Tag Archive for '2007-08'
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.
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.”
Coach Ted Nolan told Neil Hodge of Canada’s Times & Transcript that there is no truth to the rumor that he will return to coach the Moncton Wildcats in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League next season.
Nolan coached the Wildcats before joining the Islanders for the 2006-07 season.
“(Wildcats owner Robert Irving) was in New York about a month ago and we went to lunch,” Nolan told the paper. “Maybe someone heard about that and the assumptions and rumours got started there. There’s been no discussion about me coming back to Moncton or anything like that.”
Nolan also talks about the Isles second half meltdown that saw the team lose 15 of their final 20 games.
On the injuries:
“From early January until the end of the season, we had anywhere from five to 12 players out of the lineup. We lost our No. 1 goaltender, five regular defensemen and three of our top six forwards to injury. That was too much to overcome.”
On the team’s future:
“We were defeated this season and if we don’t learn anything from it then we won’t make ourselves better. Winning a championship is what it’s all about and you’re always trying to figure out what it takes to get to that level. You evaluate what you have. You look at other teams and what they have and why they are where they are.”
Robert Nilsson, one of the young players the Islanders gave up last year in the Ryan Smyth trade, landed himself a three year, $6 million pact with the Oilers last week after tallying career highs in goals (10), assists (31) and points (41) in 71 games. The 23-year-old also led the Oilers with a +8.
Smyth, meanwhile, registered 14 goals and 23 assists in just 55 games with the Colorado Avalanche this season. He signed with the Avalanche following his brief stint with the Islanders last season.
No Islanders in the playoffs? No problem. I am still capable of butchering my playoff predictions, I just won’t have the temporary joy of envisioning the Isles catching fire and tearing through the East. I get delusional when the Isles make the playoffs.
Without further ado, my first-round playoff predictions (and yes I realize the playoffs already stared but so what?):
FIRST ROUND
Rangers over Devils in 6
Penguins over Senators in 5
Capitals over Flyers in 6
Canadiens over Bruins in 5
Ducks over Stars in 7
Red Wings over Predators in 4
Wild over Avalanche in 6
Flames over Sharks in 7
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.
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.
Last home game tonight for the Islanders as they start a home and home with the Rangers. After tomorrow night’s game, it’s off to the golf course early Saturday morning. Hopefully the Rags will get bounced in the first round and join us on the links the following weekend. Disappointing end to a season that started off pretty good. This home and home series was supposed to have major playoff implications (like keeping the Rags OUT of the playoffs).
Hey Garth, what do you think of the Rangers?
Amen brother, amen. They can make the playoffs but we all know they still suck.
We haven’t covered the possible Yankee Stadium NHL outdoor game very much here this season, despite talks about the game coming closer and closer to reality. That’s because every article about the game has the Rangers scheduled for the game in permanent marker, while the list of possible opponents is written in pencil, with the Islanders at the bottom of that list. The NHL (and NBC) suits feel a NYI/NYR outdoor game is too NYC-centric and won’t draw any interested outside of the metro area. It’s really not looking good for the Isles to take part in this game if it happens. However, the Isles now have one notable supporter in their corner - ESPN’s “Bucci” - John Buccigross makes a case to include the Islanders in his latest blog column. We’ll take all the support we can get, even if half of Bucci’s support is based on pity for our fallen franchise.
The Rangers-Islanders rivalry would light up a rink, burst through the television screen and earn very good ratings. It is one of those regular-season games that truly feels like a playoff game. Thats what makes any outdoor game better. A hard-hitting, meaningful battle is the cherry on top of all the Yankee Stadium marketing the game will receive.
You might find two other U.S.-based teams with a rivalry close to Islanders-Rangers, but you wont find a better one. And having the game in New York makes the most sense if its Islanders-Rangers, as much sense as a Blackhawks-Red Wings game in Wrigley Field or a Penguins-Flyers game at Penn State.
It is good sense and would help a franchise in need of a little help, a franchise that has a passionate owner who had a passionate-GM-turned-good-television-analyst make very bad trades. Sports are meant to be played, watched and experienced with passion, but administered with cold, calculating thought. The Islanders learned that the hard way.
Cmon, NHL, give the Islanders a break. Give them a reason to believe, some faith, some hope. Everybody will win. Even Oleg Kvasha.
