It has been a long time…  Believe me, I know…

I think these breaks without games kill the psyche of the fans as much as the players.  With another off day, I ventured to Ice Works to get another glimpse of training camp.

The first thing I most definitely noticed, as the expressions on the players.  Huffing and puffing, the team looks like they are working hard in the drills (especially the defletctions and odd man rushes).  They are doing as much game action simulation as possible, in order to keep their legs moving.

Scrimmages were a ey on Tuesday night, as they saw a surprise shootout star in the stick of Brendan Witt.  Look to see him maybe in the later rounds of a shootout.

Tampa will be on a 3 game, 4 day road trip throughout the tri-state area.  Hopefully they will be a team that may be tired and able to be pounced on.  The timing may be right.

Berard skated before practice today, in a warm-up suit.  Reports are that his skating is improving by day, and his return can be sooner, as opposed to later.  He is probably the only one that has been enthiused about the lag time.  With the number of days between games, it doesn’t allow Berard to miss games.

Listening to Steve and Kinger doing their talk at practice, the emphasis was on simulation and energy at practice, so that coming back to the ice on Thursday does not appear to be just a 4 day break between games.

Make sure that you check out the New York Hockey Report tonight - Steve Mears should be stopping by, along with Alex or Steve from Hockey Night on Long Island.  With Joe covering a game tonight - we remove the banter…. Tune in tonight!

Gary

That would come under the grouping of “Ripley’s Believe it or NOT!”

Well - stranger things CAN happen.  The Rangers got a 2-0 victory at MSG last night in New Jersey’s last road game, before their home opener tomorrow night at the “Rock”.

However, there is still a lingering mystery among the hockey bloggers and writers, and fans alike?

What happened to the offense?

Both Ranger goals came from the stick of Nigel Dawes; a man that was supposed to be a major supporting character on an “All-star” list of world-beaters that were supposed to walk through the Eastern Conference like they were standing still….

Remember, there was a clause that would have the season ended, and just give the Rangers the Cup, because, well, uh, they are the RANGERS!

(** Note - can you believe that there is a site devoted to airline barf bags???  www.sicksack.com

Anyway - it is early in the season, (roughly about 11% in), but we are constantly saying in March - that the games in October, determine the fate of certain teams.  In the case of the Ranger$ (yes - that $ is supposed to be there), these losses and 126 minutes on ineptitude, can be a ticket for disaster for them.

Look at the stats for the Rangers, after 9 games:

Jagr - 1 goal in 28 shots

Drury - 1 goal in 32 shots

Shanahan - 1 goal in 54 league high shots

Gomez - 2 goals (tied for the team lead with 3 others)

And this is the ‘cream of the crop’ team in the East?  Quick - get me that bag!

Now - you are hearing rumors about a Jagr move?  Hmmm???  Hockey Buzz is stating that there us talk going around.  No teams mentioned, but nevertheless.  Joe McDonald hates when I talk about them, and will especially now when it concerns his ‘holier than thou’ Blueshirts.  ‘

But you know what Joe?  Tough toe-nails.  You know things have to be a big concern for Mr. Dolan and crew, that talk is buzzing about them.  There are times that Jagr has great moves, and others when I can slide around him (and I have not been on skates for years, and have bad knees!).

Shanahan has 54 shots, but so many are of the ho-him variety, that he can have a 6 foot five hole and miss by a foot.

For the collective $17 million they are paying this year for Gomez and Drury, it is a total WASTE! 

For Ranger fans, they must be saying thank GOD for Lundqvist.  The Swiss cheese is glued up and doing well, against my better judgement.  The Rangers are also in a 6 game home stand, and game one is over.  They have some tough opponents, and really need to run the table, in order to make up for the wonderful start.

Will this team, bounce back?  They have to.  They are a strong team, and should compete and do well.  But as a fan of the Orange and Blue, you have to LOVE the way they started.  And since the Isles have a week between games, and another 5 before the next one, we have time to look and analyze.  This was fun!

Well - as far as my Isles are concerned, thank God we get back to hockey again.  The Flyers, ahead of us in the standings have lost two straight.  If we play the game we are capable of playing, we can be 6-3 and move to a first place tie with Philly in the Atlantic.  Wow - e had a nice month of October.  Just play month to month, game to game, and keep the pressure going!  Time to ’spank’ the Canes into a Tropical storm!

Go Isles!  Have a great weekend folks!

Gary

I had some personal issues to deal with, got a good bill of health from my doctor yesterday, so I treated myself to an Islander practice at Iceworks.

The team has not practiced in 3 days, so it was a good time to get the legs moving, get the heart rate pumping, etc.  The guys looked pretty focused on the instructions from the coaching staff, but also were relaxed and enjoying themselves.

Some things I noticed:

1.  Shawn Bates is skating quite well.  He looks like he is ready to go.  The mouthpiece is firmly planted on the side of his cheek, so he must be chomping at the bit to get going.  Will make some real tough decisions for the coaching staff as to who plays and who doesnt.

2.  Marc-Andre Bergeron was working after practice on his point shots.  Although no glass was broken, one can easily tell that he is rusty.  Will he play on Saturday?  Your guess was as good as mine.

3.  The line of Vasicek, Bergeron and Satan looked like they have been skating together for years.  They were in tune, and seemed ruthless as they attacked their teammates in net.  Look for Miro to possibly break out and put up the numbers that we have been expecting.

4.  I surely hope that Toronto game did not do any damage to the psyche’ of Dubie.  He was not a Berlin wall in the net, he was more like a crumbling wall.  Pucks were getting by him in buckets.  I like Dubie a lot, and I hope he was just giving the guys a little more shooting confidence.

5.  About halfway into the session, the lights went out in the practice facility.  Some of the players mocked that they wanted to play HIDE AND SEEK (was stated with a defiant BOSTON accent - probably Bates).  The lights came back about 10-15 minutes later.

Last night on the New York Hockey report, Derek and I discussed how the Rangers can right their ship.  Yes I took the high road, and was nice about it, but deep inside, the Islander fan was having a serious laugh about how media and fans alike are starting to see the twitches and twinges start to get more noticeable.  An increase in anti-anxiety medications are visible.  However, Joe McDonald is still the happy optimist, and feels the team will get through.  But you can bet your bottom dollar that if the Rangers start to slide during this six game home stand, he will hear from me.  All of these ‘experts’ who were short of asking the NHL to stop the season and just anoint the Rangers as champs should start to get some Worsterchire and Tabasco sauces at the ready, so that when they have to eat those words, they have some soothing additions to make the swallowing a little more pleasing.

Also - regarding the Rangers being the ‘non-conformist’ and not going to the web format that all of the other teams have, it just goes to show that Ding-Dong Dolan and the rest of the MSG management feel that they are above everyone, and need to do things their own way.  They feel that it is the revenue that they can drive from ads on the site that is making them shift from the NHL format to their own.  Basically, they don’t like to play with others and feel that they are elitist and above everyone else.  To me, I think they are trying to raise every dollar they can, in order to pay that judgement against them in the Isaiah Thomas case…..  See - this is why the Rangers and their fans are disliked by the other teams and fans in the NHL.  They think that they are better and have to remind us of that all the time.  Well - I hope that they get their just deserts.  And that is in the image of the Devil player, and hope to see our old friend Brent Sutter spank the Blueshirts into a further hole to dig out of.

Have a good day everyone!

If our record was 7-1 I would take the minus off the A.  If you told me, honestly, that we would be 5-3 after the first 8 games, and have wins over both the Rangers and Devils, I would not have thought you were nuts, but the jury may have been hung?

Anyway - if you went to the Islander game, and was not a fan, or surfed the TV and decided to watch it - how could you NOT become a fan of the game…. What excitement, and of course for the Blue and Orange, it was a great game.

I am sure that my friends at 2manadvantage.com would disagree…

We all know that Brent has a Sutter type fuse, and he sure showed it for us on Saturday.

I am still disappointed at how the team allows their opponent to come back into games.  The last two wins (Wash and NJ) showed the teams come back in the third period.  In both of these events, it looked like the Isles just added the turbo charging fuel to the collective engine and the afterburners kicked in.

Berard leaving the game with a groin injury was a nice opportunity for Aaron Johnson to step in and get good minutes in the last 2 periods of the contest.  His hard efforts in practice and training has earned him the chance from Coach Nolan, and he is seizing the opportunity.  With only 7 - what is the continued status of Bergeron?

The big question is why has Guerin never been a captain until now?  He is saying the right things, and taking the right actions.  Especially in the last minutes (seconds) of games.

And frankly, isn’t that a great picture of the guys???

THREE STARS:

1.  Bill Guerin - for obvious reasons?  Wonder what Alexei is doing right now???

2.  Rick DiPietro - great saves, especially on Asham in the 3rd.

3.  Chris Campoli - Is he maturing by leaps and bounds in front of our eyes?

3B.  Bruno Gervais - can’t forget Chris’ rommate either.  Also - strong efforts by him (especially ones that do not come up in the boxscore).

4.  (Honorable Mention) - Mike Comrie - goal, assist, a slash to the face, and the ‘trip’ that caused the GWG.  Way to get 100% involved.

Also - great time at the Season Ticket Holder event at Eisenhower Park.  Honestly, I spent most of it at the Booster Club tent all in the way in the back, but I was so tired and achy from the 5 mile walk earlier in the day, for the ACS Breast Cancer event, that I enjoyed the relaxation.  Kudos to the Islander organization, for one, allowing the Booster Club to be a part (we got some exposure - that was nice); and two, a great event that went off well.  Yes, there were long lines, but it seemed that all had a good time, and got a chance to thank the players (and vice versa).

Take a deep breath and enjoy the day.  I will write again on Thursday afternoon, after practice.  I have the day off, and I am going to enjoy myself, and take the view.

Forget Wile Coyote!

Ted is da man!

Just takes a little switch to ignite sleeping (well maybe not sleeping, but dozing) giants.  Moving Guerin to the 3rd line did just that!

Although his goals were on the PP, Bill Guerin, moved to a line with Hilbert and Sillinger, played with energy and consistency.  Hunter was placed on the first line, and was a total ‘pest’ in front of Kolzig.

Bryan Berard gets another PP Goal that somehow avoided Kolzig.  Three PP Goals will put the Isles in the top 5 on the list.

Special Kudos to Chris Campoli for his excellent work on the PP, along with his overall play.  His play has improved so much, that it may inevitably cause the team to move a D man (I think #47 is the odd man out…).  Did you know that Campoli had 4 assists?  That should be a big headline, but the Captain’s Hat trick steals the thunder a bit.  I gues it is be

Interesting seeing Aaron Johnson on the wing.  He played ok (about 4 minutes and got a penalty putting a hug on Kozlov).  He should go back to BPT soon, and get the minutes he needs.

I bet the Caps would like to see Witt back on their “D” line…

OTHER THOUGHTS:

Congrats to Don Waddell for getting the Thrashers their first “W” of the season against the LAST PLACE RANGERS!!!!  Well done…  See what I mean about chemistry?  I said that before the season started…  You can build an “All Star Team”, but if they do not mesh together, it can spell disaster.  If Renney doesn’t right that ship immediately, he may be talking to the panhandlers on 33rd street.

Flyers with 2 straight shoutouts?  They are not the whipping boys of the Atlantic Division anymore?  Notice that Daniel Briere has a nasty streak?  Ask Patrik Elias about that…  Got that Broad Street mentality, eh?

Does Marty Brodeur look ‘average’?  What has happened to the psyche of the Hall of Fame goalie?  What has Sutter done to him?  Hopefully we see the same guy tomorrow night.

Sorry I have not written in the last couple of days.  I have been under the weather.  See you at the Coliseum on Saturday night.

Chris Campoli was a real great guest last night.  Definitely not as vocal or as charismatic as his roommate Bruno, but he holds his own rather nicely.

He told the crowd a lot about his background, his home life (especially when his family were disagreeing over who should have won the last game of the season last year, Devils (for Toronto) or the Isles.

He also gave some good insights into the locker room, and how the new guys are handling themselves.  He was honest and forthright, and was indeed a pleasure to listen to.

He also told us what fun he had the other day playing “Fireman” with Bruno.

If you tune into the NY Hockey Report tonight (www.blogtalkradio/nyhockeyreport) at 9:00 sharp, you will hear an excerpt from the meeting.  If you wish to call the show, please call (646) 716-7209.

Hope to hear you on the show tonight…. Should be fun.

Interesting news in Atlanta –> Hartley fired after going 0-6.  Win a division one year, get slammed two weeks into the next season.  How can that team start THAT BAD????  Makes you go hmmmmm????

And in Soccer news, I can not believe that England lost to Russia 2-1 today for Euro 2008!!!!!   Just the fact that England had to play on a “Astro Turf” field that made the old Giants Stadium turf feel like Augusta National…. Ugh, now my England lads need some help to get to play on…. Come’on England!

Paging Professor Nolan… Please report to class….

Around the time I send this - class should be in session.

After a great start against the Sabres, the offense of the Isles has sputtered like a bully’s test scores.  Well Professnor Nolan, it is time to ring in the proverbial bully, and get him schooled in what ‘he’ needs to do.

THe problem with having so many games in the beginning of the season, is that there is not enough time to work on new combinations, or new philosophies.  Just think how many times a season, does a coach change the general gameplan?  They change more than women change their minds…. ???!!!!  (Let’s see how many comments I get about this ).

If you are NYIBC members, there is a meeting tonight - with Chris Campoli, the Probie Firefighter as the guest.  It starts at 7:30 at the LI Marriott Ampitheater.  If you are not a member, you can come for a $5 charge, but that charge will be put towards your membership, if you join tonight.

Hope to see you there!  Have a great day!

Gary 

Who would have thought that we would be saying these words at Game 6 of the season….

But we are there….

The Isles need to return to that game 1 look as we play game 6 against the Flyers at their home opener this season.

I am sure that the practice on Friday was one of a re-introduction of the team’s systems.  We need to get all four lines moving again, as well as making sure that Marc-Andre and the rest of the defense play simple but solid efforts.

Ricky will return to the nets and solid play will be there.  I don’t necessairily blame Dubie for the game.  A few of the goals were soft, but in may instances, the defense left him dry. 

But most of all, the return of Chris Simon to the Islander lineup.  His suspension being over, it is time for #12 to return to his form.  He provides a bit of offense along with his presence being an intimidating factor for opponents.  A presence that we will need when the Isles play against the Flyers.  This Flyer team is much improved and will not be the easy target that they were last season, when they had their worst season in 40 years.

Let’s hope for a better effort - an effort that will keep us at the top of the Atlantic Division.  It is nice seeing our name first!!!

Just a reminder for those who may not know.  The METRO MUG is a trophy that is contested for by the three Fan/Booster Club of the New York local hockey teams.  The winner of the trophy is the team who get the most points between each other, gets the trophy.

Unfortunately for the Orange and Blue, we have not held this trophy since 1993 when we had our magic run to the Conference Finals.  The Devils Fan Club are the current holders of the trophy.

Frequently during the season - I will provide a list of the current standings. 

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

METRO MUG STANDINGS   

AS OF 10/12/07

TEAM GP   W    L OT  PT   GF GA

NYI      1     1    0    0    2     2    1

NJD     0     0    0    0    0     0    0

NYR     0     0    1    0    0     1    2

Not worth it…..

See you over the weekend…..