One of the first tasks new Islanders coach Scott Gordon faces is determining who will replace Mike Sillinger at center while he continues rehab for microfracture surgery on his right hip. As the Isles indicated in the draft when they selected Josh Bailey and Corey Trivino in the first two rounds, center is a sore spot that needs to be shored up as soon as possible.
As things stand now, most would say the Islanders don’t have a true No. 1 center, considering Mike Comrie’s lack of size and Doug Weight’s advancing age. When I recently asked Gordon how he views his options at center, he said, “Dougie Weight is a guy that has been in that [No. 1] position before and certainly is a guy we’re hoping that he’ll establish himself quickly.
“Mike Comrie plays center, we have Frans [Nielsen] and Richard Park and you also have Andy Hilbert, who has played some center. We have some flexibility there and versatility at the position. In saying that, probably one of the things about our lineup is that maybe there isn’t an extreme high-end offense, but our bottom isn’t an extreme low. All four lines, I think, have the ability to score, which is tough to defend against. If your fourth line has some scoring touch, you have an advantage.”
Because of his experience playing with Bill Guerin in Edmonton and St. Louis, it seems likely that Weight will center the top line early on with Comrie in the second line role. Veteran Park and young Nielsen will battle for the third center spot on the checking line. Given Park’s ability as a penalty killer and his NHL experience, he might be the best fit between Sillinger’s projected linemates Trent Hunter and Jon Sim.
Whether or not it was an oversight, it was interesting that Gordon omitted the name of Ben Walter as a candidate for one of the top four lines. Walter played for him in Providence before being traded to the Isles before last season and spending most of the year in Bridgeport.
Rookie camp opens today at Iceworks in Syosset, and Bailey is bound to attract a lot of attention. But it’s unrealistic to expect him to make the NHL roster when he could benefit from a season as the No. 1 center for Windsor in the OHL.
Comments (16)
Park would be a good fit for the 3rd line....IMO. Hopefully Weight surprises us all.
Park would be a good fit for the 3rd line....IMO. Hopefully Weight surprises us all.
I feel better about this team than last years team for some reason.
Quote..."In saying that, probably one of the things about our lineup is that maybe there isn’t an extreme high-end offense, but our bottom isn’t an extreme low."
Our bottom isn't an extreme low? We finished dead last in scoring last year so I have to correct you on that one Mr. Gordon. Our bottom is as low as you can possibly get.
I am not upset at losing Sillinger. I'd love to replace him, Guerin, and Weight with younger players. Let's dump the rest of these aging vets and break in the colts.
Someone sure does have a lot of time on their hands to pretend to be so many different bloggers on here... and actually just have a conversation of one.
Take your meds imposter!
DOC
Hilbert needs to go...Park I can handle on 3rd line. Comrie is in his second year here and I expect larger contributions. The PP should be ok with Streit, assuming we can draw penalties with tenacity and forechecking. Who are the scrappy players on this team? The bodyguard/fighter is absent and the bangers are absent....that seems like an easy fix financially and would make this team more exciting to watch. Play hard, draw penalties, use PP to score.
Who is going to play goal? Two hip surgeries in 2 years? You watch, Ricky won't be ready to start the year.
I still think that Rob Henningar has a potential shot to fill the role at center. He is older because he finished college, and he is a playmaker. If he has a great camp, he could be the one.
And on another note, I will ONCE AGAIN state my opinion that the current setup used for Newsday blogs is totally unacceptable. Newsday has to do something about this, Greg... it is absolutely ridiculous that you and Katie are expected to continually fish through all this stupid BS and impostors and childish Rangerfan spam. There are better alternatives, and they need to implement one of them. There is NO reason that Newsday readers who come here for information should be subjected to any of this.
Watching Wall Street melt down today, I was wondering how this affects the Lighthouse Project. It would appear to me that the credit market has dried up, so how does that affect Wang's ability to finance his grand scheme? It would also seem, that since the economy has taken a nose dive, that politicians will not be so anxious to have their names linked to massive spending on a
hockey arena. It would appear that the money earmarked for this project could be better spent especially with Nassau County raising property taxes over 3%.
Now, this may be shortsighted thinking, since the project will bring thousands of jobs here to Nassau, but in the end, the public perception may be that in drastic times, who the hell needs a new
venue for a team that has a limited draw and in reality will only serve a small minority of taxpayers.
Nick, perhaps you can better answer this as you seem to know the most about the project. Where will the funding come from and with a recession looming, will that funding dry up?
The whole state to the US ecomomy does not bode well for the islanders or the rest of the NHL. People on Long Island are hurting and I think that money is tight right now. Hocket tickets are ridiculously expensive and I beleive that, faced with a choice
between gas, heating oil and mortage payments, luxeries such as tickets will be the odd man out.
I can also see that corporations are doing belt tightening and luxery boxes and season tickets may be the first to go. Perhaps some corp execs here can shed some light on this.
Overall, I think we are in for a lot of half filled arenas, not just here but everywhere. I think that the Islanders will be particularly hard hit this season. With the strength of the US dollar rising against the Canadian dollar the small market Canadian teams will also suffer.
I think that the NHL will take a huge step back this year and that the Cap will shrink next year. Perhaps Snow was wise to lock up all those players at affordable contracts when he had the chance.
All other opinions always welcome..........Sir William
The difference between Ben Walter and the centers Gordon mentioned? Walter has a two-way contract.
SW- good questions. If a bond issuance is used, the credit mkt should not be a problem. However, other forms of financing just got harder. Bridge loans are a near impossibility ; perhaps a consortium of private investors to defray the inherent costs would be wise.
Posted by SIR WILLIAM | September 15, 2008 23:48 Watching Wall Street melt down today, I was wondering how this affects the Lighthouse Project. It would appear to me that the credit market has dried up, so how does that affect.....
The answer is it's another blow to an ecomony/financial system in a downward spiral that has yet to bottom out. The project was already pretty much finished as planned, as the Atlantic Yards deal is. What is worrisome, bordering on frightening, is the prospect that our regret about it not getting done may soon be replaced by worries about tens of thousands losing their jobs, homes etc., and what follows.
Hey SW and everyone else....hope you're doing well. With the Yankees going down the drain, it's very strange to be sitting here in the middle of September anxiously awaiting hockey season, but any real Yankee fan knew this day was coming if they continued to gorge on free agents and had all those horrific drafting years while they were winning the championships. You'll probably see quite a house-cleaning over there when all's said and done.
My new consulting gig is at a hedge fund, and that combined with the many friends I have at Merrill, AIG, and Lehman made for a hell of a day yesterday, and it proves just how out of control the financial sector has become. Let's not do that again for, oh, 100 years or so, OK?
SW, about the Lighthouse, that's a really interesting question, and I don't know the exact answer. I know the only contribution from the public is a $76 million state grant, but that grant was approved 12 years ago when they first discussed a new arena on the site. I couldn't tell you about detailed financing plans, but I'll email my contacts at the Lighthouse and let you know what they say (I'll try to decode the spin as best I can). If the project is privately financed and doesn't involve debt, it may become more attractive as the economy goes south and other projects dry up. In addition, if the County is looking at more losses, it may simply want to eliminate expenses as best it could, and a better lease with the Coliseum (through the Lighthouse) could accomplish that. If there is debt involved, the project could end up being scaled back, or they could stretch out the timeline, but I don't know the exacts of the situation.
The perception game could be very interesting when it comes to the economy and the Lighthouse. As you guys said, would people see it as a diversion, or would they look at it as much-needed public investment at a time of uncertainty? You could surely argue either way, and I'll see what I can dig up...
I thought he was pretty believable as you.....maybe even better.
lighthouse aint happening.....trust me on that fellas.....it is tied to this big hotel, condo tower, and shopping district....not a shot in hell thats getting done right now, even if wang steals the money from CA....
Post at 12:31 not me as most of you have guessed.
Thanks Nick for your insight. If budget cutting becomes a real big deal then I see this project going on the back burner unless Wang has private financing. Even if he does, that may end up backing out on him with money getting so tight.
No comments on the state of the NHL? Personally, I beleive that this will be a bad year for the league. The NHL is a ticket revenue based league due to the lack of a national TV contract and I just can't see people spending money on overpriced tickets. I wonder if Lehman Brothers had a luxery box at the Garden or how many season tickets they held for the Rangers or Knicks.
No matter how Bettman spins this, the NHL is due for a big drop in revenue and those big contracts are going to strangle the teams that are stuck with them next year....Sir William