Tavares: Committed to the Organization & the Community

*told ya I hide in the back!

  7:35 am:  Oh look!  Josh Bailey DID sign over night.  Two years is better than a year in the Ukraine, right?

Most of the details had already been posted. The information was published in multiple places, so there was little we didn't know by 1 pm. But the room was filled any way. Yes, signing the NHL 1st over all draft pick was big news in the hockey world. So much so that it was covered by every Canadian sports radio station all morning long and even NBC's veteran sportscaster Bruce Beck (it took me 25 minutes to find his name)made the trek to Uniondale.

After all the speculation, John Tavares made sure it was clear what his intentions for his future are. With a year remaining on his entry-level agreement, John and his agent forged a six year extension that should put all the questions to rest.

Canada's favorite son would continue to skate in an Islanders sweater -- whether Canada liked it or not.

When there is a room full of MSM like this, I tend to stay quiet and let those being paid to do their jobs actually do them. I always come armed with what I believe will be a question or two that no one else will ask. Because it takes me so long to develop something out of the ordinary, should someone else come close to it, I'm screwed. However, today I came armed with a doozy.

While I was waiting for soon-to-be-retired editor of IslandersPointBlank to be interviewed on Fan 590 Toronto, I listened as Jeff Blair and his co-host ungraciously condemned the New York Islanders.

In all honesty, my fan heart couldn't take it. I jotted down notes on a paper towel because I couldn't find a note pad. I didn't want to make a mistake as I wanted to repeat the phrases verbatim to John Tavares. They were amazed that JT, a good Canadian boy, would want to sign for such an extended period of time with such an "insignificant" franchise where "no one will ever see" him play and no one will care.

I waited for a good portion of the reporters to walk away from JT, the reporters I didn't know. Then I stood waiting to ask my question as Katie Strang, now representing ESPN, stood next to Art Staple asking a question that was an excellent lead in to mine. "Did it bother you at all that people speculated that you wouldn't stay here?" He answered that he didn't understand it.

I was interrupted once and after JT gave his typically well-thought and thorough answer to the gentleman next to me, I pounced.


"John, this is in line with Katie's last question..." I spoke loud enough so that no one else would step over me. I explained what Jeff Blair and his co-host said and asked what he would answer had he been on the phone.

It was the first time I've ever seen Katie Strang's eyes pop when I spoke and JT's reaction was one of bracing himself to answer as he thought about what a fellow countryman had just said about the place he chose to develop his career.

"That's just very disappointing. I think it's a wrong judgment about our organization. Charles is a great owner, he's great to all of us. Garth has been great to all of us. We are treated with a lot of respect and dignity. They give us an opportunity to play and compete and they want us to win. We're building this the right way. We're taking our time and now it's starting to show. This is a big year for us, obviously. So, I'm sure once we start winning and we're more successful on the ice people will start to notice us a little more and know what we're all about."

What they are all about is commitment. Whether Nassau County is committed to the Islanders doesn't matter right now. As of today, everyone knows that John Tavares is committed to the team that drafted him.

Garth Snow entertained the media in his usual quiet style leaving all reporters struggling to get their recorders and microphones as close to him as possible. Everyone was very respectful of the general manager, but when the camera lights were off, Art Staple and Katie Strang pressured about Josh Bailey's contract status. There were no real answers coming, but they had to ask. It's their job. I didn't dare even look the GM in the eye after that and scurried off so as not to get caught in the cross-fire should the conversation continue.

As of 11 pm, there is no word of Josh Bailey's contract even though all reports were that Bailey's agent and Garth Snow were holding discussions this evening.

Back to my fan heart: Tick-freakin'-tock Josh. You know the deal.

Considering how well this team is shaping up with Okposo, Moulson, Grabner, and Tavares all signed and happy, your window of opportunity is rapidly closing.

And as a side note; I check Ms. Strang's ESPN.com entry and saw that she called me a "reporter." Considering how well she knows me -- I'm honored (and a little shocked.)

Isles 7 Bruins 2 Final - But Losses Mount

The Isles rookie squad took it to the Baby Bruins hard early in the first period. According to Brett Gallant, just to set the tone of the game. They certainly did. They were physical and dominating throughout three periods. The two Bruins goals weren't scored until 5:02 of the 3rd and 18:46 of the 3rd -- long after the damage had been done.

In game blog and recap with quotes from Brett Gallant and Matt Donovan here at hockeybuzz.

But let's talk about the losses. On Monday the Isles lost Rhett Rakhshani to concussion from a hit. Last night they lost Mark Katic with a separated left shoulder. The Bruins may have lost a kid who was helped off the ice last night as well, but don't ask me to spell his name.

These are on-ice losses, but there were off-ice losses as well in Islander Country. Katie Strang is now working for ESPN New York covering all three hockey teams. (ESPN covers hockey? Who knew.) Deb Placey has been awarded the Devils game nights both home and away with Doc Emerick retiring to only work for Versus and NBC.

Closer to home, just this morning, I read that IslandersPointBlank will be losing it's first and only full-time editor and writer, Chris Botta.

They say things come in threes. There's your tri-fecta.

Matt Moulson Signs 3-Year Deal: Finally

The news hit late this afternoon when no one expected anything from Islanders Country to hit the wire. It was welcome news none-the-less. While I was not able to speak with anyone involved first-hand about the deal, I’ll say that I’ve been discussing a long term deal for Matt Moulson with the Islanders GM for months.

Read that: I’ve been nudging the living daylights out of Garth Snow every chance I got. Yep. You would have thought I was Matt’s agent. I’m pretty sure this is one of the reasons, unlike Newsday reporters, I don’t have Snow’s cell phone number.

It was a fight I took up at the end of last season, after Matt’s 30 goal surprise season. I had faith in him from day one. I made a champagne induced birthday bet that Matt, a fellow Scorpio, would score 20 goals by January. By the second bottle of champagne, I upped the ante to January 1st. I should have just left it at “January” and I would have been correct. But Matt wasn’t done at 20, he kept going. There it was at 25 goals and then the surprise ending at 30 goals and playing all 82 games.

I would interview him in the locker room with the rest of the media, but many of our conversations were off-the-record small talk, especially after painful losses. Matt is easy to talk to and easy to read. He wears his heart on his sleeve and can’t hide his emotions behind those wide puppy-dog eyes. When he’s up, he’s on cloud nine and he can take you with him. When he’s down, it could break your heart.

Matt is a good person and a great friend. You can tell by the way he relates with John Tavares. It seemed as if he never left his side that first year. Their stalls are next to each other in the locker room. They roomed together at Doug Weight’s pool house. John cooks for him on off days. I don’t even know how Matt found the time to get married.

Last summer, when Matt was one of the players at the draft party unveiling the new retro jersey, a few of the attending media had a chance to talk to him. I had my video camera rolling when he talked about Nino Niederreiter and hopes for the coming season. He didn’t have a new deal at the time and when I asked him about the negotiations, he said his agent was handling it and professed how much he wanted to stay long term and be a part of what was happening on the Island. He laughed, “I‘ll send Garth a few texts and see if I can speed things up. Maybe you should too.” He didn’t know I already had -- A few times.

The negotiation process didn’t exactly go as planned and when I saw that Moulson had taken the Islanders to arbitration after refusing his qualifying offer, my heart sank. I thought for sure it would end badly. Visions of Sean Bergenheim leaving for Russia replayed in my mind. When I questioned the situation, I was assured it was all part of the process and that everything would be fine -- just fine. Everything was.

The one-year deal that Moulson signed over the summer was set to expire at the end of this season, which for the Islanders is basically April. When other players were being signed to extensions and new deals as votes of confidence, there was no word on a deal for Matt. Of course, no one would want to lose a valuable asset like Matt Moulson. In the NHL, you never want to lose something of value for nothing. That’s just bad business.

Rumors swirled that Moulson would be traded somewhere, anywhere, for something and maybe not even something worthwhile. You know, because that’s the Islanders M.O.

Like most fans who fell in love with the NHL Cinderella story that is Matt, I protested any such move. Like the nudge that I am, I protested vehemently and perpetually. I probably didn’t need to since all indications were a) Matt Moulson wanted to stay an Islander b) The Islanders wanted Matt Moulson to stay an Islander. Pretty cut and dry don’t you think?

Add to the equation a new marriage with a home not far from our coast and a best friend still growing into his career in the NHL and you’ve got all the reasons in the world for the guy who was drafted by the Penguins and given up on by the LA Kings whose career was rejuvenated on the Island to remain in Blue, White and Orange.

So what was the fuss with the trade talk? That’s the NHL and that’s the NHL media. It garnered page views and radio content. However, when all was said and done, Matt Moulson stays exactly where he is supposed to be; in a stall of the NY Islanders locker room right next to John Tavares.

While Newsday’s Katie Strang Tweeted out the details of the $9.4 million 3-year contract along with quotes from Matt and Garth Snow, Moulson addressed Twitter himself:

Extremely excited to have another 3 years with a great organization...I love LI and am honored to be a part of this team

Add this to Art Staple’s Newsday story today about Zenon’s Konopka’s perpetual attempts to explain to detractors what is really happening here on the Island. Staple quotes Konopka as saying "Part of our job with this team is rebuild the legacy of this franchise. It's going to take some time, obviously, and we're still a ways away. But you've got to take those first few steps."


Signing Matt Moulson to a reasonable three-year deal is one of those most important first steps.

Next?

Big Loss in Chicago 5 - 0 Hawks over Isles

Burnt Toast. Yep. That's what happened.

Early penalties, early goals, turn-overs and chasing their tails gave Nate Lawson a harsh loss and Crawford only his second shut out.

But while fans may be worried about the goal tending situation, it seems that Jack Capuano and Garth Snow are not. Katie strang confirms via text that Snow will not be adding another goal tender at this time.

What there is of a recap (ha ha) can be found here at Hockeybuzz.com.

Question for the boys: What? Did the airline confiscate all your razors including Jacks? Now get on the plane and get home safe. Maybe some home cooking will take the taste of this loss away.

The Social Media Social: Newsday TweetUp

If you want to talk about hockey first, sure -- here goes. The Flyers won game three of the Stanley Cup finals last night at the Wachovia Center extending their home turf winning streak and ensuring -- The Hawks hoisting the Cup in Chicago.

I called a Flyers win all day. I’m not surprised, but I may be to blame as well. I never donned the boa feathers last night in the third when the Hawks looked like they needed a little extra magic. They looked tired and slow and hardly managed any shots on goal. Once they headed into overtime it was pretty obvious the game was going to the Flyers. Okay, but enough about that.

Earlier in the evening I attended the Newsday TweetUp with a group of prolific Long Island Tweeps. I don’t attend many of these functions because they are usually in places far-far away -- like Manhattan. This was down the street from my office. I couldn’t resist and I’m glad I didn’t.

But it’s not just because I got to meet the people behind the ½” avatars, but also because the discussion solidified the purpose of Twitter. As @stevehaweeli from WordHampton PR explained, Twitter is a Community in it’s truest sense of the word. It is a place to bring like minds together even from across all geographic boundaries. It is a tool, it is entertainment, it is marketing, it is socialization and it is ever expanding.

While social media sites and Apps are springing up faster than the crab grass in my yard, I find myself still behind the times in this ever expanding universe. But it is actually by choice. (I actually JUST downloaded TweetDeck two days ago and am still fighting with it.)

Being easily recognized is something I’m comfortable with -- at a hockey game. That’s my comfort zone. I belong there. Being recognized OUTSIDE of the Nassau Coliseum is something I find surprising. Being not only recognized but warmly greeted and complimented for my work still makes me feel like Sally Fields at an Oscar podium. (Really old Norma Rae reference that 98% of you will not get. Go ask your mother.)

What I am attempting to get at, and taking the long road home to do it, is that Twitter, while classified as a Social Media site, for me is more of an ever expanding news exchange and think tank. I could never imagine following thousands the way @LovelyLu does, I already find myself struggling to keep up with those who really interest me and I know I'm missing out on more.

The “List” grouping function is essential and having certain Tweeps Tweets directed straight to my phone is my hockey news life line. Where would I be as an hockey blogger without @katiestrangNYI’s up-to-the-minute Isles news announcing itself on my Samsung phone? Sunk. That’s where. But it still leaves me thinking I may need to do some judicious pruning in order to maintain clarity of content.

Carl Corry, or @carlcorry, Newsday’s Online Editor, Local News, asked what we all wanted to get out of Twitter, I realized that while we all may look for the same things, we prioritize them differently. I also realized that we all felt the Twitterverse is addictive, so managing time and content is becoming increasingly difficult.

All I know is: Without Twitter I would be lost. (But that still doesn’t mean I’ll jump on 4-Square because the whole idea of people knowing EXACTLY where I am every minute of the day truly freaks me out. No… really… it’s like a stalker tool. Ewwe.)

So thanks to @jonmccarthy, @carlcorry, and @patriciakitchen of Newsday and their invited TwittSpeakers for an informative evening. And thank you to all the Tweeps I was finally able to meet in person. It was truly a treat.

As a hockey aside, the one smallest tidbit I took away from the evening regarding our Islanders came when one reporter said he never knew there were that many Islander fans from all parts of the country until Newsday went pay-wall. It just goes to prove that while hockey may not be one of the "big three" sports, we are a rabid, vocal, electronically connected force to be reckoned with.

Don’t mess with us hockey fans! We’re willing to throw down the gloves any time.

Dear NHL: I have a PLAN!

So I woke up this morning to read Katie Strang's article in Newsday about how Scott Gordon and Garth Snow are still angry about the Phaneuf hit. I can't stop being angry about it either.

So it got me thinking about how the NHL, or specifically Colin Campbell doles out justice. (Or injustice if you're an Islanders fan.) So.... I wrote a letter. Cause that's what people do when they're pissed off, they write letters. Except now they're electronic and the world wide web sees them, not just the party they are intended for. (Modern technology -- it's going to destroy us all one day.)

If you're so inclined, check out my idea here on how justice can be served better by the NHL and let me know what you think.

It's a BEAUTIFUL September day. I've already had four cups of Green Mountain Pumpkin Spice coffee, two pumpkin muffins toasted up on the griddle and I'm about to start my day! (Of course I had to take three hours on Twitter and writing, but we won't tell my husband that part.)

Have a wonderful day. Let me know what you think of my idea.

Justice for Kyle!
Justice for Pascal!

Scott Gordon Teaching On Ice - 9-17-08

Okay, I'm a bad girl. I'm taking a few hours for mental health reasons from work. I'm here at IceWorks watching Scott Gordon in action for the first time. I must say...

I'M DAMN IMPRESSED!!!

Oh look! REAL DRILLS!! Real instruction and a whistle that doesn't stop. They huddle, they're told what to do, they get a little confused, but that's okay. They're young. He's patient. He tells them again. He stops them, tells them what they did wrong and they go back at it.

No. There is no fatherly yelling. There is coaching. Which is nice to see. The other coaches haven't said boo yet. They're all just hanging back, waiting. These are ALL he coaches including Bryan Trottier and Ken Morrow as well as the coaching staff from the Sound Tigers.

Since there are no names on the back of the jerseys, (something Gordon wishes to change) I can only assume that the littlest kid in blue is LI native Vlad Nikiforov. I still can't say his name. He looks like he's 12. The same way Bruno (who just passed me) looked when he first came to prospect camp. Like a boy among men. And we know how he turned out. Little Niki is fast, a little confused, but fast.

So... I did get one, maybe two pieces of new info from m good friend Josh Bernstein.

Check out the NEW ITV portal. It's NHL.com TV portal, and it's awesome. There will be some great new content coming up that will entertain and impress all us die hard fans.

Also, check out CBS News for the "Tunnel to Towers" Run on (I believe it's) 9-28. CBS News is doing a feature segment on the Islanders and their contribution to this worthy cause. There are exclusive interviews with Campoli and Gervais as well as Chris Dey. Sounds like a great piece with some good exposure on network TV.

They're clearing off the ice, so I'm sitting here waiting to see what's next.

"Dee! Dee!!" I recognize the voice, but am slow to turn around. Garth Snow just peeked out from behind the posters to say "Hi" to me, which was very nice of him.

Sitting chatting with Katie Strang from Newsday who concurred that the Hockey coverage should indeed expand with the Dolan's in charge. I'm thinking it's a clever move on their part to keep us very vocal Islanders fans from yapping back at them all the time.

I don't know what I'm doing up here just hanging out and typing. But... what the hell... it's cool up here and I do so love being in the rink. That's why I came down. I know that it will be a little while longer before I can see an actual hockey game since I'm not going to Moncton. (Neither is Katie.... she's not in Newsday's budget.) I guess Greg will have to be our only link. Not sure if Chris Botta is making the trip, but if he is.. that will be great coverage to send off his new (supposedly daily) Islanders Point Blank on September 25th.