Monthly Archives: November 2011
Thank you Mr. Schwarzenegger for the YouTube-based metaphor this morning. Jack Capuano threw a bunch of C-4 on the lineup this morning with the following changes:
Moulson – JT91 – Grabner
Rolston – Nielsen – PAP
Comeau – Reasoner – Okposo
Pandolfo – Bailey – Martin
DiPietro
Montoya
Well first off — it’s about time! But let’s actually try and digest this rationally. There’s a lot to take in here and should make for an interesting watch tonight to see how they play together, if nothing else.
First off, there’s Michael Grabner on the first line which could be very fun to watch. He’s the faster version of PAP and also has much more of a scoring touch. He does, however, flip wings to the right side so we’ll have to see if that affects him. What that flip does is it allows the much maligned Blake Comeau to flip back to the left wing. Along with Comeau on the third line, Marty Reasoner gets a chance to step up with Kyle Okposo dropping down. I believe this first line could be very solid, but how the other three gel (or don’t) is totally up in the air here.
Another note; Matt Martin continues to be buried on the fourth line. Of all the players on the bottom three lines, he maybe was most deserving of a chance to step up. On the other side of the coin, struggling Josh Bailey and Okposo drop down. Maybe the change in scenery and ice time will relieve some of the pressure that seems to be bothering them.
What do you think, Islander Country? We all know it was time for a change but is this the right one? Do you like these lines?
AL MONTOYA IN WITNESS PROTECTION
In goal, Rick DiPietro gets another start. As much as you may want to blame him, he was not the reason the Islanders lost on Thursday night. There’s nothing wrong with starting him or any of the three goalies at this point. But where is Al Montoya’s start? Al started four of the first five games of the year — with three or four solid starts depending on who you ask — and we haven’t seen him on the ice since. (edit: On second thought, this gives Rick 3 starts to Nabby and Al’s 4 a piece. It may simply be a numbers game at the moment.)
After another five day break, the Islanders seemed to lose their legs as the game wore on against the Jets’ (Philly game inflated) 28th ranked defense that was without Tobias Enstrom (broken collarbone). They continued to improve their shot totals (34 to 26), but there were few times where they really threatened as Ondrej Pavelec was seldom out of position and was square to shooters en route to his first shutout of the season.
The Islanders started well and established some effective cycles as the third line of Josh Bailey, Blake Comeau and Brian Rolston got the start, but as much as they controlled play, the team did not register a shot on goal until more than six minutes in. Travis Hamonic had arguably his worst night as a pro as Evander Kane abused him in the first period. Kane came up the far boards, faked outside and as Hamonic turned, came inside, cut toward the middle and fired. As the rebound came out, Andrew MacDonald cut toward Hamonic’s side and Kane grabbed the rebound and cut further right around MacDonald who picked Hamonic who was in pursuit. Trailing man Blake Comeau did little and Kane fired a shot past Rick DiPietro to make it 1-0.
The Kane/Hamonic battle would continue as Kane later broke past Hamonic for a breakaway and Hamonic was called for some type of obstruction cheating foul that resulted in a penalty shot that Kane rang off the post. Late in the first, Hamonic’s frustration boiled over in the corner to DiPietro’s right and the two squared off in an uneventful laundry-stretcher and each went off for five minutes. It was the best defense the Isles had for Kane on the evening. At one point, Howie Rose opined “The Islanders sloppiness has been profound here in the first period”. The Isles somehow ended up outshooting the Jets 9-8 in the first.
In the second, the Isles outshot the Jets 19-8 and you got the sense that eventually they would break through. (You’d be wrong) While the shots were furious, the Isles weren’t getting to second chances often, were taking too much time to set up their shots, trying to make perfect passes and essentially reaching for pucks instead of skating through areas to ensure they got to them. The amazing part of this period was the Jets commitment to blocking shots as Mark Streit and John Tavares combined to absolutely nail several of them.
In the third, the Jets clamped down defensively and outshot the Isles 11-6. There was no rally to be had, and the sloppy play continued. The recent trends of being outraced to dump-ins, stood up at the blue line when carrying in and bad passing were on full display. Winnipeg’s second goal came when Tavares was crushed behind Pavelec’s net and remained down for a while. The Jets carried up ice and Johnny Oduya wristed a shot across the crease that was deflected in off of Andrew MacDonald’s stick.
About thirty seconds after the ensuing faceoff, Jack Capuano again made the curious decision to pull his goaltender with more than three minutes remaining in the game. The glaring moment to me was watching Tavares try to get away from two Winnipeg defensemen behind Pavelec’s net while the Islanders had an extra man on the ice. When you outnumber the other team, and are not winning puck battles (really not even participating in them), you will have problems scoring…eventually, you will probably have problems keeping a job. Shortly after that, Alexander Burmistrov oversealed clinched the game with the empty net goal.
Capuano didn’t sound angry after the game, but he very matter-of-factly stated that “Minutes don’t mean anything anymore, now we have to win games” and “If we gotta play three lines, we’ll play three lines, if we have to play five D, we’ll play five D”. It sounds like he’s ready to make changes to line combinations prior to the Washington game on Saturday and indicated he is not happy with some players’ effort (not naming specifics) saying “they gotta want it a little more” and they need to work harder to get goals.
Some Plus/Minus (mostly minus edition…because I hate losing streaks)
- Continued poor zone entry and forecheck. You can not keep dumping pucks in and not getting to them…or creaming some people if they get there first. The idea of doing that is to wear the defense down, not to give them a head start on breakouts.
- The Jets somehow didn’t outhit the Isles, and maybe my eyes are lying, but they should have. The Jets defense manhandled the Isles along the boards and in front of the net all night.
+ DiPietro looked better than I can remember him looking in a long time. Some of the criticisms I had of him last week (going down too early, oversliding when moving laterally) seemed to be under much better control tonight. As much as I didn’t understand not giving Al Montoya the start tonight, DP had nothing to do with this loss.
+ Bailey and Comeau were probably the best Islander position players on the ice tonight. They generated some nice scoring chances and got some quality shots.
- Brian Rolston did not get quality shots. It says three, but I’m certain one was a center ice dump in. He can not continue to miss from under 30 feet. He can not continue to wind up long enough for coverage to close on him and block it. He may be the next person out of the lineup.
- Kyle Okposo, see criticism of Brian Rolston.
- Amac/Hamonic pairing. This is the worst game I’ve seen out of the two of them. They have benefit of the doubt here, but their play is not what it was last year. Let’s hope MacDonald still has a little rust and Hamonic just has some growing pains from carrying a D partner.
+ Matt Martin is a beast. If you could put the kid’s heart in everyone else, you’d have a cup. In one sequence tonight, he threw about 5 of his 9 (?!?!) hits and completely disrupted the Jets flow and brought some life to a shell-shocked crowd. I’m willing to bet we see him moved up in the lineup and possibly with more power play time if Capuano is going with the “hard work” meme.
Discuss in comments and remember, even Ovechkin got benched this week…should be fun seeing him Saturday.
Earlier this week I had a chance to talk to Isles defenseman and Manitoba native Travis Hamonic. Travis talked a bit of self-evaluation, about his physical style and what it will be like to face the new incarnation of his hometown team.
KS: Can you talk about, through the first nine games, how you feel you’ve played so far? What your strengths and weaknesses have been?
TH: I think I’ve played pretty well and I’ve just tried to be consistent game in and game out. Maybe not being the most flashy guy on the ice but just trying to do the little things. That’s something I take pride in — maybe for the average fan they don’t pick up on the little details that I do throughout a game. That’s obviously an element and something I try to bring myself to have every game. I think that over the first nine games I’ve played pretty well but in saying that obviously I could help out and chip in a little bit more.
KS: What are those ‘little details’ that we may not see that you notice?
TH: Well, the first word that comes to mind is ‘habits’ and just tracking back to the net. You know, the little details that you need to have to be a consistent player in this league and that’s something I try to pride myself in. I try to bring the physical play as well, trying to be a physical presence on the ice and try to establish myself in games. I think defensively and offensively both, I’ve been very sound. I haven’t put up as many points as I maybe would have liked to during the first nine games of the year but those things are going to come. I just want to contribute in any way that I possibly can.
KS: As a physical defenseman, does it help having Milan back in the lineup, as somebody else who is physical?
TH: Yeah of course, as a committee out there, I think we need to be physical as a committee. I think there’s being physical and then there’s being smart physical and I think that we all have that have that especially on the back end. You can’t be running around out there trying to find that big hit. Sometimes it’s just those little [hits] that you have to do. That’s part of being physically engaging in the game as well. Having Juice back in the lineup helps a lot, a big body presence.
KS: As somebody who made the transition from the AHL to the NHL last year, how does it feel having a full year up here?
TH: Last year was a great learning experience for me. I came in and I thought I played pretty well and just tried to get better from day-to-day, week-to-week, and month-to-month last year. I think I did that. I proved that I can play at this level. This year, I really want to take my career to the next step and head in the right direction. Obviously, I have a lot more expectations personally on myself. Nobody will be able to put more expectations and expect more from me, than myself… Having that full year of confidence has definitely helped me out a lot.
KS: With the Jets coming in on Thursday, and you’re from Manitoba, how does that feel to play them?
TH: That’s kinda cool. I grew up a Jets fan and I remember going to all the Jets games. I was 7 when we had the big Jets rally in Winnipeg to try and save the team and over 300,000 people showed up to the Jets rally. But you know, not really remembering what was going on cause I was so young but I just remember waves of people. It was a pretty neat experience. Actually, my mom is going to be at the game here on Thursday, so she’s excited. It’s gonna be weird playing the Winnipeg Jets.
KS: Are you excited to go up to Winnipeg and play?
TH: You know it. I’ve had that one circled on the calendar a little bit. It will be an exciting time. I think the city of Winnipeg is excited to have the team back and you can tell by the response its been getting around the city. Whenever I talk to my family and friends back home there’s a lot of roar about the Jets. It’s going to be a great atmosphere. I’m very happy and excited to be going there as an Islander to play against the Jets. I love being an Islander and it’s going to be an exciting time to go up there and try to get the two points.
We’re a bit late on the uptake today, so please enjoy this afternoon edition of our intermittently posted off-day news and shenanigan round up.
@NYIslanders: Lines unchanged: Moulson-Tavares-Parenteau; Grabner-Nielsen-Okposo; Comeau-Bailey-Rolston; Pandolfo-Reasoner-Martin.
The above tweet was from practice earlier today and it got me thinking about when, exactly, we will finally see some lines shuffled if the offensive woes of the team continue. I mean something has got to give, right? Either they’re going to start scoring or there needs to be some kind of a change. I imagine that the breaking point could — well, should — be Saturday after the Capitals leave town. As I said a few weeks ago, that game marks an end of a key stretch where the Isles play 4-of-5 at home and 8-of-11 at home overall.
After Saturday’s game they head to Boston and Colorado before playing eight games in a 14 day stretch between November 13th and 26th. That stretch includes games against every divisional opponent, the defending Champs, the defending Western Conference Champs and the Canadiens (police vehicle fires not included). Yeesh. So that’s a series of eight games that you would hope the Islanders have lines and goaltenders efficiently clicking by. You can experiment against a team like Winnipeg that’s pretty awful defensively or on the road against a struggling, albeit still defending champ, Boston team or in a late game a lot of people won’t stay up for against Colorado. After that, the jig is up.
October is for getting used to the grind of an NHL season and a slow start is cause for concern but no reason to abandon ship. Capuano hasn’t experimented with lines yet — please understand there’s nothing wrong with staying with the lines worked so well under his watch last season and giving them time to gel — and has obviously flipped around a lot in net. November is going to bring tough opponents and it’s going to bring them fast and furious. The Islanders should try to take advantage of having a couple more games to get ready before things get real tough. Of course every two points are equally important but with so many games against the division coming up, well, you know how I feel about that.
Before I get too sidetracked, the obvious and most likely answer is that lines will get shuffled whenever Nino is ready. Whether he ends up on the first line or the third, something is going to change. That’s probably how this is going to play out. His latest return date is two weeks from November 1st which, if he’s kept in Bridgeport the full two weeks, would make his debut against the Rangers on November 15th (barring being given a seat in the press box). That date coincides nicely with the previously described November gauntlet. Whether he should be up with the big club before that game is open to debate and probably dependent on how he looks and feels in these tune ups.
But, in my opinion, the latest a shakeup should occur is after the Capitals come to town on Saturday. With games this week against arguably the best team in the league (Washington) and arguably one of the worst (Winnipeg) to evaluate these lines — give them one more shot as is, if you will — changes will have to be made if the current drought continues. Saying that he is not thinking about things and putting off decisions until Nino is 100% only buy so much time for Capuano to evade answers. Eventually, if the Islanders continue to miss the net, there are going to have to be some changes.
YOUR DAILY NIEDERREITER UPDATE
During today’s game against the CT Whale, Bridgeport Sound Tigers Temporary Employee Nino Niederreiter found himself on a line with David Ullstrom and Jeremy Colliton. He didn’t find his way onto the score sheet but let’s not read too much into that into that at all. It is only one game. (update: Isles twitter says he hit two posts)
The Sound Tigers were down 3-1 in the third and came all the way back to win 4-3 thanks to a goal from David Ullstrom and a hat trick from Tim Wallace. The line of Wallace-Cizikas-DiBo continues to be en fuego. In addition to Wallace’s hatter his linemates each had two assists in the game. In fighting news, The Man, The Myth and The Legend Micheal Haley fought Stu Bickel. Expect video of that when (and if) it surfaces.
Seeing Wade Redden listed on the Whale’s lineup was kind of bizarre. It’s like seeing on old friend or co-worker you completely forgot existed years later. “Oh, uh, hey Wade. Still doing that, uh, stuff in the AHL?”
ESPN CONTINUES TO NOT WATCH HOCKEY
As pointed out by the always on point Dominik of LHH, ESPN’s power rankings this week were, let’s say, questionable. I’m not talking about the World Wide Leader dropping the Islanders from 19th to 28th — going 1-4-2 makes that pretty well deserved. However, the comment attached to the ranking jumped out a little bit:
The Isles are winless in their past five games, and the offense, supposed to be the team’s strength, has chipped in just seven goals during the slide. The three-headed goaltending monster continues to plague the team.
Yes. It’s the goalies. CLEARLY. The three of them and their “haven’t given up more than three goals in a game except for that monstrosity in Tampa Bay a few weeks ago that wasn’t entirely Al Montoya’s fault” caliber of play. /sarcasm
The list was compiled by Scott Burnside but he’s a pretty decent guy so I’ll absolve him of wrongdoing and chalk this up to the fact that ESPN and hockey mix about as well as Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries. Or as well as Chris Berman being the keynote speaker at a migraine headache convention… But I digress.
Speaking of goalies, Evgeni Nabokov skated at practice today.
CAPTION THIS PHOTO
During Saturday’s game against the Sharks, photographer Bruce Bennett captured this image of Marty Reasoner… Um… Yelling like a pirate? Doing his best impression of Harry Dunne in Dumb & Dumber? I don’t know. That’s for you to decide in this week’s caption contest.
Plenty of insight and detail from Pat Brisson of CAA on the John Tavares negotiations in this one-on-one interview with Chris, presented by SNY. We hope you enjoy it.
Arthur Staple reported on Twitter that Trevor Gillies was not claimed by another team and will report to Bridgeport. Joining him will be Nino Niederreiter who has been activated to the 23-man roster but also loaned to the Sound Tigers on a conditioning stint. The conditioning carries a maximum loan of two weeks and is so Nino can get some test runs in the AHL before suiting up for the big club. The Sound Tigers next game is tomorrow against the Connecticut Whale.
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