2008-2009 Goals by Player

I mentioned in an earlier post that the Isles will, in no way, score fewer goals then last season. To back up that claim, I have pulled out my Crystal Ball and looked to see where they are coming from. Below is my prediction.

FORWARDS (in alphabetical order)

Sean Bergenheim - 12
Blake Comeau - 16
Mike Comrie - 17
Bill Guerin - 21
Andy Hilbert - 9
Trent Hunter - 7
Kyle Okposo - 21
Richard Park - 12
Mike Sillinger - 11
Jon Sim - 8
Jeff Tambellini - 23
Doug Weight - 15

DEFENSE

Chris Campoli - 12
Bruno Gervais - 3
Radek Martinek - 7
Freddy Meyer IV - 4
Mark Streit - 15
Andy Sutton - 3
Brendan Witt - 1

EXTRAS

Nielsen - 6
Colliton - 0
Walter - 2
Bailey - 3
Jackman - 0
Dipietro - 1

So there you have it. The scoring is accounted for and the Isles will score 229 goals next year. 40 goals more then last year. Our leading scorer will be Tambellini with 23, followed by a tie for second with 21 from Guerin and KO, then in fourth is Comrie 17 and rounding out the top 5 will be Comeau with 16. The Defence will pitch in a ton. Streit will make a solid debut with 15, Campoli will score 12, and Marti's gonna rip it up with 7. In addition, Ricky's gonna score 1 this year, and Josh Bailey will start his career right with 3, scoring in his first NHL game.

Now bookmark this site and return on Sun Apr 12, 2009, after the season finale against the Bruins, and compare stats.

Kudos to the Isles

While we wait for some news from the new coach, I wanted to touch on a couple of things.



First, I have to say that the Isles Marketing Dept. has done a great job getting the Isles out into the community. From Eisenhower, to Cantiague to Central Islip, the OrganIzation, led by Chris Dey, has really gone grassroots and should be commended. I don't know what other sport allows for their players and staff to work their butts off to help get the team some recognition. Good job Chris, now just stay away from the table on draft day.


Second, MSG+ will be airing another edition of Islanders Illustrated on Thursday at 7:30. They'll have a one-on-one with Coach Gordo, Josh Bailey's was mic'd up during the prospects camp, Campy's talking with "the 2-man advantage", and KO's gonna teach us how to go top shelf on Marty Brodeur. Sounds fun and the best part is we get another look at Shawna Ryan.





Finally, for fans looking for a deal, the Isles have announced the "Victory Plan." It's a four game plan that could turn into an eight game plan. Each time the Islanders win one of the games from the plan, you will be rewarded with tickets to another select game. Sounds like a decent deal.

Another bashing...blah, blah, blah

Jim Kelley from Sports (except Hockey) Illustrated is the most recent "journalist" to jump on the bash the Isles bandwagon. I guess it's easy nowadays to talk about what happened in the late 90's with this team and continue those thoughts through to present time. As a fan, I can agree that it's been a fiasco, changes in ownership, hoistgate, fishsticks, Milbury. There is a lot of good material there for lazy hacks, looking for an easy story. The thing is, it's old news, the team has turned the corner and many reporters choose not to look at the bright side, instead they continue to harp on the bad. Let's take Ted Nolan for example.

Everyone in the OrganIzation knew it was time to change the course and rebuild. Everyone except Teddy. Keeping a guy that clearly is not on board with the future of the team would be disastrous. Instead everyone's painting Teddy as a victim to the idiocy of the higher ups. There was a reason Nolan was out of the league for so long, and this recent tenure behind the bench only proves how big Nolan's ego is. Good luck catching him behind an NHL bench anytime soon. Another topic everyone loves to bring up is Neil Smith. Where is he now? What team is he the GM for? There have been several opportunities for Neil and there's a reason he is not currently in the league. "Well Smith one the Rags a Cup." I say whatever to that. He did not help the team's future, he asked Mark Messier who he likes playing with. Kevin Lowe, Adam Graves, Glenn Anderson, Craig MacTavish, Esa Tikkanen. Looks like the New York Oilers to me. Not too hard to win a cup when you compile a core of players from a recent Stanley Cup winner.

Bashing the Isles is a new tradition among sports writers and it's about time these guys checked the stats. Here's a good one:

Since the 2001-2002 season, the Islanders have a better record than the perennial Stanley Cup Contending Rags.

W L OTL T PTS
NYR 223 197 21 51 518

ISLES 226 199 30 37 519

That's right, the Isles have had more wins and more points than the Rangers over the past 6 seasons. Instead of beating someone when their down, how about looking up the stats and writing a new story.

A Coach Is Named

The Orange smoke has been seen coming from the Coliseum. Garth Snow has made his decision. The Islanders have given the coaching reigns to current AHL Coach of the Year Scott Gordon. A Masssachusetts native that has compiled a fantastic record in Providence, will be the coach of our Isles. With the decision, comes the cheers or jeers from fellow Isles fans. Is Gordon the right choice? Is Gordon Snow's yes man? Is he capable of coaching at the NHL level?
The questions will not be answered till the season gets fully underway. In the meantime, lets look at the pros & cons of this hiring:

PROS
AHL Coach of the Year
221-141-20-27 Coaching record
Familiar with the Isles young players he has coached against.
Looks like he can work well with Young players.
A MASS native and former Goalie (good for Ricky)
High Goals For, Low Goals against

CONS
No NHL coaching experience
...

So, in my opinion, the Pros definately outweigh the cons. I believe this is a great choice and shows that Snow is committed to his plan. I think Scott Gordon has more of a chance of becoming a successful Laviolette than a tarnished Stirling.

Where do you get your Islander fix?

So I mentioned that I check out the Isles official site on a daily basis. While the site is full of info, there's times when I still need more info to satisfy my Isles fix. Thank goodness for the internet. As Islander fans, and hockey fans in general, we are treated to some great content on a ton of different sites. Below is a list of sites that I visit, just to get that fix.

NEW YORK ISLANDER FAN CENTRAL
NYISLES1 runs a fantastic blog, part of the Isles Blog Box, that has a ton of info on it. Regular updates and great insight make this a great read for fans.

NYIPOINTBLANK
Former Isles PR guru Chris Botta has had the inside track on Isles info for a long time. While he may have left his post with the Isles, he still offers Cameos worthy enough to check out the blog, hoping for some new info.

DEE KARL'S 7th WOMAN
Another Blog Box participant, Dee's blog may be the truest blog around, dedicated to her favorite team. Her daily routines are classic LI.

ISLESBLOGGER.com
Mike's blog is chock full of info. Video's, photos, links and his thought on the OrganIzation. Part of the blog box as well.

THEPALMISLE
One of the best Isle blogs you've never heard of. Just reading the site makes me think I'm out on a lake Ice-fishing.

ISLANDER'S ARMY
If you want any type of Islander info, go here.


Other sites that have some great hockey related info.

Puckdaddy
Icethetics
NHL Digest

If there's a site you think I left out, leave a comment.

In the Archives - NewYorkIslanders.com

Pic IslandersArmy.com

I've been checking NewYorkIslanders.com for news ever since it launched. To this day, I check it on a daily basis. In that time, the site has had many changes and I thought that it might be fun to see what the site looked like in the past. Below are links to the site, fully functional, from way back.

NYI.com -Dec. 6, 1999

Mark Lawrence clears waivers, Isles lose to the Thrashers 4-3.

March 11, 2000

March E-Mail Madness, Olli Jokinen's goal in OT beats the Stars 4-3.

Dec. 6 2000

Isles lose to the Sabres 3-0, Meet Kenny Jonsson in Huntington Station, Isles ticket deal, $13.50 for Youth Hockey participants.

March 9, 2001

Five Islanders going to World Championships, Draft prospects, Ilya Kovalchuk, Jason Spezza.

March 25, 2002

Islanders play fifth and final game against the Rangers, series tied 2-2. Rags in 10th place, Isles in 6th.

Oct. 22, 2002

Chris Osgood Bobble-head night. Isles apologize for not being able to give out the bobble-head because of a strike.

Feb. 10, 2003

Snow saves the day with huge effort, beat Sabres 3-1.

Aug. 2, 2003

Prospect Profile: Wade Dubielewicz, Yash's "Today Show" appearance.

If you'd like to see more, check out the Wayback Machine.

Throwback - 1997

I was cleaning up around the house and stumbled across a New York Sportscene (February 2007) with Eric Fichaud and Tommy Salo on the cover. Wow, I thought, great find. This should be a fun read. Thinking back about the potential of these 2 "stud" goalies. It should be interesting what they predict for these kids. While thumbing through, I came across something better. It is pure gold that I thought alot of Islander fans would be interested in reading.

In the magazine, several pages in, is a readers thoughts page about the "New Ownership" coming in and their thoughts of the future of the OrganIzation. It speaks for itself. (click on the picture for full size)

It's always fun to see how things change in a matter of only a couple of years. In this case, within 3 years, there was a drastic change in the thoughts of the "Fan on the Street". The potential savior and smart businessman turned out to be a fraud, the GM was a hack, and the Arena is still up in the air. The saying, "the more things change, the more they stay the same" comes to mind.