Islanders Team Report--Yahoo! Sports

Inside Shots

All eyes will be on the Islanders at the June 26 entry draft because they control the first overall selection.

But whether they grab center John Tavares or defenseman Victor Hedman as their key building block for the future, coach Scott Gordon knows the key to the future is the health of goaltender Rick DiPietro(notes).

“To me, the most important thing is going to be Ricky,” Gordon told Newsday. “No matter who we draft, it’s going to come down to what we do in net. No matter how good you are, you’re going to break down. You can’t underestimate the value of the guy in net.

“You saw Ricky’s value the previous year when he played so well the first half of the season. When he got hurt, they went from being a playoff contender to struggling. You have to have a guy who is able to run with the ball. No matter who we draft, it gets overshadowed by who’s in net.”

The last-place Islanders lost an NHL-high 582 man-games to injury last season, and none were more significant than DiPietro, who was limited to five appearances because of two surgeries on his left knee.

“It sounds like everything is going well with Ricky,” Gordon said. “I spoke with (Isles trainer) Garrett Timms, and he’s very encouraged. That’s music to my ears.

“We’ll have to see how everything goes through training camp. The first step is to get him healthy and see where he’s at.”

The Islanders will seek an experienced NHL backup via free agency this summer after going through most of last season with unproven Joey MacDonald(notes) and Yann Danis(notes), who are both slated to become unrestricted free agents, between the pipes.

Season Highlight: It’s hard to pinpoint many bright spots from a dead-last campaign. But in a season defined by growing pains for a slew of young players, resurgent veteran Doug Weight(notes) recorded his 1,000th NHL point in January and wound up third on the team in scoring (38 points) despite missing 29 games because of injury. The 38-year-old center also was rewarded with a one-year contract extension in early April.

Turning Point: The first red flag flew atop Nassau Coliseum as soon as goalie Rick DiPietro was unable to play in the season opener. The team’s franchise goalie underwent two surgeries on his left knee and ended up appearing in just five games because of complications, pretty much torpedoing any chance the Isles had of remaining competitive this season.

Notes, Quotes

• Coaching legend Al Arbour’s plaque at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto will not be altered to add the extra game and regular-season win the NHL acknowledged he earned when he came back to coach the Isles for one night in 2007, according to a report in Newsday. Referring to similar comebacks by Scotty Bowman and players Gordie Howe, Mario Lemieux and Guy Lafleur after their inductions, a Hall of Fame spokeswoman said it is policy not to change any existing plaques.

“While we respect the Hockey Hall of Fame’s position regarding its policy on induction statistics, Al Arbour’s 740 wins and 1,500 games coached (both totals with the Islanders) are milestones that will forever be recorded by the New York Islanders and NHL record books,” Islanders president Chris Dey said in a statement.

• John Tonelli, an integral member of the Islanders’ four-time Stanley Cup champions in the 1980s, faced charges of driving while intoxicated in Westchester County, N.Y., after state police say he crashed his car along Interstate 684 and abandoned his Lexus at a highway ramp in Harrison, N.Y. Tonelli, who scored 325 goals with five NHL teams, assisted Bob Nystrom’s game-winning overtime goal in Game 6 of the 1980 Stanley Cup finals against Philadelphia, giving the Islanders their first Stanley Cup title.

Quote To Note: “Hopefully we’ll score more goals. I don’t expect we’ll be a dynamic offensive team, but we’ll be going toward that. Kyle (Okposo) was our leading goal scorer last year (with 18 goals). I’d like to see everybody improve like Kyle did in the second half to the point where there was less thinking and more action. That’s part of the development process. And we did it with a ton of injuries. Now, it’s a question of everybody having better health.”—Isles coach Scott Gordon on the Isles failing to have a 20-goal scorer for the first time in their history last season.

Roster Report

Most Valuable Player: D Mark Streit’s(notes) signing for $20.5 million last summer drew some snickers around the NHL, but the Swiss-born former Canadien proved to be a bargain and far more than the power-play specialist he was branded as in Montreal. Streit led the Isles with more than 25 minutes per game and finished seventh among all NHL defensemen in scoring with 56 points despite missing eight games with injuries.

Most Disappointing Player: LW Jeff Tambellini(notes) wasn’t a disappointment to those who didn’t think he could put up big numbers at the NHL level. But the Islanders have to wonder if it’s ever going to happen at this level for the former first-round pick and AHL scoring whiz after Tambellini had just seven goals and 15 points in 65 games.

Free Agent Focus: GM Garth Snow actually went 2-for-2 with the free agent signings of D Mark Streit and C Doug Weight last summer. And with immediate holes all over, it makes sense that the Isles will look to supplement their young roster again with a few more veteran bargains.

After career minor-leaguers Joey MacDonald and Yann Danis were forced into 49 and 31 appearances, respectively, the Isles also might seek to find a proven NHL backup as insurance in case starter Rick DiPietro continues to be plagued by injuries.

With Weight re-signed to a one-year extension in April, forwards Dean McAmmond(notes), Mike Sillinger(notes) and Andy Hilbert(notes), defenseman Thomas Pock(notes) and the two backup goalies are the only significant regulars slated to be unrestricted free agents.

Player News:

• RW Kyle Okposo(notes) improved his chances of making the 2010 U.S. Olympic team with a strong showing for semifinalist Team USA at the recent World Championships in Switzerland, according to Islanders coach Scott Gordon, who served an assistant to head coach Ron Wilson. “With the exception of a couple of players, I wouldn’t take anybody on (Team USA) over him, and when he gets older, there might not be anybody I’d take over him,” Gordon told Newsday about the 21-year-old Okposo, who scored 18 goals as a rookie last season.

• C Mike Sillinger underwent season-ending hip surgery for the second straight year. Yet, despite appearing in only seven games for the Isles, the 37-year-old center is planning to attempt a comeback next season. It almost certainly will not be with the rebuilding Isles for the unrestricted free agent, who has played for a record 12 NHL teams in a 16-year career.

• LW Jon Sim(notes) didn’t sulk when he was banished to AHL Bridgeport after the trade deadline, posting 13 goals and 23 points in 18 games with the Sound Tigers. With one season remaining on the three-year, $3 million contract he signed with the Isles before the 2007-08 season, the 31-year-old Sim will attend training camp in September barring a trade or a buyout.

SOUND TIGERS ANNOUNCE CLEAR DAY ROSTER

22-man roster is set for the Calder Cup Playoffs

Bridgeport, Conn. – The Bridgeport Sound Tigers have released their Clear Day Period roster for the 2009 Calder Cup Playoffs.

The Clear Day roster consists of a maximum of 22 players. According to AHL by-laws, only those players listed on a team’s Clear Day roster are eligible to compete in the remainder of the 2008-09 AHL regular season and in the 2009 Calder Cup Playoffs, unless emergency conditions arise as a result of recall, injury or suspension.

Teams may also add signed junior players or players on amateur tryout contracts, only after their respective junior or college seasons are complete.

Below is the Sound Tigers’ official Clear Day roster:

Goalies:
Nathan Lawson, Peter Mannino

Defensemen:
Joe Callahan, Jon Gleed, Jack Hillen, Dustin Kohn, Chris Lee, Andrew MacDonald, Mark Wotton

Forwards:
Sean Bentivoglio, Jeremy Colliton, Blake Comeau, Micheal Haley, Tyler Haskins, Mike Iggulden, Jesse Joensuu, Junior Lessard, Tomas Marcinko, Kurtis McLean, Jon Sim, Trevor Smith, Ben Walter

For Sound Tigers' Calder Cup Playoffs tickets or information on group discounts, contact the team's front office at (203) 334-GOAL or e-mail info@soundtigers.com.

Jon Sim on Waivers....WTF?

Yesterday the Isles place Jon Sim on waivers. The rest of the league has until noon today to pick him up. Am I alone wondering what the heck?

I mean, look, Jon Sim is not exactly an offensive force and unless they have a guy in Bridgeport who can be the agitator and play the sandpaper game. why waive the guy? He makes a bargain 1 million a season and always plays like his pants are on fire. Plus, he draws penalties. In case you haven't noticed, the Isles don't exactly score a lot at even-strength. A crazy amount of their goals have come on the man advantage.

I guess what it really means is that the Islanders are committed to getting younger and giving somebody from the Soundtigers a shot. Still, at the bargain price, I'd think Snow and Gordon would want to keep the guy around. But, as we learned with Thomas Pock, just because someone is exposed to waivers it doesn't mean that they are leaving the team.

So Chuck there is making a call to the AHL for reinforcements because tonight the Isles try to get well against Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and other assorted Pittsburgh Penguins.

Newsday reports that Rick DiPietro is almost a go so it'll be interesting to see tonight if he is activated or not. My guess is that we get Yann Danis backing up Joey MacDonald.

Jon Sim is out for the year

According to Newsday, Jon Sim is having his knee operated sometime in
the near future. It seems that Sim, while pinballing through the home
opener versus the Sabres, blew out both his ACL and MCL his left knee.
Greg Logan also reports that the recovery period is considered for the
injury is six to nine months and that Sim's likely return is the 2008
Islanders training camp.

Sim really seemed to gel playing with Mike Sillinger and Trent Hunter
and as we've seen in the games since the injury, Andy Hilbert has slid
back in with his linemates from last season. It has to be depressing as
hell for him since he came to the Islanders after bouncing around for a
bit and must have been hoping to establish himself as a regular
contributor on the team and in the league.

This is a real bummer for all concerned--player, team, and fans. Sim was a high-energy guy who was fun to watch and he brought a lot of grit and determination to the team. Now that Hilbert is stepping back into his old shoes, that means that guys like Sean Bergenheim (who I thought played a heck of a game Saturday night in the 3-1 loss to the Flyers) need to bring that pinball energy to the rink every night.

Other thoughts while I was away:

--Marc Andre Bergeron was benched for the game against the Flyers after two egregious defensive lapses against the Leafs last Thursday. Ted Nolan inserted Bryan Berard into the lineup and he played with Bergeron's normal defense partner, Andy Sutton.

--By the way, who doesn't love Andy Sutton? Between he and Brendan Witt, Ricky's crease stays squeaky clean. Those dudes are like human Swiffers. Man, we gotta keep the big man healthy all season. I want someone to cut a video of Sutton's big hits and highlights and set it to "Cochise" by Audioslave. Can we get some YouTube amateur videographers working on this? How about somebody from Islanders TV? Just another great pickup for Garth Snow.

--Josef Vasicek scored the Islanders' goal and led a late rally against the Flyers. He and linemates Bergenheim and Miro Satan buzzed Flyers goalie Martin Biron and the Isles 15 shots on goal in the third period. While the line was able to create many good opportunities, the Isles fell short. If there is one thing we've learned so far this season it is that the first line of The Tank, Comrie, and Guerin need to be productive every night for the team to be successful.

--Strange schedule makers, those NHL peeps. The Isles don't play again until Thursday (Caps) and Saturday at home against the Devils. Then they have another week off and don't play until the 27th, when they entertain Peter Laviolette and the Carolina Hurricanes. After that--get this--the boys are off until Thursday, November 1 when the Lightning come to town. They scrunch 6 games into 9 days to start the season and then give the Islanders all sorts of time off. Weird.

--Jim Balsillie is back in the picture to buy the Nashville Predators. Last time, the BlackBerry boss came into town with his guns blaring. A local ownership group is crumbling and Balsillie may be able to buy the franchise after all. Hopefully this time he fights nice and plays by the rules if he truly wants to become a member of the NHL brotherhood. He made lots of mistakes the first time around by announcing his intention to move the team to Canada (which we support) without truly understanding that Gary Bettman and the league need to exhaust all efforts to keep the team where it is before a move can even be discussed. Taking season ticket deposits without allowing the league due diligence was foolhardy and arrogant. I'm sure it's hard for mega-millionaires to show humility and humanity at times but if he wants to own the Nashville Predators, Jim Balsillie is going to need to practice patience.

--And because it's such a popular feature, here's a last WWE 24/7 comment: October is shaping up to be the least interesting month of WWE 24/7 programming history. There's been one really good NWA TBS show and the WCCW tape does not hold up to last month's Freebird-Von Erich Christmas night 1982 angle. You'd think that the promotion would have been hot for replays and more Freebird heel stuff but they really don't do much with it. There's the usual ECW stuff but for me, I have no interest in reliving that promotion. It was cutting edge and new ten or so years ago and I was a big fan but now it just doesn't work. I guess I have become re-sensitized to the violence in my old age. The Monday Night Wars shows are semi-interesting but outside of a very few angles, not much sticks. That's a by-produc of the short attention span booking that was prevalent in the late 1990s. Also, having Snitsky host the Shorties was just a creepy, terrible idea. The guy is a walking advertisement for people who want to goof on the wellness policy. All the redness and acne is disgusting. Plus, I want to know who picked the matches for the Shorties segment. None of the matches were great choices. The Legends and HOF stuff is all Undertaker and Wild Samoans and I have no attachment to either. I guess what I am saying is that I can't wait for November.

The New Guys

The Islanders had a press conference to introduce the four new guys: Mike Comrie; Ruslan Fedotenko; Jon Sim; and new captain Bill Guerin. All of the pictures can be seen at the team's official website.

The Isles apparently surprised Guerin by naming him captain. Again, I think it is a good move.

The most famous of the rumor sites is reporting that the team is on the verge of a "major" trade. Could this be with Phoenix? No idea. Generally my Spider-Sense lets me know when the Isles are up to something. Nothing so far.

Stomach Punch

With the Islanders, it's always one step up and two steps back.

The Islanders lost half their team over the past few hours. The one that hurts the most is the loss of Ryan Smyth. Smyth signed a five-year contract reportedly worth $31.25 million with the Colorado Avalanche. Garth Snow has offered Smyth a reported $32.5 million over five years.

So why did Smyth reject the Islanders? Well, it obviously wasn't about money. It may have been his desire to return to the Western Conference and let's face it--Colorado is a lot closer to Banff, Alberta than Long Island is.

Either way, this is a serious stomach punch for all Islanders fans. If you'll pardon me, I need to throw up in my own mouth right now. This is seriously depressing news in light of the fact that the Rangers found a way to sign both Scott Gomez and Chris Drury.

The team's only signing of the day was a three-year deal worth $3 million with tough Atlanta forward Jonathan Sim.

Jason Blake was lost as well. He went to Toronto in a five-year $20 million dollar deal. We here wish Jason well. He has so earned the right to be paid like the star he has worked so hard to become.

A couple of real head-scratching deals for former Islanders. Tom Poti lands in Washington on a four-year $14 million dollar deal. Viktor Kozlov got $5 million for two years from the Caps as well. The Caps are trying to stir up some interest in the nation's capital and seem to have overpaid for the two of them in my opinion. Kozlov scored 25 goals for the Isles but his career is speckled with maddening indifference regarding his own inherent skill.

The Florida Panthers gave rental winger Richard Zednik $3.25 million over two years as well.