Congrats Kyle!
March 24th, 2008 by murph
Ladies and gentlemen, Kyle Okposo’s first National Hockey League goal…
A powerplay, game winning goal versus a future NHL Hall of Famer. Marrrrrr-ty! Marrrrr-ty! You Suck!!
Tag Archive for 'martin-brodeur'
Brodeur to Skip All-Star Game
January 23rd, 2008 by murph
Psst…whatcha doin’ next Sunday? Are you in Atlanta? Can you skate? Can you play goal?
What’s an All-Star Game without any All-Stars? We might just find out this weekend. Crosby’s out with an injury, starting Western goalie Roberto Luongo already decided to skip the game, and now starting Eastern goalie Martin Brodeur has decided to do the same…using the same lame “family” excuse that Luongo did.
Eastern Conference starting goalie Martin Brodeur on Tuesday pulled out of Sunday’s All-Star Game in Atlanta, citing personal reasons.
Boston’s Tim Thomas was named to replace Brodeur, who played in Tuesday night’s game against the Flyers at the Wachovia Center.
The other Eastern Conference goalies are the Islanders’ Rick DiPietro and Florida’s Tomas Vokoun.
“It’s a tough decision,” Brodeur said. “I’ve got some stuff going on with the family back home, so it’s something I just wanted to make sure I was here to take care of. It’s definitely a tough one. It’s such a great weekend to miss. That’s why I waited so long. I tried to avoid making that decision, but I think it’s for the best.”
Way to be fan-friendly Marty and give the fans what they want. Is your wife pregnant too, like Luongo’s?
DiPietro On Pace For Club Wins Record
January 15th, 2008 by Tom
Forty-four games into the season, Isles goalie Rick DiPietro is on pace to set the team single season record for wins.
DP is on track to win 33.5 games this season, which would propel him past the current season best of 32 wins shared by Billy Smith, Chris Osgood and DP. DiPietro, who was named to the Eastern Conference All-Star squad last week, tied the record last season, winning 32 games in 62 starts. Osgood won 32 games in 66 starts in the 2001-2002 season. Smith set the record with an unreal 32 wins in just 46 starts in 1981-1982. Smith’s line was pretty sick that year, as he went 32-9-4 with a 2.97 GAA for a powerhouse Islanders team.
DiPietro is currently 18-14-5 in 39 games with a 2.52 GAA. If he keeps up that pace and stays healthy, he’ll have the Isles record.
By the way, New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur set the NHL single season record for wins with 48 last year. Not too shabby.
2 Games In 2 Nights? This is Madness!
November 16th, 2007 by murph
For the first time in over a month, the Isles have back-to-back games after last night’s disappointing loss to the Penguins. Tonight they visit the Devils new arena, The Prudential Center a.k.a “The Rock” in Newark, NJ for the first time. The Isles try to win their first game on this road trip while preventing (again) Devils’ goalie Martin Brodeur from his 500th win. Tonight is Brodeur’s 3rd attempt after losing to the Islanders and Rangers this past week.
Period one is in the books in Jersey, scoreless. Shots were 7-7 with the Devils getting the only powerplay of the period. Hang with Islanders Army this evening as I follow tonight’s game, recap last night, and cover some other NYI news.
The Rock has been getting some pretty good reviews 1 2 3. It gets a couple of bonus points for a cool nickname although the old nickname for the Flyers’ Wachovia Center still reigns supreme in my book. When I lived in PA, it was still the First Union Center and was known locally as just the F.U. Center which I found hysterical and appropriate for those Philly diehards. They were proud of that nickname…and they meant it too. Back to The Rock, it’s bright, it’s shiny, it’s not in the swamp of East Rutherford, what’s not to like?
Even the bathrooms impressed me, mostly because there were stickers in all the urinals that said “Rangers Suck,” but also because they allowed a flow of people in and out.
[2:30 Second Period] Comrie comes out of the penalty box (coincidental minors at the end of the 1st) and Guerin springs him for the breakaway but Brodeur makes the save. Right after that, Sutton rings the post. Two close ones for the Isles to start the period.
[5:25 Second Period] After Simon picks up 2 minutes for tripping, Devils’ defenseman Mike Mottau trips and falls in his zone on the ensuing powerplay. Josef Vasicek picks up the neatly wrapped puck, stickhandles all alone in front of Brodeur, gets him to go down and then shoots one off Marty that bounces up and behind him for a shorthanded 1-0 lead.
[15:51 Second Period] Solid PP for the Islanders but nothing to show for it. 4 shots, 1 post by Hunter.
[18:10 Second Period] Devils’ Jay Pandolfo just took a deflected Devils’ slapshot to the face. He falls to the ice, then gets up and heads into the tunnel. He’s tough, he’s a hockey player – 30 seconds later he’s back on the bench.
[End Second Period] 20 minutes to go boys. Isles outshoot the Devils 11-7 in the period.
[13:00 Third Period] Tight period, DP made some good saves early in the period as the Devils were pushing hard. Witt just got away with dumping Elias right in front of DP.
[FINAL] Islanders 1 Devils 0
Down the stretch, Elias undresses the Isles’ defense but can’t finish. The game is delayed for a review of Trent Hunter’s bang in attempt from the side of the net. No one on the ice thought it went it, but it was close enough to the line that Toronto called on the Batphone as they reviewed it just to make sure. Come on…a gift goal from Toronto? Like that’ll ever happen for the Isles.
The Devils pull Brodeur and pressure, but the Isles win and DP gets the shutout, his second of the season. Brodeur has now lost his last 4 starts – I wonder if he’ll admit to us beating him tonight? If he thought the goals last week were bad, wait until he sees the replay of tonight’s game winning gaffe goal. Now we’re even for that game last year when Isles’ defensemen Alan Rouke threw the game winning goal into our own net. Ain’t karma a bitch Marty? If Marty had played the last regular season game last year, he could have kept us out of the playoffs AND have 500 wins already.
No game this early in the season can be called “must-win” or “huge”, so I’ll just call this one “well-needed”. The Isles have played well and certainly had chances to win either of the past two games but didn’t. They needed to get two points on the road from the Devils who aren’t playing well right now and get their momentum back headed into the final game of this bus road trip vs. the Rangers Monday night.
Isles Keep Winning, Isles Army Gets Drunk
November 11th, 2007 by murph
While Tommy and I were busy drinking last night for his brother’s birthday (Happy 30th Ant!), the Orange and Blue took out the trash from Jersey 2-1 with Satan netting his third straight game winning goal. Another solid effort from the team – only 21 shots allowed and no penalties taken. I could get used to that. Speaking of penalties, a bench minor unsportsmanlike against one of Brent Sutter’s assistant coaches led to the 5-on-3 powerplay and the game winning goal, leaving a bad taste in the Devils’ mouths.
“All I’m going to say is that it was taken from behind the bench; it wasn’t a player,” Devils coach Brent Sutter said, refusing to identify which assistant drew the penalty. “It’s tough to lose a hockey game that way.”
“I don’t think they beat us,” Brodeur said. “Look at the two goals they got.”
“It was a [bleeping] terrible call. There’s no way around it,” the Devils’ Zach Parise said.
“I don’t think he needed to call that,” Jay Pandolfo said.
Isles hit the road for 4 of the next 5 games starting with Philadelphia tomorrow night. Check the recommended links for more info on last night’s game from the Blog Box crew.
[Update] Totally forgot to mention the Devils’ Marty Brodeur was going for career win number 500 last night.
2008 NHL Predictions – Part 1
September 26th, 2007 by Tom
Boot camp is back in session here at IslandersArmy and we’re here to give you some 2008 Season Predictions. Murph will probably bounce back with his own take later on. For the time being, you’re stuck with me and my busted up, broken crystal ball.
Atlantic Division
1. Pittsburgh Penguins – Sid the Kid leads a potent offensive attack on a team that should only improve with another season’s experience under their belts. While the scoring should come fast and furious, the big key is likely to be netminder Marc-Andre Fluery. Fleury surprised a lot of people by going an awesome 40-16 with a 2.83 GAA last year. Can he do it again? Another big question is how will the young Pens handle the expectations?
2. New York Rangers – As usual, these guys are loaded. The arrival of Chris Drury and Scott Gomez will bring more energy and skill to an offense that should have tallied more goals than it did last year. Henrik Lundqvist should turn in another good year. Two questions that need answering – can Lundqvist play big for a full season and how long will it take Drury and Gomez to gel with new teamates and a new system? Also, why do the Rangers Suck so bad?
3. New Jersey Devils, aka the Brent Sutter All-Stars – I’m going to have a soft spot for these guys all season. Sutter was a very good Islander and by all indications is a great guy. I don’t plan on rooting against him much. The Devs lost a couple of big names, Gomez and Brian Rafalski, but will still win their share of games thanks to future Hall of Fame keeper Martin Brodeur. I actually predicted the Devils would go to the Finals last year on Brodeur’s back. Big surprise – I was wrong. That said, Brodeur is still one of the best and Jersey has a track record for changing its parts without derailing the team’s effectiveness. They’ll be around all year and by the time the postseason rolls out, a dangerous team if Brodeur is on one of his streaks.
4. New York Islanders – RIP Jason Blake, Ryan Smyth, Aaron Asham, Viktor Kozlov, Sean Hill, and Tom Poti. Thanks for playing. Oh, Alexei Yashin is also gone but damn if that ain’t a big, fat positive. Alexei, if you are reading this, it ain’t personal but you had to go. Actually, I know it is personal for a lot of Islander fans. A lot of money and expectations came with your signing a few years back, followed by a host of first-round exits. The divorce should have actually happened a couple of years ago. Better late then never. The Isles turn to Bill Guerin to be their new leader on offense. Bill plays hard, plays the game right, but is kind of old and has never really carried a big team on his own. He’s just not one of those guys. This season is really going to rest on the play of the $67-Million-Dollar-Man, my goalie and yours, Rick DiPietro. A big season and the Isles can grab that eighth spot and maybe make some noise. Fingers crossed.
5. Philadelphia Flyers – They shouldn’t be as awful as last season but they are still bad. Philly brought in a crop of new players and will hand the keys to the net to Martin Biron for a full season. They should be more competitive but don’t confuse them with the big Flyer teams from earlier this decade. Them, these guys ain’t.
Marty To Sit Today?
April 8th, 2007 by murph
Who will be in goal for the Devils today who clinched a playoff berth two weeks ago? Will they sit record-breaking Martin Broudeur for only the 4th time this season for Scott Clemmensen? Marty had a new NHL record 48 wins this season, 6 of them coming against the Islanders. The NY Post gives us an update (but no clear answer).
Bloody murder will be screamed in Toronto if Martin Brodeur doesn’t play today and the Islanders nip the Maple Leafs for the final Eastern Conference playoff berth.
His Devils are locked in, ready to face the Lightning in the first round, and Lou Lamoriello was considering resting Martin Brodeur this afternoon when the Islanders and Devils complete the season at the Meadowlands.
“We’re going to make a decision [today],” Lamoriello said.
Although Brodeur said earlier in the week he didn’t like the idea of sitting out today because he’d be starting the playoffs without a game for a week, the record-setting 48-game winner indicated higher authorities may want him to rest for the fourth time this season.
Five That Got Away
March 31st, 2007 by murph
So here we are 5 games left, 2 points out, destiny in our own hands. For a moment, let’s forget that we are missing our 15-year franchise goalie, missing our trade deadline blockbuster, missing a forward suspended for 25 games, and missing so many defensemen that GM Snow has signed two players from the German Hockey League this week alone. Just another season in the life of a Ringling Bros and Charles Wang’s Circus hockey team fan – right?
Let’s look at 6 games, 8 points and what could have been a comfortable 6th place in the Conference with 91 points.
5. Bruins 4 Islanders 3 (OT/SH) 2/10/07
The Bruins have been doing the Islanders no favors the past three weeks, rolling over TWICE to BOTH Montreal and the Rangers giving those teams important points. Meanwhile back in February, the Islanders threw away a point vs the lowly Bruins failing to hold onto a 3-2 lead with 16 minutes left to play. The teams played a scoreless OT which forced a marathon shootout that saw ex-Islander Zdeno Chara score the game winner in round 9 of the shootout.
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4A. Rangers 2 Islanders 1 (OT/SH) 3/5/07
4B. Rangers 2 Islanders 1 3/8/07
OK so this list is supposed to be 5 games, but it’s pretty hard to separate these two games. It’s early March and the Isles are in the playoff hunt. They have a home and home against the Rangers who they are 4-0 against already this season – a chance to expand their 4 point lead in the standings – and they manage to get only 1 point out of the two games.
First on a Monday night at the Garden, the Islanders defense fails to show up. Maybe it was bowling night? DiPietro bails them out all night long with an Islander record 56 saves, but it’s not enough as the Islanders lose in a shootout.
Then three days later on a Thursday night at the Coliseum in what is affectionately known as “The Simon Game”, the Islanders play a much better game and are tied 1-1 in a third until Simon loses his cool and force feeds Ryan Hollweg some lumber. The Rangers score on the resulting powerplay and the Isles lose 2-1 in regulation.
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3. Canadiens 5 Islanders 3 3/13/07
If the Islanders fail to make the playoffs, this is the game that will get all the attention. DiPietro comes way out of the net in the first period to play the puck and collides with Montreal’s Steve Begin. DP leaves the game, misses the next two, and two weeks later the Islanders finally fess up and admit he suffered a concussion on the play. Dunham comes in the game and lets up 5 goals on 32 shots as the Islanders blow leads of 2-0 and 3-2 to a team they are battling neck and neck for a playoff spot – another four point swing.
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2. Red Wings 4 Islanders 3 (OT) 1/30/07
The Isles had a tough schedule after the All-Star break, first there was Atlanta – they came back from 3 goals down to force OT and get a point on the road. Then they hosted Buffalo and won with a 3 goal explosion in the 3rd period. Finally, they hosted Detroit and were sporting a 3 goal lead after 2 periods when things went south.
Detroit rallied for 3 goals (2 powerplay) to tie the game and force OT – where Henrik Zetterberg finished the Isles about halfway through. Detroit outshot the Isles 11-5 in the third and 3-0 in the OT.
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1. Blues 3 Islanders 2 (OT) 3/1/07
So blowing a 3 goal lead to a good team in the last 20 minutes is bad, how could the Islanders ever top that one?
March 1st: the first day of the last full month of the NHL season, time to prepare for the playoffs, Ryan Smyth’s first game as an Islander…and the Islanders go out and blow a 2-0 lead AT HOME in the final 2 1/2 minutes to a team with no chance of making the playoffs. Un-frickin-believable. Adding insult to injury, DiPietro picks up a penalty before the end of regulation and it takes the Blues just 20 seconds to score the PP game winner in OT . That’s 3 goals in the 3 minutes to a team near the bottom of the “goals scored” category all season.
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Honorable Mentions:
11/30/06 and 1/2/07 – The Islanders sport the NHL’s worst team, the Flyers, a 3-0 lead in both of these games and then come up one goal short in the comeback effort, losing 3-2.
12/30/06 and 1/4/07 – Right in the middle of their season high 6 game losing streak, Martin Brodeur personally steals 4 points from the Islanders. The first game should have been a 0-0 tie after regulation – the Devils scored a fluke goal when Islanders defenseman Alan Rouke tries to bat the puck out of the air…and into the net. The other goal that night was an empty netter. Five days later, Brodeur makes 40 saves, 17 in the third period as the Devils hold of the Islanders.
Isles Score Some Goals, Still Drop 5th Straight
January 5th, 2007 by murph
It figures, for the first time since December 23rd the Isles scored 3 or more goals but even that couldn’t stop them from dropping their 5th straight game, 4-3 to the New Jersey Devils last night. I feel like Rob Schneider in “The Waterboy”.
With the way DP’s been playing, and Marty Brodeur at the other end of the ice, it was quite a surprise when it was 2-1 Devils only 3 minutes into the game. Two Islander turnovers quickly ended up in the back of the net and then Trent Hunter got the Islanders on the board with a deflection goal. Zach Parise of the Devils picked up his second goal of the game later in the first for a 3-1 Devils lead after one period of play. Now Parise was all alone in front on the first goal because of the turnover, and his second goal came on a 2 on 1 situation, so the defense left DP out to dry on both goals…BUT…Parise just made DP look silly on both goals. He committed way too early on both of them. Elias made it 4-1 Devils in the 2nd on a sharp angle slapshot that found a way past DP. Ricky’s certainly entitled to a bad game ever now and then, but he picked a poor time to do it.
Hilbert picked up his 4th of the year in the second, and Sillinger scored with just 20 seconds left during a 6-on-4 powerplay with DP pulled. The Isles outshot the Devils 43-26 but Marty outplaying DP was the difference.
It was an interesting night at “The Swamp” with an announced crowd of 12,500+, a decent size for a Devils crowd. As we walked up to our seats I thought the interior was pretty dimly lit until they turned on the main lights on the ice. It’s also kind of cold up there as there seems to be a breeze, did someone leave a door open on the roof? The Devils fans that are there support their team pretty well, and we were more than happy to join along with them for several “Rangers Suck” chants. A few idiots wandered in wearing Rangers jerseys and were heckled by fans of both teams. During a stoppage in play to replace a broken piece of glass, they played the “long” version of the Chicken Dance. Since Wang has outlawed it at the Coliseum, it seems the Devils were more than happy to adopt it. We spotted “Goldie” the Islanders fan with the shiny gold wig from the Coliseum down by the glass dancing up a storm as all fans joined in the chorus of “The Rangers Suck!”. Goldie’s seats were practically the same seats he has at the Coliseum, what does that guy do for a living? Who does he know?
Bring back the #%!* Chicken Dance Wang!
Isles head to Carolina to play the Hurricanes tomorrow night. They’ve got to end this skid ASAP.
Isles – Devils Preview
November 2nd, 2006 by Tom
The Isles cross the river and play the Devils (6-4-1) in The Swamp tonight. The big storyline for Jersey will be Marty Brodeur’s attempt at a third straight shutout. Brodeur has stopped all 51 shots against him the last two games after allowing 10 goals in his previous two outings.
For his career, Brodeur is 5-4 with a 2.63 GAA against the Coliseum Heroes. He has 83 career shutouts, putting him fourth on the all-time list.
The Isles will try to keep the momentum going from a 4-1-2 homestand, including a 5-2 victory over the Blackhawks to put them over .500 for the season at 5-4-2. The team has played great on special teams lately and the 67-Million-Dollar-Man has looked better in net. DiPietro is 6-5 with one tie and a 2.54 GAA against the Devils. He has won his last four starts against Jersey.
