Monthly Archives: July 2009
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The upgrading of the Islanders’ prospect pool will almost certainly result in more NYI participants in this year’s World Junior Championships, set for Saskatoon during the holidays. To gauge a prospect’s chances of making it to the WJC, we will use a 4-star system. Four stars equals a near-lock.
Canada: Travis Hamonic (***), Calvin de Haan (***), Corey Trivino (**), Casey Cizikas (*). Hamonic was a final cut last year and should make it. “Saskatoon is only 8 hours from home, so it would be a real honor and a major experience for me,” the Moose Jaw defenseman said during prospect minicamp. “It’s been a tradition for my family my whole life…Christmas, Boxing Day, watching the World Juniors.”
For those readers asking if the Islanders’ kids are getting stronger, Hamonic revealed that over the last year he went from 6-0, 195 pounds to his current 6-2, 210. He said the challenge during the season is keeping the weight on – “not so easy when you’re playing 35 minutes a game.”
de Haan and Hamonic will attend Canada’s evaluation camp. Trivino of Boston University was not invited but has a chance if junior stars like Cody Hodgson and Matt Duchene stay in the NHL. Cizikas needs an exceptional start to his OHL season with St. Mike’s to have any chance of getting consideration. “That’s my goal,” Cizikas told PB last week. “It’s up to me to prove that the committee may have missed someone.”
John Tavares is eligible to match Jason Botterill as the only Canadian in history to win three WJC golds, but if the Islanders didn’t loan out Joshua Bailey…
USA: Aaron Ness (***), Matt Donovan (*). Ness, a strong candidate, will be at Team USA’s camp in Lake Placid in August. Donovan starts his collegiate career in Denver and has an uphill battle.
Russia: Kirill Petrov (****), Anton Klymentyev (***). National team evaluation camp is in August. Petrov will play in his second straight WJC, his first one healthy. Klymentyev, who will play for London in the OHL this season, has a very good shot of making his national team.
Sweden: Anders Nilsson (**). The Sweden Cup in late July goes a long way toward deciding their country’s goalie rotation. Nilsson’s biggest obstacle is some serious competition from several Swedish netminders, including Point Blank favorite Robin Lehner.
Finland: Jyri Niemi (****). He still doesn’t make our list of the Islanders’ top prospects, but Niemi will make the more important list of his national team’s lineup at the WJC. What a year for Niemi in Saskatoon: Islanders training camp, another season with the WHL Blades and the World Junior Championships.
Comments.
If you ever wondered why the NYI Blog Box was created or how Point Blank and other blogs manage to post big Visit numbers and why they matter, check out this state-of-the-sports media address from the Sports Business Journal. It says it all. Puck Daddy continues the conversation and asks readers some key questions.
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I’m not really here. See below. Still on hiatus. Didn’t think the NYI would unveil exhibition schedule on a Saturday afternoon.
With a press release on Saturday, the Islanders announced a pre-season schedule of six games. The Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers say the Islanders have eight.
Here is the schedule, as released by the Islanders:
Sept. 14 – vs. Vancouver in Terrace, B.C
Sept. 19 – vs. Calgary in Saskatoon
Sept. 20 – vs. Edmonton in Saskatoon
Sept. 22 – vs. Los Angeles in Kansas City
Sept. 23 – vs. Devils at NVMC
Sept. 29 – at Devils
However, the Oilers’ official team site lists an Islanders-Edmonton game at Rexall Place on Sept. 16. The Flames site has an Islanders-Calgary game in the Saddledome the following night.
My friend, Flames PR boss Peter Hanlon, confirmed the Saddledome game via email tonight. Same for young pal J.J. Hebert, who said the game at Rexall with his Oilers is still a go. This has to be cleared up because Logie could have a few more flights to book.
So you can probably add these games:
Sept. 16 – at Edmonton
Sept. 17 – at Calgary
Eight games is just about right. Besides the missing games, just two observations on the Islanders’ exhibition schedule. Between training camp in Saskatoon, the two games there, the NHL-produced “Hockeyville” game in Terrace and the Lighthouse Classic in Kansas City, it’s fair to say September will be a profitable month for the Islanders.
When it comes to pure hockey effect, the gap between Devils games means the Islanders only have one fast-paced, hard-hittin’ NHL matchup in the ten days between Sept. 23 and the season opener on Oct. 3. Maybe not ideal for Coach Gordon’s skating system. The boys would rather have games than the two or three Skate-aramas they’ll probably have in late September.
Will Tavares play in the lone home game? I’d think so. With one home game, seven games into their preseason schedule, can’t see them holding his Coliseum debut until the home opener. Will any of the games be televised in New York? Won’t be word on that for a while, but probably not. Islanders TV could have some coverage.
Comments on the pre-season. See you later.
POINT BLANK FIRST BREAK: After almost 300 straight days of non-stop posting, time for a brief hiatus
After 815 articles, 68,261 Comments and millions of visitors served, after posting an average of more than two stories every day for almost ten months and never taking a full day off, Point Blank rests.
To re-charge, take care of some personal business and have some fun, I’m going to disappear for a few days. If the Islanders make any news, I will probably be too far from a laptop to report or comment on it. Please support all the fine Islanders bloggers out there and regularly check your other sources of information.
I still have a few stories to tell from minicamp and plenty of others to unearth about the organization. This may be July heading into August, but the Islanders always give us something to write and talk about. (Don’t forget about the crucial August 4 Lighthouse hearing, and not because I’m considering speaking at it).
I won’t be gone long and I hope you won’t either. The plan is to be back by Tuesday. Below is a fun little scoop about prospect Anders Lee. Before that is a peak at the man who may be the Islanders’ other assistant coach. (Oh man, some of those comments are hilarious). If Alex Tanguay signs somewhere, he has his own thread a little lower.
While I’m away, the Comment Guidelines remain on. For now, enjoy the summer and continued thanks for the amazing support you’ve given Point Blank. If you’d like to ask a question, leave it in Comments and we’ll do a few rounds of Q & A when I return…CB
Anders Lee, the Islanders’ sixth round pick in the 2009 draft, could have been one of the Islanders’ sixth round picks in the 2008 draft.
Point Blank learned this week that the Minnesota high school hockey and football star was called at home by the Islanders before the final round in the ’08 draft and asked if he was ready to commit to hockey full-time.
“I was going to be captain of both the hockey and football teams,” said Lee. “(Assistant GM) Ryan Jankowski called me and asked if I was giving up football. He said I was one of a handful of guys they were considering with their final picks. I can’t blame them for asking. An NHL team shouldn’t be drafting a high school quarterback!
“I told the Islanders I couldn’t guarantee I’d give up football. I wasn’t going to lie to them. I felt an obligation to my high school teammates and coaches. For good reason, the Islanders picked someone else. I don’t know for sure if they would have taken me if I said I would skip football. Just a team doing their homework. It worked out for everyone.”
The Islanders picked WHL defenseman Jared Spurgeon and OHL scoring star Justin DiBenedetto with their two sixth rounders. Lee played football and hockey for Edina High School.
A year later, Lee got another call at home from Jankowski. This time, the scouting director wasn’t asking Lee anything. He was calling to tell him he was just drafted in the sixth round by the Islanders.
The 6-2, 210-pound center iceman will play one year, ironically, with Green Bay of the United States Hockey League before joining Jeff Jackson at Notre Dame. He says the complete focus on hockey should help him with the one area he’d like to improve. “Speed,” he says. “I know it will get better.”
Asked if he thinks he’ll ever regret walking away from football, Lee said, ”Not at all. I love hockey more than anything else. I don’t know what it is. There’s just something about it.”
In case you missed it, the man who could be the next Islanders assistant coach is in next thread. Comments on Anders Lee and NYI prospects here please.
10:30 pm - This fellow here on the left was at Prospect Minicamp the other day, and it wasn’t to get JT’s autograph. He may be the man joining Dean Chynoweth as assistant coach to Scott Gordon.
His name is also Scott, and he’s from – are you sitting down? – the great state of Massachusetts. Scott Allen has been an assistant coach with the Calgary Flames’ AHL affiliate in Quad Cities the last two years.
After a ten-year playing career in just about every minor league in the U.S., Allen has been coaching for more than a decade – including three seasons as head coach of the legendary Johnstown Chiefs. Just think, with this resume and that glare he’ll up the toughness quotient. (“Makin’ it look mean.”)
I don’t know Scott Allen. However, I can tell you that the best assistant coaches are often the guys you never heard of; like Greg Cronin, the ex-Isles assistant now performing miracles at Northeastern. They usually appreciate the opportunity, work harder and end up being the most passionate teachers.
Let’s await official word from an Islanders press release, but if Allen’s 20 years of working in the minors leads to this jump to the NHL, good for him.
Comments.
5:57 pm - As we reported exclusively last night, Blake Comeau and Jack Hillen declined their Qualifying Offers and remain restricted free agents without much leverage. Some readers wrote off the story as a non-issue, the result of 24/7/365 coverage (you mean like a real major league sports team? Thanks!). Guess we’ll see if this turns out to be much ado about nothing.
Way too easy to jump on Blake and Jack for rejecting their QOs. Yes, I was a bit surprised, but in an attempt to take the conversation deeper and understand the process I reached out today to their agents.
Kurt Overhardt, the agent for Comeau, began our phone conversation by stating that he almost never discusses his client’s contract negotiations in specifics. However, he understood that I was trying to write a balanced business tale, so he took me through the mechanics of passing on QOs not just on behalf of the Islanders forward but for many of his clients over the years.
“The fans should understand that the Qualifying Offer is simply a mechanism,” said Overhardt, based out of Colorado. “It is in place as a way for teams to retain the rights to their young players. It is purely systemic, nothing more than that.
“As agents, we expect teams to negotiate in good faith. The teams have the responsibility of evaluating their players and placing a value on them. What we did by exercising our right to pass on the Q.O. is the norm as much as the exception. I’ve done the same with many players, including Brandon Dubinsky with the Rangers. Again, the player’s agent and the team must negotiate in good faith.”
After Overhardt mentioned “good faith” a second time, I asked him to step away from his policy and speak about Comeau and the Islanders. Do you expect Garth Snow and the Islanders will negotiate in good faith, Kurt?
“I have the utmost confidence they will,” said Overhardt. “Garth and the Islanders have a very competent management team in place. I’ve worked with them plenty before.
“Something you have to remember about the Islanders. They’ve done such a good job of drafting the last few years, they’re going to be faced with a lot of situations like this. That’s a good thing. I’m confident we’ll work out a contract that’s fair for the player and the team.”
Neil Sheehy, Hillen’s agent, was not reluctant to discuss his position in passing on the QO.
“We’ve had discussions with Garth Snow about Jack,” said Sheehy. “Garth is an honorable guy. I’m hopeful we’ll be able to work something out.
“There are two sides to every negotiation. Both sides should have a say. There’s a history of working well with the Islanders, from Jason Blake to Jack Hillen and Kyle Okposo. The key is doing it together. I’m optimistic we’ll work something out.”
ETC: As reported by capgeek.com, forward prospect Trevor Smith signed his qualifying offer.
Comments. Bitter Tanguay talk continues below.
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