NJ Devils acquire C Ben Walter from Islanders

NEWARK, N.J. (AP)—The New Jersey Devils have acquired center Ben Walter and future considerations from the New York Islanders in exchange for the rights to center Tony Romano.

Devils president and general manager Lou Lamoriello announced the deal on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old Walter had 20 goals and 30 assists in 65 games for Bridgeport of the American Hockey League last season. He has played in 22 NHL games for the Islanders and Boston Bruins.

Romano, a Long Island native and New Jersey’s seventh choice in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, spent last season with Peterborough in the Ontario Hockey League.

Calder Cup Playoffs Update!

The Bridgeport Sound Tigers face the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins tonight in an attempt to stave off elimination in the Calder Cup playoffs. The Tigers--with a refreshed Blake Comeau in the lineup--lost to the Penguins 2-1 last night. ThePenguins now hold a 3-1 lead in the best of seven series.

Peter Mannino had a strong game in net for the Sound Tigers, making 19 saves. Penguins goalie John Curry turned away 32 of 33 shots. Ben Walter scored on the PP for Bridgeport.

Game five can be seen live online at the Sound Tigers website.

Greg Logan's writeup on the Sound Tigers and Comeau is here.

Mike Fornabaio's Sound Tigers blog from the Connecticut Post is here.

Sound Tigers web pregame notes on game five are here.

Bergenheim, Gervais amongst six receiving qualifying offers

UNIONDALE, NEW YORK (TICKER) —Left wing Sean Bergenheim and defenseman Bruno Gervais were among six players who were extended qualifying offers by the New York Islanders on Wednesday.

Also receiving qualifying offers were centers Jeremy Colliton, Ben Walter and Frans Nielsen and left wing Jeff Tambellini. All six players become restricted free agents if not signed by July 1.

Bergenheim appeared in 78 games with the Islanders last season, registering 10 goals and 22 points.

Gervais saw action in 60 games for the Isles last season, collecting 13 assists.

NYIFORLIFE.com REACTION: Bergie and Gervais are obvious favorites of management. Colliton, Nielsen, and Tambellini all should have expanded roles with the team in 2008-09.

Walter is interesting. Clearly, he is a depth guy that will be counted on to carry the flag in Bridgeport, but he proved he is not out of place in the NHL. Since he has been qualified, it means that if the Isles want to send Walter (or any of the others who were qualified) to Bridgeport that they are going to have to leave him exposed to waivers. He could be claimed by anyone in the NHL.

More interesting are the guys who were let go. The Isles let go of three defensemen: Aaron Johnson, Drew Fata and Matthew Spiller. Also allowed to become a free agent was Bridgeport fan favorite Steve Regier.

Here I sit broken hearted...

I keep hearing this old song from the 1980s in my head...I think it is Loverboy..."It's o-ver! It's o-ver! It's oooooo-veeerrr!"

The Isles dropped a clunker to the last-place Lightning last night, 8-4. The good news is that our boys go right back at 'em tonight in Florida to meet the Panthers. The bad news is that with 71 points in 71 games, they're just about ready to call for mid-April tee times.

Another thing I just calculated: the Isles are fifth from the bottom in the entire NHL right now. It goes like this: Los Angeles (60); Tampa (68); Atlanta (68); St. Louis (69); and the Isles. How many ping pong balls does fifth-worst get in the entry draft lottery.

Ben Walter--up from the Bridge because Josef Vasicek came down with the flu--scored his first goal as an Islander on the power play. So right there, that is something positive. Of course, having a recent call-up playing on your power play isn't exactly standard operating procedure. Besides, Vincent Lecavalier had a hat trick for the hosts so that kind of negates any good will from Ben Walter. But good for him.

The other Islander goals were scored by Bill Guerin (a nasty wrister in the first); Ruslan Fedotenko (a breakaway kicked in by the Tampa goalie doing his best Darren Puppa imitation); and Mike Comrie.

Then, to add injury to insult, we have this headline in today's Newsday: "Nolan at odds with DiPietro after blowout loss."

Just what we need. The coach and the franchise are allegedly not getting along. These things tend to get overblown because they make good copy in what has turned out to be a completely unsatisfying season.

Nolan on Ricky, from Newsday: "We ask him over and over again not to play the puck as much," Nolan said of DiPietro. "He's one of the best puck-handlers in the league, but you just can't overhandle it. When you overhandle it, you get yourself in trouble a little bit."

Again, Islanders coach Ted Nolan: "The only thing you can do is keep going through it over and over again. You can't do that. You've got to let our defense handle it a little bit more. He just wants to play it. What can you do?"

DiPietro response, also from Newsday: "Whatever."

Indeed.

Training Camp is open in Moncton!

Were you like me, scouring the stores to see if Hallmark makes a "Training Camp is Open!" card for your friends and family?

Some great news: Eric Cairns has returned to the Islanders. From Chris Botta's Point Blank blog, it seems that Cairns called Garth Snow, said he was retired, and wanted to get involved in the alumni-side of things. In fact, he is in Moncton with the team, ready to do what is needed. Great to have the big guy back. It's great to see how much Mr. Wang and the management team have embraced the alumni. Without them, the fans and the team have no history. Remember how the Gang of Four and Don Maloney wanted the Cup years buried? Embarrassing.

The Islanders also acquired center Ben Walter (the son of Canadiens and Capitals captain Ryan Walter) and a conditional second-round pick in the 2009 draft from the Boston Bruins on Sept. 11 for former first-round selection Petteri Nokelainen.

At first glance, this looks like a steal for the Isles, doesn't it? We're getting a guy with classic NHL pedigree and an ability to put up fine numbers in the AHL (24 goals and 43 points in 73 games for Providence last year) for a guy who has been injured and inactive a lot for the Sound Tigers since he has been drafted in 2004.

This move doesn't mean that the Isles felt "safe" giving up on Nokelainen...it just seems to be part of an overall move league-wide to get the team a little more North American. With Walter, the team knows what they're getting. He's proven himself to be a quality AHL player and now you know he will be given every chance to skate a regular shift for the big club. Getting the chance is all a player can ask for and Ted Nolan proved one thing in his first season with the team: everyone gets an opportunity if they earn it. Look at guys like Richard Park and Mike Dunham last year. They went from attending camp on tryouts to playing key roles for the Islanders' drive to the playoffs.

Speaking of Mike Dunham, Dunnie ended his 10-year playing career this past Monday to become the goaltending coach for the team.

Another solid move for the team. Dunham played well in stretches when the team needed him (at the beginning of the year) and then had difficulty shaking out the rust toward the end after playing caddy for Ricky for so long. Dunham has been around the guys and must have an excellent rapport with DiPietro and Dubie--he was one of the big cheerleaders on the bench for Dubielewicz as he played Cinderella in the last few games to get the Isles to the dance.

Last but not least, be sure to check out Botta's blog for the story on new Islander captain Bill Guerin's visit to the Islanders offices and introduced himself to all of the worker bees in the office. He also ended up arranging lunch for everyone working hard for the team. I've been in office jobs all my life and that little effort means so much when building on a positive foundation. We're not going to miss Ryan Smyth in the least. We've got a solid new captain who wants to lead and wants to be a part f what is happening on Long Island.

Here's the link.

http://nyipointblank.blogspot.com/2007/09/bill-guerin-buys-lunch.html


Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that the Isles official site is using the picture of Bryan Berard that was posted and edited here on this blog by my wife. Good job, Honey!