THE PRE-GAME SHOW: Carolina at NYI, 7:05 pm
Bettman trashes Coliseum…Wittless…Score-O!
(Gary in a 21st century arena)
11:25 am, NVMC - Commish Hits Hard: In an interview recorded for MSG Network’s “Hockey Night,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman makes his strongest remarks to date on the development of the NVMC property, sources tell Point Blank. The show airs tonight at 9:30.
Sutton Out, Probably: For 30 minutes after his last teammate left the ice at today’s workout, Andy Sutton was still skating hard under the watchful eye of assistant coach John Chabot. Experience tells us this means Sutton is out tonight and working his way toward next week. Hand injuries are usually given a very specific timetable by doctors to heal.
Chris King and I just tried a series of Jedi mind tricks at Andy’s stall to get the news out of him, but the son of a gun wouldn’t break.
Redundant School of Redundancy: No announcement from the Islanders on the status of defenseman Brendan Witt, whom we believe to be injured.
Hurricanes Injury Report: From their game notes - D Frantisek Kaberle (fractured leg), 2-4 weeks; F Tuomo Ruutu (leg), day-to-day; RW Scott Walker (left hand ligament surgery Oct. 6), expected to miss 6 weeks; RW Justin Williams (torn right Achilles tendon, sugery Sept. 18), expected to miss 4-6 months.
Based on the Islanders’ stated rationale that providing injury updates to fans amd media gives an advantage to the opposition, the Islanders should win tonight’s game handily.
Opt-out: The Islanders, who’ve done a lot of skating in practice lately, had an optional morning workout today at the Coliseum. Exercizing their option to not lace up: Richard Park, Trent Hunter, Jon Sim, starting G Rick DiPietro and Freddy Meyer. We’ve seen thousands of these skates and can tell you there will be no rhyme or reason to who performs well tonight and who doesn’t based on who skated or not this morning (did that line make any sense?. Sorry, I would have opted out this morning, too).
With the next game Monday night against the Rangers, expect a light practice tomorrow before getting back into systems regular work on Tuesday.
Tales from the Cryptic: Scott Gordon on the physical rehabilitation of injured 2008 first round draft pick Josh Bailey: “It’s been a slow process.” Two weeks ago, Bailey was listed as being out an estimated 2-4 weeks.
Before the rest of the volunteers skated at today’s optional workout, Bailey skated with Islanders strength coach Chris Schwarz.
Song Update: An over-hearing (as opposed to a mis-hearing) of the tweaked Islanders goal song reveals 6 screams of “HEY”! If time allows for the track to continue before the linesman drops the puck at center ice, there are a few “Let’s…Go…Islanders.” This is the kind of information you only get from Point Blank.
Islanders Royalty: Brandon Sutter, son of two-time Islanders Stanley Cup winner and captain Brent Sutter, makes his Coliseum debut tonight.
Pugilistic Prediction: Wouldn’t stun us if Nate Thompson gets in a scrap tonight with a Carolina fourth-liner like fellow middleweight Dan LaCouture (a second round Islanders draft pick a long time ago, traded for Mariusz Czerkawski). Wade Brookbank is the Hurricanes’ heavyweight who could be without a dance partner tonight.
Program Reminder: “NY Hockey This Week” on 1050 ESPN Radio is on today from 5-6 pm, so please listen on your way to Hempstead Turnpike, while you’re tailgating or on the old AM/FM at home. Our guests include Mark Parrish and we will be taking your phone calls.
SCORE-O!
The forward lines have been given enough consistent playing time to jell. The coaches believe the forecheck is coming around. The No. 1 goaltender is back.
Many of the pieces seem to be in place for the Islanders (2-4-0) to end their two-game losing streaks overall and at home. But it’s really hard to go there, not with another defenseman - not just any defenseman, but Brendan Witt - out of the lineup. The 3-2-1 ‘Canes - in the midst of their longest trip of the season while the Fair is in North Carolina - are coming off a bad one in Pittsburgh and had all day Friday on Long Island to think about it.
CAROLINA 4, ISLANDERS 2
Point Blank Record for ‘08-09: 4-1
Everybody’s got predictions. Put ‘em in Comments.
98 Responses to “THE PRE-GAME SHOW: Carolina at NYI, 7:05 pm
Bettman trashes Coliseum…Wittless…Score-O!”
Please Wait
Worst part of needing a new building, is that the Coliseum sight lines themselves are great…rest of the building is where the issues are.
Is there anything wrong with Okposo scoring a few goals tonight? I’m not being tough on the kid, but if he is so good, start proving it. I don’t want to hear “give him time”…. I was hoping this kid would be a star from the get go. That does happen in other cities, where a kid takes the league by storm. Come on Kyle, start being the Calder favorite we were told about.
With Witter out and only one semi-tough guy in Thompson, if they dont call up Fritz, think they may call up Jackman? The guy is a good skater and has a little NHL experience. Hes not the best fighter but that would make a us a little less soft. Maybe he can replace one of our non-productive wingers.
Hurcs ending a long road trip. Look for Isles to score early. Isles win it 3-1. Goals: NYI, Okposo, Campoli, Weight; CAR, Whitney
Bettman is no friend of this franchise - was it not him who gave us Spano ? He is praying the Lighthouse deal falls thru and the team can be moved to Walla Walla or London England.
Hey Chris, I wrote coment #26 on the Gordon stands up for his team article, could you please comment. Thanks, Mark
The Force is strong with Andy …
jim -power forwards take longer to develop their game
I’d actually almost welcome a full season in the ahl for okposo
Pat - Actually Betmann has been pulling hard on Nassau County to get this deal done but I have a feeling he is also reaching his breaking point with the County now. I hope this does not mean he got inside info that will not be to friednly to us in regards to the new building.
What’s with all the talk lately of bringing up a fighter? Have we been getting our lunch money taken lately and I’m not aware of it??
If Clint Malarchuk played for the modern isles I wonder if he would have been out with “General Arterial Spray.”
Folks,
Suozzi and the County approved the Lighthouse project with overspeed (couldn’t resist). It’s the Town of Hempstead that is the holdup (literally and financially).
6 screams of “Hey!” in the goal song? I guess that gives us 6 opportunities to chant “@@@ @@@@!”
Oh, wait, this is an independent blog right?
Then it gives us 6 opportunities to chant “You Suck!” Maybe that’ll get the song changed back? Rock N’ Roll Part 2 only gave fans three chances to scream it.
OK- so Glen, are you like eight years old?
3-0 Islanders…Okposo, Hillen, and Guerin score…DP is stellar in net.
let’s not bash okposo so freakin’ early. if he’s not producing come thanksgiving, then hey may just be a dud
Islanders-4:2-Hurricanes
Okposo with a goal, assist.
Rico with 29 saves.
As someone said before, the sight lines are fantastic at the Coliseum. I was in NJ for the opener and while the concourse is nice,the sight lines are not as good as at NVMC, i felt removed from the game (with $65 seats). At NVMC you are right on top of the action and the low roof makes it loud. Unfortunately, there hasnt been much to get loud about But the concourse definitely needs to be redone (about 20 more bathrooms please!!)
hye mike if you were at the game then did u see those girls coming into the bathrooms. that was stupid. some guy is like guy goes into girls room and its a crime but girl goes into guys room and its ok. he said that as security comes in and doesnt do anything. as for the game tonight, 5-4 isles. okposo maybe but guerin,comrie,hunter2 and if not okposo then streit.
2 pp goals btw. one hunter or geurin and one by streit. isles ftw. and we need a heavy. thompson vs either the guy botta said or gleason
Hey Mr. Botta,
You and the other media (all three of you) should play a game of chicken with the franchise.
Going forward, no information equals no press.
Enforcers pleased as punch with new stats on fighting
ST. PAUL, Minn. — There’s no use fighting facts. Bare knuckles are back in the NHL.
Hockey fights, thought to be heading toward extinction three seasons ago, have returned to the league with all the force of a Rob Ray right hook. Buffalo Sabres fans certainly should have noticed. The Sabres are among the most active pugilists, according to hockeyfights.com. Entering Thursday night’s game with the Minnesota Wild, the Sabres had six fighting majors, tied for eighth most in the NHL
Chris anyway you could pass this on to someone in Islander MGMT. Not sure if they got the memo!! Thanks!!
Nate Thompson HAS to drop the gloves with LaCoture tonight. Somebody has to provide a spark. If not, whats the chance of seeing Fritzie here on Monday against the Rangers? Isles win one tonight!
ESPN has a nice article on Tavares. Hate to be thinking draft this early but….
Snow better get Fritz and another fighter in the game for the Rangers and hope Sutton is back by then. Tired of this little sissy philosophy he is forcing on us.
have fritz play and thompson. agree with strummer. devs have plll, rupp, brookbank,clarkson and salvador for fights. isles have thompson.rags have voros and orr and dubinsky.philly has cote aong others and pitt has godard and others. we should have kept sugden and kip brennan
I’ll be at the game right where the islanders come out.. towards the goal, not the bench. you won’t miss my sneakers.
can’t wait.. but they better win!
Again I stress…the Islanders aren’t winning because they don’t score as many goals as their opponents (an astute analysis, I know). We can goon it up, disguised as giving a “spark”…but that won’t help win hockey games.
btw, there are many,many,many fighters for next year.
13moreyears, Its not gooning it up, its providing entertainment for the fans and protecting our guys. Dallas ran half our team without anyone saying anything, Peters punched Guerin in the head and ran Hunter, noone said anything. If theres an enforcer on the team, that doesnt happen.
13moreyears, The Isles arent going to be winning much anyway but alot of our guys have been ran and they deserve protection.
Whoops didnt realize I posted the first one so I posted the second one instead.
Clowns provide entertainment too, but I wouldn’t want them on my hockey team, so let’s not use that argument.
Another interesting tidbit about the Dallas and Buffalo games…they outscored us 12-4…while an enforcer would be nice, I’d rather have someone on the roster who can put the puck in the net. Having an enforcer on the team takes up a roster spot that could be used for more practical and productive purposes.
Well, we have an enforcer in the system not anyone to bury the puck unfortunately and I dont see Snow going to make a trade so why not protect the guys like Witt and Martinek (top d) that have been taken out by big hits.
While not a big scorer, I think Blake Comeau would be a better addition than Fritz. Neither Witt or Martinek were taken out by a cheap shot, so enforcer or not, I don’t think it will stop players from checking. Witt is capable of protecting himself, and with Sutton coming back soon, that’s another tough guy. Not only 2 tough guys, but guys who bring other very valuable skills to the table.
I don’t like any team that has only 1 of their top 4 D-men in the lineup particularly on the PK. The teams only chance tonight is to go hard and finish their checks to create turnovers and easy goals. Losing all the little battles faceoffs etc is showing on the scoreboard. Everyone needs to play HARD not just a few like the last game.
Amen to that 325CPA
6-3 Canes! D-Breakdowns coupled with Overslow! Remember Canes are a fast team we are about as fast as a turtle. Plus our heart is like the tinman before visiting the wizard. Have fun watching. I will be watching PSU. GO LIONS!
13, You dont think a knee on knee hit is cheap? I think Comeau would be great too, except in Hilbert or Tambys spot, neither of those guys produce.
I think an intentional knee-on-knee hit is cheap. I don’t think that particular one was intentional.
Predicting the outcome of a hockey game before it starts is like predicting who will win the lottery… Hey, you never know. (har har har)
13, scoring is not easy to get. getting an enforcer is a drive down from bridgeport. if you think that everyone would take fritz over someone like gaborik or ovechkin or kovalchuk your wrong.
nice job on espn chris ,we should put parrish on our pp what have we got to lose
Devils/Flyers game is AWESOME. Totally different than the BORING Islander game you will watch later. Hopefully Brookbank and Lacature will knock Fritz to the islanders after they realize they have NO answer for Fists to the face. We are playing in the NHL right(mens league), you would think this was a youth team at iceworks or something?
Fighting in the National Hockey League doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.
Despite a decline in the number of fights in the first year following the lockout in 2005-06 (0.38 per game, according to hockeyfights.com), they are becoming a big part of the game now.
According to the website, the league is now seeing 0.71 fights per game, the most in the past eight years.
Vancouver leads the league with nine bare-knuckle showdowns, while Calgary, Anaheim and Colorado are second with eight each.
“The game changed so much (coming out of the lockout),” Sabres tough Andrew Peters told the Buffalo News.
“I was the guy here, and I played only 28 games. At the start, the role was kind of being, not weeded out, but the future of that role was uncertain.”
Of course, the fact that the Anaheim Ducks led the league with 71 bouts in 2006-07 then went on to win the Stanley Cup proven that the use of heavyweights is important.
“Anaheim goes and wins the Stanley Cup with a tough, grinding, fighting, physical team, and I think everyone kind of took a step back and said, ‘Whoa, there still is a place in this game for that,’ ” Peters said. “It sends a message.”
This is off topic but is critical to the future of the Islanders.
In recent weeks I’ve talked with a number of politicians and I don’t like the feed back I’m getting.
The Town of Hempstead has once more postponed public hearings. This time until February. More likely there will be more postponements. The hearings were te held in August then November.
Further, the Town is making its usual unrealistic demands of the developers.
If this wasn’t Hempstead, I’d look at it as just business and negotiations as usual. However, I’ve followed Hempstead’s performance on other projects. Sad to say, but this is just how they approached many projects that eventually turned down.
Just a few weeks ago, for the first time I thought the HUB might get done, now I’m not sure. It seems incredible that any municipality could turn down 50,000 construction jobs and 17,000 permanent jobs. But with the Town of Hempstead anything is possible.
Kevin, I said it seemed odd that people would choose Fritz over Comeau, I said NOTHING about Gaborik, Kovalchuk, or Ovechkin, so lets not be ridiculous.
And, I agree, scoring IS hard to get. All the more reason to have Fritz stay in Bridgeport and Comeau come back to the Island. Just because an enforcer is easy to get and a scorer is hard to get, doesn’t mean we should stop looking to bring up potential scorers instead of proven fighters.
13 your missing what everyone is saying. We understand it is rebuilding and while we should be competitive (haven’t shown that much) we might not win too much this year. There is no point in losing the game and getting their asses kicked on top of it. We can at least win the fights and make our other players more comfortable. Al Arbour and Bill Torrey were adamant about having enough toughness so their players would feel comfy. No one is talking about not trying to get better players.
No one talking about pushing Comeu or our real talent aside.
What we are talking about is getting rid of guys like Andy Hilbert who DO NOTHING for an enforcer or two. This will make all the other players more comfy.
You’ll remember the Buf game where Witt had his head busted open on the ice, Thompson got jumped by two guys and lost his fight, and Bergy got jumped when trying to pull Rivet off Thompson. That was all before Peters even got off the bench. When he did on the next shift he punched our Captain Bill Guerin in the back of the head and Guerin has to skate away. No one did anything because there was no one on the bench who was capable of taking on Peters. Even a big guy like Sutton shouldn’t take on Peters. When players are intimidated they don’t perform their best.
Islander teams are tough and hard hitting and yes skilled. Plenty of talent on the wings but not enough at center yet and not the right kind of defense and toughness. What Snow is icing the past two seasons are really not what Islander teams should be.
Every other team in the NHL has plenty of fighters we want the same.
Here’s what I saw from that Buffalo fiasco:
Thompson, an enforcer in his own right, got into a scrap with Adam Mair. Craig Rivet intervened in this fight. Once this happened, Bergy actually jumped in to defend Thompson. Witt, another enforcer, fought and got beat.
We had 2 enforcers, Witt went down, but Sutton will be back soon, so there will still be 2 enforcers. That is enough. They just got beat in Buffalo…it doesn’t mean the team lacks toughness. And Bergy jumping in was a great sign of how the team sticks up for each other.
I agree, very disappointing that no one came to Guerin’s defense.
If you want to be comfy, the NHL is probably not the job for you. We have enough toughness. Let’s score goals.
Just another point…the score of the game was 7-1. I don’t think having Mike Tyson would help.
yea if we are gonna rebuild and all that then lets have some good fights if you come to li you might win but we get to f you up bad
Charlestown Chiefs, awesome!
Witt and Sutton are too important to be considered enforcers, they are just guys that will occasionally fight. Witt had one FM last year, he doesnt qualify at all, although he is tough.
Good enough. Get some more offensive production.
or at least try to
tambellini shanks it from 4 feet away
i see a lot more pep in their step tonight..this could wind up being a close game.. come on rick
down 2-0 much closer so far….
We’ve been outscored 6-0 in the 1st period the last 3 games. We’re not going to win going down early every game. It’s kind of just obvious.. We’re not very dangerous offensively. We can’t keep making dumb mistakes.
wow!!!! DP out!!!!!
Oh no, it can’t be, “I don’t believe in changing goalies”
gordon if hes not hurt your f in out of here get the f out of here go back to the minors you just benched the franchise
I think DP hurt himself on the last flurry of shots at the end of the 1st period. He was hunched over and a little slow getting back up to his feet. My guess is he strained something, maybe lower abdomen.
seriously….DP played like @#$% in the 1st…..he deserves to sit and watch
FMIV!!!!
Nice shot Fredieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Why do you want a goalie playing that obviously cannot get the job done? I dont know about the rest of you but i feel that DP has alot to prove to be the guy to build this team around for the future. I dont trust him whatsoever in that net
ding ding
jim marra_ you havent watched many islander games over the last 3 years .alot to prove where have you been
great 3-1
im sure wang is glad hes spending 5 million a year to have his goalie on the bench …bye bye gordon.. by the way nice save joey 3 _1 games over,,
yank rick on a saturday night game cause he made one stupid play ha ha bye bye gordon
RVC….did u watch the 1st period?
DP was horrible
DP has to learn WHEN to make a pass, and WHEN to dish it off to the d-men
ya dont yank tom seaver cause he gives up an early homer ive watched almost every period of the last 4 years
Very streaky and inconsistent. Creates many turnovers because of his “ability to play the puck” as we have now seen hes having some trouble dealing with the hip after two surgeries. DP has not been the same since 06-07 season and yea he has alot to prove that he can be the man to take us far in the future.
13 Witt and Sutton are not enforcers. They are guys who can occassionaly drop the gloves but not guys who can fight top fighters. Enforcers are skilled in fighting. What you saw in Buff was accurate except Buf even with the lead planned it and it caught the Isles by surprise. They do it all the time except we used to have guys like Isbister, Scatchard, Cairns, Asham, and Godard to destroy them. Ruff has been doing it since he was a player for Buf.
You only wanna talk about scoring. Everyone here is saying we need scoring but also we need better defense (which creates scoring) a more physical team (which creates offense and the room for the other guys to operate and is entertaining) and top fighters.
What we are all saying is it is not enough to have guys try to fight we want to win the fights. It is no fun seeing your team get beat up. Thus far this year the Isles have lost every fight and skirmish they have been in and again as any great hockey mind will tell you (Arbour and Torrey seemed to have known what they were talking about) players have to feel safe to perform their best.
You can get scorers like Ryan Kesler who has size, skill, is an agitator, a leader and can really fight (though not a tough enforcer)to play center. He’d be an upgrade. Guys can do it all. Lucic in Boston is the best example of a top enforcer who does it all. Getzlaf from Ana is a huge center with tons of skill and is an excellent fighter but again not a top enforcer. You have to have a blend. The Isles are too small and too timid the way they are constructed.
No one is gonna miss Hilbert, Thompson, Meyer etc if they are replaced by guys with size, skill and toughness.
RVC….if u have watched every period for the last 4 years………u hafta know that his puck-handeling has gotten worse and so has his decision making
WOW - could DP be washed up?..good thing we moved Luongo
THERE ARE FLIGHTS LEAVING SOON FOR MESSRS GORDON AND MANGINI
he ain’t washed up…..just has have better judgement with the puck
RVC has proven over the past few weeks to have zero clue about hockey.
DP gave away the puck on the 1st goal then gave up a juicy rebound on the 2nd …and to compare him to Seaver is premature to say the least …
strummer. u could hav not said it any better. also joe, dp looked out of position and you say nice save joeymac but he gave up one in one period and dp gave up 3 in one period so lets not fire gordon. last year yashin was demoted to the fourth line and look how much he makes. and teddy got praised 4 it.
im sure the fans that drove to the nvmc in the pouring rain on a saturday night ,,paid big money to park and get in the building are psyched theyre getting to watch joey somebody play goalie for 2 periods …
nice save joey way to give the momentum right back
Joe….why so bitter? DP doesn’t deserve to be in nets…
Lay off Joey, he’s a backup forced to be a #1 goalie
What a frustrating game. 40+ shots and 2 goals. Come on. Obviously the story tonight is going to be DiPietro. So what’s it going to be, Gordon being a hypocrite or the Isles saying that DP injured himself….who knows?
come on if youre gordon and you have any brains you lose the battle but you win the war ..like i said before wang signs the checks im sure he wants his #! goalie in on a saturday night.
Come on…freaking score on a penalty shot. That’s two this year.
Better bring up a tough guy 4 Monday….
even though they lost i was completely entertained and i saw massive improvements from the game against dallas. they actually left it all on the ice tonight. in my book it’s a moral victory that the isles can build on.
This guy Gordon has the Stirling stare like he doesn’t know what is going on?
We need a coach with a clue and a GM and Owner with that same clue!
get rid of those bad plays and this is a playoff team. great hit by weight but to bad he couldnt hit the back of the net on the PS. bring up fritz for monday and sit tambs. he was totally scared this game. think how scared he’ll be against the rags
same here guerin 13. i was jumping and had a lot of oohs and was very entertained.
Why Didn’t Guerin get the penalty shot?
I hope Sutter is okay. Even if it was a “clean hit,” the kid had his head down, Doug could have backed off a little.
It is a big drop from Neil Smith as GM and Ted Nolan as coach to Snow and Gordon. The owner wants yes men and the fans suffer.
Please don’t make Ted out to be a saint. He didn’t coach in the NHL for 10 years, and if you didn’t notice… he’s not working in it now. (um… and neither is Neil Smith.)
And yes, the Commissioner has lent his support for the Lighthouse project. Someone please call Nassau County. Sigh…
Good effort tonight! A lot of good things to build on.