Random Islanders Musings

Things are fairly quiet in Islanders Country. Or, at least it seems that way. They say winning cures all ills; we Islanders fans don't know much about that. But there's still some stuff to discuss.

 - A few weeks ago, I wrote the following about the Islanders... 

"The Isles are a somewhat respectable 5-7-1 since the All-Star Break, and they have a better chance than you might think at finishing the second half with a .500 record; of course, should this actually happen, you'll never see it mentioned once in any newspaper or on any talk show." 

And it looks like that's exactly how this second half is playing out. The Isles have improved to 9-8-3 since the end of January, and while a lot of people have noticed the Islanders' improved play of late, quite a few have not. The Toronto media loves to talk about how great they are, but they showed their ignorance when they asked Scott Gordon about the Islanders tanking down the stretch. What the Islanders are doing is not tanking. If you want to see tanking, look at the final weeks of the 2006-07 NBA season, where teams were falling all over each other to lose games. I'm talking, not playing their best players, inserting scrubs at crunch time, that kind of thing. Of course, among the most egregious of these tankers were the Boston Celtics, and their reward was an NBA championship the following season. Of course, they lost out on the draft pick they so coveted, but that's okay.

 - The demands of a real life prevented me from attending Point Blank Night II, hosted by the incomparable Chris Botta. I'm not mad because I missed out on the free food, but I am a bit upset that I missed some sort of announcement on the Islanders' third jerseys. We're all pretty certain these will become the Islanders' default jerseys at some point, and the sooner, the better. Even if it means my current home jersey - which I customized with #19 and no name specifically so it wouldn't become outdated - will be obsolete within six months. Those are the breaks, I guess. There's also quite the debate on Point Blank about what the Islanders' goal song should be. And let me just say this - if it's some classic rock song that came out 40 years ago, like The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again", I might consider becoming a Rangers fan. Look, this is a young team that's going to play an exciting style of hockey. The goal song should reflect that. As a fairly young person, I want to hear something unique and cutting-edge when the Islanders score, not the same old crap every other team does. For the record, I love classic rock, but come on already. Just about every classic rock song worth keeping around has been played to the point that it's a cliche. I don't want my team's goal song to be a cliche.

 - Islanders fans who are clamoring for more Islanders action are going to be pleased with the New York Islanders 10 Greatest Games DVD set. I bought this set for myself last week and was very impressed. The games are solid and are pretty unclipped, which is a good thing. I'm watching the Easter Epic as we speak, we're in the first overtime, and I can't recall an instance where any gameplay was edited out. Each game has an introduction by Billy Jaffe; these introductions sort of spoil the endings, but odds are pretty good you know what happens in just about all of these games. Some of the older games look a bit dated, but you're going to have that with games that are 25 or more years old, especially with modern upconverting technology. You'll be able to deal with the shoddy quality of some of these games, but you might be a bit disappointed with the commentary tracks. Since this is an NHL Productions release, we don't get to hear the likes of Jiggs McDonald; instead, we get the national feeds of these games. So if you're not a die-hard Bob Cole fan, you might want to either skip this set or employ the use of the mute button. Speaking of announcers, Gary Thorne is not present on this DVD despite his commentary being used in the commercial. That's a letdown. Anyway, little things like the packaging are nailed, and it's nice to see our team presented in such a flattering light. It's about time. Needless to say, we'll be making some sort of drinking game so that you can fully enjoy these games over the summer months.

 - If you really think about it, this Islanders season has been completely remarkable. The Islanders are essentially using the Bridgeport Sound Tigers' lineup - and winning. Meanwhile, the Sound Tigers, almost all of whom have played for the Islanders at some point this year, have the most points in the Eastern Conference. Looking at the Sound Tigers' stats for this year, I can count seventeen players off the top of my head that have played for the Islanders this year. Sure, guys like Mike Sillinger and Jeff Tambellini really don't count, but still. That's just insane.

It goes to show you how important it is to be on the same page throughout your entire organization. Both the Sound Tigers and the Islanders play the exact same system. Compare that to the Dallas Stars, who don't even have an AHL affiliate. I know the Stars are a bad example because they're a good team, but they're also not exactly known for breaking young stars into the NHL. It truly helps to have a minor-league affiliate that is not only playing the same style of play, but is also close by. Players can easily be called up to the big club without boarding an airplane. When compared with the Islanders' former minor-league locations in Chicago, Denver, Utah, and even Capital District, this set-up with Bridgeport is perfect. And the coming years should show even more evidence of this win-win relationship.

I'm actually taking a trip to Bridgeport in a couple of weeks to see the Sound Tigers play, and I can't wait. As excited as I am to see Jon Sim again, I'm really looking forward to seeing more of these young guys that I've only heard about. Selfishly, I hope guys like Jesse Joensuu are still in Bridgeport, but I understand if they aren't. After all, a number of current Islanders are reportedly headed back to Bridgeport once the season ends for the Calder Cup run. This group includes Kyle Okposo. It's a great idea to get these guys professional playoff experience; it can only help them down the line.

So many people have trashed Garth Snow for so many things, but he's done a great job with the Islanders as an organization. Hopefully, the draft thing works itself out, but even if it doesn't, it looks like the Islanders are on the right track. Again, it's about time.

Calm Before the Storm...

The day before the NHL Trade Deadline is always interesting. To me, it's like how the supermarket is always crowded the day before a blizzard or a hurricane - people are getting ready for the next day.

But instead of stocking up on canned corn, American cheese, blueberry preserves, and frozen dinners, NHL GMs are placing players on waivers and making room for additions and preparing for subtractions.

Some surprising names on waivers, too, including Gary Roberts, whom teams have interest in. You would think some team would have atleast offered Tampa Bay a late-round pick for him.

Islander Jon Sim is also on waivers. I asked Islanders' writer Bryan, and he made it seem like the Islanders want him taken so they don't have to have him on the roster next year (he has one more year at $1M left). Makes sense. He has 7 points in 5 games, including 3 assists last night, so maybe some team can take him while he's hot.

Miroslav Satan also was put on waivers by the Penguins. Surprising as well, because while he wasn't having a great year but he is only on a one-year deal, and he can contribute as a 4th line player. His whole career, people have been saying he hasn't been living up to his potential. Well, maybe his potential is 50-60 points a year only. (He also was the team's 4th leading scorer... you think they would atleast have packaged him in a deal for a higher-scoring winger?)

Of course, the big news here (and I guess in Calgary and Dallas) is that Sean Avery is back on the Rangers, immediately making my signed #16 jersey relevant again. His last game was on November 30 against Edmonton, where he scored a goal, had 9 shots, and played just over 18 minutes. Then, he made a joke and was suspended 6 games.

Here's who else has been suspended since Avery "was mean." (I probably shouldn't have put that in quotes since I said it, but, well, you know.) ...

Tomas Plekanec suspended 2 games for tripping. Mikhail Grabovski got 3 games for pushing an official during a scrum. Jarrko Ruutu bites someone and gets 2 games. Evgeny Artyukhin received 2 games for a knee-on-knee hit that had an intent to injure. Denis Gauthier gets 5 games for literally attacking Josh Gorges when he skated up to him and leaped into his head. Tyler Kennedy got 1 game for leaving the bench to fight. And this week, Steve Ott received 1 game for an eye gouge, also an intent to injure.

All of these offenses were less serious than a bad joke aimed at Jack Bauer's estranged daughter (Elisha Cuthbert) and a dirty player (Dion Phaneuf). And while Avery was banished from the league, Frans Nielsen returned from being Superman-ed by Mike Mottau (who received a 2 game penalty).

Hey, atleast Ryan Hollweg didn't get suspended by the NHL in that time. (Of course, that bum hasn't played since early January).

* * *

Anyway, didn't mean to get off topic, but tomorrow should be an interesting day. I don't think the Rangers will be doing too much, because of salary cap concerns. They can't be involved in "big splashes" because players like Scott Gomez, Chris Drury, and Wade Redden are nearly untradeable (because of the length/amount of the contract; poor performance; no-trade clauses). And they did have a productive day today, getting Avery, and putting Aaron Voros and Eric Reitz on waivers.

A couple of players, like Dmitri Kalinin and Nigel Dawes (and yes, even Petr Prucha) have expiring contracts and could be jettisoned for picks or equal roster players, like when Aaron Ward was shipped out for Paul Mara. (I could definitely see it happening in Kalinin's case.)

I do wish that they atleast got a low-round pick for Voros, but maybe that wasn't going to be happening so they put him on waivers, hoping he gets picked up by someone, or atleast he'll be off the books and playing in Hartford.

Then again, maybe Glen Sather only contacted John Davidson in St. Louis and Don Maloney in Phoenix.

Islanders Win Preseason Opener

The Islanders started their preseason on a positive note, beating the Bruins 2-1 in overtime. While it doesn't really mean anything, it never hurts to see the young guys playing well and beating another team, even if both teams were about a 50/50 split between NHL and AHL players.

Of course, since the game wasn't on TV last night - we wouldn't want anything to get in the way of the 2007 boxing match MSG Plus showed instead - we didn't get to watch this one. However, The Rivalry has come through with the real scoop on what happened last night. And away we go!

- The Islanders are back to their old tricks again, putting 38 shots on goal but only scoring twice. You have to applaud the effort that yields 38 shots, though you'd like to see more goals scored, especially against the likes of Tuuka Rask and Kevin Regan.

- The Islanders' winning tally was scored by Trevor Smith, which is all well and good. However, the Islanders have given him #77 for training camp. With all due respect to Mr. Smith, that number will always belong to Pierre Turgeon. Fun Fact: The last Islander to wear #77 was Cliff Ronning in 2003-04. Yes, I'd forgotten all about him as well.

- Jon Sim, the Isles' big catch on the first day of the 2007 free agent signing period, scored a power play goal. Everyone's already forgotten about Sim, but he should be able to do some pretty neat things on the Island. Sim also wore an A last night, apparently because there was nobody else better to wear it.

- New coach Scott Gordon claims he was expecting a "laundry list" of problems, but was pleasantly surprised. On one hand, so am I; on the other, it's a preseason game against the Bruins. It's not going to hold much water when they play real teams. Still, a nice starting point to be sure.

- New signee Yann Danis - remember that name - posted a clean sheet (or, as they say in America, a shutout) for the half of the game he played. Something tells me Danis is going to be on the big club before long. He's absolutely sick in NHL 09; in my Be A Pro season, his GAA is less than 1.

So, a quality opener for the Islanders, who could use a solid preseason to show their fans that the season isn't over before it starts. The Isles play again tomorrow night against the Flyers in London, Ontario. Again, no TV for this one, as the NetJets Showdown between Pete Sampras and Roger Federer is simply a must-see.