Monthly Archives: September 2010
12:45 pm: Today, on his 20th birthday, John Tavares and coach Scott Gordon shared a laugh on the ice about the difference between left and right after the franchise center missed an assignment.
“We were working on the forecheck,” said Tavares, born in Ontario on Sept. 20, 1990. “I was supposed to lock the left side and twice I locked the right. We had a laugh about it.”
Tavares had every right to smile about the mishap because, after all the pressure he faced in his teenage years – including his selection first overall by the Islanders in last year’s draft – he has remained humble with his teammates and the coaching staff, with fans and in the media.
On the occasion of his 20th birthday, Tavares was asked to list some of the people who have helped him keep both feet on the ground with so many great expectations on him.
“My parents have been a big influence,” said Tavares after the Islanders worked out at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum for the first time this season. “They are always there for support. My Uncle John [Tavares, a professional lacrosse legend in Canada], my agent (Pat Brisson).
“The biggest thing is the game. It’s not easy to be great at this level. You can’t let the tough times get to you, and you can’t let the good stuff go to your head.”
Tavares looked back at this time last season, when he took the ice for the first time with veterans like Doug Weight and Dwayne Roloson – “guys I’ve watched for a long time” – and was nervous.
“I still have the same kinds of feelings,” said the second-year center. “But this year, I know how to handle them. It’s such a privilege to play the game with these guys. The key is to not let things go to your head.”
Between his family, his support staff and friends made in one year with the Islanders, the birthday boy stays grounded.
Comments on this post.
2:00 pm: As announced by the NYI, Rick DiPietro will have a scheduled day off on Monday. Might seem like minor news, but it is not. Holding the goalie back on Day 3 is evidence the Islanders’ medical staff and DiPietro – who turns 29 today – have learned the hard way that less is more. Announcing the move ahead of time to the media and fanbase is evidence, simply, that they have learned. Bravo. Comments.
FanHouse: Kyle Okposo’s offseason routine
FanHouse’s Islanders season preview
Yahoo’s Puck Daddy: Islanders preview
Noon: Trevor Gillies received a one-year, two-way contract from the Islanders at the end of last season and nothing else. No promises, not a handshake or even a whisper, that he’ll be in the NHL full-time as the enforcer-on-call for 2010-11. Gillies got a commitment for one salary scale when he plays with the big club ($500,000), and another, much lower one should he play for the Islanders’ top minor league affiliate in Bridgeport.
The 30-year-old frequent fighter has no complaints, only appreciation.
“There was no talk about what my role would be if I signed,” said Gillies, who inked the deal on April 15. “There wasn’t any need for it. I know my role here. The Islanders were amazing to me last season and continue to be. I want to be with the big club the entire season – whether I get in 20, 50, 70 games. Being a leader, playing hard, setting an example for the young guys and standing up for my teammates is how I get to thank the Islanders for showing confidence in me.”
Gillies is aware of the kind words thrown his way in the press over the last week about his work with some of the young players prior to the rookie games in Boston. The Islanders’ traffic cop wanted it known that the relationship is a two-way street.
“Of all the young players I’ve gotten to know in ten years as a pro, Matt Martin might be my all-time favorite rookie,” said Gillies. “Last season, he taught me as much as I taught him. Matt’s really good at tipping pucks when he’s standing in front of the goalie. I always struggled with that. Matt showed me a few things that really helped me. I’m better at it now.”
Gillies was thrilled that Garth Snow is building a tougher team by signing scrapper Zenon Konopka and giving Martin a chance to make the Islanders. In a conversation with Point Blank, Gillies mapped out each tough guy’s assignment should the trio play in the same game.
“Konopka is fearless. He led the league in fights last season and will go with anyone,” said Gillies, who had 75 penalty minutes in 13 games with the Islanders last season. “He can handle the lightweights and the middleweights. Matty’s on his way to being a great fighter, but he’s more of a middleweight guy, too. I’ll take on the heavyweights…”
I interrupted Gillies, saying I thought Martin could hold his own not just with middleweights, but with cruiserweights and light-heavyweights.
“Oh, don’t get me wrong,” said Gillies. “Both Z and Matty can battle with anyone. Let’s put it this way: if we’re all in a game together and the other team is stirring it up, it doesn’t matter who takes who. We’ll get together on the bench and do ‘Rock-Paper-Scissors.’”
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Notes: Butch Goring and the gang from MSG Network’s “Hockey Night Live” last night placed the Islanders with the Panthers, Maple Leafs and Hurricanes in a group called “longshots” (for the playoffs). They also predicted the Islanders would finish 13th in the Eastern Conference this season.
Andy Hilbert (groin strain) sat out his group’s session today. He’s day-to-day.
Prospect to watch: Kevin Poulin. Through five days of rookie camp and two of main camp, there has been a quiet buzz about the young goaltender. It’s like everyone is afraid of getting too excited too early. (As a blog, of course, we don’t worry about that stuff).
Goring shared a telling anecdote about the difference between training camps today and in his generation, when players used the workouts to get into shape. “We’re about a week into camp,” said Butch. “I’m breaking in new equipment, taking it slowly, rounding into shape. I’m on the ice before practice, warming up. Al Arbour skates over to me and says, ‘Hey Butchie, would you mind breaking a sweat today.’ I laughed. I said, ‘Al, when does the real season start? Three weeks, right? I promise you, I’ll be ready then.’”
Comments on this post are invited. We’ll be here all week.
5:20 pm: After the first day of practice at training camp, it was made crystal clear that the Islanders are going to do what’s best for their most promising young defensemen. And for the Islanders. Asked if there were any available jobs on defense, Scott Gordon segued into a discussion about 2009 first round pick Calvin de Haan and 2008 second-rounder Travis Hamonic. “To make our club, they have to be in our top four,” said Gordon. He then spoke of the potential of de Haan logging big minutes in Oshawa of the OHL and Hamonic with Bridgeport of the AHL.
So if there was any doubt the Islanders will develop these talented prospects the proper way when they signed depth defenseman Milan Jurcina – bringing the total of blueline one-way contracts to eight – there should be little now. Gordon’s comment appears to narrow the list of top young prospects the Islanders will consider rushing keeping this season down to one: Nino Niederreiter. Comments.
1:10 pm: How about this scenario? Maybe, just maybe, the New York Rangers developed P.A. Parenteau for the New York Islanders.
“I never would have thought about that less than a year ago,” said Parenteau, signed as a free agent by the Islanders to a one-year, one-way contract. “That’s the business, I guess.”
He was courted in July by a few teams interested in the pair of hands that scored 20 goals in just 35 games with the Rangers’ AHL affiliate in Hartford last season. However, the decision for the 27-year-old Parenteau came down to the two teams from New York.
“Islanders and Rangers,” said the native of Quebec. “There were other teams interested, too. But from the end of last season, I thought I’d be back with the Rangers. You never know how things will work out sometimes. When free agency started, the Islanders were the one team that really made me feel good, really made me feel like I was going to get an opportunity. The main reason I came here was because I genuinely felt like they would give me a chance, and because I thought I had a chance.”
Then Parenteau learned on Friday night that he would begin training camp on the right side of franchise center John Tavares, and his belief was cemented. Parenteau smiled. “Playing with JT today, that’s a sign of what’s in front of me. He’s an unbelievable player. The puck just sticks to him.”
Looking back, Parenteau is grateful for his three years in the Rangers organization. He mentioned how tough historically it has been for young players to break through on Broadway, but head coach John Tortorella provided him with his first real shot in the NHL. The 6-0, 200-pound right wing played 22 games last season for the Rangers, scoring three goals and adding five assists.
Although Parenteau politely said “I really couldn’t give you an answer,” when asked what has stood in the way of regular employment in the big league, the knock on his game has been his skating. After a morning skate at the Coliseum before a game last season against the Islanders, Tortorella was asked about Parenteau. The coach raved about his player’s attitude and hands, but openly questioned his ability to get where he has to go. “I don’t know about the skating,” said Tortorella.
Relayed the anecdote today after practice, Parenteau remembered the day well. To Tortorella’s credit, after he saw the quote in the daily newspaper clips, he met with Parenteau to apologize. “I appreciated that,” said Parenteau. “He said it didn’t come out the right way. There was no issue with me.”
About his skating, Parenteau said, “I feel like I’ve gotten better each year I’ve been in the pros. I work hard at it. I didn’t see it as a problem at all last year in New York or in Hartford. As a matter of fact, I think playing the last month of last season consistently with the Rangers was a big benefit for me. You get the fast tempo and the regular schedule you don’t get in the NHL. Tortorella’s practices were hard work and we skated a lot.”
By the end of the season – Parenteau scored in the shootout against the Flyers on the final day, but the Rangers lost the game and a playoff berth – the right wing felt like an NHL player.
“I don’t want to be known as just a goal scorer,” said Parenteau, who had an assist and was plus-3 against the Islanders in a Rangers’ 4-3 win at the Coliseum on March 30 (think Garth Snow didn’t notice?). “That last stretch of games with the Rangers really had a positive effect on my game. I’m a different player than Matty Moulson, but I’m in a similar situation and look what happened with him. I love the attitude I saw out there from my new teammates today. I think I’m ready to play an important role for the Islanders.”
So far, Islanders head coach Scott Gordon sees the possibility of Parenteau being this year’s Moulson. “We’re not bringing him in to be a checker,” said Gordon. “He’s a scorer.”
What a New York/New York story it would be.
Comments related to this story are invited. More posts below.
FanHouse: 2010-11 NY Rangers preview
10:45 am, Iceworks: Let’s get this out of the way first….
All of the Islanders are very excited about the opening of training camp. Each is very confident the team will take the next step this season. The leaders absolutely believe they will make the playoffs.
All of the young players have grown an inch or so in height and put on between 10 and 15 pounds – all muscle, of course. Some of the veterans, looking to add more quickness and mobility to their play, have dropped some weight – none of it muscle.
Next! Oh no, now what the heck am I gonna write about for the next three weeks?
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As originally posted on newyorkislanders.com, here are the lineups for the two groups skating at Iceworks today.
57 Blake Comeau – 91 John Tavares – 15 PA Parenteau
12 Josh Bailey – 51 Frans Nielsen – 25 Nino Niederreiter
11 Andy Hilbert – 40 Rob Hisey – 59 Rhett Rakhshani
37 Kirill Kabanov – 54 Tony Romano – 14 Trevor Gillies
81 Justin DiBenedetto – 41 Robin Figren
2 Mark Streit – 20 James Wisniewski
36 Travis Hamonic – 48 Anton Klementyev
56 Dustin Kohn – 8 Bruno Gervais
39 Rick DiPietro
52 Nate Lawson
26 Matt Moulson – 44 Rob Schremp – 21 Kyle Okposo
17 Matt Martin – 93 Doug Weight – 7 Trent Hunter
58 Jesse Joensuu – 45 David Ullstrom – 16 Jon Sim
33 Jeremy Yablonski – 50 Tomas Marcinko – 59 Micheal Haley
3 Calvin de Haan – 27 Milan Jurcina
38 Jack Hillen – 24 Radek Martinek
47 Andrew MacDonald – 42 Dylan Reese
71 Mark Katic
30 Dwayne Roloson
1 Mikko Koskinen
60 Kevin Poulin
Notes: According to reports by Kevin Allen and Katie Strang last month, the Islanders extended invitations to unsigned free agents to attend camp on a tryout basis. As of this morning, it appears no one accepted. From this viewpoint, it’s all for the best. The team is still rebuilding and does not need a Ruslan Fedotenko or Alexei Semenov. If Garth Snow decides he needs to fill a hole because of injuries or bubble players under-performing, there will be good players available on the waiver wire or in low-cost trades.
Mark Eaton (back) is expected to be sidelined for a week. Zenon Konopka (back) and Robin Figren (foot) are day-to-day. Andy Hilbert, perhaps not in Gordo shape after a year away, suffered a mild groin strain in practice this morning.
Group 1 is 75 minutes into Drillfest 2010. The jump is what you’d expect from the first official day of practice. Everything else is fairly standard. Scott Gordon is doing the Scott Gordon thing of teaching and talking about how “the puck is exposed.” The workouts are closed, but if you get an invitation, the coach is fun to watch.
One to Watch: PA Parenteau on the half-wall of the power play. As one veteran AHL observer said, “For the last four years, there wasn’t anyone near his skill level in the league on the power play. At the half-wall, he’s dangerous. Teams game-planned their PK around him. He sees plays most of the other guys don’t. It will be very interesting to see if Parenteau can produce big numbers on a power play with Tavares.”
More later. More all week. Comments?
FanHouse: 2010-11 NY Rangers preview
One of the many great things about this job is the volume of passionate emails I receive from the members of Islanders County. I received this one earlier this week and wanted to pass it along. I figured today was the perfect time, as we’re on the eve of the first official practice of training camp.
A native of the Bronx, Brian Clifford has been an Islanders fan for all of his 35 years. He currently lives in Cincinnati with his wife and their two daughters. Brian still listens to most Islanders games on NHL Radio and spends a portion of his free time debating with his Midwestern in-laws and friends why hockey is better than high school football.
Here’s his Islanders story about why he roots for the home team. You’re welcomed to respond or share yours.
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WHY WE CHEER, by Brian Clifford
A month until Islanders opening night brings with it great excitement for another season. The possibilities of what can be, of what has been and where – just maybe – this young group might once again take all of us.
I have long been a passionate rooter for all the teams I call mine. But my beloved Islanders have always been different, with a more personal bond than any of the others. The wins have always been sweeter; the losses all the more sour.
Why? The logical question of what ties me closer to the orange, blue and white than any other jersey is one I recently pondered. The answer is one that beckoned me to share, because I image it is similar to many other NYI fans. It is what calls me to write for the first time to Point Blank, even though I have been a daily visitor and reader since the 1.0 days of several years ago.
The Islanders have been a constant from my youth. They were born just two years earlier than I. My father was always a hockey fan, not a commonality growing up in New York City in the 1940s and 50s. But he enjoyed the game and he enjoyed pulling for the underdog. These two factors ensured he was an Islanders fan for life from their first game in 1972.
He quickly found a partner in my mother’s younger brother, who purchased a house in Wantagh in 1970. He tutored my uncle on the game and the two of them frequented the Coliseum in the 1970s and early 80s. They were on hand for many of the highest victories, including blue line seats to witness JT’s pass to Bobby Ny at 7:11 of OT on May 24, 1980.
By the time of the first Cup, the allegiance to the boys had already spread throughout the immediate family. There might have been disagreements over other sports interest, but we agreed on the NYI.
Big Islander games – regular season and playoffs – meant family gatherings. Growing up in the Bronx in the pre-cable days, we would make the 40-minute drive to Wantagh several times during the winter and spring to watch the action live on SportsChannel. Afternoon roller hockey in the cul de sac, followed by a viewing of the current match-up in the evening. And of course, the Islanders always won – or close to it – so a young boy would think they would never do anything but. I was too young to grasp at the time I was watching the last true NHL dynasty of a hockey era that is now gone forever.
My favorite player was easy: Bryan Trottier. Of course he was – we shared the same first name. Though I figured spelling his name with a”y” was because he was Canadian. (Perfect sense I suppose for a first grader.)
The crisper memories are those as I turned older. Ultimate success was followed by playoff disappointments followed by the end of an era. By the time I finished grade school, the team I grew up with was gone and the wins were fewer and fewer. But we still rooted and believed. In fact, even during some of those long, losing winters, I would turn on the radio to catch the third period while doing my homework.
During high school, the mood began to change for the positive again. For Christmas of 1991, my father had gotten us tickets to two games, just after the big trades with Chicago and Buffalo. Even during my teen years when talking could be difficult, we could also speak of the Islanders. We watched those two victories from our seats in January and February of 1992, with the distinct feeling of a team on the rise.
The 1992-93 season was inconsistent, but as we know, the boys figured things out in the second-half of the season and made that magical run. I had to work during Game 7 against Pittsburgh. I kept calling one of those sports update phone numbers every 20 to 30 minutes, finally learning of Volek’s goal for the dramatic victory. It was at that moment I truly thought the Drive for Five II was for real.
Of course, the Montreal series was not what any of us had hoped. After the elimination, I kept wondering if… What if Turgeon was 100 percent? What if the knockdown of Dalgarno in OT had been called a penalty? What if Healy had just a few more heroics left?
Disappointed, but not disheartened, we took pride in the season and what the Isles had accomplished. As I departed for the University of Dayton in August, my father and I agreed better days were ahead. Alas, it was not to be.
My freshman dorm did not have cable. There was no Internet (or none to speak of), no mobile phone updates. The best you could do in Dayton, Ohio, was purchase a USA Today on Thursday for the expanded NHL standings and results. So my father would send me clippings from the Daily News or Newsday or whatever a couple of times a month, each with a handwritten note. We would talk on the phone for a few minutes on Sunday and he would say the boys were still trying to pull it all together. In reality, it turned out to be the beginning of the end.
I was saddened by the breakup of the team after the lockout. I always thought there was still a chance for another run at glory. But in retrospect, the gleam in their eyes was gone. It was more than just the subtraction of Healy and Fitzgerald – that team never recaptured the sum of their parts that had made them so successful in 1993. And although he had a terrific career, I always thought Turgeon was different after the hit by Hunter. I contend he was on the cusp of being the next great Islander, a true superstar. That never came to be, either. Sometimes you only do get one kick at the can.
With all of it, came the dark period for the franchise. It was more than losing. By the late 90s, for the first time, there was no hope.
In one of the great ironies of life, the fate of the Islanders mirrored that of my own family. The gatherings became less, as siblings and cousins followed schools, careers and new families, eventually moving to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and beyond. New responsibilities took the place of traditions and priorities of years gone by.
Dad only saw one more season, dying shortly before Thanksgiving in 1994. Cancer from years of smoking. He was already dying during the 1993 run; we just didn’t know it.
In typical dark Irish humor, my uncle, his dear friend and hockey companion said to me at the wake, “The Rangers killed your father, you know. They really did.” (Of course, he never mentioning “winning” or the “C” word, but I knew.)
I never did go home again, either. I worked a few summers in NY, but selected to stay in the Midwest after graduation, eventually getting married to a local UD girl and starting our own family. My life has taken such a different path from the Isles of my youth and the spring of 1993, now half a lifetime ago.
Fast-forward to the present: so why do I still care? After all the years of wandering in the desert of despair, with only a few short glimpses of the playoffs, why go through it for another season? In many ways, it would be easier just to ignore it all.
The best explanation may come from early December of 1994. I returned to school after a hiatus, a long Thanksgiving break for the funeral and holiday. In my mailbox was a envelope from my father with hockey clippings and a note to say hello.
The envelope and all its contents have long since vanished, lost somewhere through the travels of college and life. But mailing news about the Islanders was one of the last things my father did while alive. It was his passion, an excitement, a team that was truly his, just as they are mine.
It’s this bond of greater proportions with the team that I believe makes Islanders fans unique, It is not something other understand, even other sports fans. They are part of us and always will be.
I still catch the third period of games after I put the girls to bed, although now it’s through the Internet feed instead of my clock radio. I’ve contemplated purchasing the NHL package, but I’m still content to listen to the boys and image the action in my head. And as I Iie on the basement carpet, if I listen close enough, I can hear the voice of Barry Landers describing the play of LaFontaine and Flatley, Sutter and Diduck, Wood and Hrudey.
There’s a hard road with much still to go, but I have faith in the young boys we’ve assembled. I feel this will be a playoff season and with a few additions, maybe more in the couple of years immediately ahead. Can they achieve it? I would like to think so. And when that day comes, I’ll be ready. Dad was there for Cup One – I’ll be there for number Five…
It’s why we cheer. Here’s to a successful Islanders season.
Notes: The Islanders returned Casey Cizikas and Tony DeHart to their junior clubs in the OHL this morning. Cizikas, who has a solid chance of making Team Canada for the WJC, is recovering from a groin strain suffered in the first rookie game in Boston. The four players as invitees at rookie camp – Alex O’Neil, Justin Taylor, Steven Tarasuk and Corey Syvret – were released. According to Katie Strang of Newsday, Robin Figren is on crutches. A shot caromed off his skate last night in the rookie game in Boston. X-rays today.
***In response to my post last night urging fans to negotiate their best partial plan deals in a StubHub world with the Islanders’ ticket office, one fan reports today that he got six – yes, 6 – free games “thrown in” with his plan.
That’s why Brian Clifford cheers for the Islanders. You’re invited to share your story in Comments.
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