When Newsday asked about Alexei “Zero Points in the Playoffs” Yashin, Ted and Garth aren’t ready to send him packing just yet. Sigh. We here at Islanders Army have seen enough from our “captain” and hope that Mr. Carol Alt is not wearing the Orange and Blue next season.
Three days after the end of their first season together running the Islanders, general manager Garth Snow and coach Ted Nolan answered the easy question but not the hard one.
Yes, they will do everything within their power to sign Ryan Smyth to a long-term contract. But no, they aren’t prepared to discuss the potential buyout of captain Alexei Yashin.
“We’re not even thinking along those lines right now,” Snow said yesterday. “Alexei Yashin is a member of the New York Islanders right now.”
Nolan was high on Yashin’s performance early in the season, but by the end, Yashin was a part-time player, averaging just 11:45 of ice time and going scoreless in the Islanders’ first-round playoff loss to Buffalo. “Yashin’s part of this team, and we’ve got to find the right buttons to push and make him better,” Nolan said. Asked if he expects Yashin back, he said, “Right now, he is part of the team.”
At the other end of the spectrum, Snow and Nolan gushed about Smyth and what he brought to the Islanders after his acquisition at the Feb. 27 trade deadline. Snow confirmed a report that Smyth sprained the medial collateral ligament in his right knee March 27 against the Devils. He missed the next game but played the last 10, including the playoffs.
“Ryan Smyth was everything we expected and obviously is a player we want as part of this organization,” Snow said. “He’s a great player who epitomizes what this organization is trying to accomplish when it comes to a high-character player and intangibles. He’s a professional, and we think the world of him.”
Tough column on Alexei Yashin in today’s Buffalo News by writer Bucky Gleason. Tough but accurate. The truth hurts. Check out Gleason’s column here. In the meantime, here’s a sampling:
The Buffalo Sabres’ 3-2 victory over the Islanders in Game Three was just the latest stage in which Yashin would disappear, this time at home. The Isles could very well be leading the best-of-seven series if they were getting anything from their highest-paid player and captain.
“I don’t want to talk about that,” Yashin said in monotone after the game. “It’s not about me. I tried to do the best with the ice time that I had. I will continue to do that and help wherever I can to help the team win the next game.”
Well, it should be about him.
From NewYorkIslanders.com and just in time for tonight’s Islanders/Rangers re-match comes word that Alexei Yashin has been cleared to return to action.
After sitting out for over a month, Alexei Yashin will return to the ice Thursday and suit up against the Rangers at the Nassau Coliseum.
“It’s been a long five weeks,” said Yashin. “The doctors said I can play tomorrow, so I hope to help the team for the playoff drive.”
In 42 games this season, Yashin as compiled 13 goals and 25 assists, good for 38 points. He ranks third on the team in power play assists with 13.
“I feel very good,” said Yashin. “It’s exciting to get back out there and compete.”
Good Morning! Are you ready for some hockey? Maybe not, but let’s hope the boys in blue and orange are.
[00:00 1st Period] Just so you know, Slapshot is on Cinemax right now. I’m torn. At least I know what I’m doing between periods now.
[01:15] First good scoring chance goes to the Lightning as Marty St. Louis streaks in on DP alone. Damn he’s fast. DP comes up with the big save.
[02:13] Isles get the first PP of the game as Kubina goes to the box for holding on Asham.
[03:38] GOAL!! It’s a powerplay goal for Yashin as he comes out of the corner, shoots, and then bangs in his own rebound for the 1-0 lead.
[04:00] Fox Sports NY (FSNY) runs the stat, the Isles are 17-3-1 when scoring first.
[05:25] Islander All-Star Jason Blake bumps into Lightning goalie Johan Holmqvist. Holmqvist makes it looks like he’s been shot. Refs give Holmqvist an Oscar and Blake a 2 minute penalty for goaltender interference. Give me a break.
[06:20] Sean Hill just creamed St. Louis in the corner. Sweet.
[06:55] Isles can’t clear on the PK and it leads to a Lightning goal. Vaclav Prospal powers to the net, DP makes the save and Eric Perrin bangs in the rebound.
[08:24] Replay shows Prospal scored the Islanders goal as Perrin actually whiffed. Witt picks up a penalty for a holding. Another ticky-tacky call.
[09:21] Brad Richards blast a one-timer in and out of the net. Video review, but this one’s gonna count. 2-1 Lightning on 3 powerplay goals so far.
[14:26] Corey Sarich picks up a penalty to give the Isles their 2nd powerplay of the afternoon. FSNY shows replays of the first Isles/Lightning game this season. Three backdoor goals by the Lightning vs the Islanders. Very similar to the two goals scored by them today. The Isles D needs some rear-view mirrors mounted to their helmets vs. this team.
[15:36] The Isles ice the puck…on the powerplay.
[15:53] Are you $@^@ kidding me? They just did it again.
[16:26] Powerplay over. I think they had as many shots as they did icings on that powerplay.
[16:55] A 2 on 2 offensive rush by the Lightning leads to 3 DP saves.
[16:55] FSNY comes back from the break with a shot of the Islanders’ Most Famous Fan - Christie Brinkley. Mmmm.
[20:00 1st Period] And that’s the end of the first. Isles waste a good start giving up 2 PP goals. Shots in favor of the Isles 9-8.
[00:00 2nd Period] “The fans are standing up to them. The security guards are standing up to them. The peanut vendors are standing up to them. And by golly, if I could be down there, I’d be standing up to them.” My favorite movie ever, with Caddyshack a close second. If it’s on TV I have to watch it.
[00:37] Hilbert holds onto St. Louis in the corner a little too long and gets called for holding. Another Lightning PP.
[00:58] Surprise! Backdoor pass for Fedotenko who’s all alone, but DP breaks up the pass. Whew.
[01:07] Which leads to a nice shorthanded attempt by Kozlov. Save Holmqvist. FSNY tells us the Lightning are 6 for 10 on the PP vs. the Islanders this season. Oy!
[02:37] Isles kill off the rest of the penalty.
[06:30] Hunter/Sillinger/Hilbert line generates some pressure and a couple of shots.
[08:20] Blake from behind the net to a streaking Poti for a one-timer, but it is deflected or stopped wide.
[08:45] Poti gets called for hooking and TB’s 4th PP of the afternoon.
[09:55] A hard clear by Gervais wraps all the way around to Kozlov who streaks into the offensive zone and fires a hard shot. That’s two decent shots by Koz while shorthanded today.
[10:11] DP comes out of the net to his right to try and stop the puck from wrapping around. He trips/falls and touches the puck across the red-line in the “no-goalies allowed” zone. Tampa’s going to end up with 34 seconds of 5 on 3 PP time.
[10:45] The 5 on 3 is over, Tampa had 2 great shots but missed the net both times. Isles get a little lucky there.
[12:11] Isles kill DP’s penalty off too. We’re just a little past halfway through the game and the Isles have given up 5 powerplays. Not good.
[12:45] Crowd wakes up a little, tries to get into it. Looks pretty crowded, I bet the “announced” attendance will be a sellout or close.
[13:41] DP tries to catch the Lightning on player change with a long pass up ice to Blake. Blake’s got 1 man to beat on his way to the net. He tries to shoulder his way in there, but doesn’t get much of a shot off. He does go crashing into Holmqvist again. No call this time.
[15:37] Lecavalier goes around Poti and to the net. Save DP. Lecavalier takes out DP (with not much contact from the Islander D), and St. Louis bangs in the rebound for a 3-1 Lightning lead. Yuck.
[17:45] Blake drop pass for Yashin who blasts it…high and wide.
[20:00 2nd Period] St. Louis picks up a penalty for roughing with 47 seconds left in the period. With the Isles on the PP and just a few seconds left in the period, Hill takes a big shot from the point, save. Blake’s in front looking for the rebound, he gets crossed checked on top of the Lightning goalie. Sillinger comes flying into the crease hitting a Lightning player and looking for a rebound. Nolan Pratt proceeds to dump Silly into the net. Satan tries to come to Silly’s aid and gets tied up with another Lightning player. Pushing, shoving, penalties are called. 2 on the Lightning 1 on Satan for the Islanders. Nice.
[00:00 3rd Period] Isles will start the 3rd period with a 5 on 3 powerplay for 1:13. GOTTA get one back here, cut lead to 1, get the crowd into it. Yashin’s going to start the period on the left point.
[01:10] Isles work it around, 2 shots from Yashin, top of the circles, wide or deflected. Blakey and Poti keep the Isles in possession of the puck. They work it into the slot for Sillinger, save. Back again to Sillinger who feeds Kozlov behind him on the left. Holmqvist slides over to face Kozlov. Koz waits, waits, waits and the roofs it over his glove for the POWERPLAY GOAL! 3-2 Tampa and the Isles will still be on the powerplay.
[02:00] Hill a shot with Blake right in front, save. Hill another shot from the left side, save. Islanders powerplay is over.
[04:20] FSNY tells us the Isles have taken the last 12 shots in the game, including all 8 in the 3rd period.
[04:50] Kozlov giveaway to Lecavalier at the Isles blue line. Witt ties him up and just manhandles him off the puck taking away what could have been a good scoring chance.
[07:25] Crap. Witt sends the puck around the boards, it hits a piece of a broken stick and Hill can’t handle it. St. Louis scoops it up and finds Lecavalier on DP’s backdoor. DP makes an awesome save on the first shot and stops the rebound, but Lecavalier banks his third chance into the back of the net. 4-2 Lightning.
[10:45] GOAL! Hunter brings the Islanders back within 1, banging in a rebound of a Sillinger shot. Great shift by this line - working the puck and getting shots, glad to see they ended it with a goal.
[11:00] Isles almost give it right back. DP with a big save on Fedotenko.
[14:55] 5:05 left in the game. 5:04.03 until the Isles tie this one up. Christie Brinkley is doing the YMCA. Hot.
[18:50] DP heads for the bench for the extra attacker.
[19:50] Satan starts the rush off with a wrister, the rebound drops at Holmqvist’s feet, in the crease. No one around to bang at the inviting rebound. Isles work it, get some shots. Sillinger shot, save, Holmqvist holds on. Isles call timeout with 9.3 seconds remaining.
[20:00 3rd Period] The puck shoots back towards the blue line off the faceoff and no one can keep it in. That’ll do it. The Isles lose 4-3 despite outshooting the Lightning 36-24. No time to cry about it, the Islanders play in Pittsburgh tomorrow night.
6 straight losses. Back to .500 hockey (19-19-3). 13th out of 15 in the Conference. It can’t get much worse…can it?
The only “bright side” here is that the team is still only 3 points out of the playoffs and we play the Rangers tomorrow night. When push comes to shove, which will give? Our 6 game losing streak or our 3-0 record vs the Rangers this season?
Despite outshooting Carolina 35-27 on Saturday, the Isles failed to beat them where it counts the most…goals, losing 4-2. The Hurricanes entered the game losers of 4 of 5 and being shutout the previous two games. The Isles have outshot many of their recent opponents but have no points in the standings to show for it. Satan had a shift in the first period where he rang a shot off the post…twice.
Powerplays continue to be a particular source of frustration as the Isles were 0/6 on Saturday, while Carolina converted 2/6. Carolina’s 2nd PP goal came on a 5-on-3 situation after Bruno Gervais picked up a holding penalty and Rick DiPietro made things worse by picking up an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by telling the ref what he thought of the Gervais call.
Coach Nolan even resorted to benching Alexei Yashin for most of the 2nd period. Yashin has not scored a point during the losing streak.
“It was a benching,” Nolan said. “He’s got to play better. He knows it, and we know it. It’s a wake-up call to get him back to the form he was playing at before. Your best players have to be your best players night after night.
“Maybe the injury set him back, but he’s got to get better . . . Some guys are fragile with any kind of injury, and some guys can play with a broken leg and it doesn’t affect their performance. Yashin has got to learn to fight through this thing until he gets himself back 100 percent.”
Oh and the J-E-T-S JETS! JETS! JETS! exciting and unexpected season came to an end yesterday. Giants too. A terrible weekend for all NY sports fans, except the Rangers who have now won 4 straight.
Isles/Rangers Tuesday night at 7pm at MSG.
Islanders/Hurricanes highlights
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NHL Plays of the Week
DP makes the cut by robbing Elias.
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NHL Hits of December
No Islanders, but Rozsival of the Rangers gets hit by a train in Ottawa.
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FIGHT! Georges Laraque vs. Raitis Ivanans
Pretty good tilt, the best part is Laraques was mic-ed up for the broadcast that night. Listen in on the pre-fight conversation, it’s hysterical.
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One more for you. Let’s make it a Kozlov Texas Hat Trick.
Alexei Yashin Fan Club (Ottawa Chapter)
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[Update] I love YouTube as much as the next guy, but the video quality kind of sucks. Check out those same “Best of” videos at NHL.com in a higher quality format.
Had a wisdom tooth pulled this morning, here are a bunch of links I’ve been sitting on.
- Islanders charity auction for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, dinner for two with your favorite Islanders. Dinner is Monday February 5th in Carle Place, bidding is open until January 17th. All bidding started at $350 and guess who leads the Islanders in charity bidding…Jason Blake of course, with 3 bids in, he’s up to $475. Dinner with the $67.5 million dollar is a bargain at $400.
- Evan Grossman used to write about Alexei Yashin for the New York Post…now he writes about Alexei Yashin for NHL.com.
- Bossy’s Blog looks back at an eventful 2006 and hopefully towards a successful 2007.
Happy New Year to you all!!!!!!! Remember, health is the most important thing to wish for. Second, of course, is the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
- The Sporting News says Ted Nolan has brought the magic back to Long Island.
It goes without saying that the Islanders have a long way to go, but I very strongly believe they are back and they are a part of what is so exciting about the NHL product right now. Their marketing and advertising campaign gets me fired up every time I watch their games, their team and their coach is very likeable and they are a step away from first place in the Atlantic Division.
- 17th Annual Islander Blood Drive tomorrow. Free tickets to Islanders/Flyers on 2/5/07. I found out about this from a Yahoo message board, so PLEASE CALL TO CONFIRM tomorrow before heading out.
Islanders 17th Annual Blood Drive
Date: Wednesday, 1/3/07 Time: 2:00 PM to 7:30 PM, LI Marriott Hotel, Uniondale
Receive two free tickets to see NYI Feb 7, vs. Philadelphia Flyers
For more info call: 1-800-933-2566
- NY Sports Day looks at the Islanders attendance and efforts to rejuvenate it.
- Newsday tries to solve the Islanders’ scoring drought.
- And finally, Greg Logan updates his Islanders blog with a look at the challenges the Islanders will face in 2007 as they strive for a playoff berth.
As good ‘ol Wooderson says, “All right, all right, all right.”
The Islanders took it to the Rangers in the Garden tonight, grabbing a 4-3 victory thanks to Jason Blake’s hatrick and solid goaltending from DP. Mighty Jason Blake now has 19 goals in 29 games. Good God. Yash threw in his 12th of the season on his only shot of the night.
The win keeps the Isles in the thick of the playoff hunt. I know it’s only December but I’m always happy when the OrangeAndBlue are in the middle of the dogfight.
More breaking news from NewYorkIslanders.com
The New York Islanders have activated captain Alexei Yashin from the Injured Reserve. After missing the last eight games with a sprained knee, Yashin will return to the lineup tonight against the Atlanta Thrashers.
The Islanders have also recalled defenseman Chris Campoli from the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL and reassigned right wing Blake Comeau, who was with the team on an emergency basis, to Bridgeport. In 15 games with Bridgeport this season, Campoli has recorded three goals and three assists for six points. Campoli is in his second NHL season after appearing in 80 games in 2005-06 and becoming the sixth Islanders rookie defenseman to record 30-or-more points in their first NHL season. His final totals were nine goals and 25 assists for 34 points and finished the year tied for sixth on the team in scoring and first among Islander rookies.
As mentioned here earlier, the Islanders hosted the first of two “Select a Seat” events at the Coliseum last night. It seems like it was a big success.
More than 1,500 fans took advantage of the opportunity for hand-shaking and bantering. By the end of the session, the Islanders said they had sold more than 300 tickets to their remaining home games and another 500 tickets to a six-game package.
My brother and I arrived around 6:30pm and were surprised to see about 50 cars in the parking lot, certainly more than I expected. We headed downstairs and were greeted by Islanders ticket reps handing out free media guides to everyone. Our ticket rep Tony took us through the doors and into the Coliseum where the available seats were all tagged with orange or white flyers indicating their availability for the 6 or 23 game plans. The ice was fresh, the jumbotron was showing past game highlights, and fans were walking all about the arena with ticket reps, picking their seats. Tony asked us what our seating preferences were and then led us to the end of the ice where the Isles attack twice. There were plenty of seats to choose from, but we quickly settled on a pair of seats in Section 307, Row H in the middle of the row. These seats were about as low as available and only two sections into the end-zone “curve”. I wanted to be as close to the middle as possible, and I didn’t want to be behind the net and have a poor view of the other end of the ice. The seats are technically end-zone seats and were $306 per ticket for the 6 game plan.
The view from Murph’s new seatsI gave Tony my credit card info for the tickets and wrapped things up with him. He had more seats to sell, and we had Islanders to meet! Before we could even make it into the Isles’ locker room, we ran into Mike Bossy!
The Boss signs the 1980 Commemorative Team Puck for my brotherI got The Boss to sign the base of my Bossy McFarlane NHL Legend figure. I think The Boss has a problem with some of these ending up on Ebay. He asked for my name, and signed the base “To Kevin Mike Bossy” writing my name and then signing it as close as possible and even overlapping a little bit. I understand why he does this, but I was a little disappointed in how it came out.
Boss was surrounded by fans old and young everywhere he went. After getting our autographs we headed into the Islanders locker room area, A.K.A. Islanders Fan Heaven. The walls are covered in huge photos of Islanders old and new. We spotted this trophy cabinet on the way in with mini Stanley Cups, Calder Trophies and other awards the Isles’ dynasty won along the way.
Lots of hardwareWe turned the corner and ran into $%@! Sparky. He was OK, I think he knows all Islanders fans over age 14 hate him. I promised him I wouldn’t beat him up and he pointed us into the Islanders locker room. Yashin, Hunter and Hilbert were hanging out in there greeting fans.
Hunter and Hilbert waiting for more fans
Introducing the Isles’ new 4th line…Hunter, Murphy, and Hilbert
What’s with the red shoes? Did Yashin lose a bet?
He wasn’t there, but this guy still friggin’ rules!
The guys were happy to take pictures and sign our media guides. Remember when Yashin’s forearm got cut by a skate blade in 2003? The same thing happened to my brother one week after Yashin’s injury, so of course my brother wanted to compare scars and get a picture of the two of them showing them off. Yashin was more than willing to roll up his sleeve for us, except he’s hardly got any scar at all. Apparently the Isles (or maybe Carol Alt?) knows a really good plastic surgeon.
We thanked the guys for their time and headed back out into the hallway. It leads all the way down to the Isles Executive Offices. There we met GM Garth Snow and one of the Ice Girls. Garth said the new job was definitely tougher than his old one with longer hours. His new job has some perks though, he said he got his own office and an Ice Girl. Someone behind us asked Garth if he was available to play goal for his men’s league team, that got a good laugh from everyone. Garth said if they’d match his salary from last year, he’d think about it.
After Garth we realized we missed Coach Nolan’s office so we headed back towards the locker room and ran into the coach. We told him what a good job he’s done so far and to keep it up. On our way out of the Coliseum we ran into The Boss who had just grabbed a cup of coffee. We got one of the security guards to take a picture of my brother, Bossy and myself. We heard Bryan Trottier was hanging around too so I asked Mike if had seen his old friend Bryan and he said Trotts had left for the night. I hope to get that photo signed by Boss the next time I meet him.
More pics…
This great picture from last year’s reunion night is in the locker room hallway
Stick/equipment room. I was very tempted to grab a couple of those blue Easton Synergy sticks as it’s the same stick I use.
This huge mural is in the locker room hallway. It’s got old pictures with all sorts of Islanders history listed on it.
This is the left side of the mural. I could have sworn I took three pictures of it so I could piece it together into one photo, but I didn’t have any pictures of the right-side.
I had no idea GM Snow was that big. I’m 6′4″ so he must be 6′5″.
Any excuse to run pictures of Ice Girls
This photo is on the walls of the executive offices
Along with this Mack-Daddy chair
Murphy, Bossy, Murphy
My full set of photos is here. There are a couple I left out of this post, and I’m also waiting for my brother to send over the ones he has (including Coach Nolan). All in all, it was a great experience and it shows how far the Islanders are willing to go to get fans back in the stands. If you are on the fence about a 6 or 23 game plan, I suggest you head on over to the Coliseum tonight between 5-8p for some hardcore persuasion. You won’t be sorry.
Day 2 of the Select-A-Seat event is Wednesday from 5-8 pm. Miroslav Satan called the Islanders’ offices today and volunteered to be there for the locker room tour from 5 - 6:30. Arron Asham and Bruno Gervais will also be in attendance. FSN color commentator Billy Jaffe will be on hand to talk Islanders hockey. Once again, Ted Nolan and Garth Snow will be in their offices to answer any questions fans may have about the current team. And, as Trottier, Hunter and HIlbert proved on Tuesday, you never know who else might show up on Wednesday.
