Monthly Archives: January 2011
The current Flyers and former Islanders head coach, who led the Carolina Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup, spoke with SNY Point Blank earlier this week about his big break with the Islanders, the family atmosphere he attempted to build in 2001-02, the lessons he took from his New York experience and his respect for the Islanders’ fanbase.
CB at AOL FanHouse: debating the Spin-o-rama
This morning Zenon Konopka publicly stood up for his franchise, declaring it was time TSN stopped calling the Islanders a “doormat” and started talking up the team’s “underrated” players. The puck dropped at 7:07 and the Islanders got off to a brutal start in front of the announced crowd of 8,670 die-hards, allowing a goal to Daniel Alfredsson 32 seconds in to open the scoring for the Senators.
But then Trevor Gillies crashed the net, deflected a Konopka cross and scored the first goal of his NHL career. A jubilant Gillies emphatically roared to his teammates on the bench to carry the momentum, and it looked like it was going to be another good night in a recent string of them for the home team.
After another Islanders giveaway, Jesse Winchester blew a wrister past Kevin Poulin two and a half minutes after Gillies’ stirring goal. Head coach Jack Capuano, in a move very open to debate, Pouled the Wall and inserted Nathan Lawson in a reversal of last week’s loss in Edmonton.
Lawson didn’t get a lot of help, but by the end of the second period the score was 6-2.
For the Islanders to gain respect, to no longer be called “doormats” after seasons of 26th, 30th, 26th and currently 28th place, they have to put together more than three good weeks after losing 21 of 23. They have to win home games against reeling clubs like the Senators, losers of six straight.
You certainly don’t want to believe this one had anything to do with a letdown. The 13-22-7 Islanders still are not that good. In the big picture, to be sure, not a big deal. The Islanders host Buffalo on Saturday and 30th place New Jersey on Monday afternoon. Time for Josh Bailey (a so-so 19 minutes) to get going again. Kyle Okposo will be back just before or just after the All-Star break.
Please talk about tonight’s loss in Comments.
PB ARCHIVE, 6/09: Pre-Draft interview with Robin Lehner, starting Thursday for Ottawa
9:05 pm: The Islanders do not intend to deviate from their original plan regarding the playing time of goaltenders Kevin Poulin and Nathan Lawson, a source has informed Point Blank. Lawson, slated all along as Rick DiPietro’s backup when the time came for Dwayne Roloson to be traded, is expected to be the No. 2 when DiPietro returns to the lineup later this week. Poulin would return to Bridgeport of the AHL.
The source said that all of the Islanders’ goaltenders have been updated of the team’s intentions throughout the process.
As much as the buzz around Poulin’s play has been exciting – he set a franchise rookie record with 48 saves against the Canucks on Tuesday – there is some rationale to the plan. It’s no secret that, as long as DiPietro is healthy, he’s going to start at least two out of three games for the Islanders now that Roloson has been moved to Tampa Bay. With Mikko Koskinen still struggling to find his game in Bridgeport, Poulin can make two-thirds of the starts with the Sound Tigers. The 20-year-old Poulin would also be spared the potential danger of being rushed at the NHL level, and being bombarded by shots as he was in his opening action with the young and injury-decimated Islanders.
Of course, plans are always subject to change – especially if DiPietro has a setback. What if Poulin stars again, if he gets the chance to play Thursday against Ottawa? If the Islanders continue to win games and stay on the perimeter of the playoff race, will Garth Snow and Jack Capuano go with Lawson when the team plays back-to-backs Jan. 20-21, Jan. 25-26 and Feb. 1-2? Lawson is capable, but he is not the dynamic talent, the Grade-A prospect that Poulin is.
Since DiPietro is going to be given every opportunity to prove his knee injuries are behind him and that he can be a No. 1 in the NHL again, the Poulin plan makes sense for the youngster. For now, expect Poulin to return to Bridgeport when DiPietro is ready to play, which should be by this weekend.
Comments on this subject are welcomed.
Watch and discuss at AOL. In other news, Rhett Rakhshani suffered a concussion in the game last night.
What a long, strange trip it’s been through 41 games, culminating in a valiant shootout loss tonight to Vancouver. Presenting the SNY Point Blank First-Half Awards…
Most Valuable Player: Andrew MacDonald - The Islanders didn’t win a game when he was sidelined with an injury. MacDonald is also the team’s most improved player and currently (and maybe for a while) its best defenseman. All of this is enough to qualify him as MVP.
Best Coach: Jack Capuano - Although you want to judge on a much longer body of work, Capuano’s record is certainly better. With each win over the last three weeks, with each exhale, the stories of Scott Gordon’s “stifling system,” “robotic style” and penchant for “draining all of the fun out of the game” get louder and longer. Actually, I got a text from a major Canadian hockey journalist less than 15 minutes after Gordon was fired (tough, ugly business). Didn’t feel it was fair then, and still do not now. But this is life in the NHL coaching ranks, and this is the sort of stuff Coach Gordon has to deal with. Capuano’s optimism and smile have helped get the Islanders out of the abyss.
Best Prospect: Kevin Poulin - In the quiet of Bridgeport, the first-year pro proved in limited starts in the AHL that his last two seasons in the Quebec League were not flukes.
Raise the Bar Award: Frans Nielsen - Like a lot of people, I’m a big admirer of the Very Good Dane. However, he could be close to joining the list of Athletes So Underrated, They’re on the Verge of Becoming a Bit Overrated. Nielsen will be 27 in April and has yet to post a 40-season (yes, he has had injures and this is just his fourth full season). He displayed a temper at the end of the blowout in Philadelphia, but you’d like to see him play with even more of an edge. I guess what I’m saying is, Frans has been the Islanders’ nice little surprise these last four years – now it’s time for him to show more.
Biggest Bummer: Trade Deadline Stillness - Since the Islanders have already traded James Wisniewski and Dwayne Roloson during the quiet-press days between Christmas and New Year’s, so much of the (often-manufactured!) fun has likely been taken out of the days leading up to the Feb. 28 trade deadline. Still, it will be a good day in the Country when Matt Moulson signs a multi-year contract.
Best Goaltender: Dwayne Roloson - In a landslide…
Biggest Mystery: Kyle Okposo’s recovery - The insiders said he’d be back in early December. In mid-January, it’s news that KO is practicing with the team. Even the injury, suffered during a special teams scrimmage closed to most of the media, was a mystery. We’ll never know what happened.
Best Interview: Gary Bettman - Even if most of it was planned and rehearsed, give the commissioner credit for playing the role of hard-edged inquisitor of Charles Wang and Garth Snow on his radio show on Dec. 23. It was a fun listen, if not very enlightening. Bettman and his staff tried.
Biggest Letdown: The Kirills - Neither Petrov (6-7-13 in 35 games) in the KHL or Kabonov (4-6-10 in 16 games) in the Quebec League have done much to get anyone excited about third round steals. There is still plenty of time for the youngsters, but some glimmers of hope would have brightened a rough first half for the big club.
Most Underrated Pickup: Milan Jurcina - That $600,000 raise after only playing 20 games was a head-turner, but Jurcina was a better offseason signing then I thought. Good defenseman, locker room personality, team player.
Best Forward: John Tavares - Now if he can only lose the five-game slumps…I believe he is on his way.
Most Wildly Erratic: PA Parenteau - He’s the Islanders’ version of the long-distance chucker in basketball: “What the heck are are you doing?……great shot”!
Biggest Shock: Josh Bailey’s Demotion - If you predicted the third-year pro getting sent to the minors after 149 NHL games, you win.
Biggest Snub: All-Star Game - Now matter how you want to look at it, no matter how you want to spin it away, having Michael Grabner as your All-Star representative (and not in the game) is sad.
Best Sound Tiger: Rhett Rakhshani - We’ve seen so many young players struggle in their first season in the AHL, it makes it all the more impressive that the California kid played so well in the first half in Bridgeport. He earned his place in the AHL All-Star Game.
Worst Loss: The soul-sucking defeat late to Atlanta at the Coliseum on Dec. 11 that included a goal directly off the faceoff past Rick DiPietro.
Best Rush-Job: Travis Hamonic - A series of injuries to veteran defensemen forced Islanders management to call up Travis Hamonic for NHL duty earlier than they planned. Nevertheless, the young man has stood tall and played terrifically under tough circumstances.
Best Win: There have been a few goodies – the comeback win over the Rangers at home? Moulson in overtime (after a lengthy review) in Tampa Bay? The back-to-back victories over the Penguins and Detroit? You make the call.
Best Point: Tonight. Taking the first overall Canucks, a team that came in 13-0-3 in its last 16 games, to the limit. Most of the young players, most notably Grabner, Travis Hamonic, John Tavares and MacDonald, looking very good. Poulin matching more than save-for-save with Roberto Luongo and establishing a team rookie record with 48. Overcoming some scary-bad officiating and a Canucks squad that was well-rested and played hard and tough. Very, very impressive showing by the home team.
At the beginning of the season, I predicted the Islanders would finish two games over NHL .500. They may get there with a twisted route, but the prediction still stands!
11:25 am: The New York Islanders will have minimal participation in the 2011 NHL All-Star Weekend. In a mild surprise and major insult, the NHL Hockey Operations department decided the Islanders did not have a player deserving of being one of the 42 to play in the All-Star Game. Instead, representing the Islanders on the weekend will be Michael Grabner, chosen as one of 12 rookies to participate in the SuperSkills competition on Saturday, January 29. Count on Grabner, 9-3-12 in 36 games this season, being in the Fastest Skater contest.
In 37 games this season, John Tavares has 14 goals and 14 assists for 28 points. He is the Islanders’ leading scorer. However, those numbers rank him just 79th in the NHL. That may have been the deciding factor for the league. Still, it’s hard to believe a member club will not have a participant in the league’s showcase exhibition. Players like Minnesota’s Brent Burns and 30th place New Jersey’s Patrik Elias are very good players. I’m just not sure how players like them rate a spot in the game, but Tavares and the Islanders do not.
Four teams will not have players in the game: Buffalo, Florida, Phoenix and the Islanders.
Rangers Acquire Wolski (and cap space) for Rozsival
You don’t want to re-hash the James Wisniewski and Dwayne Roloson trades again, do you?
Nah, I didn’t think so.
I was a fairly passionate defender of both, understanding why and when Garth Snow made the deals when he did. Quick summation: he saved his team a lot of money, got fair value for Wisniewski and got about all he was ever going to get – a decent D prospect in Ty Wishart – for Roloson in a soft goaltender’s market.
Some readers (and an ESPN article) pointed out Colorado getting Tomas Fleischmann for the fairly-average Scott Hannan. Fleischmann is young and talented and now has 17 points in 18 games with the Avalanche.
Still, I didn’t see the Hannan and Wisniewski deals as comparables.
But then the New York Rangers made a trade today. According to a media conference call I was just on with Glen Sather, the Rangers had 14 of their scouts in New York this week for their regular meetings in preparation for the draft. They watched tape of Wojtek Wolski, struggling this season in Phoenix after scoring 24 goals and 65 points last season with the Avalanche and Coyotes. After getting enthusiastic thumbs up from his scouts, Sather acquired Wolski from Phoenix for Michal Rozsival.
The Rangers won the deal on cap space ($5 million to $3.8), age (32 to 24) and, arguably, ability.
I guess there are plenty of arguments against the Islanders having a chance at making a run at Wolski. He makes $3.8 million this season and next. Perhaps he is seen as a one-season wonder. Maybe Wolski-for-Rozsival was some sort of private “future considerations” after Don Maloney left New York to become Phoenix GM. (I’m mostly kidding about that last one, but I’m having trouble understanding this deal from Don’s perspective). Often these too-good-to-be-true trades do not turn out so well.
Still, even if Wolski turns out to be nothing special, he’s worth a shot. You’d have to say the Rangers did well for themselves in unloading an expensive, unloved asset. The Rangers find an upgrade for the injured Alex Frolov and gain more cap flexibility for another move before the Feb. 28 trade deadline. On the conference call, Sathher seemed like a man ready to make one.
I was supportive of the Wisniewski and Roloson trades. But I acknowledge there are lots of opinions out there, at least two sides to every story. In fairness to the readers who believe the Islanders did not acquire enough, it’s only right to offer up for the defense: Michal Rozsival (and his $5 million-per contract that runs through next season) for 24-year-old forward Wojtek Wolski, who had 65 points last season.
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