SILLINGER CLEARS HIMSELF TO PLAY
No word yet if NYI will activate him for Thursday
12:15 pm, Iceworks - Mike Sillinger says he’s ready. Now it’s up to the Islanders to decide if they are ready for him.
The last player off the ice today at an optional skate at Iceworks, the veteran center declared his three-game conditioning stint with Bridgeport (AHL) a success. He assisted on three goals in his first game and then scored a goal Friday in a win over Hartford. On Saturday, facing a true test of back-to-back games, Sillinger was scoreless as the Sound Tigers lost 4-1 in Worcester.
“I’m not a miracle worker,” Sillinger said today, “but I’m hopeful I can contribute a good two-way game to our team. The guys have done a real good job lately, keeping us in the hunt and just two games under .500. I’ve done everything the organization asked me to do. I’m confident I can contribute.”
The 37-year old center said he never considered retirement and he appreciates every game he gets to play in the National Hockey League. “The guys who give up, who don’t give their all, they don’t last in this league too long,” he said. Sillinger added that the aggressive forecheck system employed throughout the Islanders system did not tax him in Bridgeport. “If I wasn’t ready to play it, I wouldn’t have gone to the AHL.”
Turns out Sillinger was far from the oldest man in the game in Worcester on Saturday. Playing for the Worcester Sharks was 43-year old right wing Claude Lemieux, attempting an NHL comeback. “He looks great,” said Sillinger, who wished Lemieux good luck the first time he saw him on the ice.
While Lemieux’s road back is longer, Sillinger says he’s ready for Thursday when the Islanders play in Washington. The next step is the green light from the Islanders. As of noon today, there were no official roster announcements.
UPDATED, 1:35 pm - A league source tells Point Blank the Islanders are expected to place Sillinger on the active roster in time for Thursday’s game.
ETC: Asked by PB after the workout today if he - if not the medical staff - has cleared himself to play, rookie wing Kyle Okposo said, “Not yet.”
Excellent report from Greg Logan in Newsday today about Mike Comrie and the possibility he came back too soon after offseason hip surgery. Fans now have Comrie’s side of the story explaining potential reasons for his struggles in the early part of this season. On the day Comrie was shut down to rest, the Islanders announced the center would be out “day-to-day.” From reading Comrie’s comments, it does not appear he viewed this as a day-to-day situation.
37 Responses to “SILLINGER CLEARS HIMSELF TO PLAY
No word yet if NYI will activate him for Thursday”
Please Wait
It will be great to see Silli back in the lineup. Hopefully it begins Thursday and he can stay healthy for the rest of the year. For those who have not met Mike, he is definitely one of the good guys, and I wish him well.
It doesn’t need to be a miracle, just a little luck! Welcome back!
All I want for Christmas….
Sillinger’s always been one of my favorites on this team for so many reasons, but mostly for the work ethic. I know there is the whole “he should retire and coach” contingent of fans, but I’m pulling for him to be a player again. I hope he comes back to the same form he showed when he and Hunter were shutting down top lines and scoring 20+ goals two years ago.
Welcome back, Mike!
Looking forvard to see you on the ice and win some face-offs for us.
The Isles have a desperate need for someone who can win key faceoffs, so I welcome Mike back with open arms.
I’m curious to see who will sit. I’d have to think perhaps Tambellini has reached that proverbial crossroads CB was referring to a couple of nights ago…
Tambys gotta go, hopefully Sim after that, Jackman/Thompson has made for a decent fourth line. If we lose them, we lose all our toughness so I hope they make the right choice in who to send down. Silli will hopefully give us another push in the right direction.
Bring up Fritz or Haley from the Bridge…
Hmm I’d forgotten Colliton is up with the big squad now; he’s probably the likeliest to be sent down. Tambellini’s still got a few more chances to push things in the right direction.
Great news about Sillinger, looking forward to having him back!!
Didn’t Comrie have to have a physical before he came back? What’s that all about - they knew he had the surgery, they shouldn’t have even let him play. At that point he’d had just 5 months to heal something that takes 8-10. Somebody didn’t act responsibly and that bothers me. Well hopefully when he comes back he will start getting the pucks in the net pronto. I have not been supportive of him late last season or this one but it seems like I may have been wrong so I wish him luck and a total (if not speedy) recovery.
How does he have a few more chances? The guy has like 4 goals in 100 NHL games.
On Comrie - I thought it was his shoulder that was hurt all last year because his shot completely fell off from how it was in the beginning of that season. But I guess a hip can affect that too if you cannot transfer your weight properly. Hey, if the guy comes back and plays the way he did when he first got here, that’d be great - both for the team and for his own value (selfishly, I’m thinking trade value, but he’s probably thinking FA value). A lot of us pile on the guy, but I had trouble keeping pace in beer league hockey with a bruised knee, so I can only imagine how hard it is to keep pace with NHLers on a damaged hip that actually needed surgery.
Just what a rebuilding team needs …a 37 year old center to come and eat up ice time …this is the kind of stuff that frustrates me as a fan. I can be patient during “rebuildings” but not when I see old farts on the ice …just my opinion …
Would you rather have Tambellini center the third line for 20 minutes a game? This is great for Bailey because he might get more ice time against weaker players.
Not arguing with you in the least, Joe. Something needs to be done with Tambellini, and it doesn’t involve giving him more ice time at the NHL level. But, just looking over the roster, it would seem that Collition is most likely to be sent to Bridgeport.
Gotcha, James. Unfortunately I agree there. Collition has looked good too.
When Okposo and Sillinger return, I suspect that Colliton will be sent down, and Tambellini will become better acquainted with the press box.
From Fornabaio’s Sound Tigers blog:
Bits and pieces, for the moment
–Tim Jackman and Jeremy Colliton are here; Sillinger has obviously gone up. No word if these are long-term deals, or if either might go back up after Wednesday.
–Haley, Fraser and Joensuu (upper-body, had a doctor’s appointment coming) are the walking wounded.
–Two people have told me Pock clears or doesn’t at 3 today.
So far this season NYI are 0-2 with players returning from injury ‘too early.’ DP and Comrie, now, both are sitting for LONG stretchs to completely recover.
Let’s hope Sillinger is 100% medically cleared to play.
BULL! I absolutely wont support this pussified team. They seriously sent down both of them? Just awful, softest team in the league.
AZS- Sillinger is in the final year of his deal. They just went with the full rebuild this past year. They are not going to buy him out and he earned the right not to be a healthy scratch when he comes back. If anything he plays well and we could get something in return for him at the deadline. Look at the whole picture.
Joe- They almost had a full week off between games. It’s not the first time they sent someone down and called him back up before their next game. Relax bro….
Next Islanders roster moves before thursday’s game should be:
Colliton to Bridgeport
Activate Okposo
Activate Sillinger
Send Tambellini to Brideport for a 2 weeks conditioning stint
Lines:
Bergenheim Weight Guerin
Hilbert Bailey Hunter
Sim Park Okposo
Thompson Sillinger Jackman
Great way to put this Botta
2008 draft results:
Would Have Taken 5th - Luke Schenn or Filitov
Instead Came Away With…
Josh Bailey
Aaron Ness (2nd round)
Jyri Niemi (3rd round)
David Ullstrom (4th round)
(and the oportunity to take Kirill Petrov with one of the extra 3rd round picks)
Toronto’s second round pick in 2009 (So I mark this trade as incomplete)
Colliton will get sent down, Tambellini will stay up. You have to understand that Snow brought in Gordon for guys like Tambellini, Nielsen, Okposo, Comeau, etc. Nielsen flourished tremendously, Okposo is coming along, Comeau is in the minors due to his skating, and Tambellini is failing, however, he will stay in my opinion. For Thursday, I feel we may see the line-up look like this:
1st Line: Bergenheim-Weight-Guerin
2nd Line: Hilbert-Bailey-Hunter
3rd Line: Tambellini-Park-Sim
4th Line: Jackman-Sillinger-Thompson
I was going to say that Tambellini would be on a line with playmaker Bailey, however, I feel that those two are still working on their defensive play, therefore, Hilbert will be there in my opinion.
PS - For all the Hilbert naysayers, I am so glad I stayed positive on him, because he is playing GREAT hockey. He is on pace for 20 goals, which is something I thought I’d never say. I think he should be resigned for three years, on a deal very similar to Richard Park’s.
Edit: I forgot that Okposo should be healthy in time for Thursday’s game against Washinton. Here are the lines that I feel will play:
1st Line: Bergenheim-Weight-Guerin
2nd Line: Hilbert-Bailey-Hunter
3rd Line: Sim-Park-Okposo
4th Line: Jackman-Sillinger-Thompson
*Tambellini will be sent down for a two week conditioning stint, in my opinion. He needs to score a goal to remember what it feels like!
“BULL” what, Joe?
The Islanders dont play until Thursday… dont you remember the end of last season, when players were doing double duty and going back and forth? Like botta already pointed out, you dont know who is going to be on the Isles roster yet- so chill out!
They are stuck with Tabellini. Snow gave him a 2 year 1-way deal.
Brian G.
First line ok….
I say the rest should look like this
Hunter Bailey Okposo
Sim Thompson Hilbert
Park Sillinger Jackman
IMHO
Also to Joe - B’Port obviously has some injuries they’re dealing with, and, since Sillinger’s time there is up, they need bodies to suit up for their game Wed. Take a deep breath and worry about who’s on the Island on Thursday.
Tambellini won’t go down because he’d have to be exposed to waviers, and that’s not going to happen….yet. I think he’s here at least through the half-way mark of the season. if he doesn’t start to produce by then they’ll have to make a tough call and probably expose him to waviers. Also, Brian G. I don’t think you’ll see a Bailey, Hunter, Okposo line because one of them would have to play their off wing (left wing). Okposo tried it earlier and it wasn’t very successful and I don’t think you take Hunter off the right side because he’s been quite productive there so far.
Tamby can certainly see the inside of the press box for a few games. That should be fun for EVERYONE.
Brian G - we had 10 picks before trading in the draft, why would we have only come away with Filatov or Schenn for the entire draft? There are only two picks you can argue we would not have taken a chance on had we not traded down, because we only received two extra picks by moving from 5. Petrov is one, and I couldn’t say who the other is.
To Spinner - Tambellini can be sent down without exposing him to waivers if both parties agree on a “conditioning” assignment (two weeks long, I believe). Doesn’t solve what to do with him long-term, but at this point how could it hurt? Maybe scoring a goal or two ANYWHERE would be what he needs right now.
The Isles are LUCKY that they are still in contention given the mistakes made to have Comrie and DP playing during the season. I’m sure Gordo would want them playing ASAP but he chose to play them a little too early for their own good. The silver lining is that the Isles were able to keep Bailey and have seen the strong play of Mac at goalie.
Tambellini already saw the inside of the press box, and that didn’t seem to help him.
Tambellini must go!
UIF - those are the draft picks that came as a direct result of trading down twice, that’s what Brian means.
As for Tamby, they’re giving him either enough space to succeed or enough rope to hang himself. Time will tell which it is.