2Man Digs Up Gordon’s Card
August 13th, 2008 by murph
Kudos to The 2 Man Advantage for digging up Coach Gordon’s old AHL hockey card.
Archive for the '2008-09' Category
Islanders Name Scott Gordon New Head Coach
August 12th, 2008 by murph
On Saturday, they named the Ice Girls. Tonight, the Islanders named a new head coach. Priorities people, priorities! Just got home from men’s league and heard the news, more tomorrow. Isles press conference at 1pm.
New York Islanders General Manager Garth Snow has named Scott Gordon the team’s head coach. Gordon, the reigning American Hockey League Coach of the Year with the Providence Bruins, is the 14th head coach in franchise history. He has agreed to a multi-year contract with the Islanders.
“Scott has been one of the top up-and-coming coaches in hockey and with good reason,” said Snow. “Through his work in the minor leagues and most recently with Providence over the last eight years, he has gained an impeccable reputation. The entire Islanders organization looks forward to working with Scott.”
“Garth has given me an unbelievable opportunity to coach in the NHL with the Islanders,” said Gordon. “From my time coaching in Providence, I’ve seen firsthand the talented young players in this organization. I look at the direction and the vision for this team and see a bright future.”
A Bunch of Bossy Jerseys and a Bag of Pucks
August 8th, 2008 by murph
Friday night, the Yanks don’t play until 10p, so how about the Islanders Army “Bag of Pucks” link dump makes an appearance this summer?
- First up is a cool site for all sports fans, not just hockey. Above is the handywork of JerseyDatabase.com a site with a database of replica jersey graphics for all the major sports including soccer and yes, even lowly hockey. You can search by player and see every jersey they ever wore, like I’ve done with The Boss - Isles, All-Star, Team Canada, they are all there. At the site you can make iPhone/iPod Touch Wallpaper and website banners which I think are pretty cool for your FFL/FHL league teams. They’ve got EVERYBODY in the database - even Dave “Killer” Carlson and Ogie Oglithorpe.
- Next up is the Islanders Open House on Saturday, along with the Ice Girl tryouts at Islanders Iceworks
Doors open to the Coliseum at 10:00 AM. Fans will also have the opportunity to look at seats for season and partial plan tickets for the upcoming 2008-09 season. Any fan that purchases a full or partial plan on Saturday morning will have the opportunity to have an exclusive lunch with Doug and Josh that very same day at the Coliseum. Also, for one day only, any fan who purchases a ticket plan at the open house will receive a free gas card worth up to $100 in value.
Ice Girl auditions for the 2008-09 team will be held this coming Saturday, August 9th at 9:30 a.m. at the Islanders Iceworks facility in Syosset.
The tryout is open to all women 18-years-of-age and older. You should wear form-fitting athletic clothes, come with your make-up complete, and be sure to bring your own figure skates. Please also remember to bring a resume and headshot to the audition. These tryouts will be taped for IslandersTV.
Since I mentioned the Ice Girls, I have to run a picture or the Internet Police will come and arrest me. Rules are rules.
- A new Islanders blog has popped up - Islanders Gameday and they’ve used the Internet Archives to take a look back at how the Islanders website has changed since 1999. I tried to do a search for NHL.com, but they’ve blocked the site from indexing them. Bettman strikes again and kills the fun.
- And finally, Yahoo’s Puck Daddy drops TWO Islander links on us today, without a single mention of backup goalies or fishsticks. Kyle Okposo got some love in HockeysFuture.com Calder Cup preview, then P. Daddy finds some video of Ricky D chillin’ on LI, going to practice, getting a haircut, and the Islanders bowling team. Nice quality on that Hulu.com video, if the NHL posts more stuff over there, I will drop the You Tube embeds faster than Yashin at a turtleneck sale.
- Oh by the way, did you hear about the J-E-T-S JETS! JETS! JETS! ?
Isles’ Original Jersey to Return as Alternate
July 28th, 2008 by murph
This coming season will see the return of 3rd jerseys returning to the NHL after a one season hiatus. This tip comes from Howard Berger’s blog, one of the Toronto Sports Talk radio guys - who says he’s seen pictures of most of them. Seems like a pretty solid tip to me, I’ll keep my eye open for pics.
The Isles are going back to their original road jersey from 1972-73, when they joined the NHL along with the Atlanta Flames. It is a royal-blue base, with broad orange and white stripes on the arms and at the bottom of the jersey. The uniform numbers – as they appeared during the club’s inaugural season – are orange with white trim. Player names will also be orange. The Islanders switched to white jersey numbers after their dreadful first year in the league; when they compiled a 12-60-6 record… worst, to that point, in NHL history.
Islanders 2008-09 Schedule Released
July 17th, 2008 by murph
We don’t know who will be behind the bench that night, but we now know when the Islanders 2008-09 season will start. The NHL released the 08-09 schedule yesterday.
The New York Islanders 2008-09 full season schedule has been released and features 15 Saturday home games, nine matinee home games, including five on holidays, and two home games on Sunday afternoon. The Islanders will open the season on the road on Friday, October 10th at New Jersey before returning for the home opener on Saturday, October 11th vs. St. Louis.
Single-game tickets are scheduled to go on sale at the Nassau Coliseum box office on the morning of Saturday, September 13th. The Islanders will also announce the 2008-09 partial plans in the coming weeks.
Also of note is the 2009 NHL Winter Classic which will feature the defending Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings taking on the Chicago Blackhawks outdoors at Wrigley Field on January 1st, 2009. I’m disappointed they didn’t choose Yankee Stadium for this game, but considering the NHL was going to leave the Islanders out of the game anyways, it’s just as well. The rumor mill has it that a future Winter Classic could still come to NYC at the new Yankee Stadium.
Summer Campin’
July 15th, 2008 by murph
Lost in the shuffle of Ted Nolan’s departure yesterday was the start of the Islanders’ Summer Prospect Camp. Ted or no Ted, this team is in rebuild mode so it’s important for the entire coaching staff to work with and see our prospects before they head off to their respective 2008-09 assignments (college, AHL, NHL, etc.). Open to the public and held at Islanders Iceworks in Syossett, NY, this year’s camp features 10 of the 13 Islanders’ 2008 Draft Picks, including our first round pick Josh Bailey.
On Monday afternoon, 45 Islanders prospects and camp invitees flocked to Islanders Iceworks for the annual Islanders Prospects Camp. Fans from across Long Island visited Syosset to see some of the Islanders’
brightest young stars, including Blake Comeau, Kyle Okposo and 2008 first round draft pick Josh Bailey.In the morning, the players took part in some grueling testing to measure their level of fitness and sat in on a number of lectures, including one by mental conditioning coach Gary Parks. Later in the day, the players took to the ice for the first time. Director of Player Development Bryan Trottier, Islanders assistant coaches John Chabot, Gerard Gallant and Dan Lacroix, as well as Bridgeport Sound Tigers head coach Jack Capuano led this afternoon’s skate.
Newsday Poll Finds Most Fans Against Firing
July 15th, 2008 by Tom
Not surprisingly, about 80% of Newsday readers who responded to a poll asking what they thought about Nolan’s departure said they were against it. Two-thirds said they opposed because Nolan did a good job with the little talent he had. Agreed. The rest said they opposed because the move would hurt the team’s chances of landing a big free-agent. Disagree there. The Isles pretty much had no shot at a big ticket free-agent anyway. Been a while since they have.
You can check out the poll here.
On another note, I was talking to a friend of mine who interned with the Isles recently. He’s right out of college, a smart kid. Here’s what he had to say about yesterday’s moves and how they reflect on the organization:
“It’s really no surprise when stuff like this happens. No one runs the show over there. Most of the people act like they are working for a club team, not a franchise that won four Cups in a row. The culture over there really needs to change. They expect not to win.”
Agreed.
The Hockey News Weighs In On Nolan’s Departure
July 14th, 2008 by Tom
Mike Brophy of The Hockey News might be right on when he speculates about why Ted Nolan is no longer coaching the New York Islanders:
Read between the lines, however, and this is the more likely accurate scenario: Excellent coach sick and tired of trying to make chicken doo-doo into chicken salad. My guess is Nolan took a look at the Islanders’ roster and decided to conjure up a few philosophical differences to get his butt out of town.
And he adds a little cold hard truth:
The Islanders have become the team veteran players with nowhere else to play sign with. At the rate they are going, it will be years before they become a contender.
Read the rest of Brophy’s take here. Ugh. I’m so disgusted with this team right now.
The Wrong Guy Lost
July 14th, 2008 by Tom
Resigning for “philosophical differences” is about as descriptive as resigning “for personal reasons.” There’s some nice words in there but what the hell does it really mean?
In Ted Nolan’s sudden departure as coach of the New York Islanders, it likely means he no longer wanted to work in a place where he was expected to produce playoff victories but was given a line-up of spare parts, has-beens and never-will-be’s. I love the OrangeAndBlue, but there’s no way I can sit here today and honestly tell you the roster during Nolan’s time with the club was anything but suspect.
Whether it was Nolan ultimately behind this or Snow or Chuck Wang, it doesn’t really matter. Obviously these guys could not get on the same page about what the Islanders are supposed to be. And I’m afraid the wrong guy lost.
The Islanders ask their fanbase to believe. They ask their fanbase to remember the good old days and use retired number nights and championship anniversaries to keep the ticket sales going but at some point management is going to have to be held accountable - and that means putting together a team with a real shot of winning the Cup. This isn’t about first-round playoff exits. The bar has been set so low now that no Islander fan ever seriously thinks of his or her team winning a championship. How did that happen? It shouldn’t be permitted. The Islander fans have been loyal. They’ve waited out more than their share of dark days. The Islanders need to provide some light. It’s time to flip the switch one way or the other here.
Big decision coming up with the new coach but I don’t expect much. Why should I? I’m just an Islander fan.
Nolan Out as Islanders’ Coach
July 14th, 2008 by murph
Cue the circus music. Charles Wang’s Three Ring (rink?) Circus is back in town. Citing “philosophical differences” Ted Nolan has left the Islanders.
Added Nolan: “While I am disappointed I will not be coaching the Islanders next season, there have been philosophical differences and we’ve agreed it’s a good time for me to move on. I want to thank the Islanders organization for giving me a chance to coach in the NHL again. I have tremendous respect for what the team is trying to do and I wish them well.”
You’ve got to be kidding me? Let’s recap…Isles hire coach Ted Nolan, former Coach of the Year, the move is generally applauded. Isles hire GM Garth Snow, former backup goalie, the move is ridiculed across the league and especially the hockey blogosphere. Just another punchline to the league’s biggest joke - Spano, Fishsticks, ice girls, sumo goalies, and backup goalies running the team. So when there are philosophical differences, who would YOU keep?
Dear Coach Nolan, Thanks for trying. You gave it your best with the players you had and overachieved in 2006/07. Last year, the team started down that same path until injuries took their toll. It certainly wasn’t your fault. I have the utmost respect for you and have a feeling it won’t be as long as last time before some NHL team starts calling you.
