This is the article from the Vancouver Province on Monday, regarding the game vs. the Islanders.

Isles look like team in oldtimers league
Many of the names are familiar, but their legs are creaky, writes Gordon McIntyre
The Province
Published: Monday, November 17, 2008
General manager Garth Snow has put together a pretty good squad — if it was the 2001-02 season.

But Mike Comrie, Bill Guerin, Doug Weight and Mike Sillinger are all past their best-by date.

And, yikes, is that Richard Park wearing an ‘A’ and logging up to 19 1/2 minutes?

Head coach Scott Gordon, last year’s AHL coach of the year, probably wishes he had his Providence Bruins lineup on many nights.This once-proud franchise has long been a joke and owner Charles Wang is hinting he will leave town or sell the team if the decrepit Nassau Coliseum, long past the glory years of Bryan Trottier and Mike Bossy, isn’t replaced.

The Isles are last in league attendance, officially averaging 13,233 fans (but most nights there are far fewer bottoms in the seats), and Wang claims he loses $20 million US a year.

That someone might be interested in buying a team that owes Rick DiPietro $4.5 million a year until 2020-21, when the oft-injured goalie will be 39, is beyond comprehension.

With all the uncertainty surrounding the Isles off the ice and a weak roster on it, the team did manage to beat Ottawa back-to-back in a home-and-away series on Thursday and Saturday.

They did it largely due to goalie Joey MacDonald, a career journeyman who is 6-6-2 in the abscence of DiPietro, who has been injured for all but three games.

In fact, with the Islanders’ recent record of 4-2-1, they’ve clawed past Flordia out of last place in the Eastern Conference.

“It feels like we’re playing in front of a guy who feels good about himself,” Weight told New York reporters. “We feed off his energy and with Ricky out, he’s been huge.”

Still, the Islanders have a penchant for blowing late leads — they squandered multi-goal leads in four of five games early in the month.

“Not that it’s behind us completely, but I don’t think anybody’s thinking about that anymore,” Gordon said after watching the Sens score two late goals to pull within 3-2 on Saturday.

The Isles will be missing defenceman Thomas Pock, suspended for five games after getting a major and being tossed from Thursday’s game for elbowing former Canuck Ryan Shannon in the head in his debut with the Senators.

Comrie, their leading scorer last season with a measely 49 points, and Sillinger are doubtful with hip injuries.

gordshockey@hotmail.com

The e-mail address is there - maybe folks should send a nice note to him about last night’s game… Other than a 1 minute blip to start, I thought the game was well played and a great success. OT was outstanding, and are you getting more and more impressed by Franz?

Joey - well - he is just Joey!

Great job boys! Great effort, and I am glad to see you shut up the Canadian media who thinks their poo does not stink!

Check your pants boys!!!

Now as Islander fans - we do not like the Rangers, etc…

However, when you hear this, your heart drops. My thoughts and prayers go to the Cherapanov family and the Ranger community on this totally tragic loss.

From TSN -

New York Ranger prospect Alexei Cherepanov collapsed on the bench at or near the end of Omsk’s Kontinental Hockey League game and died a short time later, he was 19.

Omsk head coach, Wayne Fleming said Cherepanov collapsed on the bench during the third period of the game and did not see anything that happened on the ice that may have contributed to it.

Fleming also said medical authorities tried to get Cherepanov’s heart beating again after it had stopped.

Sources in Russia tell TSN that the ambulance that is normally at all games had already departed and had to be called back.

It is not clear exactly how long it took for Cherepanov to be transported from the rink to the hospital but one source in the arena told TSN it was “probably 15 or 20 minutes.”

Also, there is some question as to whether defibrillators at the arena were in good working order.

No further details are available at this point.

The news of Cherepanov’s untimely death has shocked the hockey world.

“We are extremely saddened by the tragic passing of Alexei,” said New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather. “On behalf of the New York Rangers organization, I would like to extend our deepest sympathies to his family. Alexei was an intelligent, energetic young man, with tremendous talent and an extremely bright future.”

“He was a great kid,” Cherepanov’s agent, Jay Grossman told TSN. “He had a great smile and was an outstanding player with a great future on and off the ice. It’s both shocking and devastating news for all of us. ”

He had seven goals and 12 points in 14 games played this season in KHL.

Cherepanov helped lead Russia to a Bronze Medal at the World Junior Championships in 2008, scoring three goals and adding three assists with a plus-three rating over his six games at the tournament.

Cherepanov was drafted by the Rangers in the 1st round, 17th overall, in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.

Yes - the Gordon’s Fisherman… Yea - I get it…. Shut up Rangers fans, already… Worry about your OWN team….

Scott Gordon is now the newest head coach of the Isles. I was not totally sold on him at first, but the resume does speak volumes… AHL coach of the Year - 70 games over 500 for his career in Providence.

Yes - we got another New Englanduh in the mix. That is no problem. Communicate and motivate the players, and you can have whataver accent you desire.

I was still leaning toward having a face that would be NHL recognizable, but again, I will move forward on it. I see a lot of similarities of Gordon to one Peter Laviolette. That is not bad comparisons. All we now have to do, is KEEP this one….

I think he will work well with the young crop, and he deserves the shot to say the least. It is nice to see that a good number of young guns are now getting shots to take a team at the top level. John Anderson, who won a Calder in Chicago, now takes over the Thrash. New coaches in Florida, and San Jose, are showing that ‘ol boys club is not the norm anymore. Well - Mullet Melrose screwed up that equation for all of us.

Anyhow, I am confident that Garth is putting all his eggs on Scott to lead this team. With 35 days to go, until camp begins, get the homework going now… Islander fans have been beaten more times, that a “B” actor in a spaghetti western. It is time, to make us the aggressors.

Good luck, Scottie!