The Real 3 Stars of Friday's Game

We all know what happened between the Islanders and Penguins on Friday night at Nassau Coliseum.
The 3 stars of the game were listed as:
     1. John Tavares
     2. Matt Moulson
     3. Michael Grabner

These three players are deserving of the three stars. If I had my picks, they would be a little different.

Third Star: Mikko Koskinen
A day after going through an emotional up and down and earning his first NHL victory, Mikko Koskinen was thrown back into the fire against the Penguins. He stepped up big time and made 35 saves on 38 shots for his second NHL win in 2 days. One of those 35 saves is this one, which may possibly be the save of the year.



Second Star: Travis Hamonic
Kudos to Travis. The rookie d-man showed that he could compete with the best of them on Friday night when he got a Gordie Howe Hat Trick. (For those of you that don't know, that is when a player gets a goal, assist, and gets in a fight in the same game.) He started off with a blast of a shot for the first Isles goal. An assist on a great pass to PA Parenteau, who simply redirected it home for the Islanders 3rd goal. To cap off the Gordie Howe trick, Hamonic got into a nice tussle with Michael Rupp during the second period. Congrats Travis, you deserve second star of the game.

























First Star: Micheal Haley
Micheal Haley, what is there to say about him? Friday night's was his first game of the season, and to leave with the fans chanting your name, that is something. In the first period, Haley got into a fight with Craig Adams, one of Pittsburgh's better fighters, and he clearly won that fight no contest. In the second period, he scored his first NHL goal, and it was a beauty, as you can see below.



Then, to finish off his day, he got into a fight with Islander enemy Maxime Talbot, won, and then skated down to the other end of the ice and took punches at Islanders enemy #1, Brent Johnson. And, he wanted to take on the whole Penguins team, or what was left of it, as he was being escorted out by the referee.
















Micheal Haley, great statement in your first game of the season. You are the First star.

Now, for your viewing pleasure, because I can't seem to get enough of it.
A Hockey Game.   Friday Night Fights Featuring The Isles and Penguins.
Lets Go Islanders!

New York Islanders Goalies (Or Lack Thereof)

As you are probably aware of by now, the Islanders goaltending situation really is very bad. So bad, in fact, that I can barely keep track of everyone and I'll show you everyone and their problems.

Goalie #1: Rick DiPietro
We all know DiPietro signed a contract for life a few years ago. Since then, we have not received much.  Now, DP has a broken face from his fight with Brent Johnson last week. He'll be gone for about a month.

Goalie #2: Dwayne Roloson
Currently starting for the Tampa Bay Lightning after being traded for Ty Wishart and trying to help them make a deep postseason run.  He gets physical at times also.

Goalie #3: Nathan Lawson
He'll be coming back in less than a week. He's been out for a few weeks with a knee injury. He'll assume the #1 goalie role assuming that no one new comes in.

Goalie #4: Evgeni Nabokov
Be a man and just show up Evgeni.  We really, really need you.

Goalie #5: Kevin Poulin
Last night, during warm-ups....

Now he is done for the season.

Goalie #6: Mikko Koskinen: Healthy, but he allowed 2 goals on the first 2 shots he ever faced in the NHL.

Goalie #7: Joel Martin: Arrived at the Coliseum after being driven from Bridgeport straight to the game last night. He'll back up Koskinen if needed.

AND: If all else fails, the Islanders have 3 goalies in their Front Office.
Mike Dunham, current goaltending coach and former Islanders goalie.
Former Quebec Nordiques goalie and fired Isles coach, yet for some reason is still with the team, Scott Gordon.


Last but not least, the Islanders also have GM Garth Snow. If he wants to do something to show the Isles fans that he is doing the right thing, he shouls strap on the pads, and get between the pipes. After all, he is only 2 years older than Doug Weight.  He also likes to get physical, such as HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Who is going to play goalie for the Islanders? My prediction is a person not mentioned in this entry.

Lets Go Islanders!

The Entire Season In One Photo

This pretty much sums up the whole season. 

Lets Go Islanders!

Why Play For the Islanders?

Everybody knows that the Islanders recently stole goalie Evgeni Nabokov away from the Detroit Red Wings on waivers. He would get paid over half a million dollars to play the rest of this season. Then Nabokov made what seemed like an easy decision to him at the time, to not show up to the Islanders. Why would he do this? There are many reason to go to the Islanders, and not to. Now I present to you a big decision, To Show Up or Not To Show Up?

Good Reasons to Show Up:

• He can use the rest of this season as an "audition" to prove to other NHL teams that he is capable of still playing at the high level required to be great in the NHL. 
• After this season, he is an unrestricted free agent and can go anywhere, unless he wants to return to the Islanders. 
• The Islanders can appeal to the NHL to "toll" his contract. This means that he would not get paid at all for this season and his contract would not begin until next season. Essentially, this would push back his contract and keep him from becoming an unrestricted free agent. 
• He can prove to other NHL teams that he is a team player and just show up, and try his best to help the struggling Isles. 

Good Reasons not to Show Up: 

• He wants to be a part of a team that can make a deep playoff run. The Islanders are most likely not going to make the playoffs this season. 
• Nassau Coliseum is an old, dirty, and just plain bad arena and not that many players want to play there. 
• He would have to find a place to live for the next few months, then have to do it all again once he signs with a new team next season. 
• If he does not want to show up, more power to him. 

It now looks like Nabokov is going to pull a Darrelle Revis. He will try to hold out as long as possible until something happens. Also, the Islanders really need a goalie, badly. He could help the team right now.  Let's hope that Nabokov and the Islanders can resolve something soon. 

We hope to see you in this crease soon Evgeni, just wearing a navy blue jersey. 

Lets Go Islanders!

Typical New York Islanders "Fan"

Yes the Islanders are doing better recently, but I found this hilarious.


Lets Go Islanders!

In Typical New York Islanders Fashion

Whenever anything happens for the Islanders, something always seems to go the other way. For example, the Islanders had a chance to keep all of the following people. If they kept even half of these people, they may have had Stanley Cup #5 on Long Island in the past decade.

• Roberto Luongo- Drafted by the Islanders in 1997. After playing one season with the team, he was traded along with Olli Jokinen to the Florida Panthers in 2000 to make room for Rick DiPietro. We all know how that worked out. 
• Zdeno Chára and Jason Spezza- Big Zdeno Chára was drafted by the Isles in 1996. After four unproductive seasons with the Islanders, he was traded, along with the Islanders first round draft pick, to the Senators for center Alexei Yashin. The Senators used the Islanders draft pick to select Jason Spezza as the #2 overall selection in the draft. As of right now, Spezza an Chára are all-stars and Yashin is still on the Islanders payroll. 
• Todd Bertuzzi and Brian McCabe- Bertuzzi was drafted by the Islanders in 1995. McCabe was drafted in 1993. In 1998, after both were unproductive during their time on Long Island, both were traded to the Vancouver Canucks during the season for  Trevor Linden. (Who?) 
• The Whole 2003 NHL Draft- The Islanders had the 15th pick in the 2003 draft. They used it to select Robert Nilsson. (Again, who?) Two picks later the Devils selected Zach Parise. Other men that the Islanders had  a shot at, but passed on were: Ryan Getzlaf, Mike Richards, Corey Perry, Shea Weber, and team USA hero during the last Olympic Games, Ryan Kesler.  

This video pretty much sums up the Islanders recent failures. 

And now, just after the new year, the Islanders traded away Rollie the Goalie to the Lightning for defenseman Ty Wishart. In his first game as a member of the Lightning, while wearing his New York Islanders mask, Roloson shut out the Capitals, in Washington. Good for him.  Bad for us.


(photo credit: sports.yahoo.com)

And, to top all of this off, Rick DiPietro got injured in the Islanders first game after the new year and has been out. Now the Islanders need to rely on rookie goalies Nathan Lawson and Kevin Poulin (Who?) until DP can heal. I can't wait to see how this turns out.

Lets Go Islanders!

Somebody's There

Remember in my last entry when I said that the Islanders needed to wake up? Well, so far over the last 8 games, the have seemed to climb out of bed. The Islanders have won 6 of their last 8, and recorded points in 7 of those games, with the exception being the dud they had against the Rangers. These are also wins against the top teams in the NHL.  Lets take a look at the teams they beat.

1. Anaheim Ducks: 42 points-Currently 9th in the West. Islanders beat them 3-2 behind 3 goals in 98 seconds. 
2. After a tough shootout loss against Phoenix, the Islanders took care of business again against the Tampa Bay Lightning, winning 2-1. John Tavares got the overtime winner and sent the crowd home happy. Currently, the Lightning are 2nd in the Eastern Conference. 
3. The only non-quality team on this list, and the only road game on this list. The Islanders took a short bus trip to New Jersey and crushed the last-place Devils by the score of 5-1. The Islanders only got 14 shots, and it was enough to catapult the Islanders out of, and send the Devils into the NHL's basement.
4. As a blizzard swept through the eastern coast of the United States, making it nearly impossible for fans to get to the game, the game went on, and the Isles kept rolling, beating the Montreal Canadiens 4-1. Dwayne Roloson made 34 saves, and James Wisniewski scored his last goal an Islander. Coincidentally, he is now a member of the Canadiens. Best of luck to you James, thanks for the help. The Canadiens now are in the last playoff spot in the Eastern conference.   
5. Though the Islanders got murdered at MSG on Monday, they made up for it in a big fashion on Wednesday. They beat the best team in the NHL, the Pittsburgh Penguins. It went down 2-1 in the shootout during Rick DiPietro's first game in some time. Almost as important as the win itself, the Islanders snapped Sidney Crosby's 25 game point streak. He did nothing. The people at 24/7 Pens Caps will have something to say about that, as do I.
6. To close off 2010, the Islanders went into Detroit, and left with another 2 points, beating the top team in the Western Conference. P.A. Parenteau got the overtime winner on the powerplay during a perfectly executed play and great pass by John Tavares. A sell out crowd in Detroit was left shocked by the lowly Islanders coming into town and playing a great game. Kudos to Dwayne Roloson, who at age 41, is one of the top goalies in the NHL in the past few weeks. 

2010 is over, good thing for the Islanders. Now let's hope that the momentum from the end of 2010 carries into 2011. They have a huge west coast road trip coming up to start the new decade. Time to gain some points in the standings. 

(photo credit: espn.com)

Happy New Year!

Lets Go Islanders!