2-16-08 live blog! I'm Tom AGAIN!!!

As Tom has business elsewhere, he told me I better do a good job. Um.... I highly doubt I can duplicate what he does. But I'm here.

Ok. Saturday night, good crowd, Loudville packed, should be a loud game for sure.
Starting line up: 13, 11, 2, 44, 89 and Ricky who didn't make the open practice this morning. Actually, there were only 11 team members at the Subscriber event this morning, so no line combos were revealed. BTW... I know absolutely nothing about line combos, so don't expect any from me.

19:10 Hilbert takes a holding penalty. 50 seconds in Andy? Gee. Thanks.

Park clears the puck as usual... Ok, while I wait for the Islanders to kill off this penalty, CJ Papa seems to be taking Deb Kaufmans' place tonight as he is doing his brodcast duty from her usual spots with full lights and cameras and on FSN. I'm sure Webb20 will be dissapointed.
17:12 They've killed off the first penalty. Let's not get too many more gentlemen. Thank you.

I thought for sure Aaron had the puck at the blue line, but they called it out. IF it was out, it was out by a thread. BS for sure.

15:17: face off with big Joe. he loses it. and takes a tumble behind the net, and into the Islanders zone and into the netting. Ok... does anyone realize how freakin' hard this is to do. To watch the game and type with the damn times and what's going on. How the heck does Tom do it?
14:35 Tank loses the puck and the rush is back towards Ricky. Vasicheck and Martinek are keeping him safe until they can control it. Whistle. Don't ask me why. I have no idea.

Ice girls out, so Ricky takes a little stretch at the bench. Did I mention he wasn't at practice this morning? I did didn't I?

Like to mention that NY Hockey Talk's Rob Kowal is here taking in the game with great seats behind the penalty box. Make sure you check out the show tomorrow night, or pod cast it as Tom Liodice will be a special guest. Actually now it's NEXT week because Tom is still doing Sound Tiger duty today. (Shameless plug... shameless plug... I know)

Rockit HC is also in attendance with a friend who basically looks like every Irishman you've ever met. Always good to see him in the building.

13:36: Ricky takes a delay of game penalty and Bergie is sitting in the box.

11:59: so far so good, no goals yet.

11:42: Penalty over, Bergy out of the box and into the play, Satan couldn't tee it up. Back into the netting it goes

9:58 SOG 7 - 2 Islanders.

9:31 Hunter can't get it past the Thrashers. But he keeps trying. And then there's another freakin' whistle. Something tells me this game is going to take a REALLY long time.

Hello Yolanda Vega! NY Lotto Celebrity.

By the way... We have a PAIR of Kens tonight at the table. Islanders Outsider and Okposo Net. (Don't forget to check out their blogs on tonight's game too!)

9:14: Face off in Atlanta zone, and back towards center Ice. Tank to the net, but no goal. and yet a very quick whistle. Are we actually going to PLAY this game. Or is it going to be like freakin' football.

Ok... obviously, I'm cranky. I don't know why.

Bergy just hit the boards with a huge thud, but is still skating, so that's good.

A "let's go Islanders" chant erupts for his efforts.

7:38: Tamby gets mugged in the paint. Someone give this boy a cheeseburger. He's got to bulk up. But then he wouldn't be as fast as he is rushing back up ice to 31.
6:47: Glove save on a Sutton shot, but no one there for a rebound anyway.

6:36, shot bounced off Ricky. I woudln't call it a save, but it didn't go in so I guess it counts.

6:08, Sutton to hunter who throws a hit and keeps the puck in Atlanta's zone. but out it goes. He then brings it back in on sides. Hunter shoots, save, rebound to big Joe and In. But no freakin' light. Are we doing this again???? Joe gets mugged in front of the net, but no one seems to be reviewing the play. Crap!!

The Islanders raised $6700 for the Stephen Siller foundation this evening. It would have been nice if it was more, but I don't know how many other organizations are doing as much for local charity as the Islanders. Thank you Chris Dey.

5:37: No goal for Joe. Phooey on them!!! SOG are now 16 - 4. At least the action is in the right zone for the first. Let's get that goal back boys.

5:22: Sean throws a nice hit and they keep the puck in the zone, He's actually staying in front of the net.

5:08 Islander goal by Satan. They got it back. So this line combo DOES seem to work.

4:51: The chants and the cowbell start up again. Richard Park and Hilbert get the assists.

4:14: Comrie does a nice litte dance to keep the puck. He almost tripped himself doing it though.

3:42: Hey! Guess What? Another Whistle. I better get coffee. This is going to be a long night.

Ken wants to know how fast I type. It's 110 wpm. Not quite as fast as Tamby skates though!

2:18: That dreaded time that Ricky usually lets up a weak goal. Almost ... Can we get into the locker room up by 1 gentlemen? Please?

1:39: Rick leaves the net to play the puck, and the people behind me go balistic. Satan again, nice SOG. And ... we stop.

1:20, almost another Islander goal, Berard with Park and Bergie and Satan. Bergeron waiting at the blue line.

1 minute remaining... tick tock... tick tock. Oh look, rush ito the Islanders zone... A little nerve wracking play there, but Guerin get's it out and Johnson clears it.

Horn sounds!!! Ok.. THAT'S ONE!!.

Sorry: I was yapping. Did the NYIC meet & greet at Gate 1. Introduced Rob Kowal to everyone and gave him a tour of the Blog Box. So.. I missed Miro's goal, but I was here for the Delay of Game penalty on Rick again. Satan's reward... go sit in the box.

The SOG are so unbalanced, I'm going to remain hopeful for tonight.

There are way more Thrashers jeseys than I would have expected. But then again, LI does have a lot of transients too. I'll have to check out a game against Florida and see if it's the same thing.

12:33 Comeau lays a nice hit against the boards that rattles the glass.

SOG 26 - 6 and another whistle. Maybe I should go get something to eat. Ok... I'll wait.

Oh yes... Rangers song breaks out.

There's a kid in front of me in 201 that is either taping the game to his MP3 player or watching it on his camera phone. I can't tell. But it just seems bizarre to me.
11:40. Two guesses... A whistle.

11:37: Um... a whistle. Someone swallow those damn things.

10:49: Park with a little dipsy doodle move gets the puck deflected and up into the netting it goes.

9:40 Thrashers penalty on #22.

Hey!! The Wendy's Chili promo is back!! One more goal, and it's Chili time!

They're on a Nynex power play, and the Thrashers take another penalty. Bench minor. Woo hoo... 5 on 3. Let's get loud and get some chili baby!

8:41 Islanders take a time out. I guess they're trying to figure out how to make SURE they get the chili. (Ok... now I'm really hungry.)

8:37 A botched play and no goal. Bergeron takes it back into the Atlanta zone and they try to tee it up. Guerin misses a pass and almost loses it at the blue line, but Bergeron saves the day and the Wendy's Chili by getting it past Lehtonen. Assists by 13 & 89. The crowd goes wild and sadly, continue the "you suck" tradition. Sorry guys.

7:44 still on the powerplay, Tank takes a beating in front of the net. And a quick whistle.
Meyer at the blue line, but it skips out . The kids behind me keep saying "We got chili!!"

SOG now 34 to 6. Yes, the Thrashers are tired.

5:56 Another Thrashers penalty for taking down Mike Comrie.

You know... I'm so secure right now about this period, I could probably head downstairs to get something to eat. would you mind? 'Cause, like I'm really starving. And besides... the fire dancers are on, and that takes a few minutes anyway for them to shake their pom poms and get the guys drooling... Ok... see you at the third.

Ok... I'm late again.. 17:13 of the first, Thrashers take another penalty.

shots now 39 - 6. Is this the islanders? Are they playing a pee wee team or something.
12:42 and sog now 41 - 6.
12:10 of the third, and Bergy makes it 4 - 0! THAT'S 7!!! Woo hoo!

Ricky get's an assist

The game has been delayed as Comeau gets sucker punched. There's a 5 minute Atlanta penalty, but we still haven't resumed play. Don't know what else is going on here.

Penalties and game misconducts even things out. But then Atlanta takes yet another penalty. They like the box tonight. There must be free beer in there or something.

Ok... now that 's 4:44 left of the third, I have to pack up. I have too many things to carry and can't get it all down the stairs myself. But I do have gentlemen here in the blog box. I'm sure they'll help me out.

Be back later to finalize it.

It will be so nice to see teddy smiling again in the press room.
VERY VERY NICE.

And it was. It's always wonderful when that man walks into the room, and lights up a smile even before he hits the podium. Things are coming together, it was a good game with the right outcome. Two points. It would have been nice if Ricky could manage the shut out, but we've all seen this before.

In the locker room, Sean Bergenheim was the first one in. I was in the back of the room again, but I didn't need to hear him. His smile said it all. He is finally coming into his own and playing the way I knew he would be able to play. Now, he's being productive and he's finding his place on this team.

Blake Comeau was also brought in to talk to the media. Certainly everyone wanted to know about the scuffle and the sucker punch he endured. He took it as all part of the physical game that it is, and thanked Berard for stepping in. Thankfully, he didn't look any worse for the wear.

Now, the last game, my blog box buddy Frank was calling Tank's line the "Trade Bait Line." But now that they are clicking so well, could it possibly be? Chemistry was so important to this team, and for so long, they just couldn't find it. Now.... things are happening. Did you think we'd ever see 49 shots on goal this season? Did you think they'd set a record for only 10 shots against?

Just an amazing night. One the sell out, weekend crowd is sure to talk about tomorrow when they're getting their free Wendy's chili.

Hockey 'n Heels redux

Mother Nature doesn’t like the NY Islanders. More times then not, when they try to do something different for their fan base, they get rained on, snowed on, and generally just washed out. Such was the case again on Tuesday the 12th. Not only was it Hockey ‘n Heels night, but there was also a “Women in Business” reception at the Marriott sponsored by LIJ and hosted by Mike Bossy.
A very lovely event really warranted a better turn out. However, it started at 5 pm, the same time that the rush hour traffic came to a stand still as cars played slip’n’slide on every major thoroughfare in Nassau and Suffolk County. It took me an hour to make a normally 20 minute ride. I figured, it was even further to go home from work, I wanted to go to the game anyway, might as well check out the meeting. I’m glad I did.
I really have to learn to carry business cards. However, since I change purses with every pair of shoes, I have a difficult time making sure I have everything I need. Had I remembered, I would have had a chance at winning some great raffles. That will not be a mistake I make again. Mike Bossy played master of ceremony to the intimate group. He introduced the president of LIJ who gave a brief speech about their cancer care program that treats more patients than Sloan Kettering, sometimes providing health care to those in need at little or no cost. There are 40,000 people in their system, and their mission is to take care of people. They will be investing over a billion (yes, that’s right. That’s a “B”) dollars in the next five years to build a research center and expand their services. We, as Islanders, are very lucky to have such an organization in our own backyard with such a valiant mission.
Bossy had the best job of the evening -- handing out the prizes. And although this was a “Women” in business event, there were just as many men in the group. When he was handed the fishbowl of business cards to pick from, he fully admitted he was going to rig it so that only women won the prizes. What a gentleman! I was so elegant in his grey stripped suit, standing so tall and thin at the podium, kissing each woman who won a prize. “I’m from Montreal. You HAVE to kiss twice!” he told the ladies. From the crowd, one of the jealous men shouted, “Now I know why you were the leading scorer!”
The beautiful young woman who was running the event left her cell phone and PDA on the table with me as she assisted Bossy at the podium. I could not believe my eyes as the cell phone buzzed across the table and the PDA beeped incessantly. Didn’t these people know this woman is WORKING! She’s busy! When she returned to the table, she literally had to juggle the two devices getting back to everyone and making sure all was taken care of, and meanwhile…. She was still smiling. Amazing!
Then my phone began to buzz. Everyone was worried because it was already almost 7 pm and I wasn’t inside the Coliseum. “Where are you?? Are you alright?” I love my friends. They care about me. I quickly changed out of my bright red spikes and back into my snow boots and fur coat.
“Catie, there isn’t some sort of underground tunnel we can use to get from here to the Coliseum, is there?”
She smiled at me. “Wouldn’t that be great? I think they had one a long time ago into the convention hall. But they don’t use it any more.” DRAT! Out into the elements I go. And I had to walk all the way to the BACK of the Coliseum to go through the media entrance. By the time I got there, I looked like a snowman. The girls at the desk with the passes felt bad for me, the security guards felt badly for me, and IQ had a rush of motherhood come over her when she saw me.
“Oh my god! You poor thing! Where’s your hat? Why aren’t your gloves on? There’s snow in your hair! Let me help you. You need to dry off.” It was so sweet, and I was so late and so appreciative of her concern. It felt good. Inside, the puck was dropping. She walked with me and helped me carry some things as I made my way to gate nine and over to the blog box table. What do I find there? A packed house! How does this happen???? There’s my usual BB Buddy, Tiger Track Tom Liodice, along with my favorite adversary, Frank Trovato; a rare Mike Gasparino visit, and who is that down at the other end of the table??? Is that B.D. I see? Why, YES IT IS! I know that Islesblogger.com Mike is up in his own seats and there was a rumor that even Islanders 360, Mike Carey was in attendance too.
So tell me gentlemen… How come on the nights when the weather is crisp and beautiful, the drive is a breeze and the barn is rocking, you’re busy elsewhere and Tom and I are alone. But when there’s a freak blizzard and only about 6000 people make there way to Uniondale, YOU ALL SHOW UP!!! Oddly, we were missing our “KEN” quota. I don’t know why.
As I struggled to get my boots off and my spike heels back on, I tried not to be too big of a disturbance since everyone but Frank and I were live blogging. I handed out Hersheys’ kisses to make up for the commotion I caused.
I was heart broken at the size of the crowd on what should have been a great day for women in hockey. There were women here, but not what it could have been. Even Loudville was sparse, and I didn’t see anything that was marked as “Ladyville” so I couldn’t judge the $10 ticket sales. There were so many prizes to be given out, I started to think that I should have just bought a $10 ticket so that I could have been in the running. I surely would have won something. Moreover, the prizes were GOOD prizes! Every time another gift was announced, I groaned.
An unfortunate penalty on Martinek has the Blog Box in an uproar, especially Frank. I may be the “cheerleader” of the group, but Frank is the one who can become visibly upset.
Witt endures a knee on knee hit and gets a penalty as well. Another call that caused a stir. Trent Hunter scores and I head off to gate 1 for the Meet & Greet… slowly. I hardly ever wear the red shoes because they are almost impossible to walk in. They are the type you put on, and STAY put in. Drive for Five decided to come out and play, but after IQ and I were through with him, I don’t think he’ll join us again. We had him beet red and giggling. He did manage to ask me if I could find out WHY there are no Bergenheim Tee Shirts for sale on the concourse. I contacted the Director of retail sales who told me the demand wasn’t enough (YET!) and the order needs to be large in order to have them made. So perhaps next season they may be there. My suggestion is that anyone who would LIKE to get a Bergenheim Tee Shirt should actually go to the concession and ASK for one. Or even call the team store in Hicksville and ask if they have them. They’ll keep track and maybe we can get them by September.
Back up to the Blog Box for period 2. Frank is missing, but he left me a note. “Down with #55!” We argue about Jason Blake all the time. He seems to enjoy it. He won’t one day when I smack him upside the head.
Everyone who was sitting in the 300s are now moving all the way down to the lower bowl so that it looks much better on the VS telecast. Tambellini nets his first goal to make it 2-1 and we all go nuts. Everyone has waited for him to be able to produce, so we are all excited. Frank has not returned to the table. He must be lost on the concourse.
There is a family with a little baby two rows in front of us. The baby is being incredibly good and is adorable in the littlest Islander jersey I have ever seen. He’s too adorable, and I’m wishing I could hold him for a few minutes…. The feeling passes… I’m good.
I stand on the chair and scream as I watch Sean get one into the net as he crashes into the boards. I scream “THAT’S SIX!!” but I’m also worried as I watch to make sure he gets up and isn’t hurt.
Of course, in true Islanders fashion, they let the Flyers get one back with 2:30 left in the second. I cannot make it up and down the stairs again, so I stay put and watch the Macy’s fashion show from the box. Now, it has been a long time since I’ve done a fashion show myself, but I did at least a dozen of them. (You can stop laughing now. I’m not lying.) I will say I was disappointed in the way it was handled. The commentary was too fast and there was no time to look at the women before the next one came out. But the women tried. You could see they were nervous and out of their element, but they gave a valiant effort and I applaud them for that. Actually, according to Frank, I was about the ONLY one applauding for them. He said he could hear me all the way down at the glass. I think he lies. We immediately went about our usual angry banter as soon as he returned to the table. Tom found it so amusing; he tried to get his web cam up quick enough to catch it. He failed. Maybe next time Tom.
The third period was far more exciting than I would have expected. It was a rollercoaster of feelings. We had it in the bag, and then it got dicey. I think Rick likes to keep things interesting.
The mood in the pressroom was pleasant for a change. How nice it was to see Ted smile. I have not seen that in so long, I had forgotten what it looked like. Teddy smiles from his heart, and it comes through in his eyes. For the first time in weeks, it was pleasant in the pressroom. But a win will do that. I think we were all starting to forget.
I sipped my tea and sat on the bench while everyone else did the interviews. I changed back into my snow boots while Shakey was moving the gear bags around. I didn’t need to hear what was being said. You could hear the tone. The monkey was finally off everyone’s back. It was a win. A desperately needed WIN. On a night that Mother Nature wasn’t cooperating, the Hockey Gods made up for it. For a change!

The End of the Longest current Losing streak in the NHL!

FINALLY!!! A home win. When I heard the Islanders had the longest current drought in the NHL on XMs Home Ice this afternoon, I knew they had to change that right now. It was "Win or DIE!" night. They came through. The weather, on the other hand, did not.

I was so looking forward to this night and the Hockey 'n Heels promo, but Mother Nature put a huge damper on it by gracing us with a snow and sleet storm that snarled traffic all over Long Island and kept those of faint heart from wandering too far from home. SHAME ON MOTHER NATURE!!! This was our night.

Ok. I don't have time right now to go through everything because I'm late for work (again!). But I will say that I was dissapointed that the photo I took for my article that appeared in Islanders Illustrated wasn't used. So I'll post it here. I thought it was pretty good... considering. (And NO... Those aren't MY skates... They're BLAKE'S!)

More later... Have a good day all.

I don't like Mondays....

And guess who STILL isn't feeling well? Yep. Day 10 of the sick watch. This will only make my usual busy "payroll Monday" even worse. But let's get right down to business, so I can get to work.

One point is all they could steal in Minnesota. I'm sure the plane ride was just as frigid as the air outside the arena. They have gone stone cold, and need to find a way out of the freezer. We are all hoping for a "hot" streak, but I'm thinking they can't even get "tepid." But Miracles happen every day, and they need one NOW.

Sean Bergenheim's goal made me jump out of my seat when I read the text message from IslanderQueen while I was at a SFD dinner on Saturday night. The Chief, who was sitting next to me at the time, thought I was having a seizure, but then quickly realized "Oh, it's just the Islanders." Of course, even though I couldn't watch the game, I was kept informed by my partner in crime all the way up to the agonizing overtime loss. I wore my silver Islander logo pin on my skimpy black dress because I couldn't wear my normal game day blue & orange attire. The pin caused almost as much of a rukus as the dress. The Ranger fans came out of the woodwork to ask why a girl who grew up in Brooklyn is an Islander fan, and I met a few Islander fans I didn't know were out there. I really have to start carrying blog box business cards.

As you've seen in Mike's Islesblogger.com blog, there is a lighthouse project cyber rally planned for tomorrow, Tuesday, 2/12. Please note, these people are NOT affiliated with the team, but I admire the fact that they understand that this project needs to be approved and done. No one wants to see the team move off Long Island, least of all ... ME. So visit their site, www.lilighthouse.com, check out the rally information and make your choice from there.

And don't forget tomorrow is Hockey n Heels night at the Coliseum. My plans all fell through for the night, but I'll still be there and will be taking more notes on the crowd than the game. Hell, I've already put a lot of wasted hours in on this event, what's a few more.

Hope your Monday feels like Wednesday. See you all tomorrow at the game.