PRACTICE: ICEWORKS, 10.15.08
1:30 pm - Yes, the sun came out again
1:30 pm - Back to hockey today, as Scott Gordon put his team through an 80-minute practice, ending with a shootout. The lines and D combinations were essentially the same, but of course everything is subject to change when the puck drops Thursday in Tampa Bay and Saturday in Sunrise.
After practice, the coach gave his state-of-the-team address to a trio of reporters.
“We’re 1-2, maybe could be 2-1. We played 3 games in four days without some of our top defensemen and without our No. 1 goaltender. Monday is not what we wanted, but it’s going to take some time and patience.
(one of two men in on The System)
“It’s not going to correct itself overnight. We’re asking most of our players to play out of our comfort zone. Andy Hilbert and Nate Thompson have played for me, so we have 16 skaters this is new to. It’s instinctive. As disappointed as I was with Monday, it’s part of the process. You can’t get down on one game.”
Gordon, one last time, on his thinking Monday not to start DiPietro in the third: “I was thinking that, at 5-0, we’re not going to jeopardize the progress Rick had made to that point.”
Notes: Rick DiPietro was on the ice for a total of close to two hours today and after practice said he felt really good. And that’s about all I got on that one.
Mike Sillinger, Andy Sutton and Chris Campoli have begun skating. Would be surprised if any of them are back before Nov. 1, but they are taking the steps to get back into the lineup.
Greg Logan has a post today from his conversation with Scott Gordon, along with a hunch that Joey MacDonald will start Thursday and the likelihood of DiPietro getting the start Saturday against the Panthers. We all know how solid our goalie predictions have been so far!
Should have another update in an hour or so after a little fact-checking. Spammed rumors in the Comments space notwithstanding, this is a professional outfit.
****
10:45 am - Rick DiPietro is on the ice with goalie consultant Sudsie Maharaj, getting in over 30 minutes of extra work before the rest of the team takes the ice for 11:00 practice. Joey MacDonald is there too, as well as rookie volunteer shooters Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen.
Scott Gordon just walked by with a message: “I’M HERE”!
39 Responses to “PRACTICE: ICEWORKS, 10.15.08
1:30 pm - Yes, the sun came out again”
Please Wait
Lets hope this is good sign for DP and Gordon…storm clouds are a brewing.
sounds like gordon heard yesterdays false rumor and has a good sense of humor about it. chris, do you have any info on the isles 3rd jersey? i thought it was supposed to the vintage ‘72 but the isles website is saying that it’s a “new” jersey.
Well a Gordon sighting should put any negative views to rest.
Let us know how the franchise does today in net.
Ok now can we all just relax? To me, there’s no way Mac starts in Tampa Bay. And Coach Scott and Ricky get along just fine. If two Mass. boys don’t get along we got ourselves a brawl in the Iceworks parking lot. :o)
“I’M HERE”! <–
Hahaha, nice!
Glad to coach is back…I think?
The “new” jersey is the 72 throw back. Greg Logan confirmed it yesterday during his live blog. Why are they calling it new…who knows?
Fritz up with the Isles?
http://forum.connpost.com/soundinoff/
i think they are calling them “new” uniforms because they are going to have solid royal pants. the 72-73 team had stripes on their pants. it seems silly to make such a big deal about it, but i guess they want to keep the fan base on edge until the actual announcement is made
never under estimate a hot goalie and lets not forget how freakin good rick really is if hes healthy hes as good as anyone HE DOES SOME SICK SHIT ….hes the only shot this team has of keeping it together and letting these young guys learn as they go .LETS GO DP GET US GOING!!!
Hey fans, would it be a good idea to have shakey krouse as our backup tomorrow night? I’m all out of options, I need your help because I have no idea what to do!
The new jerseys will have a message on them that says “Maybe I’m injured, maybe I’m not but if I am I won’t tell you where” and then the logo will be a 3 year old kid sticking out his tongue.
Islanders website says:
“For the first time since 1996, the Islanders will skate in a game wearing a completely new uniform—including a new jersey, pants, helmet, gloves, and socks”
also Terry Goldstein says:
“Looking back at the Islanders uniform history, I noticed that there had been no change in the total Islander player uniform since 1996 and seized the opportunity to bring our fans a great new look,” said Terry Goldstein, the Islanders Director of Retail Operations. “During the past 15 months, I have worked very closely with our Head Equipment Manager Scott Boggs to engineer the change in the player equipment to coordinate with the new uniform.”
idk, 15 months would be a pretty long time to work on a vintage jersey dont you think? and they do say the entire uniform is completely new so it can’t be a remade throw back. guess wer just guna hav 2 wait & c 4 shur… …lets just hope they dont try 2 make a new logo again!!!
Does anybody know how many other teams are not disclosing injuries? I know the NHL made it optional but I wondering how teams are actually doing it?
“Scott Gordon just walked by with a message: “I’M HERE”!”
That was a GREAT line Chris!! made me laugh..
Most other teams are just using their brains on a case by case basis which is THE WAY IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN! Only the Isles are unable to distinguish between say a concussion where you obviously don’t want Sean Avery doing back flips onto someone’s head and say a tweaked hip flexor which I wouldn’t have any friggin’ idea how to make worse if i was an opposing player. As always the Isles are trendsetters. Icegirls…good. Not being able to distinguish between a targetable injury and a no big deal situation where you can put your customers’ minds at ease…bad.
Note to Isles: Blanket policies that leave rational thought at the door are the stuff of disfunctional government agencies…not succesful businesses.
Yeah… it’s really not good for the paying customer. I would think the NHL has a obligation to those people. But I guess that’s what the marketing department came up with to help “revive” the sport. Let’s not disclose injuries…good one!!
Ice Girls - I have no problem with them as long as they stay off the ice.
I believe the jerseys took longer than expected because they came in WRONG the first time.
And you’ve got to love that new england sense of humor…
What are they going to do with the beaming orange 3rd jersey now? Is that now the alternates alternate 3rd jersey??? :-/
Chris,
Any offical word about Fritz?
If DP practiced today, it will take 24-48 hours for any new signs of swelling and inflammation, then additional time for the swelling to subside. Personally, I think they should sit him until the swelling stops after intense practicing/games and bring in Danis in the mean time.
Where did Sudsie Maharaj come from? I know he has been around the Isles for awhile but where did he come from before he got to the Isles.
Did DP take shots?
One last thing…Thank God for these blogs. I was on the Isles official Web site and the first thing I see is “Let’s get ready for the new jersey.” No offense but I am still feeling the Monday loss and with all the inside stuff going on it would be nice to see an update or two. How is Bailey doing and what is with all the secrets???
Sudsie Maharaj was on the Iraqi National hockey team. I remember him being a starpping fellow with a lot of chest hair.
The new uniform is all about $$$$$$. Come on, its something new to sell. Just another way to make money!
I may be dead wrong here, but it seems tough to execute an “overspeed” system when your first line is Sim-Weight-Guerin, and you have guys like Hunter and Sillinger (when he’s healthy) in there as well. While all have talent, none are lightning fast skaters at this point in their careers (Sim and Hunter are younger, but not exactly speed demons).
it seems Buffalo was able to effectively execute what Gordon is ultimately looking for because they have the right players for the system (obviously lack of familiarity, as Gordon noted, plays a big role also).
It’s going to take a skilled GM to bring in the right players over the next few seasons for what Gordon wants to do, but signing Weight to be the first line center, and extending Hunter for multiple years, then bringing in a coach who is all about pure speed makes me raise an eyebrow regarding Snow’s thinking.
WTH is with all the complaining about the alt jersey? There are a lot of people who WANT to see and be able to buy a retro style jersey and now they are going to get what they want. Why anyone is complaining about that, I have no idea.
As far as it being “all about $$$$$$”- so? Many people have asked for this and can buy them if they want to- whats the problem with that? If the team makes money by offering something that people have asked for and want, isnt that a good thing? Sheesh!
Hey I will probably buy one! I understand they squeezed what the could out of the last one and its on to the next one. Just stating the fact. Its marketing.
So is Fritz up or what????
You missed the point. Anyone with any marketing sense would not ask anyone to buy anything right after a one sided flop against Buffalo let alone on bring your kid day. I was pointing out that there are big issues at stake with DP and the rest of the injuries (Josh Bailey). Rumors about Gordon, etc. How about selling the product by keeping the consumer informed.
I probably will buy the new jersey too.
The Isles got rid of the last third jersey because the entire NHL got rid of all third jerseys once the NHL went RBK.
This season the Isles are one of numerous teams introducing a third jersey. Many of them are retro, just like the Isles re doing.
Marketing something people keep saying that they want is smart- there is nothing to ridicule about that.
yeah whats all the talk about fritz? are they listening to us complaining or are they seeing that were getting sh!t on out there
GO ISLES
The unveiling of the 3rd jersey has been planned for months, they didnt just whip out this idea now.
you say anyone “with any marketing sense would not ask anyone to buy anything right after a loss against Buffalo”.
So in your opinion what are they supposed to do- cancel everything they were planning about unveiling it because they lost a game? Come on.
Just crunching the numbers…With an average attendance of around 9,800 per game, if 75% bought the jersey we are looking at a little over $1 million. Granted that is a low estimate given there will be purchases by non attending fans.
Let’s fill the seats first with a solid product.
Chris TMC - I agree with you, but the complaining is probably due to many fans not caring if they play in just their equipment with no jerseys, we just want to see a good team on the ice. The Islanders organization has been notorious for an increasing amount of gimmicks as the product on the ice becomes worse. But in this case, I agree with you about the jerseys.
I hear you Chris, just seemed the timing was off a bit. Would have liked to see some good team info on the lead slide of the Website. Not saying they shouldn’t roll out the jersey. Just get tired of Money..Money..Money - $6,000 for the two year plan, $159 for the center ice package, $350 for two Reebok Jerseys…..
Isles win over the Rags…Priceless
Let’s Go Islanders!
Come on. They cant time somthing like this. It take a Very long time to design, manufacture and promote im sure.
It like concert Tees. Even the shitty bands sell em.
But it is about one thing. $$$ Thats it.
Not pissed, just facts of business.
Wow, ‘blog commenter who pretends to be someone else but will remain a mystery because they are too scared to declare thier own username’…tell us how you really feel?
First off, Sudsie is from Trinidad.
I know he’s done work with Hockey Canada and played hockey in college.