Stats: 77GP 13G 9A 22PTS 44PM

An enigma if there ever was one.  Simmer is the kind of a player that his role would be more relished on a stronger team than the Islanders.  He is a pest, a person that will tick off the front line, plays much bigger than he actually is – and can get involved in the offense as the situation dictates.

At the end of 08-09 – he was languishing in Bridgeport – wondering if he would be an NHL’er again.  As the season ended, he was playing good minutes and getting the team fired up.  You always see him slapping gloves and sticks of his teammates, and trying to get the guys pumped up.  He is never going to be a top6 forward, but a 3rd line agitator is a good choice.

I will give him a B- for this year, only because there were some moments in this season, where he was as lost as  Oceanic 815 (No – I never watched a second of LOST, but I know the flight number).  However, in the right situation – he may help a team tremendously.  Will he be signed next season?  I have my doubts.  He is a warrior and a good team guy, but Garth needs to take this team to the next level; and too many ‘good guys’ will just not do it.  He needs ‘better than good guys’ to mold with the Tavares’ and Moulsons of this team, as well as the kids that are coming.

So since we do not have a #1, I guess #2 will do.

Mark Streit

Here is his stats.

Games 82, Goals 11, Assists 38, Points 49, +- 0, 48 PIM, 9 PPG, 2 GWG, 187 Shots 5.9% efficiency

Yes, the numbers are a little behind last years stellar numbers, but in this season, he did not have to take the defensive scoring load all to himself. He was able to play fully in all three zones with a little more comfortability.

He was fifth in the league with minutes played per game with over 25. And with his quiet demeanor, he led by example. I think players like Andy MacDonald, and Jack Hillen will definitely get some skills and advice from the “A”. I really think Montreal would like to re-think their position by not re-signing him last year. They just did not rely on his defensive capabilities and showed the NHL what kind of player he really is.

Mark is a solid foundation for a young defensive corps that have a great base to build on. With three years to go on his contract, he is showing that the money given to him was defnintely worth it.

I give him a B+ this year. What do you think?  Please add your comments to this grade.  I will be comparing to see if the readers of this blog are on the same page that I am on.

Next review – Mark Flood #4.

If you are watching at home, please either IM me (nyibc1 on AOL), or e-mail me at gharding14@gmail.com.  I am also on Facebook too.  Please give me any comments, questions, whatever.  I will make sure that they get entered into the blog.

The Blog will update at the end of each period.

Thanks for the support all season.
Gary

PS – oh yea – we lost last night 7-3.

This was a great opportunity to make a statement against a team that they have handled all year.  Oh well.  Get back on the horse and do it tomorrow against Big Z and the Bruins.  Another team on the ‘bubble’.

Now Carolina is within 1 point of the ISLES, and moving fast!

Tomorrow will be a big test for the boys.  I will be blogging at the game tomorrow, sending each period’s update to the blog.  Check it out – and comment if you can.

Have a great FRIDAY folks!

Hopefully - they will be as happy today as they were on Saturday!

• Lots of Red/Black in the building.  Great opportunity for folks from the Garden state to spend the $11.00 each way in tolls to visit Uniondale
• Roloson should be in the nets today.  Would expect Marrty B as well.  However,it is still good motivation for Danis to play against his old mates.
• 8-2-1in 11 – we all know how this team is currently on fire.  The Isles have not beaten New Jersey this season, and with the opponents not exactly killing of late, this may be an outstanding opportunity to take a step forward.
• Pre Game skate:
• Brodeur and Ricky? interesting….
• No changes in the Isles lineup.
• We all know the stories about Ricky getting ‘up’ to play against Marty Brodeur – guess he convinced the coach of that as well.
• Keys to the game:
• 1.  Get to Brodeur early.  The longer that he has support and not letting up goals, the better he will get.
• 2.  Get physical and sustain that.  Devils are not a big team,and although they will hit, you can control them by initiating the physicality and keeping it up throughout the match
• 3.  Have Ricky just be like the Ricky of old.

Will update this blog after the start of the first period.

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Period 1

Starting Lineup for the Isles:

G – DiPietro, D – Streit, MacDonald F – Bailey, Park, Okposo 

0:05 – win first faceoff

0:45 – three shots already on Brodeur – Devils force icing.  Nice sustained start.

Molson's on me, boys!

1:07 – Moulson on second stab – drives backhand over Brodeur’s shoulder – 1-0 ISLES.

Now THAT’S WHAT I CALL A NICE START!

Moulson (18) from Nielsen and Hunter

Take the goalie out of his comfort zone – and he is beatable.

 Goal goes in at 2:23 but immediately waived off. Whistle blown to stop play, which angered the 15,000+ referee’s in attendance.

2:57 – Devils Pelley – shoots puck out of play – Delay of Game.  power play time.

Let’s Go Islanders chan is LOUD tonight!

3:44 – Streit with a blast from the right point – 2-0 Isles!

Get to Brodeur early – and you have a chance… I guess we do.

4:35 – Sutton does his patented hit  the victim – Langenbrunner.

Devils look lost…

Streit (7) PP – Assisted by Tavares and Okposo 3:44

The Swiss fans in attendance are quite excited and the flags aplenty.

5:39 – Jacques Lemaire does not look too happy at the bench

5:45 – John Sim putAndy Greene into tomorrow.

6:58 – Brodeur gets Bronx cheer when he stops the puck on a harmless dump-in.

I’ve not seem the Devils look this harried all season long.  Bailey drew a penalty by Salvador by making such a crazy dipsy-doodle move.  Wow – the pre-game kool-aid is working wonders. 

PP# 2 – do we go 2 for 2?

9:00 Brodeur just stacked the pads and with the blade – stop a great shot by Hunter.  Then a couple of point blank shots by Tavares and Weight.

Got about 4 shots on that power play – but the scoreboard is always late in getting the numbers up.

Just the simple case of battling to loose puck – the Isles just seem to move at will.

11:55- fantastic job by Bergie not only to muscle around Oduya, but draw a penalty on him as well, just by taking the puck to the net.

First 15 seconds on the PP – Isles doing an excellent job of moving the puck, and getting traffic on Brodeur.

JT just missed a gimmee.  But love the confidence they are showing.

Shots – NYI 17 NJD 3

Guess the NJ locker room will need some soundproofing…

15:20 – DP made a cuple of great stops of the rushing Devils forwards.  Not much activity – but did a nice job.

16:06 – Tavares takes a penalty for tripping Niklas Bergfors – 1st PK for the Isles.  PK did nice job (computer was slow).

Overall assessment – probably one of the best periods of the year.

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2nd Period

First minute or so – Devils look a little more inspired, or at least they have a purpose.  It is not overwelming, but it looks like a better hockey club.

5:00 RIcky got the chance to put one of his 100 foot passes out – did not hit the tape – but you can see how the opponent needs to change their game accordingly.

6:30 – Parise made a great move on Hillen – hits the post to Ricky’s left.

7:50 – Tavares and Moulson got some chances in front of Brodeur – which he denied.

9:05 – although the Devils are looking a little better – the shots are 6-1 Isles for the period (24-8).

9:34- Isles are moving the puck with some serious ease.  Almost looks like the Devils are just standing back – waitng for Brodeur to stop the play.

12:54 – Sim steaks a Mottau pass, and blasts a shot that hits Marty in the mask.  Shakes him up a bit – but continues on.

A lot of blocked shots by the Isles as well – they are creating a lot of defensive havoc that is leading to a lot of easy chances for DP.  The Isles look like they play a much tighter game around their 15 year man.

14:30 – Bergie looks real good.  No affects from th injury, hits with reckless abandon, and is just the aggressive kind of player that the team needs.

15:42 – Bailey on a nice re-direction – gets it by Brodeur – 3-0 Isles!  FREE CHILI!!

Goal by Bailey (12) – assisted by Hillen at 15:42

17:38 – Jon Sim is just about singlehandedly causing extremem chaos.  Getting in fronr of Brodeur – making like difficult  for him.  Salvador and Oduya both wanted a piece of him.  Summary… Sim is a royal pain in the arse!

18:05 – Moulson – redirects a shot by Hunter – 4-0 Islanders! – oops – I was wrong….

Sutton goal (4) – assist by Hunter – 18:05

- Question – will we see Yann Dais in the 3rd period?

19:50 – LeBlond does a nasty cross check on Weight.  Looks like the 3rd period will be a nasty affair – tune in to see my commentary about it.

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3rd period

Notes from first 2 periods

Sutton and Hillen – +3 a piece  Streit leads in ice time with almost 18 minutes.

Okposo – with almost 15 minutes leads the forwards.

Nielsen, Moulson and Hunter are all +2.  Tavares has 6 shots to lead all shooters.

CORRECTION – on the 4th goal – it will be give to Matt Moulson (19) from Sutton and Hunter.

What to expect in period 3 – —-?

• Keep it coming – dont stop the intensity
• Mistake free hockey
• Don’t let the assignments slip

Yann Danis in the nets for the Devils – Marty has been chased.  Danis beat the Islanders in November, so it should be good motivation to take it to them.

500+ wins – gives you the luxury of not sitting in the runway.

And for the record, I was not happy to hear the Brodeur – you SUCK chants!  He is a goalie, regardless of who you root for, you should RESPECT.

4:30 – Schremp with a great pass to Comeau – got a good shot on – but just missed the left post.

6:00 – Devils getting some opportunities – but defense is getting rid of the garbage.  Weight gets called for tripping McCammond.

6:17 – Isles on 2nd PK of the day.

6:52 – Langenbrunner trips Bergenhei as he was trying  to skate out of the defensive zone.  4 on 4 for 1:25.

7:33 – deflected sho goes about 10 rows up to section 337.  That will wake them up…

Islander quick PP leaves them with just about nothing. 

9:05 – Parise shows alot of energy, but not many other ones in white and red.

9:50 – Ricky made a save,but Parise gobble up what I thought was a controlled stop, and just missed scoring.

10:50 – Bergenheim and Sim did a nice give and go, which Danis made the stop.

11:55 – Isles had a few good chances – Comean and Gervais – Danis took care of them.  Making the simple moves and doing them well.

Isles are playing my 3rd period gameplan correctly.  Staying aggressive, but not acting silly.

Shots are 41-17 Isles – amazing that they are stopping this high flying Devil team to just 17 shots.

15:00 – Sim makesa nice shot that Dais controls.

15:45 – DiPietro makes the stop, chucks the puck in the air and tries to slap it like you were at baseball practice playing fungos.  Hey Rick – the Ducks could always use a lefty DH in the summer.

17:30 – Hunter slams White to the glass.  Extra effort.

17:45 – this will be the last entry. what A GREAT GAME.  I am saying it – Ricky gets the goose egg!

Also – here is a link to a movie called Superfan – a film made by my friend Mike Castro, about an obsessed Islander fan.  I saw the premier last night – and enjoyed it thoroughly. 

Here is a link to the movie….

http://mpc-studios.com/SFTrailer.wmv

Nothing new at warmups.  Same gus on the ice – with Rollie in net this evening.

Two teams with identical points – both struggling to say the least.  One of these teams will gain some momentum.  Which will it be?

My player to watch:  Trent Hunter.  After losing the nine game pont scoring streak, he only has 4 points in his last 12.  He needs to get his game going.  He can be a major factor in ‘spreading out the lineup’, if his game is going.  Using the body, and gettting that ‘toe drag’ going – will be a help to this team.

Special teams play will also be a factor in the success of this game.  The Isles need to keep their feet moving on the PK.  They have aggressive moments, but when they sit back – they are done.  On the PP – they are creating chances and getting good scoring opportunities.  As some of the guys have said – get some confidence – and the puck will go in.  Maybe one off the butt – may be the cure that they need.

Will save entries after each period.

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Starting lineup – Roloson Sutton Hillen Sim Thompson Park

Ken Dick – Okposo.net’s guru just showed me that the Dragons banners are now gone from the Coliseum.  His line:

More room for Islanders banners!

Tampa has a lot of scoring from four guys – LeCavalier, St. Louis, Stamkos and Malone. 

Hunter (my player to watch) – is on a line with Schremp and Joensuu.

3 minutes in – only one shot.  Guys seem to be feeling out each others.  park and Sim out there against the St. Louis and Stamkos lines.  Both of them like to be aggressively forechecking in front of the opposing goalie.

Stamkos on a breakaway – hit the post.  Deked Rollie, but a couple of inches short of 1-0.

Bailey with a nice deflection of a Streit shot – that Smith got a piece of.

Two posts on Lightning shots – they thought they scored, and they want to check it – looked like the puck was on the line and not completely over it. NO GOAL!

Tavares on a break, and tries to pass.  He seems to have Josh Bailey disease.  SHOOT!

Hale gets a penalty – first chance for the special teams to make a mark.  Okie on the point – that still pisses me off.  He should be up front – causing havoc.

Not much doing on the PP

Atta boy Trent!

Isles are getting chances – shots are 9-4 with 5 minutes left in the game.

Tampa gets another penalty with 4:33 to go – Downie.  Get some bodies at the net, and cause some ruckus.  Stamkos getting PK time now – the confndence he shows on the ice is huge.

Hunter gets a rebound in front of Smith and bangs it home – 1-0 Islanders. I have to call players of the game more often.

Rollie stood on his head with a flurry of shots right after the goal.  Guys look a great deal move focused and happy on their skates.

Overall – a positive first period for the boys.  But a delay of game penalty with 36.5 left – puts the guys on the kill.  This has been the achillies heel for the team of late.  Time to keep the skates moving, and take positive actions.

______________________________________________

PERIOD 2

Isles kill off their penalty – and get a power play of their own – but to no avail.

Macdonald has lookedbetter with each game played.  He stands tall, and is not afraid to not only bang around, but will take a nice shot from the point.

Stamkos tied it up on a nice give and go with St. Louis. 1-1.

Okposo just got drilled on the had by Matt Smaby – and O’Halloran was right there -with no cal in sight.  The fogged glasses are on for sure.

At the half way point – the Isles are not playing a bad game – but the agressiveness has to stay there.

Rollie on the spot.

Sutton took out Szczechura with a nice bomb to the boards.

Looking at the stats =Isles 55-45 on the faceoff %, equal on hits – and outshooting 21-14.  Tavares is 0-5.

Thompson – on a pass from Okposo – gets it by Smith - 2-1 Islanders.  The last 90 seconds before that,the line of Bailey, Okposo and Nielsen were generating a lot of chances, and really had some sustained pressure.

Tavares gets a bogus tripping call, when on his knees and going after the puck get his stick on the Lightning players skate.  Dan O’Halloran is playing his best role of Mr. Magoo this season.

Andy Macdonald, on a simple play impressed me even more when insted of just shooting from the point, he dekd and made a move in on the half wall and got a closer shot in on Smith. 

Malone with 18.6 seconds left in the period got pass off to LeCavalier who got it over the left shoulder of Roloson to knot the game at 2.

Assessment after  2- the Isles are letting the special teams dictate the game again.  For the third – they need to get the 5 on 5 play to a higher tempo.

________________________

PERIOD 3

Hillen takes a delay of game penalty – the third such call of the evening for both clubs.  The over/under on Kenny Jonsson to do that was 3

And Malone makes the Isles pay right away -less than 20 seconds into the penalty – a snap shot betwee the circles.  3-2 Tampa. Malone was as alone a Tony Gonzalez was catching the football in Giants Stadium on Sunday.

This was not the way the Isles had the tird period planned.  The speed and aggressiveness that the Isles showed in the second period has now since vanished.  They look sluggish, and at times, apathetic.

Most of their efforts seens to focus on clearing the puck out of their zone,as opposed to making an effort to bring the puck out of the zone. 

Stat of note – Hunter and Moulson both with 5 shots a piece.

Tampa Bay – Szczchura – gets called for delay of game – the 4th such call of the night.  This wuld be the time to get this game tied.  Okposo blasts on that just goes wide.  Hunter gets a shot from the slot that Smit deflects.

I am still not sold on Okie on the point!

Too many times they are going for the cute and sexy shot, rather than just driving to the net, and making some bodies fly.

Shots are 35-24 for the game. 57% on Faceoffs. 

Sutton gets called for having St. Louis skate right into him.  In basketball – that is called a pick.

Malone, St. Louis and LeCavalier – do their best Hollywood Squares impersonation, tic tac toe, with Malone finishing off the trick.  4-2 Tampa.

The crowd (for what it was worth), is starting to filter out.  No surprise there.

Five straight games that the Isles have given up two power play goals.  This is a serious situation that needs to be rectified immediately.  This team can not survive doing this night after night.

It just seemed that after the 2 minute mark remaining in the second period – that Tampa just wanted this game more than the Isles did.  I am no way saying that there is no effort out there.  That is far from the truth.  I just think Tampa just stepped up their game more.  And as I say that, Tavares gets a lane, and decides to drop pass back to Okposo and the play goes to naught.  These guys need to in some cases, be a little selfish and drive to the net and get more physical.

Wednesday – the Isles play a Blue Jackets team that is in similar straits as the Isles are.

Joensuu draws a penalty by Smaby for Cross-Checking – if they want to make a statement- now would be a good time to do it.

The crowd left is booing the team – I think that answers my question.

Well – I probably will not be blogging on this site until after the Holiday, so I wish to you and yours, a Merry Christmas, and may all your wishes come true (well – at least maybe an Islander win on Thursday would be nice).

Well – remember – you have deleted the files, but a good CSI guy can find them on your hard drive, nevertheless.

That is how I feel after last night. Erase that game from the memory, but somehow – the pain from it still does not go away…

Happy for Bailey for finally getting on the board. He still needs to shoot a LOT more – but maybe that will come now.

OK – tomorrow is another day… But then you see Ovechkin, Green, Semin and the rest of the Crapitals are coming into town tomorrow night… Sheesh.

And by the way, what pile of hash was the schedule maker smoking when he set up this home game inbetween two road games in Montreal? Wow – maybe we need some of that?

Oh well – have a good day folks, see you tomorrow from the Coli. Will be in the Blog Box tomorrow — if you are by Sec 201 – stop by and say hi!