Isles get down to 23

Here is the updated roster, as NHL rosters were reduced to 23 at 3pm today:

Forwards
Josh Bailey, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Eric Boulton, Casey Cizikas, Michael Grabner, Matt Martin, Colin McDonald, Matt Moulson, Brock Nelson,
Frans Nielsen,Kyle Okposo,Peter Regin, John Tavares

Defensemen
Matt Carkner, Matt Donovan, Travis Hamonic, Thomas Hickey, Andrew MacDonald, Griffin Reinhart, Brian Strait, Lubomir Visnovsky

Goalies
Evgeni Nabokov, Kevin Poulin

Injured Reserve
Cal Clutterbuck

BY comparison, here is last year's Opening Night roster:
New York Islanders

Keith Aucoin, Eric Boulton, Brad Boyes, Matt Carkner, Casey Cizikas, Rick DiPietro, Joe Finley, Michael Grabner, Travis Hamonic, Thomas Hickey, Andrew MacDonald, Matt Martin, Radek Martinek, Colin McDonald, Matt Moulson, Evgeni Nabokov, Frans Nielsen, Kyle Okposo, Marty Reasoner, Brian Strait, Mark Streit, John Tavares, David Ullstrom.

Injured: Josh Bailey, Jesse Joensuu.

So, 7 players from last year's Opening 23 are gone (Aucoin, Boyes, DiPietro, Finley, Martinek, Reasoner, Ullstrom)
and have been replaced by Bailey (from injured list), Bouchard, Nelson, Poulin, Regin, Reinhart, Visnovsky.

When you compare position by position you have to be optimistic that this is a better opening night roster than the one that eventually qualified for the playoffs last year:

Goalie  Poulin in, DiPietro out
Defense:  Reinhart (at least for now), Visnosvky in,  Finley and Martinek out
Forwards: Bailey, Bouchard and Nelson in, Aucoin, Boyes and Reasoner out



Joesnsuu went from last year's injured list to this year's Edmonton Oilers while the newly acquired Clutterbuck begins the year on IR.

 
Of the 23 Isles on the active roster, Griffin Reinhart is the only one to have never played an NHL game.  Brock Nelson will likely end his short stay as the answer to the "Who is the only Islander besides Dave Salvian to appear only in a playoff game and never in a regular season game" quiz in the next few days.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Could passing of Marty's dad end the streak?

Marty Brodeur returned to practice today for the first time since leaving the team Thursday (his dad passed away before he reached home).

Brodeur met the media after practice.  Rich Chere of The Star-Ledger tweeted: "Brodeur said he'll be ready emotionally to start opener Thursday but said he's not sure he'll be ready physically. Called practice hard"  Tom Gulitti noted in his "Fire and Ice" blog that Brodeur will speak with Pete DeBoer later in the week (regarding starting on opening night, which was previously announced).

In addition to all of his other NHL records, Brodeur has started 18 consecutive Devils openers.  The last time the Devils used a different goalie on opening night was October 6, 1993 -- Ken Daneyko had the only goal of the third period to break a 1-1 tie as New Jersey beat Tampa 2-1 to give Chris Terreri the victory.  Darren Puppa was in nets for the Bolts, who were beginning their second NHL season.

To put the timing in perspective, the night before Terreri started for New Jersey, Ron Hextall made his Islander debut in a 2-1 loss in Calgary.  Joe Nieuwendyk scored the winner in the third period in the final opener for Al Arbour, and the first game that the Isles played since their most recent playoff series victory.

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Who's #1? Tavares is -- tops ESPN's Top 25 under 25

About 20 months ago, an ESPN blogger named Neil Greenberg caused quite a ruckus during an Islander telecast after he failed to include John Tavares on his Top 25 under 25 list, leading to a memorable rant from Howie Rose.

http://www.nyiskinny.com/2012/12/following-mr-marginal.html

Well, Tavares is still under 25 -- in fact he turned 23 this week, and Greenberg, who ranked Tavares #5 last season, has pushed the Islander captain into #1 overall.

You'll have to be an ESPN Insider to get the whole story,
http://insider.espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/9714062/nhl-25-25-rankings

but here's the excerpt on Tavares:

<<

#1. C John Tavares

New York Islanders, 23 years old
Previous: 5th

Judging by the tweets I get, some of you remember that Tavares was not on the inaugural 25 Under 25 list. An omission? Maybe, but there is no denying his game has vastly improved since then, and he did make it all the way to No. 5 on last season's list. But don't take my word for it, take it from someone who watches him every game.

"During his rookie season, [Tavares] seemed to spend half of every shift on his butt, so that summer he made himself stronger and the next season he was on his feet more consistently," explains Howie Rose, the Isles' play-by-play announcer. "The season after that his skating improved significantly, and he became harder to knock off the puck. Now, entering his fifth season, he is a complete player."

Tavares has become much better at driving the play. When he was on the ice last season, 53 percent of even-strength shots went in New York's favor, compared to 46 percent for those same linemates when Tavares was on the bench, an improvement that has been increasing each campaign.

The Mississauga native also puts points on the board. Since the 2009-10 season, Tavares has scored 1.9 even-strength points per 60 minutes, 19th best among forwards with at least 4,000 minutes over that span. That includes 51 primary assists (15th best among those same forwards).

"His vision is superb. He doesn't just pass the puck; he puts it right on his linemate's tape," said Rose. "I know I'm biased here, but I genuinely feel that John Tavares is a transcendent player." At this point, it's hard to disagree.

>>

Tavares beats out Steven Stamkos (#2) and Erik Karlsson (#3) for the top spot.

Remember the days of wondering whether the Isles would take Tavares #1 overall?  The guys who went #2 and #3 are much lower on this list -- Victor Hedman is rated 16th and Matt Duchene is 11th.

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

The Skinny on the Double-Header

Flames 4, Isles 2 (Regina)

Flames 5, Isles 3 (Calgary)

The Skinny will get a lot longer in 17 days!

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

15,813

Per a tweet from @bcomptonNHL, @BarclaysCenter will have a capacity of 15,813 for the Isles.

The Isles averaged 13,304 last season at the Coliseum, which was the highest since 2008-09.  The Isles have not averaged 15,000 at the Coliseum in the 21st Century; the highest was 14,930 in 2002-03.
 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Bured in the transaction pages

Tuesday Sep 10

Florida Panthers: Returned forward Francis Beauvillier to Rimouski (QMJHL) and forward Alexander Delnov to Seattle (WHL); released goaltender Mark Shields, defensemen Alex Gudbranson, Myles Harvey, George Hughes, and forwards Trevor Lewis, Liam Heelis and Corey Trivino from their tryout contracts

Trivino, of course, was the Isles 2nd pick, 36th overall in 2008.  The Isles cut ties with him after he was arrested for terrorizing a fellow Boston University student; he later plead guilty to assault and battery charges.

The 23 year old Trivino played for the Florida Everblades in the ECHL last season.

Corey N. Trivino, the one-time top scorer for Boston University's hockey
team, pleaded guilty today to assault and battery charges as the woman
he terrorized inside her dormitory room - See more at:
http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2012/08/07/hockey-player-corey-trivino-admits-assaulting-woman-boston-university-dorm/CiD3dl6ZS3y2d4rEOER9EJ/story.html#sthash.4OgD9972.dpuf
Corey N. Trivino, the one-time top scorer for Boston University's hockey
team, pleaded guilty today to assault and battery charges as the woman
he terrorized inside her dormitory room - See more at:
http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2012/08/07/hockey-player-corey-trivino-admits-assaulting-woman-boston-university-dorm/CiD3dl6ZS3y2d4rEOER9EJ/story.html#sthash.4OgD9972.dpuf
Corey N. Trivino, the one-time top scorer for Boston University's hockey
team, pleaded guilty today to assault and battery charges as the woman
he terrorized inside her dormitory room - See more at:
http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2012/08/07/hockey-player-corey-trivino-admits-assaulting-woman-boston-university-dorm/CiD3dl6ZS3y2d4rEOER9EJ/story.html#sthash.4OgD9972.dpuf

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick 

Isles 2013-14 TV Schedule

The Isles begin their season 4 weeks from Friday in New Jersey.  That game will be the first of 78 games on MSG+/MSG+2.

All 82 games will be televised, with the following 4 games on NBCSN:

1/23 vs Pittsburgh

1/29 vs Rangers at Yankee Stadium

2/4 at Washington

4/11 at New Jersey

65 of the 78 MSG+ telecasts will air on MSG+ with the remaining 13 games on MSG+2.

The only October game on MSG+2 is on October 19th vs Carolina; the remaining October games are all on MSG+.

The complete schedule is here: http://msg.com/teams/islanders/isles-2013-14-season-schedule.html

(Thanks Islandermania for the heads-up)

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick