On the Islanders Beat

The Islanders will win the Stanley Cup this afternoon. According to my listings, at 3 p.m. the new NHL Network (channels 401 or 429 on Cablevision where I am) will show the Islanders-Oilers game from May 17, 1983 That's the last game of the Finals that year, the one that ended with Billy Smith chiding Wayne Gretzky during his victorious postgame interview.

In any case, the network is a place for hockey fans to go without being put down for liking the sport. On the Fly is a highlights/'commentary/features show that is the NHL version of SportsCenter or Golf Channel's Golf Central. Last night, they cut in live to the Red Wings-Oilers game just before Henrik Zetterberg scored the first goal.

Bill Berg is the top analyst. I remember when he came up to stay with the Islanders in 1990-91--Great guy, very soft-spoken. I never figured him to be an outspoken commentator, but he has established a good reputation in Canada. In fact, that Islanders team had guys who could and still can talk the talk. Glenn Healy has become a well known commentator for the all-Maple Leafs channel (Canada's answer to the YES Network) and Ray Ferraro is an accomplished studio voice for NBC. No wonder that team was so much fun to cover.

Ted Nolan had a seat right up front for a Knicks exhibition game last week, which is a sign of status in New York (although he pointed out it's not his status, but the owner's; he sat in one of Charles Wang's seats).

Anyway, Nolan says he learns every time he goes to a sporting event, especially a basketball game. "I like the way they pick and roll, set screens," said the man who never had seen a pro hoops game before he came here last year. He does like to watch offensive and defensive schemes and challenges himself to apply them to hockey.

In fact, he said a lot of his coaching philsophy was developed by reading about John Wooden's strategies. He also has read Phil Jackson's writing. "I mentioned to my wife that when I'm done coaching, I'll go to a game just to see the game," Nolan said after practice today at IceWorks. For now, he'll learn.

1,000 NHL games is a grand in more than slang. It's a big deal for hockey players, who remember having seen that milestone. Mike Sillinger recalls, for instance, being at Paul Coffey's 1,000th and what a ceremony it was and what an honor it was for Coffey--and for everybody who was on the ice with him.

So Sillinger is both humble and excited about his 1,000th Thursday. He's not a Hall of Famer like Coffey, but he has worked hard enough and played well enough to stay around that long, which says a lot about him.

The Islanders hope recent form holds. Last week, two other players had productive nights on their 1,000th for the Canadiens. Bryan Smolinski, the former Islander, assisted on Mikhail Grabovski's first NHL goal last Monday. And Alex Kovalev scored a goal in his 1,000th game Friday. Both were Canadiens wins.

Islanders players look up to Sillinger, but the coaches point out that he isn't on the team just for leadership and inspiration. He's here because they team sees him as one of its most productive guys.

There will be enough to keep everyone interested around the Islanders this week, what with Mike Sillinger playing in his 1,000th NHL game Thursday and Al Arbour coming back to coach on Saturday. Players also will go out in pairs to various Nassau County schools tomorrow morning to read to students as part of a Literacy Day effort.

In any event, the team looked ready for a fresh start at a spirited practice today. Ted Nolan congratulated the players at the end of it on how hard they worked. Basically, no matter what caused the big loss to the Hurricanes Saturday—rust, inactivity, whatever—the attitude was, “Saturday? What Saturday?”

Nolan had the same lines going—Sillinger flanked by Andy Hilbert and Bill Guerin, Mike Comrie between Ruslan Fedotenko and Trent Hunter—and he finished the session at IceWorks with a rousing best-of-three scrimmage. Blue Shirts vs. Orange Shirts, each “game” was five minutes of four-on-four sudden death. If no one scored in regulation, they went to a shootout, which happened twice.

Players were into it: When someone on the Orange side had a question before the faceoff, someone from the Blue bench yelled, “We’ll explain it to you later.” Brendan Witt, a defenseman not usually confused with Sidney Crosby for his one-on-one moves, scored two shootout goals for the victorious Orange. After the second one, one of the opponents shouted that it was unfair to use Witt on two shootouts, adding, “He’s too good at it!”

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Just an observation from Saturday: At about 11 at night, a few people wearing Devils jerseys were walking to the Long Island Rail Road waiting area when someone, assuming they had come from the Garden, asked them, “Who won, the Rangers or the Devils?”

A man in a Devils shirt said, “They both lost.” Then he went on to explain that both teams played home games (as did the Islanders—and where else can you see three major league teams playing one sport in the same metro area on the same night?) and that he and his friends were at the train-friendly Prudential Center in Newark.

The point is, there were more than a few Devils fans on LIRR trains that night. That is, there are more Devils fans on Long Island than we thought.

Really, there is no scheduling conspiracy against the Islanders by dartardly NHL perpetrators. As anybody can see, the Islanders are about to play their first game in a week tomorrow night against Carolina, which is participating in its fourth game in six nights.

Islanders officials admit that they are experiencing an unusually light menu of October games this season. But this is not a plot. This is not something sneakily hatched to assure that one team might have trouble finding its rhythm while another builds up steam.

League officials have been a bit slow in requests to fill in the gaps on explanation. But, they're busy people, so slightly incomplete reporting on the matter will have to do for now.

Here it is: The man in charge of NHL scheduling is Steve Hatze-Petros. He has a background in accounting and finance, ideal skills for these sorts of calculations. In a brief Q&A provided by the league, Hatze-Petros said that scheduling is "not just one challenge. I can't say it's just buildings, I can't say it's just television, I say it's just competitive issues. It's all of those."

So he dances around team requests and league guidelines--such as: Never three games in three nights. There are, in many cities, NBA teams with which to share facilities, or circuses, or concerts, or Arena football. Not to mention television schedules--especially those planned for hockey-loving Canada.

From their end, the Islanders assign two people to provide information to the league on when the Nassau Coliseum is available and a few special requests.

One of those requests will be accomodated by the league when the Islanders have a double-header weekend on March 1 and 2, against Philadelphia and Florida, as part of their "Core of Four" celebration, in which they will honor all the members of the team's four-consecutive Stanley Cup winners in 1980-84. (It's 25 years since that last Cup.)

Team officials spend all spring on working up a plan for the approaching season and the league attempts to release its schedule in July. There was a time, during Bill Torrey's reign as general manager, that the Islanders played most of their home games on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Now, there still are plenty of Saturday contests, but the rest of the home games tend to be spread around the weekly calendar.

In the end, the rule of thumb is: Carpe diem.

Four stitches, Islanders defenseman Brendan Witt confirmed with a shrug. "Comes with the territory," he said. "Just deal with it."

When Witt, the 32-year-old veteran, was struck by the puck on his neck below his left ear during the Islanders game in Washington last week, it was a reminder that hockey players bleed more than other professional athletes.

Witt said he wouldn't be able to guess how many stitches he has taken in his career, though his experience (starting his 12th season in the league) and his job description ("Block the puck") make him a candidate for the team lead in stitches. Maybe his first experience with being sewed up on a rink--he was 9 years old, playing tag with a friend in a public skating session, when "the kid ran over my hand; I didn't like that"--somehow forecast his vocation as a pro hockey player.

"We are susceptible to cuts," he said. "Pucks, sticks. And stuff if moving so fast. No chance to react, really."

The reaction actually comes from fellows such as Islanders head athletic trainer Garrett Timms, "the first responder," as he described himself, when a player goes down with injury. Timms is the fellow who appears on the ice, towel in hand, to staunch the bleeding and evaluate the damage.

There are "worst-case scenarios," he said, when he may have to call for an ambulance or see that the player gets timely care from the team physician, though often Timms can literally patch things up himself. Gause patches, thick smears of petroleum jelly, and an anti-bacterial spray on the jersey "if the player has blood all over him," to guard against the referee ordering the player out of the game.

"I guess," said Timms, whose training includes witnessing surgery, "you have to have an affinity for blood" to do his job. Certainly, he has treated much worse than the recent Witt cut, as when a Bridgeport player took a puck in the mouth.

And, most unsettling of all, when Timms witnessed the Clink Malarchuk scare. Timms, who grew up in the Buffalo area, was a spectator at the March 22, 1989 game between the Buffalo Sabres and St. Louis Blues when St. Louis' Steve Tuttle and Buffalo's Uwe Krupp collided in the goal mouth in front of Sabres goalie Malarchuk.

Tuttle's skate caught Malarchuk on the neck, slicing open his interior carotid artery. As his blood pooled alarmingly on the ice, Malarchuk managed to leave on his own power, assisted by Buffalo trainer Jim Pizzutelli. There were reports of seven fans fainting, two suffering heart attacks and two teammates vomiting.

Pizzutelli, a former Army medic who had served in Vietnam, was credited with saving Malarchuk's life by pinching off the bleeding until doctors could suture the wound, and Malarchuk returned to practice in four days.

"A quarter inch of steel," Timms said of the razor-sharp hockey skates. "If you think it cant' happen, it can."

Clearly, these guys can deal with four lousy stitches.

How about this theme for Richard Park's keynote address when more than 100 immigrants take the oath of U.S. citizenship during a Friday morning ceremony on the Stony Brook University campus:

"We Are All Americans."

Park, in his second year of playing for that local hockey team that promotes "We Are All Islanders," guessed that he had been sought out for the event because he himself is a naturalized American, born in Seoul, Korea, but raised, since he was 3, in suburban Los Angeles. (Another obvious connection: The ceremony, which the university said would include several of its own employees, is scheduled in the building named after Islanders owner Charles B. Wang.)

"I'll just go and tell my story, I guess, give a little speech," Park said. He will treat it a bit like a hockey game, he added, "not think about it too much, because when I do that, I get nervous."

His story: "I have a Korean background but I always considered myself American. I've been here since I was 3." He is the youngest of four children, and his family relocated from Korea and settled in Los Angeles in 1979 because seven of his mother's eight siblings, as well as her parents, already lived in California. Park's father was a lawyer in Korea but, since he didn't speak English when he arrived in the United States, established a grocery story that Park's parents still own and operate.

Hockey? "It was kind of a fluke," said Park, aware that the sport isn't exactly native to either his birthplace or childhood home. "Just by chance I started playing. My sisters were figure skaters" and he followed them to the rink. "No one in my family knew what hockey was."

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BREAKING NEWS! The lights went out at the Islanders IceWorks practice rink roughly 15 minutes before the planned end of their daily session, so coach Ted Nolan and his assistants spent that time (most of it in the dark and semi-dark) pushing the players through tongue-dragging skating sprints.

Not really new: With Bryan Berard out for two to four weeks with a groin injury, Marc-Andre Bergeron is back on the point for the power play and paired with defenseman Andy Sutton. Defenseman Aaron Johnson continues to not be a defenseman, working on the fourth offensive line. Forward Shawn Bates is still working his way back from surgery, not yet a candidate immediate game action.

There’s a lot of season left to play, but after getting off to a solid 5-3-0 start that includes wins over the Rangers, Devils and a two-game sweep of the Sabres, it appears the Islanders have weathered the initial firestorm that accompanied their free-agent losses in July. General manager Garth Snow was roundly criticized in the hockey media for “overpaying” his top-line trio of Bill Guerin, Mike Comrie and Ruslan Fedotenko, but their hot start has vindicated the faith Snow and coach Ted Nolan showed in them.

Although Guerin and Trent Hunter have switched lines for the moment, all four of the captain’s goals in the past two games have come when he and Comrie were on the ice together, including three on the power play. The top three free agents have been the Isles top three scorers with a combined total of 11 goals and 27 points, and free-agent center Josef Vasicek has added three goals and four points on the second line with wingers Miro Satan and Sean Bergenheim.

“To me, it’s not a surprise that Mike Comrie is one of the leaders in goals and points and that Bill Guerin and Fedotenko and Vasicek are playing the way they are,” Snow said as the Islanders began a week off before their next game against Carolina Saturday at the Coliseum. “We knew what we were getting. Maybe it’s an eye-opener to our fans and the hockey community, but we’re not surprised at the way our players are producing.”

Snow also brought Bergenheim back into the fold over the summer after he spent a season in the Swedish Elite League because of a contract dispute with the Isles. Bergenheim had to prove himself to Nolan in training camp, but since his move from the fourth line to a spot on the second line with Vasicek and Fedotenko, he’s been the sparkplug that has gotten them going. That line simply took over in the second period of Saturday’s 4-3 overtime win against the Devils.

“There was one point in the second period against the Devils when they looked like the Central Red Army team,” Snow said. “They were really dominating. Sean’s an energy-type player who can do the work along the walls, much like Fedotenko can. And like Fedotenko, he’s got the ability to put the puck in the net when he gets the chance. There’s a reason why we like him so much and made a spot for him on our team.”

On defense, third-year man Chris Campoli, who was in and out of Nolan’s doghouse last season, has regained his offensive touch while showing he can play the all-around game the coach demands. Free agent Andy Sutton has improved since being paired with Bryan Berard, who came to camp on a tryout basis and has excelled on the power play as Snow and Nolan projected. Berard suffered a pulled groin against the Devils that will be reevaluated today, but the Isles have sufficient depth on defense now with the addition of free agent Aaron Johnson to compensate better than they did last season.

The only major downer of the young season is the season-ending knee injury to free agent forward Jonathan Sim, who might have been the hidden gem of the players Snow and Nolan brought in. He was a perfect fit with Mike Sillinger and Hunter and brought a scoring touch to that line while filling the same roll as Fedotenko and Bergenheim. But Snow believes the Islanders have enough depth in the organization to get by.

With so much attention focused on all the new faces the Islanders have introduced this season, goaltender Rick DiPietro’s play almost comes as an afterthought. But coming off hip surgery in the offseason, he reported to camp as the best-conditioned player on the team. In the early going, DiPietro seems to be more in control of his impulse to attempt the spectacular plays and is well-focused on doing all the things he does best around the crease area in terms of puckhandling, passing and making the acrobatic plays in front of the net that are his forte.

“He’s been our best player on a night-to-night basis for sure,” Snow said. “This league is about goaltending. It’s like pitching in baseball or quarterback in football. Goaltending is everything, and when you don’t get it, you realize how much you miss it. He’s taken it to the next level where he’s making difficult saves look easy. That’s what’s fun for me to watch. He’s done it for a couple years now. To me, he’s one of the top goalies in the league.

“The things he does, we take for granted. It’s not easy to handle the puck the way he does or to move laterally to make second and third saves. There’s only a few goalies in the league that can do what he does. Last year was more of a breakout year in terms of people recognizing him outside this market. Ricky should start getting the credit he deserves as a top goalie in the league.”

Despite the Islanders’ confidence-inspiring start, making the playoffs promises to be as difficult as it was last season because of the competition within the Atlantic Division. Philadelphia loaded up in the free-agent market and acquired goaltender Martin Biron and looks like the team to beat along with Pittsburgh and its young stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The Rangers are bound to overcome their slow start, and the Devils, though weakened by their free-agent losses, should improve once they start playing home games. Their first nine are on the road before opening the Prudential Center in Newark.

“It’s one of the best divisions, if not the best and most competitive in the league, especially when you get three teams from the New York metropolitan area,” Snow said. “They’re like playoff games with the higher intensity.” At the same time, Snow emphasized his belief that the Islanders have improved enough to contend for the playoffs again, saying, “We’re faster, and we have more energy. We’re a better, more well-rounded team.”

Considering the failure of forward Jeff Tambellini to make a place for himself on one of the top lines and the benching of defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron, it would be logical for Snow to consider packaging them in a trade possibly for a defensive upgrade later in the season. But the GM said, “Honestly, we’re not looking to make any moves. We’re happy with the players we have, and we like the depth of our organization. I haven’t had a conversation about making a move of that nature.”

Snow also scoffed at rumors that Montreal is offering Alexei Kovalev for Satan. “We believe in Miro,” Snow said. “When we have our players in that locker room, we believe in them, and we want them to evolve. We’re going to give all our players the opportunity to perform and produce. If you’re getting players and you don’t believe in them, then, you shouldn’t be getting them. We believe in our players.”

BLOG NOTE: As a note to faithful readers of this blog, I want to alert you to the fact that I will be taking the next two weeks off as part of an agreement with Newsday to reduce past comp time I am owed. During that time, colleagues John Jeansonne and Mark Herrmann will handle most of the coverage of the team. Both have been terrific writers for years at Newsday, as every reader of the sports section knows, and both have covered the Islanders beat at one time in their careers. I appreciate their help, and I’m sure readers will enjoy a change of pace.

Previously, I posted a warning in this space to those who abused this blog with repeated vulgar language and who demonstrated an interest in destroying constructive hockey conversation rather than promoting it. When that behavior continued unabated, I banned a handful of the worst offenders, including both Rangers and Islanders supporters, by deleting all of their hundreds of past comments and by continuing to delete all their posts whenever I check the blog. The result, I believe, has been a return to hockey conversation for the good of the vast majority. I am pleased to see several of the regulars have returned because I know many others visit this site to see what they have to say. Thanks for your continued support.

Islanders fans have been suggesting that coach Ted Nolan should try one of his surplus defensemen at forward, and now, he’s going to do it against Washington tonight at Verizon Center. Just not with the defenseman everyone had in mind.

Marc-Andre Bergeron and his cannon shot will be a healthy scratch for the second straight game despite all the suggestions that he should change positions because of his offensive skill and defensive shortcomings. But Nolan has wanted to get eighth defenseman Aaron Johnson into the lineup, and he’ll get his shot against the Capitals as the right wing on the fourth line with center Richard Park and left wing Chris Simon. Johnson replaces tough guy Darryl Bootland, who will be a healthy scratch.

“He’s played forward in the past in Columbus on the fourth line,” Nolan said of the 24-year-old Johnson. “We can’t let him sit too long. Every practice, he works his tail off; he’s always in the gym; he’s one of the first guys at practice, and he’s enthusiastic. What we try to instill in this team is that the people that work will get an opportunity, so, tonight, he’s going to get his opportunity. We’ll have an energetic fourth line that will cause some havoc and crash the net.”

Asked if he ever played forward in juniors, Johnson laughed and said, “No, I played forward a little bit when I was growing up, but not in juniors. I waited until the NHL to play forward. I played third and fourth-line in Columbus. Obviously, it’s not what I’m used to, but at least I’m going to get into a game situation.”

Johnson said one of his three goals last season came while playing forward. He was on the receiving end of a saucer pass from Jody Shelley, a fourth-line enforcer who recorded his only assist in 76 games to go with 125 penalty minutes.

“He’s a tough-guy Adam Oates,” Johnson joked.

Johnson was signed over the summer as a free agent by general manager Garth Snow before former Columbus coach Gerard Gallant came aboard as one of Nolan’s assistants. The Islanders like his potential, and Nolan has indicated Johnson might have a future with the team on defense because of his enthusiasm and his ability to play a physical game.

Stepping in on offense will require an adjustment, but if it means he’s going to stick with the team, Johnson is up for it. “It’s awesome,” Johnson said. “This is what I wanted in training camp is to make this team. It’s been tough to be patient, but it’s slowly coming together. I have to be patient and wait for my turn. I’m still young. He’s given me an opportunity to play, and I’ve got to jump on it.”

Notes and quotes – In addition to inviting the Brentwood Fire Department band to entertain between periods of the Devils game Saturday night at the Coliseum, a representative of the BFD wrote to say the Isles also have donated $500 worth of smoke alarms to the department…I don’t usually stay at the team hotel on the road, but I am on this trip. Last night, I saw several different groups of Isles either on their way out to dinner or returning, and what struck me was how several veterans seemed to be pairing up with newcomers to the team. There really has been a concerted effort to work on developing the group chemistry off the ice as well as on the ice…I try not to deviate from hockey talk too often on the blog and bore you with personal stuff, but in this case, I thought I’d share a tip about my favorite restaurant on the road because it’s in Washington, which is close enough that Islanders fans often come down for games. Rock Newman, who used to manage heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe and still lives in D.C. when he’s not in Las Vegas, took me to lunch several years ago at Georgia Brown’s, which features southern cuisine. I have returned many times and enjoyed every bite. Everything on the menu is tempting, but you can’t go wrong with the pork chop in redeye gravy. Enjoy.

Does art no longer immitate hockey? The Islanders offensive line of Mike Comrie, Ruslan Fedotenko and Bill Guerin wasn't together long enough to inspire a creative nickname with its creative play; one month into the deal, Guerin has switched places with Trent Hunter to work with Andy Hilbert and Mike Sillinger.

But catchy, sometimes goofy old monikers for the sport's top offensive lines seem to have been phased out long ago, anyway. Even when Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy and Clark Gillies combined during the Islanders' glory days of the early 1980s, they did not carry a collective nickname. (Trottier and Bossy played together virtually their entire careers, with a different second winger occasionally rotated into the mix. Still, no special handle.)

Hockey historians can recall the "Kraut Line" of Milt Schmidt, Woody Dumart and Bobby Bauer with the Boston Bruins of the 1939-1940 season, when that trio accomplished the astounding feat of being 1-2-3 in NHL scoring.

Such a reference to players will German surnames no doubt would fail the political correctness test now. But there also was the Detroit Red Wings' "Production Line" of Gordie Howe, Sid Abel and Ted Lindsay, roughly a decade later. And the Rangers' "GAG Line"--for "Goal A Game"--with Jean Ratelle, Rod Gilbert and Vic Hadfield in the late '60s and early '70s. And the Buffalo Sabres' "French Connection" of French-Canadians Richard Martin, Rene Robert and Gilbert Perreault though much of the 1970s.

Also, during the Islanders' first, hapless season of 1972-73, three former members of the St. Louis Blues briefly formed a line--Brian Lavender, Terry Crisp and Craig Cameron. And a wise-acre Newsday reporter branded them the "Lavender Blue Line." Dilly, dilly. (It's from a very old song, kids.)

Meanwhile: What might possibly qualify as hard-core news is that Shawn Bates, practicing again in his return from abdominal surgery, traveled with the team for Thursday night's game in Washington but, Islanders coach Ted Nolan said, "it probably will be another week or two" before Bates sees game action.
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Final note: Crack Newsday Islanders beat reporter Greg Logan is taking a few well-deserved days off, and soon will parachute back into the fray to save the day. Even in his absence, though, Newsday editors require a blog posting on the team. All criticism of said blog are welcome--Newsday.com clearly enables that. Any comments claiming to be posted by a Newsday reporter, when they clearly are not, are decidedly not welcome, and furthermore reflect rather poorly on the cowardly soul who would attempt such a nefarious act.

One word. Cryogenics.That is the retardation of aging effects caused by extremely low temperatures. On a perfectly sunny, 70-degree day, the Islanders held their daily workout in the windowless, 50-degree temperatures inside their Ice Works practice rink in Syosset.

This typical, refrigerated exercise was indicative of two things. 1) Hockey practice, unlike the organized narrative of a game--with its unscripted drama leading to a logical conclusion--is not a spectator sport. (The players, on the other hand, are properly attired both for the strenous work and for the environment, in sweaters and gloves.) And 2) Those Stanley Cup banners hanging from the rafters of Ice Works this season for the first time--as similar banners have hung for years from the Nassau Coliseum ceiling--never get old. Even though what they stand for is now more than 20 years old. (Cryogenics at work.)

For the hard-core fan who might think watching practice is interesting: Really, it's just an hour of the THWAKING sound of sticks hitting pucks and pucks hitting sideboards (and a few BOINGS from hitting posts), plus the occasional shrill of a coach's whistles. All punctuating the skating, shooting and positioning drills. Players don't wear numbers, so it takes a quick, trained eye just to pick out individuals, let alone follow the two or three pucks in play at once. Although, the Islanders do dress their forwards in colors according to linemates: Orange, red, powder blue, gray (and navy blue for defensemen).

But one needn't get cold feet. The team's next home game will be Saturday against the New Jersey Devils. (The DEVILS!)

That could mean two things. 1) Good vs. evil? Or 2) a not-so-cold day in......

With tough guy forward Chris Simon set to return Saturday night in Philadelphia after completing his record 25-game suspension, the Islanders returned forward Jeff Tambellini to Bridgeport today. That was the bad news for Tambellini. The good news is that he missed the hard skate coach Ted Nolan put his players through this afternoon after their 8-1 loss Thursday night in Toronto.

Practice began with a breakout drill and just kept going for about an hour with no more than one or two breaks for instruction on the eraserboard. Whether you call it positive reinforcement or punishment, Nolan got his message across.

“Yeah, there’s a purpose,” Nolan said of the practice session. “We’re not blessed with ability to win games just by showing up. We have to work together. We have to come back together [on defense], we have to play in the neutral zone together. That’s the only way we’re going to be successful. We practiced the way we have to play.”

Nolan wasn’t blaming Tambellini for what happened against the Maple Leafs by any stretch. It was a numbers game with Simon back in the lineup, and he was the odd man out. “I thought Jeff got much better,” Nolan said. “The game against the Rangers, he played a great game for us. The other game [against Toronto], it wasn’t just him. It was everybody.”

Because the Isles are playing a physical Flyers team, Nolan also has decided to use forward Darryl Bootland, another tough guy, and scrap the seven-defenseman rotation he employed the past two games. That means a defenseman will be scratched, but Nolan hasn’t yet decided which one.

“We’ll make that decision overnight,” Nolan said. “We’re still steaming from last night, so you don’t want to make too hasty a decision. The 24-hour rule, maybe I’ll take 48 hours to really let it sink in. We don’t want to make decisions based on emotion.”

Although Bryan Berard skated with extra defenseman Aaron Johnson, Nolan said he’s pleased with Berard’s play and called him the “least of our concerns right now.” Marc-Andre Bergeron made two costly mistakes that led to goals by the Maple Leafs and might be a candidate to be scratched.

“We have to pull a ‘D’ out,” Nolan said. “I talked to the team. We’re not going to take anything for granted. You have to play hard if you want to play. It’s just that simple. If life were that easy, we’d just show up and play and not worry about anything. There’s only a few chosen people in this world that can do that. We can’t. We have to work or you don’t play.”

One player who received good news today was forward Sean Bergenheim, who has been promoted from the fourth line to Tambellini’s spot at left wing on the second line with Josef Vasicek and Miro Satan. Bergenheim should play a role similar to the one Ruslan Fedotenko plays for the top line, chasing down loose pucks and adding physical play at both ends.

“No question,” Nolan said of the comparison. “He’s one of those guys who only knows one way to play, and that’s hard. He forechecks hard. He’ll be the first guy in on the attack and try to cause some turnovers and, hopefully, get that line going…Bergenheim’s been good from Day 1 of training camp. He’s worked; he pays attention, he deserves that opportunity.”

Forwards Mike Sillinger and Trent Hunter, both of whom left the Islanders’ bench in the third period and went to the dressing room, sat out practice today. Nolan said they were being “rested,” but he expects both to play against the Flyers with regular linemate Andy Hilbert. Center Shawn Bates, who is recovering from a serious groin injury, also took part in practice, but Nolan said he’s at least two weeks away from being ready to play.

COMING SATURDAY: Following practice, Simon sat with me and talked in depth about the stick-swinging incident with the Rangers’ Ryan Hollweg on March 8 that resulted in his suspension. It’s the first article in which Simon discusses what happened in detail. Please look for the piece in Saturday’s Newsday.

Jonathan Sim’s first season with the Islanders might be over after playing just two games. Club officials confirmed tonight that Sim faces possible season-ending knee surgery, pending a final examination on Thursday.

Sim, who was injured in a stumble on bad Coliseum ice Saturday against Buffalo, consulted with the Islanders’ medical team today, but he will be examined by an independent orthopedist Thursday before a decision is made. The Islanders are expected to make an official announcement about Sim’s status by the end of the week following that exam. However, a high-ranking Islanders official admitted it doesn’t look good for Sim to return this season.

Although Sim was a relatively unheralded free-agent signing last summer, he seemed a perfect fit on a line with Mike Sillinger and Trent Hunter because of his combination of defensive ability, puck-hawking skill around the net and knack for getting in the opposition’s face. He was the quintessential role player in coach Ted Nolan’s system.

“It’s tough,” Nolan said of Sim’s possible loss. “You look at what we tried to add to our team, and he’s got that grit, the spirit and that competitive edge. Sim added all those things. To be without him definitely hurts, but someone else has a chance to come in. Now [Jeff] Tambellini will get a chance.”

Tambellini started against the Rangers tonight at the Coliseum but played sparingly. Nolan used a lineup with seven defensemen to accommodate the addition of Bryan Berard to run the power play. Fourth-line forward Darryl Bootland was a healthy scratch.

After watching their power play struggle in a 2-1 loss to Washington, the Islanders yesterday signed defenseman Bryan Berard to a one-year deal worth $725,000.

Berard practiced this afternoon and hopes to be in the lineup to quarterback the power play against the Rangers tomorrow night at Nassau Coliseum. However, coach Ted Nolan was non-committal about the lineup. He said Berard only practiced lightly before yesterday, and he wants to make sure the veteran is ready when he steps into the lineup.

Asked if he might consider dressing seven defensemen or possibly rotating Berard with Chris Campoli, Bruno Gervais and Marc-Andre Bergeron, Nolan said, "You must have been tapping in to our dressing room talks. We're debating whether we play seven defense or rotate somebody in. We've got to take into consideration what we're trying to do here with the team atmosphere and team chemistry. Sometimes, what's best for the team on a given night is maybe resting a person, not because of his inability to play, but because you want the personnel that's best for that particular team...If Berard comes in, somebody has to come out. That's the tough part of our job. We'll analyze everything and see what we do tomorrow."

If Nolan asks Berard, he's ready to go and is especially anxious to face the Rangers. He knows there will be an adjustment from training-camp speed to game speed, but he is raring to go after watching the first three games. I'll have Berard's comments in the game advance in tomorrow's Newsday along with comments from captain Bill Guerin on what he believes Berard will add to the team.

PRACTICE NOTES: Jonathan Sim (sprained knee) has been placed on the injured list indefinitely and was walking with a soft cast on his injured leg today. Sim said he actually hurt his knee before crashing into the boards Saturday night against Buffalo. Rather than getting hurt in a collision, he twisted his knee during an awkward stride on the bad ice...If the Isles play seven defensemen against the Rangers, it's possible fourth-line enforcer Darryl Bootland could sit. Or Sean Bergenheim, who was praised by Nolan for his aggressive play in the first three games, could move to the second line, and Jeff Tambellini could sit while Bootland plays. But Bootland barely logged three minutes against Washington, and a regular-season game against the Rangers will be much different than the fight-filled exhibitions...Center Mike Comrie was named the NHL's second star last week for scoring four goals, including two gamewinners, and adding two assists in the Isles' home-and-home sweep of Buffalo.

TICKETS AVAILABLE: Approximately 1,000 tickets for the Rangers game will be available when the Coliseum box office opens at 9:30 Wednesday morning. The Isles are pushing for their third straight sellout to open the season.

Driving to the Coliseum today, I was stunned to hear the unfortunate news about former Islander Jason Blake contracting a rare-but-treatable form of leukemia. When you think of such a superbly conditioned athlete as Blake, it’s hard to imagine him as anything but the picture of health.

It was good to see that Blake said he expects to continue playing at a high level while taking medication for his condition. I hope that holds true. If he can bring the same level of hustle and fire to the Maple Leafs as he gave to the Islanders, they will be a better team.

Although Blake might not have been universally popular in the locker room, there was no denying his effort and contribution, and it was appreciated by his teammates. As a reporter, I appreciated the honesty in analyzing the team’s performance that might have rubbed some the wrong way, and the same goes for his willingness to answer the hard questions when things went wrong.

You can’t fault the man for knowing what he wanted in terms of a contract and waiting for the right deal. He left because he wasn’t going to get that deal from the Isles, not because he didn’t enjoy being an Islander. I look forward to seeing him Thursday in Toronto, and I’m sure his former teammates can’t wait to extend their good wishes.

MEYER CLAIMED: As many of you already have seen, defenseman Freddy Meyer failed to clear waivers and was claimed today by Phoenix. He obviously had value, but because of the Isles’ surplus of NHL defensemen, no team was going to give up anything in a trade to get him because he was the obvious candidate to be placed on waivers if the Isles are going to sign Bryan Berard. No word on that deal yet, but he practiced with the team on Sunday and likely will be signed in the next day or two.

TICKET ALERT: The first meeting between the Islanders and Rangers Wednesday night at Nassau Coliseum is not yet a sellout. As of this afternoon, a club official said, approximately 1,500 tickets remain.

Fourth-line center Richard Park, whom coach Ted Nolan has described as the “most underrated” player on the Islanders, rated a two-year contract extension worth $1.5 million, the club announced this morning. Park is on the books this season for $475,000, and now, he’s assured of being an Islander through the 2009-10 season.

“Sometimes, people look at numbers, but I look at the extra stuff you bring to the game that people don’t see,” Nolan said. “To me, you look at a guy like Richard Park. He’s one of the most positive individuals I’ve ever met. I don’t think he has a bad day. Whether he gets three minutes of ice time or gets 30, his whole attitude is still the same. That helps. He talks to players when they’re down and tries to lift them up. Not only is he a good player, but he’s a good mentor for younger players.”

Park plays a major role as a penalty-killer, and he chipped in 10 goals and 26 points last season, including the Isles’ two regulation-time goals in their shootout victory at New Jersey to reach the playoffs in the final game of last season. Typically, after the Islanders’ 3-2 win over Buffalo last night, Park was visible in the workout room next to the locker room running at a fast clip on the treadmill, as if he didn’t get enough exercise for one night.

In other news today, Jeff Tambellini was called up on an emergency basis to replace injured Jonathan Sim in the lineup in the Kids Day Opener against Washington Monday afternoon at 2 at the Coliseum. Tambellini practiced today at left wing on the second line with Josef Vasicek and Miro Satan, as he did all through training camp. Andy Hilbert was moved off that lined to left wing on the checking line with Mike Sillinger and Trent Hunter, reuniting what was the Islanders’ most consistent line last season.

Sim, who suffered a sprained knee, is scheduled to undergo an MRI examination on Monday. He enjoyed a terrific game against Buffalo, recording an assist on Chris Campoli’s power-play goal and acting as a constant irritant to the Sabres all night.

But Sim’s loss might be Tambellini’s big chance for a quick reprieve from the AHL. After scoring one goal and one assist in seven exhibition games, Tambellini has been told in no uncertain terms that he must produce with a top line in order to stick. Miro Satan was close to scoring in the first two games and got robbed by Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller on a breakaway Saturday at the Coliseum. But the addition of Tambellini might spark that line to kick into gear to supplement the top line’s scoring outburst through the first two games.

Although defenseman Freddy Meyer will either clear waivers or be claimed by noon Monday, no other roster moves are expected by the Islanders before they meet the Capitals and ex-Isles Tom Poti and Viktor Kozlov. Free agent defenseman Bryan Berard can’t be signed until Meyer is off the roster. Even if he reached an agreement with the Isles before game time, Berard would not be activated. However, it’s a good bet he’ll be signed before the Islanders meet the Rangers Wednesday night at the Coliseum.

Trying to clear roster space, the Islanders earlier today placed defenseman Freddy Meyer on waivers for the purpose of sending him to Bridgeport. He has until noon Monday to clear before he can join the Isles’ AHL affiliate.

Because Meyer is in the final season of a deal that pays him $540,000, it’s possible he might be claimed by another team in need of defensive depth. The cost and term of Meyer’s deal would make him a bargain investment.

Once Meyer clears or is claimed off the Islanders’ roster, there’s a good chance free-agent defenseman Bryan Berard would be signed. It’s uncertain how quickly he would find his way into the lineup. The Isles scored on three of four power-play opportunities in their season-opening win Friday night in Buffalo. Defenseman Chris Campoli had one goal while playing left point on the power play.

Of course, the addition of Berard would give the Islanders greater flexibility in determining their defensive pairings. If Marc-Andre Bergeron shows he’s not ready to handle major minutes on defense, it’s possible Berard could take his place in the lineup and on the power play. The fact that Aaron Johnson wasn’t the defenseman placed on waivers also could be interpreted as an indication that he has a chance to get into the lineup to help tighten a defense that was porous in the first period of the opener.

Defenseman Radek Martinek has been signed to a three-year extension worth a total of $4.5 million, the Islanders announced today. Martinek is set to make $700,000 this season before the new deal kicks in next year and runs through the 2010-11 season.

The move by general manager Garth Snow solidifies the Islanders’ top four defensive spots. Discussing Martinek’s play last season when he led the team with a plus-19 figure while totaling a career-high 17 points in only 43 games, Snow described Martinek as the Isles’ “best defenseman when healthy.”

Of course, the fractured leg Martinek suffered on Feb. 3 at Montreal cut his season short and was a serious blow to the Islanders’ defense. But Martinek is fully recovered and will start in the season opener tonight at Buffalo.

“Radek has proven to be a good defenseman in this league,” Snow said. “He’s solid in skating and moving the puck. His skating ability got us out of a lot of trouble last year.The key is for Radek to stay healthy. If he can play a full 82 games, he can be a force.”

LINEUP UPDATE: Chris Campoli and Bruno Gervais will form the third defensive pairing against the Sabres tonight. Coach Ted Nolan hinted Martinek might be the left point on the top power play, but we'll see.

Free-agent defenseman Bryan Berard remains unsigned, so he did not accompany the Islanders to Buffalo for tomorrow night’s opener. Obviously, General manager Garth Snow has not been able to clear roster space necessary to sign Berard at this point. So, the same 23-man roster announced Tuesday, including eight defensemen, remains intact.

Berard has been allowed to practice with the Islanders because he is paying his own expenses and assuming the risk. But coach Ted Nolan’s recent comments indicate the goal still is to sign Berard to run the power play. As he said of Berard during an interview today on WFAN, “He’s a special talent. We’re hoping things work out.”

Just to clarify for Cincy and others who have asked about the rules regarding defensemen Bruno Gervais and Aaron Johnson, both of whom are on two-way contracts, they still must clear waivers to go down to Bridgeport because they no longer are on their entry contracts. Jeff Tambellini, on the other hand, could go down because he’s in the final year of his entry level two-way deal.

I’ll be at the morning skate on Friday and will post something by mid-afternoon about the third defensive pairing for those who are curious. But the main focus of the gameday blog will be on new captain Bill Guerin and the dramatic change in the locker room atmosphere. In the meantime, please check out the Islanders advance in Friday’s Newsday. It focuses on Miro Satan and the huge role he can play in making up for the loss of Jason Blake’s 40 goals.

Are you ready for some hockey?

Why not Jeff Tambellini?

Those were the questions provoking debate among many Islanders fans after coach Ted Nolan’s roster was revealed at practice on Tuesday. Why did Hilbert, who struggled mightily to put the puck in the net last season, get the nod over Tambellini as the left wing on the second scoring line with center Josef Vasicek and right wing Miro Satan? What did Tambellini do to deserve a ticket back to AHL Bridgeport?

The simple answer is that Tambellini would be wasted on the fourth line, which is why enforcer Darryl Bootland grabbed the last spot at forward in the absence of suspended Chris Simon. The answer that gets closer to the truth, as Nolan sees it, is not so much about what Tambellini did wrong. It’s that he didn’t do enough right to clearly separate himself from the field, which is to say Hilbert and fourth-line left wing Sean Bergenheim.

Both of those players are considered stronger defensively than Tambellini. So, he really needed to display a scoring touch during the exhibition games, but he finished with one goal and one assist in seven games. That’s exactly one goal more than Hilbert, who had one point in five games. In 23 games last season, Tambellini had two goals and seven assists, three of which came in one game. He’s a scorer, as 30 goals in 50 games at Bridgeport attests, and scorers have to score.

Hilbert is considered more of a two-way player. The expectation for him to score with Satan and Vasicek won’t be as high as it would have been for Tambellini because they are different players. “I don’t know about scoring, but he’ll be a very reliable defensive player on that line,” Nolan said of Hilbert’s new role. “You look at all the big lines on any team, and they always have one guy who is more defensive-minded. He can be the high guy in the slot and the first guy backchecking and do the grunt work on the forecheck, one of those guys that does all the work but doesn’t get a lot of the credit for it. So, Andy’s going to be that guy on that line.”

In other words, Hilbert will play a role similar to the one he had last season with Mike Sillinger and Trent Hunter, who formed the Isles’ best two-way line, which often was matched against the opponents’ top line. Hilbert lost that spot to free agent signee Jonathan Sim, who has blended beautifully with Sillinger and Hunter, but he took the change in stride.

“Jon Sim’s a great player, and he’s going to fit well on that line and complement those guys perfectly,” Hilbert said Tuesday after practice. “I’m not a veteran by any means, but I’ve played long enough to know a lot of things can happen. You only can control the things you can control and that’s working hard and letting everything take care of itself.”

During training camp, the only time Hilbert spent with Vasicek and Satan was in the final exhibition game at Boston, when he started with that line but wound up splitting time with Tambellini. In fact, Hilbert’s only preseason point came when he assisted on Sim’s clinching goal near the end of the Isles’ 4-2 win.

Playing with Satan and Vasicek will be a different experience for Hilbert. “It’s something you have to get used to,” he said. “They’re European hockey players who play well together. You can tell they have chemistry right away. I have to complement them as well as possible by trying to get in on the forecheck, driving the net and doing the little stuff and letting them take care of the big stuff, so to speak.”

By “big stuff,” Hilbert meant scoring. Last season, he went 22 games before recording his first assist and 25 games before potting his first goal. Hilbert totaled eight goals and 28 points for the season. But even though he managed just one point in the final 13 games, including the first-round playoff loss to Buffalo, Hilbert won Nolan’s admiration and faith by playing with an injured shoulder that made it difficult for him to hold the stick, much less shoot with authority.

“A lot of guys play hurt at that time of year,” Hilbert said. “It was something I had to do, and I just tried to play as well as possible.”

It’s not that Hilbert can’t score. He totaled 18 points in 19 games in 2005-06 with Pittsburgh while playing with a guy named Sidney Crosby. Okay, he has 43 points in his other 147 NHL games. But Hilbert had two 70-point seasons with AHL Providence in Boston’s organization, and he was a top producer in college at Michigan.

“I have scored all the way up my whole career,” Hilbert said. “Last year, I played with Silly and Hunts, and my role changed a little bit. If this is the role I have where I’m called upon to put some more points on the board, that’s something I have to take in stride and, hopefully, I’ll accomplish it. But I’m just going to go out there and work hard. Whatever role I’m put in by Teddy is a role I’m going to cherish.”

That attitude combined with Hilbert’s hustle are qualities Nolan admires as much, if not more than, scoring skills. That explains his patience when Hilbert endured his long scoring slump at the beginning of last season. Although Tambellini returned from the offseason in tremendous shape and has shown a willingness to work in the corners, Hilbert is perceived as a player who is better in the high-traffic areas. Ultimately, the Islanders’ first priority this season has to be defense and trying to make goaltender Rick DiPietro’s job a little easier.

“My game has evolved into being more of a two-way hockey player at this level,” Hilbert said. “That’s something I’ve had to really work on. To be playing with Miro and Vasy, they’re obviously more offensive-oriented guys. So, I’ll take that as it comes. I’ve played on offensive lines before, so, I’m not going to put too much pressure on myself. I’m just going to go out there and play.”

Here is the 22-man roster the Islanders had on the ice for practice today in Syosset:

Forwards (by lines) – Ruslan Fedotenko-Mike Comrie-Bill Guerin; Andy Hilbert-Josef Vasicek-Miroslav Satan; Jonathan Sim-Mike Sillinger-Trent Hunter; Sean Bergenheim-Richard Park-Darryl Bootland. Extras – Chris Simon (suspended first five games), and Shawn Bates is on injured reserve

Defense (by pairings) – Brendan Witt-Radek Martinek; Andy Sutton-Marc-Andre Bergeron; Chris Campoli-Bruno Gervais. Extras – Freddy Meyer and Aaron Johnson.

Goaltenders – Rick DiPietro, Wade Dubielewicz.

Free agent defenseman Bryan Berard remains unsigned, but that might change later today. It's possible GM Garth Snow might be trying to trade Meyer to make room for the possible signing of Berard. It's also still possible Gervais could be sent down to Bridgeport. Among the forwards, Jeff Tambellini was sent back to Bridgeport after failing to make the second scoring line.

More details later this afternoon.

After a long day of meetings, Islanders general manager Garth Snow declined to reveal the team’s roster decisions tonight before all the players can be informed. But as I’m reporting in Newsday tomorrow, free-agent defenseman Bryan Berard remains unsigned at the moment.

However, Berard’s agent, Thomas Laidlaw, said his client still is focused on rejoining the Islanders rather than looking elsewhere for a job. Obviously, the Isles need a quarterback for their power play, a role for which Berard is well-suited.

It appears Berard is willing to wait while Snow sorts out his roster situation. The defensemen with two-way contracts are Aaron Johnson and Bruno Gervais. Most likely, Johnson will be sent down. The jury is out on Gervais, who did not have a strong camp. Chris Campoli just signed a three-year, one-way contract, and Freddy Meyer also has a one-way deal.

Asked if he has any trade talks going on, Snow said, “No, not at this point.”

The GM called the decision-making process “really tough” and emphasized his commitment to developing young players to add to the veteran core. If the Islanders go ahead and sign Berard, that will have an impact on either Gervais or Campoli, one of whom would have to sit.

If the Isles don’t sign Berard, then coach Ted Nolan must figure out whom to pair with Marc-Andre Bergeron at the point on the power play. Considering how important the power play is in most games, that would be a much bigger problem than sending someone to Bridgeport.