On the Islanders Beat

505........Comeau is going to have a tough time scoring 30 goals from the press box. Don't forget our bet.

A couple of points. Bailey sticks around for 9 games and goes down unless he lights the league on fire. Maybe even before that if he really struggles.

Personally, I think Comeau will play, but I do not think that he is anything more than a fourth line player. He only looked good last year because everyone else around him was so bad. Big fish in a small pond theory.

Another coach in love with Hilbert. What the hell is wrong with these guys?

The hand of Snow is firmly grasping this team. I bitched when Gordon got this job that now Snow had no counterbalance. Maybe, now you see my point.

Other than Montreal and Ottawa nobody in the East scares me.
For whatever reason we can't ever beat these two teams. I see that continuing this season.

The South East sucks and we should beat every team there.
The rest of the North East is no big deal either. Boston, Buffalo and especially Toronto should be point getters for the Isles.

We should break even in the Atlantic. Pitt lost some luster and is not as good as last year. The Rangers don't look as good to me either without Jagr. Sooner or later Brodeur breaks down. Rolston and Holik are steps backwards. We always play NJ tough. Philly is a wild card. Trading RJ Umberger is a blessing. He killed us every time he played us. I am also not sold on Philly's goaltending.

So, does where the Isles end up depend on how well they play against the West? I think that it might. Anyone else?......Sir William

Comeau is better than a 4th liner, and will continure to get better.
Andy Hilbert is a perfect for the role they have him penciled in as. He will get 4th line minutes and PK time. He is good defensivly, always hustles. Can he score?...no, but neither can 90 % of the team. The difference is shouldn't be expected to score. He is an excellent PK guy/defensive forward, and if you can't see that, the question should be what the hell is wrong with YOU?

The more I look at it, the worse it gets.

Fritz and Jackman both go to Bridgeport? The one thing this team lacked last year was physical toughness. They got pushed all over the ice. Gordon said he was going to keep an enforcer, I guess he changed his mind. Every team in the league has one or even two tough guys. We shall see.

WTF,

You really think Hilbert is good? We are both watching an NHL team right?

"505........Comeau is going to have a tough time scoring 30 goals from the press box. Don't forget our bet."

No chit SW.
Apparently, Comeau has not been impressive as a power speed skater. And 5 year contract Terrapin Trent Hunter has grown some afterburners in the off-season.
While I like the guy as a PK'er, we could certainly live without Hilbert for 9 games until Comrie can move into Bailey's center spot.
I don't get it, but I haven't seen a thing, so what the hell do I know.

Looking forward to Friday night....I think.

(BOBBLEHEADS......Beware the fury of 505 if Comeau drifts quietly into the night).

And as far as no enforcer on this squad?....well...I'm picking Bergie as the 1st target for other teams at the start of the season. Until he gets carted off the ice..Followed soon after by KO and Tambellini.

And I never forget a bet SW.

BTW....

Love our D Corps.
Go Freddy and Jack!!!

I might have to join the Bobblehead contingent as well if Comeau ends up in the press box. Let's hope they don't let a quality player wither on the vine.

Is everyone looking forward to watching Islander games on CSPAN 2. While the Knicks Preseason in Toronto is on the Blue Guide Channel. I might as well throw out my HDTV pick up a nice black and white box from a garage sale then tune the dial to Sportschannel 3 and listen to Jiggs broadcasting the game...When is Cablevision gonna get off thier knees and stop blowing blowing the game?

Very much looking forward for the real games on Friday....Time to get this thing started.

Look forward to seeing what the kids are all about.

505....I too am worried about the kids getting pushed around as you know. I think Bergy and Sim are going to have to be very careful with their mouths...With their pesky type play, they need someone to back em up !!

SW....I think you are very much under estimating the teams we play. Pitt is still very very tough and will own us. Boston has a VERY GOOD young team that played hard for their coach last year! Washington will be good again. MTL will be very tough. The Rags will be strong b/c of their goaltending and experience.

Isles need to simply improve this year. They need to show the BOBBLEHEADS have a plan. They need to get excitement back in the barn. God help the moron Snow if this does not happen. As for the Wanger.....Send him to Computer camp and tell him to stay out of the way!

LETS GO ISLES !

505......Give me Comeau over Hilbert, anyday. I don't know what Comeau did to play himself out of a job. I do think he was over hyped last year because he was the only good thing to talk about.
Hopefully, he will play himself back into the lineup, as I do think he could be a useful player who could score 12-15 goals a year if used properly.

OMAR....Only in America could a GM assemble the biggest choke team over the last 2 seasons and earn himself a four year extension. It's the same logic that has Wall St execs running their company into bankruptcy and getting 50 million dollar bonuses. The inmates are running the nuthouse.

Didn't we play Pitt and Boston pretty even last year? Pitt is a much weaker team than it was last year. Boston may be better because of Bergeron, but Ryder will be a bust. I still think we should split with them.

As for the Rangers, pretty much they traded Jagr for Naslund, Tyutin for Redden and Straka for Zhedrev and lost Shanahan to the cap.

Look for Naslund to get hurt, Redden to revert to his woeful Ottawa ways and Zhedrev to find himself in the doghouse before long.

To be competitive this year, the Isles have to pile up points against
the South, break even against the North East and hold their own in the Atlantic (maybe several OT losses and a bunch of stolen DP points).

The increased games against the stronger West will be the difference between a decent season and a disaster. I think that 15
out of the 30 points available would be terriffic.

Let's hear how you guys see the season as shaking out......Sir William

Anyone who thinks that Comeau is just a fourth-liner is out of their mind. Based on his playing last season, and just how well he was able to handle the NHL level, he is definitely a career second-liner. He can post 20-25 goals a season, he can put up 50 points a season if he worked for it. He's still a kid! With a good center and a good team around him, he is a much better player. He is definitely a player that needs to be kept, and needs to be utilized. He deserves second time minutes at least!

If you think I am the only one who feels he is a second line player, check out www.hockeysfuture.com...they agree with me, as would any critic

"The South East sucks and we should beat every team there.
The rest of the North East is no big deal either. Boston, Buffalo and especially Toronto should be point getters for the Isles"

are you kidding me?

The Isles don't belong in the same league as the Capitals.

Yeah ok, the Isles will "rack up points vs Ovechkin"

my fellow Islander fans get dumber ever day.

bailey did not do nearly enough to make this team. Looks like the Isles are trying to save face.

"As for the Rangers, pretty much they traded Jagr for Naslund, Tyutin for Redden and Straka for Zhedrev and lost Shanahan to the cap.

Look for Naslund to get hurt, Redden to revert to his woeful Ottawa ways and Zhedrev to find himself in the doghouse before long"

Do yourself a favor and look at Markus Naslund's career and find any reason why you believe Naslund will get hurt.

If anything, Jagr has been hurt a lot and the Rangers replaced him with a guy who will always be in the lineup.

Wade Redden already has a goal after two games and should surpass Tyutin's 5 goals last year from the blue line after, oh say after 20 games.

Keep on telling yourself that this team will be good, and maybe, just maybe that will come true. Look forward to the 1st pick next year, that is if Snow does not trade it for the number 8 pick, because that guy is a can't miss guy. You will have a long dismail year, keep dreaming that you will win and make the playoffs, as for the comment that Naslund will be hurt, I would worry more about my goaltender who will be around for the next 12 years or so, no matter what his hips do!!!

"You will have a long dismail year, keep dreaming that you will win and make the playoffs"

Billy, who cares if we make playoffs this year? Maybe you live under a rock, but we are rebuilding. This is more of a developmental year then anything else.

At least we won't be delusional like the dumb rag fans, who will celebrate another 1st or 2nd round ouster in the playoffs as "progress". The rags aren't even a contender. Not close to one. They will not sniff a conference final, let alone the stanley cup final. They are a team mired in failure their entire existence, 1 cup in 60+ years? That smells like failure.

Nice rebuilding the Islanders are doing.

Guerin, Weight, Sutton, Witt, Park, Sillinger, Sim, Martinek all over 30, some well over 30, and taking playing time away from the kids.

Oh yeah, Streit is over 30 too!!!

That signing is going to be a HUGE bust.

Anyone could amass points playing on that Montreal powerplay.

"Maybe you live under a rock, but we are rebuilding. This is more of a developmental year then anything else."

Really, MM????? With all those old veterans???? Truly clueless, like most of your posts. And, by the way, your supposed young talent. Other than Okposo (a 2nd liner) your young guys aren't going to be all that good. Although I do like Hillen. Other than that, nothing. Be honest with yourself and you shall see the truth.

Rebuilding doesn't mean only playing older players. We are playing young players with vets, so they can learn. Al Harbor and JD are pretty clueless with this approach obviously.

Bailey, Bergenheim, Campoli, Comeau, DP, Gervais, Hilbert, Hillen, Hunter, Joey Mac, Meyers, Okposo, Pock, Tambellini are all under 30. That's 14 players. Except for Campoli (IR), the UNDER 30 group is the majority for the team.

We have Bailey, Comeau, Hillen, and Okposo as being the real youth being integrated onto our team this year, with Collition, Walters, and Nielsen right behind. That's a lot of youth to throw onto the ice at once.

Well, for all your blow hardedness about how the Islanders are doing things the right way, rebuilding, blah blah blah, the Rangers have a lot less 30 + year olds in the lineup and they also have a MUCH better group of youth than the Islanders have.

No one in the their right minds who know what they are talking about would trade Brandon Dubinsky or Marc Staal for anything in the Islanders organization.

NO ONE.

"Other than Okposo (a 2nd liner) your young guys aren't going to be all that good. Although I do like Hillen. Other than that, nothing. Be honest with yourself and you shall see the truth."

JD, we really aren't going to be all that good? Oh noes! And here I thought, during our rebuilding, we were contenders for the cup this year! You've really opened my eyes JD, thanks! LOL

"Maybe you live under a rock, but we are rebuilding. This is more of a developmental year then anything else."

I wrote that to Billy above, but it shows what I expect of my team. Reading comprehension might not be your strong suit, but I never said we'd be good. We are rebuilding, and this is a developmental year for us.

"Be honest with yourself and you shall see the truth."

The only truth I see is a sad rag troll, trying to save face and give himself some hope for this season.

"The only truth I see is a sad rag troll, trying to save face and give himself some hope for this season"

Why would any Rangers fan do that? Even if the Rangers don't win the Cup this season, they have a tremendous future with some terrific young players on the team already and on the horizon.

"Well, for all your blow hardedness about how the Islanders are doing things the right way, rebuilding, blah blah blah, the Rangers have a lot less 30 + year olds in the lineup and they also have a MUCH better group of youth than the Islanders have.

No one in the their right minds who know what they are talking about would trade Brandon Dubinsky or Marc Staal for anything in the Islanders organization.

NO ONE."

Oh Noes!!!!! Since you said it, it must be true. You are after all a world-class hockey scout, right? You work for all the teams in the league, right? LOL

"blah blah blah, the Rangers have a lot less 30 + year olds in the lineup and they also have a MUCH better group of youth than the Islanders have."

Just keep repeating that, over and over again; and maybe just maybe the tears will stop. Sad little rag troll.

Typical Isles fan, turns to the "troll" comments when he loses the battle.

Count how many players over 30 the Islanders have on their roster compared to the Rangers.

YES SIR! YOU LOSE!!!

"Why would any Rangers fan do that? Even if the Rangers don't win the Cup this season, they have a tremendous future with some terrific young players on the team already and on the horizon."

You need only look in the mirror and ask, "why would I (Al Harbor) need to spend time trolling on a Isles blog looking for positive reinforcement about my favorite team on another teams blog?"

I actually think the rags have a good future ahead of them with Dubinsky and crew, in a few years. Rags can be a contender, if they don't go off the deep end next summer, picking up more Naslund's/Redden's and stick with developing their youth. Rags are probably 2-3 years ahead of the Isles in youth development, but we are catching up. I think rags CAN be real contenders in 2 years. I think Isles CAN be contenders, in 3-4 years IF 4 or more prospects we picked up this draft turn into keepers, and Okposo, Comeau, and maybe Hillen develop to their potential.

You should have more faith in your team, and its prospects for the future then having the need to troll here suggests.

what Mark Messier, are you admiting the following was wrong then?

"t least we won't be delusional like the dumb rag fans, who will celebrate another 1st or 2nd round ouster in the playoffs as "progress". The rags aren't even a contender. Not close to one. They will not sniff a conference final, let alone the stanley cup final. They are a team mired in failure their entire existence, 1 cup in 60+ years? That smells like failure"

I mean now, you are talking about having "a good future and all"

Rangers can't afford to pick up more Redden's and Naslund's and fit them in the cap so they have to keep going with youth!

C'mon man! Wake up!

"Typical Isles fan, turns to the "troll" comments when he loses the battle.

Count how many players over 30 the Islanders have on their roster compared to the Rangers.

YES SIR! YOU LOSE!!!"

You lost the moment you pushed Post on this blog. Besides you, who cares how many over 30 year old players either team has?

If you truly weren't looking for validation like a sad depressed child, you'd be over at the rags blog playing slap-happy with the locals. LOL

"who cares how many over 30 year old players either team has?"

Ummm, you do! Silly boy!

Actually, you should hit preview before you hit post and re-read what you write, because you say some seriously dumb chit!

"what Mark Messier, are you admiting the following was wrong then?

"t least we won't be delusional like the dumb rag fans, who will celebrate another 1st or 2nd round ouster in the playoffs as "progress". The rags aren't even a contender. Not close to one. They will not sniff a conference final, let alone the stanley cup final. They are a team mired in failure their entire existence, 1 cup in 60+ years? That smells like failure"

I mean now, you are talking about having "a good future and all"

Rangers can't afford to pick up more Redden's and Naslund's and fit them in the cap so they have to keep going with youth!

C'mon man! Wake up!"

Al,

You need to wake up.

I am a hockey fan first, and an Islanders fan second. From that prospective, I can see positives in the rags youth system. I can see the potential of it, if it comes together. I think the rags CAN be a contender. That is their potential. I don't think Sather will let it happen in the end, I think the short term will end up being more important then the long term. I think that every summer Sather seems to be enarmoured by 1-2 high priced vets, that throw off chemistry and hold back some youth. I don't see that trend changing.

Bottom line, rags potentially are on the road to be contenders in 2 years. Realistically, that's another story that only Sather can and will write. But Sather being Sather, its safe to say that the rags will not meet their potential.

Try being a hockey fan first, and enjoy the game, not just a close-minded rag fan. You might find a lot more enjoyment from the game.

Please don't talk about reading comprehension when you apparently don't have the skill yourself.

I wrote, "Other than Okposo (a 2nd liner) your young guys aren't going to be all that good. Although I do like Hillen."

Clearly you can see that I said your young guys aren't going to be that good, ever. I don't mention anything about your team not being good this season. That is a given and I didn't feel the need to mention it.

Apology accepted.

""who cares how many over 30 year old players either team has?"

Ummm, you do! Silly boy!

Actually, you should hit preview before you hit post and re-read what you write, because you say some seriously dumb chit!"

Silly boy? Are you a chick? Are you on the rag right now?

You might be alluding to me answering one of your trolling posts above. Again, it boils down to YOU being the only one that cares. I just made a point and made you look stupid. LOL

I concede. I am so bored with nothing better to do, so I sit here at my computer and constantly hit refresh because talking so highly of my Rangers in an Islanders blog is FUN!

After all, I had a lot to do with the Rangers success last season. And all of the Rangers players love me. Actually no, they couldn't give a rat's a$$ about me :-(. If I fell off the face of the earth, not one Ranger would care.

Actually, what am I doing on here? Is this really what my life has come to? Spending my entire day at my computer, blogging my days away? YES! This is my life. No exercise. No girls. Just blogging! Wow I love my life :-)

"Please don't talk about reading comprehension when you apparently don't have the skill yourself.

I wrote, "Other than Okposo (a 2nd liner) your young guys aren't going to be all that good. Although I do like Hillen."

Clearly you can see that I said your young guys aren't going to be that good, ever. I don't mention anything about your team not being good this season. That is a given and I didn't feel the need to mention it.

Apology accepted."

JD,

Your outclassed.

"Rebuilding doesn't mean only playing older players. We are playing young players with vets, so they can learn. Al Harbor and JD are pretty clueless with this approach obviously.

Bailey, Bergenheim, Campoli, Comeau, DP, Gervais, Hilbert, Hillen, Hunter, Joey Mac, Meyers, Okposo, Pock, Tambellini are all under 30. That's 14 players. Except for Campoli (IR), the UNDER 30 group is the majority for the team.

We have Bailey, Comeau, Hillen, and Okposo as being the real youth being integrated onto our team this year, with Collition, Walters, and Nielsen right behind. That's a lot of youth to throw onto the ice at once."

That was my response to you. Nothing about how good the Isles would be this year.

Everything else was directed towards Al Harbor.

Go back to school kid. You need it.

LOL

And please stop calling me a troll. It's not nice and I don't like it. My mother was a troll.

Just ignore the Rag fans that come here. It is years and years of frustration. They will never see what we saw in the 4 cups. They will never have our history. They will always be the big boys that constantly FAILED!

Even more pathetic is, we have been so bad of late and we still beat them. Look at DP's record vs the lowly Rags that were picked to win the cup. Too funny !

No Jagr, No Avery, No Shanny.....All players with a letter on their chest are GONE !! LMAO

How did DiPietro do in last nights game?
Can;t wait til friday!

MM, direct quote from an above post of yours,

"JD, we really aren't going to be all that good? Oh noes! And here I thought, during our rebuilding, we were contenders for the cup this year! You've really opened my eyes JD, thanks! LOL"

So now what??? Once again you shouldn't speak about reading comprehension. You are clearly outclassed and apology accepted.

Hey OMAR, ummm I mean Steady. Typical post from you. No suprise there. Lots of words, little substance and hockey knowledge. You can't hide that STEADY............

The beauty of opening night is that there is Hope and Optimism...that will not last long with the Isles this year. They will be in the bottom 3 in the conference when the season ends. They will be dead last if/when DP gets hurt. It will be another top tier pick for Snow to trade away at the draft. Every team in the East is better than the isles.

Attention Ranger fans.......

Y-A-W-N.

I find it ironic that two of the "Walking Wounded" of the Isles IR (Campoli & Sutton) ... were chosen help Gary Bettman ring the opening bell at the NYSE this morning during some of the worst times in the market's history ...
---------------------------------
I'm as die hard an Isle fan as anybody else ... but I know we aren't going to shock the league this year and finish in the top 8 in the conference .... all this BS about which team is older .... Isles or Rangers is ridiculous ... who the hell gives a rat's buttocks? As a statistician I can tell you that doesn't matter at all ... you can juggle the numbers any old way to fit the perception you are trying to support. For instance ... The Detroit Redwings' power play has failed 76% of the time... vs. The Detroit Regwings' power play has succeeded an astounding 24% of the time ... it's all symantics ... who really cares? My Dad is better than your Dad BS.

The fact is .... the Isles are very young and very old ... not many players in their prime years ... 25- 29 .... that is the key number ... they have players on their way up ... and players on their way down ... and how many 30+ year old's the Rags have vs. the Isles has ZERO bearing on how the Isles will do this season and how it will develop the Isles' youth.

I wise man once told me (Scott Stevens) .... talent means nothing ... it's how you use and develop that talent that is going to make you just a player or a super star .... He admitted to me that he really had to work extremely hard and mature to become a perenial star player ... without that work and guidence from vets ... he'd of been just another early 1st round bust.... he also said playing with Rod Langway and Ken Houston (forgot about him) gave him the freedom early in his career to learn and develop his skills... and he learned so much from them his rookier year.

JD - You telling anyone they have little hockey knowledge is beyond funny. You come on here and spew your same redundant b.s every single year. You never touch on issues hockey related, you have minimal player knowledge, and are simply boring.

For you to say NONE of our young players will be good is beyond funny. Let me guess, all theRags kids are gonna be superstars. You are sooooooooooo CLUELESS!

Go away. No one cares about your msg rose colored glasses and what they see.

p.s How many cups have you seen in your life? Please enlighten us. BWAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA

I do admit that I love Brandon Dubinsky and Marc Staal.

I think I'd be willing to trade Kyle Okposo, Jack Hillen and Josh Bailey to have Brandon Dubinsky up the middle for the next 10 years but unfortunately I don't think the Rags would be that dumb.

You never know with Sather though. BWAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA

I did say I like Okposo and Hillen, but you read what you want, you always do. And once again, you end your post with the usual refrain.

I find you lack of knowledge amusing, as do most on here. But you keep posting. We all need a laugh now and again with the current market volatility. Thanks for the chuckle.

Bought my NHL Centre Ice package today. I will be satisfied if the Isles are fun to watch. You can't help but get excited when you see young players score their first goals at the NHL level. It should rub off on the whole team and the fans.

Kevin T.

Kev,

Now we just need to hope the youngin's actually pot a few goals. I still have the bitter taste of lack of scoring and from subtle lines of both Logan's and Botta's blog it seems like that may be another issue.

I really don't expect the Islanders to make any noise. Its really hard to subdue the hope that is created each new season, however this line up probably won't be performing any miracles. I am looking forward to watching the kids develop and see if this system of Gordon's really means anything new/exciting.

JD/Al Harbor/Mark Messier,

I can at least applaud you for some intelligent "trolling", but its really pointless to have this rivalry back and forth. Both teams fans know the true state of the franchises and we're not gonna win any points with the other side ever.

As for this argument over youth and experience...the islanders are only in the first year of rebuilding... the real sign we are going with youth was the amount of picks Snow amassed in the draft. Those are the players that will be coming up in a couple years time. Hopefully some are stars and some get us good value to get some other proven guys here. We are still cleaning out the deadwood this year. And someone has to teach these kids.

Above not me again...I concur the Caps are a better team, but, thats irrelevant, Bobbles have no playoff aspirations, so who cares? Bobble time near....

JD...who are you? To be honest, I find it funny that you say I know nothing, and how I write, yet NO ONE KNOWS you?

I guess you are the psycho stalker.

Again I ask....How many cups have you seen in your meaningless life?

BWAHAHAHHAHAHAHA

If they don't play Comeau at least 15 minutes they are out of their minds. He is a hustler, a good skater and he will keep on getting better. He makes things happen on the ice. I'd rather have Guerin sit than Comeau. The only thing Guerin can do is shoot and he still was a -15. He commits turnovers every shift on no-look passes to the other team, and he doesn't even hustle. Maybe Weight can bring the best out of him, but I'm not holding out any hope for that.