Other Players from the ’03 Draft

Looking at the Islanders draft picks from the 2003 Draft and you can think to yourself what could have been. Jeremy Colliton (2nd round , 58th overall) still has potential to be an NHLer (even though he’s now in Europe) and the team struck gold with Bruno Gervais in the sixth round. But looking at where the team picked and who was picked right after, you can’t help but wonder what-if.

Aside from the Nilsson-Bernier-Parise slide in the first round, there are three more occurrences very similar later in the draft.

In the second round, the Islanders took a flyer on a Russian named Dmitri Chernykh at 48. Nashville picked Shea Weber at 49.

In the seventh round, the Islanders drafted Denis Rehak at 212. At 214 Edmonton grabbed Kyle Brodziak.

In the eighth round, the Islanders selected Cody Blanshan at 238. Atlanta took YoungStar Tobias Enstrom at 239.

Any draft could be labeled as missed opportunities for almost any team. If a team drafts two players that make a significant impact per draft, they did well. But the 2003 draft just makes you scratch your head. Probably just bad luck.

Luckily for the Islanders, it seems like they’ve righted their drafting ship in recent years, a big credit to Assistant GM Ryan Jankowski.  

Colliton to Sweeden

Credit to Mike Fornabaio of the Conn. Post for finding this.

Jeremy Colliton, one of the Islanders' three 2003 second round draft selections but the only one to ever be signed by the Islanders, is leaving North America to play for Rogel in Sweden -- The same organization Kenny Jonsson left the Islanders for a few years ago.

(More on the the 2003 draft coming soon)

According to the Google translation, it's a one-year deal. I'm not sure if the Islanders will retain Colliton's rights or not.

Jeremy is one of the nicest guys you'll meet. He's very cerebral and quiet, yet was a great leader on and off the ice for the Sound Tigers over the last few years. The best of luck to him.

I get by with a little help from… Howie Rose

Not too much news from the morning skate for tonight. Same lineup for the Islanders other then Jeremy Colliton (# 72) being inserted for Miro Satan. Rick DiPietro will go against Ty Conklin in net.

So with that said, I have a story to share…

It starts when I got back into my hotel room last night after dinner at 10:30-ish. Tired, I figured I would do some quick ironing for today and then go to bed. I took out the suit jacket I was planning on wearing to see how it faired through the travels and it was good. Next up was the pants… Which I quickly remembered were still on Long Island in my closet. Uh oh.

I’ll quickly interrupt the story to give you a trade secret. On two-day trips (travel one day, play a game the next and come straight home), most everyone just brings one suit -- the one they’re wearing. For longer trips, it could be two or three suits which guys just rotate through. Don’t worry, we bring plenty of shirts and ties to help the illusion.

So, I decided to go with two suits on this four day trip which is more then enough considering I also brought with me a pair of khaki pants for the off day in Minnesota. Before 10:30 PM last night, I thought I was all good for this trip.

Anyway, down to only one suit I quickly called my fiancée to see if she could FedEx the missing suit pants to Minnesota so I could at least switch suits in Minnesota. But as I called her, I realized that Islanders play-by-play man Howie Rose stayed back on Long Island to celebrate his wife’s birthday. BTW, Happy Birthday Barbara!

By 11:00 PM last night, I texted Howie to see if he was still up. He was and more than willing to help me out. The pants were brought to his house early in the morning and packed with his luggage.

They’re now in Pittsburgh and don’t need to be ironed in case you were wondering.

So, to steal a line from the Beatles, I get by with a little help from Howie Rose. Thanks Rosey!