Loss #14 - But Getting Better

Yeah, I know. It took me 24 hours to get this out into the world. But hey, I sometimes have a life. Not very often mind you, but occasionally.

Rather than coming straight home last night to write a new entry I went to see my husband's friend Eric (he's an Islander fan too) and his band Miss Alibi at the Garage in Bayport. I had not seen his band and they were actually very, very good. Got the crowd jumping.

Then is morning I had to bake for today and then the family came first as the Jersey contingent came for the Holiday. So I wrote part of the entry in the car and just finished it now -- 24 hours later.

Notes, Quotes and my very inadequate translation of Bruno Gervais's interview with me here at HockeyBuzz.com.

And Note To Garth: with the possibility of Trent Hunter being out with some sort of lower body injury (yep, that's what we figured yesterday.) can I say two words? Darryl Bootland. Odessa Jackalopes. One of your ECHL teams and he's been here before. I'm just saying.

What's new in the NHL on 6-10-08?

Little Nikita: Oh my! Is there any team out there that doesn’t want this kid? No. So don’t plan on Garth being able to get him. Sorry, the only Russian to be spoken in the locker room next season will probably be coming from Martinek who took two years to be able to say more than “stick.” Think Stamkos is getting pissy about all this kid’s publicity?

Ron Wilson new Leafs Coach: Who is going to crack first: the Toronto media or Mr. Wilson? That may be the more entertaining part of the next Leafs’ season. As soon as I heard the news I wondered if his arrival would help or hurt Jason Blake’s future on the team. After all, Wilson coached him on Team USA and knows his personality (or lack thereof), even if it was for only a few brief weeks.

Portland Pirates New Affiliation: What gives? How often do AHL teams change their affiliation? That must be havoc for a few people. And what’s going to happen to my boy Darryl Bootland? Where does he end up? Is he actually an Anaheim Ducks property? I don’t know enough about the AHL to figure this stuff out. But it has to be very confusing for everyone involved. So now they are the Buffalo Sabres’ farm team. Wonder if they have to order new jerseys.

Another one Bites the Dust: Marc Crawford got his pink slip today from the LA Kings. And suddenly there’s more room on the NHL Coaching Carousel. Two years of losing, one more year on his contract. Sounds familiar doesn’t it? Ok, I just scared myself.

33 years and Counting: So with all the hype about the come from behind the 3 - 0 deficits in playoffs being set for this year as it is the 33rd year since the Islanders performed that amazing feat. None of the teams in the Stanley Cup playoffs pulled it off. So maybe it’s set for the Baby Pens to do it in the AHL as they are battling Chicago? Not a chance with Krog scoring like crazy.

One Big NHL Retirement Party: Hasek retires after 16 NHL seasons. Rumor has it he’s looking for a GM job somewhere. Once he heard about Dominik, Trevor Linden decided to hang up his skates after only 19 NHL seasons at the ripe old age of…. 38. Well, he is a forward, and they don’t seem to have the longevity of NHL goalies. Come on guys, there’s plenty of room left for more names on this retirement cake. Who’s next?

JUMPTV merges with NeuLion: And here in New York we said, who? All I know is that I found it interesting that NeuLion’s income for 2007 was $7.8 million with a net loss of $4 million. Does Mr. Wang have a business that actually MAKES money? Just curious.

Ravioli with Yellow Tomato Sauce & Lobster: So today I reached out to someone in the know looking for anything draft related that no one else was covering or that would tweak the imagination of the Islander faithful. I sadly underestimated this someone’s workload, so no real information was exchanged. I warned them I was out of material. In case they didn’t believe me, here’s the recipe I warned would end up on the blog:

½ cup Lobster, crab or cooked shrimp
1 lb cheese ravioli
½ cup good olive oil
8 yellow tomatoes poached, skinned and seeded
6 springs fresh chives
¼ cup fresh oregano leaves
2 tbls chopped garlic
Parmesan cheese

Cook ravioli according to instructions. Sauté garlic in olive oil and add tomatoes. Sautee for 5 minutes and add all herbs chopped. Sauté for an additional 8 - 10 minutes, add cooked seafood and sauté for just a few minutes until all is heated through. Pour over cooked ravioli and top with grated cheese.

About now, you’re wondering who the hell would have yellow tomatoes and lobster meat on hand. Yeah, that would be me. The McGyver of the Kitchen as I’m called.

Darryl -- We Hardly Knew Ye

Of course, I shouldn't be writing tonight. There are probably 12 things more important that I should be doing. One of which is sleeping since I only managed about 5 hours last night because of the late night game. But I couldn't help sitting down to vent.

So it happens again -- I find a player who I look forward to watching progress on the team, and while my back is turned, he's voted off the island. Such is the case with one tough player who will be able to say he had that proverbial "cup of coffee" with the NY Islanders. I can't even find the date of my post when Darryl Bootland was thrust upon the Blog Box crew and made an instant impression on me. I later came to find out it was just that "Scorpio thing" we do. It's like a secret underground society and we just all seem to recognize each other. (When I owned a bar, I had annual "Scorpio" parties for all those friends of mine born under the same sign. We also had our own saying: "Whose better than us? Nobody!" But I digress.)

It was after 5 pm when my Blog Box buddie, Tom Liodice (and fellow Scorpio I might add!) sent me the news as gently as possible. "You're not going to like this." with a link to the trade information. "Shall I bring tissues?" A very kind gesture, but not necessary this time.

Bootlad was amicable and friendly even though his role seemed to be enforcer. ITV did a feature on him at the Police Academy in Yaphank. I remember speaking with Josh when they had filmed it. He was worried he was going to be shipped out before the feature even had time to be uploaded. He was shipped to Bridgeport and probably never did see the Islander Illustrated magazine issue with his photo on the cover either.

This is the hard part of this business. I can't imagine it's easy to suddenly be told "See ya!" I will never be able to comprehend the emotional roller-coaster that must ensue. I suppose they are prepared for it -- Maybe.

Good luck Darryl. Drop by any time.