Quick Chat with GM Garth Snow

Yes, I left work for an early lunch to go back to IceWorks. I can't help it. It's like a magnet. I can't escape the gravitational pull.

And look... Tavares still glows! Maybe it isn't my camera! Maybe it is him!

But what I really wanted to do, other than watch the kids, was talk to Garth. I haven't been able to get near him in weeks. So imagine my surprise when he said he'd make time for me.

But there is no getting a moment with this man without everyone needing him for a moment. I never mind letting beat writer Greg Logan do his job.

And then Seth Sylvan, who takes great care in managing WHO gets anywhere near Snow tried to run interferrence. He needs a Bakery number machine. Seriously.

But I managed to get a few minutes alone to talk.

So check my article on HockeyBuzz for the story.

Newsday's Greg Logan says "Door No. 3!"

Greg Logan called in from a tent at the US Open where phones are allowed. Greg, who is normally incredibly soft spoken, was almost yelling into the phone to be heard. They must have been have a great time in that tent at 12:45 pm today at Bethpage Black.

“I’m going to chose door #3 and take Duchene.” He professed on air to Islanders ex-GM (for a nanosecond) Neil Smith and NY Rangers announcer Sam Rosen. I almost lost my lunch. “Even though Tavares could put more butts in seats, I just have a feeling they don’t believe that Tavares is the best guy for the team.” This will be his article for Sunday’s Newsday. He did go on to qualify his astounding prediction by mentioning that last year at the pre-draft interviews, he crossed Josh Bailey off his list as he felt they’d never take him.

Greg has spoke with Garth recently, but he continues to stay very elusive. Everyone would love to know what name he will say when he walks up to that podium, but we will all just have to wait until next Friday. The beat writer in Logan senses that the Islanders have potential misgivings about John Tavares will pan out. That is why they have encouraged the writers to keep Matt Duchene in the mix.

“It would seem that Hedman would have the greatest upside. Size, reach, and he’s already been rookie of the year in the Swedish Elite league. If Hedman has that recovery speed, that could be your corner stone guy for a long time.” But according to Logan, he’s just playing a hunch.

Garth and Company certainly expect this year’s #1 Draft pick to play next season in the NHL. They have already done that with Josh Bailey, even though he wasn’t exactly ready. But this year’s #1 choice will enjoy the benefits of starting his career in the NHL and of going down in Hockey history as going First overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

The First Pick & A Last Resort?

Wow! It's MAY and there's a TWO PAGE spread in Newsday today by our favorite beat-writer, Greg Logan. Our NY Islanders normally would not even get a mention in the reader rant section at this time of year so permeated by Baseball and local High School sports.

But that first overall draft pick has changed all of that. The NY Islanders and GM Garth Snow show up in almost every media outlet that has any article even remotely mentioning hockey. Yes, the choice on June 26th is THAT BIG. The prize for being the biggest loser is being the biggest winner on a Friday evening in June.

Greg presents all the possible scenarios to those of us who know them well and those who never take their eyes off the baseball scores and have never visited a hockey blog site. It'll be 40 days and 40 nights of "WWGD"; What Will Garth Do? But don't try to ask him, you won't get an answer. He's saving it for the surprise party at the Coliseum.

"Going back to Brooklyn, Brooklyn, Brooklyn? Going back to Brooklyn? Uh, no. I don't think so."

I was going to resist writing what every one and their blogging brother covered yesterday in the news that Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project is getting closer to becoming reality, but then I saw the article in Newsday's sports pages.

Hey, is Ratner the Ratner from the Kosher food conglomerate? Okay, I digress. But something struck me in the Newsday article. I'm not very familiar with the project design, so when I read the size of the project I was a little surprised.

Ratner is proposing a 22-acre $4-billion development that will include 6,000 apartments. Wait, read that number again. SIX THOUSAND apartments. Okay, I know it's Brooklyn, but doesn't that seem like an awful LOT of apartments on a development that's an exceptionally small amount of acreage that is also going to contain a 20,000 seat arena and commercial real-estate.

Originally, the plan called for almost 9,000 residential units that would make it more densely populated than Manhattan. I guess they pared it down to the 6,000 units since 2006. But still, 2,250 of those 6,000 apartments will be for "low and middle income families." That is 1/3 of the residential space. Seems like a lot to me.

As the LighthouseLI Project has their watchdog blogger, this Atlantic Yards project has it's own. The writing is very interesting, the problems facing the developer are real, the questions pending are enormous.

One large difference between the Atlantic Yards project and the LighthouseLI Project -- Eminent domain. How many people are losing their property for this project? How many field mice would be displaced in Uniondale?

If Brooklyn is the last resort of where to move the Islanders, I say -- Bye, Bye. I grew up in Brooklyn on Avenue K and Ocean Parkway. It took five years and speech therapy classes to lose the Brooklynese accent. It still comes out when I drink too much. But this very east end suburban housewife won't be travelling to Brooklyn to watch hockey games with any regularity. Maybe I'd go about as often as I go to Yankee games: once a season.

No, the more I read about other development projects, the more I don't understand the debate on the Lighthouse*. There is more property with less density and no condemnation. I just don't GET IT!!!!!

*As an aside: While watching Sunday morning television, there was a story about the Eiffel Tower and it mentioned that someone brought a lawsuit against it that delayed the building. That's the freakin' EIFFEL Tower, the icon that defines Paris, and some NIMBY was against it. No wonder we can't get the Lighthouse LI done! People have been non-progressive thinkers as far back as 1889. What would Paris be without that monumental structure???? The capital of Croissants? What will Nassau County be without the Lighthouse? Um... ummm.... give me a minute... I'm thinking...

Streit's All-Star Redemption & stuff..

The weather outside reminds me of New Hampshire and the frost on my living room skylight is seeping through and dripping on my leather couch. I'm on my second cup of tea and so far the only article I read in the Sunday paper was Greg Logan's report on All-Star Mark Streit. It is one of his best.

Of course since I read the paper while browsing the net, I checked on Point Blank to find Postcards from Montreal with additional quotes from Streit. He certainly has made us proud so far during these festivities. Conducting interviews in multiple languages, he is an international charmer.

Mark's shot in the skills competition was 98.3 mph, not too shabby. But how do you compete with Chara the giant who tallied over 105 on his second attempt? You just don't.

I'm glad Point Blank reported that Streit was not hurt in the tumble he took yesterday during the shoot out. We already had one All Star get hurt during one of these things. Let's not go for two.

Of course, it's the skills competition that is far more entertaining than the actual All Star game. But it's what I didn't get to see last night. Thank the Hockey Gods for the NHL Channel so I can catch up what I missed.

I agree with one of the comments on Point Blank; let's get the Lighthouse done so that we can host an All Star game back on the Island.

Yesterday's entry about my Isles team store purchases prompted Big Angry Man to rib me a little. I came home to this.

"Hey Dee! Look what I found! A custom Islanders orange juice holder. And it was only five bucks!"

Thanks honey. I'm leaving it that way.

Extra Credit Reading: Adam Sherlip, the Hockey Volunteer has updated his blog of his trip to India. It is fascinating. I give him a lot of credit for what he is doing right now. So since there is no hockey on TV until 6 pm, check out his website and catch up with this well-traveled young man and his adventure of a life-time.

Me... I really need to wash the kitchen floor. That's MY excitement for the day. I'm very jealous Adam!

Sorry Mike - There's No Room at the Inn

So that's a crappy Christmas reference, but it's the best I can do under the circumstances. I'm terribly behind schedule on my Christmas "To Do" list and work problems are draining my energies. (Also, if my husband sees me continuing to write instead of wrap, bake, clean and cook, he will probably throw my laptop out the window and run over it with his truck.)

The item that struck me this morning in Greg Logan's brief article is what Gordon said about Mike Comrie. I understand that the facts about rosters and cap restraints are real and daunting. That is business and the guidelines must be adhered to and unpopular decisions made. But in the quotes that Greg offered up, for some reason "He fit in well." regarding call up Ben Walter just struck me funny.

No where in this article did Gordon seem to give the impression that he was eager to get Mike Comrie back into his line-up. "Right now, there's a lot of things that have to be juggled, just a lot to toss around."

Am I reading into this statement? Perhaps. But maybe Scott Gordon is just as tired of watching Comrie's play as some of us in the stands are. Maybe the written statements I have seen that Comrie doesn't fit Gordon's system are actually accurate.

We will see in the next few games how the line-up shuffle plays out. Break out that Steve Stirling Line Combo Yahtzee game Scotto. I know he left it under the bench for you!

JUST FIX IT!

I really didn't want to wake up this morning to my husband giving me a 20 minute review of the two page article in this morning's Newsday by Arthur Staple and my good friend Greg Logan. He has his OWN ideas on how to "FIX" the Islanders. None of which I agree with which makes Sunday morning breakfast a very loud "point-counter-point" session.

"Can I read the article for myself, please??" I asked, and he grumbled.

With coffee, Newsday and pen I started with Arthur Staple's side of the page. Five points made, and only one of which I agree with.

1) Pipe down, Mr. Wang. Staple brings up Neil Smith, as countless others do, and the first thing I wrote on the paper was "WHO STILL DOESN'T HAVE A FREAKIN' JOB!" It reminds me of my favorite line from the old movie Prizzi's Honor; "If Marxie Heller so f-n' smart, how come he's so f-n' dead?" So I ask, If Neil Smith is so f-ing great, how come he's so f-ing unemployed? Also, I take it Mr. Staple didn't get the memo that the committee is dead.

2) Shut down DP: He is not currently being rushed. Maybe he was rushed the first time back, but have you tried to capture lightening in a bottle? You can't keep Rick from the ice, it's where he wants and needs to be.

3) Don't dump the veteran's until it's time: I'll half agree here. But Weight and Guerin have been our best tandem so far. I'd hate to lose either of them. Other vets are possible candidates.

4) Add more kids, any way possible: Okay, Arthur. I gave you that one.

5) Change your perception around the League: Mr. Staple says it's not the building that keeps free agents from signing here. I say BS, it has a huge impact and is sometimes a deal breaker.

On the other side of the page, on Logan's five points, my comments consisted of "Bingo!", "Yes, Yes, Yes!", "We'll have the draft picks.", "the vet question takes thought." and finally "Patience." on the Management timetable point.

Dan said I was playing favorites. I say I just agreed with more on the left side of the page.

Just like the sagging economy, fixing the Islanders is a long term plan. And I can only hope I live long enough to see it.

So... Just FIX IT!

Streit? DAMN STRAIGHT! 11-1-08

The day after Halloween and there's more candy in the house than I want to know. This was the first year that my daughter was out and about town with just her friends. I was very nervous, but I survived.

So, now it's back to Hockey as the Montreal Canadiens visit the NY Islanders tonight at 7pm. With each of the three "New York" (if you consider the state of New Jersey part of New York) teams playing tonight, I was surprised to see that MSG has put the Devils on the PlusPlus channel that I can never find. The Islanders get MSG Plus original and of course, the Rangers air on the main MSG channel. Three guesses which team will NOT have a pre-game show -- first two guesses won't count.

I've given the entire pre-game vs post-game show thing some thought and am a little surprised that MSG's reasoning to not air one is that no one watches the pre-game show. (Yes, our Emmy Award winning pre-game show if you remember.) I really DO find that hard to believe. Think of it -- at 6:30 pm we are all excited about what can happen in the game ahead. We are interested in what's happened the last few days that we haven't heard about. We're looking forward to getting revved up for the match up. By post-game we know what happened. And good or bad, it's no surprise, it's late we're changing the channel to see if we can catch the end of another game somewhere on Center Ice.

In today's Newsday Greg Logan discusses Mark Streit and his impact on the Islanders. Streit has been an early season feel good story for the Islanders. He's one of the players that Big Angry Man doesn't complain about when I watch a game with him. (The other is Nate Thompson.) But as B.A.M. is surprised and happy with this free agent, but I'll tell you who isn't surprised -- Garth Snow. He does have a way of seeing things in players that many others don't until later. This theory will again be proven when Josh Bailey finally gets to hit the ice again. (I assure you.) For Streit, I can only hope tonight will be one of those "yeah? Take THAT Montreal" moments.

Sadly I will not be able to take in the game tonight as even adults like to dress up for Halloween and party. But I'll be glued to the TV set over the bar at the SFD keeping an eye on the game with a few other die-hard Islanders fans that I know.

Injury news released (wow!) Freddy Meyer had hernia surgery and no one knows what's wrong with DiPietro.... and we never will.....

Have a great Saturday all!

The Injury Distraction 10-26-08

Greg Logan reported today (along with everyone else who was in that room last night) that Rick DiPietro said "I'd rather not talk about it. It's a bit of a distraction. When we figure out what's going on, you guys will know."

There are a number of possible reasons why Rick DiPietro ended up on the bench after giving up two goals in the first period. It was just surprising to see considering Scott (I don't believe in pulling goalie's) Gordon's emphatic stance when he left Joey MacDonald out on the ice to be pummeled with pucks.
Could Rick have somehow injured himself within the first 20 minutes of the game so badly that he needed to be yanked from the net? Well, here's a very interesting observation from one of our NYIC board members who watched warm ups last night at the Coliseum.

"I'll tell you what happened. During warm-ups, Trent Hunter took a shot that hit Ricky in his jewels . He was on the ice for a minute or two, but he wasn't the same after that. He looked like crap the whole game. Even on the bench. "

Uh.... correct me if I'm wrong people... but don't they make 'equipment' for that? Certainly this could be a possibility and one that he would NOT want to share with the media. However, that doesn't take away from the fact that Rick made "a bone headed give-away in the early moments, trying to make a home-run pass up the middle." (Yes Greg, it certainly was bone headed.)

Perhaps if Rick would remember it's hockey and not baseball, these types of split second decisions won't go so off course.

Whatever IS actually keeping Rick from concentrating or being "distracted," I hope it clears up soon.

I mentioned this elsewhere, but it is getting increasingly difficult to watch an Islander game with the Big Angry Man. Mostly because the experience he brings to the arguments, no let's call them discussions, is hard to counter-point. It makes it very difficult for me to be positive and supportive.

Let's take Doug Weight's (unfortunate) "clean hit" on Brandon Sutter. First off, in the Islanders' Die Hard fan base the name Sutter is liken to Royalty. Weight basically creamed Prince William out there last night.

Billy Jaffe did his best to explain WHY Weight didn't end up on the bottom of a bench clearing pile, but the truth remains. Had that happened to Kyle Okposo by one of the Carolina veterans, more than the fan base would be calling for some one's head on a stick.

Brandon is a rookie, who made a rookie mistake, but the freight train that was Weight could have at least pulled up just a little with that shoulder hit. I know that it effected him, you could tell he really didn't expect to knock the kid unconscious. With that being said, I'm incredibly surprised that Gordon decided to give Weight the nod for the penalty shot. I would have gone with Bill Guerin who recently has had fire in those big brown eyes of his looking for the back of the net. Something tells me, he would have smoked it passed Ward and stood on the ice like a snorting bull looking to shoot again. (Um, bad ice my a$$.)

Dear Sean: Any possibility you can get a goal when I'm actually IN the damn building so I can personally congratulate you? Keep up the good work.

Dear Campoli-oli-oli-O: Nice to see you on the ice. Please stay healthy.

Dear Kyle: We need another highlight reel goal clip. Can you help us out with that?

Dear Blog Box Boys: Did ya miss me????? Sorry I didn't make the game, but I was home making Clams Oreganata, Oysters Rockefeller, Lobster caserole and steak.

SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE 8-12-08

So Islesblogger.com DOES get a new coach for his Birthday. Look at that. Of course we had to find out on the message boards, exactly how I was hoping NOT to find out. But hell. This just seems to be my lot in life. Beat writer Greg Logan, even when on vacation, is the one to get the word out to the faithful in his Newsday article with a 7:11 pm time stamp.

Oh, right. If you haven't heard, it's Gordon. So welcome Scott Gordon to Long Island. This may or may not be much different from your coaching stint in Providence, but you'll have plenty of New Englanders around you to make you feel right at home.

Enjoy your stay.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to run out and buy ear plugs. Because when Big Angry Man gets home and finds out about this... I'm sure I'm going to hear about it for at least an hour at decibel levels rivaling Station 2's fire trucks. While I'm out, I'm going to pick up some more Vodka. I don't think I've got quite enough.

No Russia for YOU!

It seems Sean Bergenheim and his agents may be listening to reason according to a blog post by Greg Logan. Very interesting to see that Todd Diamond (Gandler's partner) is the one making the remarks about Sean's desire to continue on in the NHL. But I also see Gandler's remarks:

"I don't see arbitration as anything but a tool that is available to both the club and the player," Gandler said. "What matters to me and the player is the way the team acts during arbitration. If the team hires a counsel and that counsel is rude, obnoxious, terrible, disgusting and just the worst you possibly can imagine, it does not bother me whatsoever."What does bother me is if the GM takes the stand and bashes the player. That is irreparable. The GM does not need to take the stand or do anything. You signed the guy; you put him on the ice; you gave him a qualifying offer. That's your testimony."

Sounding like a swipe at Garth and his no-nonsense approach to contract negotiations.

Note to Sean: Smart move.

Note to Gandler: Don't play hard ball with Snow. You already lost once.

Note to Garth: Um...You can STILL send those roses.

I opted to work on my other non-paying blog tonight instead of putting my thoughts out to the world about the departure of NYI Point Blank. Probably better off. I'm two weeks behind on my softball entries, and there really isn't too much that hasn't already been said about Botta. He's got an entire fan base begging him to continue. Tough call. I know for a fact that no matter how much you beg... you can't get a man to do anything he doesn't want to. It's just that simple.

Power Play Solved? 7-2-08

It was oddly quiet last night with the exception of ONE ripple through Islander Country. At 8:02 pm the news that free agent Mark Streit had signed a 5-year deal with the Islanders had hit the message boards and Greg Logan's blog. By 8:49 pm, there was a nicely done press release in my email in-box. (Never underestimate the power of the message board.) Truth be told, Okposo Net Ken was the first to inform me. Fly on the wall perhaps?

"Who?" I thought. Truthfully, I would have asked that anyway as there are still is a handful of the 725 or-so NHLPA members who are household names to the average fan. (And I am less-than-average not being, you know... Canadian.)

I read the info, got a warm fuzzy feeling, and didn't give it too much thought. How could I? I have no memories of seeing Mark on the ice, so I can't be impressed or disappointed. Let's just call it another box of Toasty-O's that will get the job done at the right price. (As per TSN's poll that was linked in Corey Witt's blog. 50% think it's good? Yep. Thanks Canadian media for not ripping on the NYI once again.)

The balance of the night must have been uneventful because the message boards weren't lit up this morning when I logged on at 6:30 am. Greg Logan's article in Newsday was a nice feature with lots of Snow quotes. Maybe there shouldn't have been so many.

One in particular set Big Angry Man off like a rocket. "Mark solves our power play."?? B.A.M. yelled to me from the den holding Newsday in his hands. I stopped buttering my breakfast to wait for the rest of the rant.

"SOLVES? One guy SOLVES the power play? You mean the power play that was what? 25th in the league? ONE guy doesn't SOLVE THAT power play!!"

I didn't say anything. I wasn't sure how to respond since I wasn't holding the newspaper as reference. All I could think of was... Somewhere Bryan Berard was pouting. "Hey! I was supposed to "solve" the power play last season!" Uh... nice try.

Yes. We've heard this song before. After watching the power play last season, I'd say that putting that much pressure on Mark Streit may be just a little presumptuous.

Ok, so that was the "splash" for day one of free agency 2008. More of a little ripple, but again, we're told "He was a player we targeted early on." The Islanders must have the most low frequency radar possible. They always manage to "target" players their fan base doesn't even have on their "C" list.

Oh well. As long as they don't "target" a loud mouthed fashionista named Avery... I'm fine with it.

The Good, The Bad, The Alumni

As Mr. Logan said in his article on Sunday morning, it may as well have been Groundhog Day. Another unexpected loss to a team they should have beat on a day that was filled with hoopla. This turn of events is beyond frustrating for the Islander faithful. It was so frustrating that I couldn’t even bring myself to head into the locker room for the post game interviews. I had ventured in after Saturday’s game and noticed the air was thicker than normal. It almost knocked me over and it took until I hit the Seaford Oyster Bay Expressway before the scent left my nostrils. (Mind you, this has never bothered me before.) Considering yesterday’s loss, I was afraid that same air quality would have sent me into a coma. It’s not necessarily “flop sweat” because the effort was definitely there, but the scent of sheer desperation and unfulfilled potential and it literally “stinks.”
Wait… I wasn’t supposed to start with the “bad,” was I? Two days of more than 50 shots on goal and no points in the playoff push. It can’t get any worse. “It’s frustrating when you feel your team gives what they have to give…” said Ted in the post game. But it’s just not enough. “It’s just one of those things… You can be disappointed with the result, but not the process.” He continued.
I know quite a few Islander fans that play the game that might beg to differ. Some of their processes seem to be beyond ineffective, such as the Power(less) Play and passes to no where. I couldn’t even write last night, what could I possibly say that wasn’t already filling pages and pages and pages on the web? Nothing. I opted for watching a documentary on Jimi Hendrix my husband bought on E-bay and cried my eyes out. And because I am the Queen of Multi-tasking, I web streamed Rob Kowal’s NY Hockey Talk on WGBB because Tiger Track Tom Liodice was one of the guests. It was a great show with Newsday’s Mark Herrmann too, so pod cast it when you get the chance.
This morning was a new day, and the sun was shining once again. A new day brings new hope. I started to think of the “good” from yesterday’s game. There are a few, but not many have anything to do with what happened on the ice.
Davison is turning into a very good acquisition. I like the way he plays, and Colliton certainly makes his presence known in his limited ice time. Dubie showed no rust from sitting on the bench for so many games. Bergy and Hilbert were the two that skated as if they were determined to win. But they were having a hard time getting anyone else to jump on that bandwagon. I gasped when I saw Bruno take a crushing hit and then leave the ice. I gasped again when Ted said he suffered a “slight concussion and contusion of the leg…” But I felt better when I received a PM from someone who was down in the locker room after I left who said he saw Bruno walking “just fine.” Still, he will be evaluated today.
In continuing the Islanders charity work, their corporate partner Allstate Insurance donated $5,000 to the Islanders Children Charities for Bob Bourne’s five goals from the blue line. This must have been a great weekend for the charity since so many of the well staged alumni events all made donations from their proceeds. (And it seemed like there was an event every hour for four days straight.)
On the jumbotron the well produced ITV Dynasty Moments narrated by Steve Mears were fun to watch, but were a painful contrast to the game that was happening live. As Josh Bernstein and ITV have done such a fabulous job covering these Alumni events, it was announced there will be a DVD set of this 25th Anniversary Celebration available in the off season. I’m certain that will be a welcome gift for any Islander fan, young or old. (Thanks Josh. You were supposed to give me a head’s up when I could spill that little secret!)
The new bonus of allowing the kids to shoot the puck into the net after the game on the Coliseum ice is a feature that everyone loves. The line stretches beyond your sight line downstairs in the lower lobby. I asked someone how long it takes to get through all the kids and families and he told me it is usually about 25 - 30 minutes. It’s very well run, and the kids just love it. It’s a good thing. It takes the sting out of the loss for them. And every parent feels better when their kids leave the place smiling!
So that’s the Good and the Bad. That leaves only the Alumni, and they are always a treat to see. They have great stories, great memories and warm smiles for the fans. They ARE All Islanders and a nice reminder of how good it CAN be, how good it WAS, and what we all hope for one day:
A STANLEY CUP WINNING TEAM.
But a team that loses to the likes of Florida makes that dream nothing but a candle flicker in the night.
PS: Happy Birthday to the hardest working gentleman in the press core, our own beat writer, Greg Logan. Take the day off Greg. You deserve it.