Monthly Archives: January 2009
Like Benjamin Button, the Islanders are getting younger.
By the sound of Scott Gordon’s voice, the time is now. But tomorrow isn’t your typical start of a 5-game homestand before the All-Star Break. Tomorrow, the New York Rangers come to the old barn on Hempstead Turnpike.
If the score is 2-2 entering the third, will the emphasis on youth continue for the final 20, 25 minutes? All eyes will be on the coach for that decision. Personally, I’m hoping he sticks to his (young) guns.
When the Islanders broke into power play practice today at Iceworks, observers couldn’t help but grin at the diverse units:
Streit – Bailey – Okposo – Nielsen – Hunter
and
Campoli – Gervais – Park – Comrie – Guerin
One insider told me (at risk of beheading) that the pointmen may be interchangeable, but the forwards should stick. Good stuff, all around – the kind of fun, smart tinkering the head coach should be doing at this stage. Will there be bonus prizes for the unit that does best? Like maybe Guerin and Park get steaks at Rothmann’s? Or underagers Josh and KO get the run of Dave & Buster’s for an hour?
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Gordon on his second half philosophy: “The biggest thing is to make sure our younger players are developing and getting better every day.”
The coach paid the proper respect to the veterans – who, you can be certain, are not thrilled, but that’s life in the big leagues. Gordon added of his kids: “Now that we’re in the situation we’re in, they’re going to get more of a chance to run with the ball.”
It begins this week with the Rangers, Boston and New Jersey. Welcome to the true beginning of your NHL careers: Kyle Okposo, Josh Bailey, Blake Comeau, Frans Nielsen and Nate Thompson.
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In his post-practice media scrum today, Gordon declared Nielsen and Thompson as ready to go on Tuesday. Thank you, Scott.
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For the 35 or so minutes that tomorrow’s Islanders-Rangers game is played 5-on-5, here are your potential combinations:
Comeau – Comrie – Okposo
Park – Bailey – Guerin
Tambellini – Nielsen – Hunter
(Sim) Bergenheim – Thompson – Jackman
Streit – Gervais
Witt – Martinek
Campoli – Pock
Joey MacDonald was the only professional goaltender at practice today. Yann Danis – make sure the truck has anti-freeze.
Maybe it’s because he’s been in the headlines in Canada seemingly for two decades. Maybe it’s because he debuted with the Edmonton Oilers at age 20 – when Doug Weight and Bill Guerin were in their 20s, Janne Niinimaa still had game and Tommy Salo played 74 of 82. Maybe it’s because you can find thousands of pics of him on Google Images. But can you believe Mike Comrie is just 28 years old?
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Kate Doesn’t Know Kyle: Following up on the Lighthouse discussion in the next thread, if anyone thinks the Town of Hempstead dragging its feet on the Lighthouse Project has anything to do with the team winning two games since Dec. 1 and falling to 30th place, you’re not paying attention.
Kate Murray doesn’t even know the name of the commissioner of the NHL. Do you think she knows who Kyle Okposo is? This project has been discussed for most of the decade, back to the days when the Islanders made the Stanley Cup Playoffs 4 times in the early-mid 2000s.
Would it be beneficial if the Islanders had been to the Cup Final last year and had the Sharks’ record this season? Of course it couldn’t hurt. But please, don’t let this season’s flop cause you to think that’s why the pols are not motivated to push the project along.
And on the flip side, don’t think for a second that the possible drafting of John Tavares will be the impetus for Kate Murray to act. This is not Pittsburgh winning Sidney Crosby in the lottery and then their arena deal getting approved. Murray does not have the Central Scouting Bureau rankings Favorited.
The development will hopefully be approved at some point, but it’s not the hockey – good or bad – that will make the difference.
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No way – Tavares is No. 1?!: The NHL’s Central Scouting Bureau has released its midseason rankings for the 2009 draft: Here are the top-5 North American prospects:
1. John Tavares
2. Matt Duchene
3. Evander Kane
4. Jordan Schroeder
5. Brayden Schenn
Victor Hedman is the top-ranked European, followed by Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson (expected to go in the top eight) and Jacob Josefson, who is pegged in the 10-15 range.
So in other words, nothing has changed at the top. It’s still Tavares/Hedman at 1-2 and Duchene at 3. For the Islanders, the Tavheduch Watch continues.
Comments. (Guidelines).
There is no discernible progress over the last several months to report on the Lighthouse Project, Charles Wang and Scott Rechler’s transformation of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum and surrounding property.
Conversations over the last week with sources on all sides of the Islanders arena project – Nassau County, the Town of Hempstead and the Lighthouse - revealed scant optimism that a groundbreaking ceremony is possible for the summer of 2009. For the last few years, that was a goal of the project’s leaders.
Sources said the following:
- There has been little meaningful communication over the last six months between the Town of Hempstead and Nassau County about the development of the project.
- Despite being urged by some leaders to fast-track the project as a boon for business and jobs in the spiraling economy, the Town of Hempstead has been slow to take necessary steps to get a shovel in the ground. The project, estimated to cost between $3-4 billion, is expected to create 50,000 jobs during the construction phase and generate $70 million of annual tax revenues. Asked one source: “Why doesn’t the Town seem motivated to get this done”?
- An unwillingness to “reach across the aisle” by Republicans and Democrats has the project at a standstill. One source even theorized that Kate Murray, a Republican who is the Town of Hempstead Supervisor, may run against Tom Suozzi, a Democrat, when the Nassau County Supervisor seat is up for re-election in November.
Blogger and PB contributor B.D. Gallof reported on Dec. 22 a source saying Lighthouse construction should begin in summer of 2010. When Gallof contacted a project spokesperson, they said, “Lighthouse stands by the 2009 start date.”
With our latest information, here’s our take: 2009 is an extreme longshot and, right now, without evidence of any significant progress it is difficult to make any guarantees of 2010.
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Point Blank readers have forwarded to us the following response letter from Town of Hempstead attorney Joseph Ra that they have received recently when inquiring about the status of the Lighthouse Project. Consider it the Town’s current official position.
Re: Lighthouse Project
Thank you for contacting the Town of Hempstead concerning the Lighthouse Project. As you may know, this proposed project concerns not only the upgrading of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum but substantial development of the 150 acres surrounding the arena, including RexCorp Plaza on the south side of Hempstead Turnpike. The proposed development consists of the following:
1. Nassau Coliseum Upgrade and Renovation – 928,000 sq. ft. (435,000 sq. ft. existing);
2. 300 hotel rooms added to the 612 units at the Marriott site;
3. An increase of 200,000 square feet of convention space added to the 113,000 square feet that currently exists;
4. The creation of an additional 1,000,000 square feet of office space;
5. Development of 500,000 square feet of retail space; and
6. The construction of 2,306 residential units.
As I’m sure you can appreciate, a project of this magnitude has significant environmental consequences. Pursuant to the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act, the Town Board of the Town of Hempstead has passed a resolution that allows the environmental review process to move forward.
As suggested by the Act, two public meetings were held in May 2008. At these meetings the Town sought input from other levels of government, various community groups and citizens on areas of concern. Among the items considered were the impact of the project on air quality, water availability, the number of parking spaces provided, storm water quality, energy capacity and traffic congestion.
In the coming months further action will be taken at which point the developers will prepare and submit a Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement which will be tailored to address the environmental concerns identified through the scoping process.
While the process is time consuming, the Town is working with the developers to keep this application moving forward while ensuring that the concerns of our community are given proper consideration.
Very truly yours,
JOSEPH J. RA
Town Attorney
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As you might expect, the letter is very lawyerly, political, pretty standard fare. But it may say a lot about Kate Murray’s view of the Lighthouse Project that while the letter makes a point of detailing its complex scale, the response doesn’t contain a single word about the project’s potential benefits to Town residents.
Nothing new from practice today. Expect Joey Mac against the Rangers on Tuesday. Feedback on Lighthouse only in this Comment. Continue the discussion on NYI hockey in next thread. Thanks…CB
The news gets worse and worse for Islanders fans.
Per John Jeansonne of Newsday, Doug Weight (lower leg injury) is out 2-4 weeks. The Islanders did not provide Point Blank with a Weight injury update.
In other news, Nikita Filatov returned from a successful World Junior Championships for Team Russia and tonight – in his sixth NHL game for Columbus - notched his first NHL hat trick. Ken Hitchcock told us Filatov was special.
Feedback.
With each day, the mystery grew deeper with a segment of Islanders fans. How come the Islanders did not honor Joey MacDonald for being the team’s Player of the Month for November? Is there a conspiracy involved? The subject was a matter of frequent discussion in the Comments area during the team’s recent road trip.
We dug deep and learned that MacDonald did receive his award. This season, the Islanders have not hosted on-ice pre-game ceremonies to honor the Sharp-sponsored Player of the Month. The team’s game ops crew records a “photo op” earlier in the day with the winning Islander and then broadcasts the footage on the scoreboard during a timeout in the game while public address announcer Roger Luce does the narration.
Islanders sources confirm that MacDonald did receive his Sharp Islander of the Month Award for November and that footage of the goaltender getting his award was shown during a game in early December.
On to the next crime scene.
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With the Islanders a whopping 19 points out of the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, the focus changes with 40 games left in the season. Somewhat uncharacteristically – but welcome all the same – head coach Scott Gordon started talking about an emphasis on youth in the aftermath of the Islanders’ loss in Calgary on Thursday night. Greg Logan has all the quotes from Gordon here.
Doug Weight, heart-on-his-sleeve talker, made some frank comments to Logan about understanding the Islanders’ situation, but also this: “If I’m earning (icetime) and playing well, I would certainly expect to be on the ice.” I doubt we’ve heard the last of this subject.
So now the latest challenge for Coach Gordon is managing the delicate balance between not alienating older players who have done their part like Weight and Bill Guerin, while providing the younger players with the proper amount of icetime in the second half. This is not easily done. The simplest way, of course, is to try to move veterans in trades, but that’s not always the right solution.
As we’ve said, should be an intriguing next eight weeks.
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Today’s lineup at Iceworks for a 90-minute practice:
Comeau – Comrie – Okposo
Tambellini – Nielsen – Hunter
Sim – Bailey – Park
Bergenheim – Thompson – Jackman
Streit – Gervais
Witt – Martinek
Campoli – Pock
MacDonald
Notes: Bill Guerin was given the day off the ice, but worked out in the weight room…Officially, the Islanders would not declare Frans Nielsen and Nate Thompson set for Tuesday’s home match against Petr Prucha and the Rangers, but they appear to be getting closer…Rick DiPietro did not practice…Andy Hilbert, said to be closer, also did not practice.
Veteran Newsday scribe John Jeansonne was in for Greg Logan, who finally got home from Calgary via Ottawa late last night. John had a one-on-one with the head coach, so check out his coverage for anything I may have missed.
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Looking to see a live hockey game tonight? Go see Trevor Smith and the Sound Tigers as they host Hartford at 7:00 pm at the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport. Call 203.334.GOAL or simply get thee to the Harbor Yard box office.
After a 4-1 loss Friday night in Providence, the Sound Tigers are 23-11-2-2. Leading scorer Mike Iggulden (16-25-41 in 37 games) and defenseman Andrew McDonald (pushing for an Islanders job) were named to the Canadian roster for the AHL All-Star Game on Jan. 26.
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Hoping to listen to some hockey talk on the radio today? Check out “NY Hockey This Week” at 5:30 pm on 1050 ESPN Radio with Don La Greca and yours truly. More often than not, these weekly shows have been at least half Islanders-dominated. Last week we had both Doug Weight after his 1,000th NHL point and legendary broadcaster Jiggs McDonald. No word from the Islanders on a guest yet. But you never know, and we should have time to take a few calls.
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We could easily chew up the rest of the month on the Rick DiPietro discussion (and might need to!). I appreciate that more than 75% of the responses seemed to at least hear me out and I certainly understand all sides to the argument.
The standout nay-saying was the perception by more than a handful of fans of the team’s marketing of DiPietro. “His hype is greater than his play at this point,” wrote one reader. Another said he was tired of the team “thrusting DiPietro on him like he was the second coming of Terry Sawchuk and Billy Smith.”
Honestly, I don’t know about that. Rick signs autographs at the mall, has run a goalie camp for kids at Iceworks and shares one-fifth of the cover of this year’s media guide. Hype machine? Folks, it’s hockey in New York. Hype is a relative term.
As for the notion that I defended DiPietro because I wanted to be in the good graces of the Islanders, that’s a fair throwdown, but wrong. Actually, I’m finding the silence liberating.
As for the idea that DiPietro and I are close, you do have me there. Yes, it is true – Ricky and I roll. He doesn’t love it when I bring my three little kids along when we go to Nobu, but we usually throw the boys in a town car back to RVC before Deeps, me and Strahan meet up with MC and Hilary at GoldBar.
The conversation continues in Comments. Tomorrow: a Lighthouse update.
UPDATED 7:25 pm: Kyle Okposo didn’t get named to the rookie team of the Young Stars Game. I would have thought Okposo’s ability and story would have been a nice one for the NHL to showcase over All-Star Weekend, but the league did not agree. They can’t take everyone. Maybe he will make it as a soph.
In response to a request for the team’s reaction, the Islanders provided this statement to Point Blank: “We are disappointed that Kyle wasn’t selected for the Young Stars Game,” said general manager Garth Snow. “We have really seen signs this year of the bright future he has.”
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Trevor Smith and Yann Danis returned to Bridgeport. Perhaps Frans Nielsen could return next week. The Islanders don’t play until Tuesday and Smith could use the time in the AHL and the Sound Tigers could use him.
Any chance we can retire the expression “drink the Kool-Aid”? As in when you don’t agree with something I write, I’m serving the Kool-Aid and all the fans who disagree with you are guzzling it? Cliche got old more than a decade ago. Also seems like something people say when they don’t have a better argument.
Comments.
Addressing the biggest topic since we started this thing and the constant requests for my thoughts on goaltender Rick DiPietro…
Personally, I would lay off the brutal shots at DiPietro about swollen head, body of glass and all the other nonsense. He’s an athlete going through hell, no matter what you may think of his compensation. If the Islanders have made any major mistakes here…if…they are not DiPietro’s.
If you hate the contract, remember that DiPietro didn’t sign himself to it. If the NYI are fortunate to get John Tavares, you can only hope Islanders Country doesn’t lose any sleep wondering if JT will ever commit to your franchise and your community past age 30 – or even his first shot at unrestricted free agency.
This stuff about DiPietro not really being all-that-great, whoever said he achieved greatness yet? But – leaving the Islanders out of it for now - are the men on the committee that named him the No. 1 goalie for Team USA at the Olympics a bunch of idiots? Is Long Island favorite Peter Laviolette only a moron when it comes to DiPietro? What about the NHLers that named him to the All-Star team last season?
Silly suburban legends about the goalie getting involved in personnel – Dubie or my favorite, Arron Asham (!) – are just that. Carl Pavano references? Pathetic. DiPietro got hurt playing the game, is relentless in his rehab sessions and has the full respect of his teammates. But yes, they are both Italian and women tend to love them. Hmmm, maybe there’s something there.
Despite Scott Gordon’s efforts to try and tell everyone what is a story and what is not, Rick DiPietro is his team’s biggest story. Before DiPietro was hurt, he was the Islanders’ best player by a large margain. Should he be ready to play the Islanders’ next important game – the season opener in October – he likely will still be the Islanders’ best player. Even with some of the haters on blogs and message boards, DiPietro remains by far the team’s most popular player.
There’s something about New York and the near-contempt some of us seem to have for athletes who suffer injuries or fall short of winning a ring. Who knows where that comes from? I do know it’s not one of our better traits. Rick DiPietro: the only hockey player on a 12-26-4 team with the appeal to draw lines twice around a mall for an autograph signing. Hmmm, maybe there’s something there. I won’t even get into his dedication to local charities.
As just about everyone predicted before the season, the Islanders are going through pain, and so are their fans. As the team sits in 30th place, and as DiPietro’s recovery period has become a disaster, this is an admittedly distasteful time for a blogger to suggest to the ticket-buyers how to feel about a player. But the tendency of many to vent frustration at the best and most dedicated player they have is unfortunate, twisted, wrong.
Discuss. Oh, this should be something. Respect. Guidelines.
Thanks to everyone for getting involved in quite a passionate discussion and saving me from having to write a post-game recap!
If you have more reaction to what we discussed last night, go for it.
Comments.
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