Breaking News: Isles send D Marc-Andre Bergeron to Ducks for 3rd round pick

TSN.ca originally had it listed as a 34th round draft pick, which was pretty funny.

The Isles also sent a 7th rounder to San Jose for big defenseman Rob Davison. Yeah, I never heard of him either. But he is a big dude who is probably around for insurance purposes.

Big moves were Huet to Washington; Sergei Fedorov to Washington; and Brad Richards to Dallas. Oh, yeah. Marian Hossa went to tonight's opponent, the Penguins. Yeesh.

Stuff trickles in all afternoon so if anything else happens, we'll let you know.

Mike Sillinger!

2 huge points today in a game they needed to win in Philadelphia. Mad ups to Viktor Kozlov, who was using his big frame to create space today. Also, great hustle by Andy Hilbert. He scored the game-winner on a kamikaze run to the net on a feed from Marc Andre Bergeron.

We nned to mention that the Islanders' pro scouts have just done an excellent job this season. Think about the guys they brought in this year like Hilbert; Sean Hill; Kozlov; and even Tom Poti. I seem to recall a quote by Kenny Morrow when the Isles signed Tom Poti saying that he plays the perimeter game that the team had been missing in a long time. Man, I love watching him play. Nothing fazes the guy and he is always supremely confident on the puck. Poti also makes the correct play more times than most. What a solid, solid player.

With Bergeron, I've said it before: what the heck were the Oilers thinking? I know that sometimes when you see a player day-in and day-out that sometimes you can focus on what a guy doesn't do well versus what he does do. Bergeron can scare you on the defensive end sometimes but man, I love watching him on the power play. And he has really added that dimension that the Isles haven't had on the PP in years: The Big Shot of Death that everyone needs to be aware of. What an awesome pickup by Garth Snow.

Which brings us to Mike Sillinger. Sillinger has been everything Michael Peca was supposed to be for the Islanders. For instance--as if anyone needs any more evidence to prove his value--the FSNY cameras picked up a great shot of Sillinger; Blakey; and Ryan Smyth drawing plays on the dasher because none of them were happy with their communication on the power play. The leader that he is, Sillinger brought the other guys to him and they hashed the thing out. Rather than sit and complain, Sillinger gets the guys together to go over where they all need to be. A freaking genius. He wins faceoffs and plays in every situation. Sillinger also is respected by all of the guys in the room and adds to the leadership that surrounds and props up Alexei Yashin. The man is worth his weight in gold. Seriously.