Last night was your typical hockey night, especially after the game given all the nights intangibles - Blake’s return, DiPietro’s injury, Comrie’s solid game, Park’s emergence as a clutch player and of course a Canadian team visits the Island.

This was not the first time a Canadian team has visited the Island though, but for whatever reason - when Toronto is in town there will be double the amount of usual media members present in the scrum. Who all was there you ask? Let’s give a quick breakdown:

The usual suspects:

2 Associated Press writers
Islanders TV Crew
SNY Crew
FSN Crew
Greg Logan of Newsday
NY Post Beat Writer
Bryan from the 4th Period
Blog Boxers
WFAN Sound Guy
Assorted other people I can’t remember by association or name

Canadian Infusion:

Fan 590 Crew
Sportsnet Crew
TSN Crew
Globe and Mail Beat Writer

Talk about a packed house! It’s crowded as it is most of the time - but last night it was borderline crazy. It felt like the paparazzi were in the locker room pestering all the players with every question and angle imaginable. It was definately a new experience, thats for sure.

Dee, 7th Woman had mentioned something about Greg Logan in her blog today, let me just add that Greg completely ran out of paper in his journalists notepad - and he told us he still wanted a few quotes from some of the players. Being friendly with Greg, we offered him paper and he kindly said he would squeeze whatever he could on the front and back covers of his pad….what a job that man does!

Quick trivia: When was the last time the Islanders had three first period goals?

Answer per TSN:

The three goals matched New York’s best first period of the season. The Islanders hadn’t managed as many as two since they netted three in the opening 20 minutes of the season on Oct. 5 at Buffalo.

That’s right, the Isles scored three separate times, coming from deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 to tie and eventually getting the go ahead for a 3-2 lead.

Goals: Hilbert, Comrie and Guerin
Assists: Park, Comrie, Guerin, DiPietro, Berard

Hilbert has really found his groove between Comeau and Jackman. Our first line is also clicking with Park - a god send.

Hopefully they keep the Leafs off the board here in the second.

Post Game Comments

Well - the second period was rather boring and went by very fast, however Rick DiPietro went missing at the start of the second period - and nobody knew what had happened. The third wasn’t much to write home about either, there were a few more scoring chances per side in the period and each goaltender made some good saves. Dubie came up huge at times, although Toronto managed a short handed goal on our powerless powerplay.

Down to the end of the third, Dubie came up with three or four consecutive saves while the Islanders were down a man. He complimented Brendan “The Warrior” Witt for blocking so many shots - because he claimed they would’ve went in had he not blocked them. Dubie also said that Witt scares him sometimes the way he talks about pain (We can certainly see why - Witt is an animal and a true warrior).

In OT Dubie made a few great stops to keep the Islanders in the game, but all it took was Richard Park to deftly intercept the puck (from Jason Blake none-the-less) and took a shot - Comrie buried the rebound for the game winner. Park is certainly turning into the clutch player we need and nobody saw coming. Comrie was on fire out there tonight, I was tempted to ask him what he ate over the holidays because we need him to repeat his performance tonight.

Overall, this was a very big win tonight. We go on the road for a brief road trip and we will be without DiPietro for the time being. Joey MacDonald was called up from Bridgeport to back up Dubie for the game tommorow night in Ottawa.

More news on DiPietro: DP had “tweaked” his knee in the warmup and attempted to give it his all in the first period, but later decided it would be best to sit the rest of the game out. Dubie stated during the interview that he saw Rick cringe a time or two and knew there would be the possibility of coming on cold. He said stopping the first shot “for once” was a big confidence booster and felt more and more comfortable as the game went on. DiPietro will be reevaluated tomorrow and no word on if he is will accompany the team to Ottawa.

Howdy Islanders Country - hopefully everyone is over their holiday hangovers, be it from food, alcohol, the in-laws or from overspending your budget of holiday gifts! I also hope everyone recieved everything they wanted or needed this year!

Obviously I was unable to post with everything that was going on, I had waited until the last minute to get most of my shopping done and I had a ton to do family wise - so I figured everyone would understand.

The Islanders take on the Leafs tonight at Nassau Coliseum, which should be an interesting game - as the Leafs have become somewhat of a rival since the playoff series and Blake having signed there. Tonight is the first time this season that the Leafs are in-town and it also marks the first return of Blake. Word around town is there will be a pre-game tribute to Jason, so be sure not to miss that - I know I will stand up and give him a clap for all his years of Islanders service.

The Islanders need to stick to their game plan and really work hard against a struggling Toronto team. They need to play sound defensively as the Leafs have a few dangerous forwards that could get them on the board early. They need to generate chances and drive to the net as the Leafs defense is missing a piece now that McCabe is out with a broken hand. Get bodies in front and screen the goalie - something the Islanders have done well the past two games.

You know Toronto will come out fired up, they always do - hopefully the Islanders have no problem matching intensity. Their intensity is always a concern of mine as it seems they shake a Magic 8 ball before they come out, looking for their level of intensity period by period. Hopefully this time it doesn’t say “Outlook not so good”, “Very doubtful” or “Don’t count on it”. If they need inspiration, just think back to the hammering the Leafs gave them at the start of the year……

I may or may not do a live blog from the game, it’s a pain to do from my phone and I tend to may more attention to that rather than the game.

Either way, I will keep you all updated and hopefully the Islanders come out victorious and continue their string of success.

First Period

7:35 PM It took the Islanders about 45 seconds to get on the board for a rare first period goal! Satan waited patiently and beat Sabourin glove side.

7:40 PM Sillinger is called for a penalty
7:42 PM Isles kill off the penalty to Sillinger
7:49 PM Comeau barely misses on his first NHL goal! He will get one tonight!
8:08 PM Laraque muscles his way around the net and dishes off to Roberts - Christensen bangs in the rebound.
8:10 PM Meyer takes a hooking (phantom) penalty

Second Period

My cousin Chris and I ran to 7-11 for beer and then waited upstairs for the wings to be delivered.

We saw the Pittsburgh goal and then Comeau feed Jackman to Hilbert!

8:56 PM Dee (7th Woman) is probably screaming - Bergenheim gets called for elbowing and then takes another 2 for arguing with the referee.

9:01 PM HUGGGEEEE penalty kill

Hopefully they take the momentum of killing that huge penalty into the third and come out playing like they have when not taking penalties. THAT is the key to the third - staying out of the box. The referees don’t need any extra reasons to call penalties against the Isles. They need to stick to their game and bring it to the Pens - they have outplayed them for the most part and need to keep the pressure on.

Third Period

9:25 PM Double minor on Kennedy for High Sticking my boy Campoli - BIG PP chance here
9:36 PM I TOLD YOU COMEAU WOULD SCORE!!!! WOOOOOO
9:37 PM HUNTER SCOORRRRESSSS!!!! Less than a minute later and its 4-2 Islanders!
9:47 PM Guerin takes a stupid lazy hooking penalty with under 5 to go

What a game! Satan, Hilbert, Comeau and Hunter all notch goals. Comeau had his first point, first goal and first game winning goal to make his first multipoint night of his NHL career! What a game by Comeau.

They hung in there and really stepped up when they needed to, would have been a superb performance if they did not take so many penalties. Can’t wait to hear Nolan’s reaction.

Ted Nolan has tried just about everything to get the offense going this season. He played d-man Aaron Jonhson at wing on the 4th line, mixed in Shawn Bates for the 2 games he was healthy, bounced Bergenheim around from the 4th line to the 2nd line, inserted Jackman, Bootland, Jackman, Tambellini and Comeau through call ups from Bridgeport and has now placed forward Richard Park on the first line with Guerin and Comrie.

Per Greg Logan’s latest blog entry, Nolan says this about Park:

“Richard has been probably our best forward all season long,” Nolan said at the pre-game skate. “Hopefully, he’ll provide a spark. He’s very good on his forechecking, very good defensively, and he’s smart. Maybe just a little tweak there will get those two guys going.”

If you know Richard Park, you know he is a work horse - he has no fear and will go hard into the corner and take the body to support the puck, something not many of our players are willing to do. He also has a nose for the net - much like another quick skater we had……named Jason Blake.

What are the other lines you ask? Greg goes on to talk about Nolan moving Fedotenko down to Hunter and Sillinger’s line because Tank has the size needed for the checking line, yet he can add more offensively than Hilbert. The Satan, Vasicek, Bergenheim remains intact while the new fourth line is now made up of Hilbert at the center of Bootland and Comeau.

Another interesting quote from Greg’s blog:

Nolan said his moves, which include keeping defenseman Freddy Meyer in the lineup and scratching Bryan Berard and Marc-Andre Bergeron, should send a clear message to the team about the need to start producing. “We had a meeting to address that fact,” Nolan said. “The players have to play at a certain level. If you’re not playing at that level, other people will move in. We move into a merit system. That’s life in general. If you produce, you get rewarded. If you don’t, someone else gets an opportunity. That’s the way I’ve coached my entire life, and that’s the way it’s going to be from here on in.”

It appears that Ted Nolan has almost lost whatever little patience he had remaining. He wants to hold players accountable for their poor play, which is how it should have been from day one. It has always been my opinion that a player shouldn’t be too comfortable, it’s one thing to be known as a players coach like Nolan has been - it is another when you tend to be too loyal to your players. I think Nolan is beginning to find an edge to his coaching style that wasn’t ever there before - tough love. In my opinion it is the perfect mixture and a quality that many of the most successful coaches in the game have had.

Hopefully the team will come out tonight and win 2 points for their coach and more importantly - their psyche.

It’s hard enough to pay attention to the latest news while you are supposed to be “working” - especially waiting to post the news about Simon’s suspension length. What I was not expecting to see today, was news on the Islanders first round selection in the 2006 draft (7th overall) Kyle Okposo and how he is on the verge of signing a contract with the big club.

When I first read about this breaking story, it was via the typical message boards - which brought me to a Gopher Hockey message board - Kyle O’s collegiate hockey team. At that point, everything had been purely speculation and I decided I should finish up the service call that I was on so I could head home. While sitting in traffic on Sunrise Highway, I checked Logan’s blog - the place you go to looking for official news before it is released, and noticed his latest post confirming what we had all hoped - contract negotiations are ongoing.

Okposo will be attending the Under-20 World Junior championships in the Czech Republic from Dec. 26-Jan. 5 representing Team USA and it will be decided then if he will be assigned to the Islanders AHL affiliate the Bridgeport Sound Tigers or the Everett Silvertips of the CHL which owns his Junior Rights. It always remains a possibility, that the 19-year old could jump right into the Islanders lineup that is in desperate need of a shake up - should there be a roster spot open.

Update #1:
Per the University of Minnesota Press Conference:

University of Minnesota sophomore Kyle Okposo has chosen to forgo the remainder of the 2007-08 season and his career with the Golden Gophers to sign a contract with the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League.

Okposo was the Islanders’ first-round draft choice and the seventh player taken overall in the 2006 entry draft. He is the eighth Minnesota player to leave college early for the professional ranks since the end of the 2005-06 season. Okposo is departing today for the Czech Republic as a member of the United States’ under-20 national team that is competing at the International Ice Hockey Federation world championships and will join the Islanders following the tournament.

“While I’m disappointed Kyle is leaving at this point of the season, his dream has been to play pro hockey,” Minnesota coach Don Lucia said. “It is unfortunate that the Islanders put him in a very difficult position. I think our team has made strides the last few weeks and I’m looking forward to the second half of the season.”

A St. Paul native who attended Shattuck St. Mary’s in Faribault, Minn., Okposo burst onto the collegiate scene last season with 19 goals and 21 assists in 40 games as a freshman. He earned second-team All-WCHA honors and was named to the league’s All-Rookie Team. Amid speculation that he would leave for the NHL after his freshman season, Okposo announced on June 6 that he would return to the Gophers.

Okposo had a slow start to the 2007-08 season with an eight-game scoreless streak after a three-point game in the season opener against Rensselaer. He scored points in six of the last nine games, totaling seven goals and four assists over the team’s first 18 games as Minnesota currently owns a 9-8-1 record.

All of this is a complete shock mind you, as Okposo said his focus (over the summer) was to spend another year in college. The Islanders were supportive of his decision and told him to take his time. Now, could the Gophers struggles this season and the upcoming World’s be on Kyle’s mind? One can assume that the temptation at turning pro and being an instant impact in the NHL could make any person second guess whatever decisions they previously made.

Should he make it to the Islanders lineup - what an awesome Christmas present that would be!

Update #2:

Per Islanders Insider:

Islanders fans, get ready: highly-touted prospect Kyle Okposo will be joining the Islanders family in the very near future.

The team’s 7th overall pick in the 2006 NHL draft – a tantalizing package of speed, power and grit – announced today that he is leaving the University of Minnesota in order to begin his professional hockey career.

The 6-1, 205-pound right wing will represent Team USA at the World Junior Championships before turning pro. That means a timetable of joining the Islanders organization as early as the first week in January.

But first off is the matter of a contract. Newyorkislanders.com has learned that Islanders general manager Garth Snow and Okposo’s representative Neil Sheehy are currently in negotiations on an entry-level deal for the talented wing.

“We’re extremely excited about the possibility of Kyle joining our organization soon,” said Snow. “He’s a great talent, one of the most exciting prospects in the game. Kyle has the dedication and character we want for our franchise.”

A recent scouting report from Islanders assistant general manager Ryan Jankowski to newyorkislanders.com included this: “Kyle’s ability to control the puck along the boards and play a power forward-style game will be a huge asset to the Islanders for a long time to come. He has a great future in our organization.”