Comments on: ISLANDERS 2, ANAHEIM 1Plus: Your Qs on Jovo, JJ, JB, JT, KC and more

By: Peter DeBenedetto

Peter DeBenedetto — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 04:10:40 +0000

Keep the Blog going CB….you deserve a meatball hero from Raimo’s!!!!!

By: Dooks94

Dooks94 — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:54:09 +0000

Willis- lets face it Tambellini is waste. He has played in 116 games and has 6 goals, 23 pts. That is awful. Now I know that he doesn’t exactly play on Sidney Crosby’s line but I bet goons like George Parros, Derek Boogaard, and Colton Orr have better career stats than that. Enough is enough. He’ll only be a role player in the NHL and that role will have to be as a checking line forward (ie. Blair Betts or Jed Ortmeyer). Problem is he isn’t that great defensively so he needs to work on that to stay in the league. Currently on this Islander team he is useless because he doesn’t do well anything that we particularly need. Time for someone else to get a chance. Personally I think the only reason he is on the team because he (mainly, as well as a few other young players caused a rift between Snow/management and Ted Nolan and they need to justify why they fired Teddy. Alos I think the Islanders are giving Tamby a million chances because he was a one-time first round pick that they traded 2 good players for. A guy like Kurtis McLean or Trevor Smith would never have gotten the chances (100+ NHL games with that lack of production) Tambellini has gotten because they are dime a dozen players-never drafted. I’ll be honest-they both are better as far as I’m concerned

By: Willis

Willis — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 18:25:44 +0000

I don’t mind Guerin not fighting (he needs to save his strength for his stick-breaking shots) but why do I always notice him bumping into his teammates? Seems like that’s been going on all season. By now I thought he’d have a handle on that kind of thing.

I saw that Comrie pass too (UIF) and noticed how little he seems to be doing again. I’m going back to my “get rid of him” position.

Also Tambellini is always ‘behind’ and doesn’t seem to have “that one thing” you see signs of which gives you patience to wait for him to develop. I am wondering how long you have to give somoene before they become a charity case and you’re wasting a spot.

By: cgs878

cgs878 — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:36:34 +0000

(61&62) It’s also possible that the crowd was booing Guerin because he wouldn’t fight the Duck player (forget who it was) that was all up in his face. A lot of things happened at that point in the 3rd.

By: Dooks94

Dooks94 — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:31:15 +0000

Everybody on here agrees…get rid of Sim. Takes too many dumb penalties and isn’t doesn’t have a role. I say the same thing about Tambellini. Why is he still in the lineup night after night? He doesn’t score goals, he doesn’t make plays, he doesn’t fight, he doesn’t penalty kill, and they don’t use him on the power play. Why is he a regular? Send him down when Weight, Hilbert, Bergenheim, or Hunter come back from injury. McLean deserves a chance. Tamby has had TOO many

By: Chris TMC

Chris TMC — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:21:18 +0000

I think people were probably booing both!

By: UIF

UIF — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:44:12 +0000

“The crowd booed the Islanders for not getting a shot on goal in the 3rd period”

cgs…I know Howie said that, but I initially thought they were booing the call on the ice…I think it was icing but it looked like the Anaheim defender could have played the puck. I guess they were probably booing the shot thing though.

By: UIF

UIF — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:42:00 +0000

I hate to zero in on one play to bash a guy, but I was scratching my head at Comrie’s play when he had the puck up high in his own zone and just lightly pushed it onto the Anaheim player’s stick. I thought Comrie had looked really good since coming back up until about three games ago. It’s tough to figure. One night he was moving well, fighting for teammates, involved in plays…then it’s like the switch just fell to the “off” position.

On Danis…if Gordon is cool with actually playing him sometimes once Mac come back, then that’s a good thing and erases the need to trade or sign another goalie. TMC – you’re right, the coach sounded more encouraged last night, although the game Danis had last night left little to question imo.

By: cgs878

cgs878 — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:35:05 +0000

The crowd booed the Islanders for not getting a shot on goal in the 3rd period… and yet they were winning 2-1. Booing the winning team at home… ain’t that just the way it’s going this season?

How many sticks has Guerin broken this month? He keeps shattering them on his slapshots. At $200 a pop, that’s pretty damn expensive.

Overall, it was another watchable game. Danis was the difference maker. I was impressed with Getzlaf’s passing/shooting ability. That kid Ryan is awesome too.

By: Marc from Troy

Marc from Troy — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:23:44 +0000

Nice to experience a win for a change. Ugly at times, sure, but it counts all the same.

For all of the whining about the goaltending around here, it certainly wasn’t that or the defense that was a problem on the homestand. Giving up an average of only 2 goals per game against teams like the Rangers, Bruins, Devils, Caps, and Ducks is fantastic, and certainly something to build on. Imagine what could be if the offense could hit the net every now and then. Yeah, Danis is far from perfect, and will still give up the soft goal on occasion, but he’s been great since Mac went down. Definitely worth giving him a shot (along w/Mac) the rest of the way this year.

Congrats, Kurtis McLean. More than justified his callup, and has shown great chemistry w/Tambellini & Nielsen.

Would be nice if there were a few line changes after the break, assuming guys like Hunter and Bergenheim are back then. How about keeping McLean with those two guys, and putting Hunter with Thompson and Jackman? Think that line would hit a few things? Goodbye, Sim. And it seems like Okposo and Comeau are just carrying Comrie these days. Give him a seat, at least for a game or two, and put Park in between those guys (then put Bergy w/Bailey & Guerin) for a line that simply would not get outworked – something that Comrie’s lazy play allows far more than it should.

By: JPinVA

JPinVA — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:15:53 +0000

I was at the Foghat/BOC show. I’d seen BOC at the colley three times (Black and Blue tour was the best), but that was the best Godzilla…
Somebody else brought this up in a previous thread. They have been drafting small for years.
One player is just not going to do it. Do you think there will be a focus this year to increase their general physical presence?

By: Bob S

Bob S — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:14:12 +0000

Went to the Sound Tigers -River Rats game in Albany last night, 4-2 win for the Tigers. Joensuu looked a step slow,
Lawson haldled the puck pretty well and was solid in net. MacDonald and Kohn were solid on D. The only player that stood out was Trevor Smith, with a number of steals, power play goal and great hockey sense. I’m sure we’ll see more of him.