Worst Loss in History

Enough will be said about the game last night in Carolina. 9-0 is a serious whoopin', but it's just another page in the textbook of a season that it has been for the young Islanders.

I bailed when it was 4-0. Blake Comeau fractured his wrist in the first period and missed the rest of the game. They say he will be evaluated today but I think we can safely check off another man down and yet another 3 man games lost to injury. That brings the total of man games lost by the Islanders this season to...let me look it up to double check...yes, that's right...seven million. Seven million man games lost to injury in one season. A new NHL record!

Cam Ward made twelve (count them) saves to get a shut out but trust me, he didn't have to do anything more strenuous than I did sitting in my big leather chair. No, wait. I take that back. I got up to go to the bathroom and then I went to the kitchen to get some Advil and a Vitamin Water. Then I got back in the chair.

So, yeah, nine-zip. The guys were flat and Carolina is a very good team peaking at the right time. Seriously, they could easily end up in the Conference Finals and have to be reckoned with. Now if only their TV color guy wasn't named "Tripp" and their crest didn't look like a logo for washing powder, they'd be perfect.

Anyway, on to good news. It looks like Scott Gordon will be on the coaching staff of the US team at the World Championships. Great for him, as we discussed earlier this week, to get some more exposure internationally. And according to Newsday, USA Hockey and Brian Burke are aware of Kyle Okposo and the strides he has made this year as a player and a leader. Hopefully he heals up in time to join his coach in Switzerland.

The World Championships will be on the NBC Universal Sports channel and whenever we can nail down a firm schedule, we will post it here.

Mark Streit was back in the lineup, too. The Swiss are leaning on him to play in the World Championships but as he told Greg Logan, he's not too excited about the prospects...even though the games are in his hometown.

And again, Doug Weight resigned for next year. His family loves Long Island and he seems to enjoy the spark he gets from being around the young guys. He'll be the captain next year and I don't know that the organization could have chosen a better Yoda to lead the kids into the future.

Love this quote, from Newsday:

"I'm old school maybe to a fault, but I believe in having a team that does everything together, a team that will do anything for each other and just wants to succeed for each other," said Weight, who has demonstrated vividly since his return to the lineup just how feisty a 38-year-old guy can be. "I think we're building that here, and we're getting past the cliché of the 'young team' and a 'youth movement.'

And this one made me laugh, knowingly, as my own beard gets a little grayer:

"These are really good people, good guys that I really enjoy even in my old age. You know, I've got the wrong music playing in my car and I can't stay out as late as they can, but it's fun. You've got a guy like Kyle [Okposo], the way he's played, and we're going to get a key draft pick. We'll see about the health of Ricky [DiPietro], and hopefully, we can turn things around that way. We've had some good play."

We're back for game #79 (ugh, that number again) on Thursday in Pittsburgh to take on the Genos.