As if heading up to Ottawa for the grand daddy of all things hockey isn’t enough excitement, both Tom Liodice of The Tiger Track and I will be making numerous media appearances this weekend. Here is what we have confirmed so far (we will update times and links when and if necessary).

Friday Morning: Islanders TV interview/blog. Time: TBD You should be able to view it sometime tomorrow night!

Friday Afternoon/Evening: Tom and I will be talking to Steve and Tony from Islesnation on their internet radio show broadcast live from the Draft Party at the Coliseum. Time: TBD

Saturday Afternoon/Evening: Tom and I are scheduled for a special Draft-Weekend-Edition of Hockey Night on Long Island. The show starts at 3:30pm EST, and I believe we’ll be on right at the top of the show.

Be sure to visit both sites and call in with your questions! If anything else gets added to our schedule we will be sure to update everyone on the latest!

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Tom Liodice of The Tiger Track and Michael Schuerlein of Islesblogger.com are proud to announce that they will be attending the 2008 NHL Draft in Ottawa, Canada. This year’s draft takes place on Friday June 20th and Saturday June 21st at Scotia Bank Place – home of the Ottawa Senators.

Tom and Michael had spoken to each other about attending this year’s draft during downtime at the Coliseum at the draft deadline in February. Chris Botta, then the Islanders VP of Media Relations, when approached liked the idea and began working on securing the credentials. In an unexpected turn of events, Botta resigned on May 6th, leaving both Tom and Michael unsure whether they should follow through with their idea. After discussing things a bit further, they decided to push forward and asked Corey Witt, the Islanders Media Relations Coordinator, to continue where Botta left off.

Just one week after asking Witt to continue the process, he delivered the great news - the NHL approved credentials for the pair. Rushing to book flights and a hotel for their first “road trip”, Tom and Michael are excited for this opportunity to bring Islanders fans a behind the scenes glimpse of what it’s like at the draft. Tom will be live blogging and shooting video and Michael will be live blogging and taking pictures of the event. You can expect the pair to provide up to the minute updates of whatever is happening involving the Islanders, be it trades, draft choices or general Islanders talk around the event.

Stay tuned to www.islesblogger.com, www.thetigertrack.com and www.newyorkislanders.com for all the latest draft info and updates!

One thing is for certain, between the Blog Box covering the Draft Day party at the Coliseum and Islandermania holding a tailgate party - there will be plenty of exciting things happening around Islanders country on June 20th!

New content below this post, this post has been stickied!

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Just wanted to apologize for the downtime, but it’s a positive in a way - as there were so many hits. Sort of brought an awkward smile to my face during the press conference when I found out.

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New Content Below This Post!

I have a great announcement that I have been wanting to talk about since Monday, although I have touched upon it in a few of my recent posts already so it’s not entirely a surprise.

This coming Tuesday, February 26th - is the annual NHL trade deadline day, one of the most exciting days next to the post season and July 1st for a hockey fan. Looking back no further than last year, the deadline was especially exciting for Islanders fans as the team traded for Captain Canada - Ryan Smyth, in a move nobody in the hockey world saw coming. It proved that the rookie GM Garth Snow wasn’t afraid to tango and make a splash on one of hockey’s busiest days.

You may have been following the day on many of the great rumor websites, the streaming broadcast on TSN, Sportsnet’s ticker or even on Greg Logan’s blog. This year, you can add several more sites to your list of websites to frequent. Islesblogger.com and several of the other Blog Box websites were invited to the Coliseum to experience deadline day in a behind the scenes fashion. Coverage will begin at 10:30 AM for morning practice, exclusive interviews with Garth Snow and we will be providing you with up to the second information on what we are seeing and hearing around the organization and leading up to zero hour when the deadline passes. The Islanders are also taking on the Pittsburgh Penguins that night, so it will be a long fun filled hockey day!

In order to cover this event in the best possible way I can, I purchased a new laptop specifically for Tuesday so I can live blog, upload pictures and even watch the latest developments on TSN and the NHL network through my Slingbox! This is truly a first of it’s kind development for the Blog Box and it should be worth all of the excitement!

However, there are no guarantees that the Islanders are sure to make as big of a splash as they did last season, but it doesn’t mean there won’t be moves made. The Islanders have a laundry list of platers nearing unrestricted free agent status who will be valuable to playoff contenders.

Who will stay and who will go? Who will the Islanders add? Stay tuned to Islesblogger.com Tuesday to find out!

Trade Deadline Poll

Just wanted to bring the poll from the beginning of the week back up to the top!

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Sorry for the site downtime tonight - we were down for a total of 5 hours it seems.

Everything should be fixed now, there was a bit of a memory problem with the server that has been addressed so it shouldn’t happen again (well for a while at least). The funniest part about this ordeal (if there even is a funny part to begin with) was that I was informed the site may be moved to a brand new server in the coming weeks just two days ago.

Again, I apologize for the inconvenience - such is life when it’s the internet I guess. If anyone runs into a problem, feel free to contact me!

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Excuse the really cheesy play on words in the title of this post, because it has mixed meaning as you will soon find out. Instead of posting any kind of opinion, live blog or rant last night - I decided that I would be better off going to bed early then attempting to post in the state of mind I was in after the game.

Site Announcement!

Just a quick note before I get too involved with the issues at hand, if you take a quick peak to your right, you will notice that I have added two RSS feed buttons to the top of the sidebar. I am constantly trying to improve the functionality of the site, and one of the things I noticed was the difficulty in finding my RSS feed. Not everyone uses Firefox (which makes it really easy to subscribe) and the only other mention of the feed was in the very bottom of the sidebar. For those who may not know, an RSS feed is a way of the blog communicating with any flavor of feed reader you may use, so that when I update - the reader updates YOU to new content. I also use a service that will send out a daily email update (once daily) for those who many not use RSS in the first place. I know, things always appear complicated at first - but I promise it is really easy to use!

Islanders at Penguins

Last night the Islanders took on the Pittsburgh Penguins for what many were hoping would be a quick and painless event. The Islanders had faired pretty well against the Pens this season and they were even without Sid the Kid. The Islanders came out with energy, the Bridgeport line was flying all over the ice and cycled the puck well. Colliton hit just about everyone, as did Fedotenko and Hunter. The Islanders would tally the first goal of the game (a rare event) when Conklin misplayed the puck behind the net allowing Hilbert to corral the puck and dish over to a wide open Comrie for an empty net goal. The Islanders lead wouldn’t last however, as the Pens scored on a powerplay tying the game at one. As if Comrie didn’t impress enough, he would eventually drop the gloves against Pittsburgh’s Talbot - in a fight that seemed to be more of a wrestling match than anything.

During the second period, the Pens went up again and the Islanders would eventually tie the game once more on a power play goal by Fedotenko. Another Islanders penalty resulted in a second Pens power play goal by Whitney. The Islanders wouldn’t tie the game back up until another power play goal of their own, by none other than Comrie. The game tied at 3, the pressure was put on by both teams and the Pens would capitalize on a bad clearing attempt with just over three minute remaining on a shot that was deflected off the stick of Brendan Witt. In the final seconds, a flurry in front of Conklin with an extra attacker for the Islanders causing trouble we would see the puck trickle across the goal line only to be waved off with .4 seconds remaining. Game, set and match.

Overall, I felt there was a much better effort by everyone and the Brideport line of Tambellini, Nielsen and Comeau played outstanding, as did Colliton. I felt that puck movement, speed, the breakout and even backcheck was much faster, smarter and well executed. Pressure was on the Pens for the entire game and there wasn’t any indication of someone taking a shift or period off.

Mike Comrie wants to stay on the Island!

No, you don’t have to read that twice - he really wants to stick around (or so it seems). There has been a lot of talk around the internet on how much the Islanders could possibly receive in return for trading Comrie to a contender. There has also been a bunch of talk about how man wouldn’t really miss the toe-drag and his periods of lazyness ala Yashin. I know that I haven’t been the kindest to Mike, but its more frustration than anything. I like what he brings to the team and I really feel like he could excel when completely healthy and paired with forwards who are a bit more offensive minded and unafraid to go to the high traffic areas. Look at last nights game as an example, he shot the puck and actually skated so its not surprising to see him pot a pair.

How do I know he wants to stay? Greg Logan’s Islander Insider, an online article posted on Newsday’s website every Friday has excellent quotes from Comrie:

Comrie likely would be valuable in the trade market. Two NHL scouts at the Pittsburgh game marveled at his second goal and how he scored through a tiny opening. But Comrie said he has no desire to leave.

“This is an organization I want to be a part of,” said Comrie, who will be a free agent this summer. “We’ve got a great core group of guys. We’ve got an ownership that wants to win. They treat us extremely well. I feel we’ve got the best coaching staff in the league, and it’s a situation that I want to be a part of. I think we give ourselves a chance to win every night when we compete. We’ve had a few injuries, but you’ve still got to give yourself that chance.”

So, Mikey apparently likes the Island and Ted Nolan, so as the Islanders only real scoring threat and “top center”, I think he is one of the pieces you need to keep in order to build a successful team around. Hopefully the rest of Islander Country gives him the benefit of doubt this season and welcomes him back with open arms next year. We have no Kozlov, Blake or Yashin this season and need to retain the players who have points - thus making the argument to keep Comrie even stronger.

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