Free Agency Tomorrow at Noon

There's a lot of good players available tomorrow at noon for the other half of Dominion Day, Free Agent Day!

Do you like it when GMs act like half-drunk frat boys looking for a hammered girl at last call? If you do--and who doesn't--then tomorrow is the day for you!

GM Garth Snow has already said that next season's Islanders squad is going to look a lot like this year's...so he doesn't want us to get all excited and start thinking that Charles Wang is going to open his pocket to land the Sedin twins or even Mike Komisarek. And if they are convinced that they are on this rebuilding track, they shouldn't do it anyway.

What our team needs is a reliable goaltender. A lot of people have been clamoring for Craig Anderson of Florida, but I like to look toward New Jersey and notice that Scott Clemmensen is also without a contract.

Claemmensen was on fire for the Devils while Martin Brodeur nursed his injuries. The guy backing up Clemmensen--former Islander Kevin Weekes--actually was his backup but when Brodeur came back, Clemmensen had to be sent down to Albany because Weekes was on a one-way contract. Talk about a sting.

So, Clemmensen has proven to be a pretty good goalie. And while both showed flashes of ability last season, he'd definitely be an upgrade over Yann Danis and Joey MacDonald. With Peter Mannino being let go, there's also only one AHL-ready goalie in Bridgeport, Nathan Lawson. So, yeah. Goaltending depth is a but tough right now in the entire Islanders family. That's why they drafted two goalies last week.

There's also lots of rumors out there about Mike Komisarek possibly coming back home to play for the Islanders.

Not sure that is a great fit since you already have defensive defensemen like Andy Sutton (oft injured), Brendan Witt, and Radek Martinek on the roster. Komisarek may want to get out of the fishbowl in Montreal so naturally, everyone thinks he will want to go home. TSN's microphones picked up Brian Burke saying as much to Montreal GM Bob Gainey at the Entry Draft.

The Islanders (if they are interested) may be in luck since Komisarek had an off-year last season. The picture I have of him in my mind is of him catching a punch with his face in the opening round vs. the Bruins. So his repuation as a tough abnd physical player may have taken a hit too.

Another thing that comes to mind is that if the Islanders do sign Komisarek (and pray they don't overpay for him even though they need size and toughness) that it totally means that the team has no confidence in Andy Sutton's ability to stay healthy. It also would scream that Brendan Witt is going to be given some time to play a bit better to make himself more attractive as a tradeable asset in February.

Greg Logan of Newsday suggest the Isles go after Colton Orr, who has been let go by the Rangers. Sounds good to me. The Islanders seriously need a cop to keep people off of the skill players. Plus, Orr has developed and can play a little bit. He played in key spots for the Rangers last season and would probably be a good and popular fit here.

Snow has already warned us not to get too excited. Of course, this is the guy who kept his puh-puhpuh poker face on for two months while intending to draft John Tavares. That's why this picture is posted here. I figured I'm the last blogger on God's gray Earth to post a photo of Tavares from the draft.

John Tavares throws 1st pitch at Mets game

1st Pick John Tavares had the honor of throwing out the first pitch at the Mets - Yankees game at Citi Field last night. Sadly ESPN(BA) did not show the pitch (at least in our neck of the woods).

NewYorkIslanders.com has video and pictures from the game.

Tavares on the cover of THN's Draft Issue

The headline really says it all. I just got the digital edition of The Hockey News' Draft Issue and wouldn't you know, John Tavares is the cover boy. With all of the speculation going around regarding Matt Duchene and Victor Hedman, I am betting the overwhelming majority of fans are still pinning their hopes on the explosive Tavares.

One thing that tends the bug the heck out of me--actually, there are a lot--is when you get a highly-touted and skilled young player who has been on the radar for a while that eventually people and scouts tun on them and start making a big deal about what they CAN'T do versus what the CAN do. So now there are whispers (probably coming out from the Canadian media) regarding Tavares and all of his "shortcomings" of being perhaps one-dimensional while the other guys, Duchene and Hedman are being built up for what the best parts of their own games are.

I call shenanigans--or at least, over-familiarity. Tavares has been talked up since he was a kid who challenged the rules to get himself into juniors as an underager to play with older, more skilled players. We've sort of been tracking the kid for years as the next great Canadian player to come out and now, that familiarity has become breed some discontent. Lots of kids come out of juniors and it takes them time to learn the defensive game. And so what if he isn't a "creator" of offense. Either is Eric Staal and the last time I checked, he was scoring goals and his Hurricanes had the best team in the leage during the regular season on the ropes and down 3-1.
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Not going to get into the Lighthouse crap. I am sick of reading it and I am sick of worrying about it. You know where to go for updates and stuff. I will say that Kate Murray appears to be a leetle bit crooked when the company doing the feasibility studies are delaying their reports AND they also have contributed to her election campaigns in the past. Oh, yeah. And they're from out of county. Again, it doesn't take a truffle pig to smell shenanigans.
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Check out the latest issue of Islanders Illustrated if you can. It's a beautiful Year in Pictures Review and I want to thank Linzi for ordering the magazine for me this past season.

The Isles also are having a contest to fly 8 fans to Montreal for the draft for a meet-and-greet with whomever the Isles pick in the first round. Two winners are being named each week. Seems like a good deal if you win and Montreal is always nice any time of the year.
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I hope you've had a chance to follow the IIHF World Championships this spring in Switzerland. Kyle Okposo has played pretty well for the US, scoring two goals and he was also named the Player of the Game in a 3-2 loss to Russia after tying the game at 2 in the second period of the semifinal matchup.

The US goes for bronze tomorrow at 10AM Eastern on Universal Sports. They'll be playing Sweden while later in the day, Canada and Russia will face-off in a rematch from last's years final that Russia won. I know I'll be asking my mother to watch the games with me...she'll probably say no, but I will ask!

You can find more pictures of Okposo at the WC on the Islanders Facebook page. That's where this one came from.

An article from globeandmail.com: Tavares doesn't plan holdout

DAVID SHOALTS
Globe and Mail Columnist
April 20, 2009 at 10:55 AM EDT

John Tavares was thrilled when Brian Burke declared he would move heaven and earth to try to get him in a Toronto Maple Leafs uniform.

But if the New York Islanders use their first pick overall in the NHL entry draft on Tavares, as expected, Tavares will become an Islander. There will be no Eric Lindros-style holdout even though Tavares grew up in Oakville, Ont., worshipping Steve Thomas, Mats Sundin, Curtis Joseph and the Maple Leafs.

“It was a big surprise to me,” Tavares said of the declaration by Burke, the Leafs' president and general manager, that he will try to trade up in the draft to take Tavares.

“Obviously, that doesn't happen very often. It was also flattering to have an NHL general manager say he really wants me and is willing to do a lot to get me. It was exciting with everything else that was going on, too.”

But that, Tavares has said more than once, is as far as it goes. Even though the once-proud Islanders are now the Siberia of the NHL, neither Tavares nor his agents, Pat Brisson and J.P. Barry, will try any strong-arm tactics like telling the Islanders or the Tampa Bay Lightning, who have the No.2 pick, that he will not play for them.

“No, not at all,” Tavares said. “Wherever I'm selected, I'm going to go and play there.

“I've said it before, my goal is to play in the National Hockey League. It's not about where I play or who I am. I just want to be part of the franchise.”

The question, then, is whether Tavares is good enough as a player to be worth all the fuss. Is he the next Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin or even Steve Stamkos, good enough to lead a franchise as chronically inept as the Islanders back to the excellence they last enjoyed in the 1980s?

The answer, as it is with all 18-year-old hockey players, is maybe.

A scout who works for an NHL team that has no chance of drafting Tavares is not convinced he will be a franchise player. At this point, the scout said, he believes Tavares will be a very good player, one “who will score between 40 and 50 goals a year in the NHL,” but not a franchise player.

The problem is, teenage hockey players develop at different rates. Decisions are based not so much on how good the player is on draft day but on his potential.

“Is what you saw from Stamkos [in junior hockey] 50 per cent of what he has or is what you see from Tavares 30 per cent of what he has?” the scout said. “You have to make decisions based on that, which is what makes [the entry draft] such a crapshoot.”

Mark Hunter, a former NHL player who is now co-owner and general manager of the Ontario Hockey League's London Knights, is a believer. He landed Tavares in January in a huge trade with the Oshawa Generals that saw six players and 10 draft picks change hands in a bid to make the Knights a Memorial Cup contender.

“I don't have all the answers for that but I believe he is,” Hunter said.

“He's done it every year and at every level,” Hunter said. “I've seen him do it as a minor midget and I've seen him do it here. I think he's ready to play in the NHL right now, he's that good.”

The numbers, at first glance, back up Hunter. Tavares was good enough to play major-junior hockey at 15 and he started scoring immediately. He had 45 goals in his first season and in March became the leading goal-scorer in OHL history, finishing with 215.

Tavares has also shone on a bigger stage. He was the most valuable player at this year's world junior championship with eight goals and seven assists in six games as Canada won the gold medal.

But for all that, Tavares is not the kind of player who pulls fans out of their seats. He is not a dazzling skater and stick-handler like Malkin or Alexander Ovechkin. But he is a classic sniper like Brett Hull, a smart player with a quick, deadly accurate shot who always seems to be around a loose puck.

Right now, the only knock on Tavares is that his defensive skills need improvement. But that has been said about every would-be star.

“He is more scorer than playmaker, I'll give them that,” Hunter says of the scouts. “No one's ever taught them the defensive game from a young age because they are so good. John never had to learn because he had the puck all the time.

“But the good ones, like Stamkos, like John, figure it out.”

So far in the OHL playoffs, though, Tavares is having nothing but trouble. He sustained a shoulder injury in mid-January in the annual prospects game, an exhibition, and it's been a problem off and on ever since, although Hunter says Tavares is healthy now. But with 16 points in 12 playoff games going into yesterday's Western Conference final game against the Windsor Spitfires, Tavares didn't even lead his team in scoring.


More on Tavares: Greg Logan reports the Islanders' bigwigs will be visiting London, Ontario tonight to see Tavares in person.

The First-Overall Pick...and what to do with it

We all think we know what is going to happen on June 26 when Garth Snow, Ryan Jankowski, and (hopefully) Charles Wang step to the podium in Montreal.

They pick John Tavares. That's what we all are hoping for.

Wasn't it interesting during the Ping Pong Derby that TSN's James Duthie asked Ken Morrow about Denis Potvin, and how drafting the Hall of Famer in 1973 started the ball rolling through the dynasty years? I mean, offhandedly, it makes sense. Build from the goal out and get that stalwart defender who will protect your crease for the next ten years.

Also interesting was Morrow's quick reply: there's only one Denis Potvin. Does this mean that the organ-eye-zation already knows that Tavares is their man? Probably not. Not yet, anyway.

I have to admit that I was full on board with Chris Botta's suggestion that Garth go up there and proclaim that Tavares was going to be the pick to send a message to the kid that he was important enough to be a cornerstone of the rebuilding process. I thought it would also send a message to the fanbase that the team was ready to kick the whole process into overdrive and man would it sure make the whole summer a bit more fun.

Instead, Ken Morrow kindly deflected any talk of who the team was going to pick. Duthie seemed to expect it, of course, as the Islanders pro scout captain gave the regular draft-speak of how lucky they were to be able to get an impact player, etc.

And now, I am thinking that they did exactly the right thing. Here's one reason why: Brian Burke.

Burke--a man who is never afraid to shoot his mouth off--proclaimed to the Toronto media that he was willing to do whatever it would take to land John Tavares. He was willing to trade anyone off his roster (except for Luke Schenn, the one guy anyone would want from the Laffs) and any amount of draft picks for the right to choose first overall.

Well, we have to thank Mr. Burke right there. For all of his bluster and for all of his proclamations, he did the Islanders a great service. Brian Burke, by talking out of his backside about an improbable trade--have you seen the Leafs roster lately?--just drove up the value of the Islanders first-overall selection in June.

Burke, a guy who played the shell game before and was able to land the Sedin twins while he was the GM of the Canucks, sort of lends credibility to the whole (I can make this happen) thing. At least, the Toronto media wants us to think that. They all think it's a birthright for the Leafs to be able to go and get any player they want at any time. This sense of entitlement has probably fed the beast and all of those (ahem) "rumors" that come out of the self-proclaimed Centre of the Hockey Universe.

Anyway, by rattling his sword, Burke has done exactly what he wanted to: get his name in the paper to make it seem like he is aggressively trying to improve his team before he leaves the country for the World Championships in Switzerland.

In doing so, he makes that pick just a bit more attractive, wouldn't you say? Snow can now sit back and listen to all the stories and fake trades and scuttlebutt that puts him and the Islanders front-and-center of all of the speculation. The Islanders fans get more and more excited to hear the name out there and the speculation leads to more and more people talking about the New York Islanders. That leads to more people playing attention to the rebuilding and Lighthouse projects and when people are talking about you in a positive sense, you get more relevant.

After all of the armchair speculating, once it comes time to actually cash in that first overall pick, you'll have more and more positive press. A further examination of the Islanders by a wider scope of media types will shine a light on what the team has been doing right with the young players who got a lot of very much needed experience while suffering together through the last season. Instead of Gord Miller going on TSN and saying off-handedly that Josh Bailey wasn't playing much and was a healthy scratch at times, maybe he'll do his job and actually notice that Bailey was injured and not sitting out earlier in the year and that he finished up pretty darn well for a young kid playing his first season as a pro. You know, spin the situation positively rather than just using knee-jerk, lazy clichés about what they think the Islanders organization must be like without actually looking into it.

Now, do I think the Islanders are going to actually trade the top pick? No. No way. Not a chance. Especially not to the Maple Leafs, who literally have no one on their roster and admit to having no players in the system that are top-end blue chippers. That's why Burke is chasing these college free agents like crazy: he needs to roll the dice on prospects somehow. His predecessor's draft record was as shaky as a meth addict who tries to quit cold turkey. Ferguson left the cupboard bare and even took the shelf paper out while trying to get this desperate franchise to the playoffs. Burke has very few toys to play with!

In the new NHL--and with the expected lowering of the salary cap, makes young impact players important to every team's success because the salary level for all of the rookies is affordably low. NHL teams can make a mistake here and there and do not suffer the after-effects for years like the teams do at the top of the NFL draft.

And again, it never hurts to listen to other GMs as they make their pitch. The Islanders are finally the belle of the ball--and Mike Milbury isn't there to screw it all up on us.

PPD tonight; other thoughts on the season

Remember the STAR-STUDDED FINALE of everyone's FAVORITE REALITY SHOW is tonight when the NHL holds it's FABULOUS PING PONG DERBY to finally figure out who will have the right to select either JOHN TAVARES or VICTOR HEDMAN first overall in the 2009 NHL ENTRY DRAFT in MONTREAL this JUNE!!

(I just thought I'd write that sentence in the press release style that I have always wanted to do. All those CAPS are obnoxious, aren't they?)

So, yeah. Tonight's the night. It's worth noting that Tampa got to pick first overall last year (Stamkos) and that the Lightning have the second-best chance to pick first again. After the Bolts, there are only three teams that can move up to #1: the Avalanche, who had the worst record in the Western Conference, the mighty Thrash, and Los Angeles Kings. Everybody else falls in behind somewhere.

That said, the Isles and their 48.2% chance of landing the first pick can only slide down as far as second. They'll still get a good player but if it happens, it's going to be The Stomach Punch Felt Around Long Island. Seriously, not matter how much the boys improved in the second half, you'd like to get something substantial for your efforts when you're out of the playoff picture by Christmas.

But enough of that. The proposition of losing #1 overall to Tampa makes me want to throw up in my mouth.

So does all of the speculation about The Lighthouse. I love the lazy media and their ground-breaking journalism and how everybody and their brother who has an article of John Tavares has to mention that the team is moving to Kansas City or that Tavares is going to shoot down the Islanders like Lindros did with Quebec a lifetime ago. I guess it doesn't matter to our Canadian brothers that Tavares and his agent both issued statements shooting down the speculation and that anyone with like two minutes to search on Google can find news fro Newsday that the Isles have a pretty good lease until something like 2015.

Why let reality get in the way of silly innuendo that goes nowhere? Of course, they used to say that controversy sold newspapers but the way things are going now, it is harder and harder to sell an actual newspaper to anyone without a coffee ritual or long ride to work these days.

Enh, I feel like I have written this whole post before. Check the archives.

Just a few housekeeping notes for the website to finish for today.

We'll have our first-round predictions up wither later today or tomorrow. We are also working on a feature first suggested by Mrs. NYIFORLIFE a long time ago about our favorite hockey cards. I've been collecting since I was eight years old so I've got quite a few favorites. We hope to share that feature sometime over the long summer.

We also will select out 2008-09 NIFORLIFE.com ISLANDER OF THE YEAR. Last year Richard Park was the winner and you can read that posting at the left by clicking on his picture.

Finally, we'll go back in time for another RETRO LIVE BLOG or two over the summer months. For those who don't know, we'll do a live post of a great game or event from the past and comment on it like we are watching it in real time. The 1980 All-Star Game was a particular favorite; as was a 1976 WHA game with the Whalers taking on the Red Army.

Now we are half done...

The Islanders season-long journey toward securing the first-overall pick in the entry draft is complete. With last night's 6-1 shellacking (pasting?) in Pittsburgh, the Isles are now going to finish with the worst record in the National Hockey League this season.

The Islanders, with this last-place achievement, can only pick first or second this June. That means they're all but assured of getting a top player in the draft. Whether they'll pick John Tavares or Victor Hedman is unknown right now...but I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say that I am hoping for #1 so that Garth Snow and Ryan Jankowski can say the name "John Tavares" in Montreal at the draft.

Let's face it: for all of the heartbreak and disappointment the Islanders have inflicted on the most loyal fans in sports, to get a guy who has the makings of a marquee scorer like Tavares will only add good vibes and a feeling of hope as the team works on the Lighthouse initiative. Plus, adding goals will validate the rebuilding program in the syes of the ticket-buying public. The past few months have been a revelation for the younger players like Bailey, Nielsen, and Comeau, etc. We need to keep that momentum going and get people excited.

To that end, the Isles made some other signings of younger draft picks.

The team signed defenseman Mark Katic and left wing Justin DiBenedetto to three-year contracts. Both players are reporting to Bridgeport for the rest of the Sound Tigers' seasons.

Katic is interesting to me as he is another puck-moving defenseman and was a major part of the book "Future Greats and Heartbreaks: A Year Undercover in the Secret World of NHL Scouts" by Gare Joyce. It's a book I recommend highly.

DiBenedetto was a sixth-rounder last year who "suffered" by being Steve Stamkos' linemate during Stamkos' last year in junior with the Sarnia Sting. Too many people thought DiBenedetto was riding shotgun and getting inflated stats because of playing with last year's first-overall pick. This season, again with the Sting, DiBenedetto proved his detractors wrong with 45 goals and 48 assists in 62 games.

The Isles are going to need guys who were tagged as reaches like DiBenedetto in their draft years for the turnaround to be complete. DiBenedetto reportedly loves nothing more than proving his detractors wrong--which is a great attitude to have as a late-round pick.

According to Point Blank, the Isles also signed a youngster named Ryan Duncan from the University of North Dakota. Duncan is listed at 5-6 and 150 lbs--so he's tiny--but he has produced at UND and will play with the Sound Tigers on a PTO contract. He had 39 points and apparently is tough enough to have not missed a game in four years.

Islanders Team Report from Yahoo! Sports

Inside Shots

The relatively small amount of fans and media who ardently follow the Islanders might be eyeing the first pick in the June entry draft, but the John Tavares sweepstakes continue to be a taboo topic among the existing players in the locker room.

“We know a lot of people talk about that, but we don’t,” emerging star Kyle Okposo told the New York Post. “Never. We’re trying to win games and play the best we can. That stuff comes with how the results go at end of the year.

“For sure it’s important to us, but you never know how a player’s gonna turn out. I know there’s a lot of good players in this draft, but we’re not thinking about it.”

With the worst record in the NHL through Saturday’s 5-2 loss in Ottawa, the Islanders would pick no worse than second in the draft because teams can’t drop more than one spot via the lottery. An unexpected hot streak earlier this month had threatened to lift them out of the NHL basement, but they have dropped three of four games entering Wednesday’s game against Minnesota.

“I told them earlier that we weren’t going to worry about our record, and that’s still true,” coach Scott Gordon said. “It says a lot about the approach we’ve had. At this time of year, you can have the mindset that, ‘I can’t wait ‘til the season’s over.’ That’s not the case here. It’s almost like our record doesn’t exist.”

Senators 5, Islanders 2: The Islanders netted four second-period goals Friday in Carolina and allowed four in the middle session one night later in Ottawa. Both extremes somehow resulted in the latest two losses for the Isles, who have dropped three of four games overall following a surprising 5-1-1 stretch that briefly threatened to get the NHL’s 30th-ranked team out of the league cellar.

Notes, Quotes

• D Bruno Gervais’ overall play recently has been “leaps and bounds ahead of where he started this year,” according to coach Scott Gordon. Gervais has been playing on the top defensive pairing with All-Star D Mark Streit, and he even has scored two goals in his last 10 games after being held scoreless for 160 appearances since 2006.

“One thing I’ve been noticing is that players are a lot more relaxed now, and I think skill comes out when guys are relaxed,” Gervais told Newsday. “I used to feel every loss was the end of the world…You bring your best effort to the rink, but people around you don’t deserve to pay for your performance. You want to win; you’re intense, but I have a rule. When it turns midnight, it’s a new day.”

• C Doug Weight is skating and trying to make it back to the lineup from a knee injury before the season is over. The veteran pivot and pending unrestricted free agent also has expressed interest in returning next season after the Islanders took a chance on him last summer.

“Let’s put it this way: there’s nothing that’s making me run from Long Island,” Weight said recently. “I love it here and I love this organization and the guys on the team. There’s nothing I’d like more than to get something done for next season.”

Quote To Note: “If you have a good night, it makes it a lot sweeter if it’s a ‘W.’”—Center Josh Bailey, after the first two-goal game of his career was wasted in a 5-2 loss Saturday in Ottawa.

Islanders Team Report from Yahoo! Sports

Inside Shots

A recent hot streak might make the question moot, but top junior prospect John Tavares has no plans to channel his inner Eric Lindros and force a trade if the Islanders wind up with the No. 1 overall pick in the June entry draft.

“I know they won four Stanley Cups in a row. They had great players there. Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier played there. They’ve got a great history, obviously,” Tavares told Newsday. “They’re looking to get a new arena—I’ve heard that, too.

“I haven’t heard too many bad things about Long Island.”

The Isles remain in 30th place in the 30-team NHL, a scenario in which they would pick no worse than second in the draft this summer. But with a 4-2 win Sunday in Chicago, they improved to 6-2-2 in their last 10 games and moved four points behind 29th-place Tampa Bay entering Monday’s league action.

“Assuming John goes first in the draft, I think he will go where he is chosen,” Tavares’ agent, Pat Brisson, told ESPN. “Let’s say it’s (the Islanders). I know (owner) Charles Wang is trying to get a new building. … Look at Mario (Lemieux) when he went to Pittsburgh. There wasn’t anything there. And it wasn’t too nice when Sidney (Crosby) went there, either. If you start picking where you want to go, you may not make the right decision.

“There are always better franchises, better organizations. But I don’t see John avoiding anywhere. … John respects the process and the league.”

Islanders 4, Blackhawks 2: How’s this for March Madness? Peter Mannino had appeared in just one previous NHL game in his career, allowing three goals in just 13 minutes of mop-up duty earlier this season for a whopping 13.81 goals-against average. But Mannino made the most of his first league start Sunday, making 40 saves as the improving Islanders rebounded from a tight loss one day earlier in Boston. Mannino became the fourth goalie to start a game this season for the Isles, who remain without injured starter Rick DiPietro and backup Joey MacDonald.

“I felt good right away,” said Mannino, who lowered that GAA to 4.11. “Chicago is an unbelievable offensive team. I wanted to get out the nerves as much as possible and stay focused. When you get a lot of shots, it helps, especially if you’re not letting them in right away.”

Notes, Quotes

• D Mark Streit has lived up to, if not exceeded, expectations after signing a five-year, $20.5 million contract with the Islanders last summer. The former Canadiens power-play specialist not only is averaging 25 minutes per game, he became the first Isles defenseman since Vladimir Malakhov in 1993-94 to record a 50-point season with two goals and an assist in a 4-2 win Sunday over Chicago.

Still, Streit (52 points) has a long way to go to catch Denis Potvin’s team record for a defenseman of 13 50-point seasons.

• The season-high three power-play goals scored by the Islanders on Sunday in Chicago—two by Streit and one by C Frans Nielsen—marked the first time they’d netted that many with the man advantage since they also scored three on Feb. 14, 2008 in Toronto.

Quote To Note: “I couldn’t ask for anything better. That’s the dream come true, to get a start in the NHL and to get a win on the first one. … It’s picture perfect.”—G Peter Mannino, who made 40 saves in his first NHL start, a 4-2 win Sunday in Chicago.

Roster Report

Goaltenders: Yann Danis, Peter Mannino
Defensemen: Mark Streit, Brendan Witt, Radek Martinek, Bruno Gervais, Jack Hillen, Thomas Pock
First Line: Jeff Tambellini, Frans Nielsen, Kyle Okposo
Second Line: Blake Comeau, Josh Bailey, Mike Iggulden
Third Line: Andy Hilbert, Nate Thompson, Tim Jackman
Fourth Line: Richard Park, Dean McAmmond, Joel Rechlicz

Player Notes:

• G Peter Mannino made 40 saves for his first NHL win in his first NHL start in a 4-2 victory Sunday in Chicago.
• LW Blake Comeau had two assists and has 10 points in his last seven appearances.
• RW Kyle Okposo extended his point-scoring streak to six straight games (4-3-7) with assists on each of Mark Streit’s goals.

Medical Watch:

• LW Sean Bergenheim missed his third straight game since suffering a strained groin March 10 in Toronto. He is expected to be out until late March.
• G Rick DiPietro, who appeared in just five games because of multiple injuries, has been shut down for the remainder of the season with swelling in his surgically repaired left knee.
• RW Trent Hunter suffered a fractured left ankle in the first period of Saturday’s game against New Jersey and will miss the remainder of the season.
• G Joey MacDonald remains day-to-day with a knee injury suffered March 10 in Toronto.
• RW Kurtis McLean suffered an undisclosed leg injury March 12 and is out indefinitely.
• D Freddy Meyer remains out indefinitely with a groin strain suffered Jan. 5 in Edmonton.
• C Mike Sillinger underwent season-ending hip surgery for the second consecutive season on Jan. 26.
• D Andy Sutton suffered a broken right foot on a blocked shot Dec. 19 in Minnesota and underwent surgery. He is not expected back until late March.
• C Doug Weight will be out until late March, and possibly for the rest of the season, with a knee injury suffered Feb. 11 vs. New Jersey.

Tavares scores 215th goal in OHL

WINDSOR, Ontario -- Already likely to be the top pick in the NHL draft, John Tavares burnished his credentials a little bit more.

The teenager set the Ontario Hockey League record by scoring three goals on Sunday to give him 215 in his junior career.

He tied Peter Lee's 1976 record of 213 with his first goal, then added two more to help his London Knights beat the Windsor Spitfires 4-3. Lee was taken first overall by Montreal in 1976.

He received a prolonged standing ovation from the sold-out crowd when he got the record with seven minutes to play.

"I really appreciated the reaction of the fans," he said. "They have great fans here and it was a classy thing to do."

Tavares has 15 goals in his past 10 games and leads the league this season with 56 goals and 104 points, despite taking time off to play for Canada at the world junior championships.

Canada Beats Russia in epic shootout to move to the WJC Gold Medal Game

I was going to write something myself about the game but I then I read this article from the Canadian Press and it is better than anything I could do. It was one hell of an exciting game.

--Bill


Canada fights its way into final
By Donna Spencer, THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA - The drive for five is still alive.

Canada's junior hockey team is one victory away from their country's fifth straight gold medal at the world junior hockey championship.

Canada reached the final for an eighth consecutive year with a thrilling 6-5 shootout win over Russia in Saturday's semifinal.

Sweden, a 5-3 winner over Slovakia in an earlier semifinal, will be Canada's opponent for gold Monday (TSN and NHLN, 7:30 p.m. ET).

It's a rematch of last year's world junior final in Pardubice, Czech Republic, where Canada beat the Swedes 3-2 in overtime for the country's fourth straight gold.

The hosts are attempting to tie the country's record of five set between 1993 and 1997.

"There's nothing else we want," forward John Tavares said. "There's nothing else we came here for."

But the country's run of gold looked to be on life support Saturday when Dmitri Klopov scored with just two minutes 20 seconds remaining in regulation.

With 19,327 at Scotiabank Place on their feet and urging Canada on, Jordan Eberle of the Regina Pats came to the rescue.

Goaltender Dustin Tokarski was pulled for an extra attacker and the first-round draft pick of the Edmonton Oilers tied it with just five seconds left to keep his country's dream of another gold alive.

Russian defenceman Dmitri Kulikov was on his knees in front of the net trying to freeze the puck, but Eberle stole it and beat Russian goalie Vadim Zhelobynyuk with a backhand.

"I didn't ever give up and I think that's the biggest thing for Team Canada," Eberle said. "We didn't give up all throughout the game.

"We obviously realize the pressure on us, but pressure is one of those things you just push aside and you apply it, rather than feel it."

After a scoreless 10-minute overtime, it went to a shootout. Eberle scored on Zhelobynyuk, Dmitri Kurgryshev hit the post, Tavares scored and then Tokarski stopped Pavel Chernov for the victory.

"We knew what the goalie's tendency was and he has a tendency to go down," Eberle said. "Me and Johnny kind of did the same move, opposite hands."

The Russians tied the game four times and were so close to advancing to the gold-medal game with their best game of this tournament.

"I don't believe it," said disconsolate Russian defenceman Maxim Goncharov. "It's very hard."

Eberle scored a pair of goals in regulation in addition to his shootout effort.

Brett Sonne of the Calgary Hitmen, Patrice Cormier of the Rimouski Oceanic and Angelo Esposito of the Montreal Junior also scored during regulation. Evander Kane of the Vancouver Giants had two assists. Tokarski stopped 23 of 28 shots in regulation.

Klopov scored twice for the Russians, who also got goals from Goncharov, Evgeni Grachev and Sergei Andronov. Evgeni Dadonov had two assists. Zhelobnyuk made 36 saves during regulation time.

It's the third time in as many years where Canada had to win a medal-round game in either overtime or a shootout. Two years ago in Leksand, Sweden, the Canadians beat the U.S. in a semifinal shootout.

These Canadian players watched that game on television and four of them - Tavares, P.K. Subban, Zach Boychuk and Thomas Hickey - were part of the overtime victory over Sweden last year.

The heroics of their predecessors gave this edition of Canada's junior hockey team the belief they could still win despite trailing a goal with just over two minutes left.

"That's the great thing about Canadians," Tavares said. "We don't quit and we fight right until the end, no matter what, and that little extra effort right at the end made the difference for us to tie the game and into a shootout."

Canada has won its four straight gold medals on the strength of its defence, but this team has given up nine goals in their last two games.

Quinn wasn't committing to going with Tokarski again in the final. He felt some of the goals scored on Tokarski were questionable, but liked his goalie's performance in the shootout.

Russia had done its homework on the Canadians power play that was running 60 per cent heading into this game. The Russians pushed the Canadians towards the boards, pressured the quarterbacks and quickly covered off the open man.

Canada was held to one goal on nine chances a man up. Eberle scored his first of the game at the end of a 5-on-3 at 16:40 of the second period.

Esposito scored a short-handed goal on a breakaway at 5:44 of the third period to give his team a brief 4-3 lead, but Andronov tied it up with power-play goal less than a minute later.

Kelowna Rockets defenceman Tyler Myers knelt to block a shot by Maxim Chudinov early in the second period and it rocketed off his knee. Myers went immediately to the dressing room, but returned for the third period.

Boychuk of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, who has a sprained ankle, played sparingly after the first period, which gave a lot of playing time to 17-year-old Kane.

"It's a great opportunity to be a part of history," Kane said. "Sweden is going to be a tough team and we're really going to have to bring our 'A' game on Monday."

He and Patrice Cormier and Stefan Della Rovere were the most dynamic forward line in the opening 20 minutes as they created scoring chances and forechecked the Russians hard.

Notes: The 2009 world junior tournament in Ottawa set the attendance record of 377,834 after Saturday's semifinal to beat the previous mark of 374,353 from Vancouver in 2006 . . . Canadian defenceman Ryan Ellis of the Windsor Spitfires celebrated his 18th birthday Saturday. . . . Canada is 9-6-1 all-time in the world junior tournament versus Russia since 1993 and, before that, 5-10-1 versus the Soviet Union.