Driving to the Coliseum today, I was stunned to hear the unfortunate news about former Islander Jason Blake contracting a rare-but-treatable form of leukemia. When you think of such a superbly conditioned athlete as Blake, it’s hard to imagine him as anything but the picture of health.
It was good to see that Blake said he expects to continue playing at a high level while taking medication for his condition. I hope that holds true. If he can bring the same level of hustle and fire to the Maple Leafs as he gave to the Islanders, they will be a better team.
Although Blake might not have been universally popular in the locker room, there was no denying his effort and contribution, and it was appreciated by his teammates. As a reporter, I appreciated the honesty in analyzing the team’s performance that might have rubbed some the wrong way, and the same goes for his willingness to answer the hard questions when things went wrong.
You can’t fault the man for knowing what he wanted in terms of a contract and waiting for the right deal. He left because he wasn’t going to get that deal from the Isles, not because he didn’t enjoy being an Islander. I look forward to seeing him Thursday in Toronto, and I’m sure his former teammates can’t wait to extend their good wishes.
MEYER CLAIMED: As many of you already have seen, defenseman Freddy Meyer failed to clear waivers and was claimed today by Phoenix. He obviously had value, but because of the Isles’ surplus of NHL defensemen, no team was going to give up anything in a trade to get him because he was the obvious candidate to be placed on waivers if the Isles are going to sign Bryan Berard. No word on that deal yet, but he practiced with the team on Sunday and likely will be signed in the next day or two.
TICKET ALERT: The first meeting between the Islanders and Rangers Wednesday night at Nassau Coliseum is not yet a sellout. As of this afternoon, a club official said, approximately 1,500 tickets remain.
Comments (29)
Best of luck to Jason Blake. Wishing him a speedy recovery.
Can anyone explain to me why Andy Hilbert is on the ice with one minute to go when we are down by a goal?
As I said earlier......This team has trouble in their own end. Horrendous pass by Comrie.....Crusher, that cost us the game.
Hilbert plays his heart out and has a roll on this team, but he simply cannot finish.
Isles out shot the Caps, but they let them hang around.
Really tough game to lose b/c the next two games are very very difficult facing the Rangers and Toronto.
MAB another horrendous game! The guy is useless unless he harnesses his shot. I actually think in a way he hurts the PP sometimes, b/c rather then going down low they look to him!
Team came out and played hard. Our first line CANNOT carry us every single night. We need to get scoring from
Yeesh...Hilbert out there at the end = bad idea. On a positive note, the PK was great today. Agree with Steady that the PP based around MAB isn't getting it done. They had a lot of chances, but a problem seems to be just getting into the zone, which is where you need a true PP QB who can make a good first pass to the right guy. If the PP converts, Isles win today.
I'm not sure why Hilbert was out there at the end. Maybe the Islanders really didn't want the extra man when they pulled DP.
Steady,
I completely agree with you regarding MAB...the guy just takes on way more than he can handle, and what is up with DP??? Besides a few stellar saves Saturday night, he seems a little off lately.
Comrie's pass def cost us the game but like you said they can't rely on the first line to get things done every night.
I like Hillbert cause I think he plays with passion but it's nice to see Tambs out there.
We gotta play these next 3 games this week hard with less mistakes...you win some you lose some now lets kick some Ranger A$$!!!
Greg -- Thanks for the classy comments re Blake.
i love the way all the ranger babies whine when their idiotic posts get deleted... get over yourselves you stupid tools
Will you admit your a Ranger Fan by Christmas?
Grow up and learn the game! Pimple popper!
Reallity played FIELD HOCKEY.......Gomez ZERO POINTS
Sillinger line did its thing - played well.
Caps did a good job making things miserable for Comrie.
Bergeron... ... ...
Witt is a warrior out there - wonder how many blocked shots he has already.
Second line had some chances but needs to bring it with more consistency.
Didn't take long for Park to say thank you.
See you all at the Coliseum Wednesday.
Thoughts ...
1) Bergie should stay on the 2nd line ...they looked more alive with him there
2) Campoli really impressing with his physical play
3) The reality is that the top line won't score every game, so these other lines really need to find the back of the net on Wed
4) Hillbert really has no hands, and when Sim comes back (which is hopefully soon) then he should be back on the 3rd line, with Bergie on the 2nd and Hillbert on the 4th
5) Sutton and Bergeron will work out, but BOTH of them are turning the puck over way to much. Plus, they're not really setting MAB up enough for one timers ...
6) I'll be there Wed and I hope to see the place filled with Isles fans ...should be a good one ...shame what happened to Avery ...and damn shame ;-)
JUST IN TIME FOR THE RANJERKS, MAKING HIS RETURN TO THE NYI, #4 BRYAN BERARD. JUST SIGNED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MAB SHOULD BE HEALTHY SCRATCH
WITT MARTINEK
SUTTON BERARD
CAMPOLI GERVAIS
anthony, where did you find that because i can't find anything yet
God bless Jason Blake -- hopefully he won't miss a beat during his treatment. When the Isles sign Berard, Bergeron should sit -- not Campoli -- he's played with grit the first few games and is more responsible defensively.
Youre in my thoughts, Jason... even when youre wearing a Tornoto jersey.
Does anyone else think Satan doesn't fit on this team? He's by far the softest player on the team and rarely ever comes out of a corner with the puck. Not his fault, he's very talented.
I agree with everyone else, Hilbert had no business being on the ice in the last minute.
DP cost us the game today. There are going to be close games that we'll have to win 1-0 or 2-1 where he'll have to stop slapshots from above the faceoff circles regardless of how hard they are and control the rebound from blueline shots.
And "enough already" - you can stop pretending you're an islander fan..nobody believes it and nobody has ever believed it.
I think Satan is actually playing good hockey. I am not normally a Satan fan. I think he gives the puck away way to much on the rush, but this year he is playing "smarter" hockey. He is a streaky goal scorer as is the case with many snipers. HE will get going! He is hustling a lot more than last year...Thank our new captain for that!
Guys just ignore the "enough already and realist" kid. Just some kid having fun. Just keep talking hockey!
The news about Jason is painful. It doesn't matter what jersey he wears. He made a name for himself here, and he always worked as hard as he could. My prayers go out to him and his family. As far as today's game goes, perhaps the 2 pm start throws them all off their 'game'...Or maybe it was the peanut butter jelly song...
7th Woman, I agree....I'm all for courting the young fans, but the Islanders went all out and over the top to try to "draw" the young fans into the game. It was a minor league move, totally. I hate to sound like a crotchety old grouch, since I'm not nearly old enough to do that, but when I first started coming to games I was 6 years old and THE GAME was enough to hold my attention. The kids announcing, the SpongeBob episodes in the intermissions, it was really just horrible. I especially loved playing a video of Sillinger talking about how to win face-offs with the Capitals on the ice. Good touch, guys.
I think the effort was solid, but something needs to be done about MAB and Hilbert. They are clearly the weak links on this team, and to form a consistent effort they need to be put in a proper role. In addition, during the radio post-game I was talking to Chris King about how they rely way too much on MAB on the power play. Is nobody else allowed to shoot? What about creating havoc in front of the net? It's great to have a guy like MAB but not if he's the only weapon they intend to use.
I maintain that Hilbert is useless. In deference to the brilliant bra comment from last week i yelled "CLASPS IN THE FRONT, ANDY!" when he had Kolzig down with nobody around him and decided to miss the net (hey, he didn't hit the post...). However, the way things are going he may be playing himself to an extension.
The whole team needs to work on better puck support, which was beautiful through the 2 Buffalo games. They need to be able to beat a trap team like Washington seems to have become.
Don't get me wrong, this team is exciting for me because they're together and doing things I haven't seen an Islander team do in years. However, to get to the next level they need to balance their attack and stop with the distracting gimmicks.
LET'S GO ISLANDERS!
ISLESFAN222,
HOCKEYBUZZ.COM SAYS ITS A DONE DEAL. SHOULD BE ANNOUNCED TOMORROW, AND EVEN LOGAN KNEW IT WAS COMING. THAT IS WHY WE CUT MEYER, TRIED TO TRADE HIM BUT THE WHOLE LEAGUE KNEW OUR PLAN SO HE HAD ZERO TRADE VALUE. I JUST HOPE ONCE HE IS SIGNED MAB IS THE HEALTHY SCRATCH, IF YOU NOTICED IN THE PRESEASON BERARD PLAYED WITH WITT AND LOOKED GOOD TOGETHER.
ANTHONY
thanks anthony, i knew it was comming just wanted to make sure it was offical....i agree that MAB should be stratched. any chance we can start to use him as a forward or jus on the PP? how about going with 7 D-Men and just using him when they have to?
On the other hand, best of luck to jason blake.
Hey Greg, What's Sim's status? He went for a MRI today, any word on the injury... He's VERY important to the team...
As for as MAB is concerned... Gotto to give him a little more time, he came out of the gate slow but should be given a fair amount of time. He'll be more effective if he pinches (more often) down low and cycle a wing to cover the point. It'll take some time for him to gel with Sutton.
Only saw the first period of todays game... Campoli looked really good. He lowered the boom a couple of times. He just looks stronger and much more physical than last year.
Talking about "boom", Hilbert should be shot out of a cannon into B-port... He really is a sound defensive player but has absolutely no scoring touch. But I can understand LOYALTY... If he keeps getting the playing time hopefully he can do something remotely productive...
I think through 2 periods today, MAB led the team in minutes played.... with 15.5 or something like that... so the coaching staff obviously likes what he brings to the rink... and he's here to stay most likely. I don't know what the final totals of minutes played were... but it's my guess he continued to lead the team.
DOC
Nick,
Thanks for the reference at the game. "Clasps on the front"...EXCELLENT!!!
Just a thought here... sometimes you have to give the other team some credit.
Kolzig played a pretty good game. Ovechkin is a real two way guy who can take it and dish it out. When they can't afford him anymore I hope he wants to play under Nolan. (not likely)
Hilbert is destined to play with Silly and Hunter... until Sim gets back, then he might be part of a pretty good fourth line with Park and Simon.
tambellini has a nose for the goal, but he's not an NHL finisher, and you can see Bergy turning into a Nolan guy real quick. That kid can skate and he hits everything... and goes out of his way to do it... but doesn't seem to leave his responsibilties behind. He may have earned a shot at that second line spot.
Tamby tries but he's a mosquito bite... He might be headed towards Nilssonville... or papineauland...
Hilbert will be fine making things happen with Sillinger and Hunter, and maybe some day he might get that darn thing off... and you know once it's off it's NOTHING BUT FUN!!!
Berard will help this "D". MAB needs to get serious about his defensive play. Every time he has the puck in the defensive zone it's an adventure. If not, he might be voted off the Island come the trade deadline. I'd rather see him work on his game.
Comrie, showed some signs of the evil Mike today. Playing loose in his own end, taking a couple of shots that would have been better passes, and some bad penalty situations. I don't think Nolan will stand for that stufff too long. He's a tremendous player, but he can't be allowed to slide into the dark side of his game.
They still played a pretty entertaining game. Let's see how they bounce back.
BTW: The two best plays by Caps were by ex-isles (or exiles). Kozlov's goal was one we enjoyed last year.... and Poti definitely made the best defensive play of the game... at hunter's expense.
MAB does need to play better on the "D" end, but really, that's not why he's out there. It's just unfortunate for him that he plays a position called "defense" ;-) ...let's all be real here, when the Isles traded for him he came to us with the warning that he isn't a prolific defender - but he can put up points. Now, what he really needs to work on is getting the shot on net and taking it more. If he's putting up points and creating chances like he did last year, then I - and I'm sure most of you - will be ok with his lack of defensive skill because honestly he's a truely offensive minded defenseman.
The person I was somewhat surprised with was Sutton's giveaways - I like him and know he'll turn it around but he needs to watch that breakout pass ...all in all not a bad start ...hopefully the other lines will start to contribute because as Greg mentioned in his article, it's clear that the top line is trying to do too much.
MAB & Sutton has been a terrible combination. It's like a contest of who can turn over the puck more. MAB should sit a couple of games so we can see what we have with Berard. Maybe Sutton will play better with a different pairing.
Tambellini was replaced the last few shifts of the game. I think Nolan may have been disappointed in what he saw from him. Although he did have a couple of chances.
Best wishes to Jason Blake and his family.
Vasicek looked slow today. Bergenheim had his best game so far. Good hands by Bootland and Park. That was a pretty goal. Campoli continues to impress with his play. Once again MAB is lost out there. When he does get his shot it has been too high or has missed the net. If you don't score at least create a rebound that your forwards get a hack at.
You think Nolan will want to see one or two games with MAB & Berard on the PP? Or does MAB sit?
IMO, I don't think you can sit MAB just yet, but he has to show more. It's too early in the season to determine if he's a lost cause. He is pretty valuable and should be COACHED. I do, however, think that the second pairing is more valuable defensively. Especially since Sutton was brought in more for his net clearing ability than his playmaking.
Campoli has shown he wants to stick. I think he might ease some of the pressure that Sutton is feeling now. Sutton has some offensive skills as well, but from what little I saw of him in the playoffs, he has some defensive lapses as well. He'll be more important when they play bigger teams that were cutting through Meyer/Campoli like an electric knife through the babysitter in a good slasher flick.
Campoli/MAB might be on par with Campoli/Meyer defensively... and that was a DISASTER. Maybe give him limited even strength time with Bruno or Berard, allowing campoli to play every third shift with his partner.
There was a reason he was available last year... if they can make him more aware they will have gotten a HUGE bargain. If they can't, they will only be renting him until Kohn or another prospect is ready.
BTW... 3 goals in the first period of the first game, then 5 goals in the 8 periods since. that's not too shabby. They are getting chances, and playing pretty good defense. I think it's early, but both teams they have played would be considered solid offensive teams.
The bigger tests come with the Rangers then a pretty tough road trip. Wednesday is going to be HUGE!!! Let's hope Comrie doesn't get distracted by Hollweg and those antics... This is going to be fun. It's always cool to be the underdog.
it's ok...the rangers announced a sellout a month before their season opener and there were still tickets left on ticketmaster the whole time
what?