First-round draft pick Josh Bailey won’t be in the lineup tonight against the Devils for the Islanders’ only exhibition game at Nassau Coliseum, and it’s beginning to look as if he’s likely headed back to juniors. Bailey suffered an undisclosed injury during training camp in Moncton [possibly a hand, but that’s speculation], and it’s uncertain how long he needs to recover.
But tonight’s game is the first of a stretch of four games in six nights, so, if there’s little or no chance to see Bailey on the ice, it would be a real stretch to sign him to a contract and play him in the first nine regular-season games. In effect, his tryout would come in the regular season instead of training camp under those conditions. Kurtis McLean returned from Bridgeport to take Bailey's lineup spot tonight.
“If we can’t see him play, we’re not going to be able to get a fair evaluation,” Islanders coach Scott Gordon said after the morning skate. “I don’t think we can go into the season and say, ‘All right, you’ve had a good camp. Let’s see what you can do.’ Nothing is written in stone yet, but we certainly need to see him and see if he can bring a level of consistency on this level on a night-to-night basis.”
Veterans Bill Guerin, Doug Weight and Richard Park were among the group that took the ice today after the game lineup. Gordon said he won’t play them in the back-to-back Friday at New Jersey and Saturday at Boston, so, that means they likely will play in Boston and then Monday in Florida.
“Ideally, we want to give them two games and give them a chance to fully recover,” Gordon said of the top-line pairing of Weight and Guerin. “They’re both looking good, and if this was playoffs, they’d probably be playing tonight. So, it’s a great opportunity for them to get their legs under them and get a few more skates in and go from there.”
Newcomer Thomas Pock also will put off his Islanders debut to give himself more time to become familiar with the system. But he played three exhibition games with the Rangers, so, conditioning isn’t a problem. Defenseman Bruno Gervais is another who will wait to go on Friday.
Comments (10)
It's a very good thing that they're taking it slow with Bailey...we've all seen too many good prospects ruined through being rushed.
Also, my last post, continued from the previous thread:
So here's my question about Luongo being the captain, and forgive me if it sounds petulant or paranoid:
The Canucks did it, and everyone's calling it "unconventional." Could you imagine the carnage in the hockey press if the Islanders were the first to do it? I could imagine "laughingstock" and "circus franchise" thrown about by such mental midgets as Adam Proteau and Scott Burnside ad nauseam. However, when a Canadian team does it, it's "unconventional." It was a weird move to be sure, but definitely something to think about.
Also, Botta's excellent blog references an interview done by Gary Bettman in which he praises Charles Wang and his commitment to Long Island. He then mentions the up-in-the-air Lighthouse proposal (which my sources tell me is proceeding with environmental review) as "the only thing [the Islanders] need to worry about." With the noise that's being made about expansion/relocation into markets like Seattle/Portland, Las Vegas, and (gag) Kansas City, this might add an unnecessary layer of complexity and urgency to the Lighthouse. Thoughts?
Boston papers are reporting that Marc Savard is on the block due to cap problems. He's a veteran playmaking center who could help the younger forwards on the Isles, ans well as being young enough (31) to stick around for a few years.
Many of the teams the Bruins would like to trade with have similar cap issues....seems a perfect opportunity for a team with cap space to pick up a decent 1st or 2nd line center.
I like it, and the huge salary SHOULD preclude Boston from asking for the moon for the guy. However, you never know.
Even with cap issue..why would Boston trade their best forward? Unless they're going into re-build mode.
to themass:
The Rangers won the Victoria Cup by beating Metallurg Magnitorks (sp?) 4-3. Yea NHL!!!
Any argument that Steve Webb would be the most entertaining guy on the ice this year? This roster is pathetic.
First off, Witt would be my choice for Captain. He leaves it all on the ice every night and never takes a shift off. To me, he is an example for all the younger player to strive to be.
This is mostly for Nick..... I had dinner with a friend last night that does business with SMG and the Coliseum. His company has a contract to repair items for both SMG and the Coliseum and he is not involved with the Islanders or hockey in any way, shape or form. He's not even a hockey fan.
Anyway, he was told by a high level Nassau Coliseum exec that the Lighthouse project is dead and that the money that was allocated for the deal has been pulled back. According to this source, Wang was told that if he wanted to proceed that he would have to pump his own money into the project.
I have no way to confirm or deny any of this and am just repeating what I was told. It was brought up in casual conversation because my buddy knows that I am an Islanders fan. On the bright side, he told me that he gets tickets to about 10 games a year from this exec and that they are mine if I want them. He has no use for them since his son moved away.
So, I leave it to you Nick to see if you can come up with anything on this.........Sir William
Would not suprise me in the least if the project were dead..all of these people who didn't want to "bail out" wall st. welcome to reality....what happens on wall street impacts everyone..welcome to higher taxes and less services for the next few years..
I've been chasing rumors of that sort for the better part of 2 weeks, and it's been frustrating that I've gotten radio silence (I know that's not exactly a good sign, especially when you're asking someone to refute a rumor you think/hope is false). My friend BD Gallof over at Hockeybuzz was able to get in touch with some PR people, and they swear up and down that the project is still going on. I know we theorized earlier on that the state of the credit market could make it very hard to get the sort of funding (even through bonds or an offering) needed to build the project.
We'll have to see.
From the previous thread .... to 1010
Ya know... originally when I was drafting my post I did include Flats in my short list of good captains since Brent Sutter ... but ... then I took him off ... as much as I liked Flatley as a player and as a personality ... I don't think he deserved to be mentioned with Sutter and Peca ... he was OK ... but then again ... I didn't play hockey with him to really know if he was a good captain .... it was just my feeling in reaching back that he had a few good years with some good players at the start ... but I just can't get it out of my head that Flats was captain when the Isles were led into the "Dark Ages" during the mid-90s.... and then eventually became a Ranger. Maybe I'm biased.
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Nick ... I've been thinking a lot about how this economic crisis on so many levels has been impacting the LHP .... The thing is ... if there is indeed an impact ... I think the construction jobs will be sorely needed to help Nassau County stay working ... but then who's going to be able to buy the condos and spend the money at such a facility? Question marks abound not just for Nasssau ... but for the entire region as a whole.
We'll pull out of the gloom and doom .. question is ... will the timing be favorable for the LHP?
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Josh Bailey ..... Another One Bite's The Dust!!
Maybe the Islanders better start their own physical rehabilitation clinic.