Update

Hey all. I've been writing all season over at IslandersUniversity. I've been writing about the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and call-ups over there as well as my occasional opinion pieces like were found here. It's been an awesome opportunity to write over there.

I'll still use this space to write pieces I don't think need to be posted at IslandersUniversity.

If you're interested in following my work, I tweet everything I post, so that's the best way to find it.

Come check out the new pieces on the FanvsFan network.

Another Steal?

The Islanders selected Johan Sundström after 49 other players this year. and boy are 29 other GMs going to look foolish. The  18 year old (Johan turns 19 this September), 6'3, 196lb Swede  is setting the world on fire at WJC development camp. in 5 games played he's notched 13 points and has been, in reports flat out RIDICULOUS.
Now, Johan's playing around his peers, 18 and 19 year olds for the Tournament in December, but he's demolished the Junior ranks in the SEL. In 2 stints at the junior levels for Frölunda HC, Sundström has been about a point per game player. In '09-'10 he notched 30 points(13 Goals, 17 Assists) in 37 games and in '10-'11 he picked up another 19 points(10G/9A) in 15 games. impressive numbers. It's time for Sundström to make the next adjustment and play expanding minutes in the Swedish Elite League. as an 18 year old, it's entirely likely that Frölunda will play Sundström on the 3rd lines there. I have no major complaints here as he's 18 years old, now he's proving to be an offensive dynamo, he needs to adjust to the speed of play at the SEL as opposed to Juniors. In 42 games at the SEL young Johan's only notched one goal. There's nothing wrong with that, he's acclimating and playing in an extremely competative and low scoring league (last year's scoring leader, Colorado F Joakim Lindström, notched 60 points total) at 17 and 18 years old.
This season I hope to see Sundström start producing in the SEL before dominating this years WJC in December. An end season total of 15-20 points from Sundström would be huge, especially if Frölunda makes the playoffs. If the Isles like what they see from Sundström after next season they can import him to the big squad or Bridgeport where he can pair with countrymen Johan Persson or David Üllstrom at either level, so there'll be familiarity for him.
Sundström looks like a steal at development camp and could prove to be with a successful campaign at Frölunda this year and a WJC performance to help Sweden to another top 4 finish. Sundström is a nice surprise and I'm excited to follow his career here at IslandersProspects.

An Apology when it's due...actually it's LONG Overdue

So, back to business hmm? Yes I think so.

While It's still fresh in my mind, I wanted to send a huge apology for saying that Ryan Strome shouldn't have been picked at number 5. I advocated a lot of guys ahead of him and even advocated trading down for multiple firsts.

While I personally want to see Strome repeat his amazing point total again in the OHL (I live in a perpetual baseball mindset where a great season from a prospect in the minors can eventually go horribly horribly wrong), I was wrong for ever doubting that Strome would be a huge piece...I put more faith in the 4 guys picked ahead of him (I hate the hockey hell that Jonathan Huberdeau will be subjected to in FLA). For that I Apologize.

No, I will not show, again, the sick goal that Strome came up with at the Islanders Blue and White Scrimmage. Personally, if he did that in an actual game, as a rookie, the opposing team would probably send someone after him next game...but that's just paranoia.

Anyway, Strome is excited to be a part of the future here, is one hell of a player, and the recipient of a huge apology on my part.

Final Rebuttal & Last Political Post Here.

I just posted the email that seemingly everyone who's voiced displeasure with the NCDC got se my last post).


Below is my final rebuttal that I have yet to send in email form seeing as It may not actually be read:

This direct mailer is a sad, sad joke. You've thrown out the ability for your Legislative Candidates to say "I helped put 2600 jobs into Nassau County" because of opposition to a plan that was made between Ed Mangano and Charles Wang.

This is not solely about the New York Islanders...it should be about maintaining a quality of life that includes a professional Hockey Franchise with a proud history and building into something great. If that quality of life can be maintained by another Tanger Outlet and possibly a Casino, then I guess you're in the clear.  

Make no mistake, these actions have and will piss off a large number of voters if the Islanders do in fact leave in 2015 when their Lease with the Coliseum expires. But people won't wait until then...their retribution will likely be felt in November and in 2013, when you SHOULD be able to beat Ed Mangano with your hands tied and blindfolded. The opposition because of your misguided talking point about giving a billionaire a new toy is ridiculous. 

What sort of concessions are made to bring in a strip mall or a Mall like Roosevelt Fields? You have to give to get. When Charles Wang wanted to self finance the Lighthouse Project, there wasn't NEARLY this vehement opposition or for that matter vehement support, Kate Murray and the Town of Hempstead and Garden City were allowed to steamroll it out of existence with no problem.  

In the horse trading of politics, and especially in revitalization efforts at the City and County levels, you have to give to get. The time of not giving much to get a lot (The LHP era) is long, long gone. 

The Deal with Mangano stinks, and yes you have a talking point of the tax increases being not far apart...but the revenues that can happen, no matter the size...are better than nothing and better than another Tanger. It's a bad deal, but it's better than no deal at all. 

This is my last piece on this matter on this blog. I'll still tweet about it. But, my next piece will be about what I started this blog about. 


I still plan on sending Comptroller DiNapoli a letter akin to what I wrote Jacobs, but knowing the political game, it'll be for naught as I'll get a form email about this being a county issue...

Nassau Democrats just lost the Jobs argument.

The Response I got from the NCDC as follows:

Here at the NCDC, we don't think it's right for local government to subsidize private profit with taxpayer dollars. That's why we oppose Ed Mangano's plan to finance a new Nassau Coliseum by borrowing $400 million from local communities. Let's make one thing clear: There's a difference between supporting the Islanders and supporting bad fiscal policy. As the Daily News explains in this well-thought editorial, Mangano's plan for the Coliseum would lavish profit on Islanders owner Charles Wang while eating up millions of dollars in taxpayer funds every year for the next 30 years. That's not the kind of policy we can endorse in the middle of a recession. Charles Wang is a billionaire. Nassau County is over a billion dollars in debt. He can afford to build a new Coliseum. We can't. Agree or disagree, we hope you'll make your voice heard on August 1. Nassau County Exec Edward Mangano's $400 mil gift to billionaire Charles Wang is bad for taxpayers NY Daily News July 25, 2011 Why should the voters of Nassau reject County Executive Edward Mangano's plan to borrow $400 million to build a new arena for the National Hockey League's Islanders? Because, according to the Islanders' own figures, the deal would be a bonanza for team owner Charles Wang while saddling taxpayers with huge risks. Why else should voters reject Mangano's scheme at the polls Aug. 1? Because, according to the county's Office of Legislative Budget Review, a new Nassau Coliseum would produce too little revenue to spare taxpayers from having to subsidize Wang's profits. As with so much of Mangano's pig-in-a-poke proposal, the financial projections are as squishy as they come - one more reason for voters to be wary. That said, let's do a runthrough. Sunnily, the Islanders foresee an astonishing 73% rise in attendance, producing $229 million in annual gross revenue. Multiply that $229 million figure by the 30-year life of the bond issue that Mangano is proposing, and you get a stupefying $6.9 billion. Just the .9 part is more - actually, a lot more - than the $768 million in total debt service the county expects to incur on the arena. That being the case, the county would be much better off passing on Wang's promise of a cut of the action and requiring him to raise private financing - assuming private lenders would give him money at a reasonable rate. If not, why should the public? The legislative office is far less optimistic than Wang. It projects, perhaps, a 14% jump in attendance, an amount that would require the Islanders to pay the county only $14 million a year - which is, oh, just $12 million a year less than the county would have to pay on the bonds. The office also predicts that the county would reap more than $3 million in sales tax from coliseum business - but this number is to be taken with a huge grain of salt. Almost every dollar that Nassau residents spend at the coliseum would be offset by a dollar that they do not spend elsewhere. Result: As tax collections would go up at the coliseum, the county would lose money elsewhere. The bottom line is that, while on the hook to repay the bonds even if Wang goes bankrupt, and being obligated to pay for heavy upkeep of the building, every taxpayer would have the privilege of spending $20 or so a year in order to enable Wang to enjoy gross annual revenues, by his own calculation, of $229 million. Absurd.

What the Party has quite Stupidly forgotten is that this is not Charles Wang's play thing. Yes, as the owner of the new buildings most Active Tennant for 6 months a year, the Owners of the New York Islanders (and there will be many after Wang, lets face it, sports teams change hands a lot these days). However, the Coliseum would fill the COUNTY'S Coffers with funds. Unemployment as of April was a little over 6% in Nassau county. much better than many other areas in the NYC-Metro area, but why is adding 2,000 jobs an issue?


Would Nassau Dems be this vehemently against things if this deal were struck between Tom Suozzi and Charles wang or would they do the right thing, swallow the poisoned pill and at least have a deal. 


Sometimes in politics having a deal, even a raw one, is better than no deal at all. 


Nassau Dems just lost the "We should be creating jobs" argument in their quest for regaining the Legislative Majority, and will lose it again in 2 years if "NO" wins Next Monday. As a Democrat, a realist, and someone wh thinks this whole thing should've been co-ordinated better....this simply saddens me to no end.

Checking in

Been a while Since I've been on here, been busy running a campaign in Westchester. will be jotting down thoughts on Bridgeport soon though.

Expect more content soon. I promise.

An Impassioned Plea to Jay Jacobs in the final days...

Jay Jacobs
Chairman
Nassau County Democratic Committee
One Old Country Road, Suite 430
Carle Place, NY 11541

Dear Mr. Jacobs,

I am a long-time New York Islanders fan, a Westchester County resident and Democrat. Over the last few weeks, I have been saddened with the political games that Nassau County Legislative Democrats have played with their staunch opposition to the newly proposed arena to replace Nassau Coliseum. As much as gaining political favor is useful for the next County Executive race, this is NOT the way to attack Ed Mangano. Putting the future of Long Island’s sole professional and Major league team in jeopardy is exactly the opposite of productive. 

Knowing that this deal is far from ideal in regards to political capital, let’s instead look at through an economic lens. The price tag is steep, but the long term benefits of the new arena are much greater than what is there now. If the County contracts to local and union contracting firms you are pump-priming money back into the county economy. Local workers spend at local retail and eateries, that generates more taxable income; all that BEFORE the new arena is even completed. Add this project with local and union contracting to building the Belmont Casino, and that’s even more money that stays in the county. Instead of scaring residents with a sixteen dollar per year tax increase, why not highlight these benefits? Add in all the benefits that a new arena brings (concerts, WWE, trade shows, revenues from parking that are shared between Wang and County…you eventually can pay down $350 million).

I realize that this sounds naïve, but this is a Keynesian model to generate revenues and multiply out economic recovery for the county, especially since the county’s finances are under the State’s control. Be willing to horse trade, attack Mangano other ways and recruit a candidate that can beat him. The Islanders, their fans and history should not be pawns in this game.

Do you and our fellow Nassau Democrats want to lose a team and history, for political points that will cause problems in 2013?


Sincerely,
Matt Clausen

To Any reader in Nassau and Suffolk or even the City...feel free to use this letter and sub in what you'd like.

With the 5th Pick...

I have no personal insight, but the guessing game of the Islanders and their 5th overall pick this year is quite fun...on twitter healthy (for the most part) debates bring about the classic draft argument of "need v. Best player available." I fall into both categories depending on the year. Last year I wanted Brandon Gormley because I felt the team NEEDED to add D, badly. This year take the best player available, build out the depth in the prospect pool and carry on. 

All that said, I will state this: whoever the Islanders pick, there is no immediate need to rush this particular pick into the NHL. The Islanders have a stockpile of talent acquired over the years and have prospects galore that are going to to make impacts in the near future. Of course if Jonathan Huberdeau is selected at 5, I'm going to clamor for him to play on the second line. Hockey's a fickle thing like that.

So, in place of my philosophy, I give you my thoughts on the draft.

The Isles (like all teams) can go three different ways:

1) take the best player of the top 5 ranked players at 5; this would be whoever is left of Adam Larsson, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Gabriel Landeskog, Sean Courturier and Jonathan Huberdeau. I have NO idea where this kids will be picked (TNH has Huberdeau to the Isles, I think his play in the QMJHL playoffs may have propelled him to top 3 or even the top pick) but these are the "consensus" top 5. Take the last man standing and move on...this isn't the Isles style (unless that player is the Best fit for the Hockey Ops department).

2) take an unconventional pick; last year I slotted this take as the Nino Neidderreiter pick. I wanted one of the "Big 3 D" in last years draft as Fowler and Gormley were right there at the 5th pick. Now, Nino will pay huge dividends soon enough, but I was arguing for need and not biggest impact. So players under this scenario would be Doug Hamilton (the consensus Isles fan top pick), a Brandon Saad, Sven Bartaschi, Ryan Murphy, Ryan Strome (no thanks), Mika S, these guys; highly talented kids that at 5 feels like a stretch. They could be "huh" picks, but huge ceilings and plenty of development could pay off huge in the future.

3) trade down. The Senators have 2 1sts, so if the Isles believe they can get their guy or guys with lower first round picks they could trade down and get their guy or guys. The Islanders have assets that they can move to acquire those picks if they so choose, If you can walk out of the draft with Duncan Siemens AND a future offense contributor, then that's a nice haul in what's described as a top heavy draft. Am I advocating for a trade down; no, but I do love Duncan Siemens and think he's as projectable as Dougie Hamilton. 

The only draft eligible player that I can say the Isles are likely to pick is OHL tough guy Alex O'Neil as he's been "in the system" since last July attending Prospect Camp, Bridgeport's camp and signed an ATO with Bridgeport after the OHL. Another team taking O'Neil would be a pretty messed up move, but taking him higher than the 5th round would be crazy. O'Neil is a straight up tough guy so he'll be a lower round pick for the Isles. 

That's what I've got for the Isles at 5...buckle up, it's going to be a wild ride. 

The Obligitory one time only Nino Post

So, as Isles fans are well aware of, Nino Niederrieter and the Portland Winterhawks have essentially turned the WHL playoffs into their own little playthings and are simply annihilating the competion. Isles fans are salivating at the prospect of Nino burying feeds from John Tavares and or Matt Moulson or combininng with Frans and Grabs to create a dynamite line or finally making Josh Bailey look like the guy we thought he'd be in 2008. i don't know what line he'll play a majority of next season with, and unless the Isles do something completely crazy like sign Zach Parise to a long term offer sheet or somehow trade for Mike Cammalleri or Dustin Brown (none of which are remotely likely, but all would be welcomed and amazing acquisitons), we'll have "El Nino" on Long Island.

But wherever Nino is placed (my preference is starting the year with either Bailey or on the Frans-Grabs Express), Isles fans shouldn't expect massive numbers to start. from Nino I'll take a 40-50 point campaign as a Rookie starting on the third line and second PP Unit to eventually joining Moulson and Tavares and their PP unit with Streit and Okposo.

So that's probably the only post I'll do on Nino. Not because he's not an exciting player, but everyone certain that he'll jump from Juniors to the bigs with ZERO problem (he seemed to belong in his 9 game stint this season notching 2 points and playing Gordo's extreme season with ease). Also the Team's record with Nino wasn't bad (above .500).

So there ya go, just my quick thing on Nino since he's been the big subject in Isles country with the season.  File this as "The most useless post Matt has written to date" or "DUH."

My last Goalie post before Rookie Camp

Or, if it's not, I will broadcast my home address and you can come slap me.

The Islanders announced the signing of Goalie Al Montoya to a one year contract extension earlier today. This is fantastic news for fans as Al has been a bright light and came in and singlehandedly stabilized what became a ridiculous Goalie situation for the Islanders after injuries to Rick DiPietro and Kevin Poulin and Nate Lawson's inability to be anything remotely close to okay...he too was hurt and starting duties fell to Mikko Koskinen (a recent scratch in Bridgeport, I believe he too is injured). Montoya's been great going 8-4-4 with a 2.35 GAA and a .923 SV%, which has been great.

Now, onto my bit: how does this effect the prospects; well, right now it doesn't. Poulin is hurt, Koskinen's had a lost year, Lawson's proven he's a "AAAA" type guy: can't make it in the NHL, great in the AHL, and finally Anders Nilsson isn't in North America yet. Now, next year is the major issue: the Islanders as an organization can not afford to lose development for Poulin, Koskinen or Nilsson by way of forcing them into 3 man rotations at Bridgeport. If all three of those netminders are to be kept and the Islanders retain the services of Nate Lawson, they have to go to Kalamazoo and have them take on the two goalies that don't crack the lineup for Bridgeport. 

For the last two seasons the Islanders have kept three goalies at Bridgeport at varying times, last year they had Scott Munroe, Nate Lawson and Mikko; now Mikko was hurt most of the year and ended up back in Bridgeport for the playoffs after a quick stint in Utah, but the Sound Tigers essentially had a 2 man tandem at the AHL while the big squad squandered a perfect trade chip in Marty Biron. This year Bridgeport and NY have used at least 5 goalies (for BPT 6 have dressed, for NY: 7), so it's a much different animal to contemplate. But the Islanders cannot have the 2011-2012 season start with Koskinen, Poulin and Nilsson or Koskinen, Poulin, Lawson (again) at Bridgeport. You can't emphasize development with these guys if they have to fight each other for starts. Goalies should be in tandems and that is it. 

Of course I'm making these assumptions under the best case scenarios where every goalie under contract with the New York Islanders is healthy for Rookie and Training camp to start next season. But if they are, and the Islanders extend and Entry level deal to Anders Nilsson and keep him in North America then they NEED to have Plans A, B and C established before the first puck drops in October.

To me, assuming all are healthy and Evgeni Nabokov (remember him, we sort of own his rights, and will probably Toll him if for no other reason than to make him squirm for his unprofessionalism) is tolled and suspended for not reporting, you figure Montoya and DiPietro will start with the Islanders with Poulin as the first call-up for any trouble and Koskinen becomes the full-time starter for Bridgeport with another goalie signed to a PTO or Lawson brought up from the ECHL. Anders Nilsson, if stateside, is at Kalamazoo in this situation starting full time and only going to Bridgeport if he's absolutely lights out or there's an injury to Koskinen and Lawson (all possible). Consider this plan A since I don't believe that Nabokov will set foot on NHL ice ever again, or try something stupid like announce his retirement and then sign with another team on a "comeback." Also Poulin would benefit from more time at the AHL and the Montoya extension does just that.

In the event that Evgeni wants to play nice, stop being a baby and decides that being a Pro athlete entails more than sucking your thumb in Northern California, and has an amazing camp and the Isles choose to go with him (if healthy maybe he has another 40 W season in him, who HONESTLY would complain about that?), have him and Rick up with Montoya and one of Poulin or Koskinen (the other becomes a trade piece) at Bridgeport; Montoya becomes the de facto first call-up and the other taking over at Bridgeport with a Lawson as backup and if Nilsson is in North America (good camp obviously, otherwise, another year in the SEL) he stays at Kalamazoo just as before. Call this: not-likely plan B.

Finally there's the no Nabokov (tolled, but suspended for being a baby) and no Nilsson option that is much like Plan A but with Lawson and either a Joel Martin (who can still be retained) or Joe Schmoe at Kalamazoo in the event of the "bet your ass" DP injury that leaves us continually laughed at, but glad we have backups, situation. Call this: The likely to happen, but you can't have enough Goalies Plan C. If the Isles need more than these contingencies then it is “Hello 2012 first overall Pick!”

Now I've forgotten Joel Martin in all of these, he was signed to a two way deal and he is back with Odessa right now, but the Isles can retain him, and the Jackalopes are giving up on being a professional team, so he'll likely need a home. The EChL in a tandem with Lawson in the "battle of career AHL afterthought" would be just fine depth-wise if Nilsson isn't brought over. It is also entirely possible that Lawson and Martin are granted their release and then there's less question marks. But the Isles NEED to have a clear plan in place before Camp at ice works takes place, and considering all the injuries this season at both levels having a back-up of a back up should be the mentality going forward. 

With those thoughts in place, I hope not to mention goalies and save percentages until August at the least. 

On Building a Blue Collar Identity from Top to Bottom

This post may seem appropriate more in the off-season, but I'd rather get this discussion going now. Also, it's more philosophical than prospect right now, so please excuse that, I promise to highlight guys soon.

The Islanders have become a blue collar hard working team this year, one you just can't help but to root for. yes the big club had a horrendous streak that more or less ended their playoff hopes in mid-December, but they came back and fought hard night in and out staving off elimination until last night. Yes, they've lost 550 man-games to injury and suspension this year, but the Isles have become a team that, if healthy will be a playoff team. Since the infamous "Brawl at the Barn" against the Penguins back in February the Isles have gelled and taken on a blue collar "fight to the end" type of identity. 

Considering the team has a few budding superstars mainly John Tavares and Michael Grabner, and VERY quietly Matt Moulson, and an inability to attract cream of the crop talent in Free Agency (and do NOT throw the "Jurcina Stat" at me, I know the record, but if the Isles had come up with any of Michelak, Martin or Volchenkov, Jurcina would've been an afterthought signing, or not at all; that's not to say I don't like Jurcina, I love his play, I'm just saying things would've been different) this mentality is a GOOD thing. In fact I think the rest of the affiliates should start adopting it, mainly Bridgeport, who's had a worse season than the parent club. The biggest reason for this is simple: teach guys that may become future Islanders the "Islanders way." what I mean by that is preach the blue collar work ethic and the "never say die" attitude. What I don't mean is institute Jack Capuano (any any Islanders head coach)'s system onto Pat Bingham in Bridgeport or Nick Bootland at Kalamazoo. Preach mentality, not style of play, doing the latter doesn't help if all three teams are struggling and play the exact same way.

This obviously is easier to say than act upon especially since things bring teams together or tear them in different ways. that is the experiences of the team can shape mentality and such. A LONG losing streak at any level can wear down a "never say die" attitude especially if those losses are more often than not close games or overtime losses, these things will effect a team differently at different points in the season, but that's something that causes the team to make adjustments and all of that. But if the head coaches and management at every level are brought together in the off-season saying "this is the mentality we want going forward" that's a good starting point. From there allow the coaches to develop upon that identity and build it using variations on a theme. Coaches creativity shouldn't be squandered in a quest for "achieving the way." Alright that sounds a bit ridiculous, but what I'm trying to say is have the coaches institute a mentality of blue collar work, NOT forcing them to use a particular forechecking system or "run and gun" offense or a trap and things like that, you know? 

There's another aspect of this that should be taken into account, and it's probably going to sound controversial but I'm a big believer in awarding good play. So if players aren't achieving and producing the organization has to be willing to promote and demote guys that aren't getting the job done. Yes at the NHL level  this is difficult to do with guys who aren't on two way contracts, but if a guy is struggling and you can make a call-up on emergency conditions, find a way to sit the guy not getting the job done. The Isles have sort of done this this season, the biggest example was sending Josh Bailey down when he was struggling, as well as placing call-ups in the lineup over Robbie Schremp. However it's easier to accomplish at the minor league level and should be used as a tool to make guys hungry and keep them from getting complacent.

If you have a guy not performing his role at Bridgeport or Kalamazoo and there's a guy performing better at a lower level bring in the guy performing and send down the guy struggling. that is to say (for example) if Rob Hisey is in a bad funk and Kory Karlander is lighting the lamp repeatedly, sit Hisey and sign Karlander to a PTO and bring him in and have him play. Maybe Karlander struggles and Rob finds his way in practice and lights it up going forward, but you've rewarded a guy playing well at one level and made a guy push himself. Now I understand this is the ideal and that the hockey world doesn’t quite work like that; and that the Isles can only have 50 guys signed to a contract, but you have to be willing to make guys who are struggling but have a world of talent expendable if there are others who can do their jobs as effectively. I don’t mean this in a “be a cheapskate way,” but a guy like Trent Hunter, who is perpetually hurt is going to take a roster spot over a guy because he’s signed for three more years, that’s not cool, I know it’s how it works, and that a healthy hunter is a pretty good bottom 6 role player and one of a few Islanders with playoff experience, but you have to pencil him in over a Rhett Rhakshani or Brian Day or Anders Lee or a Nino Niederreiter because they have options (for lack of a better term, and I’m thinking of baseball season, sorry) and Hunter is basically immovable unless he proves healthy. Now, in recent years the Isles have bought out players who haven’t achieved and there’s replacements for, and it’s possible that Hunter may be a buyout candidate (I’d make him one), but let’s assume that’s not the case, would the Isles waive him in season if he doesn’t produce; I don’t know, but I’d say yes if there’s someone else who can fill his role better than he can, and let the money be damned. Again this is not an exercise to pick on Trent Hunter, but an example of my thinking in making guys expendable if it means bettering the team.

This happens at the AHL all the time with guys who get hurt. Bridgeport has grabbed countless guys on PTOs to fill in and then do away with them once the injured return. Jason Pitton, Eric Castongauy, Jon Landry and Brady Leisenring are all examples of this. I understand the moves, and Landry and Leisenring were at Kalamazoo at the time of their PTOs, but Castongauy and Pitton were with other ECHL clubs, you shouldn’t go outside your affiliates if you don’t need to. Now it’s possible that K-Zoo couldn’t spare anyone, but there were guys producing that K-Zoo should’ve been willing to send up as an injury fill in if they were going to get actual time. But that’s just me I guess.

Now, this whole institution of being a blue collar organization should NOT prohibit the draft, if there’s a chance to draft a superstar, or a very good prospect, take him and when they join the pro ranks THEM get them into the blue collar mentality, not by forcing an adjustment of their game, but that they’re part of a family and to stick up for themselves and their teammates. Sure the Isles can draft feisty guys, but they’ve done so when appropriate and never in the first round, Garth Snow’s draft strategy shouldn’t change one bit. But, draft picks should be taught at prospect camp that they are going to be part of a blue collar caring family that will ALWAYS stick up for them, but if they don’t produce, their job is NEVER secure…

A lot of this stuff the Islanders already do, so I’m basically preaching to the choir, but pushing guys to know their jobs shouldn’t be secure unless they produce (whether a first round pick or signed for 15 years) should add to that mentality. I welcome any debate on this, just stirring the pot I guess in the hours since we were officially eliminated from playoff contention.

Place holder post, have a much bigger one in mind later

Hi again all, it's been a few weeks and I've missed some big news, so a run down and then onto my bigger post either late tonight or sometime tomorrow (no am campus tour, so I can work all night/sleep OR sleep and get a finish on it...wait, why do you care?)

• Isles need a new CHL affiliate: Odessa's leaving the professional ranks for Juniors, and no, not the USHL but the lower level (though Matt Moulson approved) NAHL. I've been trying to figure out what this means for the Isles and the vet in Odessa...the biggest answer is probably not much. Most CHLers will likely find new employ...Sebastien Thinel SHOULD look for work in the ECHL and MAYBE some AHL try-outs, but maybe he wouldn't like to uproot his family, I dunno. the Nick Bootland's and others in Odessa will find work. If one of their Goalies can get all the way to the NHL (Joel Martin has since returned to Odessa), some others can too.
• Aaron Ness leaves the Gophers: Aaron Ness signed an Entry level deal (to take effect next season) and an Amateur Tryout Offer with Bridgeport (so the Isles don't lose a year of eligibility on the EL) after FINALLY leaving the University of Minnesota. Ness had regressed a lot his last two seasons after a good rookie year, regress may be a harsh term, but he never took the next step in two years. however, his first few games have shown that my doubts were unnecessary as he's picked up a goal already and Bridgeport coach Pat Bingham has said he fits right in at the AHL, so that's good. He'll be part of a major LOGJAM I'll detail in a few posts.
• Brian Day joins Bridgeport: the Isles 2006 6th rounder joined the ranks at Bridgeport this week and has made his presence known in two games picking up a goal and an assist already after a successful run at Colgate University (gotta love upstate NY, though Hamilton is in the middle of nowhere really). in 149 career ECAC Day notched 54 goals and 56 helpers for 110 points. Not too shabby. Day will have to fight for roster space at Bridgeport especially if the Sound Tigers take the same approach to building next year as this, and if some European prospects stay. 

So just a quick run down of news. Odessa and Kalamazoo have qualified for the playoffs, Bridgeport is on the outside looking in and will likely stay there. Anyway, have a bigger post to write. If I see anything on Corey Trivino I'll have a write up on him, also meant to do one on Jason Gregorie who's UND is skating in the Frozen Four right now.

Blowing out the Goal light, Ullstrom nets 6

Last week's AHL Player of the week was Bridgeport's own David Ullstrom. The 2008 4th rounder had gone over a month without a goal and then on Feb 16 started a goal scoring rampage, scoring once in a Shootout loss to Springfield and then 2 the next game and ended his week with a hat-trick. Ullstrom's 6 G week brought his totals to 12 G and 30PTS in his first season in the US, which isn't bad all things considered. This year at Bridgeport should be considered a mulligan. However the outburst should be admired and help showcase a sign of things to come.

Ullstrom is yet another example of the Islanders increasingly stronger 2008 draft that has produced: Josh Bailey, Travis Hamonic, Kevin Poulin and Matt Martin for the Islanders as well as Jyri Neimi and Jared Spurgeon for the Rangers and Minnesota Wild, respectively. The Isles have a ton of talent also developing from that Draft as it is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) in the Organization's history. The Isles picked up Aaron Ness and Corey Trivino in the second round, finishing their College careers, also Travis Hamonic was the 3rd selection of the 2nd Round; the 3rd round brought Niemi, Kirill Petrov and David Toews; 4th round selections were Matt Donovan and Ullstrom; 5th rounders were Kevin Poulin and Matt Martin; rounding out the draft class were Spurgeon and Justin DiBenedetto.

Ullstrom's been getting top line work most of the season, of late he's been paired with Justin DiBenedetto and Rhett Rahkshani makes for a nice young line to gel together now for future dividends.

File this under "Look further into this" in the future. There isn't much else to discuss about Ullstrom here. The AHL is a much different league than the Swedish Elite League. Ullstrom's numbers look a lot better for Bridgeport than they did for his hometown Jankoping 71s. the SEL is known as a defense first league, so the offense is great this year. Definitely one to follow and watch for the future. It'll be interesting to see if Ullstrom will crack the lineup in the bottom six next year. We'll certainly find out.

The obligatory lifetime Stats (again, remember the SEL is much different offensively than the NHL/AHL/etc):

Mike Sellitto: Certified Human Pinata

There no more interesting name in the Islanders "Farm System" than Mike Sellitto, not because he's lit up the score boards, far from it actually, but he's the first Islanders farm player I've seen report to four different teams in four different leagues. That is some sort of feat, Sellitto has bounced from Bridgeport camp to the Louisiana IceGators of the Southern Professional Hockey League, to the Danbury Whalers of the inaugural Federal Hockey League, to enjoying coffee from the Press-box at Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard, to finally getting into 10 games at Kalamazoo. I hope he has frequent flyer miles on his credit card, he's going deserve a nice long vacation after this season and with hope next year he'll play at one level and only move up when absolutely needed (after all the Islanders system is as snake bitten with injuries as the the Parent club). (Sellitto's head shot from Wings Stadium)

Sellitto's from Elmont, New York and 23, so hopefully he grew up rooting for the Blue and Orange (and if not, that's a damned shame); that is until he moved from Nassau to Weston, FL (HockeyDB lists place of birth, not hometown I see), which is...quite a change for a potential hockey player. The Islanders found him not at your local rink (okay well, maybe they did) BUT at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, which is more known to baseball fans for Chicago Pitching Prospects Chris Sale and Casey Coleman. Sellitto's only stand out year for the Eagles was '08-'09 when he got into 41 games notching 14 G and 31 PTs to go with 80 PIM. His other two seasons were an average of 24 games played, 7 G and 15 PTS to go with 30 PIM. Those numbers are actually pretty decent when you realize that FGCU plays division II, especially when people scratch their head saying "they play hockey at college...in Florida?" Actually I doubt anyone does say that, besides me when I first heard of Sellitto. Scouts liked what they saw I guess and offered Sellitto an invite to Prospect and Bridgeport camp.

Sellitto, unlike previous Rookie mention Justin Taylor, did not crack Bridgeport's squad and was assigned to the Louisiana IceGators for seasoning (no pun intended), Sellitto got into 20 games and notched 11 points. From there he was transfered or re-assigned (I don't remember which) to the brand new Federal Hockey League and the Danbury Whalers. My guess here is that if Bridgeport found themselves short handed a call up of Sellitto made more sense than a call up our of Kalamazoo or a PTO from elsewhere, I'm not sure though. Sellitto got into 5 games drawing three minor penalties and that was that for the FHL. in Late December Sellitto was called up as an extra body by Bridgeport and didn't get into any games there and was sent back to Danbury, where oddly he didn't play for most or any of January it seems. on Feb 4, he was assigned to Kalamazoo where he's gotten into 10 games and notched 1 assist. So, it's been an interesting first season of hockey for Sellitto as he's been unable to really get much going since leaving the Bayou. If the Islanders believe that Sellitto can become anything resembling a potential call-up they need to put him in one league and have him work out the kinks; or if he's going to yo-yo, have it between two teams be it B-Port/K-Zoo or B-Port/Odessa. Treating Sellitto as a pinata and moving him at will wherever you please, is NOT beneficial in any way.

Finally, If Sellitto's ever going to crack the NHL (heard it here first, he's not): he either needs to be Micheal Grabner on amphetamines and get MORE breakaways than Grabz, which is essentially impossible; or he needs to bulk up a bit and start parking in front of the goal and pushing his way into scoring opportunities. Sellitto is a relatively small dude, he stands 5'10 and 180lbs. Which leads me to ask: why do the Isles keep signing up undersized LIers to play in the Organization? Vladimir Nikiforov, a player from Hauppage and former Grizzlie/Isles prospect stands 5'8 and 170; Smithtown resident Tony Romano is 5'11 and 185...these guys need to either be all muscle and push guys off with ease to find the net or be absolute speed demons, and I just can't see that being the case.

Anyway, Sellitto's an interesting case, and if the Isles truly believe in him, they won't abuse him next year.

Stats, what few they are:

DEADLINE!!!

Yes, it's been 12 days since my last post, I apologize, day to day life and college life have...pulled away from watching prospects.

Not to worry Isles Fans, Today will be a quick post on the NHL trade deadline and the Isles...just my two cents.

First up I believe the earth shattering moves by the Islanders have already been made: James Wisniewski and Dwayne Roloson being traded for picks (a 2nd and 5th from MTL) and D-man Ty Wishart respectively; as well as the suddenly white hot Al Montoya coming from Phoenix for a 6th round pick this year. Montoya's WAY over-producing at a .940 SV% and a 1.89 GAA, but he's stabilized the goalie situation, playing on top of his world and allowing for Mikko Koskinen to develop more at AHL, can't really lose there.

So are there still players that can be moved; certainly, is there a strong likelihood anyone is traded; I'm not sure.

Last year Garth Snow made one move from his NHL Roster was sending D-man Andy Sutton for a second round pick from Ottawa which he would later turn into UND Freshman and huge Center Brock Nelson at the 2010 Entry draft. Snow also made one Minor league deal swapping Center Greg Moore for Defenseman Dylan Reese (who gets a lot of un-needed hate in my opinion, but he's had a rough rough season). So last year was a relatively quiet though anxiety filled deadline.

This year is much different, blue chip trade piece Matt Moulson (who I love, I started calling him "Mighty Matt" last season and if you ever see me at Nassau Coliseum I tend to wear a customized 26 Jersey with "Mighty Matt" on the back) was signed to a well deserved three year contract extension effectively taking him off the market. Potential trade chip and Moulson Linemate PA Parenteau (who should NOT be on the top line next season, but more on that much later) was also extended cheaply for next year so he becomes a trade piece next year. So without Moulson and Parenteau, who's left to potentially be dealt?

First and foremost: Radek Martinek. Radek's been a career long Islander and has seen the best of times and the rebuild equally...albeit a majority of that time in a suit from the press-box or rehabbing an injury. Radek's one of the most underrated Defensemen around, he plays his zone fantastically and while he leaves a lot to be desired offensively, Radek plays good when healthy. Considering more offensively minded D men have netted strong returns for their teams, Radek should be able to command a 2nd rounder at the very very least. Now, Martinek is currently dinged up so he may stick around by virtue of his health.

Rob Schremp: The Isles have let it be known that Schremp is available according to Chris Botta's Islanders Point Blank, with his less than amazing stats this season it sounds like the Isles will pretty much dump him for anything. Which certainly makes sense, if you read my Twitter stream the Schremp-Bailey-Comeau line is the bane of my existence some nights. now if a western team offered pretty much anything then i have no bones trading Schremp out west, if it's an Eastern team, you gotta try to jack the price. Personally, I wonder how Schremp would respond to another coach if the Isles hire a new coach in the off-season (I'm not Capuano's biggest fan but he's done well with the lack of tools at his disposal). Also if the deadline comes and goes and Schremp is still an Islander, this is going to sound like a crazy idea but I would move Schremp to the top line, not that he deserves it, but as a way to simply break up the third line. swapping PA and Schremp would be a way to possibly get Schremp going and end on a high note to either offer a new contract or make him more appealing prior to June 30th.

Zenon Konopka is the guy Isles fans don't want traded, and I am in this camp. However, if Snow is shopping Konopka it had better be to the Western conference playoff teams as a defensive zone face off specialist and try to start a bidding war. If you can and a Western GM completely losses his mind and offers a crazy good package (it's really too bad that the Flames don't have Darryl Sutter at the helm) then you have to seriously consider trading Konopka. There's NOTHING wrong with poking around and seeing what's available for a guy like Konopka. If that sort of thing doesn't happen, well keep and extend the man. The offense isn't a concern from your 4th line and if it was, give the 4th line more than 11 minutes a game. I don't believe he'll be traded unless management gets an offer they can't refuse and the Fans would laud. Konopka's done so much more for this team than simply his 219 PIM and 1 G, there's no denying that.

Personally, I think of those three you'll only see Martinek moved if he plays tomorrow night against Washington. If he doesn't, he's likely staying.

While there's other players I would love to see traded, Bruno Gervais (he's just a horrible Defensemen, his improvement this year has been from god-awful scratch to "you know he's almost an alright 8th man who's starting only because there's NO ONE left") who doesn't fit next year with our injured D corps returning. I'd also love to see Blake Comeau moved. He's just too damned inconsistent to justify the hope that he can be a set 20+ G guy on the third line who can hit. He's obsessed with the wrap around and going backhand, which is absurd because he has one of the most powerful slapshots on the team and NEVER uses it. Also with the influx of forwards on their way, getting something for Blake now will be a lot better than not tendering him a contract and seeing him walk freely just like the still inconsistent Sean Bergenheim and Jeff Tambellini.

So if there's anyone else to be moved it'll be Martinek (most likely if he plays tomorrow it's to show he's healthy for an inquiring team). There's arguments for the other 4 players I mentioned, but Schremp and Konopka will likely stay in my mind as will Gervais and Comeau (annoyingly).

There's always a chance that Garth also swings a minor league trade or two, but I doubt it seeing it as B-Port is essentially held together right now by scotch tape and first grade glue sticks (Bridgeport's play in February has also left little to write about aside from DiBenedetto and the back on track David Ullstrom).

UPDATE: This morning the Isles waived Goalie Nate Lawson and Forward Rob Schremp. They'll stack around until Monday unless a team claims one or both. This appears to be a roster flexibility move, and the Isles may put a claim on any of the three Goalies also waived today: Curtis McIllhenny, Pascal LeClaire (the Canadian Rick DiPietro) and Ty Conklin (who the Isles should ABSOLUTELY claim). Not sure if this is indicative of a trade, but figured it should be mentioned as I'm talking about the big squad with this post.

Feel free to lambast me in the comments, and I promise more timely updates soon.

Apologies

Sorry for the lack of posts. I will be back with more stuff soon. I'm sure everyone saw the Islanders-Penguins game on Friday night and the season debut of Micheal Haley. Not going to comment further than it was a game the Isles had building up inside of them for some time.

I need to start a better curating of the weekly happenings at Bridgeport (riding a 9 game losing streak as of today, it's just ugly, really really ugly down there), Kalamazoo and Odessa. I also need to get back to writing about Draft picks in the NCAA and the CHL(Canadian) in general.

I appreciate all of the page views and comments so far and have been meaning to write these past two weeks, but have had classes and such and haven't really had time to write a full on post.

In the near future I'll have a post about my enthusiasm and optimism for the Islanders making a playoff run next season and my myriad of reasons behind that, Kevin Poulin is one of the biggest reasons for that.

So stay tuned, apologies again for the lack of writing, and please, keep up the feedback and comments, they'll only help me out.

Matt Martin, Micheal Haley, rewarding good play and breeding Confidence

This morning I read a post on SB Nation from Garik16 (@Garik16 on Twitter) describing Matt Martin as a terrible hockey player and using some advanced stats to explain why. Now I'm not a "sabermetrics" type guy (easier in baseball, hockey I don't get the advanced stats at all), but the post does bring up one point I do agree with: Matt Martin shouldn't be in the NHL.

The 6'2 192 lb hitting machine is a great energy line player, I love that he's scrappy, will fight, sticks up for his teammates and will hit anyone and everyone. What I also love about him is the fact that his last season at juniors two years ago was a revelation that Matt can also score and do so without a superstar talent to help him along. Below are Matt's lifetime stats via HockeyDB:





This 65 point campaign made Martin the third leading goal scorer for Sarnia just two seasons ago and the year Steve Stamkos was struggling in the NHL. now, am I arguing that Matt is a 35 goal scorer in the NHL, no, but he could become a better forward with more time at the AHL. In my post about Sarnia teammate and current Sound Tiger Justin DiBenedetto, I hypothesized that "DiBo" was finally catching up to the AHL after 100 games played, maybe Martin needs some more time there as he had some early season success (yes he has out produced his Bridgeport stats in the NHL this year, but he's also played 5 times as many games), but the thing he was getting more of at Bridgeport was ice time. Matt averages about 9 minutes a game, far more than fellow fighter Trevor Gillies, but Gillies has a set role (one he's probably not entirely happy with, but he does it well, and he should be rewarded some more ice time from time to time especially when the 4th line is the only line doing anything), where as Matt, 11 years younger than Gillies, can expand upon his role with confidence and seasoning. Matt's a bottom six forward right now not getting 10 minutes of ice time, but at Bridgeport he'd likely be in the top 6 and getting much more ice time and opportunity to play, develop and maybe go from "energy guy" to full fledged power forward, something the Isles desperately lack.


Enter Michael Haley, Haley's put together his best season thus far at Bridgeport collecting 22 points in 48 games and 134 PIM to boot. Last year he got his first two NHL games late in the season and didn't do much (small sample size, was on the fourth line and it was "garbage time" in the schedule). Haley has more goals this year (12) than almost his last three seasons combined (13). Haley at 5'11 and 198 provides basically the same size as Martin and the same feisty play and can likely handle Martin's role. Haley may also be able to provide some PK time with Colliton or Konopka or Comeau as well, which Matt currently doesn't. Haley's lifetime Stats:





While Haley's an abysmal -17 at Bridgeport, Martin's not much better on LI at -13 and was even in 7 games at Bridgeport (the Sound Tigers and Islanders have had their defenses absolutely eaten ALIVE this year with injuries, inconsistent play, and for B-Port callups). I think swapping Martin for Haley will be beneficial for Matt and a nice reward for Haley's good play this year at Bridgeport. More importantly, Martin needs ice time and Capuano has an idea how best to utilize Haley (I hope, he's left me wanting as an NHL coach, did well at the Bridge, but he's baffled me at best in Uniondale). Finally putting Martin in a top 6 configuration with two good playmaking Centers (either Hisey or Ullstrom) and possibly lining up with Rhaskshani will benefit him and the team in the long term better than having him toil with only 9 minutes a game and not developing as a player.

So the Isles should reward good play and breed confidence NOW to pay dividends in the future. At least that's my line of thinking there.

Quick Recalls today as Actual hockey is BACK (YES!)

So with the return of the NHL from the All-Star Break the Isles announced the recalls of Dylan Reese and Kevin Poulin (sent down before the break to get in 2 games of action before the AHL All-Star Break began. Also new to the recall list is Ty Wishart. Reese is what he is and having a bad season at the NHL level (however, he's a replacement level player, but Bruno some nights plays better, it sort of sucks).


This will be Ty's second go in the NHL, in 12 games since being acquired for Dwayne Roloson, Ty's gone 0/5/5 for points and only picked up 4 PIM and a -2. So he's an even handed D man that appears to play smart. However I feel that the Isles are just getting a sense of what Ty can do at the big level as in those 12 games he hasn't been the best scoring D man for Bridgeport (that distinction goes to Marc Katic who now holds a 3/16/19 line to go with 18 PIM and a -6 for the season, those 3 goals and a good number of assists in the last 5 or 6 games). This may be an expose him to life in the big leagues while the AHL is on a break until Thursday, so it may be a one game cameo for Ty. my fear in playing Wishart is he'll play on the third pairing with Gervais (which is scary) or he'll be a possible 7th man with sitting Gillies tomorrow in Atlanta.


Poulin's back, which makes me happy, he picked up a loss in his one game back with Bridgeport (giving up 3 goals on 48(!) shots). I've started the hashtag #KevinPoulinFacts making Chuck Norris type jokes concerning Kevin Poulin and hockey, I think they're sort of funny, but search the hashtag and add your own folks, I like starting Isles Twitter hashtags and need to get back on it.


In other news Kalamazoo has returned from its All-Star Break and played a few games (will write up a post on that in a bit) and Odessa plays 4 games in 5 days this week, So I will try to keep an eye on that for the week.

"DiBo" to me: Can it bro

So, last week I lamented about Bridgeport's recent struggles. In that time the Sound Tigers have played 3 games going 1-2-0, but the Offense has picked up a bit, scoring 12 goals. Responsible for 1/3 of that output is Justin DiBenedetto who I called out in "Bridgeport We have a Problem" (or scroll down).

DiBenedetto or "DiBo" for short, is a former Sarnia Sting teammate of Matt Martin, Mark Katic and some guy named Steven Stamkos, whoever he is (if you can't get that that's a joke...). DiBo was second on the team in points under Stamkos before Steven went number 1 overall and onto what's become a hell of a career already (Stamkos had 105 points to DiBenedetto's 93, a 39/54 breakdown). DiBo came back the next year in '08-'09 at 20 and totaled another 93 points (45 goals and 48 assists) in 62 games and was a +14 that year; the third place scorer on that team: Matt Martin. So Justin has a history of being able to score and set up evenly, but his time in the Minors as I mentioned has been a struggle to a point. I mentioned in the last post about DiBo's 14 points last year and his collective 5 through 23 games.

Well, since that time DiBo's put up an exact doubling of his totals in the last three games including a two goal night against the Albany Devils. DiBo's simply on fire right now, maybe the return of Jesse Joensuu (who's also collected a 2 goal night and 3 goals in his return to Bridgeport), or maybe Dibo's picking up his game and has figured out the AHL by his upcoming 100th games at the level (just 7 shy), or maybe he's just on a hot streak.

However, I will gladly have a slice of humble pie after calling DiBenedetto out just last week. Just a heads up on DiBo's sizzling play as the Isles head into the all-star break in a bad way. However, I am not saying that DiBo should get a look right now, Rahkshani and Ullstrom or even Figren deserve long looks before DiBo. Unless DiBo continues this little run into something that demands a call-up, I'm not going to say he should get a look. This little run looks pretty impressive though.

Now if you'll excuse me, that Humble Pie is waiting.

To quote Commander Lovell: Bridgeport...We have a problem...

I've been thinking about this post since Tuesday nights Bridgeport loss and watching the game tweeted by the Sound Tiger's great Twitter feed. The 3-2 Shoot-out loss to the Providence Bruins continued an alarming trend I've noticed over the last few weeks: Bridgeport's offense has vaporized. Right now, no player on the Bridgeport roster has 25 points; though on the season Rhett Rhakshani has 32 points (he currently is with the Islanders out with a concussion, likely knocking him out of the AHL All-star Game, not to self: check on that) so it can't be all bad right; well no.

Bridgeport's current top scoring trio are Robin Figren, David Ullstrom and Micheal Haley. First the good news: Haley and Figren are having their best years in the AHL, Figren and Ullstrom are picks that are showing promise to be able to help the big squad at some point, and Ullstrom is making his '08 4th round selection look really nice. Now, the bad news (and it's a lot): Figren and Haley are the only two active double digit goal scorers (11 and 12, respectively), The Sound Tigers aren't shooting the puck, no other lines are really clicking, and the team is wasting HUGE Goaltending performances. It's a shame since the organization needs to focus on making winning a priority at every affiliate during this rebuild.

My biggest issue: the team isn't shooting the puck. Tuesday night the team had 17 shots against Providence, against Norfolk over the weekend: 28 on Saturday, 17 on Sunday. In their last three games Bridgeport has only scored 6 goals (losing 5-2, Koskinen's 6th straight loss, 3-2 and 3-2, respectively). Bridgeport's on a nasty 8 game slide where just about everything's gone wrong, but if you cant get shots on net, you're not going to score a lot of goals. It hasn't help that no one has stepped up for Bridgeport during this streak to carry the offense. Since a 3-2 win over Portland on New Years Eve (Kevin Poulin's last start for the team), the team has only scored 3 goals twice. for the most part the goalies have kept Bridgeport in every game except for a 5-3 loss on 1/5 and the 5-2 loss last Friday in Norwalk.

GM Garth Snow (why is the team's GM also the GM at Bridgeport; tough to get a feel for the day to day from Uniondale...the Isles need to hire a GM solely for Bridgeport to handle personnel moves) has been hard pressed to find offense for his struggling Bridgeport team from anywhere. Having recalled Josh Bailey, Jeremy Colliton and Rhett Rahkshani in recent weeks, Bridgeport has to rely heavily on two guys (Figren and Haley) who've never produced this much at the level and a Rookie. Now, I'm all for giving guys opportunities, but with the team struggling the way it is, it's tough to observe.

I'm reading post game reports, so being subjective about a select game is impossible, but the problem seems to be that the Sound Tigers do not have enough talent to overcome the lack of capable scoring up front. Draftees Tomas Marcinko and Justin DiBenedetto have put up bad numbers so far this year. In his second full season "DiBo" has 5 points in 23 games, 4 goals and only one helper, last year DiBo put up six goals and 8 assists in 67 games, so he's not on the best of paces. Marcinko has been better with 9 points including 7 assists, he now trails his rookie output by two points in 18 fewer games (he's played 40 games so far this year). Draftees fizzling doesn't bode well. Even players added through PTOs have had a rough go: Olivier LaBelle has 5 points in 27 games (on his second PTO) as an energy type forward; Jason Pitton, in his third go in the AHL THIS season has picked up a goal in 3 games, but I am not expecting much from him; C/D Dustin Friesen has 3 points in 17 for the Sound Tigers and lined up with D Brett Motherwell and F Jean Bourbeau as a line against Wilkes-Barre last week; the best PTO signing for the Sound Tigers has been Brandon Svendsen who has notched 12 points in 32 games; finally PTO signee and affiliate climber Brady Leisenring has no points through 4 matches this year (but has a total of 14 points through 18 games for Odessa, 4 games, and Kalamazoo, 14, this season.

Bridgeport BADLY needs a scorer, maybe giving C Justin Taylor (21 Points in 22 games including 14 goals) another look as he's responded well to his ice time with Kalamazoo. They could also look at K-Zoo vet Kory Karlander (38 Points) or any of the K-Wings top Scorers. They could also look to Odessa, but the current Roster isn't up to snuff and Bridgeport needs a GM of it's own to handle these decisions.

I know this sounds repetitive, but if you're building through the draft and can't easily rely on Free Agents, you NEED your affiliates to be strong and have your prospects confident that they can win just about anywhere.

Very Quickly

So just a quick post before I start letting this degrade like earlier blogs.

Anyway Tonight the Islanders three affiliates are all in action with the Sound Tigers playing the Norfolk Admirals at 7:30 in Norfolk; the Kalamazoo K-Wings will play in Greenville at 7:05 and Odessa will play the Colorado Eagles tonight.

The Sound Tigers made a number of PTO signings over the last couple of days resigning Olivier LaBelle and Wes O'Neill to PTOs and adding Brady Leisenring to his second PTO of the week and adding Jason Pitton on a PTO from Stockton, it will be his third go in the AHL for his THIRD team this season. I could lament about the fact that Bridgeport almost refuses to use the K-Wings and Odessa, though it's not entirely true.

Best of luck to all three teams and hopes for a organization wide sweep tonight.

Also, last night's UND-Minnestoa game featured a few Isles draftees in action. Aaron Ness (Minnesota) added an assist on the GWG and Jason Gregorie added a goal for the Fighting Sioux, more on them in a later post.

Will attempt to give run downs tomorrow, and will likely start a weekly rundown of the weeks happenings around the affiliates and prospects.

You want All-Stars? I got 'em right here! (UPDATE: Thinel helps set the lamp on Fire for CHL All-Stars)

Just a quick post for the Isles after tonight's loss to Vancouver (who should feel ashamed with the way they played tonight) and in light of the fact that the Islanders will have zero players in this years All-Star game, which I can agree with (When you lose 21 of 22 games IN A ROW, hard to find an all-star) as two other teams had snubs as well. Alas, this is a Blog devoted to the farm and prospects and we have all-stars down there!

Bridgeport:

The Sound Tigers offer us two all-star selections in the Eastern Conference of the AHL. the first is Today's call-up Rhett Rahkshani. Rahkshani, the 22 year old Rookie from Huntington Beach, CA had been leading Rookies in scoring at the AHL. I like Rahkshani and hopefully his look with the Isles this time around will be extended (read: I expect him to be sent down next week for Jon Sim because that's what we do!). there's been plenty of ink about Rhakshani from other blogs and fans know him. He's an exciting player, and have no idea what to expect of him going forward. a more detailed post on Rhett later. The Sound Tigers Captain, Defenseman Mark Wotton will also play for the East and will Captain their squad. Wotton's in his late 30s and no mean a prospect, but he plays the role of Doug Weight for the Sound Tigers with the HUGE exception of being on the ice more often than not this year (Wotton missed time with an injury, but is back for the Tigers).

Kalamazoo (ECHL)

Kalamazoo will be represented in the ECHL all-star game by rookie defensemen Steve Tarasuk. For more on Tarasuk see my post "In Rebuilds I trust....Begrudgingly." Congratulations to the rookie! (and lady killer, or soon to be)

Odessa (CHL)

This Guy. Enough said there. The CHL does an interesting format of one team taking on a team of All-Stars from the rest of the league, they announce 6 starters (Our man at Odessa is one of the starters) and 12 reserves and a few goalies. Congratulations Mr. Thinel on your 5th all-star selection and here's to hoping a PTO is on the way at some point, Bridgeport or LI CAN'T keep skipping over you....

Update (1/15):

The CHL All-Star game was played the Rapid Rush in typical all-star defense optional affair as the All-Stars beat the Rush 11-6. the game featured two hat tricks and a pair of players notching 5 helpers, one of those players was Sebastien Thinel. My growing (nearly full blown) obsession with Thinel continues as he just continues to produce at the CHL...Dear Bridgeport: Give this guy a PTO all ready!

Will investigate on the SEL and KHL for a potential all-star selection for Kirill Petrov or Anders Nilsson, but I don't know if those leagues use an All-Star game.

Also the Junior leagues and Isles prospects there have no All-star games this season, as for College prospects, you'll have to wait until All-American selections are made.

Fairly lazy post, but just a quick highlighting and congratulations to the Isles prospects involved in their respective all-star games!

Goalies Goalies Everywhere: Part 2

Part One focused on Goalies with the most immediate impact for the Islanders highlighting Kevin Poulin, Nathan Lawson and Mikko Koskinen, for this post I'll highlight other netminders and goaltending options for the New York Islanders both in their affiliate system and the international spotlight being turned to Anders Nilsson.

So, first up: Nilsson.

Anders Nilsson:


The Islanders stocked up on goalies in 2009 taking Koskinen in the 2nd round and using their 3rd round selection on Anders Nilsson, the 6'5 Swede currently plays for Lulea of the Swedish Elite League. At 20 he serves mainly as a backup to David Rautio, Rautio's played 22 games to Anders' 15 (stats as of this morning, not sure when Lulea's last match was, but the stats haven't been updated in a while). Nilsson's numbers however are impressive: a 1.92 GAA and .920 SV% allowing 29 goals on 358 Shots (unfortunately as of right now I can not find his Elitserien Win-Loss record). Last year Anders broke into the Elite league and posted a 2.65 GAA and .857 SV%. The hometown boy also played Juniors for Lulea in '08-'09 posting a 2.07 GAA and .927 SV%. he also played for the Bronze medal Swedish team in last years World Juniors in Canada (one of about 5 Islanders Prospects in that Tournament with Calvin de Haan, Travis Hamonic, Mikko Koskinen, Matt Donovan, Kirill Petrov and eventual Isles draftee Nino Niederrietter). I can't remember if I saw Nilsson play but remember seeing Tweets that he was mostly a backup (for Florida farmhand Jacob Markstrom). Considering the depth in front of him, Anders may be afforded another season in the SEL before he comes States side as the numbers right now seem way too inconclusive as he's only played 32 games at the top Swedish league. However if the clip below is any indication he's certainly going to be one to watch. (photo from Anders' Lulea Bio Page)

A Quick Nilsson Clip:


Possibly jumps over Koskinen at some point; who knows. All I know is it's certainly nice to know we have some international talent to bring aboard and one who's improving. Fun Fact: Oiler's Winger Linus Omark was a teammate last year and Lulea is the home of fun Finnish D-man, Former Islander and PP annoyance extraordinaire Janne Niinimaa!!

Joel Martin (Bridgeport/Odessa):

Fort Wort, Texas isn't the first place you'd think about in producing a hockey goalie but low and behold Bridgeport's new Netminder hails from and generally plays in the Lone-Star State. Martin was called up (signed to a Professional Tryout Offer, a 25 game contract) by Bridgeport from Odessa with the recall of Kevin Poulin to the big squad on an emergency basis, and like his departed counterpart relieved the starter of his first game on the job. Starter Mikko Koskinen gave up 5 goals to Portland and coach Pat Bingham pulled him in favor of Martin in the third. Martin would face no shots in his Bridgeport debut (he broke camp with the squad but didn't get into a game early in the season and the return of Nate Lawson to Bridgeport saw Martin sent back to Odessa) and his first spell in the AHL since '06-'07 where he played a combined three games for Syracuse and Norfolk. Martin went undrafted but started his hockey playing at the WHL and has seen his way around the minors. Martin's numbers this year are down from last year's stellar pairing with Juha Tovoinen at Odessa (no idea what happened to Tovoinen or where he went). he's currently 10-9-0 with a 3.21 GAA and a .888 SV% through 20 games. He has added 2 assists for the Jackalopes this year. Last year with Odessa Martin was 27-6-2 including 2 shut outs with a .917 SV% and 2.50 GAA, he allowed 91 goals on over 1000 shots so he can stop a puck. At 25 he's not a shining prospect like Poulin or Nilsson or Koskinen, but he's a steady young guy you want to have in your organization to use when you need pucks stopped and a chance to win. I don't think he'll ever make it to the NHL as a "steal, but with the Islanders carrying one un-drafted Netminder and having traded another, you never know...(photo via Bridgeport Press Release)

Career Totals:


Minute long fight between Martin and Cedrick Desjardin:


Not that Martin will see the NHL like Cedrick has, and if he does something went horribly horribly wrong, but just a fun clip from '07-'08. The only other Youtube video of Martin I can find is him getting absolutely OWNED in a shootout.

Ryan Nie (Kalamazoo):


I like the Youngsters at at Kalamazoo in the ECHL, and Nie is certainly putting up good, not great numbers this year. So far for Kalamazoo (his first with the team in the ECHL, he was a member of the team back in their UHL days before they were allowed to join the ECHL I believe last year, minor league hockey below the AHL is sometimes hard to follow). Nie currently sports a 3.35 GAA and a .893 SV% with his career numbers on more a slide over the years he's still a winning goalie on a losing Kalamazoo team this year going 9-8-3. None the less he's been around the ECHL and AHL and still stops the puck at a good clip and for the most part is keeping Kalamazoo in games unlike his backups Riley Gill (4-5-0; 3.68 GAA, .886 SV%; Riley began the year with the Victoria Salmon Kings and played one game with the Worcester Sharks) and Garret Zemlak (A name I WANT to root for, come on it's awesome; anyway he's played one game and it was bad: 6 G on 32 shot, a .813 SV%. Garrett was then sent to the Stockton Thunder, where he's played 12 games and is 2-6-3, 2.53, .903). Nie has likely hit his ceiling and will probably nothing more than an organizational body with little future with the Islanders. (photo from Ryan's Bio page)

Career Stats; Warning: Ugly



And now a crappy red toned video of Nie making a save on a penalty shot while with Cincinnati:


Marc-Antoine Gelinas

Gelinas was brought into Bridgeport camp on a contract with the Jackalopes this year, a former QMJHL Goalie we was brought in as a body to fill in while the higher ranked prospects were with the Islanders (Poulin and Koskinen and Lawson). Gelinas put up solid numbers in his last year in the "Q" and didn't get much of a chance with the Jackalopes (after being re-assigned to camp after the 3 man tandem returned to Bridgeport: Koskinen, Poulin and Martin), playing in only two games before being shipped out to the Wichita Thunder where he's 11-5-1, 2 SHO with a .900 SV% and 2.72 GAA. If something happens to Martin or Koskinen right now Bridgeport could give Gelinas a look or go with Ryan Nie or bring in another goalie. No idea what to think of Gelinas, have never seen his play and it's his first year out of the Q, if he improves his numbers with Wichita I'll give it a glance. Included him because of the connection to Bridgeport this pre-season.

Career:



Others:

The Islanders prospect site mentions Cody Rosen (a 2010 7th rounder and third String G at Colgate, pass), and Jase Weslosky (a 2006 4th rounder, who's re-emerged and playing well for the Idaho Steelheads, but with no likelihood of a PTO with Bridgeport right now, not worth writing). There's also David McKee and Michel Robinson at Odessa playing in tandem until Joel Martin's return, but again, don't see them becoming fixtures in the depth chart any time soon, and will pass. If Bridgeport or Kalamazoo suffer injuries to the Goaltending depth I will investigate replacements, but until then, Nilsson, Martin, Nie and Gelinas make for a good second batch of Goalies to investigate, only one of which will make the NHL with any potential to start.

Feel free to comment if I'm missing anyone.

Goalies Goalies Everywhere: Part 1 (Update!!!)

So with the Dwayne Roloson trade on Saturday it seemed simple enough the depth chart going forward. In New York you'd have Rick DiPietro and Nathan Lawson (called up from Bridgeport as he's the vet of the three prospects we had there and his career numbers in the minors and college built a case for a call-up as a back-up), in Bridgeport would be Kevin Poulin and Mikko Koskinen the organizations top netminding prospects in the US, behind them would be Ryan Nie and his merry bunch of backups in Kalamazoo, and finally the Joel Martin Show in Odessa (Martin has an AHL contract and was called up to Bridgeport yesterday after starting the season there). However, this being Long Island and having Rick DiPietro as your undisputed number one will always be a spin of the Roulette wheel (I love DiPietro, even though his drafting led to one of the worst trades in Organization history, maybe the worst), well "DP" got hurt. DiPietro left the game in Calgary Monday night with a strained Adductor muscle. The injury is considered minor (well with DP what is ever minor?) but the Islanders recalled Poulin on an emergency loan.This will be a two part post, Part One will focus on Lawson, Poulin and Mikko Koskinen; Part Two on Anders Nilsson, Joel Martin, Ryan Nie, and others.

Nathan Lawson

Undrafted Goalies are always a tough lot to predict, though usually their emergence is well earned. Our beloved "Roli" was actually undrafted and the Flames took a flyer on him after a 23-10-7 senior year at UMass-Lowell, after two seasons at the AHL Roli was called up and would move around the league a few times before finding his way into Isles fans hearts. Nate comes from a somewhat similar cloth, I say somewhat because he never put up huge college numbers and went unnoticed until the Phoenix Roadrunners in the ECHL scooped him up after his third year (hard to tell if he didn't make the team as a Freshman or leave as a Junior, I don't know) at the University of Alaska-Anchorage. Lawson never posted a winning season at Anchorage and never had a GAA under 3.00, so his being undrafted is pretty expected considering the numbers and the probability of a bad system. however Phoenix kept Nate for a few games before the Utah Grizzlies picked him up (I believe it was on Waivers, may have been an ECHL trade, but I'll go with Waivers) and there Lawson cemented prospect status. take a look at the stats as the GAA went down and the SV% stayed well above .910 on average:



I thought Lawson's play going into last year was worthy of a call-up and he signed a 2 way deal in February of 2010 as an insurance policy. Justin Bourne, @jtbourne on Twitter and son of Isles legend Bob Bourne, wrote about Lawson first hand here. We've seen Nate start a game this year and come on in relief of DP Monday night brilliantly. His numbers this year aren't spectacular at Bridgeport, actually in 10 games they're downright dreadful, a the same time it's 10 games, so, that's being too harsh. Lawson can stop shots and can still be a great backup netminder, I'm not sure about starter night in and out, but he's a pretty good guy to call on and make a ton of stops. My only complaint with Lawson, and the reason he may never become a starter is his rebound control, in the two games I've seen him play for New York he's given up (and been burned on) a huge number of big juicy rebounds; if his rebound control is ever taken care of he may become a starter in the NHL. I believe in Lawson as a backup right now, and there's nothing that says he can't stick as a back up...but a starter, I don't see it right now. (Picture used from the Calgary Herald after Monday's game, that's Nate and his Mom)

Kevin Poulin

Poulin is probably my favorite Goalie prospect in the system, he was a 2008 5th round selection and was allowed to develop at Victoriaville in the QMJHL. Poulin's style of play I've read is very unorthodox, but the kid stops pucks, plain as that. NHL great Patrick Roy coached against Poulin in the "Q" and said that he was the best Goalie in the QMJHL last year. and he certainly brought his A game going 35-16-0 with a career best 2.63 GAA and a .917 SV%. '09-'10 was Poulin's coming out party in the QMJHL as an elite netminding prospect and made Garth Snow's 2008 selection look pretty snazzy. This season Poulin started the year at Bridgeport and has split time with Koskinen and Lawson. He's been the superior goalie in every stat leading Bridgeport with 10 wins and 2 shutouts to go with an anemic 2.13 GAA and a .931 SV%, so it's safe to say (even with the small sample size) that Poulin can handle the pros quite well. All this has been accomplished with a Bridgeport team riddle with injuries and having a largely unstable D in front of him. I say unstable because of call-ups and injuries to the blueline not a lack of talent (though somewhat debatable). So it's safe to say Poulin can handle the AHL quite well. As mentioned above Poulin has won himself a look from the Islanders with DiPietro's injury Monday night. I certainly hope that we'll see Poulin in net against the Oilers tomorrow night. As for Rebound control, I'm unsure what to expect; the prospect game in July, I remember seeing him in he didn't give up the big rebounds and recovered well. I think we have a keeper in Poulin. (Poulin photo used from Islander's Press Release about the AHL Rookie Netminder)

Poulin's Career numbers:



Mikko Koskinen


The 2009 draft brought us two huge Scandinavian netminders. The first is 6'6 202 lbs Vantaa, Finland native Mikko Koskinen (the other is Nilsson). Koskinen's pre-US career was quite awesome: 33 games for the Espoo Blues logging a 1.91 GAA and .931 SV% and winning 17 games. Last year was a lost year for the "Finnish Wall" as he spent most of the year hurt and fighting for playing time with Lawson and former Sound Tiger Scott Munroe. Koskinen got into a few games with the Utah Grizzlies going 6-0-0 and a 2.50 GAA and .924 SV%. he got into two games with Bridgeport and helped out in the playoffs. This year a healthier Koskinen has had to deal with a 3 headed Goalie rotation and inconsistent play. In 13 games Koskinen has posted a 5-8-0 record a mediocre 3.33 GAA and .886 SV%. Again, it's a small sample size and Bridgeport has had it's defensive problems, so it's unfair to judge Koskinen harshly on such a small amount of work. The Roloson trade will most benefit Koskinen if he get's a fair amount of work at Bridgeport, especially if Poulin will fill in for Rick DiPietro for an extended period of time. The jury will remain out on Koskinen until he puts it all together this year. He's certainly one to watch, and if he starts banging on the NHL door may become a good trade chip to send elsewhere to get a few pieces or to land a veteran somewhere down the road. or who knows maybe the "Finnish Wall" takes over the top job from all the previous goalies mentioned and makes someone else expendable. But for now Isles fans, it's a very "wait and see" approach with Koskinen. (Koskinen Photo used from @Islesblogger's post on Koskinen for the '09 Draft)

Koskinen's career stats:



Finally, from Michael Fornabaio (@Fornabaioctp on Twitter), Bridgeport's beat writer on Rebound control for Poulin and Koskinen: "Poulin, there's nothing he hasn't handled. Koskinen, missed a few of his games, no rebound issues I can remember lately."

So there you go, a solid backup in the making and two potential starters. What more could you ask for? Aside from another potential gem refining his game in the Swedish Elite League...but for that you'll have to wait for part two.

Update 5:09 am: so while I'm still awake at this ungodly hour (what a surprise) I figured I'd update with news from last night's game. Nate Lawson got the start and played for only about 5 minutes as Edmonton got 3 shots on goal, netting 2 quick goals, pretty much ending the game. The first goal came of a pretty awful rebound that Lawson should have smothered, while the second was a beautiful shorty from Dustin Penner that no goalie would've stopped. Jack Capuano showed a quick hook and pulled Lawson immediately after the Penner goal and put in Poulin. Kevin kept the Islanders in the game delivering an admirable "Long Relief" (Butch used a baseball reference in Monday's game and I sort of feel obliged to carry on with it) stopping all 19 shots he faced while the Islanders lost 2-1. while Poulin did have a tone of rebounds deflect off, his provided the D in front of him quick puck possession and ability to clear quickly. Poulin delivered a great performance after Lawson's quick exit. In no way am I going to gloat over Lawson's quick hook, but he may be like Marty Biron in showing early what sort of night he'll have (in this case, not a good one, but he hasn't allowed a "soft" goal, just bad rebounds). A tough loss but some positives in showing Poulin can hang around with the big boys a little bit.

Expect part two some time later today, need to look at Nilsson's numbers and others as well as attempt to figure out Jase Weslosky's deal (simply put he's back playing in the ECHL and doesn't NEED to be listed amongst the Islanders Goalie Prospects)....