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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VERSUS: Dubie mic’d up

Tonight’s game is being exclusively broadcasted on Versus and fans will be treated to a unique experience. Both back-up goaltenders will be mic’d up for sound. Wade Dubielewicz will be joined by Marty Biron of the Flyers.

Some of the best jabbing from the bench comes from the backup netminders, so this could be fun.

MORNING SKATE: Kings at Isles

The flu bug hasn’t hit the NYI Media Blog (yet, knock on wood..), so here are some notes from the morning skate…

- Wade Dubielewicz will get the start in net tonight. With Rick DiPietro getting over the flu, he’ll likely back-up tonight. For the Kings, expect Jason LaBarbera to start.

- Ruslan Fedotenko (flu) is very questionable/doubtful for tonight’s game. Andy Sutton (flu) will be a game-time decision. Every other skater, according to Ted Nolan, is healthy and able to play.

- Islanders assistant coach Gerard Gallant made his return to the team after battling through the stomach flu/virus.

- At 12:15, Islanders defenseman Bruno Gervais will be guest of Billy Jaffe on the radio show, NHL Live. You can find it on XM 204.

- Dan Rosen from NHL.com came to the skate this morning. Amongst the Islanders players he spoke to were Bill Guerin and Blake Comeau. Expect a feature on Comeau soon.

- Longtime Islanders radio analyst Chris King will take part in his 1,000th Islanders radio broadcast. That includes time as the engineer, intermission/post-game host and in-game duties. Congratulations, Kinger!

- Amongst the hot topics with the media this morning was Britney Spears being admitted for psychiatric treatment. Islanders radio play-by-play man Steve Mears admitted that her 2002 concert in Louisiana was the best concert he’s ever been to. Really Steve? Really? ...

MORNING SKATE: Isles at ‘Canes

The Islanders finish off a home-and-home series on back-to-back days with the Carolina Hurricanes while they also start a two-game, four day road trip which will also take them to Boston for a game on Thursday.

Here are some notes from today’s morning skate…

- Today was an optional skate for both teams. About 14 Islanders took the ice after a team meeting.

- Wade Dubielewicz will start for the Islanders tonight while it looks like Cam Ward will be back in net for the Hurricanes. There were some talks that John Grahame would start tonight, but it doesn’t look that way.

Just like other players, Islanders head coach Ted Nolan said that “Dubie has earned his ice-time and deserves to play.”

- Unfortunately, there won’t be a Ted Nolan/Brandon Nolan match-up this season. Brandon, a top prospect for the ‘Canes, is currently with their AHL affiliate in Albany.

- The last time the Islanders were in Carolina, they won 4-1 off a stellar performance from Dubielewicz and Marc-Andre Bergeron who burned Carolina with two power-play goals and an assist. By the way, Carolina enters the game with the league’s worst penalty kill unit.

ROAD TRIP BLOG: Day 7/8 / Isles at Flames

Friday, January 11

The Islanders are still in Calgary as the play the Flames tonight.

Here are some notes.


The match-up in net will be Rick DiPietro versus Mikka Kiprusoff. And if you thought Wade Dubielewicz played in so few games, Flames back up Curtis McElhinney has only played in four this season for a total of 131 minutes.

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The Calgary media was shocked that Rick would speak to the media on the morning of the game, which is something that he does often if requested ahead of time. Not only were they appreciative, they were very complimentary as well as most goalies in the NHL don’t go anywhere near a mic on the morning of a game. Rick is an All-Star, All-Ways.

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According to Wade Dubielewicz, and we don’t have any reason not to believe him, Calgary is actually closer to his Invermere, BC home then Vancouver was. So he’ll have plenty of friends and family at the game tonight. Current total is 44, but we could see that number go up.

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Miroslav Satan is a game-time decision after receiving some bumps and bruises after a crushing third period hit in Vancouver. If he can’t go, Ted Nolan said the team will go with seven defensemen with Bryan Berard being inserted back into the lineup.

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Flames forward Eric Nystrom – yes, that one – is out for tonight after suffering facial injuries a game ago. According to the Flame’s Mike Keenan, it was a doctor’s decision.

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Islanders GM Garth Snow sat down the Fan 960’s Rob Kerr this morning for a radio interview. At around 6:20 PM tonight, fans can log onto their website (click here) to listen to it. Islanders TV will also have a copy of the interview at a later time as well.

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Miles traveled so far: About 4,266

Miles to be traveled tonight: 2,208

Oy!!!

ROAD TRIP BLOG: Day 5 / Isles at Canucks

Tuesday, January 8

Following an hour and a half flight from Edmonton to Vancouver last night, Ted Nolan canceled the morning skate and kept the team away from the arena.

No decisions have been made on the lineup, so I can’t even guess if any changes will be made.

The team will stay in Vancouver tonight and fly to Calgary tomorrow afternoon. Practice has already been canceled for tomorrow. If there’s one thing I know about Ted it’s that he makes sure his players aren’t overworked and are rested when it counts.

The team will practice in Calgary on Thursday where Wade Dubielewicz and the Flame’s Eric Nystrom will pose for a photo-op with Dubie’s mask. Wade has a picture of Eric’s dad, Bob, scoring his famous 7:11 goal in the 1980 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Miles traveled, so far: 3,609

ROAD TRIP BLOG: Day 2 / Isles at Avs

Saturday, January 5


The Islanders face-off against the Colorado Avalanche, who will be sans Joe Sakic and Captain Colorado Ryan Smyth, tonight at the Pepsi Center in Denver, CO. The Islanders will use the same lineup as they did on Thursday night. Here are some other notes:

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The big talk at the morning skate was the altitude – and yes you really do feel it. Ted Nolan said the game plan would be for guys to take quick shifts of no more than 30 seconds. According to the local media, teams don’t feel the altitude’s effects until the second period when the Avs take advantage. Of their 115 goals scored this season, 49 have been netted in the second period. They have scored 27, 37 and 2 in the first period, third period and overtime, respectfully.

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Wade Dubielewicz returns to Denver for the first time as a player since his colligate career at Denver University. Dubie won a couple of WCHA goaltending titles here and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award.

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Newsday’s Greg Logan tried tracking down Smyth, but was unable because of Colorado’s team policy of not allowing injured players to talk to the media. Someone should have reminded them that the New York media doesn’t care about his injured ankle. Logan did speak with Nolan and GM Garth Snow and is a resourceful reporter, so he should have something on his blog or in a story later at Newsday.com.

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(Corrected, thanks to Peter Botte of the NY Daily News... I added an extra "0".. opps.)

Miles traveled yesterday: Roughly 1,800 from Long Island to Denver.

Miles to be traveled tonight/tomorrow morning: Roughly 1,036 from Denver to Edmonton.

MORNING SKATE: Isles at Sens

Bit of a quiet morning at the ScotiaBank Place this morning. With both teams playing last night, there was optional ice for both squads after meetings. Here’s what we learned…

The goaltending match-up tonight looks like it will be Wade Dubielewicz versus Martin Gerber. Both goalies played last night.

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Mike Comrie makes his return to Ottawa. Last spring, Comrie helped lead the Senators to the Stanley Cup Finals. Will he be booed by the Ottawa faithful? The local media doesn’t think so.

Comrie on his time with Ottawa: “I had a lot of great memories that will always be with me… There was a sense of wanting to finish some unfinished business we had last season [after reaching the Cup Finals], but I’m real happy with my choice to be on Long Island.”

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Ted Nolan was asked who would have been his emergency goalie last night if something happened to Dubie. His answer: Ruslan Fedotenko. “We had a small game with some [of the team’s] family members over the holiday break and Tank put on the pads. His glove hand was a little weak.”

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Mike Sillinger brought his son Owen on the trip because he’s playing in the Bell Cup Tournament this week. It’s one of the biggest hockey tournaments in the world and it’s held every year up in Ottawa. Owen is 10 years old and is a member of the Long Island Gulls. His team plays tomorrow.

NYI: A Great Day at the Coli

It was a beautiful morning and it was great to see so many Islanders fans back at the Coliseum. Bruno, Dubie and Richard Park were awesome with the Orange and Blue supporters and you can really see each patron become a huge fan of each guy as they moved up and down the line talking to each and every one of them.

Looks like Islanders TV got some good stuff with Bruno, which should be very funny. So you’ll want to look out for that in the next few days.

Weirdest story of the day: A San Jose Sharks fan from Philadelphia drove up I-95 to purchase tickets to the Sharks/Islanders game on February 18th. Only problem was that only first-half tickets went on sale today. Fret not, the NYI ticket staff took his information so he won’t have to make the drive back up when second-half tickets actually do go on sale.

Thanks to all the fans who came down.

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.