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Haven’t heard any updates on DP’s hip, but his mask continues on in the Tournament of Logos Blog Best Goalie Mask Brackets. After narrowly defeating the Av’s Peter Budaj by just 20 votes, DP faces Tim Thomas of the Bruins and his mask. It’s another nail biter and voting ends on Sunday.
DP’s mask has advanced to round three of the NHL Tournament of Logos blog best goalie mask poll. If he wins this round and he’ll be in the final four.
The polls opened up on Tuesday, so I’m a little late posting this…but DP needs you more than ever. It’s a barnburner - as of this morning, Budaj has a 19 vote lead. Poll closes tomorrow. Vote here.
OK, not really…DP and the boys are making the turn at Bethpage right now. BUT…DP’s mask has advanced to the second round of the Tournament of Logos Blog Goalie Mask Tournament. After disposing of the Duck’s Jonas Hiller in round one 60-40%, DP’s mask takes on another backup goalie, the Devils’ Kevin Weekes. If DP’s sweet mask keeps facing these backup scrubs, it might just cruise all the way to the finals!!
The Tournament of Logos Blog goalie mask competition moves on. After Doobie’s Fishstick mask got crushed by The Bulin Wall 61-39%, it’s time for DP’s Armed Forces Tribute mask to take on Jonas Hiller of the Ducks…Duck Mask. Vote early, vote often as DP’s mask is 100% Fishstick Free.
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.
2007-08, Bill Guerin, Blake Comeau, Brendan Witt, Chris Simon, Jarkko Ruutu, Kyle Okposo, Mike Comrie, Mike Sillinger, Richard Park, Rick DiPietro, Shawn Bates, Ted Nolan, Trent Hunter, Uncategorized, Wade Dubielewicz
So I was just cruising the NHL Auctions site for Islanders gear - some interesting stuff up there. At first I was scared when I saw Guerin and Comrie’s locker room nameplates for sale - does the auctions staff know something we don’t?? But there are a lot of locker room nameplates up there, including DP and I’m pretty sure he’s not going anywhere.
Need skates? I wish they told you what size they were - Comrie’s look barely used and $80 for Bauer XXX’s is dirt cheap.
You could get the “new RBK-style” Bossy jersey signed for $65, but I’d rather have the “classic” style for just $46.
Act fast…Ryan Smyth jerseys are almost all sold out. $99…yeah right. Maybe if you paid ME $99.
It appears all of the game-worn jerseys from the “Core of the Four” ceremony are available online. Here’s DP’s. Hey, wait a second…DP didn’t even play that night. Oops…false advertising!
Finally, the one thing that really caught my eye was the lineup card from Kyle Okposo’s debut, signed by both coaches. No bidders, bidding starts at $25.
Check all the Islanders auctions here.
2007-08, Kyle Okposo, Mike Bossy, Mike Comrie, Rick DiPietro
Not much to say here, we knew he wasn’t 100% since the All-Star Game, the season is all but over, and yesterday’s MRI confirmed the need for surgery.
For the second time in two seasons, Islanders franchise goaltender Rick DiPietro will have season-ending hip surgery. The operation will take place Wednesday at Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colo., an NHL source said, and DiPietro is expected to recover in time for training camp in September.
Dr. Marc Philippon, who performed surgery on DiPietro’s left hip last spring, will operate on his right hip this time.
Get well Ricky, see you in September for camp. Should we sign Dr. Philippon to a 15-year deal too?
DP is having an MRI on his hip today and will miss tonight’s game. You know, the hip he had surgery on last summer and the hip he apparently tweaked at the All-Star Game, but everything was fine (supposedly). Hmmm.
Wade Dubielewicz gets the start tonight and Joey MacDonald has been recalled from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League. Rick DiPietro will have an MRI on his hip this afternoon and the Islanders expect to have results on Wednesday.
Give me a “W”. Give me a “T”. Give me an “F”. And give me a giant “?”. What’s that spell?
The Islanders had one of the biggest WTF? nights of the season yesterday when the Lightning steamrolled them 8-4 in Tampa. DP’s line for the night? 36 saves on 44 shots. The team’s performance was uglier than Eliot Spitzer’s chances as husband of the year.
Coach Ted was none too pleased with the $67 Million Dollar Man after the game.
“We ask him over and over again not to play the puck as much,” Nolan told Newsday. “He’s one of the best puck-handlers in the league, but you just can’t overhandle it. When you overhandle it, you get yourself in trouble a little bit.”
“The only thing you can do is keep going through it over and over again. You can’t do that. You’ve got to let our defense handle it a little bit more. He just wants to play it. What can you do?”
The Coliseum Heroes are eight points out of a playoff spot with just 11 games to go. It’s over man. The dishes are done. The music’s dead. All that’s left is to turn down the lights.
DP is back after dealing with the passing of a family member, but according to Newsday’s Greg Logan he’ll be riding the pine tonight as Coach Nolan rolls the dice with Wade Dubielewicz versus the Rangers.
Islanders coach Ted Nolan made the boldest decision of his two-season tenure this morning when he announced backup Wade Dubielewicz will be in net against the Rangers tonight at Nassau Coliseum with franchise player Rick DiPietro fresh and ready to go on the bench.
2007-08, Rangers Suck, Rick DiPietro, Ted Nolan, Wade Dubielewicz
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