On the Islanders Beat

Nice article Greg.

I have one request as a fan--why can't you pose some of the questions you raise directly with Nolan and snow, e.g, it's a mystery why Tamby has not gotten a shot on the PP (or anywhere)? You could even cloak the questions by saying the fans are asking. And when you get an answer--ask a follow-up question that addresses the holes in the answer.

For the most part, Snolan have gotten a free ride from the media on their decision making. Don't the entire 50 of us who actually care about the Islanders deserve an answer????

Is there an Islander game feed where I don't have to see MAB???? It's sad watching a team slowly sink when THE biggest contributor ( name someone more cancerous???) to their downfall continues to play. Yes, we can use some offence but it isn't here yet until Snowlan fully buys into a youth movement.. Surely the return of Marty and the other injured D will return us to the sanity of proper pairings and The Mad Bomber sampling the various press box coffee.

I thought Greg's "Islander Insider" pretty much hit the mark. Yeah Merrick, I agree... I think Greg could be more direct with Nolan as to the Tamby situation. I think the purpose of that article was more to grade the team's performance for the first half.

However, your request of Greg to ask Nolan to pose a direct question as to why he hasn't given Tamby more of a look when the Isles are in dire need of offense was very fair

Tamby is tearing it up in the AHL (he hasn't even played every game for the S. Tigers) ... and the Isles have ZERO offense. Is that a testament to Isles prospect pool? I sure hope not.

Here is an idea for Greg ... he should take 3 popular questions from the fans here, and every game tell Ted ... the fans would like to know ... Greg can call it "The fans would like to know Ted" .... or "The fans are asking" then he can publish the responses at the end of his articles ... Great idea Merrick!!! Then Greg could ask follow up questions to volly his response to our questions.

BTW ... KO arrived in Bridgeport yesterday. The Kyle Okposo era begins ... at least with the Sound Tigers ... I hope Isles TV has something on KO's practice session with the team ... like which line he is on .. etc.

Welcome Kyle ... look forward to seeing you up with the big team at some point this season.

hopefully we see Kyle play with the Islanders for a couple games but we should not go past the limit where this season would count for his contract. I am not sure how games he has to play for it to count as his first year of the contract.

With Tambs, I want him up there but to be honest with you, who on the Islanders are going to help him. We are horrible at offense so I would not want to take any advice from anyone maybe Guerin. Since we can score, Tamby is not going to score. Lets hope we can have a rookie line next year with Tambs and KO

OH yea

KEITH = Stanley Cup

Is that article also in the newspaper if it's not it should be. Maybe not enough room in the paper because of the Knicks coverage.

Anon .. yeah .. I agree ... Kyle shouldn't see the 10 games this season that would make this year count as part of the contract. It isn't in the team's best interest.

Aside from that ... I doubt that Kyle would make a huge impact this season anyway. After all .. He only scored 1 goal in 6 games playing agaisnt the world's best teenagers .... instead of hte world's best hockey players in the NHL. He needs more development... and that was "supposedly" the reason he left Minnesota ... so that the Isles would help him develop better. Right?

KEITH = Stanley Cup ~ Hilarious!!! LOL!

That was strictly a depth move at the AHL level. As a prospect Keith had at one time a good scoring touch, and played with an edge. Maybe the Isles will try to rediscover that for him. I think you can just project him as a dept move, and may see him up for some games now and then. Maybe he's the type of player then want with KO? Who knows what's brewing in Snow's mind right now.

Question Of the Day fellow Isles fans.....
Actually came to me while perusing some of the comments posted in Greg's Insider Column in the main pages (Good to see some of you over there).
Someone (RontheTruthKillings?) mentioned he would like to see Bergeron skate more with the 3 and 4th lines.

I posted to him that MAB is a D-man and doesn't skate with a line.

HOWEVER....
Raises the question...

We all know how bad a D-man MAB is....
Why not put him on a wing?
Comments?

Short answer, 505, he seems totally unwilling. If you look back, I beat the drum very loudly for this in October and November, but it doesn't look like anything will ever come of it. I still, however, think it's a good idea that should be investigated. The only danger is failure. If MAB can't get it done as a forward the Islanders may have destroyed his value as both a forward and defenseman.

Quick addition - when Greg asked him about it, after people like Cincy and I rooted for it, he shot it down, saying the perspective would be "totally different" for him.

I don't know 505 ... A forward still does have some defenisve responsibility ... we he look at playing forward an excuse to exercise that responsibility??

Maybe Nolan can try some reverse psychology on him. However, I'm not sure it would be worth Nolan's time or effort when he has a whole team's offensive ability to worry about.

MM tried it with Berard way back when. I don't think BB was too happy about it as I recall. It only caused a regression.

Nick is probably right ... it might be worth a look in practice ... however it could shatter what ever value the Isles could have for him as a defenseman or even a forward.

The way the Isles are playing reminds me of a time the team I played on in the early 90s had a crisis scoring as a team. The defense was playing poor too .. and our goalie was keeping us in games ...

During one practice ... our coach said .. making you guys skate up and down the ice without pucks is a waste of time. Punishing the team with PT & suicide drills is a waste of ice time.

So he had us do role reversal. He had the forwards play D ... and the defenseman play forward. He arranged it so that there was always a pair of forwards playing on D ... and at least 2 D-men playing up front for a shift during the "controlled" scrimmage. I have to tell you ... that practice was one of the top 10 practices I've ever played in my life. I learned a lot ... and so did the team .. we went on a 6 game win streak and gave up no more than 2 goals ... and scored no less than 4 in that span.

I'm not sure that would translate at the pro-level. It may have been a fluke for us ... because we had at least 6 forwards on our team that were all-star worthy in our league ... but that practice made us not more skilled ... but smarter and a more cohesive team.

I've always equated the big slap shot with the 100-MPH fastball. Someone will always take a shot on a player with that raw tool despite mountains of evidence that person isn't good and will never be good. I think that if MAB continues to play a team with PP woes will take a flyer on him, just like we did last year, and maybe give up a valuable piece in the process. I heard Vancouver was interested - I like those kids Burrows and Raymond...

As followup to his pre-season predictions, ESPN's John Buccigross reported this on the Isles...

"The Islanders are a lot like the Blues in the West. Well-coached, good defense, but not a lot of offense. Both will hang around that eighth spot and have a shot to get in with a strong finish. Meanwhile, Greg Logan reported in Newsday that top prospect Kyle Okposo, recently returned from the Czech Republic with Team USA after a fourth-place finish at the World Junior tournament, will suit up for Binghamton."

Gee Greg, I sure don't recall you rreporting that KO was sent to Binghamption. LOL. Looks like ESPN and Larry Brooks might be sharing some of the same sources, huh? LOL.

Sounds like more suspect reporting, there. Also, everyone needs to remember something, here. Okposo will likely NOT be on the Island this year, and he might not come up next year either. Exhibits A and B: Sean Bentivoglio and Trevor Smith. The college season is very light: 2 games a week, often only played on the weekends. THey need to work on their conditioning in order to get used to the rigors of a professional career. You're seeing that right now since both Bentivoglio and Smith came in with sky-high expectations, but they're struggling to match the pace every single day. We all know it's a lot easier to bring your best when you don't have to do it as frequently. Expect an adjustment period for Okposo and these 2 other guys, even though I think we have 3 gems there.

Nick -

That possibility of moving MAB to Vancouver may have existed... until everyone in Vancouver saw MAB on the ice with their own eyes. I can't imagine they'd ever want that defensive laughingstock on their team now.

Wait, I am starting to get the sense that some people on this board don't actually like MAB...

:)

Small, speedy guy with a cannon of a shot and the occasional flash of stick handling...why did this guy ever take up defense? Just from morbid curiousity I would like to seem him play wing for a couple games free from the total defensive responsibility of the back line.

I hope they try MAB at wing also........IN ALASKA!

Trade him for new spark plugs for the zamboni and a new microphone for the hot blond that asks the questions to the guys in the crowd. DO NOT buy a new microphone for the other lady from Lotto that might have the worst LI accent since Joey Buttafucco's oil cahnge guy!

Cincy - good man! Buccigross edited it to Bridgeport.

Steady....
Alaska?
Those are more of my people up there.
The land of two seasons, winter is here and winter is coming?
Where men are men and women are glad of it?
Where women roll their own tampons and kick start their vibrators?
You wanna send MAB up there?
There are some solid minor league and semi-pro hockey leagues up there. Not to mention a coupla damn fine college teams. (Well, not this year).

He wouldn't make it.

The road trip is amost over everyone. Stay patient and then possibly Snow may make a move to bring in Tamby up. If Satan does not produce on the first line, with Februrary coming, a move has to happen.

505...VERY GOOD STUFF LOL

Until they trade Tank, Satan or Hunter there is no room for Tambellini. My guess is that Satan is dealt for draft picks (or a prospect) before the deadline. that should make room for Tambellini.

The Same goes for Walter. there are five centers on the team currently. Either Comrie or Sillinger would have to be dealt to make ample playing time for Walter. My guess would be that Comrie is offered a contract extension. If he accepts, then Sillinger is on the market. If not, then he is shopped. I think Vasicek was signed to a two year deal.
They can't afford to make the same mistake they made with Blake with Comrie. Sign him or deal him.

These moves should be made soon (next 40 days), so just have some patience.

A few reasons MAB would not work on the wing:
- He would get destroyed in the corners. Can you imagine Colin White of the Devils (6'4" 200+) lining him up?
- He doesn't have a quick release wrist or snap shot (at least I've never seen it). So many here have said before how he winds up and waits.. and waits... and waits.
- He doesn't seem like the type of player who would take a hit to get to the front of the net for a garbage type goal.

Besides, with Johnson and Berard out, what better time than now to give him a chance (10-15 games) to turn it around. If he manages to turn it around, then we have two options. Keep a decent defenseman, or unload him. Right now he's not worth much to other GM's, but if Nolan plays him and he improves, there might be a Milbury out there to take him.

So who heard me on Bettman's show just now?

no.. tell me about your convo

I asked him 2 questions -

1. Since there are so many disputed goal calls taking up time both on the ice and in the Toronto war room, has the NHL looked into wireless and sensor technologies to determine automatically if the puck crossed the line, thus eliminating the element of chance and negative fan perceptions? (As I told them, I'm a technology consultant, so I tend to think like that in all instances)

2. I identified myself as an Islander fan and, using the Lighthouse as the backdrop, asked if the NHL had an organized lobbying plan to help teams get new arenas.

Bettman answered the second question, and Colin Campbell, who was guest-reporting on the show, answered the first question (I'm glad he didn't know that after his comments about Snow last April, I was the one who called the NHL offices and argued with his secretary)

Anyway, the answers:

1. Campbell displayed a fundamental misunderstanding of technology, because he claimed the ice, concrete, and metal in the goal posts would interfere (it wouldn't). He said they're working with a firm out of Detroit (thus not my firm, otherwise we would've gotten it done) to evaluate different options (I should have told them about the schematic I drew myself as an idea of how it would work). He also said they have looked at other options, since he doesn't seem to think the human element should be removed. They pointed out that out of the 7000 goals scored every year, only a few are disputed. They spent millions to install high-definition cameras in all arenas, and they are researching other options, like changing the netting to make it easier to see top-down.

2. Bettman voiced his support for Wang and Rechler, admiring their commitment to the team and the area. He said that we need an arena "yesterday," but that they only provide assistance. The onus is on the Islanders organization, and, by extension, Islander fans, to really get the Lighthouse project done.

They post archived shows on NHL.com if you want to hear my ridiculous-sounding voice.

LOL!! That's great Nick ...

Good thing I didn't call ... they'd run out of bandwidth.

I've spoken with GB in person a couple of times ... not particularly an engaging person. He seems set on HIS agenda .. and HIS only ... I kinda recall while taking business classes in college .. that being omni-dimensional ill equips you to be a leader..... hmmmmm .. coincidence? I think not.

But him doing this radio show is a step in the right direction ... I give him credit for that.

I heard you. I love the NHL Hour. It's a great concept and offers amazing access to the only ones with the answers.

Good job on your questions.

Greg: Good job on the insider. You just added 5 more hours to your work week.