Tag Archive for 'nassau-coliseum'
Ahh, Kid’s Opening Day at the Coliseum. A beautiful afternoon. School is out. Free Guerin jerseys. A dozen or more fuzzy mascots acting silly. A perfect way to make some new young Islander fans.
Five game misconducts. Brendan Witt’s head bleeding on the ice. The Isles leaving Joey Mac in there to get shellacked 7-1 while DP keeps the water bottles full. Were the Isles trying to make fans for life, or just scar the kids for life?
No game highlights worth showing. Just video of yesterday’s shennanigans via HockeyFights.com.
As if the Islanders 7-1 thrashing at the hands of the Sabres wasn’t enough to bring you down, Forbes.com has reminded us that the Islanders have all the attributes of a team that needs to find a new home (thanks to our friend The Shoe for pointing this piece out).
We don’t agree. How could we? But Forbes make the following case:
What do the Minnesota Vikings, Buffalo Bills, Florida Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Islanders and New Orleans Hornets all have in common?
Dreary stadiums they don’t own and stalling businesses eager to rake in more cash. In other words, they’re all ripe for a move. And that means city or state governments around the country can expect them to come calling for help financing a new venue.
Based on franchise valuations, revenue and attendance trends over the past few years, the most stagnant team businesses – those with the greatest likelihoods of hitting the road at some point – are those stuck in outdated arenas and stadiums. While market size drives local sponsorship deals and TV money, souped-up venues that drive revenue through high ticket prices, luxury suites and corporate packages are the order of the day. You don’t have that, you’re not in the game.
Talk of the Isles moving is old hat. There have been calls for it and outrage against it for years. I fall on the outrage side. The Islanders need to find a way to make it work on Long Island. It all starts with the product on the ice. The Isles can’t afford another few years of sub-standard hockey. If the team goes through another 90s-type of slide, I can’t say with any confidence they’ll be around.
Improve the team, get a better venue, make more money, and stay on the Island. I’m no businesss school major but that makes sense to me.
And, of course, the loyal fans need to continue to support the club. But it’s hard to ask people to shell out cash for tickets, parking, food, and merchandise when the economy is in the tank and families are shrinking their budgets.
…so consider the following SI.com photo gallery link 27,000 words about how the Islanders became synonymous with “suck”, “circus”, and “farce”. Thanks to an old co-worker/Toronto fan for the link. No really, you shouldn’t have. Great to hear from you too…how’s that Jason Blake signing working out?
Watch the Isles go from this proud moment – Stanley Cup Champions, top of the world…
To this confused mess, throwing money into a seemingly bottomless pit…
All your favorite Islander low-lites are accounted for…Ron Hextall, Fishsticks, John Spano, Alexei Yashin, Dale Hunter, Dave Chyzowski, Brett Lindros, Don Maloney, Kirk Muller, Mad Mike Milbury, Neil Smith, Cryin’ Ryan Smyth, and the aging Nassau Coliseum. Normally I’m not big on Vanilla Ice quotes, but “Will it ever stop? Yo, I don’t know!” is just too fitting for this franchise.
As part of the “Core of the Four” festivities next weekend when the Islanders will honor the players who played on all four Stanley Cup Championship teams, the Islanders have arranged a special fund raiser next Saturday night. “Skate With The Greats” will take place at RexCorp plaza across from the Coliseum and will allow fans to fulfill their dreams of taking to the ice with the Islanders Championship Dynasty.
Ever wanted to skate on an outdoor rink with Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier, Bobby Nystrom and your other Islanders heroes…and have the Stanley Cup nearby?
You can when the Islanders host “Skate with the Greats” on Saturday night, March 1 at 7:00 pm at Rexcorp Plaza. The night is a benefit for the New York Islanders Children’s Foundation and is limited to just 100 guests so you’ll have plenty of “time and space” on the outdoor rink to rub elbows with the legends.
“Quite simply, the Islanders have never had an intimate event as special as ‘Skate with the Greats’ is going to be,” said Bossy, the greatest goal scorer of his generation and a hero to countless Islanders fans. “Because it’s for the Islanders Children’s Foundation, we wanted to make it first-class for our benefactors. I promise you that my teammates and I are going to make this a night you will never forget.”
Not only will you have the chance to meet and skate with your favorite Islanders legends from the past, but the Stanley Cup will be also be in attendance for photo ops. There will be a silent auction during the evening, which includes cocktails and dinner. Appetizers and beverages will also be served rinkside when the “Core of the Four” members skate from 7 – 8:00 pm before the evening moves inside to the gorgeous Rexcorp Atrium.
“I look forward to meeting our fans and getting the rare chance for me to skate alongside them,” said Hall of Famer Bryan Trottier. “It’s going to be a blast and best of all it’s for a terrific cause, the New York Islanders Children’s Foundation. I’ve talked to a bunch of the guys and they’re really looking forward to it.”
Tickets to this event are $325 and are first come, first served. The event is limited to 100 people. I’m seriously thinking about doing this. The order form is located here.
Here is the schedule for next weekend’s festivities:
Saturday March 2nd, 2pm: Isles vs Philadelphia, Fan Appreciation Day
Saturday March 2nd, 7pm: Skate With The Greats
Sunday March 3rd, 2pm: Walk of Champions from Marriott to the Coliseum
Sunday March 3rd, 3pm: Core of the Four Celebration
Sunday March 3rd, 4pm: Isles vs Florida
And your honored guests:
Bill Torrey
Al Arbour
Mike Bossy
Bob Bourne
Clark Gillies
Butch Goring
Lorne Henning
Anders Kallur
Gord Lane
Dave Langevin
Wayne Merrick
Ken Morrow
Bob Nystrom
Stefan Persson
Denis Potvin
Billy Smith
Duane Sutter
John Tonelli
Bryan Trottier
Trainer Ron Waske and equipment manager Jim Pickard, who were with the team for all four Stanley Cups, will also be honored as part of the event. Hall of Fame broadcaster Jiggs McDonald will serve as the Master of Ceremonies.
Tickets for the second half of the Islanders 2007-08 season go on sale Saturday morning 10am at the Nassau Coliseum and the Isles have a whole bunch of special events and ticket packages ready for fans.
Tickets to the second half of the Islanders’ 2007-08 season go on sale on Saturday beginning at 10:00 am. Tickets will be available exclusively at the Nassau Coliseum box office from 10am – 2pm. On Saturday, the Islanders will also open their doors to all ticket buyers so they can catch the team’s morning skate, which begins at 10:30 am as the Islanders prep for Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Two new partial ticket packages are available too.
- Tradex 20-Game In-Season Plan – includes a savings of over 25% off box office prices, autographed Rick DiPietro mini-helmet and a $100 gas card. Includes two games against the Rangers & Penguins; Fan Appreciation Day, Core of the Four.
- Butera’s 5-Game Holiday Pack – includes an autographed stick from Bill Guerin or Mike Comrie, a gift card to Butera’s Restaurant and two tickets to a Sound Tigers game
Packages start at just $298
Fans that purchase a ticket plan at the Open House receive:
- Two (2) free tickets to watch the Islanders vs. Pittsburgh Penguins later that evening
- Additional autographed merchandise by a New York Islanders player
I’m going to guess that tickets will be available via Ticketmaster.com on Sunday (like they did for the first half tickets). It’s not mentioned in the article and I was unable to confirm it on Ticketmaster’s website though, so take my guess with a grain of salt.
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.
This just landed in my inbox, the Isles are hiring for their retail stores and Coliseum souvenir stands.
P/T Game Night Merchant – New York Islanders (Uniondale, NY)
http://hockeyjobs.nhl.com/teamwork/r.cfm?i=15860
P/T Team Store Associate – New York Islanders (Hicksville, NY)
http://hockeyjobs.nhl.com/teamwork/r.cfm?i=15861
Thatta boy Teddy…way to get the troops ready for last night’s game. Looking much more prepared than they did last Saturday, the Isles came out and played a full 60 minutes of solid hockey in a 4-0 shutout win over the Tampa Bay Lightning last night. DiPietro played pretty solid and got some help from his friends in red…the goalposts…as the Lightning rang the post 2 or 3 times in the 3rd period. The shutout was DiPietro’s first of this season and 12th career shutout.
It was a big win for the team not only bouncing back from last Saturday’s Carolina debacle, but against the Lightning who have historically owned the Isles. It seems the Isles can never beat the Lightning or the Ottawa Senators. In fact the win was the Isles’ first in 9 tries against the Lightning, dating back to a 3-0 win in March 2004.
The man of the night, Mike Sillinger playing in his 1000th career NHL game, picked up an assist (and so did DiPietro) on Captain Bill Guerin’s goal in the first period. Josef Vasicek and ex-Lightning player Ruslan Fedotenko scored in the 2nd to give the Isles a 3-0 lead and Trent Hunter scored in the 3rd – his first goal since opening night to seal the deal at 4-0.
After the game, Sillinger spoke about the milestone.
“Guys are calling me the old guy,” Sillinger said. “Senior Guerin is the oldest.”
“It’s an honor to be in that 200-plus guys who have played 1,000 games,” Sillinger added. “It’s quite an accomplishment. Knock on wood, I’ve been healthy and played roughly 70 games a year, carrying into my 17th season. I’ve always stayed in shape.”
With the loss the Lightning get swept on their 3-game road trip to the NYC metro area, losing 3-1 to the Rangers, 6-1 to the Devils, and 4-0 to the Isles.
Finally, I posted a link to this on the new sidebar a couple of days ago, but it deserves it’s own mention. Lightning fan Steve Williamson is on the Ultimate NHL Road Trip, catching 30 games in 30 days, in 30 different arenas. Last night he visited the Coliseum which I’m sure was quite the difference from the Devils’ brand new Prudential Arena and the Rangers’ MSG. Check out his thought on the Coliseum and be sure to keep an eye on his blog as he continues his trip. Best of luck Steve, we’re all insanely jealous.
I trekked out to the Nassau Coliseum expecting a letdown after experiencing two glitzy arenas in Montreal and New Jersey. Traffic wasn’t too bad and I arrived about 6pm. Parking was only $7, which is way cheaper than any other arena so far, so that put me in a cheery mood. And I got a front row spot about 30 yards from the front door. From a distance, the Coliseum resembles a UFO that has landed splat in the middle of suburbia. I felt like I had stepped into a time warp for the night. When I get to Big D. tomorrow, I’ll explain what I mean, ’cause in a retro sort of way, I really enjoyed myself in the building.
10 mins to gametime
Coming to you live from the Blog Box, it’s Isles/Hurricanes tonight. I’ve got my media crendentials and I’ve settled into the Blog Box. No free pretzels to be had anywhere. Dammit. That’s it, I’m leaving.
It’s free hat night at the Coliseum tonight, always a good time if someone from the home team can net a Hat-Trick. I call dibs on Comrie.
5 mins to gametime
Looks like the Hurricanes fan club here. Section 228 to my right is full of red and white.
6:47 1st period
1-0 Hurricanes on a Brind’Amour PP goal. Isles have been a little sloppy early, starting to wake up. Hilbert had our best chance so far on a rebound that I don’t know how it didn’t go in. Need to check the replays tonight.
9:25 1st period
DP loses the puck behind the net…and it’s 2-0 Hurricanes.
End 1st period
Carolina gets another PP and Brind’Amour finds a rebound behind DP to make it 3-0. The team looks F-L-A-T. We’d have been much better off if we had gotten shellacked last night like Carolina did.
Hurricanes take two penalties late giving the Isles a 5-on-3 PP. They get some chance and shots at the end of the PP but can’t find the back of the net. John Grahame is in net for the ‘Canes, giving Cam Ward the night off after 3 games this week.
So-so crowd tonight, I’d say about 12,000.
4:36 2nd Period
Hope you don’t have DP in your fantasy hockey pools tonight. It’s 5-1 on 12 shots. Carolina had a 3-on-2 just over a minute into the period and made it 4-0. The Isles made it 4-1 shortly after as they bum rushed the crease and puck bounced off Fedotenko’s chest for a goal that was reviewed by Toronto by actually allowed to stand for a change.
7:48 2nd Period
Stop! Doobie-time! DP’s night is done…6 goals on 13 shots. Ugly night for the Orange and Blue as it’s 6-1 Carolina with half the game still to play.
End 2nd Period
A MAB PP goal at 10:27 makes it 6-2 and that’s how the period ends. Shots are 9-9 in the period.
3:44 3rd Period
Wow. What a beating the home squad is taking. 2 more goals already in the 3rd, it’s 8-2.
[End 1st] So I sit down to live blog the game…and the website goes down. We’re back up and one period is in the books at the Coliseum. Marc Andre Bergeron scores on a 3 on 3 situation with just 4 seconds left in the period and the Isles lead 1-0. The Isles outshoot the Rangers 15-12 in the period but I’d say the Rangers had better chances including 3-4 whacks on the doorstep forcing DiPietro to come up with a bunch of good saves. The Isles had a bunch of shots but I don’t remember Lundqvist having to make anything too spectacular. The period was a little chippy with 8 penalties called in the period but nothing major.
[19:45 2nd] Second period is underway, skating 4 on 4. Bergeon tries to spring Comrie right up the middle on a Ranger line change but Comrie can’t hold on to it.
[17:51 2nd] Isles still playing sloppy D and they pay the price. 4 guys collapsing in front of Ricky but no one covers Tytuin walking into the zone and firing a wrister past Ricky. Tied at 1.
[16:41 2nd] Three guys watching Jagr in the corner, who finds Gomez on the doorstep all alone but Ricky slams the door. Go DiPietro, keeping us in this one. In the first, the Versus announcers said Jagr has the most goals against the Islanders franchise. I’m not surprised one bit, he’s had some monster scoring nights versus the Orange and Blue.
[9:46 2nd] Speaking of Versus, Dear Time Warner Cable, Why the #%@! isn’t this game available in HD somewhere on my 1000+ channels? It looks a lot better than the FSNY feed from the opener, but remind me again why I’m paying $15 for the HD package? Stupid me assumed it would be on MSG HD tonight.
Rangers run the same play they scored on again, this time with Shanahan unleashing a blast that hit someone before it got to DP. They spend the next minute+ in the Isles zone making it look like they are on a PP. 3 decent scoring chances in there. Ugh.
[6:52 2nd] Isles pick up a powerplay. Malik for hooking. Isles are being outplayed but have a chance to take the lead again if they can keep up the good PP play.
18 seconds later, Betts joins Malik in the box. 2 man advantage for 1:42. HUGE opportunity for the Isles right here. Need to score.
[6:04 2nd] YES! Berard with a blast from the top of the circle beats “King Henry” gloveside. Isles still have PP time.
[5:11 2nd] “The King” follows up that performance with a brain fart and plays the puck outside the goalie zone for a penalty. Isles back on the 2 man advantage with a chance to open this game up. I have a feeling we’ll be killing some penalties in the third.
[3:11 2nd] Penalties are all over, Isles get some more shots but fail to score again. At least we got a goal, last year it would still be 1-1 for sure.
[End 2nd] Two in the books and the Isles still lead the Rangers 2-1. Rangers outshoot Isles 13-9 in the period, even though the Isles had almost 6 minutes of powerplay time. I’m not complaining though. Defense needs to lock it down and close out this win.
[15:27 3rd] Guerin takes down Shanahan who slides into the net. Rangers to the powerplay.
[14:04 3rd] See, I told you. Gervais high sticks Jagr and the Rangers will get some 5 on 3 time of their own.
[12:00 3rd] Isles kill the first penalty. Looking good on the penalty kill with a lot of blocked shots. With 20 seconds left, Jags finds Gomez all alone to DP’s left. DP goes down, Gomez has the whole top shelf to shoot at but banks it off the side of the net. Incredible chance for the Rangers but they can’t capitalize. All hell breaks loose…1, 2, 3, 4 more shots. Witt makes a smart play, banking it off the glass to avoid the penalty and then out of play for a faceoff. Whew. Isles dodge a bullet.
…and the Isles win 2-1!! Definitely not getting a star of the game award…my ISP as the site goes down again. See you tomorrow for more.
