ISLANDERS AT PANTHERS, 7:30 pm
The drive for five in a row
Point Blank guest contributor
Tonight, the Islanders are in Florida to play the Panthers and this is one of those games that can tell us a lot about both teams. The Panthers are a young team that hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2000 and have rarely been part of the playoff race. At least to me, it seemed like they came to the NVMC last Saturday and took the Islanders lightly. To the Islanders’ credit, they made the Panthers pay for that mistake.
It’s going to be interesting to see how both teams approach the game tonight in Sunrise, Florida. Will the Panthers be looking for some redemption? I’m sure coach Peter DeBoer won’t let them forget about the last meeting.
For the Islanders, things have been going well. They’re on a four game win streak, earning victories against teams they probably should beat in (arguably) three of the four. If the Panthers do come out firing and play inspired hockey, we may learn a bit about the Islanders and how they respond. When Tampa came to play in the first period Tuesday, they looked a bit sluggish and a step behind. Of course, the Islanders took advantage of the opportunities they were given and went on to win the game. The difference here is that the Panthers are not on their third string goalie and likely won’t seal their fate with late-game penalties.
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Roster Notes: Logan reports Mark Streit is a gametime decision…
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DiBo Shines at OHL All-Star Game: Yesterday, CB had an update on the Isles’ prospects in Sarnia including Justin DiBenedetto, who took part in the OHL All-Star Game last night. The East beat the West, 11-6 and DiBo scored a hat trick for the West. Of course it’s only an All-Star game, and we all know the kind of goal fest those can be, but it’s still a great feat for the kid. Mad props yo, as the kids would say.
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Your text based responses are appreciated.
68 Responses to ISLANDERS AT PANTHERS, 7:30 pm
The drive for five in a row
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DINO says:
SIGN HIM
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Johnnyl says:
This blog posting is terrible. I hope we can only have CB posts.
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guerin13 says:
you’re doing a great job in relief in kevin. don’t let anybody tell you otherwise.
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nkay says:
yeah, seriously. keep up the good work kevin.
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Johnny Islander says:
Well, we’re 19 points out of the playoffs… Win this one and its 17 with 31 games left.
Isles go 30-10-2 the rest of the way finish at 46-39-7 and make the playoffs.
yea, we can dream
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cgs878 says:
Yes, the Drive For Five!! Let’s Go Islanders! I hope that they go into the Bank Atlantic building and kick some Panther butt.
Richard Park is due to have another game where he’s the best player on the ice. He’s been somewhat out of the spotlight recently. I really like his game play.
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Islanders1984 says:
I wonder if dibo was in teh draft this year he would be a 1st round pick
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kevin says:
also, katic was in it and im pretty sure he has 3 assists
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P.S… “JohnnyI” is not Johnny Islander –
Good relief stint Kevin.
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19 ISLE in NJ 22 says:
Kevin … good analysis … I think ONE word sums up what the Isles have to do … and that is Exploit …. the key to their wins the last few games was exploiting their chances and making the opposition pay for their mistakes … maybe … just maybe teams will see a “healthy” as team as one team not to take lightly … It will be interesting to see how the Isles respond to the Cats when they don’t take the Isles lightly in this game at home.
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Congrats DiB … you made us Isles fans proud. Keep this up and you’ll be with the big team in short order. -
Did dibo win mvp if there is one and if he didn’t, who did better then him?
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isles3113 says:
Islanders1984 i wouldn’t be surprised if that happened… hopefully he can play to his potential in the nhl bc it seems like he has a lot of it… great pick by snow, or at least it seems like it
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7 cgs878 on Feb 5th, 2009 15:58:14 said: “Yes, the Drive For Five!! Let’s Go Islanders!”
Haha, yeah this is our drive for five this season lol. Im with you on this though, LGI indeed.
And whatever there, Johnnyl… CB cant post multiple entries every day. Lets not get too spoiled, K? Besides, Kevs doin fine!
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Islanders1984 i was referring to the 1st round comment, but i wouldn’t be surprised if he did win mvp either lol… didn’t realize u were also the commenter above me
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Dan from Westchester says:
Would guess Panthers will come out hard after 2 straight losses to NYI.
Let’s see how the “D” and Danis (assuming he gets the nod?) respond.
Been fun watching some progress here. . lets’s see if we can keep it going on the road.
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1984 DiBo was co-star of the game with Cody Hogdson … DiBo was on the losing end for the West.
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mw147 says:
Can a last place team have a classic trap game? On a 4 game winning streak, going into a game with a team we beat easily just a few days ago. This feels wrong.
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Ryan Tendrup says:
Does anybody have any info on Jeremy Colliton? I was looked at the statistics on the Sound Tiger website.. And he hasn’t played a game since December. Is he injured?
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Willis says:
Good for DiBo!
cgs878 – We might have to wait a while for Parkie, he always shines at the VERY end of the season(LOL).
For tonight, I know it goes against everything Tavares but respond well tonight boys, PLEASE! GO ISLES!
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jax says:
BD Who? I like this guy. Make sure the fraud doesn’t return.
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Man, I had sever brain cramps in post #6… Math was never my strong suit
. I had Gordon’s quote from the paper about going 30-10 in my head. Let me adjust the numbers…Isles go 23-4-5, and finish 39-33-10. Buffalo and Florida collapse the rest of the way. We make the playoffs on a Yann Danis poke check in the shootout on the last game of the season vs Boston.
There ya go.
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isles316 says:
great job Kevin.
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Matt says:
Thats a bit harsh!
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BrassBonanza says:
Good work on the Blog K-Dog keep up the good work!! I would love to see Bouwmeester in Uniondale next year, he is a horse and would be a HUGE addition to this club. I dont see any reason why the Isles can’t try to make a move for this guy in Free Agency.
PS – Kids don’t say “mad props yo” anymore.
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After playing ourselves out of the lottery. The Isles take “Chicken Parm Jr.” – Landon Ferraro with their mid first round pick.
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mm30 says:
couple of points…
why is BD a fraud?
Dibenedetto is an overage junior—josh bailey had 38 goals in junior last year at the age of 17-18 and has 1 in the NHL. dibenedetto is a project not a blue chip.
not bad kevin but “mad props yo”…no.no.no.
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bailey had 29 goals and what is the prob with the overage part.age doesnt make a difference in a competetive sport. if chelios stuffed okposo would it be becuase of age?
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So what that DiBo is a year older. Late Bloomer? Maybe you can also argue that he’ll give an extra productive year at age 38 in the NHL after 15 solid years as a 30+ goal scorer … just saying …. B/C age isn’t as critical at that age … perhaps he took an extra year to develop… but who cares if by age 25 he’s potting 30 goals instead of 24 … see the point?
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There is a differnce between young men between 16-20 not 22-38…
you guys are getting carried away on this one…he’s a longshot
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I think Bowmeester is the most over rated player in the league. He is soft.
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Bouwmeester is Wade Redden part deux…totally agree. Some team will overpay…some team will be dissapointed.
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Pete DeBenedetto says:
Palffy was a long shot too ….. no???? Didn’t he pout going back to the minors. He didn’t do too bad.
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ok even at 16-20 the big difference is size and some guys there are 17 and 6’7 but dibo is 511 200. the only other difference is experience and even then idk how much it would help you since they have been playing most of their lives. ill just agree to disagree
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Palffy was a 2nd rd pick and was a top prospect…hey i’m a fan I hope he turns into a star but we have prospects with more potential to be excited about—He’s 20 and despite what you guys thing that means something in junior hockey. Let’s see him in the A next year and our arguments can continue.
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Bouwmeester; soft, over-rated? You guys cannot be serious. What do you base that on; please explain. He is 25 years old and I don’t think he has missed a game in his career. He plays for a garbage team and still averages 40+ points a season, and is on the ice at least half of the game (every game).
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I see that Bowmeester is soft in the corners, routinely gets beat to pucks and doesn’t hit anyone.
He doesn’t stink by any means but people are talking about him like he is Lidstrom or an elite D-man along those lines.Watching him play a lot recently I think he would be a dissapointment.
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not that it is a valid excuse but apparently he doesnt like it there and neither does his family and they want out. also the fanbase is terrible according to the dad. my guess? he will be traded at the dealine to a team in need of dman help.possibly montreal and then they can send back a top 6 forward and prospects and picks. another destination is njd and pens and well teams that can use dman help. devils can send gionta the other way becuase even though they are awsome, ppl say he may get moved.
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FWIW, Jay-Bo said “don’t listen to what my dad says.” But yeah, he’s a goner.
And Lidstrom-level? No, of course not. But elite defenseman? Yes, very much so. If we think Streit is huge to the Isles game, just watch the Panthers if they dump Bouwmeester at the deadline.
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Paul * says:
Do Islander really want to put themselves out of the lottery? What is the Goal here?
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I don’t know if we should be questioning DiBo’s size or age as a negative … as a younger Junior he was smallish .. and possibly affected his ability to be taken the fist time he was draft eligible.
Now DiBo has shot up the last 2 years … the OHL site has him listed as 6’0″ 195 # … he’s no longer a lil guy … and has added another dimension to his game.
As a late bloomer myself … I root for players like DiBo … and he’s doing better than all players in the OHL drafted before him … so give the guy some props. Sure he’s a project … but it doesn’t mean it has to be the problem it is getting the Light House project off the ground.
I think with some AHL coaching … we’ll see him in 2 years … and if he eventually becomes a 20 goal scorer … hey … that is pretty damn good… I know that “if” is exactly that … an “if” … but you can apply that to all draft pics … can’t ya?
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41, depending on what they get in return, it may be a positive. they need more points from forwards and they have a great defebsive corps. how is the goalie there? maybe if they trade with the devs they trade j-bow and a 2nd there for clemmenson and gionta and a 3rd. i dont follow this team so please correct me but throwing it out there
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BeanPot says:
The Isles can’t and shouldn’t put all of their eggs in the #1 draft basket. They should try and win as many games as possible, develop what they have, and let the Ping-Pong balls fall where they may at the end of the season. Players don’t get better unless they try to win and develop a mentality dedicated to that goal. Going through the motions and tanking the rest of the season sets development of the younger players back a year, maybe more if they become complacent. Proper development of what they have is more important than what they could have.
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@44: Panthers’ scoring has been balanced. Goaltending is very solid. But Horton is one who has been inconsistent — there’s trade value there. The problem with losing Jay-Bo is his near-30 minutes a night and role in the breakout. His rush threat creates openings for guys like Frolik, who is a budding star.
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admin says:
@Brass Bonanza: Crap, what are the kids saying nowadays?
-Kevin
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Jbow is going to get more then that from the Devs. He has been blown up so much recently that trade value has gone through the roof. I think he is a good defenseman but a bit overrated. Some team is going to over pay for him and I don’t think old Lou is going to be the one!!!! I don’t think he is worth what Florida will get for him.
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JayK says:
Paul* — #42 — A lot of this talk about whether the Islanders should win/lose/not try so hard, etc. ignores the fact that everyone on this team is playing for a job. The job could be in New York; it could be in Vancouver; it could be in Bridgeport. Anybody think Yann Danis is going to tank so the Islanders can get John Taveras? Get real.
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re: Bouwmeester…
For the casual observer of two staggeringly bad Florida TEAM road losses in a row to the Isles, I suggest watching a bit more of the kid. The Cats stunk up the Coliseum, to the detriment of Florida fans and coaching staffs alike. No one showed up in either game.
I’ve watched Jay-Bo for four years. He’s made the jump. He’s not soft (consistently), he’s not slow (consistently). Bad game here and there? Of course. But his “bad games” are better than the A-games of most all D-men in the league. He’s that good.
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Joe says:
WOW, HILLEN IS TOO SOFT. Guys are skating right around him, someone should inform him that he CAN THROW A HIT!
They look like crap.
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MiKe says:
WOW. The Isles look like poop this evening thus far. Why no Yann Danis in net for us?! He was playing great no? Thats wierd. Scott Gordon with the call. Guess he considers Joey Mac our #1 backstopper.
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I think gordon just wants to give Danis a rest and get Macdonald back in. It was 20 or so games in a row that wore down MacDonald.
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They are getting manhandled by a soft team, this is just plain bothering me to watch.
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soft team? they have some big guys and are in the playoff hunt ( well they are in it but can fall out any game ) so you should expect them to be playing hard
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From physical standpoint, they arent a physical team very often. Nick Tarnasky is their toughest guy and is out of the lineup.
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Dan says:
Danis should have started…
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joey303 says:
Bailey looks good – congrats on the goal – on a different note -why didnt Zednick look like that when he played for the Isles?
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Yeah Joey!!!
Bailey is starting to show signs he can dominate a game and control the flow. Okposo also.
The future is lookin really bright. This was worth sitting through all that losing to see these guys start to bust out a bit. And the is not a case of Florida taking these guys lightly tonight either.
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Is it me or is Trent a clone of his dad? Take the beard away -they are twins 25 years apart!!
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Joey303 I don’t think zednik played long enough with isles to look like that. What a waste of a 2nd round pick. The guy played like a week and half on the isles.
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Sec301 says:
the way macdonald is playin will lead us to tavares for sure the first 2 goals easily stoppable
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Ottawa lost in a shootout
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Bob Bassen says:
OK. You can trade Comrie anytime now.
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1984 – Zednik is the last player to score four goals for the Islanders in one game. I think he had one or two goals in the game before (maybe after it). He looked fantastic then too.
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Brian, I think you mean Kozlov.
Zednik hardly even played after we aquired him. He was always out for peronal reasons.
Who knows what they were.
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Brian according to hockeydb.com zednik played 10 games for isles and had 3 total points.
http://hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=21494
I know his mother died and that is why he left but. In a way it was a little unfair to the isles that he never came back
Let’s see what Hillen has to offer, hopefully Gordon sticks to the game plan on letting the kids get alot of ice time and he applies it to Jack too.