It’s been a slow hockey week in regards to the New York Islanders. There hasn’t really been too much to recap that hasn’t been spoken about elsewhere already. I have not forgotten about the site, I’ve just been using the downtime to relax and catch up on some “house cleaning”.

If you haven’t notced already, the comment area of the site may look a bit different. I have never been happy with the format honestly, I was just too caught up in other things to bother changing it. The biggest change is the addition of Gravatars.

What is a gravatar?

A gravatar, or globally recognized avatar, is quite simply an image that follows you from site to site appearing beside your name when you do things. Avatars help identify your posts on blogs and web forums, so why not on any site?

How do I get a gravatar?

Signing up for a Gravatar.com account is FREE, and all that’s required is your email address. Once you’ve signed up you can upload your avatar image and soon after you’ll start seeing it on gravatar enabled sites!

Obviously to make your image show up, you need to be registered, but the benefit is that it follows you around the web which is a plus. The only caveat is that you comment with the same email address that you register your avatar with – otherwise my default Isles logo will show up for every poster without a gravatar of their own.

I also made several smaller changes. The poster’s name was always after the time and date stamp. I corrected it and gave the author name it’s own line. I then changed the date format to the correct region – it’s a pet peeve of mine. I have some other plans for the site this week and I think I finally nailed down the gallery issue too.

Check out the new comment features and give them a whirl!

I should have two large posts up in the near future, one of which I have reserved for Lighthouse Hockey. Just a reminder too, Islesblogger will be live from Montreal for this years Entry Draft!!

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For once this season, the Islanders biggest victory did not occur on the ice. It happened in a borrowed lottery ball machine courtesy of the New York Lottery (perhaps even a permanent loan at this juncture) and came in the form of one of their lottery balls being sucked to the top of the device.

It never ceases to amaze me honestly, I have witnessed a bunch of great things in Islanders history – but this pick is one of the most important aspects in recent times. Looking back at the past first round picks, the Isles have had three other first overall selections:

2000: Rick DiPietro
1973: Dennis Potvin
1972: Billy Harris

With the first overall selection, the clear cut choices are either John Tavares or Victor Hedman – but like I have posted before, anything can happen now that Garth said he will look into all options. With a little bit of hope (now that the Hockey Gods smiled down on us tonight) having the number one pick will dissuade Snow from moving the pick and choosing whomever he wants (TAVARES…).

This is one hyped up fan, I cannot wait to hear what happens during the conference call at 9pm.

Stay tuned for updates and other blog reactions!

Islanders outsider has a live blog

Isles Official Outlook goes berserk as usual (I kid Doug)

Chris Botta claims Garth is now on the clock and should make an announcement already.

Ken Dick over at Okposo Net keeps his short and sweet.

Voice of the Islander Fans is rejoicing, as we all should.

Press Conference

Greg Logan opened up the questioning and peppered Garth with a series of questions. Greg asked Garth – how he felt upon the announcement:

“I had a huge smile, it was a really great moment for both the franchise and the fans. It’s going to be a great day in June”

Greg asked if Garth felt this pick would be a game changer:

“Yes, we are going to get a great player. We will have numerous meetings between now and June to discuss who we should select. I am sure we will have plenty of arguments, but we will go through the process diligently and thorough to make sure we pick the best player”

If you couldn’t tell from Garth’s answers at this point, it was clear that he was not going to give any hint towards the direction he was leaning. I could continue this whole recap but Botta already beat me to the punch (hey, my Fiance called from work – lol)

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Just a little inside scoop for everyone!

Islanders owner Charles Wang will appear on the Boomer and Carton show which airs on WFAN (660am) tomorrow morning at 9:05am to discuss the Lighthouse Project. Boomer is a great interviewer and has spoken to Charles about the Lighthouse project once before earlier this season. My guess is that Boomer won’t stop at the Lighthouse, being the interview takes place the day after one of the most important draft lotteries in recent Islanders history!

Listen to the Boomer and Carton show on WFAN 660 at 9:05 a.m. tomorrow (April 15) to hear Lighthouse principal Charles Wang talk with Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton.

The day after the draft lottery will be an interesting time for the Islanders owner to discuss the future of the team and the Lighthouse project. Tune in for the update.

The interview, like all of Boomer and Carton’s shows, will be streaming live at http://www.wfan.com/. Look for the ‘listen here’ link.

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I tried to get this out a bit sooner, but by now it’s all over the web.

The Islanders have assigned forward Kyle Okposo and defenseman Jack Hillen to their AHL affiliate Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Hillen was on the clear day roster set a few weeks back, and according to Tom Liodice from The Tiger Track, Okposo was he was “in residence” and fit into the roster due to numerous injuries. In any case, Bridgeport’s playoff roster just got that much deeper.

I will touch on this more a little later when I get home from work. Here is the official release:

The New York Islanders have announced today that right wing Kyle Okposo and defenseman Jack Hillen have been reassigned to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the American Hockey League. Both players are scheduled to be in the line-up for the Sound Tigers this weekend when they open up their East Division semifinal series at the Nassau Coliseum versus the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins. Game One is this Friday night, April 17th at 7:30 PM with Game Two scheduled for Saturday, April 18th at 7:00 PM. Tickets are currently on sale for both games at www.NewYorkIslanders.com.

Okposo played in 65 games for the Islanders this season and scored 18 goals with 21 assists for 39 points. He led all Islanders rookies and finished second on the team overall in scoring and led the team in goals scored. Okposo suited up in 35 games for the Sound Tigers in the 2007-08 season when he made his professional hockey debut and scored nine goals with 19 assists for 28 points. He was drafted in the first round, seventh overall, by the Islanders in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.
Hillen played in 40 games for the Islanders this season scoring one goal with five assists for six points. He also played in 33 games for Bridgeport and scored three goals with 13 assists for 16 points. Hillen led all Sound Tigers defensemen in points per game with an average of 0.52. He was signed by the Islanders has an undrafted free agent on April 1, 2008.

In addition to logging onto www.NewYorkIslanders.com, tickets can also be purchased at the Islanders Team Stores at the Broadway Mall in Hicksville and the Westfield Sunrise Mall in Massapequa, the Nassau Coliseum Box Office, or by calling 1.800.882.ISLES, ext. 1. Ticket prices will range accordingly: $29 for lower VIP center seats, $19 for lower VIP corner and lower VIP end zone seats and $15 for upper bowl 300 level seats.

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Well folks it’s that time of year again, its time for the Draft Lottery! This is the second year in a row with the potential to pick a franchise player, we know Garth opted to trade down (twice) last year to get Bailey – he seems to be posturing to do something similar this time around – to the dismay of many.

For a taste of the “live action” from last year, check out the post I did on the lottery during the Versus broadcast. It will give you a feel for how they run things (or give you an idea on what changed).

The Islanders finished dead last this year, giving them the best chance at the number one overall or the second overall. They held onto the fifth overall last season and could have drafted Nikota Filatov – the caliber of player this time around is MUCH different. Two of the most talked about players are John Tavares (a true Canadian sniper hyped since the age of 15) and Victor Hedman (a big Sweede who’s a franchise d-man). With each of those players there is no guesswork, they will pan out and make their teams better – many scouts seems to agree on this fact too.

Edit 7:53pm

We have a live thread going on over at Lighthouse Hockey: Draft Lottery – come on by and check it out!

In the past few days both Chris Botta and Greg Logan have put out posts and articles claiming Garth Snow will listen to all offers for his coveted pick.

In the end I am sure the Islanders will come away with a great player and the correct decision will be made. At least tonight we will know one thing; which pick the Hockey Gods want us to have.

Dom and I will will have live coverage tonight over at Lighthouse Hockey so be sure to check that out!

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Here’s something new and exciting. Tom Liodice and I are enroute to The Arena at Harbor Yard to catch the Bridgeport Sound Tigers take on the Springfield Falcons.

I have never been up to Bridgeport before, but I have seen the Sound Tigers a bunch – either way it will be a fun experience seeing them from the press box.

My seatmate in 309 – Anthony from Brooklyn – claims the food there is outstanding. Good thing I brought my appetite!

I am going to do my best at blogging during the game – but check out Tom’s live blog as he does it best.

More from the road – a route MANY of the players in the Islanders system have seen a bunch this season.

Update: 6:11pm

Ok, so road updates were pretty much pointless, unless you wanted to know about accidents and traffic on 95. However, Tom and I are now nestled comfortably in the press box here at the Arena at Harbor Yard.

My first impression of the arena was “Wow”. Although smallish, the place is brand spanking new and looks really nice (you know for an AHL arena I guess). I don’t really have anything to compare it to – just to be honest.

Upon arriving, I went and got my media pass and a USB thumb drive containing the game notes and media kit. At the Coliseum, you know – an NHL arena, the game notes are handed out in a very, very thick booklet. They should totally do what they do here for the BST.

As you can see from the picture above, the press box isn’t nearly as high as it would be normally in other arenas – the arena only has one lower bowl and then a level of skyboxes. We are located at the top of the seating area – which would be just a tad higher then where the blog box is located at the Coliseum. The view is really good from here – you still feel as if you are part of the action, although I am having a problem seeing the names on the back of the jerseys. Oh well, that’s what the numbers are for.

Gametime

About to see the Tigers skate out of a gigantic inflatable here – if anyone wants to know where the Islanders introduction video featuring players on a pirate ship went – it’s alive and well in Bridgeport.

Puck has been dropped here, Ryan Duncan is out on the ice for the Sound Tigers – apparently this kid is very talented, despite his listed size of 5′6″.

Sound Tigers get on the board first – Haley from Hennigar. The arena does something nice here, after a home team goal the house lights dim and they have a spotlight on the goalscorer. It was a really nice touch. The goal song – I have to add, is MUCH better than that of the Islanders. There is also something special about a tiger’s growl that does something for the soul.

Watching these future Islanders skate around here – something just occurred to me; this team is GOOD, no – GREAT! It makes you realize that the systems put into place on the Island and here in Bridgeport are really coming into their own. What’s important, at least in my eyes – is how you can plug players into the NHL lineup with relative ease (as we have seen, what – 1000 times?). I think all of the injures the Sound Tigers parent club suffered this year certainly jump started the rebuild process in a way.

7:28pm Tigers were shorthanded, but then Springfield took an offensive zone penalty to even it up, however, Lawson took a retaliatory and the Tigers still find themselves down a man.

7:35pm Lawson just did his best DiPietro impression and got caught out of position due to chasing down a loose puck – the game is all tied up at one a piece.

7:39pm Tigers power play coming up.

End of the first period and the score is still all knotted up at one. It’s been a while since I have seen an AHL game and it’s quite different. The pace is a lot slower than I am used to and it makes it seem like the players have an extra second to make a decision with the puck. It’s evident why players like Tambellini would really flourish here and have a problem adjusting to the NHL.

More after the break. Going to watch Tom do a radio spot.

Second Period

Second period underway here as the teams switch sides – the Tigers have been dominant at times, let’s see if they can keep sustained pressure on the Falcons this period and get the go-ahead goal.

8:04pm Sound Tigers headed back to the power play.

That was quick, Jon Sim pots a rebound in for a power play goal. Sim (16th of the season) from Lee and Iggulden.

8:06pm As I was typing, the Tigers scored again – 3-1 is the score. Lassard from Joensuu and Walter.

8:11pm Tigers shorthanded here – hooking.

And just like that, Springfield fires back and scores on the power play. 3-2 Bridgeport

8:13pm Even though I said I wasn’t going to “live blog” – Bridgeport is headed back on the power play.

8:18pm Abbreviated Bridgeport two man advantage here, which ends right now. Still a man up.

8:20pm Even though the Sound Tigers did not score on either of those power plays, there were TWO golden opportunities lost. The first was a redirection that hit the far side post after it trickled through the crease. The second, a chance on the doorstep that was misfired. Still have good pressure on Springfield at even strength.

8:27pm Callahan with speed breaks through – everyone and from behind the net throw it through traffic to Joensuu who promptly puts it in. Joensuu (20th) from Calahan

4-2 Sound Tigers

8:32pm Clearly the Falcons are playing on their heels as they have taken yet another penalty. Holding.

Well, there was a goal – but this time Springfield has converted on a shorthanded goal after Macdonald lost control of the puck at the Falcons blue line. It was a two on one going back and the perfect pass left Lawson pretty much helpless. 4-3

8:35pm One minute warning – final minute of the period.

Springfield almost stormed back to tie the game – they came close to scoring another shorthanded goal on the same Bridgeport power play. Springfield must have had some talking to by their bench boss, as they certainly responded after taking their latest penalty.

More after the break, going to try to get something to eat quick.

Third Period

Tom and I scoffed down two foot long hotdogs in record time – just to get back to the live action. I will touch on the concourse here in a second.

We are back underway. We were just handed an official attendance report for the evening – 3322 people are present on this rainy Friday – I believe this to be around 1200 less than the typical average for a game if my memory of the game notes is correct.

Back to the concourse – it’s a big difference from what we are used to at the Coliseum. Yes, there are less people – but it’s 50% wider than the old barn. Ingress and egress as well as general movement is a lot easier.

9:03pm Bridgeport is headed back to the power play, maybe this time they wont give up a shorthanded goal?

9:11pm Sound Tigers have taken another penalty, Springfield had pretty good pressure for a good part of the first half of this period too – going to be interesting.

9:19pm As the clock is under the five minute mark in the third period, both teams are playing a bit differently then they were before. Not much real pressure at each end, although there have been a few decent shots – not many scoring chances.

Final minute, empty net Springfield.

Time out Springfield – :37.6 remaining in the third period.

And that’s the game! Final score Bridgeport Soundtigers 4 Springfield Falcons 3

3rd Star: Nathan Lawson BST
2nd Star: Ryan Potulny SF
1st: Jesse Joensuu BST

At least two of the players I voted for were chosen! First time I ever picked the three stars of the game.

Gonna head downstairs tonight for the post game.

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