Monthly Archives: February 2009
The issue from yesterday is not only dead, so is everything that has to do with That Site. If anyone brings up that stuff again – a trade rumor, deadline reports, ownership – it’s over. Should they break a story I don’t have, congratulations. That Site’s Army has been coming here with untraced IPs and fake emails. Some loyal PB readers, I’m sad to say, have also lost their place. None of it is worth our time. As I’ve said before, if I lose readers, I’m perfectly okay with it.
On an even more serious note, I am extremely sorry that someone actually took to posting a home address in Comments. That’s lower than anything found on any site. Frightening that someone thought that was a good idea. As a result, this blog now has a stain.
Other than that, we agree to disagree. We are moving on. If you take something, anything from over there and bring it here, so will you. Please spread the word. Thank you…CB
Point Blank guest contributor
CB is back today and you can listen to him as usual on ESPN Radio 1050 AM at 5 PM. He will also be around during the game to join us in the comments.
(UPDATED: ESPN Radio show could be at different time because 1050 might move things around in light of the A-Roid news. Latest I heard was maybe 7:00 pm, or it could stay at 5:00 pm. Either way, I’ll be around the laptop for in-game Commenting with you…CB).
A huge thanks to CB for giving me the keys to the Gran Torino blog during the last week. It’s really been a lot of fun! And thanks to all of you for giving me such a warm welcome and putting up with my Islander rantings. It really means a lot. Now about that hockey game…
What a difference a few days can make. When the Lightning visited the Coliseum on Tuesday, they came in winners of 6-of-10 and we’re looking like the team we all thought they could be. After four straight losses in which the team looked listless, including Tuesday night, the Bolts are reeling. In their last game on Wednesday, they took a 3-0 lead into the third in Pittsburgh and wound up losing 4-3 in overtime. That’s the game Evgeni Malkin reportedly offered up $1,000 to his teammates if they made a third period comeback. I’m not entirely sure Malkin even needed to do that, as he was involved in three of the Pens’ four goals. With the loss, the Lightning have now lost four in a row but are still eight points up on the Islanders in the Tavares/Hedman sweepstakes.
As for the Islanders, they’ve played well of late but haven’t gotten off to good starts. In each of their last two games, they’ve come out sluggish in the first period, getting out shot a combined 21-13 during the opening frame. On the flip side, they’re actually out shooting their opponents 39-35 over the final two periods.
In today’s game, look for Yann Danis to get the start in goal. Coach Gordon has said that he would start each goalie on the team’s two-game Florida road trip and if that thinking hasn’t changed, Danis would start tonight.
The Islanders’ dads will join them once again tonight in Tampa Bay, as they did on Thursday in Sunrise. It’s a classy move by the organization and has really given the MSG broadcast team something to talk about. I’m putting the over/under on camera shots of the dads on the MSG telecast at 10 1/2. Any takers?
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Injury notes: Isles’ official site reports that Nate Thompson was placed on injured reserve yesterday and Sean Bergenheim has been activated. Greg Logan reports that Bergenheim will be on the fourth line along with Richard Park and Tim Jackman. Mark Streit practiced today but will not suit up for the game.
Your textual opinions are appreciated.
By Kevin Schultz
Point Blank guest contributor
No one reading this blog today should need to be reminded of the importance of your backup goaltender. What may seem like a thankless position is vitally important provided your starter doesn’t have the aversion to wear and tear the Patrick Roy did. Heck, even if your starter is Patrick Roy, it doesn’t hurt to have a good backup. Here in Islander Country we’ve gotten a first hand lesson of the important of the backup thanks to Rick DiPietro’s injury problems.
Whether your opening night starter is DiPietro, Roy or Greg Goldberg you’re going to have to use your backup at some point. In the Islanders’ case, as with other teams, it will be more work than “at some point” during the coming years. Regardless of injury history, it becoming increasingly risky to lean on one netminder for 60+ games per season in today’s NHL.
For the Islanders to succeed, they’re going to need a healthy DiPietro and one of the ways to aid that is to employ a solid backup – or a “1A” – to help share the load. Next year and in the future, it would be wise to give DiPietro a lot of nights off next season to keep him fresh, healthy and in one piece come playoff time. The best part is that cap room won’t inhibit the Islanders if they choose to open the wallet for another netminder.
Going forward into next year, one of the debates going on is, well, who can fill this role? In part one, we’ll discuss the three most familiar options. Part two will cover the folks from other NHL team that we may not be as familiar with.
Option A: Retain the employment of Joey MacDonald and/or Yann Danis.
Both are unrestricted free agents at the end of the year. Right now, they’re playing for their livelihood and you know how that can affect someone’s play. If they continue to perform the way they have, they’re going to be getting interest from other teams around the league. MacDonald seems to have established himself as a viable NHL goaltender. Whether or not he could carry the load of an 82-game season remains to be seen and it will be interesting to see if any teams will be willing to put that much trust in him on July 1. Probably not, but you never know. The better he plays down the stretch, the more interest he’ll receive. The same goes for Danis.
The good news for the Islanders is that both would likely be affordable options. The Islanders have a lot of cap room and doubling either Mac’s or Danis’ pay would only mean paying them in the neighborhood of $1 million.
As for MacDonald, if he plays well down the stretch and it only takes $1 million to keep him here next year, do it. If it costs $2 million or more, start looking at other options. However, I’m willing to say that he is worth the price of insurance especially given the uber flexible cap situation.
As for Danis, the jury is still out. He has been playing well, but it’s a little bit harder to justify him as a viable insurance option. While he has put up great numbers, the team changed their style of play to protect him and that’s something that would be a much bigger issue if the Isles were currently in the middle of a playoff race. But I have to give the kid credit, he came out of the shadow of Carey Price in Montreal and played well in MacDonald’s absence.
How both of these guys play down the stretch will be a big determinant here. If they fall off, my opinion on them will certainly change. It will be interesting to see if MacDonald can regain his previous form after an injury and whether or not Danis can perform well over a longer period of time. Right now, I wouldn’t mind having either – or both – on board next year.
Option B: Wade Dubielewicz
Dubie is not out of the question here. Not at all. He signed with the Islanders for $500k and subsequently boarded a plane for Columbus earlier this season (OK, it was Vancouver, but you know what I mean). His family lives in Connecticut. We know he wants to play here and there is a large contingent of fans that want him to play here. Like the two goalies above, he’s unrestricted this summer.
I have a hard time imagining he would be happier being a backup in Columbus than on Long Island. He’s also a familiar face and would be much easier to sign than Any Given Free Agent. His NHL numbers, while limited, are better than Options A1 and A2.
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In part two, we’ll take a look at some of the other options from around the league. Ladies and gentlemen, your thoughts please.
How do you respond to a fraud?
Do you even try?
Do you theorize about how wild Islanders rumors are gold – they’re gold, Jerry! – on the information superhighway?
Do you point out how the fraud has been 99% wrong and 99.9% hallucinatory (the latter could be from his alleged days in rock and roll).
Do you link to all the stories written by pros questioning his integrity and even his life story?
Do I re-live the tale of how he was once purposefully mis-directed on a bogus Islanders free agent rumor and completely took the bait?
Do I openly speculate about the fraudulent site having knowledge that I’m out of the country right now and thinking this might be a good time to blind-side the fans with a rumor destined to provoke a lot of Visits?
I’ve spoken to the Fraudmeister a few times. One thing he always tells me is how his site is supposed to be “fun,” how he’d never report anything that would hurt anyone. Really?
Do I discuss how the Islanders once caught the fraud back-timing his reports to make it look like he had a trade scoop before anyone else?
Do I even go there – do I even think about…uh, aw, I can’t. I’ll keep that one in my hip pocket.
How do you respond to a fraud?
Do you even try?
Yes, in the case of life-altering fraudulence like this, you do. The people of Islanders Country deserve an answer. There’s nothing here, folks. Could he have at least done a better job making up a pricetag?
by Chris Botta
We called it “stealing a plus.”
After a game, a player – always a defenseman – makes a case to someone on the PR staff that he was screwed by the stat crew. The player argues he was not on the ice for a particular goal against and he should be even and not -1 for the game. Sometimes the offended player will even single out one of his teammates that he’s certain was on the ice, proving that for a few and the pride-less, hockey is only a team game until the final horn.
This is one of the many nightmares of the plus/minus statistic, one of the most useless in all of sports. Ever notice how NHL teams only bring up the stat when it conveniently spins a signing or trade in a positive light? Yes, I’m guilty as charged. The following is typical of many conversations I had over the years with Islanders general managers.
“Hey GM. Anything you want to put in your statement about how underrated our new defenseman is, since his stats don’t say much”?
“Geez, I don’t know. What was his plus-minus”?
“Last year he was plus-6 and the really good news is he was second-best on his team.”
“That’s great. Go for it.”
“For his career he’s a minus-57.”
“Hmm, okay, just play up last year and don’t bring up the rest.”
In his three seasons with Columbus, Ron Hainsey was plus-13 in ’05-’06, minus-19 the next year and minus-7 in his pay-or-I-walk year. Do you think this had any bearing at all when a half-dozen teams offered him 4 mill a year for four years? (He signed with the Thrashers for 5 years, $22.5 million).
Mark Streit was a combined minus-17 over his three seasons with the Canadiens. Do you think this came up even once when Garth Snow and Ken Morrow talked about him? The reason it didn’t matter for Hainsey and Streit: everyone knows they are good NHL players, simple as that.
The only time the plus-minus stat seems useful is when a defenseman has an off-the-charts high number. You’d be hard-pressed to say a dman with seasons of plus-40 was mediocre at his job. Nicklas Lidstrom (+348 for his career) Zdeno Chara – ignoring that minus-14 first season in Boston – Scott Niedermayer…these are really good defensemen. You don’t need an unscientific statistic to tell you that. On the other hand, there are plenty of dmen with shameful seasons of minus-20 in their past that any team would love to have on their blueline.
When I was with the Islanders we had a defenseman about a decade ago who was around plus-10 one year and minus-10 the next. He told me if I asked every coach or scout in the league they would declare he was an infinitely better all-around player the season he was a minus.
(The plus-minus stat for forwards? Goal scorers, checking centers, doesn’t matter. A complete waste of time to even look at it).
As for those dmen appealing for a plus-minus correction, so many times play would be reviewed and the off-ice official would come back with a bewildered look on his face: “I watched the play three times. It looks like the team may have been caught in a bad line change, but your guy clearly is on the ice and the player he claims should get the minus is nowhere to be found.”
There’s an easy way to identify the best defensemen on your favorite NHL team. Look at the team stats and find the column for Time On Ice. As a general rule, head coaches do not give more than 20 minutes a game to players they don’t think the world of. If a defenseman is playing less than six minutes a period, his coach doesn’t think he’s reliable in all zones.
That’s why when the GMs have their laptops open for the July 1 meat market, they are primarily looking at injury reports and TOI. Last season Jeff Finger was a plus-12, which led all Colorado defensemen but gets him nowhere except it referenced in the press release heralding his signing. Finger would not have received many offers if he played 14 minutes a game. He played 20 minutes a game – more than John-Michael Liles and Jordan Leopold – and to Toronto and the other teams making strong offers, this made all the difference in the world.
If the NHL ever decides to eliminate the plus/minus statistic I doubt you’ll hear a single complaint, even from the agents. For final evidence we present Brendan Witt, throwing himself in front of everyone and everything last season, making life hell for Sidney Crosby and other top forwards, playing in pain until he was practically shoveled off the ice by the training staff. What did Witt get for his efforts?
A permanent column in his career statistics that says he was a minus-8.
Comments.
By Kevin Schultz
Point Blank guest contributor
The Islanders lost by a goal tonight in Florida, ending their four-game win streak. The Panthers came out of the gates and played a totally different game from what we saw when the two teams met last Saturday. Florida was much more physical and seemed to work a lot harder this time around. In the end, they held on and took home two points in regulation.
At the start, it looked a lot like Tuesday night’s game. The Islanders came out downright flat and struggled during the first period, the exact opposite of their opponents. Passes were poor, the play was disorganized at times and it showed on the scoreboard. The Cats put two on the scoresheet as Bouwmeester and Skrastins each tallied.
Joey MacDonald appeared to be screened on both goals, each shots that came from high in the zone. In his first game back following injury, MacDonald played well. He played aggressively but struggled many times to control rebounds. Overall, it was a solid effort in which he didn’t get much help during the first. On the Skrastins goal, no Islander challenged the puck, leaving Skrastins all along in the high slot. That’s something which is hard to excuse when playing 5-on-5.
After the first intermission, it was clear the Islanders had woken up. Their passing was much better and you could see they shook out the cobwebs and played with a lot more energy. The Isles scored two power play goals in the period to pull within 3-2. Despite the absence of their power play specialist Mark Streit, the team looked great with the man advantage, going 2-for-4 on the game. During one advantage, they held the Panthers’ line on the ice for more than 90 seconds before Josh Bailey was able to fire a shot past Panthers’ goaltender Tomas Vokoun. Bailey assisted on the Isles’ second goal of the period – also on the powerplay – when he dove after a faceoff, poking the puck to Trent Hunter who was all alone in front.
The third was hard fought on both sides, but neither team would break through on the scoresheet. Florida held on for the 3-2 victory in regulation. For the Islanders, Josh Bailey ended up with two points on the night and Joey MacDonald made 26 saves. The next stop for the Islanders is Tampa Bay on Saturday night.
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Take another look: If you missed it here it is, and if you didn’t, it’s worth seeing again. Florida’s Richard Zednik had a highlight reel goal in the second period. He broke in on the right side of a 2-on-1 and hurdled the Islander defender when he slid to break up the play. As Zednik landed, he poked the puck through MacDonald’s five hole.
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Injuries continue to mount: This isn’t an injury bug going around the team. At this point it’s some kind of weird disease. During the first, Nate Thompson took a hit from David Booth and went straight to the locker room. He would not return due to a shoulder injury. In the second, Doug Weight tripped on some rough ice and appeared to hurt his side. Weight did return for the rest of the game and appeared to be alright.
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Discuss.
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.
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