Having once been a part of the Battle of Alberta between Calgary and his former team in Edmonton, new Islanders center Mike Comrie understands that the rivalry doesn’t stop just because it’s the preseason.
If anything, a laughing Comrie said at this morning's skate before making his home debut against the Rangers tonight, “It’s usually a little bit worse. You’ve got guys from both sides trying to make names for themselves and impress management. We’re all trying to get ready for the first regular-season game, but we all want to work hard and show each other we’re ready to play. It’s always a lot of fun playing against an organization’s rivals.”
New Isles captain Bill Guerin, who will play on Comrie’s right wing didn’t downplay the importance of tonight’s contest, either. He understands how far these games go toward helping the Islanders and Rangers define themselves.
“It’s pretty important,” Guerin said. “For us these are the biggest games of the year against the Rangers, and we’re at home. You want to get off on the right foot. You don’t want to stumble out of the gate. The best thing is just to relax and play, but there is some importance for us.
“You’ve got the guys who were there all the time, but the new guys coming in want to be a part of it right away. They want to show they belong. The best stage to do it on is against your biggest opponents.”
New Rangers centers Scott Gomez and Chris Drury were among the free agents to whom the Isles made offers on July 1, so Comrie realizes his performance will be measured closely against theirs. But Comrie has extensive experience against Drury, who played for Colorado and Calgary when Comrie was with the Oilers.
“He’s a great hockey player,” Comrie said of Drury. “The Rangers made some very good acquisitions, but you win as a group and lose as a group. As athletes, we worry about ourselves and what we have to do as a team and not so much about our opponents as individuals. Playing with Billy and Ruslan [left wing Fedotenko], we know we’ve got to be ready to play, especially the eight games that we play against each of our division rivals.”
Islanders coach Ted Nolan said he expects to go with a predominantly veteran lineup in the Rangers games tonight and Friday at Madison Square Garden and in the final exhibition Sunday in Boston. More young players will be added to the lineup for road games against the Devils Wednesday at Lowell, Mass. and in a rematch Saturday night at Bridgeport.
Five of the Islanders’ six free-agent signees will be in the lineup tonight, including Comrie, Guerin and Fedotenko on the top line, second-line center Josef Vasicek and defenseman Andy Sutton. Only Jonathan Sim will sit out along with linemates Mike Sillinger and Trent Hunter. Others scratched tonight include veteran center Richard Park, forward Darryl Bootland and defensemen Chris Campoli and Bruno Gervais.
Vasicek will center a line with Miroslav Satan and Jeff Tambellini; Sean Bergenheim, Andy Hilbert and Blake Comeau, likely will skate on the third line, and the fourth line consists of Chris Simon, Jeremy Colliton and Kip Brennan. It won’t be surprising if the latter line mixes it up with the Rangers.
“I still think the intensity will be there whether it’s an exhibition game or a playoff game,” Nolan said. “The intensity’s always there when you play your archrival, but we have to take into consideration that it’s still training camp and we’re still evaluating. We’re trying to give people a chance to make the final roster.”
The remainder of the training camp roster has been assigned to AHL Bridgeport with the exception of the five players who were returned to their juniors teams Saturday. The Islanders’ 29-man roster now numbers 18 forwards (including injured Shawn Bates), nine defensemen and two goaltenders.
Comments (62)
aaah
I am having a lot of trouble finding the Isles/Rangers preseason game on IslandersTV. Did any one else try and fail?
Holy crap...fights everywhere...DP vs Montoya, Simon vs Orr, Simon vs Hollweg(x3), Sutton vs. Dubinsky, Hilbert vs someone...5 people in the penalty box. What the hell...this year is going to be explosive.
With all these matchups, I have to say the Isles look bigger than the rangers in their matchups. Rangers have been playing with a bit more spark so far, but they've been on the powerplay for most of the period.
You have to click on the center ice package...
The Rangers without their first line are skating circles around the Islanders. They just are. No excuse for being outshout 17-1 in the second period, with still 6 minutes to go.
4-3.... the circle just got tighter.
The score doesn't matter. You just want to see the team come together, which they seem to be. But, IMO, the Rangers have showed much more skill, even without the first line.
anon, doesn't matter who is on the ice when the rangers have so much time on the one man or two man advantage. either way it is only a 1 goal game. and remember preseason doesn't mean too much. a few years ago the isles were undefeated and then started the regular season in a funk.
Anon, don't think you are watching the game, the teams were even in the first, the 17-1 differential might have had something to do with continuous powerplay time after all the crazy fights.
no update on andy sutton with that puck that went into the isles bench. hopefully nothing too serious...
obviously it is just pre-season... but it's nice to see the comeback win and great energy on the ice.
Comrie looks like a player as did Vasicek, Martinek, Guerin, Sutton.
I Hope Sutton only needed stitches and isn't injured.
DOC
Watched the game on the computer. Sounded like a Ranger home game, like usual. Isles with just about all their players struggle to beat a Ranger team with 9 rookies, LOL. Imagine if Jagr, Straka, Gomez played. Get out your calculators boys and girls. Then again, the Rangers second line is better than the Isles first. Loved the Di-Pi sucks chants, heard loud and clear. The Mausoleum belonged to the Rangers fans tonight. 19-7 shot advantage at even strength, LOL. I admit, Valley cannot play goal, won't make the team, while the Isle have their two top guys in, LOL.
Congrats on beating us in O.T. in a game where we didn't dress Jagr, Gomez, Lundqvist or Avery and then threw some high school kid in net after Montoya.
All we heard all offseason was the Rags have such a bright future.....yet your "rookies" couldn't hold a 3 goal lead.
Doesn't matter who is on the ice. If you play a sound defensive game, you don't take so many penalties and you sure as hell don't blow a 3 goal lead.
More to come, get used to it. LETS GO ISLANDERS!
the rangers stink!!! LOL
your 3rd line might be better than our first, but Bryan Berard is better than any defensemen on your sad overpriced team. DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Learn how to hold a 3 goal lead. hahahaha
LETS GO ISLANDERS!
What an exciting game to watch, the fire in the second period was awesome. I wonder if we will see a repeat during the season. At least both squads got lots of powerplay and PK practice. Anyway I think the highlights of the night:
Vasicek- The guy played hard on both ends of the ice breaking up Rangers rushes and powering in for the lone 5 on 5 goal of the game. He did in fact look a lot like a fired up Victor Kozlov, I hope he can bring that into the regular season.
Bergenheim- Guy looked a bit like Blake speeding around, he was throwing hits and made some good passes.
Comrie- Looked good, lots of effort, scored four points tonight, dove a few times to knock the puck out of the zone. A few errant passes and he seemed to get bumped off the puck a few times but those were overshadowed by his recovery effort and results.
Tambellini: Didn't do too much but was able to draw two penalties (a la Blake). I was looking for a bit more from him.
Isles looked a bit shakey on the powerplay and penalty kill (kind of like last year), I think the Rangers did a better job on special teams even though they both netted the same number of powerplay goals.
On the Rangers side I was impressed with two people:
Drury- the guy was a force and the drive behind the Rangers the whole night. He was in open spots and getting good shots at crucial points throughout the game. I thought he was going to put the Rangers ahead at the end of the game when he was alone in front of the net. Almost did but Dubie got a handle on it.
Nigel Dawes- guy skated and skated, had some good shots and was everywhere on both ends of the ice. With a bit more time he is going to be fantastic.
DP vs Montoya was amazing and not likely something we will see in the regular season. Have to hand it to DP, for a guy who had 2 concussions earlier in the year he came out swinging and got the better of Montoya. DP seemed to be laughing the whole time, good to see him pumped up and having a good time. Looked like Montoya didn't really want to fight at first, kudos to him for going for it.
I hope the rest of the season brings this kind of effort and excitement, neither team quit, but you could definitely tell they had tired themselves out by the third period.
Dipi sucks, Dipi sucks heard on the Isles radio network, LOL. THought the game was at MSG, but just saw it was at NVMC, LOL>
Aww, here they come crying. Instead of going to your own blog and talking about how you guys can improve, instead we get the cheap shots about all the rookies and the so-called Rangers home game.
Go complain about how great of a penalty Shanny took in overtime. Go complain about how you had a 3 goal lead and could coast the rest of the game, and instead the Isles skated hard, the rag$ took way too many penalties and let the isles in the game. Go complain about how Hollweg turtled up when Simon challenged him. Prying all the top notch talent and free agents and throwing all the money in the world at them doesn't make for a successful club.
Willy,
I see you still trolling..
EXCUSES, EXCUSE, EXCUSE,
WHA,WHA,WHA..
POTVIN HURT BEST PLAYER..
WHA,WHA,WHA,WHA..
JAGR NOT IN..
By the way hows that chemistry working out with Gomez & Jagr, what it last half a period??
UNREAL!!!
Hollweg will NOT actually FIGHT!!
Did you have Jagr,Gomez, and Avery in Saturday Night with 1 Goalie. How did that work out for you.
Nice Apron Jersey too.
I talk large pepperoni to go..
Rags will trade Gomez so they can free up $7 million to sign Berard before the Isles do. They realized Berard would be the #1 defenseman on their sorry team.
Berard refuses offer with a quote "they couldn't hold a 3 goal lead against our bunch of '3rd liners'. why the hell would i want to play with them?"
HAHA LETS GO ISLANDERS!
Ha-ha...Ranger trolls grasping at straws :) Sorry but I watched the whole game, and while you could hear a whisper of "sucks" after one (and only one) DP chant for the whole game, it was drowned out by the Islander fans. The rest of the game there was nothing but cheering for the whole team.
Also...the well we didn't dress such and such...ok the top line wasn't in. But the isles didn't dress their best 2-way line nor their 2 of their top 6 defensemen. Spin all you want, I can spin right back :)
Isles 5
Wolfpack 4
Not a bad game by the Pack, playing a bad NHL team, but an NHL team nonetheless.
Dipi Sucks Dipi Sucks..... how embarrassing is it for this guy to hear that chant in his home arena? Then again, at least there were people there. I mean they don't call it the Mausoleum for nothing!
look at hilary duff taking in the islander game
Willy
Come on you loser troll..
See there I knew you go hiding behind another name. You little girl.
Isles 5
Wolfpack 4
Not a bad game by the Pack, playing a bad NHL team, but an NHL team nonetheless.
Posted by: Anonymous | September 24, 2007 10:15 PM
So was that your rookies playing againist the Phlyers the other night.
I agree. The WolfPack looked pretty good tonight playing against an NHL team (hmmmmmm..... ah, what the heck?). They got sloppy with the penalties, but it was a learning experience.
No Jagr, No Straka, No Hank in goal, No Prucha, No Avery, No Gomez, No 4 starting d-man et al....... and the Isles struggled with their opening night lineup. You can't be serious?
There were probably more fans at the Mausoleum tonight (say thank you to us, the Ranger fans) than there will be for opening night, LOL!
i guess because the rags fans heard one faint 'sucks' chant that take that as dominating the coliseum. hey, if it makes you feel better that you think you had more fans there and erases that you lost tonight, so be it.
Anonymous/Slick Willy
Dude,
Your top line didn't score at all the other night.. Your rookies were better than your first liner
and your number 1 goalie let in 5 goals.
50 Million and your no better than any other team.
It's the past 10 year all over again.
You have the Highest Payroll, and below average team.
The game has past Sather, the reason you guys were any good the last two years is because Maloney. He is gone..
Way to go Wolfpack. Take it as a learning experience. Now, I know if you played a "real" team, you probably wouldn't have made it to OT, but that's besides the point. Good job.
I too am proud of the Rangers kids aka the Pack. They won the Traverse Tournament earlier this month (yes, the Ranger prospects were the best of the 8 team tournament). And tonight they took an NHL team to OT, well sought of NHL team.
oh cup-less ones:
sinse you guys have such a long tradition of losing....shouldn't you play your best players??
ps: we were missing hunter and sillinger, so we're even, actually we won. so we're better!
i guess the players we will be seeing on the wolfpuss this season are hossa, hollweg, callahan, strudwick, orr, drury, pock, betts, shanny, malik, rozsival, etc. and not to say that most of other rangers who dressed tonight will probably see some significant time with the sorry ass skirts this season after the isles lay another pounding on them again. cannot wait to hear sutton paste jagr into the glass.
Didn't see the game, but are you Isles fans seriously gloating over a pre-season win? I can understand gloating over a good regular season win, but you can't be serious about being happy with a pre-season win that means, I don't know, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
If we did play the Wolfpack instead of the Rangers, at least they played a better game then when Philly stomped the Rangers 5-0 the other night. You remember back when Jagr, Gomez and Co. played. Maybe the Rangers should sit and let the pack play the season, since they play better?
It was a fun game to watch. Lots of energy. Can't wait to see regular season games this year!
Rangers haven't played with a close to full lineup in the pre-season yet. Wait, why in the world am I explaining this to you guys? Unreal, c'mon fellas, try to keep this in perspective.
listen...renney didn't play jagr, gomez and the rest of the dudes because he knew they were gonna lose either way. he wanted to give all the ranger fans in the world a reason to bi*ch about WHY they lost. who cares, they lost. its preseason anyway.
Fun game to watch. As for the score, well lets face it, it means nothing. Isles had many guys out as did the Rangers.
The one thing that can not be argued is this:
Hollwig tapped out against Simon. Absolutely TURTLED! Orr jumped in for him in the first fight, and Strudwick jumped on Simon in the 2nd dance....That's when DP stepped in!
DP is funny. HE was laughing while beating up the young rookie. Let's not forget that DP fought Asham last year in practice. He is a big tough kid!
Isles showed grit. They showed the Rangers that they will be in their face all year, whether they have the talent or not!
As I said in many earlier posts....Kip Brennan is a psycho and paired with Simon, there will be no team picking on any Isles in 07 !!!!
BOTTOM LINE: Just pre-season. Score meant nothing. Yet as I read all the Ranger fans posting, I sense we struck a nerve tonight. Instead of the fights and the score, you talk about the juvenile stuff like which fans were louder and "we did not play Jagr...."
Well you started your regs the last game and got blasted. Don't get me wrong your team is very gifted individually. Still got to prove it on the ice. Should be a fun year!
Mook~ Mets are simply killing us!
Because some of these posts are downright insane. You seem like a smart fan, Anonymous, take this for what it is. People are actually getting worked up over a pre-season game. Yes, I am sure the fights were fun and all, especially since it appears the Rangers received the short end of that stick too. But, in all seriousness, howmuch can you take out of a game, wheretheIslessentout about 80% of their opening night roster and the Rangers about half. No Jagr, Gomez,Straka, Avery, Lundqvist, among three of their starting defensemen. I knowyou guys hate the Rangers, but try and put some of this into perspective.
Actually, there really wasn't much gloating going on about a pre-season win...
The first post after the game was from a Ranger fan making excuses... and more followed.
Islander fans were impressed with a good effort by their team to come back and win after being down 4-1.
Bottom line is it's not an important game, obviously it doesn't count. But the Islanders did win... and they too didn't dress a lot of their starters ie. Silinger, Hunter, Witt, Campoli, Gervais.
DOC
MidnightMarauder,
No one has yet. Our 3rd and 4th lines tonite, as well as our third defense pairing were kids and try-outs. We were at 2/3's of what we will play on opening day.
It was just a fun game. Doesn't matter who won or lost. Hope the energy stays when the season starts... will make the 8 games we play really interesting!
See, nothing wrong with what you guys just said. I am sure it was a good game, with all of that action. Just wanted to keep things in perspective that's all. Isles will be a thorn if they play the rest of the league the way they play the Rangers. Goodnight all!!
Soft team+
Stupid fans=
long season for rangers
Hello george? Anyone home? Our third/specialty line of sillinger and hunter and sim were out b/c jagr's line was out. And witt - tje jarg stopper - was out as well. Even rosters, top to bottom. DP only played half the game.
BEST PART - the Chicken Dance is baaaacck. What fun tonight at the mausoleum - any of you saying it was a rags crowd were obviously not there. The isles fans were loud and the skirts fans few (and meek, at that).
And pls... a few "potvin's cups" chants do not make for a dominating crowd. I saw blue skirt fans literally in tears in the parking lot, like sad little girls.
Here's a really silly game... casting the Islanders movie.
Garth Snow... Viggo Mortensen
Ted Nolan... Charles Bronson.
Charles Wang... Pat Morita.
Any more?
Actually I think the only one who said DiPi Sucks was Montoya as he was being beaten to the ice. And considering I was in the 3rd row and not watching from the computer, I think I have a more accurate account. It was pretty funny trying to figure out exactly how many players fit in the penalty box at once. Preseason or not... one for the history books.
Now I have seen everything................ Islander fans GLOATING over a preseason win over the Rangers. OMG! Too funny! How bout the Rangers dress their entire team on Friday and the Isles put their 5th string goalie in net and leave the majority of their starters home? Isles should be red faced that this game even made it into overtime.
But I was there. Me and about 3,000 other people, most who were rooting for the Rangers. How sad, yet how typical!
Woke up to check the score of the game and read that it was a fight fest, 5-4 overtime victory. Sounded like a fun game to watch; only problem is that it was not broadcast on TV (online only). No wonder the NHL struggles in the US market. If you live in Canada they broadcast all their teams games in the pre-season.
It didn't seem like there was much of an opportunity to gauge the two teams on 5 on 5 play. I was curios to see if that will be a strength again for the Islanders again this year.
Yipppeee a big preseason game! lol
Coral I agree with you. They dropped the ball on that one last night. Should have been televised. Every time I tried IslesTV my browser would crash. Is that a normal problem?
Steady,
I give up man! I don't know what to think. For me there is nothing more painful then being a Mets/Rangers fan. I ask for stress and aggravation! lol
Hollweg is not a fighter. He drops the gloves and I get scared for him. Him and Simon dropped the gloves last night?
Mookie:
They dropped the gloves 3 times, but Colton Orr and Strudwick (sp?) stepped in the second and third times. Orr vs. Simon seemed like an even match. DP vs Montoya was the highlight of the fights for me. DP pulled Strudwick off of Simon and then got the best of Montoya laughing the whole time. I was scared he was going to get another concussion.
There was a lot of special teams play. I think the Rangers looked a bit more cohesive than the Islanders did, though both converted 4 times. Penalties were being called left and right, the refs got a nice workout as well.
As for anyone thinking the Islander fans here are gloating over a preseason win, we're not. We're just answering the whining from the Ranger trolls the minute the game ended. Both sides did not have key guys in, why y'all bitching?
I hope the intensity carries over to the regular season but doesn't escalate to the level of stick swinging.
Healy,
Thanks for the response/update.
I don't blame them for jumping in. They probably saved his life.lol I like Hollweg and his energy, he needs to stop catching guys when they turn their backs and I think he has potential if he would try a bit harder to play hockey that make the crowd go "ooooh".
Orr vs. Simon would be a good fight. I liked Simon when he was wearing a Rangers Jersey. Didn't like getting rid of him. Especially watching him play early last season with the Islanders. Not only playing tough but, finding his game. He is a key player for that Islanders team this year.
Strudwick is a tough dude as well. Montoya was out of his league but, you do what you got to do when everyone squares off.
I don't think your gloating and what i said about the preseason game was nothing but a joke for the few here that can take those. ;)
I to hope that the intensity spills over. Look forward to being at a few of those games this year.
Too bad this game wasnt on TV. You have to wonder why the refs didnt call any 3rd man penalties.
And Simon, I guess, is allowed to play in preseason games. Wonder if hes gonna get slapped on the wrist for getting a match penalty WHILE ALREADY SUSPENDED !
Mookie:
I was actually surprised by Hollwegs play away from fights, don't know if all the adrenaline from fighting charged him up but he looked a step faster and had a great shot on his goal on the powerplay. I don't know if DP was screened or what not but he hit the corner. I don't remember him being like that last year from the Rangers games I watched.
As for the jokes, I certainly can take it. I wasn't referring to you, much more like the posts of those by "Asslander" above yours.
Okay yes, the Isles struggled against the younger Rangers/Wolfpack team. Yes it's kinda scary that it went to OT and what not, but didn't you guys have your big names dressed against the flyers, YOUR #1 goalie, and you guys lost 5-0? Preseason is meaningless, good game tonight, can't for the regular season to start. LET'S GO ISLES!!
Healy,
There will be nay-sayers from both groups of fans but the kid Hollweg has potential. Not to be a 30 goal scorer but to drop in maybe 10 and add some assists along the way. He does have good hockey sense and they were trying to bring that out of him last year. I am sure he practiced alot with and without the team more on his hockey game. This is the reason that Ortmeyer is gone and Hollweg still has a job. The fact that he was on the PP is actually quite humorous and says alot about preseason play.
Effigy,
The way the whole game was played and the fact that it was preseason. I doubt there is any punishment coming.
NYR#1,
Since we played the Wolfpack (according to you) instead of the Rangers, at least they played a better game then when Philly stomped the Rangers 5-0 the other night. You remember back when Jagr, Gomez and Co. played and had no effect on the game? Maybe the Rangers should sit and let the Pack play the season, since they play better?
Rangers don't know what a dynasty is. LOL