Tag Archive for 'mike-dunham'
No we have not forsaken you, fellow Islanders fans. We are still here, alive and well. Here’s the latest news:
- I scored tickets to the Season Opener and Al Arbour night via Ticketmaster.com on Sunday. The Opener seats are obstructed view, but the Al Arbour night seats were a little better. If you are looking for tickets to these two games, hurry up!
- Following in Garth Snow’s footsteps from last year, backup goalie Mike Dunham has retired and joined the Islanders as a goaltending coach.
- The Islanders and Bruins swapped prospects, the Isles sending Petteri Nokelainen to the Bruins for center Ben Walter and a second-round pick in 2009.
- Alexei Yashin has headed to Russia, but Carol Alt is still in the good ol’ US of A - hanging out at NYC lounges with Rangers’ goalie Henrik Lunqvist. Another tough loss for Alexei, she’s old enough to be Henrik’s mom!
- New Bossy Auction on NHL.com. Bid on a signed 8×10″ photo of The Boss celebrating his 9 straight 50 goal seasons.
- And finally the big exciting news, Islanders training camp opens in just 2 days! You can read camp previews over on NewYorkIslanders.com for the defense, forwards, and goalies.
With the Islanders’ updates out of the way, let’s update you on the site. While the Islanders head to training camp this weekend to sweat, practice, work hard, and live in dorms again…the Islanders Army staff is headed to Vega$ to gamble, drink, and generally live it up for 4 days. Other than some Vega$ odds, I wouldn’t expect any posts from us from Friday until Tuesday. When we return, we will get the site back in gear for the regular season.
The updates around here have been few and far between, that is due to a combination of lack of Islanders news and a lot of personal issues. I took advantage of the lack of news to put Islanders Army on the back-burner and take care of other stuff. I apologize to our readers and promise that we will be bringing you as much, if not more coverage of the Islanders this season as we did last year (500+ posts).
I’ll see you all in the NVMC Parking Lot on 10/6/07!
-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.
Buffalo, the NHL’s leading team won their 50th game of the season last night over the Islanders with a 5 goal explosion in the first period. Even-strength, powerplay and short-handed, they scored every which way except for an empty-netter in the first period chasing Mike Dunham after 20 minutes. I think the Sabres were trying to scare the Isles - “Do you guys really want to make the playoffs? You’re just gonna have to play us 4 more times.”
As I turned the game on last night, my thoughts of “Alright, Islanders powerplay! Let’s get the early jump on the Sabres.” quickly turned to “Oh %$#&” as Marc Andre Bergeron tried to keep a Buffalo clearing attempt in the zone only to have it bounce past him and Buffalo’s Derek Roy streak past him for a breakaway. Roy beat Dunham over his right shoulder for the shorthanded goal and a 1-0 lead.
The Isles’ next powerplay was more successful as Blake netted his 39th of the season to tie the game at 1. Then…the wheels fell off the bus. Vanek made a nice move behind the net and beat the rusty Dunham with a wraparound. Then the Isles started taking penalties, giving Buffalo a 5-on-3 powerplay on which they converted on both chances for a 4-1 lead. Finally, Drury scored his 2nd of the period for Buffalo taking the puck away from Robitaille at the point for another shorthanded breakaway goal and a 5-1 lead after 20 minutes of play.
Coach Nolan pulled Dunham (12 shots, 7 saves) after the first for Wade Dubielewicz who finished the game with 17 saves on 18 shots. He is clearly the sharper goalie at this point and needs to start in goal tonight.
To Nolan and the Islanders credit, they didn’t roll over the rest of the game. They came on strong in the 3rd, picking up a pair of goals to make it 5-3 early in the period and almost 5-4 as Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller made a nice save on a Brendan Witt redirection. The Isles then got in penalty trouble again with Yashin taking a completely uncalled for hooking penalty that the Isles were able to kill, and a Robitaille holding penalty that led to the Sabres’ 6th goal.
Stats of the Game - Isles PP 3/8, 2 SHG allowed, Buffalo PP 3/7, 2 SHG scored. 5 special teams goals allowed by the Islanders.
The only break the Islanders got last night was in Ottawa where the Senators beat Montreal 5-2, keeping the Islanders just 2 points out of a playoff spot with 5 games remaining.
Bonus Stats of the Game, from Erik Hornick on the Yahoo Islanders Fan Group
Sad but true. No goalie other than Rick DiPietro has won a game for the Islanders after February 1st since the lockout. (Dunham’s last win this season was on February 1st, and neither Snow nor Dubie won a game after in February, March or April last season.) Dunham has lost all five games that he has appeared in during March, allowing 24 goals. He has played only one complete game (the 8-5 debacle in Florida), as he has been pulled three times and replaced DiPietro in his first appearance. He has allowed 24 goals in only 211 minutes played — a goals against average of 6.83! To put Dunham’s numbers in perspective, the last time that the Islanders allowed more than 24 goals in a 4-game period (240minutes) was in October 1990 and the last time that they scored more than 24 goals in a 4-game period was in January 1993.
Injury Update: Oh by the way, Ryan Smyth missed last night’s game too with a leg injury. No word on Smyth or DP’s availability for tonight. I will update if I read anything.
Oh wait, I just read this on NewYorkIslanders.com
Only Smyth is a possibility to play tonight among the players who missed Friday’s game.
Video highlights from NHL.com
The Islanders have fessed up to the worst kept secret in hockey these days…that goaltender Rick DiPietro suffered a concussion on March 13th when he collided with Montreal’s Steve Begin. What you might not know is that DP actually suffered two concussions, thanks to Rangers’ pest Sean Avery last Sunday.
The head injuries goaltender Rick DiPietro suffered March 13 in Montreal and again last Sunday in a home game against the Rangers were diagnosed as mild concussions, Islanders general manager Garth Snow now admits. But DiPietro’s condition is not considered career-threatening, and Snow maintains he was not rushed back into action prematurely after the first concussion.
DiPietro did not accompany the Islanders on their flight to Buffalo yesterday for tonight’s game at HSBC Arena because he still is suffering the classic symptoms of a concussion - headaches, diminished mental acuity and some nausea and dizziness. If those symptoms subside and DiPietro subsequently passes a neuro-psychological exam, he still could return to play some or all of the five regular-season games remaining after the Sabres match.
DiPietro wanted to return two games after the original concussion, at Florida, but the medical staff made him wait three more days until March 20 at Tampa Bay. Asked if that was premature, Snow said, “No. He was diagnosed with a mild concussion. His CT scan was fine, he had six days of rest, and he was monitored by the medical staff. He had no complaints leading up to the games.”
DiPietro played the next four games, going 2-0-2 with eight goals allowed on 122 shots. Then he was involved in a pileup in which Rangers forward Sean Avery landed on DiPietro’s head before several other players piled on. He also took a shot off the facemask. After that game, DiPietro complained of headaches and was held out Tuesday against the Devils.
The bottom line is that DP did not make the trip to Buffalo tonight, Mike Dunham will start in net again.
Dennis Lemieux: “I say who own the Chiefs?”
Reggie Dunlop: “What did he say?”
Dennis Lemieux: “Ownsss, Ownsss”
Who owns the Islanders? The $#@*’ing Ottawa Senators, that’s who.
In the past 41 meetings between the teams dating back to Feb. 12, 1996, Ottawa’s record is 29-4-8-0, including 3-0 this season.
With DP out of the starting lineup for the first time since February 1st, the Islanders got hit by a bus in Ottawa last night 5-2. A 2-0 Ottawa lead after two periods quickly became a 5-0 lead early in the third after 3 Ottawa goals in a 1:16 span. Nolan gave Dunham the hook after goal number 5 and Wade “Dooooobie” Dubielewicz called up from Bridgeport, finished out the game. The Isles scored 2 (Satan, Fata) late to avoid the shutout.
Not much to say here, the Isles played poor defense against a strong and fast Ottawa team and paid the price. The team has lost 4 of the past 5 games and with only 12 games remaining, now is not the time to start slumping. They are going to need a better defensive effort Saturday night in Florida if they want to hold onto their playoff spot (currently 7th).
How bad was it last night? The Ottawa fans were more concerned about the pizza than the Islanders.
The sellout crowd of 19,989 booed when an apparent sixth Senators goal was waved off because of a tripping penalty against Neil 12:49 into the third. A promotion awards a free slice of pizza to fans if Ottawa scores at least six goals and wins.
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My goodness, there is so much stuff to go through and share with you today. Keep checking back often!
- First off, let’s catch up on the Islanders. Jeff Tambellini was recalled from Bridgeport last Thursday, right before I left to go snowboarding, and before the Isles/Thrashers game. The Isles won in an impressive 5-2 fashion, with Tambellini racking up 3 assists. Dunham was in net to give DP the night off and played well for his 4th win of the season (4-5-3 record)
If coach Ted Nolan’s decision to put Islanders captain Alexei Yashin in the convalescent ward for his knee tendinitis and call up rookie Jeff Tambellini was intended as a wake-up call, it paid off big-time last night at Philips Arena. Tambellini’s energy helped generate three goals by linemates Viktor Kozlov and Miroslav Satan, and Mike Dunham came up big in goal against his former Thrasher teammates as the Islanders pulled out a 5-2 win.
- After the game, the Vets had plenty to say about Tambellini’s effort while stressing the fact that it was “just one game”.
Clearly, the energy and excitement Tambellini created with three assists in the Islanders’ 5-2 victory Thursday night in Atlanta is contagious. When captain Alexei Yashin was put on the injured list to recover from knee tendinitis, Randy Robitaille moved from Kozlov’s line to take Yashin’s place between Jason Blake and Chris Simon, and Tambellini was called up from Bridgeport to play left wing with Kozlov and Satan.
The anxious rookie drew a holding penalty 48 seconds into the game, but from there on out, he put the pedal to the metal, and Kozlov and Satan jumped to keep up. Kozlov had the opening goal, the closing empty-netter and an assist on Trent Hunter’s power-play goal, and Satan had a goal and two assists.
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Real nice win by the Islanders over Atlanta on the road last night. Isles held an explosive team in check for most of the game and when the Thrashers had chances, Mike Dunham was up to the task. Rookie Tambellini made his presence felt with three assists on the day of his call-up. Way to make them notice you, buddy.
Here is a sampling of what they were saying postgame:
“I had a good talk with Viktor this morning and with Miro before the game about the importance of those two guys, especially with Yashin out of the lineup and our so-called top line dismantled,” Ted Nolan told Newsday’s Greg Logan. “Viktor had a great game, Miro had a great game and Tambellini stepped in and did a great job for us. He sure added some speed and created some open ice.”
“I don’t think we shot well,” Atlanta coach Bob Hartley told Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Craig Custance after the game. “We could have scored 20 goals tonight if we hit the net.”
“I got a lot of chances,” Ilya Kovalchuk told the Associated Press. “I need to shoot 100 percent.”
“We knew they would get their chances,” Mike Dunham told the AP. ”We just wanted to keep them to a minimum.”
The Islanders will head to Altanta to play the Thrashers for the second time in less than a week tonight. Altanta beat the GoodGuys 5-4 on Friday thanks to Ilya Kovalchuck’s goal in overtime. That sucked. The Thrashers lead the season series 2 to 1, scoring a 4-1 victory in November. The Isles had one of their few routs of the season when they beat Atlanta 6-0 in December. Kovalchuk comes into the game on fire. He’s scored in four straight games, tallying six goals over that span. Marian Hossa leads Atlanta with 31 goals and 66 points.
Ricky DP hopes to play better tonight than he did when he last faced the Thrashers. Atlanta scored three times less than six minutes into the game on Friday. DP got pulled and Mike Dunham did a heck of a job keeping the Isles in the game. Of course, the 67-Million-Dollar-Man has also played well against Atlanta, shutting them out with 37 saves in the December victory. So anything is possible.
Some quotes following Friday’s loss:
- “You’re playing a first-place team and you’re down 3-0 in their rink,” Coach Nolan said. “You have to give them credit for bouncing back.”
- “We’ve got to start better,” Chris Campoli said. “You can’t let a team like that get up 3-0. We battled all game, showed a lot of character and proved we’re a good hockey team. … But tonight, it was just too much, I guess.”
- “A game like this can change in minutes,” Kovalchuk said. “It wasn’t our best game, but we found a way to win it.”
Wild game last night. Before I could even sit down and turn the TV on, it was 3-1 Atlanta and DP was on the bench. Smart move by Nolan yanking DP to wake the team up. If this was last year’s squad, I would have just changed to channel to watch Nanny 911. To their credit, the Isles stayed focused and got themselves back into the game.
Miroslav Satan had a huge shorthanded goal in the early 2nd to get the team rolling. Later in the second, Jason Blake (who else?!) scored to tie the game up.
Atlanta’s leading scorer, Marian Hossa left the game in the second with an apparent knee injury as he slammed into the boards after a Freddy Meyer tripping penalty. It looked bad as Hossa rolled around on the ice for a few minutes. Apparently it wasn’t that bad, as Hossa returned for the third and quickly (:19) scored to give the Thrashers the lead again.
The Isles fought back again though, as Campoli deflected a Meyer shot during a 4-on-4 for his first goal of the season. The puck went in off Campoli’s skate, so there was a video review but no kicking motion, so the goal stood.
In OT, Kovalchuk scored his second of the game on a nasty wrister/snap shot. I’m not surprised. I had a bad feeling about OT. Atlanta is fast and the 4-on-4 OT plays to their strength.
Coach Nolan was upbeat about the loss.
Reflecting on the comeback, Nolan couldn’t help but smile as he said: “It’s a first-place team and you’re down 3-0 in their rink with a packed house. A point is like a win on the road.”
Better than no points, that’s for sure. Other game notes:
- Brendan Witt left the game early in the first with an injury and did not return. He’s listed as day to day with an upper body injury.
- It’s so good to have Radek Martinek back. He looked solid and had a big hit on Kovalchuk in the third.
- DP is expected to be back in net tonight as the Islanders host Buffalo. It’s 1972 Retro Night as the Isles will rock old-school 1972 jerseys and Eddie Westfall will drop the ceremonial face-off.
- Holy Iron Batman! Trent Hunter 2 posts, and I think the Isles hit about 5 overall. All night long you heard “TINK!”
Video highlights from NHL.com
Just two days after abusing the Flyers for a goal and 5 assists in a career high 6 point game, Sidney Crosby led the streaking Penguins to their fourth straight win 7-4 over the Islanders last night. Crosby had a goal and 3 assists, giving him 10 points in the past two games. Ryan Malone was the lucky recipient of those 3 Crosby assists for the hat trick.
The Islanders defense continues to play poorly, and the team can’t stay out of the penalty box either. The Pens’ PP was 1 for 10, which is a pretty good night for the Isles’ PK - but 10 penalties are way too many. The Islanders PK unit ends up being on the ice and playing defensively too much for the offense to get any rhythm. Not to blame the refs for the loss, but some of those calls were pretty questionable while other Pittsburgh infractions were let go.
The Isles were outshot 29-13 in the first two periods and trailed 5-1. Coach Nolan replaced DP with Dunham to rest DP for tonight’s game. Malone made it 6-1 eight minutes into the third beating Dunham. The Isles made it a little interesting with a 3 goal rally in a three minute span, including two PP goals. Poti (PP), Blake (PP), and York scored to make it 6-4. The Isles PP was 3/6 on the night, a definite improvement over past efforts. Malone iced the game with his hat trick with less than five minutes to play. The Isles and Pens end up splitting four games in three weeks with each other.
Bad, bad night for the Isles, other than the PP performance. After five days off, they should have been rested and ready. Now they have to host the Southeast Division leading Thrashers tonight. Hopefully Yashin will return, but even if he doesn’t, the Islanders need to right the ship with a win.
Video highlights from NHL.com
