A Hockey Time Out

We've had a bit of a Hockey Time Out over the past week or so. I've not watched anything live since the Gold Medal game of the WJC and the Winter Classic. Part of the cause was the realization that the season is pretty much done for the Islanders and wow, isn't that depressing: being out of the playoff picture by Christmas. The other reason was to give my wife a break. (Thank you! - Mrs. NYIFORLIFE)

I did get to see what may be the only KHL All-Star Game on Universal Sports. Now, I think we all can agree that anything "Jagr" and anything "Yashin" produces stomach acid in all of us but when the two teams are playing on an outdoor rink in Red Square, well, that makes things a bit different. Team Jagr beat Team Yashin 7-6 in a weird game. It was so cold (how cold was it?) that the ice was really choppy and when you're on a bigger ice surface and it's choppy, you have real difficulty skating big wide circles. Seriously, I think I check the walls in my apartment harder when I wake up early in the morning than any of these guys did. Granted, it was an All-Star game but overall, because of the ice, it was not exactly a thing of beauty.

Announced attendance was 3000 hearty souls who braved the weather. Man, it looked cold. Some of the guys took to stuffing towels around their necks to fend off the frostbite.

In Islanders news, Trevor Smith scored his first NHL goal Thursday in Calgary and then got sent back to the Bridge for his effort. Frans Nielsen and Nate Thompson are scheduled to return to the lineup tonight versus the Rangers so somebody had to go. Nielsen missed the last 13 games with multiple leg injuries sustained when Mike Mottau cleaned his clock earlier this season. Thompson was out with a fractured ankle since mid-December.

Doug Weight also apparently felt sorry for all of his injured teammates so now he is on the injured list for the next 2-4 weeks with a lower leg injury. Classy move in Phoenix, by the way, when the Coyotes stopped the game to acknowledge Weight having passed the 1000 career point mark. I was also glad to hear that Doug had about thirty family members in attendance for the game.

Still, the Isles went 0-4 on the West Coast trip. Our boys are now rocking (?) a 12-26-4 record--good (?) for 28 points and thirtieth place in the NHL. But don't look now: Ottawa is next-in-line with 32 points and might I just say that the Ottawa Senators being that bad is just reprehensible. Boo to Craig Hartsburg and boo to Bryan Murray. Boo to owner Eugene Melnyk, too, for jumping around like a four-year-old at the gold medal ceremony of the WJC.

(In the interest of our bilingual readership that supports the Senators, please allow me a second to translate: Boux to Craig Hartsburg and boux to Bryan Murray.)

So, tonight, the Isles are hosting the Rangers. The game is at 7PM and for me, that means I don't get Billy and Howie on the Center Ice package, I get Sam and the turncoat, Joe Micheletti on my regular old cable.

Streak at 14 losses on the road; Jeff scores his second; Trevor Smith gets his first NHL goal

Islanders Team Report from Yahoo! Sports
Inside Shots

It would be comical, if only it weren’t so ominous for the Islanders.

Rick DiPietro now is experiencing swelling in one of his surgically repaired knees, so the oft-injured goaltender missed his third straight game as the dead-last Isles concluded a terrible 0-4-0 western road trip with a 5-2 loss Thursday night in Calgary.

Without another game until Tuesday at home against the rival Rangers, DiPietro will get the weekend to rest further and will be reevaluated by the team’s medical staff once the Isles return to Long Island.

He has appeared in just five games this season, following summertime hip surgery and operations on each knee, including an arthroscopic procedure Oct. 31 to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. DiPietro also missed a handful of games in recent weeks due to a groin injury.

“From a medical standpoint, he’s cleared to play. With the (knee) surgery that he’s had, he’s expected to have some swelling. That’s been normal,” coach Scott Gordon said of DiPietro, who is in just the third year of a record 15-year contract. “We’ve been very cautious about how he’s going to respond.

DiPietro practiced Wednesday and appeared on target to play one night later against the Flames, but Yann Danis was summoned to fly across the continent from AHL Bridgeport to serve as Joey MacDonald’s backup once DiPietro was deemed unavailable.

“We just feel that it’s in his best interests to give (DiPietro) the night off and make sure that everything is going the way it’s supposed to go. If anything, just err on the side of caution,” Gordon said. “He could have played all (four) games (on the road trip). That’s why he’s been here.

“But it hasn’t made the progress that was to be expected, so, rather than just throw him in there, knowing that he’s medically cleared to play, we just figured we’ll hold off and get him back to New York and reevaluate and go from there.”

Flames 5, Islanders 2: It wasn’t exactly a road trip to ring in 2009 with a bang, as the Islanders continued free-falling towards a crack at the No.1 overall draft pick in June with their four straight loss out west Thursday night in Calgary.

The Isles clawed back from an early 2-0 hole to tie the score, including rookie Trevor Smith’s first NHL goal, but Calgary’s Daymond Langkow scored just 55 seconds later and the Flames beat Joey MacDonald twice more in the third as the Isles fell to 3-16-2 in their past 21 games.

Notes, Quotes

• D Mark Streit gets to go back to Montreal in style, as a first-time All-Star. Streit, who left the Canadiens to ink a five-year, $20.5-million deal as a free agent last summer, was named the Islanders’ lone representative for the Jan. 25 All-Star Game in Montreal.

“It’s ironic that I’m going to go back where I played three years and made my first steps in the NHL,” Streit said. “I have a lot of great memories, it was a great experience playing for the Habs. But going back there and playing at the Bell Centre, it couldn’t get any better than that.”

• D Radek Martinek, who’s been limited to 11 appearances this season due to multiple shoulder problems, returned to the lineup Thursday for the first time since Nov. 29. But Martinek’s return coincided with an injury to another regular defenseman, as D Freddy Meyer sat out the game with a groin injury.

Quote To Note: “We’re at the point where there’s going to be a bigger responsibility on our young guys. There’s a lot of opportunity for these guys and it’s good to see them try to make the most of it.”—Coach Scott Gordon, after the already-out-of-it Islanders opened the second half of the season by completing an 0-4-0 road trip with a 5-2 loss Thursday in Calgary.

Player Notes:

• LW Trevor Smith, appearing in his fifth game since a recall from AHL Bridgeport, notched his first NHL goal in a 5-2 loss Thursday in Calgary.

• LW Jeff Tambellini, who was sent to the minors after not scoring in any of his first 23 games, has two goals in his past seven appearances.

• D Mark Streit, who was named to the All-Star team for the first time in his career earlier in the day, recorded an assist and leads all NHL defensemen in points with 33.

Medical Watch:

• G Rick DiPietro, who has appeared in just two of the Islanders’ last 34 games due to multiple injuries, missed his third straight game Thursday with swelling in his surgically repaired knee.

• C Doug Weight sat out his second straight game and remains day-to-day with an undisclosed injury to his lower right leg.

• D Freddy Meyer is day-to-day with a groin strain suffered Jan. 5 in Edmonton.

• C Mike Sillinger, who has appeared in just seven games since undergoing season-ending hip surgery last February, is out indefinitely after suffering another hip injury Dec. 29 against the Rangers.

• LW Andy Hilbert suffered a hairline fracture in his left foot Dec. 26 against Toronto and is expected to miss 2-to-4 weeks.

• D Andy Sutton suffered a broken right foot on a blocked shot Dec. 19 in Minnesota. He is expected to miss at least 6-to-8 weeks.

• C Frans Nielsen has been practicing with the team but hasn’t played since suffering multiple leg injuries Nov. 21 in New Jersey.

• C Nate Thompson missed his 12th straight game since suffering a fractured ankle Dec. 13.

Isles lose in Phoenix; Weight gets 1000; Bailey gets #1

I hope everyone had a safe and fun New Year.

I of course, fell asleep before midnight but made it to after 11PM this year. Something of a personal best. I'm quite proud of it.

I had some help though. The US played Canada in the World Juniors on New Year's Eve and yes, it was a heck of a game. I'm sure you've all read and heard about it on other blogs...or watched it for yourselves. All I can say about the was that the Americans were outclassed by the Canadians; who started out nervous and watched as the Americans posted a very-early three-goal lead. I immediately got the same sinking feeling that I got in that infamous Giants-Niners playoff game where the G-Men went out to this ridiculous 30 point lead and I knew that they had scored too many points too fast.

Once the Canadians calmed down and let the butterflies float away, they came back and reigned all over the US squad. John Tavares had a hat trick and it ended up being a 7-4 final.

The Americans were obviously shocked at that stunner because they bombed out yesterday versus Slovakia and are now out of the medal round of the tournament.

Earlier in the day, the Isles played Florida on the Island. Still great to hear Jiggs McDonald in there subbing for Howie Rose. Trevor Smith made his NHL debut as a call-up and played very well. By that I mean you noticed him out there. He was also named third star of the game by the partial Islanders off-ice officials.

Smith's story is an interesting one: undrafted, he was signed by the Islanders as a free agent out of college. He struggled early last year with the Sound Tigers and admits to having been a bit intimidated by playing professional hockey. He was actually sent back to the ECHL to get his game in shape and once he returned, he went on a tear for Bridgeport and scored like crazy as the Sound Tigers pushed through the regular season.

Before his call-up, Smith had 18 goals and 29 points in 33 AHL games. He has shown a real nose for the net and an ability to push hard toward the goal. With the youth movement in full swing, there is porobably going to be a place for Smith going forward if he keeps playing like this.

Also, let's face it--in the American League there is a ton more time for practice and Jack Capuano has had the luck to be able to teach Scott Gordon's system to the Soung Tigers than Gordon has had with the big club.

The bad news: Smith's spot opened up because Mike Sillinger was placed on the IR with a hip issue. Our best goes out to Mike. We've been a fan of his for a long time.

OK, so on New Year's, Mike Comrie scored 2 goals and had an assist. Are we all wondering if Hilary Duff is in town?

Seriously, Mike's been on a bit of a tear since returning from his own hip injury. He doesn't even look like the same guy who tried gutting out a few games early in the year. This, of course, makes him a more attractive, tradeable asset come March, if he keeps this up. Don't think that Garth Snow isn't thinking of these guys as chess pieces. He has to. With a one-year deal that he signed over the summer, he makes for an intriguing rental possibility.

And, of course, if he stays on the Island, that is fine with us too.

Last night was one for the books. Sure, the Isles lost 5-4 and DiPietro looked garden gate rusty, but classy Doug Weight added two points to get over the hump and now stands at 1001 points in his career. Fitting that both points we assists, eh? The first one came on a pass that bounced at least twice cross-ice and landed on the stick of Richard Park, who knocked it home with 3:06 left in the game to make it 5-3. Park immediately rushed to grab the puck as Weight's teammates congratulated the admired star; who had thirty members of his family at the game.

Bailey beat Phoenix's Mikael Tellqvist on a one-timer from between the hashes earlier in the third period to get the Islanders within two at 4-2. Sean Bergenheim also scored his second in two games for our boys, who have now lost three of four and face the Sharks in San Jose tonight. Gulp.