Following the Islanders’ practice this morning, I had the pleasure of informing defenseman Brendan Witt that he is the Islanders’ nominee for the Masterton Trophy for perseverance and dedication to hockey. The award is sponsored by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, and while it has been perceived as an award for a player coming back from injury, the plan this season is to emphasize the contributions of players who have maintained a high standard of play over a long period.
Witt fits that description perfectly, and he also has maintained a community service commitment that the PHWA takes into consideration in determining the eventual winner out of the 29 players nominated (the Rangers chapter chose not to submit a nominee this season). There will be a story in tomorrow’s Newsday that includes Witt’s reaction to the nomination and coach Ted Nolan’s comments praising one of his alternate captains, but since the full interview couldn’t be contained in the newspaper story, I’ll include more of Witt’s comments here.
Naturally, Witt had to be called out of the trainer’s room for the interview because that’s where he lives at this stage of a long season. He came back from a sprained right knee in 18 days rather than waiting the full four weeks, and Witt aggravated it in a collision with teammate Bill Guerin near the end of Thursday’s Rangers game at the Coliseum.
“Yeah, that hurt,” Witt said of the incident. “I didn’t see it coming. When that happens, you don’t have time to brace yourself. I’ve got a brace on protecting it, but you’re still going to get torqued.” Explaining why he came back early, Witt added, “It’s that time of year, and you’ve got to make sacrifices. We still have a chance. Until we’re mathematically eliminated, that’s when I’ll look at my options for still playing.”
After running into Guerin, Witt said he expected to keep playing and joked that situations like his are what they make pain pills for. He’s famous for his ability to play through injuries that might keep others off the ice.
“It’s a fine line,” Witt said of the decision about when to play hurt. “When you have that sharp, knife pain, it’s not good. If it’s an achy type of pain…They use the rating 1 to 10 with 10 being the worst. I always look at it as, if I can still do my job and play competitively, I’m not pulling myself out of the lineup.”
Coming off a loss Saturday in Philadelphia that left the Islanders seven points behind the Flyers for the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot, the Islanders have only 12 games left to make up that ground starting with their game against Tampa Bay tomorrow night at the St. Pete Times Forum. “Right now, we’re playing desperate hockey, like the other night being in the penalty box all the time,” Witt said, referring to penalties that led to a season-high four power-play goals against by the Flyers. “It just seems like we’re finding ways to beat ourselves and not give ourselves a chance. But we’re still in it. This team is not going to quit until we’re mathematically eliminated.”
ISLES FILES: The Isles announced the signing today of Jesse Joensuu, the Finnish forward they selected in the second round (60th overall) of the 2006 draft. Joensuu signed a three-year entry-level deal that begins with the 2008-09 season.
This has been something of a breakout season for the 20-year-old Joensuu, who is a 6-4, 207-pound winger for Assat Pori in the Finnish Elite League. He has scored 17 goals and totaled 35 points in 56 games.
Comments (44)
Over at Zipay's blog awaiting your genius to be displayed over there.
I guess we are in for a long wait.
Hey Anon Rag Troll. Are you a freaking parrot?!?!? You keep repeating yourself. Let me ask you something. What did you do with yourself to pass time when the Rangers missed the playoffs 7 years in a row with a superstar roster?
Thought so.
Now get back to weaving baskets and washing your High School football team's jocks. Oh, it's baseball season coming up. Get to it batboy / jock washer.
bwahahaha..... i can't wait to watch the raggies bow out early in the playoffs.
then they can enjoy that 18th overall pick and it'll be a very satisfying season.
laugh it up raggies.... the future is inevitable.
Congrats to Witter -- he is a true warrior.
its amazing how much trash talking goes on by ranger fans when the islanders are playing horrible, and the rangers are finally living up to their potential on the ice..WE ARE ALL AWARE HOW PATHETIC THE ISLANDERS ARE, and we are also ALL AWARE HOW THE RANGERS CONSISTENTLY UNDERACHIEVE EACH SEASON WITH AN ALLSTAR ROSTER!!!! On that note, its about time the rangers started playing decent hockey, and its about time the islanders came back to reality... Our only hope for a contending team is to BUILD A NEW ARENA...IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME!!!! LETS GO ISLANDERS!!!
Congrats Brendan,
You give 100% every night and we ALL appreciate it.
Reality......I am aware of the salary cap, and quite aware of nobody wanting to play for the islanders AT THIS PRESENT TIME...But note, the Islanders have a far better HISTORY then the rangers, and most teams in the NHL..We were destroyed by horrible management, and disgusting ownership...I am well aware we had GM's who built a promising team, to only trade it away for garbage, because they were impatient...Bertuzzi, Luongo, McCabe, Connolly, Chara...Ill stop there, but the list goes on forever...To say that Nobody wants to play for the islanders NOW is very tru, but I can guarantee the Islanders will be a team everyone wants to play for in the future.. We have alot of work to do, and hopefully we can achieve that sooner rather then later, but w/ snow as GM it doesnt look to promising. Its probably gonna take two good drafts with a couple of caliber signings or trades..NOW for the rangers...IM not one of these ranger haters, bashing them saying the islanders are better and all this nonsense that so many uneducated fans do,(are you one of those fans???)..Reality is"Reality Check", that even before the salary cap, the rangers have always been BIG SPENDERS, and having all star rosters....and how many years of of those allstar rosters did you make the playoffs???Fact is, Rangers have always been underachievers, its just a fact....They are placed to finished high every season, but majority of the time, because history and facts DO NOT LIE, they have underachieved...Though many players still want to play for the RANGERS, because its NY, the greatest city in the world, so i dont blame them...So "REALITY CHECK" please, if your an uneducated hockey fan, please refrain from posting on OUR BLOG!!! Thank You for your time, and good luck the rest of the Season...
You paid 10 million this year for Gomez...bwahahahah
p.s I take it in the man shorts nightly!
if there is any Ranger you should not make fun of its Gomez, he's been the best player on the team the whole season.
Welcome to Rangers Nation. Please come out and root for the Rangers now because we are finally legit.
It's fun to be a front-runner...we get all the positives of being a Rangers fan while not having to stick with our team when the going gets tough.
We bag on the Isles for now, but we still keep in mind that we missed the playoffs for 8 straight seasons, which is something the lowly Isles couldn't even manage.
We celebrate our '94 Cup run like it was the only good memory we have of our team. Oh wait...it was.
We remind ourselves how sad it was that we only won 3 cups in a half century period when there were only 6 teams.
We kick others while they are down, but we are not man enough to show up when things look bleak. After that shooutout loss last week we couldn't bear to admit that the Isles have our number this season. We hate that one of the worst teams in hockey is 4-2 against us this season and 9-4-1 over the past two seasons.
We are Rangers Nation.
Oh please. Ranger Nation is full of boasting losers. Until you have a cup this year... leave our blog. Cause if you don't get a cup this year, I will post on the Rag blog every day till next season.
That is wonderful news about Brendan, he certainly deserves the nomination. :)
how does it feel to be the only team in the Atlantic not to make the playoffs?
-34 on the season?! Oh, my god! If the management were doing their jobs this wouldn't be happening.
Greg,
we're facing a must-win game tonight and you're writing about the stupid MASTERTON TROPHY???? no one cares about that lame award, not during the playoff push!
the fans care about winning hockey games, not your dedication to writing feel-good stories about our 13th place team! give us a break Greg, that's bad journalism - in fact, that's not journalism at all. it's called public relations.
Why wouldn't he write about the Masterton nomination?
The top hockey story in Newsday is Brendan Witt being nominated for the Masterton Trophy.
What is going to be tomorrow's big story, Dipietro getting a bigger locker?
-34? Wow!
----------
Posted by Stings | March 11, 2008 07:43 how does it feel to be the only team in the Atlantic not to make the playoffs?
---------
How does it feel NOT to make the platyoffs? Dont you remember 1997 through 2005? The Rangers had tons of experience in that department.
So the Rangers are making the playoffs- what do they want, a cookie?
Ranger nation,
did you really make a comment about the Rangers holding on to the 94 cup as a huge achievement?
Dude, the Islanders have had 49 different celebrations about the teams from 25 years ago.
Hypocrite much?
oh yea, the Rangers have had zero celebrations.
Kill yourself.
Busey OUT
How does it feel not to be able to make the playoffs in the Atlantic division. I already know what it feels like from my end. But I still tolerated your crap. So how does it feel toolbox, or should I call you a jizzbucket?
25 years ago there was a wonferful team that believed in building one of american sports greatest dynastys the world over. Now, the shell of that org, steals,lies cheats and crys about once was. The retarded fans just follow along.
Trade the future away, you love them for it.
Watch the future walk away, you still love them for it.
Missing the playoffs after a summer and season of putting up with your retarded posts, now your complaining! Well, it's only a couple more years and goodbye.
3000 people a night will never bring big money talent to the overpriced ghetto with bad beaches and fans like yourselves.
Good luck in Hamilton j.offs!
It is hard to believe that those people think that Rangers are "underachievers" I believe that they are considered as Overachievers because their general manager like to spend alot to get what they want and didn't succeed in the end. I think that Islanders are Underachievers because we didn't expect anything from Islanders. I am still surprised that Islanders are doing good than what I had expected t hem to perform. I am aware tat nobody want to play for ISles but someday they will come and tell us to build a new one!
The Isles signed a lot of free agents last summer, in fact, more than the Rangers did!
I remember reading on this very blog many people saying that the signings of Guerin, Comrie, Fedetenko, Sutton and Sim were a lot better than the Rangers signing of Drury and Gomez.
Now it's "we didn't expect much from the Islanders this year"
that's pretty funny
Posted by tonysac | March 10,
BUILD A NEW ARENA...IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME!!!! LETS GO ISLANDERS!!!
not if the team stinks they won't. certainly not after the initial novelty wears off .
WIN AND THEY WILL COME!!!
Busey,
You're a pathetic waste of a Rangers fan because your little pizza face only pops up when things are looking good for you. Other members of the real Rangers Nation like TJ were here to debate the Isles/Rangers through the good times and the bad. On the other hand, you boast when you win, but you hide when you lose. You can't have it both ways. There's nothing left for you to say--that's exactly what you do. Your hypocrisy is more prevailing and makes you an embarrassment to Rangers Nation. Please leave.
I'll tell you what, the Islanders stink. Snow, Nolan and Wang are all in this for the money. Nothing more. I don't mind the team not being good for a few years of rebuilding, but this has really just gone on too long. Something's got to give here. I'm not exactly sure who the problem is, but someone in that office is. Now listen and listen good! This team needs an overhaul. It needs to do the same things Buffalo, San Jose and Canes did or are doing. Build from within, get young talent in and tested, find that up and coming superstar and build around him. Bring in the vets, the monster defensemen the role players after. It's sad, we had a bright future last season, and just for a moment a brighter one, and it all washed away. What did the team do, made more excuses. Excuses they've used before, again and again all season long. Faq the Rangers and Devils, Faq the division and the standings. Prove to me that his team is doing the right thing by it's fans. I don't mean those ticket give aways either.
Do something or just be gone already!
My name is Jerry and I'm frustrated.
So the Raggies are about to make the playoffs for the third time in ten years. This gives them ownership of the NY Hockey Market?
I though it a little ridiculous after last season when they made the Isles to be the bumbeling franchise after they beat a weak Atlanta Team. A team that would not have been the 6th seed if it wansn't for the ridiculous divisional rules.
The Rangers have some good youth on the team but I don't think it's enough to make up for what happens when Drury and Gomez are deemed "old farts" in two years. The GM and ownership will never bite the bullet and put those guys on the top lines.
Heck, the bumped off Prucha to bring in old man Shannahan.
I don't mind the Rags getting their instant gratification this season. I think with the Isles getting a high draft pick and Okposo coming along next season that they are poised to take over the Atlantic in a few seasons. Bergenheim and Comau will also break the top two lines before long.
Can't say the same for the Rags with Dawes and Dubinski. The Rags will dip into the FA market yet again this offseason and you can include Hossa as their next big pick up. 7 years at 8 mill per.
THe kids on that team will go the way of Montoya before long. We are talking about Sather who isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. He is a GM that would give Milbury a run for his money being one of the worst of all time.
Ceasar doesn't follow the Rangers. Thanks Julius
Way to cut the minutes of Petr Prucha. That's who the Rangers reward their kids when they score 30.
BRILLIANT!!!!!
Next up; Sather trades Dubinski for old broken down Chris Chalios.
Caesar,
Prucha got bumped out of the lineup by Callahan. Who is like 23
Just thought you may want to know what the hell you are talking about....
Your welcome.
Caesar,
Prucha got bumped out of the lineup by Callahan. Who is like 23
Just thought you may want to know what the hell you are talking about....
Your welcome.
Time to chill the eff out folks. A couple Ranger trolls and you get all riled up and believe what they say? Look at the pattern here, every time Rangers are up and Isles down there is a flood of their BS. Same thing happens when the Isles are up over the Rangers. End of the year what is the result? We're both watching the Yanks and Mets. Don't both responding, its a waste.
As for the team and organization I think the "Debbie Downer" syndrome has leaked in here from the Rangers blog. It hurts to loose but getting that draft pick might be a nice consolation prize and a big step in the right direction. We have some youth that have shown us a thing or two, regardless of how they are ranked by some scouts, watch what they are doing on the ice now (Comeau's vision, Bergies wheels and recently goal scoring). With continued development they will get better.
As for Wang and Snow only being in it for the money...of course! This is a business afterall. And I agree Wang is probably more interested in the Islanders real estate at the moment but he has shown that he will open the purse a little bit wider than our past mess of ownership. Wang has provided stability, kept the Isles on the Island, and is trying to grow the game here and in other parts of the world.
Snow is a rookie GM and he's not doing great yet, I can concede that, but hopefully he learns from mistakes. We are still here after numerous years of Maloney/Milbury screwing us over. I think we should really wait to critique Snow until we see him perform for another season (and the draft of course).
Many people were talking about the long road to rebuilding and this is just a part of it. I think when the dust settles on this season and the Trolls go away some people will see that.
Yeah, last season they bumped Prucha down to the third line, cut his minutes, for a guy who only played 14 games. Not to mention six points in that time span.
This season, the great Callahan still has fewer points and fewer games than Prucha.
Sorry bub, players don't get bumped out by players who go in for less games and score fewer points. Not to mention play a different position even if they have them on their off wing.
And if Callahan DID BUMP Prucha out that only makes the Rags look ten times worse.
Another Raggy that just started watching yesterday. The only Raggies that come on here talking smack are the bandwagon fans. The ones that have been following through the ups and downs don't do this.
You are a front runner and I would wager that the real fans don't like you. You are doing them a disservice here.
Healy;
I have no issue what so ever with the outcome of this season. If anything it puts the organization in position to build this thing the right way; Through the draft and a few smart trades.
I was never a fan of the UFA market and rarely is a cup won building that way. The UFA market is great for supplementing your roster and that's about it.
I don't think this draft alone is going to get the Isles out of the woods. It will land them some really great prospects to work with. Hopefully a marquee players comes out of it. Beats the UFA market though.
So far I think Snow is doing a great job. When in position to grab an impact player he won't shy away from making that deal. The Smyth deal saw us get rid of a pick in a weak draft and propects they were floundering around.
This year he did the smart thing in holding onto his prospects and getting rid of some dead wood in the process. This year was a case of the best trades are the ones you don't make.
Ceasar,
Are you high? Do you even watch Ranger games or just look up stats on your computer like some fag?
I'm your buddy so I'll catch you up.
1. Prucha sat a few games last year because he sucked. Plain and simple.
2. He was hurt this year so Callahan took his spot in the lineup while he was out. Callahan has played so well in his place that Prucha has no spot on the team right now. Callahan is more versitale, has more speed, kills penalties, and throws hits. Thats his role on this team.
Once again,
You're welcome in advance.
Busey
Another note:
If you find me any hockey person who things Prucha should be in ahead of Callahan right now that person is also high, like you.
Even high I would say most posters (including me) are still smarter than you.
Prucha played 79 games last season with 22 goals coming off the third line. Oh please explain how he sat "a few games because he sucked" or Callahan "took his spot".
You're simply displaying stupidity on this and you don't look good for it. Prucha got bumped down a line because the Rags signed Shannahan last season. Quite simply they created a logjam and Prucha was caught in the pinch.
Even considering just the math alone Prucha plays LW and played 79 games last season.
Callahan played fourteen and plays RW. Figure it out genious. How is that one player bumping the other out of the line up!!!!
Oh and Prucha just happens to have more Games Played this season than Callahan because Callahan stole Prucha's job?
Dude, I've watched the lousy Rags for years. What you saying is not true and absolutely retarded. The bare facts alone pretty much tells the story for what it is.
You coldn't sell this stupidity amongst your fellow Raggies. Even they admit that Shannahan bumped Prucha down to the third line.
I guess if you don't actually watch the games and only look at stats you would think Petr Prucha is better than Ryan Callahan, however, those of us who watch the games know that Callahan is a much better all around player than Prucha.
The Rangers have three solid lines right now, each one of them has a solid rookie with a solid career ahead of them.
And, did someone call Gomez an old fart?
Gomez is only 2 and 1/2 years older than Petr Prucha.
Callahan "took his spot" because he was out hurt... are you following me still?
then he got healthy.... still following?
Callahan played well while Prucha was hurt.....
now Prucha has no spot.... got it?
wow you're retarded.
Callahan plays a two way game, is a penalty killer, battles, is willing to drop the gloves, is 3 years younger than Prucha and his scoring touch is still developing.
Stats aren't everything Burt...
Prucha is trade bait on draft day.
Raggies should package him and their #1 to try and move up...
Here's the top thing on the Islanders to do list for next season. PUT A MAN IN FRONT OF THE NET when in the offensive zone. Just like every team who's successful in today's NHL. What gives? It's been so frustrating watching a team that's got some size, not got to the net. I wasn't a huge Parrish fan but when we were in the o-zone he was parked in front every night. Does Nolan make a point of this or has it ever entered his game plan? CRASH, CRASH, CRASH. Put Hunter (or Fedetenko, Vasicek, someone) in front and leave him there. I thought this team was built around character and heart...Well have some heart and get to the friggin net.
Here's the top thing on the Islanders to do list for next season. PUT A MAN IN FRONT OF THE NET when in the offensive zone. Just like every team who's successful in today's NHL. What gives? It's been so frustrating watching a team that's got some size, not got to the net. I wasn't a huge Parrish fan but when we were in the o-zone he was parked in front every night. Does Nolan make a point of this or has it ever entered his game plan? CRASH, CRASH, CRASH. Put Hunter (or Fedetenko, Vasicek, someone) in front and leave him there. I thought this team was built around character and heart...Well have some heart and get to the friggin net.
I guess you can afford to respond to your coach's criticisms by saying "whatever" when you have 13 years left on your contract. What an arse. I sure hope that contract is a two-way deal.