Glad I took my blood pressure medicine today….
This was the most exciting game that I have seen this year. I felt just about every emotion that I could possibly imagine. Fear, anger, sadness, exhiliration, ecstasy.
Well - maybe not everyone - it is a public place, you know…
This game is a real step towards not only respectibility, but it is kind of like grabbing the next rung of the ladder. I feel that this team is moving forward, and it takes attempts like this to make it happen.
Ok - is Mike Sillinger the story of the year? 12 teams in his career, and there are still so many hockey experts that think that he is gone.
No freaking way! He is going nowhere! Not only does he provide scoring touch (# 20 on the year today), but the presence in the locker room, the calming influence on the rest of the guys. To the Isles, Alexei Yashin is the captain of the team, but to me #18 REALLY is!
I think that all four lines played really well. The only real problem with this team today was the fact that the for the first minute of each period, the Pens scored a goal. Ryan Malone, scoring a hat trick today, has six of his twelve goals on the season against the Islanders. I think that the defense played a decent job on Crosby and Malkin. Crosby got four assists, but his shooting was kept to the outside, so no point blank shots were received by Ricky.Witt and Hill were the battering rams, with a dash of Campoli. The physical game is key to the success of the Isles, this game was no exception.
Welcome to the Island, Marc-Andre! He played extremely well, and I really enjoy his offensive game. He has more goals than the rest of the defense, and is definitely not afraid to shoot the puck. And boy, does he have a BLAST of a shot! He got two points in his Islander debut, which is making Garth Snow look like a freaking genius.
Chris Simon was excellent as well, scoring his first two goals in nearly 30 games. There really wasn’t a bad Islander today. Yes Ricky gave up five goals, but when he needed to, made some great saves.
By the way - the Isles have had some visitors from the UK for the last two games. They came from Belfast, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, and Nottingham, among others. They have enjoyed watching the Isles, as they also saw them in Toronto. Their trip took them to Detroit, Toronto, Buffalo, New Jersey, and the Garden. Their last game is tomorrow in Jersey against the Rangers. The jerseys they wear are real cool looking. I had a picture with a bloke named Mark from Belfast. Unfortunately, my wife took a picture that did not come out too well (note to Mark - if your picture came out, please e-mail it to webmaster@nyiboosterclub.org).
THREE STARS OF THE GAME
- Mike Sillinger - Game winning goal - what a lucky thing that the Booster Club has a meeting tomorrow and Sillinger is the guest.
- Marc-Andre Bergeron - welcome and thanks for bringing that slap shot of yours.
- Chris Simon - two goals - welcome back!
GOLD STAR
- The UK fans - see above
TIN TWIT
- Officiating - I usually don’t gripe on this - but I really think Don Koharski has either fuzzy vision of dark objects, or his cruller addiction is getting the best of him. He officiated the last two games we played, and he has been nothing short of pathetic. I know that even with the two referee system does not produce a 100% efficiency rating, but Koho and van Massenhoven were real bad on Saturday against the Devils, and Donut boy and Tim Peel were just as worse. I am so tired of the Islanders getting the short end of the stick. As of today, we are a -81 of PP as opposed to PK. It really sucks. Hey refs. how about paying a little more attention to the game, ok.
Will take the day off tomorrow - we have a Booster Club meeting, on Wednesday, I will show some pics and some highlights of the meeting.
Posted under Islanders 06-07, Sheffield Steelers
This post was written by Gary Harding on February 19, 2007
What a game yesterday. I was definitely entertained…and I’ll admit, I was fully rooting for the Islanders yesterday. I even made a post about it on 2MA, check it out!
Patricia (2MA)
Glad you took your medication too…
would have ruined the game had you had a stroke and keeled over into my section.
he he he
Sillinger continues to score the big goals or contribute with the helpers. How many game winners or game tying goals has he had this season?
Yes, this was a Big win in so many ways. I have to admit that I was ranting like a lunatic through some of it, especially giving up goals within the first minute of every period. Still, a win is a win and this was truly an important one.
Lastly, I will stick by what I have said Over andOver again to people about the NHL officiating. Being blind, I could call a more consistent game than half those knuckleheads. They could put five refs out there, and it won’t make a bit of a difference. They change the rules entirely, and it doesn’t make a difference. Will someone Finally realize that the problem is Not the rules? It’s simply having the referees call a consistent game that applies to BOTH teams on the ice. Sorry, but to me, yesterday was just another example of the problem of bad officiating. Are all of them bad? Certainly not, but Something has to be addressed at Some point.