Quote Of The Night

Our Quote of the Night comes from who else but that master of the Interwebs himself, Stan Fischler...

"I liked the honesty of the coach. He said something about, 'Mind over matter, you can't use tired as an excuse.' Now, I was tired coming in here, and I was gonna use it as an excuse. Then I got a hot chocolate and I wasn't tired anymore. See, you can't use tired as an excuse."

Well, when you put it that way... it still doesn't make any sense.

Islanders win tonight. Devils lose big to Pittsburgh. Rangers play Florida tomorrow at 1. Looks like it'll go in the books as a successful Thanksgiving weekend in the New York hockey world.

EDIT: Oh, I forgot to give an honorable mention to Howie Rose for his rather cryptic remark about seeing the third jerseys as the everyday jerseys "sooner rather than later". Could this be in the works? I guess time will tell.

Bailey Stays

It's not much of a surprise given how well he's done so far, but Josh Bailey will be an Islander for the duration of the season. The Islanders announced this morning that they're keeping Bailey on the big club. And I say, why not? He's certainly proven he can contribute on this level. His numbers (0-5-5) sort of belie the progress he's made. Don't let the lack of goals fool you - they'll come soon enough. And with the right scorers on his line, Bailey could soon become the team's top playmaker. I'm glad they're giving him the chance to learn on the job. It's a rebuilding year; let Bailey take his lumps now so that he'll be more seasoned once things pick up around here.

Speaking of young players, I just read in Logan's blog that Jeff Tambellini has now played in 100 NHL games. In those hundred games, he has four goals and nineteen points, with no goals in his last 40 games. A lot of people dump on Tambellini, and deservedly so, but he's been trying to add a physical aspect to his game lately. It make sense to try to do this. Sometimes, you need to focus on something else to regain that natural scoring touch, to get back to that place where you don't have to think about the play and just react instead. Having said all that, Tambellini is here to score, something he's not doing very well. It'll be interesting to see how the Islanders handle the Tambellini situation going forward if things don't improve.

Home game tonight against Ottawa (again). Here's hoping for a nice bounce-back effort and an Islanders win.

The Blog Box & A New Tradition

On Wednesday night, I had the opportunity to watch the game from the Blog Box. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but the evening surpassed my wildest expectations. By now, you've probably read the quotes and post-game reaction from the club, so I won't regurgitate any of that here. But being in the Islanders locker room, a place I always dreamed I'd end up when I got older, was a huge thrill. It was also really neat to see so many of the people I've read and seen on TV in person, namely Chris Botta, Greg Logan, and Stan Fischler. Particularly Fischler, because he cracked me up when he asked Botta how to access his blog. Apparently, the Hockey Maven isn't the most Web-savvy person out there.

In any event, the whole thing was excellent, but it wouldn't have been nearly as nice if not for my fellow Blog Boxers helping me out and showing me the ropes. While everyone has been awesome so far, I'd like to publicly shout-out Gary from The View From Section 317, Doug from Official's Outlook, and Michael from IslesBlogger for looking for out for me on Wednesday and answering all my stupid questions. As cool as it is to get the access the Blog Box provides, the group in there is quality. I look forward to attending more games with them as the season unfolds.

***

Traditionally, Thanksgiving is a football day. The NHL calendar is blank. Families get together and have nothing to do except watch whatever is on TV. Usually, that ends up being football. For many of us, though, watching the NFL on Thanksgiving isn't enough. Lots of people participate in their own "Turkey Bowls", which become as much a part of Thanksgiving as turkey and stuffing.

For years, we had our annual football game at my old house in Hicksville. Our neighbor's cousins would come in, we'd get all the kids on the block together, and take part in this massive football game on this massively long (but extremely narrow) field. Unfortunately, our family sold that house last year, so the game is no longer going on. So we went back to the drawing board.

Around this time, my brother informed me that the annual football game he played in with his friends was undergoing a change in format. They'd played football for years at some park in Westbury, drank beers afterward, and awarded the Iron Man trophy to the winning team after the game. I even played in the 2004 version of this game, but didn't return due to my frustration with my role in the offense. Turns out playing offensive line and tight end aren't all that fun. Anyway, when they decided to change it up, the idea came up to turn the event into a hockey game. It didn't take me very long to declare my interest. The others followed suit, we bought a new trophy (El Pavo de Oro, which means "Golden Turkey"), and Thanksgiving 2007 saw us play a spirited four-on-four game of hockey. Personally, it was probably the best game I'd ever played.  I contributed six goals and four assists, including a helper on the game-winning goal, in a 13-11 victory. While it wasn't quite the Stanley Cup, taking a victory lap around the Carle Place rink with El Pavo de Oro was an awesome feeling. I even got to take the trophy home first due to my status as highest scorer. However, it didn't last long before my wife asked me to give it to the next person.

We all said we'd do it again this year, but I had my doubts. What if nobody was into it? What if we didn't have enough people for a game? My fears ended up being unfounded, as just about everybody came back for Round 2. A few of the guys even built a new net for the event. This year's game, however, wasn't such a wonderful exhibition of my ability. I chipped in two goals and an assist, which sounds good, until you realize we played four-on-four with no line changes and our team scored eight goals. We ended up losing 11-8, which meant El Pavo de Oro went to the other team.

Now, I've played a decent amount of hockey in my day, and I've lost some tough games. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't pretty bummed out about this one. By the time we were down 10-8 and their next goal won the game, I was ready to dive in front of pucks if I had to. I even slid across the ground (with no pads on) to block a passing attempt. One of my teammates said he'd take a puck to the face before giving up the Pavo. But that's hockey for you. For whatever reason, hockey is such an emotional game that pain and fatigue barely matter, even in a friendly game. We all went to work today with aches and bruises, but nobody really minded. 

Whereas people had to be coerced into playing football, hockey is working out a lot better for us. Hockey just seems to have that little extra bit of competition missing from football. I'll spend a lot more time thinking about the empty nets I missed than the passes I've dropped playing football. I know I'm not the only one who feels that way. And it goes without saying that we'll all be back next year. It's a new tradition, one that's only going to get better. And I'm already counting down the days until next Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving...

I'm thankful for hockey, the New York Rangers, Tom Renney, the real Santa appearing at the Macy's Day Parade, hockey fans who like to talk about hockey so I don't feel like a moron for loving it in a baseball state, and Home Alone on FX right now. Now, if only I could find Surviving Christmas with Ben Affleck on TV.

Live Blog: Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Islanders

What better way to ring in the holiday weekend - and our first night in the Blog Box - than to do a live blog of tonight's game? Here we go!

 - I'm not sure what I'd rather have happen: The Islanders moving to Las Vegas or hearing this stupid "Meet Me At The Lighthouse" song one more time.

 - They're doing the whole giant-American-flag-at-center-ice thing yet again. This was a cool thing when they did it the first time. Now? Sort of old hat. They kind of ruined it when they started doing it every game.

 - The Islanders take a penalty and Pens goalie Danny Sabourin stays in the net. Good idea.

 - Right off the bat, Joey MacDonald makes a nice save on a Malkin blast from the point. The crowd is chanting "Princess Crosby" at Gary Bettman's favorite player. Interesting, but effective.

 - I have to say, I'm not used to being this close to the action. Every shot looks like twice as hard as it does from the 300s. That said, MacDonald looks sharp early on. He has to be, as the Pens are firing at will.

 - The scoreboard educates us about Turdecken, the favorite Thanksgiving food of the immortal John Madden. Unfortunately for Mr. Madden, it doesn't come with a side of Brett Favre.

 - Two icings in a row for Pittsburgh. I bet Howie and Billy are complaining that they can't take at TV timeout.

 - Power play for the Isles. They should start declining penalties at this point.

 - Streit puts on a weak shot from the point. Nobody's in front of the net to deflect it. Of course.

 - One of the Penguins runs over MacDonald with 32 seconds left in the Islanders' power play. By the time Richard Park figures out what to do, eleven seconds elapse. Now the Isles only get a 21-second two-man advantage instead of a 32-second one. Big difference.

 - The Isles get a little pass-happy on the five-on-three and miss one opportunity, but end up getting the goal anyway as Doug Weight taps in a rebound. We thought they were going to give the goal to Josh Bailey, but they didn't. Damn. Anyway, 1-0 Isles.

 - Trent Hunter comes in on a broken play and backhands one past Sabourin to give the Isles a 2-0 lead! Sabourin could be getting rattled by a pretty impressive crowd tonight. And that's two assists for Bailey, who has all but written his ticket for a permanent stay on Long Island.

 - We were just given free Lighthouse shirts. Meet me at the Lighthouse... and don't forget your smile...

 - As soon as the puck drops after the TV timeout, Mitch Fritz engages in fisticuffs with former Islander Eric Godard. Nice, long bout, with both guys getting in good shots. Maybe Gordon should up Fritz's ice time to two minutes a game.

 - This game's starting to get a little physical, which is nice. We're starting to see more up-and-down action, with both teams having their chances.

 - The Islanders ice the puck, the Ice Girls come out... only there's no TV timeout because you can't have a TV timeout after an icing call. Whoops.

 - Now, we have our TV timeout, as Andy Hilbert takes a boarding penalty. Hard to believe, right?

 - Pat Sajak is being interviewed on the scoreboard and says, and I quote, "Rangers Suck". After the interview, the Coliseum game ops staff reminds us that we're two-thirds of the way to free chili. Personally, I'd rather pay the dollar for chili than have the cashier at Wendy's look at me like I have three heads after asking for free chili.

 - Miroslav Satan is playing in front of the net on the power play, as opposed to when he played for the Islanders, when he used to stand at the point and miss the net.

 - Bailey made an excellent play behind the net to steal the puck and create a great scoring chance. Unfortunately, Jon Sim can't put it home. We end the first with the Islanders comfortably ahead 2-0. And by "comfortably", I mean there's a great chance it'll be 2-2 before long.

 - The second period brings rise to all the crappy emo music I dread hearing at Islander games. How wonderful.

 - The puck is taking some weird bounces tonight. The Islanders would do well to keep firing the puck on Sabourin, who's given up some pretty good rebounds tonight.

 - The officials changed the scoring on Weight's goal, giving the assist to Streit instead of Bailey.

 - The pace has slowed down a little bit as the second period unfolds. The focus in the Blog Box turns to Family Guy clips on YouTube and the Ice Girl who stopped by to say hello.

 - The Isles have had at least three great opportunities, but have opted for the pass each time. However, they're working hard in the offensive zone and drew a penalty. Best part? It's on Malkin. Gotta score here.

 - And just like that, Guerin fires one from the top of the faceoff circle to make it 3-0. Which sounded awesome until I realized the Islanders now have a three-goal lead. Sabourin gets the yank; he's replaced by someone named "John Curry". He wears #1. It's actually his first NHL appearance, which means he'll be utterly dominant.

 - So you know how I said the Islanders should start declining penalties? They're 2-for-3 on the man advantage tonight. So much for that line of thinking.

 - This is kind of a jinx... but Pittsburgh is playing like crap. They haven't gotten consistent pressure all game long, the Islanders have had a number of odd-man rushes, and the Pens' goaltending hasn't been anything to write home about.

 - On the penalty kill, Jordan Staal gets a breakaway, but Joey MacDonald comes up huge with a kick save. The Pens have had three good chances on this PK. Maybe they should play shorthanded for the rest of the game.

 - New feature on the scoreboard: The Supercuts "Who Needs A Haircut" cam. We're treated to a bunch of fans who badly need haircuts. I like this one. I've seen worse, anyway.

 - The Isles have blown a golden opportunity by allowing Curry, a cold goalie with nerves about making his first NHL appearance, time to get comfortable. This could come back to bite them later.

 - The Pens get one with 18.7 seconds left in the second. Looks like Satan tapped it in. Suddenly, a three-goal deficit becomes a very manageable two-goal deficit. Not good. We saw how late goals killed the Isles in Jersey on Friday. Let's hope for a different result this time. 3-1 Isles to end the third. So far, so good... but I'm still a bit worried.

 - Intermission Idiocy: The Human Puck Shoot! I love this one. Parents put their kids on sleds and shove them into the goal from the blue line. Clearly, this is something I'll be doing when my daughter is old enough.

 - My favorite guilty pleasure of attending Islander games is the text messages that appear on the scoreboard. If you haven't seen this, they basically take the dumbest comments people text to some number and put them on the scoreboard. Unfortunately, they never put up my texts. I always send the same one: "Stan Fischler is old."

 - According to the scoreboard, the average person consumes 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving. Very inspiring.

 - The Penguins knock one in at the same time as one of their players barrels over MacDonald, knocking the net off. After a review, the call on the ice (no goal) stands.

 - The refs let three consecutive penalties go, including one dive by the Islanders and one hook by Crosby. Seconds later, Crosby scores to make it 3-2. Here we go again...

 - The Isles have gotten extremely sloppy over the past 15 or so minutes. Pretty much ever since they scored that third goal, they stopped playing their game and reverted into the shell that has led to them blowing many a third-period lead. Since the end of the first period - that's 27 minutes of hockey - the Islanders have ten shots on goal. That's not going to get it done.

 - Right off the TV timeout, Petr Sykora gets a point-blank opportunity from the slot. If the Islanders lose this game, they're going to regret it. With a goalie playing his first NHL minutes on the other end, the Islanders haven't tested him at all. If I were Scott Gordon, I'd call a timeout and kindly remind his team that they've blown like five three-goal leads in the past month.

 - Ten minutes left in the third, and the Islanders ice the puck. I can't even remember the last time the Islanders carried the puck over the blue line. It was probably in the second period.

 - Malkin scores to make it 3-3. And I have to admit, I totally saw this coming. As did every other Islander fan in the building. The Islanders haven't played their game in well over a period and it finally came back to bite them. The good thing is, there's nine minutes left to get the lead back.  The bad thing is, Pittsburgh has all the momentum in the world right now.

 - Under a minute after scoring goal number three, Makin puts in number four. Crosby gets the assist once again. This is exactly what the Islanders deserve after mailing in the last 30 or so minutes of this game.

 - As if everyone in the Coliseum is under a malaise, the game ops staff play "I'll Stick Around" by the Foo Fighters. Which would have been fine, except they played it in the first period as well. Whoops.

 - Instead of playing hard and trying to get the lead back, Guerin tries to goad two Penguins into fights. This is with 7:19 left in a game the Islanders are currently losing. He gets two well-deserved minutes. Remember, this is our captain we're talking about here.

 - The Penguins are just having their way with the Islanders right now. The Isles are scrambling around on the PK and can barely contain the Penguins at this point. Not good.

 - We gotta wrap this up so that we can head down to the locker room and watch the players try to explain away their latest blown lead. Unless, of course, the Isles pull victory from the jaws of defeat yet again. As Tony Schiavone would say, the tape machines are rolling... should the Islanders not blow this game, that'd be excellent. But at this point, it's hard to expect anything else.

Colin Campbell...

For the first time, I watched the Mike "4 Career Goals" Mottau's hit on Frans Nielsen. Very reminiscent of Brandon Sutter giving the Rayden Torpedo to Alexei Cherepanov in the Summit Series. He left his feet, he was looking for an injury. Here, Mottau headhunted Nielsen. A disgusting play on par with Chris Simon attacking Ryan Hollweg and Todd Bertuzzi-ing Steve Moore, and he gets 2 games for it.

Michael Peca touches a linesman's arm, automatic 5 game suspension. (Yes, I'm familiar with the ruling on an automatic suspension when an official is touched.)

Doug Weight gives a clean, feet-on-the-ice check to Sutter, and people vilify Weight for two weeks.

"Disciplinarian" Colin Campbell - and I use the term disciplinarian very lightly - claims it wasn't a direct hit to the head. Well, maybe he didn't see Mottau single out Nielsen and then LEAP off the ice and attack him.

Very questionable ruling.

Some plays are accidental. Weight on Sutter, for example. Jason Doig, while a bad player and a victim of the lockout (where only skilled players stay be in the NHL), injured Eric Lindros for the season, not on purpose but from a hard hit. Same can be said for Scott Stevens leveling Lindros.

However, my view on plays where the person is obviously looking for blood is that they should be suspended until the injured player can play again. Mottau should be out 2-3 months or however long it takes his victim to return. If it means a player will never play again, as it should be in Bertuzzi's case, so be it.

Anyone who wants to take the NHL to task on this horrific ruling can do so Thursdays at 4 as Gary Bettman goes on XM Home Ice 204 (and Sirius 208) to take calls from the fans. No doubt he will be hearing about this next Thursday (as I'm assuming he doesn't host a show on Thanksgiving), and no doubt he will be sticking to party-lines and reiterating what Campbell said, as he never makes waves and always touts the league as in the right. While I love the fact that the Commissioner of the NHL has a radio call-in show (that is always a good listen), I wish he wasn't so vanilla and he would stray from middle-0f-the-road, my-employees-are-always-right answers. If he came out and said Campbell flubbed this, maybe something could be done to change it.

* * *

Links to mentioned videos...

Sutter flying into Cherepanov

Nielsen getting attacked by Mottau

Weight's clean hit on Sutter

Moore getting his neck broken by Bertuzzi

Islanders DVD - CONFIRMED!

Those of you who have followed this blog for a while know that we have been clamoring for an Islanders DVD set for some time. Or, at least, I have. In June, we each did a list of the ten games we'd like to see on DVD sets for the Islanders and Rangers, not thinking it'd actually lead to anything. Then, a month or so ago, I noticed a poll on the Islanders' official website asking fans to vote on which games they'd like to see on a DVD boxed set, if one were to be made. That got me a little curious.

Tonight, I decided to search the Web to see if anything ever happened with it. I figured that if the Oilers and Canadiens had just come out with boxed sets, the Islanders couldn't be far behind. Turns out I was right. Amazon has a listing for an Islanders boxed set, entitled The New York Islanders Ten Greatest Games Collector's Edition, to be released on March 3 and priced at $34.99. Further research shows this wasn't just a random listing, either. Warner Home Video, the company that does the NHL's DVDs, issued a press release last week breaking the news about the DVD. So it looks like the DVD is really going to happen.

We don't have a listing of what games will be included on the DVD set, but that's okay. The important thing is that Islanders fans will be able to purchase a definitive set of the glory years and relive all of the classic moments of the franchise. I, for one, have total faith in Warner Home Video to not screw this up. The DVD sets for the other teams have been full of well-chosen games, and I expect this Islanders set to be no different. Hey, even if it sucks, what would you rather watch - Islanders games from 25 years ago, or a potential Rangers Cup run?

NHL Live Gets Rick-Rolled

This has very little to do with hockey, but I found it funny nonetheless. I'm watching the replay of NHL Live on the NHL Network and a "Rick in Texas" called in with a question about Brenden Morrow. Suddenly, he stops talking and starts playing "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley. Both Don and Billy took it in stride and got a good laugh out of it, as they should - it was pretty damn funny.

There are a couple of things I need to disclose. First, in one of those things that only happen in a job you absolutely despise, Rick Astley became an obsession in our office over the past year, to the point that I received a copy of Rick Astley's Greatest Hits for my birthday this year. Secondly, and more importantly, my first ever Islanders game was an Islanders-Oilers game in March 1988. While the Islanders were warming up, they played "Never Gonna Give You Up" over the Coliseum PA. The Islanders won that game by a score of 5-4; it would be the first and last time I'd watch my idol Wayne Gretzky play live. Sadly, aside from the score, I don't remember a thing about the game. The only thing I remember about the game is Rick Astley.

Road Trip: New York Islanders at New Jersey Devils

On Friday night, my friend Leslie and I left the cozy cofines of Long Island and headed to Newark to watch our beloved Islanders on the road. We took this trip last year and were rewarded by a solid victory, highlighted by Kyle Okposo's first NHL goal. We had high hopes for a similar result this year.

However, I had a few doubts. As I walked to the train station, I thought about the Islanders' play of late and I realized one thing - they hadn't had a game where they played like crap in a while. That sort of scared me. Still, I was salivating at the prospect of facing Kevin Weekes and a decimated Devils team, so I was excited.

The train ride was as much fun as could be expected. We did some quality pre-gaming and did the Islanders Illustrated trivia quiz (I dominated). All in all, it wasn't bad. We grabbed McDonald's at Penn Station, headed for the PATH Train, and we were on our way to Jersey. Sadly, the PATH Train killed my buzz, as you're not allowed to drink, eat, or pretty much do anything on the PATH Train. That's because the trains and their stations are immaculate. I'd eat off their floors, that's how clean they are.

Anyway, for those of you who are looking to make the trip, here's what you do: Take the LIRR to Penn Station, then walk to the PATH station. It's on Sixth Avenue between 32nd and 33rd street. Hop on the PATH, get off at Journal Station, then just walk right across the platform and hop on the train that takes you to Newark. It's that simple.

Somehow, we ended up finding a shortcut inside the train station itself and found ourselves right across the street from the Prudential Center. Which was a very welcome discovery, since it was freezing that night. It also prevented us from getting mugged as Barry Melrose ominously predicted a year or so ago. We probably got to the door of The Rock at about 6:50, 15 minutes before gametime. There was a considerable crowd getting in, probably because there were like four people scanning tickets at the arena's only entrance. I guess they're not used to people going to their games. (Zing!)

(Note: I took a ton of pictures, but they're all on my cell phone. I'll find a way to get them up here somehow.)

The Prudential Center concourse was pretty much as I remembered it from last year - huge, full of shops, and very bright. It didn't take long for people to start heckling us, but we didn't care. We were too in awe of our surroundings. All around the arena, the uniforms of various youth teams hang, which was a very nice touch. What wasn't a nice touch, though, is the one escalator available for the upper two levels. This caused a considerable delay until they finally decided to open up a second escalator.

We eventually got to our seats and literally didn't even have time to sit down before the National Anthem started. We were very surprised to find our seats were in the stadium's very top row. Even more surprising, we weren't able to touch the ceiling like at the Coliseum. More surprising than that, there was considerable open room behind us, including a stairway that led to the upper-level concourse. Not all that surprisingly, we weren't at all threatened by Devils fans. That's not a knock on Devils fans, by the way; it's just that most of them were really cool where we sat.

As the game was getting started, the game ops staff turned on Triple H's theme music - "Time to play the game!". That was a nice touch. It immediately gave me more faith in their sound guy than the sound guy at the Coliseum, who apparently owns the world's largest emo collection. The Islanders really need to hire the guy at Mellon Arena who plays bands like Slayer and Megadeth. Anyway, the first period was fairly uneventful. We spent a lot of time talking to the guy sitting in front of us. He was one of those cynical Islander fans who is determined to find the negatives of a three-game winning streak. Unfortunately, his prophecy of doom was fulfilled as the Devils got two goals off deflections in the period's final two minutes. Suddenly, a decent period of hockey turned into a considerable deficit. But here's the surprising thing about the Devils' two goals. After the goals, the Devils fans did the "Hey! You suck!" thing. You know, the thing during the "Rock & Roll, Part 2" song that got the Islanders to change their goal song this year? Well, that's now a Devils thing, along with the "Potvin Sucks" chant. Only instead of chanting about Denis Potvin, they say "Rangers Suck". How original.

Heading back into the concourse, I heard the phrase "douchebag Islander fans" and immediately looked over to see some guy making fun of me. That was nice. Thankfully, he was the exception to the rule. Most people there were pretty good and kept their remarks limited to good-natured ribbing. Personally, I was in awe of The Rock's menu choices. Walking out of the arena part, I was greeted with multiple bathrooms and beer stands in every direction. Clearly, this arena was growing on me. We got some brews and were happy to learn every concession stand in the Prudential Center takes credit and debit cards. That's a good thing, because I never carry cash. We made our way to a different stand that served all kinds of food - and I do mean all kinds. Leslie got a knish, while I got a stuffed cupcake. The cupcake was only stuffed with chocolate frosting and cost $4.50, but where else can you get a cupcake at a hockey game? That was very impressive.

During the second period, we talked to our buddy in the next row again. He asked me the question I'd been dreading all night: "If the Islanders move, who are you going to root for?" After a good minute of stammering, the Islanders scored a goal to break up the conversation. Thank God. The Devils, of course, responded with yet another deflection goal. The two teams ended up trading goals once more before the period ended, leaving us with a 4-2 deficit. The period didn't end before a rather oddly-timed fight between Tim Jackman and Bryce Salvador which didn't do much to raise our spirits.

The second intermission brought more beers... at a cost. You know how I said all the concession stands take cards? Well, if you ever go to the soda/beer/deli stand across from Section 226, be careful, because apparently cards crash that particular register. It took an entire intermission for the register to reboot so we could give the guy cash for our two humongous cans of Foster's (Austrailian For Beer), which were $10 each. Best part - they let you bring the big can to your seat instead of dumping it into a stupid plastic cup.

Sadly, that would be the final highlight of the evening. We all know what happened next. Mike Mottau decked Frans Nielsen, who was by far the Isles' best player of the night. It was hard to judge the hit from way up at the top of the Prudential Center, but all I could see was that Mottau got his arms up. Turns out he practically swung at Nielsen's head. In fact, if Mottau was one foot to his right, that'd have looked a lot like the Chris Simon hit on Ryan Hollweg. Of course, Colin Campbell didn't see things that way and gave Mottau a slap on the wrist. It was also funny to see Brent Sutter pretend Mottau didn't do anything wrong, yet when Doug Weight took Brandon Sutter out with a clean hit, it was the most heinous act ever performed in an NHL arena.

In any event, the Foster's at least got my buzz back, just in time to leave The Rock and face a freezing cold New Jersey evening. On the way out, we were given Devils pucks; apparently, we attended a promotional game. Whoo-hoo. The puck's in my desk drawer at work if anybody wants it. But the hockey-related portion of our evening was not done just yet.

We stopped off at the Christopher Street PATH Station, as Leslie said she knew of some quality bars in the area. By this time, my buzz was gone yet again, done in by frigid temperatures and a lot of walking. We finally happened upon a place called the Peculier Pub, which she said had just about every beer in the whole world. She wasn't kidding. They had just about anything you could ever ask for, including this monstrosity...

That would be a beer called "Faxe". It's a Danish beer served in a 33.8 can (that's one liter) and costs $7.50. Needless to say, after this beer, my buzz was back in full effect and then some. It's not every day you get hammered three times in one night, so that was nice. What was also nice was walking into this place and immediately hearing random comments like "1983!" and "Islanders suck!". Not exactly what I was expecting.

But nothing compared to what happened after the beers really started flowing. Suddenly, about half the bar joined in a rousing chorus of "Beat Your Wife, Potvin, Beat Your Wife!". This was followed by about twenty different "Potvin Sucks!" chants and a few other random anti-Islander chants. Maybe it was the booze, but I didn't mind this at all. If anything, I enjoyed it. I actually liked it better than being booed for standing and cheering after the Islanders scored their goals at the Prudential Center. Why? Because it showed me that people really do care about hockey. If we could just walk into a New York City bar wearing Islanders gear and immediately be reviled for doing so, then it says a lot about the state of hockey and the Islanders-Rangers rivalry. Sometimes, you walk around town, not seeing a single hockey jersey, and think people are losing interest in the game. Not so. Maybe it takes a large number of obscure, well-priced beers, but hockey is alive and well in New York. And it wasn't just at the Peculier Pub, either. At least ten people that night asked us about the score or if we were going to the game. It was nice to see. Something tells me the Knicks don't get these kind of inquiries and aren't subject to raucous chants at local bars.

After we left Peculier Pub, we took a town car back to Penn Station, which proved to be an expensive cab ride. Not just because it cost a ridiculous $20, but because Leslie lost her cell phone in the car. Whoops. We got on a 1:16 train, were back in Hicksville around 2, and I was in bed by 3. Which was a good thing, because I had work at 8 the next morning. And yes, I'm aware that the next day was a Saturday. I've had many, many better work days than that Saturday morning on four hours sleep and with a mild hangover.

All in all, it was an excellent night. I could have done without the Islanders loss, but seeing them on the road is always an awesome thing. Our next road trip aims to be to Arena at Harbor Yard for a Sound Tigers game. But this trip to The Rock was enough excitement for while. It's also worth noting that of the Islanders' last six games, the only game they didn't win was the one in which we trekked to another state to watch the game. Now, if that doesn't explain the plight of a devoted Islanders fan, I don't know what does.

A Lackluster Weekend...

Nobody has written on our blog since Thursday, when Bryan typed about optimistically venturing the following day into Newark to drink beer and boo Zach Parise.

It is now technically Monday morning (although I will still consider it Sunday until I go to bed or see the sun). I almost posted on Friday that if the Islanders beat the Devils, then the Ottawa Senators would be the worst team in the East.

Since then, the Rangers technically showed up for a game in Ottawa, although I don't know how much of a presence really they had if they were outshot 14-0 for the first 13 minutes of the game. Yes. 14-0. Although I guess it is hard to generate shots off the rush when you are shorthanded 3 times in the first 6 minutes. To be honest, they never stood a chance in the game, and it's not because this is the same Ottawa team that used to pick apart the Rangers and Islanders in years past. The Rangers never stood a chance because they took themselves out of the game by taking lazy penalties, not hustling, not getting traffic to the net, and not caring.

Since then, the Islanders lost ground in the Hummer Metro Ice challenge, aka the battle-of-the-backup-goaltenders when Scott Clemmensen beat Joey Mac. In Backup Bowl II, they happened to beat Patrick Lalime and his Buffalo Sabres. Brian Boucher, Johan "The Moose" Hedberg, and Ty Conklin were watching intently.

Since the Islanders won Saturday, I have no good way to end this post. If they lost, I would've said, "Let's hope next weekend's recap isn't as half-hearted and depressing as our collective heroes were this weekend." Well, 2 out of 3 ain't bad. (Does that make sense?)

Preparing For Tomorrow Night

I'm headed to The Rock tomorrow night for the Islanders-Devils game. Should be a good one. Both teams are playing well of late, both are relying on quality work from backup goalies... we've got two evenly-matched teams here. The Devils have the edge in terms of talent, but the Isles have beaten better teams. Who will take this one? We'll find out in 24 hours.

Anyway. If you're headed to the game, feel free to drop me a line at captconjunction@yahoo.com. Maybe we can meet up for some humongous $10 Coronas.

The point of this post? Pretty much just to gush over how nice the Prudential Center is. Both Zach and myself visited The Rock last year. When I texted Zach to ask for some pointers, his reply was a bit ominous: "Don't carry a wallet, don't talk to anybody, and make sure you're in a large group." Turns out we didn't have much to worry about. In fact, the biggest annoyance was some homeless guy who kept asking me for a dollar at the PATH Train Station. For some reason, this was a like ten-minute negotiation. Guess I had too much Olde English on the train ride out to Jersey.

But the walk over from the PATH Station was quite nice. As was just about everything else in there. Walking around The Rock, I felt the same way I felt walking through Citizens Bank Park, the Philadelphia Phillies' new stadium. This is what going to a game should be like. At The Rock, I was afraid to do pretty much anything, because it's just too nice in there. I didn't want to spill anything or mess anything up.

I'm looking forward to seeing this place once more tomorrow night. No word on who's starting for the Devils, but the smart money says Scott Clemmensen could get the nod again. Either way, it's a game worth checking out. You should check it out as well; as always, good seats are still available. If you've ever wanted to see what the Lighthouse might be like, come out to the Prudential Center and see a sneak preview. Of course, there'd be one big difference - Islander fans might actually come to the games if they were played in such a wonderful building.

What A Ridiculous Night Of Hockey

It's going to be a busy night in the NHL On The Fly studios...

 - In Boston, the first period ended 4-3 Bruins. After two, it was 6-4 Boston. It's currently 7-4 with 12 minutes left.

 - At the Garden, the Canucks scored two first-period goals. They quickly scored two more to make it a 4-0 game. The Rangers got one back. Vancouver had a near-goal which got reviewed and was called a no-goal, then scored like five seconds later. Lundqvist pulled himself from the game. The Rangers got another one, making it 5-2 at the intermission.

So that's two games. Roughly five and a half periods played. Eighteen goals.

I'm a total dork for statistics, so I follow this stuff a lot. Goals per game are up this year. A lot of people love to dump on the current state of the game, stating that goals are only up because power plays are up. That's probably true. But who cares?

Heading into tonight, teams scored an average of 2.92 goals per game, which means the average game features 5.84 goals. That's up from last year's numbers, according to Drop Your Gloves. Goals per game were over six at one point, but have taken a bit of a dip lately. It's all good. Scoring isn't as high as it was just after the lockout, but it's nice to see scores like 5-4 in at least a couple of games most nights. The truth is, hockey needs goals to keep the non-diehards interested.

The other big thing this year is for people to criticize the shootout. Why? You're telling me you liked tie games? I know a lot of traditionalists don't like giving out an extra point for a "skills competition", and that's fine. But as long as they're going to give out points just for getting to overtime and allow the first team to score on a four-on-four to take a point - because, you know, teams play so much hockey at four-on-four - why not have the shootout? It's exciting, it keeps viewers glued to their TVs, and it rewards teams with dynamic offensive players and clutch goalies. How is this a bad thing?

Long story short, there's too much good in the game to nitpick over stupid things. According to Hockey-Reference, 35 players that have played ten or more games are averaging a point a game right now. That's pretty good. Of those 35, eight are on pace for 100-point seasons. Last year, there were two 100-point players, Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin. This year, guys like Ryan Getzlaf and Patrick Kane are poised to join their ranks. It's a great time to be a hockey fan, and more offense can only help our game.

Channel 11 News...

Apologies to Bryan for posting right after him, but I have something quick I need to saw.

I know that nobody really watches network news for sports scores in this age of the Internet, 4 ESPN channels, and a bunch of other local sports channels that have scrolling scores constantly on the bottom.

That said, someone in my house was watching Channel 11's nightly news, and they said, "Coming up: We know who the NL MVP is, more on the Giants steamrolling the Ravens, and the Rangers and Islanders both in action!"

We come back from break. They lead with a 90 second story on the National League MVP (that's baseball, by the way) and why it was wrong and who really should've won it. Then, they do a 90 second story on the Giants game from yesterday that was analyzed to death all of last night and probably most of today.

Then, we get a sort 10 second clip of Henrik Lundqvist making the final save in tonight's shootout win over Ottawa, and he says, "And the Islanders hosted Vancouver and won in a shootout, also."

End of newscast.

So to recap... a long story on two teams who aren't from New York who play a boring sport that ended 2 weeks ago. Then a story on a game from last night (which I'm fine with, football is now America's sport and it was a big game for a great team). Then, a clip of a save, a celebratory stick-in-the-arm-and-gloved-fist-pump, and a quick sentence on another game that also went on today.

I know hockey isn't big here. I'm not oblivious. But how is the sport supposed to grow when a St. Louis Cardinal gets 45 times more airtime than Long Island's only sports team and 9 times more play than the 2nd best team in the NHL who also happen to play in NY?

Just makes me mad. Quick! Someone contact Neil Best!

* * *

And a quick aside to what Bryan said about me liking defensive hockey: I think great defensive hockey is incredibly enjoyable. Great saves, shot blocking, aggressive backchecking, up and down, back and forth hockey with breakouts and breakaways. However, neutral-zone trap hockey is horrific.

Great Win Tonight

So tonight was interesting. Two New York teams playing at home against Canadian opponents, two 2-1 shootout wins for the locals. Zach will be by to tell you more about the Rangers game. As for the Islanders...

 - Zach talked me into buying back into online gambling. So I did. I considered betting the under for this game, which was five goals. I ultimately decided against it and bet the under in tonight's Bills-Browns game, which was said to be played in snowy conditions. The under in that game is 41. It's already 13-7 Cleveland with not a drop of snow on the ground. Uh-oh.

 - Caught the pre-game show tonight... it wasn't bad. Filler-laden, sure, but enjoyable. Two segments stood out to me. The first, obviously, was the Stan Fischler-C.J. Papa segment in which the two spent maybe five seconds talking about the Islanders. They'd go on to repeat this during the intermissions. The other was a segment called "Billy's Breakdown" where Billy Jaffe broke down some film for the viewing audience. What I liked was that he didn't pick the scoring plays. Instead, he picked the plays people don't really notice, but can be disastrous if done incorrectly. Tonight's theme was breakouts from the defensive zone, which is harder than it seems. Jaffe also scores points with me for doing NHL Live during the afternoon and still doing the game at night. That's hardcore.

 - The Isles came out jittery, but started to get it together by the end of the first. The second and third periods showed how good defensive hockey can be. Like Zach said the other night, defensive battles are great, and hockey has better defensive-minded games than any other sport. Joey MacDonald is the obvious first star of this game, but Andy Sutton played an excellent game as well. It's no coincidence the Islanders have gotten their act together since Sutton's return. Here's a stat you might not be aware of - since Sutton came back on October 30, the Islanders have only played two games (out of nine) in which they haven't either won or held a third-period lead.

 - The stat I just mentioned doesn't just reflect well on Sutton, but on the whole team. Everyone loves to dump on the Islanders - more on this later - but the truth is the Isles have been extremely competitive so far in November. This team is starting to figure out what it is. It's certainly not the best team, but it plays hard. It gets ahead early, often loses its way, but is starting to learn how to come back and play a good third period. Three wins in a row is a big deal for a team most people picked for last in the entire league.

 - As well as the Islanders are playing, I still have to question some of Scott Gordon's decisions. Namely, how on earth Jeff Tambellini gets a regular shift in overtime. You really want to throw out a minus-six player out there in overtime? I don't get that one. Nor do I see the logic in giving Josh Bailey a try in the shootout. Had he scored his first NHL goal already, that'd be one thing. But to take an 18-year-old who's trying to figure out the NHL game, trying to get his firsts out of the way, and throw him in there against a top-three goaltender? That's asking a lot. I guess Gordon is still trying to figure out who his go-to shootout guys are. The only player to participate in both Islanders shootouts this year is Trent Hunter - and he missed both of his attempts.

 - Throughout the game, the announcers mentioned the boasts of the Vancouver media that this would be an easy two points for the Canucks. As the game progressed, the announcers became more and more fed up with these remarks. Finally, Howie Rose sardonically remarked after Joey MacDonald's final save, "The all-knowing Vancouver media has some explaining to do!" Look, homerism is a turn-off for a lot of people. For Islanders fans? I think we kind of need that. It's not as though there are a ton of people proudly boasting Islanders merchandise. I wore an Islanders shirt to Saturday overtime last week, and a Rangers fan asked me, "You wear that (bleep) in public?" So yeah. I'll take a broadcast crew that gets behind my team as opposed to one that calls it right down the middle, at least as far as the Islanders are concerned.

As for the articles in question, here's one I found, entitled "Islanders Look Like Team in Oldtimers League".  But I did find this blog, which did your typical "Hockey's in trouble on Long Island" post earlier today and ended tonight's coverage with this nugget: "Canucks lose after scoring in the first minute of regulation, beaten by a career minor-league goalie named Joey MacDonald. Not very good..."

If you've ever wondered why Islanders fans have such a complex about their team, it's because we have to read crap like this pretty much all the time. It kind of gets old after a while. When the Rangers were awful, people made fun of them for spending a lot of money. Nobody said New York City didn't deserve a hockey franchise. Even if it's hard to dispute the facts about the state of the Islanders, it hurts to hear about it so often. Especially from the uninformed Canadian media, who are never wrong about anything. Just ask them.

One last thing about the Canucks, who have been to the playoffs just as many times as the Islanders since the lockout: They stole the Islanders' promotional slogan from last season.

I was happy the Islanders got their two points tonight. But I think I'm even happier that the Isles got to stick it to the media. Something tells me they're going to be in this sort of position a lot this year. But if the first two weeks of November are any indication, the Islanders won't be nearly as bad as many of us feared. I can think of a lot of teams who wouldn't mind taking 11 out of 18 points in November.

Next game is Friday in New Jersey. I'll be making the trip out to The Rock for the game. It probably won't be a very sober one. In any event, it'll be a fun trip to the most wonderful arena that nobody goes to.

Notes Not From the Garden, 11/15/08...

A few things were apparent at the onset of the Rangers-Bruins game on Saturday night. First off, it was going to be a goaltending duel (much more exciting to watch than a pitching duel in baseball). Second, it was probably going to be a shootout (I prematurely predicted a 2-1 final score). Third, these two teams with their matching styles (speedy, good forwards, mediocre defense made better by excellent goaltending) would make for an intense, incredible playoff series. 

And fourth, we knew it would be a good game because I sold my tickets. I wind up going to stinkers like Dallas's crappy, sleepy win over the Rangers, and sell my tickets to Chris Drury's hat trick game against Tampa Bay and this exciting game

Ok, so a few notes. I'll keep it short so as not to bore anyone, and I'll try to keep it interesting since I assume most of you have seen the game already...

Dmitri Kalinin - Growing up, I wonder why Kalinin chose to be a defenseman. He is labeled as an offensive defenseman, has a pretty nice shot, always pinches on the point or brings the puck in deep on the rush, and he has shaky-at-best defensive ability. I think he would make a good 3rd or 4th line winger. That said, his defensive play has improved a lot since the first few games of the season, and he had a nice breakout pass on the game-tying goal.

Henrik Lundqvist - No goalie goes post-to-post quite as well as Lundqvist. And if given the choice in the shootout, there's not a goalie I would pick instead of him. He cannot possibly be faulted for Zdeno Chara's goal. He made a great save, then almost made a second.

Boston 2, Rangers 0 - There were 3 goats on the second goal by Boston. One obviously is Michal Rozsival, who is now responsible for another shorthanded goal against. Why is he still playing the points? His PPG to SHG ratio is now horrible, at atleast 2:3 or 2:4. The second goal was Kalinin, who is apparently afraid of the puck. Does he know his paychecks come at the same frequency regardless of whether or not he is injured? Instead of dropping down to block the puck like a real defensmen would do, he half-heartedly stuck his stick out. The shot still got off, and passed Lundqvist (aka goat #3). Again, Hank dropped too soon and the puck went over him. Again.

Zdeno Chara - As I once made fun of Chara, a friend of a friend who works for the Bruins told me how dedicated he is to his body. He is truly a mountain of a man. He works out religiously, doesn't drink, doesn't smoke. And it shows. For a big man, he is incredible flexible. However, Aaron Voros got by him today, and he took a necessary penalty. What is a necessary penalty? The answer is two-fold: It is one that saves a goal from possibly being scored and it is something the Rangers never take. A hooking call because Marek Malik is too slow (an outdated reference, I know), or a holding call because someone blows by Rozsival is not a good penalty. But Chara's slash on Voros might've saved a goal, and the Rangers power play is anemic anyway, so he had nothing to lose.

Ya know, Mike Milbury never should've traded him (and the second overall pick in 2001) for Alexei Yashin.

Tim Thomas  - I man-love Tim Thomas. He came into the league for 4 games at 28, then returned full-time at age 30, after hearing all of his life he would never be an NHL goalie. Then, he played great for Boston and they repaid the favor by signing Manny Fernandez. However, Thomas is still starting and is one of the best in the league this season.

Second Period - Regardless of the 2-goal defecit after the 2nd period, it was still a greatly exciting period. Of course, if the outcome of the game didn't give two points to the Rangers, I would not be saying that.

Chris Drury - I give him credit for taking abuse in front of the net. It's a necessary position for him to be in and he does it well. However, he needs to whip out that yellow board again in practice and try shooting OVER it instead of INTO it. He could've scored in the 2nd but instead shot it right at Thomas's pad. 

However, I fully retract my statement that he should be sent to Hartford. He played good all game, and his overtime pass to Ryan Callahan was why he was signed. He got knocked down, and stole the puck from 3 standing Bruin players, and passed it perfectly to Callahan. That was an All-Star play.

Wade Redden - The Rangers paid for a fast car and got a safe car instead. He has very few points and only 2 goals (none since 10/10 against Chicago), but he is a good first-passer, and has anchored the defense. Still, you can get the safety of a Volvo without paying for a Ferrari, knowwhatI'msayin? (He's overpaid. And 6 years is an awful long time.)

Dave Maloney? Really? - If Dave Maloney was chiming in on Sam and Joe's broadcast, who was doing the radio commentary? Hey, I get mad if John Giannone is filling in for Sam Rosen. I don't want Maloney filling in for... nobody. C'mon, Dave. I just want to see you talking to Ken Daneyko in the studio after the game.

Dan Marouelli - is a scumbag. Remember when Hank was continually crashed into in Washington and no penalties were given out but goals were scored on the same play? First off, his throat must be huge if he can swallow his whistle and not choke. Overtime, same play. Chuck Kobasew buzzsaws through Henrik and no penalty is called. Then, in the shootout, the puck clearly didn't cross the line, but he called it a goal. It wasn't even close. It hit the post and ended up in the crease. 

Come on, Dan. We know you hate the Rangers (maybe he's mad that Glen Sather, then-GM of his hometown Oilers, traded away Wayne Gretzky in 1988?), but like I said all of last season, don't make it so obvious. Don't force the game.

Rangers-Bruins Tonight

We're probably due for a Rangers post right about now. But before we get to that, I just want to point out the sheer absurdity that is the Islanders' 2008-09 schedule. Now, when the schedule came out back in July, I pretty much trashed it. But I actually missed something in my initial run-through. It turns out the Islanders only have one home-and-home this entire year... and it's this weekend. Against Ottawa.

That's right. Islanders-Senators, home-and-home. Because, you know, us Islander fans are still bitter about losing to the Senators in 2003. Oh wait, we're not? Oh yeah! We're not! So why is it that we're deprived a home-and-home with a divisional rival and instead, we get this crap? Great job, NHL. I swear, if the NHL did the opposite of everything they actually end up doing, we'd have a great injury policy and a schedule that makes sense. Go figure.

Anyway. About that Rangers post... the Rangers play Boston in what should be a very good game. The Bruins have played extremely well of late, not just taking the top spot in the Northeast, but moving up to second place in the East... right behind the Rangers. How good are these two teams? They're 1-2 in the conference, but that doesn't tell the story. The Rangers are 2nd in the conference in goals scored; the Bruins are 4th. The Bruins are 1st in the conference in goals allowed; the Rangers are 3rd.  And you can say all you want that the Rangers are only first in the East because they've played more games than anyone else, but thar argument holds no water because these Rangers are great. Right now, so are the Bruins. And to be honest, I'm probably more excited about this game than the Islanders game I'm attending tonight. Here's hoping for a good show by both teams. 

These are two teams that need to be good all year long for the media to take notice of the NHL. And that's not because ESPN worships Boston, even though it does, but because the Original Six are still the top draws in the league and in a perfect world, they'd be the six best teams in the league. The Bruins and Rangers could be neck-and-neck for the East lead for much of the season. Let's see a good start to what could become a pretty good rivalry.

Well, That Didn't Take Long...

The Tampa Bay Lightning fired (or, as they say in England, sacked) Barry Melrose after just sixteen games. Lots of people predicted an unhappy ending to this marriage, but it's jarring to see a coach fired so early.

I don't agree with firing a coach any earlier than the midway point of the season. If I were the Lightning's attention-starved new owners, I'd have stuck with Melrose for two main reasons. First, Melrose is just learning the NHL game again after a long time away. When Joe Gibbs returned to the Washington Redskins, he had an awful first year, but it didn't take too long for him to catch up. We'll never know how Melrose would have adapted to the new NHL with more time. Secondly, and more importantly, the Lightning has undergone a ton of change over the past year. Between the eight free agents they added this summer and the three players acquired in the Brad Richards trade, just about half of the Lightning roster consists of new players who haven't learned how to play with each other. That's a tough job for any coach, let alone a coach who hasn't been in the NHL in thirteen years.

It's hard to say what happens with Melrose at this point. Nobody's going to hire him for a head coaching job after the failure of his Lightning stint, and ESPN seems to have moved on with Matthew Barnaby taking over the old Melrose role. The best option for Melrose might be to latch on somewhere as an assistant. He's got a good hockey mind and probably shouldn't have been fired just yet. But the Lightning were last in the league in goals per game and were struggling to stay competitive in an awful division, so the Lightning did what they felt they had to do. After seeing how such a move impacted Washington just one year ago, it's easy to see why they acted now.

So, once again, our world is without Barry Melrose. Which means the NHL Network, now unable to show the Barry Melrose-Carrie Milbank ad, is going to have an awful lot of ad time to fill. "Scouting, scouting... always scouting." Not anymore, Barry. Our reward? More ads for the Iron Gym and Sonic Scrubber. Just what we all need.

The Wonderful World of Press Releases

One of the perks of being a Blog Box member is that I get press releases in my inbox every so often. It's nice. This means I'm not stuck scouring the dregs of the Internet for Islanders information. Seriously, TSN is good and all, but the Islanders are a small-market team that happens to be in the league's basement. We don't even need to get into ESPN and their apathy toward The Coolest Game On Earth; earlier this week, Deadspin informed us that ESPN hadn't updated its NHL Power Rankings in three weeks.

So that leaves us with the Islanders and their press releases. I got two today, which is quite a bit. Usually I might get one a week. So here we go...

 - Thomas Pock Suspended Five Games. Last night, the Jets played the Patriots, as the entire world knows. I watched the game at Miller Ale House in Levittown, got extremely drunk for very little money, and watched the Jets pull out a memorable win. The only downfall of the night was that, of all of the like 90 TVs at Miller Ale House, only one was showing the Islander game. 88 were showing the Jets game, and one was showing the Bruins-Canadiens game. I'm still trying to figure that one out. Long story short, I missed just about all of the game.

Apparently, Thomas Pock elbowed one of the Senators and was handed a major penalty and game misconduct. Today, Colin "I Suck At My Job" Campbell gave Pock a five-game suspension. Now, I knew about the major, but I still haven't seen the hit. That said, I'm convinced it's no worse than the Gary Roberts hit on Kenny Jonsson in 2002, after which Campbell essentially blamed Jonsson for Roberts charging in from the opposite side of the rink to cream him.

Pock's not exactly essential, but he's played all but one game this season and has averaged over 15 minutes per game. There's no word on who's going to replace Pock, so I'll nominate Jack Hillen for the job. Since being sent down to Bridgeport, he's put up five points in seven games. Are there any better options? I don't think so. And even if there are, let's face it - Hillen needs seasoning on the big club, and it's not like the Islanders are a Cup contender or anything. Let's see what he can do.

 - Islanders Pre-Game Shows To Begin Tomorrow. Finally, proof that the powers that be listen to the fans. In a move that totally shocked me, the Islanders announced that MSG Plus will be airing an Islanders pre-game show before every game for the rest of the season. Now, I know why they didn't do a pre-game show in the past, and that would be because nobody watches pre-game shows. Am I going to watch the Islanders' pre-game most nights? Absolutely not. But it's nice to see them care enough to put this together for the fans. Truth be told, it's a good thing for MSG Plus as well. I'm pretty sure an Islanders pre-game show can beat out the other crap they've been showing before Islander games this year.

Remember how MSG Plus swore up and down that they were going to beef up Islanders coverage this year? Well, it took a while, but they're finally starting to come through. We're starting to see little things that make the Islanders look a little less second-rate, like post-game interviews in a studio instead of grabbing some guy on his way to the locker room. We've also been treated to the comedy goldmine that is the duo of Stan Fischler and C.J. Papa at home games. I don't think Fischler attended a single Islanders game last season. The pre-game show serves to move the Islanders up another notch in the perception of neutral fans. It's not much, but it's something that proves the Islanders are worth investing in. Quite frankly, that might be as good as it gets this year.

I'm actually going to tomorrow night's game, so I won't get to watch the inaugural pre-game show. Damn. I once said I'd never go to another Islanders-Senators game. That changed once a friend offered me a free ticket. We'll do our best to cheer the team on. But I fear the highlight of the game might be a delicious pretzel twist. We shall see.

All-Star Game Flaws...

For the NHL All-Star Game, the fans vote for the starters. I really have no problem with this, except for the fact that the entire Eastern Conference starting line-up will be made up of Canadiens. Mike Komisarek? Really? I mean, I know there isn't much in Montreal except fantastic strip clubs, legal gamblin, and bilingual hockey games, but if you are already voting for Saku Koivu, Alex Tanguay, Alex Kovalev, Andrei Markov, and Carey Price (aka the guy with the severely unimpressive 2.68 GAA), do you really need to vote for Komisarek, who is having a very bad year? For Christ's sake, Komisarek has over 150,000 votes, nearly 5 times more than 3rd place Mike Green's 36,000.

Anyway, my beef is, as always, with the pre-made ballot.

I remember a few seasons ago (I believe 2002-03), Curtis Joseph was on the ballot. At that point, he was injured, and played in just 1 game with the Red Wings. He had lost that game. Yet, he was still on the ballot.

This year, there are a bunch of curious choices which obviously prove that this ballot was made in the off-season and nobody took the time to update it.

For starters (no pun intended), J.P. Dumont (17 points) isn't on the ballot. While Ryan Getzlaf is on it, his linemates Corey Perry (slow start but absolutely on fire) and Teemu Selanne are not. Pascal "Just Got Off of Injured Reserve" Leclaire is also on the ballot. The forwards don't bother me as much though, because there are a ton on the ballot and 3 write-in spots.

In the East, there are atrocities galore. Ryan Whitney AND Sergei Gonchar are both on the list. Combined games: 0. Combined injuries: 2, both in preseason. Why even waste the room on the ballot on them? Second overall Wade Redden is the sexy Ranger offseason acquisition. He hasn't scored a goal since the home opener on October 10 against Chicago. Meanwhile, undrafted Dan Girardi has 2 goals and a very impressive 14 assists. Did Glen Sather lobby to get Redden on the ballot so he could try to convince the rest of the league he didn't give Ferrari money to a Volkswagen?

Danny Briere and his grand total of 8 games make the list, while fellow Flyer Jeff Carter will be watching the Skills Competition from his (probably very well-adorned) living room.

As for the Islanders, I really like that they put Trent Hunter on the ballot. But is Rick DiPietro (0-2-0, 3.91 GAA) really having that good of a year? To be honest, putting Joey MacDonald on it would've been a decent choice.

To cover their collective rears, their is a footnote on the bottom of the page saying "Player must have appeared in 20 games prior to 1/2/09 to qualify," thus negating Whitney, Gonchar, Martin Brodeur, Marion Gaborik, DiPietro, Brian Rolston, and probably Marty Biron from actually being voted in.

Marty Biron? All-around nice guy. Of all the players I have met in my time, him and Scott Gomez (also on the ballot... Aaron Voros and Brandon Dubinsky and Nik Zherdev are not) are the most personable. At 4-5-2 with a 3.33 GAA and an .888 SP, what qualifies him over equally not-good Antero Niittymaki? (By the way, I had no clue I wrote so much about the Flyers until I re-read this post.)

My stunning conclusion is that the other day, I was listening to XM Home Ice 204, and Tim Gleason (Carolina Hurricane's defenseman) was talking to Phil Esposito and they were railing on the All-Star Game. I've heard it all before and normally brushed it off. You know the arguments: It's on Versus. It's on like a Wednesday or a Tuesday.

But now, I see their point. The NHL doesn't seem to care about it, either. I get that you want to showcase stars, so obviously Brodeur is on it, and Alex Ovechkin with his slow start. Personally, I'm surprised to see Alexander Semin on it as well. But there is absolutely no reason to have Redden or Whitney or Gonchar on it when more capable players like Girardi and Mark Streit are left off. They are not going to get nearly enough votes as simply write-ins.

Maybe if they put a real list out, they would have no one like Boy Wonder Luke Schenn, Luca Sbisa, or Braydon Coburn for the Young Stars game.

Hopefully, within a few years, either the NHL starts to take this seriously and does the ballot the week before it goes up, or they make the whole thing a write-in ballot.

Oh well, atleast Mats Sundin isn't on the All-Star ballot this season.

On Drury, On Weekes...

Chris Drury must have heard my calls from two or three weeks ago asking for him to do a conditioning stint in Hartford. He has come alive lately. In Tampa Bay, it was like a group of bullies taunting a weakling, and to of his goals were a result of bad goaltending. However, they were also good positioning and good shots.

Against the New Jersey Devils, in front of 5,000 of their most rabid fans, not only did he have a goal, but he made a great, great, understated play. Wade Redden took a shot from the point on a 5-on-3, and Drury, whilst falling, poked the puck away from a Devil penalty killer who was looking to clear the puck. It landed perfectly for Nik Zherdev to easily slam it home for his first of the night.

It was another very good effort by Drury last night. With Scott Gomez out, he really stepped up.

Kevin Weekes, on the other hand, did not step up when his name was called. I respect Kevin Weekes. I think he is a great team player, a well-spoken athlete with a great will to win. However, his talent has subsided considerably since his run to the Cup Finals in 2002 with Carolina. 

The loss shouldn't fall solely on his padded shoulders. The Devils, undermanned and outmatched, stood no chance once the Rangers decided to play in the second period (the second straight game where the Rangers were lackluster in the first period and came alive in the second). Bad penalties because of a desire to cheap shot at every possible corner and a lack of the trademark defensive style of Devils' hockey is what did them in.

However, this season, Martin Brodeur had been keeping the Devils in the games, as he probably wouldn't last night. A shot like Drury's game that made it 2-1 was save-able, as was Lauri Korpkoski's goal. Whereas Brodeur has kept a mediocre-at-best team in games, Weekes let them in and the game was lost. (He was in position to save Zherdev's second goal, but it was deflected and went above him as he dropped down for the save.)

Personally, I want to see Weekes succeed, but for the fact that he plays in red and black.

Chris Drury, on the other hand, I love when he succeeds. 

Game of the Year

No, I'm not talking about today's Islanders-Flyers game. I will never understand the logic of scheduling games on holidays where half the working and college worlds will be unable to watch. Sure, kids are off from school, but it doesn't mean parents are automatically going to take their kids to the Coliseum. Hell, I worship hockey, and I wouldn't even spend a personal day at a hockey game. Days off from work are supposed to be spent doing as little as possible.

Anyway. Happened to catch the Red Wings-Penguins game on Versus tonight, and it's everything hockey should be. This isn't just because of the 7-6 final, though the high number of goals certainly doesn't hurt. The game was played at a high intensity throughout, and the Penguins' road comeback from a three-goal deficit is certainly something we're going to remember for a long time. (Note: Islander fans can now stop killing their team over Saturday night's game; even Stanley Cup winners blow three-goal leads at home to Pittsburgh.) With the national spotlight on this game, both teams delivered. If every game was like this, hockey would be back on the map in no time. Oh wait, I forgot... ESPN still won't pay attention because they don't air NHL games. Sorry.

Still, this was one of the best games I can remember seeing. It's probably the best I've seen since the memorable Finals between these two teams. People love to say how hockey used to be better in the '80s because of the high scoring, but it also had no defense and horrific goaltending. Tonight's game had the goals, but also some great defensive work and quality netminding by both Chris Osgood and Marc-Andre Fleury. Just about every player made at least one great play. That's all you can ask for.

As an Islander fan, I know the Stanley Cup isn't on the horizon anytime soon. So all I ask of my team is that someday, they play a game like this one. Give us a game we'll never forget, even if the result is a loss. We deserve at least that much. Same goes for Ranger fans as well. It doesn't need to be a championship. Just three hours of greatness. Is that too much to ask?

Life is Filled With Regrets...

Life is often filled with regrets. Maybe I should've asked a different girl to my junior prom. Maybe I shouldn't have intentionally beaned a girl in co-ed slow-pitch softball. Maybe I should've had decaf coffee before bed last night and I wouldn't have stayed up playing NHL 09 on XBox 360 until 4:15 in the morning. Maybe I shouldn't have written a college paper on a Jane Austen book and compared it to making marinara and alfredo sauces.

Last night, while not scoring any goals in my video game, I had a great idea to make a bet online about tonight's Ranger-Oiler affair at MSG. See, since the economy went down and I stopped making a lot of money at work, I have been (trying to) supplement my income with online betting. Overall, I'm up about $200 from the $100 I bought in for. Not huge money, but it's nice to know it's there if I don't blow it.

So the bet I wanted to make was called a "prop bet." A prop bet is when you bet on stuff, like "Who Will Have More Points, Chris Drury or Shawn Horcoff?" "Will Either Team Score in the First 10 Minutes?" The one I wanted to do was "Will the Game Go Into Overtime?" For a $10 bet, you would profit around $38. I was probably going to bet $5. I don't like losing a lot, so if I bet $5 I'm fine if I lose it.

My basis was the last 2 games. One was Messier Night in 2006 when the Rangers came back from a 3-1 deficit to force overtime, and Jaromir Jagr scored in the extra frame on a great shot to win. Last year, Chris Drury scored with seconds left to force overtime, and the Rangers became one of the many teams to lose in a shootout to the Oilers last year.

It seemed natural that this game would then go into overtime.

Yet, I forgot to bet it. I did make other bets. I bet that the Rangers would win tonight while the Penguins, Islanders, and Maple Leafs would all win tomorrow. That bet became null and void when Markus Naslund was entered into the shootout.

Anyway, I haven't seen the whole game yet, since I was at work. And to be honest, I won't write a review. NHL.com does that better than me. I'm not delusional. I know why you really come here: to hear about my budding small-money gambling addiction.

* * *

While on the topic of the Oilers, I had XM Home Ice 204 on in my car and heard part of Glenn Anderson's "acceptance" speech. Very good speaker and an emotional speech. Good to see him finally get into the Hall of Fame, he deserves it and he was very grateful for it.

Korpikoski Creates a Problem Again...

Well, Lauri Korpikoski was recalled. This is most likely a good thing for the Rangers, but it does (re)create some problems for the team.

First, the good. Remember when Nigel Dawes and Ryan Callahan struggled last season? For Dawes, it was his defense. For Callahan, he never regained his confidence and scoring touch after his knee injury. Both spent stints playing for Hartford in the AHL, and came back better than when they went down. 

Korpikoski struggled in the NHL after having a great preseason. Maybe scoring 6 points in 4 games would help his confidence and he can play like we know he can. (Admittedly, our reference point isn't huge - one playoff goal in one playoff game last season and a solid preseason.)

Now, the bad.

For the first handful of games up until Korpikoski was sent to Hartford, there were 3 healthy scratches per game, all on offense. Petr Prucha, Pat Rissmiller, and Dan Fritsche. Since Korpkoski went down, Prucha and Fritsche have been splitting time while Rissmiller was placed on waivers.

Okay. Rissmiller was placed on waivers but not assigned to Hartford. That means a) he can be placed back in the lineup without going again through waivers and b) the Rangers wanted someone to pick him up so they could pay half his salary and wipe their hands of him. Doesn't bode well for Rissmiller, who actually did play well with San Jose last year but hasn't been given half a chance in New York. For Pete's sake, he has under 18 minutes of ice time this season.

So he appears to be out of the question, but he could eventually be put into the lineup.

But now, the Rangers are back to 3 extra healthy forwards. Does this mean a move is imminent? I am not claiming to know anything, and I'm just playing Devil's Advocate here (not the movie, I hated that movie). However, I do know the Rangers tried hard to move Prucha. His $1.6M salary and lack of production last/this season hampered that, so Korpikoski was sent to the minor league and Prucha was put back on the ice.

It's a valid question at this point: Are the Rangers planning a move? My unofficial guess would be that no, they are not trying hard to make a move, but if someone offers something for a forward, they would seriously consider it. 

Live Blog: Islanders vs. Penguins

I could write a decent open to this live blog. But the Islanders' e-mail newsletter said it better than I ever could... "Commissioner Gordon Takes On The Penguin". Maybe Howie Rose and Billy Jaffe write the e-mail newsletter?

 - We begin tonight's broadcast with - get this - Stan Fischler making an interesting point. He suggested to C.J. Papa that as good as Sidney Crosby is, he might be even better without the pressures that come with being captain of the Penguins. Billy Jaffe disagrees; I'm not sure where I stand. But good thinking by the Hockey Maven.

 - Jaffe informs us that those of us watching in HD will get to watch an exciting game. Um, what about everyone else? Anyway, the HD feed is a little choppy. I feel like I'm watching a streaming video over a bad Internet connection. Those third uniforms look pretty sweet in HD, though.

 - Interesting lineup tonight, as Sean Bergenheim, Jeff Tambellini, and Tim Jackman are all dressed. Nate Thompson, unfortunately, is out with a groin strain. Figures. As soon as he shows promise, he gets hurt. Hey, at least they told us what happened to him; as Jaffe said during the last game, Crosby probably doesn't even know where he got hurt. I love Billy Jaffe.

 - Joey MacDonald looks fairly stout on the first real scoring chance of the game. He pulls an old-school DP move and looks behind him to see if the puck got by him. Thankfully, it didn't.

 - Eight minutes in, we go to our first commercial break... and I don't think the Islanders have a shot on goal yet. They've gotten nothing going offensively. Pittsburgh's doing a good job getting back, and the Islanders haven't had enough chances to get anything resembling sustained pressure.

 - Ad Break #1: Cablevision, Emblem Health, and "Redemption Song" with YOUR new WWE champion, Chris Jericho. At least there's some justice in this world.

 - Maxime Talbot takes a dumb slashing penalty, and we have the game's first power play. Howie points out that the Penguins have the league's sixth-best penalty kill. Suddenly, I'm not so excited about the next two minutes.

 - A tale of two minutes. The first minute was excellent. The second, not so much.

 - Ad Break #2: Bridgestone, Geico, McDonald's. I had a triple cheeseburger for lunch today. Tremendous.

 - Panasonic Digital Replay. Drink!

 - Howie and Billy go over the Penguins' stellar draft record over the past five or so years. I'm a bit jealous. But it also goes to show you - even when things look extremely bleak, as they did for the Penguins not so long ago, there's always hope.

 - Not much has happened in this first period, but we finally have a goal! Doug Weight knucklepucks one over the shoulder of Penguins backup Danny Sabourin to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead. I'm starting to like Weight more these days. This is probably because of his "Day in the Life" special on the NHL Network. Quality program. Anyway, Bill Guerin and Andy Hilbert get the assists. If the Isles can keep this lead until the end of the period, that'd be very nice.

 - Finally, end-to-end action shows up. We're starting to see the game we thought we'd see. Thank God. It only took like 18 minutes to get going, but the rest of this one should be fun.

 - Ad Break #3: Mercedes-Benz, Optimum Rewards, Ridgewood Savings Bank. You know, the one where the guy's jogging on the treadmill in the middle of the bank. I can't even remember the last time I was actually inside of a bank. You can do everything online these days. Why even have branches?

 - One minute left in the first period. One thing I never understood about the Coliseum clock - when the time goes under a minute, the clock gets very screwy. And even on TV, you can see it. It's not a smooth trip from 60 to 0; instead, it starts and stops for half-seconds at a time.

 - Intermission Time! Stan Fischler calls Mats Sundin "a spoiled brat" for taking his time deciding what he wants to do. He then predicts Sundin will sign with the Rangers. But the Maven isn't done. He calls Sidney Crosby a "stiff" and commends Pascal Dupuis for having a nice name.

 - Some sloppy hockey to begin the second period. Crosby gets hurt on the ice and for some reason, jumps over the boards instead of walking through the door that's opened just inches away from him. Still, he had a better shift than Ruslan Fedotenko and Thomas Pock, each of whom had awful giveaways.

 - Tyler Kennedy makes one of those plays you see coming a mile away, but you can't stop. He brings the puck over the line, passes it, acts like he's going to hang back at the blue line, then cuts to the net and taps in the easy goal. We're tied at 1. You have to tip your cap to Kennedy for that one. Nice moves.

 - The Islanders haven't rebounded too well from that goal. We need a fight. Of course, there's a penalty, so that's not going to happen for at least two minutes.

 - Sloppy PK work from the Islanders. Pittsburgh had a number of good chances, but somehow couldn't convert. The Islanders almost ended up with a home run pass to Richard Park, but no luck. Beats letting up a power play goal, though.

 - Ad Break #4: Bridgestone, some tourist promo, Panasonic.

 - A close-up of Ruslan Fedotenko, who has parlayed his 2004 playoff into yet another bad contract. Good for him. He'll be getting a great view of the Penguins from the press box sooner rather than later.

 - Weight takes a slashing penalty, which is just retarded. He had two guys right behind him; had Malkin beaten Weight, there were two d-men ready to take Malkin out. I smell a PP goal.

 - No power play goal. However, my six-month-old daughter let out two massive burps. Clearly, she inherited Daddy's flatulence genes.

 - Weight comes out of the box and enters into a two-on-one with Tim Jackman. Weight takes forever setting up a shot, which rebounds right to Jackman, who jams it home. 2-1 Isles. That's two points for Weight tonight. Andy Sutton gets the other assist. 

 - Still waiting for that fight. Jackman could be the guy. Howie says Jackman had six goals and five fighting majors in Bridgeport so far this year.

 - Ad Break #5: Geico, Lincoln, Marines. Immediately upon returning, we get a Panasonic Digital Replay. Hooray!

 - Howie drops the name of Dean Chynoweth, whose dad is being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Chynoweth's dad was the president of the Western Hockey League; presumably, he did a better job than Dean did as an Islander.

 - Suddenly, it's the Islanders who are taking it to the Penguins. They're getting the puck deep almost every time, while the Penguins are just getting it over the blue line and dumping it in (if that).

 - Just as I note the Islanders' ability to get the puck in deep, the Isles set up their third goal. Sutton gets it to Kyle Okposo, who has Hilbert as a screen. Hilbert instead positions himself for a pass, Okposo reads the play, and Hilbert has an easy goal. 3-1 Isles. That's another two-goal lead. Uh-oh.

 - Ad Break #6: NY Red Bulls (they need to win tomorrow), FSN Final Score, Qantas (the world's most experienced airline), and some show about Jon & Kate on TLC. Whatever.

 - And just like that, the Islanders get to work on blowing their two-goal lead. A bouncing puck eludes Bruno Gervais' stick, Jordan Staal hops on it, and puts a nice move on MacDonald to put the Pens within one. Howie and Billy have been talking about the subpar ice surface of the Coliseum all night, but that's no excuse. If you're Gervais and Staal gets by you, you have to absolutely maul him. Worst case scenario, he gets a penalty shot, which he pretty much already has anyway.

 - Penalty to Guerin. Here we go again.

 - Crosby makes a beautiful play to dump the puck in so that it bounces off the boards, then the side of the net, and right to a cutting Miroslav Satan. Jaffe tells us Crosby spent an extra 40 minutes after practice working on angling off the boards. I don't doubt it, either. This is something Wayne Gretzky used to do all the time.

 - Sean Bergenheim gets loose on a shorthanded breakaway opportunity, but Kris Letang is all over him. See, that's what you're supposed to do there. It really doesn't matter what you do in that situation as long as the other guy doesn't score. Good play by Letang, one of the more underrated d-men in the league.

 - Gervais gets whistled for doing... not all that much. Tough night for Bruno. The Penguins have had something like four power plays in a row; the Islanders have had one for the entire game. Just saying is all.

 - Intermission Time! I like C.J. Papa's tie. Stan's outfit looks like one of those shirt-and-tie combos you buy from Kohl's for $15. Stan wastes no time in breaking out the alliteration; this time, he says the Islanders need to use "aggression and acumen". Apparently that means "avoiding stupid penalties, none of this business about the ice not being good, Gervais should have taken the man, period." Meanwhile, C.J. Papa is trying not to laugh. Fischler goes on to state that Richard Park is "a ferret on the spore of a loose puck", whatever that means. But, as usual, he's not done. He then calls out the referees for not telling Scott Gordon why exactly they've called like 20 slashing penalties on the Islanders tonight. And just as C.J. is breaking into an awkward segue into the Family Fun Pack promo to end the segment, Stan stops C.J. and asks if he agrees with his take on the referees. C.J.: "I always agree with you. We're wearing the same suit, we have to agree." I swear, these segments are absolutely must-see TV.

 - We get a teaser for Hockey Night LIVE! Prediction: Of the 30 minutes of airtime, approximately 28 will be dedicated to the Rangers.

 - The third period opens with the obligatory "Islanders Blown Leads" graphic. Thanks, guys. The power play has a number of close calls, but MacDonald is game each time. After the final flurry, Howie exclaims, "Stan Fischler will be singing barnyard tunes after that one!" Have I ever mentioned how much I love the Islanders' broadcast team?

 - Pittsburgh has the first five shots of the third period. Nice to see the Islanders have learned their lessons from their many blown leads. If I were Scott Gordon, here's what I'd tell my team. "Look, if you try to protect the lead, you're going to lose anyway. Why not just try being aggressive?" I don't think coaches really think this way, but it'd be nice if they did.

 - Okposo gets a great feed in the slot and does that stupid thing where he goes down on one knee to take his shot, which ends up doing him in. If he had stayed straight up, he could have at least put a fake on Sabourin. Instead, it's an easy save for the Penguins goalie.

 - Pittsburgh is absolutely buzzing. This is like watching a stay of execution. You just know Pittsburgh is going to score, it's just a matter of when. How depressing.

 - Jaffe states that Andy Sutton has eight blocked shots. Wow.

 - A Matt Cooke shot rings off the post. Time to use that timeout, Mr. Gordon.

 - The Penguins are not only putting tremendous pressure on MacDonald, but they're also swarming the puck carrier every time the Islanders gain the offensive zone. I'm more than a bit worried right now.

 - We're halfway through the period and we haven't had a TV timeout yet. The Islanders have iced the puck three straight times. I love how Scott Gordon coaches with both hands around his neck late in games. Even Mike Milbury would have called a timeout by now.

 - Frans Nielsen gets open in the slot, doesn't shoot for some reason, but draws a penalty. Finally, a TV timeout! The Ice Girls are going to be awfully busy going forward.

 - Ad Break #7: Bridgestone, Marines, Emblem Health. And, of course, a Panasonic Digital Replay.

 - What an awful power play. No shots on goal, of course. The Islanders spent two minutes trying to make the perfect play, forgetting that two of their three goals tonight came on rebounds.

 - Ad Break #8: Infiniti, Christian's Children's Fund. Sadly, we're cheated out of a crappy third commercial.

 - Five minutes left in the third. Shots on goal this period: Pittsburgh 12, Islanders 0. About that whole "We're not going to sit on the lead anymore" thing? Yeah.

 - Well, we all saw that one coming. With 3:15 left, Pittsburgh ties the game. Kennedy deflects in a slapshot from the point to make it 3-3. Of course, they have to get your hopes up before blowing the lead. But you know what? They deserve it. Zero shots on goal in the third? You reap what you sow, and I don't want to hear another word about how the Islanders are "learning" about how to play with a lead. That's now FOUR GAMES OUT OF FIVE where they've blown two-goal leads. Even if the Islanders win this one, it goes down as a disappointment.

 - Ad Break #9: McDonald's, Lincoln, Islanders promo, Boomer Esiason Show.

 - The iO replay is Andy Hilbert's goal. Shots on the net. I remember those.

 - Jeff Tambellini makes a nice play. A blocked shot leads to a semi-breakaway and the Islanders' first shot on goal in the period. Whoo-hoo.

 - Nielsen gets a point-blank opportunity to win the game in regulation with just seconds left, but misses the net. Overtime. That's one point. Great. Two should be in the bank already.

 - Overtime Bonus Ad Break: NHL.com. Should've been a car ad. We've only seen 80 of those tonight.

 - Looks like the Islanders remembered how to play hockey in this overtime. We're seeing more of the team that played very well for two periods. I guess the time off served them well.

 - The final 90 seconds of this game just totally open up. It's reminiscent of the final round of a boxing match, when both guys are just letting the punches fly before the judges make their decisions. Both teams have their chances; the chippy ice hinders the options of both teams. It's a shame it took this long for the teams to figure out that they should just put ANYTHING on net, because it's the most reliable option out there.

 - Just to stick it to the Islanders, Mark Streit draws a four-minute penalty with two seconds left. Wonderful.

 - We're headed to a shootout. Sykora, Satan, Crosby for the Penguins; Weight, Guerin, and Hunter for the Islanders. I bet anything Satan goes to the backhand. That's all he ever did with the Islanders.

 - The Islanders have blocked 29 shots tonight. Wow.

 - Weight goes five-hole, but Sabourin gets a pad on it. 0-0.

 - Sykora puts on a nice backhand move to beat a sprawling MacDonald. 1-0 Pens.

 - Guerin tries to wait out Sabourin, who doesn't commit, and Guerin just shoots it right into Sabouin's glove. 1-0 Pens.

 - Satan eschews the backhand in favor of a Guerin-esque move. No luck. 1-0 Pens.

 - Hunter shoots one into the middle of Sabourin, who falls back into the net. It's called a no-goal. The officials call Toronto. The replay shows the puck go under Sabourin's left pad, which stays right on the line. You can't see the puck at all under the pad. It looks like the puck actually goes inside the pad. I don't see how this gets overturned. Not to say it didn't go in, but the evidence doesn't appear to be here.

 - No goal. Pens win the game, 4-3. That's a fair ruling. It's one of those calls where the call on the ice was going to stand no matter what. It's also fair that the Islanders, who didn't show up for the third period at all, didn't get two points out of this one.

 - Next Islanders game is Tuesday against Philadelphia. Those of us who have work won't be able to watch. Maybe that's a good thing. These blown leads are a serious, serious problem. And with the ending of this one, the focus will be on the ref's decision, not yet another blown lead. Seriously, if they can't figure this out yet, when are they going to? It's maddening.