The first Islanders chip has fallen. More on this to follow!

Per an Islanders release:

The New York Islanders have traded defenseman Andy Sutton to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for a second round draft pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

The pick was originally acquired by Ottawa along with Milan Michalek and Jonathan Cheechoo from San Jose in exchange for forward Dany Heatley and Ottawa’s fifth-round draft choice in 2010 on Sept. 12, 2009.

Sutton was signed by the Islanders on August 10, 2007 as a free agent and has played on Long Island over the past three seasons. Over the course, Sutton has played in 135 games for the Islanders, scoring seven goals and 23 assists. This year, Sutton totaled four goals and eight assists for 12 points in 54 games with the Islanders.

The Islanders have recalled defenseman Dustin Kohn from the team’s American Hockey league affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

No Comments »

Hey remember that guy that we would yell at for wandering out of the net, time after time after time? He wears number 39, he is quite athletic and loves to steal games for the Islanders?

We’re talkin’ bout Rick DiPietro folks, and he gets the start tonight in Dallas against the Stars.

Check out my latest post over at The Bleacher Report for more on this glorious day:

In a journey that started in a galaxy not far from our own, but in a time that seemed light years away, the Islanders franchise netminder—Rick DiPietro has finally reached the end of his road to recovery and is set as the starter tonight in Dallas.

If you have not been following along, in early December DiPietro was assigned to the Islanders AHL affiliate Bridgeport Soundtigers for a conditioning stint. DiPietro was to play in an unspecified amount of games, but would not play a complete game during his brief stay in Connecticut. Instead, DiPietro would start in one—and only play two periods, he cited “tightness” as a concern after the game and was sidelined once again.

The team erred on the side of caution and shuffled DiPietro to several Doctor’s for help. Claiming the problem was corrected, DiPietro was again cleared for practice and under cloak and dagger type secrecy, was shuttled to the Soundtigers once again for a conditioning stint. This go around in the AHL, DiPietro would play in two complete games and suffer losses in both making his conditioning record 1-2-0 with a 3.31 GAA and .883 save percentage. Read the full article HERE

No Comments »

Just wanted to spend a few minutes ahead of tonight’s tilt with the Boston Bruins to get some thoughts down about what’s in store for the team and what has happened the last few games.

If you caught my USTREAM video thoughts, my biggest concerns for the team are Scoring, Toughness and Defense. Not that they are in any particular order, but toughness is a big issue for me.

For one, the one on one battles for the puck just never seem to go well for the team. It’s not that all the forwards are small-ish or cannot get the job done, it’s just that every other team seems to be larger and stronger. Chalk it up to a young team in a rebuild I guess. Fortunately for the Islanders, they have Jesse Joensuu at their beck and call down in Bridgeport. I loved what I saw out of Joensuu last season during his time with the Islanders because I felt he was a true power forward that the Islanders have sorely missed (not a knock on Okposo mind you).

When I saw Joensuu play down in Bridgeport’s win last weekend at Harbor Yard, I knew it would only be a matter of time before we saw him again. Joensuu had three points on the night (1 goal and 2 assists) and just seemed to be involved in every single play. Maybe I wasn’t the only one who noticed these positives about his game, because he was recalled earlier this week by the Islanders and will be on a line with Shremp and Comeau per reports from practice.

Last week, Chris Botta pointed out on his blog some reports about Josh Bailey and how the Islanders appeared to be “turning him into a third-liner”. For reasons that seem to be genuine, Bailey has been moved to left wing next to Thompson and Park. Scott Gordon claims this is to help Bailey round out his game and ensure he can win battles along the wall, hopefully it is something temporary and doesn’t do too much damage to the young players confidence.

The Islanders have lost the last few games, but have shown the same glimpses that the team understands what they are supposed to do to succeed. Their forecheck has been outstanding at times and teams go through fits establishing opposing pressure at times – that is until there are defensive lapses. The Islanders defensive corps are thin, and makes you really value injured players like Radek Martinek and Andy Sutton for what they add to the team. It also drives home the point that if any moves are made here after the Holiday’s – it MUST be a defenseman. Scoring will also help, but unless the Islanders are willing to sacrifice some of their youth or prospects – the return won’t be a game changer. Either way, there are glaring holes in the roster right now, especially when your last first round pick, taken first overall – has your last five goals scored.

I will be heading out to the Coliseum shortly, when I arrive and set up I will be doing a LIVE USTREAM broadcast which should be fun! Be sure to check back around game time for the links and embedded video!

No Comments »

Well here we are, three home games and six games overall remaining in the race for Tavares last stretch of the season. Tampa, having only six points on the Islanders before last night, lost in overtime to the Devils and gained a point in the standings – giving us a seven point cushion. It is certainly imperative that we do not win tonight as the Lightning have a pretty tough schedule to finish out their season. I am sorry to say that (about gaining very few points from here on out) and I know I will continue to catch hell for it, I just feel it’s more important than a feel good win at this juncture. The other team to watch (and root for) is the Colorado Avalanche who have not won many games in the year 2009. Colorado has 64 points, they are more of a threat to the Isles than Tampa and also have a tough schedule for their remaining games – it will be a tight three-way race for the 30th overall position in the NHL this season.

The Lightning have come to town without their scoring prowess and captain in Vincent Lecavalier, the Islanders are another team with a ridiculous amount of many injuries and have recalled five from the Bridgeport Sound Tigers for tonight’s game. In the latest string of injuries, Mark Streit and Kyle Okposo each suffered groin injuries, Dean MacAmmond is out with what is described as “an illness” and Andy Hilbert suffered a rib injury against Montreal on Thursday. Taking their places – Mitch Fritz, Mike Iggulden, Jesse Joensuu and Joel Rechlicz and defenseman Jamie Fraser. Here is the official Islanders press release that came into my inbox about 40 minutes ago:

The New York Islanders have recalled forwards Mitch Fritz, Mike Iggulden, Jesse Joensuu and Joel Rechlicz and defenseman Jamie Fraser from the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis. All five will be in the Islanders’ lineup tonight when they take the ice against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Fraser will make his NHL debut, marking the 12th Islander to appear in his first career game this season. The 23-year-old Sarnia native has played in 63 games with Bridgeport this season, recording seven goals and 13 assists for 20 points and 28 penalty minutes. He also ranks fourth on the team with a +12 plus/minus rating. Fraser was signed by the Islanders as an undrafted free agent on December 30, 2006.

Fritz, Joensuu and Rechlicz all made their NHL debuts earlier this season. Iggulden had appeared in one game prior to 2008-09, but made his debut as an Islander on March 7th against New Jersey.

Fritz has played in 16 games with the Islanders, recording 33 penalty minutes. In 36 contests with Bridgeport, he has two assists and 58 penalty minutes. He made his NHL debut on October 30th at Philadelphia.

Iggulden has appeared in nine games with the Islanders, recording one goal and four assists for five points. He currently leads Bridgeport with 60 points (23 goals, 37 assists) in 69 contests this season.

Joensuu has played in four games with the Islanders, scoring his first NHL goal in his first game on March 2nd versus Colorado. In 68 games with Bridgeport, he has 19 goals and 17 assists for 36 points and a team-leading +21 rating.

Rechlicz made his NHL debut on March 5th versus the New York Rangers and recorded an assist for his first point. He has appeared in 12 games with the Islanders, recording 44 penalty minutes. He has also played in four games with Bridgeport recording 12 penalty minutes in addition to playing in 45 games with the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL recording one assist and 110 penalty minutes.

Some stats per Newsday’s Greg Logan on the debute of Jamie Fraser: “After a recount and the addition of Fraser, the accurate numbers are 12 players making their NHL debuts and 16 rookies who have played [this season.]”

Twelve players making their NHL DEBUT and 16 rookies total suiting up for the Islanders? When Garth Snow proclaimed over the summer that this was the chance to see what prospects the team had in their system, I really doubt he had this in mind. Injuries aside, do you feel that this years Islanders team could have done something different if their actual team was able to grow and learn under the tutelage of Scott Gordon?

I don’t think it would have made much of a difference, it could have meant that we would have seen more veteran players shipped out in order to make room for prospects down the stretch. Sure, the team would have been able to gel a bit and learn the system and build chemistry, but I did not see them getting farther than the 8th seed and a early playoff exit. At least now that the injury situation has “happened”, the team will bear the fruits of an extremely deep and important draft – perhaps one of the most important in franchise history.

This is a saga that will be extremely interesting to see how it plays out and tonight’s episode is certainly a key juncture in what happens at the upcoming draft lottery.

Live Tracker

Here is the live tracker for tonight’s game, I will be bouncing around the Coliseum as always. Be sure to follow me on Twitter for updates or the occasional photo.

1 Comment »

Out with the old – in with the, well – Sound Tigers?

Having traded veteran Bill Guerin yesterday during the trade deadline, coupled with the fact that Brendan Witt is still serving his suspension, Nate Thompson not ready, Trent Hunter not ready and Thomas Pock also not ready – the Islanders have recalled four players from the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

Forward Jesse Joensuu who scored in his first NHL game on Monday gets another go, while forward Joel Rechlicz gets his first call up of the season. Defensemen Joe Callahan who has been impressive while up with the big club and Andrew MacDonald another impressive young d-man also get the call. So while the Islanders did not make too many trades yesterday – it sure might feel that way with so many new faces in the locker room tonight.

Here is the official press release:

The New York Islanders have recalled forwards Jesse Joensuu and Joel Rechlicz and defensemen Joe Callahan and Andrew MacDonald from the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis.

Joensuu (YOH-ehn-soo) made his NHL debut on Monday night against Colorado and scored his first career NHL goal on his first shot. In 56 games with Bridgeport this season, he has recorded 17 goals and 14 assists to rank fifth on the team with 31 points. Joensuu was drafted by the Islanders in the second round (60th overall) of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

Rechlicz (REHK-lihj) has split time between Bridgeport (AHL) and Utah (ECHL) this season. He has seven penalty minutes in three games with Bridgeport and one assist to go along with 110 penalty minutes in 45 games with Utah. Rechlicz was signed by the Islanders as a free agent on May 6, 2008.

Callahan has one assist and a +2 rating in 13 games with the Islanders this season. In 42 games with Bridgeport, he has scored three goals and added six assists for nine points. Callahan was signed by the Islanders as a free agent on July 8, 2008.

MacDonald made his NHL debut on February 28th against Buffalo and has a +2 rating in two games. In 52 games with Bridgeport this season, he has six goals and 13 assists to lead all Sound Tigers’ defensemen with 19 points. He also represented the Sound Tigers in the AHL All-Star game as a member of Team Canada this season. MacDonald was drafted by the Islanders in the sixth round (160th overall) of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

2 Comments »

No, that is not a misprint. It seems that the Islanders have encountered one of the best festivals in sunny Tampa this weekend. It’s called the Gasparilla festival and it involves pirates, pirate ships, pirate wenches, beer, liquor and all things associated with such. Think of it of a Las Vegas or New Orleans environment – but on the water in a beach town setting.

If you think it is all fun and games, clear it is not if you are a visiting NHL club looking for some rest before a game. If you happened to catch Corey Witt’s blog from earlier today – the team was woken up by canons firing and boat horns blaring. He also talks about an elevator ride with a pirate and two of his lasses. Hopefully they boys do not drink before a game, it’s bad enough they get injured without being hung over or intoxicated. Unlike our Islanders team and media guys – I got to sleep in and only woke up because I was hot, being it’s about 50 degrees here today and my heat was set a bit too high.

Moving on to the hockey side of this post – a quick recap of the past few games.

Islanders vs Lighting: Win at Home 3-1

The last time that Tampa and the Islanders played was on Tuesday – think of tonight’s game as a delayed home and home. The Islanders did well against the Bolts, scoring three goals in just over three minutes and chasing rookie netminder Kari Ramo. We would see goals by Mark Streit, Trent Hunter and a player who had not scored in over two seasons – Radek Martinek. Martinek’s goal was just as strange feeling as when Brendan Witt scores his annual goal – a feat he has yet to accomplish this season, but has come awfully close. For the third straight game, Yann Danis would carry a shutout into the third period only to lose it late in the game, it’s not really the biggest deal because he has been playing very well – but it would be nice to see him get the no-no. The Islanders would win the game 3-1, but would lose their go-to defenseman in Mark Streit – whom at that point was one of only three Islanders to play in every game the entire season. Streit injured his shoulder during the second period in a collision and Tomas Pock was lost for four weeks after injuring his hand. While Okposo did not score and we saw his goal streak snapped, he did pick up and assist and extended his point streak to five games (5g, 1a). The kids continue to shine.

I wanted to give this next bit a paragraph all to itself because I felt it was really important. In the first period Tim Jackman went hard to the net and collided with Ramo whom fell over as if he was shot. Of all people to stand up and challenge Jackman – Vincent Lecavalier tried to fire his team up by dropping the gloves. The fight wasn’t really much to speak about, but it left me feeling conflicted – apparently Jacko as well. I didn’t get the chance to speak to him after the game, but it was clear he showed respect (and restraint) by not really pummeling him as he is capable of. It’s one thing when it’s two enforcers duking it out, it become something else entirely when it’s you are fighting one of the leagues superstars. Do you really risk injuring the player or do you just wrestle and throw a few punches as they wound up doing.

You can see the fight as always on Hockey Fights, but here is the youtube clip:

Islanders vs Panthers: Loss on Road 3-2

The trip out to the sunshine state usually involves the fathers making the trip with their sons, this year is no different it’s just unfortunate that they opened their little road trip on a loss. The Islanders would elect to start Joey MacDonald whom returned from a groin injury suffered on January 13th and also feature two call up defenseman in Jack Hillen and Joe Callahan. They would look to extend their win streak to a season high five games and a point streak to six games.

The Panthers are another team that the Islanders have faced recently, the Cats were in town on 1/31 and the Islanders walked all over them in a 3-1 win. The game on Thursday started a little later than we are used to, even though it was only a half hour later – I still didn’t manage to stay up for the entire contest. From what I did see, I saw the Islanders struggle against a team that looks much better when David Booth is in the lineup. I am sure Nate Thompson feels the same way – Thompson took a big open ice hit from Booth and immediately left the ice in pain. We would later find out that he injured his shoulder and would miss some time. The Panthers took an early lead, going up two goals before the end of the first period on goals by their defensemen – Jay Bouwmeester and Karlis Skrastins (Scratch and Sniff).

The Islanders would get on the board in the second period on a power play goal by Josh Bailey. Bailey had gone 11 games without a goal, but would get his second of the season on a nice feed from Nielsen and fire it past Florida goaltender Tomas Vokoun low glove side. The one goal deficit would be short lived however, as ex-Isle Richard Zednik would beat Martinek along the boards and dance to the middle of the ice and OVER a sprawled out Brendan Witt, while mid air he was able to deposit the puck through MacDonald’s pads to give the Cats their second two goal lead of the game. The goal was highlight worthy, and those plays are kind of hard to be mad at – see for yourself:

Armed with another power play, the Islanders would strike again – this time Trent Hunter would find himself all alone in front of Vokoun and again make it a one goal game. On the face off that lead to the goal, Josh Bailey would lose the draw but out of desperation dive forward and chip the puck out to Hunter who would deposit it backhand past Vokoun. Hunters goal gives him points in four straight games (3g, 1a) and also Bailey his second point of the night. It was Bailey’s third time this season with a two-point game and he now has 2 goals and 13 assists for 15 points in 37 games.

I missed a majority of the third period because I fell asleep, but I saw the Islanders make a last ditch effort to get the equalizer with MacDonald pulled. It was exciting to wake up and see some good hockey – but they were unable to score. It snapped their win streak – but I was ok with the effort I saw after the first period and happy with the play of the young players again.

Tonight’s Tampa Re-Match

Tonight should prove to be a fun contest to watch as you know the Lightning will come out with intensity looking for revenge against the Isles for their performance last week. The Bolts are not too far removed from the tight Eastern Conference playoff picture should they string together a group of wins – they need tonight’s two points a lot more then the Islanders do.

Greg Logan reports in his blog today that Sean Bergenheim will replace the injured Nate Thompson – which sort of confuses me a bit. It was said in all the games that Bergy was scratched he was out with an injured “side” – to me it just seems per Logan’s blog that he was more of a healthy scratch. Whatever the case, Bergenheim, does possess more of a scoring touch than Thompson but is not a centerman – so there will need to be some line juggling. MacDonald didn’t play too bad on Thursday – but coming off an injury will the team decide to give him a rest and go with Danis tonight?

I am still really conflicted with this team – which sounds confusing. As a fan, I have accepted the fact that this team really won’t amount to anything come playoff time – I know they won’t even be close. They also had a horrible stretch of hockey that only saw them win maybe two or three games through December and much of January. It was nice to see a nice little stretch of wins – especially at home because it gives us a look at the kids progressing nicely and how they will help in the future. This is where I get conflicted, I want them to finish dead last in the league with the fewest points as I want them to have the best shot at either Tavares or Hedman. If this team finishes with the fewest amount of points, the lowest we can pick is number two – because we cannot move down any more than one position should we wind up not picking first due to the lottery. There will still be great players available in the top six picks, but this team needs someone who will sell tickets and give hope to a fan base dealing with politicians who are balking and stalling on a decision regarding a new arena and rumors that the team will be sold and/or moved.

It’s a rough time to be a fan of the Islanders for sure, but it’s sadly an exciting time in a way.

2 Comments »