Draft Observations – Part 1

The reason why I didn’t comment on the this year’s draft before it began or during is two fold: 1) I had no idea what was going to happen and 2) If I guessed right, I didn’t want to be accused of actually knowing and spilling the pot. Bu it’s over now, so here we go.

Jordan Nolan, son of former Islanders head coach Ted Nolan, was finally drafted today by the Los Angeles Kings in the seventh round, 186th overall. This was Jordan’s third and final year of being draft eligible.

In 2007, Jordan’s first year of eligibility, father Ted told me he would be a mid-round selection. Unfortunately for the Nolan family, he went undrafted.

Last year, Ted told me he thought he would be a late round pick. He was a year off.

But this might be a good sign for the Nolan family as Jordan is 20 years old and teams do not usually draft 20-year olds if they do not intend to sign them sooner rather then later. This is somewhat reminiscent of when the Islanders drafted Chris Campoli in 2004 in the later rounds and had him playing in the AHL a few months later. Ditto for Steve Regier that year.

Actually, both Chris and Jordan both went undrafted in their first two years of eligibility, so you never know what can happen. 

Congratulation to the Nolan family.

Top Plays of November

If you tune into the MSG-Plus (2) pre-game show tonight, you can see the Islanders top plays from the month of November. Rumor has it there might be a play or two from Islanders of the Month Joey MacDonald, a goal scored twice (Mr. Campoli) and one of Bill Guerin’s all-time greatest goals when he O’Burned the net in Montreal.

The highlight package will also be shown on Saturday’s pre-game telecast when the Islanders are on plain old regular MSG-Plus.

For a listing of where you can find MSG-Plus, click here.

MORNING SKATE: Flyers at Isles

The Islanders are back home for an Atlantic Division tilt versus the Philadelphia Flyers. It’s the first time the Flyers have visited the Coliseum this season. Here are some notes from the morning skate.


- Defensemen Chris Campoli, Radek Martinek and Brendan Witt are indeed all out for tonight’s game. Both Martinek and Witt took the full skate and looked pretty good to the naked eye, but Islanders head coach Ted Nolan told the media that Marti is about a week away and that Witt could possibly play on Monday.

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- With that news, Aaron Johnson returns to the lineup and at his natural defenseman position. In his five games earlier this season, Johnson mostly skated as a fourth-line forward. Johny said the coaches told him he’ll be eased back into the lineup, but is excited to finally get back into an NHL game.

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- In the uber-tight Atlantic Division where the top and bottom teams are only separated by six points, the Islanders enter tonight’s contest only two points behind the third-place Flyers. The Islanders are only four points out of the Atlantic Division lead.

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- The probably match-up in goal tonight is Rick DiPietro versus Martin Biron.

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- The Islanders third-best penalty kill will get a good test tonight if the need arises against the Flyers who own the NHL’s top power play unit. They click at a 24.4 percent rate.

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- Before the game, Islanders forward Sean Bergenheim and Flyers goaltender Antero Niittymaki will partake in the photo-op with the youth Finnish hockey team from Ilves, Finland, who is participating in the International Division of the Lighthouse Tournament.

ISLAND SNAPSHOTS: Bruno & Campy=Firefighters

You might have seen Island Snapshots in the first three editions of Islanders Illustrated. Well, now I’m bringing by photo-eye to my blog.

In honor of Firefighters Appreciation Night, here are two photos from when Islanders defensemen Chris Campoli and Bruno Gervais went to a local East Meadow Firehouse.

Enjoy!