THE PRE-GAME SHOW: Hitch’s high praise for Filatov
Joey Mac…KO…positivity…Raffi…your predix
1:10 pm, NVMC: After today’s morning skate, Point Blank asked Columbus head coach Ken Hitchcock about Nikita Filatov, the Blue Jackets’ sixth overall draft selection in June whom the Islanders passed on to add picks. After scoring one goal over four games of limited icetime, Filatov was sent to AHL Syracuse, but by Hitchcock’s smile at the mention of the kid’s name you know it won’t be for long.
“Nik’s one of those players who come around maybe once every ten years,” said the coach. “He’s a gifted, gifted player. If you give him an opportunity, he’s going to score every time. How many guys do you know that can score from the top of the circles?
“Now he’s learning the trust part of the game with the other four players on the ice. Keep in mind that every place he was before he came here, he was the only guy with the puck. He’d never played on the smaller surface, never played the North American style, but still he has been so good for us.
“I’m hopeful that Nik’s time in Syracuse - whether it’s two weeks or two months - gets sped up. We’re really looking forward to having him.”
Other than No. 1 goaltender Pascal Leclaire, Hitchcock has his complete lineup tonight for the first time this season. The coach was asked about his team’s focus for tonight’s tilt at the Coliseum against Gordon’s go-go-go style.
“If we are not ready for the start, we will be on our heals all night,” said Hitchcock. “If we are, we’ll be all right.
“It’s a demanding style (the Islanders play). You don’t see too many teams play that way anymore. If the other team just throws their sticks out on the ice against them, the Islanders will beat you every time.”
ETC: Joey MacDonald gets the start tonight in goal for the Islanders…
Kyle Okposo will start with Bill Guerin and Doug Weight. Scott Gordon pointed out Weight and Guerin’s production on the power play, but said he’s still looking for the right ideal wingman to increase their production 5-on-5. Both of Weight’s goals and 2 of Guerin’s 4 goals have come on the power play.
Gordon on staying positive with his team: “I’m always going to see the optimistic side. We could easily be 5-5. It didn’t happen and we can’t pat ourselves on the back for it. But we’re getting close, and we have to take something from that.”
The Blue Jackets’ complete lineup for tonight includes the return of former Islanders bull-in-a-china-shop Raffi Torres, along with captain Michael Peca. Hitchcock said he wasn’t concerned with Raffi tonight, but more how he’s going to feel tomorrow.
Got a prediction for tonight’s game? Make it in Comments.
73 Responses to “THE PRE-GAME SHOW: Hitch’s high praise for Filatov
Joey Mac…KO…positivity…Raffi…your predix”
Please Wait
i’m going to the game tonight. do you think i’ll be able to get tickets?
isles 4, jackets 2
What? No Prediction from CB…Oh well, I guess I will give it a go…Isles 4 CBJ 1. Isles break the losing streak and game momentum for tomorrow’s game vs. the team I will never mention. Besides I’m traveling from NJ tonight to watch the game, so they better win!!!
Ah, Nikita…
I had already photoshopped you into your Islanders jersey lol.
Interesting thoughts from Hitchcock on Filatov (I can hear the uproar already…)
Tonight should be a great lab experiment. Matter meets anti-matter. Gordon’s pressure forecheck vs. sit-back-at-all-costs Hitchcock. May the more entertaining team win!
Isles 2-1, in a shootout, after Hitchcock warns his shootout-takers not to cross the center red line.
Thank God we passed on Filitov why the hell would we want a Superstar goal scorer on our team? When we have Bailey from A Wonderful Life. Snow You are a JOKE!
Mike, you already know Bailey is worthless? Wow! we all must bow to your psychic abilities. Pick some Lotto numbers why dont ya lol.
“Nik’s one of those players who come around maybe once every ten years”.
Enough said with that quote! Good job Snow!
3-2 Isles win.. But they will struggle.
TRAP when you get a lead … it’s all well and good to play an over-aggressive system to get a lead … but when you’re up 3 goals like Saturday with only a period to play, SMART WINNING teams dial-it back and trap the other team to a slow death … can’t we ever do this? is it too much to ask? IMO, playing overspeed for a FULL 60 minutes against NHL opponents will prove impossible … you’ll eventually tire out and start giving up odd man rushes or begin to get sloppy (like Saturday) … Coach, if you’re reading this, TRAP after you’ve got a lead you want to keep … i assure you, us fans will NOT get bored by trap hockey if we can hold a lead and WIN
Geez what the heck do u guys expect hitchcock to say. The kid is umm ok, will be a great 3rd liner one day for this team. Filatov is very very small and he didn’t even play in the top russian league.
what is hitchcock going to say? that nick s*cks? of course he has complimentary things to say about his team’s draft pick.
4-3 Islanders Win.
thank you 1984 and toorude for a little sanity on this blog… sometimes the Islanders suck and we should have kept Luongo stuff is a bit much.
DOC
4-1 Isles
Our beloved Isles will lose 3-1 tonight. As usual, there will be ~5k fans at the game, a third of which shall be screaming children. This season is going to be extremely painful.
5-1 Columbus…I want to be the GM…
isles 4 columbus 2.
isles 6 and columbus 2
It’s so easy to be critical. It really is taking the easy way out. Just rant and rave about whatever you don’t like… how you don’t get your way… about how the team stinks… about how Garth ruined your childhood.
When the Islanders turn it around and start playing consistent hockey despite not having any star power… (during this season) and then when the pieces fall into place over the next year or 2… then YOU will still be able to say how YOU stuck with this team through thick and thin… and never doubted them through the dark years.
DOC
BTW, I didnt predict 4-1 because I believe in this team, I predict 4-1 because Columbus isnt very good and really, really, how many more home games can this team kick?
bad deal: #2 for yashin. The rest, torres, pyatt, kudroc, mezei, connolly (injury), etc. all mediocore careers for 1st rounders.
I am fine with picking Bailey or Filitov.
I like the direction of the team overall and believe it is the proper course. It is just time to find the right d-men and players overall and stick with them. I didn’t enjoy the Hilbert/Tambelleni speel from Gordon….like we need another Andy Hilbert on this team. We don’t want the first Andy Hilbert!
If Hitch didn’t believe what he said, the comments would have been a bit more tempered, I think. That’s a pretty glowing assessment.
Obviously he wouldn’t have said the kid stinks if that’s what he thought, but probably more along the lines of “He just needs some time to adjust to the speed of the game,” or at least the AHL timeline would have been longer than “two weeks or two months”…and he even wants that sped up, haha.
I’m sure Filatov will be good. It’s a shame we didn’t take him. Hopefully the Isles’ picks will be worth the pass (my personal opinion is they won’t, but I realize it’ll take a few years before the draft can truly be judged).
The idea that Filatov is a once-in-every-ten-years player is pretty stupid given the goal-scorers that have emerged in the past decade. If he turns out to be better than Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin, Heatley, Gaborik, kovalchuk, Nash, etc. then I’ll eat my words. Otherwise, it’s typical head coach hyperbole.
And let’s give Bailey a chance before petitioning for Snow to get the axe.
3-0 Isles for the prediction tonight.
There is not way that this team could be 5-5, as Gordon stated. They did not show up for the season opener against the Devils, were blown away by the Sabres at home, as well as the Stars, had a gutless performance against Florida, only played two periods against the Rangers, and the Habs, were lucky to get a point versus the Flyers, deserved to lose to Carolina, because Weight shot the puck directly at Ward. So, as we can see, this team is not good. Also, moral victories do not equal real victories. After every game, Gordon states, “I see a lot of improvement,” yet we only have two wins…
Streak has to end sometime. Sadly it will probally be infront of 7 or 8 thousand fans.
4-0 Islanders.
I hope the Isles lose the rest of the way. I want Snow to have the #1 pick so he could trade down 72 spots to get the guy he always wanted. Isles lose tonight, fans start bring paper bags to cover their faces. The losses continue the paper will turn to plastic!
Don’t worry isle fans, Garth says in 5 years the isles will be good. There’s nothing to worry about! He has a Plan.
Columbus 4 Islanders 3 - in a Shootout - in front of 4,000 fans
Isles win 4-2. Okposo responds on the top line with a 2 point night.
I think the Isles win in a shootout tonight 3-2 final.
More importantly - I predict a TINY crowd tonight. Figure 3,500 fans to attend ( make it 7,000 if tomorrow is NOT a school day for ALL of long island - I have no clue as my kids are older now)
Pat
Isles 4 - Columbus 1
There really is a lot of hard words here regarding the Islanders. We all wanted this rebuilding plan, we all called for it, and I truly think that Snow made the right move trading down in order to build up some draft picks. Bailey will be a phenomenal second-line center, possibly great first line center some day. By grabbing such a great prospect, and still adding four other picks from it is huge for this franchise. If we are fortunate, we can grab Tavares in this year’s draft and for years to come our centers will be Tavares first, Bailey second. That appears very promising to me, and a great foundation for a winning team. Our prospect pool is much deeper now, and they are performing well in their respective leagues. (Check out DiBenedetto in Sarnia right now!!!). We also have three second-round picks in this years draft (ours, Toronto’s, and Boston’s). Our pick and Toronto’s will be first round holdovers that made it into the early second round!!! We are on a good path, and it will pay off in two to three years. Who knows, we might even pick up another first round pick along the way this season. The best things that could happen this season for the Islanders is the passing of the Lighthouse Plan, they get the first-overall pick in the draft, their prospects develop further, their youngsters on the roster produce big time for the Islanders and show promise, and as a sweetener, we pick up another first round pick for Mike Comrie at the deadline, obviously a partial dream on the last one!
Comrie for a 1st round pick?? I’m just saying
3-0 isles infront of 5,000 fans
Sorry didn’t notice that you wrote “dream” after that 1st round-Comrie thing
i say the isles win this one. they’ve been flirting with victory for the past few games and when they stick to playing the system, they look pretty good. cbj also is pretty bad. there’s probably 5,000 fans in attendence tonight. attendance won’t pick up until nyi start winning consistently.
I agree with Justin. I like the way the club is headed. It takes time to build, especially with a new coach and system along with many young players, coupled with the injuries. Detroit was horrible for many years before they won many cups. They got the right people in place and had everyone on the same page. They worked as a team.
Everyone last year wanted to see the kids. They got there wish, so lets support them and watch them grow.
First let me say if the Isles had a shot at Dustin Brown (that didn’t involve one of the untouchables or the first round pick) that they need to do it because he is exactly the kind of player we need.
That being said, hockeybuzz has all of a sudden started producing a ton of Isles rumors. It got me thinkin are they actual potential deals or what is going on. The conclusion I have drawn is the folks at hockeybuzz figured out how many hits pointblank and Newsdays Islander page has been getting and that they too want a piece of the Islander fans hits on websites. Hits are what make websites successful because of advertising revenue. That is what I think has been going on.
good call Strummer… i think you’re right.
DOC
Many of Eklund’s rumors are based off of his speculation, in my opinion. His theory of the Isles acquiring Khabibulin from the Hawks was something that I mentioned a month ago, and many other fans have brought it up as well. As soon as DP goes down, he was the first one to bring it up. Our extreme cap space is the directing factor for many of his “rumors.”
Justin M. - Well, we all wanted A rebuilding plan. I’m personally just not confident in Snow or Wang. When every other team consistently scratches their heads at the Isles’ moves, and announcers are left speechless on draft day, I just have a hard time convincing myself that we’re on the right track and that Snow and Wang are really outsmarting everyone else. As I said before, I could be wrong. That’d be great. I don’t think I’ve been too negative here this season, but I can completely understand why even people who wanted a rebuild are not on board. That picture in Newsday of fans at the draft party in the Coliseum (we all saw it on the website for about a month) says it all as far as what’s going through people’s minds.
eklund’s site is such bs, I mean honestly u think these gms are going to let it creep out who there thinking about trading. Even if the GM is not the source, the team would soon figure out who the source is and take care of that person. The GM definately doesn’t want anyone on his team to know ahead of time if he is being traded. Eklund just takes advantage of people’s curiosity and impatient nature.
To be honest, many fans are uneducated fans and simply go with what they hear other people say. These fans needed to do extensive research in order to generate a relevant opinion on the Islanders draft, and one that would have meaning in the long run. According to the best sources, such as the ISS, HockeysFuture, and many NHL scouts, the Islanders had one of the best drafts this past season in terms of overall depth, talent, and picks. I think what Snow did was phenomenal, and he will have yet another phenomenal draft this year. I feel we are on the right track, and this rough year will be forgotten rather quickly once we land a top-flight prospect in this year’s draft, let alone having four picks in the top 45-50 players availabe, three of which will be in the top 35.
Okposo is a bum…go gophers
One step closer to Tavares/Hedman…
5-3 Columbus
Getting no points vs Montreal was huge. Isles 4 Blue Jackets 2. At no point can we afford to win 2 in a row.
Eklund is a fraud top to bottom. I don’t have a problem with rumor sites in general, BUT ek is a pompus ass, he takes himself way too seriously.
This post is a t(5).
3-1 Columbus..with DP out its time to bottom out and try and get a top pick. heck, I don;t know what they have to gain by bringing DP back…like it or not, he has 12 years left on that contract…use this year to heal/mend/surgically repair his knees/shoulders and hope these top two picks are worth something.
If you can’t finish 8th, no sense finishing 10th or 11th
The crowd will be small, but not as bad as when they played during the Subway Series and had about 2,000 tops
I’m going off the charts and predicting a breakout/blowout game… 8-2 Isles.
isles lose again 5-4…tavares countdown to begin…i will be there and post the true attendance..i guess between 6-8k in attendance
I agree with BringbackNyles, makes no difference if it is 10, 11, etc… Only makes a difference for the draft lottery.
islanders lone tonight again im guessing 4-2 we lose
Hate to do it but Isles lose 5-3
Ahhhh I get so sick of the use of the phrase “The System” considering we hear it every day from bloggers and reporters and Gordon himself. Oh yeah, and I learn about “The System” in my World Politics class when studying Hegemonic Control/Stability. I swear one day I am going to answer a question wrong on one of my exams b/c I will confuse the two “Systems.”
Sorry about that rant. I never predict scores, just hope for the Isles to win.
4-3 Isles.
KO with a KO
When a team rebuilds they need a centerpiece to rebuild around. The one guy who has talent beyond all of his teammates who when the team is ready to win will be a leader, prolific scorer and a clutch player . Among this cast the only possible centerpiece is Okposo and although i like his upside i do not see him as that centerpiece. Dp? i think dp is closer to being a guy on the way out then a centerpiece…bailey? projected 2nd liner…may emerge as a good player but not a centerpiece. Tambellinni? i dont think they ever thought so…..which is why i believe snow made the critical mistake at the draft that will haunt us for a long long time.
4-3 Jackets in OT….Peca with the winner.
I am really hoping for a win tonight. How about a 3-2 nail-biter? We need it…
NY711OT…I think you are really exaggerating and being way to dramatic. DP on his way out?! I really hope you are joking with that. If anything, we should feel bad for him. Our defense has been lackluster the last few seasons, putting more and more pressure on his shoulders to perform, and he did just that. His injury right now will be taken care of properly, and it would not shock me to see him out 8 weeks so that he can fully recover and use the remainder of this season as conditioning for next season. As for our prospects, I do believe that Okposo, Bailey, Comeau, Figren, Bergenheim, Nielsen, and Tambellini is a great foundation of players. Coming with this draft is the possibility of Tavares, that extremely highly coveted number 1 super-star center, or Victor Hedman, the next Nicklas Lidstrom of this generation. I really think you are being too dramatic when you say this past draft will haunt us for a long time! Just wait and see how well Ness, Trivino, Bailey, Petrov, and Toews develop before saying they won’t work out.
I hope u r right and I am wrong. but imho none of the guys u mention (still believe in tambellinni eh?) are centerpieces…christ comeau couldnt even make this team..??…???
i think bergs, okposo both have good upside….not centerpieces. figren…liked what i saw at wjc but not a centerpiece. look i love the islanders but the talent assessment here has been off for a long time….nielsen shows glimpses but he is out of position so often its lik hes never been coached.
as for hedman and tavares i will bet u today that the isles get this overspeed thing by mid year and finish with third overall pick or worse(see scissons…. jagr)
All it is going to take is for Filatov to emerge as a 50 goal scorer for us to rue the day we passed. not dramatic but pragmatic.
That’s a lot of empty seats..
Frtiz-Thompson-Hilbert with the only good shift of the game, this is the most boring, disgraceful start Ive seen so far minus their shift.
These refs hate Sim.
What’s up with Comrie acting all responsible suddenly. What scouts are here?
Hey! Sorry to not read all the great comments above CB, but wanted to say nice job on Home Ice tonight before the game. I was in the parking lot when you segment started and I didn’t come inside till it was over. Yep. Always good to hear you on XM!
Okay, we’ve got Chili. Back to the game!
Comrie costs us the goal, thanks jerk!
Great we won…yay. Another 3 goal lead blown. But hey we ROCK for 40 minutes!!!!!
looks like parrish might have signed with stars, according to the star tribune (minnesota newspaper).
heard anything CB?
Hallelujah!
witt, martinek and meyer cant come back soon enough.
How does Gordon address the team after this one? Gotta be happy to end the losing streak but come on now another blown lead. These guys gotta start playing with some confidence
witt, meyer and martinek will most definitely help the blown leads, however we still have time for that. We need to take less focus off overspeed and more on the neutral zone trap when we have a lead over any team with three goals.
but hey, we got the win! Good to see Campoli buzzin out there too!