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.