Monthly Archives: December 2009
FanHouse: CB on Lundqvist saving the Rangers
Bruce Ciskie on Nate Thompson’s wide right
Adam Gretz on Matt Moulson and Rich Peverley
Submit your questions in the original thread RIGHT HERE
Yikes. Over 120 questions by lunch. I think we have just about every variation of a question about possible trades, so please…no more! I’ll address all of those another day. There is no rush, believe me.
So many questions, so this may take a while. Let’s get started.
Mike, 33, Wantagh: Hi Chris, What are the chances of either Kiril Petrov or Aaron Ness getting out of their current commitments and going to the Bridge?
CB: If you are to believe everything Garth Snow has told Newsday – and there is no reason not to – there is a chance Petrov could join the Islanders organization in the next few months. (Hopefully by then, Kirill and his representatives will also know about it!). As for Ness, I do not see another Kyle Okposo scenario. Count on Aaron finishing this year at the University of Minnesota and then thinking a long time about signing with the Islanders in the offseason of 2010. If he does, Ness will play in Bridgeport next season.
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Alex: Hi Chris…if you could tell us your estimated percentage on what the odds of the Lighthouse becoming a reality is, what would it be as of today?
CB: I feel there is still at least a 51% chance of the Lighthouse Project becoming a reality on the current Coliseum site. This is not because of some of the nonsense politicians have been barfing out since Ed Mangano won the election, but because Charles Wang and Scott Rechler really do not want to go anywhere else. As pissed as they may be, I believe they will try to work with the government and make some changes.
By the way, have I mentioned that a very close relative whom I love dearly worked about 80 hours a week over the summer on County Executive Mangano’s campaign? Small world. Very proud of him.
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Mike from Sarasota: The three Islander/Ranger games this season have lacked the emotion/passion we’ve come to expect. Both the players on the ice and the fans in the stands. Why do you think that is?
CB: Because both teams are under .500 and neither – at least in any non-fantasy world – are remotely within striking distance of contending for the Stanley Cup. Neither team is very good. Both teams have a lot of holes.
Oh yes, and there’s the small matter of ticket prices continuing to go up with the economy in the toilet. Such is the Islanders’ tradeoff: with the “gold” pricing for the Islanders-Rangers game, they probably made a little more money. But they also turned some fans away and off. By the way, Mike, last night’s attendance of 15,100 was approximately 750 over reality.
I thought the emotion from the fans and players at the Coliseum last night was solid until it became 5-2. At the Garden, that was just a case of a visiting team taking their opponent and the home team fans out of the game. Rangers fans went into Wednesday’s game unhappy, and they left that way.
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Glenn: CB, how come there was never any formal ceremony to pay tribute to the 10 or 15-year anniversaries of the 1992-93 team? I know they didn’t win the Cup, but as the last Isles team that truly made noise in the postseason, I was surprised that nothing was ever done to honor the team as a whole.
CB: I’ve written in this space a dozen times about that team and this issue. Although it was raised when I worked for the team and since my departure, there has been no interest. One of the biggest problems – my theory here – is there is no one in the organization at a high level with a connection to ’92-93. So while Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier and others can speak up for the dynasty, there isn’t much support for Turgeon, Thomas, Hogue, Flatley, Healy, Ferraro, Kaspar and company being placed on Charles Wang’s radar.
That said, of course, let’s not correlate winning two rounds – however beautifully, however memorably – with winning 19 straight.
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Jim Clark: Do you feel Scott Gordon’s (and Garth Snow)’s jobs are safe if the Islanders made moderate improvement but miss the playoffs (say finish 12th)? How patient is Wang?
CB: Hi Jim. Nice meeting you last week at SOCIAL. The Islanders can make the playoffs or come in 14th in the East, it will not matter. Garth will be the GM at the start of the 2010-11 season, and Scott will be the head coach. That is a 100% certainty. If heaven forbid the Islanders completely fall apart and again finish 30th in the league, Garth’s percentage stays at 100 while Scott’s dips all the way down to 95.
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Dan, 46, Dubai: Chris – I hear very little (good or bad) regarding Freddy Meyer. All of the other D seem to get commented on (Witt, Bruno – bad and Sutton, Hillen – good) even MacDonald gets alot of commentary. There seems to ‘radio silence’ on Meyer. What is his status?
CB: Greetings, and thanks for checking in from Dubai. My cousin Ryan is working there, so please look out for him. FMIV simply is what is expected – a 6th defenseman who gives his all. Expectations of Freddy are reasonable and he meets them. No big story there.
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Bjorn from Holland: Hi Chris – January 22th I will visit NY and watch the Capitals game. How big is the chance I could meet one or more of the Icegirls?
CB: This reminds me of the scene from Love Actually when the European guys go to Wisconsin to use their accents and charm to meet beautiful women. I think you have a great chance, Bjorn. My suggestion: make a big sign that says, “I’m Bjorn from Holland and I flew all the way here to meet the Islanders Ice Girls.” Arrive reasonably groomed, flash the accent and charm and I have complete confidence at least a few of them will come over and say hello. More than that, keep your hopes at a reasonable level.
Comments on these answers only in this thread.
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FanHouse: CB on Lundqvist saving the Rangers
Bruce Ciskie on Nate Thompson’s wide right
Adam Gretz on Matt Moulson and Rich Peverley
The Islanders are off today. Good time for our first round of Q & A of the season. If you have anything you want to ask me, please post it in this Comment thread. How this best works: one question per comment. Please limit each question to under 75 words (makes it a lot easier to make a post, makes it a better read). Especially nice if you want to include your real first name, approximate age and town (all optional). I’ll answer as many as I can starting today and through the holidays. Thanks…CB
9:27 pm, NVMC - The coach has used this a few times this season, but tonight it’s fitting: it just wasn’t the Islanders’ night. Lundqvist, posts, Trent Hunter unable to tee it up twice late in the second, Lundqvist, broken plays turning into goals against, a missed wide open net, Lundqvist.
You could easily name ten Islanders who had very sharp games tonight. But better than all of them was the visiting goalie. That’s ockey, as Benoit Ogue used to say.
A loss to the hated rival is never joy, but there’s no reason for the Islanders to feel bad about the state of their game after this home-and-home. Sets up an intriguing Game 3 of the series next Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
Minus: Okay, there is one bad aspect of this game for the Islanders. They let the Rangers off the mat. A very unconfident team got a tiny piece of its mojo back.
Minus: In their last 32 games against the Rangers at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the Islanders have won eight.
Plus: In their last 14 games at the Garden, the Islanders are 9-4-1.
Minus: The Islanders have not won back-to-back games since Oct. 31 (vs. Buffalo) and Nov. 2 (vs. Edmonton).
Minus: In their last two home games, the Islanders have been out-scored…yeah, you know.
Minus: Two first period mistakes, two goals – the second one on the first odd-man rush of the game allowed by the Islanders.
Minus: The Islanders have allowed 13 power play goals in their last 31 times shorthanded.
Plus: Andrew MacDonald, perfectly developed through the Islanders’ farm system, with his first NHL goal and point. Jack Capuano and Pat Bingham should be proud.
Minus: Just when he started to win the Country over, another round of Thompsonmania is locked and loaded. Too bad. On the list of areas where the Islanders are lacking, Nate Thompson is not even a footnote.
Plus: No matter how it turned out, Scott Gordon made the only decision he could make – starting Dwayne Roloson. Simply because Roloson earned it.
Plus: Jim Schoenfeld and Don Koharski, both in the Coliseum press box tonight. Not even a Dunkin’ Munchkin in sight.
Minus: Yup, let’s take a break from the exhilaration and escape of a New York-New York hockey game to play a fun scoreboard contest where a fan correctly guesses the economy is down, down, down. What a blast! Which leads to…
Minus: Premium pricing – $140 tickets anybody? – results in another 1,000-plus empty seats at the old barn for Islanders-Rangers. That sucks beyond belief. You can’t use a game as the lure for Islanders fans to buy a ticket package when you cannot sell out the game.
Plus: Personal thanks to all the New York writers who have made me feel at home in the Garden press room in my new job this season. Thank you Larry Brooks, Steve Zipay, Andrew Gross, Michael Obernauer, former radio partner Jim Cerny, Ira Podell of the AP and all the rest. Thank you to Times writer Jeff Klein for the story on Point Blank when I was a free agent. Thanks also to the Rangers staff for their cooperation and professionalism.
Plus: Josh Bailey picks the pre-game warmup music, starting with a hard rock cover of George Michael’s “Careless Whisper” by Seether. You have to respect that. Josh’s game on the wing is starting to come around, too.
See you tomorrow.
Comments on tonight’s tilt.
6:30 pm, NVMC - Dwayne Roloson confirmed as the starter for the NYI.
Good afternoon. As you’d figure after last night’s stunning no-show by the Rangers, most of the news regarding tonight’s game will be made by their camp. The Islanders had only a team meeting this morning at Nassau Coliseum, while injured players and Jeff Tambellini used the 10:30 icetime.
Without the skate, you can’t tell who’s starting in goal and if there will be any line changes. There shouldn’t be, but there has been some thought in the media that Martin Biron will get the nod tonight. If Dwayne Roloson is feeling fine, he should be starting. Henrik Lundqvist starts for the Rangers.
The Rangers had an optional skate at the Coliseum. John Bleepin’ Tortorella’s first shakeup is the scratching of forward Ales Kotalik and defenseman Wade Redden. Bonb Sanguinetti and Erik Christensen are in.
That’s really not much of a shakeup – just two players playing badly who deserve to be scratched. What has happened to Wade the last three seasons is a major mystery. Too bad for Glen Sather, who didn’t know about it before giving Wade $6 mill a year.
Redden, Scott Gomez, Chris Drury…that’s one brutal run of unwisely spending Cablevision cash.
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Let me run through what I spoke with Scott Gordon about after the game:
Shot-blocking: The Islanders were credited with 28 last night by the Garden scorers – quite the compliment from the home team guys. The team was outstanding last night. A blocked shot is not always throwing your body in front of a big slapper; getting to the shot on time with your stick is just as effective. Gordon has had the Islanders working on that the last few weeks. “You really saw the results tonight,” said the coach. “The guys have worked hard on deflecting shots.”
Jack Hillen: This is getting a little crazy. Hillen was not even in the opening night lineup. Now he’s at the point where I don’t think it’s unfair to compare his recent play to someone like the Devils’ rising defenseman Andy Greene – who has improved so much, he’s getting Olympic consideration. “Jack is a very smart player and he continues to get better and better,” said Gordon. “His development says a lot about the work Garth and the scouts have put in the last few years.”
Andrew MacDonald: Look for the young defenseman to play again tonight after 20 solid minutes in the Garden. “That was a big effort from Andrew last night,” said Gordon. “He’s really starting to come into his own and that’s a big plus for our organization.”
Getting to the net: I thought the Islanders had more players in front of Henrik Lundqvist last night than in any game this season. After the game, Gordon sounded like someone not wanting to tip his hand – “Yeah, the guys went hard,” was all he said – but the strategy was obvious. Of course, Lundqvist still stopped many shots in traffic. The Islanders will want to continue the practice tonight.
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Reading Material: Sean Leahy on Puck Daddy re-visits talk of a Winter Classic at Yankee Stadium.
Predict-the-score and your comments on this post and tonight’s game.
Tortorella Gets R-Rated in Post-Game Presser
9:30 pm - Post-game interactive Plus/Minus, live from Madison Square Garden after the Islanders’ 2-1 victory over the Rangers.
Plus: There’s no denying the Rangers were bad, and that will no doubt will be the focus of most of the newspaper reports. But nothing should be taken away from the Islanders’ masterful road game performance tonight. Bravo to every player and coach.
Minus: Maybe the intensity of the rivalry will awaken the Rangers…Thursday night. The game will mean more to them.
Plus: The Islanders’ shot-blocking was outstanding, culminating with Nate Thompson’s with 20 seconds left.
Plus: The visitors went to the net more than in any game this season.
Plus: Even beyond his goal to make it 1-0, Jon Sim played with attitude and was an irritating presence for most of the night.
Minus: On Sim’s goal, what was there to review?
Plus: Jack Hillen broke up two odd-man rushes in the first 15 minutes of the game. You don’t have to be 6-2 or a designated stay-at-home defenseman to make smart blocks. Hillen is playing like a No. 3, all-zone NHL defenseman.
Even: The first sustained “Fire Sather” chant of the season. Oh brother. (By the way, can it be more obvious that Mark Messier is going to be the next Rangers GM?)
Plus: You know even the Garden scoreboard crew thinks it’s going to be a long night when they play the Animal House rallying cry…with five minutes left in the first period.
Plus: Despite Marian Gaborik’s best efforts for 26:51 of ice - and he tried – the Islanders had someone effectively on him all night.
Plus: Blake Comeau had another nasty game, capped by the goal to seal it.
Plus: Two more golden chances for Kyle Okposo. I still don’t know where the first one went. Dan Girardi tied him up early in the third. A Plus because Okposo is involved and getting chances.
Plus: Dwayne Roloson didn’t take any of Sean Avery’s stuff, which could have gone two ways. To Roloson’s credit, he kept his composure and continued to lock the door. Add Roloson to the list of Islanders goalies this decade annoying the beer out of the blue-seaters.
Plus: Henrik Lundqvist willing himself to stop Frans Nielsen’s shorthanded breakaway mid-second and keep the game at 1-0.
Minus: With the Rangers hurting, the atmosphere at the Garden was lacking, to put it mildly. The first “Potvin Sucks” chant didn’t even go up until there were a few minutes left in the first period, and it fizzled.
Minus: I think I know the Rangers’ problem – they need to stop playing “Burn it to the Ground.”
FanHouse’s Bruce Ciskie on Matt Donovan
11:30 am - Scott Gordon this morning when asked if he’s going to employ one player to try and stop Marian Gaborik: “We’re gonna bring in Kenny Morrow and use him as our shutdown guy.”
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Whatever Happens…Charles Wang told a few reporters at the Board of Governors meetings in California that he did not want to discuss Brooklyn or any other options for his Islanders in the press. Asked if the team could stay on Long Island, the owner said, “Yeah, I hope so. Whatever happens, happens.”
As we’ve written repeatedly in this space for a year, Wang has a serious distate for the thought of the Islanders being anywhere except exactly where they are – in Nassau County.
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Battle of New York: The Islanders enter tonight’s game at Madison Square Garden having won only one of their last five, 12 of their last 33. They are two points out of the eight and final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. They are tied with five other teams for the No. 2 spot in the draft lottery.
The team may not be a juggernaut and they certainly have not earned the right to take anyone lightly, but look at their opponents in their next seven games – all in New York: Rangers (3x), Montreal, Tampa Bay, Toronto and Philadelphia. If they can’t make some hay here, they won’t make it anywhere.
The goaltending matchup: Dwayne Roloson vs. Henrik Lundqvist. Chad Johnson could start for the Rangers on Thursday at the Coliseum.
Johnson told the Rangers media that his dad was a big Islanders fan. This is common, just as many from my generation like the Cowboys, Steelers and Dolphins. And front-running 9-year-old that he is, my son Cole is all about the Pittsburgh Penguins.
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Since his team didn’t practice yesterday in the aftermath of their home pasting by the Panthers, Scott Gordon exercized his vocal cords today at the morning skate. He made the boys start a drill over and got loud a few times. On one occasion, he yelled, “Shoot the puck”! It wasn’t aimed at anyone in particular.
No shootout goal tonight for Jeff Tambellini. He and Bruno Gervais are scratched.
The lines from today’s morning skate at the Garden:
Moulson – Tavares – Comeau
Joensuu – Schremp – Hunter
Bailey – Nielsen – Okposo
Sim – Thompson – Park
Streit – Meyer
Sutton – Hillen
Witt – MacDonald
Gervais
Roloson
Biron
The Rangers’ lineup that put up 46 shots on Monday against Atlanta remains tonight:
Higgins – Dubinsky- Gaborik
Prospal – Drury – Callahan
Avery – Anisimov – Kotalik
Brashear – Boyle – Lisin
Staal – Rozsival
Del Zotto – Girardi
Redden – Heikkinen
Lundqvist
Johnson
Voros and Christiansen are out. Donald Brashear doesn’t have anyone to fight, so I guess he’ll try to keep the peace and score a goal.
Gordon said the difference is night and day with Jesse Joensuu since training camp, which he called a “nightmare” for the 6-4 Finn. “He’s not turning the puck over all the time.” Seems the kid was trying too hard to make the team and temporarily lost his way and his game. Gordon, asked by The Jaff for any comparisons to the size-and-skill game of Trent Hunter, said of JJ, “He’s on his way to being that kind of player.”
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Goalie Prospect Depth Chart: There was a question in Comments yesterday about the Islanders’ goaltending prospect pool. The serious hip injury to Mikko Koskinen may not have an effect because he was at least two years away from a steady shot at NHL playing time. So here it is:
1. Koskinen - Bridgeport (AHL)
2. Kevin Poulin (left) - Victoriaville (QMJHL)
3. Anders Nilsson - Team Sweden at WJC, SEL
4. Stefan Ridderwall - SEL
If Roloson or Martin Biron suffer an injury, Scott Munroe or Nathan Lawson would be recalled from Bridgeport to back up. Lawson’s stats are slightly better, but Munroe has more experience. Neither would get much playing time, so they could go back and forth. Lawson shut out Portland last night, 2-0, in the game Rick DiPietro was originally scheduled to play as his final tuneup.
Koskinen, the rapidly-emerging Poulin, Nilsson and Ridderwall give the Islanders the depth and quality of young goalies they haven’t had since Roberto Luongo and Kevin Weekes. Even with Koskinen’s injury and DiPietro’s continued plight, Ryan Jankowski shouldn’t have to use any of his picks in the first three rounds next June on goalies.
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Two for Canada: In case you missed it below, Islanders prospects Travis Hamonic and Calvin de Haan have made Team Canada for the World Junior Championships that begin later this month in Saskatoon. The NHL Network is broadcasting all of Team USA’s and some of Canada’s games.
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Figren in Freefall: 2006 third round pick Robin Figren is already at a crossroads in the development of his North American career. He may only be 21 and in his first full season in the AHL, but you can call this a crisis.
On a not-deep minor league team in Bridgeport, Figren has become a healthy scratch. He has two assists in 22 games. This has become so dire, you almost have to assume there’s a reason why the Swedish wing has yet to be sent to Utah of the East Coast Hockey League. Perhaps he is balking at the re-assignment.
Until then, Figren is not even a prospect any more. So much for the good kid who flashed some skill and a big smile at the prospect camp this summer. Sad.
Kohn Injured Again: In other Sound Tigers news, Dustin Kohn suffered a “lower body injury” last night in the home win over Portland. Kohn, the next in line should a Bridgeport defenseman need to be recalled, was evaluated this morning and listed as day-to-day. He apparently was hit in a sensitive area – like the sensitive area.
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Red-Faced Report: Remember Kyle Woodlief, the former “scout” who took the opportunity to sell some of his pamphlets by ripping on John Tavares leading up to the draft? With Tavares leading all NHL rookies in points and assists, let’s recall some of Woodlief’s greatest hits:
Right now, he’s the third-best draft-eligible forward on his own team behind Nazem Kadri and Phil Varone.
Five-on-five, Tavares has been nothing short of a liability.
His attitude of entitlement stinks.
Let’s try to remember this the next time Kyle uses another teenager to make a name for himself.
After the morning skate, Tavares gave the same kind of polished, respectful answers about playing in Madison Square Garden that he did about playing in Toronto, Montreal, Boston, Sunrise, Raleigh…
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Post-game Plus/Minus, MSG edition: Join Point Blank later tonight as we take our interactive P/M to Manhattan. As we do for every game at the Coliseum, we’ll give thumbs up and down to everything from Islanders-Rangers to the event surrounding the game.
Comments on tonight’s game and this post.
10:30 am - Congratulations to Travis, Calvin and Islanders draft guru Ryan Jankowski and the scouts.
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