Did Rick DiPietro also drive the zamboni between periods Sunday night? Because he did just about everything else over All-Star weekend in Atlanta.
DiPietro provided in-game television commentary for both Sunday's All-Star game and Saturday's skills competition, did not allow a goal Saturday while scoring two of his own, and allowed only one goal as the Eastern Conference starter to help stake the East to a 5-1 win en route to an 8-7 victor over the West.
D.P. stopped all but one of the West's 16 shots on goal in the first period, and that one should have an asterisk on it. Rick Nash scored the first of his three goals just 12 seconds into the game, while DiPietro was talking to play-by-play man Mike Emrick. Otherwise, DiPietro was perfect. Read all about DiPietro's wild weekend here.
While starting in the All-Star game and participating in the skills competition are deserving honors, they don't count toward anything, so you're always wary of someone getting hurt in these exhibitions. Sure enough, DiPietro suffered an apparent hip injury stopping Marian Gaborik on Saturday, but he said afterward that he would plan Sunday, and he did. Whew!
Newsday's Greg Logan calls Richard Park the Isles' 'unsung hero,' and I've felt all season that other than DiPietro, Park is this team's MVP. He's responded in every role Ted Nolan has put him in (now playing with Mike Comrie and Bill Guerin) and is one of the team's most clutch players.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Game recap: Islanders 6, Hurricanes 3
So let me get this straight: The Islanders actually have the advantage when they're shorthanded, and they win more often when they're outshot. Make sense? Not really, but a win is a win.
Tuesday night's 6-3 win over the Hurricanes was the Isles' fourth straight road win (which dovetails fittingly with the team's four-game home losing streak) and got the two points back that they gave away the night before. Unfortunately, any good feelings generated by the win were tempered mightily by the news that Chris Campoli needs shoulder surgery and will be lost for the season.
It's a huge blow to the defense as Campoli has been a real asset so far this season, despite the occasional youthful mistake. The loss of Campoli means Freddy Meyer will continue to get a regular turn, and his solid play has been rewarded with a two-year contract extension.
Back to the game, and what more can you say about a penalty kill that scores three times? How messed up is this -- the first four goals of the game were scored with Carolina on the power play, and three of the goals were for the Islanders. Think Peter Laviolette had a few choice words for his club after the game?
Mike Sillinger had two of the shorties while Richard Park had the third on a beautiful breakaway triggered by Martinek flipping the puck high off the glass and out of the Islanders' zone. Park picked the puck up at center ice and did the rest.
Up 4-1, the Islanders let the Canes back into it; Matt Cullen somehow found some space between the left post and Wade Dubielewicz's pads to make it 4-3. But Dubie stood tall against a withering Hurricane attack in the third and finished with 44 saves. Brendan Witt scored the clincher off a nice drop pass by Blake Comeau, whose empty netter polished off the win.
The Isles visit Beantown Thursday night and get four days off for the All-Star Break (everyone but D.P., that is) before hosting the Senators on Jan. 29.
Tuesday night's 6-3 win over the Hurricanes was the Isles' fourth straight road win (which dovetails fittingly with the team's four-game home losing streak) and got the two points back that they gave away the night before. Unfortunately, any good feelings generated by the win were tempered mightily by the news that Chris Campoli needs shoulder surgery and will be lost for the season.
It's a huge blow to the defense as Campoli has been a real asset so far this season, despite the occasional youthful mistake. The loss of Campoli means Freddy Meyer will continue to get a regular turn, and his solid play has been rewarded with a two-year contract extension.
Back to the game, and what more can you say about a penalty kill that scores three times? How messed up is this -- the first four goals of the game were scored with Carolina on the power play, and three of the goals were for the Islanders. Think Peter Laviolette had a few choice words for his club after the game?
Mike Sillinger had two of the shorties while Richard Park had the third on a beautiful breakaway triggered by Martinek flipping the puck high off the glass and out of the Islanders' zone. Park picked the puck up at center ice and did the rest.
Up 4-1, the Islanders let the Canes back into it; Matt Cullen somehow found some space between the left post and Wade Dubielewicz's pads to make it 4-3. But Dubie stood tall against a withering Hurricane attack in the third and finished with 44 saves. Brendan Witt scored the clincher off a nice drop pass by Blake Comeau, whose empty netter polished off the win.
The Isles visit Beantown Thursday night and get four days off for the All-Star Break (everyone but D.P., that is) before hosting the Senators on Jan. 29.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Stick giveaway was a joke
One word about the stick giveaway: Travesty.
I understand you have to give sticks away after the game. I understand you have to do so outside because the Coliseum concourse is horrendously narrow. I also know there was a sellout. I get that.
But why were there so few places to get them? My son and I left the arena less then 10 minutes after the winning goal was scored. No signs or anything directing people as to where they could get their sticks. We had to look for the crowd. We found one, but within a minute or so the group dispersed because they - surprise! - ran out of sticks.
So we all went to the main entrance to find a truck parked with its gate open and a horde of people crowded around it, clamoring for sticks. No lines. No organization whatsoever. As my son and I approached the throng, a man and woman emerged from the mass of humanity, stickless. The woman looked at my son -- freezing, by the way -- and said, "Don't bring him in there. He'll be crushed."
I looked around for another way to get close to the truck but there was none. So we started to walk around the arena, looking for another source of the sticks. We walked about 100 yards when my son said he just wanted to go home. "I already have a stick, daddy." He wanted to give this one to his mom so she could play in the driveway with us.
On the way back to the car, an Islanders representative was handing out his business card, telling people to call customer service and "that everyone would get a stick." Here is a statement by the Islanders, promising sticks for everyone who contacts them, explaining that they just ran out.
OK, so you ordered too few sticks - it happens. But the manner in which the giveaway was handled was frankly embarrassing. Why not have 10 locations around the arena with smaller numbers of sticks so fans can find them quickly and easily and get them in a more orderly fashion -- and get out of the cold?
Or how about enforcing the one stick for each kid 14 and under rule? I saw a dozen adults and children with multiple sticks, including one woman with five sticks and no kids with her at all. I saw dozens more kids who were way older than 14 (unless the Mitchell Report is correct and there really is an HGH problem in our schools), with one or sometimes two sticks. And you wonder why you ran out? The whole thing was a joke.
And while the Islanders managed the giveaway poorly, I'm more upset with the adults who took advantage of the situation, grabbing multiple sticks (you know who you are). Looking at them rushing up to the truck, you would think they were starving villagers getting bags of rice from UNICEF. These were $10 Mylec sticks. If you could drop a couple hunge to see an NHL game, you can afford a street hockey stick. I hope you can sleep at night.
Anyway, I've sent my email to get my free stick. As, I'm sure, have many others who grabbed a few sticks already and are looking for more, knowing there's no way for the Islanders to know who got what. I guess that's just human nature. And that's sad.
I understand you have to give sticks away after the game. I understand you have to do so outside because the Coliseum concourse is horrendously narrow. I also know there was a sellout. I get that.
But why were there so few places to get them? My son and I left the arena less then 10 minutes after the winning goal was scored. No signs or anything directing people as to where they could get their sticks. We had to look for the crowd. We found one, but within a minute or so the group dispersed because they - surprise! - ran out of sticks.
So we all went to the main entrance to find a truck parked with its gate open and a horde of people crowded around it, clamoring for sticks. No lines. No organization whatsoever. As my son and I approached the throng, a man and woman emerged from the mass of humanity, stickless. The woman looked at my son -- freezing, by the way -- and said, "Don't bring him in there. He'll be crushed."
I looked around for another way to get close to the truck but there was none. So we started to walk around the arena, looking for another source of the sticks. We walked about 100 yards when my son said he just wanted to go home. "I already have a stick, daddy." He wanted to give this one to his mom so she could play in the driveway with us.
On the way back to the car, an Islanders representative was handing out his business card, telling people to call customer service and "that everyone would get a stick." Here is a statement by the Islanders, promising sticks for everyone who contacts them, explaining that they just ran out.
OK, so you ordered too few sticks - it happens. But the manner in which the giveaway was handled was frankly embarrassing. Why not have 10 locations around the arena with smaller numbers of sticks so fans can find them quickly and easily and get them in a more orderly fashion -- and get out of the cold?
Or how about enforcing the one stick for each kid 14 and under rule? I saw a dozen adults and children with multiple sticks, including one woman with five sticks and no kids with her at all. I saw dozens more kids who were way older than 14 (unless the Mitchell Report is correct and there really is an HGH problem in our schools), with one or sometimes two sticks. And you wonder why you ran out? The whole thing was a joke.
And while the Islanders managed the giveaway poorly, I'm more upset with the adults who took advantage of the situation, grabbing multiple sticks (you know who you are). Looking at them rushing up to the truck, you would think they were starving villagers getting bags of rice from UNICEF. These were $10 Mylec sticks. If you could drop a couple hunge to see an NHL game, you can afford a street hockey stick. I hope you can sleep at night.
Anyway, I've sent my email to get my free stick. As, I'm sure, have many others who grabbed a few sticks already and are looking for more, knowing there's no way for the Islanders to know who got what. I guess that's just human nature. And that's sad.
Game recap: Hurricanes 3, Islanders 2 (OT)
Another day, another blown two-goal lead, this one coming apart with the Isles ahead by 2 with less than 17 minutes left in regulation.
I took my five-year-old son to the game, and he was getting antsy down the stretch, for reasons much different than mine. He wanted to get his free hockey stick (more on that in a later post) and go home. I just wanted to see the Islanders win.
OK, so there's not much you can do when a shot from the point ricochets a couple of times before finding the twine, which is what happened on Carolina's first goal. But then a shot from the point finds the five-hole (Was DiPietro screened? Tough to tell from Section 325) and suddenly the game is tied.
Just as I was explaining the concept of overtime to my son, Carolina scored. "That's a horrible loss," said my friend Jimmy Mac, seated in front of us with his wife and two young daughters. I'm sure he -- and plenty of other parents of young ones at the game -- wanted to vent a little more loudly and profanely at the turn of events, but we held our collective tongues in order to be good role models.
All this despite the return of Radek Martinek and Brendan Witt to the back line, and for two-plus periods -- particularly the second period -- all looked fine. Hilbert and Satan gave the Isles a two-goal cushion and the game seemed somewhat in hand. Another lesson for the young ones -- never let down.
Meanwhile, there was plenty to complain about regarding the officiating. Few penalties called all game, and then Martinek gets called for boarding (borderline in my eyes, but OK) -- but you're telling me Fedotenko WASN'T hammered by a cross check in front of the Carolina net in the final minutes? Where was that call? And then Sutton is called for a cross check in overtime? Horrible. Of course, the Hurricanes score to win. No home calls here, I guess.
So that's three in-conference points the Islanders have let slip through their fingers the last few days, with game two of the home-and-home at Carolina on Tuesday night.
SUFFOLK ALL-STARS RULE!
Sweet sassy molassy, did you see the final score of the Lighthouse Cup? Suffolk County romped to an 11-0 victory over the Nassau County stars, scoring eight goals in the second period to put the game away early. Read all about it here. Congrats, Suffolk!
I took my five-year-old son to the game, and he was getting antsy down the stretch, for reasons much different than mine. He wanted to get his free hockey stick (more on that in a later post) and go home. I just wanted to see the Islanders win.
OK, so there's not much you can do when a shot from the point ricochets a couple of times before finding the twine, which is what happened on Carolina's first goal. But then a shot from the point finds the five-hole (Was DiPietro screened? Tough to tell from Section 325) and suddenly the game is tied.
Just as I was explaining the concept of overtime to my son, Carolina scored. "That's a horrible loss," said my friend Jimmy Mac, seated in front of us with his wife and two young daughters. I'm sure he -- and plenty of other parents of young ones at the game -- wanted to vent a little more loudly and profanely at the turn of events, but we held our collective tongues in order to be good role models.
All this despite the return of Radek Martinek and Brendan Witt to the back line, and for two-plus periods -- particularly the second period -- all looked fine. Hilbert and Satan gave the Isles a two-goal cushion and the game seemed somewhat in hand. Another lesson for the young ones -- never let down.
Meanwhile, there was plenty to complain about regarding the officiating. Few penalties called all game, and then Martinek gets called for boarding (borderline in my eyes, but OK) -- but you're telling me Fedotenko WASN'T hammered by a cross check in front of the Carolina net in the final minutes? Where was that call? And then Sutton is called for a cross check in overtime? Horrible. Of course, the Hurricanes score to win. No home calls here, I guess.
So that's three in-conference points the Islanders have let slip through their fingers the last few days, with game two of the home-and-home at Carolina on Tuesday night.
SUFFOLK ALL-STARS RULE!
Sweet sassy molassy, did you see the final score of the Lighthouse Cup? Suffolk County romped to an 11-0 victory over the Nassau County stars, scoring eight goals in the second period to put the game away early. Read all about it here. Congrats, Suffolk!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Looking for the rebound on MLK Day
Full house, divisional opponent, up 3-1 after one period. You cannot lose that game. But that's what happened to the Islanders against the Flyers on Saturday.
Yes, the Isles are without three starting defensemen, and a likely result is some inconsistent play. Nothing against Freddy Meyer, Aaron Johnson and Andy Sutton, but any team that loses half of its regular blueliners is going to struggle.
Besides the fact that the loss came to the Flyers (who are to the Islanders what the Islanders are to the Devils, with three wins in three games), the loss was more frustrating because the Isles looked amazing in the first period after falling behind, 1-0.
The three goals were textbook. Berard's touchdown pass to Richard Park was perfect. Satan and Vasicek executed the 2-on-1 with precision. Then Guerin absolutely roofed a rebound of a Gervais shot on the power play, giving Biron no shot at a save.
But it was all downhill from there, and now the Isles will look to get one back against the Hurricanes in a rare afternoon game. Expect another big crowd and plenty of kids -- I'll be there with my son (looking forward to the free stick) in Section 325.
And stick around for the Lighthouse Cup at 5 p.m., the Suffolk high school all-stars taking on the best from Nassau County. Hockey all day -- what could be better?
Yes, the Isles are without three starting defensemen, and a likely result is some inconsistent play. Nothing against Freddy Meyer, Aaron Johnson and Andy Sutton, but any team that loses half of its regular blueliners is going to struggle.
Besides the fact that the loss came to the Flyers (who are to the Islanders what the Islanders are to the Devils, with three wins in three games), the loss was more frustrating because the Isles looked amazing in the first period after falling behind, 1-0.
The three goals were textbook. Berard's touchdown pass to Richard Park was perfect. Satan and Vasicek executed the 2-on-1 with precision. Then Guerin absolutely roofed a rebound of a Gervais shot on the power play, giving Biron no shot at a save.
But it was all downhill from there, and now the Isles will look to get one back against the Hurricanes in a rare afternoon game. Expect another big crowd and plenty of kids -- I'll be there with my son (looking forward to the free stick) in Section 325.
And stick around for the Lighthouse Cup at 5 p.m., the Suffolk high school all-stars taking on the best from Nassau County. Hockey all day -- what could be better?
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Game recap: Islanders 3, Devils 1
What more can you say about Rick DiPietro? The guy was outstanding tonight as the Islanders bounced back big-time from their lackluster performance against the Canadiens, beating the Devils at the Rock, 3-1. The Isles are now 5-0 against the first-place Devils, four wins supplied by D.P.
DiPietro made 37 saves and stood on his head in the third period, stopping 15 of 16 shots as the Devils threw everything but Chico Resch's hairpiece at him in a desperate effort to tie the score. DiPietro has allowed just five goals in his four games against New Jersey this season.
DiPietro made a terrific glove save against Zubrus but also stopped Gionta, Langenbrunner and Zajac down the stretch. Zajac scored the Devils' only goal to cut the Islanders' lead to 2-1 on a deflection of a shot by Gionta.
Bill Guerin gave the Isles a 1-0 lead on a two-man advantage in the first period, set up Satan and Comrie. Mike Sillinger made it 2-0 in the second, taking a feed from Trent Hunter and beating Martin Brodeur. Guerin's empty netter secured the win.
The Devils are now winless in 9 games against the Isles and Rangers, and the Islanders have beaten the Devils six straight. Some bad news - Chris Campoli left the game with a shoulder injury and missed the final 2 periods. He joins Brendan Witt and Radek Martinek on the list of injured blueliners.
DiPietro made 37 saves and stood on his head in the third period, stopping 15 of 16 shots as the Devils threw everything but Chico Resch's hairpiece at him in a desperate effort to tie the score. DiPietro has allowed just five goals in his four games against New Jersey this season.
DiPietro made a terrific glove save against Zubrus but also stopped Gionta, Langenbrunner and Zajac down the stretch. Zajac scored the Devils' only goal to cut the Islanders' lead to 2-1 on a deflection of a shot by Gionta.
Bill Guerin gave the Isles a 1-0 lead on a two-man advantage in the first period, set up Satan and Comrie. Mike Sillinger made it 2-0 in the second, taking a feed from Trent Hunter and beating Martin Brodeur. Guerin's empty netter secured the win.
The Devils are now winless in 9 games against the Isles and Rangers, and the Islanders have beaten the Devils six straight. Some bad news - Chris Campoli left the game with a shoulder injury and missed the final 2 periods. He joins Brendan Witt and Radek Martinek on the list of injured blueliners.
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