Monthly Archives: October 2010
FanHouse: Wisniewski clears the air on Avery incident
Point Blank Night is Thursday at SOCIAL: Islanders at Lightning on more than a dozen screens. Free buffet, free shots, raffle and more! RSVP here.
11:05 am: The 1-1-2 Islanders face Matt Duchene and the 3-1 Colorado Avalanche tonight at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Good seats can still be purchased through the team site and Twitter for just $19.72.
Chances are good that John Tavares will return to the Islanders after sitting out three games with a concussion. Will be fun to see Tavares and Duchene tonight. Way too early to tell which youngster is going to be the better and more valuable player, but it’s reasonable to say everything has worked out well for both Tavares and Duchene (a Lanche fan) and their teams.
Do the Islanders give Rick DiPietro back-to-back games, especially after he was knocked down twice last night in Pittsburgh? Nah, they wouldn’t do that, would they? Expect Dwayne Roloson, superb in Washington, in net for the home team.
The Islanders did not have a morning skate today, so lineup details will not be unearthed here. One thing to look out for: Trent Hunter appeared hobbled by a lower body injury against the Penguins. If Tavares returns, perhaps it’s Hunter who sits out.
James Wisniewski will be back on the blue line. Jack Hillen only played nine minutes last night, so unless there is another injury, it would appear Hillen again is the odd man out.
Notes: Congratulations to prospect Travis Hamonic, who scored his first pro goal on Friday in the Sound Tigers’ 3-1 loss in Portland. Bridgeport hosts Hartford tonight.
For the second consecutive game, Trevor Gillies engaged in an exciting bout last night. And that’s all he played: nine seconds. In the first three games of the season, Gillies saw the ice for 1:57, 1:34 and 1:16. Gillies acquitted himself well in battles against DJ King and Eric Godard and is an effective leader from the bench, but his role is still exactly what the Islanders said for a year they were not interested in.
Josh Bailey and Blake Comeau…not bad, eh?
Comments on tonight’s game.
(Eaton leads the stretch at Consol)
12:15 pm: The Penguins are winless in their first three games at Conol Energy Center, but have won their last eight at home (at the Igloo) over the Islanders. They will be without defensemen Brooks Orpik and Z Michalek, but that’s nothing compared to the Islanders and they’re still icing a solid lineup:
Kunitz – Crosby – Dupuis
Tangradi – Comrie – Malkin
Cooke – Talbot – Kennedy
Rupp – Letestu/Adams – Godard
Martin – Letang
Goligoski – Lovejoy
Hutchinson – Engelland
Brent Johnson starts in goal
The Islanders will play the same lineup from Wednesday’s 2-1 loss in Washington, except for one change: Rick DiPietro starts in goal for the visitors.
Notes: You’ll know the Islanders have truly turned a corner when the visiting coach – Marc Crawford on Saturday, Bruce Boudreau and Dan Bylsma this week – stop talking about the team’s “hard-working” identity at the morning skate and instead talk about the skill level. Every coach in the league, when his team is considered the favorite, praises the other team’s work ethic to prepare his own team. The Islanders do work extremely hard, but there’s a lot more to the game.
In his first six games since being traded from Kazan to Yugra, Islanders prospect Kirill Petrov has one goal and five assists. More importantly, he is averaging over 17 minutes of icetime per game since the move to Yugra. The Islanders will most likely see him full-time in North America for the start of the 2012-13 season, if Petrov and the team agree to an Entry Level contract.
After scoring three goals in 62 games last season in Bridgeport, Robin Figren scored in each of the Sound Tigers’ first two games of the AHL season. Jack Capuano’s team plays three games in three days this weekend – in Portland tonight, hosting Hartford on Saturday and Portland on Sunday.
Continuing to struggle mightily at the box office, the Islanders are selling tickets for just $19.72 for Saturday’s game against Colorado and calling it a nostalgia weekend. Check the team site for details. Al Arbour happens to be in town for an autograph show appearance at Hofstra, so expect the Islanders to host the legendary coach at the game.
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Email your Qs for Ferraro: Next week, we are recording the first of our mini-shows for “SNY/Point Blank TV” in the studio. The guest (via phone) will be former Islanders center Ray Ferraro. If you have a question you’d like me to ask Ray, please submit it in Comments.
Besides some of the obvious questions I already have planned, I will try to include some from the readers. Please list your name and hometown and submit just one question per reader. Thank you.
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Comment-ary Tonight: Stop by Point Blank throughout the night and share your thoughts on the game. I’ll join you in the Comments thread for the entire game. Enjoy.
Comments on tonight’s game, this post and your question for Ray Ferraro are welcomed.
Point Blank Night next Thursday!
Captain Doug Weight discusses the development of the Islanders in his time here and helps us preview Friday’s match against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Penguins are 0-3-0 in their new arena and have now lost defenseman Z Michalek for 2-4 weeks with an injury.
Comments on this video and Friday’s game are welcomed.
Please read at AOL FanHouse. Thank you.
Point Blank Night next Thursday!
On the heels of the Wisniewski-Avery incident and lot of discussion about trash talk in warmups and in games, Jon Sim – who drew another penalty last night – was kind enough to grant us a timely interview about his role.
More later. Relevant comments are invited.
Point Blank Night next Thursday!
Heartbreak in DC, as Blake Comeau is called for roughing with four minutes left in the third and the scored tied 1-1 and Backstrom scores on the power play. Over two minutes of play before the questionable call on Comeau, both Moulson and Grabner were stopped on breakaways. Still, plenty of positives for the beat-up Islanders. Excellent play in the first and especially the third period. Nino Niederreiter with his first NHL goal in the first period. Except for not finishing, Grabner made his speed and his presence felt. Dwayne Roloson looked like he hasn’t lost a step at age 41.
