Sorry - I have had a lot of things to do this weekend, so I did not make any posts. Trying to keep up on blogs is kind of tough sometimes.
Well - it wasnt necessarily a great game played by the Isles last night. The 3rd period was very sloppy. It seemed to look like they just wanted to hold onto the lead. Even when I saw the coach at Champions in the Marriott last night, he thought there was no way that Florida tied that game up, but he was happy to get the 2 points.
The game ended up in a shootout, going 10 rounds until Andy Hilbert, so far not playing up to his expectations, got a backhand deke that he lifted over the body of Ed Belfour to give the Isles a victory.
So back to 500 as the Isles have three games this week. Tomorrow, against the again struggling Chicago BlackHawks. Losers of four in a row, and without two of their most important options, Havlat and Handzus; with the latter out for the season with ACL/MCL tears. This is a winnable game. Then Thursday at the Meadowlands for a rare away match. This will be a big test. The NJ offense is not spitting on all cylinders, but the one thing that you can count on with them, is the netminder and the defense. Two points in this match would be huge. Then Saturday, back home to the blue hot Thrashers, who ended the Sabre streak at 10. 
They are strong all over, with Kari Lehtonen doing the sophomore ‘un’ jinx and playing his arse off.
THREE STARS of Saturday’s game.
- Andy Hilbert - maybe getting the shootout winner will be just the remedy to get his game going.
- Alexei Yashin - I hope the detractors can soon shut their mouths and get on the bandwagon. He is still getting severly doible-teamed. This year, he is making plays and creating options.
- Shawn Bates - finally on the board with a goal. He has played well, but until now, nothing to show for it.
GOLD STAR AWARD
- Islanders TV - a great way to get your info on the team on the Internet. A 24 hour TV channel chock-filled with info, shows, interviews, all the things that an Islander junkie would need
TIN TWIT AWARD
- Newsday’s Greg Logan - our ‘beat’ writer should just ‘BEAT IT!’ Also - a tie to the ‘unfaithful’ Islanders fans. Maybe SOMEDAY, Logan may write something POSITIVE! And today (MONDAY) he writes a 2 page piece on the lack of ATTENDANCE. We know about it! Charles is trying all he can do to get fans in the stands. However, the typical LONG ISLAND fan, (sorry I say this) SUCKS. If we are not winning, they do NOT show. Being a fan means staying with your team. If you do not want to be there when you lose, then don’t bother showing up when they win. Because you know that ding-dongs like Logan will interview these idiot fans, when we win, and the fan will say ‘….duh, well I was there all along!…’ As Jim Norton, from the O & A show would say, ‘…were you, STUPID?!’
Well, until Tomorrow…
Gary
PS - on the NY Hockey Report on Wednesday, we will have Steve Zipay, the Ranger writer for Newsday as the guest. That should be a fun show.
Posted under Islanders 06-07
This post was written by Gary Harding on October 30, 2006
Yeah, it was quite frustrating in the third. I think we out shot Florida 2 to 1, but that third period made it look a Lot closer than it was. If they hadn’t won in the shoot out, it would have been quite a hard pill to swallow. Still, these are the games we Gotta win, so I’ll take it.