People that I know that respect my opinion (why - I have no idea…), asked me the same question:

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT WE DID?

Well - I am still mulling it over… However, I think the look of our team has still not changed. We are still the same ‘hard working’, ‘blue collar’ team, that should play hard every shift, every game.

Now I know that it seems that is not always the case. I know that the few lapses in judgement the other day, unfortunately resulted in goals for the visitor. This team, needs to keep the passion going - shift by shift, period by period.

Am I happy to see MAB go?

A little. Although his shot is so good, it is so obvious when the puck is coming to him. There is no deception on his part. And his defensive ability? Oy vey, don’t get me started there…. He will be serviceable to the Ducks, as they can put him on the PP with either Pronger or Niedermayer. So that will work. So I am not doing cartwheels, but I am not sad.

Simon?

I really did not like the fact that fans booed. I know Simon has his past, and he was not the perfect person, but he paid his dues. I just hope that he will take the time and get himself 100% better. I know that he can. I am not necessairily a fan of his, but I hope he can get his game and his life back on track.

Davison?

I like this move. We are not reserving a trophy case for the Norris anytime soon, but Davison is a serviceable player. He is the stay-at-home guy that can be physical. He played ok the other night, and can help this team, even with the upcoming return of Brendan Witt to the lineup in the next few days.

Am I bummed that we got no stars?

Well - you saw the Ryan Smyth situation… However, I think that Ted is happy to be going to war with basically the same team. The advantage of that, is that you do not have to deal with addition/subtraction chemistry issues. We just need some guys to continue stepping their games up, as well as guys returning to prior forms. Guerin is a definite example of the latter, Fedotenko is the former.

Interesting matchup tonight?

Atlanta is a team in major flux. Losing Hossa, they got a couple of young guys that were expecting to see the Isles 48 hours ago - but now get them at their new home. This is a team that still has a lot of cogs, but will be interesting to see how much the Hossa deal deflates or inflates this team. Should be a good match.

What do we need to see tonight?

Ricky being the MAN! The last time the Isles played Atlanta - he did not need to work too much, as the visitors only took 10 shots at DP. He needs to be more involved, and make the big saves. Kovalchuk always plays well at the Philips Arena, so DP needs to keep an eye on him. Look out for Armstrong and Christansen to want to impress their new best friends.

Also - the PP needs to get simple, as was mentioned by both the Captain and the PP Defenseman. Ted has to reinforce the notion that the “cute and cuddly” moves needs go by the way of yesterday’s bread.

With the number of games closing and races tightening, the Isles need to keep W’s coming and make their own stand, as opposed of scoreboard watching and praying.

So, what do I think?

I think that the next 5 weeks are going to raise my blood pressure, drive me to an alcoholic habit, and maybe drive me to an insane asylum.

I LOVE IT!

At 9:15 AM - we have a signing…..

Mike Comrie has signed a one year deal to remain an Islander. Will Tank, Vas, or anyone else be still on the Island?

Time will tell.

Today is not a good day to talk. My wife is going for a procedure this morning (not critical, just routine). And my mother’s health is not well….

Keep a prayer open, if you can.

First of all, love the fact that there were Islanders fans all over the place at the PRU yesterday….

To check out my review of the arena, go to www.nyiboosterclub.org and check it out.

Anyway - Aaron Johnson definitely had a day that he would rather forget. The team had a 3rd period that they would want to put in the delete file, and have it go away.

Out shot 20-4 in the third and three of those coming in the last couple of minutes; the Isles looked lost. All I can say about that is that concentration on the Penguins for Tuesday night.

However, the trade deadline comes before the game begins.

With Trent Hunter signed down until 2013, the wonder is who the team will get or let go. I do not envy any General Manager, let alone ours. He has a great deal of decisions to make. Let’s all have the confidence that he will have the chance to better this team.

Should be interesting…..

Check this article out from the Toronto Star’s RIck Westhead… What are these netminders thinking…?????
Is this the NHL’s new look?

Feb 17, 2008 04:30 AM
Rick Westhead
Sports business columnist

It’s been 81 years since the Toronto Maple Leafs were given their name by Conn Smythe, a former fighter pilot who bought the team after his return from World War I, and most sports fans would agree few NHL franchises are as steeped in tradition.

That said, the Maple Leafs’ owners have hardly been loath to tinker with the club’s familiar, blue and white game sweater. It has been changed no fewer than 10 times since the Toronto St. Patricks were renamed the Maple Leafs in early 1927. Stripes on sleeves, shoulders and waist have been added and removed, and the Leafs’ distinctive logo has been revamped at least three times.

Now a group of influential NHL players that includes New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur, Dallas’s Marty Turco, Detroit’s Dominik Hasek and Edmonton’s Dwayne Roloson want the league’s – and inevitably the Leafs’ – uniforms altered again. In what would be a radical overhaul that might incite hockey traditionalists but surely gratify some of the league’s cash-strapped owners, several NHL goalies have asked the league and its players union to consider starting a so-called Goaltender’s Club. Revenue-generating initiatives for the club could include placing a corporate logo on the jerseys of the league’s 60-odd goalies.

The players are working alongside prominent hockey marketer Brad Robins and Edmonton player agent Ritch Winter. Robins and Winter estimate on-uniform ads might generate upwards of $30 million a season for the NHL. Robins has already briefed Gary Bettman on the concept, though it’s uncertain whether the NHL commissioner has endorsed the idea.

A copy of the goaltender’s club proposal, obtained by the Star, shows corporate presence on a jersey could range from subtle to more invasive.

One proposal shows Roloson’s blue and orange team jersey with a small Rexall logo above the Oilers symbol. The drugstore chain’s symbol could also be “sublimated (dyed right into the fabric) on a portion of the sleeve.” A second proposal depicts Brodeur’s Red Devils jersey. The team’s NJ on the chest is positioned above a large tag for the bank UBS and adjacent to an RBC logo. Bank Morgan Stanley’s symbol could be featured on the goalie’s sleeves and shoulders.

A third proposal shows Detroit goalie Hasek’s red jersey, again with the Red Wings’ logo front and centre above the larger symbol of insurance company AIG. The company’s logo could also be displayed on the sleeves and on the bottom of the jersey’s back. The presentation also suggests goalies be allowed to choose the jersey’s colour and depicts Hasek’s in black, blue, green and white styles.

While the prospect of a company’s logo or slogan adjacent to the Maple Leaf and other NHL logos would no doubt have been dismissed out of hand years ago, the timing for such a pitch may never be better. In the wake of a crippling lockout that scuttled the 2004-05 season, the NHL is desperate to make money. The league’s 30 teams earn just a few million dollars apiece from its national TV contract with U.S. broadcaster Versus, and while the league has been aggressive with its Internet ventures, the money to show for it has been slow to materialize. Clubs like the Phoenix Coyotes, Nashville Predators and Atlanta Thrashers are hemorrhaging money – one investment banker who specializes in pro sports says the Coyotes have lost as much as $30 million (U.S.) a year in recent seasons.

“It’s low-hanging fruit,” Robins says of logos on jerseys. “Advertisers would definitely be interested, and the goalie is the most visible player on the ice. You see the goalie on a broadcast at least 65 per cent of the time, pretty much on every replay, whether it’s a goal or a great save.”

Winter has already been involved with one effort to narrow the gap between uniforms and ads. When he represented goalie Grant Fuhr, then with the Edmonton Oilers, Winter reached an agreement for Fuhr to receive $50,000 from soft-drink maker Pepsi in exchange for wearing a pair of pads that had been fashioned to resemble a blue, red and white Pepsi can in the 1989 All-Star Game.

Former NHL president John Ziegler scotched that effort.

As to the prospect of hockey traditionalists bristling over ads on uniforms nowadays, veteran Anaheim Ducks defenceman Mathieu Schneider, who’s worked on marketing issues on behalf of the NHL Players’ Association, says: “We’ve changed the uniforms so much already over the years. It’s not that far a stretch.”

Roloson echoes that sentiment. “I think it’s a great way to grow (hockey-related revenue). They have (uniform ads) in Europe and it doesn’t take away from the true jersey look.”

The Oilers goalie shrugs off the prospect of criticism from traditionalists, who, he says, will “freak out” even more if the NHL makes the goalie nets bigger, something Roloson expects to happen. “And we have advertising on the boards, don’t we?”

Hollywood heavyweight Jerry Bruckheimer, creator of the popular CSI TV series and a man who’s lobbying the NHL for an expansion team in Las Vegas, would also seem to be a supporter. During the NHL’s recent All-Star Game in Atlanta, he spoke at length at an NHL party about ideas that could reinvigorate the game in the U.S., says a person familiar with the matter. Bruckheimer’s suggestions included giving NHL players licence to individualize a portion of their helmets with artwork or other material – perhaps even corporate logos – and prompting them to remove their helmets during shootouts.

Moreover, many NHL players are acquainted with the notion of advertising on uniforms. The minor-league American Hockey League’s 29 clubs all have the ability to sell a small advertising patch on their jerseys. The Toronto Marlies, for instance, have an ad for McDonald’s near the collars of their uniforms.

And in professional leagues throughout Europe, player uniforms are covered in ads. When former Leafs star Doug Gilmour played in Rapperswil, Switzerland, during the 1994-95 lockout, he was reportedly asked by his team to put advertising stickers on the shaft of his hockey stick. And once, when he skated out for a pre-game warm-up, a team trainer told him to adjust his socks to make a sponsor’s logo more prominent.

Whether it’s changing uniforms, granting an expansion franchise to a movie producer (which the NHL did in 1992 when it awarded the Mighty Ducks to the Walt Disney Co.) or introducing advertising on rink boards or even on the ice, the NHL, like other pro sports leagues, often has a short memory for tradition if it means finding new sources of income.

The introduction of ads on arena rink boards in the late 1970s was a turning point for the NHL’s ties to corporate North America, say several sports-sponsorship experts.

Some 55 years after the six hockey teams banded together to create the NHL, in 1972 The Gillette Co. wanted to build awareness for its new, twin-blade razor, the Trac 2. Gillette agreed to pay about $10,000 to place a five-metre-wide ad on the boards at centre ice in the Moscow arena where Paul Henderson and Team Canada would make history against their Soviet rivals. More than 10 million viewers tuned in to Game 8 of the series, making it one of the top-rated broadcasts in Canadian history, and making Gillette’s purchase one of the marketing industry’s most prescient.

It wasn’t long before NHL owners were debating whether they should follow suit. The Minnesota North Stars were the first franchise to debut rink board ads. The team sold eight pairs at $3,000 a pair. Throughout the 1980s, more ads on rink boards began to sprout in NHL arenas.

Not everyone embraced the idea. In 1980, CBS televised a hockey game at Madison Square Garden in New York and refused to show any of the rink-board ads. Whenever players skated near the ads, the camera focused on the players’ skates, gambling the puck would appear in the picture.

“The network figured if there was going to be advertising, it wanted a part of that revenue,” says Jim Spence, a former senior vice-president with ABC Sports. “They eventually backed down, but I figure you’d see the same concern today if there were ads on uniforms.”

At first glance, it seems the NHL has done an admirable job of selling its product since a crippling lockout led to the cancellation of the 2004-05 season.

The league’s overall revenue this season is estimated to be as much as $2.56 billion (U.S.), 10 per cent more than last year’s $2.31 billion and 22 per cent more than the $2.1 billion generated in 2005-06, the first season played under the current labour contract.

Yet some hockey industry executives are skeptical about whether the NHL can take credit for all of its revenue increase.

Consider that while just six of the NHL’s 30 teams are based in Canada, they account for close to one-third of the league’s overall revenue. And since September 2005 alone, the Canadian dollar has surged some 19 per cent in value, from 83.9 cents U.S. to parity. The loonie’s climb may be responsible for as much as half of the league’s revenue gains since the lockout, says one source familiar with NHL finances.

A high-ranking league source says the secret to increasing revenue – aside from counting on the advancing Canadian dollar – has been boosting the box office. The NHL attracted an average of 17,043 fans a game through its first 726 games this season, up 2 per cent from 16,721 over the same period a year ago, the trade publication Sports Business Daily reported last month.

At the same time, it’s rarely been more expensive to attend an NHL game. The average NHL ticket this season costs $48.72, up 7.7 per cent from last year, while the average luxury-box ticket costs $112.10, a 17-per-cent increase, according to Team Marketing Report, a company that tracks ticket prices in pro sports.

Since 2005-06, the first season following the lockout, the NHL’s average ticket price has climbed 18 per cent, and the average luxury-box ticket is 29-per-cent more expensive. (In Toronto, the Leafs’ average ticket is a league-high of $88.32, up an astounding 79 per cent from $49.23 in 2005-06, according to Team Marketing Report.)

“If it wasn’t for the Canadian dollar and our teams increasing ticket prices, we wouldn’t be making a cent more now than we did coming out of the lockout,” says one NHL team executive.

There are also subtle ways to spur revenue. A year ago, the NHL ordered rink-board ads, which sell for as much as $600,000 a pair for a season, to be reduced in width from 3.6 to 3.2 metres, so the league could squeeze more ads in rinks, says Toronto sports marketer Bob Stellick, a former Maple Leafs marketing executive.

An NHL spokesperson said the league would not comment on its marketing efforts if the Star wrote “a story that is set against a backdrop of league revenues, with the financials coming from sources other than the league.”

To be sure, the NHL is far from the first league to face challenges and criticism as it builds closer ties to its corporate supporters. In 1998, organizers of the Rose Bowl began selling naming rights to the historic college football game when it struck a deal with AT&T. And NASCAR has turned itself into a marketing juggernaut thanks to its racing teams’ seamless ties to team sponsors.

Even on-uniform ads have become more commonplace. On Jan. 24, 1976, at a soccer stadium in the middle-class English city of Kettering, an otherwise unremarkable band of players trudged onto the field straight into history books. Wearing red tops with long white sleeves and lettering that read “Kettering Tyres” across the front, the Kettering Town Poppies became the first in British soccer history to compete in a pro game wearing jerseys emblazoned with a sponsor’s logo.

At first, Kettering’s groundbreaking move was poorly received. Britain’s Football Association ordered the corporate logo removed from the team uniform within four days, and TV networks refused until 1983 to show teams wearing uniforms with corporate logos.

Still, resistance to the move eventually ebbed. Now, the revenue soccer teams generate from shirt sponsorships is staggering. Popular English team Manchester United rakes in roughly $30 million (U.S.) a year from its sponsor agreement with insurance firm AIG.

“In this day and age, almost everything is for sale,” says Imraan Ladak, Kettering’s chairman. “Many clubs are also selling the back of the shirt and shorts as well as the front of the shirt.”

Closer to home, the Maple Leafs’ sister team Toronto FC, a Major League Soccer franchise, generates millions of dollars from its sponsorship agreement with the Bank of Montreal. That deal stipulates that TFC jerseys feature the bank’s logo front and centre on player jerseys.

“This is the wave of the future,” says Winter, the Edmonton player agent. “The NHL isn’t as profitable as other leagues, and we have very little choice but to pursue new ways to create revenue so we can reinvest in our sport. It’s just a way to pay the bills.”

Had a little bit of nerves after the second period….. Was not sure if we were going to get one…

However, one was all we needed.

Great move by Bergenheim, getting the puck to Satan. I like the fact that Satan has found his touch - at the right time. He showed great patience in waiting for the right time to get the shot off.

Ricky was brilliant, but had some great luck as well…. Ask Vinny L on that.

Once again - the defense are the usung heroes of this game. Meyer and Martinek are looking like they have played together for about a decade. Drew Fata has done just fine, being smart with the puck, and making some great hits. Even Berard and Bergeron were not bad on the back line.

Brendan Witt? Chris Campoli? Bruno Gervais??? No - I am not being silly - we will take them back in a heart beat. But the other guys are doing a tremendous job.

Driving home - we had the 8th spot. However, the Bruins got two goals late to tie the game, then win in the shootout. So - we are back to 9th, one point behind the B’s. But we have momentum, and go into New Jersey (the conferece co-leaders). The Devs are on fire of late, no pun intended.

But remember…. We are 5-0 versus NJ - and DP has only allowed one goal in two games at the Rock. And the crowd should have a great number of shirts with White, Orange and Blue. There will be over 110 Boosters attending (including myself). I am looking forward to yelling my heart out and see the 7th straight win.

Isn’t it interesting that we got on this streak before the deadline… It will make it a tough time for Garth Snow, as he surveys what he can and can not do as the trading deadline looms Tuesday afternoon. What do you do, what do you do….

Things we can talk about for the next few days.

BTW - I will be on Hockey Night on Long Island on Saturday afternoon. Check out Blogtalkradio.com/hockeynightonli

G

What a great finish.

Vasicek gets the unlikely goal off the back of Ollie’s pads… Comrie gets a great shootout winner. And thanks to Mr. Posts, Ovie was off the score sheet.

Did Meyer and Marty do a great job on #8, or what?

It is just a typical Ted Nolan team, that gets contributions from just about everyone, and it seems to be new ones every game.

Now - we are still at 1 point out of a playoff spot with the surging Bolts arriving at the NVMC. They lost to Buffalo last night, but have done well on the road of late. You still have to stop that three-headed monster known as RichardsSt.LouisLecavalier. Defensively, they have over-achieved of late, so it needs to be known that the Isles need to stomp on the Bolts, and right away.

Oh yea - welcome back #12. Time to play ‘Simple Simon’ and keep it clean, ok?

The most complete game of the season. When the folks around me were screaming when DP was wondering around, all I kept saying was he had to do it.

You can see it — he was bored out of his mind… He had to, since he was nit getting the work.

An Islander record, of least number of shots allowed in a game. The lowest since the Isles gave up 11 to Detroit over 30 years prior, at the old Olympia.

Remember - the Isles are playing without Witt, Gervais and Campoli.

Sutton was phoenominal… He cleared bodies, was skating great out of the defensive zone. Him and Martinek were good together. Meyer has been a god-send… Getting assists, butt checks smart passes. Even Aaron Johnson has done well in his past few games.

Brendan who??

As Kinger now calls them, the VHF line, once again showed their prowess. Hunter had 7 shots in the first two periods, and once again, the TANK is hot… Joey V is also bringing a positive game (just wish that he would score, right Dawn from NC???)

All four of the lines are gelling nicely. Keep it up boys…

Monday - we have San Jose coming in. They are so strong on the road… And I hope that they continue that against the Rangers tomorrow. Just forget about it the next day.

Enjoy Sunday folks.

Who needs Brendan Witt?

Yea right…

We do need him, but we will have to make do, as the Isles take on the Thrashers tonight. They beat the Devils last night, but had to go 10 rounds of the shootout in order to get it done. Hopefully a long night will make them tired on the ice tonight.

Our d was so solid the other night in Toronto - and they need to keep that going. Vasicek and Fedotenko were amazing in the last two games.

Comrie has been good too. I have been calling him tinkerbell of late, but he has silenced me a bit. I can deal with that, as long as he tries to keep it simple. When he seems to be looking for the ESPN highlight, our team game suffers a bit.

I still like the fact that the Bridgeport line has been doing well. I really think that Tambellini will be fine. It just has to be a matter of having the confidence high.

The Isles need all four lines to keep it going. A win would make the group going for spot number eight even more bunched up. Let’s see it happen tonight.

G

Can you believe it?

What a difference… The team played with spirit and hustle.  Vasicek, Hunter and Fedotenko were barreling through the middle all night.  Bergenheim had a great goal on a great play from Hunter.  The defense, after the injury to Witt, were solid (Not super, but solid).  Ricky had some tough goals go in on him, but played ok.

But 46 shots?  Wow!  Keep it up boys.

It was great to end the losing skids.  They boys needed the win.  Most of all, the fans needed it too.  Surprised by the turnout.  I assume that a lot of FLyer fans had the weather stop them from the route north.

Now - they have to work on the word called momentum, and move it up north to T.O. tomorrow night.

Speaking of players moving up and down, I see that Mr. Simon has begun to practice with the team.  Here is a clip from Islanders TV of a mini-press conference with Simon.  Check it out.  Also - check out the NY Hockey Report tonight - live at 9PM.  GO to www.blogtalkradio.com/nyhockeyreport.  See you there!

http://islanders.nhl.tv/team/launch.htm?type=fvod&id=12441&catid=214  - Chris Simon video…

Hello - yea, it’s been a while….

Not much.. How about you?

I’m not sure why I haven’t written in a while, but figured I would get into this a little….

As I have been saying all along since October, the way the league is, parity is paramount.  When we were winning, we looked like one of the biggest stories of the league.

Then, BOOM, the bomb dropped out….  Seven losses will do it to you.  Now we are in 13th place.  And all you are hearing, is how bad we are, and we are the laughing stock of the league…

Yada, yada, yada…

What has been the problem?  Do I have hours to try and decipher???

Well - I will just sum it up in one word…

Momentum.

When this team get some good chances, and gets a tie or a lead, it just appears to us, that what you would hope to see a little more momentum and passion, seems to dissipate.  The skip in their step seems to falter, and the rushes stay on the outside.  Now, I am not a coach, or expert; I am just a student of the game, but when this team is plugging the middle, and screening the goalie, this team plays well.  We are not one of the largest teams in the league, but we are far from the smallest.  We have guys that have the capability to crash and create havoc.  Too many times, either we are shooting from ridiculous angles, or allowing their defense too much time to figure out the gameplan.

Do we lead the league in shots getting blocked, or what?

I know it is not the coaches faults.  I have been to enough practices run by Ted and the gang, and I know they are working hard.  The team as well.  I just think it is the idea of identifying potential different options and trying to be a little less predictable.

Comrie (former alias Tinkerbell) has responded.  Little do people realize that he is having near career high levels in points and goals…  However, it just looks like he is avoiding pressure and passing to phantom teammates.  However in the last few games, he has responded they way we hoped.

Ricky has kept this team in many of these games.  I think his “D” has let him down by not winning battles in front of the net.  This team, which was once in the top 3 on the PK is sinking fast in this category.  This needs to improve dramatically.

Another disappointment is the play of both Josef Vasicek and Miro Satan.  Vasicek started like a house on fire, and has virtually COLLAPSED!  He is the new WALDO!  Running close behind is Miro, who I believe will be trade bait in the next few weeks.

What do the guys need to do tonight?  First of all, the Flyers usually give the Isles fits at the Coliseum.  They need to show the fans that there is passion in their steps.  They need to show some definite physicality, which is a plus against Philly.  Get a goal early, get the fans into the action.  Plus, would someone please step up on the PP???

I hear that Bruno may not play today.  I would rather see Aaron Johnson back up.  He has been consistent.  Berard may have gotten some goals lately when he has played, but put very simply, he defensive work is brutal.  So is Bergeron’s as well, but I really think he is being showcased… Just a thought.

Well - let’s see if we can finally get a win in 2008.  God knows we need it.  We are not out of it yet, by any stretch of the imagination.  They just need to convince the fans of that.  Until we are mathematically eliminated, I will never lose hope (Hey - last year should have told us that).

GO GET ‘EM ISLES!  See ya at the Coliseum tonight!