Archive for the 'Bill Guerin' Category
Since the season ends today, we figured why wait on handing out the hardware. So, without further ado, some of my thoughts on who did right by us Isles fans this season, with a top choice and a runner-up. I also refrained from picking any one player for two different awards. I love making up rules for myself. Murph, let us know what you think, too:
MVP - 1) Rick DiPietro 2) Brendan Witt
Ricky was the obvious choice here. On a team with very little firepower and a no-name defense, DiPietro stood on his head a ton of times to keep the Isles in the thick of things before going down with the injury. His play and Ted Nolan’s coaching were the primary reason the Isles had a shot at the playoffs for most of the season. For that reason, I almost picked Nolan as the runner-up but then I thought it was lame to pick a coach. Brendan Witt personified the team’s toughness and did a very good job manning the backline until, he too, went down with an injury (I sense a pattern here). Honorable mention goes to Mike Sillinger, Bill Guerin, Mike Comrie, and Trent Hunter.
Hardest Worker, aka the Jason Blake Memorial Trophy - 1) Trent Hunter 2) Bill Guerin
Both of these guys leave everything on the ice every night. I know a lot of Islander fans are disappointed in Hunter’s lack of points (just 12 goals this year and 40 points), but the guy is one of the few Isles playing physical from end to end, each and every game. He’s also the type of player who would be lighting the lamp much more regularly if the Isles were fortunate to have a true sniper on the team. Guerin is exactly what we thought he’d be. The guy works hard. He’s a little older now and maybe a little slower but it’s hard to gauge when there is just so little offensive talent around him.
The Wow He’s Actually Pretty Good Award - 1) Richard Park 2) Dubie
Richard Park! I can’t tell you how many times I caught myself getting excited at something Park had accomplished and then saying to myself, “Hey, that Richard Park is pretty o.k.” Maybe not the most ringing endorsement in the world but in all honestly it can take some time to win me over and Park is slowly doing that. The guy made a host of big plays this season and was fairly consistent. He currently ranks seventh on the team in points and leads the Isles with three shorthanded goals. Maybe that’s what won me over right there. Love those shorthanded goals. Back-up goalie Wade Dubielewicz was more than solid spot-starting for DiPietro for much of the season before DP went down with the injury. Since then he’s gotten even more time between the pipes and he continues to keep the Isles in games. He’s shown that last season’s heroics wasn’t a fluke and proven he can play at this level.
The Dumbest Play of The Season Award - 1) Chris Simon
The Jarkko Ruutu play. Totally unacceptable. Simon played hard but every once in a while the guy just went off the deep end. The Ruutu play got him a 30-game ban and a ticket off of the Island. Simon won the same award last year when he hit Ryan Hollweg with his stick and was suspended for 25 games.
The Invisible Man Award - 1) Shawn Bates
Another winner without a runner-up. Bates, you know we fell in love with you in 2002 but, man, where’ve you been? For the second straight season, Bates was pretty-much a no-show. He played in just two games this season. Makes last year’s 48 seem Ironman-esque.
The Why I Can’t Wait For Next Season Award - 1) Kyle Okposo 2)Blake Comeau
The Young Guns have shown some signs of things to come in their limited action this season and should give all Islander fans some hope for the future. The Isles need to get some help from the outside if they want to take the next step, but it’s nice knowing the cupboard isn’t empty.
As always, we look to our readers to let us know where we screwed up.
The Flyers downed the Isles 4-1 yesterday. Another bad loss to a team serving as a roadblock to a playoff spot for the OrangeAndBlue. The loss puts the Islanders seven points back of Philly for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Islanders now reside in 12th place out of 15 teams in the East.
They have 12 games to play. How likely is it a team can make up seven points in just 12 games? Not bloody likely. Even if the Islanders go 9-3, which would qualify as their best 12-game stretch of the season, the Flyers, who have 13 games left, would have to go 5-8. That would leave the Islanders with 89 points and the Flyers with 88. The Flyers would own any tiebreaker if the teams ended the season with the same amount of points, as they have dominated the season series winning five of six contests.
The two teams play each other two more times - Sunday, March 23 at Philadelphia and Saturday, March 29 at the Old Barn. If the Isles have any chance of grabbing that last seed, they need to win both games in regulation. There’s no other way. They simply cannot afford to lose any more ground to the Flyers.
To make the uphill climb even steeper, using the 9-3 scenario for the Islanders’ last 12 games, the team would still need Buffalo, Washington, and Florida to stumble. If the Isles finish with 89 points, they would need Buffalo to finish no better than 7-6 (for 88 points), Washington no better than 7-5 and Florida no better than 7-4. There’s a good chance that can happen but when you’re talking about the need for three teams to be no better than mediocre, one team, the Flyers, to be pretty bad, and the Islanders to be pretty damn awesome, the odds don’t look good. I wouldn’t take that bet. Would you?
The good thing is the Islanders are saying all the right things. Captain Bill Guerin told Newsday after yesterday’s loss “We’re making it a lot harder on ourselves. Is there enough time? Not a lot, but there’s time.”
Technically, he’s right. But it’s almost last call. No time to waste.
With the Islanders’ continued inability to score, we got curious about how former OrangeAndBlue sniper Jason Blake is faring with his new team - the Toronto Maple Leafs. We certainly knew that Blakey wasn’t exactly lighting it up this year but it had been a while since we saw his stats. Here they are:
Jason Blake 2007-08
GP G A P +/-
67 12 28 40 1
At first glance, you might interpret this as “good thing the Islanders didn’t sign that guy.” And you can’t argue with that sentiment. Blake got $20 million from Toronto after coming off a career year in which he posted 40 goals and 29 assists in 82 games. He was durable and he consistently lit the lamp. This season playing in a new system with a new club that has been plagued by inconsistency, Blake has been a shadow of his former self. He still gets the shots off, leading the Leafs with 277 so far this season, but they cross the goal-line just 4.3% of the time. He’s actually averaging more shots this season (4.1 a game) than he did last year (3.7). The difference is last season with the Islanders, Blake scored on 13.1% of his shots, more than three-times better than his average this season.
The question is - would the Isles have been better off this season if Blake had stayed? Long-term, I think the answer is obvious, they had to let him go. Blake just got too expensive and, at 34, is past the prime age for big-time scorers. But would the Islanders been better off with Blake for this one season? Probably, but I don’t think anyone could have expected him to duplicate last season’s numbers. For the three years prior to last season, Blake averaged 25 goals and 28 assists per campaign.
On this season’s club, Blake was basically replaced at left wing by Ruslan Fedotenko. Fedotenko has scored 15 goals and 16 assists this season. The other two big offensive additions are Mike Comrie (20G 27A) and Bill Guerin (20G 17A). To afford Blake, the Islanders wouldn’t have been able to acquire all three of these guys. Substitute Blake for any one of the three, and give him his average numbers over the three years prior to his break-out season, and the numbers are pretty even.
What is harder to gauge is what intangibles Blake would have brought to the club. He hustles. He goes all out. He creates chances out of thin air. He causes penalties. He can hog the puck. He can get trigger happy. He’s not a very good two-way player.
So, after thinking about it, I guess my answer is it is really difficult to tell whether the Isles would have been better this season with Blake suiting up but I don’t think he would have made much of a difference either way. I know it’s all guess work but I just don’t see how Blake could have had a big impact on this moribund offense. The problems go deeper than missing one good sniper.
“I don’t know. If you play long enough, there are certain teams you play well against,” Rick DiPietro told Newsday after the Islanders beat New Jersey for the fifth straight time this season. “The last couple years for us, it’s been the Devils.”
Right now, there’s no question that the Islanders have the Devils’ number. That was readily apparent last night when the Isles skated to a 3-1 victory, largely on the strength of DP’s sick goaltending and two tallies by Captain Bill Guerin. The game was tight and the Devils certainly had plenty of opportunities but in the end, the Isles again grabbed the win. The Islanders are now 5-0 this season against their Jersey neighbors. How do you explain that?
“I don’t know what it is,” Mike Sillinger told Newsday.
Fair enough, because we don’t know either. The Isles just seem to get up for these games and, as we all know, success breeds confidence. Despite the fact that the Devils have been ahead of the Islanders in the standings for the better part of a decade, the Islanders now come into these games, believing - no - knowing, they can win. The Devils, on the other hand, kind of look for something to go wrong.
“It’s weird. One team beats the other all the time,” Devils forward Sergei Brylin told the Newark Star-Ledger. “We play better against other teams in our conference. I don’t have an explanation. They have our number this year.”
Rich Chere of the Star-Ledger had a great line about the game in today’s paper.
Too bad the Islanders had to waste all that fuel and time riding the bus from Long Island to Newark. The Devils could’ve just e-mailed the two points to the NHL office.
That’s how predictable a Devils-Islanders matchup has become.
These wins are HUGE for the Islanders. They are now just four points behind the Devils and the Penguins, who are tied atop the division with 55 points. More importantly, the victory gives the OrangeAndBlue sole possession of the seventh seed in the East. Again, it’s only January but it’s never too early to think about the postseason, especially with the trade deadline just one month away.
If the Coliseum Heroes can stay among top eight teams in the conference, I have no doubt they’ll look to add some scoring up front and toughness on the blueline. But that’s a conversation for another day.
P.S. If you don’t get the joke from the Marty picture above, check out this site for an explanation.
After 45 shots and 7 powerplays, it’s a miracle the Islanders even got a point last night in Vancouver. With the exception of DP, the team did not look a whole lot better than they did the previous night during their shutout loss to Edmonton. Fortunately, DP played amazing last night and the Isles were able to get a point out of red-hot Vancouver who is 12-0-2 in their last 14 home games.
During a 19-shot first period barrage, Marcus Naslund netted one about midway through the period for the 1-0 Vancouver lead. Captain Bill Guerin tied it up in the second with a little help from video review to confirm. Shots were 31-16 in favor of Vancouver after 2 periods, thanks in part to 6 Canuck powerplays.
The teams traded gift goals in the third - Canuck goalie (and ex-Islander) Roberto Luongo mishandled the puck behind the net and Blake Comeau darted in to bang it home for the 2-1 Islanders lead. Just about a minute and a half later the Canucks tied it up though on a slot snap shot by Daniel Sedin that DP was noticeably upset at himself for letting in.
That was the end of the scoring, until the shootout, where (ex-Islander) Trevor Linden scored in the 3rd round to give Vancouver the 1-0 edge. Miroslav Satan was the Isles’ last chance and he came through with a nifty move to beat Luongo and tie things up again. I was all confused at this point because A) it was 12:30am and B) it looked like Luongo made the save at first. Defenseman Alexander Elder scored for the Canucks in round 6, followed by Luongo stopping Trent Hunter for the 3-2 Vancouver shootout win.
One thing that bothered me about the shootout was the Islanders not getting Luongo to move around too much. Everyone just came right down the middle at him, made a quick deke or fake, and then shot. Satan was the only one to get Luongo to move one way, and the scored the other way.
Coach Nolan shuffled lines all night long, looking for some offense spark. That plan backfired as there was no spark, and not a lot of defense either last night.
Nolan responded by throwing out at least five new lines in the third period to generate an offensive spark.
Coming off a 4-0 shutout loss the previous night in Edmonton in which Nolan benched Ruslan Fedotenko in the third period and played Vasicek and Miroslav Satan sparingly, changes were assured. Nolan put that trio together on a sort of “Doghouse Line” and used them as the fourth line.
Comeau jumped into Fedotenko’s spot with Mike Sillinger and Trent Hunter, and Sean Bergenheim joined Andy Hilbert and Tim Jackman as the third line. Only the top line of Richard Park, Mike Comrie and Bill Guerin remained intact.
The Isles’ roadtrip continues Friday night in Calgary, and then concludes Sunday night in Ottawa.
The Isles downed the Devils 5-2 last night, scoring three third period goals in route to their fourth straight win over New Jersey. Not sure why ths Isles have dominated the series lately, and it is just four games, but wins like these are huge. The Coliseum crowd recognized that and serenaded Brodeur and his crew with chants of “You can’t beat us!” That might be a bit cocky but I say enjoy it while it lasts.
Devils’ coach Brent Sutter is a bit fed up with the whole thing, charging his team with a lack of focus, telling reporters “I’m getting sick of it.” On the other side, Coach Ted Nolan said his guys delivered “a gutsy performance.”
You like fights? I thought you might. This game had a few, with Comrie, Sutton, and Guerin throwing down against Mike Mottau, Mike Rupp, and Dave Clarkson. Sutton played big last night. It was his goal, his first of the season, that put the Islanders ahead for good in the third period. The Islanders need to display toughness, especially against squads like Jersey. They did the job last night.
The Coliseum Heroes now stand at 19-16-2, with 40 pointgs. They’re still in last in the Atlantic but they are just five points behind division-leading New Jersey. They remain in a scrum for the final playoff spot with a whole slew of teams. It’s early, I know, but better in the mix now than not.
Couldn’t watch the game last night, but I caught the highlights on the NHL Network this morning. Which by the way, has become a staple of my morning routine now. Wake up, turn on the NHL Network, get ready while peeping all the highlights from the previous night (how about that Devils’ comeback last night?). Highly recommended.
What’s not recommended however, is letting Atlanta score TWO shorthanded goals last night. That’s about as ugly as it gets. Trent Hunter’s powerplay goal in the third earned the Isles a tie though, giving them 28 points on the season so far, good enough for 8th in the Conference right now. The Isles PP struggles continue with a 1/7 performance. The Isles’ PK gets some love, shutting Atlanta down on 9 chances last night.
Vasicek rang the post in OT, but Ilya Kovalchuk’s goal in round 3 of the shootout gave Atlanta the extra point. Guerin and Satan were stopped for the Isles - anyone remember when Satan was money in the shootout? I know we’ve only had two shootouts this year, but it just seems like years ago when Satan was nearly unstoppable for us in the shootout.
Coach Nolan was less than impressed with the team’s performance last night.
“It’s surprising,” coach Ted Nolan said. “We talked about it before going out for the third period. We just can’t do those type of plays from those type of players. Certainly, things are going to happen once in awhile, but Comrie gave it away twice on the same play. We just can’t have that.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t have gotten the one point,” an unhappy Nolan said, shrugging. “Giving up opportunities when you’re on the power play is doubly bad.
The Ottawa Senators have beaten the Islanders in 8 straight games and are loaded with talent - Spezza, Alfredsson, Heatley…and Andrej Meszaros? Meszaros scored two fluky goals last night, one on an awful angle and one from the point that deflected off an Islander player to tie the game with less than two minutes to play. That led to a wild OT with 4-on-3 powerplays for both teams, and even a little 3-on-3 action too (kinky!). Ottawa had a fantastic chance after DP came out of the net to poke the puck away, and the Isles had a Park/Satan 2-on-1 broken up by an Ottawa defender. Sillinger had this to say about DP after the game.
“Oh man, I hate that,” Sillinger said. “He did give us a scare. I was thinking, ‘What the hell is he doing?”‘
Thank you Silly. You’ve just spoken for hundreds of Islanders fans everywhere.
Back to the game, DP and Emery kept the puck out of the net in OT and for the first time this season, the Isles were headed to a shootout. Alfredsson beat DP in the first round while Emery stopped Satan and Vasicek, which left the game on the shoulders of Captain Bill Guerin who came up with the big shootout goal to tie things up. Finally in round 6, Mike Sillinger scored and DP stopped Dean McAmmond for the Islanders 3-2 OT shootout win last night. Big win for the Orange and Blue who historically struggle vs speedy Ottawa.
The boys head to the city tonight to try and continue their dominance of the Rangers this season, looking for their 4th straight win vs the Blueshirts. Good thing there’s no such thing as a “Senators-hangover”…I hope. If you’re in the city, don’t forget about The Boss at the NHL Store today from 4-6pm before the game. I’ll be out watching the game and Thursday Night Football with the boys, so no live blog tonight unless Tommy can update.
Sorry for the lack of posting lately, IslandersArmy has been busy with work, visiting relatives, holidays, drinking a few pints, and a big win for Tom’s Team over Murph’s in the 17th Annual Turkey Bowl Football Game. It was the first time in the 17 years we have been playing this game that Murph and I went head-to-head. One of the highlights had to be Murph stopping to cheer for me after I made a catch before realizing that we were no longer on the same team. I bet you Ryan Smyth gets that a lot when he plays against Edmonton, too.
So while I was offline, the Coliseum Heroes split a home-and-home with the Bruins, which is acceptable, and are now gearing up to face the first-place Dallas Stars. The red hot Stars, winners of five straight, are coming off an impressive win over the Rangers at MSG yesterday. Stars’ goaltender Mike Smith tallied 39 saves in the contest. Hell of a job.
No word yet on whether Smith or veteran Marty Turco will be in between the pipes for tonight’s game on Hempstead Turnpike. While Turco has been good, posting a 2.64 GAA and a .905 save percentage, Smith has been better. The second-year keeper has a 2.19 GAA and a .916 save percentage and is undefeated with a 1.00 GAA in his last three games.
I’m really interested to see how Bill Guerin performs against his former team. Guerin, who is still collecting a paycheck from the Stars, played for Dallas 2002 through 2006 and posted a career-best 69 points for the team in the 2003-04 season.
Also of interest is whether the Isles can keep up their recent domination of Dallas. The Isles have won the last six contests between the teams. I never would have guessed that. I distinctly remember DiPietro’s shutout last year (I think we did a live blog) but I couldn’t tell you anything about the five other games without looking them up. I guess that’s what happens in the current NHL where Eastern teams and Western teams have just a handful of games against each other.
The Islanders are going to need to find a way to spark the offense tonight and going forward. The OrangeAndBlue have scored just 11 times in the past seven games. Not surprisingly, the Isles won just three of those games.
Happy belated Thanksgiving. Hope you got fat and tired.
The NHL All-Star Game fan ballots are now online. Vote for DP and Captain Guerin, the only Islanders listed on the ballot. I voted for Blakey too.
It appears the NHL is trying to avoid the Rory Fitzpatrick mess from last year. “To Nominate A Player Not on the Ballot, Select One From the List” it says. Excuse me if I’m wrong, but if someone is on that list…then they are on the ballot…aren’t they? So there are no write-in votes allowed this year.
Making matter worse are the inclusion of 10 NY Rangers players on that list, including super-studs like Colton Orr and Ryan Hollweg, but NO OTHER ISLANDERS?!? WTF?! Hello? No Comrie (leads the team in scoring), no Campoli (#10 in NHL defensive scoring), or anyone else wearing Orange and Blue. Well at least they left Sean Avery off the list.
[Update] From Uni Watch, here are this year’s All-Star jerseys. How lame and boring can jerseys get? Now you know.
[Update 2] As pointed out in the comments by reader Mike and also over at Islanders Outsider, the voting website has been updated and 15 Islanders have been deemed “Official NHL Approved Write-In Candidates”. Good work men!
You can now select Sean Bergenheim, Marc-Andre Bergeron, Chris Campoli, Mike Comrie, Ruslan Fedotenko, Bruno Gervais, Andy Hilbert, Trent Hunter, Radek Martinek, Richard Park, Miroslav Satan, Mike Sillinger, Andy Sutton, Josef Vasicek, and Brendan Witt. What, no Dubie?
