Monthly Archives: June 2009
You can tell I must be burned out. I gave really short answers. Logie talks up Duchene and the “most complete” and “team-oriented” player stuff some more. Uh-oh. Thanks for the opportunity, Sean P. Daddy.
(Thank you, Palm Isle blog)
Islanders Point Blank on Twitter
It’s not like I post under an alias like “Volek,” or don’t run a photo of my actual, uh, character-filled mug right on this blog. I’m also on Facebook – granted, with pictures of a beautiful family that I Photoshopped.
It’s not like I’m going into Witness Protection on Friday night. You’ll know where to find me. Sometime in the 10:00 pm hour, I’ll be responsibly nursing a few one-dollar Miller pints at RC Dugans in East Meadow. Note to the Dugans guys: you do have bouncers, right?
The Islanders are going to draft John Tavares first overall. We’ve all been through the reasons why. B.D. Gallof has a strong column on some of his. (Make sure you Comment on B.D.’s site and applaud his artistry).
There’s no reason for me to wait until Thursday or Friday to update the Snojanks Scoreboard. Actually, it’s kind of silly to even have a shred of doubt on the Tavares pick.
There are only two reasons why I won’t go 100% for Tavares. One is because of my respect for Greg Logan. Greg knows this team well and has sources all over the organization. When he gets off the phone with Garth Snow last Friday and posts Matt Duchene as his prediction on his blog and then in the Sunday newspaper, you seriously have to consider it.
The other reason is that I spoke to not one, not two, but three people closely connected to the Islanders in the last 18 hours. For the record, they called me. One told me management loves Duchene, duh. One said, “As your friend, I really don’t think you wanna hitch your wagon to this Tavares pick.” The other agreed with my contention that only Charles Wang, Garth Snow and Ryan Jankowski know who the pick is today. Therefore, linking the Draft Party hoopla to a Tavares pick would be a mistake.
(Thanks, Puck Daddy and Barry)
Still, you have to wonder about the Islanders setting up jersey-personalization stations at the Draft Party.
Does that mean I can get R.J. FAIL 09? (Relax, Jankowski. These are just jokes. Two months of this will do this to ya. Pick the right guy and I’ll headline my post “The Snojanks Redemption.”)
And dear readers, I get it. If I’m wrong on Tavares, you probably won’t pay much attention to next week’s 20-part Point Blank series. It’s entitled, “The Players I’m Almost Certain the Islanders will Sign in Unrestricted Free Agency.”
THE SNOJANKS SCOREBOARD
June 23, 2009
80% - The Islanders select John Tavares with the first overall pick
15% – The Islanders select Matt Duchene with the first overall pick
4% – They draft two out of Tavares, Hedman and Duchene by making a trade that does not include Kyle Okposo
1% - They select Victor Hedman with the first overall pick
Comments. Comment Guidelines. 3 posts max per reader, let everyone have their opinion, don’t run over your fellow readers. If you missed my meltdown about the Comments section, please read before posting.
Islanders Point Blank on Twitter
UPDATED at 8:30 am with my Comments on some of yours.
The Islanders report that more than 18,000 tickets have already been snapped up by fans for their free Draft Party at the Coliseum. Think about the extraordinary loyalty of fans who are getting themselves to Uniondale on the first Friday night of summer to watch the VERSUS broadcast of TSN’s coverage of the draft on the Coliseum scoreboard.
There’s no question about it. If you are a big Islanders fan, live within driving distance of the Coliseum and don’t have a wedding or job to go to, the Draft Party is the place to be. So what if not all 18,000 are going to use their tickets? If the Islanders get 6-10,000 – my prediction – that’s a remarkable accomplishment. There has never been a draft party in the NHL, NBA or NFL to match that crowd.
As a reward to the Islanders fans filling the arena to watch some must-see TV, Garth Snow should call in to the Draft Party at 7:00 pm, be transferred to the PA system and exclusively inform everyone at the Coliseum the identity of their first overall pick. If Snow can’t make the call, he can relay the information to partygoers Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier and they can do the honors.
The TSN broadcast – VERSUS just picks up the Canadian show – can film the reaction at the Coliseum, or go live. The first overall selection would have two moments: the reaction of the large crowd at the Coliseum and the reaction of the fans at the Bell Centre.
Of course, the 18-year old the Islanders pick first overall will be notified just before the announcement to the Coliseum crowd so he hears first. There’s a good chance he will know anyway before the official coronation on the draft’s stage at around 7:15 pm. The Islanders should also tell their contest winners in Montreal for the draft.
There are Islanders fans all over the planet. There are no doubt thousands who would love to be at the Coliseum next Friday but cannot be. Still, those die-hards at the Coliseum should be rewarded. Last time the old barn had a crowd this big to watch closed circuit TV was probably Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Tommy Hearns.
In honor of your loyalty and dedication to the Islanders, we wanted to share this news with you before the rest of the hockey world.
With the first pick in the 2009 NHL Draft, the New York Islanders are proud to select _______________.
Season tickets are now available at the customer service booths conveniently located all over the place. Our merchandise staff is ready to start lettering and numbering your jerseys. Islanders prospect camp begins in two weeks. ____________ will be there”!
Right now, there are probably about 8,000 Islanders fans committed to attending the Draft Party at the Coliseum on Friday. There are thousands more weighing their options, including some leery of potential negative reaction if the majority of fans don’t get their man. It is all but certain they will get their man. Worst-case scenario, some really loud booing never bothered anyone. It will be far worse if RC Dugans is selling pints of beer for a quarter.
Want to guarantee the best possible crowd at the Coliseum on Friday? The Islanders should announce that they will first share the decision on their No. 1 pick with the loyalists who gave up their Friday night to make it to the future site of the Lighthouse Project.
Comment on this topic only. Comment Guidelines. In case you missed, here are the details on the Post-Draft and Draft Party Draught Celebration at RC Dugans in East Meadow. $1 Miller pints if the NYI take Tavares, 25 cents if anyone else goes first overall.
Islanders Point Blank on Twitter
On April 10, four days before the lottery, I wrote a post entitled “No Reason To Vic Around.” (I liked that headline). Basic premise: if the Islanders won the lottery, they should declare John Tavares right then and there. Not get all nuts like Tampa Bay did last summer with the Stamkos billboards and all, mind you. Just start the relationship between cornerstone prospect, organization and fan right away.
Reaction was mixed from blog readers, mostly negative in some parts of the Country and met with some snickers in the hockey offices of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The nose-thumbers said it was outrageous!
“What if their player suffered a career-ending injury in the junior playoffs”?!! (Uh, pick the next guy when you have to actually draft on draft day. No one would complain – not the kid with the ripped up knee, not the kid who’s now the No. 1 pick in the draft).
“How can you not wait to see all the great offers that are guaranteed to pour in”?!!! (Yep, we’ll still waiting. Can’t wait to hear about them).
The attitude of the draft purists was summed up in one encounter I had in Penn Station a week after I wrote the post. I ran into an influential fellow with strong connections to the Islanders. The lecture went like this: “If Garth did what you suggested, it would disrespect the scouting process.”
Okey-dokey. So where are we today after more than two months of process?
On Friday, 65 days after winning the Draft Lottery, Islanders GM Garth Snow admitted to Bob McKenzie of TSN that the player he wanted in mid-April is still the player he wants today.
“I said at the time that I had a pretty good idea but that I wasn’t firmly committed to it until we went through the process of doing our due diligence on all the top guys,” said Snow. “Let’s just say the process re-affirmed what I thought back then. We want the same guy now that we wanted back then.”
Okay, so let’s take a look at the process.
Victor Hedman: Hockey season was over before draft lottery. Islanders met with Hedman for team-allotted 20 minutes and watched him do the Presidential Fitness Test at the Draft Combine. Victor, his dad and his agent visited with the NYI for three hours earlier this month.
Matt Duchene: Played 11 post-lottery playoff games for Brampton, including one before Snow and Islanders owner Charles Wang. Draft Combine. Two nights lodging at Chez Snow, plus golf and meetings.
John Tavares: 5 post-lottery playoff games for London, including a visit from Snow and Wang. Two nights at Chez Snow, plus golf, meetings and breakfast with Doug Weight.
The Islanders knew who they wanted before all of the above. Now they’re really sure. Cool. Fair enough.
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As for this idea that the Islanders are waiting to announce their pick on Friday because it has put them in the league spotlight, has it really? I mean, having the first overall pick always comes with some buzz, of course. The drama has been gold for Point Blank and all Islanders blogs, but where else but the Country has this been talked about every day for the last two months? Nowhere. This week, however, the spotlight will shine when Garth Snow arrives in Montreal mid-week. You asked for it, old friend! Ha!
As fans, hope the Islanders take the best player on Friday. Hope the Islanders are not the talk of the league on Friday night. Been there, done that. Here’s the irony: if the Islanders do the smart, safe unspectacular thing on Friday – oh nooooooooo! – they’ll move a few thousand ticket packages this summer without having to proactively make the phone calls.
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The pick must be John Tavares. It’s one thing for the Islanders’ staff to not know Snow’s selection for the last two months. I’m sure they continue to have no idea. But it’s another to promote a draft party as “Islanders history” and work hard enough to get a possible capacity crowd into the Coliseum for the event.
Latest Islandermania poll results: Tavares 431, Hedman 46, Duchene 13. (Couldn’t help but notice that Duchene got a few extra votes on the team’s offical message board since Friday…hmmm).
There could not possibly be such a disconnect in the Islanders’ executive offices. It would be the worst on Long Island since…well, since Thursday in Bethpage, when the USGA proved with their initial raincheck response that they don’t live on the same planet as the rest of us.
Excellent point yesterday by Larry Brooks. If the Islanders are not drafting Tavares, better declare Duchene or Hedman early this week. Stay away from the “implicit danger of allowing the Tavares Bandwagon to roll down Hempstead Turnpike without brakes, only then to have it crash without warning into a dead end in Montreal on Friday night.” Larry concludes that the closer we get to Friday, the more likely the pick is Tavares. Yup.
The pick is Tavares. Hey, didja hear the news? For what it’s worth, a majority of the hockey world also believes he is the best player available.
Comments. Please follow the Comment Guidelines and treat fellow posters with respect. Moratorium called on all tearing-down-the-Coliseum jokes. Details on RC Dugans’ Post-Draft Draught Celebration a few threads down.
Tavares is 1, Hedman a clear-cut 2, Duchene equally firm at 3. Here’s Bob McKenzie’s story. Comment Guidelines.
Many readers wanted me to ask Garth Snow about the potential reaction at the Draft Party. Greg Logan got to Snow this morning. The GM’s response. My response will be posted soon. Comments.
Islanders Point Blank on Twitter
There’s the NHL Draft. There’s the jam-packed Islanders Draft Party. And then there’s the Post-Draft Draft Celebration.
R.C. Dugans in East Meadow, two minutes from the Coliseum.
10:00 pm – midnightish.
$1 Miller pints if the Islanders draft John Tavares first overall. 25-cent Miller pints if they draft anyone other than Tavares first overall.
Free wings.
Billy Jaffe.
A brief Point Blank review with The Jaff of the Islanders’ first round selections and preview of Saturday’s draft proceedings. And a chance for some fans to have their say.
No cover charge.
If you don’t want Miller and don’t eat wings, there will be plenty of alternatives at the bar and in the kitchen.
The event is brought to you by R.C. Dugans and the Miller Brewing Company, but let’s be blunt: no one’s making any money off Johnny T. dollar or HedDuch 25-cent pints and free wings – least of all Dugans owner, Islanders season ticketholder and fellow Point Blank reader Jay Dugan. Jay just wanted to offer Islanders fans a place to unwind after the draft and enjoy some hockey conversation. He’s a good man, so I’m showing my support.
RC Dugans is located at 2314 Hempstead Turnpike in East Meadow, 2.1 miles East of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The phone number is 516.520.0325. There’s plenty of parking in the back of the pub, which is on the south side of Hempstead Turnpike.
Since it’s an establishment, guests must be 21 or older. Please drink responsibly. More than that, just stop by and meet up with Islanders fans after the draft on Friday night. Maybe if the Islanders don’t draft Tavares, Dugans can set up a dunk tank and I can be the clown.
RSVPs only in this Comment thread. Draft talk continues below. Thanks.
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