Tampa over Isles 1 - 0

It took until 6:26 of the third before the red light lit. One goal gets passed Yann Danis for a one goal lead. Roberts deflected the puck into the net. And yes, it was a huge goal. Up until then, it had been a pretty non-eventful game.

It started off with a bang and a fight with Jackman and Smaby going toe to toe because of the last game where Jackman took liberties with Vinny. Guerin was a five minute major for fighting with Malone. Everyone was very pleased to see the way Guerin stepped up. Everyone but Big Angry Man who took the opportunity to harass me that Guerin had to step in for Sean Bergenheim. As valiant as it was for Billy, is as embarrassing as it was for Bergy. I've heard this all night.

With 2:34 to go in the third Okposo takes a penalty for a hooking call. Not a good move.

WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH THE MSG BROADCAST!!! They keep losing the feed and it goes to something that sounds like a Ham radio.

With 2:14 left, the Islanders are 2 men down as Park takes a penalty for high sticking on Malone. You just have to be in control of your stick. Especially at this point in the game. But they have a habit of crashing and burning in the third.

With less than 30 seconds left in the 3rd, Kyle breaks loose of the penalty box and takes off towards Tampa's net with a breakaway. I held my breath, but McKenna stopped that one too. The AHL goalie from Vegas gets the shut out. (I hope he's from Vegas. That's what someone on Twitter said, and I didn't check it!)

The highlight of my evening of Islanders Game night at home was the Wine Barrel Special Fondue. I had asked the husband what he wanted for dinner. For some reason he said something I haven't made in years. I think he's just afraid I'm going to forget what the hell is in it.

When I owned the Wine Barrel in Babylon Village years and years ago, one of the signature items was the Wine Barrel Special Fondue. It tastes wonderful, it's artery clogging and looks awful. Actually as I had to make vats of this stuff and clean it up when it was cold, it was lovingly called "Puppy got sick."

I guess because it's almost our anniversary, he's getting nostalgic. So I made it. If anyone likes fondue, this is something that is very homey, but it needs to be made in a crock pot and then transferred to a fondue pot.

1 lb Velveeta cubed

1 lb American cheese cubed

1 cup tomato juice

1 cup DRY white wine

squeeze lemon juice

1 package Lipton onion soup mix.

Heat in crock pot until smooth stirring occasionally. Do not let burn.

Serve in fondue pot with cubed bread, pepperoni, apple slices and ravioli or pirogi.

That was the highlight of my night. I wonder what the highlight of the Islanders' night was. Maybe dinner with the Dads.

Have a good flight home boys. Tuesday is another day.

Add a Name to the List...

Let's just add Nate Thompson to that Injury List that Jason Lockhart is keeping up on the Islanders main site. I really wish he would put the date they went OUT on as well as the amount of time they're expected out. Not that it really matters, but it's easier to do the math.

So Josh Bailey has a two point game, but a horrendous pass to no one late in the third. You owe me one Josh.

Joey MacDonald returned to the net and all I can say is, "Scotty, What the heck were you thinking?" Yann Danis was on a hot streak. What did it really gain to give Joey back the net? Joey made 26 saves, and gave up one too many.

The ice seemed to be bad in spots as Doug Weight went down and had to leave for a few minutes, and then Martinek hit the ice in the same spot. Well, it is Florida.

So much for the winning streak.

I'd like to thank Whale4Ever at SB Nation's The Litter Box for the blogger hospitality. That was fun, and Happy Birthday. And I would have never known about it unless I was on Twitter.

Remember to wear Red tomorrow for Women's Heart Health day. I was really happy that my pin and earrings that I ordered from their website arrived just in time to wear tomorrow. At least that was a pleasant surprise.

I'll mention it here too, if you'd like the Islanders to send you text message updates and recaps, you can sign up for their Mobile Squad by texting the word JOIN to 66856. You can cancel the service at any time by texting STOP to the same number. But it's worth checking out if you have a good text plan with your mobile carrier.

Adding Injury...to Injuries...

Oh Look! Two more are down! Somewhere along the way the "official word" of two more men down was posted on the Islanders website at 2:17 pm but unless you had an RSS feed, you missed it. I know I did.

Pock out a month will not leave him much of the regular season to come back for. What will hurt is Streit being out day to day. Is that one day? As in the Panthers game? Or two days as in the entire Florida trip? Or how about out as long as Sean Bergenheim is at "day to day" who has now missed the last seven games.

Maybe they should start investing in cloning so they can have a set of spare parts. Because this is getting just somewhat ridiculous.

It's the annual Dad's Week, and according to someone on XM today they have attributed the concept to Garth Snow.

Um, Garth, this is really going to get you in trouble with the Mothers who have not as of yet been taken someplace warm in the middle of winter for a little "bonding" experience with their sons, and each other. Just bringing it up!!

Isles over Tampa 3 - 1

Yes, they won another game. Relax people. They beat Tampa Bay. The only team that has more bad publicity than we do. Stop worrying about June. It's only February.

Great blog by Greg Logan about Bailey and Stamkos. These guys are the future of the NHL.

Spotlight on The Lighthouse

It was a crisp clear day Thursday when I ventured to the EAB Plaza. I passed that lovely skating rink that was sadly closed and entered the beautiful Manhattan style office complex that is truly a wonder on this uninteresting stretch of Hempstead Turnpike. It glistens on the outside and it is captivating on the inside.

I needed help finding the elevator and the right floor. I was a tourist and they knew it. But once staring out of the 30 feet of windows in a contemporary conference room, I finally saw it. You can't really see the landscape from the ground. I drive that stretch of Hempstead Turnpike more times than I want to admit to my husband and my Dodge dealer, but I've never seen it until that Thursday.

It is empty. It is bleak. It is vast expanses of nothingness and overgrown, untended land. Oh yes, there are steam stacks from that plant that has been there since my childhood. And for miles on the horizon there really is nothing to see.

Mind you, I am a woman who marvels at the majesty of the Mount Washington Valley with it's National treasure mountains rising over crystal lakes. I have been mesmerized at the Twin Cities towering over the Mississippi river and the colorful beauty of San Juan Puerto Rico from an ancient fort. There are landscapes in this country that will take your breath away.

And then there is this large, flat lot of grey nothing with what looks like a squished sugar cookie in the middle of it. This is the site of what could be THE landmark of Nassau County, or even this Island. IF only... IF only....

For nine long years Charles Wang and associates have been working on getting the Lighthouse project started. Not completed, just STARTED. Nine years is a long time to wait for anything. In those nine years much has changed, except this landscape.

Businesses on Long Island are hurting and our population has actually DECREASED along with our standard of living. Our unemployment rate is higher than it has been in a very long time. We are losing jobs and even though Long Island's unemployment rate (5.8% in December) is lower than the national average, it still represents a lot of taxpayers without jobs. Every day a major employer announces more cutbacks, more jobs lost.

So answer me this... then why continue to keep people out of work when a green light for this project would generate jobs immediately? Our new President is looking for economic stimulus. Wouldn't a project of this magnitude be classified as "stimulus"?

What are the drawbacks here? Traffic? I'm sorry, this is an Island that has had traffic for years. (There's even a joke in my family. As every State and County line has a "Welcome To" sign, we've always laughed that ours should actually say "Welcome To Long Island, We've got Traffic." ) This is nothing new.

The Coliseum already exists and 16,000 people exit and spew out onto our roadways many days or nights during the year. (Onto roadways that currently need renovation in most places should nothing else be developed at all!) Actually, patrons LEAVE all at once because there is not much to keep them in the area after the event. If there were a few more restaurants right there, they would not be leaving en-mass. They would be staying for that night cap or that coffee and cheese cake. They would also be arriving earlier for that pre-event dinner. So, the development would actually CHANGE the traffic pattern which could minimize its impact.

Are you thinking water is the problem? Nope. Luckily Long Island does not have a water shortage and there is plenty for commercial use and a new well for protected potable water would be easy. So that's not it.

Power? It must be a power problem, right? Not quite. If you've been following our local newspapers, our little Island's thirst for energy is being met and then some. (And we're already paying for it, although it wouldn't hurt to conserve a little at home.)

Garbage and sewage? Being surrounded by water with very few exits out and a thirst for consumable goods, garbage and sewage are an ISLAND WIDE concern and problem. (Anyone remember the garbage barge with no where to go years ago? Again, nothing new! But there are solutions out there and engineers to explain how the solutions work, and they DO work.

It's a money problem then? This doesn't seem right to me as this project isn't looking for public funds to develop the area. And the tax revenue generated for the township and the county would have to be far higher than what they are getting now from this land in it's current state of nothingness.

Attention Citizens! This is not about hockey or the Islanders. This is about working and living on Long Island. Why are we being denied this opportunity? I'd like to understand it. Not political rhetoric and finger pointing. Please no more passing the party line buck. I don't care what political party is responsible. Show me and the rest of Long Island the diagram from point "A" to point "Z" and tell me where we are -- for real.

February 21st is Town Of Hempstead appreciation night at the Coliseum. Personally, I would like to see representatives from the Town Of Hempstead speak to the fans, the residents and the tax payers. And I would like to see us, the fans from other counties, the residents of Hempstead township; it's 22 villages and 35 hamlets come together and ask why there is a delay of this project when thousands of jobs that are so desperately needed are right there -- waiting.

Can you support the project by attending the game on 2/21/09?

We'll talk more as information becomes available. The spotlight is on. We're waiting for an answer. After nine years I think everyone deserves it.

Six More Weeks of Winter

Yeah... that was a surprise. Happy Ground Hog Day. Now go watch the Bill Murray movie and laugh. Did you ever wonder what YOU would do in that situation?

Wait, we're Islanders' fans. no... no... I won't go there.

Six more weeks of winter, ten more weeks of regular season hockey. Doesn't that pub things in perspective for you now?

Skating on Slush, $hopping Plush

If you haven't seen the new Tanger outlet mall in Deer Park yet, you should take a little ride. It's great architecture that looks like something from Florida or Puerto Rico. But it's in the middle of an industrial area that isn't the best. Or at least WASN'T the best when I lived in Bay Shore 15 years ago.

With stores like Saks, Nieman Marcus and Juicy Couture, I was certainly out of my element. But I was there to actually see the skating rink first, and shop second.

We parked at one end and carried our skates aimlessly trying to

figure out where the rink was. We played "male" today and didn't ask anyone. We finally stumbled upon it and found a narrow swath of ice surrounding a fountain area. It was "cute" in it's smallness.

$10 for a two hour session and $4 for rentals for our friend Ellen who hadn't been skating in quite some time. She was really here for the shopping and had to endure our skating fix. She was nervous, so were we.

I've never seen so many people hit the ice in one place. I knew something was wrong. The kids were falling as soon as they got on. The adults were falling. There was even a four teenager pile-up in the corner. We figured we were doomed.

Ellen wanted to hug the rail for a while. She did and Wendy and I stayed close as we watched so many others hit the deck.

The little Zamboni came out to cut the ice, but the weather was not cooperating. It was a balmy 40 degrees and puddles were forming faster than they could squeegee them off. We didn't skate for long. Ellen, feeling her luck was about to run out any moment, left the ice. Wendy and I continued a few more times around the circle, dodging falling toddlers and speedsters.

When the slush was an inch thick at the entrance, we knew OUR luck was about to run out and got off the ice quickly. Not exactly worth the $10, but it was skating.

Rather than trying to locate the car to drop the skate bags, we began shopping in the designer name stores in search of a dress for Ellen for the Installation dinner on Valentine's day. I and my Islanders jacket and pink skate bag was grossly out of place. Especially when we went into one of the stores where the dresses were on SALE for a mere $1500.

I did manage to find a few really good bargains at Hilfiger and Ellen did indeed buy a beautiful brown dress and brown satin shoes, even though I thought all of us had agreed to wear red.

Hmmmm... oh well.

Danis Does it ... AGAIN!!

I knew they'd win last night's game against the Panthers. I just didn't think it would be with a 3 goal lead going into the 3rd. I figured for sure it would be a nail biter, like all the others.

But as Greg Logan said, the changes in the line ups seem to be working out and the defense is finally getting their act together. Add to that Danis has gained confidence in his own play and you have a team that is starting to string some wins together. Three to be exact.

A streak of sorts, but a small one. Don't worry everyone, there are plenty of games left in the season to lose in order to maintain that first round pick. Or, we could have someone go all Tanya Harding on Danis' knee. "Why me??? WHHHHYYYY?"


So while my blog box buddies were watching the Islanders win, I was watching this guy. Sonny Landreth and his "orchestra" as they called them. Most certainly the most amazingly talented slide guitarist you will ever hear. He is a musician's musician. He is also ultimate talent with the personality of a dish towel.


We were in the 3rd row of this 260 seat theater for the show. I put my phone on vibrate so my friends wouldn't know that I was keeping track of the score with IslesNation's Stephen.

When the message came through "FREEEEEE CHILLLLLIIIIIIIII" I knew things were going well out there in Uniondale. I tried to hide the bright light from my phone as I kept texting back and forth, but it wasn't easy.

Away from the game, but never THAT far away. Congrats to Kyle for showing what he can do.