D-Day for Berard; Bridgeport, and more!

Today is the day that the Islanders need to move on the Bryan Berard situation. Berard has, from all accounts, played well during his tryout with the team. I'm hopeful that Garth and the Brain trust will see fit to offer Bryan a contract for this season. I thought he played very well in Bridgeport the other night (the Devils won 2-1) and the fact that the guy is on Islanders TV all the time shows us that everyone is pulling for the guy.

The tryout route is not set in stone, however. The Isles got lucky last year with Richard Park and Mike Dunham but even a guy like Dave Tanabe--once thought to have a lot of promise--was let go by the Blues after being in camp on a tryout. My feeling is that Berard and his agent are probably working out the details right now.

Regarding the game in Bridgeport, two players really stood out for me for the Isles. The first was, of course, local favorite Wade Dubielewicz. Dubie was the first star of the game and made 40 saves; many of them difficult and (dare I say) spectacular.

The other guy who really made an impression on me was Matthew Spiller. Spiller is a big dude and he plays a very simple game. He was not afraid to step in to defend and help out his teammates either. I'm not sure what his contract situation is but if he does not make the Islanders, he is going to be a solid, solid defenseman for the Soundtigers. Also, with injuries being as they are, Spiller could find himself contributing on Long Island.

To end this post, I just want to send out condolences to Ted Nolan and his family. I don't think it has been reported too widely, but our coach recently lost someone in his family and that's why he missed the game in Bridgeport and others over the weekend while he went home to attend to personal matters.