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!

Posted under Islanders 07-08, NY Hockey Report, Ramblings