As part of their annual midsummer camp the Islanders take their future players to a West Babylon indoor arena for paintball. Jim Baumbach went along, competed with the 45 players and wrote about the experience. There is also video.
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Comments (25)
Cute watching these kids who will either crash and burn with the Isles or excel with another team. After all, that's what Isles prospects do. No debating that.
If you are going to make a comment like that...at least man up and include your name. Here's to the islanders proving you wrong.
Why would this comment bother you? Is what was written not true? You tell me.
Ryan Miller extended at over $6 mil/year for 5 years...man I hope DP can stay healthy, because we will have a #1 goalie at a bargain price for quite some time given the way salaries are going up...again
Dear Baumbach:
1. No 1 rule of journalism, report the story, don't BE the story.
2. Rogaine... just a suggestion
3. If you listen really close you can hear, "who let that jackass in..." just before b'bach catches lead (based paint) in the schnoz.
How about a word on how the kids feel being around trots and Kenny Morrow... do they feel as if they have gotten anything they can take back to juniors (or where ever they're going) with them?
No... we get a story about a 30-something nobody who had the privelidge of spending a few moments with some pretty good athletes and insteas of doing his job he got a free hour of paintball... stick to the buffett in the media room and write somethng meaningful for once.
oh yeah... did I mention the Rogaine.
Can we get back to hockey, here and ignore all the potty mouthed little children?...........Sir William
I'm starting to think that we are going to do too well next year and not make the lottery. I think we have a solid D and goalie, with our lack of scoring, we may once again be battling for the final playoff spot. I don't like the prospect of 1 and out and missing out on the Tavares lottery.
Is that better Bill?
08025.... Yes much better. Unfortunately, the post after you
failed to keep the streak alive. Maybe once all the kids are in bed..............Sir William
by the way is anyne else having trouble accessing "Hoceybuzz"
I keep getting a bandwith full message. Been two or three days now.
Since there is no other hockey stuff worth arguing about . How about this. Steady and I disagree over how much a coach can motivate a player. Going back to the 2006 team. What players benefitted from Ted's coaching and which ones did not.
Steady, I will grant you that Kozlov and Poti probably had the best years of their careers under Ted. That's two for you.
Blake....Does anyone feel that Blake needed any additional motivation to play his hardest? Blake benefitted from extended PP time and a lot of playing time with Yashin. Nolan put Blake in the position to score 40 goals. So a plus for Ted, but not because of motivation.
Sillinger...Sillinger is a true professional who I do not beleive needs any additional help from anyone to play his hardest. Mike had his best year because more responsibility was heaped upon his shoulders. To me that was more the situation the Isles were in
rather than anything to do with the coach. Basically a push with maybe an edge toward Ted for giving Sillinger more ice time.
Hunter....Has Hunter made any noticable progress in two years of Nolan coaching? I don't think so. Does anyone? A push.
DP......has DP progressed or is he the same spoiled kid pre Nolan? I have to think that Ted made zero progress in this case.
Mike Dunham.........Disaster. Big minus.
Sean Hill.........Another old pro but grew into a number 2 D man in Nolans system. Plyed well for the Isles. A plus for Teddy.
Campoli......Ted zigged when he should have zagged here.Instead of motivating the young D man he crushed his confidence. It took a whole year for Campoli to recover. A big minus.
Yashin....The enigma. It seems Ted tried it all with the big Russian and nothing worked. Ted tried and failed, but so did every other coach. A push.
Randy Robatille.........A mediocre player playing top six minutes at the Captains expense. Expecting him to be something he was not goes as a minus on my scorecard.
Satan........Satan had a Satan year. Neither up or down. Push.
Hilbert......Another less than mediocre player. Good PK.Probably could not find a job in the NHL except for a Nolan team. Ted got the most out of him, but how much was it?
Park........Used well by Nolan and played his ass off. One for you Ted.
Dubie.....The MAN. Came through when no one beleived in him.
A huge minus for Ted not going with him earlier.
Well, any other thoughts or comment are always welcome. Try to keep it civil even if it's killing you............Sir William
Has anyone read zippays article in newsday about the schedules. Here's a quote
"April 12: season finale at home against Boston determines Islanders' final standings for the NHL draft."
Are you kidding me? I know we're supposed to suck but let's give the team an opportunity to step on the ice. Here's to the isles playing above expectations...wait...we need a coach first :-(
Ever wonder why 90% of players in the last year of a contract (i.e. becoming UFA's) always seem to have a "career year"? (I.E. Kozlov, Poti and certainly Blake).
Is "the coach" really the great motivator, or is it Ben Franklin and his millions of twins?
On the other side of the coin, Tank, Vas, and Satan failed in that regard this year.
Neither Ted not Benjamin could help those guys.
Just back from Long Island ... and was at prospect scrimage this AM ... I'll have my thoughts after dinner and a movie ... running late... took 10 years getting home fighting the shore traffic coming home.
themass.....
Like many chronic juveniles who write for this newspaper, Zip has never been able to withhold a cheap shot.
What's interesting to note today however, is his blog.
He asked readers to weigh in on whether they liked the idea on only having 6 games with divisional opponents instead of 8.
Almost to a person on the Ranger's blog, everyone likes the idea of fewer games.
I guess I can't blame them for feeling that way.
The Rangers have a lousy record against the Isles over the last 2 seasons, so it makes sense that they would be happier with softer opponents to play.
Just a case of one cheap shot deserves one in return....
Even if it is from two time zones away.
above post was me
Sir William, the pompous blow hard award is yours. While your condescending admonishment of realists is amusing, the undertone is sad. Get a simple thought through your thick skull: islander fans have every right to be skeptical, angry, dismissive etc..about this pathetic organization. They come to this chat to vent to like fans, which is what a Blog is for, Thus, when you want a sunshine filled love fest about the Islanders, you want total lies.
Other babies on this blog undermine an entry when under the "Anonymous " handle. Who cares? This is a blog folks, not a mirror of your soul. While the silly antics can get old, the immaturity and triviality lies with those who take themselves too seriously. Take a bow Sir William, you have been voted class whiner.
GILLIES ......A big thank you goes out to you. I appreciate
the award and accept it on behalf of the Academy. Smooch.......
505...I'll give you a chance to get even, since Comeu is not scoring 30 goals this year. I bet that Satan is this years Petyr Sykora and puts in over 25 goals this season. I think that he will have a huge comeback year playing on the Pitt PP and on a line with either Crosby or Malkin. I do not feel that Satan's skills have eroded as much as he was misused by the previous regime.
Look for at leats 25 and maybe 30 from him.......Sir William
SW... Satan had plenty of scoring chances. He just didn't bury some of the ones you would expect him to. Seems like our lineup last year all had that in common. But I'd say he could score 25 before comaue does... Maybe with nolan...but not anymore.
THE MASS....True that Satan struck out a lot, but he was badly misused at the point on the PP.
Playing with Pitt he will revert to his natural down low position and light it up with great passes from Crosby, Malkin and Gonchar rebounds...............Sir William
I can't blame the Islanders for being disapointed that they have just three home games against the Rangers. I mean, if they had that one extra Ranger game they would at least have 4 decent crowds this season at the Coliseum.
Coaches can motivate players for certain games or series, but what is more important is how they utilize a player. If the player cannot motivate themselves to play, then get rid of them.
Coaches need to understand players strengths and weakeness and put them in a position to win. Nolan was pretty good at that, his priority was winning now. That was most likely (as stated ad nauseum in the press) his disagreement with Snow, loyalty to veterans who he had more confidence in to win. I liked him as a coach, but if he wasn't on board with rebuilding, I agree, he had to go.
The Islanders did not and still do not have the ability to win the cup, so winning a playoff series this year only slows the progress to the real goal.... the cup. This year needs to be a learning experience for the rookies/prospects. It doesn't appear that Nolan was the man to do this job, lets see if Garth finds the right guy. I have time to wait and build.
Sorry guys, but 7PM starts are great for me and my kids. They get to see the first 2 periods before bedtime!
First of all, we Ranger fans like the new schedule because we see the other divisions who have tremendous talent....and, we see much, much, MUCH better organized teams than the icelanders....and why, why icelander fans when our Rangers play at the white elephant (Nassau Coliseum) it sounds like the game is played at MSG...aren't you ALL embarrassed by this????? and like I stated before, you can all the lines you want together, it don't matter! Until you replace your owner and hire a qualified GM who has a steady record of success, you ain't going anywhere....just keeping it real folks!......hopefully you icelanders can get 6,000 or so fans when the other western divisions teams come in...but history say's that isn't gonna happen....why don't you all support your team 100% all the time?....why is it that US Ranger Fans have to fill the building when we come in to play at the NC????? is it because we are in fact we're just far, FAR better and supportive fans of our team?....answer is YES and will always be that way!!!!
First of all, we Ranger fans like the new schedule because we see the other divisions who have tremendous talent....and, we see much, much, MUCH better organized teams than the icelanders....and why, why icelander fans when our Rangers play at the white elephant (Nassau Coliseum) it sounds like the game is played at MSG...aren't you ALL embarrassed by this????? and like I stated before, you can all the lines you want together, it don't matter! Until you replace your owner and hire a qualified GM who has a steady record of success, you ain't going anywhere....just keeping it real folks!......hopefully you icelanders can get 6,000 or so fans when the other western divisions teams come in...but history say's that isn't gonna happen....why don't you all support your team 100% all the time?....why is it that US Ranger Fans have to fill the building when we come in to play at the NC????? is it because we are in fact we're just far, FAR better and supportive fans of our team?....answer is YES and will always be that way!!!!
the rangers suck
Sealy...or "spirit" whatever you wanna be called. WE have our house fixed-you just barley have a "house" to go to. The NYR Will ALWAYS own NY Hockey, you just have to deal with that realty. WE again cemented this fact of life in 1994. And hey, I agree winning one cup is unreal, but 4, that is dream-like, so sure, I take my hat off to the orig. Icelander teams of yesteryear, but that was so long ago, and it's been soooooooo long since you have had any respectable product....don't you think by now you would have had a decent product???? 'ya don't and it's because the same person who bailed the Islanders out (Charles Wong) is the same person who has run his team into the ground...giving upa 1st rd draft choice and a player who was a 1st rounder for Symth...who left here as soon as the season ended???....what kind of organization works this way w/o receiving a commitment from a "rental"??????...sorry, but until he sells the team or minds his own bidness and hires a GM with tremendous success, your team ain't going anywhere. Firing Nolan and Neil Smith shows how pathetic your team is run....don't you ALL agree with this?
Sealy...or "spirit" whatever you wanna be called. WE have our house fixed-you just barley have a "house" to go to. The NYR Will ALWAYS own NY Hockey, you just have to deal with that realty. WE again cemented this fact of life in 1994. And hey, I agree winning one cup is unreal, but 4, that is dream-like, so sure, I take my hat off to the orig. Icelander teams of yesteryear, but that was so long ago, and it's been soooooooo long since you have had any respectable product....don't you think by now you would have had a decent product???? 'ya don't and it's because the same person who bailed the Islanders out (Charles Wong) is the same person who has run his team into the ground...giving upa 1st rd draft choice and a player who was a 1st rounder for Symth...who left here as soon as the season ended???....what kind of organization works this way w/o receiving a commitment from a "rental"??????...sorry, but until he sells the team or minds his own bidness and hires a GM with tremendous success, your team ain't going anywhere. Firing Nolan and Neil Smith shows how pathetic your team is run....don't you ALL agree with this?