Isles release pre-season schedule!!

The Islanders today released their preseason schedule. It goes like this:

9/23 @ Boston

9/24 Home Vs NJD

9/27 @ Calgary

9/30 @ NJD

10/1 Bridgeport VS Boston

So based off this I would guess that the Islanders thing at Adventureland would be the day after the game in Bridgeport with the season opener being a week after the game in Bridgeport.

George Marlin must step down!!

If you don't know George Marlin is currently a NIFA director and has been outspoken with his opposition to the Coliseum referendum since it was announced last month.

In his latest attempt to bash the referendum, it was reported by BD Gallof and Nick Giglia that Mr. Marlin was recently seen at a tea party event bashing the referendum.

I am doing this entry today to join Nick & BD in their attempt to put pressure on Marlin to step down from office for, "His personal politics are not in the spirit to the NIFA vision or policies and have skewed his role...his attempts to affect policies and issues even before they reach NIFA is outrageous and unacceptable."

If you would like to let your opinion be known on the unprofessional actions of Mr. Marlin you can call NIFA at:

(516) 248-2828 or email them at comments@nifa.state.ny.us

http://twitter.com/#!/BDGallof/status/86552150292967424

http://twitter.com/#!/BDGallof/status/86552451729199104

http://www.nifa.state.ny.us/contact_nifa.html

The Hoff Watch

This will be a running thread with all updates on the Christian Ehrhoff situation until he is either signed or it is announced that we couldn't sign him.

7:10PM - There is some speculation in the twitter world among NHL writers that the NHL may look at the Ehrhoff contract because of how front loaded it is. Similar to the way they looked at Kovalchuks initial contract with the Devils last summer.

7:02PM - The contract has now been confirmed! According to Bob McKenzie hes getting 18 million in the first two years of the contract. I am sorry but that is a crazy front load right there!! Horrible contract for Buffalo!!

6:35PM - According to Bob McKenzie, Ehrhoff has reportedly signed with Buffalo. The contract is reported a 10 year deal worth 40 million, however its believed to be heavily frontloaded.

Now I understand why he didn't sign with us, because there is no way that he is worth a 10 year deal!!

Rob: I disgree with Scott on this one. The Isles seemed to have a very fair offer on the table. Christian had no interest in signing here, so that's it. Send him on the way. Good job Garth and company for going for it. This was a clear sign that they are not kidding when they say, they have the money and will be aggressive. Thumbs Up!

11:35PM - According to Nick Kyrpoes of sportsnet.ca the Islanders offered Ehrhoff 6 years 33 million.

http://twitter.com/#%21/RealKyper/status/86268625115283456

Thats a pretty fair offer, however I would've went up to 6 million per and if need be frontloaded it. You can't let a marquee free agent like this go because you refsue to front load a contract!

9:16PM - According to Chris Botta we refused to front load the contract to Ehrhoff which is something the Sabres GM said he has the owners blessing to do. This seems like why we didn't land our man, so now the blame goes to the Islanders. Bad job by them letting the guy get away because they wouldn't front load the deal.

https://twitter.com/#%21/ChrisBottaNHL/status/86228772713545728

8:55PM - If you haven't seen yet, we have traded the rights to Ehrhoff to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for a fourth round pick. So basically the last 25 hours have costed us nothing in terms of assets.

5:22PM - Here are the latest tweets from Katie:

http://twitter.com/#%21/KatieStrangNYI/status/86180811358994432
http://twitter.com/#%21/KatieStrangNYI/status/86181527020519424
http://twitter.com/#%21/KatieStrangNYI/status/86181820907012096
http://twitter.com/#%21/KatieStrangNYI/status/86182121210777600

Both BD Gallof and Chris Botta think we will still remain active in the free agent market, and the fact that we were willing to give Ehrhoff so much is evidence that were willing to spend.

4:23PM - According to Newsday talks with Ehrhoff have officially broken off!! I guess it was to good to be true that a good proven player may actually sign here!

2:12PM - According to Chris Botta the Islanders have made their pitch to Ehrhoff which included a call from Michael Grabner endorsing Long Island. Botta said we should hear sometime in the next few hours if Ehrhoff wants to accept Snows long term deal believed to be worth in the neighborhood of 6 million per year, become a UFA, or sleep on it and decide thursday. As always well keep you updated!

3:50am - Well nothing tonight as expected, if I had to guess expect to hear something mid afternoon tomorrow. I will be on updating from the time I wake up tomorrow til he actually signs.

1:36am - Let Ehrhoff know we want him on the Island

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Christian-Ehrhoff/192003893416?sk=wall

1:15am - The latest from Katie Strang was that numbers had been discussed & that the money will be there & its likely going to come down to weather or not he wants to play on LI.

http://twitter.com/#%21/KatieStrangNYI/status/85881485009235968

Tonights Signings

                                         

                                                                                                                         

                                                                            

BREAKING NEWS: Isles trade 4th round pick for negotiating rights to Christian Erhoff!!

According to Bob McKenzie the Islanders have traded a 4th round pick in the 2012 draft for the negotiating rights to Christian Erhoff.

What this means is for the next two and change days the Islanders have the opportunity to sign him before he hits free agency.

If and hopefully when they are able to get this done, they will become a probable 8th seed in my opinion. Adding Erhoff to the powerplay point plus his shot at even strength along with Streit would do so much!

He just turned 29 recently and had 50 points last year in his second with the Canucks, I would give him around 5 years 27 million and call it a day.

Dems no longer against the Referendum?

According to BD Gallof, Democrats are no longer going to oppose the Coliseum referendum. Now, I don't think they are going to go out and campaign for it. However I don't think we'll see any more quotes or anything like was seen in that LI Press piece I analyzed yesterday with quotes from Jay Jacobs.

Some are skeptical of this and aren't sure to believe it, however with the record BD has had with the arena issues so far dating back to mid May when it was announced I think this is 100% true.

http://twitter.com/#!/BDGallof/status/85410783562969089

Another Nassau Dem. against the referendum!!

Well, according to recent quotes in an LI Press story it seems as though another Democrat has decided to play politics with the referendum. This time its Jay Jacobs who is the chairman of the Democratic party. He recently told the LI Press;

"if the taxpayers believe they will own anything other then an even higher tax bill, then I have a bridge to sell. The only thing the people of Nassau can count on as the truth is that the County is in a financial crisis but Ed Mangano and the Republicans want us to bail out a billionaire-by raising our taxes. But don't take my word for it... what Mangano and the Republicans are promising flies in the face of what the Countys own independent budget review office says."

So, once again you can add Jacobs to the list of Democrats who were for the Lighthouse but are against this. I truly think its disgusting how the politicians on the democratic side of the aisle are playing politics with this instead of doing whats right for the people of the County. It is evident when statements like this are made from the chairman of the party that they don't give a crap about any of us Nassau residents or the Islanders & that all they are concerned with is taking back the Legislature from the Republicans.

http://www.longislandpress.com/2011/06/23/nassau-county-islanders-announce-lease-agreement/

Isles extend qualifying offers to six!!

According to Katie Strang, the Islanders have extended qualifying offers to the following restricted free agents:

• Blake Comeau



• Josh Bailey



• Dylan Reese



• Michael Haley



• Jesse Joensuu



• Ty Wishart

Notice absent from that list is Jack Hillen. They have til tomorrow to offer Hillen, and if they don't then he will likely be starting his career over with a new team.

http://twitter.com/#!/KatieStrangNYI/status/84995441929879553

NOTE: In case you missed it yesterday the Islanders dealt defenseman Bruno Gervais to the Tampa Bay Lightning for future considerations. Although Gervais was probably one of the nicest guys on the team, I am happy he is gone because he well, really wasn't a good hockey player. Now he gets to join the Islanders southern team. With the acquisition of Gervais the Lightning now have 4 former Islanders plus one former Islanders assistant coach.

Isles Select Ryan Strome 5th overall

Tonight, the Islanders made Ryan Strome the newest member of the Islanders organization by taking him 5th overall in the amateur draft.

It was speculated by some that the Islanders would take Stromes teammate big defenseman Dougie Hamilton, however they opted for the highly skilled offensive player in Strome. From what I read Strome is friends with Tavares and Moulson and sometimes trains with Tavares in a gym in Cananda.

Ryan according to scouting reports is an excellent skater with great offensive skills and superb stick handling ability. One of the things he could use improvement on is, his two way game.

I know some of you hope for a guy who can step in right away, however according to BD Gallof Strome is a few years away, few meaning 2-3 in my opinion.

So what do you guys think of taking Ryan Strome 5th overall?

Savetheisles Mock top 10!

With the draft tomorrow & since I am not familiar with most of the prospects outside the top 10 I decided to limit the mock to just the top 10 picks.

1) Oilers - Ryan Nugent Hopkins C Red Deer

Great forward to add to their already elite cast of forwards

2) Colorado - Gabriel Landeskog LW Kitchner

Hes probably the most NHL ready forward in the draft, his leadership qualities suggest that at the very least he will sport an A if not a C for team(s) in his career.

3) Florida Panthers - Jonathan Huberdeau C Saint John

His awesome playoffs caused him to rapidly rise up the draft rankings and the Panthers starved for talent scoop up a very dynamic offensive player here.

4) New Jersey Devils - Ryan Murphy D Kitchner

The Devils go a little off the board here however, in Murphy they see former Devil Brian Rafalski who recently retired. With Rafalski on the backline the Devils won cups so they hope the same results can be had for Murphy.

5) New York Islanders - Adam Larsson D Skelleftea

Ranked by many as the #1 d-man in this draft the Islanders scoop up Larsson at five. Although some don't think he will be a shut down d-man most everyone agrees that Larsson will end up being a solid #1/2 dman in this league for a very long time.

6) Ottawa Senators - Sean Couturier C Drummondville QMJHL

The Senators stacked on defense scoop up a big 6'4 center who was once projected to go #1 overall but due to elevations in other peoples games and him not elevating his game his stack has fallen a little bit.

7) Winnipeg - Dougie Hamilton D Niagra

They've got a lot of offensive depth prospect wise and they add a very solid and intelligent prospect in Hamilton to their pool.

8) Philly - Ryan Strome C Niagra

After dealing some top offensive players Philly decides to restock the system a little bit and they do so with Strome who has great speed and hands, also will drop the gloves on the odd occasion which is always appreciated in Philly.

9) Boston ( From Toronto) - Duncan Siemens D Saskatoon WHL

He would fit in perfectly with the, "Big bad Bruins!"

10) Minnesota - Sven Baertschi LW Portland

Minnesota can't pass up the guy who was the leading rookie scorer in the WHL last year with 34 goals and 51 assists for 85 points.

BREAKING NHL NEWS: Flyers gut team trade Carter to Jackets and Richards to the Kings! Also sign Bryzgalov

According to Bob McKenzie from Tsn.ca the Flyers have traded center Jeff Carter to the Bluejackets. Bob McKenzie reports that the Flyers got Jakub Voracek, the 8th overall pick in the draft this season as well as a 3rd round pick in the draft tomorrow.

I am ecstatic to have Jeff Carter out of our division as we all know he always freaking killed the Islanders. Also to me at least it seems as though the Bluejackets won this deal.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=369793

The Flyers didn't stop there though, they have also sent Mike Richards to the Kings in exchange for Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simonds. I like Schenn I do, but I don't see how this is a good deal for Philly, they made their team a lot worse going into next season. Although I think they got a nice a player for the future in Schenn.

After making these two deal, the Flyers announced the signing of goalie Ilya Bryzgalov to a 9 year 51 million dollar deal. To me the contract is way to long however the cap hit is very friendly for the Flyers. Its got me wondering why they needed to move both Carter and Richards to fit this deal in.

Isles to open at home 10/8 vs Florida

According to Katie Strang the Islanders home opener will be on October 8th this year against the Florida Panthers. Katie says the game might start at 8PM because its Yom Kippur that day. So according to Dee Karl (The 7thwoman) there's only 107 days left until the home opener!

http://twitter.com/#!/KatieStrangNYI/status/83918776210427904

Arena details announced!

At a press conference this morning at the Coliseum, Ed Mangano flanked by Charles Wang announced the lease details between Nassau County and the Islanders for the 400 million dollar referendum they are seeking to build a new Nassau Coliseum as well as a minor league ballpark.

According to people who were there today the following were key points from the presser today:

• The plan will bring in 1.2 billion dollars in revenue, generate 3040 construction jobs and 1515 permanent jobs.




• The Isles will contribute 400 million dollars in profits to Nassau taxpayers on top of the revenue sharing.




• Even after the debt is paid off on the arena taxpayers will continue to see revenue from the Coliseum.




• Mangano will host a series of informal meetings to inform the public on this. (More on this at the bottom of the post)




• Profits will be used to offset property taxes for residents as well as businesses.




• 11.5% of all revenue from the Coliseum will go to taxpayers. Not just revenue from Islanders games.




• As was said last month any costs of 350 million dollars for the arena will be covered by the Islanders.




• The 350 million number DOES include the costs of demo for the current Coliseum.




• According to the construction report the Islanders expect the average ticket price to be $64 at the time the new coliseum opens.




• Wang says a campaign is being put together to get the word out to vote yes on 8/1.




• At the draft party on Friday the Islanders will have voter registration available for people.




• If no one comes to the new arena 70% of the debt service will be covered and we all know that the chances of no one coming to the coliseum are virtually 0




• Economist says residents wouldn't pay more then $58/yr in taxes however the number will probably be closer to around $16.




• The plan right now would be to break ground on a new Coliseum next June after the playoffs.




• According to the Islanders live blog of the event they will be setting up a website to inform people of the details of this, i'm thinking it would be similar to the blog they had for the Lighthouse Project but thats pure speculation on my part.

As I said above, Mangano has scheduled a series of informal mettings on this topic. Here is a list of the ones that have been currently scheduled:

June 29th at the East Meadow Library at 1886 Front Street from 12:00PM-2:00PM and from 4:00PM-8:00PM.

June 30th at the William P Bennett Hicksville Community Center at 28 West Carl Street. All of them will be at the same time.

Friday July 1st at American Legion Hall at 730 Willies Ave. in Williston Park.

More will be scheduled from July 11th-July 15th

The numbers are better then most people thought, and it seems as though that Wang is giving in a lot more then people thought he would! I think having the informal meetings is vital! Also its about time they got campaigns going to get people to vote yes because Newsday has done a good job of turning people against it so now they have dispel the misinformation that has been put forth by Newsday in recent articles.

Overall, this was a good day for the Islanders and us their fans !!

http://islanders.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=566637

Q&A With ThrashingTheBlues.Com

I want to take some time and thank Laura Astorian for participating in our Q&A.
Some background info on Laura:

Thrashing the Blues - Split Loyalties, Same Flummoxed Fan: http://www.thrashingtheblues.com
Hockey Editor at SB Nation Atlanta - http://atlanta.sbnation.com
Freelance Hockey Blogger for St. Louis Game Time | Birdwatchers Anonymous | NHL Hot Stove | Cycle Like the Sedins
Twitter: @hildymac 

_______________________________________________


SaveTheIsles: To start off, how have you been? 

Laura:  Outstanding! Summer vacation's the best. I love my job.

SaveTheIsles:  How did you personally take the moving of the Thrashers?  You being a die-hard could not have been easy.

Laura:  Honestly, aside from anger at the way that the league handled it (one always to piece together the fact that their team was a consolation prize for another one not moving), it hasn't hit me yet. I'm sad I won't be able to go to a game without driving four hours to Nashville, and I'm sad that the hockey community here - especially the youth community - has lost a great sponsor. I think that they're leaving a city with a lot of great potential for growth, and I think that they're making a mistake. Not in returning to Winnipeg (because I've always supported a team there), but by going there via relocation and not expansion.

SaveTheIsles:  What is the feeling with fans around the city?

Laura:  Generally betrayal considering Bettman actually acknowledged the fans' presence in Phoenix while never bothering to address us directly here. All we've gotten so far has been a teary-eyed owner and a lot of rumors being thrown about.

SaveTheIsles:  Are they going to follow the team still or root for another team?  OR just follow hockey in general?

Laura:  I know that quite a few of them are considering making the drive to go watch the Preds play. Very many Thrasher fans considered the Predators to be their Western Conference team, mostly because with them you could see what the Thrashers had a chance to become with solid ownership, management, and coaching. Several of my friends are taking a break from the NHL (not hockey) because of anger at how the Thrashers' situation was handled.  I haven't talked to anyone that has said they'll still root for the team - the players, sure. The team? Nope.

SaveTheIsles:  You followed the Thrashers and Blues and your blog is called thrashingtheblues ... how does this affect your blog?

Laura:  Good question - I think just for ease for everyone out there, I'll keep the name. The URL and e-mail address can stay the same, and it has a teeny bit of name recognition. I'll hold onto it as a tribute to the Thrashers, but it'll be 100% Blues focused from here on out. I have to admit that it will be nice to only have to focus on just the one team, and it's the one I don't regularly refer to as "Futility on Ice."

SaveTheIsles:  From talking to you, I know you follow the Islanders a small amount, what is your feeling in whats going to happen with the team? Do you think they will stay on LONG ISLAND?

Laura:  I absolutely do think they're staying put, but they'll be doing so with a new building. It's too important to the region to not finally get something built, and it's infuriating to think that a franchise with the history of the Islanders is having such a hard time getting something finaliized.  Barry Melrose and his "I think we should move the Islanders next" bull is an idiot.

SaveTheIsles:  You told me you like the Isles roster, will you become a fan :)  haha

Laura:  I'll keep my eyes on you guys - I have a feeling that if there's a surprise team in the East this year who can really pull things together, it's you guys. 

BREAKING: Some Arena Details Released!!

According to Newsday, an agreement has been reached by Charles Wang and County Executive Edward P Mangano to give Wang control of the entire 77 acre parcel of land surrounding the Nassau Coliseum.

Newsday says that under terms of the agreement Wang would get the site exclusively for the new hockey arena and surface parking. Surface parking is far less expensive then either underground parking or a parking garage. Terms of the agreement may still change though according to the article because of its lack of mixed use.

*Blogger thought*

Ok, so the Lighthouse wasn't popular with some people because it was to big, but now there causing trouble with this because its not big enough, only in Nassau County!!!

Future development on the site maybe possible according to the article. For future development a request for proposals would be opened to developers other then Wang. They say that any future development would have to replace the parking spaces on which it would sit.

In exchange for use of the site Wang would provide a percentage of Coliseum revenue to Nassau County. It would be a minimum annual payment however the size of said payment hasn't been made public yet however should be sometime this month.

http://mobile.newsday.com/inf/infomo;JSESSIONID=842F1A9324543AB0CDC0.3117?site=newsday&view=longisland_item&feed:a=newsday_5min&feed:c=longisland&feed:i=1.2972012&part=0

Draft Profile: Ryan Strome

Our next draft profile will be on Dougie Hamiltons teammate, center Ryan Strome. Ryan was a fast riser this season putting up 106 points this year led him from being ranked 19th in the beginning of the year to being ranked 8th by the end of the season.

This year in the OHL he put up 33 goals and 73 assists, which gave him an average of 1.63 points per game which was tops in the OHL. Ryan is a good skater with good speed, a good play-maker with good vision and isn't afraid to go to a dirty area to make a play. Also Ryan isn't afraid to drop the gloves either as he had 4 fighting majors this season.

Some things Ryan needs to improve on as is the case with most people this age is his size and strength. In the corner when battling with older players Ryan gets knocked off the puck to easy.

Draft Profile: Dougie Hamilton

Next up in our draft profile series will be big defenseman Dougie Hamilton. Hamilton is 6'4 187 pounds and plays for the Niagra Icedogs in the OHL, he had 58 points in 67 games this season.



Hamilton has been all over the rankings in the last few months, at times looking like a top 6 lock and now most recently being ranked 12th in the rankings by Craig Button on TSN.



Some pluses you get with Hamilton are his strong mobility for a player as big as he is, also that he is a good skater, and his offensive game really came alive this season. Not only is he a good hockey player but hes also a smart kid. According to a recent newsday article he had a 97 average in school this year which made him the scholastic player of the year for his league. Some negatives are that he has to fill out his big frame which will come with time also he is sometimes guilty of making poor decisions or trying to force a play.



Marty Williamson the GM and coach of the Niagra Icedogs recently spoke to Arthur Staple of Newsday and said he doesn't think that Hamilton will last past the Islanders.















photo taken from http://www.thegoodpoint.com/hockey/images/110225dougiehamilton.jpg


http://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/staple-s-center-ice-1.2236152/junior-coach-on-possible-isles-picks-hamilton-strome-1.2959048 (subscription required)

Mets/Ducks make minor league proposals

According to Newsday, both the Mets and the Ducks have made proposals for the minor league stadium that would be built along with the new Coliseum.

The Newsday article says that not much has been released about the plans but the plan made by the Ducks would result in Nassau getting more money then the Mets plan. They say the Ducks plan would get Nassau $200,000 more dollars then the mets proposal.

Personally, although a Nassau/Suffolk rivalry with the Ducks would be cool I hope they choose the Mets plan, because I think that if people know that the Mets minor league team would play there you may get some people who are Mets fans but not Islanders fans to vote so they'd be able to see the Mets top prospects at very reasonable ticket prices to. The Newsday article said Nassau should pick a proposal within the next two weeks.

It should be interesting which proposal they pick!

http://www.newsday.com/sports/local/ducks/mets-li-ducks-submit-minor-league-plans-1.2965982

Heres the mobile version of the article for those of you who don't have a Newsday subscription

http://mobile.newsday.com/inf/infomo;JSESSIONID=41BFE81491D13BAD3FC8.3119?site=newsday&view=sports_item&feed:a=newsday_5min&feed:c=sports&feed:i=1.2965982

Isles resign Trevor Gillies to 1 year 2 way deal!

As stated recently by Chris Botta, the Islanders today announced they had resigned enforcer Trevor Gillies to a one year two way contract.

I personally have no issues with this move, Trevor is very well respected by his teammates as well as mangaement. I expect him to see a considerable raise in his time in Bridgeport this season as well.

So I say welcome back Trevor!!








photo taken from http://nbcprohockeytalk.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/77339_trevor_gillies.jpg?w=300

Coliseum details to be announced next week!!

According to Chris Botta, Ed Mangano and Charles Wang will announce the details for the Coliseum referendum next week.

This couldn't come soon enough after all the negative press this has received and then the email which was found by BD Gallof last night which you can read about in the entry below.

Hopefully the numbers work and everything is in tip top shape with it so maybe the politicians won't be able to play politics with this, however knowing politicians the numbers could work fine and they'd still play politics because they care more about their political party then the people they represent which in my opinion is a damn shame!!

http://twitter.com/#!/ChrisBottaNHL/status/81376935657226242

Wangano Need to Get Their Stuff Together as Dems Turn Referendum Into Political Battle!

Ever since the referendum was announced to the public by Ed Mangano last month at the press conference at the Coliseum, all involved parties have said that the details for this plan would be released by mid-June. Here we sit on June 16th and still no details, and according to BD Gallof the Democrats have decided to play politics with this as I speculated they did with the vote on May 31st.

According to BD an email was sent out tonight called, "The Coliseum Tax" which accuses Mangano of lying about the referendum not costing the taxpayers a penny among other things. BD goes on to say that the email proves that the Democrats are going to use the referendum to attack Mangano, additionally that they don't care if the Islanders leave and all they want to do is take back the majority in the legislature.

So, once again we have a political party causing trouble with regard to an Isles arena development because they are more concerned with their political party then the communities they represent. To me its sickening and disheartening and disgusting that politics could in fact again prevent any progress from coming to fruition here. My message to the dems is to stop worry about your political party and start worrying about the people who put you there. Enough is enough, making this a political football does no-one good. Be amicable and discuss the matter like you guys wanted the republicans to be with regard to the Lighthouse Project.

Charles Wang and Ed Mangano need to get their details together and released. The sooner they get released the better. It opens the chance to get positive press if the numbers work, something that hasn't been the norm for this since it was announced last month. Also they may not change the minds of many voters they are needed for both the legislature and NIFA. To me with regard to the voters there either pro or con, not many are on the fence. Even if the numbers work though it may all be a moot point if the democrats want to be selfish politicians and give a big screw you to the residents of their communities because their party says to.

Theres not much the average Joes like you or I can do with regard to this right now outside to get everyone you know that is a registered voter in Nassau County to vote yes on 8/1. Until the numbers are released by Wangano theres not much extra that can be done by the average joes.

http://twitter.com/#!/BDGallof

Draft Profile: Adam Larrson

Next up in our draft profile series is hulking Swedish defenseman Adam Larsson.

Adam coming into the season and for a while before then had been the consensus #1 pick for the draft next week. However now he seems to be in a dog fight to be taken in the top five or so. In his most recent power rankings Craig Button of TSN had Larsson ranked at 8. He has drawn comparisons to Victor Hedman, Nik Lidstrom, and Ray Bourque. Larsson although not the meanest players will be a hulking reliable defenseman who a coach can put out there in any situation. If all breaks right for him his size plus great hockey sense could turn him into a heck of a player in the future.

If he falls to us at five we have to take him in my opinion. It would be a foolish mistake to not take him I feel. He stock hasn't fallen recently because of poor play by him, but because people like Huberdeau lit up the playoffs. Getting him at five would be a steal in my opinion!

Mike Repole would like to own a team!!

Today, while being interviewed on WFAN radio, Mike Repole, the founder of vitamin water said in the future that he would like to own a sports team, preferably a NY sports team. He mentioned the Mets, Jets, & our Islanders.

Its always good to know that we have local options around to keep us here should stuff not go in Wangs favor and he decides to sell.

Mike Repole is the founder of Vitamin water who ended up selling it to Coca Cola for a crazy amount of money and according to recent reports he is worth over 1 billion dollars.

You can click the link below to listen to his interview with Mike Francessa on WFAN today:

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/category/sports/mike-francesa/# (when you get on the page scroll down a little bit and click on Mike Repole)

Gillies/Haley expected back, not Konopka!!

According to Chris Botta, expect both Trevor Gillies and fan favorite Michael Haley to be bought back on 2 way deals prior to July 1st. However Botta also says that he doesn't expect another fan favorite in Zenon Konopka to be bought back. He says there have been no contract negotiations between Z's agent and the team.

I personally have no issues with Gillies being brought back on a two way deal. I know some people think hes useless and a waste of space however as a 13th forward playing maybe 20 games in a season how can you complain? Hes very respected by his teammates as well as management and hes quickly become one of the top fighters in the NHL.

Haley was a must resign in my opinion after the show he put on at the end of last season. Starting with the Penguins game and culminating with him making Sean Avery taste blood in that last Ranger game. Unlike Konopka and Gillies though Haley has some offensive upside which we saw shine through a couple times last year in the goals he scored. Most notably his goal in his first game of his season when he undressed Kris Letang. Haleys going to be a fan favorite ala Steve Webb in these parts for a while.

I think its unfortunate that Konopka probably won't be back. I personally was hoping he would be back, however I am not surprised that he won't be. Z was a warrior for us last year and was the leader in our change in culture and was one of the driving forces behind the Penguin game on 2/11. If Z has truly played his last game in an Islander uniform I wish him all the best because hes someone who leaves it all on the ice every game and I respect that.

http://www.islanderspointblank.com/2011/06/updates-gillies-haley-konopkatwo-out-of-three-scrappers-expected-to-be-back/

Draft Profile: Sean Couturier

Up til draft day we will be doing some profiles about players the Islanders could possibly take with the number 5 overall pick. Our first one will be on big center Sean Couturier who currently plays in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Couturier who because of his size draws comparisons to a young Vincent Lecavalier was initially projected to be a top 3 pick however because of killer performances by players such as Jonathan Huberdeau its expected that Couturier will be there at five.

Couturier who put up 96 points in the QMJHL this season for a second season in a row is a fluid skater with good acceleration, a great stick handler, also has great hockey sense and vision on the ice.

If on draft day our turn comes up and Adam Larsson is off the board I wouldn't mind at all if we picked Couturier. His size is something I like since we really don't have a lot of that in the system.

photo taken from http://dansallows.com/images/uploads/2010/03/sean-couturier1.jpg

So fans, what do you think about us taking Sean Couturier with the number five pick on draft day?

Happy Birthday Islanders!!!

On this date 39 years ago Long Island was awarded an NHL team the New York Islanders.




On this date we celebrate the history of the team over the last 39 years. Happy Birthday New York Islanders!!

















Quick note: Tonight on MSG at 9PM a "Birth of the Islanders" special is on. So if your not doing anything tonight check it out, should be cool to see!

Time To Add Some Fun: NHL 12

Time to add some fun and creativity to a hockey blog during the summer days. Time to talk NHL 12. How many of you play? I will guarantee you that I will buy and play this game. It seems like its going to be that good. NHL 11 was sick so this has a lot to live up to. Check the trailer out. Whats your thoughts

NHL News: Winnipeg sells over 13,000 seats in 4 days

According to various news outlets the Thrashers or now the Manitoba Moose over the last four days have sold upwards of 13,000 tickets to ticket holders of the Manitoba Moose AHL team as well as the general public. According to NHL.c0m over 7100 tickets went to the Manitoba Moose AHL team plan holders as well as corporate advertising clients. Today was the first day tickets were on sale for the public and over 5,800 tickets sold in just 4 minutes and were processed in 17 minutes.

They hope this will help the the move gain steam as the NHL board of governors will vote on June 21st weather or not to allow the Thrashers relocation to Winnipeg. I personally will be very surprised if the board of governors doesn't allow it.

Lastly, from what I understand there will be no division change this season with the Thrashers moving however in the 2012/2013 season we may see some changes with the divisions.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=564817

Finally a reason for optimism in Islanders Country?

The last seven months have been a crazy time for Islander fans, we had a top five record in the eastern conference in the second half of last season, & in that time we showed more of a physical presence then we had in the prior five years combined. Then in the last month we've had the announcements of Grabners five year extension, the arena plans being announced, then Okposo's five year extension and the signing of Anders Nilsson and Casey Cizikas to their entry level contracts.

Now combine that good news with the emergence of players like Andrew MacDonald, Travis "Hammer" Hamonic, Matt Moulson, Frans Nielsen, Michael Grabner, Kevin Poulin and Al Montoya between the pipes, and off course John Tavares as an all-star player and the we have one of the most promising futures that we've had in a while.

However given everything we as a fan base have gone through in the last two decades is it finally ok to feel some excitement and not end up getting punched in the stomach?

Personally, as a fan I think you should always be excited when a new season starts and if you aren't then there is something wrong. However this season I think you should get a little more excited because even if we fail to make the playoffs we're going to have a very young entertaining team, and with some work over the summer I don't think we will fail to make the playoffs.

Players playing in the playoffs now probably think the arenas they play in are loud, little do they know what the Coliseum is like during playoff games. Hopefully next season we can show them and the rest of the NHL what an arena is supposed to sound like during the playoffs. People during the Toronto series in 01/02 said the Coliseum was loud. Well I have a feeling that if we make the playoffs next season that we will make the Toronto series seem like it took place in a library.

NHL News: Colin Campbell steps down as head NHL disciplinarian!!!

Tsn.ca reported today that Colin Campbell will be stepping down as head disciplinarian for the NHL.

This is long overdue, his inconsistent punishments over the last number of years have irked many fans especially us Islander fans, so much so that people think that Campbell has a bias against us.

According to Bob McKenzie he will still hold on to his position in hockey ops. and is only giving up the disciplinarian job. Brandon Shanahan will be taking over this position from Campbell.

https://twitter.com/#!/DarrenDreger/status/75951412433002497

https://twitter.com/#!/TSNBobMcKenzie/status/75958680847269888

Cizikas signs entry level deal!!

Yesterday the Islanders signed forward Casey Cizikas to a 3 year entry level deal. Cizikas according to some was a top 10 prospect in the Islanders system so its good that we were able to sign him up before todays deadline.

Cizikas is expected to play in Bridgeport next season!