Monthly Archives: December 2009
As reported by the indomitable Katie Strang, Rick DiPietro’s scheduled start for Tuesday is now off. His leg “tightness,” said to be be “unrelated” to all of his surgeries over the last three years, will be re-evaluated today.
9:50 pm - As Point Blank first reported in March, the Islanders’ retro, royal blue jerseys will be their primary home jersey in 2010-2011. The team is working on a matching retro white version for road games next season.
9:35 pm - Time for some interactive Post/Minus after the Islanders’ 3-2 overtime win over Boston.
Plus: When the game is played like the first period, the NHL is the best live spectator sport on earth…and second place is not even close.
Plus: Gutty penalty kill by the Islanders down 2-1 mid-second leads to…
Plus: Okposo to Tavares to Moulson for the Islanders first even-strength goal in three and a half games.
Plus: Kyle Okposo has eight assists in his last five games. He is 5-17-22 in 31 games and does so much more, yet he wasn’t even one of SI’s 40 final candidates for a U.S. Olympic spot.
Plus: He earned his minus on Boston’s second goal, but otherwise Blake Comeau played…well, he played like a 1970s Boston Bruin. Perhaps the coaches will remember this game the next time they’re thinking of scratching him for a week. He’s only 23 years old.
Plus: The money you could have won betting two months ago that fans would gasp in horror whenever Jack Hillen is injured. Even before he took the shot in the foot in the first period tonight, Hillen has been playing hurt all week.
Plus: How much scoring his first NHL goal meant to Rob Schremp.
Plus: Dwayne Roloson does it again.
Plus: Mark Streit may not be playing like a Norris contender this season, but he’s the yeoman of the blue line. With another 29 minutes he earned a few more pactices off.
Minus: No doubt the 16-2 shot differential in the third period was completely misleading and just no big deal. Right. Seems like it happens every other home game. Tonight it played like a rope-a-dope strategy.
Plus: “Burn it to the Ground” thrown on the ground.
Plus and Minus: You can make the case the Islanders have won more games with more players not producing than any team in the NHL this season.
Plus: If the Islanders can figure a few things out, they can get fat this week on Florida and what is currently a very bad Rangers team unless they get Brandon Dubinsky back.
Your Plus/Minus from tonight’s game in Comments.
Big change from yesterday in the giddiness over Andy Sutton’s return. From what I saw this morning, consider him 90% likely out for tonight’s big match against the Bruins.
Scott Gordon said Sutton was in, but reserved the right to change his mind tonight. Sutton said he was “pretty close” and talked of “doing the right thing” and looking “long-term.” Andrew MacDonald and the other five defensemen all look like they’re playing tonight.
Maybe Monday, maybe the Rangers series for Sutton.
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Fact: The Islanders have not scored an even strength goal in their last three games.
Oh no, now Coach Gordon has really gone and done it. It’s a good thing it’s a Saturday, or the Comments space would really blow up.
Your tentative lines for tonight:
Moulson – Tavares – Okposo
Sim – Nielsen – Hunter
Joensuu – Schremp – Comeau
Bailey – Thompson – Park
(Tambellini)
Streit – Gervais
Witt - Hillen
MacDonald – Meyer
(Sutton)
Roloson
Biron
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Bailey’s “Demotion”: My NHL pro scout who expressed concern a few weeks ago that the Islanders were turning the talented playmaking center Josh Bailey into a third-line center was apparently off by a line and a position.
Seriously, it’s not a big deal…for now. After the morning skate today, Scott Gordon said the Islanders just want to work with Josh on his all-around game. He also praised Frans Nielsen’s ability as a defensive forward. Looks like he’s got Nielsen locked in at No. 2.
Joensuu’s Chance: Jesse Joensuu’s English is so strong now, you’d think he was from Westport, Connecticut. Impressive. He said this morning that the coaches told him the team has been short players “to win the one-on-one battles” and “have a presence in front of the net.”
Sounds like the 6-4 Finn has an opportunity to stick for a while, if he does his job.
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Courtesy of Bruins radio play-by-play ace Dave Goucher, here’s what Boston is bringing tonight:
Wheeler – Savard – Bitz (could sit out)
Sobotka – Krejci – Ryder
Sturm – Bergeron – Recchi
Paille – Begin – Thornton
Chara – Morris
Ference – Wideman
Stuart – Boychuk
Thomas
Rask
Sadly, Milan Lucic is out. If Bitz can’t go, Matt Hunwick will play.
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The NHL Medical Dictionary: I’m not saying Rick DiPietro and the Islanders are not telling the truth when they say his leg “tightness” last night is “unrelated” to his previous surgeries. (They have yet to identify the afflicted leg). What I am saying is, that’s what just about every team says. In fact, the Islanders have used that line a few times in the last season-plus and it has turned out to be a fib…or at least a twist in semantics.
After all, in the last three years Rick has had both hips and a knee (a few times) surgically repaired. He has now played just 80 minutes of hockey after being sidelined for eleven months. If he experienced leg “tightness” last night, even if it’s not technically the hips or the knee, honestly now - how can it not be related in some way to his previous surgeries?
Comments.
10:33 pm - Rick DiPietro stopped 13 of 14 shots over two periods tonight as the Bridgeport Sound Tigers won in Springfield, 6-2. Although DiPietro and the Sound Tigers are not alarmed, the goalie said that he played it cautious by leaving the game after the second period because he experienced “some tightness.” DiPietro said his discomfort was unrelated to any of his recent knee and hip surgeries.
“I felt really good out there,” said DiPietro, who recorded the win in the second start of his AHL conditioning stint. “I didn’t have the nerves I did with the first game. It just feels good to be back playing and contributing to a win again. I’m looking forward to the next one on Tuesday.”
DiPietro is scheduled to start for the Sound Tigers on Tuesday at home against Portland. It could be his final game before a return to the Islanders.
The Falcons’ lone goal against DiPietro came at 4:29 of the second period when Colton Fretter directed a centering pass from Charles Ringlet. Scott Munroe played the third period for Bridgeport and allowed one goal.
Bridgeport head coach Jack Capuano noticed a marked improvement in DiPietro from his performance last Saturday at home against Springfield. “Rick was in control from beginning to end,” said Capuano. “I thought he was extremely sharp.”
Springfield radio play-by-play announcer Mike Kelly reports that the game was “a tidy effort for DiPietro. Like Saturday, he didn’t get much action in the first period, but he made a few strong saves in the second and looked good playing the puck. For a second conditioning game after being away so long, Rick was very solid.”
CB at FanHouse on the goalie trade market
Building a Rink at Fenway Park
What We Learned After Practice:
12:55 pm - Josh Bailey is far from set as a left wing on the line with Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo. Scott Gordon said he was looking at a lot of combinations and had his reasons for putting Bailey, Nielsen, Okposo and Jeff Tambellini in blue (wanted to give Bailey some wall work, wanted to give Rob Schremp more reps at practice, wanted to give KO fewer reps). Stay tuned tomorrow.
Gordon would not even commit to Blake Comeau playing on the right side of Matt Mouslon and John Tavares. Comeau did tell me that he’s had a few more conversations with the head coach lately about his role and expectations. “If I’m playing with those two guys, it doesn’t change,” said Comeau. “I have to get in on the forecheck and play physically. I have to play the way I did in Toronto.”
Jesse Joensuu will play Saturday, even though the kid played the humble card after practice and said he was uncertain if he would.
Andy Sutton will play against Boston. Although Jack Hillen had a slight limp walking out of Iceworks today, Gordon said Hillen will play tomorrow and probably be re-united with Sutton. Andy, who told reporters that he was completely miserable missing the last two weeks, said playing 8 of 10 at home is huge. “We weathered the storm half-decent on the road,” said Sutton. “Now it’s time to dominate at home.”
Gordon said Sean Bergenheim should be out at least a week. Updated at 5:00 pm - Tim Jackman is now out 1-2 weeks with the hip pointer, downgraded from day-to-day.
Doug Weight has done some skating on his own, but has yet to resume practicing. My take: you’ll see Weight back after Christmas.
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DiPietro tonight: AHL rehab start No. 2 for Ricky D takes place tonight in Bridgeport. Check Point Blank after the game. We’ll try to put together a report from Springfield.
Speaking of Springy…As an aside, this brings back memories of when the Islanders had their AHL affiliate in Springfield. With the Indians – as they were known then – on the verge of winning the Calder Cup, Bill Torrey okayed then-Islanders PR director Greg Bouris and I to host a few New York hockey writers at the game. Torrey even threw in a stretch limo so we could bring the reporters in style (oh, what a different time).
That team included Bill Berg, Tom Fitzgerald, Rob DiMaio, Wayne McBean, Marc Bergevin, George Maneluk, Greg Parks, Dale Henry, Jeff Finley, Richard Kromm and a future assistant coach named Dean Chynoweth.
Springfield won that night. Two post-game memories: the odd sight of goalie Jeff Hackett – dominant in the playoffs but injured for the clincher – coming out to accept his playoff MVP trophy in street clothes. Then there was the emotion displayed by longtime minor league defenseman Chris Pryor, later an Islanders scout and now player development director with the Flyers. “This is the greatest feeling ever,” Chris told us on that night almost 20 years ago. “For me, I know this is the top.”
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Yeah, Right: I’m very grateful for any new readers Point Blank has picked up over the last few months. To those of you who emailed me yesterday about the latest droppings from Ruth Buzzi, I respectfully ask that you please check the Comment Guidelines. I also recommend that you don’t waste anyone’s time – especially yours. Thank you very much.
The Long, Chartered and 5-Star Hoteled Road: Surprising to read Coach Gordon make any kind of deal of his team’s month on the road – “It’s been such a constant, us being on the road. I think we’re all kind of worn out,” the coach told Katie Strang on Wednesday. Ask Doug Weight what the traveling life was like as an Edmonton Oiler. Even with playing 14 of 17 on the road – with off days and time back on Long Island – for competitive purposes the Islanders have one of the most cake travel schedules in the league.
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Goal Song Hijinks: The Islanders ran a poll on their official team website for the next goal song. Fans were only given four choices, as selected by the team. They even included the current Nickelback song that had about a 2% approval rating. This way the organization can say they went with the people’s choice, although that would not be true.
What the Islanders also didn’t tell fans is that if they were honest enough to provide their accurate personal information in order to vote, they would be called at home and hawked ticket packages. (I received a whole bunch of emails from fans on that maneuver). To keep the, uh, marketing going a little longer, the Islanders narrowed the vote to two songs and asked fans to vote – and reveal their email addresses and phone numbers – all over again.
And they still won’t have the song their fans want to hear.
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Webb’s Vote: Interesting, spontaneous moment on Wednesday night at PB Night as the crowd cheered for guest Steve Webb. As several fans called out for a full-time heavyweight, Steve – former Islanders player development staffer, current NHLPA divisional rep for the Atlantic division – made it very clear he believed his Islanders should have one.
I wonder what Steve’s close friend and current Islanders development staffer Eric Cairns thinks of his team not having a player like the fearsome defenseman. After the Draft Party reaction to the pick of John Tavares, Eric’s pounding of Shane Corson into the ice in Game 6 may be the No. 2 Islanders image of this decade.
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11:00 am, Iceworks - No, they are not a blogger’s. They are Scott Gordon’s today at practice:
Bailey – Nielsen – Okposo
(Tambellini also on LW in Carolina blue)
Joensuu – Schremp – Hunter
Moulson – Tavares – Comeau
Sim – Park – Thompson
Comments.
9:30 pm - As I posted on Twitter a few minutes ago, the Islanders have recalled Jesse Joensuu from Bridgeport of the AHL. Joensuu will practice on LI on Friday. In our ratings last month of the top prospects playing in Bridgeport, we ranked Joensuu No. 2. The 6-4 wing from Finland is 5-11-16 in 28 games this season with the Sound Tigers, but he has stepped up his play over the last three weeks. It will be back to the press box for someone. Perhaps Scott Gordon made a request for some size.
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