Monthly Archives: February 2011
Jesse Felten, a center playing on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn for a Federal Hockey League franchise, is one of 18 children adopted by a remarkable family in Cashton, Wisconsin. Please check out my feature on the Feltens at AOL. Thanks.
9:35 pm: Kevin Poulin suffered what could be a serious injury during warmups before the Islanders’ 5-3 loss to Toronto tonight at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. According to Katie Strang of Newsday, Poulin appeared to catch his left skate in a rut in his crease while taking shots “before flipping over and falling down.”
The Islanders announced during the second intermission that Poulin would undergo an MRI on his left knee on Wednesday. Looks like Mikko Koskinen and Nathan Lawson – who has resumed practicing – will be the goaltenders unless Garth Snow makes a deal or waiver acquisition.
While Joel Martin was making his way in a chauffeur-driven town car from Bridgeport, Koskinen made his NHL debut and allowed two goals on the first two official shots on goal that he faced. His teammates gave him no help, especially on the first goal when the Islanders were out-numbered in their own zone and allowed Colby Armstrong to skate in untouched before firing a wrist shot from eight feet past Koskinen. The slow start by the Islanders was a disappointment, considering the Maple Leafs played in Atlanta on Monday and were playing their fifth game in eight days.
After falling behind 2-0, the Islanders woke up. Matt Moulson scored on the power play off a perfect feed from John Tavares. Soon after hitting the post on a breakaway, Michael Grabner – the man is certifiably an offensive weapon – scored his eighth goal in his last eleven games on a rebound of a point shot by Andrew McDonald. The Islanders’ defense tightened and Koskinen shook off the nerves and made some outstanding saves.
Martin arrived in time to wear No. 34 and sit on the bench at the start of the third period. Tomas Kaberle walked, and walked, and walked, in from the point and scored at 2:34 of the third, the result of Islanders forwards being out of position. Nikolai Kulemin scored six minutes to make it 4-2 and Frederic Sjostrom out the game away with five minutes left with a goal Koskinen was not happy about. Rob Schremp tipped a Milan Jurcina slap shot to close out the scoring at 5-3.
The Islanders fall to 2-2 since the All-Star break and 17-29-7 for the season, last in the Eastern Conference and 29th in the NHL.
Comments on tonight’s loss and Poulin’s injury are encouraged in Comments.
by Steve Lepore, Puck The Media
Point Blank guest broadcast analyst
As the Islanders hit the bottom of the NHL’s local TV ratings race, they have to be concerned that a season with a circus atmosphere at times has been largely ignored by viewers on television – even more than in the past.
Islanders telecasts are averaging a discouraging 0.3 household rating in the New York market on MSG Network and its affiliates, down 23% from the 2009-10 campaign, and 17% from the end of last season. They are averaging approximately 24,000 households per game. The Islanders rank 28th among NHL teams in local ratings, ahead of only Atlanta (0.26) and Florida (0.19). Due to the size of the New York market, however, they are far from the bottom five in households tuning in, which featured five NHL teams at 10,000 households or lower.
The Islanders’ drop in viewers, while also explained by another bad season, is part of an overall trend of the three New York-area, MSG televised National Hockey League clubs drawing lower numbers from last year. Though ratings tend to rise toward the conclusion of the year, the Rangers and Devils are both down about 8,000 households from the end of the 2009-10 campaign. The Islanders’ drop from last season is the fifth-worst in the NHL.
The Rangers, who have had a surge in buzz with improved play before their current five-game losing streak, are currently drawing an 0.79 average rating, with 59,000 homes in.
The Devils, terrible until a current 9-1-2 run, have a 0.46 rating, with an average 35,000 homes watching. At the end of last season, the Rangers averaged an 0.89 and 67,000 viewers, while the Devils averaged an 0.58 rating and 43,000 viewers by the end of 2009-10. Both teams could see their ratings rise if the Devils continue to improve and the Rangers stay in the playoff race.
Meanwhile, the three local hockey teams are all squished in between the two local basketball franchises. The Knicks are blowing all the winter sports clubs in the area away with their recent revival, averaging 115,000 viewers, way over what they were drawing last year. The Knicks’ newfound hope seems to have put them clearly ahead of the Rangers again, while as recently as two years ago, the Blueshirts were inching ahead of their fellow tenants. Back in New Jersey, the Nets are below even the Islanders, with an average rating of 0.29 and 22,000 viewers despite having the YES Network to themselves.
You have to look at it as a combination of things, really. The fact is, the Islanders’ crippling losing streak of 20 of 21 games destroyed most hope of gaining momentum in the television ratings and the box office. The Devils have been awful in an already very blase, overly complacent market. The Rangers’ numbers could be attributed in part to the Knicks stealing some of their buzz. Expect the Rangers and Devils to improve towards season’s en. While the Islanders may come nowhere close to the Florida Panthers’ 3,000 households per game, they might continue to slide if the games become increasingly meaningless to anyone except the true die-hards.
The author would like to thank John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal, who was very generous with his time and information in support of this article.
Islanders fans: bookmark Puck the Media for NHL broadcast news from top young writerSteve Lepore. Follow Steve on Twitter, too.
Comments on this subject are invited.
…the Islanders Hall of Fame…the Moulson effect on other “opportunity-needed” free agents…the team’s future in New York, Fowler-Skinner-Niederreiter and more. Recorded last week. As always, comments specific to the discussion in this video segment are heartily encouraged!
You’ll want to check it out at FanHouse.
As per a tweet from Arthur Staple of Newsday.
CB at the NY Times: Down Goes DiPietro
Flying Southwest Airlines with the Islanders…the night we learned Luongo was being traded…his hopes for the franchise’s future. We also reveal who was in play as an alternative to acquiring Yashin. Thanks to Alan for his time and thoughts.
