Author Archives: Kevin Schultz
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.Last night (or earlier this morning, depending on your world view) the IIHF World Championships kicked off in Northern Europe. The annual tournament is being co-hosted by Sweden and Finland this year and stretches over three weeks from May 3rd to the 20th. The Islanders are represented by six players on five different teams: Kyle Okposo (USA), John Tavares (CAN), Frans Nielsen (DEN), Jesse Joensuu (FIN) and the Swiss duo of Mark Streit and Nino Niederreiter.
The Americans kicked off the tournament against France, winning handily 7-2. Okposo notched two goals and was +3 in the win, with just over 19 minutes of ice time. (more…)
Some news and notes for your Thursday morning, which probably calls for an Advil or three after watching the Dark Side win…
BEHIND THE MUSIC: DAVID ULLSTROM
Lighthouse had this the other day (and yes, I’m still sorting through everything I’ve missed this week) but it’s totally worth noting anyway. David Ullstrom did a thorough interview in his native Swedish with hockeysverige.se, covering a multitude of topics. Here are a few of the salient points (all copied from Google Translate, hence the broken English):
Ullstrom on John Persson, fellow Swede and 5th round pick in 2011 that made his debut with Bridgeport down the stretch… (more…)
10AM: Chris Botta provides this update via Twitter:
Just got off the phone with the agent for #Isles prospect Kirill Petrov. The #Isles very much want Petrov to come to North America this season, but he is leaning towards signing for another one or two years in the KHL. He has strong offers for both in KHL. His mother remains very ill and he wants to be able to stay close to her. Petrov is also a bit scared off by the uncertainty of negotiations this summer for a new CBA for the NHL. As of now, looks like he’s staying in KHL. Decision soon.
9AM: According to Dmitry Chesnokov who is plugged into Russian hockey, Petrov has re-signed with his team in the KHL. Terms of the deal are unknown at this time.
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After a brief hiatus I’m back, recharged and ready to go for the rest of the off-season. Let’s take a look at one of the important stories that was missed over the last few days…
The Islanders 2008 draft is hotly debated for the drafting of Josh Bailey in the first round but as the years have passed there’s really a multitude of other important storylines going on. In that draft, the Islanders accumulated picks (in part by moving back to draft Bailey) and ended up making an absurd 13 picks over six rounds. So far, nine of those players have played in the NHL. That list includes eight current Islanders and Sound Tigers: Bailey, Aaron Ness, Travis Hamonic, Matt Donovan, David Ullstrom, Kevin Poulin, Matt Martin and Justin DiBenedetto.
So far Hamonic has been the only “game breaking” talent per se, but obviously many of those players play or will soon play important roles on the team. It goes to show exactly what good drafting in later rounds can do for the organizational talent pool. (more…)
Numerous players around the NHL do their part to raise money for charity and improve their community.
Mike Fisher of the Nashville Predators, John-Michael Liles of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Matt Moulson of the New York Islanders stood out among their peers, and for that reason they have been nominated for the 2012 NHL Foundation Player Award, presented to “an NHL player who applies the core values of hockey — commitment, perseverance and teamwork — to enrich the lives of people in his community.”
The winner of the award will be announced at the 2012 NHL Awards Show, June 20 at the Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas, with the winning player receiving $25,000 to donate to their chosen charitable organization.
Defenceman Brian Campbell of the Florida Panthers, Edmonton Oilers right-winger Jordan Eberle and left-winger Matt Moulson of the New York Islanders were named Monday as finalists for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy.
The award is given annually to the NHL player who best exemplifies sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct, in addition to a high standard of play.
The winner will be announced at the NHL awards banquet June 20 in Las Vegas.
Moulson had only six penalty minutes while playing in all 82 games this season. He led the team in goals with 36, good for 10th in the entire NHL. Two Islanders have won the award previously; Pierre Turgeon in 1993 and Mike Bossy in 1983, 1984 and 1986.
Gary Bettman spoke with reporters yesterday and had some interesting things to say relating to yesterday’s discussion of suspensions, but he also was asked about the Islanders situation in Nassau County.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says Brooklyn may not be a viable potential destination for the New York Islanders because it’s hard to reach for the team’s fan base in Long Island and Queens.
Bettman reiterated Friday that the league ideally wanted the club to remain in Nassau County. The Islanders plan to leave outdated Nassau Coliseum after their lease expires in 2015. (more…)
The following is a guest post from Peter Flynn written exclusively for Point Blank on the NHL’s suspension policy. It was originally written last week, at the end of the NHL regular season. A brief update on the recent events in the playoffs follows the original article at the bottom of the post.
On March 7, 2010 Marc Savard skated into the Penguins zone and wristed a shot on goal. Matt Cooke skated in from Savard’s blind side and elbowed the Bruin in the head, causing Savard to miss the rest of the regular season. Savard returned for the post-season, then was concussed again by Matt Hunwick on January 23, 2011. Savard has not played since.
While Cooke’s hit on Savard went unpenalized and Cooke was not suspended by the league, the incident caused the NHL to examine the impact of hits to the head and effective ways to keep players from being needlessly injured. This season, Brendan Shanahan has implemented a more open system of suspending players for irresponsible actions, mainly focusing on deliberate hits to the head. In the 2011-12 regular season, 42 suspensions were handed with a total of 134 regular season games.
With the regular season over, enough time has passed to evaluate the NHL’s effort to reduce targeted hits to the head. For the purposes of this article, I am focusing specifically on plays that are clearly intentional. Occasionally, accidents happen and a player turns at the last second, changing a previously clean attempt into a seemingly dirty one.
On the one hand, Shanahan should be commended for making a clear and transparent effort to address a serious problem in the game. The video explanations that accompany each suspension indicate a desire to educate players and help them to make better decisions in the future. But the number of suspensions can also be viewed as evidence of a deficiency in the league’s response to these types of hits.
Suspensions are supposed to have a two-fold effect. The suspension should act as both a punishment to the offending player and a deterrent to the other players in the league: If you do what he did, you will find yourself in the press box. (more…)
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