Oh those tricky Isles. Just when the hockey world figures they know what they are going to do next, Charles Wang reminds everyone who’s in charge here. The Isles traded down from the 5th overall pick not once, but twice to end up at 9th overall. Along the way they picked up two 2008 second round draft picks and a 2009 third round pick. Then they went and picked Josh Bailey, who was pretty below the radar - ranked 14th overall by NHL Central Scouting. Here are some Bailey highlights.
Too. Good. To be true.
The NHL filed court papers Wednesday that included a draft letter from commissioner Gary Bettman proposing discipline against Madison Square Garden, L.P., that could lead to suspension or termination of its ownership of the Rangers.
In its court filing, the NHL asked a judge to agree Madison Square Garden breached its contract by challenging league rules.
This may be the best move Gary Bettman has made in his entire tenure as commish.
Woah! Islanders news in June.
Popular backup goaltender Wade Dubielewicz, who helped the Islanders reach the playoffs two seasons ago, is among a group of unrestricted free agents the club plans to let go. General manager Garth Snow said no offers have been made to forwards Miroslav Satan, Ruslan Fedotenko and Josef Vasicek because of the need for roster space for a youth movement, and “Dubie” rejected the offer he received.
“We made a significant offer that he turned down,” Snow said of Dubielewicz, who had a 9-9-1 record last season with a 2.70 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage. “We wish him the best.”
I don’t blame Doobie…it’s tough knowing you’re the backup goalie and only an injury is going to change that. Plus, I’ve always said Doobie plays best with regular action. As for Satan, Tank, and Vasicek…I don’t think any of these moves should come as a surprise to Isles fans.
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.
Over at Joe Pelletier’s Greatest Hockey Legends blog, Joe’s been recapping every Stanley Cup finals since 1930. I’ve been reading them and just waiting for the day when he got to 1980. Well that day is here. Joe’s recapped all four of the Islanders Stanley Cups.
1980
The year is 1980. With a new decade comes a new champion, and, as it turns out, a new dynasty.
1981
The year is 1981. The New York Islanders successfully defend their first Stanley Cup championship, knocking off the Minnesota North Stars 4 games to 1.
The North Stars were an interesting team blessed with talent that, for whatever reason, never really had much success. But the stars were aligned for them in 1981, as their playoff road was smooth until meeting the Islanders in the finals.
1982
The year is 1982. It has been 65 years since the city of Vancouver celebrated their only Stanley Cup victory, courtesy of Cyclone Taylor and the Vancouver Millionaires. But the city came alive, energized with Towel Power, as the Vancouver Canucks made an unexpected Stanley Cup appearance.
Unfortunately for Vancouverites, the dynastic New York Islanders made sure the beautiful British Columbia city would have to continue their wait.
1983
The Islanders didn’t just win, they completely humbled the high scoring Edmontonians. The Oilers scored 424 goals in the regular season, but could only must 6 in the 4 game finals loss. Wayne Gretzky scored 71 goals in the regular season, and another 12 goals and 38 points in these playoffs. But the Islanders great checking and the belligerent goaltender Billy Smith kept #99 off of the score sheet.
And I know it’s difficult, but if you’re so inclined you can read about 1984 and where the “Drive for Five” fell apart.
The year is 1984. The Edmonton Oilers, in just their 5th year in the National Hockey League, win the Stanley Cup!
With the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, Jari Kurri, Glenn Anderson, Kevin Lowe and Grant Fuhr forming a young nucleus, Stanley Cup inheritance was only a matter of time.
But like all great teams, the oilers had to lose in order to learn how to win. That happened in 1983, as the Islanders swept the Oilers.
That would all be forgotten a year later, as the Oilers dismantled the Islanders incredible dynasty and began their own reign.
Speaking of polls, the HockeyFights.com 2007-08 Awards are now open for voting as well. Where else can you vote for “Fight of the Year“, “TKO/KO of the Year“, “Best Team Feud“, or “Best Punching Power“? All those official NHL Awards are for sissies!
The Isles are not very well represented here, in fact they’ve been nominated for “Least Enforcing Team“. But you will find the NYI/NYR Pre-season brawl, and Simon stomping on Rutuu in the “Most Old-School Moment” category. You can browse the categories and videos, but you’ll need a HockeyFights.com forum username and password to vote.
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!!
Pretty nice first round of playoff action in the NHL these past two weeks. The Flyers’ game seven victory over the Capitals destroyed my chances of having a perfect first round of predictions for the East. Meanwhile, I got smacked around pretty good out in the West, nailing down just one of the four winners (the Wings). I give the Avalanche a lot of credit for winning three straight to close out the Wild. I also give the Capitals a ton of credit for coming back from a 3-1 deficit to force an exciting seventh game.
One more first round thought while we’re at it, I thought Martin Brodeur should’ve shaken Avery’s hand. I can’t stand Avery. I’ll be the first guy to talk about what a punk he is. That said, Brodeur has to be bigger than that. He has to keep the high ground. With a guy like Avery it almost impossible to lose the high ground, but Marty did. At least for one day.
Onto my second round predictions:
Penguins over Rangers in 6
Canadiens over Flyers in 6
Sharks over Stars in 7
Red Wings over Avalanche in 5
Of all the nights to have men’s league hockey this week, I’m have to miss TWO game seven’s tonight?? After Ovechkin turned the 3rd period of last night’s game into “Ovietime” to force game 7 tonight, Washington and Philly start the party at 7pm tonight. I should be able to catch the first two periods of that game before mine.
That’s followed by Calgary @ San Jose @ 10pm. If you see a red Jeep hauling ass from New Hyde Park to Woodside tonight around 11:30p…that’s me racing home to catch the end of that game. Go Flames!
Anyways…the point of this post is not my impending speeding ticket tonight. It’s this article in the Globe and Mail about the CAL/SJ tilt tonight. It’s the first trip to the playoffs for the Flames’ Eric Nystrom, who’s famous father knows a thing or two about playoff heroics.
This may be Eric Nystrom’s first visit to the NHL playoff party, but he spent his whole life hearing stories from and about his famous father, Bob Nystrom, a member of the New York Islanders’ four Stanley Cup championship teams.
Nystrom, the Calgary Flames’ rookie left winger, doesn’t remember a whole lot of talk about famous seventh games; mostly because his dad’s most famous playoff heroics came in overtime of a sixth game to give the Islanders the 1980 Stanley Cup.
“But he’s talked to me about the time they were down 3-0 and they came back and won it in seven,” said the younger Nystrom.
That came in 1975, when the Islanders, just an up-and-coming team three years removed from their expansion birth — they came into the league with the Atlanta Flames — rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Then they almost did it again next round, overcoming a 3-0 deficit to get it to 3-3 against a Philadelphia Flyers’ team that would eventually win the series and go on to win the Stanley Cup that season.
Only the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs earned a similar distinction.
“He just said, they focused on one game at a time and slowly climbed back,” said Nystrom. “That’s what you need to do in the playoffs. You can’t let one game upset you or rattle you. You’ve just got to keep focused and push the envelope next game.”
