like Charles Wang, who admittedly did not know much of anything about the sport saw something in the Islanders back then that not a lot of other people saw, value.

Maybe not in the horrid attendance figures and equally as bad performance but he saw value on the team.

Financial value.

Charles Wang had a vision for the Nassau Coliseum and the surrounding area and he figured if he owned the team well then it would put him at the forefront of the battle that was to be had over the 77 acre Nassau Coliseum area.

The Nassau Hub project if you will is something that has been talked about for many years dating back to the 1980's.

I will not go through all of the plans that have been put forth because for whatever reason none of them ever made it past the planning stage.

Charles Wang has a much more grandiose vision of what was to be placed on the site.

The Lighthouse Project was a complete area make over with e new renovated arena and tha fully developed 77 acre development plan that was so big and so huge that the idea that someone wanted to build such a project in Uniondale was mind boggling.

Price tags of between three and four billion dollars was what it was going to cost.

Charles Wang brought on a partner for this project in the Rexcorp, only the largest and most successful real estate developer on Long Island.

He was serious and he was going to finance the project himself.

Yes you saw that right.

The project went through most of the legal hurdles and tens of millions of dollars was spent.

The Town of Hempstead effectively killed the monster project saying it was to dense for Nassau County.

This put us back at square one.

Enter Ed Mangano.

In a stunning upset, Ed Mangano unseated incumbent Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi.

So where did this leave the development of the area?

Mangano decided to get everyone to the table, The main entities in the deal are Nassau County, The Town of Hempstead and Charles Wang.

They all agree on one thing. The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum needs to be replaced. It is outdated and way past its prime as a new arena has been talked about on the site as far back as the late 1980's.

They all came up with the plan that will be voted on by Nassau County residents August 1st at a special referendum to see if the people of Nassau County agree with their elected officials on whether the arena should be replaced with County money.

They want to borrow 350 million dollars to pay for the project and another 50 million for a minor league baseball park.

Here is the kicker. opponents of the project say that residents of Nassau County are in effect voting themselves a tax increase if they vote yes on August 1st.

That sounds bad right? No one likes new taxes do they?

Well how much more taxes are we talking about?

That number is in dispute but here is the range of money were talking about.

Anywhere from $18 to a worst case scenario of $58.

Wow. that sounds like a lot of money to pay extra every month.

Wait a second. Its not monthly? Its YEARLY?

So the big problem people have is that people will have to eat a monstrous 31 cents to $1.12 PER WEEK to pay for a new arena, and that is if the profits the new arena would take in does not cover the debt service.

Hey if that's the case, sign me up for 3.

So obviously money is not the issue here, unless there are people who are going to go into bankruptcy from an extra 31 cents to $1.12 per week on their tax bill.

Opponents of the project are plain and simple resorting to the one thing that is ruining not only life on Long Island, its making it awfully hard for this country to get anything done.

Newsday, owned by Cablevison and the same entity that owns the Rangers, which just so happens to own the currently being renovated Madison Square Garden. So ask yourself this question: With the new arena being constructed in Brooklyn, do you think the Dolans want another brand spanking new state of the art facility in their market as competition for the Garden?

While your thinking about that think about this: Remember how crazy the Dolan's went when the Jets wanted to put their stadium in Manhattan?

Yeah, I am really sure Jim Dolan would be crying a river if the new Coliseum does not get built.

Don't forget that Jim Dolan owns Newsday, you know, Long Island's newspaper.

The next major stinkfest at work here mucking up the water is partisan politics. Something that is so prevalent in today's American society that the stench of it reaches all the way to Washington DC.

Do you think the Democrats, who are still shell shocked from losing the Nassau County executive position to the Republicans want Mangano and the GOP to get credit for getting that new arena?

Partisan politics is something that could kill anything it touches because it is in my mind a mindless creeping disease that only serves to get worse over time.

There is no one, and i do mean absolutely no one who thinks that the Nassau Coliseum does not need to be replaced.

Everyone agrees that Long Island cannot afford to lose all the good that comes from having such a venue to go to without having to go to Brooklyn or Manhattan not just to see a hockey game, but for anything.

Pro Wrestling, Ice shows, circus events, Disney on Ice, Concerts the list goes on and on.

Yes the Islanders need a new home, we all know that. But this goes way beyond what the Islanders need. This is what Long Island and Nassau County needs. I would absolutely love to be able to bring my kids not only to an Islander game or two at this venue but maybe go see Monday Night Raw without having to sit uncomfortable in the seats that are so bad.

I am a Life long Nassau County resident. I am voting myself a tax increase tomorrow and for the first time I will know exactly where that tax money is going.

Can anyone tell me exactly where my tax increase dollars are going when I vote for a 4-12 percent school tax increase? They get over 56 million dollars to run my school district. Why do they need such a mammoth increase every single year?

Yet we keep doing it because of the signs they plaster all over the place that say "Vote for the Kids."

People will vote themselves anything as long as it is for the kids.

This arena is not for the kids. Its for EVERYONE.

You will hear account after account of people saying why we should vote no tomorrow.

They blame Chalres Wang for not building the arena with his own money.

Yeah OK, the guy is going to build something that essentially isn't his?

Everyone knew that his money went away when the Town of Hempstead killed the Lighthouse project.

Everyone says well the Giants, Jets, Mets and Yankees all built their new sports venues not with public money, but with private money.

Really? Really? REALLY?

Where did the land come from that the new Yankee stadium is built on? Where did the money come from to help pay for the new Football stadium in East Rutheford? How many tax breaks did the four of the richest sports franchises in the United States get to build their palaces?

The answers are right in front of you - in one way or another out of your pocket.

Instead of thinking about what Partisan politics or financial agendas are telling us to do why don't we look at that building sitting on Hempstead Turnpike in Uniondale and let that tell us what the right thing to do is.

Please post your comments below and if you would be so kind as to tell us why you think it should be a yes or no vote.

NHL Free Agency: Why the Islanders Should do Everything to get Drew Doughty

2011-07-18T16:43:00.004-04:00

Opportunities like this do not come around often if it even is an opportunity.

Drew Doughty is arguably one of the best defensemen in the NHL and he is a free agent at the age of 21.

Yes I know he is a restricted free agent and signing him is not as simple as throwing the most money at him.

The Kings have the right to match any contract Doughty chooses to accept.

It is no secret the Islanders have the most cap space in the NHL right now and have millions and millions of dollars to spend to even just get to the NHL's mandated salary cap floor of $48.3 million dollars.

Meaning that if the Islanders are going to be salary cap compliant for this season they need to add about $9 million dollars in salary as per the current league rules.

Yes you read that right.

So how are they going to do that? they must have a bunch of restricted free agents to sign right?

Wrong.

The Islanders currently have three RFA's on the team. Josh Bailey, Blake Comeau and Jesse Joensuu.

Assuming the team resigns all three players, that would likely leave around five to six million to spend.

So where are they going to spend it.

I say Garth Snow: go out and do everything humanly possible to get Drew Doughty in Islander colors.

So what would it take to get him?

Well the Islanders would have to sign him to an offer sheet so extremely high that the Kings would walk away from their right to match or work out a trade.

Let us explore the most likely way it could happen and that is trade. What do you trade for a 21 year old all star defenseman?

Realistically, were talking a package of Calvin de Haan, Josh Bailey, Brock Nelson and two first round draft picks.

Then there is the matter of actually signing Doughty but that is something that Islanders GM Garth Snow should already have an idea of what it will take because Doughty is a free agent so negotiations could have already begun.

The other route is signing Doughty to a over priced offer sheet that the Kings would not be able to or unwilling to match.

How much would it take?

The Kings have just over nine million in cap space right now. So any deal with Doughty would have to be over that amount.

The beauty of it is is that if you sign Doughty to lets say a three year, 36 million dollar contract you would be paying him an average of 12 million dollars a season.

The Kings would not be able to match that and be cap compliant.

If they refuse to match, the Islanders would then have to pay restitution to the Kings in the form of four first round draft picks.

Either case the Islanders should be exhausting all avenues to get Drew Doughty if at all possible on his team.

Garth Snow, you want to show the world that the Islanders are for real?

I cannot think of a better way.

Can you?

NHL: Circumventing the Salary Cap: Why is it Allowed?

2011-07-08T10:35:00.002-04:00

The NHL has the right to void contracts they feel circumvent the salary cap when they are presented to them when a player and an organization agree.

If this is the case, why have so many contracts been approved that so clearly are meant to get around the cap and lessen the cap hit over the length of the contract?

Lets examine some player contracts and why not go into the New York Rangers newest prized free agent signing Brad Richards.

The Rangers signed him to a nine year 60 million dollar contact, or an average of 6.6 million dollars a season. That doesn't sound so bad does it? Not on the surface it sure doesn't.

When you look closer it becomes more unsettling.

Looking at the contract it breaks down like this:

Year One - Age - 31 - Actual Salary: $12,000,000
Year Two - Age - 32 - Actual Salary: $12,000,000
Year Three - Age - 33 - Actual Salary: $9,000,000
Year Four - Age - 34 - Actual Salary: $8,500,000
Year Five - Age - 35 - Actual Salary: $8,500,000
Year Six - Age - 36 - Actual Salary: $7,000,000

Here is where it gets interesting.

Year Seven - Age - 37 - Actual Salary: $1,000,000
Year Eight - Age - 38 - Actual Salary: $1,000,000
Year Nine - Age - 39 - Actual Salary: $1,000,000

OK so what is going to happen between years one through six and years seven through nine? Does Glen Sather have some magical crystal ball that says Richards production as a player is going to drop by 1,200 percent from the start of his contract?

No it is a clear and concise way of reducing the cap hit the Rangers will incur to 6.6 million from the 9.5 million it would have been in years one through six.

How can the NHL or anyone else for that matter look at this contract and say its all fine and dandy and is within the rules of the NHL CBA and allow such blatant breaking of the rules in this case?

Hey do not blame the Rangers for this. They are not at fault for this disturbing trend. the blame falls solely on the NHL for allowing the practice.

Sure the Rangers have given out massive contracts before most recently to Wade Redden, Scott Gomez and Chris Drury and they were sort of front loaded in Gomez' case starting at $10,000,000 and reducing to $4,500,000 in the final year of the seven year $51,500,000 contract.

Sure that is an over 100 percent drop in value but no where near as egregious as Brad Richards new contract.

Let's examine some other questionable contracts.

Chris Pronger at age 35 signed a seven year contract worth $34,500,000 for an average cap hit of just over $4,900,000. Here is how this one breaks down.

Year One - Age - 35 - Actual Salary: $7,600,000
Year Two - Age - 36 - Actual Salary: $7,600,000
Year Three - Age - 37 - Actual Salary: $7,200,000
Year Four - Age - 38 - Actual Salary: $7,000,000
Year Five - Age - 39 - Actual Salary: $4,000,000

If the contract ended there, no one would say anything about it.

Here is where the interesting part is.

Year Six - Age - 40 - Actual Salary: $525,000
Year Seven - Age - 41 - Actual Salary: $525,000

Does anyone actually think Chris Pronger is going to play two years of hockey for $525,000 at age 40 and 41? Something tells me Pronger will be celebrating his retirement after cashing the last of his paychecks exactly two years before his contract expires.

Here is another head scratching contract.

Roberto Luongo is 32 years old and at age 31 signed a twelve year $64,000,000 contract with the Canucks. Smart move by the Canucks to get this guy tied up for the rest of his career right?

How the NHL allowed this contract to be approved is beyond comprehension.

The contract breaks down like this:

Year One - Age - 31 - Actual Salary: $10,000,000
Year Two - Age - 32 - Actual Salary: $6,716,000
Year Three - Age - 33 - Actual Salary: $6,716,000
Year Four - Age - 34 - Actual Salary: $6,716,000
Year Five - Age - 35 - Actual Salary: $6,716,000
Year Six - Age - 36 - Actual Salary: $6,716,000
Year Seven - Age - 37 - Actual Salary: $6,716,000
Year Eight - Age - 38 - Actual Salary: $6,716,000
Year Nine - Age - 39 - Actual Salary: $3,382,000
Year Ten - Age - 40 - Actual Salary: $1,618,000
Year Eleven - Age - 41 - Actual Salary: $1,000,000
Year Twelve - Age - 42 - Actual Salary: $1,000,000

Now tell me how the Canucks are not using the final three years when Luongo will be age 40-42 and well on his way to playing golf full time to lower the cap hit of this contract.

The Organizations in question are not at fault. They will do whatever the league allows them to to get one step ahead of the rest of the teams in the NHL.

Why have some organizations, like the Toronto Maple Leafs come out publicly and called contracts like the ones highlighted above cheating?

Why has the NHL not stepped in and nipped this one in the bud so to speak before the practice became more common?

These are not the only contracts that employ such a practice. Ilya Kovalchuck is the only instance where the league said enough is enough. But they allowed his restructured contract which is just as insultingly cap hit lowering than the first one which is 15 years in length and worth $100,000,000.

The last 5 years of the contract pay him $8,000,000 out of the total value of the contract.

How was his voided 17 year contract any less ridiculous?

There are other players signed to equally questionable contracts, Marian Hossa of the Blackhawks, Ilya Bryzgalov of the Flyers and Henrik Zetterberg of the Red Wings.

The NHL tried to fix this with the "Kovalchuck Amendment" which says that if a player retires before the end of his contract then the cap hit stays on the teams payroll for the duration of the contract.

OK that may work, but then what is a players incentive to stay and play for pennies on the dollar when he is way past his prime? Loyalty? Not many players are Niklas Lidstrom that can win major NHL awards at age 40.

The only answer is to make the cap hit of a contract the actual value the player is being paid instead of the average of the contract.

At this rate, the Rangers could have paid Brad Richards $60,000,000 dollars this season and then $1 every year after.

The CBA leveled the playing field when it was ratified the salary cap was $39,000,000. Six years later it is $64,000,000. We are right back in the situation we were in before the salary cap was implemented. The players have to be laughing at the NHL for thinking they got the short end of the stick back then.

So what will happen when the CBA is opened again for negotiation? Will the NHL insist on an actual numbers salary cap or continue the average method that allows teams to so easily get around the salary cap?

Something has to be done. Hopefully it does not result in another lost season.

Please post your thoughts below.

2011 NHL Draft: Flyers Change Face of Team - What Will the Islanders Do?

2011-06-24T10:25:00.002-04:00

Wow.

That is all that needs to be said about what the Flyers did yesterday in trading 26 year old team captain Mike Richards and Leading scorer and fellow 26 year old Jeff Carter.

The question is why. Flyers GM Paul Holmgren can wax poetic about how he needed the cash to sign Ilya Bryzgalov.

Way to make your new number one goaltender the franchise villain.

Bryzgalov needs to play well or the Flyers fans will destroy him.

I as an Islander fan am ecstatic the Flyers have chosen to essentially trade their two best players bringing them back down to earth in the Eastern Conference. Say what you want, the Flyers are not even close to being the team they were last year.

What team trades two 26 year old cornerstones that are locked up to reasonable long term deals?

Something is rotten in Philly, and the rest of the Eastern Conference has got to be happy about it.

Enough about the deconstruction of the Flyers.

The Islanders are set to pick at number 5 in the draft this year and where will the team go? A lot of that depends on who is taken in the four slots before them but I think we can safely say that the four players will be some combination of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Adam Larsson, Gabriel Landeskog and either Dougie Hamilton or Jonathan Huberdeau.

If the New Jersey Devils select Hamilton at four, should the Islanders select Huberdeau, another center? Or should they select Sean Couturier, who was once projected to go number one?

No matter that GM Garth Snow and his staff choose to go with, they will gain another large piece of the future here with the Islanders.

If Hamilton is there at five, then it is the fans opinion that Snow should grab him quick. He is a big bruising defenseman that every team needs.

If he is not there then I think the team should go for Couturier.

Unless Snow chooses to trade down. I hope he doesn't because the draft is deep but it is also thick at the top as the top 6 players are all very good prospects.

I will be at the draft party and it always is fun. Hope to see you there!

New York Islanders: 5 Reasons They Make the Playoffs in 2011-12 (Part 5)

2011-05-25T08:55:00.002-04:00

We have reached the final part of our five part series in why the Islanders will make the playoffs in 2011-12.

So much has happened since this series began. The Islanders and Nassau County announced plans for a new arena and there will be a public vote for the project on August 1st. Public support would seem to be behind the project to a 65-70% positive range at the moment.

Once Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano's revenue sharing plan is announced it will go a long way into whether public support stays behind the project.

That brings us to the final piece of our five part series - intangibles.

So much of professional sports is not necessarily all having the most skilled players. We have seen time and time again that it is not the team with the biggest payroll or the biggest stars that wins every single Stanley Cup or any major championship for that matter.

Its the team that puts all of it together at the same time. You can see the similarities in the Islanders now that we saw in Chicago and Pittsburgh before they ascended to the top of the NHL. The talent is there. It is young but it is there.

All that remains for the Islanders to do is to put the pieces together mentally as a group.

Garth Snow and his staff have laid the foundation for a bright future and have built the team in a way that it will be possible to keep most of this same core group together assuming they take the next step. There are no seven, eight or nine million dollar per season players on this team to hamstring him from keeping his players should they blossom into full blown NHL stars.

The Chicago Blackhawks are a prime example of how signing guys like Brian Campbell to a ridiculous contract can hamstring you from keeping the goaltender who just won you a Stanley Cup and ushered guys like Dustin Byfuglien out of Chicago.

Some people would say it was worth it to win a Stanley Cup and they may be right, but that's not the way the Islanders are being built.

The Islanders are being structured as a team that is poised to stay together for the long haul. John Tavares will be the highest paid player on the team after his three year entry level contract expires and that's the way it should be. Michael Grabner just signed a five year contract. Matt Moulson signed a three year contract.

Its the perfect way to build an organization if you want to hold onto your players.

It will be no problem at all for the Islanders to keep what they have and if they so choose, add a mid level piece from outside the organization without breaking the bank.

Why is all this possible? Because of Garth Snow. He and his staff have put a group of guys in that Islander locker room that want to succeed on Long Island and recognize that they truly have a chance to be a part of something special.

Look at what happened to the team this season. After a brutal stretch of 21 games basically torpedoed any chance of the playoffs did the Islanders die on the vine and whine about how injuries killed the season?

No they turned the season around and made the rest of the NHL take notice and put together one of the top 3 records in the NHL after the all-star break.

Fans noticed also. The attendance at the coliseum rose in this period, yes buoyed by some outstanding ticket sales ideas but also by the Islanders solid play.

There was something even better brewing in the Islanders locker room.

Confidence and certainty.

Every Islanders season of the last lets say 15 years has begun and ended with uncertainty with the Islanders losing free agents to other teams or bringing in unproven guys to pick up the slack.

This season we know every major player on the roster will be back next year and beyond.

If you do not think that is a big deal to the guys in that locker room, your mistaken. Looking around the locker room at the end of the season seeing guys you know will be back and that you know you can be successful with means an awful lot.

That brings me to the fans. Everyone knows the Islanders rank near or at the bottom of the NHL in attendance. This past season the Islanders were dead last in overall attendance and percentage of capacity.

This fact is easily explained away for two reasons.

1) No one is coming out to see a bad team and let's face it, at one point this season the Islanders were dreadful. This is something that was easily remedied by one thing. Winning. No not the Charlie Sheen type of winning, the type the Islanders did in the last 30 games of the season.

Attendance rose at the end of the season because fans wanted to see first hand what this young group was up to that was winning so many games. Looking over the attendance numbers for the season, for the first 25 home games the Islanders had what in my mind is a "good crowd" of over 12,000 fans only FOUR times.

For the last 16 home games the numbers were way up overall and the Islanders had 11 games of 12,000 or more fans with four sell outs, the only four sell outs of the season.

As you can see if the Islanders play well people will come. This coming season if the Islanders can manage to stay in the top ten in the conference a heck of a lot more people will come to see them play.

You cannot imagine what that means to a young team to look up in the stands and see 3,500 fans in a 16,250 seat arena. That has to be disconcerting especially to young players.

At the same time, when you look up and see little or no empty seats that has to be like adrenaline again especially for young players.

Hopefully this season more Islander fans will come back to the Coliseum and see what Snow and company are building. The fans of the team are still there but they have had no confidence in what the Islanders were putting on the ice. Now that has changed. All that has to happen is for the team to take the next step and continue to build what they have started.

Secondly on top of the the strong player base the Islanders for once have great news brewing on an organizational level. Everyone knows the Islanders have a lease with Nassau County through the 2014-15 season. That date seemed so far away just a couple of seasons ago but guess what? It takes 2-3 years to physically build an arena. If your going to have plans to build one which can take up to 2 years you have to start the process well before the lease is due to end.

The powers that be for once have done it. Plans are laid down and the time frame is right for the Islanders to move into a new home arena on or about the 2014-15 season.

Players are already making note. Grabner stated on his Twitter page that he is excited about the news for the new arena. Now that plans are in place and the Islanders future would seem to be secure it can end almost two decades of uncertainty that surrounded the team on so many levels.

Soon we will be only worried about one thing. Hockey.

Thank You all for reading and please as always, place your comments below.

New York Islanders: 5 Reasons They Make the Playoffs in 2011-12 (Part 4)

2011-05-16T14:40:00.002-04:00

First things first, my sincerest condolences go out to Derek Boogaard's family, friends and fans.

On the heels of the huge news that the Islanders may actually have a plan for a new arena and the signing of Michael Grabner to a five year contract may I present part four in a five part series of why the Islanders will make the playoffs in 2011-2012.

For this part we will examine the Islanders defense corps.

The Islanders were decimated by injury last season. We all know this. Their defense in particular was hit the hardest.

T`here are six defense positions on any NHL team for use in a game. Everyone knows that.

The Islanders had 13 different defensemen on their roster this season counting Mark Striet who did not play one game because of major shoulder surgery.

This fact in of itself could wind up being the reason the Islanders discovered what could be a defense pairing that will play together and grow as a unit for many years to come.

Andy MacDonald and Travis Hamonic have bright futures in the NHL. They consistently played as the Islanders number one defense tandem this season and played against the best the rest of the NHL had to offer and they did very well for themselves.

The two young defenseman also showed poise on the offensive side of the game also, scoring 27 points (MacDonald) and 26 points (Hamonic.)

Most impressive is that they were the only Islanders defesnemen to finish the season with plus ratings that played over 20 games. Doing that and playing against the NHL's best definitely proves that they are ready for the full time load of playing in the NHL and should start the year as the Islanders number two pair next season.

Returning Islanders veteran defenseman Mark Striet will be back at next season. Hopefully he can return to form and lead the Islanders power play and not show any ill effects from missing an entire season from such a major operation.

If he returns to form he will bring what the Islanders most sorely lacked this year and that is a power play puck moving offensive threat.

The Islanders power play sorely missed him as he provides the presence on the offensive side of the game that a team needs to have a successful power play.

Also returning from injury are a trio of steady veteran defensemen in Mark Eaton, Mike Mottau and Milan Jurcina.

On the young side Ty Wishart also played well in his 20 games this season after being aquired for goaltender Dwayne Roloson.

On a side note if the Tampa Bay Lightning should win the Stanley Cup this season Garth Snow should get a Stanley Cup ring as former Islanders Roloson and Sean Bergenheim are absolutely lighting it up for the Bolts.

Back to the subject at hand the Islanders also have young prospect Calvin de Haan who will challenge for a spot on the team straight out of camp and will probably make the team out of camp unless he takes a step back in his development.

Could Aaron Ness also make a case for a roster spot? What happens with Bruno Gervais who is a restricted free agent?

Having to many NHL capable defensemen is a great problem to have as this past season showed people get hurt and it pays to have people that can just step in and have the team not miss a beat.

The Islanders defense corps has it all. Size, veteran leadership, solid defense, speed and young players looking to crack the lineup. It boasts a solid base for the Islanders to build on this season knowing that the goaltending will not have to stand on its head every game to keep the Islanders in games because the defense will be solid.

The Islanders core of defenseman is a more than capable unit that will only grow better with time and it has Islander fans excited to see the next step of their development.

Please post your comments below.

New York Islanders and Nassau County to Announce New Arena Deal

2011-05-11T10:06:00.004-04:00

Part 4 and 5 of the "Why the Islanders will make the Playoffs in 2012" will have to be put on hold for the moment.

This is the day that Islander fans have been waiting for for what seems like decades.

Today at an 11 AM press conference Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano is inviting everyone under the sun to a press conference at Nassau Coliseum to announce plans to build a new 17,500 seat hockey, sports and entertainment arena for the New York Islanders on the site of the current Nassau Coliseum.

The press conference is open to the public.

Mangano will seek approximately 400 million for the project which includes 50 million dollars for a minor league baseball stadium on the Mitchell Field property.

August 1st 2011 will be the date the Nassau County residents can vote on whether to accept the deal or not.

Detractors will ask why should the county have to foot the bill when Charles Wang was ready to spend about four billion dollars to build the Lighthouse Project?

The answer is simple. Blame Kate Murray.

The tossed thousands of jobs and a much needed central project of Long Island away by rezoning the property in effect killing Charles Wang's legacy project.

The County will foot the bill, but the cost of the project would be offset by a revenue sharing plan that will pay for the cost of the project over the Islanders new 30 year lease to play in the new arena.

They are projecting the project to start in the Spring of 2012, with completion for the 2014-15 season.

The major hurdle right now is the voters have to vote yes on the referendum for the arena but once the economics behind how good a new arena will be for the area the vote should be a relatively easy one to pass.

The Nassau Coliseum is a venue that is becoming a difficult one to draw high end acts to.

A brand spanking new arena would change all of that.

It would change the perception that the Islanders are waiting to run from Long Island with the current lease expires in 2015.

The Islanders would instantly become relevant to free agents around the NHL and to its current players to stay here and build a winner.

With the Islanders current crop of young players lays the foundation. An arena deal in hand makes the team instantly credible.

Its a bright day for hockey fans all over New York. Ranger and Devil fans included. Rivalries are what make sports. With all three metro area teams on strong footing and with state of the art facilities makes the rivalries all that much better and could be a centerpiece for the NHL to build its northeastern coverage around.

Throw in strong franchises in nearby Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and you have an American hockey hotbed.

Let's vote it in August 1st and get this project done.

New York Islanders: 5 Reasons They Make the Playoffs in 2011-12 (Part 3)

2011-05-09T09:11:00.003-04:00

For Part three of this five part series, we will examine something that is not as black and white as scoring goals and stopping pucks.

Its called respect and perception.

How is this beginning to change? The Islanders still finished in the bottom 5 in the standings after all.

Well firs things first in order to change anyone else's perception that your just not a bottom feeding franchise any more you have to first start believing it yourself.

It is not good enough to say it, but truly believing it.

As this season wore on and the Islanders were mired in one of te worst losing streaks in franchise history it would have been so easy to say "well its the Islanders, they are supposed to suck."

Enter Jack Capuano. No one was impressed when the Islanders fired Scott Gordon and promoted Bridgeport Head Coach Jack Capuano, figuring he was just going to ride out the rest of the season and the Islanders would begin their search for the right guy to try and bring the Islanders out of the doldrums.

Then something happened. The Islanders started to take to "Cappy's" new system which afforded the players the opportunity to go out and show their creativity and individual talents on the ice.

How long ago does it feel the Islanders replaced Gordon with Capuano? It seems like ages.

Instead of wondering where Scott Gordon wanted them to to be on the ice in any given situation the players were given an outline and told "use your instincts."

The Islanders managed to pull themselves up and be competitive. Not only that, bolstered by solid goaltending from Al Montoya and Kevin Poulin the Islaneders managed to have one of the best records in the NHL after the all star break and look really good doing it.

Players like Michael Grabner, Frans Nielsen, Andrew MacDonald and Travis Hamonic blossomed before our eyes.

Players like PA Parenteau, Matt Moulson and Al Montoya showed us that other teams were wrong for not promoting them to larger roles.

Players like Zenon Konopka, Trevor Gillies, Matt Martin and Michael Haley showed us that the Islanders were not going to allow other teams to take liberties with our players, despite some questionable methods.

John Tavares showed he is becoming the player the Islanders will be able to build around.

This group of Islanders players believe in themselves. The have a solid foundation for once that is yielding results on the ice and it showed in the way they played the final 35 games of the season.

People noticed. It took the news making Islanders 9-3 victory over the Penguins to get people to notice, but it worked. Say what you want about that game but it got people talking. It got people interested. The Islanders said in that game we are not a team that are going to allow other teams to come in here and do what they want to us any more.

Other teams that saw the Islanders on their schedule the last 35 games of the season realized that they were not going to just walk all over the Islanders and have an easy win.

That means a lot also. Perception. If a team does not respect you and knows it can beat you up easily, take cheap shots at your star players, can count on your goalie letting in softies and porous defense then nine times out of ten that is exactly what is going to happen.

All that changed this season.

Islanders fans always want to believe in the team. For the first time in a long time attendance increased at the end of the season as the teams performance improved.

Say what you want about Nassau Coliseum. Everyone knows its a dump and the worst arena in the NHL. The bottom line is that if the Islanders manage to become a winning franchise the arena situation will not matter and people will come. People do not come to arena to see the arena. They come to see their team win hockey games. Win enough of them and ala Field of Dreams, people will come.

New York Islanders: 5 Reasons They Make the Playoffs in 2011-12 (Part 2)

2011-05-05T19:42:00.004-04:00

For Part 2 we will examine the state of the goaltending for the Islanders.

Ever present is Rick DiPietro with his 11 years remaining on his contract.

Rick has suffered through major injury after major injury the past three seasons and his health is always a major question.

Showing very brief flashes of his former self in the 26 games he got to play this season Rick's come back was shall we say, unremarkable?

Some would call it down right awful as Rick had the lowest save percentage and highest goals against average of any goaltender in the entire NHL who played 20 games or more.

All this being said Rick will be back in 2011-12 barring another injury. Can he turn it around?

That question is still way up in the air but the answer to it says that the Islanders could be in a position to contend for a playoff spot next season and they will not be able to afford to throw games away any more while Rick tries to find his game.

That is what the AHL is for.

You read it here first. If Rick does not perform somewhere close to the level he has been capable of in the past then Garth Snow will be forced to send Rick to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers much like the Rangers did with Wade Redden.

The thing is I believe Rick still has game in him. How much he can help the Islanders is anyones guess. I am rooting hard for him and if the Islanders fans I have spoken to are any indicator as to what the support for Rick amongst the fan base is well let me just say his support is waning.

Rick will be an employee of the New York Islanders for at least next season, but he may be wearing out the Port Jefferson Ferry.

He is also not immune to a buy out as Islanders owner Charles Wang has done in the past with monster contracts. Alexei Yashin anyone?

Rick aside the Islanders have some viable choices with another amazing pick up by Garth Snow when he plucked Al Montoya out of goaltender hell in San Antonio, the AHL affiliate of the Phoenix Coyotes and stuck him in as the number one goaltender because of injuries to DiPietro, Kevin Poulin and Mikko Koskinen the trading of Dwayne Roloson and the immaturity of Evgeni Nabokov.

What the Islanders got was nothing short of remarkable. Montoya played 20 games for the team going 9-5-6 with a sterling 2.39 goals against average and an equally sterling .921 save percentage.

Montoya earned the first one way contract of his career and will be an Islander next season.

So if Rick is to spend time in Bridgeport barring a career resurgence, who will be the number two man?

Kevin Poulin, a young 20 year old just out of junior was lighting up Bridgeport with a .932 save percentage and a 2.19 goals against average in 15 games. There was no way his success would translate to the NHL right?

Wrong.

In 10 games Poulin posted a 2.44 goals against average and a .924 save percentage in the NHL before a freak knee injury ended his season.

He will be back next season and if Rick falters or gets injured then the young net minder may just up and take his spot.

In any event the future of the Islanders crease with or without Rick DiPietro is secure.

What about Evgeni Nabokov? Well the Islanders are going to toll his contract meaning he will be Islander property next season. Whether that is a good or a bad thing remains to be seen. He can't likely be traded as the rules governing his contract still apply because basically its the same contract he signed last season.

If the Islanders were to trade him, he would again have to pass through waivers before he could be dealt.

Maybe coming in at the end of the season this year makes more sense to Nabokov now. If it doesn't it sure will when he is sitting on his couch in San Jose watching what is left of his career tick away.

In any event, the Islanders would appear to be set in net.

Place your comments below.

Stay tuned for Part 3 - Respect and how the Islanders are getting it back.

5 Reasons the Islanders Make the Playoffs in 2011-12: Part One

2011-05-05T11:45:00.004-04:00

People keep asking me - Where is all of this optimism surrounding the Islanders come from?

So I figured what better way than to give specific reasons why the Islanders will be playing meaningful games in April and maybe May of 2012.

This article will be the first in a five part series looking into the reasons the Islanders resurgence will continue into next season and beyond.

Part 1) Goal Scoring/Line Consistency. For the first time in what has to be 5 years the Islanders top 6 forward core knows who it is going to be, barring injury of course.

The top line of John Tavares, Matt Moulson and PA Parenteau returns in tact which Tavares is coming off leading the team in points and scoring 29 goals and 67 points.

That total should improve next season as Tavares matures into the player Islanders fans cheered for the team to draft a couple of years ago.

Matt Moulson second on the team with 53 points with 31 goals showed the world he was no one hit wonder and PA Parenteau, a player who has enjoyed only a cup of coffee in the NHL until this season netted an impressive 20 goals and 33 assists.

As the season wore on and Islander fans got used to a perennial AHL player in Parenteau teaming with our prized player in Tavares we realized that this guy has skill and is an excellent play maker which is why he complemented Tavares and Moulson so well.

Hopefully this unit can continue to grow together and take the next step forward.

The Islanders were not a one line team this season either.

General Manager Garth Snow made his second excellent waiver wire pick up in two seasons when he picked up Michael Grabner from the Florida Panthers after he failed to impress their new top brass.

Florida's loss like the Kings with Moulson the year before, was most certainly the Islanders gain.

Grabner started the year in a not to eventful fashion chipping in the occasional goal and impressing the heck out of everyone with his blazing speed.

Once he was paired with Islanders center Frans Nielsen all hell broke loose. Grabner started to score goals at a frenzied pace winning NHL player of the month honors and earning himself a Calder Trophy nomination scoring 34 goals, with 6 of them short handed.

Frans Nielsen surprised a lot of people this season. Never in any Islander fans wildest dreams could we imagine the kind of season he put together especially when paired with Grabner not only at even strength but short handed. He scored 13 goals this season, which in of itself is no big deal but then you look closer and realize that seven of them were short handed. He got 31 assists also and was a plus 13.

Sooner or later Nielsen could find himself nominated for a Selke Trophy.

Kyle Okposo came came from his major shoulder surgery and struggled early on but then got his legs and was able to mesh well with his line mates. He only scored 5 goals in 38 games but he showed flashes of the two way power forward he is capable of once he got his stamina back.

I don't know about you, but I look forward to seeing what these six players can put together next season.

The remaining 6 forward spots appear to be filled as well, with returning veteran banger Trent Hunter looking to rebound from a lost season. Hunter's offensive skills are not the best part of his game as he will never score over 20 goals again. However he provides a physical presence that the Islanders need as he loves to throw the body around. Hopefully he can stay relatively healthy.

Matt Martin and Michael Haley are ready to assume the roles of enforcers who can skate and chip in goals here and there.

Josh Bailey's 2010-11 season was a disappointment as he will look to rebound and show he belongs in the NHL. Bailey reminds me a lot of a former Islander prospect Tim Connoly. He is a play maker who has a nice wrist shot and is coming to a point where he is going to take the next step up. As Tim Connoly proved not every player is an impact player right out of the gate.

The Islanders also have a pair of rookies that will look to crack the line up next season also, as Nino Niederrieter has been dominating the WHL ever since the Islanders sent him back there after his nine game cup of coffee with the team.

Kirill Kabanov will bring his immense ego and talent to training camp to try and convince Jack Capuano to keep him here. If he performs like he has in the QMJHL playoffs in camp I'm sure he will get the obligatory nine game look come October.

Blake Comeau is another Islander player that is coming into his own netting a career best 24 goals this season and will also look to improve on those numbers and if he can mesh well with Josh Bailey can give the Islanders three lines that can score goals.

I also hope the Islanders bring back Zenon Konopka who turned into the Voice of the Islanders and instilled some pride in wearing the Islander crest in that locker room.

Will Trevor Gillies be back? I hope so. Its comforting knowing you have a top heavyweight enforcer to stick up for your young stars.

Garth Snow and his team of scouts have put together a very nice group of young forwards that can pretty much do everything. They can skate, pass, hit, fight, score and kill penalties.

Please leave your thoughts below.

Coming in Part 2 - Goaltending is a positive?! Absolutely.

New York Islanders: Is the Future Finally Here?

2011-04-26T09:35:00.002-04:00

The 2010-11 season was like two mini seasons in one.

There was the first half where nothing looked any different.

Injuries were rampant.

Goaltending was porous.

Goals were hard to come by.

The defense was shoddy at best.

Progress of the younger players seemed to be at a standstill.

The coach was fired.

Then January came and everything seemed to turn around. No one really noticed until the Islanders decided to exact some street justice on the Penguins then the Islanders were on everyone's radar.

Call it what you want to call it I choose to call it the Islanders telling the rest of the NHL they still exist and are on their way back to prominence.

The Islanders had one of the best records in the NHL after the all star break and were consistently one of the hardest teams to play against.

Goaltending backstopped by Kevin Poulin and then Al Montoya solidified.

The defense, anchored by Andrew MacDonald and Travis Hamonic vastly improved.

The offense, bolstered by the emergence of Calder Trophy nominee Michael Grabner and the continued development of John Tavares as well as Matt Moulson, Frans Nielsen and PA Parenteau started to gel and produce.

Every one of the Islanders top players will be back next season and the injured Mark Streit will be back also.

Nino Niederreiter and Krill Kabanov are also favorites to make the team next season because they have been dominant in their respective leagues and appear NHL ready.

What does all this mean? It means the Islanders have the ability to be a playoff team again and really take that next step in returning to prominence in the NHL.

What will the Islanders line up look like next season line by line?

The first line will consist of John Tavares, looking to shatter the 30 goal mark, Matt Moulson and PA Parenteau. If you would have told me PA would have played on the Islanders top line scoring 20 goals and getting over 50 points I would have laughed at you.

The unit gelled late in the season and will be back in tact with Parenteau signing a one year extension and Moulson getting a three year extension preventing both from going free agent.

That in of itself, that the seam was able to hold onto a two time 30 goal scorer and a 20 goal scorer who would have otherwise been unrestricted free agents is a major victory.

The second line will consist of Frans Nielsen, Michael Grabner and Kyle Okposo. The stars of the line were Grabner and Nielsen who netted an amazing 13 short handed goals between them finishing first and second in the NHL in that department.

Okposo showed flashes of the promise he showed last season but struggled playing only 38 games after major shoulder surgery. He will be back 100% next season and should only make Grabner and Nielsen better.

The third line is where is gets a little more questionable as to who it actually may be because of all of the players the Islanders have on their roster. Being this is a speculative column I will take my best guess and say the third line will consist of Nino Niederrieter, Josh Bailey and Blake Comeau.

It is time for "El Nino" to be in the NHL and until he is ready to take his place in the top 6 of the Islander forwards, which may actually be next year at some point. He will debut on the team next season. There is nothing else for him to prove for the Portland Winter Hawks in the WHL.

He scored 36 goals and netted 60 points in 65 WHL games and has been carrying his team in the playoffs with eight goals and sixteen points in eight playoff games.

Its prime time for "El Nino."

Josh Bailey actually took a step back this season and was sent to Bridgeport where he regained some confidence and wound up with 28 points in 70 NHL games. It is so easy to forget that Bailey is only 21 years old as it seems as if he has been in the league for a long time.

He will look to rebound with the steady Blake Comeau who is also coming into his own after his 24 goal campaign this season.

The fourth line could be any combination of a few players, but I will go with the Islander resigning Zenon Konopka, and him playing with a rough and tumble line combination with Matt Martin and Michael Haley.

Yes I know I am leaving Trent Hunter out. He hasn't played a full season in 3 years and only played 17 games last season.

Hunter is a good banger and can clean up around the net but I question his durability.

I think if Hunter is healthy he could be on the 4th line in place of Haley with Haley being an injury replacement.

Another wild card could be Kirill Kabanov who is playing very well in the QMJHL right now and very well could be NHL ready for next season. If that is the case, then Haley starts in Bridgeport.

As we very well know around the Islanders there are always injuries and that is how guys like Hunter, Haley and Jesse Joensuu fit into the plans.

On defense the top tandem should be Milan Jurcina and Mark Streit providing the offense and defense one two punch.

Then we have Travis Hamonic and Andrew MacDonald will both be back and playing together again and were the Islanders best defense tandem this season often playing against and very well against the opponents top players.

The 3rd defense tandem is totally up in the air as the Islanders have Mike Mottau, Mark Eaton, Ty Wishart, Jack Hillen, Mark Katic and Dylan Reese who could fill those two spots.

Who will it be? Ill go with Mottau and Eaton, just because they are the veterans with the most experience and could be a nice shut down tandem.

When someone gets hurt Katic and Hillen are next in like with Wishart right there also.

In goal, Al Montoya and Kevin Poulin should be the 1 and 2 goaltenders unless Rick Dipetro has some sort of career renaissance early next season or has a stellar pre season.

How can you look at the numbers Rick put up this season and say that's my number one goaltender.

Look at the numbers Poulin and Montoya put up, and there are your goaltenders for next season. Rick should be sent to Bridgeport to work on his game until he can consistently stop pucks.

What are your thoughts on what the Islander line up should be for next season?

Place your comments below.

New York Islanders Name Capuano Coach - Will Draft 5th

2011-04-13T12:40:00.005-04:00

The Islanders took care of thier most obvious piece of business very quickly this off season dropping the "interim" title from Head Coach Jack Capuano giving him the organizations full support.

Capuano's overall numbers came in below .500 as far as winning percentage but remember he started in the middle of a losing streak that basically torpedoed the entire season.

It took the Islanders a while to get used to his new free system that he instituted which takes players abilities and allows them the freedom to use their own creativity as opposed to a strict X's and O's hockey by numbers that former coack Scott Gordon employed.

I am sure the Islander young core is supportive of this as Cappy is a very popular coach with the guys and tells it like it is.

With a young team this is very important as the Islanders can continue to grow knowing the coach that righted the ship and turned the Islanders into one of the toughest teams to play against after the All-Star Break.

The Islanders will probably also have to name a new team captain assuming Doug Weight retires and I am saying right now that man should be Mark Streit.

If not Mark Streit then who?

Kyle Okposo? John Tavares? Frans Nielsen?

It should be interesting who the team elects but from an on ice stand point is almost irrelevant.

What is more relevant is the Islanders got rooked out of the fourth overall pick in the draft by the eighth seeded New Jersey Devils winning the draft lottery with a staggering 3.9% of doing so.

Thats right people a team that just signed one of the best scorers in the NHL to a 15 year 100 million dollar contract won the draft lottery.

The Islanders will draft fifth and have another blue chip prospect to add to the long list of prospects already in the organization.

Should the Islanders stand pat at fifth and just take the best available player?

Should they trade down and pile up more draft picks?

Should they attempt to trade up and get one of the top prospects?

Or maybe, just maybe is this team ready to trade a draft pick for an established player to bolster the line up for a playoff run.

The main question is, who is available via trade? The biggest issue with that is you just never know who is available come draft day.

Odds are the Islanders will pick the best player at their position in the draft and move forward with the young core that showed so much improvement this season.

The coach is in place and the young core is stable and will all be back.

The veteran defense will be back from injury.

All signs point to the Islanders being out of the draft lottery for a long time.

New York Islanders, Chris Botta and the NHL Awards

2011-04-04T21:50:00.002-04:00

The Islanders have a Rookie in Micheal Grabner who will get serious consideration for the coveted Calder Trophy as rookie of the year.

The Islanders also have a talented young forward in Frans Nielsen who may get a nomination for the Selke Trophy as the premier defensive forward in the NHL.

Both nominations are very well deserved to be sure.

This should be great news right?

The New York sports writers have voted to abstain 17-3 from voting for this years NHL awards.

They are doing this in protest of Chris Botta being excd from the Islanders for what was perceived as stepping over the line in some capacity.

I am not going to sit here and take sides on that dispute. Whats done is done and there is nothing that can be done about it and quite frankly it doesn't matter what I think.

What matters is now the sports writers in their infinite wisdom have decided to punish Michael Grabner and Frans Nielsen.

I have one question. Why?

Why punish innocents? What stand do you think you are making against the Islanders by doing this?

The Islanders are not going to restore Botta's press credentials because of this ridiculous "stand" by the writers.

Why in the name of King Clancy would the writers punish two players that deserve every accolade they have coming to them, in effect taking away 20 votes that should go their way come ballot box time?

It makes absolutely no sense in the slightest and will turn the Islanders ire towards the writers who cover the team.

I have respect for Botta and he is a talented writer. The Islanders chose to revoke his press credential and what exactly went down has absolutely nothing to do with the players.

The New York sports writers should absolutely one hundred percent reverse this pointless, ridiculous stand they have made against the young players of the Islanders.

No matter what they think they are absolutely in the wrong here and should do what is right and cast their votes for the players they believe deserve the awards they are nominated for whoever they are.

This decision is akin to not voting for president because you don't like the fact that the government has thrown a writer out of the White House.

It is stupid, pointless and childish.

Let the New York sports writers know that what they are doing is wrong and misguided any way you can and get Grabner and Nielsen get the votes they are entitled to.

New York Islanders: State of the Franchise

2011-03-31T10:06:00.003-04:00

The Islanders are winding down another NHL season without the playoffs.

Now that we got that fact out of the way lets talk about what is important moving forward.

For the first time in an awfully long time the core of the Islanders on ice product is stable, young and talented.

With the signing of Al Montoya the Islanders team for the 2011-12 season is pretty much set. All would be unrestricted free agents with the exception of Radek Martinek and Zenon Konopka have been resigned to the team.

That does not mean that pending restricted free agents Michael Grabner, Kyle Okposo, Blake Comeau and Josh Bailey won't pose a problem to resign but all indications point to all players with the exception of Martinek back on the Island next season.

Ty Wishart and Jack Hillen are also restricted free agents but they should not pose a problem to resign.

Doug Weight will also probably not be back as he is leaning towards retirement after suffering through another injury riddled season.

The Islanders rewarded, and rightfully so Al Montoya with his first 1 way contract of his career ensuring he will be on the Island at least through the 2012 season.

The main concern to the Islanders next season will be health. Leading the NHL in man games lost to injury again this season with a mind boggling 550+ will add feul to that concern.

What can the team do to stay healthy?

Unfortunately there is nothing anyone can consciously do to stop from getting hurt. It is simply part of the game. Players will get hurt. That is an undeniable fact but the goal should be to lose as little man games as possible.

The string of injuries that the team endured this season most assuredly torpedoed this entire season and no matter how much the team has improved injuries can always kill your chances of a successful season.

That being said there is something brewing on Long Island that has a chance to be truly special.

Garth Snow should be commended for his amazing acquisitions of Michael Grabner, Matt Moulson and Al Montoya. What did Snow see in these guys that no one else did?

Whatever the answer may be no one is making fun of Garth Snow's management skills any more.

If the Islanders can take that next step, and the stars seem to be aligning for the team making a major splash in 2011-2012 then Snow should be given just as much credit for it that he received negative press for his hiring by Charles Wang in the first place.

Everyone made fun of the move. News reporters, TSN, ESPN, print media, The Hockey News, you name it no one gave Snow a chance and laughed at it.

No one is laughing any more. The Islanders are coming back and Snow is a major reason why.

Another large piece of open business is the coaching position. Snow has stated that he will not discuss it until the season is over.

Has Jack Capuano earned the full time coaching gig?

All signed would point to yes. If the team is going to commit to him they will need to get him signed right away to show the players that the guy that seemingly helped turn the season from an outright disaster to a return to respectability will be rewarded for his work, just like Montoya, Parenteau and Jurcina were.

Get Cappy and under contract. He has proven his worth and deserves to have the interim tag dropped.

One final note - Get Zenon Konopka a contract. He is the kind of guy that instills confidence and has given the Islanders the kind of attitude they have needed for so long.

Zenon has become the voice of the Islander players and instills pride in wearing the Islander jersey in the younger players around him.

Please post your thoughts below

Finally.. The Islanders Have Come Back to the NHL

2011-03-22T10:05:00.003-04:00

Browsing the Islanders stat sheet this season will not induce any dumbfounded looks of disbelief on how a season can go by and no player on the entire team has reached a certain seemingly easy to reach milestone.

The past 3 seasons the Islanders player stats were if not embarrassing, they were shameful.

Scanning back over the stat sheets from the past 3 years and you will see 3 players in the last 3 years with 50 points or more, and none with over 54.

The players? Mark Streit (56 in 2008-09), John Tavares (54 in 2009-10) and Kyle Okposo (52 in 2009-10)

In 2008-09 the Islanders, granted injury plagued as always had no forward with 40 points with only defenseman Mark Streit at 56 points leading the team.

Say what you want about making excuses for that, but it was embarrassing.

What about goal totals?

In those last 3 seasons we are speaking about, the Islanders only had 4 players top the 20 goal mark. Mike Comrie and Bill Guerin back in 2007-08, Matt Moulson and John Tavares last season.

In 2008-09 the Islanders had to set some kind of record for offensive futility, with no forward with 40 points and no player with 20 goals.

The last time the Islanders had a stat sheet that was not embarrassing to look at was in 2006-07 when they had six players with 20+ goals two with 30+ (Ryan Smyth) and one with 40 (Jason Blake.)

Also, Alexei Yashin scored 18 in 58 games.

After that season Ryan Smyth left the Islanders and took less money to sign with the Avalanche because he thought they had a better chance to win (that did not work out to well for him) and Jason Blake demanded a 5 year contract which he managed to get from the Maple Leafs.

The Islanders tried to re-tool that off season but it just didn't work and a new direction was needed to build a winner from within, not necessarily by choice but by necessity.

The Islanders 3 year period of horrid offensive numbers appear to be over.

Four 20 goal scorers, with PA Parenteau two away from 20. The Islanders have managed to put a team on the ice that is capable of beating anyone in the NHL and look good doing it.

6 players with 40+ points and John Tavares at 60.

Sure they had that awful win less streak that torpedoed any real chance of the playoffs.

That being said the Islanders have come back to the NHL despite over 500+ man games lost to injury the future is bright.

Garth Snow deserves so much credit for what he has put together.

Matt Moulson has netted back to back 30 goal seasons.

Michael Grabner has become an offensive force with his lightning speed and his 30 goals and has a real shot at the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year.

PA Parenteau has always had skills but if you would have told me he would put up the season he has, 18 goals and 30 assists so far I would have laughed at you.

John Tavares evolution continues as his offensive skills continue to show through as he improves every game. JT has a shot at his first 30 goal season with 26 goals so far.

Frans Nielsen has turned into a 2 way center that compliments the offensive first line of Tavares-Moulson-Parenteau playing with Micheal Grabner and Kyle Okposo.

This is the first time the Islanders have had two consistent lines playing together full time in at least 3 years.

No more shuffling lines to find what works because the chemistry is there.

Next season the Islanders top six and top two lines will return in tact for a full season of playing together.

In addition a healthy Mark Streit will be back to quarterback the power play.

Andrew MacDonald and Travis Hamonic have become defense partners that play against the top players of the opposition and are playing extremely well as a unit.

Chemistry. This team has it. Finally.

New York Islanders Resurgence Continues to Shape for the Future

2011-03-17T08:27:00.005-04:00

Despite what Islander fans would call a speed bump in the 6-3 loss to the Rangers on March 15, the optimism surrounding the team is reaching a point where the fans are beginning to take notice.

The Islanders have been offering, as they absolutely should excellent ticket deals and 20 dollar games for fans to come and see the young Islanders play, knowing for once that people will walk away with a positive picture of what the team is doing.

Call it luck or whatever you want but Garth Snow and his staff deserve all the credit in the world for what is taking shape.

Snow pulled Matt Moulson out of obscurity and he has become a goal scorer netting two straight 30 goal seasons.

Michael Grabner was less of a stretch because he was a high draft pick and a good prospect but he has become the kind of player in such a short time that people eventually will pay to see.

Every time he is on the ice, he seems to do something incredible.

Franz Nielsen has turned into a two way center that by all rights should be contending for the Selke Trophy if not this season then in the near future.

Kyle Okposo is doing exactly what he should, using the rest of this season to get comfortable with his shoulder and with his line mates in what has become a very cohesive unit with Neilsen and Grabner.

Then there is PA Parenteau. A career minor leaguer albeit with skill has meshed very well with John Tavares and Matt Moulson. 17 goals, 30 assists and a nice 1 year contract extension are in his pocket.

Speaking of Tavares, he has become the offensive leader this team needs to build around and his development is moving along very nicely. He is almost scoring points at a point a game and has 26 goals and 34 assists. He is demonstrating that nose for the net that you cannot teach.

The Islanders young defense also looks promising. Travis Hamonic has made incredible strides this season as has Andre MacDonald who are playing against the NHL's best lines and making excellent statements about themselves moving forward.

Ty Wishart has played well and needs polish to his game but he has not embarrassed himself in his time in the NHL.

Zenon Konopka is not an offensive force. He is a force in other ways. Excellent on face offs, a good defensive forward, a good fighter and an excellent presence in the locker room. Snow needs to lock him up to a contract.

The only player you can say that has taken a step back this year is Josh Bailey even though he has shown flashes of brilliance he needs to get more consistent.

In goal the position looked like a black hole at time this season because of injuries.

Moving forward it looks as if the Islanders will be solid in net as 20 year old Kevin Poulin asserted himself very well.

Al Montoya played brilliantly since his acquisition and has played well enough to earn a spot on the team next season and will split time with Rick DiPietro, who is going to have to show this year that he is over his injury issues.

All in all, it should be an exciting end to the season as Garth Snow's vision has begun to show results on the ice.

6 months from now when camp opens for the Islanders it will be an exciting time to be an Islander fan for the first time in a long time the Islanders will have some real expectations to live up to.

Bad Guys - Listing the top 10 Most Hated Players in the NHL

2011-03-06T01:09:00.001-05:00

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/626461-the-bad-guys-listing-the-10-most-hated-players-in-the-nhl

New York Islanders: The Optimism is Real

2011-02-28T09:44:00.003-05:00

There are 17 games left in the regular season for the Islanders.

Are the playoffs impossible? No.

Probable? No.

Couple that with the fact that there are 5 teams to leap frog over it is safe to say that the Islanders will look to play spoiler and win as many games as possible over this last stretch of the season.

The Islanders are a changed team this season. Anyone who has watched them extensively this year can see that.

Its not just a cosmetic change or a personnel change.

The Islanders have players that WANT to be here and succeed here.

For years now the Islanders have seemed to just take whatever the league or fate dealt them and just shrug and say "always me".

Not any more.

The guys in the that dressing room are a young, talented team on the rise and you can finally see the difference in the way the play.

Its not just a talent thing.

Its an attitude. Yogi Berra once said baseball is 90 percent mental and the other half is physical.

Ah Yogiisms. They all make us scratch our head and smile.

In this case I agree with the Yankee legend. Sort of.

Professional sports is very mental. Yes you have to have talent but if your team does not believe in itself then it is not going to go any where.

Look at the San Francisco Giants for an example.

Somewhere along the line this season the attitude changed and we saw it happen in the month after the Islanders got out of that awful win less streak in December.

The infamous Penguin game was an indicator that this team took pride in itself but the truth is that somewhere before that the players themselves are starting to believe that they have a chance to take the next step in this league.

The last 17 games of this season are going to go a long way into showing exactly what the Islanders have in store for us next season.

We as Islander fans always say next year will be our year. This season we really mean it.

The team is maturing before our eyes even with the injuries on the back line, the young group of forwards and defenseman are playing with the confidence necessary to build a winning nucleus.

The Islanders are never going to be that team that goes out and signs a player to a 90 million dollar contract. We were told when Garth Snow took over that the team had to build from within.

That's all fine and dandy, but luck also has to play a part.

Matt Moulson and Michael Grabner. Is Garth Snow a genius? Or was he lucky?

Moulson is on his way to back to back 30 goal seasons and Grabner is turning into the kind of player that people will pay to see. Every time Grabner is on the ice he makes something happen.

A breakaway, an exciting rush up the ice the kid has turned from talented rookie to a star on the rise and should at the very least be in the top 2 or 3 for rookie of the year.

If he can put together a few more goals and somehow get to 30, he may have a shot at the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year giving the Islanders their first Calder winner since Bryan Berard.

Moulson came into this season with the intent to prove that last years success was no fluke and earn a contract in the process. Mission accomplished on both.

Frans Nielsen has turned into a major player in the future of this franchise. Sure he only has 8 goals, but 5 of them are shorthanded and he has major chemistry with Kyle Okposo and Grabner. Take a look at the Islanders team stats and you'll see something even more striking. Nielsen is a plus 9 and Grabner is a plus 11.

Zenon Konopka is not just an enforcer. Hes a defensive forward. He is excellent on the face offs. He also has an X factor that the Islanders sorely need and he says what is on his mind and on the fans mind.

Sign him Garth. Hes a great character guy and someone who wants to succeed on the Island.

Where did Al Montoya come from? Buried in the minors since being a high Rangers draft choice he has only gotten a cup of coffee in the NHL with the Phoenix Coyotes. Now with the Islanders, brought in as a fill in because of all of the injuries and Evgeni Nabokov's childishness, Montoya has been a revelation in net.

8 games, 4 wine, 1 shut out, a .933 save percentage and a 1.93 goals against average?

Talk about making the most of your opportunity. I cannot wait to see what this guy will do over the last 17 games of the season.

At the very least Montoya is accomplishing two things - He has stabilized the Islanders crease and given the Islanders another option for next season.

Assuming Rick DiPietro comes back and is healthy I would love to see a DiPietro-Montoya tandem in net next season.

It allows Kevin Poulin and Mikko Koskinen to continue to hone their game in the AHL.

Travis Hamonic is going to be a very good player in this league for many years. His growth this season as a player has been nothing short of remarkable.

This team is turning the corner right before our eyes and with the ticket prices and packages the Islanders are offering for the rest of the year there is no reason the attendance should not be higher.

Get to the games fans I am saying for what it is worth that its time to give this team a look again and win or lose you will not be disappointed.

Outside of the teams abysmal run back in December it has been a pretty good season for the Islanders especially with the amount of injuries they have sustained.

Think if this - If the Islanders had won 5 of the games they lost back during that horrid 20 game stretch they would be 4 points out of a playoff spot.

If they had won 8 of the games during that run they would be 2 points into a playoff spot.

If they had gone .500 during that stretch they would be at least 4 points into a playoff spot.

Ah the what ifs. I don't like talking about what ifs, but in this case it bears examination.

The Islanders have not been nearly as bad this season as their record would seem.

Going into next season the team would seem to be almost set in the roster for next year.

The Islanders have almost finished their own off season signings by wisely not letting Matt Moulson get to free agency and resigning defenseman Milan Jurcina and forward PA Parenteau.

One piece of business remains and that is signing Zenon Konopka to a contract extension.

Islander fans are used to feigning optimism for next season.

This time? The optimism is real.

Place your comments below.

Zenon Konopka: The True Voice of the Islander Fans

2011-02-15T09:12:00.002-05:00

When Garth Snow signed Zenon Konopka to a contract on July 2nd 2010 it seemed to be just to make the Islanders tougher as he led the NHL in penalty minutes the previous season.

What the Islanders actually got was something entirely more than just a guy to drop the gloves.

The guy speaks his mind.

Ask Zenon what he thinks of something an event, a questionable hit, someones comment and you wont get the rubber stamp answer you come to expect from professional athletes.

What you will get is his opinion. His honest and uncensored opinion.

This fact is so refreshing especially to Islanders fans who have waited for a game like last Friday's home romp of the Penguins for literally years.

Personally I have felt the Islanders needed to make such a statement going all the way back to the 2002 playoffs when a vicious hit by then Leafs forward Gary Roberts concussed Islanders defenseman Kenny Jonsson, and Leafs former enforcer Darcy Tucker submarined Islanders captain and backbone Micheal Peca basically destroying his knee.

Both hits went un punished by the NHL.

Roberts got a minor penalty after taking count them SEVEN strides and blasting Jonsson square between the numbers and driving him into the boards.

Tucker, who is known for such dirty plays, went un penalized for basically ending Michael Peca's career as a top 6 forward.

The Jonsson hit is here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-Z6T3x770U
The Peca Hit is here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv3W09KDnAM&feature=related

I always laugh when I hear Toronto announcers commentary.

Islander fans felt then and feel now that the reason Roberts and Tucker went unpunished by the NHL was because the NHL was firmly behind the Maple Leafs and wanted the Leafs to advance in the playoffs.

The Islanders got some retribution in Game 6, when former Islanders defenseman Eric Cairns pummeled former Leafs forward Shayne Corson which resulted in Corson actually trying to kick Cairns with his skate blade.

Let us not forget who Darcy Tucker chose to drop the gloves with. You guessed it!

Islander super heavyweight Shawn Bates. Yes that is sarcasm.

That altercation is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRPU7Z9fdDM

- A side note, tell me after watching this clip that you don't think hockey can be relevant on Long Island.

The NHL took notice of the Corson infraction and suspended him for one whole game.

Remember how many games Chris Simon got for skate blading Jarko Ruutu?

Now I am not defending Chris Simon. Not at all. He deserved everything he got in his discipline.

The problem is Tucker, Roberts and Corson did not.

The Leafs ultimately won the series in 7 games against a depleted Islanders team playing without their team captain and one of the top 3 defenseman on the team at the time.

These events were the beginning of what Islanders fans view as the league looking at the Islanders as inferior to their larger market brethren and looking the other way when players took liberties with Islanders players.

2002 was also the apex of where the Islanders would reach in their Renaissance of that period as they have not won a playoff game since, losing both series they have been in as the 8th seed in very short order.

Granted the Islanders have not done much since then and they haven't had that much star power to protect.

Enter John Tavares.

Tavares is the piece that the Islanders needed to build around, and now with the emergence of Michael Grabner and Matt Moulson have some young quality forwards to start another run at success.

For the first time in a long time, Islander fans can see a light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to on ice success.

Teams have taken liberties with John Tavares and other Islanders this season and it all came to a head when Blake Comeau got concussed on a borderline hit by Maxim Talbot and Brent Johnson broke Rick DiPietro's face.

Lets not forget about perennial Lady Byng trophy Candidate Matt Cooke, who some call the dirtiest player in hockey going out of his way not to avoid Rick DiPietro which is what set off the brawl that resulted in Rick getting his face broken by Brent Johnson.

Do not forget that Matt Cooke and Rick have a past. In one game back in Pittsburgh this season, Cooke was given three separate minor penalties for either running over Rick and pushing PA Parenteau into him.

Someone, and the Islanders will never admit this, came forward and said enough is enough.

Someone spoke up in the Islanders locker room and said we have to take a stand and show the NHL that we are not going to sit back and allow our young future stars to be taken advantage of.

The Penguins were the perfect opponent to do it against.

The Penguins with the NHL's marquee superstar and marquee superstar owner have become the darlings of the NHL.

Who better to make a point against?

It was just icing on the cake that Brent Johnson got the start in net, and was lit up like a christmas tree by the young Islanders.

If I was a betting man I would bet that Zenon Konopka was the one that said look guys we can continue to take whatever the NHL's darling franchises do to us, or we can make a statement that cheap shots and questionable hits against our players will result in consequences.

The Islanders settled almost every piece of open business against the Penguins and you can bet that if Matt Cooke was not suspended for a dirty hit on Fedor Tyutin on February 9th.

It was a wild statement of frustration that had Islanders fans rallying behind their team again that said "we are as mad as hell, and were not going to take it anymore!"

Zenon Konopka has proven to not only be a guy that can drop gloves. He is excellent on face-offs, he is a sound defensive forward.

More than that he brings an X-Factor that you simply cannot teach. He has taken pride in wearing that NY Islander jersey. He, along with others has instilled an attitude in that locker room of we have to stand up for each other.

He will speak out for the team and tell you exactly what the fans think.

Zenon has spoken out against the comments made by Mario Lemieux, someone whom I greatly respect as a player and an owner as does Konopka himself.

If this is what Zenon is saying to reporters, you can bet he has done his best to say it to Islanders players.

Have pride. Play hard. Stick up for one another.

Konopka is a guy the Islander fans can rally around. An everyman who does the dirty work and lets you know when he has a problem with something.

Garth Snow, get this guy signed to a long term contract and don't let the Islanders lose what they so dearly need - A player that instills in others the need to have pride with that Islander crest on the front of their jersey.

Not only that, but also for other teams to respect it and this was a great place to start.

Please post your comments below.

New York Islanders: Mess in the Crease

2011-02-09T11:59:00.003-05:00

The Islanders situation in net right now could not be written in the cheesiest B movie as a believable situation.

It reeks of a bad luck that stinks as high as the roof of Nassau Coliseum.

The Islanders have had 6 different net minders in Islanders uniform and 5 that have seen in game action.

The latest fiasco sees Kevin Poulin, the 20 year old who has been a bit of a phenom for the Islanders so far putting up all-star numbers in albeit limited action this season has injured his knee in warm-ups before the game against the Maple Leafs last night.

The Islanders announced today that Poulin has a dislocated knee cap and is out for the season.

As a result, the very shaky 22 year old Mikko Koskinen was thrust into NHL action he was not ready for and he showed it yielding 5 goals on 27 shots and 2 on the first 2 shots he saw.

How did we get to this point where an NHL team had to go to the Odessa Jackalopes to find a goaltender?

Brief History Lesson -

The Islanders started this season with a seemingly healthy Rick DiPietro and 41 year old rock Dwayne Roloson. On paper a very solid 1-2 punch in net.

With the Islanders revamped and very deep veteran defense the goals against average should come way down, right?

Wrong. Why you ask?

Injuries are a problem for every single team in the NHL. That is a fact. For whatever reason the Islanders seem to be snake bitten in a way that would make Murphy's Law seem like a fall back for the team.

Estimates put the Islanders man games lost to injury so far this season at around 360.

The league average is somewhere around 150.

Lets go through the list of players that have been or are injured this season for the Islanders and the amount of games they have been out with a minimum of 3 games to this point-

C - John Tavares - 3
RW - Blake Comeau - 4
RW - Michael Grabner - 4
C - Frans Nielsen - 7
C - *Doug Weight - 37
G - *Rick Dipetro - 7
RW - *Trent Hunter - 36
G - Nathan Lawson - 8
D - *Mark Eaton - 21
D - *Mark Streit - 53
RW - Kyle Okposo - 44
D - *Mike Mottau - 35
D - Radek Martinek - 11
D - Milan Jurcina - 37
C - Josh Bailey - 4
D - Jack Hillen - 10
G - *Kevin Poulin - 1

The * means the player is out for the season.

I do not care if you are the 2010-11 Islanders or the 1982-83 Islanders. This many injuries will kill your season.

The Islanders have 7 every day players out for the season. 3 players on this list are goaltenders and they are all hurt at the same time.

That's how Joel Martin rose from the "elite" ranks of the CHL's Odessa Jackalopes to the NHL.

Will Joel Martin see some NHL action this year?

Well if Mikko Koskinen's performance against the Leafs is any indication coupled with how Islander goaltenders are dropping like Rick Dipetro after Brent Johnson gets a hold of him then I would say it is a safe bet.

There is one man to blame for the state of the Islander crease. Who is it you ask?

Garth Snow for trading Roloson? Nope.

Charles Wang for whatever fans want to blame on him this time? Nope.

Rick DiPietro for having a glass face, knees and hips? Nope.

Try Evgeni Nabokov. Nail on the head. This guy has the gumption to spurn the NHL in free agency and run the the inferior KHL, stink up the joint there so bad that his team sends him packing.

He then manages somehow to get one of the elite teams in the NHL in the Red Wings to sign him in hopes of coasting his way to a cup watching Jimmy Howard do all of the work and then whine when a team has the "audacity" to play by the rules and claim him to bolster their depleted crease.

Turns out that team was the Islanders.

Nabokov said this pearl of wisdom when the Islanders claimed him. "I was surprised they picked me up. I was like, “Wow, what’s the point?"

Whats the point? The point is Evgeni that the team is in desperate need of a goaltender. You ruined your value so much by playing so poorly in an inferior league that all you could do was sign a $570k contract which would prorate at around $250k.

That makes you very desirable to a team like the Islanders. Either you understand that or you don't.

Snow called Nabokov directly and when he identified to Nabokov who he was, he promptly was hung up on.

Charles Wang called Nabokov directly and was also spurned.

Is Nabokov a 35 year old 10 year NHL veteran or a 8th grade teenage girl?

ESPN caught up with him and the goaltender told them he was sticking to his decision to stay home.

In the immortal words of Christian Bale - Ohh Good for you.

Don Meehan, Nabokov's agent must be pulling his hair out. Did he not explain to his client that this could happen? Did he not understand the NHL's waiver process for signing players to contracts who have played professionally in other leagues?

Meehan also went on record to Bob McKenzie of TSN saying the goaltender would report to any team that claimed him because he is looking to audition for a contract next season.

Really. I guess any team except the Islanders.

Has an agent ever fired a client?

You would think Nabokov would realize by now that if he does not report to the Islanders and finish the season as he is under contract to do the Islanders have the right to "toll" his contract for next season, essentially making him Islander property for the entire 2011-12 season at the same value of the contract he signed.

Is there any chance the Islanders say well OK, well be the better people here and even though you insulted us, spurned us, hung up on your GM, and basically called the organization a joke and let you go sign with who you want?

No Way.

If Nabokov does decide to report to the Islanders next year I say put him right between Zenon Konopka and Trevor Gillies in the locker room.

Before you ask the question why the Islanders would put a claim in on Nabokov like some others have, think about this.

The Islanders have a guy on their roster serving as backup that came from the CHL's Odessa Jackalopes.

That's why the Islanders claimed you Evgeni Nabokov.

The Islanders are the bad guys here? Anyone who thinks this is clearly on some type of hallucinogen.

St. Louis tried to bring in Kyle Wellwood and Marek Svatos only to have them claimed by Nashville and Vancouver.

Did they whine and stomp their feet and stay home like Evgeni Nabokov?

Instead of proving yourself with the Islanders for less than half a year and getting your choice of where to go next season now you can look forward to sitting on your rump in your house cursing Garth Snow until 2013.

Moving forward, Garth Snow is currently raking the muck of the NHL to try and find a veteran goaltender to fill the void for the rest of the season.

Names being considered are Micheal Leighton, Mike Smith and Jonas Gustavsson.

Whatever the Islanders have to give up even if its a 7th round draft pick is directly on Evgeni Nabokov's shoulders.

He is the bad guy here.

Please place your comments below.

New York Islanders: Rick DiPietro's Future

2011-02-04T11:33:00.003-05:00

Lets put aside the national attention that Rick Dipetro's "fight" with Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Brent Johnson for a second.

What is God's name is Rick thinking?

Rick not only has major knee and hip problems but also has had some serious concussion issues.

One punch from the much larger Johnson and Rick's knees buckled and down he went.

DP seems to have escaped mostly unscathed other than I'm sure his mighty ego and left cheek got bruised.

It could have been much worse.

Charles Wang has made a mighty large investment in him and for his to risk his own health especially with how prominent concussions have become in the NHL was a stupid thing to do.

I am sure Mr. Wang was not happy about that especially considering how much time DP has already spent on the disabled list the past 2 years.

Its obvious Rick was not expecting Johnson to throw any punches because he did not even protect himself.

Boom goes the dynamite.

DiPietro has struggled mightily this season and his numbers are well below his or any other starting NHL goalies standards.

The problem is there are 10 years left on his contract after this year.

Rick is not going anywhere unless the team sends him to the minors so he can work on his game to get back to his All Star status or the Islanders buy out the remainder of his contract.

We will get to that later.

Now to the media attention.

TSN had it as a lead story and their crew talked about it at length.

This is not the kind of media attention the Islanders want or need at this point. TSN has no respect for DiPietro or the Islanders, that much is evident.

They were basically saying Rick initiated the contact with Matt Cooke which forced his team mates to stick up for him.

They went on to say that Rick is arrogant and got what he deserved and the players on the Islanders resent Rick for starting the altercation.

Excuse me?

Last I checked, Rick was pretty popular with his team mates and has made a lifetime commitment to a team that most would run away from.

Could it be that Rick is wearing out his welcome with the Islanders?

I highly doubt that.

I am sure there are a few people in the Islanders organization that wish Rick was not on a lifetime deal but Rick is a team guy and there is nothing he wants more than to be a part of a winner on Long Island.

Do people blame Rick for the long contracts now becoming a standard for the NHL's elite?

The pioneer of super long term contracts is not Rick DiPietro. Its Charles Wang.

When Mike Milbury traded for Alexei Yashin he promptly gave him a 10 year contract which at the time was unheard of in the NHL at the behest of Charles Wang.

That contract, followed by a 15 year contract to Rick which also carried with it Neil Smith out of Long Island set the stage for the mega deals now almost common place in the NHL last being Ilya Kovalchuk's 17 year contract with the Devils last year.

The longest contracts in the NHL have been limited to just a few teams but the practice is growing.

The Flyers have signed Danny Briere to an 8 year deal, Mike Richards to a 12 year deal and Jeff Carter to an 11 year deal.

The Red Wings have locked up Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen to 12 and 11 year deals respectively.

Tampa Bay signed Vinny Lecavalier to an 11 year deal.

The Blackhawks have Marian Hossa and Duncan Kieth under 12 year deals.

The Capitals have Ovechkin and Niklas Backstrom under 13 and 10 year deals respectively.

The Canucks have Roberto Luongo under a 12 year deal.

The trend will most assuredly continue as it has become the standard for teams that want to keep their stars and teams that want to lure stars from other teams.

On the surface the long term deals seem like a great thing. You lock up your best players and fans can rest easy knowing they do not have to worry about losing their cornerstone players.

When Rick signed his deal and when Yashin signed his people scratched their heads sure but the Islanders are a team that had to take that gamble. The problem is that when the deal does not work out you have exactly the problems the Islanders have right now.

The Islanders are suffering for these deals as over 9 million of their salary this season was paid to Yashin and DiPietro.

All of the other deals mentioned above are to major impact players in the NHL who are healthy and contributiong on a nightly basis. The same cannot be said for the Islanders.

So what can the Islanders do with Rick? He cannot keep putting up numbers like he is right now with a 3.30 Goals against average and a .890 save percentage.

That fact is made to look worse when rookie Kevin Poulin is putting up numbers like he is at 2.37 goals against and a sterling .929 save percentage on with the same players in front of him.

Poulin looks to be the goaltender of the future for the Islanders. The problem is? another lengthy, costly buy out will be required.

So how costly would a buy out of Rick's contract be?

Well, Rick has 10 years left on his contract after this season at 4.5 million per season. a buy out takes the total value of the contract and allows it to be paid over double of the time left on the contract.

So the Islanders would be on the hook to pay Rick 1.5 million over the next 20 years at a grand total of 30 million. That would net the Islanders a savings of 15 million on a buyout over the length of the contract.

Garth Snow and Charles Wang are going to have a very large decision to make this summer.

Mistakes are costly. The bigger the gamble, the more costly the mistake.

Don't forget, Evgeni Nabokov is still under contract to the Islanders and unless he reports to the Islanders at least for next season he will sit out all of next season also.

He comes at a bargain at 570k for next season. Nabokov and Poulin would make the Islanders goaltending tandem next season in the event of a buy out and Nabokov does not continue his career suicide.

Buying out Rick is a long shot as of right now. He is still working out the kinks in a comeback from a series of injuries that would have forced a lesser man to hang up his skates and collect on the insurance money for the rest of his life.

Rick wants to succeed. He has a burning desire to be the player he was 3 years ago and will not give up unless his body completely breaks down.

But that already may be the case. Rick has had health issues this season and he has been mostly a shadow of his former self.

Can he recover and be the player he once was? Or is Rick finished as a full time cornerstone net minder?

There is no one rooting for Rick DiPietro harder than me. I admire the fact he signed his career to the New York Islanders when almost no one else would make one quarter of the commitment he has made to Long Island.

That being said the numbers do not lie and they are not pretty.

Should the Islanders buy out Rick or give him more time to work through his rust?

Leave your comments below

New York Islanders: State of the Franchise

2011-01-23T21:42:00.003-05:00

We have passed the midway point of the NHL regular season and the Islanders are plugging away near the bottom of the NHL standings once again.

That is not shocking to a lot of people. It is shocking to the Islander fans who are a group that have been the NHL's equivalent of the guy you keep playing the same joke on at the annual Christmas party and he keeps falling for it hook line and sinker.

The reasons we keep falling for the same joke is simple. We want so bad to believe that the Islanders can be an NHL power again. We root for this team and go to the games and watch the team so closely that we can taste that successful campaign when the season begins.

We all hear The Hockey News, TSN, ESPN, Newsday and local radio and everyone else tell us that the Islanders will be near the bottom of the heap if things go bad and maybe challenge for a playoff spot if things go perfect.

Well this season things did not go perfect. They went south before the first puck was dropped on this season. Injuries absolutely decimated this team over the first half of the season.

The injuries were so bad at one point that the Islanders defense, on paper one of the deepest in the NHL had 4 AHL call ups playing on the team at once.

So here the Islanders sit at the bottom of the league again even though it is mostly not any ones fault but fate.

Steady Dwayne Roloson and arguably the Islanders best player this season in James Wisniewski were traded away for draft picks and prospects.

The Islanders seasons over the past few years failures can all be traced to one thing. Bad streaks. Injuries lead to inconsistency. Inconsistency leads to losses. Many of them.

Islanders GM Garth Snow did a good job of shoring up the Islanders defense this season because he knew if he got the goals against down, it would equal less losses. Injuries took care of that plus.

Then comes the puzzling move of claiming Russian goaltender and in my mind the immensely over-rated Evgeni Nabokov who signed a deal with Detroit.

Nabokov is 35 years old and ran to the KHL for big bucks and wowed absolutely no one with his awful goals against average and save percentage in what everyone would agree is an inferior league to the NHL.

Why claim him at all? For what purpose?

IS he the kind of goaltender that's gonna rattle off 15 straight wins for the Islanders and get us back int he playoff hunt?

This isn't Dominik Hasek circa 2000.

Nabokov's NHL numbers are impressive at the NHL level. But he seriously hurt his credibility going to the KHL and stinking up the joint.

Now that the claim has been made Nabokov has refused to report to the Islanders.

That's where my problem with Nabokov grows beyond him just being a poor playoff goaltender.

You have to play by the rules. The rules state that is you play in any professional league other than the NHL you have to pass through waivers before the signing team has you.

If a team below wants that player you have to be prepared to lose him.

Remember Wade Dubliewicz? No one complained when the Blue Jackets claimed him off waivers when the Islanders tried to bring him back after Dubie went to the KHL.

Its part of the process.

Players can't be free to cash in from the KHL and just come in and sign with who they want for pennies for the hopes of winning a cup.

Nabokov chose to go the KHL. Now he has to deal with the consequences.

If I am Garth Snow what I do is this.

The Islanders have the right to hold his contract until next season. In other words if he doesn't play out his player contract that he signed with the Red Wings, he can become the Islanders property for all of next season at the same contract dollar amount.

After Nabokov (inadvertently or not) hangs up on his new general manager you can bet the Islanders are not going to just rescind their claim.

Jack Capuano has done a decent job as the new head coach of the Islanders but that "interim" tag hangs above his head like a guillotine.

I highly doubt the Islanders go after a big name coach.

I would expect that unless the Islanders totally tank the last part of the season that Capuano gets extended for a year to see what he can do with a healthy roster next season.

Five questions that need to be answered -

1) John Tavares will be entering the final year of his 3 year entry deal next season.Here is a guy you have made the centerpiece of your rebuild. Do you offer one of those long term mega deals like Mike Richards has?

2) Matt Moulson still has not been signed to an extension. Will he be moved out before the trade deadline?

3) Do you sign Jack Capuano to an extension?

4) Rick DiPietro's come back has had mixed results. Is there any chance of a buy out?

5) The Lighthouse Project is dead. We all know that. The Islanders lease is up at the end of the 2014-15 season. Which means that a deal on a new arena will have to be reached this summer for the arena to be completed by then. In maybe the most important question of them all - Will we have a deal for a new arena in place before next season?

Voice your opinion below in the comments section.

New York Islanders: Transaction Evaluations and Reactions

2011-01-06T10:14:00.002-05:00

Its been one week since the end of 2010 and the Islanders continue to shape their roster for this season and next.

The Islanders traded defenseman and leading point producing James Wisniewski to the Montreal Canadiens for a couple of draft picks.

Snow, striking while the iron was hot also traded Goaltender Dwayne Roloson to the Tampa Bay Lightning for the 6'4" 230 pound defensive prospect Ty Wishart.

Then a mild positive pleasant surprise happened. Snow managed to sign defenseman Milan Jurcina to a one year contract extension.

What does this tell us?

It tells us that Wisniewski could not come to terms with the Islanders and wanted to move on or cash in big time.

I was convinced that Snow would move Jurcina out for more draft picks and was proven wrong.

Jurcina has been a steadying presence on the Islander blue line when he has been healthy and his signing is a very positive thing because it shows that Snow is thinking about building for next season and already knows this season has been lost to injury.

We can talk about Streit and Oksposo until we are blue in the face, but injuries to Comeau, Bailey, Jurcina, MacDonald, Mottau and Doug Weight are what killed this season for the Islanders.

You can't blame injuries? To bad. I am blaming injuries.

I will go to the grave saying that this seasons Islanders if they would have maintained any assemblance of health would have made the playoffs.

What other changes are coming to the Islanders line up?

Snow is not waiting for the off season to try and sign the players he wants to stay for next year and that is a very smart strategy. The only thing that happens when you wait unless you are the New York Yankees is someone will come along with more money and years.

You lock them up now by offering security and a raise and look at that, there is a chance you will get someone to sign.

When a player has 4 or 5 offers in front of him for similar money and years the Islanders are just not going to win that battle.

The next target for Snow should be to lock up Moulson who is going to command a multi year obligation.

Get him signed now or trade him before the deadline.

It does no one any good to lose a player like Moulson for nothing which is exactly what fueled the Wisniewski trade.

I am sure Snow tried to get "The Wiz" under contract on another 1 year deal but he is definitely going to want some multi year security after having a career season this year.

Roloson is a player that will be on a 1 year deal for however long he chooses to play and the Islanders are already all but out of the playoff hunt so adding another defensive prospect was a good idea.

Other unrestricted free agents on the Islanders right now are - Matt Moulson, Doug Weight, Radek Martinek, Zenon Konopka, Jon Sim, PA Parenteau and Trevor Gillies.

The player out of the group I would work on signing to extensions right now is Moulson.

Everyone else will not be back or should not be back.

Voice your opinions below.

NY Islanders: Do Or Die December Over. Whats Next?

2010-12-31T10:41:00.004-05:00

December is almost over. The Islanders are 5-7-1 in December, far below what they needed to be to return to any assemblance of a playoff race.

There is one game left tonight in Detroit. Win or lose December has not been good enough.

The Islanders front office has seemingly written off this season by trading James Wisniewski to the Montreal Canadiens for draft picks.

I appreciate the rebuild an the commitment to stockpiling draft picks.

The question is when does the rebuild start to show progress?

Wisniewski is 26 years old and was leading the defense corps in every way.

Why trade him at this point? Why not try and sign the guy? Why not wait until the deadline?

It sends a clear message to the fans and the players. This season is over and has become a 40+ game training camp for next season.

The Islanders are 16 points out of a playoff spot with 45 games to play. That's over half a season and trading your best defenseman at this point does not make a whole lot of sense. Striet and Okposo could be back very soon and the team would have looked better with "The Wiz" in the lineup instead of in Montreal.

The focus would now seem to turn to the teams many prospects.

Travis Hamonic and Andrew MacDonald have impressed a lot of people with their steady play as of late.

Jesse Joensuu will get the long look at the NHL level that so many have been waiting for.

It is time to bring everyone up and have a look at what the Islanders have.

If the team is not going to make a serious run for the playoffs then see what you have prospect wise and try to turn your prospects into players.

Its also time to get Krill Petrov over here from Russia. Have his buddy and fellow Islander prospect Krill Kabanov get him on the phone and get them both on the Islanders and lets see what the Islanders have here.

The Islanders last game against the Penguins had a lot of things. Excitement, drama, a decent crowd at the Coliseum and exactly what the people needed to see. The Islanders win a game at home and Sydney Crosby's point streak snapped.

Hopefully Crosby will now abandon his horribly hysterical attempt at a mustache.

I will look forward to seeing the Islanders on 24/7 on HBO.

If Striet comes back healthy, do the Islanders trade him before the deadline?

Mark is 33 years old and has two years left on his deal after this season so that is very unlikely.

Fun Fact - Alexei Yashin is the Islanders highest plaid player this season.

Who will the Islanders trade and what is the likelihood of it happening?

1 - Matt Moulson - He is an unrestricted free agent and is great around the net. He has proven that last season was not a fluke and could help any number of teams.

Would the Islanders trade John Tavares' best friend?

Sign him now or watch him walk for nothing.

Odds: 3-1 - I'm sure there are a number of teams that will make offers.

2 - P.A. Parenteau - He has carved out a nice little season so far playing with Moulson and Tavares with 21 points in 34 games. Could he help someone? Probably.

Odds: 7-1. After all, it is P.A. Parenteau.

3 - Mark Striet - Coming back from major surgery mid season is never easy and he would have to prove healthy before any team would take on 8.2 million in salary for the next two seasons.

Plus the Islanders have a salary cap floor to meet.

Odds: 15-1 - Is not happening. He will be back.

4 - Radek Martinek - He is an unrestricted free agent also. In my mind the guy is over rated and injury prone and the entire league knows it. He is Europe bound next season.

Odds: 25-1 because i don't think anyone wants him.

5 - Milan Jurcina - The guy has been a force when in the lineup and is the best trade chip the Islanders have if they are not going to sign him. I would not let him walk and give him a 3 year contract for around 5 million total value.

Odds: 7-5 - He nets the Islanders another 3rd round pick.

Who do you think could be next on the Islanders trade list?

Post your comments below.

New York Islanders Season Goes from Bad to Worse

2010-12-14T09:30:00.002-05:00

This was the year the Islanders were supposed to take a step forward. Instead, they have taken 2 steps back. Maybe 3.

Granted no one can predict injury but what has happened this season is like a kick in the rear after someone burned your house down and shot your dog.

The Injury Train has decimated the Islanders starting with Streit and Okposo and has not stopped even to blink plowing through every defenseman on the team except James Wisniewski.

I dont care what team you are that is going to kill your chances at being competitive.

I stated in my last article that the Islanders had to go 10-4 in December to save the season. They have started the month 0-6 and have found ways to lose games ranging from the bizarre against Atlanta to blowouts like the one suffered against Nashville.

The season is most probably lost. The Islanders record is 5-18-5 and they have 15 points. the only team even close to them in futility is remarkably the New Jersey Devils with 18 points.

Being 21 points out of a playoff spot before Christmas is simply unfathomable to think about turning the season around and making a run at the playoffs.

Is it impossible? No.

Is it probable? No.

So where do we go from here?

It is to early to think about who the Islanders could draft this off season but the Islanders will add another top prospect to their roster on the upcoming off season.

That is not going to help matters much.

Just when you think it can't get any worse it does. Every fan base has a breaking point and the Islander fans have reached theirs. Very few people want to go see the team at this point and barring a remarkable mid season turn around the Islanders have another 25 plus home games to try and sell seats to.

New York is a hard market as it is and if you don't win it gets harder.

Add to the mix just how awful the team's record is to this point and you have a perfect storm of negativity.

Winning would solve most of the teams problems and most around the team believed this was the season it would happen but that is something that the Islanders just cannot seem to do with any regularity.

It has been said that if new coach Jack Capuano could not wave a magic wand and heal the injured that Garth Snow should be the next to go.

In firing a coach the GM basically says its your fault we are losing to the outgoing coach. When the incoming coach does no better the blame falls squarely on the GM.

Assuming a house cleaning is coming, and that is a big assumption what established NHL executive would want to come on in and run this franchise? The worst move would be to fire Snow and then hire another unproven NHL executive.

I do not think Garth Snow has done a bad job. I think he has been hit with more bad luck than most other GM's but SOMEONE has to be held accountable for the teams current record.

The last time the Islanders hired an established NHL executive he was fired in 40 days for disagreeing with ownership on Rick Dipietro's 15 year contract.

I will not state the obvious and tell you who was right about that one.

That would make any established GM think twice about wanting to work for Charles Wang.

I am a Charles Wang fan. What he has done is nothing short of saving this team and has invested tens of - probably hundreds of millions of dollars of his own money into trying to turn the team around as well as develop the area around the Coliseum.

It has not worked. The reins of this team need to be handed to someone who has a pedigree in the NHL and experience of building a winner - quickly.

Who that could possibly be is anyones guess.

No one on this island deserves a winning successful Islanders franchise than its current owner after what he has invested and what he continues to invest.

Do you think Garth Snow should get the pass he didn't give Scott Gordon and get the benefit of the doubt because of the teams injury woes?

Please place your thoughts below.

New York Islanders: Capuano Results Mixed & Attendance

2010-11-29T09:17:00.004-05:00

Jack Capuano has coached 5 games for the Islanders and while the effort has been there for the most part the results have been mixed.

The Islanders are injury riddled. Out right now -

Mark Streit
Kyle Okposo
Milan Jurcina
Andrew MacDonald
Jack Hillen

Also, Trent Hunter, Doug Weight and Mike Mottau are all dinged up.

Capuano so far has "simplified" the Gordon system which was said was high on situational coaching and given the team more freedom to be creative.

What exactly this means is a matter of opinion. Capuano has been called a players coach while Gordon is an X's and O's coach. That's the best way it can be explained.

Under Gordon the Islanders were not getting out shot by wide margins like they are now but that issue can be traced to the expanded responsibilities of two players - Bruno Gervais and Radek Martinek.

Both players came through the Islanders system and seem to be able to keep their jobs despite their porous defensive play.

You can put Columbus' overtime winner directly on Martinek's shoulders who was faked out so bad on the rush that his pants and jockstrap were in the opposite corner while he sat there wondering what just happened as the Jackets celebrated around him.

Sitting in the press box makes it easier to see who is in the right and wrong positions and who is hurting the team.

Gervais and Martinek are hurting the team and need to go. Who takes their place?

There has to be someone better in Bridgeport that has more sense defensively.

Mark Katic? Dustin Kohn? They cannot be any worse and should fill those gaps until Jurcina and MacDonald get back.

Dylan Reese has not embarrassed himself in his call up and Travis Hamonic has played brilliantly in his own end and came within a whisker of winning the Columbus game.

When Jurcina and MacDonald get back they should not replace Reese and Hamonic, they should replace Gervais and Martinek.

They can't get back soon enough.

Rick Dipetro has stepped up his game and is showing that he has something left other than befuddled looks and poor positioning.

Rick may never be as acrobatic as he once was and that's probably a good thing as his acrobatics no doubt contributed to his injuries. The last few games he has rarely been caught out of position. Its amazing the saves you can make when you don't have to dive across the crease every other shot.

Dipetro has seemingly shaken off the 2 years worth of rust and settled into a nice groove here and I look forward to seeing him continue his resurgence.

The fans have had doubts about Rick but at the same time most Islander fans are rooting hard for him.

The offense continues to struggle. That is not going to change unless the Islanders can trade Gervais and Martinek for Malkin and Ovechkin.

They will have to continue to throw the puck at the net and see what happens. Okposo is still 2 weeks away and how much he helps when he returns is a huge question mark.

The biggest thing the Islanders have to do is get healthy to fill the monstrous holes on defense and try to find ways to score goals. The goaltending has to remain solid.

The attendance at the Coliseum against the Blue Jackets was announced at over 8,000.

If there were over 3,500 people there I would be shocked. Support has always been a hard thing to attain for any team that isn't performing.

Look at Yankee Stadium in the late 80's and early 90's. They were drawing 15,000 a game and everyone was talking about how the area and stadium would never draw big crowds back to the Bronx.

Look what success brings and it shows that no matter where you play, if you win people will come.

Teams that don't win do not get crowds especially in New York. Not in this economy or in any economy.

Unless the Islanders start winning hockey games they will play in front of empty seats.

Its an ugly cycle isn't it?

You don't win, people don't go, the politicians see no one and wont budge on the building, so you can't improve the team through free agency.

There is one cure for all of the Islanders ills. Winning. Can they save this season and still challenge for that playoff spot?

They have 14 games before new years. I do not think that its crazy to say the team needs at least 20 points out of those 14 games. Some of the Injured Islanders including Okposo will return in December.

The season isn't over but the Islanders have to turn it around NOW. December is the Islanders chance to turn it around starting with 2 games against the Rangers. If at the end of the month the teams record is 15-16-5 or better the team will be in business for an exciting second half.

Leave your comments below.

New York Islanders: Scott Gordon is Fall Guy - For Now

2010-11-16T16:14:00.003-05:00

The Islanders fired coach Scott Gordon Monday.

I only ask one question: What difference is this going to make?

Does Jack Capuano have a magic wand that is going to heal the Islanders injury problems?

Is he going to make Rick DiPietro regain the ability to stop a puck?

Is he going to make the Islanders a puck moving goal scoring sensation?

I can give you those answers right now. No, no and no.

This may have been the most pointless firing in the history of the NHL. If the Islanders are going to go somewhere this season its not because Scott Gordon failed the team and Jack Capuano is the answer.

There is no coach short of some Al Arbour - Scotty Bowman - Dick Irvin - Toe Blake mashed together super coach that can by himself make players score more goals, play better between the pipes and play better defense.

Scott Gordon did nothing wrong except maybe set a record for coaching a team with the most man games lost to injury during his tenure.

I am so sick and tired of people saying injuries can't be used as an excuse for poor play.

When you lose 3 of your best defenseman - news flash - its going to effect your defense.

When you lose your top winger - news flash - its going to effect your offense.

When Josh Bailey and Blake Comeau suffer injuries and come back and play half the game they did then before they got hurt - news flash its going to effect your play.

When Rick DiPietro has two hip operations and three knee surgeries - news flash - its going to effect your play.

Get the point? Injuries are a part of the game this is true and as long as players get hurt their absence will effect whatever team they play for negatively.

It would serve me great pleasure for Scott Gordon to leave the Islanders with his dignity in tact and become the next Peter Laviolette.

I like Scott Gordon and I think he will be a successful coach in this league if given another opportunity. The only problem for him is it looks like he is taking the token "assistant to Garth Snow" job.

What happens if the negative trend continues and the Islanders finish at or near the bottom of the NHL again? Does Garth Snow come out un-scathed or does he follow Gordon to the unemployment line?

This reeks of desperation. This stinks of placing blame. There is no one at fault except fate and if there is some sort of evil injury fairy cursing the Islanders.

Two weeks ago the Islanders were 4-1-2 and playing excellent hockey. Now they are at the bottom of the league and looking really bad doing it.

If Scott Gordon is going to be fired for this, then if Jack Capuano does not turn the season around and the team make a run at the playoffs then Garth Snow should be fired also.

Add coaching uncertainty to the list of reasons top free agents will not consider the Islanders as a destination.

If the Islanders bomb out and Capuano joins Gordon as a "special assistant" within the organization then that creates a coaching search at the end of the season. Another black eye on the team where free agents are concerned.

This firing was pointless unless the Islanders are over .500 by new years and if that does not happen Garth Snow should follow Gordon out the door.

Place your comments below.

New York Islanders: What the Heck Happened?

2010-11-10T12:44:00.003-05:00

The Islanders were 4-1-2 and could have easily been 7-0 in their first seven games. Seven games later they are 4-8-2 and look like the team that the so called experts predicted we would all see.

What are the reasons the Islanders have taken a seven game nose dive? Let us examine.

1) Injuries.

Who says you cant use injuries as an excuse for losing?

This may be the most stupid, un-true sporting cliche in the history of organized sport.

So if the Indianapolis Colts are 7-0 with Peyton Manning and he gets injured and the Colts then proceed to go 0-7 without him can you blame injuries then?

What if Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Mark Tiexiera, CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte

Yes Injuries are a part of the game and all teams have them but the Islanders seem to be snake bitten and have been at the top or in the top 5 in man games to injury over the last 4 years than any team in the league.

Back to the current Islanders we are not talking about the obvious injuries to Okposo and Streit. No the ones to Andy MacDonald, Milan Jurcina, Josh Bailey and Blake Comeau.

Yes I know Comeau and Bailey are back but has anyone seen the fire in them we saw before they got hurt?

Nope. Neither have I.

It can not be overstated how much the injuries to Jurcina and MacDonald have hurt the team. Mostly because the team has had to depend on the ridiculously over-rated Radek Martinek who seems to be on the ice for every bad goal against and Bruno Gervais who you can sum up in one word - soft.

Martinek and Gervais are left overs from a time in Islanders history where all you had to do is show a little bit of talent on an awful team then that means you belong as a top 4 defenseman.

In both cases they are 6th and 7th defenseman at best and are proving it on a nightly basis.

2) Goaltending.

It was supposed to be a strong point for the team with a healthy Rick DiPietro and a solid back up in Roloson and neither has come close to expectation. I said in an earlier blog article that the biggest thing the Islanders had to do to make themselves a playoff team was improve their horriffic goals against totals froma year ago. This has not happened because of shoddy defense and bad goaltending. The Islanders sit at 29th in Goals Against.

3) Effort.

How did the team go from working hard every shift on the ice to a team that looked like it was skating with shoes on against the Flyers and Hurricanes? You can only blame the coach, but I wont place the blame entirely on the coach.

Play hard or your out has to be the team's mantra. If the team does not improve and the good thing is there is plenty of time for them to straighten it out Gordon will be fired and the team can only look inward for its lack of effort.

The good news is it is really early in the season and the Islanders have plenty of time to right the ship as they say.

Hopefully they will not dig themselves in such a big hole to get out of because playing .500 hockey the rest of the way will not get the team to the playoffs.

Post your comments below.

New York Islanders: Which Team is the Real Islanders

2010-11-01T09:41:00.003-04:00

Is it the team that gave the best in the NHL fits or is it the team that got blown away in Philadelphia?

Is it the 4-1-2 Islanders in the first 7 games?

Or is it the 0-4 Islanders of the last 4?

Let's take a look at both side of the coin with the first glance at the 0-4 Islanders:

1) True Colors - The Islanders are young and its showing. Experience is something this team does not have short of its Captain and its something that will only be gained through one thing and thats years playing in the NHL.

2) DiPietro a shell of himself - Rick is back and apparently healthy. That's where the positives end. DP is 2-2-2 with an abysmal 3.75 GAA and an even worse .867 save percentage. Those kind of numbers would get most goaltenders drummed out of the NHL.

3) Inconsistency Kills - The first 7 games the Islanders masked their deficiencies with hard work. Without this aspect of their game more results like the 6-1 drubbing by Philadelphia will not be the last time.

Ladies and Gentlemen here is the case that the 4-1-2 Islanders are the real Islanders -

1) DP will even out - Sure Rick's numbers are sub par but as long as he remains healthy he will shake the rust off. Rick has not played with full health in almost 2 years and it will take him some time to get back to any resemblance of his former self.

As long as he remains healthy he will improve. Rick is better than this everyone knows it.

2) Defense still strong despite bad game - The Islanders defense was not good against Philadelphia. Everyone has bad games. The Red Wings have allowed 6 goals in a game from time to time. Against Montreal the Islanders ran into a buzz saw. The Habs are playing excellent hockey right now and all it will take to turn it around is one win.

3) Philly game was not nearly as bad as score indicated - Sergei Bobrovsky had an excellent game for the Flyers or the score would have been a lot closer. The Islanders probably would not have won but he made 3 or 4 saves that easily could have made the TSN highlight reels.

Which Islanders team is the real Islanders team? Leave your comments below.

New York Islanders: Lighthouse Project Still Dark

2010-10-29T11:53:00.002-04:00

It has been 4 months since Kate Murray essentially blew up Charles Wang's plans for his mega project in Uniondale.

See - http://bleacherreport.com/articles/419121-ny-islanders-murray-drops-bomb-on-lighthouse

Since then we have heard the following.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

For 5 years Charles Wang waited for an answer. He did all of the public relations, open town hall meetings started an entire corporation around his dream project.

One obstacle has brought any plans he had to a screeching halt. The Town of Hempstead and its grand leader Kate Murray.

So whats next?

Charles Wang made news this week when he entered into a contract partnering with developer Michael Dubb on his 144 acre property in Plainview.

Both Wang and Dubb have said nothing about relocating Mr. Wang's Lighthouse project to this site. All they have said is the want to "Create a Lifestyle community that will be an asset to the neighborhood."

Interesting words that mean essentially nothing.

Its no secret that this site is one of the handful that the Shinnecock Nation Indian Tribe was looking at as a possible Casino site.

Its also no secret that the Coliseum site was another high on the Shinnecock's wish list.

Maybe this site in Plainview will be what it appears. Or maybe its Charles Wang's Plan B.

Partnering with the Shinnecock Nation would allow any developer to bypass any local Town boards authority over the project. That prospect in of itself has to have Mr. Wang interested in a possible partnership with the tribe.

The Islanders lease is up in 2015. You can no longer say "well they have a long term lease, so they can't go anywhere."

Every year that goes by the lease gets less and less expensive for a possible buy out.

This does not mean the Islanders are bolting for Kansas City because no one would walk away from the Islanders cable contract unless absolutely necessary.

What it means is Charles Wang no longer has all his eggs in Kate Murray's basket.

You don't think the Town of Oyster Bay's Supervisor John Venditto would want the Islanders in his Town?

It would take 2-3 years to actually build an arena start to finish. Add planning to that, engineering, political red tape, union problems, protests, hearings, zoning problems, variances and government approvals could push this whole process if started today to 4-5 years.

Which means that if the Lighthouse project is in fact dead Mr. Wang has to be looking at alternate plans. Is this site in Plainview Plan B?

Charles Wang tried the public route to get his Lighthouse and ultimately failed because of the Town of Hempstead's road blocks.

Maybe he is trying the subtle route this time. Maybe he is waiting for the Shinnecock Nation to finally get its federal recognition.

Charles Wang has a plan. The Long Island community and the New York Islander fans would love to know what it is.

Only time will tell.

Post Your comments below.

NY Islanders: First 8 Games a Good Start - Come and See

2010-10-25T12:00:00.005-04:00

First of all for those of you who like to follow athletes on twitter there are currently four New York Islander players who are actually on Twitter. They are -

Matt Moulson - http://twitter.com/MMoulson
Rob Schremp - http://twitter.com/RobSchremp
Michael Grabner - http://twitter.com/grabs40
Bruno Gervais - http://twitter.com/bruno_gervais8

Anyone else is simply not who you think it is.

With that out of the way let us get to the business at hand.

Islander fans have been talking about the play this season of the Islanders and how exciting all of the games have been so far this season.

The record stands at the moment at 4-2-2. The two regulation losses to the Capitals and Panthers the Islanders were outplayed in very small periods of time in those two games.

One bad bounce and the either or both of the games could be in the win column.

The Islanders are showing that they may be in a rebuilding phase but the rebuilding phase is starting to show progress to make the hockey world take notice.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves and proclaim the Islanders as a contender however if you look at the body of work over the eight games this season you can tell two things.

1) The Islanders themselves believe they can win every game they play and will not be intimidated by the best the league has to offer.

and

2) Playing the Islanders is no longer an easy two points. Other teams are going to have to battle the Islanders every step of the way. This team will not take a night off.

Now what the team has to start doing is to make its fan base believe what they already know. The Islanders are competitive, young and exciting.

If you buy a ticket to watch this team you will no longer feel as though you would have been better off watching Avatar at home for the 6th time.

What you will see if a healthy Rick Dipietro, or is steady as oak back-up Dwayne Roloson.

You will see a defense corp. that will not wilt before your eyes in the 3rd period but a group that can and will stand tall and hold leads. One or two injuries will not cripple team defense as it has in seasons past.

You will see a very young and very fast group of forwards all on the upswing and one 39 year old who is keeping up with them in Doug Weight.

You will see a 21 year old sniper John Tavares coming into his own in the NHL beginning to carve out his place in the NHL along side its elite players.

You will see last years success story in Matt Moulson prove he is no one hit wonder.

You will see young forwards making the progress Islander fans have hoped they would.

What you will not see if you buy a ticket in the old barn to see the Islanders play is the home team embarrass itself on the ice, putting a 3rd rate product out there with coaches and management who don't seem to care.

What you wont see is visiting teams come in and treat the Coliseum ice as if they own it.

What the Islanders need to see is more Blue, Orange and White in the stands instead of blue and green empty seats.

Islander fans you are out there. I know there are tens of thousands of Islander fans who still remember the early 80's or younger fans have had their fathers tell them about the great Islander teams of the period.

For the fans who have written this franchise off I say this - It is time to come back to the team. It is time to fill the stands of the Coliseum again and breathe life back into that arena.

Sure its an old outdated arena. Fill it with 15,000 plus fans and no one is going to care.

If you remember the glory days of the Islanders and how much fun it was to go to the Coliseum come on back.

If you remember the Islanders playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs then come on back.

You will not be disappointed at the effort and skill this young team is putting on the ice.

Post your thoughts in the comment section below.

New York Islanders: TV Coverage is a Joke

2010-10-18T14:10:00.002-04:00

We are 5 games into the NHL 2010-2011 season and there are many surprises around the NHL.

Some of them are:

1) The remarkable 4-0 start of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
2) Martin Brodeur's and Robert Luongo's sudden inability to stop pucks.
3) The hot start of the NY Islanders and more specifically Josh Bailey.

These are just some of the stories around the NHL right now and one that is bugging all Islander fans is the mockery of TV coverage that MSG+ provides.

Islander fans have no problems with Howie Rose (other than him being a Rangers fan) and Butch Goring who as a former player and coach brings a very nice perspective of the games. Butch has done an phenomenal job so far providing insights that Billy Jaffe didn't or couldn't or both.

The fans are speaking of something more subtle. Is it lost on no one that the Islanders have every one of their games broadcast on a network that owned and has the initials of where their blood rivals play?

It would be like the Red Sox being broadcast on YES2 or The Phillies being on SNY2.

If the Islanders received equally as slick production values as the top channel of the bunch, MSG network this would not be as big an issue as it is.

MSG+ is a joke. The name is a joke, the production values are a joke and whoever has been the director for the Islander games so far should be fired. Why?

I turned on the Islanders home opener and watched the pre-game show. Everything looked good. Then something happened. The color hue turned and everyone looked like a smurf with blue toned skin that made Avatar's Na'vi look pale.

It was not something that lasted for a minute and went back to normal, this was something that lasted for over 25 minutes.

I called my TV provider, DirecTV already knowing that it was not their feed causing the problem. I explained to the customer service representative what i saw and told him i don't think its you, its the feed from Cablevision. He proceeded to put me on hold and checked the TV they have in the office and came back laughing saying yes, i see the same thing the color is off and everyone looks like the smurfs.

He thanked me for reporting the problem and said he would contact the source of the feed.

The rest of the game went off O.K. except for the usual MSG+ issues of lingering on the announcers for uncomfortable lengths of time after they were done speaking or going to a shot to fast before someone was ready to speak.

Then there was the game against Pittsburgh. I turned on my new 63" HDTV to watch the Islanders take on Crosby and Company and what do i see? shadows around every player and advertisement along the boards giving me the look like the contrast was turned way to high. This lasted most of the game before the bumbling buffoons running the show fixed it.

What annoyed me even more is flipping over to the mighty MSG network and seeing perfection. Not on the ice mind you but a perfect picture. Sharp, colorful, full Dolby Digital surround 5.1 sound.

Then there was the game versus Colorado. Not the game itself. The picture was NOT HD. Why was it not in HD? Not because DirecTV does not have the bandwidth or because someone forgot to flip the HD switch, its because on the over flow channel that MSG provides for the games that are not on MSG and MSG+ simply are not broadcast in HD.

In this day and age how can ANY major sports programming not be broadcast in High Definition?

While your thinking about that one let me ask you this - During the Islanders-Penguins game why did the audio sound like it was coming through a cup with a string on it?

If you watch Islanders games on TV and judging from the ratings bump the Islanders have enjoyed since they drafted John Tavares a lot of you are then odds are you have seen mistake after mistake MSG+ has made in its Islander broadcasts. Its annoying, embarrassing and there is no excuse considering what fans pay for television these days.

Cablevision is paying the Islanders a lot of money for its broadcast rights and it shows. They take it right out of the broadcasts with what has to be interns running the graphics, audio and technical aspects. It is a disgrace and indicative of a company that is now depriving its customers of watching the FOX network of channels.

Sure FOX is greedy that much is a given but so is Cablevision any customer of theirs who has to endure their second and third rate equipment and customer service will tell you.

They would not dare put the kind of production value on their precious Knicks and Rangers. No. Mr. Dolan cares about those teams. Considering the level of success those teams have had however you would never know it.

If that's how he treats the teams he does love then you can imagine how he treats the "other" teams on his networks.

I have distanced myself as much as I can from the empire that is Cablevision, the owners of Madison Square Garden, The New York Knicks the New York Rangers, Newsday, Radio City Music Hall and countless other businesses. Its just a shame that no matter what we do Islander fans and Devil fans for that matter cannot get them out of our lives.

Post your bad experiences and comments below watching the Islanders and Devils on MSG+.

New York Islanders: Tavares Out - Excitement In

2010-10-11T08:32:00.003-04:00

Say what you want about the Islanders after their first game of the 2010-2011 season. Say they have no shot at the playoffs, say they have no depth and write them off.

If game one is any indication on how the Islanders will fare this season if nothing else they should be one hell of a fun team to watch.

I had more fun watching that game Saturday night than i have in a long time watching a early regular season game.

The Islanders should have won that game more than doubling Dallas' shot total for the game.

But it was more than just shots. You can bet in that Dallas locker room they were saying things like "who are these guys?"

The Islanders skated hard, hit harder and played with a purpose.

Sure Dallas scored 4 goals, but one of them DiPietro should have had and when he shakes off all of the rust that has collected on him the past 2 seasons he will stop it.

The other Dallas goals were bang bang play that do not happen every game.

Islander fans absolutely loved watching James Wisniewski play in an Islander uniform scoring a power play goal and absolutely tattooing Jamie Benn with a clean check that energized the Islanders come back.

The trick will be bringing that energy to every game over the 81 games the Islanders have left.

It was not all positive.

John Tavares spent some time face down on the ice after getting bumped into from behind at center ice on an apparent inadvertent hit.

JT did not return and the team has stated it is a mild concussion. Mild concussion? I know concussions have grades but saying you have a mild concussion is like saying your mildly pregnant.

A concussion is never a good thing and the hit that sent Tavares out of the game has me worried.

I do not think contact was made at any time with Tavares' head, meaning the whiplash effect from the hit caused the concussion and if this is truly the case it may be a major problem.

In any event Tavares will be out for today's game with the Rangers and is a question mark for Wednesday's game.

Josh Bailey was all over the ice Saturday night, playing with a confidence he has not shown in his first 2 years in the league. The fans took notice as did the TV commentators who marveled at how many time during the game they said his name.

Nino Niederreiter, the youngest Islander ever did not embarrass himself nearly scoring on more than one occasion including late in the third.

Frans Nielson also shown more of the skill that has Islander fans wondering how he isn't all over the score sheet.

The revamped defense kept the quality chances down from last year and that's in despite of the 4 goals Dallas scored. Over the long NHL season this will balance out and less goals allowed should become the norm.

We can only hope two things now one that JT will be back soon and two, the Islanders can match Saturday night's effort on a game by game basis.

Voice your opinion below.

NY Islanders: No Faith Out There

2010-10-06T13:39:00.002-04:00

Perhaps its the lack of any assemblance of recent success. Perhaps its the young core of a team yet to truly prove itself. Perhaps its the major injuries that have taken a major hit on the team before the puck has dropped in game number one.

There is no faith out there in any hockey publication, web site, blog, newspaper, sports dirt sheet or any other media outlet that does not have the words "Islanders" at the top of it.

This is nothing new to Islander fans as they have gotten used to low expectations and disappointing outcomes despite the almost defiant hope that things will be different this time.

The Hockey News predicts the Islanders to finish 14th in the conference or 28th in the league and this is BEFORE anyone knew the Islanders would be without their top winger and defenseman for extended periods.

In the Hockey News' defense, they do state that if certain things happen, like Rick DiPietro regaining his all star form and the revamped defense bringing down the horrible goals against totals combined with the maturing of some of the teams young stars could net the Islanders a playoff berth.

Way to hedge your bet guys.

TSN ranked the Islanders 29th taking repeated pop shots at the "fact" that the team can't score goals even though they had the same amount of goals last season as New Jersey and the NY Rangers.

Anyone that does any sort of research will know that goal scoring was not the Islanders primary problem last season. It was stopping them.

The team has vastly improved its team defense and taken it out of the charge of guys like Freddy Meyer and placed in under the care of guys like James Wisniewski and Mark Eaton.

Obviously someone at TSN missed the facts.

CBSports.com doesn't mince any words. They hold nothing back and give the team no hope stating that the Islanders had no depth to begin with and the injuries to Striet and Okposo will not help. They say the Islanders finish 30th in the league and dismiss them as at the start of just another lost season.

If the Islander fans can look forward to something this season its making all of the nay sayers eat a great big steaming pile of craw.

Yes this article is being written after the injuries of Streit, Okposo and Schremp.

As good as Streit is this team is not built around one player or superstar.

Any team can have one flashy guy who scores 40 goals and a back up cast of slugs who never will win anything.

Thats not what the Islanders are trying to build. They are trying to build like Chicago has built their power. Slowly, methodically and with a purpose.

Sure every team needs a cornerstone guy and that is John Tavares. Watch what he does this year. I am not saying he scores 51 like Stamkos did but make no mistake JT will score more often and consistently.

Despite losing Streit the Islanders will be vastly improved on the defensive side of the puck. This is not an opinion based on anything but fact.

You dont add the players the Islanders did on defense and get worse.

What does all this point to?

The NHL writers, websites and what have you? They better get their forks ready because the Islanders are about to serve them up that craw they have been waiting to serve for a long time.

Place your opinion below.

NY Islanders: Injuries Taking Toll

2010-09-28T10:05:00.003-04:00

Mark Streit, the backbone of the Islanders defense and one of their top point producers is for all intense and purposes out for the season.

Matt Moulsen checked Streit in a scrimmage and put him out for the season as Streit fell awkwardly into the boards separating his shoulder that had to be popped back into place by medical professionals 20 minutes later.

You simply cannot write a worse way to kick off this season. Not much more needs to be said as the Islanders scramble for a way to try to deal with losing their most consistent performer in a season where a lot of people expected the team to take a big step forward.

Injuries have absolutely destroyed whatever hope the Islanders have had to compete over the last few years despite the fact that the team was not very good.

Now that pesky unforeseen factor, the injury, threatens to derail another season before It begins.

Fans at the Blue and Orange scrimmage watched Rick Dipietro play 3 periods in a game setting and look good doing it.

Things look good, hopeful, positive for a change.

Then it happens. The black cloud that has been hanging over the New York Islanders health is still there in full force.

You simply cannot compensate for the loss of a player like Streit to the Islanders. Sure, the team still may improve this season. They still may challenge for that playoff spot.

Unless the unthinkable happens and the Islanders win the Stanley Cup, there will always be that "imagine if we had Streit?" feeling.

Unfortunately the injury bug is not limited to Streit.

Franz Nielson is down with a leg injury and he will miss some time, and Kyle Okposo is also hurting from a shoulder issue and is going to see a shoulder specialist.

As far as Dipetro goes Islander fans will keep their fingers crossed as to how Rick's knees and hips and head respond to the rigors of NHL action.

It would be really easy to chalk this season up as lost and say "well they are still rebuilding."

I am not one of those people.

Injuries are a part of sports. Every team has to deal with them and if they are successful, overcome them.

The Islanders are in a position to overcome the injuries even to Streit because of the added depth at defense. The power play could not be any worse than it was last year and someone is going to have to step up to replace Streits power play presence.

Short of that the defensive aspect of the Islanders game should be largely unaffected or even improved from last year.

Successful teams in this league overcome adversity. Well this year the adversity came very early.

How do you think the injuries will effect the Islanders season?

Leave your comments below.

NY Islanders: Realistic Predictions

2010-09-03T08:34:00.002-04:00

What can we expect from the NY Islanders this season..Really?

As everything NY Islanders these past few years there are an awful lot of "ifs."

Lets jump right in and examine:

A) Goaltending - More specifically Rick DiPietro. We can talk about the contract and the eleven years left on it until we are blue in the face and at the end of the day it really does not matter long term.

What does matter is if Rick can return at all. Once that question is answered it is followed by one more important question - can he approach the high level we all know he is capable of?

The guy is still young but all of those surgeries on knees and hips and lets not forget the multiple concussions that will take their toll on anyone.

There is always conjecture about Rick but as we are seeing right now there is no way anyone knows including Rick himself whether he will be able to shoulder the load of rigors of an NHL season.

The one thing that remains a constant is the Islanders have Dwayne Roloson. Roloson more than proved that he is still a very capable net minder and can still play at a high level.

Assuming that DiPietro cannot play, AHL standout goaltender Nathan Lawson will likely back up Roloson.

Depth Chart -
1 - Dwayne Roloson
2 - Rick DiPietro
3 - Nathan Lawson

B) Defense. I can say with a degree of certainty that this will be the best group of defenseman the Islanders will put on the ice in many years, possibly since 1997.

Mark Streit is at the head of the class. He will shoulder the power play minutes and be the Islanders number 1 guy on defense.

He isn't alone any more.

Garth Snow pulled a rabbit out of his hat trading for James Wisniewski. He is the perfect number 2 guy behind Streit. Islander fans will love this kid once they see him in action.

Mark Eaton is a dependable veteran via free agency.

Milan Jurcina is a nice depth player and adds much needed size at the blue line at 6' 4" and 235 pounds.

The Islanders will also bring back Jack Hillen, Andrew McDonald, oft injured Radek Martinek, Bruno Gervais, Dylan Reese and Dustin Kohn to round out the rest of the defense.

One thing that can be counted on this year. Whoever plays goal for the Islanders this year can expect to see less traffic in front of the net and a much more soundly defended zone in front of him.

Garth Snow and his crew have done an excellent job building the Islanders defensive unit this season and for once I am excited about the Islanders on that side of the puck.

Depth Chart -

1) Mark Streit
2) James Wisniewski
3) Mark Eaton
4) Milan Jurcina
5) Jack Hillen
6) Radek Martinek
7) Andrew McDonald
8) Bruno Gervais

C) Wingers - Here is an Islander weak spot. Traditionally this is where an awful of goals come from that a team scores and where the Islanders swill look to try and improve this season.

Kyle Okposo has got to take the bull by the horns this year and show everyone that he is ready to be a star player in the NHL. He simply cannot go large periods of time invisible like he did at points last season. Islander fans want to cheer for him and are waiting for him to show the rest of the league what we all believe about him.

He needs to add consistency to his game. In a league where 22 year old captains are winning Stanley Cups age is no longer an excuse for under achieving.

Another huge question is whether Matt Moulsen's 30 goal campaign was an apperition or the start of a late blooming career scoring goals in the NHL.

Trent Hunter will skate around hard, hit people, be dependable in his own end and score around 15 goals.

Blake Comeau has to also continue to improve and take that next step.

Rob Shremp showed flashes of brilliance last season after being exiled from Edmonton. This is one kid I can see special things from this season and could be the next breakout star If the Islanders are going to challenge for a playoff spot. At the very least he is a shootout specialist who will score more often than not.

After those guys, what else is there? Thats 5 winger positions out of 8 available spots on the Islanders opening night roster. Who will fill out the rest of the winger positions?

We have unproven talents in Jesse Joensuu and Matt Martin had cups of coffee with the Islanders who I would love to see get a long term shot with the Islanders.

Depth Players P.A. Parentau, Jon Sim, Andy Hilbert, Joel Rechlecz, and Zenon Konopka round out the group.

Make no mistake if the Islanders are to take the e next step this year and challenge for a playoff spot someone will have to step up in the winger department.

Could 2010 first round pick Nino Niederreiter make the team and contribute? How about ultra talented Russian draft pick Kirill Kabanov? Odds are they will not start the season on the club.

The Islanders are not in a position to add from the free agent pool. They are going to improve from within, or not improve at all.

Depth Chart -

1) Kyle Okposo
2) Matt Moulsen
3) Trent Hunter
4) Blake Comeau
5) Rob Schremp
6) Jon Sim
7) Jesse Joensuu
8) Andy Hilbert
9) Matt Martin
10) Zenon Konopka

D) Center - Here is another position that the Islanders are just about set at.

John Tavares was everything realisitic expectations could have hoped for. His sophmore season should give us more of a picture of the kind of player he will be.

People keep talking about Stephen Stamkos as a measuring stick for Tavares' encore season. This comparison is not fair for one reason - the talent around Stamkos dwarfs what is around Tavares.

If we have to put a number on how many goals that would label Tavares second season a success that number would be 35.

Doug Weight has resigned with the Islanders. We all know he is a very talented play maker. We also know that we simply cannot count on him playing more than 35 games.

Josh Bailey needs to improve. Yes he is only 20, but that is no longer an excuse one can use in the NHL. Bailey is entering his 3rd NHL season. 16 goals and 35 points are not totals that are going to wow anyone. If he is going to be the player Snow envisioned when he drafted him then he is going to show that this season.

Frans Neilson scored 12 goals and had 38 points last year and will also look to improve on those numbers.

Rob Schremp and Andy Hilbert will fill in at center if and when there are injuries.

Depth Chart -
1) John Tavares
2) Doug Weight
3) Josh Bailey
4) Frans Nielson
5) Rob Schremp
6) Andy Hilbert

Overall the Islanders are in a much better position this season than last and should look to improve on last seasons 79 point total.

Keys to a successful season -

1) Solid defense will get the team more wins on its own even without much improvement from the forward crew. Most importantly is the Islanders need to bring down the amount of goals allowed last season of 264. Only Edmonton (284) and Toronto (267) allowed more goals last season.

Roloson will do fine if he is shouldered with the goaltending load. The Islanders revamped defense will no doubt be a drastic improvement over last seasons and if the goals allowed total is in the 215-220 range then the Islanders should be in business to at least challenge for a playoff spot even without much improvement on the goals for side.

2) Young forwards must continue growth. Yes reliable defense is important. So is scoring goals. You may be shocked to know that the Islanders scored just as many goals as rivals NY Rangers and the NJ Devils with 222. If the Islanders can improve that total to 240 that would be a nice step in the development if the young core of forwards.

3) Special teams. The Islanders were near the bottom of the heap on power play percentage at 16%. An improvement to 18-19% is not to much to ask and is necessary for any successful NHL franchise. If goal totals on the season are to improve this is where the extra goals have to come from.

The Islanders were at the bottom of the heap in penalty killing at a horrid 76.3%, good for 29th in the NHL. That number needs to be at least 82-85% and with the Islanders revamped defense should be possible.

So many people think goal scoring is the Islanders number one problem. They would be wrong. This is why it was so important for Snow and Company to improve team defense. Increase you penalty killing efficiency to the mid 80% range and you will challenge for that playoff spot.

Post your thoughts in the comment section and voice your opinion on where the Islanders need to improve.

NHL Free Agency Sputters Along

2010-07-30T13:07:00.000-04:00

This is a free agent frenzy?

In the free agent class of 2007, 27 contracts were negotiated and announced on the first day of free agency on July 1. Names like Chris Drury, Scott Gomez, Danny Briere, Ryan Smyth, Jason Blake and many many others went on the first day to huge contracts not only in terms of years but in overall value.

On the second day another 20 names were crossed off the list and when the first week was over another 57 were signed sealed and delivered, most to monster contracts.

This season although the number of players signed through the first week have actually been higher the dollar amount of the contracts handed out have been a mere fraction of what they were then even factoring in Kovalchuk's monster would be deal.

We all know the salary cap has played a major role in curtailing the amount of money thrown around but the reasons go a little beyond simply the cap itself.

Would Ilya Kovalchuck remained unsigned for as long as he was this year if he were a free agent in 2007?

Keep in mind that there was a salary cap in 2007 also. One that was much lower than it is today at around 59 million now to 40 million then.

So what are the other reasons for the huge step down in money commitment?

Could it be the talent available?

Could it be that General Managers are no longer willing to throw big money at players that are coming from other organiations?

Could it be that the big money teams that typically have the cash to throw around are at or near the salary cap?

Let us examine.

2010 has been no banner year when it comes to free agents. I would not be the first writer to say the class of 2010 is a weak one.

This being sead it is now July 30th and to see some of the players that are still available is simply mind boggling.

Some notable forwards are - Lee Stempniak, Paul Kariya, Teemu Selanne, Maxim Afinogenov, Bill Guerin, Brendan Morrison, Raffi Torres, John Madden, Mike Modano and Glen Metropolit.

Granted this is 2010 and not 2000 so Selanne, Kariya and Modano do not have nearly as much clout as they used to but any one of them could help a team.

Stempniak and Torres are still very young and personally I would love to see the Islanders sign one or both of them.

Morrison has had injuries derail his career at times but is a gifted playmaker.

On goaltenders and defense we have Kim Johnsson, Mike Mottau, Andy Sutton, Marc-Andre Bergeron, Marty Turco, Jose Theodore, Ray Emery and Aaron Ward.

Any one of these players can help a team considerably including former MVP of the league Theodore who had an amazing 30-7-7 record last year with the Capitals.

Turco may be past his prime but he is still a very solid netminder.

Looking at some of the names up there makes me wonder why after over 4 weeks of free agency they still remain unsigned.

Let us examine.

1 - The Salary Cap puts the usual big spenders on the sidelines. This is not a rumoror or a speculation it is a fact.

The Rangers, Toronto, Montreal, Chicago, Boston, Detroit, Philadelphia are the usual big spenders coem free agent time.

They are all for the most part dormant in July and it is because they simply cannot spend any more money due to the cap.

Maybe if the Maple Leafs weren't throwing around 16 million dollars to Jeff FInger they could have made a run at Kovalchuk and bring a face to their franchise.

With the big money teams out of the picture it lets the middle level teams have real shots at signing the big names. Would the New Jersey Devils despite their sparking new arena have a ghost of a chance of landing a guy like Kovalchuk if he could run to the millions of one of the big boys?

Its like taking the Yankees and Red Sox out of the picture in baseball.

2 - This years free agent class is sub par. There are lot of people who would disagree with this. Most of the top defenseman have been snapped up already some going for what some would say Jeff Finger money.

The forwards and goaltenders seem to be the ones lingering here. There are 3 bona fide number one goaltenders out there. One of them is a former MVP and the other has won The Stanley Cup.

There is talent there so I do not believe that talent is the main issue.

3 - Free Agency is not the way to build a franchise. If the leagues current top teams have taught us anything its that signing that flashy 40 goal scorer should be the final piece to the puzzle of building your team and not the starting point.

In the past big market teams have thrown obscene amounts of money at what is perceived to be the "top free agents" of any given year and it took hours, not weeks to complete multi year, multi million dollar mega deals.

Now it takes a proven, young 40 goal scorer 3 weeks to sign a contract after July 1?

That is something that was unheard of as recent at 2 years ago.

Needless to say the landscape has drastically changed.

The top dogs will always get their money. That free agent who is perceived to be the top guy, the corner-stone type player.

Gone are the days of multi year mega contracts to second and third tier players like Scott Gomez, Jason Blake and Chris Drury just to name a few.

In are the days of one year deals to players who would normally be getting this type deal.

Where else would a guy lead his team in goaldsand get only a one year deal? (Matt Moulson)

How about a guy who gets 58 points and 20 goals and only gets a one year deal (Vinny Prospal)?

The landscape has changed people. So many teams have abandoned the free agent fix and now favor building through youth. Especially now that 18 year olds making an impact for $375,000 per season over paying a free agent millions more for the same output.

Free agency will always be prevalant but it seems in order to cash in big time you have to actually BE big time.

It has turned into a way to tweak your team and teams have finally figured out it has never been a successul tool in the NHL to build a winning franchise.

Please post your thoughts below.

NY Islanders: Murray Drops Bomb on Lighthouse

2010-07-12T10:11:00.000-04:00

This may be the death knell of the Lighthouse project as envisioned by Charles Wang and Scott Rechler.

Charles Wang, owner of the New York Islanders and real estate magnate has yet to respond to the latest attack on his project.

Kate Murray, Town of Hempstead Supervisor and top opponent to the project has unveiled her new zoning of the 77 acre site that will result in The Lighthouse project either being scaled back to something not even resembling the plans we have seen.

The square footage of buildings being built would be severely cut down.

The building heights would be limited to 9 stories, down from Wang's proposed 35 stories.

The amount of housing units that can be built from over 2,300 proposed by Wang to just over 500.

This is what took Kate Murray and her Town cronies 5 years to come up with.

Charles Wang and Scott Rechler have spent more time and money on this project and sat around waiting for one bureaucrat and her silly Town Board to tell them yes or no.

Nassau County approved the plan. New York State is behind the plan. Long Islanders by a wide margin are behind the plan.

The Town of Hempstead? They know better than all of us.

What they did is next to criminal. They said maybe. They said everything to keep Mr. Wang and his 3 billion dollars from walking away from the table.

So where does this leave the project?

In its current form and location it is dead and buried.

So what is next for the project? What is next for the New York Islanders franchise?

That is any ones guess but I can take a stab at it.

Charles Wang will not bow to the wishes of the Town of Hempstead. He did not make himself a billionaire by mistake and will not just lay down and take whatever the Town gives him.

There are other options. The best and most attractive one right now would be to get behind Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano's plan to bring in the Shinnecock Nation to build a mixed use project that could resemble most of Wang's current plan with one notable addition, a casino.

The Shinnecock Nation have land out east on Long Island that they can offer in trade for the rights to build on the 77 acres around Nassau Coliseum.

All Charles Wang would have to do is get in bed with them and Mangano add a casino to his plans and he would be back in business.

Why would this make a difference when it comes to the Town of Hempstead?

Because with the Shinnecock Nation Mangano, New York State, Charles Wang all would NOT need Town of Hempstead approval to build whatever they want on the site.

The key is the Shinnecock Nation. Being a recognized American Indian tribe if they were granted the land to build on by New York State they would be outside the Town of Hempstead's jurisdiction.

Presto. The Lighthouse project is back albeit altered to include a Casino and lets not forget a nice brand new renovated home for the New York Islanders.

One thing people around Long Island are in agreement of is that Long Island needs a reason for people to stay here.

For some reason the Town of Hempstead and Charles Wang have not met in the middle. Wang presented his project and said this is it. Kate Murray has presented her zoning plan and said this is it.

Something has to give in this long strange saga of The Lighthouse project.

What do you think is next? Leave your comments below.

NHL Free Agency Begins: Defenseman are a Premium

2010-07-02T08:38:00.000-04:00

The NHL free agency period has begun and defensemen are getting scooped up on day one and being paid handsomely.

One of the biggest winners so far is Paul Martin formerly of the New Jersey Devils scoring a 5 year 25 million dollar contract from the Penguins. The Devils quickly turned around and replaced Martin with Anton Volchenkov by coughing up $25.5 million over 6 years and 4 years and 13.5 million for Henrik Tallinder.

Sergei Gonchar did not let the door hit him on his way out of Pittsburgh by taking a 3 year 16.5 million dollar deal from Ottawa.

Toni Lydman managed to get someone to give him 3 years and 9 million continuing the free agent parade out of Buffalo that has been going on since Briere and Drury left.

In a bit of a head scratcher Pittsburgh also picked up former Phoenix Coyotes defenseman Zbynek Michalek and gave him $20 million over 5 years. Michalek is not going to wow you with his skills but he can eat minutes and dependable NHL defenseman are at a premium.

Also in the head scratcher category, Dan Hamhuis scored a $27 million dollar 6 year contract from Vancouver. $4.5 million per year for this guy? Really?

Other defenseman who are off the market are Derek Morris (4 years, 11 million) resigning with Phoenix, Sean O'Donnel (1 year, 1 million) with Philadelphia and Kurtis Foster (2 years, 3.6 million) with Tampa Bay.

While I am surprised the Devils did not push harder for the young, talented Paul Martin to resign it is obvious that defensemen scored some long, rich contracts on day 1.

Most of the more attractive free agent forwards are still out there including Mr. Kovalchuk who is sure to net well over 100 million dollars and the only question is - Who is going to give it to him?

On the Islanders front Martin Biron making the odd move of signing with the Rangers to back up Henrik Lundqvist. Lundqvist is going to play 70 games and unless the Rangers are going to reduce his work load Biron is going to spend a lot of the next two years on the bench.

I just figured that Marty after the frustrating season on the Island would want to play more games than he did a year ago and unless Lundqvist gets injured that is simply not going to happen.

Jeff Tambellini took a 1 year $500K deal from the Canucks so the bane of Ted Nolan is gone and if you ask me good riddance. It was way past the time for Jeff to produce on the Island and his spot can be taken by one of the Islanders prospects on the rise. I wish him well.

Jeremy Reich left the Island and signed with the Bruins. Yawn.

If I may be so bold to offer Garth Snow some advice, go sign Lee Stempniak.

Who do you think will land Kovalchuk? Who should the Islanders pursue if anyone? Who overpaid their free agent defensemen?

Leave your comments below.

The Good and the Bad: The NY Islanders Draft

2010-06-26T22:03:00.001-04:00

The 2010 draft has ended and the Islanders had another top 5 pick in the draft. Did they come away with another blue chip prospect or did they blow it not selecting the best player at their position in the draft?

I present 3 points for and 3 points against what the Islanders did this draft. Which side is correct?

Tou be the judge.

First we will get The Bad out of the way.

THE BAD

1 - Nino Who? No Cam Fowler? No Brandon Gormley? No Brett Connolly? They were all rated higher than Niederreiter and that means that Snow saw something different than the rest of the league. The rule is you take the best player at your position in the draft and The Islanders simply didn't do that.

Snow loves trading down so much, why didn't he try and trade down and get something for drafting this kid instead of someone rated higher?

2 - Trade two get one? Trading 2 second rounders to move up 5 spots? This Brock Nelson kid must be pretty good to give up the chance at 2 prospects down to get one. Snow and his staff usually add picks not give up picks and to move up only 5 spots and give up a second round pick? He had better be worth that.

3 - Win When? This Islanders team needs to start showing some results now. Tavares is in his second year and the team needs to show him and the rest of the team they are serious about winning and doing so now so as to not risk demoralizing the young players.

Lets switch it up now and present:

THE GOOD

1 - El Nino is the Man. Anyone who knows this kid knows the Islanders got a gem. If he makes the Islanders this season and that may be a long shot but if he does fans will love his style of play.

He is tough and has a big game mentality and is very comfortable in traffic. When he does make the Islanders there will be a sign in Nassau Coliseum (or wherever the Islanders are) that reads "EL NINO" Bank on it.

Consider this also - Gormley and Fowler went 12 and 13 so the Islanders were not alone in passing them up.

A poll on NHL.com shows that the fans think Niederreiter has the biggest up-side than any of the other forwards chosen in the first round.

2 - Win Soon, Very soon. - The Islanders need to stick to their plan. Draft smart and build within. The Islanders improved so much last season and the young core is only got better as the year wore on.

This season could be the breakout year for the young Islanders. Tavares Will know exactly what to expect from the NHL, Josh Bailey will be another year wiser and Kyle Okposo is due for the breakout season we all know he is capable of.

Stick to the plan. Build not just a winner, but a long time winner.

3 - You See Something You Like, You Take It - No one knows how good Brock Nelson is going to be. Snow and his team of scouts saw something they liked in Nelson and paid a steep price to get him.

This isn't a bad thing, its a good thing. Why? Because it shows Snow and Co. are willing to take a bit of a risk here and there to make the Islanders a winner.

A Lot of people passed on Kirill Kabanov because of off ice issues and concerns about his character.

I love this pick because the kid wants to prove the other 29 franchises wrong and the Islanders will be his means to do so. He said all the right things and he is still only 17. There is a lot of time for him to right himself and if he does? Look out. He has the talent to become a top six player.

There we have it. 3 points for and 3 points against what the Islanders have done in the 2010 NHL draft.

Where do you stand? Leave any comments you may have below.

The 2010 NHL Draft: NY Islanders Edition

2010-06-25T08:16:00.000-04:00

It seems like yesterday we were all sitting around waiting and wondering whether The Islanders and their brain trust would do what we all wanted and expected them to do and that is draft John Tavares.

Now that JT has his first Islanders season and his first 24 goals under his belt the focus can be shifted to the very important question of "Whats Next?"

The Islanders hold the number 5 overall pick this season and should be able to net themselves another blue chip prospect. Who that will wind up being is any ones guess.

After top prospects Tyler Seguin and Taylor Hall the door is wide open to who will go third, fourth and fifth.

With all of the analyzing going on over trying to figure out who the Islanders will draft and all of the dealing the Islanders have done in past drafts that task is next to impossible to determine but that does not mean we cannot discuss it.

I would love to see the Islanders stick to their guns and draft 5th if they cannot move up into the top 2 which is a pipe dream. The Oilers and Bruins will draft 1 and 2 unless they switch positions which has been rumored.

Taylor Hall will likely go number one to the Oilers and Tyler Seguin will likely be drafted by the Bruins. The bottom line is this you take the best player available at your position in the draft and these two kids are the class of this years draft.

Toronto Maple Leaf nation is probably kicking itself in the rear again after its failed attempt to get John Tavares and now trading for Phil Kessel will cost them dearly again if Seguin turns into the player he is projected to.

After the big two, we could see a run of defenseman being drafted with top prospects Brandon Gormley, Erik Gundbranson and Cam Fowler project to go in the top 6 or 7.

The Big question will be which one of them will be left for the Islanders to take? Most mock drafts have Gormley and Fowler going 3 and 4. If that is the case I would love the Islander to select RW Brett Connoly. He always seems to be around the net and is not afraid to get in the thick of things and pick up the so called "ugly" goal.

He is not going to blow past defenders and roof the puck and be on TSNs highlight reel but he can score and that is what the Islanders need.

If Fowler falls to 5th then he should be the selection. although his stock has fallen a bit as he was originally projected to be in the top 3 with Hall and Seguin maybe that can be to the Islanders benefit.

The wild card in my eyes is Vladmir Taresenko who has a KHL contract that may scare away many GMs. The Islanders still have the rights to Kirill Petrov of the KHL and he is also under contract to the Russian league so it is doubtful Snow would want to repeat that situation at least this high in the draft.

If Teresenko was a sure bet to be in the NHL next year his talent alone would put him easily in the top 3 of the draft.

Is he worth a shot? Only Garth Snow and his staff knows for sure.

The only sure thing at this time is the Islanders stand to get themselves yet another blue chip prospect for their ongoing rebuilding process.

The process is working as evidenced by the teams improvements last season and if things break right the team should contend for a playoff spot this season.

That is a discussion for another day as the focus is on the NHL draft and the Islander adding to their fully stocked cupboard of prospects.

Once the draft is out of the way we can discuss free agency and more which the Islander will have to be more active in filling roles unless they intend to promote from within to fill the holes in the team.

Who from the Islander system is ready to make the jump to the NHL?

On the forward line I would love to see Jesse Joensuu get more than the cup of coffee he has received. Robin Figrin may be ready for a long time look as well as Matt Martin. Trevor Smith should be able to stick with the team also if they do not pursue free agent help he is a capable 4th line center.

Anyone want to see what David Toews is capable of? I sure do.

On defense, Calvin de Haan had some injury trouble last season which will probably derail his shot at the big club at least for the beginning of the season.

Dylan Reese played very well in his stint at the end of last season, Mark Flood did not embarrass himself and could prospect Aaron Ness be ready for a shot? Training camp should be very interesting to say the least.

If the Islanders stay true to the rebuild free agency will not be an issue. They will promote from within and sign one or two hole filling free agents.

At this point bringing in big free agents is a mistake and Snow and Company should stick to the plan and build from within. The fans of the team have seen what building a team the right way can do i.e. Chicago and Pittsburgh.

After the draft tonight I will post a "Good and the Bad" of the Islanders draft so stay tuned to what should be a very interesting draft and another chapter in the building of the NY Islanders.

NY Islanders: Free Agency and the Lighthouse

2010-04-28T17:14:00.000-04:00

Our new intrepid Nassau County Executive after running on a platform of support for the Lighthouse project has been working on a deal with the Shinnecock nation on putting a casino smack dab in the middle of Nassau County on the Coliseum site.

That's right Islander fans. Mangano has been in office for exactly 4 months and he is already looking at other possibilities and has not made any public statements on the project that Charles Wang and his group have put 6 years and spent millions of dollars into trying to get off the ground.

Even Kate Murray the high demoness of the Lighthouse project has feigned ignorance and said she knows nothing of this deal.

I smell something and its not pretty.

A Casino has bad idea written all over it. I am not against gambling. I am not against Casinos. What I am against is political meandering. I am against politicians who use private enterprise for their own personal gain or to further their careers.

I have heard opponents of the Lighthouse project spout venom about traffic, waste, garbage and more traffic.

What would surrounding areas traffic be like with a version of The Borgata on that site? The idea smacks of a shady back room deal and it deserves all of the scrutiny it has coming.

While your thinking about that think about this. While i am not an opponent of gambling I question the wisdom of putting a casino a stones throw from a college, much less 2 of them. College is hard enough with every day distractions and the idea that a $2-$5 no limit table is around the corner would make anyone rush to finish their paper to get to the tables.

Another question is this. Wang and his group have in place a lease and a contract to develop the land. What is Mangano going to do? Condemn the lease? Does that sound familiar? Any deal with anyone other than Wang will bring back all of the painful memories of the Millstien/Gluckstern fiasco that threw the Islanders into a doldrum they are only crawling out of today.

This whole thing stinks on ice people and any Long Islander should be mad as hell that this kind of corruption goes on in our backyards by the very people we trust to carry out the will of the people who elected them.

Switching gears, now lets talk hockey, something we may not be able to do on Long Island for much longer.

The Islanders improved this year. People took notice.

John Tavares netted 24 goals in a very successful rookie season.

Matt Moulson exploded on to the scene with his breakout year scoring 30 goals.

Kyle Okposo showed why he should be the team captain for many years.

The defense is young but capable and will only get better.

There are seeds of greatness here and all they need is water.

The water this off season? The number 5 overall pick can hydrate the need for more growth.

Another method to get the Islanders to the next level is free agency. While the Islanders are not likely to go sign Ilya Kovalchuk to a massive contract there are a couple of capable veterans out there that can finally get the Islanders into playoff contention. Lets examine.

1 - Lee Stempniak (26) RW - Capable offensive threat and still young enough to improve. I would love to see the Islanders sign this kid. Scored 28 goals this season and is only going to get better. While the big market teams fall all over each other to sign Kovalchuk and Marleau to humongous contracts maybe the Islanders can steal this kid.

What will it take to get him? - 5 years, 25 million.

2 - Raffi Torres - (27) LW - Found himself in Buffalo after his breakout seasons in Edmonton and a short disappointing run in Columbus. Surrounded by the youth of the Islanders he would feel right at home back with the organization that drafted him. He can score, he can hit. Still at 27 has the ability to improve. Right a wrong Garth and bring him back.

What will it take to get him? - 4 years 16 million.

3 - Paul Martin - (28) D - Sure The Islanders do not need a defenseman but look again at the depth chart. Now that is out of the way this guy may be above what the Islanders are willing to spend as he is likely to get 5+ million a season. Injuries cost him most of 2009 and the Devils are not likely to let him walk away.

What will it take to get him? - 5 years 30 million.

4 - Andrew Raycroft - (29) G - You know it so I am just going to say it. The Islanders cannot depend on Rick DiPietro to come back any more. I personally believe Rick is finished and it pains me to say that because he is ultra talented and loves Long Island. Raycroft backed up Roberto Luongo this year and did excellent work with 9 wins and a .911 save percentage.

5 - Ilya Kovalchuk - (26) LW - Now that we are all done laughing at the prospect of this lets look at the facts. The Islanders would have to grossly overpay to get him. He is 26 years old. He is one of the most dynamic players in the world. What better way to say to the world the Islanders are back. Give him the keys to the store and stick him with Josh Bailey's natural play making skills and look out. I know its the longest of shots but if the Islanders are going to show the world they mean business I can't think of a better way to do it. The Islanders have more than enough cap room and the fan base is dying for a reason to come back to the team. TV ratings while still low were up 105% this season. People are interested in the Islanders again. Go knock their socks off.

What would it take to get him ? - 14 years 126 million.

Please use the comment section to leave your thoughts on free agency and the debacle going on with the Lighthouse Project.

Looking to the Future

2010-03-18T13:33:00.000-04:00

The Islanders are not a "now" team. No one can dispute that. They have become a future team. Its all the Islanders talk or speak about so lets take a moment or two to consider the future.

The Young core of the Islanders is just about in place. With young players succeeding at the NHL level instead of just taking up space for a change. The NHL has transformed into a young players league Chris Chelios not withstanding.

It has become commonplace for 18 and 19 year olds to come directly to the NHL instead of going through their growing pains in the minors or in the juniors. Age is no longer a factor. Its only the matter of if you can play or not whether your 18 or 48.

With John Tavares making strides on not only his offensive game but his total game he will be the cornerstone of making this team a contender. He currently has 20 goals and 41 points which is right on par with what the serious expectations were.

Could we see a next season Steven Stamkos like jump in production for Tavares? Not likely because of the talent around Stamkos outweighs what the Islanders can put out there - at least for now.

The Islanders found 2 jewels this past off season in bringing in Matt Moulson and Rob Schremp. Rob Schremp has the kind of stick handling ability that very few in this league can match. I know that's a bold statement but the only thing keeping this kid from becoming a force in this league is himself. His attitude got him bounced out of Edmonton, a team starving for a star. He so far has been quiet and impressed the heck out of the Islander fans with his skill level.

That is what star players do, keep their mouths shut and let their play do the talking.

Matt Moulson is a guy that came in almost as a courtesy to Tavares as they are friends. Little did we know he would lead the team in goals. Moulson could be a major piece of the Islanders puzzle because every team needs a guy not afraid to go to the nest and collect all of those dirty goals that players can make a career out of.

This off season presents some interesting choices Garth Snow and his crew must wade through. Doug Weight, Jon Sim, Tim Jackman, Richard Park, Freddy Meyer and Martin Biron all are unrestricted free agents and none are likely to be resigned.

That will open up roster spots for some of the Islanders young players who have only gotten cups of NHL coffee.

Free Agency is unlikely once again to net the Islanders any high priced free agents but may yield one or two players to fill some gaps left by the departures listen above if the young players cant fill those roles, and with the little they have provided the Islanders as a group filling the void should not be hard at all.

The 2010 NHL draft has again a nice group of prospects lead by the Windsor Spitfires Taylor Hall who will undoubtedly go number 1.

It is way to early to look at draft order but it would seem the Edmonton Oilers already have the last spot in the NHL locked up and will be the favorites to land the number 1 pick.

The Islanders are right on the brink of getting another lottery pick and should net themselves a very high pick. They currently have 67 points. which puts them right smack in the middle of the 8th and final playoff spot and the second from last Maple Leafs.

The Islanders aren't helping things by their current winning streak but they are still tied with Columbus for the final lottery spot and are very close to Carolina and Florida who are 1 and 2 points behind them respectively.

As I always say if your going to miss the playoffs you may as well miss them big. I hope the Islanders can land themselves in the Draft Lottery and even if they don't still have a shot at another impact player.

The Lighthouse Project still sits in limbo and if we are going to talk about the future of the Islanders then you have to talk about it.

The Town of Hempstead has gone ahead and taken complete control over what can be built there by rezoning the site so that they can put legal limits on what can be built there. There are rumblings that this is the straw that broke the camels back and Charles Wang is going to announce once he has real plans in place to announce her is going to move the team.

Thinking about a possible move logically there are 5 spots that would welcome the Islanders. ( I will not discuss the pros and cons of each for now) They are -

1) Brooklyn. Brett Ratner has broken ground on his Brooklyn Yards project and it is finally moving forward. He has made no bones about the fact that the Islanders would be welcome there.

2) Queens. The Borough of Queens has made it know that not only would they take the Islanders and build a nice new arena near CitiField, but allow Charles Wang to bring the Lighthouse project with him. Of course it would have to be redesigned for the area but they have made it known that they will allow him the leeway the Town of Hempstead will not.

3) Suffolk County (Pilgrim State) there has always been talk of moving the Islanders to the site but this one is the most unlikely.

4) Kansas City. They have an arena and have no tenant. the only way it makes sense is if Wang sells the team and buys out the remaining years on the lease.

5) Las Vegas, Winnipeg, Quebec City, Hamilton. They want a pro hockey team. Will they ever get one? If every other option falls through it is possible.

Obviously options 1-3 would be more favorable because Charles Wang would retain the team and its lucrative cable contract.

Obviously as fans our first preference is to keep the Islanders where they have been their entire existence. The on going battle between The Lighthouse Group and the Town of Hempstead have reached a standstill and anyone that knows anything about Charles Wang he feels as though he has waited long enough.

Please use the comment section to voice your opinions.

The Voice has Found our Voice.

2010-03-04T13:10:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since I have posted here and this will be the "reboot" of sorts of this blog. Personal issues have prevented me from blogging these past months and I am finally getting to block some time to share the fans thoughts and people there are a lot of thoughts out there. So lets get started with on of the more popular columns in Random Thoughts.

I present 5 Random Thoughts that are being talked about in the world of the New York Islanders. Please use the comment section to voice your opinions on these or any other thoughts as it pertains to the New York Islanders.

1 - Lighthouse? What Lighthouse? They say no news is good news. Not in this case. No news is bad news. The Town oh Hempstead very quietly classified the rezoning of the Lighthouse site so they can point to something and tell Charles Wang what to do with his project. The new regulations limit the square footage of retail and residential space. The rezoning amounts to the Town of Hempstead seizing complete control over something they should have no control over, and thats private enterprise. Kate Murray and her little band of politicians have fired what could be the last salvo in the war over the Nassau Coliseum site.

What has Charles Wang said in response? Nothing. He has repeatedly asked for a yes or a no answer. The Town of Hempstead says maybe. They say change this. change that this is to big. This is to much.

The year is now 2010. The Islanders lease runs out at the end of the 2014-2015 season. That is not a lot of time. It take 2-3 years to move a franchise even after you declare your leaving unless your name is Jim Balsillie.

There are options out there, even local options that would allow the Islanders to keep their cable contract. Brooklyn, Queens and even Suffolk county all would welcome not only the team but Mr. Wang's project and if they are going to have an arena ready for the 2015-16 hockey season, they would have to start those preparations very soon.

2) Progress in Youth - On to the on ice issues. You have got to be impressed with the progress of the Islanders young crop of players. They are 3 games under .500, but only 5 points out of 8th place in the conference. Its March, and the Islanders have something to play for. They will play meaningful games into the spring one year after having the worst record in the NHL. That's progress.

3) John Tavares - Growing pains. We all knew they were coming but the kid has already shown that he belongs in the NHL. Don't compare him to Matt Duchene. John Tavares is playing with players just as wet behind the ears as he is. They will have to grow as a team as Tavares is not going to come into a situation where he has a 50 assist man or a 40 goal scorer on the team. He is doing just fine. I said before the season if he scores 20 goals this season, that is a great start. He has 17 goals to this point and the Islanders have 19 games left.

4 - Where did this guy come from? - There will be people that will say they new Andrew McDonald was going to be a good defenseman in this league. there are bloggers that i share seats with that will tell you he is the cat's meow and they knew all along.

But Come on, who was calling that he would be playing 23 minutes a game this season? He made Brendan Witt expendable and his growth allowed the team to get another draft pick for soon to be free agent Andy Sutton. here comes that word again - progress.

5 - Rick DiPietro - Finished? A lot of fans are saying that our "goalie for life" is finished. They are saying that he will never be the same. They are saying that his knee will never be able to take the rigors of the NHL grind.

Here is a clue for you - The Islanders did not trade Dwayne Roloson. The only way Garth Snow would trade Roloson is if he knew DiPietro were healthy. We all know he isn't. You cant leave the teams slim playoff hopes to a guy that has won 3 games this season and played 2 games in the last 2 months in Biron, and Roloson is signed through next season.

Here is another clue - DiPietro had two full weeks to rest during the Olympic break. He comes back and the first thing his knee does is blow up and swell up. I'm sorry but that is simply not a good sign for an elite athlete.

I have a hunch that if things do not work out in training camp next season that Rick will retire. I hope I am wrong because Rick is a great guy, and extremely talented goaltender and he loves being a part of the Islanders.

I look forward to reading every ones input on these or any other issues.

Its great to be back

FCT

New York Islanders - 5 Random Thoughts

2009-10-19T10:10:00.000-04:00

1 - Under performing? Or Right on Schedule? - The Islanders are win-less. Is anyone surprised? I know I am. Now I didn't think they would come in and blow the doors off but I expected slightly better results. There are two things that are a big concern.

The wild inconsistency in the level of play and the seemingly porous 2 new goaltenders.

The Islanders have shown entire periods or two what they are capable of. Then they how how fast they can make a great game into a poor one. This is something I thought Head Coach Scott Gordon would have a better handle on with his young team but lets take a step back and realize that we are dealing with a very young team learning a system they may not be accustomed to.

The more alarming concern is the goaltending. Dwayne Roloson can be as hard to beat as anyone when he gets hot. My question is he capable of stopping anyone on a penalty shot or a breakaway?

Martin Biron has not been much better if at all.

Both of their save percentages are an abysmal .891 and .881. I don't care what team you are your not going to win many games with numbers like that.

These are things that can all be rectified. Once the goaltending starts playing to their abilities and Gordon can hammer out the inconsistency in the games we should see a turn around of sorts.

2) John Tavares = The Real Deal. The kid is good. Very good. He has 7 points in 6 games (3 goals and 4 assists.) The Okposo-Moulson-Tavares line has been better than we could have hoped.

The problem is no one else is doing much of anything. Josh Bailey, Doug Weight, Blake Comeau, Rob Schremp and Sean Bergenheim all have no goals and have been pretty invisible and need to start chipping in because we cannot expect the Tavares line to carry the load all season.

Speaking of JOhn Tavares.

3) "HI. I'll take a John Tavares Jersey please." - This is puzzling. I go to a New York Islanders team store this weekend with money in hand looking to buy a nice royal blue John Tavares New York Islanders jersey in XXL. The thing is the one I see hanging on display in the store IS THE ONLY ONE THEY HAVE.

Excuse me? I know you can buy them on the web site or order the jersey I want but c'mon people. How does every Islander store not have 150 Tavares jerseys in every color shape and size they make?

I asked the sales guy in the store why they had only one Tavares jerseys expecting to hear "we are sold out." He told me well the Islanders change players so often its tough to know who is going to be here and we don't want to be stuck with jerseys of players who aren't here.

Excuse me? I understand not ordering Jeff Tambellini jerseys or Doug Weight jerseys. But John Tavares is the next big thing in the NHL and he is not going anywhere in the worst case scenario 7 years. Every Islander team store should be loaded with Tavares, Okposo, Streit, DiPietro, Bailey and Hunter jerseys at the very least.

Hey I can get a Tavares T shirt though. The thing is, I don't WANT a Tavares T shirt. I want a royal blue John Tavares jersey and the only way to get one is order it and wait.

Sorry, Ill wait until you have them in stock.

4) Lighthouse Update - The Long Island Press said Charles Wang was pulling the plug. The Charles Wang said he wasn't ans the story is false.

Charles Wang was supposed to have a meeting with head roadblock Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray last week. What came out of this meeting? What did they discuss?

Only a few people know and they aren't talking. I have a strong suspicion we will not hear anything new until after election day.

So in the mean time we wait. Wondering what the fate of this franchise and in the long run the fate of Long Island will be.

5) Tough Guys? Where?- I like Tim Jackman. Let me start off by saying that. The guy scares no one especially after getting pounded by the super heavyweight known as.. Ryan Clowe? Please don't put any faith that Joel Rechlicz can do much better than Jackman.

Hey Garth Snow!! I am sure there is a heavyweight out there that can strike some fear into the opposition. Go get one.

Post some of your thoughts on these subjects or any subjects below.

NY Islanders: That One Hurt and Why It Was Good

2009-10-12T09:28:00.001-04:00

Expectations. That is something that seems to change an awful lot around New York sports.

3 Games and the Islanders have 3 points. Positive or Negative.

Put me in the positive column.

Lets Ignore the negativity of blowing a 3 goal lead in less than 5 minutes which consisted of pure bad luck of 2 late deflection goals that no one could stop and not the usual culprit - a blatant loss of composure.

They lost the game because one - they could not win a defensive zone faceoff and two - bad luck deflections on two of Boston's three goals.

One of those two will be rectified if Doug Weight can stop getting injured and bad luck goals against simply aren't going to happen every day.

This wasn't so much the Islanders scrambling around like an out classed team who got lucky with a 3 goal lead.

This team expects to perform and did not surprise themselves by a dominating 54 minutes of hockey played against one of the supposed top teams in the NHL.

Some people will say well they are a young team and they collapsed under the pressure. That is not what I saw. I saw bad luck.

How about some more positives?

John Tavares scored a goal that we all dreamed about when he was drafted firing a bullet in the smallest of openings to score his second goal of the season and give him his 5th point in 3 games.
I haven't seen anyone in an Islanders uniform score that kind of goal in a long time. It was a snipers goal. It was a sharp shooters goal. It was beautiful.

3 games and John Tavares has to put it mildly impressed the hell out of Islander fans.

3 games and the Islanders are already beginning to show their fans they are capable of competing with anyone in the NHL.

If not for bad luck of deflecting goals off of their own defensemen they would have two victories against Boston and Pittsburgh.

That simply is not going to happen every game. Sooner or later the knock hockey goals against will cease and these 1 point games will be 2 point games.

That my friends is good news and we should be excited about what this season will bring.

For the first time in a long time, I was hurt by an Islanders regular season loss and you know what? It felt good to care that much about the Islanders like that again.

In that moment, I wasn't worried about Lighthouses or draft positions or who is injured or anything but the outcome of the game.

I did not get the sense of that "Here we go again" when Boston upped the pressure.

Despite the nature of the loss with the Bruins coming back the way they did it was pure and unadulterated luck.

That is also a good sign. They are making me and the many fans I have spoken to care about them again in ways we haven't in a good while and it could not come at a better time for the organization.

I look forward to the next Islander game to see what the team can do and when I say that its not to see how they can blow this game, its to see what they can do to win it.

Positive signs? They are everywhere. Look around. You'll see them also.

FCT

First Impressions and What Would You Do?

2009-10-07T16:50:00.001-04:00

The first real game played by the latest NHL first overall pick are in and most are in aggreement that it was a smashing success despite the OT Loss to the Stanley Cup Champions.

I for one cannot wait to see what else John Tavares and the Islanders have up their sleeves and 5 days was to long to wait for game number two.

How about that.

I am excited to see the Islanders play. A Lot of fans are excited to see the Islanders play.

When was the last time anyone heard a statement like that?

The New York Islanders went toe to toe with the Gold Standard in the NHL and had to come away feeling pretty good.

The Islanders had solid goaltending, team toughness, smart play, quick skating and fun to watch.

When was the last time anyone heard a statement like that?

Hockey fans all over Canada and the US wanted to see what the Islanders new prospect could do in his first NHL game.

When was the last time anyone heard a statement like that?

The point I am trying to make is - the Islanders for the first time in years have a buzz around them. They have the foundation for something that could become really special if nurtured in the right way.

Garth Snow is trying to build a winner, much like the progress we have seen in Pittsburgh, Chicago, Buffalo (before the Briere/Drury/Campell defections) and Detroit.

The message is build now, reap the benefits later.

Much like everything else in Islander land the shiny optimism is smudged by the prospect of the Islanders moving off Long Island to another destination.

Veiled threat? Maybe.

Can it happen? You bet.

What do we do then?

I have heard a lot of people talk on the side of the team will never move and I have heard arguments to the contrary.

The question is assuming the bottom falls out and the Islanders move what would you do?

There are a few options and not many of them are ideal if you are an Islander fan.

1 - Follow the team wherever it goes. This is one option that sure they would not be the New York Islanders anymore. They would be the Islanders not in name, but in personnel and the closest thing to the Islanders we could possibly get.

With the advent of hockey packages and out of market games as well as the Internet being available to anyone we would be able to follow the team as if it were here with the exception of needing a plane ticket to actually go to a game. To me, this option makes the most sense but that is just my opinion.

2 - Root for the Devils or Rangers. Could an Islander fan so scorned by the teams departure be so scared and broken be convinced to pull the colors of the Devils or Rangers over their head? My guess is sure, but not many.

Did fans of the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants suddenly become fans of the hated Yankees? I'm sure some did but die hard fans would not be able to stomach chanting "Potvin Sucks".

3 - Give up hockey altogether. There are a lot of options for winter sports out there and a lot of competition for the entertainment dollars and time we have to spend on hockey.

Could hockey fans suddenly give up the sport? I'm sure there are some who would swear off the NHL for allowing the Islanders to leave.

4 - Move off Long Island and root for the local team where you land. - Could fans so passionate about the Islanders actually uproot their families and move somewhere else?

Well to be honest most Long Islanders are already looking to see what lies beyond the shores of Long Island. Recent surveys have the population of Long Island in the majority range of up to 80% considering a move to greener pastures across the nation.

This is one of the reasons the Lighthouse Project is so important to the continued existence of Long Island as we know it. Drive around and see all the empty storefronts. Drive around and look at all of the houses for sale. Take a look at your last tax bill or electric bill and realize that you could be paying one quarter of what we are paying here somewhere else.

People that are here want to leave and people that aren't here would not consider Long Island as a place to relocate to.

Could the move of the Islanders be the straw that broke the camels back and send thousands packing for real?

Let me know which option you would take if the unthinkable came true and the Islanders moved away.

FCT

NY Islanders and thier Lighthouse - A Tragedy in the Making

2009-09-24T08:43:00.000-04:00

The Islanders are either a franchise in grave trouble or an organization on the rise. Which one is actually realized hinges on one thing - The Lighthouse Project.

People with sensible minds who actually use the lump of gray matter between their ears can see the big picture.

Do you see it?

First things First - Playing Devil's advocate and to show that I am not simply a one sided "just build it" proponent I will say that Charles Wang is using the Islanders.

There I said it. Charles Wang is using the Islanders to get his legacy project built. He bought the Islanders when the fact of the matter is no one, and I do mean no one wanted them. Why did he see value in the team when no one else did?

The Milstien/Gluckstern ownership group drove a young, promising team into the ground and they slapped the Islanders fan base directly in the face, which at the time was like slapping an abused wife after rescuing her from OJ Simpson.

Charles Wang came in and immediately gave the organization a breath of fresh air for the first time in many years. He spent inordinate amounts of money bringing in proven NHL talent. He has gone on to lose an average of 20 million dollars a season since he took over.

Why would he do that? Because hes a great guy who made his billions by just writing personal checks to make up for the losses on his hockey team every year?

No.

Charles Wang bought the Islanders, The Marriott Hotel, The Omni building and all the surrounding real estate and brought in a partner, only the largest builder on the Island in Scott Rechler because he wants to build the Lighthouse project.

Along the way, I think Mr. Wang has taken a strong liking to his hockey team, but make no mistake Charles Wang bought the Islanders so he could use them to get his dream project off the ground.

That being said lets ask ourselves the following question - Why not let a man who wants to spend over 3.5 billion dollars putting up new buildings, housing units, retail space, hotels and condos and oh yeah, a nice new arena in what can only be described as a suburban oasis?

While we are thinking about that question, lets consider what the opposition is saying and we all know who the opposition is.

The Town of Hempstead and your local elected officials are the number one reason we don't know what is going to happen. They wont say no, but they wont say yes. They say.... nothing. They ask questions. They ask for more studies. They ask for delays. They make off handed comments about how the designs "looks like a city". They talk about traffic and waste water.

You know what they never talk about? They never talk about the positives. Ever.

The local politicians all want to be able to say "Look what I got for my voters" by questioning The Lighthouse Group at a public hearing when they already know the answers to the questions. They all claim to be looking out for their constituents.

The amount of BS that represents is taller then the highest building Charles Wang wants to build.

The fact they all want to make a name for themselves on the backs and at the expense of Charles Wang.

These politicians are looking out for themselves. That is what they do. They live term to term with their little insignificant little jobs and put their little signs up on Hempstead Turnpike right in front of the rotting site that is the Nassau Coliseum Parking Lot.

Now people are talking about Scaling Down.

Why should he scale anything down? Did Jerry Jones have to scale down his plans for a stadium that hosts EIGHT football games a year? Did the Yankees have to scale down their new palace of baseball? The Mets? The Giants and Jets?

The man wants to spend his money building a new suburban center the likes many of us hasn't seen in our lifetimes.

The questions are being answered. the concerns are mostly unfounded and the facts are clear.

The real issue here goes way beyond the New York Islanders.

The Islanders are a microcosm of what is happening on Long Island. No one wants to live here except those who make seven figures and live comfortably above the pay grade where higher taxes, ridiculous electric rates and selfish elected officials cant affect them.

People are moving to new suburban centers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Upstate New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Entire families are abandoning Long Island because of living expenses and most importantly school taxes and property taxes.

Young single professionals would be insane to choose Long Island as a spot to build their careers here when they can live in a revitalized Brooklyn and Manhattan.

There was recently a study done that was published in Newsday last year. Of the people currently living on Long Island, 55% of Long Island residents were either considering a move off Long Island or were actively pursuing a move off Long Island.

The average age of residents on Long Island goes up every year because young people starting careers and young married couples simply cannot afford to live here so instead of building their lives here like their parents did, they choose to build their lives elsewhere.

There is nothing - no incentive nothing exciting about Long Island to keep people here.

If that is the case, if you were in another area of the country and looking to move to the New York area and wanted to move to a suburb of New York, why would anyone in their right mind choose Long Island or if they did, Nassau County?

We can estimate how many people want to move OUT of Nassau County and Long Island. Can we estimate how many people have an interest in moving INTO Long Island?

I would not be far off If I said the number was close to ZERO.

Is the Lighthouse Project the answer? No one can know that. But it sure would ignite excitement and new possibilities around Long Island we haven't seen since Levitown was built.

What we do know is something has to be done. Charles Wang is not looking to displace businesses or residents like the Brooklyn Yards project, which in my mind should be built also.

Charles Wang is trying to spend his own money building something that can entice people to think about actually staying on Long Island, or make people interested in moving choose Long Island as a destination.

If Charles Wang doe snot get his project there is the real possibility that he will abandon it if he does he will sell the Islanders or move them.

What happens then? What will be built on that site then? The real estate is to valuable and something will be built there. I am frightened at the prospect of what could wind up there in that scenario and you should be also.

The Islanders are just a microcosm of the real issues surrounding Long Island. No one wants to play here, no one wants to stay here. The people that do stay here are forced to stay here until a time when they can leave where make no mistakes, they WILL leave.

What good is having our shining new prospect John Tavares if he plays 6 losing seasons in a rotting arena with no fans? What is he going to do? Stick around?

He will do what a graduate of Hofstra with a 4.0 degree on his way to a bright career will do, leave Long Island.

It is time for the opposition to accept the fact that we need a project like this to have a shot at saving Long Island from the true enemy, and that is the mass exodus of its residents to greener pastures and the absolute non existence of a motive to bring people to Long Island as a destination.

Think about it.

FCT

DP Speaks - Predictions for the 09-10 season

2009-08-26T11:22:00.001-04:00

The Islanders goaltender who only has been seen on crutches at a couple of on ice workouts over the summer, has spoken!

Rick said his rehab is on schedule and he is not going to rush back like he did last season.

WOW!

I know as you the reader must be absolutely stunned at this turn of events.

SHOCKING!

Now that he has gotten the ridiculously obvious out the of the way its time to look at the Islanders upcoming season that is sure to be filled with lofty expectations if not for the team, for some of its young players.

Islanders leading scorers - 2009-10 season

1 - Josh Bailey 74GP 14g 42a 56p
2 - Mark Streit 80GP 12g 40a 52p
3 - Kyle Okposo 72GP 26g 20a 46p
4 - John Tavares 78GP 27g 18a 45p
5 - Doug Weight 49GP 10g 22a 32p

I am obviously going out on a bit of a limb here but i think Bailey is poised to be the breakout player from this season. Also on my watch this year radar are Jeff Tambelini, Sean Bergenhiem and Frans Nielson mostly because its make or break time for all of them. Either they become mainstays on the team and contributors or they are out of here.

If it were up to me, and obviously its not Tambs would be in Bridgeport and Alex Tanguay would be here in his place who is inexplicably still a free agent.

Go Get Tanguay Garth!

Tavares is going to have every Islander fan and most of the NHL watching him and a typical slow start followed by a hot end of the season is what seems to be typical with players coming into the NHL. Very few have an impact immediately.

Bailey has come this season to turn heads. Just watch.

Okposo will be expected to improve on his numbers this season. Another 15 goal season will be a disappointment. He has all the tools. 25 goals is not to much to ask.

I don't see how anyone can expect Doug Weight to play more than 50 games. Hes still got the talent that much is evident, but his injuries over the last 3 seasons have cost him way to many games to be penciled in for anything more than 50 games.

Mark Streit will be expected to be exactly what he was last season.

On how the team will perform as a whole this season?
I think the team will challenge and fall short of a payoff spot this year.

They have a lot of growing to do but they have excellent goaltending and good defenseman. The Islanders will hustle and out skate a lot of teams this season. They will work hard and start to make us believe there is something there.

They have a young group of forwards that if all breaks right can be the starting of a Blackhawk like resurgence in the NHL.

The Islanders will play meaningful hockey games this season and that is the best we can hope for right now but for the first time in a long time that's a good thing.

FCT

Hockeybuzz = The Weekly World News?

2009-08-16T10:15:00.000-04:00

Dany Heatley is still a member of the Ottawa Senators.

It seems all other business is on hold waiting to see what happens with the talented Left Winger.

According to Hockeybuzz.com, the Hockey's equivalent to the Weekly World News, Heatley is going to be involved in a 3 way deal to San Jose then Montreal will be involved and Phil Kessel is somehow involved, Jonathan Cheechoo is involved and a 3 way trade will happen and the Blackhawks and Flames and and and....

You know I cannot keep up with all of Eklund's crap. I think his dog knows just as much as to where the next free agent is going to sign or where the next player that will be traded as he does.

He has had Alex Tanguay signed to about 7 different teams on his website, when everyone in the world knows that Tanguay is most likely waiting out the Heatley shenanigans.

The popularity of Hockeybuzz.com amazes me. All it is is a glorified blog that has somehow caught the eye of NHL fans who think Eklund has some sort of inside information.

I do not need to get into specifics. All i need to do it to point to his ridiculous rating system of rumors and state that he has scooped no one nor has he been right on many if any predictions this off season. His "E4" rumor is batting around .089 this season. Not good for a guy who has the sources he says he does.

I am all for capitalism and I am sure Eklund has done very well with his site but I am also for responsibility with your readers. The site is built mostly on the backs of other bloggers who are linked to his site and some of them are very talented writers. If you go to the site for rumors look elsewhere because all you are likely to be is let down on Hockeybuzz.

I really hope there is some real news around hockey soon because it has been a slow month.

The Islanders are making progress towards their lighthouse project and that is great news. Will Charles Wang have his answer before or on his self imposed deadline? That is the single biggest story around the Islanders at the moment.

Once John Tavares takes the ice this all will change but the Lighthouse Project will dominate the news for the Islanders over this coming season and rightfully so. If Wang can get his approval he will have the Islanders a player in the NHL again.

This season's results really don't matter in that regard because no one expects anything out of the Islanders even though I think the team has a a shot to make some noise.

That my friends is an (e3).

FCT

Baseball Players Think we are Stupid

2009-08-10T14:55:00.001-04:00

David Ortiz held a press conference at Yankee Stadium on Saturday.

He proceeded to feign ignorance and wonder allowed that his positive test was probably because of some supplements and vitamins he took carelessly.

We have seen angry denials from Rafael Palmeiro, pointing his finger and angrily denying use only to be outed as a steroid user.

We have seen blank ignorance from Mark McGwire vowing to not talk about "the past".

We have seen Sammy Sosa forget the English language when questions by authorities.

Barry Bonds? Manny Ramirez? Roger Clemens?

The list goes on and on, and these are only the ones we know about.

David Ortiz was one of the players who lined up to take pop shots at Alex Rodriguez when he admitted his steroid use, even though his excuse was laughable at least he came forward and admitted he understood what the substance was he was putting into his body.

Then Big Papi was outed along with his fearsome Red Sox team mate Manny Ramirez as one of the players on the 2003 substance list. You think Papi wishes he kept his rather large mouth shut now?

Micheal Wiener, the latest long winded spin doctor that runs the MLB Players union got in front of the microphone and spoke to baseball fans and the media like we were 7 year old children explaining about how the number of positives could have been less that what was reported because more violators may have been tested twice.

Just how stupid does this guy think we are? As I listened to Wiener spout this inane dribble at the press conference and lauded Ortiz for speaking I wondered how can this guy think that this is going to placate the baseball fans who just want their game to be clean?

I gotta be honest, It made me very angry the more times he basically stated the drug problem in baseball is less that it is, stating that the 108 number was probably around 96, or as little as 83.

I have a statement Mr. Wiener - No one cares about anything you have to say, unless you are going to be honest and forthright.

Stop trying to tell the baseball fans and sports fans in general that drugs are not a big deal in sports.

Stop downplaying the role drugs have played in baseball not only over the last 20 years, but the last 50 years when the drugs of choice were pain killers and amphetamines instead of HGH and steroids.

Shut up or tell the truth because unless your going to present the list of 2003 to the public, ending the controversy and putting the speculation to rest no one really cares.

We as fans are sick of lawyers preparing statements for players who they wont let answer any real questions.

We are sick of holier than thou players bashing other players only to be outed as users themselves.

We are sick of spin control and endless legal babble coming from union officials who know nothing of the pressure these guys feel to succeed.

We are sick of over bloated players and records that mean nothing in terms of who has the most skill and more about who had the best drugs.

I for one am sick of fans who stand and cheer their steroid violators and vociferously boo and taunt opposing players who are outed.

This is not just a baseball issue it is a human issue. Look at the NFL today and how many 300+ pound lineman there are in the league. Now go and see 30 years ago and see how many there were then.

Now lets check the health of these guys when they hit 35 and find that they have 70 year old knees and 80 year old backs and tell me you don't care.

Do you think Ken Caminiti would have done things differently if given a choice to go back in time?

These guys are killing themselves for their sport. That makes them no different from professional wrestlers who for years died young or crippled themselves trying to compete.

The steroid issue is not just cheating in terms of cheating at a game. Its cheating these guys out of their own lives and quality of life.

People may say its their own fault, they are adults and they knew what they were doing.

That is a silly argument for this reason -

How many players do you think are out there that haven't made millions of dollars have destroyed their bodies with drugs in the effort to get to where guys like David Ortiz, Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez and Jason Giambi are at?

Who is cheering for these guys? Who will take care of their families if they cant provide for them?

That my friends is the real crime of it all.

FCT

NY IslandersSign Martin Biron, What Gives?

2009-07-23T09:20:00.000-04:00

Islanders GM Garth Snow is playing Poker again and he is not showing his hand again.

The Islanders have signed former Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Martin Biron. That my friends is a good thing, not a bad thing.

On the surface there are no negatives about the signing. What lies underneath however is another story.

Lets look at the surface then we will delve into what lies beneath.

First of all if Biron is on the Islanders he is obviously not on the Flyers. Everything I have read about Biron is that he is excellent in the locker room and a real team player that other players want to be around.

Why in God's name the Flyers did not try to work something out with Biron is beyond me. They sign Ray Emery who could not even get a job in the NHL last season and Brian Boucher and left Biron to twist.

There is no way Biron would have signed with the Flyers for the same offer and what he has done is make himself very attractive to possible trade teams if Rick DiPietro manages to come back to the Islanders healthy.

Fans of the Orange Crud do not agree and they are angry and I cannot blame them. They did not replace Biron with Patrick Roy, they replaced him with Ray Emery which is a roll of the dice on its best day.

Islander fans were concerned about the age of Dwayne Roloson. Well those concerns have been silenced by this signing.

Now lets get to what lies beneath.

There are only a few reasons for this deal to be made. Any one of them could be true.

1 - Despite what all are saying Rick Dipietro's health is obviously not what they are saying and his multiple knee and hip surgeries as well as his multiple concussions have taken their toll on Rick. If he cannot come back strong and healthy from this latest of three knee surgeries Rick will call it a career and retire.

Rick also just got married and as all married guys know I am sure his new bride does not want to see him risk further serious injury if his body cannot handle the rigors of the NHL.

DP would not be the first big NHL star to have to retire well before his time because of multiple serious injuries.

2 - Garth Snow wants to show DP who is running the show. Make no mistake. Garth Snow and Company were not happy with him last season when he insisted he was healthy and sat on the bench at the start of the season. It made them look bad like they could not or would not stand up to their biggest star and tell him to shut up and sit down.

Well, he came back way to early and injured himself again and would up in the operating room again, twice.

Rick is under contract for another 12 seasons for 54 million. No matter what you say that contract alone can make you feel as if you run the place. He can't be traded. He can't be bought out. The Islanders have another 4 years left to pay off their last long term buy out in Alexei Yashin.

What the Islanders can do is remind him who is boss by flexing their muscles and showing Rick who runs the show.

He can be put on waivers. He can be sent to the minors. They can make it a very long 12 years for Rick and now he knows it.

3 - Garth and Company already know DiPietro isn't coming back or if he does only has a year or two left in him.

This is all speculation but what if doctors have already told Rick that he cannot count on his knees and/or hips holding out long term? What if they told him he only has a couple of years at best with all of the surgeries he has had?

We all love the way DP plays with fire and passion. He made a commitment to the Islanders long term. He loves it on Long Island and wants to be a part of a winner. He throws his legs and arms and body around with reckless abandon in positions that quite frankly would put any one of us in the hospital if we attempted.

What if all of this has taken its toll on DP and severely shortened his career?

Why else do you sign two NHL veterans and draft 2 more goaltenders?

4 - It makes the rest of the available free agents - Hello Alex Tanguay realize the Islanders are in it seriously to become a winner sooner than later.

You know the Islanders are set in goal. if you are a free agent looking at the team, you see perhaps the next great phenom in John Tavares, you see very solid goal tending, you see an organization that seems to finally have its on ice agenda in place and sticking with it and you also see a plan in place for a sparkling new arena that appears to be imminent.

Maybe that pushes you towards the Islanders and away from Florida and Phoenix.

Which of the above do you think are true?

Looking Ahead: Free Agency and Beyond

2009-07-08T13:29:00.000-04:00

The draft is behind us and so is the initial surge in free agent signings. There has been a lull in the free agent market and a few names that could really help the Islanders in the short and long term.

Who is left worth taking a shot on?

Todd Bertuzzi, LW - Why? Size, strength, goal scoring ability and he should come cheap given his penchant for injuries.
What would it take? - 1 year 3 Million.

Alex Tanguay, LW- Here is a guy that I cannot believe is still available. Either his agent is asking for stupid high money or general managers are scared of his injuries the last two seasons. Tanguay is still young at 29 has great play making ability and can score. Snow should go after him.
What would it take? - 5 years 24 million.

Travis Moen, LW/RW - Banging forward that can skate. Energy guy with an edge. What would it take?
2 years 2.2 million.

Nick Boynton, D - The Islanders have some depth at D but Boynton may be coming into his own at 29. Eats minutes and is reliable in his own end.

Beyond these guys, there isn't much that's attractive out there or should I say suits the Islanders. Playing GM for a minute I would offer contracts to Bertuzzi and Moen and test the water with Tanguay.

Looking forward to the season the Islanders aren't expected to do much. This is where I am going to disagree with the people and there are a lot of them who will predict the Islanders to finish at or near the bottom of the NHL again.

I am not predicting the Islanders to make a miracle playoff run here but I think challenging for one is not out of reach. The main reason for this is simple -

Golatending - Dwayne Roloson. Say what you want about Roloson's age but the fact of the matter is he is an excellent goaltender and does not have a lot of miles on him. He has backstopped Edmonton to respectability in recent years after coming into prominence with the Wild. Roloson will bring stability to the Islanders in net whether Dipietro is ready or not and will play to a 2.80 Goals against and a .915 save percentage.

Yan Danis and Joey McDonald last season were just fill ins in a lost season and this season Roloson changes all that. The Islanders do not have a question mark in net anymore.

Depth at Goaltender -
1. Dwayne Roloson
2. Rick DiPietro
3. Scott Munroe

Defense - When Healthy the Islanders ice a good to very good defense core.

We all marveled at the skills of Mark Streit last season and he will be the centerpiece of the Islanders defense again.

Brendan Witt and Andy Sutton will provide the crease clearing hard nosed presence.

Oft injured Radek Martinek can be a serviceable defenseman if he can manage to stay healthy. It remains to e seen whether Freddy Meyer and Bruno Gervais can hack the NHL level as last year was a step back for Gervais. One more addition through the free agent market would be wise.

Defense Depth Chart -
1 - Mark Streit
2 - Brendan Witt
3 - Andy Sutton
4 - Radek Martinek
5 - Bruno Gervais
6 - Jack Hillen
7 - Freddy Meyer
8 - Andrew McDonald

At Center, the Islander Roster is set. Doug Weight will provide the veteran leadership.

John Tavares and Josh Bailey are the 2nd and 3rd line centers unless someone switches to wing. If someone does switch to wing then another acquisition would be warranted at the center position because the health of Doug Weight is an issue.

Frans Nielson could be the wild card as he has show flashes of offensive skill and only extended ice time will reveal whether he will be a main stay or just another fill in player.

Depth Chart -
1 - Doug Weight
2 - John Tavares
3 - Josh Bailey
4 - Frans Nielsen
5 - Nate Thompson

At Wing, the Islanders have some exciting prospects. Kyle Okposo is still just that, a prospect. This could be the year he blossoms getting a full season playing with natural play makers Josh Bailey or Doug Weight.

Its also make or break time for Sean Bergenheim. Either he turns into the offensive threat he has hinted at or its time to move on.

The same can be said for Jeff Tambelini who has been a major disappointment at the NHL level.

Veteran Trent Hunter, who is a favorite to become the team captain will be back to provide his usual 15-20 goals.

I really liked what I saw out of 6'4" Jesse Joensuu last season and he should start the season on the Islanders unless he tanks in camp.

Trevor Smith, Richard Park and Tim Jackman round out the bangers and grinders.

Joel Rechlicz is Snow's chosen one to be the protector of the future of this team in Bailey, Okposo and Tavares. Hopefully he will be up the task as he will be tested. Tim Jackman can provide support,m but he is not a heavyweight.

Blake Comeau started the season in Scott Gordon's doghouse last year and quickly whipped himself into shape making himself valuable again.

It is the Winger position, take your pick of LW and RW where the Islanders need the most help. Add one or two of the names above in the free agent section and maybe you have got a team that can contend for a playoff spot.

Depth Chart -
1 - Kyle Okposo
2 - Trent Hunter
3 - Sean Bergenhiem
4 - Blake Comeau
5 - Jesse Joensuu
6 - Jeff Tambelini
7 - Richard Park
8 - Tim Jackman
9 - Joel Rechlicz

As you can see the winger position is by far the Islanders weak link. Sign Tanguay and Bertuzzi that gives you play making ability from the wing, goal scoring from the wing and size to clear some room for the skilled centers.

Whether the Islanders can or will do this is any ones guess but I would love to hear the fans thoughts.

FCT

Free Agnecy 2009: New York Islanders - Day 1

2009-07-02T10:57:00.000-04:00

As we all expected The Islanders were not huge players in the free agent market but did fill a glaring need and did so with in my mind the best free agent goaltender available.

Dwayne Roloson carried the Oilers at points last season, most notably in the last two months of the season. Yes he is 39, but he is signed for 2 years at an absolute bargain at 2.5m per season. He sported a 2.77 GGA and a .915 save percentage. He is also friends with Rick DiPietro as the two have shared goal tending coaches in the past.

Snow made a great move here.

So after the frenzy yesterday, what is left out there?

Alex Tanguay - Tanguay picked a bad season to get injured because i had him on my fantasy team and he happened to become an unrestricted free agent this year. Snow "overpaid" for Mark Streit and I would love to see him do it again with Tanguay.

Todd Bertuzzi - We all know his story, he will come cheap for a guy with his skill. Its worth a shot.

Andre Roy - The Islanders need toughness to protect the young players. There isn't much out there in the way of toughness unless Snow wants to sign Mike Tyson next week.

Jet Ortmeyer - Would fit perfectly with Scott Gordon's system the only problem is, he can;t score either.

Brendan Morrison - He is a play maker and can play any position. The only problem with this is he is a natural center and may not want to play wing. I would prefer Tanguay but Morrison has got skills.

We will update tomorrow with who else if off the board and update our want list.

FCT

2009 NHL Free Agency: New York Islanders

2009-06-30T14:34:00.000-04:00

The Draft is history, and the Islanders did what they should have done.

John Tavares' name was spoken by Garth Snow sending the 11,000 plus fans in attendance at the draft party into a frenzy.

We as fans knew it was the right move.

The Islander brass, for once agreed.

The 2009 draft also saw the Islanders trade up twice to draft Oshawa Generals defenseman Calvin de Haan at number 12. Snow passed on more highly touted defenseman John Moore, who fell to 21 (CLB) and Dmitry Kulikov who was plucked at 14 by the Panthers.

The one that may have gotten away however is 6'3" power forward Zack Kassian, who was selected 14th to Buffalo.

I was surprised as you can be with the Islanders when Snow selected De Haan, who projects as a 2-4 year project before he gets to the NHL.

Then I was more surprised when his next 2 picks were goaltenders. Mikko Koskinen of Finland projects as a possible franchise goaltender, but again he is a project, and why draft a goaltender or two when you have one under contract for the next 12 years?

Turning to the NHL Free Agency period and looking ahead to this season, there is a real opportunity for the Islanders to improve themselves dramatically this off season if they are so inclined.

Should I go into the myriad of reasons the Islanders should try and sign Jay Bouwmeester if he is available tonight? Calgary would be foolish to let him get the free agency, but stranger things have happened. He is 25 years old and just coming into his own. He could be an elite NHL defenseman for the next 10 seasons, which is exactly the contract length I would offer up.

One pipe dream scenario would have the Islanders try and sign Daniel and Henrik Sedin. They are still young at 28, and have really come into their own the last 3 seasons. They are asking Henrik Zetterberg type money and years, which is patently insane, but maybe 8 years at 42 million apiece gets it done.

Will the Islanders even consider any of the above?

Absolutely not, even though they should with Bouwmeester. Lets have a look at some free agents that may be of interest.

Donald Brashear - He is 37 years old now, but can still go and commands respect. You sign him to a one year deal and tell him - "If anyone touches John Tavares, you know what to do."

Mitch Fritz - We need toughness. He cant skate but he sure as hell can fight.

Trevor Gillies - Just because hes the son of the Islander legend should be enough.

Micheal Komisarek - His troubles last year aside the local guy us a good defensive defenseman, and still young at 27.

Andrew Raycroft - The Islanders need a backup goaltender that can handle starting minutes for when... oops, If DiPietro gets injured again. Raycroft has had success in the NHL and is still relatively young at 29.

Todd Bertuzzi - He has a few things the Islanders need. Size, scoring touch and an attitude.

Chris Niel - He has everything the Islanders need other than goal scoring ability. He will defend teammates and can skate. Think of Richard Park with a tough edge. The fans adore him in Ottawa so I can't see him leaving there but Snow should be calling his agent.

It remains to be seen if the Islanders will play at all in the free agent market. I think they should push heavy for Bouwmeester but the Flames will likely re-sign him and if they do not, he will be courted by at least a dozen teams ready to win now. The Islanders are still a couple if years away, but if Bouwmeester has any foresight he could be a cornerstone of something special on the Island. 10 years and 68 million wouldn't hurt the Islanders case though.

Let me know your thoughts on who the Islanders should or will target in the free agent market.

The 2009 NHL Draft:Voice of the Islander Fans

2009-06-26T10:03:00.000-04:00

The 2009 NHL Draft is tonight. At 7:10PM Eastern standard time Garth Snow will finally walk to the podium and thank the City of Montreal for its hospitality. He will acknowledge the Islander fans "at our draft party" who will be 20 thousand strong at Nassau Coliseum. Snow will then thank Gary Bettman and say what an honor it is to have the first overall selection in the draft and thank all of the top prospects.

The next words out of his mouth had better be -

"The New York Islanders are proud to select with the first overall selection.. From the London Knights of the OHL, John Tavares."

Or Else.

Unless you are an Islander fan you simply do not understand.

Way back on draft lottery day, every Islander fan expected some other team's logo to come out of the envelope that contained the owner of the first pick.

As fans, we all let out a collective YEAHH!! As the shock and happiness came over us like a late 3rd period tying goal.

We all thought in our heads were getting the next great player! A can't miss superstar sniper than the Canadian press and all hockey publications have been clamoring over since he was FOURTEEN.

Then reality came over us like a wave enveloping The Wizard on "Deadliest Catch."

What if they screw this up?

Non Islander fans reading this may wonder what it is that I am talking about. Non Islander fans have not been through what we have. As bad as it has ever been for the team you pull for, It is never as bad as being an Islander fan for the past 15 years.

Non Islander fans make the grave mistake that there are no Islander fans, the base isn't there because no one comes to the games.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The Islanders are expecting over 20,000 fans to come to the draft party at the coliseum ON A FRIDAY NIGHT!

Any time there has been a playoff series in the last 15 years, the Nassau Coliseum has rocked like the old days even if the odds were hopeless against heavily favored top seeds like Tampa Bay, Buffalo and Ottawa.

Anyone who witnessed the last sliver of success the Islanders had in the playoffs, the 2003 7 game series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The place was electric - jammed full of Islander fans some think do not exist willing the team to victory in game number 6.

Now back to the "Or Else" I wrote above.

The Canadian media has more than done its part. They have managed to convince some people that John Tavares isn't all they said he was for the last 5 years.

They have even gone so far as to compare Tavares to Alexander Daigle.

Canada is sick of its superstars playing on what is conceived to be "their teams." Canada has seen most of its favorite sons of the last 30 years playing for Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Boston, Long Island, Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, New York, Detroit, Chicago, and anywhere else but Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Calgary.

Edmonton is the exception, but they had to break up their dynasty for financial reasons or they may have just ended their run of winning The Stanley Cup.

The Islander fans who have been watching Tavares' career the last little while know the truth. This kid is the real deal. While his stock is not that of Sydney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin or Ecgeni Malkin, would the stock of Vinny Lecavialer be that bad? How about the next Henrik Zetterberg or Pavel Datsuik?

As good as a prospect as Victor Hedman is, as he has been compared to Zdeno Chara in the media in reality he probably has more in common with Kenny Jonsson than Zdeno Chara.

Matt Duchene is a great prospect. The media has compared him to Bryan Trottier and get this.. Steve Yzerman.

All of the negative media that has headed John Tavares' way over the last 12 months is simply laughable and most can see right through it.

We want a guy we can go buy his jersey and not get laughed at.

We want a guy that people will pay to see play hockey.

We want a guy that every arena he plays in, people will watch him and be interested in him.

We want a guy that people will line up for his autograph, no matter where he is.

We want a guy that when you pull his hockey card out of a pack, you don't throw it in the common box.

The scout ranking, NHL GM's, TSN, The Hockey News, Don Cherry and just about everyone agrees that John Tavares should go number one.

If Garth Snow doesn't agree, the Coliseum may burn.

I have heard more fans tell me in comments, conversations, e mail, message boards, responses on this blog and others that if the Islanders do not select Tavares then they are finished with the Islanders.

This is not the "oh if they lose to the Rangers I am done" this is the real deal. I have heard them say they wont watch hockey again, throw their jerseys in the trash and wash their hands of this team once and for all.

This time I believe some of them.

Garth Snow can send 20 thousand of his fans home deliriously happy by simpky doing what he should, or he can burn them again trying to reinvent the wheel once more.

Time will tell and at 7:10 PM tonight, The 2009 Islanders Draft Party will either be just that.. a party or a nightmare.

FCT

The 2009 NHL Draft - Predictions.

2009-06-22T08:11:00.000-04:00

I have had many fans ask me what the Islanders are going to do, thinking that us blog boxers may have an iota more inside information than the general public.

If we do have more information that the general public, it is just that - an iota.

That iota tells me that the Islanders will walk to the podium on Friday night and do the only thing they should and draft John Tavares with the first overall pick.

We have gone through all the reasons why it should be JT so lets direct our focus elsewhere.

The Islanders have another pick in the first round and its a bit better than where it should be because of the meltdown of the San Jose Sharks in the first round of this years playoffs.

Pick No 26 in the first round will in all likely hood be traded up with one of the Islanders 2 second round picks to try and gain a better position to draft a defenseman that Snow and Company has their eye on.

It would be an absolute dream scenario if Snow managed to net himself Chicago Steel Defenseman John Moore. His stock has rocketed him into the top 10 in some mock drafts, so that seems unlikely unless Snow wants to part with something more enticing to anyone drafting in the 10-15 position.

We can count out Winsor Defenseman Ryan Ellis, as he is not getting past the Edmonton Oilers.

One possibility may be Drummondville defenseman Dmitri Kulikov. He may be a bit of a project but he has already spent one year getting used to the North American game. He may again rise to far for the Islanders to reach.

Past the top 5-7 players, the draft rankings are all over the place so where players like this get drafted is anyones guess.

If I were asked who I would like to see the Islanders come away with on draft day?

I think its obvious that myself and probably 95% of Islanders fans want John Tavares to be pulling the Orange and Blue over his head this Friday.

16,000 tickets have been claimed for the draft party this year. 16,000. Even if half of the people who have tickets show up, thats 8,000 fans there. A large percentage of those people will leave Nassau Coliseum Friday Night swearing off this team if Snow doesn't pick Tavares.

On to the less obvious choices, I would love to see the Islanders come away with one of 5 players with their "other" first round pick. They are - John Moore, Dmitri Kulikov, Zack Kassian, Simon Despres or Carter Ashton.

Its going to be a fun night, but if Tavares is an Islander, it will be a VERY fun night.

FCT

The New York Yankees, The New York Mets and the New York Islanders: Same market, different fortunes.

2009-05-11T11:14:00.000-04:00

I went and took in a Yankee game on May 1st and could not help marvel at the new Yankee Stadium. The place is truely a sight to behold and a pleasure to watch a game in.

The Great Hall is truly something to behold, especially at night. I think it is safe to say that the New York Yankees are the richest, most successful franchise in baseball and arguable in all of sports worldwide with an estimated value of 1.5 billion dollars.

We all know there is no comparison with NHL teams and MLB teams with the economics of each sport. All of MLB's teams are worth an estimated 18 billion dollars combined. The NHL by comparison its teams are worth an estimated 5.6 billion.

That being said, the Islanders are in the same market than the Yankees. However it isn't fair to compare the two given the Yankees status in the NY sports landscape. After all the Islanders came into the NY sports market second decades after the NY Rangers.

That's eerily similar to the NY Mets. The Mets and the Islanders have a lot in common. They are viewed as the "secondary" NY franchises to the Yankees and Rangers.

The Mets are worth 900 Million dollars and are the 3rd most valuable franchise in baseball.

That's a pretty good 2nd fiddle there wouldnt you say?

The NY Rangers are the 2nd highest valued team at 414 million.

The NY Islanders the 29th most valuable franchise in the NHL.

So what gives?

The economics of the two sports aside the Islanders are a victim of two main problems and the biggest problems are not what you may think so lets rule the obvious out first.

As bad as the Nassau Coliseum is you can't blame the arena for the value of the team. While it certainly doesn't help it stands as far from the prime reason.

Take a look at the stadiums the Yankees and Mets have been playing in up until this season. Shea Stadium and Yankee Stadium were far past their primes 15 years ago and two facilities that both fans and the tenants viewed as far inferior to what was being built around the league over the last 10 years.

No one will say that Madison Square Garden is a great arena.

In spite of that, the Yankees, Mets and Rangers multiplied in value over the last 10 years.

Lets look at those two main reasons a little closer.

1 - Stable Ownership. Go ahead. Admit it. The Wilpons, Dolans and Stienbrenners are three of the best owners in sports. They spend money, the make money they sell tickets and players will play there.

But Shea and Yankee Stadiums as well as the Garden are such old decrepit places to play.

Do you think Carlos Beltran or Pedro Martinez cared about the Shea facilities when they signed those mammoth contracts? Players care about two things. Winning and Money and some not necessarily in that order.

Do you think Scott Gomez and Chris Drury cared about the arena when they signed with the Rangers?

How about A Rod? Giambi? Damon? Think they were worried about playing in that old ball park?

No its all about the money and winning people. Franchises have shown that they can win and build winners without spending like a drunken prom queen but there is always a few players of a high dollar amount kicking around on these winning franchises.

If the Islanders were so inclined, they could go out and offer Marian Hossa and Marian Gaborik a boatload of cash this summer and get both of them. The problem is they cant or a better word is - they wont.

This is not even considering the owners the Islander have had over the last 25 years

To sum it all up the Islanders have 3 past owners that are currently in prison.

That should be enough on that subject.

2 - Results. Plain and simple people. Winning sells. It sells more than anything else. If the Islanders turned around and won 45 games next season, won a couple of playoff series' and looked good doing it the building would be packed every night for the next 3 years minimum. Season tickets would multiply exponentially and merchandise would fly off the shelves.

Want Proof?

The Yankees come to mind. As much as Yankee Stadium was beloved lets face it. When the Yankees stunk, the place drew 15,000 people per game. They said they would never draw 3 million fans a season. They said the South Bronx could not be a successful venue for baseball any more. They said Traffic issues could not be solved.

All the Yankees had to prove all of the above wrong, was win the World Series in 1996. Then again in 1998, 1999 and 2000. 4 Championships in 5 years.

The Yankees are 9 years removed from their last World Series championship, and they drew 4 million fans last year in that same broken down old stadium with no parking and severly dated facilites.

Now they have an absolute palace to play in. Does anyone think that would have happened if not for the teams success on the field?

The Mets got their new 900 million dollar palace also this past season, probably due to the fact the city was not going to build the Yankees a palace, and let the Mets sit in that toilet Shea Stadium and risk losing the money machine the Mets are.

New York City, the biggest red tape producing, construction blocking city green lit not one, but two monstrous stadium projects totaling over 2.5 billion dollars, all in the same year.

That's not even mentioning the Giants and Jets new stadium which costs reportedly are spiraling up to 2 Billion dollars.

These teams all have one thing in common. They range from very successful to moderately successful on the field.

When they stank, there was no talk of any new stadiums, or it was laughed off by the masses and politicians.

The single most important thing the Islanders can do to speed up the process on their Lighthouse Project is win.

In this case its not "If you build it they will come," its "If you build a winner they will come."

FCT

NY Islanders, John Tavares and Conspiracy Theories.

2009-04-22T13:02:00.000-04:00

Oliver Stone will be proud of this article.

The Canadian Media is a funny bunch. While I am sure the vast majority or sports columnists in hockey mad Toronto are fine upstanding journalists.

Then there are the others.

The agenda pushing Canadian writers that are trying to sabotage what should be a celebration, a graduation of Canada's next hockey superstar graduating to the NHL level this time with the New York Islanders.

Let us look at this theory a little closer.

John Tavares is the best player not in the NHL right now. This is a fact that some would have debated back when he was just 16 years old and already a veteran in the OHL. John Tavares is still the top prospect in this years draft despite what some extreme viewpoints have been circling around the web in recent weeks have said especially since the Toronto Maple Leafs dumped their entire season in the laps of Jason Blake, Tomas Kaberle and Vesa Toskala trying tried to obtain the No. 1 Pick using the Pittsburgh Penguin method.

That plan failed and the Leafs wound up with the No. 7 pick.

Now the methods have turned more direct and more nefarious.

The Canadian Media knew long ago that Tavares would not likely go to the Leafs being the Islanders, Lightning and Avalanche were so far below them in the standings.

The efforts to sabotage whoever got that No. 1 Pick came early when a report on TSN stated that The Islanders did not deserve Tavares, and the source for that story tried to start a campaign to get to JT early and convince him not to sign with the Islanders if and when the Islanders select him.

That failed as Tavares has publicly stated that he will not "Eric Lindros" the team that selects him.

Across the board, Tavares has been regarded as the consensus No. 1 pick and it was a no brainer he was going No. 1.

This past season when it became apparent the Leafs had no shot at the No. 1 pick, some scouting reports all of a sudden were spotting holes in Tavares' game. Spotty reports had the gap between Tavares and the rest of the field was getting smaller. Reports abounded that Swedish defenseman Victor Hedman was all of a sudden challenging Tavares for that No. 1 spot and got the "Next Chris Pronger" label attached to him.

Chris Pronger? Seriously? This is coming from a group that said while yes Hedman's size and speed were remarkable for a guy his size he needed to step up the physical aspect of his game because he was to soft. I am not trying to deny Hedman is a fine prospect but the fact of the matter is he probably has more in common with Kenny Jonsson than he does with Chris Pronger.

Now we have to look at the "Red Line Report" which in my mind now has lost all credibility where is states in no uncertain terms that John Tavares is now the third top prospect in the 2009 draft. They called him one dimensional. They called him self entitled. They even called him spoiled.

Here is what else the Red Line Report had to say about the top 3 prospects in this draft, 6 weeks after a February 19th, 2009 USA Today article written by Woodlief had Tavares the No. 1 prospect.

The made the Hedman/Pronger comparison which in my mind is utterly ridiculous. I am surprised they didn't throw in Niklas Lidstrom as a comparative note to him also.

They went on to say that Matt Duchene was a better center prospect than Tavares and went so far as to say that he reminds him of Steve Yzerman, stating that Duchene was unselfish and had was a more complete player.

Excuse me?

I have seen interview upon interview. I have read articles dating back to when Tavares was 15. Not once was it written that any of the above was a concern. The only criticism of his game was his skating, which was remedied when he targeted that in off season work outs. John Tavares has the potential to be an offensive dynamo. 40-50 goals? 110 points? They should be within reach. Woodlief readily admits that even after bashing Tavares.

Now less than 2 months before the draft and 5 years after they changed the rules in the OHL to allow him to be drafted at 14, and a failed attempt to change the NHL rules in 2008 allowing him to be drafted last season he is number 3, according to the Red Line Report.

Sorry, but i can feel this agenda from a mile away. Certain media pundits are trying to drive Tavares' value down!

Why?

Because they know the only way the Islanders will either trade the pick, or allow him to go number 2 where Burke can trade a pack of draft picks and Tomas Kaberle to Tampa Bay for the number 2 pick where he can claim the prize he admitted was his target from the beginning.

How else can we explain the sudden decline in a small fraction of opinions in Tavares' value?

Greg Logan and Newsday should be ashamed of themselves by dignifying that report with a full page article and making it seem to the untrained eye that it contains even a iota of merit.

But who is Newsday owned by? Thats right they are owned by Cablevision which you guessed it, owns the New York Rangers.

Think Jim Dolan is above petty tactics? Maybe.. Maybe Not.

Brian Burke is a very smart man. He is going to do everything in his power to try and get John Tavares in the blue and white of the Toronto Maple Leafs this coming June 26th.

The Toronto fans are rabid for a winner. This is arguably the biggest hockey market in the world. The Leafs have been an embarrassment as an organization over the last 40 years. They have all the money any organization could need, they have a sparkling new arena, they have a tremendously passionate fan base and they have media attention that would make Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie feel bad for them.

The media drives the fans trying to sell papers and get web hits. In effect, the media takes advantage of fans in any market in order to "push their product."

Rarely have I seen a writer subject to blatant tampering of a player which make no mistake is what has been attempted.

The Toronto fans and the great city of Toronto are not to blame. I have been to Toronto 3 times on vacation and I will go back gladly. the people are hockey mad, friendly and will talk hockey at any time. Its the Toronto media and to a greater extent the media in general that is to blame.

Who knows, maybe the Toronto Sun has a nice cushy job laid out for Kyle Woodlief if Tavares somehow winds up in Toronto.

Maybe, Maybe Not.

FCT

For The Islanders - The Door to Prominence has been set.

2009-04-17T14:43:00.000-04:00

All Garth Snow and the New York Islanders have to do is - walk through it.

Any other franchise in sports would not be having this article written about it. Any other franchise in sports aren't the New York Islanders. Other franchises typically either take advantage of the Islanders, or wait for the Islanders shoot themselves in the proverbial foot and trip over themselves trying to re-invent the wheel.

If your an Islander fan right now, about an hour after the high of the Islanders actually winning the draft lottery wore off, we started worrying. That worrying will continue until June 26th when if all is right with the world Garth Snow will thank the city of Montreal for its hospitality, thank the Canadiens for being such gracious hosts and then proceed to draft John Tavares 1st overall.

No trading down to multiply draft picks.

No drafting the defenseman with the huge upside.

No. Its time to take the kid and put Islander colors on a headline player. It is time to put Islander colors on a guy that will make others take notice. Put Islander colors on a guy who's Upper Deck Hockey card you WANT to pull out of a pack. Put Islander colors on a guy that kids across Canada and the United States will stand in line and wait for autographs from.

Finally, lets put Islander colors on the "next" one.

All you have to do is look at all this kid has accomplished over his 18 years. At 16, he was headline news in Canada when they changed the rules and allowed 16 year old players to play in the OHL in "special circumstances".

He has proceeded to break a lot of Wayne Gretzky's OHL offensive records. This past season, he scored 58 goals in 54 games. Yes that's right people, more than a goal a game. He dominated the World Jr. Championships and won the MVP.

No that doesn't mean his offensive prowess will translate to a goal a game rate at the NHL level.

What it does mean that you have an excellent chance to add an elite NHL talent to the New York Islanders.

Bring the kid in he will be the mayor of Long Island. Show him that that crap hole known at the Coliseum will be transformed into the Lighthouse. Show him his next home in Garden City.

Dont bring him in and you have created Milbury like villains out of - Garth Snow, Ken Morrow, Charles Wang, and whoever it is you get for the pick.

I also think its wrong to keep the fan base waiting. Why wait? Why play the game the Lightning chose not to play last season? Tell your fans what your intentions are. Tell them they are going to get someone to really rally around. Tell your fans your going to get the best player not in the NHL right now.

To me not saying what the intentions are is torturing the fan base. All of us are nervous. We should not be nervous, we should be elated.

Think last years draft party was bad? Imagine sitting in the Coliseum with 4,000+ Islander fans just waiting to chant "JT" "JT" "JT" or "TA VA RES". Then Imagine its draft time, Pierre Maguire is lauding over Tavares, about how he is just what the Islanders need. Then imagine the tension going through the room when it is announced that the Islanders are on the clock. Then go on to imagine Gary Bettman walking to the podium "we have a trade to announce"...

Garth Snow appeared at one of our Blog Box meetings and commented about Josh Bailey and about how "maybe the Coliseum shouldn't have been burned on draft night".

Sorry Garth, but this time the stakes are much higher. We aren't talking about a skinny Russian kid who may wind up being like Alexei Kovalev one day. Now were talking about someone that could be truly special for the Islanders on and off the ice.

This time Garth, The Coliseum will burn.

Do the only thing you should - the only thing you can. Draft John Tavares.

FCT

Islander fans - WE GOT IT!!!

2009-04-14T20:21:00.000-04:00

The Islanders go the number one pick in the draft and excuse me it is time to roll out the red carpet and get all those number 91 jerseys stitched up BECAUSE JOHN TAVARES IS COMING TO THE NEW YORK ISLANDERS!!!!!!!!!!

FCT

For the New York Islanders Tonight is the Night

2009-04-14T09:51:00.000-04:00

Tonight is the night. The most important night in Islander franchise history in the last 15- 20 or so seasons is tonight.

No its not a playoff series, a game against the Rangers, or a game they need to win to gain entry into the playoffs.

Its the Draft Lottery. 48.2%. That is the chance the Islanders have to win the number 1 overall pick this June, most certainly to be budding superstar John Tavares.

While this is no Sydney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin type. He could be a Vinny Lecavalier or Dany Heatly. He is a game changer. He very well could be the franchise player the Islanders have not had since the ill fated trade of Zigmund Palffy to the LA Kings.

In short - He is exactly what the doctor ordered.

I just completed reading a disturbing article by Newsday's Greg Logan on this very subject. Garth Snow is not tipping his hand as to who he may be looking at drafting. That there are 5 or 6 players he is considering.

EXCUSE ME?

The top two prospects in this draft are John Tavares and Victor Hedman in that order. After that there is a significant drop off. These two are potential franchise players, a term you will not hear tagged with anyone else in this draft.

Yes we all know that there are always lower picks that turn out better which is the gamble that Snow and company took last season by passing over Nikita Filatov and clearing out his own draft party in the process.

Could you imagine if the Islanders interpid GM passes over Hedman or Tavares? Imagine what it will be like, 3,000 Islander fans in the coliseum. They have the number one pick. Tavares and Hedman are biting their nails. Pierre Maguire of TSN is announcing that the Islanders will make their pick.. Wait.. Gary Bettman is walking tot he podium and speaks the words that have become cannon fodder in Islanders lore.

"We have a trade to announce"

Sorry Garth, this time the Coliseum would burn.

The plan should be quite simple. You have the first pick, you draft Tavares. You have the second pick and Tavares is off the board, you draft Hedman.

No trading down. No Hedging the bet. No fancy re-imagining or how to do business.

It is time the Islanders stop trying to re-invent the wheel and do what successful franchises do - and that is draft the best player at your turn in the draft.

FCT

Random Thoughts - Mission Accomplished (Almost)

2009-04-10T09:14:00.000-04:00

I present 5 random thoughts on the state of the NY Islanders, please share your thoughts below on these or any other matter concerning the NY Islanders.

1 - Last Spot Secure - Well if your gonna to be a bear BE A GRIZZLY. The Islanders picked a good year to finish dead last in the NHL as highly touted 18 year old scoring forward John Tavares is now within our grasp. The only thing we have left to hope for is that 48.2 % chance the Islanders have of actually getting the first pick overall and drafting the stud center.

With just a little bit of luck, we will know where we stand on April 14th at 8PM as the 2009 NHL Draft Lottery which in my mind is the biggest day in Islander franchise history (from an on the ice standpoint) in the last 20 years.

2 - Beatings Aplenty - I don't know what it is, but the Islanders have been getting their tail kicked the past 2 weeks. Maybe the youth and some SIX HUNDRED man games lost to injury this year are finally catching up after the impressive run they had but my goodness things have taken a turn for the worse. In the long run the losing may be a good thing but if the Isles are going to lose, I would much rather see them compete and lose then simply be blown off the ice.

3 - Stars Aligning? - John Tavares knows about the Islanders plan for a new arena. You know about the plans for the Lighthouse project. With that little bit of luck we spoke about John Tavares will be pulling the Orange and Blue over his head on June 26th, 2009.

That being said, by that very date we will know a lot more about what is happening with the Lighthouse Project. Imagine this fans - The Islanders draft Tavares AND The Project moves forward? Hey, You Never Know.

4 - Matt Gilroy - Never heard of him? I had fits coaching against him when he was in youth hockey. Well It turns out that a LOT of coaches have had fits coaching against him over the last 10 years, so much so that he is courting up to 14 NHL franchises that want to sign the un-drafted free agent forward. Will he sign with the team he grew up watching? Keep your ear to the ground people you WILL know who this kid is, and that right soon.

5 - Consolation Prize - Even though its not something I want to personally think about, there is a slightly better than (51.8 % to be exact) that it will be 6' 7" stud defenseman Victor Hedman pulling the Islander jersey over his head on June 26th.

While one or two scouts have had him ranked ahead of Tavares he is still viewed as the second best prospect in the draft. This draft people as upset as myself and some people may be if Tavares winds up somewhere else contains a very nice consolation prize.

That being said, I am tired of consolation prizes and 2nd best. I want the top dog, the big cheese, the head honcho, number one, the king of the hill, the man to be pulling the Orange and Blue over his head on Draft Day.

I will say this now just to get it out of the way, the Islanders will have either the 1 or 2 pick on draft day.

Its as simple as this, you have the 1st pick, you draft Tavares.

If you have the 2nd pick and Tavares is off the board, you pick Hedman.

No trading down, NO fancy multiplying draft picks into 3 3rd rounders I don't care if the Maple Leafs offer the sun the moon AND the Dallas Stars.

END OF STORY.

Keep your fingers crossed on the 14th people.

FCT

"Lead" down to 3 points. A tale of two teams.

2009-03-11T10:03:00.001-04:00

The Islanders are hot. The Tampa Bay Lightning are not. The result has been the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5 seasons after their amazing Stanley Cup Championship and one season after netting themselves ANOTHER 1st overall pick in Steven Stamkos are "challenging" the Islanders for the last spot overall.

I am getting nauseated over the prospect of Tampa Bay again tanking another season to get their hands on coveted youngsters John Tavares or Victor Hedman.

This is a team that spent millions and millions of dollar sin free agency this past off season. This is a team that has one of the greatest players in the world on their team in Vinny Lecavalier. This is a team that has speed, scoring talent, a young talented goaltender and
they have NOT been besieged by injury.

So whats the problem? How can they be only 3 points ahead of the Islanders who have been in the basement all season? Let us examine -

1) Vinny and Marty don't seem to care. - There. I said it. St. Louis and Lecavalier are in it for themselves and you know what? I don't blame them. The organization has done absolutely nothing right in the last 3 seasons to improve themselves. One good move has been met wth 3 horrid moves.

The team and its fans got on the Stamkos bandwagon so heavy that the fans were expecting Mario Lemieux when he debuted. He was buried in the lineup getting 8-12 minutes of ice time per game and doing what most 18 year olds do in the NHL, and that's learn. I am sure St. Louis and Lcavalier have had their problems with that.

The team has a built in cash cow with Vinny, and I think he knows he is being used to keep the organization afloat. Never a good thing when your superstar isn't happy and really who can blame him?

You think the Islanders have been mismanaged? take a look at the Lightning's bizarre course of action over the last couple of seasons.

2) Dan Boyle - San Jose Shark - How do you sign arguably the best offensive defenseman in the game to a 6 year deal in Boyle then ship him off to San Jose for nothing?

The Bolts have been crucified in the local Tampa media over that move and rightfully so. TSN has scalded them every chance Pierre Maguire and others has had and again, rightfully so.

3) Islanders dump all vets and Improve? - Its true. The Islanders are improving. They play hard and they are starting to get it. It all bodes well for next season to see the improvement in the players game.

I have been impressed with Okposo's improvement, along with the progress of Jack Hillen, Blake Comeau, Yan Danis and even Josh Bailey.

Believe it or not, Dean McAmmond has been a positive influence in the locker room. Bottom line is the Islanders have been in every game they have played the past 3 weeks and have looked really good doing it.

It looks as if the Islanders will be challenged for the top overall pick by the amazing amount of ineptness being currently shown by the Lightning. If they finish in the 30th spot this season, which now appears like a very good possibility it is a black eye not only on the Lightning, but the NHL as well. The most marketable star in the NHL not names Ovechkin and Crosby is buried in the grossest mismanagement of talent and a franchise in recent memory.

And yes.. that includes the Islanders.

FCT

Random Thoughts - Deadline Deals, Lighthouse, Vets Vs. Gordon

2009-03-05T09:14:00.001-05:00

Hello fans, apologies for the lack of posts lately, work, vacations and other issues have been taking up all of my time. I am back now and will continue to present the view of the fans.

1 - Deadline Deal or non deals - Bill Guerin - Pittsburgh Penguin. The trade market must have been very tough yesterday. In my mind only one big time impact player changed teams in Olli Jokinen. Bill Guerin will help the Penguins and maybe provide a little direction to all of that talent. He can still score and assuming he plays wing man with Malkin or Crosby, he will light the lamp more than he did with Josh Bailey & Mike Comrie.

Doug Weight is still an Islander. Brendan Witt is still an Islander and I have to ask.. WHY? Weight is injured so thats the easy one to explain. Even though he should be back next week and could have helped any of the contenders looking for a playmaker. I have a lot of trouble beliving two things, one being that no team was willing to get a bruising, experienced, shot blocking defensive defenseman like Witt and the other being Witt being happy he is still here. He has openly criticized Gordon and hsi system. The troubles between Gordon and his veterans have been well documented. So why is he still here?

2 - A Flicker of hope? The Lighthouse has passed step 15,349 of the approval process with the Town of Hempstead. The next step was the Lighthouse Development Group submitting the 6,000 page environmental study. Hopefully by the time we reach step 28,435 which is the shovel in the ground there will still be an NHL team on Long Island. There is language in all of the papers filed that says if they do not get the Lighthouse project approved, and approved soon, The Islanders will leave Long Island.

If your still sitting there reading this saying "they will never move" then there is nothing that I am going to say to convince you by now that it can happen. The Islanders leaving the Island WILL happen if they do not get this deal. Its no longer a possibility or a threat it is a FACT.

3 - John Tavares or Bust - Talk all you want about Victor Hedman. Tell me he is the second coming. Tell me he is Niklas Lidstrom and I will tell you he is probably more like Kenny Jonsson than Lidstrom. John Tavares is a special player. This kid is the real deal. We have a very good chance of getting this kid in the draft if the team finishes 30th in the standings. If the Islanders get the 1st overall pick and do not select him, then Snow and all of his scouts should be fired immediately and on the spot. Thats all I have to say about that.

4 - Kids Progress Report - I have to say I am having fun watching this team. Jack Hillen, Kyle Okposo, Blake Comeau are among some that I look forward to seeing play from game to game. Keep them on the ice and see what you have, and it would appear we have the groundwork for some future success.

5 - Draft Lottery, MVP - After the Trade Deadline produced almost nothing for the Islanders all of our attention should be on two things, the standings and the Draft Lottery. The Islanders have been playing pretty well but are still entrenched in last place. I will have no problem if they stay there giving them a 25% chance of winning the draft lottery. Also, if the team finishes 30th, they will only lose the number one pick if one of the 4 teams immediately ahead of them wins the draft lottery something that is not likely to happen unless one of those teams is the Maple Leafs.

Long story short, our goal should be to finish 30th, win the draft lottery and go into next season with some renewed hope and blue chip prospects.

Let me know where your thoughts lie on these subjects.

FCT

Islanders Sell Out Home Arena in 30 Minutes!

2009-01-26T13:25:00.000-05:00

Great news Islander fans. The Islanders have sold 2 home dates already in the 2009 pre-season in 30 minutes.

The only bad news is they are in Saskatoon.

Process that for a second....

This story is not going away Islander fans. The Islanders are at risk. The longer Kate Murray and her beleaguered Town of Hempstead hold up the process, the greater the risk Charles Wang throws his hands up in the air and puts the big FOR SALE sign on the Islanders.

Don't think the Islanders have any value? You would be grossly mistaken. What other NHL franchise is going to move? Expansion is a dead issue as the league has rightfully maxed out at 30 teams. The only way the cities that are hungry for hockey are going to get it is through relocation. That in of itself makes the market for a hockey team in the 5 possible landing sites of Kansas City, Saskatoon, Hamilton Seattle and Las Vegas a strong one AND could create a bidding war for the team.

Don't think the NHL would let a 4 time Stanley Cup Champion and a team with the history of the Islanders move? You would be grossly mistaken. If History tells us anything its that most any team can move. Don't believe me? The name Indianapolis Colts still doesn't sound right. St. Louis Rams? Loas Angeles Raiders? It can happen. It will happen if they don't get this project off the ground. Bank on it.

Don't think Cablevision would let the Islanders out of their contract? You would be grossly mistaken. Cablevision owes the Islanders around 567 million over the next 20 seasons. In the state the team is in, do you really believe that the Dolan's would not dance the Irish jig if the Islanders broke their contract?

Don't think the Islanders can get out of their lease with the County? You would be grossly mistaken. The Islanders have 5 seasons left n their lease with the County. That lease is a contract. Any fan of the Islanders knows that contracts can be bought out. Any purchase of the team will have to include compensation to the County for the lease.

January has one week left. The hearings on the Lighthouse project were supposed to happen this month. Any more delays will result in the scuttling of the plans for a July groundbreaking. That may be enough for Mr. Wang to break out those "For Sale" signs.

FCT

Town of Hempstead - 516-538-8500

Get in touch with your State Assembly - go to

http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/

Enter your zip code and contact your local assembly and make sure they see things our way.

Islanders on the Move - Now its Mainstream

2009-01-18T10:35:00.000-05:00

No one ever said Charles Wang isn't a brilliant man and this latest move proves it. This blogger has been warning of a possible move for the team for a long time and now, its back cover huge story material.

There is no doubt those who like to sit back with their Sunday paper thumbing through the Newsday today saw the back page headlines and 5 major articles concerning the people who would all love to see the NY Islanders become the Kansas City Scouts or the Saskatoon Icelanders.

The Islanders are going to play a preseason home game at a glistening new arena. No, not the new Nassau Coliseum, but the Sprint Center in downtown Kansas City. Yes you read that right. Also... yes there is more - they are moving their training camp to Saskatoon. Why is that significant? Well they have been trying to get an NHL team there since their failed attempt to lure the St. Louis Blues in 1983.

Back to Charles Wang - he knows hes not going to win a war if he starts one with the Town of Hempstead supervisor and current bane to the Lighthouse Project Kate Murray. He also knows that if he would have renovated the Coliseum without the Lighthouse approval he could kiss his legacy project goodbye because they will never approve it in its current plans, which ARE grand.

So what does Mr. Wang do? He says nothing. He acts. Lets play an exhibition game in the primary landing spot for the Islanders. Sports mogul Tim Leiweke I am sure had no problems with that because he is the one who has been trying to get a team in his glistening new arena.

If that wasn't enough of a sign from Mr. Wang then the Islanders go and move their training camp from Moncton to another possible landing site, Saskatoon.

Make no mistake readers this is a shot across the bow of the Town of Hempstead as to what will happen if Wang does not get how approval he has been waiting on for so long. The man has lost 20+ million every season he has owned the team. He has not done this because he is a great guy and doesn't care about losing money. He views the losses as a down payment on his grand project. He allows the arena project to move forward and there goes all of his leverage in negotiations.

Back to Kate Murray - In November after Mr. Useless Gary Bettman started going to the media with his "The Islanders need a new arena" rhetoric. Kate Murray was quoted as refering to Bettman as "that hockey guy" in saying and this is a direct quote - "That hockey guy can wax poetic all he wants" before totally dismissing anything he said. Believe me, I usally dismiss everything Gary Bettman says also, but in this case maybe we should all listen when he states the ridiculously obvious.

Worried yet? Well I am, and so are most of my readers and the fans I speak to at Islander games. Those in the organization will not comment on a move for obvious reasons but please Islander fans - Do not take these threats as empty. They are real and have been around before Johnny Come Latelies like Newsday and TSN reported them. Myself and other bloggers have been WAY ahead of the curve on this one and now the mainstream media has decided to chime in. Hey - better late than never boys.

Whats happening on the ice is not the concern anymore. Whats happening on the ice is secondary. The Islanders have that "Hartford Whaler" look right now. They have that "Quebec Nordique" look. That is very disturbing to me because no matter how bad the team ever was there was always that "well get 'em next year" mentality. Now? there may be no tomorrow.

I have been urging my readers to contact the Town of Hempstead and let them know you want an answer NOW, and not after their ridiculously long review period. Every study has been done and redone many times. Now is caught up in that bureaucratic black hole known as the Town of Hempstead and this is all I have to say. How dare they make anyone willing to turn a decrepit are into something special wait so long.

Kate Murray - The answer is YES. If your Town scuttles the Lighthouse project and the Islanders wind up the Kansas City Scouts just think of what will happen to that area. Long Island will be down to one pro sports team in the Mets and that's if you qualify Queens as Long Island. I guarantee you this Ms. Murray there are thousands upon thousands of people that will make sure you never keep that cushy job as Town Supervisor, and that goes for all of the people at the Town, all the little self righteous elected officials holding things up so they can do nothing but have their insignificant voice heard to people who would normally not listen.

Islander Nation and its hundreds of thousands of fans are all watching now Town of Hempstead. We are all aware. We know whats going on. You have had long enough. Approve the deal so the improvements can move on, or deny it so the team can go where its elected officials actually care about what its people really want instead of their own little petty agendas.

Its crunch time people - Call the Town of Hempstead and put the pressure on them. Let them know where you stand -

Town of Hempstead - 516-538-8500

Get in touch with your State Assembly - go to

http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/

Enter your zip code and contact your local assembly and make sure they see things our way.

Don't wait Islander fans. You wait and you ll need a satellite dish to see if Kyle Okoposo and Josh Bailey ever become the players we all hope they will.

The time for talk is over. Its time for action.

FCT

Bright Spots Among the Futility.

2009-01-06T00:17:00.000-05:00

I always get accused by some of my Blog Box brethren for not looking on the bright side of things. Some people would be hard pressed to come up with positives in the season the New York Islanders are having right now but NOT ME!!

1 - Mark Striet - Norris Trophy candidate? Well probably not but I tell you what not many people envisioned the kind of offensive and defensive prowess he has shown. He has been worth every penny o that free agent contract.

2 - Kyle Okposo - We all know he should still be in college, but hey this is about positives. The kid is really starting to heat up and show he belongs at this level. He is starting to stand out when you watch a game instead of blend in and that is a great sign for his development.

3 - Doug Weight - This season is considered a resurgence for the veteran. Just got his 1000th point and is well on his way to a point a game season. He could net the Islanders a high draft pick if a team gets desperate at the deadline.

4 - Trade possibilities - The Islanders have some chips to deal at the deadline to gain more young talent and draft picks. Guerin, Weight, Witt, Sutton, Sillinger can all be turned into draft picks if healthy.

5 - John Tavares - He is going number one in the draft next year. There is a decent chance the Islanders could net the number one pick. the kid is a franchise player and could be the Islanders version of the saviour. Thats until Gary Bettman rigs the draft lottery and he winds up in Toronto.

I know I could not resist a negative jab at our commissioner. These are just a few of the thing to watch this season as the half way mark of the season is just around the corner.

Let me know what else you think is positive about this season.

FCT

Dead Last... Almost.

2008-12-22T09:22:00.001-05:00

The Tampa Bay Lightning never cease to amaze me. Their level of ineptitude this season is really astonishing, considering the level of offensive talent they have. They have two of the top forwards in the game in Vinny Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis. Yes they made HUGE errors in trading Brad Richards and Danny Boyle but shouldn't they have MORE points than the Islanders, who have not even won a game this month?

Tampa has 7 wins. SEVEN. After spending like a drunken teenager with her daddy's credit card in the off season one would think that Boyle is laughing his ass off playing for the mighty San Jose Sharks who are topping the entire NHL at the moment. If Tampa Bay winds up with John Tavares Gary Bettman should start an investigation.

The focus of this season has changed from a rebuilding year to a "rock bottom" year. Injuries have again decimated the roster and voided any chance the team has to be competitive. Head coach Scott Gordon's system has come under fire in recent weeks and was even criticized by his own players.

If what we saw in Newsday with Witt was quoted just imagine what is being said behind the scenes out of ear shot of Greg Logan from Newsday.

When id the right time to sell of veterans to the highest bidder? I would say wait as long as you can for two reasons. One being the obvious injury. Weight, Sillinger, Sutton and Martnek are all out.

Two would be that teams will pay more when the trade deadline is near. If Doug Weight isn't hurt and has 55 points at the deadline, then he could net us a 2nd round pick. Same goes for Guerin.

Names that should go if and when they do go into sell mode - Mike Comrie, Mike Sillinger, Andy Sutton, Brendan Witt, Radek Martinek, Bill Guerin and Doug Weight.

Let me know what you think.. the fans must speak.

FCT

Random Thoughts - Still No Progress?

2008-12-08T09:55:00.000-05:00

Random Thoughts returns to the voice with some thoughts on the state of the Islanders from the fans point of view.

1 - Repeated calls to the Town of Hempstead have revealed no new information and no one is talking. A poll on this web site and most of the people I speak to at Islander games are worried so why can't we get any answers? It is now December 8th.

Are hearings scheduled for January or not?

Is there a chance the Lighthouse group breaks ground in July or not?

All we have is questions and no answers. Do not be surprised if this is the beginning of the end for the New York Islanders.

2 - On the Islanders themselves, each step forward is met with 2 steps back. This is to be expected with a team in the state they are in. With all of the injuries, inconsistencies to be expected with a team of youngsters coupled with the ridiculous level of ineptitude with Jeff Tambelini.

I never thought anyone would challenge Andy Hilbert's level of ineptitude from last season but "Tambo" is making a run.

3 - Whats the word on Rick? Knee injuries usually have a time table of recovery. Rick DiPietro's knee injury (the latest one) does not seem to have a time table of a possible return. Why not? Something is going on with this guy and it isn't good. We all knew he is injury prone, but the team is obviously hiding something more serious.

4 - Scott Gordon gets high marks. Results be damned, Scott Gordon is doing a great job in his first year. Its good to see everyone in the organization seems to be on the same page and it should be great to see how the team progresses over the next few seasons. The only thing that scares me is that the Islanders will be just turning the corner to contention as they are moving off Long Island.

5 - Avery gets 6 games and anger management for using harsh words. Anyone want to compare what Avery did to what Mike Mattou did to Franz Nielsen? No? What about what happened to Patrice Bergeron? Mattou and Randy Jones both got 2 games. Avery got 6. So what your saying is its ok to maim and show depraved indifference to fellow players, but insult an actress and look out baby Gary Bettman and his band of disciplinarians will really come down on you.

I am all for protecting the NHL's image, but this kind of hypocrisy is what makes Gary Bettman the worst commissioner in sports.

Let me know where you stand on these and other issues surrounding the Islanders.

FCT