Isles Burn the Leafs in OT 4 - 3

Well, I guess the Isles really are playing without pressure. But what they played for was two points. What they got was exactly that.

Grabner with his 27th goal and Zenon Konopka with his second. But it was Josh Bailey who ended up with the hard hat tonight.

Game report here on HockeyBuzz.com.

The Streak Ends at FOUR.

You Can’t Win ‘Em All

Yep, nothing lasts forever and the Islanders winning streak had to end. But as Zenon Konopka mentioned, they're not going to win all the games that are left, so when they play the really good teams, they had better not take any shifts off. They did last night.

John Tavares had a pair of goals and Josh Bailey had one. Neither player was impressed with himself as it's the team win that really matters.

Full recap here at Hockeybuzz.com.

Great quote from P.A. Parenteau

I wanted to come back here. I told Snowy (Garth Snow). I told my agent. I wanted to come back for at least another year. I like what we’ve got going here. I like the guys. I like the situation here for me too. So it was a no brainer and I’m glad we got it done so early. - PA Parenteau

Garth Snow Proud of the Team, Konopka Miffed at Mario

Let's try to get back to hockey for today.

I managed to speak with Mr. Snow for a few minutes yesterday on the phone. Considering my emotional state, I really accomplished very little in my time with him, but you can find it here at hockeybuzz.com.

When I ended our conversation, he wished me a Happy Valentine's Day and I told him it was my Anniversary. Always taking my husband's side, he said Dan deserves a purple heart. I told him he deserved more than that.

Now, there is a second item I have on Hockeybuzz if you don't normally venture there. Here is the link to my entry regarding Penguin's announcer Paul Steigerwald who made some very unprofessional comments about the Islanders during Friday's broadcast. The entry created quite a stir. But I said what I felt as I was not able to get to Mr. Steigerfeld directly.

See you later as the Isles face the Ottawa Senators with I believe -- an appearance by Jiggs McDonald!

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?

Isles vs. Pens 12/29/10 SO Win!

For post game locker room quotes and notes, please check HockeyBuzz.com.


Considering how crowded the concourse was tonight, the seats are just a little light. Good LOUD crowd. And Rick has already stopped a Sidney Crosby chance at close range.

I am not sure why Capuano put Jack Hillen and Bruno Gervais together. To me that looks like a guaranteed Penguins goal.

Heard here in the press box "I think I'll just start calling turnovers 'Hillens.' Even though I like him." I totally understand.


The first fight of the night came at 9:07 as Adams and Zenon Konopka push Fluery and his net out of the way after Adams tied up Zenon by putting his stick between his legs. They both got five for fighting but I don't understand why there was no tripping call. Anyone?

Josh Bailey has displayed some nice moves as has PA Parenteau, but none of these moves have been able to garner them the first goal.

The shots, however, are even at 8 with 3:38 left of the first. Kunitz goes to the box for crosschecking and PA goes for roughing. Rick takes a shot from Letang and gives him no rebound.

What looked like a Sidney Crosby goal was actually Sid shooting the puck over the crossbar in a straight line.

So with the score even at zero, they head to the locker room. Believe it or not, in the first twenty minutes the Islanders have been able to keep Sidney Crosby to one shot on goal and one blocked shot. Not bad considering.



So, on the concourse I found two new items. I had to giggle.

19:26 of the second and Josh Bailey puts the Islanders on the scoreboard with his sixth of the season and does a little Rob Schremp move to celebrate. Shots are now even at 12, just like Josh. Travis Hamonic gets an assist.

While the Islanders got away with a few tripping penalties, Pascal Dupuis is called for high sticking at 3:12. Can the Islanders power play unit find a way to get around the Penguins PK? Nope. Islanders could do nothing with their power play, but the shots on goal are still pretty even at 16 - 15 Pens.

Matt Moulson ALMOST had a goal. I say ALMOST because he managed to get one passed Fluery about a half second after the whistle had blown. Not a good night for MighyMattMoulson!

Chris Letang got hit in the backside with the puck and it looked like it stung. There was a scuffle at the side of the net as Jon Sim and Brooks Orpik exchanged a few words and pushing. Both get two for roughing.

Nice to hear the crowd roar with appreciation for Rick Dipietro.

Michael Grabner took an excellent pass from Jack Hillen (Yes, Hillen)and had a close range change that everyone moaned over when it didn't go in.

Matt Martin skates in to make a hit on Talbot and ends up hitting the ice himself and grimacing as he tries to get up. He gets two minutes for boarding and while other Pens joined in, the penalty on Martin was the only one called.

Hamonic makes some excellent clears during the PK and the power play for the Penguins ends with hardly any shots registering, if any.

AS the penalty expired and Matt Martin was out of the box and Chris Conner ties the game at 1 with 3 minutes left of the 2nd. Rick lays face down on the ice in his crease for a few moments. He really wanted that one back.

Shots on goal are now 17 to 21 in favor of the Penguins

Rick looked very solid in the second period, but the Islanders have not been able to get any shots off past the Penguins defense. They must feel energized by tying up the score.

They go to the locker room all even again.

The Islanders get two power play opportunities early in the third period. And Jack hillen actually managed to take down Sidney Crosby behind the net. Not only am I amazed he did it. I'm amazed there was no call on it.

With 23 seconds left of the power play the noice meter was evoked for the 14,345 patrons. Power play ends and the Islanders don't get a shot on goal.

Rick DiPietro almost gave the game away by skating out of the net to try to make a clear that doesn't happen and luckily the puck squeaked passed the net. Rick gave a look up to the heavens to thank them for that. Had that resulted in a Penguins goal, he could have gotten an assist on the play.

Rick makes three great saves on a loose puck in his crease but Hillen gloves the puck and the Pens are awarded a penalty shot for Letang. OMG! The Crowd cheers DiPietro on while we wait. And Rick makes the stop and the crowd is literally on it's feet. He gets a tap on the pad by Jurcina.
(and I put away my camera cord)

The pressure is on Rick, but he is holding up. If the defense can hold on, this may be good.

Rick pushes Kunitz around in his crease and a scuffle breaks out. Nielsen is called for something. Probably for jumping Crosby. Kunitz goes to the box as well for roughing.

Konopka ends the game pushing Sidney around and the two have words. Konopka gets a game misconduct, of course. Keeping up his PIMs stat. But the Islanders have broken Sidney's point streak in regulation.

Shoot out!

Rick gives up a rebound that almost results in a goal, but is swept away before it can hit the net. Josh Bailey skates the puck toward Fluery and another Islander shot is registered on the Pens. SOG now 23 - 29 still in favor of the Penguins, but with only 6:09 left, I never would have thought the Islanders would have held up this good.

Fleury basically robs Jurcina grabbing a puck out of the air and holding on.

With one minute left of the third Matt Moulson parked himself in front of Fleury's net. But for all his effor he couldn't get it in the net. A little heart attack city at the 35 second mark as the Pens rush back towards Rick. The defense does an excellent job keeping the puck away from Rick and the game went to overtime.

Did anyone see the Islanders taking a point away from the Penguins? Seriously, raise your hand if you did.

A-Mac's stick broke in half and Michael Grabner handed his over to MacDonald. It was a tense few seconds before MacDonald was able to skate it up ice with @Grabs40's stick and pass it to Josh Bailey. Beautiful play, but no goal.

Rick made yet again a dangerous clearing attempt as the puck was almost batted out of the air in his zone. The cheers and the tensions were running high until the whistle blew at 1:14 left of overtime for a too many men on the ice call. Josh sits in the box and Pittsburgh takes a time out. Scotty Allen is behind the bench calling the penalty kill to the players on the ice. He is very animated.


But can they hold off the penguins for 1:14 and get this to a shoot out?

They certainly did. Rob Schremp, Frans Nielsen and PA Parenteau all scored for the Islanders while Letang and Malkin (who "made me look stupid." Rick said) scored for the Pens.

The two points were huge, the points against this team were even bigger. There was great respect in the room for the Penguins. This was just one game. One that showed what the Islanders can do when they work at it.

The Line On The Ice

How far is too far? Where is the line that can't be crossed when players are chirping each other in hockey? This question has come up quite a bit this week, especially for our Islanders after their last bout with the Philadelphia Flyers.

According to Danny Briere it was something Frans Nielsen “said” that pushed him to the limit. We are not privy to what he actually said because -- well, you know the adage “what happens on the ice, stays on the ice.” But it supposedly was enough to send Briere into a head clocking fit. (In all honesty, I still don't buy that. Not from Frans Nielsen.)

The League told James Wisniewski his hand gesture was “too far” on the ice, even though, according to him, it was a gesture Sean Avery had performed during the pre-game skate. (Monitoring pre-game skates will be a topic at next week's GM's meeting.)

Avery has been in trouble numerous times for “going too far” on and off the ice. It’s one thing to slander an ex-girlfriend, then current girl-friend of another player, but there was an outcry of “foul!” when it was reported that he chirped at Jason Blake about his battle with cancer. Insensitive to say the least, but too far or just part of the game?

I was listening to Ray Ferraro on his morning talk show on Vancouver's am 1040 on Wednesday and his co-host asked the same question. “How far is too far?” Ray Ferraro has been on both ends of the ice on this one. He’s taken as much as he’s given. According to him, that’s the way it is. There is no line. “Everything is fair game with one exception -- kids.” He admits there are things he wished he hadn't said, but little is off limits.

Okay, there you have it. So the code of the hockey player is "no kid references." Ray said he’s been called midget, asked if he’s been shot out of a cannon and other short jokes. He’s tossed items about like “With that head, are you a float in the Thanksgiving parade.” These seem all pretty tame. Think back to the barbs lobbed in Slap Shot. Demeaning references about a goalie’s wife or a defenseman’s sexuality was enough to cause an all out blood bath.

But as Ray said, it’s part of the game. “Things I’ve been told on the ice would get someone arrested in the real world.” Do we want to take that out of this game too? This is a passionate game, and it’s the passion that makes it so special. If you remove or penalize every on ice comment made I believe something will be lost. This is the last, great, gladiator sport there is. Every year some other aspect becomes regulated and limited.

In this terrific SNY.TV piece by Chris Botta, Zenon Konopka talks about what happened in the Flyers game that caused him to be escorted from the ice. However, he too wasn’t too quick to divulge the actual verbiage used, only the fact that he wanted to be heard loud and clear. Watch it and see what you think? He discusses how things are in the ECHL (go back to Slap Shot territory) Maybe the ice is the last place anyone can be “non-pc” and get away with it. Personally, I’d like to keep it that way.

Game 12: Isles vs. Hurricanes

12:30 pm Updated: So Rick DiPietro gets the start in Raliegh and Jon Sim gets a hat trick for the Sound Tigers! Gotta love Twitter!

hockeyflan @7thwoman Sim with a hat trick, 25 mins left in game. Tks for the loan.

The headline reads “Slumping Isles visit struggling Hurricanes” Both teams are stalled at ten points and frustrated with only enough wins to count on one hand after playing 11 games so far this season. The Hurricanes have yet to score a goal on their own ice.

The Islanders power play is barely effective at 22% while the Hurricanes’ efforts hardly register at 12%. Scott Gordon had the Islanders practicing PP drills on the smaller ice yesterday at Ice Works before leaving for Raleigh. The Hurricanes worked on their face-offs. The Islanders, with the likes of Zenon Konopka, stand at 51% face off wins to the ‘Canes 37.4%.

If you’ve got over 5 minutes, you can listen to Scott Gordon break-down preparation with SNY’s Islanders Point Blank TV. (below) Painfully detailed and one chuckle.

This could be anyone’s game. Rob Schremp is going to do everything possible to make it belong to the Islanders. Rob will make his season debut tonight and it’s about time. Rob is one of the players I was most interested in watching this season, and now he is already behind in his stat-pack. The way he plays his high energy game, it wasn’t really feasible for him to play all 82 games, but now he’s starting out with only 71 ahead of him. Still, as hard as it was to sit out and watch his team play while he was on IR, it had to be better than watching the team play while he was a healthy scratch.

I asked a retired NHLer what the Islanders could do to break this losing streak and get back on track. His answer was “one.” “One shift, one period and one game at a time. Win every one-on-one battle, win every shift.” Sounds simple, right?

It isn’t.

Not sure if it will be Dwayne Roloson or Rick DiPietro tonight as each is assured one game on this road trip. Scott Gordon will alert the media as late as possible I'm sure.

Line combinations from those who were there yesterday look like this.
Matt Moulson-John Tavares-P.A. Parenteau

Josh Bailey-Rob Schremp-Blake Comeau

Doug Weight-Frans Nielsen-Michael Grabner

Matt Martin/Trevor Gillies-Zenon Konopka-Trent Hunter

Twitter: Love/Hate

While I’ve found Twitter to be the most unique source of instant information and communication, the other side of that debate is validity of that information. Twitter is used for politics, sports, music and life in general and it is a vast and ever growing community. As with any large community, you’ll get your share of jerks residing in it and it’s your job to figure out who you can trust.

As I basically use Twitter for my little hockey addiction, I’m pretty entrenched in the hockey bubble that grows exponentially each minute. Every day, new “sources” for NHL information sprout up. With last weekend’s Kaberle situation looming large in the Hockey world, a prominent Leafs blogger who goes by @Jeffler decided he couldn’t take it any more. He wanted to prove how easy it was to plant a rumor in Twitter and how easy it is for so many to get conned. He even TOLD everyone that he would be doing it. But because there is SO much information coming through the wire every nano-second, his little test proved his point. Here is his report of what happened.

Now, what does @Jeffler’s test tell you? Well, first that there are indeed unscrupulous people out there that love to make fools of other people which makes it pretty damn hard for those who are trying to be responsible with their information. And second, we are a land of info-junkies.

Someone who is about to learn is Islanders center and funny man Rob Schremp who started a twitter account yesterday. It became active that morning and started with the simple statement “Hello NY & NHL fans, Schremp is now on Twitter!!! It took a few hours for certain very connected media types to verify it was him and then “Re-Tweet” his whereabouts in order to get more followers.

“Hey everyone lets see if I can hit 500 followers today! I will follow the next 10 people that RT This! #PassThePuck”

was the next tweet on Rob’s account.

With the new account receiving the blessings of Michelle Kenneth, Jeff Marek and Bob McKenzie, 500 was an easy target to reach. Actually, by 5:30 pm the @RobSchremp account had reached 1,867 followers. By 7:30 am today, as he was tweeting about his morning, Rob was up to 2,323 followers.

Pretty funny considering that tough guy Steve Webb created a twitter account (@SteveWebb20) last week and is only up to 685 followers so far. And he’s pretty honest with his Tweets:

Jumped on a flight back from Whislter only to end up sitting next to a guy getting sick in the B Bag. Made for a long trip home

So, while I know that the entire concept of Twitter has its pitfalls, you cannot deny it’s hold on the landscape of social media and the hockey community as it is today.

Now, who else from the hockey world do we want to see sending out their thoughts across the web? Hmmm?

And don't forget about the @NYIslanders contests and Twitter Q&A's with players! Ask a question, get an answer. Today it's new Islander Zenon Konopka!