Jon Sim is out for the year

According to Newsday, Jon Sim is having his knee operated sometime in
the near future. It seems that Sim, while pinballing through the home
opener versus the Sabres, blew out both his ACL and MCL his left knee.
Greg Logan also reports that the recovery period is considered for the
injury is six to nine months and that Sim's likely return is the 2008
Islanders training camp.

Sim really seemed to gel playing with Mike Sillinger and Trent Hunter
and as we've seen in the games since the injury, Andy Hilbert has slid
back in with his linemates from last season. It has to be depressing as
hell for him since he came to the Islanders after bouncing around for a
bit and must have been hoping to establish himself as a regular
contributor on the team and in the league.

This is a real bummer for all concerned--player, team, and fans. Sim was a high-energy guy who was fun to watch and he brought a lot of grit and determination to the team. Now that Hilbert is stepping back into his old shoes, that means that guys like Sean Bergenheim (who I thought played a heck of a game Saturday night in the 3-1 loss to the Flyers) need to bring that pinball energy to the rink every night.

Other thoughts while I was away:

--Marc Andre Bergeron was benched for the game against the Flyers after two egregious defensive lapses against the Leafs last Thursday. Ted Nolan inserted Bryan Berard into the lineup and he played with Bergeron's normal defense partner, Andy Sutton.

--By the way, who doesn't love Andy Sutton? Between he and Brendan Witt, Ricky's crease stays squeaky clean. Those dudes are like human Swiffers. Man, we gotta keep the big man healthy all season. I want someone to cut a video of Sutton's big hits and highlights and set it to "Cochise" by Audioslave. Can we get some YouTube amateur videographers working on this? How about somebody from Islanders TV? Just another great pickup for Garth Snow.

--Josef Vasicek scored the Islanders' goal and led a late rally against the Flyers. He and linemates Bergenheim and Miro Satan buzzed Flyers goalie Martin Biron and the Isles 15 shots on goal in the third period. While the line was able to create many good opportunities, the Isles fell short. If there is one thing we've learned so far this season it is that the first line of The Tank, Comrie, and Guerin need to be productive every night for the team to be successful.

--Strange schedule makers, those NHL peeps. The Isles don't play again until Thursday (Caps) and Saturday at home against the Devils. Then they have another week off and don't play until the 27th, when they entertain Peter Laviolette and the Carolina Hurricanes. After that--get this--the boys are off until Thursday, November 1 when the Lightning come to town. They scrunch 6 games into 9 days to start the season and then give the Islanders all sorts of time off. Weird.

--Jim Balsillie is back in the picture to buy the Nashville Predators. Last time, the BlackBerry boss came into town with his guns blaring. A local ownership group is crumbling and Balsillie may be able to buy the franchise after all. Hopefully this time he fights nice and plays by the rules if he truly wants to become a member of the NHL brotherhood. He made lots of mistakes the first time around by announcing his intention to move the team to Canada (which we support) without truly understanding that Gary Bettman and the league need to exhaust all efforts to keep the team where it is before a move can even be discussed. Taking season ticket deposits without allowing the league due diligence was foolhardy and arrogant. I'm sure it's hard for mega-millionaires to show humility and humanity at times but if he wants to own the Nashville Predators, Jim Balsillie is going to need to practice patience.

--And because it's such a popular feature, here's a last WWE 24/7 comment: October is shaping up to be the least interesting month of WWE 24/7 programming history. There's been one really good NWA TBS show and the WCCW tape does not hold up to last month's Freebird-Von Erich Christmas night 1982 angle. You'd think that the promotion would have been hot for replays and more Freebird heel stuff but they really don't do much with it. There's the usual ECW stuff but for me, I have no interest in reliving that promotion. It was cutting edge and new ten or so years ago and I was a big fan but now it just doesn't work. I guess I have become re-sensitized to the violence in my old age. The Monday Night Wars shows are semi-interesting but outside of a very few angles, not much sticks. That's a by-produc of the short attention span booking that was prevalent in the late 1990s. Also, having Snitsky host the Shorties was just a creepy, terrible idea. The guy is a walking advertisement for people who want to goof on the wellness policy. All the redness and acne is disgusting. Plus, I want to know who picked the matches for the Shorties segment. None of the matches were great choices. The Legends and HOF stuff is all Undertaker and Wild Samoans and I have no attachment to either. I guess what I am saying is that I can't wait for November.