Dubie Revisited...

ISLANDERS POST by ZACH

I refer you to my March 27th blog entitled "What to Du?" that predicts Wade Dubielewicz will not return to the Islanders for the 2008-09 season.

It is now official, reported by Greg Logan in Newsday, that Dubie won't be returning as an Islander next season, I move I predicted well over two month ago. While this isn't as grand as my correct prediction of Petr Sykora scoring in triple overtime, it is still worthwhile, and I want to make some predictions of where he will end up next season. 

I think the best choice for him would be Carolina, who will be needing a backup goaltender next year for Cam Ward. Ward had 2 good months in his career, spanning from Game 3 of the first round of the 2006 playoffs until Game 7 of the Finals that year. He is unproven, and with a worthy backup, his job could be in jeopardy. Last year was indeed the best regular season of Ward's career, but as Marc Denis, John Grahame, and Antero Niittymaki taught us, one decent regular season does not a career make.

Vancouver is an option as well, especially seeing how Dubie is from British Columbia. However, I believe he would want a chance to play 20 games, give or take a few, as a backup, with the option of usurping the starting goaltender. Roberto Luongo, when on his game and caring about hockey, won't play less than 75 games and certainly won't have his plush position overtaken by an uppity youngster.

Calgary is also an option, but he wouldn't be playing more than 11 or 12 games with Miika Kiprusoff in net. With Curtis Joseph possibly not returning next year, they might have a spot open. I assume they'll offer him a contract but it might only be his last resort.

What about Dallas? Marty Turco had a real solid playoffs, but his regular seasons have been borderline for a few years. It could be an opportunity for the backup to overtake the starter, but I see Dallas re-upping unreliable Johan Holmqvist for atleast one more year.

Detroit and Tampa Bay are also two strong options for him. Detroit will probably not re-sign Dom Hasek, and who wouldn't love the chance to play in Detroit? Chris Osgood will be the starter regardless, but he's getting older and Dubie would play atleast 20 or 25 games. In Tampa, there are two goaltenders who have never been starters, Kari Ramo and Mike Smith. Signing Dubie would create a 3-way competition for the starting job, much like Phoenix had before getting Ilya Bryzgalov in November.

Should be interesting to see where he goes, atleast for us on Long Island. My money is on Carolina and Tampa, though I wouldn't be surprised to see him land anywhere else on my list.