Monthly Archives: March 2009
The Islanders announce that Sean Bergenheim (groin) is out two weeks and Joey MacDonald is day-to-day.
Talk about the game here. The lottery and draft in next thread.
If the Islanders eventually unveil a TAVARES or HEDMAN jersey on draft day, March 14 will be remembered as a key day and night. After the Islanders lost a hard-fought battle today in Boston (“gritty,” sayeth Newsday), there were two incredible occurences in the Tavheduch battle tonight.
Trailing 3-1 in Florida well into the third period, Tampa Bay scored with 6:18 and 3:30 left in regulation to send the game into overtime. With the shootout victory – thank you, Steve Stamkos – Tampa Bay brought two huge points to Tavheduch.
Trailing 3-1 in Buffalo well into the third period, Atlanta scored with 6:24 left and with 4 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime. With the shootout victory, Atlanta brought home two huge points.
Then to cap it off, John-Michael Liles scored in overtime to give Colorado two points management didn’t want a monumental victory in Edmonton.
Three visiting teams with nothing to play for, against three teams desperate for the points. The Tavheduch visitors all win. Maybe the hockey gods are rewarding the Islanders for playing hard.
*
In their just-released Future Watch edition, the Hockey News ranks the top prospects in the 2009 NHL draft. THN obviously doesn’t believe in our Tavheduch Watch. They have John Tavares at 1 and Victor Hedman at 2 and Matt Duchene 6. They rank Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson 3, Jared Cowen 4 and Evander Kane 5.
It’s either high praise for Cowen or a commentary on what they think of the rest that THN has Cowen – a 6-6 project stay-at-home defenseman out for the rest of the season with a knee injury – over Kane and Duchene.
Our reaction to this? Respectfully, we don’t care and we’re not budging. We believe in Duch. Utilizing our resources and our own eyes, we will continue to declare that Matt Duchene is the third-best prospect available in the June draft. Paajarvi-Svensson is very much in the conversation, but let’s face it: the Tavheduchpaa is even more awkward. Some teams might even seriously look at Evander Kane at 3, but we don’t. We like our top-3 draft picks to weigh more than 160 pounds.
We’re standing by Duchene as the clear-cut choice at 3.
THE TAVHEDUCH WATCH
1. Islanders 23-38-8 54 pts (69 games)
2. Tampa Bay 23-32-14 60 pts (69 games)
3. Atlanta 28-35-6 62 pts (69 games)
4. Phoenix 28-34-6 62 pts (69 games)
5. Colorado 31-37-1 63 pts (69 games)
TW Notes: The Islanders may start first-year pro Peter Mannino in goal this afternoon in Chicago and then do not play again until Friday. Let’s see how the Watch looks then. Welcome Phoenix, to Tavheduch country. Watch out for the Yotes, who can’t beat anybody. All teams in the Watch have 13 games remaining.
POINT BLANK 2009 DRAFT TOP 5
March 15, 2009
1. John Tavares, C, London (OHL)
2. Victor Hedman, D, Modo (Sweden)
3. Matt Duchene, C, Brampton (OHL), right
4. Magnus Svensson-Paajarvi, LW, Timra-IK (Sweden)
5. Evander Kane, C, Vancouver (WHL)
Comments.
Never quite got to complete my Chronicles of Sarnia Trilogy because of distractions leading up to the trade deadline. But I will follow up with Matt Martin and freshen up my material on him. Until I do, here’s a story from the Sarnia paper today about Martin, a kid who could be a strong intangibles player in a few years for the Islanders. The Islanders hosted Martin and his Sting teammates Mark Katic and Justin DeBenedetto in Toronto on Tuesday.
Comments.
Check out the game thread in Comments.
[On the day after Kyle Okposo's overtime goal in Montreal, there's no better time to share this email from a young man who can speak to what the Islanders' budding star is like away from the playing surface.
Justin Dolan, 19, is a former Islanders season ticketholder whose family moved from Smithtown to North Carolina when he was 14 years old. He is now a freshman at East Carolina University and is captain of the first-ever U18 Junior Hurricanes team...CB]
by Justin Dolan
I wanted to share with Islanders fans the kind of person you have in Kyle Okposo.
Kyle and I met at Shattuck St. Mary’s Hockey Camp about two years ago. He was just drafted by the Islanders and meeting him was a huge deal to me. We talked about how rookie camp went and how much he loved Long Island. He told me he was going to stick around and watch my game, “So go hard out there.” If that doesn’t pump you up, I don’t know what will.
He became a mentor and a pal before we parted ways at the end of the week. I was off to my season. He was off to his unbelievable rookie campaign at the University of Minnesota.
Later in the season, I was talking to Mark Anderson, one of my coaches from Shattuck St. Mary’s (a player at Colgate). I told Mark about some of the things I was going through in my life. My parents were getting divorced. I talked to Mark about how much thinking about meeting Kyle and the players at camp had meant to me. I thought about it all the time when times were bad.
About a week later, I received an email from an address I’d never seen before and opened it up to find out it was Kyle. I practically jumped out of my seat and was so happy to hear from him.
Justin,
Hey buddy, I just wanted to see how you were doing man. We met this summer at Shattuck Camps when Mark and Taylor were coaching you. I loved watching you play and tear it up there and hopefully you will be back this summer.
Mark contacted me and told me you were going through some hard times with school and your family. You just have to believe that everything will work out for the best. Just remember no matter how tough things get, there are people out there who are much less fortunate than you and I.
Take it easy and keep on truckin!
Kyle Okposo
I was in tears of joy knowing that a hero to me was there for me in bad times. Before every game I play, I read that letter that Kyle sent to me. It’s deep in my heart and I’ll never forget it.
We stayed in touch throughout the year and he told me he would be at Shattuck again the next summer so I made sure I was going. We got to hang out more during the week and it was one of the best times of my life.
Islanders fans have seen how great a hockey player Kyle is on the ice, but he really showed me the kind of person he is. The Islanders have a player they can really rely on for a long time to come. He is a potential star on the ice and, to me and I’m sure plenty of others, a hero away from the rink.
Hockey talk in this thread. Lighthouse discussion continues below.
On Wednesday I was invited to attend a forum for Small Business hosted by Nassau County. Despite the subject matter, it was interesting to hear County Executive Tom Suozzi and Legislator Dave Denenberg make a point of saying how vital the Lighthouse Project was for all businesses.
After the conference, I caught up with Denenberg – whom I’d met a few times going back to the days of former Islanders owners and “Hoistgate.” Denenberg is the Chair of the Nassau County Planning, Development and Environment Committee and Chair of the Nassau County Public Works Committee. That makes him a key supporter of the Lighthouse Project.
A Democrat, Denenberg might make an ideal Hempstead Town Supervisor. In a followup email exchange, I asked the County Legislator three questions.
Dave, you went out of your way at the conference on Wednesday to tell all of the Small Business owners that the Coliseum development is important for them as well. Can you go into more detail?
The Lighthouse Project will provide job opportunities in high-paying industries like sports, tourism and entertainment, sports medicine and high-tech. The people employed at the Lighthouse will live in our suburban communities and patronize our small businesses in our traditional downtown areas and otherwise.
Moreover, the housing opportunities in the Lighthouse will attract both young people first starting out and retirees which will benefit all of Nassau County including, particularly, small businesses. The multi-use development, a model of smart growth, is of a magnitude to significantly increase the county’s revenue base without tax increases which are smothering small businesses and homeowners.
Hopefully, this project will lead the way for smart growth development throughout our downtown areas. Ultimately, that is a tremendous boon for small businesses and all of our residents.
Do you have a comment on the handling of the project so far by Kate Murray and the Town of Hempstead?
As usual, the Town of Hempstead is shortsighted in clinging to its outdated 1950s single use zoning laws and philosophy. Instead of embracing smart growth and the most significant development project since Levittown, the Town appears unwilling and unable to support the project and the growth our residents need.
As cover, Supervisor Murray argues that the single Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum structure can be renovated sooner while the town considers the 150 acre surrounding development. This ignores the economic reality and viability of the team, the private development interests and, moreover, the town and county.
The town also ignores the need for construction jobs, the jobs the development would create and the housing opportunities. If the town requires revision or modification, great! Just tell us so we can move forward.
County Executive Suozzi is not waiting and is already negotiating the final lease because we know that this project not only saves the team but is a necessity for trade union jobs, professional jobs, housing, revenue, small business and, indeed, Nassau’s future.
When we met on Wednesday, you mentioned you’d like to host a rally for the project. I know not all the details are finalized, but what are your goals?
I am planning on hosting a rally with the President of the Nassau-Suffolk Building Trades and the Long Island Federation of Labor to send a message that we need this project and we need it now. The rally is called “Save the Island(ers)” because this multi-use, smart growth project is not just to save the team but to save suburbia.
A new arena alone won’t save the team or Long Island; multi-use zoning with the related housing, job and revenue opportunities will preserve the team and create a new and better suburbia.
Denenberg can be contacted vis his website. Comments.
Subjects include the soccer warmup, Rick DiPietro’s health, signing youngsters to long-term deals, Rechlicz and Jackman fights, Tampa Bay beats Toronto, Matt Gilroy (shocker!) and Kyle Okposo scores in overtime.
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