What is it that they're not telling us?

So, you know, yesterday, I'm watching the Isles game and it's 5-0 and Joey MacDonald looks like Ronald McDonald back there and the fans start the chant for DP! DP!

I mean, it makes sense, right? Goalie looks bad and he gets the hook. Happens every so often. Pull the guy out of there before his confidence goes south. Get the backup some PT. Mike Keenan does it after he sneezes. C'mon, guys, let's get Ricky in there!

And yet, there was Rick...sitting on the bench...wearing a cap...smelling his catching glove...and not making eye contact with anyone who has authority to put him in the game.

The Sabres torch MacD for another couple of goals after Trent pots one for the good guys and we end another fight-filled Kid's Day on the bidness end of a 7-1 loss.

Look--we all are thinking it. Many of us are trying to make sense out of it but you just can't. The Isles are protecting their injury reports better than the government protects visiting foreign dignitaries. Everything is ballparked as a lower-body injury or an upper-body injury and it is just useless. I'm getting an upper-body injury wondering why the heck they have to keep these government secrets so tight.

There is no right or wrong here. The Islanders--and any other team in the league don't have to be truthful about the injury situation of their players--but it helps, you know? The whole thing comes off as petty and cheap because they can't be honest with their fans.

The whole DiPietro thing is stranger than a guy you don't know asking you for money. If he's hurt and isn't able to play, then why does he sit on the bench? If he isn't ready to play, then don't have him backup Joey MacDonald. Bring up Yann Danis for a bit so he can wear a cap for a while in case they need him. Having the franchise player sit on the bench when he is in no condition to play--which, of course, is only speculation on my part because the Islanders are playing some weird game here--is not a logical move in any way, shape, or form.

Scott Gordon told Newsday that he prefers to have his goalies battle through tough spots rather than yank them out to save whatever shred of professional confidence that they have. That's fine. In fact, since he is a former goaltender, Gordon would know what it is like to poop in the punch bowl and then watch another guy mop up the mess. That's cool. But don't they realize that when you play this silly game that fans and people in the media are only going to speculate about the "real" motives in player moves and whatnot because you're not giving them anything factual to work with? In the real world, we need something. Plus, there's the whole idea that being forthcoming and honest with the fans is good business because, in the end, we are the ones buying the tickets and jerseys and Center Ice packages.

It is always something with this team. An organization secure in their vision and abilities to realize that vision don't lower themselves to weird cloak and daggers bullshit.

With that, I will leave you with the last paragraph from Greg Logan's game report from today's Newsday. Read between the lines at your own peril.

....But the suspicion is that MacDonald knew no reinforcements were coming if he got in trouble. Asked if he knew DiPietro wasn't available, MacDonald said, "Yeah," then caught himself. Backtracking, he added: "Well, I don't know about that. Like I said, I just kept on concentrating and tried to keep battling."

And it is only the third game of the season, Islander fans!