Islanders Partner With Northwell Health For Child Support Center To Be Named For Schaefers' Mom Jennifer

According to multiple reports, it was announced today that the Islanders with a donation of $150,000 would be partnering with Northwell Health to make a Child Support Center at RJ Zuckerberg Cancer Hospital in New Hyde Park.

This would be a place for children to go and wait while their parent undergoes cancer treatments.  This center will be named in honor of Jennifer Schaefer, the mother of Islanders star Matthew Schaefer who tragically passed away from cancer in 2024.

This is just a tremendous thing that the Islanders are doing with Northwell, well done to them!

Gary Bettman Tells Media That Parking & Traffic Have Improved At UBS, Is He Right?

Today, from the NHL office in Manhattan, Gary Bettman spoke during a media session with the Associated Sports editors.  According to Newsday, among the topics discussed were parking and traffic at UBS arena.  

Bettman suggested that the construction finishing on the Belmont Grand Stand will help matters improve.  Also that it had gotten much better since the Islanders first season.  So the big question is, is he right?

As someone who has been to a ton of games there, mostly driving, I not only think the Commissioner is incorrect, I find the exact opposite to be true when it comes to parking.  When it comes to traffic I don't really feel as though its better but I don't feel like its much worse either.

In my experience, since the arena has opened and specifically over the last season and half to two seasons, parking, specifically exiting the garage has gotten a lot worse.  I specifically mentioned that time frame because it coincides with the opening of the outdoor shopping experience by the parking garage.  

A fan was quoted in the Newsday article talking about how many have gotten used to things.  It is hard to get used to things and build a routine when they routinely change things when you leave the garage.  You can leave one way one game then come the next game when you try to go that way your told your not allowed to leave that way anymore and you have to go this way now.  For example, this happened to me at 3 games in row during the season, there was a different exit pattern each game.  If you dare object with the staff forget about it, it is like the staff thinks fans are robots pre programed to obey them.  If you don't obey them the staff like malfunctions into inappropriate behavior.

The only matter in which I would say traffic is worse is as a result of the changes above.  When exiting on the Cross Island side of the garage you are forced to squeeze 3 sometimes 4 lanes of traffic into one lane in that tight space.  I am surprised there haven't been more accidents with how tight it is there.  While it doesn't create a super long delay, the idea is that it is a decrease in the experience and aren't they supposed to improve the experience and not find ways to make it worse?

Keep in mind, these issues mentioned are occurring with the shops only at 25% occupancy, according to a recent Newsday article.  Imagine what things will be like when or if the shops get to 50+% occupancy?  The garage will no longer be available for hockey then is the way this is trending, in my eyes. 

The Case With Anders Lee, Stay or Go?

With the Islanders season coming to an end, one of the biggest offseason story lines will be the fate of their captain Anders Lee.  Lee is set to hit free agency in July with his 7 year 49 million dollar contract coming to an end.  So, the big question is, does he stay or does he go?

Some pretext, Lee has been a fantastic Islander, captain & community ambassador.  From his first NHL goal against Winnipeg at the Coliseum to the winning goal against the Panthers on March 1st his on ice contributions have been immeasurable.  Off ice, what hes done with charity and his Jam Kancer tournament is just remarkable.

However, with Darche going into year 2 and now Peter DeBoer behind the bench and the collapse the Islanders just went through, changes need to be made and the biggest one that can be made is letting the captain walk and going in a different direction.  

Since Barry Trotz left, this team has just not been good enough.  That has been with Lee as captain, and then this year the collapse following the Olympic break is inexplicable.  Now, all the flaws of the team since Trotz left don't fall on the players, a lot falls on poor roster construction by the previous group in charge.  But things like this years collapse I feel like you have no choice but to look inward at the leadership group in the locker room.

In the end, it will be really weird to see Lee playing somewhere else, but ultimately I think it will be for the best because how are we ever supposed to get better if we just keep retaining the same guys over and over again?  

A Look Back At Pre Season Predictions, Part 2

Last time we went over predictions for the forwards I had from the pre season.  Now, for the defensemen & goalies.

1) Alexander Romanov (Carson Soucy)

Prediction for Romanov:                       Actual for Soucy

6 goals                                                       5 goals

18 assists                                                   7 assists

24 points                                                    12 points

Romanov's season ended prematurely after taking that brutal hit from behind by Mikko Rantanen against Dallas in November.  After a couple months of rotating people in and out of that spot, the Islanders acquired Carson Soucy from the Rangers at the end of January for a 3rd round pick.  Soucy showed some decent offense on occasion but going along with Mayfield big hulking guys who don't skate very well the fit was suspect to say the least.  Soucy is a free agent now and I would be pretty surprised if he returns.

2) Adam Pelech

Prediction:                                         Actual

2 goals                                               4 goals

18 assists                                           12 assists

20 points                                            16 points

Pelech had a rejuvenating season!  He was healthy all season for the first time in a while, and managed to break what was a crazy long goalless streak.  Defensively, he showed a lot of flashes of old throughout the season as well.  His name has come up recently when discussing changes the Islanders could look to make this summer.  Coming off his best season in a while but still having 3 years left on his contract, it could be advantageous to try and sell high on Pelech now.

3) Tony D'Angelo

Prediction:                                          Actual

10 goals                                              5 goals

30 assists                                            35 assists

40 points                                             40 points

D'Angelo is an interesting guy, because he very much outperformed his contract. However, he isn't without his warts by any means.  D'Angelo moves the puck well becuase of his good skating ability and some of the passes he is able to make leave you scratching your head like how did he feather that through?  On the flip side though, holy crap is he turnover prone!  I would be hesitant to give him term on an extension but if he would take another 1 year deal I would explore that this summer.

4) Ryan Pulock

Prediction:                                         Actual

5 goals                                                3 goals

20 assists                                            24 assists

25 points                                            27 points

Much like Pelech, Pulock also had a rejuvenating season.  Healthy for a good portion of the year like Pelech, we saw great strides in Pulock game back to the player he was when we signed him to his current contract.  The lack of offense is still puzzling as I said in the pre season but thats just the player he is it seems.  

5) Scott Mayfield

Prediction:                                           Actual

3 goals                                                 2 goals

10 assists                                             13 assists

13 points                                              15 points

Mayfield oh Mayfield, for part of the season I actually found myself cursing him less then I had in prior seasons.  With that said, he is still a boat anchor back there and it would be of great benefit to the Islanders if they could figure out a way to move on from him and that horrible contract Lou signed him to.

6) Matthew Schafer

Prediction:                                        Actual

1 goal                                               23 goals

2 assists                                           36 assists

3 points                                            59 points

Not only was Schaefer a huge surprise for the Islanders but his emergence rang bells around the NHL about the new superstar emerging on Long Island at only 18 years old.  It was just crazy watching him night in and night out the things he was able to do out there at this age.  Not only his play on the ice but his personality and attitude are one of a kind and fit perfect in this area.  If this is just the beginning how good could the future get for him?

Goalies:

1) Ilya Sorokin                              

Prediction:                                           Actual

30 wins                                                29 wins

20 loses                                               24 loses

5 OTL                                                   2 OTL

2.60 GAA                                            2.68 GAA

.912 save %                                         .906 save %

Sorokin had an up and down season to say the least.  He started off really rough, which led to the dismissal of long time goalie coach Piero Greco.  That change, plus the hiring of a mental health coach seemed to do wonders for Sorokin as he played the best he had in a while.  However, excessive use and a poor defensive system ended up becoming too much for Sorokin to bear and down the stretch his performance suffered.  With Peter DeBoer behind the bench, hopefully they return to a more structured defensive system to help Sorokin not be hung out to dry as much as he was this season.

2) David Rittich

Prediction:                                           Actual

12 wins                                                 14 wins

8 loses                                                   10 loses

5 OTL                                                    3 OTL

2.70 GAA                                              2.76 GAA

.907 save %                                           .894 save %

Much like Sorokin, Rittch had an up and down season as well.  Coming out of the gate the first few months for Rittich were pretty promising.  However, that fizzled quick and Rittich was never able to recover as evidenced by his paltry .894 save %.  There is some talk that we could see Rittich return next season, however Semyon Varlamov seems to be moving in the right direction after missing the entire season due to two separate knee replacements.  Varlamov recently returned to Bridgeport and backstopped them to a 5-2 victory.

Islanders Sign Quinn Finley to 2 Year ELC

According to multiple reports, the Islanders have signed 2022 3rd round pick Quinn Finley to a two year entry level contract.  The Islanders continue bringing their prospects into the fold after signing Cole Eiserman and Kashawn Aitcheson to entry level contracts last month.

Finley, 21 a forward for the University of Wisconsin had 33 points in 36 games this season including 17 goals.  Finley, along with several other players will now be reporting to Bridgeport as their season winds down and their playoff series gets underway.