Carolina tomorrow night...and your official Soundtigers Update!

It seems like forever since we last had an Islander game to watch...and it has been. Let's not forget to OT thriller last Saturday night against the Devils when Bill Guerin scored with less than 4 seconds left in the extra period.

This week has probably been a difficult one for the coaches and players.

Sure, it has given guys like Brendan Witt some time off from blocking
shots every which way so hopefully he is feeling a bit better. Bryan
Berard, too, may have caught a break. If he's expected to miss anywhere from 2-4 weeks with the injured groin, well, he sure didn't have to worry about missing too much time since the boys have been off for a week.

The boys on the Bridge have been off to a bit of an even steven start;
sitting at 3-3 after 6 games. The Soundtigers are heavy on toughness
this year (thanks, Kip Brennan!) and now that Darryl Bootland has been
sent back to Bridgeport, he should be able to chip in here and there and play many more minutes a night than he's been seeing with the big club.

Veteran defenseman (and former Wolfpack-er) Joe Rullier was signed to a
25 game PTO this week by the Tigers, who are boasting a veteran
leadership core of AHL vets like captain Mark Wotton and Tim Jackman.
AHL rules permit only five "veterans" of over 320 AHL games can play per game so once Rullier is ready to contribute, according to my math,
they'll be right on the limit.

I think it is safe to say that Bootland was sent to Bridgeport because
Shawn Bates is almost ready to play. He's been practicing some and has
traveled with the team at times, according to Newsday. Where Bates fits in is hard to determine. We've seen that coach Ted Nolan is real big on working your way into the lineup so Bates will have to prove himself in practice before he'll dress for a game. Bates last played in January, which was a heck of a long time ago if you have the same calendar that I have.

In other Islander-related news, Freddy Meyer was dropped by the Coyotes
and cleared waivers. Also, it looks like every Islander fan's favorite
villain, Darcy Tucker, has a partial tear in his ACL and is going to try and wear a brace to keep pushing on through the season. Wow. I mean, I am no fan of Tucker's but in this case, you have to admire his
tenacity--even if it is expected to blow up in his face. A guy with
that kind of injury who plays the style of hockey that Tucker does is
going to have a hard time playing up to his own standards.

Don't forget about the SI story about Chris Simon. It's about what you
would expect in the situation but a good read besides.