Monthly Archives: December 2011
PARTY LIKE IT’S 1996
Today the Islanders are in Winnipeg for the first time in more than a decade. Here’s a flashback; the Islanders lineup the last time they played the Jets in Manitoba. The date was March 9th, 1996 and we were probably making Ziggy Palffy Geocities fanpages through the AOL dial-up internet (or Prodigy).
Niklas Andersson, Derek Armstrong, Todd Bertuzzi, Wendel Clark, Brad Dalgarno, Jarrett Deuling, Travis Green, Eric Fichaud, Darius Kasparitis, Scott Lachance, Chis Luongo, Bryan McCabe, Ziggy Palffy, Dan Plante, Alex Semak, Brent Severyn, Mathieu Schneider, Martin Straka, Bob Sweeney.
The Islanders won 4-2 that night thanks to goals from McCabe, Semak, Palffy and Armstrong. Fichaud was your winning netminder with 38 saves on the way to the win. The Islanders trotted out four different goalies that year (bonus points if you can name the other three without looking at this). Sometimes the more things change, the more they stay the same, huh? The team also iced 49 different players that year(!) including the four goalies. 49 players — that’s like two rosters worth of players.
In case you want to go further down memory lane, this was also the season Don Maloney (best NHL GM? I have to disagree. It’s quite easy to fleece Bryan Murray, as this team knows) was let go in favor of giving Mike “alleged kid-shaker” Milbury complete control of hockey ops. He was coach to start the year and in full control by the end of it. Oh yeah, and this was also the year the team tried to do this. FUN TIMES. I’m sure you all had this season blocked from your memories through the years thanks to do-it-yourself hypnonsis, so I’m sorry if I just ruined all that.
LOUD NOISES
Here is your Corey Trivino point and counterpoint along with full-on comments war spirited debate.
TWO WORSTS MAKES A FIRST, RIGHT?
According to Puck Daddy, the Islanders’ black jersey is only the sixth worst thing that happened to hockey this year (really, only sixth?). That’s behind Evgeni Nabokov’s waiver claim and refusal to report, which clocks in at number three. Nabby is up there as more of a ‘wow, this situation really got out of control, huh?’ kind of thing rather than a ‘bash the Islanders’ thing. By the way, while we’re on Puck Daddy, the Shanahan Banhammer of Justice and cowboy badge is the gift set I would like for Christmas. You still have five days to shop for me.
WELCOME HOME, TRAVIS
Travis Hamonic will play in his native Winnipeg tonight, which has got to be 100 kinds of awesome for him personally. Here’s the official site’s story on it. I also spoke with him earlier in the year prior to the Jets’ visit to the Optimum WiFi Coliseum and we touched on the subject of home.
ROSTER NOTES
I’ll update this section as lineup news breaks throughout the day. Last night, Newsday mentioned that Nabby should get a start soon, with three games in four nights for the Isles this week (like duh, obviously). More specifically and more interestingly, they noted he could start tonight. But if Montoya is tired — and even if he’s not — why would he start back-to-backs later this week?
AND FINALLY
After the Islanders won in a shootout Saturday night for the first time this year, LHH has the shootout stats and thoughts on who should/shouldn’t be out there. After converting in the shootout Saturday, Frans Nielsen is now 17-of-30 lifetime for a crazy 56.7% conversion rate. That percentage is first in the league among active skaters with at least seven attempts. So… Maybe we can get a rule change that allows Nielsen to take all the shootouts.
Before being named head coach and general manager of the Niagara Ice Dogs prior to the 2010-11 Ontario Hockey League season, Marty Williamson led the Barrie Colts to 239 regular season victories and two Central Division titles in his six seasons in a similar role at the helm of its division foe.
Yet, despite amassing a league-best 116 points in leading the Colts to the 2009-10 OHL Championship finals against Western Conference foe Windsor, Williamson clearly recalled an in-house struggle he would have to face – as the team’s general manager – midway through that campaign.
“We knew that we had the type of team to contend for an OHL championship,” recollected Williamson. “But in order to take that next step, we were looking to add a top- pairing defenseman.
“When (current St. Louis Blues defenseman and 2008 fourth overall NHL draft entry selection) Alex Pieterangelo became available, we knew that they (Niagara) would be asking for a player that all the other teams in the OHL had wanted in a trade – Ryan Strome. We hesitated, but thought it was a deal that we had to make.”
Only 16 years of age at the time of the trade, Strome was playing alongside 18, 19 and even 20-year-olds in Barrie. Nonetheless, Williamson saw a limitless potential in his Mississauga, Ontario, Canada center iceman.
“Ryan always had great vision,” said Williamson. “He owned the ice playing in Midget, and we thought it would only take time for him to do it here (in the OHL).”
Strome, who collected 104 points – 41 goals and 63 assists – as a 15-year old for the Toronto Marlboros in Midget Hockey, scored five goals and assisted on nine others in 34 games in Barrie. After the trade, he would pot three goals and dish out 10 assists in 27 games for Niagara.
“I thought the trade to Niagara really allowed me to step into my own,” said Strome. “I was given an opportunity to get power play minutes. And being that Niagara was in a rebuild, I was playing on the team’s top two lines.”
Despite finishing 56 points behind his former Central Division foe, Strome’s new squad snuck into the 2009-10 OHL post-season before bowing out to the Ottawa 67’s in the conference quarterfinals in five games.
Strome would generate three assists in the five-game setback. Nevertheless, the short time in Niagara would not only prove to be a springboard to the team’s rise up the OHL rankings, but catapult the then six-foot, 177-pound Strome to a household name among NHL scouting directors just a few short months later.
Ironically, Williamson would come along for the ride.
“When I had an opportunity to coach Ryan again, I thought he would be a mid-to-late first round NHL pick with the potential to score 70-to-80 points,” said Williamson. “His progress was definitely sped up by a year.”
As the 2010-11 season commenced, Strome centered Williamson’s top line and took the OHL by storm. He racked up a team-high 106 points – 33 goals and 73 assists – in 65 games. He finished third overall in league scoring, behind Ottawa 67 center Tyler Toffoli and Kitchener Ranger Jason Akeson, who both finished with 108 points.
The Ice Dogs would finish 36 points ahead of last season’s standings – 96 vs. 60 – while advancing to the Eastern Conference finals before falling to current Islander prospect Casey Cizikas and the Mississauga Majors in five games.
At season’s end, the International Scouting Service also touted Strome as its ninth best overall prospect heading into this past June’s NHL Entry Draft in Minnesota.
Garth Snow and the Islanders organization would not wait that long, grabbing the now 6-foot-1, 183-pound Strome with the draft’s fifth overall selection.
“I was excited to be drafted by the Islander organization,” said Strome, who spent the past few off-seasons in his native Mississauga weight training with current Islander forwards John Tavares and Matt Moulson. “Both John and Matt speak highly of the organization. They are both high-end character guys.”
After the selection, Strome spent the summer in Uniondale participating in the Islanders Blue-White Scrimmage, showcasing his talents in front of a hungry Islander fan base.
“The Islander fan base was very nice and very welcoming,” said Strome. “I wanted to show them that I could be a very creative player with the puck, with the vision to help others.”
Strome also participated in the Islanders training camp, with hopes of earning an NHL roster spot by mid-Fall. While he was able to earn an opening day roster spot due to a groin injury suffered by 2010 first round pick Nino Niederreiter, Strome would not dress and was quickly summoned back to Niagara for his third OHL season.
“While I was hoping to make the team, I know that I must get physically bigger to be a more effective player,” said Strome. “I want to be a more well-rounded hockey player.”
Upon his return to Niagara, Strome has continued to light the lamp on a regular basis. In his first 24 games with the Ice Dogs, Strome has scored 16 goals and dished off 17 assists. The Ice Dogs sit tied for second with the Colts in the Central Division with 41 points, three points behind division leader Brampton.
According to Williamson, Strome’s all-around game has also vastly improved.
“While Ryan doesn’t have as many points as last year, he is concentrating more on the little things,” said Williamson. “He has improved his face-offs and working on shortening his shifts.”
Over the past week, Strome earned a coveted slot for Team Canada in the upcoming World Junior Championships. The tournament is slated to begin on December 26 in both Calgary and Edmonton, with the gold medal game scheduled for January 5, 2012 in Calgary.
“To be a top-6 player for the World Junior Team will be very good for Ryan’s development,” said Williamson.
Yet, Strome’s vision is clearly set for a return visit to Long Island.
“Having played with the guys during the summer, I know that I want to get there as soon as I can,” said Strome, who eyes Detroit Red Wing center Pavel Datsyuk as the “two-way player” he hopes to emulate on the NHL level.
Off the ice, Strome enjoys napping and playing Xbox, but he still is a self-admitted hockey rat. His passion was accentuated, during an off-ice talk with Tavares.
“John gave me a lot of tips,” said Strome. “He told me how important it is to be professional, both on and off the ice.
“He and I are very similar. We both take hockey very seriously.”
Compared to Edmonton Oiler second-year forward Jordan Eberle by Williamson, due to his “flash and dash” style of play, Strome’s NHL potential is strictly up to him.
“Ryan is a fun, loving guy with a great personality,” said Williamson. “He is a great teammate, and should be a fixture in the Islanders lineup for years to come.”
Whether he centers the team’s second line or becomes a fixture on the team’s top line with his workout buddies, Strome should be in the Islanders lineup come October.
No pressure for an 18-year-old.
The Islanders got a much needed two points and confidence boost during a sixty-five-minutes-plus-skills-competition effort against a banged up Minnesota Wild team. There really wasn’t much bad in this game, save for one egregious turnover from Mark Streit. The way the game went, that really shouldn’t have even factored in. The Islanders outshot the Wild 36-21 and were in control for the majority of the game. A few bounces here or a little luck there against Niklas Backstrom who was solid in net for the Wild and it could have easily been 3-1. The team is still one point off dead last in the conference, so the hole is still deep but enjoy the win nonetheless.
KEEP MSG ON THE >>@#ERRRRR
Sorry. Not sure what happened there. Technical difficulties. Anyway, the Islanders held a 1-0 lead after two periods, outshooting Minnesota 24-9 during that time. They largely controlled the play and Al Montoya could be seen relaxing in a hammock in the defensive zone (That was one of the few questions unanswered tonight, how Montoya would respond after a couple sub-par games. He wasn’t really tested aside from the shootout and maybe overtime. He shook off the shootout attempts like they were flies, so we’ll give him the benefit of doubt). In his first game back, Andy MacDonald would notch a goal midway through the second on a laser from the top of the circle. It started like many of the Islanders chances did, with the top line getting the puck in deep behind Wild defenders and making them and Backstrom scramble to recover.
The Wild would mount a much better effort in the third, finally getting themselves together. The Islanders handled the charge much better than they have in previous games. Maybe that’s due to the lack of real weapons at the opposition’s disposal and the poor deployment of the one they did have (Dany Heatley, one shot). The Wild evened the score with 11:38 to go with really one of the only mistakes — if not the only mistake — of the game for the Isles.
TIME W@RNER HATES SPORTS()J@ND
Why the heck does that keep happening? Anyway, Streit had the puck come to him on a pass from Al Montoya behind the net. He quickly and oddly knocked it between his legs to the middle of the ice where he expected Marty Reasoner to be. Instead, it ended up on Cal Clutterbuck’s stick and in the back of the net. I think it’s safe to say he won’t be trying that again.
After an entertaining overtime period full of rushes going both ways, the game headed to a shootout and the hometown Wild elected to shoot first. Al Montoya would coolly stop both Matt Cullen and Marek Zidlicky, the first two shooters for the Wild. Frans Nielsen then skated onto the ice for the Islanders and did exactly what Frans Nielsen does — his patented deke to the backhand. It beat Backstrom and was the game winner after Dany Healthy was stopped by Montoya.
Notes:
- Someone needs to GIF the Grabner shorthanded breakaway in the second period because LIGHT SPEED.
- Another game where John Tavares did everything but score a goal. No complaints here.
- On HNL, Al Trautwig called Cal Clutterbuck’s look ‘from the gay 90s or something.’ Still trying to figure that one out.
- Did you know Time Warner and MSG are in a fight?
Let’s all come back to earth on Streit
I made this point on Twitter earlier but I’ll say it on the blog too. Let’s all stop with trading Streit, scratching him, removing the C — whatever the ideas are. Real NHL hockey teams don’t do any of those things to their captain in the middle of the season. The Islanders, last time I checked, are a real NHL hockey team in the middle of a season. Are you tired of having the Islanders treated like second class citizens in the mainstream hockey media? OK, then don’t undermine or embarrass your captain by doing any of those things. It’s unprofessional, minor league and isn’t happening.
Streit isn’t playing well right now but this team cannot afford to lose one of it’s best defenders. Pushing the eject button on a little slump isn’t solving anything and is going to make things harder in the long run. To add to that, think about how much UFAs don’t want to come here already and add “the organization embarrassed the captain” to that sales pitch. Doesn’t work on any level, really.
Nino Niederreiter and Andy MacDonald are both in the lineup tonight. Nino will be paired with Reasoner and Martin on the fourth line. Montoya is in net.
Your defensive pairings are as follows:
Streit – Jurcina
MacDonald – Hamonic
Mottau – Reese
Oh man and I almost forgot to mention the latest Milbury debacle.
Andy MacDonald and Mark Eaton are back practicing with the team and Nino Niederreiter is out of the red jersey, so one or all of them could be in the lineup on Saturday. However, MacDonald and Eaton are on IR so someone would have to be shifted to make room for them (Rolston or Staios to IR? Poulin to BP?). The Islanders say Niederreiter has been cleared to play while the defensemen will be game-time decisions.
Michael Russo is an excellent beat writer for the Wild and it looks like about half their team may not be good to go on Saturday. Mikko Koivu, Devin Setoguchi, Guillame Latrendresse and Pierre-Marc Bouchard are all not expected to play.
The above video shows all of Brian Rolston’s shifts from the Islanders’ game against Dallas last night (my apologies for the blurriness of my non-HDTV). He would play only five shifts and would not return after the first period. Rolston played five rather unremarkable shifts and they’re not unremarkable necessarily because he didn’t register on the statsheet but rather because there is no specific moment he clearly got concussed. He takes a hit and later gives one during his first shift, neither of which knock him off his feet or are particularly suspect. He continues on with relatively little physical contact throughout the following four shifts. So what happened? Where’s the injury?
I don’t ask those questions to doubt the validity of the injury report — the Islanders announced Rolston had been diagnosed with a concussion during the third period. Rolston’s a veteran player who’s tough and wouldn’t be taken out of a game unless it was serious. Look no further than his career numbers. He’s played 80+ games in a season eight times in his career. In 11 years, he’s played 77+. Again, this isn’t about doubting the injury or the diagnosis.
This is about how quirky and minute concussions can be. They can add up over time and may be the result of lots of small or medium sized hits. Sometimes, it’s the cumulative effect of these lesser hits that can also do damage. Of course, the big jarring hit can do all kinds of damage. Take one look at Mark Fistric’s hit on Nino Niederreiter. No one has to guess about where the injury occurred. But in Rolston’s case, it could be the result of small or medium sized hits. To try and be more certain, I went back over the game tape from the previous game on Tuesday in Montreal (thank you DVR). I’m not going to bore you with the video but Rolston’s shifts were just as lacking in physicality as his shifts from Thursday. He was credited with no hits on the score sheet and I don’t believe he took one either. Your guess is as good as mine as to when, or how, this happened.
While the NHL’s focus is on the big hits such as Andy Sutton launching himself into Alex Ponikarovsky’s nostrils — and rightfully so — there’s an odd lingering question about all the smaller hits that I don’t see being addressed. The clean ones, the light ones, ‘the hockey plays’ as I believe they’re called. If we’re to believe that Brian Rolston is out any significant length of time thanks to what pretty much looks like an unexplained concussion, then how much damage are the cumulative effect of all these small hits having? Or is this an isolated incident?
I really wonder what happened to Rolston and it speaks to just how physical the game can be, even if it doesn’t look like it on television. Rolston isn’t a fighter, so he’s not blatantly getting punched in the face. He’s not a big hitter and there’s no evidence of him being on the receiving end of any big shots. Furthermore, this isn’t some nagging injury as this is a player who hasn’t missed a game yet this year due to injury (he has missed two as a healthy scratch). Hopefully for Rolston’s sake it’s a very mild concussion, as whatever caused it may have been a very mild hit. But no matter the severity a concussion is still a brain injury and calling it ‘mild’ just doesn’t make it sound much better.
Tonight, the Islanders lost 3-2 to the Stars in another third period collapse. Well, not really a collapse. That would imply that something big came crashing down rather abruptly and dramatically. It was more of a methodical back and forth that the Islanders came out on the losing end of, a sight that we’ve been accustomed to seeing the last few games.
They were down 1-0, up 2-1 then down 3-2. It’s another game of going through the motions, certain periods looking great and others struggling. It was also another game in which a veteran got hurt, as Brian Rolston did not return after a first period concussion. The injuries are now certainly mounting: Rolston, Steve Staios, Andy MacDonald, Mark Eaton, Rick DiPietro, Evgeni Nabokov and Nino Niederreiter among the banged up to one degree or another.
The Islanders started Kevin Poulin in net who at 21-years old was the fourth stringer on the opening night depth chart. Calvin de Haan a defender born in — get ready to feel old — 1991 started his first NHL game. Two players who certainly have a future with the team, although maybe not one that should have come to pass as quickly as it has. That’s been necessitated mostly by injury and to a lesser extent a night off for Al Montoya.
It’s asking a lot of those two to step up and play important roles on the defensive side of the puck. But they’re not the only ones. Dylan Reese and Tim Wallace, career AHLers up to this point are now playing regular roles. Both have been solid, not stunning, since being called up from AHL Brideport. They’re not the only ones. It’s not only the bottom of the lineup that’s being asked to do a lot, so is the top.
One of the most important players in the lineup is Mark Streit, captain and top slot defender. He’s been the subject of a lot of ire and rightfully so, he’s had a remarkably bad stretch of play recently and hasn’t quite been playing up to what’s been expected throughout the season. But is he being asked to do more than his share?
Consider that he’s a newly anointed team captain returning after missing an entire season to shoulder surgery. He’s also averaging the most ice-time on the team this year and has been asked to spend much of that time with a defensive partner who was a training camp tryout that isn’t very fleet of foot. Sound like a tough year at the office? Kyle Okposo, like Streit, missed much of last season with injury. We’re only now seeing the tough and hard-driving Okposo we’d like on the ice.
I’m not trying to excuse Streit. He’s a professional, a captain and I’m sure he’ll be the first to tell you that the onus is on him. But really, how much workload can you put on any one player? A combination of injures, lack of talent acquired in the off-season and general lack of depth has a lot of players being asked to do more than maybe they should, mostly on defense.
Travis Hamonic and Andy MacDonald have been leaned on equally hard when healthy. Hamonic is a 21-year old who had an excellent second half to his first NHL season in 2010-11. Many nights, he’s been leaned on to be arguably the team’s best defender while his defensive partner MacDonald has been sidelined by injury. Is that asking too much of a young player?
All season, the defense has also depended heavily on the success or failure of veterans like Staios, Mike Mottau and Milan Jurcina. Most of the veterans on this team are placeholders, playing a role until players like de Haan are ready for the big time. Staios and Jurcina have been asked to play more than 18 minutes per game this year, Staios in the top defensive pair with Streit.
From top to bottom, the entire defensive corps seems to be doing more than what their job probably should entail. Again, I’m not trying to make excuses but trying to make observations. The Islanders have generally not had a lot of wins this season if the offense is not clicking or their goaltender isn’t standing on his head. This is a team that can’t grab a lead and sit back on their defense. They’ve got to keep fighting, clawing and playing these back-and-forth kinds of games. So that’s one reason we get what we had at the Coliseum tonight.
Notes:
- The PP is Ugly with a capital U. They’ve had trouble just gaining the zone in recent games and that only continued tonight. Even when they do find a route over the blue line, it’s usually short lived.
- Streit’s positioning on the Stars’ third goal was scary bad. He drifts into the middle of nowhere leaving Hamonic and Poulin to deal with a 2-on-1 in deep.
- Kevin Poulin and Calvin de Haan looked good in their first games of the year and career, respectively. Let’s not worship or drag the kids through the mud after only one game, OK?
- Michael Grabner is starting to fly around again. That’s great to see.
- Kyle Okposo had an excellent game. Hopefully there’s more to come.
