Keeping up with the rumor theme, Sean Avery - now of the Dallas Stars thanks to his 4-year $15.5-Million dollar deal, has never really been the kindest player to the New York Islanders. He has “allegedly” headhunted DiPietro after a concussion, he has spit water at the Ice Girls, speared Brendan Witt, and mouthed off among other cheap shots during the course of his time with the Rangers. This parting shot, sort of makes me chuckle a little bit though and makes me wonder how much he must have been annoyed that the Islanders never even called him.

In an interview with the National Post, Avery claims the Islanders should have reached out to him with an offer for his “services”. It seems someone is a little bitter about being taken away from The Big Apple and the Fashion District.

Avery touched upon high fashion, Russian bathtubs, break-up speeches and a love for New York’s Lower East Side. He was saying goodbye, but not farewell, to Manhattan after signing a four-year US$15.5-million deal with the Stars. In parting, Avery’s most inflammatory barb was a muted blast at the Rangers’ archrivals in New York.

“If they were smart,” Avery said of the Islanders. “They probably would have tried to sign me.”

The Islanders did not even bid for Avery’s services, and the Rangers backed away from the big money the super-pest was going to bring on the open market, despite the fact the team was 33-14-10 with him in the lineup last season and 9-13-3 without.

“I am sitting in a Russian bathtub in the Lower East Side right now,” Avery said. “I spent about a year and a half in New York, and I think it is always a place I am going to come back to live. It’s home.”

Sean, that’s what happens when you wear out your welcome somewhere - you don’t get re-signed or offered a contract by the other local teams. He also fails to mention that Islander management DESPISES him as a player. Oh well - such is life, at least he gave me something else to write about tonight.

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I know this is short notice, but the guys over at Hockey Night on Long Island asked me to come on the show this afternoon to discuss the upcoming free agency period.

Check out the show, which is on in about a half hour.

I will post a link to the archive once it is posted.

Should be a great show.

Show is up in the archive, here it is!

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Earlier today, Islanders GM Garth Snow spoke to XM Satellite Radio’s NHL Live with hosts Don La Greca and EJ Hradek. Garth spoke about topics such as Kirill Petrov, the Yashin rumors, McCabe rumors, and the upcoming free agency frenzy period.

The best part of the whole interview? Aside from laughing at the Yashin “rumor”, Garth proclaims that he feels Petrov would be able to make the team next year and will do everything in his power to get him over here “As soon as possible”. Does this mean that Wang is giving the go ahead on another Malkin-esque “Great Escape“? One never knows, but I know Snow would look like a genius taking Petrov with a third rounder should he get him to North America earlier than speculated.

You can listen to the interview in the player below, or by checking out the article on the Islanders website.

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Continuing here at the airport closing up some loose ends, here are the links to the show archives for both the Islesnation interview on Friday and from Hockey Night on Long Island from last night.

Islesnation Talk Show from Friday 6/20:

Hockey Night on Long Island from Saturday 6/21:

Once again, a big thank you to Steve and Tony from Islesnation and to Alex from HNLI for having us on their draft special shows!

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Good afternoon Islesnation!

Tom Liodice of The Tiger Track and I are sitting at the airport in Ottawa (really early for our flight I might add) and eager to get back home. We have a connection in Montreal before we reach home base in New York, so it’s going to be a long afternoon.

The Islanders today released a press release on the XM Satellite show comments proclaiming them the draft winners. The press release is complete with links to listen to sound clips. Check it out:

On Saturday afternoon, XM Radio claimed the Islanders as one the 2008 NHL Entry Draft’s big winners. By trading down and stocking up on draft picks to grab Josh Bailey, the Islanders were able to draft second-day steals like Aaron Ness, Jyri Niemi, Kirill Petrov and David Toews amongst others.

To listen to a portion of the clip, click here.

XM Radio was most impressed by the way Islanders GM Garth Snow traded down to acquire extra picks while still drafting the player they targeted from the beginning. The show went onto say that this enabled the team to take a chance on Petrov, who was the second ranked European skater in the draft, but fell because of his contract status in Russia.

Said one of the show’s hosts: “What goes un-noticed is by moving back down twice and picking up three extra picks in the first three rounds [the Islanders] were then able to take a complete flyer on [Petrov], who was a top-10 talent at No. 73.”

To listen to a portion of the clip, click here.

So Ladies and Gents, there is your proof that not everyone out there feels that the Islanders did a horrible thing trading down and getting a bunch of great picks in the second round of the draft.

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Just got word that “The Hockey News” show on XM Radio was summarizing this years draft and who made good picks. The host of the show proclaimed that the New York Islanders were far and away winners by trading for extra picks and drafting as many top level picks as they have.

The fan perception that the Islanders made mistakes in trading down twice in the first round, is clearly not held by the media here in Ottawa. Everyone we have come in contact with has loved the bevy of picks the Islanders made. Everyone speaks VERY highly of Bailey, with one person saying “Bailey is likely the smartest hockey player of the draft, has some of the best vision and could be at the very least a second line center, maybe even a first liner.” If paired with Okposo (as some suspect), the Islanders could have quite the 1,2 punch on the first line for years to come.

I hear that even the guys on NHL network complimented the scouting and drafting of the Islanders as well - now only if we can convince the fans that this draft was NOT a bust.

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