Monthly Archives: December 2009
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At the prestigious World Junior Championships, beginning on Saturday, the Islanders have the following prospects representing their countries (PB rankings in parenthesis):
Canada: Calvin de Haan (1), Travis Hamonic (2)
Russia: Kirill Petrov (3), Anton Klementyev (off the team and now back on)
United States: Matt Donovan (8)
Sweden: Anders Nilsson (9)
Finland: Jyri Niemi
For the WJC, this is the highest quality and quantity of prospects the Islanders have had at this tournament since…well, it’s been a while.
Team Canada, with the Islanders’ top two prospects – on the blueline, to boot - is the team to follow. Hamonic, an Islanders second round pick in 2008, is developing into an outstanding defenseman and is one of Canada’s most valuable players. The 12th overall pick in June, de Haan is also a vital part of the Islanders’ future. Canada is especially a must-see because the 19-year-old Hamonic is closest to making an impact on the Islanders, while the 18-year-old de Haan’s steady progress is essential. For the Islanders, Hamonic and de Haan are the crown jewels of the blueline.
Of course, the gifted, enigmatic (there goes that word again!) Petrov also merits attention. Last year in this tourney, coming off an injury, he was horrific. “Kirill has a lot of growing up to do,” one high-ranking Russian Hockey Federation official told Point Blank. This season he was again dropped by Ak Bars to the second league. He was very good in the recent Super Series in Canada, but it wasn’t the best against the best. Playing for his country at his final WJC, this is Petrov’s shot at redemption. The talented Klementyev, as you know, is the supposed bait to free Petrov from his KHL deal.
Niemi is a nice story. The defenseman, drafted by the Islanders in the third round in 2008, is the captain of Finland. As a member of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, he gets to represent his country while playing in his adopted Canadian hometown.
Nilsson is the No. 2 goalie on Team Sweden – one of the favorites – but will get a chance if Panthers top prospect Jacob Markstrom falters. Donovan is the sweetest surprise for the Islanders. The defenseman went from a longshot to possibly receiving top-four minutes. Watch the young man skate and move the puck.
For many reasons (like I’ll be at Fenway, not in Saskatchewan) Point Blank will not be providing over-heated over-analysis of the World Junior Championships I will not be monitoring every hit Hamonic throws, every assist Petrov and de Haan are credited for.
To be sure, this is an excellent opportunity for these young players, and for Islanders fans to watch them in an intense environment. The WJC will be a tremendous experience for them. It is a tournament I will watch every second I get. But these talented players are still some time away – if developed properly – from being part of the Islanders equation. They are already having excellent college, junior and European careers; these two weeks will not make or break them. Same for the other NHL teams’ prospects you may be prompted to salivate over. There’s also Taylor Hall and Cam Fowler to watch – not for the Islanders, of course.
I strongly recommend following TSN.ca, NHL.com and the Islanders website for daily coverage, and following along with your fellow fans on Islandermania or your message board of choice. More than just watching the Islanders’ seven draft picks, this is one of the world’s best tournaments in any sports. There’s a reason it captivates Canada like the NCAA basketball Tournament does here.
Enjoy the WJC. Should be a classic. Canada should win again, but watch out for those Swedes. The schedule on NHL Network:
Saturday, December 26
4:00 Latvia vs Canada
6:00 Czech Republic vs. Sweden
8:00 Slovakia vs. USA
Sunday, December 27
4:00 USA vs. Switzerland
6:00 Czech Republic vs. Finland
Monday, December 28
4:00 Canada vs. Switzerland
Tuesday, December 29
4:00 Latvia vs. USA
6:00 Sweden vs. Russia
8:00 Canada vs. Slovakia
Thursday, December 31
8:00 USA vs. Canada
January 2: Quarterfinals at 5:00 and 9:00
January 3: Semifinals at 5:00 and 9:00
January 5: Bronze Medal Game at 4:00; Gold Medal Game at 8:00
This is the WJC Comments thread.
Jason is a major Islanders fan, loyal Point Blank reader and the owner of Extra Butter, a one-of-a-kind store in my Rockville Centre neighborhood (if you want vintage Jordan sneakers, he’s got ‘em). Creative fellow and entrepreneur that he is, when Jason went with his co-workers, clients and friends went to the Islanders-Lightning game last week, he didn’t just go to the game.
No, the Extra Butter crew brought dozens of cans of food for the Island Harvest drive. And then they took one of the latest clothing brands they sell, ONLY NY, and made a statement about keeping the Islanders only in NY. Of course, it was all smart marketing, too. Hope the people at ONLY NY appreciate it.
So consider this a fun little rallying cry on a non-game day for the hometown Islanders. Or look at it as a holiday-time plug for a local small business owner who’s a fellow fan and reader. The pic up top is of the legendary usher and Islandermania poster Matty. Jason is the guy in the last one below. Cute kid right here, eh?
Closing up the shop for about 24 hours. Merry Christmas to all who celebrate in the Country.
11:30 pm - Newsday reports (subscription needed). Ed Mangano slams “11th-hour deal” pushed through on Christmas Eve by lame duck Broker Suozzi. Wait ’til Peter Schmitt wakes up to the news! I received word late tonight confirming the deal. What does it all mean? Does the deal, as Newsday suggests, help end a long-standing roadblock to the Lighthouse Project? It’s too early to say. What’s the biggest news to come out of this? It’s the latest proof of how determined Charles Wang is to keep the Islanders in Nassau County. This should also get Suozzi that Lighthouse building named after him. Comments.
9:25 pm – Islanders 3, Toronto 1.
Plus: Home-ice advantage still rules in this series. At the Coliseum, the Islanders are 15-2-2 in their last 19. In Toronto, the Islanders are 3-13-2 in their last 18.
Plus: Not having the responsibility to write 500 insightful words on this game for a newspaper.
Plus: A simple, effective, grind-it-out victory. After the week the Islanders had at home, whatever it takes.
Plus: Trent Hunter, shooting from everywhere. getting the Islanders’ first goal.
Plus: Blake Comeau with the sweet play to John Tavares, who scored his 16th to make it 2-0.
Plus: Dwayne Roloson continues to give the Islanders outstanding, winning goaltending. Andy Sutton – see final minute, second period – owes his goalie a beer. Biggest save: stoning Lee Stempniak with 2:20 left.
Minus: After tonight, I pledge to take a month-long break from commenting on this subject. With this half-capacity crowd on Dec. 23 – announced as 10,865 – it’s official: the Islanders’ attendance problem is now very, very serious.
Plus: Even if it took them a while, with their blizzard game ticket redemption policy announced tonight the Islanders eventually got it right for their customers.
Minus: Ron Wilson, who could take the fun out of a funhouse, decides to defy NHL media regulations and not talk to the press today. He may act like he has won a Stanley Cup or an Olympic goal medal, but Wilson will never be Al Arbour or Herb Brooks. He’s a pretty good coach; it’s just too bad he represents the Toronto Maple Leafs and the United States of America. May he find happiness in his next job, where fans do not pay good money to follow his teams.
Plus: I had never met Mike Komisarek until this morning. Should have known he was going to be an extremely nice person. Aren’t all Long Islanders? Komisarek said that when he was growing up in Islip Terrace, he didn’t mind visiting the dentist because he always gave him a pair of his Islanders season tickets.
Plus: To Bruce Ratner, who had a dream of buying a professional sports team and bringing it to Brooklyn as part of a massive development deal. Ratner never put on airs as a sportsman, never kidded his customers that he was anything but a real estate developer. Today, against a lot of odds and a big fight, Ratner finalized his deal for an arena in Brooklyn. If you haven’t heard, there’s room for a hockey team.
Minus: It must be out of wickedness – I’m talking like Rob Zombie’s The Devil’s Rejects wickedness – that the Islanders still play “Meet Me at the Lighthouse” before home games.
Plus: A sportswriter had a good idea. When the scoreboard had the “Naughty or Nice” segment, the Islanders should have gauged the reaction for Kate Murray.
Plus: Merry Christmas to Jack Hillen, who started the season as the Islanders’ seventh defenseman and now is No. 2.
Plus: Nate Thompson has reason to be feel blessed, avoiding serious injury after getting sliced by Komisarek’s skate.
Plus: Congratulations to Matt Donovan and the Islanders scouting system on the defenseman’s selection to Team USA for the World Junior Championships. Congrats to Islanders draft pick Jyri Niemi on being named captain of Team Finland.
Plus: Merry Christmas to all of Point Blank’s loyal readers.
Happy Holidays to all. Unless news breaks, I’ll probably next see you on the 26th before the Rangers game.
7:10 pm - Whether you went or not, you can redeem your tix for games on Dec. 27 (Flyers), Dec. 29 (Columbus), Jan. 2 (Atlanta), Jan. 21 (Florida) or Jan. 26 (Washington). In addition, practice at Iceworks on Jan. 4 is open to the general public. To redeem your tix, go to the Coliseum box office. Hope you saved them!
Roloson and the Era of the 40-year-old goalies
2:05 pm – Matt Donovan makes Team USA for the World Junior Championships. Quite a feather in the cap for Ryan Jankowski and the scouts who picked the kid from Oklahoma in the fourth round in 2008.
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11:40 am - The Islanders did not have a morning skate today. Only injured players (Doug Weight, Tim Jackman) and scratches (Freddy Meyer, Jeff Tambellini) skated. Sean Bergenheim skated before the group on his own. Martin Biron and Rick DiPietro stopped pucks.
Dwayne Roloson starts tonight against the Maple Leafs. I have a story on NHL FanHouse today on Roloson and the many 40-year-old goalies since the lcokout. Prior to the work stoppage, the last 40-year-old goalie was Tony Esposito in 1983.
The Islanders will play the same lineup as Monday. Jackman will have to wait until after Christmas for his return.
While the media waited for his pearls of wisdom and news, Scott Gordon hosted a few player meetings. One was with Matt Moulson. The head coach took Moulson – one goal in his last 9 games but still playing well – through his scoring chances.
Two from Gordon: “There’s probably a little bit of a lack of confidence right now, but that will turn around.” And “If we keep generating chances, they’ll start dropping in.”
The likely Maple Leafs lineup tonight:
Ponikarovsky – Stajan – Kessel
Blake – Grabovski – Hagman
Stempniak – Primeau – Kulemin
Wallin - Meyers – Orr
Komisarek – Kaberle
Beauchemin – White
Schenn – Finger (Exelby)
Gustavsson
Toskala
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A Very Mearsy Christmas: Wonderful gesture by Penguins radio play-by-play man Mike Lange, who gave up the second period of Pittsburgh-New Jersey on Monday so Steve Mears could take over. Mears, who idolized Lange growing up in Pittsburgh before his first NHL job with the Islanders, got to call 20 minutes of Martin Brodeur’s record-setting shutout. Good stuff.
(Almost) a Year Ago: Last Dec. 26, Rick DiPietro made a surprise start for the Islanders against Toronto at the Coliseum. (I remember being in West Virginia visiting my in-laws for Christmas, getting the text message and thinking, “You gotta be kidding me.”) DiPietro stopped 28 of 29 shots and had an assist in the 4-1 win. He was No. 2 star, behind Bill Guerin – who scored two goals, including the 400th of his NHL career.
The game on Dec. 26 was DiPietro’s last NHL win. He lost a week later in Phoenix, allowing five goals on 29 shots, and has not played a minute in the league since.
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Ottawa Reduces Ticket Prices: Congratulations to the Ottawa Senators for recognizing their mistakes and having the guts to fix them for the sake of their business and their fanbase.
Yesterday, the Senators eliminated all “gold” and “silver” tiered pricing for games beginning Jan. 1. The correction will reduce prices for several home games between 20-30%. They have also added Family Pack games, where fans receive four tickets, four hot dogs and four drinks for $99. A week earlier, the Senators announced inititaives to grow their season ticket base.
“The NHL is more competitive than ever. Every game counts towards playoff contention,” said Senators owner Eugene Melnyk. “I want our players to benefit fully from the home game advantage. The support, energy and atmosphere that our fans create at Scotiabank Place is vital to our team’s success.”
Fans who had already purchased tickets for the games where prices have been reduced will receive a refund for the difference in price. (h/t to James Mirtle)
Comments on this post and tonight’s game. Any new-ish readers, please check out our Comment Guidelines. Thanks.
11:30 pm - In a story first reported by B.D. Gallof of Hockey Independent, Newsday plays catch-up in Wednesday’s print edition. (Warning: you may have to pay $250 to open this link). In short, the Lighthouse Development Corp. has stopped paying the Town of Hempstead’s consultant, F.P. Clark Associates of Westchester County, so the Town has “halted its review” (bwahahahaha!) of the project. Charles Wang and company stopped paying Clark on Sept. 9. They’ve already paid $550,000. They allegedly owe $175,000. Something tells me the consultant shouldn’t bother checking the mail every day. Happy holidays. Comments.
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