Meet Grabner and Moulson; Help Jake Too!

65 goals and 105 points... all in one spot!  Matt Moulson and Michael Grabner are confirmed as special Islander guests at Tuesday's benefit for my friend Jake Wisniewski, the graphics coordinator on Devils telecasts.  Jake had a successful double lung transplant earlier this summer in his fight against cystic fibrosis.

The 2nd charity event in his honor is this Tuesday, September 6th (the day after Labor Day) at the Local West Beer Garden (8th Avenue/33rd Street) in Manhattan between 7-10pm.

I hope that you can attend -- many other sports celebrities are also confirmed -- Butch Goring, Brian Leetch and Ken Daneyko among them.  Many media personalities have already committed to attend as well, including Deb Placey, Steve Cangialosi, Al Trautwig, Matt Loughlin and John Giannone.

There's a poster of the event on my blog -- but you can also visit the Facebook page directly: http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Night-for-Jake/143686762386026

Read all about it, in Jake's own words: http://cotaforjakew.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

Isles add Donellan to strengthen squad

Per a tweet from Katie,  the Isles added Sean Donellan to the staff over the summer as the Director of Sports Performance.  Hopefully, he can help reduce the number of injuries the team has faced the last several seasons. Donellan returns to the team that he worked for from 1996-2003, first as a Trainer and then as a Strength and Conditioning Coach.

He has since gone on to work with a long list of notable athletes (mainly in the NFL), including:

Ryan Grant, RB Green Bay Packers
Justin Tuck, DE New York Giants
Brandon Jacobs, RB New York Giants
Mike Adams, CB Clevland Browns
Kevin Boss, TE New York Giants
Jay Alford, DT Seattle Seahawks
Chris Canty, DT New York Giants
Mathias Kiwanuka, DE New York Giants
Danny Ware, RB New York Giants
Michael Boley, LB New York Giants
Victor Cruz, WR New York Giants
Kyle Palmieri, RW, Anaheim Ducks / Syracuse Crunch
Torrance "Tank" Daniels, LB Jacksonville Jaguars
Juan Pablo Angel, Captain New York Red Bull
Mike Stanton, Pitcher NY Yankees / Cincinati Reds
West Point Military Academy Mens Rugby Team

 (Thanks to Sean's LinkedIn page for the info)

His blog states his "Training Methodology, "A movement based training system which focuses on performance enhancement and injury reduction." 

The Isles certainly hope it translates to the NHL ... and a team that lost nearly 600 games to injury last season.

 

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

Help my friend Jake

Reminder:

I've written a few times this summer about my friend Jake Wisniewski, the graphics coordinator on Devils telecasts.  Jake had a successful double lung transplant earlier this summer in his fight against cystic fibrosis.

There is a 2nd charity event in his honor--scheduled for Tuesday, September 6th (the day after Labor Day) in Manhattan between 7-10pm.

I hope that you can attend -- many sports celebrities have already said that they will be there -- Butch Goring, Brian Leetch and Ken Daneyko among them.  Many media personalities have already committed to attend as well, including Deb Placey, Steve Cangialosi, Al Trautwig, Matt Loughlin and John Giannone.

There's a poster of the event on my blog -- but you can also visit the Facebook page directly: http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Night-for-Jake/143686762386026

Read all about it, in Jake's own words: http://cotaforjakew.com

 
Please help if you can!

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

 

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

Scouts: Isles forwards will combine for 230 goals this season --what does it mean?

Interesting preview by @chrisbottanhl on the Isles' offense.  Chris had 4 scouts comment and their combined estimate is that the Isles forwards will score 230 goals this season.  (Chris' own estimate is 237).

To put that in perspective, if you throw a pedestrian 25 in for the defense and make it 255/262:

Last season, the Bruins won the Stanley Cup after a 246 goal regular season; the Canucks lost in the finals after scoring 262. Of the East teams that missed the playoffs, Carolina scored the most goals (236).

In 2009-10, the Hawks scored 271 in the regular season (and won the Cup) while the Flyers tallied 236.  No East team that missed the playoffs scored more than Atlanta's 234 (RIP).

The last Eastern Conference team to score over 255 goals and miss the playoffs was Atlanta (257) in 2008-09..and technically they only scored 250 --they were credited with 7 "goals" for for shootout winners.

You have to go back to 2005-06 to find an Eastern Conference team that scored that often and missed the playoffs -- the Thrashers had 281 that season (276 + 5 in shootouts).

Now the Isles just need to keep the puck out of their own net.

Chris' original piece is here:

http://www.islanderspointblank.com/2011/08/2011-12-islanders-preview-the-forwardsnhl-pro-scouts-provide-goal-projections-for-each/

 

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

Katie on the Brooklyn/NHL option

http://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/islanders/isles-files-1.812028/ratner-and-yormark-meet-with-nhl-officials-1.3108402

 

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

A Night For Jake

I've written a few times this summer about my friend Jake Wisniewski, the graphics coordinator on Devils telecasts.  Jake had a successful double lung transplant earlier this summer in his fight against cystic fibrosis.

There is a 2nd charity event in his honor--scheduled for Tuesday, September 6th (the day after Labor Day) in Manhattan between 7-10pm.

I hope that you can attend -- many sports celebrities have already said that they will be there -- Butch Goring, Brian Leetch and Ken Daneyko among them.  Many media personalities have already committed to attend as well, including Deb Placey, Steve Cangialosi, Al Trautwig, Matt Loughlin and John Giannone.

There's a poster of the event on my blog -- but you can also visit the Facebook page directly: http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Night-for-Jake/143686762386026

Read all about it, in Jake's own words: http://cotaforjakew.com

 
Please help if you can!

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

Isles kept secret by National TV schedule

The NHL released the National TV schedule today.

The Isles will make only one appearance on Versus this season -- November 7th in Boston -- and none on NBC.  The remaining 81 games should be available on the MSG family of networks.

The Isles are scheduled to make 1 appearance on NHL Network US-- March 31, also against Boston (the national carriage should be blacked out locally).  They will appear in one regional game on Hockey Night in Canada (March 17 in Montreal), and once nationally in Canada on TSN (December 23 vs Montreal).  They have no current appearances on TSN2; the NHL Network-Canada schedule has not yet been announced.

Since the Penguins appear so frequently, I'm somewhat surprised that Versus didn't choose an Isles-Penguins game.  After all, those teams have history. :)

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

SI: Isles viewing party will be game vs Sabres on 2/13 -- not Penguins brawlgame

SI.com is reporting that the Isles viewing party game on Friday night will not be the Isles-Penguins brawlfest.  Rather, apparently MSG will re-air the following Islander game, a 7-6 Islander overtime win in Buffalo.

The "replacement game" includes hat tricks by Michael Grabner and Drew Stafford and the Islander debut (in relief) of Al Montoya.

As I noted in The Skinny that night, "The high scoring contest did not include a fight, which was quite a change from the Isles' game on Saturday which included 346 penalty minutes, 183 on the Islanders.  Both marks were club records."

 

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

Isles Schedule Changes

I note two revisions from the original schedule released in June.

The November 25th game against New Jersey is now a 3pm game.  This is on Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving) and will get the game away from NBC's exclusive window).  NBC will show Chicago-Detorit that afternoon in the first game under their 10-year contract with the NHL.

The December 20th game in Winnipeg is now an 8:30 ET start.  The original schedule had it 1 hour earlier.

The national TV schedule will be released on Thursday.

 

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

Isles announce partial plans

The Isles have announced 4 different partial plans. 

Details here: http://islanders.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=69883

Prices for 22-game plan range from $29-$104 as compared to $23-$90 for full-season tix for same sections.

Full season details here: http://islanders.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=68649

All of the partial plans include tickets to at least "1 Penguins game and 1 Rangers game" -- written in that order. Both the 22 game plan and 12 game division plan include tickets to all 3 games against each rival.

 

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

Trivia Time

As many of you know, I write the weekly trivia questions for #islesTNT.  If you've missed any recently, here they are...  the questions are all together, followed by the answers:

Q1: Of the players drafted by the Isles since 2001, who has scored the most NHL goals?

Q2: Brian Rolston will be the 6th member of the US team that won the World Cup of Hockey in 1996 to play for the Isles.  Name the others.

Q3: The Coliseum was once brand new too.  The 1st goal in the new building was scored by a Ranger.  Who?

Q4: Osgood holds the Isles club record of 66 games in a season.  Three others have played 60 or more at least once.  Who are they?

Q5: Name the 8 players who appeared in a game for the Isles last season that are participating in this week's mini-camp (originally asked in July):

Q6: New Islander Marty Reasoner earned a silver medal for Team USA in 1997 World Jrs.  Who are the 4 other players on that team that later played for Isles?
Q7: (Prior to Grabner finishing 3rd) 4 Isles have won the Calder, but who are the only two Isles to finish 2nd or 3rd?

 

A1: Newly re-signed Blake Comeau has 56, two more than Sean Bergenheim (40 of 54 as NYI) and three more than John Tavares.

A2: Pat Lafontaine, Mathieu Schnieder, Doug Weight, Bill Guerin, Bryan Smolinski

A3: Current Ranger General Manager Glen Sather scored the 1st goal in the September 27, 1972 Islander-Ranger exhibition game.

A4: Osgood 66, Ron Hextall 65 (1993-94), Tommy Salo 62 (1997-98),  DiPietro has done it 3x -- 63 in 2005-06, 62 in 2006-07 and 63 in 2007-08.

A5: DiBenedetto, Hamonic, Katic, Koskinen, Martin, Niederreiter, Poulin, Rhakhshani

A6:  Mark Parrish, Tom Poti, Wyatt Smith, Mike York

A7: Chico Resch was 2nd in 1976 (Bryan Trottier won Calder);Trent Hunter was 3rd in 2004 (Andrew Raycroft won Calder)  (Grabner also finished 3rd)

How many did you get right???

 

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

Isles sign Moulson's Brother-in-law

No, not Jonathan Quick. 

Another brother-in-law of Moulson's, Sean Backman, agreed to a 2-way deal with the Isles.  The Cos Cob, Connecticut native played four years at Yale and was an ECAC All-Star in his senior season, earning a Political Science degree in the process.  In his first professional season, Backman, now 25, scored 7 goals and 16 assists in 67 games for the Texas Stars last year. He also played 5 games for Idaho (ECHL), garnering 2 goals and 2 assists.

Backman, who tweets @sbacks16 , is the son of former Ranger Mike Backman.  His dad played 18 regular season games and 10 playoff games for the Blueshirts.

The Sound Tigers could very well at some point this season have Yale's Backman and Harvard's Dylan Reese on the ice together.  Smart team!

 

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 Hockey News (Ryan Kennedy) wants the Isles to stay put

http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/41487-Kennedy-Hoping-the-Islanders-stay-put.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=thn_daily_20110806

 

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

Puck Daddy: Is this the Isles' new third jersey?

Whad'ya think?

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Is-this-the-New-York-Islanders-8217-new-black-?urn=nhl-wp10174

 

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

Isles prospects rate high

Hockey Prospectus has rated the Islanders as having the #2 set of prospects in the entire NHL. (Only the Red Wings rate higher)

 

Read the report here: http://www.puckprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=1036

 

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

Re: Salary Cap - Isles near floor (corrected)

Quick correction--with thanks to Peter Botte -- the floor is $48.3m  (so they are still 2.3 million shy).   Nino's cap hit would be 2.795m if he is on the roster, while deHaan's hit would be 1.47M.

 

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

--
(Corrected)
With the signing of Blake Comeau yesterday (1 year, 2.5 million), the Isles are within 2.3 m  of the salary cap floor ($48.3 million).

Note that capgeek does count Nabokov as one of the goalies but does not count Bailey (RFA), Niederreiter, deHaan or any of the young goalies (Nilsson, Koskinen and Poulin)


Brian Rolston is the highest paid player on the roster; Frans Nielsen, who will be do a big raise next summer remains the biggest bargain on the Isles, if not in the entire NHL -- he is at the NHL minimum of $525,000.

Capgeek is showing 12 forwards, 8 defensemen and 3 goalies on the 23-man roster as opposed to the 13/7/3 the Isles would likely carry at the start of the season.

FWIW, the Isles now have 9 players on the roster with cap hits of at least 2.5 million (see cap hits below); by comparison the Flyers and Devils each have 11, the Penguins have 10 while the Rangers have only eight.



CAPGEEK.COM CAP CALCULATOR

FORWARDS
Brian Rolston ($5.062m) / John Tavares ($3.750m) / Matt Moulson ($3.133m)
Michael Grabner ($3.000m) / Kyle Okposo ($2.800m) / Blake Comeau ($2.500m)
Marty Reasoner ($1.350m) / Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau ($1.250m) / Matt Martin ($0.852m)
Trevor Gillies ($0.625m) / Micheal Haley ($0.550m) / Frans Nielsen ($0.525m)

DEFENSEMEN
Mark Streit ($4.100m) / Mark Eaton ($2.500m)
Milan Jurcina ($1.600m) / Travis Hamonic ($0.875m)
Ty Wishart ($0.803m) / Mike Mottau ($0.800m)
Dylan Reese ($0.635m) / Andrew MacDonald ($0.550m)

GOALTENDERS
Rick DiPietro ($4.500m) / Al Montoya ($0.601m) / Evgeni Nabokov ($0.570m)

BUYOUTS: Alexei Yashin ($2.204m) / Brendan Witt ($0.833m)

CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $45,970,166; BONUSES: $3,087,500
CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $18,329,834

 
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

Larry Brooks on The Vote

Larry claims that "Monday might have been a bad day for Wang, it was not a bad day for Long Island, and it was not a bad day for the Islanders."

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/islanders/it_your_move_wang_5nLz9fqUV4yzo7YxAmm18I#ixzz1TynvVdEp

Of course, Mangano said it was a "great day".

 
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

Salary Cap - Isles near floor

With the signing of Blake Comeau yesterday (1 year, 2.5 million), the Isles are within rounding error of the salary cap floor ($46.3 million).

Note that capgeek does count Nabokov as one of the goalies but does not count Bailey (RFA), Niederreiter, deHaan or any of the young goalies (Nilsson, Koskinen and Poulin)

Brian Rolston is the highest paid player on the roster; Frans Nielsen, who will be do a big raise next summer remains the biggest bargain on the Isles, if not in the entire NHL -- he is at the NHL minimum of $525,000.

Capgeek is showing 12 forwards, 8 defensemen and 3 goalies on the 23-man roster as opposed to the 13/7/3 the Isles would likely carry at the start of the season.

FWIW, the Isles now have 9 players on the roster with cap hits of at least 2.5 million (see cap hits below); by comparison the Flyers and Devils each have 11, the Penguins have 10 while the Rangers have only eight.

CAPGEEK.COM CAP CALCULATOR

FORWARDS
Brian Rolston ($5.062m) / John Tavares ($3.750m) / Matt Moulson ($3.133m)
Michael Grabner ($3.000m) / Kyle Okposo ($2.800m) / Blake Comeau ($2.500m)
Marty Reasoner ($1.350m) / Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau ($1.250m) / Matt Martin ($0.852m)
Trevor Gillies ($0.625m) / Micheal Haley ($0.550m) / Frans Nielsen ($0.525m)

DEFENSEMEN
Mark Streit ($4.100m) / Mark Eaton ($2.500m)
Milan Jurcina ($1.600m) / Travis Hamonic ($0.875m)
Ty Wishart ($0.803m) / Mike Mottau ($0.800m)
Dylan Reese ($0.635m) / Andrew MacDonald ($0.550m)

GOALTENDERS
Rick DiPietro ($4.500m) / Al Montoya ($0.601m) / Evgeni Nabokov ($0.570m)

BUYOUTS: Alexei Yashin ($2.204m) / Brendan Witt ($0.833m)

CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $45,970,166; BONUSES: $3,087,500
CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $18,329,834

 
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

No Sim for you

Every once in a while, an e-mail system has a mind of its own...

<<
Jon Sim, Isles don't have deal
Associated Press

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- The New York Islanders sent out a press release Tuesday night saying that they had re-signed forward Jon Sim. The only problem was that the signing happened last summer.

On Wednesday, the Islanders said that their AHL
affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, had experienced an email glitch
and had mistakenly sent out the press release. The Islanders had not
re-signed Sim.

Sim had one goal and three assists in 34 games last season for the
Islanders. He had 22 points (13 goals, nine assists) in 77 games in the
2009-10 season.
He was a third-round selection of the Dallas Stars in the 1996 draft.>>

 
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

Mangano Tweeting Up a Storm

The County Executive sent out about 20 tweets in a very short time -- they're all reproduced below. I've added ===>  in front of a few of interest

@ltsunis Again, that is something we will have to deal with when we come to it.

@cjm427 The people have spoken. They want it privately funded. I can't force companies to build something

===> @cjm427 If no one comes forward and wants to build a coliseum and keep the Islanders here there is nothing else I can do.

@cjm427 The people of Nassau are first and foremost. They always have been and always will be.

===> @eddevil24 I can't really speak for what the Islanders will or will not do. I'm sorry

===> @nyifancentral This is not a RFP request. We just want ideas submitted so we can create the RFP. The 12th is a loose deadline

@HockeyRanter I understand and that is why we want all proposals. The day of the critic is over. You are either helping or your not.

@cjm427 They were not a pawn but they aren't everything. We lose not only them but the $ that building generates. We need to make that money

===> @cjm427 The critics have said for weeks that the whole project could be privately financed. Now is the time for them to come forward

@cjm427 If I demand a coliseum and no proposals come forward at all we're is no better shape. It's time to move forward

@EFMathieu Thank you for your confidence

===> @eddevil24 A new arena is something I prefer but, no, it is not a must.

===> @cjm427 Its up to the people who make the proposals. If anyone proposes a privately financed arena we will listen. I want the Islanders here

@The_Resonator I am calling on everyone who said that they have a private sector solution for the Hub to come forward as soon as possible

===> @BM_Dubbs @jayjacobs28 I am will to sit hear any proposal. If someone has a private sector solution, they need to bring it forward now

===> @cjm427 I want the Islanders to stay. Critics claim that there are privately financed solutions. Now is the time for them to bring them

@HockeyRanter Believe me, that is the last thing we want. However, we need to redevelop this land so we will be entertaining all proposals

===> @bigwaltdiesel I personally want to see an arena built and the Islanders kept but we are not requiring that, no

===> The day of the critic is over. We are now accepting all proposals for a privately funded hub redevelopment plan yfrog.com/gyq4cxufj

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»  

Hello, Plan B

From EdMangano's twitter feed:

Today at 2 I will be holding a press conference to make an announcement regarding the solicitation of proposals for the Nassau Coliseum site.

 

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

Once again, the final score....

or in this case, nearly final (1158/1160 precincts):

                                           VOTES PERCENT

           PRECINCTS COUNTED (OF 1160)  .  .  .  .     1,158   99.83
           REGISTERED VOTERS - TOTAL .  .  .  .  .         0
           BALLOTS CAST - TOTAL.  .  .  .  .  .  .   154,549
           BALLOTS CAST - BLANK.  .  .  .  .  .  .       175     .11

          REFERENDUM QUESTION:
          (VOTE FOR)  1
              (WITH 1158 OF 1160 PRECINCTS COUNTED 99.83%)
           YES/SI  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .    66,829   43.05
           NO/NO.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .    88,389   56.95

 

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