NYI: Marketing/Ads

You might see an increase of NYI logo sightings this holiday weekend. That's because, the organization has put it's 07-08 marketing capaign into full gear. Back is the "We're All Islanders", but you'll also see ad-specific marketing.

If you go to Newsday.com, you'll see a big Islanders add on the homepage of the screen. That's just the start. As the pennent races for the Mets and Yankees heat up this weekend, the Christie Brinkley tv spot will air on both SNY and YES.

College football fan? Yup, you'll see that spot on ESPN, too.

Music lover? Check out WMJC 94.3, B103.1, KJoy 98.3 and 1050 ESPN Radio all weekend for NYI prizes.

I also think we're throwing our traditional ads in Newsday also (I mean the actual paper).

We're All Islanders over here, and yup, we're trying to make you one too (if you're not already).

NEWS: Berard to Wear #4

The Bryan Berard comeback story makes him #1 in our hearts and #4 on our line-up cards.

Wade Dubielewicz will keep his #34 and Berard will wear #4 in training camp. In case you forgot or didn't look at the old picture below, Berard wore #34 in his first stint with the Islanders.

In case you're wondering, Andy Sutton will wear #25, Josef Vasicek will wear #63 and Sean Bergenheim will wear #20.

#21 is still available as of today, so Mariusz Czerkawski... If you're around... Just kidding, folks.

NYI.com: Berard Back to Islanders

From the Islanders website:

{{{ Bryan Berard, the 1996-97 Calder Trophy winner as NHL rookie of the year as a member of the Islanders, has agreed to re-join the team as a training camp invitee. The 30-year old Berard will battle for a spot on the Islanders’ blue line when camp opens on Sept. 14 in Moncton.

The native of Woonsocket, Rhode Island was the first selection overall in the 1995 NHL draft by the Ottawa Senators and was traded to the Islanders in January, 1996 for Wade Redden. Behind an 8-goal, 40-assist season with the Islanders, Berard edged out Jarome Iginla for the Calder Trophy in 1996-97. }}}

Click here to read on.

VIDEO: Christie Brinkley's NYI Commercial

I would normally try to be fancy and place the actual video in the blog, but I tired it and it didn't work out.

Click here to see the Islanders new TV spot with Christie Brinkley. I can call her Christie because I have indeed met her. Very briefly, but it counts.

I think I can speak for every Islanders employee here... We can't wait to see Christie back at the Coliseum this season.

333 Enjoy the picture.

But from an organizational standpoint, credit here is due to Josh Bernstein and the Islanders TV crew for putting this together. Great stuff.

NEWS: LI Native Gets TV Call

Minor news, but anytime a fellow Long Islander does something in hockey, I feel its worth mentioning.

The Florida Panthers have named Brooklyn-native Steve Goldstein as their play-by-play man for FSN Florida. Goldstein previously called the action for the Panthers' radio affiliate.

If the name sounds familiar, Goldstein used to work for WFAN and CBS Radio Network up here. Goldstein replaced Jiggs McDonald when he retired from full-time duty.

NEWS: Jiggs to Return, Again

Our good friend and legendary broadcaster Jiggs McDonald has informed us the MSG has asked him to fill in for Howie Rose on the TV side to start the season if the New York Mets make the post-season. Like last year, Howie will be with the Mets during their playoff run and will re-join the Isles once the Mets wrap up their post-season play (and hopefully a World Series Championship). If the Mets miss the playoffs, you can expect Howie to join Billy Jaffe from the begining.

Last year when Jiggs filled in for the first handful of games, it was a great experience for him, us and the fans. We're sure it'll be another great experience this time around.

Jiggs: We look forward to hearing you call the Orange and Blue again.

NOTE: RFA's are A-OK

Not much has been said in regards to the Islanders restricted free agents this summer. The team didn't have too many and the ones we did have, well, have all been signed. And the last piece of that sentence is what matters the most.

Last year, Sean Bergenheim and Denis Grebeshkov were two holdouts for the Islanders. They didn't sign a contract before camp and were not allowed to come back once the team started training. In 2005-06, Mark Parrish almost sat out the season because of his contract. But this season there won't be any talks of holdouts because there isn't anyone to hold out. All of the Islanders RFA's for that matter have been signed and will be in camp this season.

On September 13th when the team flies up to Moncton, you wont hear of talk of which side will blink first or what will happen if the player isn't signed. There will be no RFA distractions. And that's great news for everyone.

Oh... And it helps when no one makes ridiculous offer sheets to your RFA's, too!

OPINION: I'm Glad for Kevin Colley

I didn’t get to know Kevin Colley that well when he was an Islander, but in every interaction I had with him I could tell he was one of the good guys in hockey. And I haven’t heard otherwise from anyone else. So when I heard he was back in hockey as an assistant coach with the Utah Grizzlies, I was happy. I was happy for him because he got back into hockey after his career was ended too early by a neck injury. And I was happy for hockey because it could use more guys like Kevin Colley.

One night during the 2005-06 season when Colley was on the Islanders roster, he had a few friends come to the Coliseum for a game. He got passes for them to the Islanders’ family room, which you can tell by its name is for the family and close friends of the players and coaches. Long story short, his friends got a little out of hand and started a food fight. Again, long story short, the room was a mess and an Islanders employee stayed late to clean up.

When Colley found out, he not only immensely apologize to Islanders management, he quickly bought flowers to the employee who was stuck cleaning his friends mess. It was the right thing to do and Colley didn’t hesitate to try to fix a wrong.

Kevin Colley might not have been the most skilled hockey player. He certainly wasn’t Sidney Crosby. But he’s truly one of the good people in hockey and the NHL could use a few more guys like him.

NEWS: Training Camp Start Date

The Islanders are heading up to Moncton, NB for training camp this year. Players report to Long Island on Thursday, September 13 for physicals and then we charter up north.

Ted Nolan returns to the city that gave him a chance to prove he can still coach. This should be good.