2-18-08: The Smile came with a Hefty Price Tag

That’s FOUR in a row now for the Islanders. That’s a winning streak which matches the one the Sound Tigers managed to pull off last night. I asked for Ted to come into the room smiling, which he did. But it was a strained smile. The satisfaction of winning another game, against a team they have lost too for the past 12 years, was soured by the untimely injuries to both Comeau and Sutton, both of whom had to be helped from the ice.
The kids got their win for the day, even though it didn’t look like it would happen all the way up to a few minutes into the third. It was a great gift for a packed house, the 9th sell out crowd this season. Of course, once again, the weather could have cooperated a little more. It was raining with a terrible low fog when I drove my daughter and her friend to the Coliseum. There were mascots everywhere for the little ones, and Sparky descended to the ice from the rafters. Even my very sophisticated 13-year-old found that slightly amusing.
And where the heck did all these teal jerseys come from? They can’t all possibly live on Long Island. There must have been some sort of group rate for the holiday. I’m sitting in my own seats this time, for a change. I love my view here, but the arm of my chair is sticking to my jersey. I had to go get something to wash the goop off because it was just grossing me out.
After all the talk on the message board this morning, I was surprised to see Ricky in net instead of Dubie. As it is a celebration of youth today, rosy cheeked Vinny Lopez did his best American Idol version of the Star Spangled Banner and got a huge round of applause. There were kid commentators with CJ Pappa and little ice girls who were cute as a button.
I had forgotten that my section 211 seats are next to “the wives section,” because that’s the only reason I can see for there to be so many well dressed women toting little kids and no men to be seen. I won’t stare, especially since I have no idea who any of them are.
The first period starts and at 17:56 Mike Comrie takes 2 for slashing and ends up in the box. I was hoping they weren’t going to start this already. The endless parade to the penalty box is always annoying and puts undue pressure on Ricky. The penalty was killed off with no shots on goal. The kid line, or as I see it, the “5” line was out when there was a delayed penalty on Aaron Johnson for holding. At the end of that power play, the Sharks had only 3 shots on goal and no goals. Bonus.
ITV’s new kids commercial were just too cute. Witt’s oldest daughter definitely has her father’s fire.
Sean Bergenheim did some great work in the corners, and the goal light went on as he was mugged against the glass. But something was wrong, they waived the goal off and I figured “Here we go again!” Surprisingly the Sharks end up with double minors that put the Islanders up two men.
The Islanders spent what most of the fans felt was much too long trying to tee up the perfect shot. The guys above me are really vocal in their displeasure with Mike Comrie’s performance.
As if by wizardry both Meyer and Johnson are called for penalties to put them two men down. Somehow they manage to kill off the penalty again with the Shots on Goal at only 5 - 6 in favor of the Sharks.
With only 1:05 left in the first Hunter is called for interference, and I wonder if Ricky can manage to hold on. The period ends with :55 left of Hunter’s penalty to carry over to the second, and a fresh sheet of ice.
I head to gate 1 for the daytime version of the NYIC Meet & Greet and of course, get side tracked once again and come back to my seat as the 2nd is already under way. I missed the San Jose goal, but I caught a glimpse of it on one of the screens on the concourse. I did watch Ricky make some pretty nice saves, snatching the puck out of the air. I must have missed the problem in the net for the Sharks. It seems that Martinek’s slap shot broke Nabokov’s mask and one of the bars cut into his nose requiring numerous stitches. They replaced Nabokov while he was being stitched up.
At the start of the third, Nabokov was back in net and the SOGs were 9 -19 Sharks, and it was still only 1-0. I was hoping they’d be able to give these kids a win. Before I could blink, the Sharks had their second goal on only 21 shots. I started to think there was no way in hell they were going to be able to come back. But surprisingly Hilbert managed to get the puck over Nabokov and into the net.
I wish these people would stop with the “You S**K” chant after a goal. Especially considering, we were STILL losing! At 16:38 of the 3rd, the SOGs were now 10 -21 and the crowd erupted trying to will them to tie it up. As I’m writing, Comrie makes some sort of miraculous move that lets him waltz in, get by a defenseman and right through Nabokov’s pads. The guys above me, who were screaming for his head a few minutes ago, are now in disbelief, along with everyone else.
I headed to the Blog Box to watch the end of the game with the group. The Islanders were on a power play, but DiPietro has to make some petty impressive saves. Just as I was writing them off, they managed this come back. The crowd was into the game in full force. Even Big Angry Man was sending me text messages.
The Blog Box table was covered in silly string. Five bucks says it’s still there on Thursday. At 8:41 of the third, Freddy Meyer makes it 3 - 2 and we now have a second batch of Free Wendy’s Chili. The crowd goes nuts, but all joy is shattered as Comeau gets taken into the boards hard and doesn’t get up. Personally… I hate this part of the movie. I don’t like watching a player get helped off the ice, it gives me flashbacks of seeing Blake on that stretcher looking like he was dead. The incident draws a five minute major and a game misconduct for # 3. But the pressure is not off Ricky who decides to grab the puck out of the air and literally run up ice with it before the whistle sounds.
With 41 seconds left to the Sharks penalty, there’s a huge scuffle in front of the San Jose net and Comrie takes a punch. It looked as if every Islander was in the crease with Nabokov and the Sharks were taking offense. You couldn’t even tell who was doing what to whom because there was just too much going on. We waited to hear the outcome of the penalties. Satan and Comrie go off for the Islanders, and Ehroff and Shelley go off for the Sharks. They pull Nabokov for the extra skater, and we’re all on the edge of our seats now. Sutton is hurt on a play, Tank loses his stick and the puck hit’s the post past DiPietro and hit’s Sutton who is sprawled face down on the ice. He wasn’t getting up and it took quite a few men to help him down the tunnel as he wasn’t putting pressure on his leg. The Islanders really can’t afford to lose more players.
With only 6.4 seconds left of the third, there is almost no one left on the bench. I’ve never seen so much room on it before. This just doesn’t bode well for the game on Wednesday. Tom wants to get Drew Fata on the phone. There going to need call ups.
So, as I said, the smile on Ted’s face came with a huge price tag. The wins are good, but the injuries are killer. The press room was packed with reporters I had never seen before. CJ was a one man video equipment juggling show and there was even someone from XM’s Home Ice that looked more like an extra for the Sopranos than someone who should be in the media pack. Yep. There’s a full moon coming.
So, as this team is stepping up and surprising everyone, I have to wonder how long they can do it. Hopefully, long enough to cement a playoff spot…. If the cost isn’t too high.
As I was leaving the coliseum, there was a line that stretched and snaked around the downstairs lobby all waiting for a chance to shoot a puck on the Coliseum ice. The security guards had never seen this kind of turn out for an event. Neither had I. It was great to see. And so was the win.