Monthly Archives: March 2010
Chris Botta on TwitterI’ll host in-game Commentary throughout Islanders-Canucks starting at 10 pm EST.
Although Gary Bettman does not see the borough as a realistic option for the Islanders, Brooklyn’s new arena will have the capability of hosting hockey games and Bruce Ratner says Charles Wang’s team is invited. Still, Ratner is rooting for Wang to get his wish of staying in Nassau County.
“It’s an option,” said Ratner in an interview last week on WFAN. “It’s not likely, but it’s always an option. First, we have to hope that Charles Wang does get his arena built and the Islanders stay (on Long Island) and they have a great place to play. That’s foremost.
“It’s important for the Islanders to stay, and I hope they do stay. If there’s somebody who can do it out there, Charles is the person.”
Here’s a piece of the press release from Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment (the code word for the Nets) distributed at the groundbreaking of the Barclays Center last week. In this portion, the Nets discuss an alignment with event managers IMG:
In addition to college basketball, IMG will assist BSE in staging college hockey, high-profile tennis events and high school sports at the Barclays Centers.
“Our strategic alliance with IMG, the world’s premier and most diversified sports, entertainment, and media company, clearly demonstrates the first-class programming that is in store for the Barclays Center and Brooklyn,” said Brett Yormark, President and CEO, BSE. “The Barclays Center will have the best in sports and entertainment and will provide visitors with a memorable experience each and every night.”
(h/t to our friends at Nets Daily)
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Pop Culture Segment: The great young Long Island band Envy on the Coast plays hockey at a rink you may recognize in the new video for their song, “Head First in the River.” Check it out.
(UPDATED at 1:15 pm: Lead singer Ryan Hunter responds via email: “Hey Chris, I just wanted to shoot you a personal thanks for posting the link to the video. We love your blog and our guitar player and I are avid readers as well as big Isles fans. Artistdirect.com has the exclusive on the video today, but tomorrow we’ll be able to post it anywhere. Thanks!)
The latest episode of the late-night HBO animated comedy for adults, “The Life and Times of Tim” featured a storyline in which a guy thinks his wife is hanging out with a fictional Islanders player. The episode may not have been a laugh riot, but the visuals of the Coliseum and Islanders fans and players are sure to bring a smile. Check it out if you’re older than, let’s say 16.
The Islanders are also seen briefly in the new movie, She’s Out of My League, in a scene of a date at an Islanders-Penguins game at the Igloo. The hockey clips were shot on March 27, 2008 during a real game. I was there. The Islanders didn’t have to do anything except play. The Pens won, 3-1. According to Dominic, the Islanders fan screenwriter in LA, you see Dubie and Tamby in the flick.
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Actual Islanders Stuff: As the lone writer on the Islanders’ West Coast trip, Katie Strang of Newsday has the market cornered on all breaking team news this week. If you want to know who’s in and out of the lineup and everything else, make sure you follow Katie on Twitter. When I just looked her up for the link, I noticed she’s just a few followers shy of 2,000, so put her over the top today if you’re one of the few not getting her regular updates.
What we do know is Trevor Gillies is still with the big club and Matt Martin returned on Sunday night to Bridgeport. Trent Hunter is on the trip. Rick DiPietro – whom the Islanders have said they want to play a few more games this season – is not.
Boston lost last night. The Rangers can jump over them for eighth with a win tonight at home against Montreal. If the Islanders get two points in Vancouver tonight, they stay very much in the race.
Comments on tonight’s game and this post. See you for the late-night commentary.
Please read and react on FanHouse.
Twelve candidates were chosen from my poll of 24 NHL coaches, scouts and broadcasters. Pick one, or support a nominee of your own. At FanHouse.
Chris Botta on Twitter
Thanks to the passionate backing of scout Tobey O’Brien and the persistance and creativity of general manager Garth Snow, Jack Hillen was signed two years ago April 1.
Hillen was a late-blooming defenseman out of Colorado College who, it worked out, was fortunate to go undrafted. Instead of having little leverage as a late-round selection of one team, Hillen was a free agent with his choice of all 30.
He had a half-dozen devout followers before Hillen and his agent, Neil Sheeny, narrowed the decision down to three finalists: the Islanders, Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars.
I was aware that (Islanders scout) Toby O’Brien had watched me a lot, and I’m told he really went to bat for me with management. When the Islanders came to see me and a few other players on our team to give us their psychological testing, Toby spent a few minutes with me. There was another scout, Rob Cowie (now with Toronto), who also saw me a few times. From what I understand, Garth Snow came to Colorado for a game or two based on the recommendations. It was really nice to be wanted.
My first two years in Colorado weren’t great. I had the skills, but it wasn’t until my junior year when everything started to come together for me. By the time I got to my last year of college, I knew there were going to be options. It really came down to finding the NHL franchise I thought was the right place for me.
Why did you finally decide on the Islanders?
Garth did a great job of enticing me, explaining to my agent what he was trying to build and the kind of players he wanted to build around. He really made the idea of becoming part of their organization exciting. In terms of how he outlined everything for me, I could tell they had spent a lot of time scouting my games and thinking about a role for me. I had the sense that they appreciated my abilities. It meant a lot to me.
The Islanders worked out a unique deal with Hillen. They gave him a two-year contract, but the first year was burned off immediately when he played in the NHL for the last two games of the Islanders’ season after his college hockey career ended.
Did that creative step put the Islanders over the top?
It helped that they were willing to be so flexible and go the extra mile. Florida had a similar offer on the table. Getting the chance to go straight to the NHL for a few games was tough to pass up. Playing for the Islanders in a home-and-home against the Rangers, in one of the biggest rivalries in hockey, was a bonus. By burning the first year, I was already one step closer to get out of my Entry Level contract. That put me in position to sign the new deal we worked out last summer.
Everything has worked out pretty perfectly for me. If you had told me when I signed the deal two years that I’d now have almost 100 NHL games (98) under my belt and a chance to establish myself, I would have been very happy.
Comments on Jack Hillen and this post.
7:35 pm, NVMC: No matter where you stand on the Lighthouse Project, almost everyone agrees the Islanders could use a new or completely transformed arena. Hurricane winds wrecked havoc all over Long Island yesterday, including some wreckage of the old barn on Hempstead Turnpike.
Turns out the Millsteins were just a decade ahead of their time. The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum really is falling apart.
Three large sections of the aluminum upper facade of the arena came crumbling down on Saturday around 5:30 pm. Although fans were starting to line up before the Islanders’ game against the Devils, somewhat miraculously no one got hurt. The only inconvenience was some traffic when the main area of the box office had to be closed.
Two of the pieces of broken barn were 2 x 18, the other 12 x 12.
Of course, you can drive to many places on Long Island to witness serious damage. I recommend Capitolian Blvd. in Rockville Centre for an awesome sight of a large tree lifted out of the ground and lying across the length of the block (no one got hurt). You can also check out the front porch of the home I thought my family was moving into this summer.
But in case there was any doubt, the Islanders need a new home. It’s dangerous out there.
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Plus: Bruins management may have loved this result for draft pick purposes, but the Islanders pull to within seven points of eighth place Boston for the final playoff berth in the East. Although the Islanders haven’t won on the road in two months, a not-unreasonable-to-expect four points on this three-game Western swing keeps them in the race.
Plus: It took some growing pains, but Blake Comeau (first three-assist NHL game) can be added to the list of keepers on the core of forwards in this rebuild. Lest anyone forgot, Comeau has a pretty good pedigree. He is 6-6-12 in his last eight games.
Plus: The rest of the confirmed list as of this date: John Tavares, Josh Bailey, Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen, Matt Moulson. Yes, nucleuses (nuclei?) can include effective third-liners like Comeau. And yep, the team needs some size.
Plus: Freddy Meyer is the perfect example of an excellent role player who is sometimes disrespected when he’s playing on a losing team. With his attitude and play, he’s a perfect 6-7 defenseman for the Islanders. No reason not to keep him around.
Plus: Matt Martin, even on an emergency recall, demonstrates how to be a good teammate.
Plus: On back-to-back games, in nasty weather, for a team barely in the playoff race, the fans came out in good numbers. That’s the definition of a strong fanbase.
Plus: Dennis LaRue with the kind of heads-up intelligent penalty call you don’t always see when Nikolai Kulemin attempted to disguise a pick-and-roll. Referees get a lot of carp, often for good reason, but smart work deserves to be applauded.
Plus: Tim Jackman is unable to fight, Dion Phaneuf wasn’t going to fight. The best the Islanders could do is make Phaneuf have to keep his head up for the entire game, know he was marked, and understand the Islanders would not forget what he did to Kyle Okposo. On all levels, the Islanders succeeded.
Plus: Recent adjustments to the penalty kill have paid off. (We’ll save the needle about yet another too-many-men penalty for a different day). Coming into the weekend, the Islanders had given up eight power play goals in their last six games. They were 11-for-11 in these two games with a pair of shorthanded goals.
Plus: By raising some ticket prices and asking season subscribers to pay by April 1, by raising the cost of parking closer to major league levels, some enticing signs are there. The Islanders have every intention of spending some money (some from the Andy Sutton savings), getting out of 26th-30th-28th place and taking the next step. As much as it has been a brutal last two months in the Country, the Islanders are in position to compete next season. Should be an exciting summer.
Comments.
Fella by the name of Dion Phaneuf is playing today for the Maple Leafs. Looking forward to some good family fun. Talk about today’s game in Comments.
9:45 pm: Looks like my prediction of a four-point three game weekend is going to be short by a point. Good for Go-Go’s Gritty-Gutties for ending the four-game losing streak.
As mentioned a few times in this space, Mark Streit, Kyle Okposo, Dwayne Roloson and the rest of the Islanders young and oldish do not give a Cam about The Fall for Seguin and Hall.
If you want to know how much the Islanders are still playing for pride and expect 100% effort from each other, check the tape and watch Scott Gordon’s reaction after Ilya Kovalchuk scored to make it 3-2.
Tonight was the proof. After an iffy start, the Islanders played hard and smart and beat the Devils, who were coming off impressive wins over the Rangers and Penguins. The key moment was a four-minute power play for New Jersey in the third period in which the only goal scored was by Sean Bergenheim. Then the Islanders killed the rest, even when it turned into a 5-on-3.
As he has been for almost the entire season, short of a three-week stretch of a three-goalie rotation before the Olympic break, Roloson was superb in stopping 38 of 39 shots he could see.
You couldn’t find anyone in Devilsland who thought coach Jacques Lemaire was going to sit Martin Brodeur anytime soon. Yet there was Yann Danis starting against the Islanders tonight. Butch Goring said he hoped Scott Gordon used the sign of disrespect as motivation. “He’s saying you guys suck,” said Butch. “Now go out there and show him how good you are.”
No word if Gordon said anything to his team about the slight, but he really didn’t have to. The Islanders got the message, and the two points. The pressure is now off the Islanders, which makes them a dangerous team.
Sunday at 5:00 pm at the Coliseum is a crucial showdown with the Maple Leafs. Islanders can pull to within seven points of eighth-place Boston. I hope to be back from the road and at the Coliseum.
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Parking details finally clarified via a Coliseum source. The cost to park at Islanders home games next season will be $10 or $15. It’s only $10, if you can deal with parking in the outer reaches of the lot. The cost is $15 if you want to get a spot closer to the rink and get out of there quickly.
“Media parking is going to cost $50,” said the source, who pretended he was joking.
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Tonight Garth Snow took his play-in playoff idea to Stan Fischler on the Devils broadcast. Snow said, “Single-game elimination would take 5-7 days, and everyone would battle it out for the eighth seed. It was an idea. It was obviously talked about at length.” Snow cited the Carolina Hurricanes, hurt by injuries in the first half, as an example of a team that could benefit by the all-in tournament.
As for his Islanders, Snow said, “It’s never fun when you don’t win. Our future’s bright. There’s a lot of good things we can take from our season. Where we stand is unacceptable. We don’t like losing.”
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Best wishes to Islanders ticket sales executive Theresa Coscia, who is leaving the team this week for a management position with the Jacksonville Jaguars of the NFL.
Theresa, whom I worked with in my last season at the Islanders, had a tough job on the frontlines working with fans on a daily basis and during some tough times. Yet, through everything, I’ve never heard anything but the highest praise for her integrity and ability to communicate with clients. Long Island loses another great one, this time a graduate of Connetquot high school.
Best wishes, Theresa. I have no doubt you will attain all of your goals.
Toronto and Florida win, Edmonton, Columbus and Carolina lose. Comments on tonight’s game, including your Plus/Minus, and your thoughts on this post. Drive safely.
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