Monthly Archives: December 2011
According to BU Today, the school newspaper at Boston University, Islanders draft pick Corey Trivino was arrested on Sunday night and charged with three counts of indecent assault and battery, two counts of breaking and entering in the nighttime and one count of assault with attempt to rape. He has been kicked off the hockey team, effective immediately.
From BU Today:
Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Cameron Merrill told the court that witnesses claim that an apparently intoxicated Trivino pushed his way into the room of a female student at 10 Buick St. and started kissing her and fondling her against her will. Trivino reportedly left the room at the student’s insistence, and she called the Boston University Police at about 11 p.m. Police arrived a short time later and placed Trivino under arrest.
Trivino, whose family flew in for his arraignment, appeared in court in handcuffs and a powder blue hoodie. He never spoke, standing hunched forward and head down throughout the court proceeding.
Head hockey coach Jack Parker says Trivino has been permanently removed from the team. “He is no longer associated with the BU hockey team,” says Parker (SMG’68, Hon.’97).
Trivino, a senior on the Terrier hockey team, was leading the team with 13 goals and 17 points in 15 games. He was originally drafted by the Islanders in the second round of the 2008 entry draft. Trivino had rebounded nicely this season on the ice after breaking his leg in February 2010 and would have had a shot at making the Bridgeport roster next year.
The arrest is another hurdle in Trivino’s life to overcome, although this one is decidedly different than the others. Trivino has been injury riddled throughout his BU career. During his freshman season at Boston University, he tore his MCL. In his sophomore year, he broke an ankle at the end of the year and, as mentioned, he broke his leg during his junior year last February. Now, the problems aren’t with his health, they’re with the law.
For more on Trivino, you can read Alan Avital’s prospect profile that was published almost exactly a month ago.
Update: Micheal Haley has been returned to Bridgeport. That leaves the Islanders with 20 healthy skaters plus Nino and DiPietro on the roster. MacDonald, Pandolfo and Eaton are on IR.
Nino is skating with the team, but in a red practice jersey. He will not travel with the team to Montreal… Poulin returned to Brigeport, so Nabokov is off IR… Pandolfo still with a boot on his right foot… Andy MacDonald is not traveling with the team…
Capuano was not certain but thinks the team has talked to the league about rescinding Hamonic’s ejection. Garth Snow was not available for comment.
Also some rulebook notes on Hamonic…
Rule 20.4: …When a player has been assessed a major penalty for any of the infractions listed in the Reference Tables – Table 7 [I'll spare you the further reading, they're boarding, charging and elbowing] and his opponent has suffered an injury to the face or head, a game misconduct must also be assessed.
This doesn’t excuse the missed call at all but it does explain a bit why he was given the boot. The blood on Orpik’s face triggered an ejection once the referees decided their call was a major. No blood and it’s probably just the major (although, obviously, that would still be the wrong call). Even though the call was missed, the ejection wasn’t the referee’s discretion.
And as far as automatic suspensions being triggered from the match penalty go…
Rule 23.3 Fines and Suspensions – General Category – In regular League games, any player who incurs a total of three (3) game misconduct penalties in the “General Category” and exclusive of other designated categories, shall be suspended for the next League game of his team. For each subsequent game misconduct penalty, the automatic suspension shall be increased by one game. For each suspension of a player or goalkeeper, his Club shall be fined one thousand dollars ($1,000).
Yes, elbowing is included in that ‘General Category’ of suspensions, so technically, if Hamonic were to get two more ejections that would trigger an automatic one-game ban.
Like many of Canada’s youth, defenseman Brenden Kichton began toying with the sport of hockey on the ponds of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Under the tutelage of his figure-skating mother, Kichton learned the basics of skating and in turn instantly fell in love with Canada’s national sport. More than a decade later, Kichton is lighting the lamp in the Western Hockey League and making a serious case to being mentioned among the next crop of Islander blue-liners.
“I started skating at five years old,” said the six-foot, 190-pound Kichton, who was selected by the Islanders in the fifth round – 127th overall – in this past June’s NHL draft in Minnesota. “I would always wait for the pond in our backyard to freeze.”
Kichton is currently in his fourth season playing for the Spokane Chiefs yet his ascension to earning top-pairing minutes for second-year head coach Don Nachbaur and the Chiefs was definitely a prolonged process.
“It took me a little while to get my opportunity,” said the 19 year-old Kichton. “I played behind great players such as (former Islander draft pick and current Minnesota Wild defenseman) Jared Spurgeon and (current Ottawa Senator defenseman) Jared Cowen.
“It was definitely a learning process.”
In his first two seasons at Spokane, Kichton only registered 28 points – five goals and 23 assists – in 127 games.
Nevertheless, Kichton remained patient and that persistence would pay major dividends following the 2009-10 campaign in Spokane. He attended the Detroit Red Wings prospect camp during the summer of 2010, and quickly noticed that he belonged.
“Going to Detroit was definitely an eye-opener for me,” said Kichton. “I saw that I could play with those guys. Even the speed of the game wasn’t a problem.”
Despite breaking his hand at the tail end of the prospect camp, Kichton returned to Spokane for the 2010-11 campaign a more confident hockey player. Statistically, he reached levels only exceeded by one former Chief – a name quite familiar to Islander fans.
In 64 games, Kichton netted 23 goals and assisted on 58 others. His 81 points fell one short of the Chiefs’ all-time single-season record for a blue-liner. That record is held by former New York Islander draftee Bryan McCabe, whose 82 points came in the 1993-94 season.
“I felt like I was given the opportunity to show what I was made of,” said Kichton, whose scoring prowess helped the Chiefs reach the WHL Western Conference Finals before bowing out to Islander top prospect Nino Niederreiter and the Portland Winterhawks in six games. “(Coach) Don (Nachbaur) put his trust in me to play with Jared (Cowen).
“It resulted in me being extremely confident with the puck.”
Nachbaur concurred.
“When I got here, there was a huge turnover in the roster,” said Nachbaur, whose coaching career spans nearly two decades. “I knew that Kich was playing behind five or six 19 year-olds the previous year, when he was 17. I thought that if I paired him with (Jared) Cowen, it would be a good fit.
“They complemented each other extremely well.”
Nachbaur earned his third WHL coach of the year honors with the 2010-11 Chiefs. He had previously been bestowed those honors with the 1994-95 Seattle Thunderbirds, followed by the 2007-08 Tri City Americans.
Kichton’s break-out season quickly drew the eye of NHL scouts, as this past summer’s entry draft approached.
“I expected to be drafted,” said Kichton. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to go in the second round or the sixth round.”
Before entering his final season in Spokane, Kichton took a quick detour and participated in his first Islanders Blue-White Scrimmage in Uniondale in July. The experience gave Kichton a keen perspective on what he would need to build on and improve on in hopes of making Long Island a full time residence for him.
“I definitely had a lot of nerves playing in the Scrimmage,” said Kichton. “But after I spoke to (Islander scout) Eric Cairns, he made me feel very comfortable.
“It made me excited to show the Islanders organization and their fans what I could bring forward in the future.”
With an aim on delivering a Chynoweth Cup to the city of Spokane, Kichton also hoped that his final season in the ‘W’ would be one to continue and develop his all-around game.
“My vision and my all-around defensive play are my strengths,” said Kichton, who models his play after both San Jose Shark defenseman Dan Boyle and former New Jersey Devil defenseman Brian Rafalski, due to their playmaking skills despite not being overall “big” guys. “I know that in order to make it to the next level, my agility has to improve.”
From the season’s opening face-off, Kichton’s play has not tapered off from last season. He has continued to be a point-per-game performer, despite not having Cowen playing alongside him.
Kichton has scored six goals and assisted on 23 others in the team’s first 27 games. He is currently third among WHL defensemen in scoring. His all-around play has also been recognized by Hockey Canada. Kichton was one of 41 players recently invited to compete for a coveted slot in this winter’s World Junior Championships. The tournament begins on Boxing Day in Calgary and Edmonton.
“Kich has a great work ethic and he continues to get the job done for us,” said Nachbaur, who has had the privilege of coaching former Islander defenseman Brendan Witt, along with current Calgary Flames defenseman Cory Sarich and Minnesota Wild defenseman Clayton Stoner during his coaching tenure. “It’s all up to him whether he gets to the next level.
“He knows that he has to hit the ice like a pro and the gym like a pro.”
Kichton is ready for the challenge ahead.
“I would love to play in Bridgeport next season,” said Kichton. “I would love to prove to the Islanders organization that I can be a defenseman who could contribute both offensively and defensively.
“Hopefully, I will be there to lead them to a Cup.”
Off the ice, Kichton enjoys fishing, golfing and watching other sports. He is a huge fan of Tom Brady and the Patriots, and despite growing up in Western Canada, he lists the New York Mets as his favorite baseball team.
“When I was in New York in the summer, we (the prospects) got to see a game at Citi Field,” said Kichton. “It was awesome.”
With hopes of signing an entry level contract with the Islanders at season’s end, Kichton might be able to call an arena adjacent to Citi Field home in the not-so-distant future.
Only time will tell.
This game had two sides to it, before and after the Hamonic major. The Islanders were up 3-2 when it occurred playing solid, but not amazing hockey having given away a 2-0 lead. They gave it away quite literally with poor defensive zone plays. Once they lost one of their top two defenders and had to kill a 5-on-3 followed by the major penalty, it was lights out.
There’s no understating how the penalty call affected the outcome of the game tonight. If Hamonic had been given a double minor for high-sticking — certainly not out of the question when watching at full speed — the Islanders would have had six defenders and would be in the middle of a 3-3 game as the Pens scored on the ensuing power play. With Hamonic in the locker room, they were forced to run a defender short racking up wild ice time numbers such as these: Streit (27:20), Jurcina (22:37), Staios (19:51), Reese (19:27), and Mottau (16:00). That’s a tall order for this group that’s already missing Andy MacDonald and Mark Eaton.
There’s also no doubt that the team folded under the adversity. Mark Streit had easily his worst performance of the season (again, remember he played almost HALF the game). Al Montoya was hung out to dry on the first three goals and then gave up some poor ones. The third period as a whole was ugly with the team mustering a measly four shots on goal.
Given all the adversity, it’s hard for me to sit here and say that this team all of a sudden reverted back to its form from a few weeks ago. That would completely ignore how the team played for the first 35 minutes of the game. This was a tough game and the team wasn’t able to rally after challenging circumstances in the second period. One tough loss isn’t cause to jump off a bridge but if you want to, have at it.
This team can’t afford to be missing players — especially defenders. Tonight, they were missing three opening night roster defenders from the lineup for much of the game. When you’re forced to lean heavily on guys that shouldn’t be leaned on heavily and your #1 defender has a bad game, this is what happens.
PLUS/MINUS
Minus – A third period fold.
Plus – Kyle Okposo with a beautiful goal scorers’ goal. Can we haz more plz?
Plus – David Ullstrom with a pretty goal of his own.
Minus – The power play, despite scoring a goal, looked awful. That can happen against one of the league’s best PK units. But they were bad — unable to get setup in the offensive zone for, in some cases, the entire man advantage.
Minus – The Hamonic ejection but you already knew that.
Minus – A lame “make up call” on Orpik, giving him a double-minor for next to nothing with 4:00 to go in the game.
Plus – The team continues to play well in the face off circle, beating the Pens 31-22.
Minus – In Capuano’s post-game Stan Fischler quoted some players as saying they “thought it was going to be easy after the 2-0 lead.” If anyone thinks that a game against the Penguins is going to be easy under any circumstance… Jeez I don’t even know. That’s NHL 101. The Penguins are as tough as teams come Sidney Crosby or not.
In the second period of tonight’s battle between the Islanders and Penguins, referees Dan O’Halloran and Frederick L’Ecuyer assessed the Isles’ Travis Hamonic a five-minute major and match penalty for elbowing Pittsburgh’s Brooks Orpik. Here’s the video:
If you can spot where Hamonic’s elbow makes contact with Orpik’s head… Well you can’t. Because it doesn’t happen at any point. Orpik did come away bloodied, which at the time made some sort of a penalty seem sensible. Upon further review, Orpik was cut open by his own stick and is an early front runner for the Dive of the Year Award.
The Islanders were forced to play nearly 30 minutes without one of their top two defenders in addition to the major penalty assessed. They gave up a goal in the first minute of the penalty, as it created a 5-on-3, however they were able to kill the rest of the man advantage successfully.
Thanks to Keith Quinn for the video.
Game Notes:
- Today is another third jersey night, so prepare appropriately.
- No Sidney Crosby for the Penguins. They will also be without Staal, Lovejoy, Letang and Michalek.
- 4-0-2 streak on the line.
- Same lineup as Thursday with Montoya in net.
- Nino skated again this morning.
And now to your questions…
@metsfreak19 I know the answer but any chances isles make a splash and trade for a top dman since were back in it?
It’s possible but if it does happen, it would be around the deadline. It’s going to take a more consistent effort than a six-game point streak to make this team ‘buyers’ at the deadline. If they’re in the hunt in February, I’d expect Garth to see what he can get although with the way defenders are currently priced in this league, I wouldn’t expect a “top” dman.
@octodure76: When can we expect to see Nino back in the line-up?
As I’ve said over the past week, they’re going to take their time with Nino. The team is winning without him and there’s no reason to rush. As we’ve seen with Crosby concussions can take a long time to get a player back to normal. If I had to guess, I’d say Christmas at the earliest. Another two weeks sounds about right. But of course, it’s very tough to judge these kinds of things.
@Pharmassive: with all this talk about DP being a detriment to the team, do you see any evidence in your time covering them?
I don’t think Rick has personally been a problem this year. He hasn’t said or done the wrong things. The detriment was the three goalie carousel the Islanders tried to implement earlier in the season. With Montoya playing well enough to be a true #1, the team has learned and embraced that even if Capuano hasn’t said it explicitly. No one will say it but the team is playing much more confidently now that they know who will be behind them each night.
@PotvinRocks: Mtl traded for Gomez & Kaberle, any chance they might be interested in DP?
Haha, well if they’re in the business of collecting huge contracts…
@jeffslats: how about this ? How do we go about getting a 2nd PP d Man. Very glaring vs CHI. Bring up CDH? Trade?
Calvin De Haan or Matt Donovan or whomever will be up here when the team thinks they’re ready. With older guys like Dylan Reese and Tim Wallace getting the call, it’s clear that they’re not ready to bring in any of the prospects from Bridgeport yet. As I said a above, a trade may come at the deadline if they’re in it but that’s about it. The unfortunate truth is that it’s very hard to add a significant player mid-season, with the exception of the deadline. This may be something that doesn’t get resolved until next July 1st.
@patscuds: streit hamonic d pair has been very effective when macdonald comes back do you put hammer back with him or keep top pair together
I’d like to see them back together, they’ve been great and Streit has been able to help cover Staios a bit. I would like to see them split up before MacDonald returns, simply because the other two pairs are very slow and that was evidenced twice in the past week against Chicago.
@JoeB687101: any news regarding an arena?
Nothing solid that I know of. Every rumor that’s been floated out there this season has been just that. I imagine we’ll know the next concrete proposal when we see it.
UPDATE: Most of the team was given the day off today. Niederreiter did skate today for about a half hour.
WELCOME TO LONG ISLAND, TIM WALLACE
Yesterday, the Islanders announced that they had taken Tim Wallace off of emergency recall and made him a regular recall. That means we’re all probably going to have a lot more Tim Wallace in our lives. He’s looked good in the (very short) amount of time he’s been here and got a shot thanks to a rash of injuries. Now that he’s off of emergency recall, he would need to be passed through waivers to be sent back to Bridgeport. He would likely clear but it’s worth pointing out.
INJURY UPDATES
Michael Grabner is back and played last night, scoring the second goal. Staple noted that both DiPietro and Niederreiter have not skated so far this week and that MacDonald could be “several weeks” away from returning. Given the MacDonald timetable, I have a hard time seeing those three in the lineup before Christmas to be honest, but I’m always willing to be proven wrong.
OK YOU GUYS, SERIOUSLY. WHAT THE HECK?
From last night’s game comes the image on the right (via LHH and captured by Bruce Bennett). Someone’s got some ‘splaining to do on this one.
Do your civic duty and caption whatever the heck this is. Today, if anyone asks you what Patrick Kane and Teletubbies have in common you’ll know the answer — they were both at the Coliseum last night.
YOUR BIZARRELY ANIMATED ISLANDERS VIDEO OF THE DAY
So, long story short, there are these really weird Taiwanese videos of major news events that are a big joke on the web. There’s one of Tiger Woods, the royal wedding, etc. You can look em up if you’re so inclined but fair warning is they’re REALLY WEIRD and many of them are NSFW. It seems that a website called Big Apple Daily is picking up the meme and running with it. They recently made a video (SFW) of that whole McCain/Schumer ‘Long Island sucks’ ‘No it doesn’t jerk’ ‘I was JK LOL’ thing that happened. Grumpy Old Men and Politics. Whatever. Anyway, the Islanders make a bizarre appearance in the video by shooting pucks at McCain and knocking him out of the stadium. It all probably makes more sense if you watch it sitting upside down and punch yourself in the face (not recommended).
IT’S FRIDAY AND THE BRAIN IS TURNED OFF, PLEASE EXCUSE ALL THE NONSENSE OK?
Here’s something sane to bring us back to Earth. It’s a few days old, but here’s highlights from the first 22 games of the season. It’s a nice mash up, although the new Bon Jovi song leaves something to be desired. ‘Livin on a Prayer’ may have been a more apt title for the pre-six-game-point-streak era.
