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.
A quick look at the Isles’ player stats shows an awful lot of minusus where pluses are supposed to be. It’s somewhat understandable when the team has scored the fewest goals in the league, with just 108. But the Isles have given up just 122 goals, which ties them for 12th best in the league. So we need to take a look at the team’s goal differential of negative-14, which is 7th worst in the league. That’s where all the minuses are coming from.
Of the 27 Islanders currently on the roster, an astounding 19 have registered a minus this season. That’s exactly two-thirds of the roster. Wait, there’s more. Five Islanders have registered a 0 for plus/minus, which means they are breaking even. That means just three Islanders have a plus for the season. THREE! Or just 11.1% of the roster. That outstanding trio includes - Richard Park (+1), Sean Bergenheim (+2), and Blake Comeau (+3). Wow. That’s rough, man. By comparison, Niklas Lidstrom has the best plus/minus in the league at +34. Sort of takes some of the air out of Comeau’s +3.
Here are the most egregious offenders of The Minus Gang - Trent Hunter and Mike Comrie (both at -12), Bryan Berard (-9), and Mike Sillinger (-8). Ain’t pretty at all. In fact, just 12 players in the entire NHL have a worse plus/minus ratio than Hunter and Comrie.
For what it’s worth, nobody has been as bad in this category as Tampa’s Brad Richards and his -25. What’s crazy is that Richards has a solid 38 points (which would be good enough to lead the Isles). What the hell is happening when he isn’t scoring or assisting on goals?
Richard Park’s shorthanded goal in the second period has put the Islanders up 1-0 over the Dallas Stars tonight. The game just reached the midpoint of the second period.
Park scored when Sergei Zubov pinched on a power play and the puck was cleared to the Stars’ blueline. Park easily beat all skaters to the puck, including keeper Marty Turco, and put a backhand right into the open net. It was Park’s eigth career shorthanded goal.
Moments later, Park was the first to a loose puck again. This time Turco got the better of Park, clamping down on a slap shot towards the top right corner.
It’s the first time Dallas has visited the Island in four years, according to Howie Rose. Normally, the Stars are scheduled to visit the Coliseum once every three years. The extra year is due to that little strike they had a few years back.
We’ll keep you posted as the game continues.
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Mike Modano just beat DiPietro to tie the score at 1 with about seven minutes to go in the second. That guy just keeps on producing.
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With 15:30 left in the game, Chris Simon redirects a pass right at the crease and raises his arms in celebration. Comrie follows suit. No red light. No siren. Refs review the play and it turns out Turco made a heck of a save, trapping the puck between his legs. Two minutes later, a Zubov cross in the Isles’ zone deflects off of Sillinger right to Jeff Halpern at the side of the net. Halpern beats DP for the go-ahead goal.
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With about three minutes left, the Isles go on the power play. They were unsuccessful on three previous man-advantage situations. Berard fires a shot from the point. The puck is blocked and goes to Bergeron at the blueline. Bergeron fires. Turco makes the save. Satan is there to put in the rebound! Tie Game! That goal was typical Islander power play scoring. Work hard and gain the advantage in position and get the shot off. Rarely pretty, often effective. 2-2. I wonder how hard Dallas will play the rest of the way. They might just want to get out of town with the one point for the regulation tie.
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We’re in overtime. Each team is assured of one point. I expect the Islanders to be very aggressive here.
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Well that was fast. The Stars took control right from the OT faceoff. Modano crashes the net for a rebound and puts it right past DiPietro for his second goal of the night. Dallas escapes New York with back-to-back 3-2 wins and six straight victories overall. The win also snaps the Islanders’ six game win streak against the Stars.
It was a pretty evenly played game. Stars were just more active in the brief (very, very brief) overtime. They get the win. Still, nice job by the Islanders skating with the Stars all night and fighting back for the tie when it looked like a regulation loss was in the cards.
Next up, Ottawa on Wednesday.
