ISLANDERS at TORONTO, 7:05 pm - Chat Tonight
Roloson/Toskala…Witt Returns…Big Week for NYI
FANHOUSE: Chris Botta and Adam Gretz on the NHL’s Playoff Pretenders and Contenders…including the Islanders
Live Chat during Islanders-Maple Leafs tonight from 7:00 - 9:45 pm moderated by CB with special guest blogger Dominik of Lighthouse Hockey
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12:05 pm - If You Don’t Learn From History…The word from a blogger friend of mine at Air Canada Centre this morning is that the Islanders will start with the same forward lines as Saturday. Brendan Witt will play while - too bad - Andrew MacDonald looks like the lead candidate to sit.
(UPDATED at 1:00 pm - FYI: Katie Strang has tweeted that Brendan has shared with her the reasons why he has been away. Katie is writing about it for Newsday on Tuesday. Rob Carlin of The Plus has tweeted that Brendan’s daughter suffered a serious infection from a spider bite and is feeling much better now).
The goalie matchup is Dwayne Roloson against Vesa Toskala. Roloson appears to be the No. 1-A now, but you have to believe Martin Biron will get the nod against the Flyers on Wednesday.
The Press About the Press: Today’s the day the reporters and broadcasters write and talk about all the writers and broadcasters around John Tavares at the morning skate. Because, as you may know, hockey is popular in Toronto. It’s actually really big in all of Canada, ya know.
There are more hockey reporters and broadcasters in Toronto than anywhere else. The bottom line is none of this is anything the very mature Tavares cannot handle with ease in about ten minutes. He’s done it plenty of times before. The “look-at-all-the-reporters” angle is also depressing because this “media crush” is what Derek Jeter and David Wright and Mark Sanchez and even Justin Tuck face almost every day of their seasons. Hopefully, they’ll write and talk about the game, too. Moving on…
Big Week in the Country: The Islanders face the Maple Leafs tonight, looking to keep what was a glorious road trip over .500 with a win.
Then the Islanders have a pair of home games: Philadelphia on Wednesday and Pittsburgh on Friday afternoon. The Penguins’ depleted defense aside, this is a chance for the Islanders to show what they can do against the NHL’s varsity. There will be some fans from Philly and Pitt at the old barn on Hempstead Turnpike, but nothing Islanders fans shouldn’t be able to handle. It would be a shame if the Coliseum is not packed for both games.
The great mystery of the challenge of playing a home game after a long road trip is not in play for the Islanders on Wednesday. For starters, they came home for three days last week. In addition, before coming to the Coliseum, the Flyers will have played in Los Angeles, San Jose, Phoenix and Colorado over the previous six days.
The Islanders finish the week on Saturday with a road game against the Devils, another member of the league’s varsity.
Make-or-break week for Scott Gordon’s Islanders? In the marathon of the NHL season, of course not. But they could keep their mojo and any non-diehard fans on the perimeter interested by playing (at least) .500 hockey this week.
These are not last year’s Islanders, which were 10-12-2 before the epic collapse. While many conveniently forget Joey MacDonald was the NHL’s No. 3 star for the month of November, the tandem of Roloson and Biron should be an upgrade over the course of the season. If he makes it through a conditioning stint in Bridgeport with his health intact, Rick DiPietro should start some NHL games in late December.
The Islanders also now have the gift of Tavares, who is not just a goal scorer but makes everyone on the ice with him better. Last season, there were well-documented issues with Bill Guerin, Mike Comrie and Chris Campoli - eventually remedied late in the season with trades. I do not see any conflicts bubbling up with this crew so far this year.
Having said that - “Curb Your Enthusiasm” reference from last night’s season finale - the Islanders do not want to make a mountain out of the losses in Minnesota and St. Louis. At least two wins, including gutsy efforts at home against the Flyers and defending champs, should keep Islanders and the bandwagon rolling.
Comments on this post and tonight’s game. See you tonight for live chat at 7:00 pm.
Gotta get a regulation W tonight, not just for the team’s and its fans mental well being, but also to stick it to loud mouth Brian Burke. I’m hoping JT gets a hat trick.
I will be in the green section at the ACC tonight and predict we will win in a shootout…..JT will get a PP Goal and assist and then notch the shootout winner!!
Others who play well at the ACC: Hunter, Streit and Bruno (I know…hehe)….
SAB
Disappointing if in fact Biron doesn’t get the call tonight, but hopefully he raises his level of play on Wednesday if given the opportunity.
Biron really hasn’t proven himself as reliable yet… he’s good, no doubt… but Roloson’s stats right now shouldn’t be ignored. This bothers me a lot. I know they’re both starters and they’re both getting even chances, but come on. Marty is 2 and 6, Rollie is 6 and 2 (excluding OT). CB, at what point do they pick one to stick with?
I’m sure Gordon will add his two cents when the time comes, but I hope Okposo plays well in front of Burke to solidify his spot on the Olympic Team. This game is bigger for him than everyone else - including JT…
The Bergy-Nielsen-KO line hasn’t done much as a unit since being put together. I wish they’d move KO back to the first line already. It seems to me it’s going to happen sooner or later anyway.
chris, do the islanders EVER win afternoon games during the week? i can’t imagine we’ve won 10% of afternoon games on a weekday. maybe a local stat-maven can do some research for us on that?
i’d like it a lot of the islanders stopped scheduling those “kids days” almost guaranteed losses.
I agree, Kyle should be on the first line. It just produces that way.
I could see some success with Hunter and Tamby, but that would take either Trent or Kyle to play Center…hey they had Okposo playing D last week.
Glad to hear DiPietro will be with the Sound Tigers for a stint. I hope to catch one of those games. Any idea when he’ll be with Bridgeport?
Biron has let in 3 soft goals combined in all of his starts….I think he is very reliable - the team hasn’t really played good in front of him in his last few starts, would you rather have Danis & Joey Mac back
DP’s target should be 12/23 vs. Toronto - 1 month from today
This week will probably tell us th truth about the Isles. After the lowly Leafs, they face the flyers ,penguins and devils. Although this merciless road trip is almost over, they are on the bubble as far as contending for a playoff spot or being relugated to the bottom five of the entire NHL-if you take into account tht the Isles have played more games than almost any other team.
I had figured Katie would have the exclusive for tomorrow’s paper, but Rob Carlin has tweeted that Brendan Witt’s daughter had a serious infection from a spider bite and is feeling better now. I’m sure tonight’s broadcast and Newsday will have further details…CB
Thank God the litter Witter is ok. I can only imagine how scary that must have been for everyone involved.
I agree with everyone here that the next week can be very telling regarding the schedule. If we win tonight the road trip doesn’t look at bad despite the record. I always believed that in most pro sports, if yo are .500 on the road and have a winning home record, then you should be above par.
very important game indeed and will not be a easy one. Toronto definately going to bring the game hard.
I think further they want to make sure Tavares doesnt light them Up. I would love to see him rip it up tonight.
Also this is good night for Okposo to Seal the deal on TEAM USA spot.
the third period of the st.louis game made me feel frustrated and irritable. It took until today for me to realize that despite this being the second year of the rebuild and despite the fact that before the season I would have expected this team to finish in the bottom 5 of the league, that with the way they’ve played I’m expecting them to win or at least carry it into overtime.
It’s funny how a little bit of success can raise expectations! After calming down I’ve realized what I really want to see is continued growth from the kids as well as a healthy return for DP. I’d love to see the Isles in the mix for a playoff spot all year, but I don’t know if that’s a realistic possibility.
Always an Isles fan! PLEASE KILL THE LEAFS!
Schremp has not done anything at all. I think that is the problem.
If the Isles cant beat the bad teams like Toronto st louis and the Wild, I do not see them suddenly start winning against good teams. If they lose this game its a Gigantic problem. Sure its nice that they manage to not be the worst team in the NHL two years in a row but they are still last in the division like last year, the year before…
Eastonhockey (#16), I disagree. I think we’ve reached one level in that we clearly are able to play with the “varsity” such as the Caps, Sabres, Boston, etc… That shows we have the talent to compete. By losing to the lesser teams after beating or playing with the better teams, all it means to me is that we need more seasoning to win the games we’re supposed to win. That’s it. No one expects us to win this year…but I think we can be competitive enough if we continue to play with the big boys, and eventually learn how to beat the lesser teams. I’m annoyed with the recent losses, but its been a while since there’s been a game we haven’t been competitive in. That’s a great, great sign.
Play Schremp, Tambelinni and Comeau.. Sit Bergenheim, Thompson and Park.
Teams who are serious about scoring don’t put guys like Park on the 1st line and Sim on the second. Please play the offensive guys together so they have a chance to produce.
If MacDonald is Scratched for Witt & Bruno Gervais is still in the lineup /// Then i think it is about time to start questioning if the Islanders management really wants to “WIN” games this year!
Lets all be truthful & understand Bruno Gervais is HORRID & MacDonald , even though not great by any means , at least gives us a reliable puck moving defenseman that also knows how to clear the zone unlike Mr.Gervais….
STOP PLAYING BRUNO!
Bruno Gervais = Kerry Rhodes (Ny Jet Overated Player) Its about time we end the Bruno Gervais run.
When Brendan played with the Caps, his wife almost lost her life with a serious infection following childbirth several years ago. I think he brought this up when he visited Howard Stern. Glad all is well.
We have a BANDWAGON?
what’s with the Bruno bashing? We have no #1 or #3 defenseman… He’s a 4 or 5, playing top pair minutes with a struggling Streit. He’s playing OK, just don’t expect a Pronger-like D-man from him…
I believe streit is struggling as a result of being paired w/ an ineffective and out of position bruno gervais. i would like to see streit paired w/ meyer.
LOL Moose! NYI can’t afford to pay a band or a wagon.
If NYI lose tonight it will lead to at least a 6 game losing streak IMO. I hope they beat Toranna big time as I hate them and NYR more than other teams.
What’s with Mark Streit the past few games? is he hurt? He has looked as though he’s skating in mud at times and at others seems distracted. Also the absence of Witt, just proves that you need more size on the D. I know he has struggled, but lately has been better(so you notice when he’s not there). Anything? Anyone?
Exuuuuuuuuuuuse Me! This is a road game isn’t it? Where’s our photo? If TO doesn’t have ice girls then how about an Argo’s cheerleader.
I don’t think Gervais is a 4 or 5 d-man on any decent team. He’s, at best, a 7 or more likely waived, imo. If Hillen is a 5 or 6, and is playing head and shoulders above Gervais, then I can’t see how he’s a 4 or 5.
#18 you gotta be kidding - Schremp……???
No way Paul in the ‘Cuse, it’s time for a MALE photo!! You guys had all weekend. Cmon CB, hook a girl up. (LOL!)