Monthly Archives: March 2010
Trevor Gillies’ gets a rare shift late in the third with the game tied 2-2 and gets called for a boarding penalty. The Flyers score on the power play to win.
All the slumps – eight road losses in a row (all in regulation), Snow/Gordon on the road in the division (except MSG) and vs. the Flyers (NHL-worst 15 losses in a row) – continue. When the Islanders were up 2-1 in the third, I was getting ready to kid Howie Rose about not being there.
Dwayne Roloson does everything to help his team win, again.
John Tavares and Kyle Okposo score in the same game for the first time since. Nov. 13.
During the second intermission, Jeff Carter tells VERSUS that the Flyers have to go harder to the net because the Islanders’ defense is so small.
Scott Gordon tells Katie Strang before the game, “There’s no question that there’s a mismatch from a size standpoint.” The coach also says Gillies will be with the big club through at least the weekend.
Islanders fall to 0-3 since the trade deadline, a season-low six-games under .500 and ten points behind the eighth spot in the East.
The Maple Leafs won in overtime. The Panthers won in a shootout in Minnesota. (Florida management has to be pulling its hair out). The Blue Jackets were victorious in Anaheim.
Rob Schremp suffered a right knee injury and will be evaluated by team doctors on Wednesday.
The Islanders have no practice on Wednesday, host St. Louis on Thursday, the Devils on Saturday and Maple Leafs (winners tonight) on Sunday.
See you Wednesday.
Point Blank live in-game commentary tonight begins at 7:15 pm
The Islanders are due to win. They are also due to win in Philadelphia. During this tumultuous, rollercoaster, almost-never-boring season, would it really be a surprise if they get the two points tonight?
The Orange and Blue have not beaten the Flyers on the road in the Garth Snow/Scott Gordon era. In fact, they have not won anywhere on the road within their division these last two years other than Madison Square Garden.
Beyond Gordon’s time, all together the Islanders have lost nine in a row in the city of Brotherly Chippiness. The last time they won in Philadelphia was when Ted Nolan was the coach, Wade Dubielewicz was the goaltender, Ryan Smyth was the de facto leader and the good guys won four in a row in that final week to make the playoffs.
The Islanders’ current 14-game losing streak against the Flyers is the longest active head-to-head slump in the NHL.
The Islanders’ last victory anywhere on the road was exactly two months ago today in Phoenix. Thanks to the Olympic break, that is only a slump of seven games.
They enter the game nine points back of Boston for the final playoff berth in the East. Five juggernauts – the Rangers, Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Florida and Carolina – stand between them. This has become dire enough that some team broadcast insiders have begun tweeting more about what losses mean in the hunt for Tyler Seguin, Taylor Hall and Cam Fowler. Of course, we are above that and will wait to see how the Islanders perform up to Game 70.
(Columbus, 6-0 losers, did not show up in LA last night).
The Islanders have a few wins at home on the horizon. The boys are due.
Notes: Tonight’s game is at 7:30 and will be on VERSUS with Doc Emrick and Billy Jaffe on the call. On Islanders radio station WMJC (94.3 FM), Chris King – since there is no MSG show to simulcast – will do the play-by-play, color commentary, sideline reporting and mix drinks. If you get the station, you know Kinger will make tonight an entertaining three-hour information session about your favorite hockey club.
The choice of Trevor Gillies as a recall tonight is interesting because Peter Laviolette has not been playing heavyweights in his lineup. Gillies might be able to stare down Daniel Carcillo, but the Flyers’ middleweight agitator will most likely not fight him. Chris Pronger is not going to take himself off the ice for five minutes to fight anyone. Perhaps Gillies will keep the peace and will play more than the three minutes Gordon gave him in his debut.
More to come.
5:40 pm: Blake Comeau (facial lacerations) will sit this one out. Doug Weight missed today’s practice with the flu. Rick DiPietro not yet ready to return. The Islanders recall designated enforcer Trevor Gillies as they seek to end a 14-game losing streak against the Flyers – the longest current team-to-team slide in the NHL.
Chris Botta on Twitter
When the Islanders return to the playoffs, Frans Nielsen‘s name will rightfully be mentioned when votes are placed for the Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best defensive forward. Nielsen is the Islanders’ best forward in the D zone and he is emerging as one of the best in the game.
“I take a lot of pride in keeping the other guys off the scoreboard,” said Nielsen, the 25-year-old center who leads the team with a plus-11 and is sixth on the Islanders in scoring with 9 goals and 19 assists.
“Frans has been a strong defensive player for a while now,” said head coach Scott Gordon. “There isn’t anybody I wouldn’t play him against. It’s a credit to how hard he has worked at it, plus he is someone with a good deal of skill who will continue to improve in the offensive end.”
As a result, Nielsen is every bit a fixture in this rebuild as some of his more hyped and earlier-drafted young teammates. The 2002 third round pick has been impressive in his own zone since joining the Islanders organization in the 2006-07 season. However, it wasn’t until the magnificent hockey writer and stats analyst James Mirtle posted a story at the end of January when many around the league realized how far the Dane had come in such short time.
There for everyone to see was the proof of Nielsen’s checking efforts. Using his calculus to determine the best defensive forwards in five-on-five and shorthanded situations, Mirtle ranked the young Islander third in the NHL – behind Daniel Alfredsson and Troy Brouwer and one place ahead of Patrick Marleau.
I asked Mirtle of the Toronto Globe & Mail for an explanation of his math (since, to be candid, I’d be lying if I told you I understood all this stuff). James was kind enough to write me before the Olympic break:
“The 1.60 (Nielsen’s grade) is like a goals against average for a player, but it’s only for even strength and shorthanded situations,” explained Mirtle. “The Islanders are almost never getting scored on when Nielsen is out there.”
Mirtle was then asked for his perspective specifically on Frans:
“Statistically speaking, Nielsen leads Islanders forwards in a ton of defensive categories. He faces the other team’s top lines most nights and has been on the ice for only fifteen 5-on-5 goals against all season. He’s also got great numbers on the penalty kill and should probably be used more often in that role.
“No one else on the Isles is close to make the top 30 in my ranking, which is unique around the league as players normally benefit from playing with one another. To me that says Nielsen’s been solid defensively with a whole bunch of different linemates.”
Again, keep in mind this exchange with Mirtle was prior to the Islanders’ struggles before and since the Olympic break. Like the rest of the Islanders, Nielsen’s numbers have suffered in every category as the team has lost 11 of its last 14 games. (Using the traditional plus/minus NHL math, Nielsen is minus-3 in those 14 games).
Nevertheless, he is a plus-11 on a team that runs the troubling gamut from understandably struggling teenage first-line center (John Tavares, -19) to veteran checking forward (Richard Park, -18).
Still, for Nielsen to be in such heady company with Alfredsson – and be so far ahead of the rest of his team – says a lot about the well-rounded player he has become.
He credits the Swedish Elite League for his education on defense.
“They play a lot of trap hockey in the Swedish League, but either way I think it’s the best defensive league in the world,” said Nielsen, who first played in the SEL as a 17-year-old. “When I first got there, I didn’t know much about defense. In Denmark, I had the puck a lot. But Malmo put me on the fourth line and told me, ‘Just focus on not letting the other team score.’
“The Swedes completely taught me how to be a responsible two-way forward. That’s where I also learned how to win faceoffs. By the last season in Sweden, I was top-five in the league. When I first got there, I couldn’t beat anybody on a draw.
“Now Scott (Gordon) has started to use me to match up against the other team’s top line. It’s a compliment and a challenge and a lot of fun. For me, shutting down the top scorers in the league is just as nice as scoring a goal.”
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Just returned from writing about the Blackhawks. Saw two great games and it was a privilege to get a peak into the franchise’s renaissance. Since FanHouse puts the “pro” in the fulltime professional writer equation for me – and makes Point Blank happen every day – please read if you have a moment this morning. Back in a bit with some Islanders stuff. Thanks.
I understand where Scott Gordon is coming from. What I don’t understand is, if the Islanders are trying to make the playoffs – as Gordon and Garth Snow have said repeatedly this week - why they didn’t try to add a player or two on Wednesday before the trade deadline? After the game against Chicago on Tuesday, after Andy Sutton had already been dealt, Andrew MacDonald limped out of the Coliseum wearing a boot. Management had that night and until 3:00 the next afternoon to give the team a, uh, fighting chance.
Here’s what the coach said after the 3-2 loss to the much bigger Bruins on Saturday when asked about playoff aspirations (as seen on Islanders TV):
“Let’s stop beating us up as to what the guys are thinking. At the end of the day, we’re pretty depleted on defense. We’re at a huge disadvantage.
“It’s not going to be easy. We’re going to get the effort. I know we’re going to get the effort, and we’re going to be better. But to immediately take out two guys that were playing 23, 24-plus minutes (Sutton and MacDonald), and insert a guy who’s never played an NHL game (Dylan Reese) – who has come in and done a good job – to insert a guy who’s been off for a month and a half (Jack Hillen) and is playing with the thought of what it’s like to have a puck hit you in the face, we’re at a huge disadvantage.
“We’ll get through it, but that has more of an impact than the trade deadline. The over-analysis of the trade deadline is over with. We’re trying to win hockey games. We’re trying to get into the playoffs. It’s obviously not going to be easy for us, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t stopped trying.”
It’s for that exact reason the over-analysis of the trade deadline is not over, Coach. Sorry, just one more day of it.
After the game on Saturday, Gordon looked genuinely upset – as if he truly believed the team had no options but to field the roster they did. With the knowledge that MacDonald was injured, they could have grabbed a depth defenseman (or two) for late-round picks. They could have done something. They are 0-2 since.
But maybe that’s the point – to not do too much to earn points in the standings. Toronto won last night.
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