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.
Shawn Bates may make his season debut tonight, according to the New York Post. Bates has been sidelined with a sports hernia and groin injuy since January. A lot has happened since January. It was cold, got warm, got hot, and has become cold again. The Yanks and Mets blew it. The Islanders got run over by the Sabres. My wife’s uncle gave us his 1996 Chevy Lumina (we’re all about style). And I broke half the bones in my face playing a co-ed soccer game. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Anyway, it will be great to have Bates back, if indeed he does return tonight against the Senators. When healthy, and that has seemed rare these past few seasons, Bates is a hard worker who can light the lamp. The Isles have been held to two goals or less in their last nine games, so any additional offense is big.
It would be great if the Isles could actually beat Ottawa for a change. The Sens have won eight straight against the Coliseum Heroes. Why? Well, for the most part, they have been too quick, too skilled, and just plain better. Isles need to grind these guys down a bit, get the hits going early and often.
It’s been a while since we ran one of our “Back in The Day” pieces. To refresh your memory, every once in a while we run excerpts from old articles capturing a big/interesting/notable event in Isles history. Today, we go back to April 2002 compliments of Newsday, smack dab in the middle of one of those heated Islander-Maple Leaf battles. Shawn Bates’ penalty shot was one of the few highlights for the Coliseum Heroes in those battles. I was at the game. Never heard the Coliseum louder.
ISLANDERS PLAYOFFS
A Penalty Shot in the Arm
7 minutes turn into 7th heaven
Johnette Howard
Newsday
FORGET THAT THIS drama started slowly before ending with a bang. Most spellbinders do. By the time Islanders center Shawn Bates curled toward the puck at center ice and began bearing down on Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Curtis Joseph for a penalty shot with just 2:30 to play, Game 4 of this first-round playoff series already had snowballed into a rousing, rollicking, breathless classic. A thriller. A seven-minute slice of bedlam.
With the sellout crowd poised to lift the roof off the Coliseum, Bates made sure it was a 4-3 Islanders’ win.
“You’re still shaking,” a TV commentator kidded Bates after he settled into the guest’s seat on the Islanders’ postgame show.
“Nerves,” Bates laughed, still wearing a slap-happy grin.
How many times did this switchback-filled game veer or seem over? Even after Bates rifled the puck into the roof of the net, past Joseph’s flinching right shoulder, this game wasn’t over until the Leafs pulled their rapidly fading goaltender for an extra attacker, then upped their advantage to two men when the Islanders’ Kenny Jonsson was sent off for a slashing penalty with 1:06 to play.
In the last 6:44 alone, the Islanders Kip Miller tied the game at 2 on a bank-shot goal off Joseph and defenseman Roman Hamrlik seemed to win it once for the Islanders just 1:40 later. When Hamrlik let a slap shot fly from just inside the Toronto blue line, it was more of a prayer than a rock-solid threat at the lead – until the puck banged off Joseph’s blocker, then bounced into the net. Hamrlik high- stepped in place like some delirious drum major and conjured up memories of the late Jim Valvano. Like Valvano, bless his heart, Hamrlik was just racing around looking for someone to hug.
The game appeared over – at least for 98 seconds. But the Leafs’ Paul Healey and Shayne Corson crossed behind the Islanders net and goaltender Chris Osgood – thinking Healey still had the puck to his right – never saw Corson curling around the right post and stuffing the puck between his legs to tie the game at 3.
That set up Bates’ heroics just 56 seconds later after the call by referee Brad Watson that probably never should have happened. Did Bryan McCabe deserve a penalty for hauling Bates down? Yes. But a penalty shot? Hard to believe.
“They’ll come out flying [in Game 4] with a bitter taste in their mouths,” Islanders winger Steve Webb warned. “We have to make sure we’re ready.”
Ready for anything. Ready, willing and able to pull out the sort of game they’ll be talking about for years.
[Update] Now with video!
