November 30 2009 by Rob.

According to islanderspointblank.com John Tavares will be signing autographs at the NHL store in midtown manhattan tomorrow from 4-5 PM.  The store is located at 1185 avenue of the Americas between 46th and 47th street.

Update: According to islanders.nhl.com Dipietro is expected to play for the Soundtigers on Saturday.

Also Garth Snow tells newsday that Dipietro could be back by the middle of December.  I am assuming then that his first game would be vs the Rangers at the Garden.  If he is able to get back for that game that would be really cool because I actually will be at the Garden for that game.  But if there unsure its better to keep him out and make sure hes 150% before letting him see game action.

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November 29 2009 by Rob.

According to Chris Botta from islanderspointblank.com defenseman Andy Sutton will be out for the next 2-4 weeks with a groin strain.  This is a big loss for the Isles as Sutton as come on recently as a physical force as well as showing he has some decent hands as well.  Andrew McDonald who played today for Bridgeport will get the call and suit up against ATL on Thursday.

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November 29 2009 by Rob.

In a recent issue of newsday Arthur Staple wrote an article in which detailed how we are slowly becoming a good team.  He included quotes from the coach of the Capitals as well as Tom Renny.  Tom Renny thinks we will be a playoff team.

I think it is great we are starting to get the recognition we deserve.  The best would be if the Daily News actually included us in there commercial.  They mention every tri-state area sports team except for us.  Even the Knicks and Nets who we have more wins then this month. 

http://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/islanders/islanders-quietly-have-become-a-pretty-good-team-1.1615386

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November 28 2009 by Rob.

Well today in Jersey we played just a terrible game!!  Here are some of my notes:

-The refs again were terrible missing the high-stick on Parise before the third goal and calling a lot of weak penalties against us.
-Didn’t get much in the way of offense
-Although Marty let in a couple softies they still needed to do do more as a team defenseively and offensivley.
-Shoot in the third period!  Yesterday we did a great job of that vs the Pens getting almost 20 shots.  But today we reverted back to wed. form and we only got 4 shots.  If your down going into the third how do you expect to get anything if you don’t put the puck on net.

If you have anything to add post in comments

Next Game: Thursday 12-3 @ ATL

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November 27 2009 by Rob.

Great game today from the boys at the old barn in Hempstead.  Here are some of my notes:

 -Refs were terrible!!!

-Nice timely goal from JT 

-Hunter keeping his pt. streak alive another game

- Roloson played decent couple softies most cost us the game

Post anything else in comments

Next game tomorrow at 1 PM in jersey against the Devils

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November 27 2009 by Rob.

First off I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! 

Later on this afternoon our New York Islanders will play host to the Penguins.  Expect the same lineup as the dreadful game to the Flyers on Wed except for Dwayne Roloson getting the start in net. 

Expect an entry on what I think we need to do to the roster in the coming days

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November 26 2009 by Rob.

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November 25 2009 by Rob.

Well before a pretty good crowd of approx. 12,000 on Thanksgiving eve the Isles lost horribly to the Flyers 2-1 in regulation.  Here are some of my notes:

-This was no way the second loudest crowd of the season as implied on another Islander blog which keep in mind I have the utmost respect for the author but I am sorry I think the Ranger game 10-28 blew it away.
-We got progressively worse as the game went on!  We owned the ice pd 1 in pd three it didn’t look like we belonged there.
-The third period we looked like the Bad News Bears of Hockey, we couldn’t handle the puck we couldn’t receive a pass.  We couldn’t do anything so was it really a surprise when they finally got one?
-Will we ever go ahead of the Rangers?  If we had gotten a point today and the Rangers lose we would’ve went ahead of them for the first time in almost two years.  This has been the case for about a week or so now.  But what a surprise we play like crap for a little over 20 minutes and the Rangers win to go a game ahead of us. 
-Nice pass from JT to Hunter to set up the first goal
-Hunter is hot as anything right now keep getting him the puck
-The power-play units were awful!!!!  They didn’t do anything!!!  It seemed like the Flyers were still playing at even strength when we had the man adv because they took it to us!

If you have anything to add post it in comments

Next game: Friday 11/27 @ 2PM VS PIT      

Note: PIT will be sporting their third jerseys for this game

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November 25 2009 by Rob.

Tonight from the Nassau Coliseum our New York Islanders will play host to the Philadelphia Flyers.  I am expecting to see around 500 or so Philly fans present so if your going be ready to hear loud drunk philly fans upon entry.  Also the Flyers are missing many key players topping the list are Danny Briere and Simon Gagne.  Here are tonights expected lines defense included according to Chris Botta:

Moulson-Tavares-Hunter
Bergy-Nielsen-Okposo
Sim(Why????)-Bailey-Tamby
Thompson-Park-Jackman

Sutton-Hillen
Streit-Gervais
Witt-Meyer

Marty Biron will be getting the start against Flyer backup Brian Boucher.  In case you don’t know Philly starter Ray Emery is the guy who in the off-season said that anytime the Flyers play the Isles they will win.  How convenient that he isn’t playing tonight. 

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November 23 2009 by Rob.

With regard to this game the picture below will say enough:

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November 22 2009 by Rob.

What we have :

• John Tavares - The face of the New York Islanders
• Kyle Okposo - Fan favorite star in the making
• Frans Nielson - Second line center in the making
• Josh Bailey - Let him develop on the third line
• Mark Streit - The emerged top pair defenseman
• Matt Moulson - Another one of Garth Snow’s hidden gems

Whats to come :

• Calvin DeHaan - Could be top pair defencemen in few years
• Matt Martin - The potential enforcer with some scoring touch
• Arron Ness - Could be a solid defencemen for the Islanders down the road
• Trevor Smith - Most likely will be on big club at least once this season. 
• Mikko Koskinen - One of our top prospects.  Will need time to develop
• Jesse Joensuu - Has the size and talent to become a force in the NHL

Other prospects to mention are : Justin DiBenedetto, Dustin Kohn, Joel Rechlicz, Kirill Petrov, Corey Trivino.

It is time to give some credit to general manager Garth Snow.  First finding Mark Streit and now this years gem Matt Moulson.  Call it luck or skill, Snow deserves some credit.  Drafting Tavares was the obvious choice but somebody else like (Milbury) could of traded the pick or drafted Duchene.  Its no knock to Matt, he seems like a great kid but he was not the one for us.  Sometimes making the easy choice is the best choice.  The passing of Filatov and drafting Bailey seems to be paying off.  Seems like Snow was right on that one. 

Overall I like what the Islanders are doing and I truly believe its the correct way to go.  The results are starting to show.  Roloson and Biron are two smart signings by the Islanders this past offseason.  With great goaltending, any team has a chance at a victory.  I give the Isles and Snow a B.  Most of Snow’s moves will be graded in a few years.  Year after year Snow seems to find that hidden gem, for that he should be applauded. 

Posted in New York Islanders | 4 Comments »

November 21 2009 by Rob.

A recent LI Herald article cites Supervisor Murray as saying the talks are going smoothly, she goes on to say that there probably the best they’ve ever been.  Also councilman Hudges is the first to say that his constituents favor development at the site but want the project scaled back.  For more check out Nicks great entry on lettherebelighthouse as well as the LI Herald article.

http://liherald.com/detail/20870.html?cont…e=&town_id=

http://www.lettherebelighthouse.com/2009/11/bumpiest-smooth-ride-ive-ever-seen.html

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November 21 2009 by Rob.

Well tonight we didn’t do much of anything right.  The best thing to happen was Baileys nice goal to take the lead.  Otherwise nothing much went right!

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November 21 2009 by Rob.

Tonight at 8PM from St Louis our New York Islanders will pay a visit to the Saint Louis Blues.  Coming off last night dreadful game the players have to have a shorterm memory and be ready to play tonight because from what I read the Blues are notorious for playing 60 minutes of in your face hockey.  Here is what I believe the forward lineup to be for tonights game:

Moulson-Tavares-Park
Bergy-Nielsen-Okposo
Sim/Tamby-Bailey-Hunter
Comeau/Tamby-Thompson-Jackman

With regard to the first line I have all the respect in the world for Park but he doesn’t belong on that line. Someone like Hunter or Bergy should be on that line not Park. 

Also I have been hearing that Tambellini may get a start tonight which is why I put him in the lineup.

Roloson will get the start in net tonight against what is believed to be Chris Mason of the Blues.

We need to win this game especially with a couple tough ones coming up after Monday.  PHI, PIT, NJ!  So we need the points! 

Cmon guys don’t disappoint us and bring it and get the points tonight!

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November 20 2009 by Rob.

The guy above and Josh Bailey were really the only good things to come out of this game.

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