When I got to the locker room, I peeked through the open door to the trainer’s room and saw Rick DiPietro sitting up on a training table, looking downcast after the Islanders’ 5-3 loss to Montreal. In that brief glance before the door was closed, he looked none the worse for wear.
But he was taken to the hospital during the game to be examined for a head injury after a collision with Steve Begin’s right leg near the Islanders’ blue line at 15:41 of the first period. After the game, coach Ted Nolan said, “We’ll wait until tomorrow to get a doctor’s opinion on the seriousness and the length of time. He’s a little groggy. That’s quite a hit he took. We’ll give him 24 hours and evaluate it from there.”
An Islanders spokesman said no further word on DiPietro’s condition will be released until after tomorrow’s 1:30 p.m. practice in Montreal. The team then will fly to Ottawa after practice for a game Thursday. One teammate indicated it’s “nothing serious,” but no definitive information was available and it’s unclear whether DiPietro is suffering from a temporary headache or a concussion.
Comments (85)
Obviously this could be a huge loss for the Isles ...lets all hope it's just a temporary bell ringing and that it's not a concussion ...those tend to linger for a while and they Isles have too many big games to be without DiPi
Someone needs to tell Rico to stay in the net MORE OFTEN. Isnt it blatantly obvious AFTER TONIGHT?! He plays his best games when hes toned down and stays in the net. FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, STAY IN THE GDMF NET, PLEASE!!! What good is Rico now if he has a head injury and cant play a couple games OR MORE?! Oh the humanity...
What a bonehead move... DiPietro really needs to mature and learn when -not- to leave the net.
Let's hope for the best with DP.
Well, an eighth mediocre to bad third period in a row tells me this team is tired. I thought after two periods tonight that Montreal would come out desperate in the third with this being their last gasp of the season. However, I also hoped Ted would convey this and fire up the Isles to play desperate as well--given that being up 3-2, this third period presented a better shot at points than playing at Ottawa on Thursday. Unfortunately, Montreal had about three scoring chances in the first 35 seconds of the third--and the rest is history.
Interestingly, in each of these last eight games--the Isles have scored the first goal before faltering. IMHO, 1) that only underscores that they may be having a real problem keeping the same energy level for a full sixty minutes; and 2) apart from DP's health, this issue is biggest concern of all.
The Refs sucked
Yashin scored a goal and spent the rest of the night thinking about his hotel room
and If Ricky's playing....we dont lose this game.
end of story
There have been some comments here about the isles having problems getting calls. Anyone who has watched them all year has clearly seen this. I went on to the NHL site and they have number of power play opps and number of shorthanded times there, by team. Here is a team by team summary - starting with the team with the biggest positive differential (not including yesterday's negative 4 for the NYI)
Team PP Opps Shorthand Opps Difference
Rank
NJD 322 235 87 1
SJS 350 270 80 2
TBL 334 271 63 3
CAR 385 347 38 4
MIN 333 296 37 5
PIT 391 358 33 6
LAK 379 347 32 7
BUF 355 323 32 8
NSH 356 334 22 9
DAL 351 329 22 10
OTT 344 328 16 11
NYR 345 336 9 12
ATL 357 348 9 13
DET 341 339 2 14
WSH 359 361 -2 15
COL 311 314 -3 16
EDM 328 335 -7 17
ANA 348 356 -8 18
CGY 347 356 -9 19
CBJ 368 382 -14 20
TOR 350 365 -15 21
BOS 350 367 -17 22
PHX 340 365 -25 23
PHI 331 361 -30 24
STL 330 360 -30 25
VAN 343 376 -33 26
CHI 312 367 -55 27
MTL 317 377 -60 28
FLA 296 383 -87 29
NYI 281 368 -87 30
Hopefully you can read it. The isles have been shorthanded 87 more times than on the powerplay, ranking dead last. That is more than one a game and more than 2 a game different than NJD! The numbers for home and away are equally bad. I thought that it had something to do with the style of play, but similar style teams in my view are not near them. It is amazing that they are still competitive with this difference. The reason, of course, is the isles are great 5 on 5. Here is 5 on 5 goal differential (isles rank 5th):
Team 5 on 5 for 5 on 5 against diff rank
BUF 163 116 47 1
NSH 152 114 38 2
DET 129 92 37 3
CGY 133 100 33 4
NYI 133 101 32 5
OTT 142 111 31 6
ANA 132 110 22 7
ATL 132 114 18 8
TOR 136 119 17 9
PIT 120 115 5 10
FLA 131 127 4 11
NJD 111 107 4 12
COL 140 137 3 13
DAL 97 94 3 14
STL 118 120 -2 15
VAN 103 105 -2 16
SJS 110 113 -3 17
NYR 108 111 -3 18
MIN 107 112 -5 19
TBL 126 134 -8 20
CAR 121 132 -11 21
CHI 108 120 -12 22
CBJ 95 113 -18 23
PHX 115 134 -19 24
EDM 114 133 -19 25
LAK 113 141 -28 26
BOS 110 140 -30 27
WSH 116 148 -32 28
MTL 96 136 -40 29
PHI 114 176 -62 30
Think about how many more games they would win if they just had a breakeven on the PP changes versus shorthanded. This is good news for the playoffs, if they get there....
Greg --
When are you going to start talking about the fact that the Isles have been MUCH worse since the trade deadline.
I'm definitely starting to believe that acquiring Smyth was a mistake. He's certainly a great player, but I feel his presence has put too much pressure on this team. The Isles were on a roll, playing well, and surpassing expectations.
Was it really necessary to change a good thing?
I agree, I am concerned about chemistry and defense since the deadline. Is it just that, with all the new personnel, guys need to play together for a while in order to anticipate each other's moves, etc.? Or is there a more profound problem with D and toughness after losing Martinek (and now Simon) and adding Bergeron. I love Bergeron on the PP, but he seems to make a fair number of defensive mistakes 5-on-5.
No, no, NO!
DiPietro made the right move to come out on Begin.
Begin clearly had Hill beat to the puck and was going to break in on net alone in a game the Islanders needed and were up 1-0 in.
9 times out of 10, DP doesn't get hit in the head by a skate but guess what, it happened this time.
99.5% of the blame for the injury lies with Sean Hill, who moves with the skill and speed of your average glacier. He was woefully out of position and couldn't catch up to his mistake.
Terrible game that the Islanders should have won. No excuse for the defencive breakdown in the 3rd, this game was not taken away by the refs as much as we all think; the Isles frittered it away.
Thanks for a fine career, Sean Hill, but if this doesn't let you know you're past your prime...
The answer is so simple - STAY OUT OF THE BOX and you win
Isles chemistry has been bad since trade.
Campoli is weak..looks like a boy playing with men.
Lets face it--Isles are not a team who can realistically do playoff damage--so, why the trade? We start with defense and Meyer and Campoli suck and Witt has had a bad month. Ugh.
D is not looking good right now. He has got to shake something up with the combos. Witt and Hill CANNOT PLAY TOGETHER unless there are 30 seconds left in the game.
If they lose on Thursday time to shake up the lines too. I think it may be time to get Hilbert off that line. I think Tamby might fit in nicely.
Kozlov has got to play center. Him and Yashin on the ice together does not work.
Andrew:
The D hasn't looked good since they lost Martinek. No one's around to give Hill a breather and Witt has had to work hard to make up for Hill's lack of speed and reaction time.
Definitely agree that the current defencive pairings are not going to work in the long-term. On the plus side I actually liked Freddy Meyer's play last night, he played smart. One of the coaches must have talked to him.
Tambellini should be in the lineup until he proves he can't play at this level. He certainly can be used to give guys like Hilbert (nice -3 last night) a break once in awhile.
Tall order on Thursday to beat Ottawa on the road. The Isles are (hold your nose) 1-7-2 in the regular season since 2001, and the win came before the lockout. They did, of course, beat the Sens in Ottawa in Game 1 of the 02-03 playoffs. Small consolation, Thursday's game may be more important than Game 1.
Jman, nobody should have to play with Meyer becuae he drags everyone down. Campoli should be playing with either Hill or Witt to provide the speed and puck moving ability they lack. The D pairings have been awful and need to be changed NOW.
Everyone here has great points
Defense is undermanned and tired(Martinek was huge loss), but the lack of energy and effort on the part of the forwards in the 3rd period was inexcusable - we had maybe 3-4 shots in 3rd with 8 minutes left - Do the Islanders really think they can come into a desparate teams building and put that kind of effort in. The fact that DiPietro was out, necessitated a super human effort on Isles part - but they almost look entitled out there - they should take a closer look at the standings - Nolan has been great, but he needs to let these guys know that they've accomplished NOTHING yet. Agree that Sean Hill is slow, but at least he plays with grit - more than I can say for guys like Kozlov, Satan.
Every team is tired at this point in the season - now it comes down to heart and determination - and great coaches get their teams to play hard every night.
By the way - the Isles are last in power play opportunities because they don't force the play enough - pressure causes teams to take penalties - not an Isles strength - don't blame the refs.
SD, thanks for the penalty stats. What is most shocking is that not only are we last, but have roughly 2 1/2 times more of a differential from the 26th place team--meaning we are dramatically more short-handed than other teams.
I'd like to see the stats from vartious points of the year. We were heavily penalized in the beginning of the year when we looked slow and folks were learning the system. Is the differntial growing of late due to tiredness?
Here are more stats--which are not perfect, but a somewhat objective measure. In the third period in the last eight games:
The Isles have been outshot 105-70.
The Isles have been outscored 14-3.
We have lead entering the third period in seven of the eight games.
In those seven games we lost the lead in five (exceptions the Caps where we carried five and four goal leads), and in those five games we ended up 2-1-2.
In the eighth game--the Isles entered the third period tiend and lost in a shootout.
Note: In every one of those games, the Isles scored first.
In short, a team that had made its mark by closing out the deal when it led most of the season--is beginning to look a bit like last year's squad where no lead was safe at any time. And from where I sit, it looks like the other teams have taken the play to us while we sit back--the mark of a team that has strong effort early, but doesn't have the burners right now to complete the deal. Indeed, on just one shift last night in the mid-third period, Sillinger made three bad passes that smacked of a fatigued body and mind.
If we were sitting pretty in the fourth or fifth slot, I might understand the players relaxing a bit and pacing themselves. But on the precarious edge of the playoffs--the overall performance in the third period last night does not bode well for me.
I should have added that all this is exacerbated by tired and slow defensemen who are protecting the lead and are already being cautious in the first instance. It detracts from maintaining any sustained pressure in the offensive zone because the forwards can't do it alone if the the D-Man can't lend support along the boards and pinching where sufficent energy would allow it.
Your playing worse since the Martinek injury not the trade deadline and losing Simon only hurts the defensive corp more.
The trade for Smyth was brilliant. The chemistry on the team after the penalty shot last night suggested to me that everyone on this team loves the guy.
Our defense has been severely effected by that goon and idiot who may have cost us a playoff spot. You couldn't afford to lose him after martinek. The suggestion that this teams chemistry has been adversly effected by the smyth trade is the craziest thing i have ever read on this blog. And there are some rel crazy things here.
greg ask nolan about the d- pairings please.
1 - why do they have them set the way they do?
2 - suggest splitting up witt/hill - camp/meyer.
3 - maybe witt/meyer - hill/campolli.
see what he says. also the guys shifts were way too long last night. on the first habs goal for instance. blake's line was out there for almost 2 full minutes. you can't take shifts that long. they had off. pressure for about 40 seconds, then went back on d for about 40 seconds. blake had the puck, and instead of dump and change, they decided to try and go on the O. incidentley coughing the puck and leading to the goal. also on that goal witt missed a bad check allowing ryder to coast in. and the backcheck was the reason for the hab player to be open for the stuff in. if you caught any of the rags/sens game last night you saw how a team should continue playing with the lead. ottawa took it to the rags throughout the third. THEY HAVE TO STOP GLIDING AND TAKING PENALTIES. KEEP THE LEGS MOVING AND DON"T GET YOURSELF IN VULNERABLE POSITIONS ie. LONG SHIFTS!!!!!!!! now let us regroup and get a win against the sens.
Isles are toast....The trade for Smyth was just the latest in another Isles major mistake...we traded 3 first rounders for a guy we will have for a month before he takes his mullet back to Canada.....He is a glorified Parrish if you ask me.....I hate the Rangers more than anyone, yet admire how hard they have played lately...They along with the Hurricanes will make the playoffs over us.
Then we will lose Blake and Smyth in the off season and be in DEAD LAST next year !!
Ziggy:
I wouldn't say the on-ice loss of Chris Simon is hurting the team defence. I would say that all the off-ice crap might have an effect on the team, but aside from his skills mucking for rebounds and acting as the team's de facto enforcer, we're not missing much from Simon. The defencive stories are tired legs (Witt, Hill); inexperience (Campoli, Meyer); and injuries (Martinek, Gervais).
I agree wholly with you that this is a better team post-deadline, and the chemistry hasn't suffered. The whole team seems to love Smyth and Bergeron, and they have shown themselves to be good team players. Smyth especially seems happy to be here. Did you see the celebration after Bergeron scored? Smyth looked like a kid on Christmas--it was awesome to see that.
Weird game last night. Although I can't fathom how a Ted Nolan team sat back in the 7th playoff slot, or sat back on leads, it's happening. They say that Nolan is a coach who extracts the most out of his players, but pretty much since the Philly game on Feb. 27, you look at this team in the third period and fear that Nolan may have squeezed this orange dry.
Merrick:
Did you notice NOBODY pinching last night? I think I saw Poti and Bergeron each in there once. Defencive pressure = cycle = sustained offencive possession = goals.
If the Islanders continue to lose to the teams that want their 7th or 8th playoff then it looks like golf in April for Nolan and the boys
I wish DP would just stay in his crease. That play last night was irresponsible and may have cost us the game. These guys don't need any more distractions.
Why did he come out? He's afraid of a breakaway? Begin may not have even got in unscathed.
Hilbert and Robitaille... Can someone get a clue and send these two bums back to the AHL? Hilbert brings nothing to the table. I always knew he didn't belong (especially with Tambellini in Bridgeport), but last night his work ethic was nonexistent. He single-handedly lost that game last night. -3 in 9 minutes of icetime (still more ice than Zednik). Look at the Habs' tying goal and game winning goal. Hilbert was responsible for both. Forgets his check in front of the net and just stands there. Doesn't matter to Nolan, he doesn't miss a shift. Robitaille played the second most even strength time for forwards, behind only Smyth. He showed up the ref in the middle of a Montreal rush. The guy held his stick and Robitaille flailed both arms, turned toward center ice and started barking at the ref. In the middle of a Montreal rush!!!Granted, it should have been a penalty, but I haven't seen something that bad since Kovalev in the playoffs a few years ago. I think this was worse. Anyway, not only does he not miss a shift, but he's out there with 2 minutes left and the Isles in dire need of tying it up. Kind of like putting him out there for the third shootout shot against the Rangers over SMyth and Zednik. Yashin played 12 minutes despite his trademark goal early in the game. This is getting messy. They're tied for 7th and only 2 points ahead of 11th place. Keep playing these scrubs all these minutes and it's only going to get worse against Ottawa and Tampa.
Why is Nolan in love with Randy Robataille...there is a reason why this guy is always dumped by teams...it's b/c he really isn't that good...get him off the top line...he constantly turns over the puck even though every now and then he makes a good pass...it's not his fault, but he's been given way too much responsability...much more than his skill can handle...
Team is Toast.....
Robitaille ~ Hilbert ~ Park
Please....These guys are all the same bad joke of a player....Throw Campoli in there as well....He is thrown around the ice like a rag doll.... Literally scared to be hit !
Maybe Garth needs to bring back Oleg Kvasha as a motivational speaker.
When is Gervais coming back? I thought it was supposed to be soon
Wow, the crowd at the Bell Centre was LOUD last night! It sounded similar to the crowds at a soccer match in Europe. The Canadian fans really know how to support their teams. I've never heard Nassau Coliseum sound like that in all my years of watching the Isles.
Once again, last night's 3rd period was disappointing. The sloppy play is killing the Islanders' momentum. Something HAS to be done about that before the playoffs... but I am at a loss for providing solutions.
I thought Park looked good last night... until he took a few penalties and negated all of his good efforts. Ugh. Penalties are killing the Islanders as well.
I hope DP can get back in goal before the trip to Florida. Dunham looked good, but... rusty.
I think Robitaille has an excellent energy level & gives it his all in every game. Campoli and Tambellini are young and energetic as well... definitely underutilized. Bergeron has been the BEST acquisition this season, even though he's slow. Smyth? Eh... I'm not impressed.
I think DP lost the game for the Islanders last night with his stupid move to the blue line. I have never seen a goalie do that before. Perhaps for next season the NHL should draw a blue octagon around the goal and allow the goalies to play the puck ONLY within that area. Maybe that'll keep DP within 10 feet of the crease.
I have no idea how long a shift should be. 2 minutes seems short to me... do the guys really get gassed after that short of a shift?? Wow. That's wimpy.
Chris S, how long have you been around this game? Not long I'm guessing by your comments.
What don't you like about Smyth? He averages a point a game and wins nearly every puck in the corners. He creates more chances than anybody on the team. It's not his fault that Randy Robitaille is on his line. After seeing Randy giving up on the play to complain about a missed call, do you still think he gives his all? That guy is the worst and he plays first line minutes.
DP made the right play (I don't often say this) by forcing Begin offsides and stopping the breakaway. You've never seen this before? It's a fairly common play that happens a few times a season.
Shifts average a little over a minute in the NHL to keep the guys fresh. Wimpy? Go watch the Knicks and watch them walk around the court half the game. Or baseball where the players sit on the bench for half the game and stand around for most of the rest.
Get a clue before you post this garbage.
Chris S.:
The Coliseum can be the loudest place on the planet. It just hasn't been in awhile. Montreal fans are the exception to the rule; you are right though. The Bell Centre was hopping last night. Habs fans are great fans.
Disagree that DP lost the game for three reasons:
#1, Dunham could have held the lead in the third had the Isles stayed out of the box and put a coherent offencive attack together.
#2, his counterpart Aebischer was shaky all night, but the Islanders couldn't get the shots off. Getting outshot has been a problem for the Islanders for years, but last night when the opposing goalie was there for the picking, the Islanders should have had more than 2 goals (plus Smyth's penalty shot).
#3, it was the right move to make in the first place. Folks, DP's going to come out of his crease--for better or for worse. It's just the way he plays. He definitely had a line on Begin. With no Canadien coming in with Begin, the likelihood was that either Hill would take the puck back the other way, or at the very least the play would be in the neutral zone with DP scrambling back. It was a percentage play; DP gambled and lost, we should hear in the next two hours how much he's lost.
And a two-minute shift is a long one in the NHL. Do you play hockey? If not, I'll tell you it's extremely tiring to skate hard up and down the ice for two minutes at any level, let alone the NHL where you have guys looking to put you through the glass and the action is a mile a minute. Shifts are generally 45-90 seconds, some shorter, some longer.
And Smyth won't impress you unless you try to focus solely on him while watching the game. Try it the next time he's on the ice and you will perceive his value, which does admittedly extend more into the "intangible" category. But he drew that penalty shot last night on pure guile. An Oscar-worthy performance, as they say.
Campoli's game is well suited for the new NHL. I think "intelligent, slick and insight" are better suited to describe Campy's game than scared. I always admire players who can miss the fore checks and still make the plays. They're called smart and Steady!!!!!
they also need to forecheck better. bottom line they have to stay out of the box.
also, have u guys signed up for Islander TV? it's the best insight to any sports team that i've ever seen. i was waiting for something like this to be developed. wang is genious for this reason.
The D needs a break
the d is looking tired(hill/witt). someone said it last week. it's looking like the year when laviolette would only play four d-men at the end of the year and p-offs. i hope we don't have the same results. i believe it was ninima/jonsson/hamerlick/acoin.
i wonder if they can pry kenny jonsson away from sweden and sign him to a contract right now.
SD, Thanks for the Stats.
THE TRADE
No looking back at the Smyth trade. It was a positive move at the time. Smyth has played hard. End of story.
MAB
The Bergeron deal may have been the most important deal of the year. If they make the playoffs, and win a series, it will be this one that people should look at as "THE MOVE". losing Zhitnik and Martinek are HUGE reasons why they went from being one of the better 3rd period teams to barely mediocre. At least with MAB they've transformed a below average PP to a very good one.
ROBBY
It is time. there was some semblance of Chemistry between Robitaille, Blake and whoever played the other side... but now Yashin is back. There is no reason that Nolan can't put that talent to use (or at least expose it)
Blake-Yashin-Smyth
Zednik-Kozlov-Satan
Hunter-Sillinger-Hilbert
Park-Robitaille-Asham... And I really can't see why Park or Robitaille can't be replaced by Tambellini.
SATAN
Miro has done pretty much everything Nolan has asked. It kind of irks me to see people say that the guy doesn't play with grit. He's a 30 goal guy who should be floating around and taking passes from the likes of yashin and kozlov... but he's been digging and forechecking and backchecking... Cut him some slack.
KOZLOV
SEE OLEG KVASHA. There is no doubt that Kozlov has displayed some awesome talent, and is having a career year, but has anybody ever shown him how to finish a check. The guy is a mack truck, but he plays like a VW Rabbit.
VIKTOR...HIT SOMEBODY!!!
If he played like Hunter he'd be worth Yashin's $7.6M.
BLAKE
Was I imagining things, or wasn't he one of the best PK guys in the league for the last few years. When did he become too good for that. When you are shorthanded (see above) with that disparity, everybody needs to kill penalties... especially the guy who is best at it. I guess this is one of the bad points of losing Bates also... but I've already filled his roster spot with Park and/or tambellini.
NOLAN
He has done a tremendous job. First and foremost guys are not getting to Hempstead and trying to find Dr. Kavorkian in the phone book anymore. After the deadline there seems to have been a slip in the dynamic that made them so good for the first 55 or so games. But given time I think we can all show a little confidence in his ability to get the right stuff out of each of the players.
SCHEDULE
One of the reason's the team seems a little worse, is that the schedule has gotten a little tougher. It's going to be a real grind from here on out.
Hopefully the moves and a little help from bridgeport (maybe on "D", and a cameo or two by Tambellini) will infuse a little cafeine into their systems.
You guys are absolutely clueless about Park, Hilbert, RR. RR/Smyth/Blake was the best line for the isles last night and you awnt to break that up because RR isn't a "name". Hilbert had his worst game of the year last night but that doesn't take away the fact that he has the most energy, speed and intangibles on the Sillinger line. And Park is one of the isles best PKer. He's is a prototypical 4th line player who contributes. All these guys do other things besides score goals. Apparently you think scoring goals is what makes a player good. I would rank Hilbert as one of the top 6 indispensable players on the Isles right now (behind DP, Blake, Witt, Hunter, Sillinger). Frustrates me so much when people can't see how good Hilbert has been playing this year. Open your eyes.
who are you hilbert's agent?
i like andy. he works his a$$ off
KITJ:
Lavy had 4 good defencemen and then not much aside from Martinek. I think it was Timander as the sixth D-man and then Butenschon as the odd man out. Eric Cairns also. This year, the 5th and 6th defencemen are better, but Witt and Hill are a sure drop from Hamrlik and Niniimaa.
Don't you need to be a season ticket holder to watch Islanders TV? I heard it's pretty cool, though. Lots of behind-the-scenes.
i'm not a season ticket holder. i just went to the site and registered, free. it's awesome the footage will blow you away. i can't even begin to go into details.
svenn butenshon and marcus timmander, wow. what happened to those guys
Tim: I was playing devil's advocate for a bit there (and I don't mean the NJ team that the Islanders will have to beat in the playoffs). The guys are all human, and they'll have good shifts and bad shifts, good games and bad games. This entire BLOG is subjective, and everyone has a different POV.
I'd like to know what all of the top NHL teams are doing that the Islanders are not. What's Buffalo's secret? NJ's? Atlanta's? How about the Western Conference teams? Maybe some of you die hard NHL followers can debate those questions and enlighten me.
According to the AHL website, the Islanders have recalled Wade Dubielewicz from Bridgeport and Bridgeport has in turn recalled Michael Mole from Pensacola to take his place.
Matt, Hill and Witt a sure drop from Hamrlik and Niinimaa? You're crazy. I can't stand Hill, think he's the worst defender on the Isles. That being said, you can't even quantify how much better he is than Janne "turnover" Niinimaa. That guy was just a complete disaster. Hamr and Witt is simply a matter of preference. What Lavy had that Nolan doesn't is Aucoin/Jonsonn instead of Poti/MAB or Meyer/Campoli
Andy Hilbert is extremely dispensable. You are forgetting about Poti and Bergeron, without whom God only knows where the Islanders would be, and I think losing Smyth might hurt more than losing Hilbert.
(Losing one or two of the better-looking Ice Girls would be more damaging.)
JP, way to stand up for Miro. Who's always at the bottom of the pile, sitting on a goalie? Miro! However he is purely an offencive player, so he has those attendant limitations.
Also, yes, you wonder what might have been had Garth decided to hang onto Zhitnik for the rest of the season. It was a good salary dumping move, but I'm not sure it was a wise personnel move. Just FYI, he's had six assists in the last four games for the Thrashers.
JP, what do you think about DP coming out to the blue line?
Andy Park:
I know Niniimaa was terrible but he skates well, which is my big problem with Hill, he plays like he's wearing cement skates.
Witt-Hamrlik, probably a wash. Different players.
But, yes, you are right. I am crazy.
No way Witt/Hill are a drop off from Hamrlik/Ninapieceofsh.t....
These guys are tired right now and both were playing great up to a few weeks ago. They are getting burned out because they are on the ice all game...
Satan
-Finally played well last night but i still think he has lost it. Too slow
Kozlov
-HE CANNOT PLAY WING.. HE IS MUCH BETTER AT CENTER. I really like combos JP mentioned:
Blake-Yashin-Smyth
Zednik-Kozlov-Satan
Hunter-Sillinger-Hilbert
Park-Robitaille-Asham
Two switches i would make here. Try Tamby on the Hunter line to see how he does.... Scratch RR, move park to center and have Hilbert wing on that line. I think Hilbert-Park-Asham would be excellent checking line
Nick-
Great pickup on the AHL site; you're the Isles beat reporter of the day!
Alas, this can't be good news.
Andrew, my point was really about Sean Hill. I know he played well this year but game after game he has been skating poorly and last night it might have cost us our franchise goalie.
Witt's play has been steady all year but he can't do it by himself. He too may be tired, but he hides it better than Hill.
And Asham-Park-Hilbert is a pretty underwhelming checking line...undersized too. Would be a good line in transition though.
Have to defend hill on this one. On that PP, Hill and whoever the foward was were too close to each other on that play. The foward tries a flip pass over Binet's stick to Hill while Benit was facing hill and had a better jump on the puck. If anyone, I blame the foward on that one.
the foward made a bad pass.
Man, that stinks and hope for the Isles sake that DP is not out too long.
Way too far for the goalie to travel. I only saw the replay and the angle I saw it actually looked like Begin did a good job of jumping over DP. So what is it that happened exactly?
As for blowing a 2 goal lead. HA HA, Rangers are pros at it. Now thats something to brag about!
i just watched the DP play on Islander TV. it was a horrible pass from Satan to nobody on that play.
I wouldn't read too much just yet into recalling Dubie, except that it's probably going to be Dunham between the pipes against the Sens. Unfortunately, I bought tickets to the game expecting to see DP.
Or it might be Dubie himself, who knows? That would be a pleasant surprise.
But the coaching staff might have decided to give DP a rest even if he thinks he can play tomorrow night. That's the best-case scenario.
Matt,
I like the fact that DP is somewhat aggressive. It seperates him from the crowd. If you are asking me about that SPECIFIC PLAY. I might have stayed back and let Hill(?) take the hooking.
There are times that DP makes my heart drop because he wanders way too much. But in the same breath I'll say the team has a huge advantage with his puck handling abilities. He's come a long way this year, and I have confidence that he will mature into an all-star goalie (not that he isn't at that level now, but he can be better).
HILBERT
Andy Hilbert has earned his spot on the roster. He is a perfect compliment to Sillinger and Hunter. That line is a huge factor in the team's success... definitely the most consistent one.
ROBITAILLE
His line may have been the best on the ice last night, but IMHO it may have had more to do with the wings, than the center. Randy is a good player, who has been elevated by playing with two work-aholics. Put Yashin on that elevator.
Yashin played great for two months, and he should be given the chance to do what he was paid for... TO LEAD THE OFFENSE OF THE NY ISLANDERS.
HILL
The guy seems to be out of gas. He has played TOUGH all year. He brought something that the Islanders definitely needed. But in that same suitcase was a guy who couldn't keep up with other team's quicker skaters. Let's not all lynch the guy. He may be out of gas, but he's played redline hockey on our blueline all year. I hate to see the gladiators get fed to the lions.
PARK/Robby vs Tambellini
Park is a spark plug. He leaves it all on the ice. He's quick, and motivated.
Okay... now see if any of those attributes aren't on Tambellini's resume... plus the guy finishes every check (even though he usually gets the worst of his own body checks), and gets himself and the puck into scoring position. He needs to be with this team. We may lose some PK ability without Park, or a moveable center without Robby... but one of those guys can watch a game or two from the press box to allow Tamby to play.
WITT/HILL-HAMMER/NINNY
Apples and oranges. Hammer was a top notch "D". The Ninny had all the tools to be an all star defenseman. Hammer probably wanted off the mike-milbury-go-round, and Niinimaa was just useless. He just made his way back from a 10+ game benching, so it wasn't just us. Witt and Hill are the kind of guys you want to be in a foxhole with. And I don't mean all covered in baby oil... that's a ranger thing. They're the crease clearer's this team has needed for years. Unfortunately not every crease clearer is Souray, Commodore or Chara.. Witt, hopefully will be here for a while. Hill is a great guy, but the league may have passed him by... again... I don't want to throw the guy to the lions, but he can't catch the chicken anymore.
Poti and Bergeron are going to be the 25 minute guys going forward. If they keep playing like they have that will go a long way to getting this team to the playoffs. I younger, faster, maybe bigger option will be welcome in the future for Hill.
What is the timetable for Gervais' return anyway?
I just can't watch Metyer anymore... it makes my eyes hurt.
JP: Thanks for the laugh (foxhole); I needed it today.
Gervais has been day-to-day since the beginning of March with the ankle. For a hockey player obviously that's a tough injury to rehab. Probably 50/50 whether he makes it back this season.
I like Hill's play and toughness too, but the fact is that the Islanders aren't going to outhit you, so they have to outskate you, and when Hill needs to catch up to the play or hold off the rush he is clearly a liability as far as speed. I hate to call him out, but it's obvious to anyone watching. At least try to give him a couple games off to recharge. Status quo is not going to improve him.
Meyer played pretty well last night! Give credit where credit is due, I never thought I would see improvement from him.
Oh man, TSN in Canada is reporting DP is out with a grade 5 concussion! 6-8 weeks minimum. Come on Dunham, we need you!
its time for asham to change his role a bit. he can no longer fight only when challanged. he now has to assume the role of enforcer and protect players who are being shoved around or intimidated.with simon out of the lineup, he must now take on more responsibility for the good of the team.
nice try john
Uh, I'm pretty sure he didn't sustain a grade V concussion. IIRC, you have to be unconscious for many minutes to get to grade V.
Either TSN is wrong or you must have eaten the wrong kind of mushroom with your lunch soup & salad combo.
i jus looked on all the websites possible and found nothing new on DP...sounds like john's makin stuff up
I think John is another one (or the same) Ranger fan that has nothing else to do....
GET A LIFE
They must have run out of baby oil in the foxhole.
John is a grade V a-hole.
I'd take Witt over hamrlik in a heartbeat.
It's 2 hours past Isles practice time in Montreal. Where is the update on DP from Nolan?? My nails are nearly gone and the cuticles are next!!
Chris S:
Figure they probably practised for an hour. They probably won't announce anything until the team gets to Ottawa...or maybe Greg is waiting to post whatever news he has until the team plane lands. It's about a 40 minute flight from MTL, so it might be 4 PM before we hear anything. They might have also made Greg drive out to Ottawa!
I have half a mind to bag work and head over to the airport to corral Teddy and find out for myself--citizen journalism??
If you want a completely uneducated guess, I say DP sits against Ottawa and they see how he feels after the flight to Miami.
Thanks for the reasoning Matt. Maybe if DP has a concussion, he'll be driving to Ottawa with Greg. Now THAT might be an interesting BLOG to read... "my 5 hours with DP."
John is a grade 5 hole or uninformed and would like to see the info he is getting.
No update anywhere!
How the hell does Robitussin get to wear #27? Giving him Tonelli's number is a travesty. At least Derek King put some pucks in the net.
I agree with many of the assessments of individual players already given. And I have to admit, I am really surprised at how well Poti and Witt have played this year. I was totally against those signings in the off-season. They've played consistently well throughout the whole season.
I only got to see the third period last night, but it really had me worried. It looked like countless Isles games from any and all of the past 15 years. I hope it was a wake-up call for the players and coaches.
I am curious as to why the Islanders are so hush hush about this injury. If it was just a bump to the head I'm thinking we would have heard something by now. The again sometime no news is good news, so I do not know what to think. This team needs to rally around Dunhum. He turned our season around in October now he may have to save it!
The only real question is wh