Islanders Team Report

Yahoo! Sports

The 2006-07 season ended in such a thrilling and unexpected manner for the Islanders, their fans and their organization were primed for months for it to happen again.

But there would be no miracle finish like last season, when the Isles qualified for the postseason with wins in each of their last four games behind backup goalie Wade Dubielewicz, including a shootout victory over New Jersey on the final day.

Franchise goaltender Rick DiPietro, who suffered two concussions last March, again was injured late this season, undergoing surgery for a hip injury that had plagued him since he first tweaked it during the skills competition at the All-Star Game. DiPietro’s injury was truly the final straw in an obscene year for the Isles in terms of injuries, as they’ve played without as many as four of their expected top six defensemen have missed at least 20 games apiece.

In all, a whopping 42 different players dressed for the Isles this season—including five goaltenders, although only three of them saw game action. Only four players appeared in at least 80 games and two played in all 82—forwards Richard Park and Trent Hunter.

Of course, the injuries to DiPietro and all of the defensemen only compounded the organizational failure to adequately replace all of the scoring production lost when Jason Blake, Ryan Smyth, Viktor Kozlov and Tom Poti bolted as free agents last summer, in addition to the contract buyout of former captain Alexei Yashin. With their season-ending 4-3 shootout win against the Rangers on Friday, the Isles (35-38-9) finished the season among the NHL’s two lowest-scoring teams with 194 goals.

Center Mike Comrie, who has missed the last two weeks with a hip injury, was the team’s leading scorer with just 49 points—the first time in a non-lockout season no Islander has reached 50 points in franchise history.

“At the start of the year, when we were healthy, we looked like we could compete every night and give ourselves a chance to win,” Comrie told Newsday. “Once you start dealing with those injuries, the offense didn’t score as many goals as we would have liked. Our power play needs to be better, needs to be more consistent. We’ve got great role players and guys who score when we have to. We’ve got a great goaltender who gives us a chance to win every night.

“When September rolls around, I’m sure there will be a few new faces. But the guys who are going to be back, we all know what we need to do to compete at a higher level… We didn’t come here to lose and not be successful as a group. On the other hand, with the injuries, you see a lot of kids getting an opportunity. I’m sure we’ll be able to figure out a lot for next year with the players here now.”

Season Highlight: There really wasn’t much to cheer about aside from a combined 11 wins over the rival Rangers and Devils, including rookie former first-round pick Kyle Okposo’s late game-winner for his first NHL goal against Devils superstar Martin Brodeur in New Jersey in March. All of the injuries gave the Isles a chance to assess their future as they head back to the draft lottery this summer. Coach Ted Nolan was pleased what he saw from Okposo, wingers Blake Comeau and Sean Bergenheim and young defensemen Chris Campoli and Bruno Gervais, before the latter two also were bitten by the injury-bug in the second half.

Turning Point: “I think I just (messed) up my hip.”—Rick DiPietro, to the national TV audience watching the All-Star Game skills competition on Jan. 26. No, that wasn’t the only thing “messed” up that night. DiPietro and the Isles had little margin for error to begin with, but his injury and others to follow basically torpedoed any chance of the Isles hanging in the playoff race in the second half. The Isles went 11-16-3 after the break, missing the playoffs for the second time in three seasons.

Notes, Quotes

• C Mike Comrie says he would’ve continued playing through his hip injury if the Isles had remained in the playoff race, but he shut it down once they were mathematically eliminated with six games remaining.

“I had a tear in my labrum, and it was affecting my play for a month or two,” Comrie told Newsday. “I was playing with it, but I couldn’t compete at the level I wanted to. The doctors looked at it and kept a close eye on it. I got an MRI done. It was affecting my play. I couldn’t skate as hard as I wanted to. I couldn’t get to loose pucks the way I should be able to. It’s an injury you can play through, but once it gets to a certain point, you have to rest it and strengthen the muscles around it.”

• D Bruno Gervais also didn’t risk returning after suffering a concussion on March 4 against Florida.

“I figured, I’ll be back playing soon. The first time I went on the ice and skated a little bit, the headaches came out, I was dizzy, you’re foggy, you’re not all there, you feel really tired,” Gervais told Newsday. “I went through three or four days like that with headaches. Then, it started going great again. I got on the bike for a couple days, and everything felt good. I skated in Tampa Bay (last week), and everything was fine. Then, the next day, it was like I hit a wall. You’re tired, you can’t do anything, it’s like you’re not there.

“That’s what’s frustrating about that injury. You go a couple good days and then a couple bad days. The only way to know you’re out of it is when you go a week or a week and a half without the symptoms.”

Quote To Note: “It’s always nice to win, but I don’t think it overshadows the fact that there is a lot of disappointment and sadness in our locker room. We had really high expectations throughout the whole year. It’s a little bit of a Band-Aid over the wound, but the hurt is still there.”—RW Richard Park, after the Islanders’ lost season ended on a high note with a 4-3 shootout win over the Rangers.

Roster Report

Most Valuable Player: D Brendan Witt. All-Star goalie Rick DiPietro clearly carried the Islanders in the first half, but coach Ted Nolan pointed to the selfless leadership of Witt, whose sporadic absences from the lineup with assorted knee injuries took away a key physical component from the Isles’ lineup as the goals-against totals rose after the All-Star break.

Most Disappointing Player: RW Miroslav Satan. The Isles were perfectly willing to be used by Satan for a big payday in free agency this summer, hoping he’d post a career-year like Jason Blake did with 40 goals before bolting for greener pastures last summer. But Satan played all season with a tricky knee injury and recorded only 15 goals, the first time the four-time 30-goal man failed to reach 20 in 10 years.

Free-agent Focus: RW Miroslav Satan isn’t going to get anywhere near the $4.25 million he made this year on the open market, and the Isles would be better served cutting bait and using his salary-cap slot elsewhere. Forwards Josef Vasicek, who started strong but tailed off, and Ruslan Fedotenko, who came on late, both reached the 15-goal mark—but both are free to leave after signing one-year make-good deals last summer. Leading scorer by default Mike Comrie was re-signed at the trade deadline at $4 million for next season, removing another potential UFA from the Isles’ list. Backup goalie Wade Dubielewicz also might see more regular work elsewhere via free agency, although the Isles might not be able to find a more trustworthy backup with starter Rick DiPietro coming off straight years of undergoing of hip surgery.

Player Notes:

• Somehow avoiding the team-wide injury plague, C Richard Park appeared in all 82 games for the second straight season—the first time anyone has done that with the Isles since Mariusz Czerkawski made it through all 82 in 2000-01 and 2001-02. Park scored a 3-on-5 shorthanded goal in Friday’s season finale against the Rangers before winning the game for the Islanders with another goal in the shootout.

• D Jack Hillen, who was signed out of Colorado College earlier this week, made his NHL debut Thursday and then recorded his first NHL point with an assist in Friday’s season-ending win against the Rangers.

• G Wade Dubielewicz made 48 saves and pulled off a shootout in the season-finale for the second straight season, even if the Isles’ 4-3 win Friday against the Rangers didn’t clinch a playoff berth like Dubie’s shootout victory over New Jersey did last April.