Thursday, April 30, 2009

NEWS FLASH: AZ Republic Reports NHL in Control of 'Yotes

A report out of Arizona cites that Glendale City Manager Ed Beasley claims the NHL is now in control of the Phoenix Coyotes.

Click here to read the story from the Arizona Republic.

If you think the Islanders lease with the Nassau Coliseum is bad -- and it's horrible -- the Coyotes might have it worse in some regards. They're in a gorgeous new building with a great surrounding area, but they owe the city a lot of money just to play there.

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Friday, April 24, 2009

April 24, 2002 -- Shawn Bates

Today, seven years ago, the Islanders were enthralled in the playoff series with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

And Shawn Bates scores on a penalty shot against Curtis Joseph in a Game 4 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Nassau Coliseum. He became the second American-born player, and 13th overall, to score on a penalty shot in the playoffs and the first Islander to do so. The Islanders’ win evens the series at 2-2.

If Bates didn't score on that penalty shot, would that series still have as much meaning or be remembered so fondly?



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Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Aucoin Recalls '02 Playoffs

In Ian Busby's story in the Calgary Sun, Adrian Aucoin recalled the 2002 playoff series between the Islanders and Maple Leafs.

There have not been too many playoff series like that one recently, in terms of physicality, scoring and the teams down right hating each other. And you still can't meet an Islanders fan who doesn't cringe when they hear the name Darcy Tucker.

And by the way, Aucoin was just as important to the revival of the Islanders back then as Michael Peca and Alexei Yashin and sometimes that is forgotten.

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Tuesday, April 21, 2009

All 82

I accomplished a personal achievement this season. Traveling with the team, it was always a goal of mine to attend all 82 regular season games. In years past, there was always something that got in the way. It was either staying home and preparing for our home opener the next day, personal conflicts or even a few New York Dragons games.

But this year I made it and while some parts of this season were more challenging then others, I’ll remember being with the team every step of the way.

When taking our seven pre-season games into account, I attended 89 Islanders games this season. Two more Bridgeport playoff games at the Coliseum and at least one more Sound Tigers game tomorrow night at the Arena at Harbor Yard.

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Thursday, April 16, 2009

Weight on XM Today

Doug Weight will be on XM's NHL Live today at 12:30 PM.

He's actually doing a light media blitz at the NHL's New York City office. Doug will also be on NHL.com's Cisco All-Access Pre-Game Show with Rob Simpson and Heidi Androl amongst other things.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Monday, April 13, 2009

It's Official: Streit to World Championships

Switzerland just got their NHL All-Star defenseman for the World Championships.

Mark Streit has just confirmed that he is headed to Switzerland for the 2009 World Championships, which are taking place in his home country.

It was reported last week that there was some doubt whether or not Mark would play for the Swiss team because of the groin strain he missed a few games with. But all has been checked out and Mark was given to the green light to play.

About one to three other Islanders could also be selected to play in the World Championships. Countries should be announcing their full rosters some time this week.

As confirmed last week, Islanders head coach Scott Gordon will be an assistant coach for the USA.

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Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Just 2 Years Ago Today

Already receiving help from other teams, the Islanders enter their regular-season finale needing a victory against New Jersey to qualify for the playoffs. They do, winning 3-2 in the shootout after a memorable pokecheck from goaltender Wade Dubielewicz clinches the game.

I was back by the locker room watching the last moments unfold at the Meadowlands with Deb (going then by) Kaufman, Chris Simon and then trainer Graham Black.

I don't know who screamed louder after the pokecheck, Deb or Chris Simon.

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Monday, April 6, 2009

Jiggs Recalled on an Emergency Basis

Howie Rose will be on NY Mets duty this week and Islanders fans will have the pleasure of (Hockey Hall of Famer and all around great guy) Jiggs McDonald partnering up with Billy Jaffe in the TV booth for the next three games.

The original plan was to have Howie call the Mets' season opener in Cincinnati today for WFAN 660 AM and then have him fly to Carolina on Tuesday for the Islanders game on MSG-Plus (it's an off-day in the Mets-Reds series). He was then supposed to fly back to Cincinnati for the remainder of the series. Jiggs was prevously scheduled to call the games for MSG at Pittsburgh and home versus Philadelphia. Howie would then rejoin the telecast for the season finale.

However, heavy rain in the forecast puts today's Mets-Reds game in doubt. If and when the game gets rained out, Howie would have to stay in Cincinnati to call the make-up game tomorrow. Instead of playing it by ear, MSG made the call yesterday to let Howie stay in Cincinnati regardless tomorrow and fly Jiggs in a game early.

Howie will rejoin Billy in booth on Sunday versus Boston.

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Friday, April 3, 2009

Okposo Picks UNC

As can be read here on SI.com, Islanders rookie Kyle Okposo has picked UNC to win it all in the NCAA's.

Okposo: "I'm going with North Carolina. They're my boys and I should have never doubted them."

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And as you can see here on Newsday.com, Radek Martinek beat out John Maine, Okposo and Funny Cide amongst others to win Newsday's Bracket Challenge. Okposo only beating out a horse is something that needs to be looked into.

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US Olympic (Mens) Hockey Coach

Edit (11:45 AM): And then there was this scoop from Pierre Lebrun over at ESPN.com. Looks like Ron Wilson will be the guy. GM/Coach combo of a Canadian NHL team coaching the Americans in Canada (Vancouver) for the Olympics.

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The 2010 U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Head Coach will be exclusively unveiled at USAHockey.com on Monday, April 6, 2009, at 9 a.m. ET.

Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke is the GM of the 2010 team that will play in Vancouver. Dave Ogrean (executive director) and Jim Johannson (assistant executive director for hockey operations) are also in on the decision.

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