Monthly Archives: March 2009
We start off with some very sad news. Lawrence Feldman, the lead attorney on the Lighthouse Project, died yesterday of a heart attack. Here is the story from the LI Business News.
I met Larry a few times in meetings. He was a terrific man and incredible leader. Michael Picker from the Lighthouse Development Corporation said today, “We are devastated by his loss and our thoughts are with his family.”
Although the project will not be set back, the leaders will now be thinking of Larry Feldman and his family every step of the way.
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No Bridgeport for KO: Just like that, Kyle Okposo is not on Bridgeport’s Clear Day roster for the AHL playoffs. Guess you can skip our story from last week. The hunch is Okposo will play for Team USA at the World Championships. He could always join the Sound Tigers after the Worlds, if they are still in the playoffs and have some injuries. Here is the playoff roster, just released by the team.
Goalies
Nathan Lawson
Peter Mannino
Defensemen
Joe Callahan
Jon Gleed
Jack Hillen
Dustin Kohn
Chris Lee
Andrew MacDonald
Mark Wotton
Forwards
Sean Bentivoglio
Jeremy Colliton
Blake Comeau
Micheal Haley
Tyler Haskins
Mike Iggulden
Jesse Joensuu
Junior Lessard
Tomas Marcinko
Kurtis McLean
Jon Sim
Trevor Smith
Ben Walter
Blake Comeau makes it. Robin Figren, as expected, does not. No Mitch Fritz or Joel Rechlicz, which might say fighting in the AHL playoffs is as frequent as the NHL. Haley is a solid middleweight.
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In-Game Commentary…Returns tonight. Join me in Comments during the game.
Lineup News: One player leaves the lineup, another returns. Sean Bergenheim (groin) is out. The Islanders did not have to call up a forward because Nate Thompson is expected back tonight in Montreal.
PB on XM: We’ll be on XM Radio tonight around 6:00 pm talking Islanders hockey with Jim Gordon.
The Kings of Queens: Queens wants the Islanders so badly, they might offer to put a retractable roof on the National Tennis Center! Which, as a big tennis fan, I could tell you they should have done when they first built the joint.
Silli at Dave & Buster’s Tonight: The Islanders are hosting an event tonight at the Dave & Buster’s at The Source Mall in Westbury. Mike Sillinger will be there to take in the broadcast with you.
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Memories of Montreal: On the centennial of the Canadiens, some personal snapshots of the legendary franchise and wonderful town…
The feeling that every game there was the biggest sporting event in the world on that given night.
The clouds of smoke on the concourse of the Forum.
Taking my wife on the team trip about ten years ago. We arrive in Montreal and the team bus pulls up to the hotel, where more than 100 autograph-seekers await. Catherine asks, “Is there like a big rock band staying here or something”?
The next morning, going for coffee with then-assistant coach (and former Hab) Rick Green. You would have thought we were with Celine Dion.
Standing by the visiting team bench at the new arena and looking up at the fans in the last row – seemingly a mile away but having the time of their lives.
Going out for dinner with Canadiens goalie Jeff Hackett after a game and being treated like I was rolling with Leo DiCaprio.
Gibby’s in Olde Montreal. Good steak and seafood, better atmosphere. The pasta at DaVinci.
The look on the face of Steve Thomas after Game 5 in 1993. The feeling that any one of four teams could have won the Stanley Cup that year, and now it wasn’t going to be the Islanders.
The charming customs officers, who moved at an especially slow pace during the ’93 playoffs.
Being in a bar and Mariusz Czerkawski asking who I thought was the most attractive woman in the place. I make my pick, and a minute later I’m in the highly-awkward position of declining an invitation to dance with her. Oh, Mariusz. He owned that town.
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A series of event notes this morning…
PB Night III?: There’s a possibility of one final Point Blank event this season, if you’re into it.
The plan would be to have it at an establishment near the Coliseum after the 2:00 pm home game against Philly on April 11. Instead of a game on TV, it would be more of a season recap/draft preview/look ahead co-hosted by me and Billy Jaffe.
There would be free beer and soda and wings for anyone wearing some kind of Islanders flair (Office Space reference). We could probably trick a great guest or two into stopping by. If you believe there would be interest, please let me know in Comments.
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Thank You…to everyone who took part in Point Blank Night II. After a rocky start with 2 of the 3 TVs on the fritz during the pregame, it got fixed and I believe everyone had a good time. I know I did getting to meet so many of you.
Thanks especially to Roseanne and the staff at Gabrielle’s (led by Lorraine) for their incredible support of the night. The reason why a blogger is able to host an event of this calibre for 150 people, pure and simple, is because of Roseanne and the crew at Gabrielle’s. As I’ve written many times, if someone in Nassau, Suffolk, Queens, anywhere can match what Gab’s does for us, I’d have an event once a month.
Thank you to Michael Picker and Paul Lancey of the Lighthouse Development Corp. for visiting with our group. Thank you to Justin Bourne and Brianna Gillies for their royal presence. Thanks again to Mr. Richard DiPietro for his support by coming to both events.
Thanks to Kelly for doing such a great job running the raffle. Thank you to The Jaff for getting on the phone with my hater neighbor Joe, who backed down like a major wuss when given the chance to say why he criticizes you in Comments. He won’t be doing that again. Now he thinks you’re A-ok.
Thanks Madji and Mark, even though Joao Sousa blew it off because he thought we wouldn’t get to hang. Thanks to my now longtime pals from Islandermania for coming by. Thanks to my new friends made during the evening. Thank you, everyone who came from near and far (New Jersey, Westchester, NYC, even Suffolk!) to fill the place.
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Silli at Dave & Buster’s Tonight: If you’re in search of another viewing party, the Islanders are hosting one tonight at the Dave & Buster’s at The Source Mall in Westbury.
Mike Sillinger is the guest and the team will have all sorts of goodies. If you haven’t yet had the privilege, Sillinger is a fun person to watch a game with. Check it out if you have the time.
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Lighthouse Night on March 26: The Lighthouse Development Corp. is hosting a Community Education Outreach on Thursday, March 26 at 7:00 pm at the Long Island Marriott. If you go, tell them you heard about it from Point Blank.
We’re told scheduled guests include Charles Wang and Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi. The former is the man who has spent millions trying to keep this together. The latter is the man who insisted on and led County approval of - let’s do this slowly, for Town Supervisors and others just joining in -
NOT…A…COLISEUM…RENOVATION…BUT…DEVELOPMENT…OF…THE…ENTIRE…PROPERTY. (Or to use The Suozz’s phrase, The Hub).
Kate Murray hasn’t shown up at anything else, so you have to figure her presence at this one is a longshot.
Point Blank Night 3 interest? That, and everything else, in Comments. Live conversation during the road game returns tonight. Should have more later in the afternoon.
Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray still believes the Coliseum can be renovated as a stand-alone project – this time with Obama bucks. Is Murray just blind to what Nassau County insisted on and approved? Does she not talk to Tom Suozzi? Does she not, uh, read newspapers – or watch News 12 when she’s not on it?
I know I was slow to this one. Been out all day. Here’s Eden Laikin’s Newsday story via Baumbach & Reiber – because Jim was kind enough to be my guest at the Hofstra class I teach.
Maybe I’m still hung over from PB Night. Maybe I’m just burnt after an early morning at a Nassau County conference (more on that tomorrow) and a long day and night in the city. But this can’t be politics as usual. This can’t be Murray stalling so she doesn’t have to deal with a project she wants no part of. She cannot be serious. I think this is now at the point where it is fair to ask:
Is there something wrong with Kate Murray?
Comments.
Sean Bergenheim (groin) and Joey MacDonald (knee) will not be with the team when they play in Montreal tomorrow night. Both have returned to Long Island for observation and there is no timetable for their return. Peter Mannino has been recalled from Bridgeport.
-Kevin
When they write the history of mankind in the 20th and 21st centuries, it will be determined that when adult men fought with each other, it was only over 3 things:
1. Money
2. Women
3. Losing a whole lot of hockey games
No. 3, in a nutshell, is what I believe led to the deterioration of the working relationship and friendship – yes, friendship – of Islanders head coach Scott Gordon and Islanders captain Bill Guerin. Nothing more, nothing less.
When Gordon decided at midseason to publicly accentuate the development of his team’s younger players and chip away at the PT of his veterans, it was all downhill from there. In Greg Logan’s article of two weeks ago about Gordon’s relationship with a few of his veterans, Guerin said, “Let’s just say we’re both very passionate people.” The captain couldn’t have put it any better. Losing stinks, and when you’re losing at the rate the Islanders were from the beginning of December to mid-January, it also turns ugly. If everyone was happy, then something would really be wrong.
I’m told Gordon and Guerin had some brief, friendly post-trade communication and wished each other well. Perhaps the fracture won’t heal immediately, but the hockey world is a small one. Maybe they’ll work together again someday. At the very least, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them a few years from now sitting at a bar, wise-Massin’ to each other like Damon and Wahlberg in The Departed. Distance from all that losing tends to ease the wounds.
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After Brendan Witt shed some doubt on Gordon’s system of play in a Newsday article in November, I wrote that you better believe Witt was not alone. I set the over/under for one-time Gordon grumblers in 2009 training camp at one.
The player I thought would be back? Brendan Witt, who now shares a stronger bond with the coach after the two reached an understanding.
The player most likely to be gone? Chris Campoli.
There’s no doubt in my mind Gordon’s preference was to work issues out with Campoli, as he has with others – most notably Sean Bergenheim. Gordon was wistful discussing the defenseman after he was dealt, as if he failed to make Campoli the player he thought he could be.
Campoli did not like his place behind Mark Streit and Doug Weight on the power play. It was clear for months that Chris wasn’t happy with a lot. He pushed hard for a trade, so now Gordon someday gets to work with the 18-year old the Islanders draft late in the first round in June.
That’s two from Gordon’s doghouse. The others were Mike Comrie, the worst fit possible for the Go-Go approach, and Jon Sim, unhappy with his playing time even as he cleared waivers twice. While Sim has admirably committed to the Sound Tigers cause, he may get to re-connect with Gordon in the final year of his contract in ’09-10.
Here are the facts of hockey life. Since the Campoli and Comrie trade, the Islanders are 6-2-1. No one is saying the deal was the magic elixir, but the improvements in the locker room atmosphere and in the team’s play are not coincidences. It took a while, but Scott Gordon is starting to find his team.
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Scott Gordon is in his first season as any kind of coach in the National Hockey League. Prior to getting the Islanders head coaching job, he spent more than a decade coaching minor league clubs in Atlanta, Quebec, Roanoke and Providence. This is not to undermine his credentials – he rose to the top the right way – but simply to illustrate where he has been.
This is the 46-year old Gordon’s first year in New York, first full season as a player or coach in the NHL, first experience relating to NHL players of various age, experience, temperaments and bank accounts. One cannot overestimate the difficulty of such a career transition. Nevertheless, Gordon shows the potential to be a top NHL coach. He has been superlative in many ways. During the recent homestand, there was tangible evidence of the culture he is trying to build. You also never heard a word about his team being too burnt out to excel in the third period.
Although he is reluctant to acknowledge his mistakes publicly – then again, what determined leaders do? – Gordon has not been perfect. His missteps have been primarily in his communication with his players, and also with his team’s fans through the media. The latter is far less crucial and more easily learned. Lately, the head coach has shown a better understanding of the team-media-fans game.
Of course, his communication with his athletes is what really matters. Gordon has every right to look at the development of his young players and want to shout, “See! that’s why they brought me here”! An early-season meeting with Kyle Okposo in which the coach told the player he “looks like he’s just happy to be out there” brought immediate results. Frans Nielsen, a deft playmaker, is improving as an all-zone center.
With Gordon’s guidance, 19-year old Josh Bailey may not be soaring, but he’s learning. His recent play shows Bailey is better for the experience. Jack Hillen, in his first full season of pro, is ahead of the curve. The coaching staff glows over the attitude and approach of the young players. The kids respect their coach, as David Krecji, Matt Hunwick and Kris Versteeg appreciated their mentor in Providence.
But any questions hanging over Gordon’s head about his ability to deal with veterans – or any players not buying in - do not vanish with the departure of Comrie, Campoli and Guerin, plus the waiving and demotion of Sim.
Trent Hunter, 29 in July, is not going to be the oldest Islander next season, or the one after that. Every year there will be 30-something warhorses. And not all of them are going to be Richard Park and Dean McAmmond; to think otherwise is naive. There will always be players who don’t believe in the coach or his system, at least at the start.
Gordon has built a bit of a reputation for being tough on some of his older players, but the irony is he might have been too gentle. Toronto’s Ron Wilson, with two decades of success on his resume, roasted Jason Blake and didn’t think twice about it. Florida rookie coach Peter DeBoer benched Nick Boynton and other veterans. Gordon never healthy-scratched Comrie. At most, he cut Guerin’s minutes from about 19 to 15 and never took him off the power play. When Sim cleared waivers the first time, he wasn’t sent to Bridgeport. The coach probably thought he was being respectful, but where did it get him?
Fortunately for Gordon, he works for a general manager and team owner dedicated to a step-by-step rebuild. Gordon will get the opportunity to continue the process, no matter how this season ends. But here’s where he would be foolish: if Gordon chooses to stick his head in the sand and not learn from the adversity of the last six months, it would be a wasted rookie season for the coach.
Mutual friends of ours say Gordon is a terrific person. They say the edginess we see before the camera belies the integrity and decency of the real man. They believe he’s not stubborn, just passionate about the direction he wants to take the team. My take: at times this season Gordon got stuck in the Eric Mangini mold. He may want to emulate Bill Belichick, but boy does it look bad when you’re not winning. You want this to be Belichick in New England, not Cleveland.
Funny how the coach’s true strengths are starting to become visible now, with a few wins and a few player departures. For his Islanders to take the next step, Scott Gordon needs to learn from this season just like fellow upstarts Okposo and Bailey, Nielsen and the rest - from the failures as much as the successes.
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Breaking news: the Lighthouse Development Corp. has scheduled a “Community Education Outreach” for Thursday, March 26 at 7:00 pm at the Long Island Marriott, across from the Coliseum. We’ll have more as the event nears, and I’m sure LDC President Michael Picker will discuss it at Point Blank Night.
Talk about tonight’s Islanders-Leafs game in Comments. Up next from me is a long-awaited Scott Gordon story.
Joel Rechlicz is back with the Islanders. Kurtis MacLean stays. Brendan Witt out of NHL Timeout. Nate Thompson close. Puck Daddy calls Foul on the Islanders fan with the TAVARES jersey (yes, I know about the ad on my blog). Point Blank Night Deux is tonight. Visits from Lighthouse Development Corp. President Michael Picker and royal blue family member Justin Bourne. Wine, food, Islanders-Leafs on the tube. And maybe, just maybe some definitive answers about that Vintage uniform everyone seems to like so much. Details and RSVP.
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