Islanders Army

DP Demands Extension After Seeing Richards’ Deal

December 14th, 2007 by Tom

All right, that didn’t actually happen. DP is happy with his $67 million-dollar deal. You have to wonder what the Flyers are thinking by giving a 22-year-old forward a 12-year deal reportedly worth $69 million. Don’t get me wrong, Mike Richards is a good player with tons of potential. But 12 years? Really?

Rick DiPietro signed an historic 15-year, $67 million-dollar contract with the Islanders last season. I think the length of both pacts is kind of crazy but I think the Richards’ deal is the crazier of the two. I’d just rather commit to a goalie than a forward. That simple. Obviously, it will be a long time before we find out if either of these contracts work out for the clubs.

Good luck to Mike Richards. Seems like a good guy. Just don’t put too many pucks past DP over the next decade or so.

Isles Down Coyotes

Missed last night’s game. Another holiday party. It’s a great time of year to live in New York, man, but I am looking forward to a quiet night tonight. Putting the beers on hold until the Jets big upset of the Patriots on Sunday. Calling a 19-17 Jets victory, compliments of Mike Nugent and a slew of turnovers in the bad weather. I can dream.

Glad to see the Isles did the job and put the Coyotes down. That was really a game they had no business losing. You have to beat a struggling Western Conference team on your own ice. Good to see Billy Guerin lighting the lamp again. Now the Isles just need to string a few of these together.  

 

Murph’s Take: Where’s the outrage? The shock? The name calling of Flyers’ GM Paul Holmgren? Did Isles’ owner Charles Wang send the Flyers’ owners (Comcast) some “special” holiday egg-nog? People do seem a little surprised by this move, but there is very little of the “this deal is bad for the NHL” sentiment that arose after the DP deal. Is it because the deal isn’t quite as long as DP’s, or is it just because Charles “Crazy Like a Fox” Wang isn’t involved?

Mirtle has a good write up about the deal, looking at the general trend of longer deals in the NHL, and the risks that come with them.

As for last night, a much better effort and a well needed win. The powerplay continues to be Jekyll and Hyde - the Notorious M.A.B gives us a 2-0 lead with a PP goal in the third, and the next PP opportunity results in 0 shots for and a shorthanded goal for Phoenix to negate the insurance goal.

Sorry Wayne, I know losing at the Coliseum probably brings back all sorts of bad memories. *cough*1983*cough*

   Post in 2007-08, Philadelphia Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes, Rick DiPietro    1 Comment

Not Good - Buffalo Dispatches Isles

December 13th, 2007 by Tom

Well I guess I can stop worrying about the Isles scoring drought and start worrying about the team’s defense and hustle. Buffalo outplayed the Isles in every facet of the game last night, an observation I can make even though I spent half the night at the bar for my work holiday party. Came home and watched the game on DVR and was thankful for the fast forward button.

The thing that kills me about the game and a couple of other recent lousy performances, is that the success or failure of the Isles relies on team effort and execution more than anything else. You can say that about a lot of teams in this league but with the Isles it is even more important because they don’t dominate any one aspect of the game - no lightning quick ability to score, or to smother the other’s team’s offense. The Isles need to be the harder working team every night if they want a chance to win. They weren’t against Florida and Boston last week and they weren’t last night in Buffalo. The result, a 5-3 loss in a game they were never really in. Buffalo twice led by three goals and if not for some nifty saves by DP, could have led by more.

Coach Ted did not look happy at all. Here’s what he had to say to Newsday after the game:

“We can’t be behind 4-1 and expect to fight back and score five to win. We just need a better effort.”

“We’ve been pretty patient, giving guys all kinds of opportunities. But patience can only go so long. You have to produce, and you have to work hard. If you don’t maybe somebody else will.”

The latter quote may be a shot at Berard, who took a bad penalty and was late in getting into coverage on several Buffalo rushes. Berard’s ice-time for the game was just a paltry 3:29. Never good when one of your key defenseman logs less ice time than any of his teammates by a whopping six minutes.

That said, Berard wasn’t the only culprit. The Isles looked tired and uninspired for most of the night. They now sit all alone at the bottom of the Atlantic with 30 points, just one game over .500. Looks like it’s gut-check time on the Island. They get a chance to show what they are made of tonight against a mediocre Coyote team that just made the flight from Phoenix. It’s the Isles’ game to win. Let’s see how much they want it. 

 

   Post in 2007-08, Bryan Berard, Buffalo Sabres, Phoenix Coyotes    Add a comment