GAME DAY: BRUINS AT ISLANDERS, 7PM
The Newest Episode of ‘As the Crease Turns’ and Honoring Ed Westfall
Update, 10:30am: Nabokov placed on IR, Nilsson up from BP.
Rick DiPietro is the lone Islanders goaltender healthy enough to play in tonight’s game at the Coliseum against the Bruins. For a moment, take in that statement in all it’s glory.
Evgeni Nabokov was injured on Thursday night against Montreal, leaving during the first period with a groin strain. The team announced on Friday that Nabokov was out indefinitely, which could open a roster spot up by putting him on IR. Call up a forward or defender, maybe?
In a curious move, the Islanders announced at 10:30pm on Friday night that Al Montoya was day-to-day with a strained hamstring (what, did it happen at Applebees’ happy hour?). It was speculated on twitter that the injury initially occurred last Thursday against Colorado, which would beg the question as to why Montoya was the backup on Tuesday against the Rangers. The injury could certainly be something that was re-aggravated in practice Friday. It’s all very murky but the main bullet point of the presentation is that Montoya will not be ready to go tonight.
All of this leaves Rick DiPietro as the Islanders only healthy goalie at the moment. Anders Nilsson or Kevin Poulin will be called up sometime later today to backup DiPietro at the Coliseum tonight. Poulin is likely the favorite for the call up, however he played Friday night for the Sound Tigers and faced 45(!) shots as the CT Whale took them to overtime. If you’ve got to go to a backup, it might be best to go to one that didn’t work major overtime the night before.
In the span of a week the Islanders goaltending corps shrink from six to three and, man, the twists and turns in net for this team never cease to amaze. Hopefully Montoya will be ready to go next week as the Islanders now play five games in eight days. The team has been careful with DiPietro and even if he wasn’t fragile, you still couldn’t expect him to play all those games. It’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out over the next week.
OUR WESTFALL VIDEO IS 100% SPAM FREE
The Islanders will (finally) honor Islanders great Ed Westfall prior to tonight’s game. A neat part of the night should also be Jiggs McDonald and Westfall reuniting in the broadcast booth to call the second period. Last October, Chris Botta caught up with the Isles’ Original Captain for the video you see below:
SNY PRACTICE REPORT: CAPUANO AND MOULSON
About Kevin Schultz
Kevin was formerly an NHL blogger for the now defunct AOL Fanhouse and was the creator of the hockey comedy blog Barry Melrose Rocks. He now covers the Isles for Islanders Point Blank. You can follow him for instant updates on the team and talk hockey with him on Twitter @schultz88. View all posts by Kevin Schultz →67 Responses to GAME DAY: BRUINS AT ISLANDERS, 7PM
The Newest Episode of ‘As the Crease Turns’ and Honoring Ed Westfall
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we need steve webb says:
Ed: WOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooW Watta stop by Healy!
You’re wonderful to watch Pierre Turgeon!Butch: (monotone voice)thats a good save there.
I can’t really hear what he stutters . Turn your mic volume up.
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Brain says:
Haha this is great… DiPietro on the other side of this for the first time in years. Hopefully he can hold it together and help isles fans help him.
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cheepnis says:
“It was speculated on twitter that…”
Kevin; Please do yourself a favor and never include this phrase in another piece.
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isles14 says:
about time we did something for 18
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Onesinceforty says:
I guess it’s progress they even announced the injuries at all. Usually we just have to guess what is going on. It’s like getting information out of the Soviet Union circa 1980 with this team. I wish Larry Brooks covered them and held them openly to the fire on all the curious things they do.
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John Gaspar says:
Dp in net. Very shaky from what I have seen. Seems to have a lot trouble moving and tracking the puck. Did I mention Yakupov had 2g and 1a.
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claude says:
Doesn’t matter how hard he tries, Dp’s vertical and horizontal movement is shot.Most of us would agree that the Dp era is bygone.
Time to eat the contract and move along -
PotvinRocks says:
How many people predicted Ricky to be the only healthy goalie and Phil Kessel to be the leading scorer? The troubling thing is that it is Ricky that is health. This week during the live chat, hearing what Mr Botta was told by a scout and then what I heard Billy Smith say about him on JT Bourne’s website, this is the best Ricky we will get.
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Madchef says:
Jiggs, and Eddie were better than Butch and Howie for sure. Probably helps that we were more competitive then. Doubt Jiggs would ever get caught saying “I don’t particularly care” in the booth like Howie. Glad this blog is keeping up the info great stuff. Its to bad the whiney fan posts that say the same thing every post “trade our bad players for somebodies elite/Bring up Haley/Fire Wang/DP is shot/My personal favorite is Im done with this team.” cant keep there repetitive negative comments to themselves
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PAIslanders says:
WHAT!!!Our one healthy goalie is glassjaw dp!
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isles71 says:
One funny Westfall story…I caddied a lot on LI in the ’80s. I got Eddie, Smitty & Morrow w/a 4th at Plandome CC for a charity tourney. Now, we all remember Ed as the “Mild Mannered Side Kick” to Jiggs. Well, by the 3rd hole I was never more shocked in my life. Ol’ Lady Bing was throwin’ clubs, cussin’ like a hockey player and gettin’ madder as the round went on…didn’t help that Morrow got a hole-in-one on number 6. But I was speechless watching this legend acting more like “Spalding” than the picture of sportsmanship I thought I knew….very nice man though…I guess golf can get to anyone….go Isles 1940 forever
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MarioGazz says:
Did anyone else notice when they interviewed DP the other night there was an empty locker behind him? There has never been an empty locker from all the interviews i’ve seen. Bring up Nielsen, he is a monster!!! Poulin played awesome last night but he faced alot of rubber. Sad to see that DP is the only healthy goalie. His movement is horrible. Well nothing we can do, get a win tonight although it will be boys against the men. GO ISLES!!!!!!!!!!!!
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The New Isles GM says:
Just so we’re all aware, Authur Staple from Newsday just tweeted it will be Anders Neilson coming up for the fallen Nabokov and Montoya. With DP being our number 1, it’s like Garth wants to be in the draft lottery again. Maybe in his mind, he wants a chance at Yukobov or Forsberg to play on Tavares’ wing one day.
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hangover3 says:
A lot of rubber? Please, this aint baseball having to worry about innings pitched. Pouling is significantly better then Dipietro. The only reason the Isles didnt get the #1 pick the last few years is cause they had Roleson playing a lot of games. This season, with this trio of goaltending we are witnessing the worst Isles team EVER. Time to stop settling for “ok” goaltending. Dipietro’s save % isnt even “ok” look it up on espn. Its terrible. If you want to be “BETTER” then more then 2 teams in hockey, then Get BETTER goaltending. Voukoun would of signed of they paid him 3 million a year. Jagr would of signed if they paid him 6 million a year. Instead they pay Rollston 5 million a year anyway.
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Petro32 says:
At least we wont have to listen to Butchie’s inane blathering for one period!
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Danfromouteast says: LoL!
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Worst Isles Team Ever.LMFAO were you not around in ’97. These are the statements that need to be moderated around here. My question is does KO get out of the press box tonight and of so who sits? Dare they sit Rolston(maintanence day)? Ullstrom is tearing it up in BP, how long before he should get a shot with the Isles. I guess and INjury would be the only way.
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fmcisles says:
Try following the 72-73 Isles. 12-60-6. But that season earned us Potvin in the draft.
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for sure on the 72-73 but that was before my time too. Sadly in 97 we didnt get a Potvin for our troubles. Just more Milbury and heartache
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Staten Islander says:
3 goalies and DP is the healthy one? DAMN, i should have went to Vegas and bet on that.
I have no faith in Ricky to bring in a victory tonight, hope i’m wrong.
Eddie’s night is long overdue. I wish they’d do something for the ’75 team that put them on the map….and made me a fan.
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Steve from Jersey says:
Playing Boston depending on how they come out at us… you could have Lundqvist in net and it wouldn’t matter. They gotta control that first line or they wont stand a chance.
Matt Martin should see more playing time so he can get 10 hits tongiht.
Have to pull the physical game out of their rear ends in order to control this team better then the last effort everyone was subjected to
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IslesCT says:
Looking forward to listening to the 2nd period!! Although DP is scary to watch in net his record is 2-1-1 (not counting the shootout loss he came in for). Only one game out of 4 where he didn’t earn a point for the team. I feel an upset coming tonight, lets end the Bruins win streak. Go Isles!
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Danfromouteast says:
Dp is in net. Final score 23-2
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GeneF says:
you mean 2-23?
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Butchie: “Dipietro had a good game tonight Howie, he only let in 18 bad ones. You cannot fault him on the other 5!”
Ranger Howie: “I really don’t care!”
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Danfromouteast says:
Im an islander and jet fan my seasons are sinking faster than a boat load of fat people
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I have a feeling Anders Nilsson will see the ice time today
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From Isles website:
For the third straight game, Islanders forward Kyle Okposo will be a healthy scratch.
Yeah Pandolfo, win us the cup. -
Woodsticks4ever says:
Okposo scratched again? Maybe they are trying to trade him for that big first pair d-man we need
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This is precisely what I have been fearing with a 3 goalie rotation. When goalies do not play for a considerable stretch, they are much more likely to get injured. Here we go again with another head scratching move…bringing in Nielson instead of Poulin??? Still keeping okposso out instead of one of the Oldie and moldy? I still say we have some good young talented players, but whoever is making decisions for this team should switch to baseball! They are clueless with Hockey. Love Ed W., though. Hoping against all odds for a win…not holding my breath.
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hoser14 says:
So much for the three-headed goalie monster.
It figrues that once they exile little used Mikko Koskinen back to Finland, that Montoya and now Nabokov have groin problems (could the Nassau Mausoleum’s Italian Ice-like sheet be a problem?).
The only good good thing is that Kevin Poulin will get more work for the Soundtigers, which isn’t a bad thing.
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Bean322 says:
Not really looking forward to tonights drubbing…
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Restore the Pride-N-Passion...NYIslander Hockey says:
My Question is When Do they Trade Okposo for an Autographed Gretsky Stick?
(Easton circa 1994)
Okposo is a Bust!Cats outta the Bag,even Islander managment realizes they made a Mistake not trading him when they could have.
Your telling me you would not have included him in a package 2 years ago that could have brought Gaborik from Minnesota Injuries form time to time or not? ( Jerome Iginla LMAO)
lets Go Isles… Lets Go Islanders! -
StevieL says:
Congrats “18″ on your night! Truly Islander Royalty! A reminder of the greatness this franchise once was!
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Strummer's Army says:
HA! Ricky is the only healthy goalie. The groin issues with Nabby is often a result of how a goalie trains (players too). Montoya is injured simply because the Isles and the refs allowed Montoya to be run over and over. That brings us to tonights game and Rick always plays well vs. Boston BUT how long until Lucic runs him over like he did Miller last week without suspension? Boston would love to have a rookie goalie in there and Bos runs goalies all the time because there aren’t many teams that strike fear in them. I remember a season or two ago Boston beating up the Isles bad on the scoreboard and on their faces (poor Witt) and then the end of the year Isles called up men of courage and beat the hell out of Boston to the point Boston folded and played scared, so nice to see it go the other way.
Staple reported last night Nilsson was going to be called up.
I complained on this site that the way the Isles allow their goalie to be run they’d be stupid to allow Mikko to go to Fin, especially with them trying to trade Nab and DP’s injury history (although I believe in Rick until I’ve gotten a full healthy year out of him I want insurance) well today Bridgeport is trying to find a back up goalie and will have to play Poulin the night after being bombarded by shots. Snow can be a real dumb-dumb.
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Another thing that irritates some of us
Die-Hards who bleed the Orange & Blue..Normal functioning Hockey Organizations Allow their Kids to grow together at the AHL for a Season or two.
Not here we plug in Overpaid, Over the Hill Players into a lineup each year….
Wait for them to get Hurt or produce Nothing then scramble the Youth from Bridgeport send them up here to show them how to lose! Does Not Make Sense!
Islander Brass,(Snow)- (milbury) Under Wang has Continually tried to recreate the Blue Print of Stanley Cup Contender?
When does the Rebuild Include intergrating real talent ?
Even if you have to overpay to compensate the outdated Barn we play in, He (wang) did it when he first took over the Islanders with Yashin & Peca & say what you want we were a much better team because of them overpayed or not.Some people feel Wang continues to take out his his Fight with the Politicians on the product they he currently calls a playoff contending team.
C’mon now, most of us after 18+ years can care less about hanging around the 8th seed & occasionally making it in,
only to be knocked out in the 1st round!
We the Team & it’s Fans Deserve More then the perpetual BS The Owner/ GM feed us!
You want to win in Professional Sports You Need GooD Managment/Coaching & an Owner who takes Pride in the Ownership of his Team.
Right Now On Long Island we do not have either!
Lets Go Isles… Lets Go Islanders! -
hihellohowareu says:
Its peanut butter jelly time lol
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NYI 16 says:
Isles website, with the story about the game tonight, has shots of Tyler Seguin for the Bruins and Jay Pandolfo for the Isles…wtf! how is that going to get anyone pumped for tonight?..f’n depressing
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Haha- i saw that too-u cant make this mickey mouse crap up!
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TimQ says:
I find it curious that people remember Westfall as such a great announcer. Jiggs was great but Eddie was an embarrassment (similar to Goring).
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When I was graduating from college I had an interview with the Tampa Bay Lightning & Tampa Bay Storm. I am not sure how (ha ha) but my interview was scheduled for the same day as Isles and Tampa. Walking down some of the office stairs I bumped into Ed Westfall coming up the stairs. He was very kind and we spoke for about 10 minutes. He deserves his night, met Tony Dungy about 30 ft later and same impression.
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quez says:
I’m hoping Tavares dances someone tonight so I can hear Eddie say, “He was half way to Hicksville!”
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Merrick says:
LOL!
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Jim Clark says: If Rickety wanders away from the crease, will Milan Ludcic run him over like he did Ryan Miller? Or will he steer clear, realizing it is to the Bruins advantage to have DP between the pipes?
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pruggier says:
Let’ see Boston won the cup last year and is always in the hunt and they are twice the size of about size! us so what does this tell you
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I mean the fact that they are twice our size-what does that tell you? We need to get BIGGER!
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BobbyNy23 says:
Going to be a drubbing , physical teams abuse us.
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billy from RYE NY says:
Good to see Eddie finally get honored,but looks like another lame crowd.
You can see a lot of empty seats on tv.These fans have got to do a better
job of supporting this franchise.The recent Rags game at the old barn last
week was disgusting with so many of their fans at our
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You can’t blame the fans for the empty seats. Salary Cap Floor = Salary Cap Floor Attendance!
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Rich L says:
The pregame the announcer said that DP is a “competive” goalie we know that, he is so “competitive” he skates way out and usually gets a knee to his head,and big injury time, he needs to learn, with his bad knees, and concussions to stay in his effing net, uh 7 minutes in, it’s 1 zip Boston, going to be a long night, and Bruins knocking Isles off the puck too frequently already,m, being outshot 7 zip, And the beat goes on.
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Cdu says:
DP what are you doing. Get him out of the net while we still have somewhat of a chance in this game.
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DP tries to clear puck and gives it away and Boston scores, 2 zip, somebody please help DP get kidnapped, like Ramos, so we don’t have to put up with mr ego.
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Bill W. says:
DP is awful. Same mistakes with the puck he made when he was a rookie. He’ll never learn. It’s all about DP not the team!
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Brian G says:
Great period 3 shots…Garth Snow & Capuano need to be fired……have fun with an empty arena WANG….you are a terrible owner!!!
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How about Cappy shows some emotion behind the bench and get fired up. This is pathetic.
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Battfist says:
This team is soooo soft!
Haley-where are you?
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mht says:
Mr. Peter Ruttgaizer is as pitiful and inept an announcer as the NY Islanders are a competitive hockey franchise.Deb Placey made these unbearable games bearable.
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Mr. Wang, please sell the Islanders.
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Everytime dp is manning the pipes we have to score a minimum of 4 goals just to be competitive. Now that’s your recipe for disaster. Reality check this guy will not improve @ 30
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What time to the isles play tonight? Getting bored watching this amateur team.
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BringBackNyles says:
#18 in the booth with the most honest commentary on the Islanders. “They don’t know where they are going, where they want to be or how they are going to get there”
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The reason the Isles take so many holding penalties, is because they are much to small and cannot knock anyone off of the puck and the only way they can impede opposing players, is to grab, and hold them, and that has been a recurring theme with this team since nit wit Wang, the mutt, got his paws into this organization,I don’t hear any Wang must sell, Snow must be fired chants tonight, but that can be excused as it is Ed Wstfalls night, but the next home game if there isn’t one peep or a chant especially if they are losing, the complacent “fans” deserve what they got Wang, and Snow, and this inept debacle of a “team”.
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I really think the diehards have stopped going. The crowds now are made up of other teams fans, families who do not want to lug the kids to MSG, and the type that drink the team Kool Aid and believe “Were All islanders no matter what”
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Jack L says:
I hope they will recall Haley, Gillies, DiBo, and some D-men. Lets get rid of all the vets and go back to playing angry like last year. Screw the new NHL lets kick some butt if we can’t win games.
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It would have been better if Ed was interviewed sometime this week. The Isles have been a sad story this year… again.
Wow, you’re a tireless worker! 2:30!!! Keep up the good work.