And We're Back...

After about a month's layoff I'm back. Coincidentally enough so is the hockey season. I would've kept up the blog over the last month or so, but I became so bogged down in the dog days of summer/the beginning of fall/the start of training camp/everything else that updates just didn't happen. Also, until the beginning of training camp, nothing really happened on many of the message boards. Oh sure, there were a few posts here and there, a few predictions about the up coming season, and a few stories shared by the masses on the internet; but there wasn't really too much substance. This spot is driven by the content provided to me by others. So, my fellow fans, if I am to have content, then you all need to be talking. 

In any case, the Islanders season has begun. Now that hockey has arrived I have content again. Which is good. 

Now, I love to make predictions, but I realize that I am just no good at it. I stick by my "boom" and "bust" predictions, but I am going to try and limit looking into my crystal ball to addressing the web comments that I find. For instance Kilden60 from IslanderMania wrote:

"...lets see how it all plays out over the first 10 games, i bet there is gonna be some rotation on the lines." 

My swirling crystal ball see the same thing. The only difference is that instead of the first 10 games, I foresee almost the entire season. I say this for a few reasons. First, as I heard on the Devils radio broadcast tonight the Islanders used 40 different players last season. The team was struck by the injury bug. It was bad. This season will see much of the same. The system that Scott Gordon has implemented is one that is high speed and high energy and there are a number of players that will not be able to play 82 games in this system. I am referring to the 9 players on the team that are 30 or older. Of them, only Streit, Martinek, and Sim look to me as if they will be in every game (barring a puck to the face, dirty hit, etc.). Of the reast, Andy Sutton and Mike Sillinger are already down, and while Doug Weight and Bill Guerin look pretty spry now, those 37 year olds may very well need a break at one or more points during the season. 

The real reason why there will be much line shuffling is because you can only have so many players on the roster at any given time. The team gave some long hard looks at a few young guys that likely were not expected to show up as well as they did during training camp. I tend to agree with the speculation that has been floated around by Chris Botta and B.D. Gallof, among others, that the team's roster was set sometime between mid July or early August. When the kids showed up in camp there were only so many spots to go around, and when and if Mike Sillinger can go again there will be one less roster spot. While the team has manifested a desire to play the young guys, no veteran will lose his job to a rookie. Period. 

The only answer then is to shuffle the kids through the lines that are populated by younguns. This can be both beneficial and detrimental to the team. It is beneficial because it gives a number of the young players currently at Bridgeport a taste of the NHL life. This will give them a chance to see if they can stick with the big club and if they can even proper there. After all, there were not high expectations for players like Trevor Smith, Kurtis McLean, or Brett Skinner, but they managed to stick around until the end of camp, and Skinner was supposed to be on the open night roster. These three guys, along with players like Mike Iggulden will be the first called up in the event of injuries and, if this season has the same injuries as last season, may even get the chance to play for the Isles at the same time. The line shuffling, of course, can also be very detrimental to the team because it does not allow the lines to settle. The cohesion that would usually be allowed to form between players likely would not be there. At least, no in the same way. The experience is arguably more important to the players at this point, and with this roster, but that cohesion would really up the team's entertainment value a ton. At least, that's what the crystal ball says. 

Random Though:

Scott Gordon seems to still be a relatively unknown commodity for most Islanders fans. However, he does seem to focus on preparation and hockey I.Q. as much as having heart and pure skill. I for one remain a little bit skeptical about him. I have no doubt that he will give it his all, but I would not be surprised to see friction between him and one or two players by the end of the season. I found it interesting that he opted to start Nate Thompson over Blake Comeau. I know it likely means nothing, but there was already a question of Comeau's relationship with Gordon, and how much the coach really valued Blake's contributions to the team. While I know that if anyone could come of the waiver wire and start a game in Gordon's new system it would be a former P-Bruin like Thompson, but Comeau was one of the young players that seemed assured of a spot on the roster. This could be something, it could be nothing. I know some people have suggested Comeau has not been giving it his all, or has succumbed to the sophomore slump, but when the decision was made to start Thompson, he had had one practice with the team, and the team hadn't even played game #1 of the season. In any case, if anything is emblematic of the aforementioned roster shuffling it would be this. 

Until next time, keep the chatter up.

Boom and Bust

CrossbarSniper, an HFboards member came up with this simple, but interesting topic: Which one  player will surprise us as fans with his performance, and which will be a complete disappointment? In response to this topic most people have been sitting on guys like Streit, Geurin, Weight, Neilsen, Okposo, Gervais, and Tambellini as the busts. On the other hand, more than a few people have said that they see Bergenheim, Sim, and Hilbert as what they see as pleasant surprises. 

I don't really agree with any of these suggestions. Actually, that's a lie. I think that Okposo and Comeau are both due for 20-25 point seasons. They will provide a little bit of jump to this team and could easily run well over 25 points. Jeff Tambellini, also, should likely be a pleasant surprise for Islander fans. One HFboards contributor suggested that he will do enough to get traded; that could be true, but he should show a little bit of flash that was missing in the past few seasons. Basically, we should see his confidence grow progressively during the season. I foresee 15+ points for him, but I will say that I see 10 of those points being goals. I also see Tamby being the difference maker in more than a few shootouts. The young guys on the team are going to be under some scrutiny during this rebuild, but it should be said that not all of them will break out at the same time. If one or two of them breaks out this season will have been successful. 

The people taking aim at the veterans to be disappointing will be surprised a little as well. But just a little. Reading the board it becomes clear that any production from the vets will be a little bit of a surprise. So, let me drop this truth bomb on everyone: Bill Guerin's production will be nearly the same as it was last season. While the team again looks a different, the roster is not so changed that Guerin cannot keep up his 40 point pace. Doug Weight, on the other hand is totally up in the air. In 06-07 Weight notched 59 points playing along side his good friend Bill Guerin; in 07-08 Weight was traded after 29 games and was taken from a first/second line position to a third/fourth line role with the Ducks. He was scratched for a number of games and ended the season with only 25 points. Clearly, he will not reach 59 points with the Isles. But, he should be able to get to the 35 point range without too much trouble, and at the same time he will be teaching the kids how to actually play the game. 

None of these players that I have talked about, though, would be my choice for a potential surprise player. In the format chosen by HFBoards posters my choice is:

Surprise: Freddy Meyer

Meyer at the start of last season was just a utility player. He was on the roster to take up space and fill in if someone did not play that well. That was unfortunate, because when he was acquired Meyer was at a point where, with the right coaching, he could become a successful every day defenseman. During his first real season in the NHL in 05-06 Meyer scored 27 points in 57 games. He was also a +10. He was able to contribute both offensively and defensively and was on his way to becoming a complete player. The next season, however, Meyer did not keep up his performance and was traded to the Islanders. In 35 games in 06-07 he put up three points, but had an even +/- rating. This past season Meyer ended up being surplus. He only made a few appearances with the Islanders before being waived and picked up by the Coyotes. However, after 5 games in Phoenix he was again waived and brought bak to the Island. After Meyer's return the plague of injuries started and Ted Nolan was forced to play him. Meyer did not disappoint. However, the most telling period during last season was when Brendan Witt was injured. The defense needed someone to step up and be any kind of force and, as it turns out, Meyer was that man. Over 52 games for the Islanders Meyer only notched 12 points, 3 goals 9 assists, but was also a +10 on what finished the season as a somewhat terrible team. His defensive game evolved last season and he very much fill Witt's shoes. Granted Scott Gordon gives him any kind of appreciable playing time this season Freddy Meyer should be even more of a success. 

Picking a bust on this team is actually harder than picking someone to break out. The reason why is that the expectations for the Islanders are already so low. I could talk about a guy like Andy Hilbert, but he's obvious. I love the optimism showed by those people that think that Hilbert is due for an offensive explosion, but it just does not seem to be in the cards. He had a great 05-06 when he played with the Penguins and notched 18 points in 19 games, but in the two seasons since, he has not showed any kind of promise. He scored fewer points last season than he did the season before, but had at least the same ice time, and possibly even more. Not to mention, that since he was a "Nolan" player he played in almost every situation. If he was going to start scoring left and right it would have been then. Hilbert, however, would be an obvious choice as a bust, and an even more obvious choice as a surprise. I mean, I think it would be down right shocking if Hilbert turned into a 30 goal scorer. Instead, I will go for another person that seems to be trying as hard as possible to become a very successful bust:

Bust: Rick DiPietro

DP has become the poster boy for almost all of the Islanders' problems. He may even have been one of the deciding factors in Ted Nolan losing his job. He has an attitude and is probably, as some have suggested, becoming a clubhouse cancer. Like many cancers, he has shown that he is nearly uncoachable and this represents a real problem for the team moving forward. As I said in my previous post, the team, especially Scott Gordon, needs to find a way to make DP accountable for his actions. If they do this, he should become more of a team player and will check some of his attitude at the door. As a side note, DP's attitude stems a bit from his team pride. I feel as if no one has more desire to see him team succeed than Rick DiPietro, but I also see that because of that, he won't call it a season when he has hip problems that require surgery. To this point we have seen Rick go from young prospect to everyday starting goalie. In the last three seasons we have seen his games played total plateau at about 63. We have seen him compete. However, this season is a make or break season for Rick DiPietro. He is coming off of another hip surgery and he has a new coach. Add to that the intention of management to limit his play time a little more and we have the makings of a problem. If Scott Gordon misses out on connecting with Rick then it is easy to envision bad blood forming between the two. We shall see how that pans out. 

The big reason why DP will be a bust is that people are still expecting him to become a superstar goalie. Deny it all you want, but every Islander fan wishes that DP would step up and start channeling some combination of Billy Smith and Patrick Roy. This probably isn't going to happen. Rick looked like he was going to get back into form early this season when he was playing on a level with his 03-04 performance when he put up a 2.36 GAA, .911 Save Percentage, and 5 shutouts. In fact, he played this way nearly until the All Star break. DP was also an All Star. But after the break, when he messed up his hip again, DiPietro's play fell off in a remarkable fashion. 

I foresee something like that happening again this season. He may not get hurt, but in the end DP's numbers will be more or less normal. That is what will be so disappointing about his play. His normal may be that of a goalie that is on his best days a top 10 or even a top 7 goalie in the NHL, but it will probably not ever exceed that. In fact, if you think about it, DP may never even have a chance to become that top 5 goaltender because his injuries are going to limit the length of his career and the next few seasons will be lost to a rebuild. You never know though, I could end up being wrong in the future. DP could very well achieve, but for this season we will all be somewhat disappointed with the way that he plays.

I also have some honorable mentions. First, I want to finally put in a good word for Joey MacDonald. While I dislike him as the choice for backup goalie on this team, he should be a bit of a pleasant surprise. I make this assertion based on not so much, more of a feeling than anything else, but I had a chance to see Joey Mac play for the Bruins two seasons ago and over the (only) seven games that he played for them he proved to be very capable. His ceiling really is as a backup, but that doesn't mean that he can't play at least a little bit well. I still hope that Snow comes to his senses and pulls someone like Robert Esche out of his hat, but MacDonald should be able to hold down the fort a little bit. 

As a dishonorable mention as a bust I would go for Andy Sutton. Someone on HFBoards said that Doug Weight would be the slowest skater on our team, but they obviously forgot that Andy Sutton is still on the roster. Sutton is still a little bit of a physical force, but he probably should end up platooning through the last paring with Bruno Gervais, another honorable mention as a possible bust. Its not that Sutton's defense is so bad, but he isn't that fast and at 33 he is one of those players that trend against the youth movement. 

As always, here's to hoping that this season is somewhat less disappointing than we all think it will. 

Wherein Rick DiPietro is a character...

Mexico, apparently, was a little bit of an underdog coming into the International Championship Game for the Little League World Series. Their opponents, Japan, have been in this game, or sniffing around it for a while now. The Mexicans have been less consistent. By the middle of the third inning Mexico was down by two and trying to think of how to get into the game. Then, in the bottom of the third, the Mexicans turned it on. They batted around and, as I sit here watching, now possess a 5-2 lead. The Mexicans have been persistent in their approach towards Japan. They stayed patient, swung at the pitches they could hit, got on base, and now they have their opponents right where they want them. 

Such is the approach that Scott Gordon is going to have to take with Rick DiPietro. As we have seen and heard, Ricky has been growing a little bit, eh, uncoachable. That isn't to say that the right coach could not get through to him, but Rick has begun to realize that, not only has he become a star in the NHL, but that he has job security that you just cannot find anywhere else. 

His contract as it stands right now will allow him to outlast any coach that the Islanders hire. That is important because, at least to some extent coaches can be seen as members of management. I say this because on pro sports teams, the coach has an allegiance to his players, but reports to the GM, and at times works directly with him. It is all part of the synergy needed to create a winning team. 

At various points during the off season the GM, coach, and scouts will sit down and decide where the team is going and which players fit with that direction. These meetings will decide whether a player is traded, demoted, bought out, or just let go. Thus, it behooves a player to keep a relatively good rapport with the coach and the rest of the team, and generally to give it his all night in and night out. DP just does not fit into that mold. 

Rick is going to be with the team for so long that he likely will see two, or maybe three coaches before his contract is up. He is the team's star goaltender and the state of the roster is such that he cannot be replaced. Add to it that Rick is Garth Snow's good friend and that the team's all too hands-on owner Charlie Wang likes DP's style and we see that he won't be replaced. 

Without the fear that his play will impact his contract status Rick is somewhat impervious to the usual leverage a coach has. So, all this explanation leads up to the fact that Gordon is likely not ever going to be able to simply bench DP; that he just won't be able to be the typical coach, involved, but detached. Gordon is going to have to get into DiPietro's head, become his friend, and be able to actually speak to him. This is an area where, if you believe the reports, Ted Nolan failed.

Why this is necessary is something that tons of people take issue with, i.e. DP's personality. He is cocky. He is a little rude. He is super duper full of himself. At least that is what everyone says, though, they are probably right. Sorry, Rick, but people don't always like it when you act like you know how good you are. On the other hand, I have to say, lots of people say that Rick is a whiner. I'm pretty sure that that isn't true. Rick is a competitor and he wants to play. He is the type of guy that wants to be in the net during the second overtime in game seven of the Cup finals. He will play hurt and he will continually give it his all because to do less would bother him. That is why Gordon needs to handle him delicately. 

DiPietro's competitiveness and his ego will not permit him to recognize him limits. We all saw last season where DP injured his hip during the Allstar game. After that DP's play was garbage. He was trying, but he was too hurt to actually give it his all. That was Nolan's fault. 

When Rick began to falter the Isles were contending for a playoff spot. If Nolan had recognized that Rick was ailing the team could have shut DP down and tried to pick up a rental goalie like Cristobal Huet who was available for a 2nd round pick. Had that happened the Islanders may or may not have made the playoffs, but Nolan may very well still have a job. 

Now, however, we have Scott Gordon, and the youth movement is probably much better for it and DP should be better for it too. So long as Gordon can get into DiPietro's head, issues like play time and health should work themselves out. Gordon can approach DP and tell him that he is playing 55 or 60 games per season until he sees that Rick's hips still work, and that if Rick is hurt that he'll tell Gordon instead of slowly dropping into mediocrity. They can work out boundaries for Rick's exuberance. They can get past DP throwing pies into his teammates' faces and acting like a rockstar and get him to be a member of this team. 

Gordon needs to get the team to buy into his system and notions of accountability. But he needs to get DP to buy into it individually. If he can it will only be a short time until the Isles grow into a solid team with a topflight goalie; if not, Gordon's tenure may be just as rocky as Ted Nolan's.

Coaches, etc. pt. 2

After a brief respite I am back with a further break down of Bob Hartley and John Tortorella. I'm also going to throw in a few comments on one or two of the other coaching prospects and let you know who I want to coach the team. 

An sooo...

Bob Heartly:

I was going to offer a more in depth view of Bob Hartley and his stats and accolades, but Bob Hartley is a well enough known commodity that I could pick the sexy part of his NHL.com bio and go from there. So here it is:

In the 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Hartley became the first NHL coach since 1967 (Billy Reay) to lead his team to the Conference Finals in his first four seasons with the same team. In 16 seasons as a head coach at the amateur and professional levels, Hartley's teams have qualified for the playoffs 14 times while capturing five league championships and have been a part of winning at least 40 games eight times and 30 or more contests on 14 occasions. His Avalanche teams won at least 42 games in four consecutive seasons from 1998-2002, including a 45-29-8 mark in 2001-02.

Hartley was also the coach that allowed the Thrashers to beat out the Columbus Blue Jackets for the honor of not being the last expansion team to make the playoffs. That being said, though, the Thrashers did not even put up a fight during those playoffs. That is the first negative point. The reason why this is such a negative is that the Thrashers had put up 97 points and won their division. They were nearly guaranteed a spot during that 06-07 season so its not as if they were so burned out. In fact, if any team should have appeared haggard during that series it was the Rangers, the Thrashers first playoff opponents. That is not how it all played out. Rather, the Thrashers played the most uninspired playoff hockey I have ever seen. They were not out gunned or over matched, just lazy and witless. If anyone is to blame for that it has to be the coach. As Hartley's bio makes clear, he has never lost a team's confidence, but somewhere along the line it happened.

This brings me to my next negative point; Hartley could not overcome his differences with the team and started 0-7 and was then canned. Most coaches will be fired for one reason or another during their coaching careers. Many times the coach will be the fall guy for a team that is short on success while also being short on talent, many people think this was Ted Nolan's plight. Bob Hartley's Thrashers last season had line up that was both different and similar to this coming season's Islanders. It was not youth centric, but there were players such as Tobias Enstrom, Chris Thorburn, Bryan Little, Garnet Exelby, and Jim Slater either playing for Hartley or who saw time with the Thrashers over the course of the season. 

These players represent the same type of youth the Islanders are going to be starting the season with. My point is that some of these youngsters were on the team this season when Hartley lost control. It likely does not behoove the Islanders to put him right back into the same position he was in with the Thrashers. Surely, he would try to do better, but the players talk and while Nolan was able to make the Islanders overachieve without a player like Ilya Kovalchuk, Hartley managed to launch the team into the aforementioned abomination of a start. If any of the Islanders speak to any of the Thrashers, like say Jon Sim, a former Thrasher, they may find out why Hartley lost control and he would be walking into a loaded locker room. On the other hand, Hartley managed to make the Avalanche work with a team that had many, many superstars. So, it could be a bit of a crap shoot with Harltey. Though, let's be real, these Islanders are going to perform similarly to last year's Thrashers, and last year's Islanders for that matter. Hartley took a team that could have continued an up tread and helped put them into the #3 draft pick. 

John Tortorella:

So, you basically can take the argument I made against Hartley and apply it to Tortorella. Only, here, management did not want to cause an upheaval in the team or disrespect a man that won the team a cup and so they left him in place. That's not the entire story though. Tortorella did not lose the team in the same way that Hartley lost the Thrashers. See, the thing is that Tortorella's lightning were already in upheaval. The team's sale was pending and a lot of players were the subjects of trade rumors and the team had no true stability. 

That being said, it is incumbent on the coach to make some changes to make the team more stable. Tortorella is known for having his teams play a wide open offensive style and, perhaps, he should have pulled that back a little bit. As they say defense wins games. Last year's Lightning possessed a great deal of fire power, but they only had four players that had an even +/- or better and one of them, Jeff Halpern, had been playing for another team where he was a -2. In short, Tortorella's up hill battle did not involve the team's loss of confidence in him, but rather a general loss of confidence in the state of the team by the players. Even if Tortorella had made defensive changes the team would not have fared much better. Eliminating some of the goals against would probably have put them in the same place as the Isles or Thrashers. So, they still would not have been a playoff team. 

As for coaching history, Tortorella's NHL.com coaching bio says this:

Tortorella got his first major break in 1988-89 when he was hired as an assistant coach with the New Haven Nighthawks of the American Hockey League. He became an assistant coach with the Buffalo Sabres the following season, and remained with the Sabres organization through the 1996-97 season. The Sabres recognized Tortorella's teaching abilities and named him the head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, prior to the 1995-96 season. His Rochester team won the Calder Cup in 1996 and followed that up with the best record in the AHL's Northern Conference during the 1996-97 regular season.

Tortorella returned to the NHL in 1997 as an assistant with the Phoenix Coyotes, where he spent two seasons before joining the New York Rangers for 1999-2000. He served as the Rangers' interim head coach for the final four games of the ?99-00 season before joining the Lightning staff.

Herein lies the reason why Tortorella is probably a better bet for the coaching position. Tortorella has experience coaching young and losing teams. The Coyotes and the 99-00 Rangers were both teams that were not so hot. It turned out to be great experience. After Tortorella took over the Lightning in 2001 he managed to turn the team around. When he was an assistant the team was second to last in the league, with 59 points. When Tortorella took over, the team finished with ten more points. The season after that, the Lightning finished with 95 points winning the South East Division. That season coincided with the maturation of Vinnie Lecavalier, Marty St. louis, and Brad Richards. Since 2003-2004 those three have been seen as legitimate stars in this league. 

Tortorella's ability as a teacher has been overshadowed by his fiery personality. Many people believe that Tortorella would dominate the Islanders. They say that he would limit the play time of the young kids and ruin them with locker room tantrums and tirades. If that were the case Lecavalier, et al, would not be the players they are today. People tend to ignore the plain fact that those players were also young at one time as well. Many people though Lecavalier was not coachable. They though he was a prima-donna and that he would waste his talent. In short he was a project. Yet, two seasons after Tortorella took over Vinnie put up 78 points, way up from 37 the season before. Add to that Tortorella's success at the AHL level and it becomes apparent that he may actually know how to handle young kids. Many people also say that his personality is the type that would conflict with Garth Snow. That is Garth's decision alone, but that probably is not the case. During the seven or so years that Tortorella was with the Lightning I can't remember any of the conflicts that he had with Jay Feaster. That isn't to say they didn't happen I'm just saying that they were so not very memorable. I also do not remember any rumblings that his job was in trouble because of his personality. Winning, though, is the cure to all ills in professional sports so, perhaps when Tortorella was winning games for the Lightning his personality was a non-issue. 

It must be said, though, that as much as Tortorella might criticize management, who really could believe that he would go to the lengths that Ted Nolan did? Like people said, the things Nolan was saying seemed like his attempts to get fired. Tortorella certainly is outspoken, but he is generally constructive with his comments. He also would not be above working with Snow or collaborating on a plan for the two to follow. Any coach would land right there, though. In the end Tortorella has come out unharmed from his team's collapse, whereas Hartley seems to be damaged goods. 

Wrap up:

In my time in hockey, about 15 years or so, I have learned that the best coaches are not one type of personality or another. They can deliver the soft touch when they need to tell a player what they need, and they know when to yell at or bench their players as way of teaching lessons. From what I've seen of the available coaches Tortorella has the best mix of these two traits and he knows how to deal with superstars who have strong personalities, i.e. Rick DiPietro. The last thing the team would need is a soft touch coach who is afraid to stand up to Rick, or who is afraid to stand up for himself when, as so many say, Rick calls up Charles Wang. Bob Hartley actually may have a leg up in that area. With his relationship with Garth Snow, Hartley might have the GM's vote over that of the start goalie. 

You never know what can happen, though. The team may very well go with a relatively unknown coach. Going with the recentish Newsday article Scott Gordon and Mike Sullivan both seem to be at least decent coaching prospects. In a toss up between them I would go with Gordon. The only reason why is that I would be hoping for the Bruce Boudreau factor. Gordon has had success at the AHL with the Providence Bruins but has yet to coach at the NHL level. If the team really wants a coach to play the role of teacher then Gordon probably would be best. On the other hand, Sullivan, just like a good prospect, may be primed for a breakout season. He has had his initial head coaching job with minimal success. But he has had success at the AHL level. It stands to reason, that he could follow in his former boss's footsteps and develop a young team into his own success story. 

So, really, while I come out greatly in favor of John Tortorella here, it is only because he is a known commodity. It may actually be very wise for the team to pick one of the AHL or other coaches that are available. That coach could develop as the team does and could stay a while. 

In any case, the Islanders should continue with "the plan" and develop the team as it should be developed. 

Coaches, Coaches, Coaches...

You know, I started this blog because I dislike being involved in conversations on message boards that require some kind of support. The reason for this is that few people actually lend that kind of support. Instead they make short statements that may or may not be intended to be assertions of fact. This bothers me on the same level as mosquitos buzzing in my ear. Ultimately, not such a big deal, but at the time that can be very frustrating. Such was a discussion I have been embroiled in for a good part of today. 

This discussion was about candidates for the open coaching job on the Island. The reason why this conversation was frustrating was because, first, I misread a posters post and came back with an answer which became asinine because I was just giving the other poster fodder to make me seem dumb. The second reason why it bothered me is because, like so many times before, the poster chose to pick at only one aspect of my original post. Actually, had he/she chosen to respond to everything I said he would have realized that his rebuttal made little sense. 

I have been meaning to jump on this for a while. But instead I've actually been avoiding it. The reason why is because it seemed to be an uninteresting subject. There are nine or so candidates for the coaching job and they will be interview, it appears, at a pace of about two or three per week. That means that the Isles will have a new coach sometime around the middle or end of August, or maybe even the beginning of September. Thus, the subject was uninteresting because there will be a bunch of speculation as the papers report the new interviews, but nothing dispositive for at least a month. Now, however, I am frustrated and I am going to do a little review of the big three coaching candidates.  And yes, I am probably going to twist this a little in favor of the coach I see as being best for the team. 

Let's go in the order of their interviews shall we? That means, Maurice, Heartly, and Tortorella.

Paul Maurice:

So, unbeknownst to me, Paul Maurice has been in this game much longer than many coaches his age have been. He started coaching in juniors when he was around 26 years of age. That is pretty impressive. Had he not suffered an eye injury he would have kept playing through juniors and beyond. Undaunted though, he led the Detroit Jr. Red Wings to an OHL championship and a record of 86-38-8 over two seasons. After that he moved on to the head spot on the Whalers and, of course, the Hurricanes.While coaching the Whalers and Canes he managed to achieve several winning seasons which included a trip to the Cup finals in 2002. He coached the Hurricanes until 2004 and was fired after two seasons of not making the playoffs. In 2005, Maurice took over as the head coach of the Toronto Marlies, the Maple Leafs farm team. The next year he took over as the head coach of the Leafs. Now, two years later, Maurice was unceremoniously dismissed as coach of the Leafs after not making the playoffs over two seasons. 

Maurice has several strong points. First and foremost, Maurice is packing a wealth of knowledge. He has been doing this for 13 years and has coached at every level of hockey. He knows what he is doing, though, that's a given. He achieved a good deal of success with the Whalers/Hurricanes organization. Because he was there for 8 years he had to have been involved in the development of several players into quality NHLers. Also, he did this while coaching a Whalers team that saw just about as much success as the Islanders teams of the mid-90's. So, to sum that up, Maurice did exactly what the Islanders will be hoping he can do for the team. The big problem is that he was expected to do the same thing for the Leafs. On top of that, he was expected to do this with the very players he had been coaching in the minors the year before. If there weren't a few chances to develop some kids there I don't know what they were. Lastly, Maurice took four seasons to turn the Whalers into a winning team. That is just too long really. Also, over that whole time Maurice has developed a reputation as both a patient teacher, and a bit of a cream puff. For a team with a lot of youth that is probably disadvantageous. 

Bob Hartley and John Tortorella to come...

Scoring?

So, an issue people have been discussing since the middle of last season is where the scoring is going to come from. This is a good question. There is not going to be a lot of scoring. At least as it stands right now. At least if the pessimists are right. 

Right now though, I am going to say that as a matter of logic the pessimists are going to be a least a little bit wrong. In that I mean that there is no possible way the kids are going to put up the same numbers as they did last season. 

One poster I noticed on HFBoards.com went to the lengths of picking a few of the young guys on the team and putting up their goal totals so that he might show that we have lost so much scoring with no tangible replacement for it. To really address people like that I am going to take their stats and twist them a little bit. I am going to use last season to project where the kids may end up and in some cases I am going to use some reality to temper those predictions. 

So, first off I am going to see if Kyle Okposo can competently replace Miro Satan, if Blake Comeau can replace Josef Vasicek, and if Sean Bergenheim can replace Ruslan Fedotenko. I am picking these young guys because they saw NHL time last season on a semi-regular basis, or because they are guaranteed to see nearly first line minutes this season. 

Satan's stats looked like this:

Goals: 16 Assists: 25 Points: 41 +/-: -11 Average Time: 18:19

Vasicek's stats:

G: 16 A: 19 P:35 +/-: 1 AT: 15:51

Fedotenko's Stats:

G: 16 A:17 P: 33 +/-: -9 AT: 16:42

And for the kids we have:

Okposo

G: 2 A: 3 P: 5 +/-: 3 AT: 16:28

Comeau: 

G: 8 A: 7 P: 15 +/-: 1 AT: 11:40

Bergenhiem:

G: 10 A: 12 P: 22 +/-: -3 AT: 11:15

Looking at the stats it seems that the kids did not really do much last season. What a lot of people forget, though, is the ATOI stat (or AT as I put it). ATOI stands for the average time on ice and this is important if you want to accurately project how many points a player is going to score. Logic has it that the longer a player is on the ice, the more scoring opportunities that they will be involved in. ATOI is the first thing to remember here. The second thing to remember is that most of the kids did not play the entire season. Bergenheim is the only one to have played the full season on the Island. 

The way I am going to twist the stats used by the pessimists I am going to do some simple math, at least with Okposo and Comeau. If you do the math, taking the number of points scored and multiplying that with the percentage of the season the kids played and disregarding ice time the kids will get about this many points this season:

Okposo, last season played 9 games, rounding down one game to make it a little easier, Okposo projects as a 50 point scorer. So, not only did he replace Satan, but he is also out scoring Comrie also.

Comeau played in 51 games last season, which is about 60% of the season. He notched 15 points. According to the math, if Comeau played 31 more games, or roughly the other 40% of the season he looks to notch 6 more points for a total of 21.

Begenheim played in 78 games last season and the long and the short of it is that playing in the other four games of the season he should get just one more point. Not very exciting. 

Comeau and Bergenheim are looking at about 20-25% increases in play time and Okposo is looking at maybe a 15% increase in ice time. I am not up to the math for that, but imagine, if you will, the impact of that increased ice time. Basically, the young guys are going to pick up the scoring whether the try or not.  So if I make some kind of educated guess accounting for better ice time and reality what I come up with is Okposo scoring in a range of 45-55 points; Comeau scoring in a range of 25-35 points; and Bergenheim scoring in a range of 25-35 points. 

Other X factors for scoring are going to be the impact that Mark Streit and a healthy Chris Campoli will have as well as the impact Doug Weight might have on the team. Weight by the way, had 25 points in 67 games last season. He also got second and third line minutes playing for the Ducks. By only playing 17 extra games though, Weight was looking at a 30 point season. That is certainly not stellar, but he may very well make sure that at least one of the young guys on the team hits the marks I projected. 

Looking at the numbers, the scoring is probably replaced by playing the kids a little more. If Jeff Tambellini can actually start scoring life could be good. Right now Tamby is looking at scoring 6 points over a whole season. Of the young players on the Isles he received the worst play time for a player expected to score goals. Even Frans Neilsen had a better average ice time than Tambellini. The thing is that Tamby could be a star in the making. Now that he is no longer facing Nolan's ire he should start scoring. There are no obstacles in his way, and most people project him to play on the top lines with Weight and Guerin, two guys who have but one job, to get Tamby the puck in a way that will let him score goals. 

The bottom line is that even with the kids in key spots, the team is no worse off than it was in the middle of last season. The kids could seriously underachieve and not meet my projections, but they could also exceed them. Only time will tell. 

P.S. - this post will eventually be edited. I wrote this very early in the morning So it's going to need it.

R.I.P. Ted Nolan

This is typical Islander BS since Wang took over this franchise. Always trying to do the unexpected...trying to "out smart, or one up everyone else" instead of just doing the right thing. Started from their very first draft when they choose DP first overall. 

To me, what Milbury did and what Garth is doing is anything but courageous, it's totally desperate, period. Good, well run franchises do not need to do the silly, stuff this organization has done since 2000.

Oh, and by the way, let's give Ted nolan a little bit of credit here can we. Do you think for a minute that if any of our prospects really showed they belonged in the NHL he wouldn't play them? Seriously, Comeu, Nilsson, Tambellini, and every other youngster brought up in his 2 year tenure where really not NHL ready, so they didn't play a lot. To think they should be given top 6 minutes or power play tie is nuts.

Unfortunatley, next year will be an absolute disgrace from the start. And one last thing, i said it earlier, no self respecting coach will get a second interview let alone an offer to coach this disaster. And honestly, I don't think for a minute that any self respecting former head coach should even want it. If the concensous is that Teddy wont get another job because he's a GM basher, than what about our owner and GM...why would anyone who's tasted success in this league come here to DIE.

I actually dislike talking about the popular issues. The problem is that along with the popular issues come the most unreasonable statements and ideas about the function of a team. Along with the quote above, taken from IslanderMania, I am going to respond to Scott Burnside's article about Ted Nolan's firing. This article is entitled: "With Nolan Move, Isles Go From Feel Good Story To Laughingstock," and can be found here:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?columnist=burnside_scott&id=3487345

I am linking the quote and the article together because they address the same subject, that's obvious, but they also take the same tone. It is almost as if the poster read the article, believed it, and posted taking the sentiments from the article as his or her own. That is reasonable, Mr. Burnside makes a decent point in that is is ridiculous in firing a coach that got something out of the roster when everyone said that the team should be on the bottom of the standings. This is of course on top of the fact that the Islanders have had six, going on seven coaches in the last 8 years. 

The thing that Burnside also points out is that it is the teams that struggle that go through coaches like toilet paper, and usually treat them as such as well. So good on Scott for picking up on that one. I like to talk about the obvious issues too. That makes everything all better. 

The reason why teams do that is because it is impossible to be a winner without balance. In fact, to pull a John Buccigross for a minute:

"You can't ride a bike without balance, so why try and grab the mike without talent." - Atmosphere

I would have the exact lyrics if I could remember the name of the song, I'll edit this when I can remember. Nevertheless, keep up the good job Bucci.

The point is that when teams in any sport do this type of thing it is because they are seeking to achieve balance. Team management will usually do what it likes. Here the Islanders management has sought to build a winning team. 

For the first seven or eight seasons they tried to build a winner by buying talent. That certainly could work, but the problem is that the team has had difficulty attracting talent. It did not seem to be that big of a deal when the team had attracted Peca, Osgood, Yashin, and Co. in the early 2000's, but really none of those guys proved to be game changers. Osgood was always there to hold DiPietro's spot and Peca became good trade bait. We all know the Yashin story. The thing is that the teams of 2001-2003 weren't really that bad. They were consistently in the playoffs and they fought. The problem was that the team never escaped the first round. After that, Laviolette was fired and the team was lost. 

So now, five or six year later, the team is looking to get better. The problem is not Charles Wang exactly. Wang does not know hockey, but he does know business. It is good for business to have a winning team. It just so happens that Wang does not know exactly how to build a winning team. That's not to say the team is not trying. 

To that end Garth Snow, after trying to keep to the 2001-2004 model tried to buy talent and failed. So what to do? Pick a new direction and go. 

Garth ultimately picked the direction that was popular on the message boards and with the fans in general, i.e. a rebuild. To accomplish this rebuild Snow had to replenish the farm system while also attempting to pick some topflight talent. At the 2008 draft he showed what some people in the hockey world acclaimed as savvy. He turned his fifth overall pick into two extra picks and Josh Bailey. This really was smart. In a year or probably two (maybe even three) the Sound Tigers may be a mirror of the Chicago Wolves. Shortly thereafter, the team will start an upward trend. 

After the draft, Snow sought to find another veteran leader and a puck moving defenseman. That was it. I though he should probably add one more player, probably Ladislav Nagy, to the fold. If anything Nagy would add to the team's entertainment value. That is important if the fans have to deal with a losing season. Nevertheless, Snow seems to have executed a plan. He got a veteran that is happy to play with his friend and show the kids a thing or two, and an offensive defenseman that will be an island in a sea of defensive defensemen. Perhaps Chris Campoli will learn a thing or two from our new Swiss friend. The bottom line is that Snow put the team in a position to play the young guys. 

The way he did that was by following the last season off season's model and let the free agents walk. Well, he did really did not want that to happen last year, but hey, it was called for here. By letting Satan and Fedotenko walk he opened up some space for at least Comeau and Okposo to show what they are made of. Also, Jeff Tambellini is going to get his shot. My guess is that once these kids see more than 8-11 minutes per game they will bloom. At least Okposo and Comeau will. They both showed that they can score. Okposo saw the same time on the ice as Andy Hilbert last season, but played in 20 fewer games. He totaled 15 points to Hilbert's 16; mathematically that works out to about 29 points. Okposo scored 5 points in 9 games, which works out to 55 points which would have been the best on the team. 

Ultimately, what this represents is that playing the kids over the grind lines last season might have saved Nolan's Job. If you add the say, 20-30 points Comeau would have scored and the unknown number of point Tambellini would have gotten, the team would not have fallen off like it did. He also would have shown that he was on board with the youth movement. However, Nolan did not do any of that. He decided instead to go with what he wanted. He played the grinders. Players who are usually slated for the fourth line got first and second line minutes. They got these minutes over young players that were more offensively minded and offensively talented. That was Nolan's mistake. 

It is hard for a coach to talk to players about being team players while not trying to be one himself. It is no wonder then that it was reported that Nolan had lost the respect of some one the veterans on the team. 

In losing Nolan the team is developing balance. Maybe. That depends upon which coach they choose as Nolan's successor. If they choose a coach purely as a babysitter then there will be another coach in the not too distant future. If not, then the team can do the smart thing and execute its plan for the next several years. 

To tell the truth though, Ted Nolan was going to become a disruptive force. He did not vibe with management, and he did not believe that he should give the kids play time even though they would likely more productive than his coach's pets. So, while Nolan was a master at turning water into wine, he was turning into the one person preventing the rebuild. 

And a note to Scott Burnside. You summed up the Islanders' free agent signings in your most recent article by saying this:

Given that Snow managed to lure only defensively challenged defenseman Mark Streit, with a whopper contract, and fading Doug Weightto the fold, it appears he need not have worried.

However, in grading the Islanders' free agent signings on July 1 you said this:

Long Island bound

Streit

• Islanders sign defenseman Mark Streit to five-year deal
We're not sure exactly what to make of Mark Streit and his 62-point campaign from last season; we're also not too sure what to make of the New York Islanders, who continue to be competitive even though, on paper, they have no business being anywhere but near the bottom of the Eastern Conference. GM Garth Snow will always have trouble attracting top-flight free-agent talent to Long Island until the Isles either build a new arena or dramatically improve the current barn. That means he's got to work a lot harder to build a winner. Streit, then, is a nice addition for a team that is long on work ethic and short on production. He can play forward if need be, but will add some nice jump to a blue-line corps whose top point producer, Chris Campoli, had 18 points.
Free-agency grade: B

So, which is it Scott? Come on man. I know you only gave the Isles a "B," but how do you rectify the first statement with the second? I guess you do not happen to be an Islanders fan, and that is fine with me, but at least be consistent. Where did you say that Mark Streit's signing being a B was contingent on Nolan sticking around? And last I heard, Mark Streit was the bargain pickup for free agent defensemen. Would you have preferred it if the Islanders paid Wade Redden six million plus per year? That is ridiculous. But, at least you get paid to do this. Sorry Scott, I usually agree with the things you write, but this time all you were doing was trying to prod Islanders fans. That in no way represents objective writing. At least be consistent. 

By the way, it is after 12 so I make no representations about spelling, grammar, and syntax. If I messed up somewhere sorry. I'm usually a stickler for grammar and try to limit my conjunctions even when I write my blogs. High five Islanders fans, I'll catch you on the flip side. 

The Response

So, Terry Frei, being an upstanding guy actually sent a response to my e-mail. To tell the truth I though briefly about wetting my pants because a sports writer actually responded to my e-mail. That's never happened. Anyways, here's his response:

MJS--

Thanks for the feedback. I was not using it as a legal term, but as an everyday life term.

Cordially,

Terry 

That was basically the total correspondence between us, you know his response and my letter which can be seen in my previous blog. 

Okay, so I just want to break things down a little quickly. While I have the utmost respect for professional writers, and Mr. Frei is included here, they can manage to be deflective if they feel like it. 

Now, I didn't want to get too into the legalities of what Terry wrote, but I did want to make a point that misusing legal terms can hurt your overall message or the sport you happen to be discussing. As per his e-mail, we're going to have to take Terry Frei at his word, that he was using implied consent as "an every day life term." But come on, the last time that I heard "implied consent" in regular conversation was never; at least in any conversation that didn't involve the law. Also, if you look at the context in his article, it was clearly a statement about the law. 

I am making such a big deal about sports and the law because while, in watching a game the idea of the law never comes up, whenever sports are discussed in the real world there is often a legal discussion to go with it. Think about the things that have gone on in sports in the last year or so. There has been Michael Vick, Pacman Jones, and their ilk combined with things like the CBA and the European transfer agreement in hockey, as well as a CBA issue that will start to evolve in the next year or so in the NFL. 

Also, I think adding the legal discussion to the NHL actually helps the league's credibility. Every time the law is brought into the pro sports conversation it is because someone got shot, robbed, arrested, etc. We hardly ever see how a sport can interact with the law in ways that can be, probably not positive, but at least right. This law suit is a demonstration of how there are rules and boundaries in the league and how they can be broken. Why is that good? Because it shows just how far things in hockey like checking and fighting go. This suit would help clarify issues like "The Code" and the roles enforcers play in the sport. 

Many people see those types of players in a negative light, no better than common thugs. But most non-hockey fans don't know the code. They don't know that you're not supposed to throw sucker punches. They don't know how most fights are agreed to ahead of time. They just don't know. Because they don't know how or why fighting is acceptable to the players they don't know why the league condones it. The league's perception of hockey fights is that anything goes. There has been a need for a long time of a way to clarify the difference between savagery and a consensual scrap. Steve Moore's lawsuit would help do that. 

The problem is that the suit is likely to be settled before it goes to trial. 95% or more of lawsuits get settled before they ever see a court room, I'm sure it also works that way in Canada. 

This suit shouldn't be seen as an embarrassment to the league. It should be seen as a way to get some credibility for the league. If Gary Bettman was smart he would make a statement saying that he was glad that there was resolution to this issue and that he was glad that, since the issue called for it, the law was able to resolve Steve's problems. At the same time, Gary doesn't need to say anything about Todd Bertuzzi. He can just not say anything about it. 

I hope that this gets resolved because it has been far too long already. Both Todd Bertuzzi and Steve Moore need it. The league seems completely indifferent to it now. They shouldn't be. They should help the process however they can, and try and be better for it. 

My Letter to Terry Frei

I am sure this is being spoken about somewhere in the world. Terry Frei, respected writer that he is put this article up on ESPN.com. It was a discussion of what will become of Todd Bertuzzi. This, like my post about Brian Burke and Kevin Lowe falls under the category of all things hockey. I, for my part, wrote the good Mr. Frei to respond and bring up an issue that I find to be hurtful to hockey. The discussion of violence in the sport is one that is full of video footage and statements taken out of context. In my e-mail I discuss what happens when the violence goes too far, and what should happen, contrasted with Terry Frei's opinion on the matter. I hope my e-mail is a good read. Here's a link to Frei's article and the e-mail is below:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?columnist=frei_terry&id=3483260

Terry,

Though your article about Todd Bertuzzi has been up for a day or two I only recently got to read it. Generally I agreed with what you put down. Todd Bertuzzi will have a dark cloud hanging over him for far longer than he will play in the NHL. I just wanted to address your discussion of Steve Moore's lawsuit, both from the perspective of a fan and that of a law student. 

I am sorry that I am writing out of annoyance, but it bothers me when people use legal terms, if not definitively, then as reasons for being dismissive. In this case the term you used is "implied consent." Now, I am not a lawyer yet, this is true, and I am sure there are a number of them that would not agree with me, but while you are correct in saying implied consent would be an issue in any Moore-Bertuzzi lawsuit, you are incorrect in using it as a way to dismiss the possibility of such an incident going to court. 

The fact of the matter is that such incidents have already been to court and will continue to go to court in the future. I will point you to a case with remarkably similar facts that said implied consent was not applicable as a matter of law, Hackbart v. Cincinnati Bengals, Inc., 601 F.2d 516 (1979). In that case, Hackbart was sucker punched in the back of the head during a football game. He ended up with a broken neck, and then subsequently went to court. The long and the short of it is that the 10th Circuit Court found that someone could not consent to being hit in a way that was outside the scope of the rules of the game. Such were the punches that Todd Betuzzi landed on Steve Moore. 

Essentially, by dismissing a successful action by Moore you make the point, intentionally or not, that anything goes in hockey and that all players consent to the actions any ruffian feels like taking. As the Hackbart court said, "Therefore, the notion is not correct that all reason has been abandoned, whereby the only possible remedy for the person who has been the victim of an unlawful blow is retaliation..." 

You are not wrong in implying that not every single injury or wrongful action taken in hockey and other sports should be litigated. But, dismissing any such action is wrong. Athletes are entitled to have their legal ills cured by the court as much as you, I, or anyone else is. 

As a fan I feel like such dismissive statements hurt the game as much as anything that any cable-news pundit could say. In fact, it happens to be closely in line with their thought process. Every time one of those personalities gets ahold of hockey they always bring up fighting as an issue, and they always have to ask what more can be done? They love to play on how violent a game hockey is and how there a few rules. By inserting implied or informed consent to the discussion you and those pundits erroneously tell people how little can be done to help these athletes.

It is hurtful to the sport to paint it as outside of the law, and to state that a player that has been harmed cannot seek help from the court. You said that it would be embarrassing to the NHL if there were a successful lawsuit, and I say that it would help give the league an air of legitimacy that it so sorely needs. While a suit would end up airing some of the league's dirty laundry, the end result would be help for a person who elected to become a professional hockey player and had his profession taken away from him by the willful act of another person. Right now, any of the cable-news pundits would call every hockey player a thug. Steve Moore's suit could finally show them, for a time at least, that there is a right way to play hockey and a wrong way, and that those that play the wrong way get punished for it. Todd Bertuzzi is likely going to be punished for his actions by the courts, not because he is an athlete or a thug, but because Steve Moore has the same rights as someone who slips and falls on a sidewalk. 

All in all Mr. Frei, I was not trying to just lay down a lengthy diatribe about the law. More I just wanted to try and protect my favorite sport from harm by comments likely intended for brevity than anything else. I also wanted to introduce to you a perspective on professional sports that it seems you have not given total consideration. I hope you had time to read this e-mail fully, and while I acknowledge that I probably will not get a response, any reply would be welcome.

Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,

MJS

How Lowe Con You Go?

Two boys sit in the back seat of a car. The younger one stares straight ahead, focused on the seat in front of him currently occupied by his father. The older boy has a look on his face of pure contempt and is trying his best to get his brother to notice it. He has been ignored for most of this past year, including the duration of this car ride. To this point of the ride his face has been turning progressively redder and redder. He has tried everything he can think of. He has screamed and yelled, took a stick and poked his brother, and every few weeks he has reminded all his friends that his younger brother has cooties. Until this point, there has been nothing. The younger boy has been doing his best Ghandi impersonation. For all the effort the elder boy has put into his shock and awe campaign not one word has made it to the boys' father who has been trying to focus on getting the family out of their economic jam. 

The elder boy decides that he is just going to keep trying. His face is getting tired from his perpetual frowning, anyway. The older boy picks his nose; really digs in and finds a piece of mold-colored gold. He rolls it into a ball, aims, and throws. The booger arcs through the air and lands exactly in the middle of the younger boy's temple. Wonderful. 

Before the older boy's satisfaction can curl the corners of his mouth into a smile, a small fist flies out of nowhere and strikes him in the shoulder. Suddenly, satisfaction turns to chagrin. The whole world seems like it is ending. The younger boy settles back into his seat and goes back to looking at the seat in front of him.

A single tear rolls down the older boy's cheek. His upper lip starts to quiver. Before he can help himself the older boy screams out "Dad he hit me!" Then the tears start flowing.

Upon hearing screaming and crying dad finds a good place, pulls over, and turns to look into the back seat. Dad furrows his brow a little bit. Looks back and forth, and decides what to do. He shakes his finger in their general direction. "Now boys," he says, "I know that you two haven't seen eye to eye lately, but fighting about it isn't going to change anything." Both boys were just looking at him. It was hard for dad to work so much. He had become an absentee authority figure and both boys knew it. He continued though, "When we get home we are going to talk this over, figure out what's wrong and work this out."

The older boy saw an opportunity here. He went for it. "Daddy, I'll tell you what's wrong. I'm still mad at him for the last juice box last year. That was special juice and I wanted it." He sniffled for effect, the went on. "It's not fair. I don't care if mom said it was first come first serve. I wanted it."

Dad rolled his eyes, he knew this was the problem and it really had gone on too long. He looked to the younger boy. "What do you have to say about this?"

The younger boy looked at his father right in the eye and said, "Where do I begin? He's a moron first of all. Secondly, really thinks that any news is good news. Thirdly, he loves the limelight and I don't think anyone around the sandbox will dispute that. Lastly, he's on a pathetic little league team that can't even get on any page of the newspaper let alone the front page of the sports... and I'm sorry for saying that Daddy."

Dad was a little miffed. He looked to the older boy and said, "Okay, buddy, how do want to respond to that?" 

"I just want to say that he," sniffling again, "he lies to people, and he said that you have a pointy nose Daddy, and he said that Mommy's got fat thighs, and he steals out of Mommy's purse, and you need to look into all of that right now."

The younger boy just sat there with a blank expression on his face. He said his part, and even though he was the younger one, he knew his brother was really being the baby. Dad looked back and forth between the boys and just shook his head. This was simply ridiculous and everyone knew it. 

Credits:

Dad: Gary Bettman

Older Boy: Brian Burke

Younger Boy: Kevin Lowe

Juice Box: Dustin Penner

Disseminating Information

Everyone has an opinion and I am going to use this space to get mine out there. 

I love to leave comments on various aspects of the hockey world on discussion boards such as IslanderMania, HFBoards, etc. The thing is I just cannot stand some of the things people say there. Some of the users there are outrageous, some are preachy, some only see the world as it exists in video games. The point you can only really ever get into a conversation that is at all reasonable about 50% of the time; maybe less. 

For someone like me that is just unbearable. 

So here I am going to lay down my opinions on things that people say. I am going to take topics and comments from message boards and try to work through them. Sometimes though, I am going to make my own preachy statements or pick up a topic that I feel like discussing. 

I am stuck far away from Long Island, which is too bad because I am a big Islanders fan. So, since I cannot go to games I have to find other ways to get involved. The web chatter is my best way to do this.

Hopefully I can have some fun with this, and hopefully I get to develop some stimulating conversation.