Tavares named Best Player in Canada win. Where's Moulson?

http://www.tsn.ca/canadian_hockey/story/?id=364051 (There's also an interview w
Tavares there.)

Tavares had a goal, an assist, 7 shots on goal and +2 despite playing a team-low
11:24.

Canada dressed only 11 forwards so Tavares and Skinner were teamed with a
rotating winger. James Neal hasn't joined the team yet, so Canada played short.

It's somewhat non-sensical that Matt Moulson wasn't selected-- after all, all
he's done is had back-to-back 30 goal seasons. There are only 11 players in the
NHL who scored at least 30 in each of the two seasons, and most weren't
available to Canada GM Dave Nonis, either because they are injured (Crosby),
still playing (Carter, Marleau, Stamkos) said no (Iginla, Kessel) or just not
Canadian (Kovlacuk, Ryan, Ovechkin) The only player who is on the Canada roster
is Rick Nash.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

The Skinny Is Worldwide (aka The Power of the Internet):

Saw some numbers- thought I'd share. 77% of the viewers to my blog  (over the past year) are in the US (and I would bet many of those are with a 100 mile radius) -- makes sense since the primary focus of the blog is the New York Islanders.  10% come from Canada -- makes sense because it's still 'their game' although we like to share it.

The rest of the readers come from literally all over the world, with  Russia, Germany, South Korea and the UK being the top 4.  Neither Austria nor Denmark made the cut -- despite the fact that I wrote an awful lot about Michael Grabner and Frans Nielsen the past year.

Tavares goal/assist in Canada win

John Tavares scored a goal and set-up Jeff Skinner for another in Canada's 4-1
win over Belarus. Eberle and Skinner (who also assisted on Tavares' goal) had
the other goals for Canada.

Canada had to kill a 5-on-3 late in the game with noted Isles rivals Cal
Clutterbuck and Dion Phaneuf in the box.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

Nabby loses

Nabokov made 25 saves, but Germany shutout Russia 2-0. It's a win for
ex-Islander Uwe Krupp behind the German bench. Krupp, of course, has a famous
place in Islander history. Just over 21 years ago his OT goal, for Buffalo
against Pittsburgh, knocked the Isles into the playoffs. The Penguins had the
last laugh, drafting Jaromir Jagr 5th, ahead of the Isles pick of Scott
Scissons.

Canada begins their tourney right about now. John Tavares is the Isles' rep on
a squad that elected not to add Matt Moulson.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

Islander got to good start in World Championships

...well, sorta.

Evgeny Nabokov stopped all 12 shots he faced in opening period. Russia 0,
Germany 0. End 1.

John Tavares and Canada are in action this afternoon (NY Time) -- it's a 2:15 ET
face-off wit Belarus,
Scott Gordon's Team USA plays their first game tomorrow at 10:15 AM NY Time.
Versus will have LIVE coverage of all Team USA games.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

Fed Judge approves Plan to re-pay over $800 million -- Former Isles Owners Greenwood/Walsh firm

It was a much better week in Pittsburgh for two major universities than for its
hockey team...as Pitt and Carnegie Mellon recovered nearly $100 million lost in
a Ponzi scheme orchestrated by former Isles owners Paul Greenwood and Stephen
Walsh (of "Gang of 4" fame).

Read on:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_733932.html

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

Volek/18

From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

The Pens have had many game 7 disappointments on home ice, including these two
that are very familiar to Isles fans:

<<May 14, 1993: David who?
Civic Arena
Islanders 4, Penguins 3
The Penguins finished the regular season with a NHL-record 17-game winning
streak, then crushed New Jersey in first round and were expected to destroy the
Islanders on their way to a third consecutive Stanley Cup. Many players from
that club still believe it was the greatest team in Penguins history. But it
couldn't finish off the Islanders, who won Game 6, 7-5, in Long Island, then
stunned the Penguins, 4-3, in Game 7 at Civic Arena when obscure forward David
Volek beat Tom Barrasso at 5:16 of overtime (Tom Fitzgerald also was on this
Islanders team). The game got off to a horrific start when Penguins winger Kevin
Stevens collided in mid-air with Islanders defenseman Rich Pilon. Stevens
sustained massive facial injuries. It marked the third time the Islanders
eliminated the Penguins in the deciding game of a playoff series. The Islanders
played the series without their best player, Pierre Turgeon. "Without a doubt,
we should have won it," Penguins defenseman Larry Murphy later said. "It just
goes to show: The best team doesn't always win the Stanley Cup."

April 26, 1975: Utter despair
Civic Arena
Islanders 1, Penguins 0
Ed Westfall scored the only goal — a backhander that beat goaltender Gary Inness
— with 5:18 left in regulation to complete the visiting New York Islanders'
comeback from a three-games-to-none deficit. The Penguins had their chances;
Pierre Larouche hit the post twice.
Westfall was late leaving the dressing room after the game and ran into Penguins
center Syl Apps, who wondered why Westfall was all by himself. "I told him,
'Everybody left. Where are you guys going?' "
Westfall later recalled. "He said, 'The Pleasure Bar.' So I went with the
Penguins players and their wives to the Pleasure Bar and sat there drinking
until sunrise.">>

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

In response to several requests, I have enabled comments (without moderation).  Fire away and thanks so much for reading!

NHL on Ratings High -- up 50% from 2003 FINALS!

Saw a note earlier that 1.16 million people watched Game 6 of Canucks-Blackhawks

on Sunday on Versus. (About 25,000 fewer watched the same teams last night with
a 10pm start.) Believe it or not, that's more people than watched, on average,
the first two games of the 2003 Finals on ESPN.

From my archives...
<< The games between the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and New Jersey Devils, both 3-0
victories for New Jersey, were watched in an average of 1.23 percent of the 87
million U.S. homes with cable television, according to Nielsen Media Research
Inc. That's about 1.07 million viewers>>

Oh -- and Versus was blacked out in Chicago -- the Hawks on set all-time ratings

records on CSN-Chicago for games 5, 6, and 7 (467,000 for game 7).

So...when you add them together...that means that over 1.6 million viewers
watched nationally -- an increase of 50% from the 2003 Finals on ESPN.

(Thanks http://puckthemedia.wordpress.com/)

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

NBC Announcement on NHL agreement

NEW YORK (April 19, 2011) – The National Hockey League and the NBC Sports Group
have reached agreement on a landmark 10-year television and media rights deal,
taking the partnership through the 2020-21 season. The expanded partnership,
under which NBC remains the exclusive network home and VERSUS the exclusive
cable home of the NHL® in the U.S., is highlighted by the first-ever national
distribution of all Stanley Cup® Playoffs contests, including, for the first
time, exclusive coverage starting with the Conference Semifinals. The agreement
also calls for the NBC Sports Group to televise 100 regular season games per
year and introduces a national NBC broadcast on Thanksgiving Friday. The
announcement was made today by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Dick Ebersol,
Chairman, NBC Sports Group.

According to the agreement, the NBC Sports Group obtains digital rights across
all platforms and devices for the games it televises.. In the regular season,
NBC

will continue to broadcast a national "Game of the Week," along with its
coverage of the NHL Winter Classic® and "Hockey Day in America." VERSUS also
will telecast an exclusive national "Game of the Week," as well as NHL
Premiere™ Games, NHL Faceoff™, the NHL All-Star Game and any future NHL
Heritage Classic™ outdoor games in Canada. NBC and VERSUS remain the exclusive
home of the Stanley Cup Final. The NBC Sports Group's commitment includes
building a new studio for NHL Network™ at its existing facility Stamford, Conn.
"This is the most significant U.S. media rights partnership in the League's
history," said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. "NBC Universal / Comcast is one
of the most important, connected and 'wired' media companies in the U.S., and
as the potential of the NBC Sports Group is realized, the importance of our
relationship will become more apparent to hockey fans and our business
partners.

"NBC Sports and Comcast have been fantastic partners. They have provided
incredible coverage of our sport and have teamed with us to deliver the best TV
viewership figures in three decades. It is a credit to our players, our great
game and our outstanding fans that Brian Roberts, Steve Burke, Dick Ebersol and
their teams would make a commitment of this scale. We also know the best is yet
to come."

"We have significantly increased the value of the NBC Sports Group with this
unprecedented, 10-year agreement with the National Hockey League," said Dick
Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Sports Group. "What's particularly exciting for us is
not only the significant increase in regular season games, but the reality of a
dream that every single playoff game will air on an NBC Sports Group platform.
For the first time, the Conference Semifinal round will be exclusive on VERSUS
with a 200 percent increase in games. In the regular season, we're increasing
VERSUS' coverage from roughly 50 to 90 games.

"I cannot understate the importance of Gary Bettman's leadership. He
understands the scope and the promotional ability of not only our new NBC
Sports Group, but of the new NBCUniversal under Comcast's ownership. The NHL
has been and will continue to be one of our cornerstone properties."
The NHL's partnerships with both NBC Sports and VERSUS launched for the
2005-06 season and the six-year relationship has produced many ratings
milestones. Among them:

* Overall NHL television ratings in the United States have increased by 84
percent over the last four years
* The 2011 NHL Winter Classic on NBC was the most-watched regular season game
in the U.S. in 36 years

* VERSUS' 2011 regular season viewership was the network's best ever, up 17
percent over last season
* The 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs saw the largest audience in the history of
the sport, with Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on NBC the most-watched NHL
game in the U.S. in 36 years
* The 2010 Playoffs on VERSUS were the most watched on U.S. cable in eight
years, while the first two rounds were the most watched on cable on record.
* Just last week, VERSUS achieved its best opening night viewership in its six
years of Stanley Cup Playoffs coverage
The agreement between the NHL and the NBC Sports Group includes targeted
promotion across the combined Comcast/NBCUniversal company which, since the
merger, consists of 20 television networks and more than 40 digital platforms.
VERSUS, which was in 64 million homes in 2005, is now in more than 79 million
homes and is on course for further expansion of its distribution. The combined
promotional muscle has already led to increased ratings for events such as the
NHL Winter Classic, NHL Heritage Classic and Hockey Day in America.
Over the last five years, the NHL has grown TV ratings, substantially
increased sponsorship and advertising revenue through partnerships with blue
chip companies, built a robust digital business and created a year-round
calendar of big events including the NHL Winter Classic, all while receiving
numerous industry awards and media accolades. The League for the 2010-11 season
is on pace to once again set a record for total revenue despite the challenging
economy, surpassing $2.9 billion overall.

>>
Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

NHL to extend TV deals

If sometime in the next decade, Gary Bettman says the magical words: "John
Tavares/Kyle Okposo, come get the Stanley Cup", it looks like it will be seen on
NBC.

It appears that the NHL will announce at 1pm ET that the league has a new 10
year deal with NBC/Versus.

Follow @Ourand_SBJ for more details:

From Puck Daddy:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/NBC-Versus-win-NHL-TV-rights-in-bidding-war-vs-?urn=nhl-wp2944

From The Hollywood Reporter
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/nbc-sports-nhl-reach-new-179799
From BizJournal (with Sports Business Journal story):
http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2011/04/19/nbc-versus-to-announce-nhl-tv-deal.html

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

Sacramento Bee on Kings possible move to Anaheim

I don't follow the NBA closely. Honestly, I only know the Kings have a player
named "Evans" because my son Evan has his jersey.

What I do know is that a lot of people in Sacramento could be hurting in the
next few days. I also know that 2015 is only four years away.

Read on:

<<
Ailene Voisin: It's tough to say goodbye
avoisin@sacbee.com
Published Thursday, Apr. 14, 2011
That first night? Oct. 25, 1985. More than 25 years ago in an Arco I sweatbox
down the street. There was cheering and chanting and all those damn cowbells.
There was an owner – that goofy young developer – in sneakers and a tuxedo.
There was Commissioner David Stern, considerably thinner, his hair
significantly darker, welcoming Sacramento into his NBA orbit.

There was a pro game in town.

There were the Kings in town.

It was new, it was dynamic, it was ours.

Then there was Wednesday night, potentially another historical moment for the
community and those in search of sports and entertainment. Potentially,
unbelievably, the end. Unless the Maloofs change their minds about relocating
to Anaheim and/or the league board of governors imposes a prohibitive
relocation fee, the Kings will flee south, crowding a market shared by their
first opponent (the Clippers) and their last (the Lakers).

So how do you say goodbye? If this truly is goodbye?

You remember the Kings.

You remember last night.

The cheering, the chanting, the symphony of cowbells. The uniquely passionate
crowd that ranked second to none in the NBA for the better part of three
decades. Although Wednesday's game was in Arco II, a larger sweatbox that no
longer meets NBA standards, the building rocked like the old days, as it did
when the Kings were new and different, when the Kings were new and lousy, when
the Kings were not so new but resided among the most talented clubs in the
league.

Nine winning seasons. Eleven seasons of season-ticket sellouts. Consecutive
sellout streaks of 471 and 354 games.

The fans were on their feet again in the end, and, well, even Our Friend Phil
urged them to take a bow.

"They have been great fans, really terrific fans," Lakers coach Phil Jackson
said before the overtime thriller. "I just hate to see fans who have supported
their team to lose their home team. They (had) a relationship with a team,
embraced them. I just wish they would continue to be NBA fans."

Here's the real kicker, that sand-in-face moment: The Kings have talented
pieces. For the first time since Ron Artest willed them into the playoffs
(2006), you can study the roster and project a playoff sometime in the near
future. Trade that first-round pick for a point guard. Add another shooter.
Shave about 15 pounds off DeMarcus Cousins. Re-sign veteran Samuel Dalembert.
Slide Tyreke Evans over to shooting guard or small forward.

This is part of what will be missed. The water cooler chatter. The conversation
about the home team. The emotional investment by sports fans and non-sports
fans alike. The shake-the-head discussion of Evans' refusal to relinquish the
ball on the break. The debate about Cousins' maturity. We're not talking about
Kobe here, right? Cousins is only 20.

Except that we are. Kobe and the Lakers. Artest and the Lakers. For that one
final time. Asked his favorite memory of the Kings-Lakers rivalry, Jackson
predictably mentioned the 2002 Western Conference finals and was partial to the
outcome of the seventh game.

"We had to face odds that were tough," Jackson said. "An overtime game that was
pressure-packed. And we were able to beat the Kings on their own court, which
is a difficult thing to do."

Saying goodbye? After another Kings-Lakers classic? That's a difficult thing to
do. Maybe the Maloofs don't feel the passion, but as an L.A.-based journalist,
I traveled to Sacramento for the beginning. I heard stories about cows in
nearby pastures. I heard about a temporary arena and a second arena on the
drawing board. I was introduced to a loud, loving, homespun crowd. The NBA
still doesn't have many places like this.

What a waste.>>

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

Tavares named to Caanda

John Tavares will compete in the World Championships, which begin on April 29th.

Barring either the Americans and Canadians finishing last in their preliminary
round group, Tavares will face the US (coached by Scott Gordon, with Al Montoya
as one of the netminders) somewhere between May 5 and May 9. (The exact date
won't be known until after the preliminaries are completed)

The US will face Seden, Norway and Austria, while Canada faces Switzerland,
Belarus and France. Both groups will play in Kosice, Slovakia (near the
Slovak-Hungarian border). Kosice is 6 hours ahead of NY, so all of the games
will be played in either the late morning or early afternoon NY time.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

Montoya is Islanders' Masterton nominee

Al Montoya is the Islanders' nominee for the Bill Masterton Trophy. The award
honors the player who displays "qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and
dedication to hockey." It is up to each chapter of the Professional Hockey
Writers Assn to name the nominees.

Montoya is one of two goaltenders named; the other is Ray Emery.

Montoya, acquired by the Islanders on February 9th, finished the NHL season
9-5-5 with a 2.39 GAA and a .921 save percentage. He is the fourth goaltender
to lead the Isles in victories in as many seasons (Rick DiPietro in 2007-08,
Joey MacDonald in 2008-09, Dwayne Roloson in 2009-10). It's the first time since
1973-74 that the Islanders did not have a goalie win ten games. Montoya's goal
against of 2.39 is the lowest career mark in Islander history among goalies who
have appeared in at least ten games, just ahead of Kevin Poulin (2.44).

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

The Skinny on the Coach

Jack Capuano had his interim tag removed today and now is officially the Head Coach of the Islanders.

Capuano becomes the 4th coach in team history to take over the team at mid-season and coach again the following season.

The others are: Al Arbour (the 2nd time -- replaced Terry Simpson), Rick Bowness (replaced Mike Milbury), and Mike Milbury (2nd time -- replaced Rick Bowness, who had replaced him).

After a 1-8-2 start under Capuano, the Isles went 25-21-8 the rest of the way.

From December 16-March 12, the Isles went 22-14-6 in a 42-game span. Their 50 points in that span was the most in the Eastern Conference.

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

The Skinny: Flyers 7, Isles 4

"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick

Game 82
Philadelphia 7, Isles 4

Andrej Mezaros scored two goals and added two assists as the Philadelphia Flyers
spoiled the Islanders' season finale and clinched the Atlantic Division title
with a 7-4 win over the Isles before a sellout crowd of 19,909 at the Wells
Fargo Center. The Flyers sweep the season series from the Isles as they beat
the Isles for the 13th straight time in Philadelphia.

Crazy Start
The Flyers scored twice in the opening minute as Kimmo Timonen and Scott
Hartnell tallied at :16 and :47, respectively. It was the second fastest opening
goal against the Isles this season (Paul Gaustad scored at :15 for Buffalo at
the Coliseum on January 23rd.) Michael Grabner got the Islanders on the board
with his team-leading 34th; it was an unassisted tally. He is the first NHL
rookie to score at least 34 goals since 2005-06 when Alex Ovechkin (52) and
Sidney Crosby (39) did so. Travis Hamonic then tied the game with a power play
tally at 9:31 of the first. After Daniel Briere scored an unassisted goal, the
Isles got out of the first period even when John Tavares scored his 29th goal at
12:05 to tie the game and chase Flyer goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.

PA Reaches 20!
PA Parenteau gave the Islanders the lead with a power play goal at 53 seconds of
the second period. It was PA's 20th goal of the season, giving the Isles five
twenty-goal scorers for the first time since 2006-07, and the final goal of the
season for the Isles. Mezaros and Hartnell scored later in the second period to
give the Flyers a 5-4 lead after two periods.

School is Out
Mezaros scored again midway through the third period to give the Flyers a 6-4
lead. The Isles pressured, tried to get John Tavares his 30th goal, but
couldn't beat Brian Boucher. Darren Powe hit the empty net at 19:59 to end the
season. 7-4 Final.

Lots of PIM's
The Isles drew three misconducts on the evening and finish the season with four
players having at least 100 penalty minutes: Konopka (307), Trevor Gillies
(165), Matt Martin (147), and Travis Hamonic (103). It is the first time since
2001-02 that the Isles have had four players with at least 100 penalty minutes.
The Islanders lead the NHL with 1,541 penalty minutes.

Top 5
The Islanders have five players finish with at least 20 goals: Grabner 34,
Moulson 31, Tavares 29, Comeau 24, and Parenteau 20. The quintet combined for
138 of the Islanders' 225 goals (61%) this season. At least one of the five
players scored a goal in 18 of the final 19 games.

200 Shot Club
The Islanders had three players (Tavares 243, Moulson 237 and Grabner 228) with
200 shots in a season for the first time since 2005-06 (Blake, Satan and
Yashin). Grabner is the first Islander rookie with at least 200 shots in a
season since David Volek had 229 in 1988-89. The trio combined for 12 of the
Isles' 36 shots on goal.

Grabner and the Islander Rookie Record Book

Most Goals, Islander Rookie
1. Mike Bossy 53 (1977-78)
2. Michael Grabner 34 (2010-11)
3. Bryan Trottier 32 (1975-76)

Most Shots on Goal, Islander Rookie
1. Mike Bossy 235 (1977-78)
2. David Volek 229 (1988-89)
3. Michael Grabner 228 (2010-11)

Rookies Who Have Led Isles in Goals
1. Billy Harris - 28 in 1972-73,
2. Mike Bossy - 53 in 1977-78,
3. Trent Hunter -25 in 2003-04 (tied with Mariusz Czerkawski)
4. Kyle Okposo-18 in 2008-09.
5. Michael Grabner -34 in 2010-11.

Second-Half Surge
Despite the loss, the Islanders went 15-12-6 after the All-Star Break and went
25-21-8 in their last 54 games. With the injuries mounting, the Isles were
1-6-1 in their final eight games.

Growing Up Together
The Islanders had five players record their 100th career point, all of them in
Islander uniforms, this season.
· John Tavares had a goal and two assists. He finishes his sophomore
season with 121 points (53-68-121). He is the youngest player in Islander
history to record 50 goals and the second youngest player (Bryan Trottier) to
record 100 career points. Only Trent Hunter (229 points) has more among current
Islanders.
· Blake Comeau also has 121 career points (56-65-121).
· Frans Nielsen has 120 points (37-83-120).
· Kyle Okposo's assist gives him 116 points (44-72-116).
· Veteran defender Radek Martinek has 103 career points (21-82-103)
With 229 points, Trent Hunter (injured) is the only player on the current roster
to have recorded more points in an Islander uniform.

Matt Moulson earned an assist on Parenteau's goal. He has 111 career points,
with 101 coming as an Islander.

Career Years
A number of Islanders had career years in key offensive categories: (Unless
otherwise noted, the career high was set last season)
· John Tavares: 29 goals, 38 assists, 67 points (24-30-54 last season),
4 GW goals (2)
· PA Parenteau: 20 goals, 33 assists, 53 points (3-5-8)
· Michael Grabner: 34 goals, 18 assists, 52 points (5-6-11), 6 SH Goals
(0)
· Blake Comeau: 24 goals, 22 assists, 46 points (17-18-35), 5 PP goals
(2 in 2008-09), 77 games (63)
· Frans Nielsen: 13 goals, 31 assists, 44 points (12-26-38), 7 SH goals
(1)
· Andrew Mac Donald: 4 goals, 23 assists, 27 points (1-6-7)
· Josh Bailey: 5 pp goals (3 -- twice)
· Jack Hillen: 4 goals, 18 assists, 22 points (3-12-15)
· Zenon Konopka: 82 games, 7 assists, 9 points (74 games, 3 twice , 7 in
2005-06); 307 penalty minutes (265)
· Matt Moulson: 31 goals, 22 assists, 53 points (30-18-48) 9 pp goals
(8)
· Milan Jurcina: 13 assists, 17 points (11 in 2008-09, 14 in 2008-09)

Home and Road
The Isles finish the season 30-39-13; they were 17-18-6 on Coliseum ice and
13-21-7 on the road. They were 26-29-10 under Jack Capuano, including 25-20-8
in the last 53. Their 73 points is 12 more than they managed in the 2008-09
season and six fewer than they earned last season. The Isles are now 21-12-5
in season finales and 19-15-4 in their final road game of the season. The
last-second empty net meant that the Isles allowed seven goals in a season
finale for the first time since 1986 (7-9 loss to New Jersey).
The Flyers finish 47-23-12 and 22-12-7 at home. With their win, the Flyers
clinch the Atlantic Division and the second overall seed in the playoffs. They
will play Buffalo in a best-of-7 opening round series.

Sharing the Wealth
The Isles went 25-21-8 in their last 54 games, and all six goalies that the
Isles have used this season had wins during that stretch (Montoya 9, DiPietro 5,
Roloson 4, Poulin 4, Koskinen 2, and Lawson 1).

In the Nets
Rick DiPietro made 32 saves; his record finishes at 8-14-4, with a 3.44 GAA and
a save percentage of 88.6%. Al Montoya finishes the season 9-5-5 with a 2.39
GAA and a .921 save percentage. Montoya is the fourth goaltender to lead the
Isles in victories in as many seasons (DiPietro in 2007-08, Joey MacDonald in
2008-09, Dwayne Roloson in 2009-10). It's the first time since 1973-74 that the
Islanders did not have a goalie win ten games. Montoya's goal against of 2.39 is
the lowest career mark in Islander history among goalies who have appeared in at
least ten games, just ahead of Kevin Poulin (2.44).
Brian Boucher stopped 25 of 26 in relief of Sergei Bobrovsky to earn the win.
Bobrovsky, who had beaten the Isles five times this season, stopped seven of ten
before being pulled 12:05 into the contest.

Power Plays
The Islanders were 2-6 on the power play while the Flyers were 1-5. The Isles
finished the season going 4-15 on the power play against three of the four top
teams in the East. The penalty kill also finished strong, with 29-of-31 killed
over the last six games. In the final ten games, the PK was 41-46 while they
have scored five shorthanded goals.

Lots of Shots
Travis Hamonic had six shots on goal in the opening period and finished with
eight. He is the first Islander defensemen to have at least eight shots on goal
since Marc-Andre Bergeron did so on January 3, 2008.

Lots of PIMs
Konopka finishes with 307 penalty minutes while Gilles had 165. It's the first
time since the 1996-97 season that the Isles have had at least two players with
at least 165 penalty minutes (Pilon 179, Bryan McCabe 165). Konopka had 20
penalty minutes and Gillies 10 tonight. With Matt Martin having 147 penalty
minutes, the Isles have three players with at least 147 for the first time since
1992-93.

PIM History
Konopka's 307 penalty minutes are a club record for forwards; only defensemen
Brian Curran (356 in 1986-87) had more.

In the Circle
The Islanders won 39 of 73 (53%) face-offs. John Tavares won 18 of 24 while
Zenon Konopka took 10 of 16.

Missing Men
Mark Streit, Mike Mottau, Trent Hunter, Kevin Poulin, Doug Weight, Andrew
MacDonald, Mark Eaton, Milan Jurcina, Frans Nielsen, Jack Hillen and Bruno
Gervais all missed the game with injuries. The Isles lost 586 games to injury
and 25 games to suspension this season.

Shane Sims
With seven defensemen out injured, Shane Sims became the third defensemen in as
many games to make his NHL debut on an Amateur Tryout. Sims, the Isles' 126th
pick overall, is the 5th 2006 draft pick to play for the team. Sims, the 15th
defenseman to be used by the Islanders this season, played 6:34. The club
record of 16 was set in 1995-96. Sims is the 36th skater to dress for the Isles
this season.

Skaters (does not include goalies) (Since the Lockout):
2005-06 37
2006-07 33
2007-08 37
2008-09 39
2009-10 33
2010-11 36

Youth Group
The six Islander defensemen entered the night with only 592 games of NHL
experience, with 452 of those games belonging to Radek Martinek. Including
injured players, the Flyers had eight players on their roster who had appeared
in more than 592 games.

Ironmen
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 164 games since
joining the team last season. He is the first Islander since Richard Park to
play in all games of consecutive seasons (2006-07 and 2007-08). Zenon Konopka
was the only other Isle to have played every game this season; his 94-game
streak includes the final 12 games last season for Tampa Bay. Travis Hamonic has
now played 62 NHL games (all consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game
streak on defense for the Isles. Hamonic, who made his NHL debut on November
24th, played more games for the Isles this season than any defensemen other than
Jack Hillen and Radek Martinek (64 games each).

Season Series Stats
The Flyers continue their recent dominance over the Isles. The Islanders are
1-17-4 against Philadelphia since February, 2008. This season the Flyers won all
six meetings (including one in overtime). The Isles complete their 4th straight
winless season in Philadelphia (0-11-2) although they did match their most goals
scored in Philadelphia in a game since 1995.
The Isles success over the Penguins and lack of success against the Flyers went
a long way to determining the Atlantic Division champion. The Flyers earned 12
points against the Isles while the Penguins earned only six.

Happy Anniversary
8 years ago today (April 9, 2003): Garth Snow made 25 saves as the Islanders
shut out the Sens 3-0 in game 1 of their first round playoff series. Dave
Scatchard, Shawn Bates and Alexei Yashin had the goals for the Islanders, who
won by post-season shutout for the first time in the Post-Cup era. The Sens
would rebound to win the series in 5 games.
All-time, the Isles are 2-4-0 in regular season play and 5-3 in post-season
play on this date.

Looking Ahead
The Islanders finish 27th overall, so they will have the 4th seed, entering the
NHL Draft Lottery, which will be held on Tuesday. The Islanders have a 10.7%
chance of winning the lottery. If they do not win the lottery, the Isles will
pick either 4th (72.1%) or 5th (17.2%).

Season Numbers
The Isles scored 225 goals and allowed 258 goals (excludes shootouts). The
power play was 52-302 (17.2%) while the penalty kill went 52-310 (83.2%). It's
only the second time since 1995-96 that power play efficiency was over 17% while
the penalty killers had their best season since the lockout. The Isles led the
NHL with 15 shorthanded goals (most since 2001-02); they allowed seven
shorthanded goals. The Isles end the season with an all-time regular season
record of 1313-1308-421; they were one game over all-time .500 after 28 games
but managed to extend a streak that began January 18, 1978 of having an all-time
record above NHL .500.

Up Next
Next Season! The Islanders 40th anniversary season will begin in October.
Between now and then, look for my trivia questions as part of IslesTNT on
Facebook and Twitter!

And Finally…
82 games… 82 editions of The Skinny. A perfect season… at least in attendance!
Thanks to everyone with the Islanders for giving me the freedom to tell the
story by the numbers. Have a great summer and here's to extra Skinny's in
April, May and even June, 2012!

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since
1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various
sources. Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter.
Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

Permutations and Combinations (aka the Draft Lottery)

Quick: what's 14 x 13 x 12 x 11? It's 24,024.

What's that have to do with the Draft Lottery? Well, everything.

The lottery is conducted with the selection of four balls from a pool of 14. Once a ball is chosen, it is not replaced (so each ball can be selected only once). As if turns out, there are 24,024 possible "permutations" that can be chosen. However, when you change it to combinations (ie 1-2-3-4 is the same result as 4-3-2-1 or 2-3-4-1.... or 21 other permutations), there are only (24,024 divided by 24 = ) 1,001 possible results.

One of those 1,001 is thrown out (I don't believe that the NHL has ever identified which one it is) and the others are assigned to each of the teams.

Here are the odds of winning the lottery:

30th place team – Edmonton -- 25.0%  (but they have a 48.2% chance of retaining first pick as teams can only move up four spots)
29th place team – Colorado -- 18.8%
28th place team  -- Florida -- 14.2%
27th place team – 10.7% --currently NYI
26th place team – 8.1% -- NYI, if Isles beat Philadelhpia
25th place team – 6.2%
24th place team – 4.7%
23rd place team – 3.6%
22nd place team – 2.7%
21st place team – 2.1%
20th place team – 1.5%
19th place team – 1.1%
18th place team – 0.8%
17th place team – 0.5%

If the Isles beat Philadelphia tonight, they will finish 26th, and have an 8.1% chance of winning the lottery (about 1/12.5); if the lose (in regulation, overtime or shootout), they will finish 27th, and have almost a 1 in 9 shot of winning the lottery.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

---

From: Eric <forever1940@yahoo.com>
To: forever1940@yahoo.com
Sent: Mon, April 12, 2010 12:47:31 PM
Subject: [Notes From Forever1940] Permutations and Combinations (aka the Draft Lottery)

Quick: what's 14 x 13 x 12 x 11? It's 24,024.

What's that have to do with the Draft Lottery? Well, everything.

The lottery is conducted with the selection of four balls from a pool of 14. Once a ball is chosen, it is not replaced (so each ball can be selected only once). As if turns out, there are 24,024 possible "permutations" that can be chosen. However, when you change it to combinations (ie 1-2-3-4 is the same result as 4-3-2-1 or 2-3-4-1.... or 21 other permutations), there are only (24,024 divided by 24 = ) 1,001 possible results.

One of those 1,001 is thrown out (I don't believe that the NHL has ever identified which one it is) and the others are assigned to each of the teams.

Having watched last year's lottery, I think that the NHL could do a better job with building excitement during the drawing itself -- updating the odds after each of the numbers are drawn. Perhaps former Ranger announcer Monty Hall, or fellow Canadian Alex Trebek could host.

81 of those 1,000 combinations belong to the Isles, meaning that by chance the Isles should win the lottery every 12.345 years. Perhaps this is the one.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

--
Posted By Eric to Notes From Forever1940 at 4/12/2010 12:47:00 PM

The Skinny: Penguins 4, Isles 3 (shootout)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 81
Pittsburgh 4, Isles 3 (SO)

Travis Hamonic scored the tying goal with 35 seconds left to play in regulation
as the Islanders rallied to force a shootout with the Penguins. Kris Letang had
the only goal of the shootout as the Penguins clinched a "top 4" seed in the
Eastern Conference with a 4-3 shootout win over the Islanders 3-2 before a
sellout crowd of 16,250 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. It was the
Isles' third straight sellout to end the season, marking their longest sellout
streak in eight years.

Ex-Isle Pick Scores First
Once upon a time Mike Rupp was an Islander first round draft pick. He never
signed with the club and is now closing in on his 500th NHL game. He beat Al
Montoya at 8:57 of the first period off an assist from ex-Islander Eric Godard.

Comeau Time
After Zbynek Michalek gave the Pens a 2-0 lead at 11:11 of the second period,
Blake Comeau, who had only one previous goal in his career against Pittsburgh,
got the Isles on the board at 15:18 of the second period. Comeau then scored
again, aided by the speed of Michael Grabner, at 8:14 of the third to tie the
game at two. Blake now has 24 goals on the season, matching his total with
Kelowna of the WHL when he was 18 years old. If he can get a goal in the season
finale, it would give him his highest goal total since he was 15 years old and
playing midget hockey.

Letestu Scores, but Hamonic Answers
Mark Letestu gave the Penguins the lead at 12:21 of the third, but after the
Islanders had a goal waved off in the final minutes, Travis Hamonic connected
from the blue line to force overtime. Hamonic now has 25 points on the season.
He is the first Islander rookie defensemen since Denis Potvin to have 20 assists
and 175 penalty minutes in the same season.

A Scoreless Overtime, and Then the Shootout
The Isles pressed late in the overtime and actually scored about a second after
the final buzzer. In the shootout, Marc-Andre Fleury stopped PA Parenteau, John
Tavares, and Blake Comeau while Al Montoya stopped Kris Letang and Alexei
Kovalev. However, on the sixth and final shot of the shootout, Chris Kunitz
beat Montoya to net the Penguins the empty point. The Penguins improve to 10-3
in shootouts while the Isles are 4-6. 4-3 (shootout) Final.

Fight Night
There were two altercations. Trevor Gillies fought Eric Godard and Zenon
Konopka was ruled to instigate a fight with Arron Asham. Overall there were 78
penalty minutes, including 62 in the first period.

Lots of PIM's
The Isles have four players with at least 100 penalty minutes: Konopka (287),
Trevor Gillies (155), Matt Martin (145), and Travis Hamonic (101). It is the
first time since 2001-02 that the Isles have had four players with at least 100
penalty minutes. The Islanders lead the NHL with 1,499 penalty minutes.
Top 5
The Islanders have five players with at least 19 goals: Grabner 33, Moulson 31,
Tavares 28, Comeau 24, and Parenteau 19. The quintet has combined for 135 of
the Islanders' 220 goals (61%) this season. At least one of the five players has
scored a goal in 17 of the last 18 games.

200 Shot Club
The Islanders have three players (Tavares 237, Moulson 236 and Grabner 223) with
200 shots in a season for the first time since 2005-06 (Blake, Satan and
Yashin). Grabner is the first Islander rookie with at least 200 shots in a
season since David Volek had 229 in 1988-89. The trio combined for 17 of the
Isles' 38 shots on goal.

Grabner's Chase of the Record Books
Most Goals, Islander Rookie
1. Mike Bossy 53 (1977-78)
2. Michael Grabner 33 (2010-11)
3. Bryan Trottier 32 (1975-76)
Most Shots on Goal, Islander Rookie
1. Mike Bossy 235 (1977-78)
2. David Volek 229 (1988-89)
3. Michael Grabner 223 (2010-11)

Rookies Who Have Led Isles in Goals
1. Billy Harris - 28 in 1972-73,
2. Mike Bossy - 53 in 1977-78,
3. Trent Hunter -25 in 2003-04 (tied with Mariusz Czerkawski)
4. Kyle Okposo-18 in 2008-09.
Grabner currently has the team lead with 33.

Second-Half Surge
Despite the loss, the Islanders are 15-11-6 since the All-Star Break and are
25-20-8 in their last 53 games. With the injuries mounting, the Isles are 1-5-1
in their last seven games, and have scored only eight goals in the five
regulation losses.

Growing Up Together
The Islanders have had five players record their 100th career point, all of them
in Islander uniforms, this season.
· Blake Comeau's two goals give him 121 career points (56-65-121).
Only Trent Hunter (229 points) has more among current Islanders.
· Frans Nielsen has 120 points (37-83-120).
· John Tavares has 117 points (51-66-117). He is the youngest player in
Islander history to record 50 goals and the second youngest player (Bryan
Trottier) to record 100 career points.
· Kyle Okposo's assist gives him 115 points (44-71-115).
· Veteran defender Radek Martinek has 103 career points (21-82-103)
With 229 points, Trent Hunter (injured) is the only player on the current roster
to have recorded more points in an Islander uniform.

Matt Moulson earned an assist on Comeau's first goal. It was his 110th career
point and 100th as an Islander.

Career Years
A number of Islanders are either close to or have assured themselves of career
years in key offensive categories: (Unless otherwise noted, the career high was
set last season)
Set New Career Highs:
· John Tavares: 28 goals, 36 assists, 64 points (24-30-54 last season),
4 GW goals (2)
· PA Parenteau: 19 goals, 32 assists, 51 points (3-5-8)
· Michael Grabner: 33 goals, 18 assists, 51 points (5-6-11), 6 SH Goals
(0)
· Blake Comeau: 24 goals, 22 assists, 46 points (17-18-35), 5 PP goals
(2 in 2008-09), 76 games (63)
· Frans Nielsen: 13 goals, 31 assists, 44 points (12-26-38), 7 SH goals
(1)
· Andrew Mac Donald: 4 goals, 23 assists, 27 points (1-6-7)
· Josh Bailey: 4 pp goals (3 -- twice)
· Jack Hillen: 4 goals, 18 assists, 22 points (3-12-15)
· Zenon Konopka: 81 games, 7 assists, 9 points (74 games, 3 twice , 7 in
2005-06); 287 penalty minutes (265)
· Matt Moulson: 31 goals, 21 assists, 52 points (30-18-48) 9 pp goals
(8)
· Milan Jurcina: 13 assists, 17 points (11 in 2008-09, 14 in 2008-09)
Approaching Career Highs
· Radek Martinek 16 points (17 in 2005-06 and 2006-07)

Home and Road
The Isles are 30-38-13; they finish the home campaign with a record of 17-18-6
on Coliseum ice, including 9-6-2 in the final 17. They are 26-28-10 under Jack
Capuano, including 25-20-8 in the last 53. Their 73 points is 12 more than they
managed in the entire 2008-09 season; they are five points behind last season's
pace. The Isles are now 21-11-6 in all-time home finales.
The Penguins are 48-25-8 and are 23-11-6 on the road. With their win and the
Flyers' overtime loss to Buffalo, the Penguins are now tied for first place in
the Atlantic with 104 points, however Philadelphia has more regulation/overtime
wins. Each team has one game to play.

First for Everything
Some stats are just hard to believe. This was the Isles' 81st game. Each team
had 38 shots on goal; it's the first time all season that the shots were even.
It's also the first time that the shots were even in exactly one year; on April
8, 2010 the Isles and Penguins each had 35 shots in the final regular season
game played at Mellon Arena. The Islanders were the road team in each of the
last eleven games that the shots were even. It had not happened at home since
February 19, 2007 in an overtime win against, you guessed it, Pittsburgh.

Sharing the Wealth
The Isles are 25-20-8 in their last 53 games, and all six goalies that the Isles
have used this season have wins during that stretch (Montoya 9, DiPietro 5,
Roloson 4, Poulin 4, Koskinen 2, and Lawson 1).

In the Nets
Al Montoya made 35 saves; his record now stands at 9-5-5. Montoya, who leads
the team in victories, will need a win tomorrow for the Isles to avoid ending a
full season without a goaltender with ten wins for the first time since
1973-74. Montoya has clinched at least a share of the team lead in victories.
He is the fourth goaltender to do so in as many seasons (DiPietro in 2007-08,
Joey MacDonald in 2008-09, Dwayne Roloson in 2009-10).
Marc-Andrew Fleury made 35 saves as he improves to 36-20-5.

Power Plays
The Islanders were 1-7 on the power play while the Penguins were 1-5. The Isles
are 3-35 on the power play in the last ten games, while they have killed
25-of-26 over the last five games. In the last nine games, the PK is 37-41 and
they have scored five shorthanded goals.

Need One More
The Isles are 12-15-13 in games decided by one goal.

Lots of PIMs
Konopka has 287 penalty minutes while Gilles has 155. It's the first time since
the 1996-97 season that the Isles have had at least two players with at least
155 penalty minutes (Pilon 179, Bryan McCabe 165). Konopka had 19 penalty
minutes and Gillies 15 tonight. With Matt Martin having 145 penalty minutes,
the Isles have three players with at least 145 since 1992-93.

Chasing PIM History
Konopka's 287 penalty minutes are the 5th highest in club history; he is six
minutes shy of Mick Vukota's club record for forwards of 293 penalty minutes.

In the Circle
The Islanders won 30 of 59 (51%) face-offs. Josh Bailey won 8 of 13.

Missing Men
Mark Streit, Mike Mottau, Trent Hunter, Kevin Poulin, Doug Weight, Andrew
MacDonald, Mark Eaton, Milan Jurcina and Frans Nielsen are all out for the
season, while Jack Hillen and Bruno Gervais also missed the game with injuries.
The Isles have lost 575 games to injury and 25 games to suspension this season.

Jamie D-o-o-r-n-b-o-s-c-h
With seven defensemen out injured, Jamie Doornbosch became the second defensemen
in as many games to make his NHL debut on an Amateur Tryout. Doornbosch played
5:21 and was -1. He is the 14th defenseman to be used by the Islanders this
season. The club record of 16 was set in 1995-96. Doornbosch is the 35th
skater to dress for the Isles this season.

Skaters (does not include goalies) (Since the Lockout):
2005-06 37
2006-07 33
2007-08 37
2008-09 39
2009-10 33
2010-11 35

Youth Group
The six Islander defensemen entered the night with only 587 games of NHL
experience, with 451 of those games belonging to Radek Martinek. Pittsburgh's
Alexei Kovalev played his 1,301st NHL game; the Pens dressed three other players
who had more experience than the entire Isles defense.

Ironmen
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 163 games since
joining the team last season. If he plays on Saturday, he will be the first
Islander since Richard Park to play in all games of consecutive seasons 92006-07
and 2007-08). Zenon Konopka is the only other Isle to have played every game
this season; his 93-game streak includes the final 12 games last season for
Tampa Bay. Travis Hamonic has now played 61 NHL games (all consecutive); he has
the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the Isles. Hamonic, who
made his NHL debut on November 24th has played more games for the Isles this
season than any defensemen other than Jack Hillen (64 games) and Radek Martinek
(63 games).

Season Series Stats
The Penguins win the season series four games to two and nine points to six even
though the Isles outscored Pittsburgh 16-14. The Isles are 3-0-3 over the last
two seasons at home against Pittsburgh.

Home Finales
The Isles are now 21-11-6 in home finales. They have lost in extra time in each
of the last two (both to Pittsburgh) and are 0-2-2 in the last four. Of the 20
who suited up for the Isles in the home opener on October, only nine dressed in
this game: Bailey, Gillies, Parenteau, Martinek, Moulson, Konopka, Comeau,
Tavares, and DiPietro

Who were the others, you might ask: Injured: Eaton, Hunter, Mottau, Jurcina,
MacDonald, Nielsen, Weight
Waived/Traded/Juniors: Sim, Wisniewski, Niederreiter, Roloson

Happy Anniversary
33years ago today (April 8, 1978): The Islanders clinch the Patrick Division
for the first time in club history with a 7-2 pounding of the Rangers at the
Coliseum. Exactly one year later, the Islanders clinch first place overall with
a 5-2 win at Madison Square. Finally, on this date in 2007, Wade Dubielewicz'
poke check makes for a joyous Easter Sunday as the Isles defeat New Jersey in a
shootout to clinch a playoff berth on the season's final day.
All-time, the Isles are 7-4-2 in regular season play on this date. The Isles
are also 6-2 on this date in playoffs games, including a victory over the
Rangers in 1975 in the first playoff game in club history.

Looking Ahead
With tonight's point, the Isles remain in 14th place in the East (and 27th
overall). They are one point behind Ottawa but can catch the Sens only if they
beat Philadelphia while Ottawa falls to Toronto on Saturday as the Sens own the
regulation/overtime win tiebreaker. The Isles cannot be caught in the standings
by Florida so the Isles will have either the 3rd or 4th seed for the NHL Draft
Lottery, which will be held on Tuesday.

Up Next
Saturday, April 9 @ Philadelphia 7:00pm
[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 6:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
The Isles conclude their 38th National Hockey League season on Saturday night in
Philadelphia. The Flyers, who lost to Buffalo in overtime on Friday, can clinch
the Atlantic Division with a win of any type. The Flyers have won all five
games this season from the Isles, including once in overtime and have won 20 of
21 against the Isles over the 3+ seasons (the Isles are 1-16-4 in the same
stretch).

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since
1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various
sources. Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter.
Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

NHL Scenarios

The NHL has published a listing of clinching scenarios for tonight. The East's
are complex; the West's are absurd.

<< thanks NHL
EASTERN CONFERENCE
The #1 Washington Capitals (idle) would clinch the #1 seed in the Eastern
Conference...
* if the Flyers lose to the Sabres in regulation, overtime or shootout.

The #2 Philadelphia Flyers would clinch the Atlantic Division title...
* if they defeat the Sabres AND the Penguins lose to the Islanders in
regulation, overtime or shootout
OR
* if they get one point against the Sabres AND the Penguins lose to the
Islanders in regulation

The #6 Montreal Canadiens (idle) would clinch the #6 seed in the Eastern
Conference...
* if the Sabres lose to the Flyers in regulation.

The #7 Buffalo Sabres would clinch an Eastern Conference playoff berth...
* if they get at least one point against the Flyers
OR
* if the Hurricanes lose to the Thrashers in regulation, overtime orshootout.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

The #2 San Jose Sharks would clinch the #2 seed in the Western Conference...
* if they defeat the Coyotes in regulation or overtime AND the RedWings lose to
the Blackhawks in regulation, overtime or shootout.
OR
* if they defeat the Coyotes in a shootout AND the Red Wings lose to the
Blackhawks in regulation.

The #4 Los Angeles Kings would clinch the #4 seed in the Western Conference...
* if they defeat the Ducks AND the Predators lose to the Blue Jackets in
regulation AND the Coyotes lose to the Sharks in regulation.

The #5 Nashville Predators would clinch a Western Conference playoff berth...
* if they get at least one point against the Blue Jackets
OR
* if the Stars lose to the Avalanche in regulation, overtime or shootout

The #6 Phoenix Coyotes would clinch a Western Conference playoff berth…
* if they get at least one point against the Sharks
OR
* if the Stars lose to the Avalanche in regulation, overtime or shootout or
defeat the Avalanche in a shootout.

The #7 Anaheim Ducks would clinch a Western Conference playoff berth...
* if they defeat the Kings
OR
* if they get one point against the Kings AND the Stars lose to the Avalanche in
regulation, overtime or shootout
OR
* if the Stars lose to the Avalanche in regulation

The #8 Chicago Blackhawks would clinch a Western Conference playoff berth...
* if they defeat the Red Wings in regulation or overtime AND the Stars lose to
the Avalanche in regulation, overtime or shootout or defeat the Avalanche in a
shootout
OR
* if they defeat the Red Wings in a shootout AND the Stars lose to the Avalanche
in regulation, overtime or shootout

>>

Basically, you have 3 cities rooting for the Avs tonight, because a Colorado win
would clinch playoff berths for Nashville, Phoenix and Anaheim. Of the 10 games
being played tonight, 9 have playoff implications (all but Minnesota-Edmonton).

Not listed by the NHL, but also with implications, is Tampa Bay-Florida. A
Lightning regulation loss would clinch home ice for Pittsburgh. A Lightning
OT/SO loss and a Penguin win or OT/SO loss would also clinch at least the 4 seed
for Pittsburgh, as would a Penguin regulation/OT/SO win.

I think.

Most valuable people in the NHL -- the traveling secretaries. Get this: 4
different teams (LA, Nash, Phoenix and Anaheim) each still have eight potential
first round opponents. Only LA is assured of making the playoffs; one of the
others will miss the playoffs if Dallas sneaks in.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

All those Isles D-men

If Jamie Doornosch plays tonight, as expected, he will be the 14th defenseman
used by the Isles this season. Assuming Jack Hillen can't go tomorrow, it is
likely a 15th d-man would get the call.

Best as I can tell, it will be the 4th time in club history that the Isles have
used at least 15 defensemen in a season -- they also used 15 in 1997-98 and
again in 1999-2000.

The club record of 16 was set in the 1995-96 season: how many of these do you
remember?

Bob Beers
Dean Chynoweth
Bob Halkidis
Jason Herter
Kenny Jonsson
Darius Kasparaitis
Scott Lachance
Chris Luongo
Bryan McCabe
Rich Pilon
Mathieu Schneider
Brent Severyn
Jason Strudwick
Milan Tichy
Dennis Vaske
Jason Widmer

If Martinek plays in the last two and Jack Hillen does not, it will mark the 2nd
time in his Isles career that Martinek has played as many games as any other
Islander defender. Martinek played a team high 69 in 2007-08 and would tie
Hillen with 64 this season. If he plays the two games, Martinek will have
played in 453 of a possible 738 games over the past nine seasons.

Blueprint for the future -- use fewer defensemen! The last time the Isles used
fewer than 10 was 1992-93... a very nice spring on Long Island. Both the 1980/81
and 1981/82 teams used only eight en route to Cups #2 and #3. In 1981/82, Darcy
Regier played 6 games and Paul Boutilier played 1. The regular 6 defensemen
(Potvin, Persson, Langevin, Morrow, McEwen and Lane) played all of the others.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

Chchchanges... only 9 of 20 from Isles home opener to dress tonight

Of the 20 who suited up for the Isles in the home opener on October 9 (a 5-4
shootout loss to Dallas -- and boy don't the Stars wish that one had been won in
reg/OT).... only 9 are expected to dress tonight.

The survivors: Bailey, Gillies, Parenteau, Martinek, Moulson, Konopka, Comeau,
Tavares, and DiPietro

The others: Injured: Eaton, Hunter, Mottau, Jurcina, MacDonald, Nielsen, Weight
Waived/Traded/Juniors: Sim, Wisniewski, Niederreiter, Roloson

Only 6 players from last season's finale and only 5 players from last season's
opener are expected to dress tonight:
Last year finale: Gilllies, Okposo, Moulson, Reese, Haley, Tavares
Last year opener: Bailey, Okposo, Martinek, Moulson, Tavares

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

Doornbosch poised to make Isles/NHL debut

Jamie Doornbosch is taking the pre-game skate with the Isles. It appears that
he will be the 35th skater to suit up for the Isles this season.

It's actually around an average number for the team since the lockout:

Skaters (does not include goalies):
2005-06 37
2006-07 33
2007-08 37
2008-09 39
2009-10 33
2010-11 35

If Hillen can't play tomorrow either, they will in all likelihood need a 36th to
finish the season.

Doonbosch just finished playing for the Kitchener Rangers, where he was a
teammate of Gabriel Landeskog. Landeskog is considered one of the toop
prospects for this year's entry draft. For the Isles to get their hands on him,
they will need some luck with the ping pong balls on Tuesday.

Doornbosch had 19 goals and 29 assists for Kitchener this season. His 19 goal
ranked him tied-3rd among OHL defensemen; his 48 points tied him for 7th among
defensemen with Isles prospect Calvin deHaan.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

The Skinny: Boston 3, Isles 2

"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick

Game 80
Boston 3, Isles 2

Michael Grabner scored twice in the second period to become the second highest
rookie goal scorer in club history, but the Bruins got a goal at 19:59 of the
first period and two goals in the second to defeat the Islanders 3-2 before a
sellout crowd of 17,565 at the TD Garden.

Almost a Scoreless First
The Bruins grabbed the lead at 19:59 of the first period when Shawn Thornton
fired home his 10th goal of the season.

Grabner This Way, Grabner That Way
Michael Grabner scored both a power play goal and a shorthanded goal in the
second period. The power play goal, only his second with the extra man this
season, tied the game at 1. After Denis Seidenberg and Gregory Campbell scored
to give Boston a 3-1 advantage, Grabner tallied his 6th shorthanded goal to get
the Isles back in the game. Grabner's two goals give him 33 on the season;
among Islander rookies, only Mike Bossy (53) had more. He is the first NHL
rookie to score 33 goals since Evgeny Malkin had 33 in 2006-07 and the first
Islander to score both a power play goal and a shorthanded goal in the same game
since Roman Hamrlik did so against Atlanta on October 20, 2000.

A Scoreless Third
The Isles pressed late in the game but could not find the equalizer. 3-2 Final.

Lots of PIM's
The Isles have four players with at least 100 penalty minutes: Konopka (268),
Matt Martin (145), Trevor Gillies (140) and Travis Hamonic (101). It is the
first time since 2001-02 that the Isles have had four players with at least 100
penalty minutes.

Top 5
The Islanders have five players with at least 19 goals: Grabner 33, Moulson 31,
Tavares 28, Comeau 22, and Parenteau 19. The quintet has combined for 133 of
the Islanders' 217 goals (61%) this season. At least one of the five players has
scored a goal in 16 of the last 17 games.

200 Shot Club
The Islanders have three players (Tavares 231, Moulson 229 and Grabner 219) with
200 shots in a season for the first time since 2006-07 (Blake, Satan and
Yashin). Grabner is the first Islander rookie with at least 200 shots in a
season since David Volek had 229 in 1988-89.

Grabner's Chase of the Record Books
Most Goals, Islander Rookie
1. Mike Bossy 53 (1977-78)
2. Michael Grabner 33 (2010-11)
3. Bryan Trottier 32 (1975-76)

Most Shots on Goal, Islander Rookie
1. Mike Bossy 235 (1977-78)
2. David Volek 229 (1988-89)
3. Michael Grabner 219 (2010-11)

Rookies Who Have Led Isles in Goals
1. Billy Harris - 28 in 1972-73,
2. Mike Bossy - 53 in 1977-78,
3. Trent Hunter -25 in 2003-04 (tied with Mariusz Czerkawski)
4. Kyle Okposo-18 in 2008-09.
Grabner currently has the team lead with 33.

Second-Half Surge
Despite the loss, the Islanders are 15-11-5 since the All-Star Break and are
25-20-7 in their last 52 games. With the injuries mounting, the Isles are 1-5-0
in their last six games, and have scored only eight goals in the five losses.

Growing Up Together
The Islanders have had five players record their 100th career point, all of them
in Islander uniforms, this season.
· Frans Nielsen has 120 points (37-83-120). Only Trent Hunter (229
points) has more among current Islanders.
· Blake Comeau's assist gives him 119 career points (54-65-119).
· John Tavares has 117 points (51-66-117). He is the youngest player in
Islander history to record 50 goals and the second youngest player (Bryan
Trottier) to record 100 career points.
· Kyle Okposo has 114 points (44-70-114).
· Veteran defender Radek Martinek has 103 career points (21-82-103)
With 229 points, Trent Hunter (injured) is the only player on the current roster
to have recorded more points in an Islander uniform.

Matt Moulson has 109 career points; however, his first ten points came as a
member of the Los Angeles Kings.

Career Years
A number of Islanders are either close to or have assured themselves of career
years in key offensive categories: (Unless otherwise noted, the career high was
set last season)

Set New Career Highs:
· John Tavares: 28 goals, 36 assists, 64 points (24-30-54 last season),
4 GW goals (2)
· PA Parenteau: 19 goals, 32 assists, 51 points (3-5-8)
· Michael Grabner: 33 goals, 17 assists, 50 points (5-6-11), 6 SH Goals
(0)
· Blake Comeau: 22 goals, 22 assists, 44 points (17-18-35), 4 pp goals
(2 in 2008-09), 75 games (63)
· Frans Nielsen: 13 goals, 31 assists, 44 points (12-26-38), 7 SH goals
(1)
· Andrew Mac Donald: 4 goals, 23 assists, 27 points (1-6-7)
· Josh Bailey: 4 pp goals (3 -- twice)
· Jack Hillen: 4 goals, 18 assists, 22 points (3-12-15)
· Zenon Konopka: 80 games, 7 assists, 9 points (74 games, 3 twice , 7 in
2005-06); 266 penalty minutes (265)
· Matt Moulson: 31 goals, 20 assists, 51 points (30-18-48 last season) 9
pp goals (8)
· Milan Jurcina: 13 assists, 17 points (11 in 2008-09, 14 in 2008-09)

Approaching Career Highs
· Radek Martinek 16 points (17 in 2005-06 and 2006-07)

Home and Road
The Isles are 30-38-12, and are 13-20-7 on the road. They are 26-28-9 under
Jack Capuano, including 25-20-7 in the last 52. Their 72 points is 11 more than
they managed in the entire 2008-09 season; they are six points behind last
season's pace.
The Bruins are 45-24-11 and are 21-13-6 at home. The Northeast Division
champions are the third team in the East to reach 100 points. It's the 19th
time that Boston has reached the century mark. The Bruins are 6-2-1 in their
last nine overall and are 6-1-3 in their last 10 at home.

First for Everything
Some stats are just hard to believe. This was the Bruins' 80th game.
Campbell's goal was the first that Boston has scored all season 4-on-4. The
Bruins have only one overtime goal all season and it was scored 4-on-3. The
Isles have now scored 11 goals and allowed 11 goals in 4-on-4s.

Sharing the Wealth
The Isles are 25-20-7 in their last 52 games, and all six goalies that the Isles
have used this season have wins during that stretch (Montoya 9, DiPietro 5,
Roloson 4, Poulin 4, Koskinen 2, and Lawson 1).

In the Nets
Rick DiPietro made 30 saves but falls to 8-13-4 on the season. DiPietro is 1-7-0
in his last eight decisions. Rick did record an assist on Grabner's power play
goal. He extends his own club records for goalie assists and points to 17. It
was his first assist of the season; he has had at least one assist in seven
straight seasons. DiPietro needs two more wins (or Al Montoya needs one) for the
Isles to avoid ending a full season without a goaltender with ten wins for the
first time since 1973-74. If Montoya leads the team in victories, he will be
the fourth goaltender to do so in as many seasons (DiPietro in 2007-08, Joey
MacDonald in 2008-09, Dwayne Roloson in 2009-10).
Tim Thomas rebounded from the third period disaster at the Garden to make 30
saves and improve to 34-11-9 on the season.

Power Plays
The Islanders dominated on the special teams, as they went 1-2 on the power play
while the Bruins were 0-5. It's only the Isles' power play goal in their last
nine games (2-28). The penalty killers, who killed a full 2-minute 5-on-3 and
scored a shorthanded goal, have stopped 33-of-36 in the last eight games, while
scoring five shorthanded goals.

Super Shorties
Grabner now has six shorthanded goals, which ranks second in the NHL to teammate
Frans Nielsen's 7. It's the second time in club history that two players have
reached six shorthanded goals (Bob Bourne -7, Anders Kallur-6 in 1980-81) and
the first time it has been done in the NHL since Craig MacTavish and Mark
Messier each scored six shorthanded goals for Edmonton in 1989-90. The Isles
lead the NHL with 15 shorthanded goals; the club record is 19, set in 1980-81.
Prior to this season, only five times in Isles history had a player scored as
many as 6 SH goals.

Isles with 6+ Shorthanded goals in a season
Bob Bourne 1980-81 7
Shawn Bates 2002-03 6
Michael Grabner 2010-11 6
Lorne Henning 1976-77 6
Anders Kallur 1980-81 6
Frans Nielsen 2010-11 6
Michael Peca 2001-02 6

One From the Record
Grabner is only the 4th rookie in NHL history to score at least six shorthanded
goals in a season. Jordan Staal is the only player to have seven:
Jordan Staal (7) 2006-07 Pittsburgh
Michael Grabner (6) 2010-11 Islanders
John Madden (6) 1999-00 New Jersey
Gerry Minor (6) 1980-81 Vancouver

Scoring is Fun
Grabner now has two power play goals out of his total of 33. Only two players
in modern NHL history have scored more goals while tallying only twice on the
power play: Petr Nedved (38 in 1992-93) and Jason Pominville (34 in 2006-07).

Need One More
The Isles are 12-15-12 in games decided by one goal.

Lots of PIMs
Konopka has 266 penalty minutes while Martin has 145. It's the first time since
the 1997-98 season that the Isles have had at least two players with at least
145 penalty minutes (Pilon 291, Bryan McCabe 145). Neither was penalized
tonight.

In the Circle
The Islanders won 20 of 48 (42%) face-offs. John Tavares won 8 of 18 for the
Isles, while Rich Peverley won 7 of 9 for Boston.

Missing Men
Mark Streit, Mike Mottau, Trent Hunter, Kevin Poulin, Doug Weight, Andrew
MacDonald, Mark Eaton, Milan Jurcina and Frans Nielsen are all out for the
season, while Jack Hillen and Bruno Gervais also missed the game with injuries.
The Isles have lost 564 games to injury and 25 games to suspension this season.

Matt C-a-m-p-a-n-a-l-e
With seven defensemen out injured, Matt Campanale made his NHL debut on an
Amateur Tryout. Campanale, who ten days ago played in his last collegiate game
for the University of New Hampshire, played 8:21 in 13 shifts. He was not
on-ice for any goals. Campanale is a Valentine's Day birthday (1988). He is
the fourth Valentine's Day baby to play for the Islanders, joining Sean Hill,
Viktor Kozlov and six-game NHL'er Mike MacWilliam. There are also two "Dynasty
Children" born on February 14th - Brandon Sutter and Eric Nystrom.

Youth Group
The six Islander defensemen entered the night with only 582 games of NHL
experience, with 450 of those games belonging to Radek Martinek. Boston's Mark
Recchi had 1,068 more games of experience than the entire Isles defense. Recchi
passed Chris Chelios for 4th place on the all-time games played list (1,651) by
playing his 112th game against the Islanders. Tomas Kaberle also has significant
more experience than the entire Isles defense; he played in his 900th NHL game.

Ironmen
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 162 games since
joining the team last season. Zenon Konopka is the only other Isle to have
played every game this season; his 92-game streak includes the final 12 games
last season for Tampa Bay. Travis Hamonic has now played 60 NHL games (all
consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the
Isles. Hamonic, who made his NHL debut on November 24th has played more games
for the Isles this season than any defensemen other than Jack Hillen (64 games)
and Radek Martinek (62 games).

Season Series Stats
The Bruins win the season series three games to one and six points to two.
Boston outscored the Isles 16-11 this season. The Isles scored shorthanded in
both games in Boston but suffered a pair of regulation losses for the first time
since 2007-08.

Happy Anniversary
36 years ago today (April 6, 1975): Clark Gillies scored the winning goal
midway through the third period, and Captain Eddie Westfall added an empty-net
tally as the Islanders won for the first time ever at Madison Square Garden, as
they defeated the Rangers 6-4, and tied the Blueshirts in the Patrick Division
final standings. The teams would meet twice more at MSG in the following five
days and the Islanders would win them both, to eliminate the Rangers from the
Stanley Cup playoffs.
All-time, the Isles are 9-5-2 in regular season play on this date. They also
opened playoff series in 1976 (Vancouver), 1983 (Washington) and 1988 (New
Jersey) with April 6th victories.

Looking Ahead
With tonight's defeat, the Isles fall into 14th place in the East (and 27th
overall). They are tied with Ottawa with 72 points, but the Sens have three
more regulation/overtime wins. The Isles will have either the 3rd, 4th or 5th
seed for the NHL Draft Lottery.

Up Next
Friday, April 8 Vs Pittsburgh 7:00pm
[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 6:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
The Isles return home for the home finale on Friday evening and a sellout crowd
will be ready to greet them. The Isles will need to win the home finale to
reach NHL-.500 at home. It will be the third straight home sellout – the first
time that has happened in the regular season since 2003. The Isles are 2-2-1
vs. Pittsburgh this season including a 9-3 victory on February 11th in the
most-penalized game in Islander history.
Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since
1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various
sources. Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter.
Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

The Skinny on 1-game wonders: Campanale has a chance...

...to become the first Islander since Richard Kromm (1-12-93) to play only one
game for the team in an NHL season and score a goal.  Kromm actually had a goal
and two assists in an 8-2 rout of Calgary -- the only NHL game he played in
1992-93 (and his final one in the NHL).  It was one of eight games Kromm played
for the Isles over three seasons after spending the 1989-90 season in Sweden;
Kromm played the rest of those seasons for the Capital District Islanders
(AHL).  Kromm of course was acquired in the trade that sent John Tonelli to
Calgary in 1986.

The only other Islander to score a goal in his only regular season game for the
Isles in a season was Greg Gilbert, who did it in his first NHL game (December
15, 1981 - a 10-7 win over Quebec at the Coliseum).  Gilbert would also get into
four playoff games that spring-- scoring a goal and setting Butch Goring up for
another one.

No defensemen in Isles history has ever played a single game in a season and
scored a goal. The last defensemen in the NHL to do so was Bruno St. Jacques. 
Like Kromm, St. Jacques was playing in his final NHL game when he did it for the
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim on October 16, 2005.

Entering this season, only two players since expansion had scored a goal in the
only NHL game of their career: Brad Fast (Carolina in 2004) and current NHL
official Dean Morton (Detroit in 1990).  [Carson McMillan scored a goal in his
NHL Debut for Minnesota on Sunday; the only game that he has played to date.]
 Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

More on Matt Campanale

The NHL CBA is 472 pages long.  Approximately two paragraphs of the CBA deal
with the situation that has made Matt Campanale an Islander, at least for
tonight.

Campanale has signed an ATO (Amateur Tryout) agreeement.  The agreement, shown
on Exhibit 17 of the CBA, notes:

"In consideration of the opportunity to play in the NHL, the player agrees to
present himself, upon request of the Club to perform services as a player on
[DATE] at [LOCATION].

This agreement shall be valid for a term of one (1) day, and a Club shall only
be permitted to enter into such an agreement when under emergency conditiions. 
Under this agreement, the player shall receive no salary, bonus (of any kind) or
any other form of consideration."

Katie correctly noted that it is only for one day-- it does not appear that he
could sign additional ones to play throughout the week.  The Isles note that the
emergency conditions exist due to injuries to Milan Jurina (already ruled out
for the season) and Jack Hillen.  Hillen himself made his NHL debut by playing
in the final two games of the 2007-08 campaign after playing for Colorado
College.

The Isles/Sound Tigers have signed a number of players to ATOs over the past few
weeks, including Aaron Ness (40th overall in 2008) and Matt Donovan (96th
overall in 2008).  Perhaps we will see two other ATOs over the weekend, if
Hillen is not able to play.

There have been other NHL ATOs signed in the past.  Tom Fenton, a 26 year old
graduate student and goalie coach at Manhattanville College, dressed for the
Coyotes in a game at Madison Square Garden earlier this season.  Two weeks ago,
the Red Wings signed Troy Passingham an ATO to back-up Jimmy Howard in a game in
Vancouver.

 Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

The Skinny on Matt Campanale

In this season of never-ending injuries, Jack Hillen is out of the lineup for
game #80, and Matt Campanale is in.

The newest Islander lost to Notre Dame (and Isles prospect Anders Lee) last
Sunday (3/28) in the Elite 8. Campanale assisted on the only UNH goal in a 2-1
loss. It came with 6:23 to play, and cut the Irish lead to 2-1, which was how
the game ended..

Per the Concord (NH) Monitor, "Campanale skated in all 39 games with 11 assists.
He posted a team-high +25 rating. The senior defenseman was second on the squad
in blocks with 48. He helped anchor a stingy UNH defense that allowed 2.51
goals per game overall.Campanale and the Wildcats finished the 2010-11 season
with a 22-11-6 overall record and qualified for the NCAA's for the
10th-consecutive season. The 'Cats advanced to the regional finals for the
third straight season, becoming the only team in the nation with wins in each
of the last three years"

Campanale played just six games as a Freshman and 22 games as a Soph, before
seeing full-time duty the past two years. He was an assistant captain of the
'Cats, who also have Islander draft pick Blake Kessel on the roster.

Campanale is a Valentine's Day birthday (1988). He is the fourth Valentine's
Day baby to play for the Islanders, joining Sean Hill, Viktor Kozlov and
six-game NHL'er Mike MacWilliam. There are also two "Dynasty Children" born on
February 14th - Brandon Sutter and Eric Nystrom.

Campanale is from West Chester, PA - a suburb of Philadelphia. The Isles visit
Philly on Saturday.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

Leighton on Re-entry waivers

With just five days left in the NHL regular season, the Flyers are trying to
sneak Michael Leighton back into the NHL via re-entry waivers. We will know at
noon whether they have been successful.

It will be interesting to see if any team makes a claim on Leighton, who is due
$1.6 million next season. Remember, the claiming team would be responsible for
only half of that amount (or $800,000), as well as one-half of the five days pay
(claiming team's share is about $20,600) that remains on this year's contract.

I wonder if a team such as the Rangers might claim him -- there's a significant
chance that the teams could meet in the first round of the playoffs. Of course,
he can only play for the Flyers in the post-season -- if any other team claimed
him, his season would end on Sunday. It's also possible a non-playoff team
could grab him to use next season or in a potential trade.

According to philly.com, Paul Holmgren has said that if Leighton does make it
through, he would expect him to play in one of the Flyers' games over the
weekend. The Islanders end their season in Philadelphia on Saturday.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

The Skinny: Carolina 4, Isles 2

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 79
Carolina 4, Isles 2

Joe Corvo scored a goal and added two assists as the Carolina Hurricanes moved
within one point of the New York Rangers for the final playoff berth with a
come-from-behind 4-2 win over the Islanders before a sellout crowd of 16,250 at
the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. It was the Islanders' third sellout of
the season. The Isles have sold-out consecutive games for the first time since
February 16-18, 2008.

JJ's in the First
The teams traded goals four minutes apart in the opening period as Jussi Jokinen
scored his 18th goal for Carolina and Jesse Joensuu responded with his 6th goal
for the Islanders. Joensuu, who also scored against the Rangers on Thursday,
now has scored goals in consecutive NHL games for the first time in his career.
The Isles held Carolina without a shot for the final 6 ½ minutes of the opening
session.

JT in the Second
The Isles scored the only goal of the second period when John Tavares won a
face-off and then tipped home a Matt Moulson shot for his 28th goal of the
season. Tavares' goal gives the Isles three players with 28 goals for the first
time since 2005-06 (Satan 35, Blake 28, Yashin 28). He is two goals away from
giving the Isles three 30-goal scorers for the first time since 1993-94. The
Isles have now outscored their opponents 88-79 in the second period this season.

Desparation Pays Off for Canes
The Canes were desperate in the third and Joe Corvo tied the game at 3:02 of the
period on a deflection; Erik Cole tipped home the winning goal at 6:04. Then
with the Islanders on a power play in the final minute, Eric Staal scored his
19th goal in 27 career games against the Isles into an empty-net. 4-2 Final.

Corvo's Night
Corvo record his 7th career three-point game; two of the seven have been against
the Isles. He also was +4 for the fifth time in his career and third time
against the Isles.

Konopka Extends Personal Record
Zenon Konopka had a minor penalty. He now has 268 penalty minutes, three more
than he had for Tampa last season. It's the highest penalty total by any NHL
player since Daniel Carcillo had 324 in 2007-08. Carcillo and Peter Worrell
(354 penalty minutes in 2001-02) are the only players to have more penalty
minutes than Konopka in the last 13 years. He is the first Islander to reach
that total since Rich Pilon in 1997-98.

Lots of PIM's
The Isles have four players with at least 100 penalty minutes: Konopka (268),
Matt Martin (145), Trevor Gillies (136) and Travis Hamonic (101). It is the
first time since 2001-02 that the Isles have had four players with at least 100
penalty minutes.

Top 5
The Islanders have five players with at least 19 goals: Grabner 31, Moulson 31,
Tavares 28, Comeau 22, and Parenteau 19. The quintet has combined for 131 of
the Islanders' 215 goals (61%) this season. At least one of the five players has
scored a goal in 15 of the last 16 games.

200 Shot Club
The Islanders have three players (Tavares 228, Moulson 226 and Grabner 213) with
200 shots in a season for the first time since 2006-07 (Blake, Satan and
Yashin). Grabner is the first Islander rookie with at least 200 shots in a
season since David Volek had 229 in 1988-89.

Grabner's Chase of the Record Books
Most Goals, Islander Rookie
1. Mike Bossy 53 (1977-78)
2. Bryan Trottier 32 (1975-76)
3. Michael Grabner 31 (2010-11)
Grabner needs one goal to tie Trottier for second place on the all-time rookie
goal scoring list.
Most Shots on Goal, Islander Rookie
1. Mike Bossy 235 (1977-78)
2. David Volek 229 (1988-89)
3. Michael Grabner 213 (2010-11)
Grabner would need to average 7.4 shots per game to break Bossy's record.
Rookies Who Have Led Isles in Goals
1. Billy Harris - 28 in 1972-73,
2. Mike Bossy - 53 in 1977-78,
3. Trent Hunter -25 in 2003-04 (tied with Mariusz Czerkawski)
4. Kyle Okposo-18 in 2008-09.
Grabner currently is tied for the team lead with 31.

Second-Half Surge
Despite the loss, the Islanders are 15-10-5 since the All-Star Break and are
25-19-7 in their last 51 games.

Growing Up Together
The Islanders have had five players record their 100th career point, all of them
in Islander uniforms, this season.
· Frans Nielsen has 120 points (37-83-120), tops among active Islanders.
· Blake Comeau has 118 career points (54-64-118).
· John Tavares' goal gives him 117 points (51-66-117). He is the
youngest player in Islander history to record 50 goals and the second youngest
player (Bryan Trottier) to record 100 career points.
· Kyle Okposo has 114 points (44-70-114).
· Veteran defender Radek Martinek has 103 career points (21-82-103)
With 229 points, Trent Hunter (injured) is the only player on the current roster
to have recorded more points in an Islander uniform.

Matt Moulson had an assist tonight to give him 109 career points; however, his
first ten points came as a member of the Los Angeles Kings.

Career Years
A number of Islanders are either close to or have assured themselves of career
years in key offensive categories: (Unless otherwise noted, the career high was
set last season)

Set New Career Highs:
· John Tavares: 28 goals, 36 assists, 64 points (24-30-54 last season),
4 GW goals (2)
· PA Parenteau: 19 goals, 32 assists, 51 points (3-5-8)
· Michael Grabner: 31 goals, 17 assists, 48 points (5-6-11), 5 SH Goals
(0)
· Blake Comeau: 22 goals, 21 assists, 43 points (17-18-35), 4 pp goals
(2 in 2008-09), 74 games (63)
· Frans Nielsen:13 goals (12) 31 assists (26),42 points (38), 7 SH goals
(1)
· Andrew Mac Donald: 4 goals, 23 assists, 27 points (1-6-7)
· Josh Bailey: 4 pp goals (3 -- twice)
· Jack Hillen: 4 goals, 17 assists, 21 points (3-12-15)
· Zenon Konopka: 79 games, 7 assists, 9 points (74 games, 3 twice , 7 in
2005-06); 266 penalty minutes (265)
· Matt Moulson: 31 goals, 20 assists, 51 points (30-18-48 last season) 9
pp goals (8)
· Milan Jurcina: 13 assists, 17 points (11 in 2008-09, 14 in 2008-09)

Approaching Career Highs
· Radek Martink 16 points (17 in 2005-06 and 2006-07)

Home and Road
The Isles are 30-37-12, and are 17-18-5 at home. They are 26-27-9 under Jack
Capuano, including 25-19-7 in the last 51. Their 72 points is 11 more than they
managed in the entire 2008-09 season; they are six points behind last season's
pace. The Isles, who are 1-4-0 in their last five games overall, will need to
win their home finale against Pittsburgh to reach NHL-.500 at home.
The Hurricanes are 38-30-10 and are 17-17-6 on the road. With their win, coupled
with Buffalo's overtime loss, the Canes have regained their own destiny. If
they win their final four in regulation, they are guaranteed a spot in the
playoffs. The Canes host Buffalo in a key game on Sunday.

Sharing the Wealth
The Isles are 25-19-7 in their last 51 games, and all six goalies that the Isles
have used this season have wins during that stretch (Montoya 9, DiPietro 5,
Roloson 4, Poulin 4, Koskinen 2, and Lawson 1).

In the Nets
Al Montoya made 22 saves but falls to 9-5-4 on the season; he leads the club in
wins. Montoya has allowed 2 goals or fewer in 10 of his 16 starts. Montoya
needs one more win (or Rick DiPietro needs two) for the Isles to avoid ending a
full season without a goaltender with ten wins for the first time since
1973-74. If Montoya leads the team in victories, he will be the fourth
goaltender to do so in as many seasons (DiPietro in 2007-08, Joey MacDonald in
2008-09, Dwayne Roloson in 2009-10).
Cam Ward continues to dominate the Islanders, as he improves to 14-2-1 vs. the
Isles. Ward, who actually lost his first career decision against the Isles, is
9-0-1 vs. the Isles since last losing to them on January 22, 2008. Ward, who
made 29 saves, recorded his 35th win of the season (two shy of Roberto Luongo's
league-leading total).

Power Plays
The Islanders went 0-4 on the power play while the Canes were 0-3. The power
play is 0-16 in the last five games and 1-26 in the last eight games, while the
penalty killers have stopped 28-of-31 in the last eight games, while scoring
four shorthanded goals. The Isles also allowed a shorthanded (empty net) goal.

Lots of PIMs
Konopka has 266 penalty minutes while Martin has 145. It's the first time since
the 1997-98 season that the Isles have had at least two players with at least
145 penalty minutes (Pilon 291, Bryan McCabe 145).

In the Circle
The Islanders won 26 of 51 (51%) face-offs. John Tavares won 15 of 25 for the
Isles, while Zenon

Konopka won 5 of 7.

Missing Men
Mark Streit, Mike Mottau, Trent Hunter, Kevin Poulin, Doug Weight, Andrew
MacDonald and Mark Eaton are all out for the season, while Milan Jurcina, Bruno
Gervais, and Frans Nielsen also missed the game with injuries. Michael Grabner
returned to the line-up after missing two games due to the birth of his son.
The Isles have lost 553 games to injury and 25 games to suspension this season.

Youth Group
The six Islander defensemen entered the night with only 751 games of NHL
experience, with 449 of those games belonging to Radek Martinek. Martinek
become the 10th defensemen in Islander history to reach 450 games with the
squad.

Ironmen
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 161 games since
joining the team last season. Zenon Konopka is the only other Isle to have
played every game this season; his 91-game streak includes the final 12 games
last season for Tampa Bay. Travis Hamonic has now played 59 NHL games (all
consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the
Isles.

Season Series Stats
The Canes win the season series four games to none and eight points to one.
Carolina outscored the Isles 18-8 this season, allowing the Isles two goals in
each game. The Canes are 7-0-1 over the last four seasons at the Coliseum, and
are 10-0-2 against the Isles overall in the past three seasons.

Happy Anniversary
18 years ago today (April 2, 1993): Pierre Turgeon had the hat trick, including
the winner in overtime as the Islanders defeated the Rangers 3-2 at Madison
Square Garden. The hat trick gave him 50 goals on the season; no Islander has
reached 50 goals since. All-time, the Isles are 10-9-1 on this date.

Up Next
Wednesday, April 6 Vs Boston 7:00pm
[MSG+2 (Subway Islanders Game Night at 6:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
The Isles head to Boston to meet the Bruins on Wednesday night. Boston has
taken two out of the first three, but the Isles did win the last meeting (March
11th at the Coliseum). The Bruins clinched the Northeast Division with their
win this afternoon over Atlanta but are still battling for playoff position.

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since
1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various
sources.
Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

Dubinsky gesture

A fan asked me about the gesture Brandon Dubinsky gave to fans from the penalty
box last night.

It's captured on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3U6mKJOs_U (about
1:15 in)

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick

Gillies > Staal

With special thanks to @pshea for asking about this....

There will hopefully be three 31 goal scorers on the ice tomorrow night when the
Isles host Carolina.  Michael Grabner and Matt Moulson share the Islander club
lead, while Eric Staal leads Carolina with the same total.

Grabner has scored his 31 goals in 1,077 minutes of ice time (1 goal every 35
minutes)
Moulson has played 1467 minutes (1 goal every 47 minutes)
Staal has played 1681 minutes (1 goal every 54 minutes)

Oh, and about the title of this little silliness.  Trevor Gillies has scored
twice this season in 104:14 of ice time (1 goal every 52 minutes).

Given that these players (along with Logan Couture and Jonathan Toews) are tied
for 12th in the NHL goal scoring, it is a safe bet that Gillies' goals per
minute played is towards the top of the league.  (Of the 19 Isles who had played
at least 500 minutes this season, only Grabner and Moulson have scored more
often than every 52 minutes)

 Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick