Monthly Archives: October 2010
1:25 pm, NVMC: With enough depth on defense – bolstered by Garth Snow’s wise signing of the reliable Mike Mottau – the Islanders have done what’s best for the development of Calvin de Haan and returned him to Oshawa.
The 2009 12th overall pick also has a great chance of playing top-four minutes for Team Canada at the World Junior Championships in Buffalo beginning Dec. 26. It should be remembered that a shoulder injury limited the 19-year-old to just 34 OHL games last season. Also keep in mind Scott Gordon’s comment at the start of camp that youngsters de Haan and Travis Hamonic should only be kept around if they could crack the top four.
“The depth we have on D is a lot different than we had last year,” said Gordon. The coach added, “He had a slow start, and Calvin would tell you that himself, but he really came on during camp.”
In a mild surprise, Matt Martin has been sent to Bridgeport. He does not have to clear waivers. Martin, who missed a few days of practice with a foot injury, skated with the Islanders the last two days. There’s a great chance you’ll see Martin’s youthful energy and toughness on Long Island by the end of this month.
“We have some other things we want to look at with Nino, and with (Michael) Grabner coming in,” said Gordon. Matt didn’t do anything wrong.”
Goalie Nathan Lawson, expected to be the Islanders’ No. 3 this season, has been placed on Long Term Injured Reserve.
2010 fifth overall pick Nino Niederreiter, who just turned 18, will be in the lineup for your New York Islanders when they host Dallas in the season opener on Saturday. “One game at a time,” said Gordon. “There isn’t any rush to make a decision.”
2010-11 NYI Opening Night Roster
Comeau – Tavares – Parenteau
Moulson – Nielsen – Hunter
Bailey - Weight – Niederreiter
Gillies - Konopka – Sim
Grabner (who primarily plays right wing, will likely sit out the first two games as he gets acclimated to the team’s systems)
Defense: Eaton, Gervais, Hillen, Jurcina, MacDonald, Martinek, Mottau, Wisniewski
DiPietro
Roloson
Notes: The New York Times writes about the death of recent NHL uniforms and logos, quoting yours truly, painfully.
Nino Niederreiter was overjoyed about making the club. I was disappointed that he didn’t say his usual line, “It’s just fantastic.” His family is coming in from Switzerland to catch his NHL debut. Niederreiter will be the youngest player to get in a game in Islanders history, beating out David Chyzowski.
Michael Grabner: “I didn’t have a very good camp in Florida. I worked hard in the offseason, but I didn’t really do much out there. This is another opportunity for me.”
Comments?
Up Next: A video commentary that I think you’ll agree with, disagree with and probably enjoy.
FanHouse: CB on Zenon Konopka’s life story
FH: Bettman stands up for Colin Campbell’s “consistency”
10:35 am, NVMC: The Islanders have hit the ice at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Everyone is here. Figure on any roster announcements/news leaks coming in the afternoon. Here’s the practice lineup:
Comeau – Tavares – Parenteau
Moulson – Nielsen – Hunter
Bailey - Weight – Niederreiter
Martin - Konopka – Sim
Gillies, Grabner (in green)
Defense: MacDonald, Wisniewski, Eaton, Martinek, Hillen, Mottau, Jurcina, Gervais, de Haan
DiPietro
Roloson
Michael Grabner was welcomed to the squad right away. The last player to join the pack when Scott Gordon started a meeting at one of the goals, Grabner – as is custom – has to skate a lap. He flew.
I’m under the impression that perceived 7-8 defensemen Bruno Gervais and Milan Jurcina. What that means for the rest…ah, who am I to speculate?
Never mind. It would appear the Islanders are doing to right thing for the long run, and the 19-year-old de Haan will star for the Oshawa Generals and Team Canada at the World Junior Championships.
If the Islanders waive Trevor Gillies – for the purpose of having him as the enforcer-on-call – and send de Haan to junior, they would be down to 23. Matt Martin could also be sent to the AHL without having to clear waivers.
Notes: Florida GM Dale Tallon broke out the can of late ’90s Milbury to explain why Michael Grabner is no longer a Panther. “Reputation doesn’t mean anything to me,” Tallon told George Richards of the Miami Herald. “He can skate and he has skill, but didn’t show any of it.” Good for Tallon, who’s trying to change the culture in Sunrise. Could be good for the Islanders, who can send the message to the kid that he should be grateful for one more opportunity.
Comments.
FanHouse: CB on Zenon Konopka’s life story
FH: Bettman stands up for Colin Campbell’s “consistency”
9:50 pm: Would the Islanders ask Jon Sim to volunteer his time greeting fans at the team’s Open House on Tuesday night, and then put him on waivers on Wednesday with the goal of sending him to Bridgeport? Hmm…
Is Sim still on the roster because every shift he takes is a lesson in relentlessness and treating every opponent like the enemy – traits this roster could use more of? You better believe it.
Sim may or may not be with the Islanders this time tomorrow, but plenty of questions will be answered when the Islanders meet the NHL deadline and file their 23-man roster by 3:00 pm ET on Wednesday.
Here’s one view of the lineup:
Forwards
Comeau – Tavares – Parenteau
Moulson – Nielsen – Hunter/Niederreiter
Bailey - Weight – Grabner
Gillies – Konopka – Martin/Sim
Injured Reserve: Okposo, Schremp
Forward Notes: If the Islanders decide to send Matt Martin to Bridgeport – probably not now, you never know later – he does not require waivers. Should Michael Grabner not pan out for the team, he would have to go on waivers to play in the AHL. Trent Hunter is on the team and will score at least 20 goals if he plays 70 games. On nights when the coaches feel they don’t need Trevor Gillies, there’s plenty of icetime for everybody. Sim, who is on a two-way contract, needs waivers and would probably clear. At worst, he is a strong depth callup and instant agitator when the Islanders need some life on the ice.
Defensemen
Mottau - Wisniewski
Eaton – Martinek
MacDonald – Hillen
de Haan – Gervais
Jurcina
Injured Reserve: Streit
Defense Notes: If de Haan sticks, the Islanders will likely start the season with eight men on defense. It would not be surprising if the team waives Milan Jurcina or Bruno Gervais, but it would be if they tried to demote both. (Regardless, I’m fairly certain both would clear waivers since they’re on one-way deals). Something else to watch: Jack Hillen played for the B squads in Philadelphia and Quebec City. The team should deny it, but that cannot be a coincidence. No matter what, the Islanders have a tough decision to make. They probably have already made it, but haven’t shared the news with the players as of tonight.
Goaltenders
DiPietro
Roloson
Goalie notes: If Rick DiPietro is healthy on Saturday, how much do you want to bet he starts the season opener against Dallas?
Save the date of Thursday, October 21. Planning a Point Blank season kickoff party at SOCIAL, across the street from the Coliseum. Free buffet by Top Chef’s Danny Gagnon, Islanders tickets giveaway, raffle and the Islanders vs the Tampa Bay Lightning at 7:30 pm on a few dozen TVs. Stay tuned for confirmation and details.
See you Wednesday. Comments on this subject are encouraged.
FanHouse: my profile of Zenon Konopka
FH: Bettman praises Campbell’s “consistent” rulings
12:40 pm: The Islanders have picked Michael Grabner off the waiver wire. The Austrian, who turns 23 today, was 5-6-11 with Vancouver last season and was moved to the Panthers in the Keith Ballard deal. The speedy 6-1 right wing is another worthwhile, low-risk acquisition by Garth Snow. If he doesn’t work out in a few weeks, he goes back on waivers. If he does, they’ve got a top-9 forward. When Andy Hilbert clears waivers, he’ll go to Bridgeport.
Please check out my feature on the Islanders’ Zenon Konopka at AOL FanHouse here.
9:35 am: In what could be a sign of things to come, Scott Gordon and Dean Chynoweth cut their defensive alignment by one-third on Saturday while the Islanders successfully protected a 2-1 lead over the Devils. The coaches played Mark Eaton, Mike Mottau, Radek Martinek and James Wisniewski exclusively, holding Andrew MacDonald and Calvin de Haan to under ten minutes for the contest.
Gordon clarified that he limited the youngsters’ minutes because they had played the night before in New Jersey. Fair enough, but – especially if Martinek can stay healthy – the Islanders could do a lot worse than having him, Mottau, Eaton and Wisniewski eating minutes while trying to hold a lead. In fact, as anyone who has followed this team closely since the summer Kenny Jonsson, Adrian Aucoin and Roman Hamrlik left town knows, the franchise has done a lot worse.
So I put the question to Coach Gordon: even with Mark Streit out, is this the best corps of defensemen you’ve had since you got here?
Gordon looked me straight in the eye and said, “There’s no comparison.”
Then he elaborated.
“We went into the year with two defensemen who hadn’t played pretty much the whole previous year (Andy Sutton and Martinek) and a defenseman that is probably retired now (Brendan Witt). We had some defensemen that had to catch up when Marty got hurt (Freddy Meyer among them).
“Now we’re in a situation where the guys that are here, everybody’s played top-four minutes at some point. We haven’t had that in the entire time that I’ve been here.”
A year ago at this time, the Islanders started the season with a blueline of Streit, Sutton, Martinek, Meyer, Witt and Bruno Gervais. Jack Hillen was the prospect ready to go.
Despite Streit’s absence, Gordon and Chynoweth will have the option of playing any six of the following nine defensemen when the season opens on Saturday: Wisniewski, Mottau, Eaton, Martinek, MacDonald, Gervais, de Haan, Hillen and Milan Jurcina.
In mid-July, I disagreed that the Islanders improved their defense when the additions were only Eaton and Jurcina. Then came the brilliant stroke of acquiring Wisniewski for a conditional third round pick. Last week saw the low-cost signing of the high-calibre Mottau.
Yes, “best D corps” in these last three seasons is all relative. But bood health willing, Gordon has every reason to believe there’s no comparison.
Notes: For those of you without the MSG Networks or Centre Ice package, NHL Network is broadcasting the Islanders’ game at Anaheim on Nov. 10 at 10:00 pm ET. This is the only Islanders’ broadcast of the network’s schedule of 78 NHL games live and in HD.
More than a week after the Islanders sent Kirill Kabanov back to Moncton, the wing has yet to play in a Quebec League game. The latest holdup: the Wildcats are waiting for the International Ice Hockey Federation complete paperwork to clear Kabanov to play. He has yet to be added to the team’s roster, while Moncton (6-2-2) has already played ten games.
The authors of “Hockey Prospectus 2010-11″ were kind enough to ask me to write the foreword of their book. The first of its kind and in the vein of the long-running Baseball Prospectus series, the book features projections for every team and more than 850 players. I found it very useful while preparing my season previews for FanHouse and when I made my return to fantasy hockey in Justin Bourne’s league after an absence of two decades. Pick up a copy of “Hockey Prospectus 2010-11″ here.
Finally, save the date of Thursday, October 21. Looking at having a Point Blank season kickoff party at SOCIAL, across the street from the Coliseum. Free buffet by Top Chef’s Danny Gagnon, Islanders tickets giveaway, raffle and the Islanders vs the Tampa Bay Lightning at 7:30 pm on a few dozen TVs. Stay tuned for confirmation and details.
Comments on the new-look D and this post. More to come.
FanHouse (from March): CB on Colin Campbell
3:30 pm: Mike Cammalleri will sit out Montreal’s season opener in Toronto on Thursday. Comments.
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