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.
Now that’s more like it. As has been the case many times over the years, the Islanders rose to the challenge and beat the Rangers on the road last night, ending the Rangers’ four-game winning streak and possibly putting an end to their own slump.
Jeff Tambellini, the young forward who has bounced between Bridgeport and Long Island the last two seasons, sealed the victory for the Islanders when he beat Henrik Lundqvist in a shoot-out. The Isles also got goas from Bergenheim, Hunter, and Comeau.
Wade Doobie was one of the big stories of the game, stepping in for an absent Rick DiPietro and beating the Rangers for the second time in two career starts. He shut out the Rangers in the last week of the season when DP was hurt last year. Doobie may be in net again tomorrow night when the Isles face the Rangers at the Coliseum as DP may still me on leave to be with his family.
The win, coupled with a Flyers loss, moves the Isles within three points of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 14 games to go.
Cross one Islander free agent off the list, NewYorkIslanders.com is reporting that Trent Hunter has signed a 5-year deal to remain with the Islanders. There’s no news story yet, just a video of Garth Snow announcing the deal on Islanders TV.
I think it’s a good move by the Isles to lock up Hunter. Although his scoring is down since his rookie season (25 goals), Hunter provides a gritty, hard hitting, Ted Nolan style of play out there. His contributions to the team don’t always show up on the scoresheet, but fans appreciate and respect his effort on the ice.
Trent Hunter 2007-08
GP G A P +/- PIM
62 8 24 32 -10 33
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?
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.
