NOTES, QUOTES AND THOUGHTS FROM THIS WEEKEND'S FOLLIES

First, I would like to extend my condolences to the Cherepanov family who lost their son this weekend when he collapsed on the bench while playing for Avangard Omsk of the KHL. He was subsequently rushed to the hospital but medical personnel were unable to revive him. Our thoughts and prayers are with you from the entire hockey community-RIP Alexei.

Another non-Islanders note, Michael Peca former captain of the New York Islanders has been suspended indefinitely for bumping an official during a Blue Jackets v. Dallas Stars game last Friday. Under Rule 41 Abuse of Officials, Category 2, Peca received a Match Penalty and the concurrent suspension. Here is the AP News article.

Joey MacDonald started his 3rd game in 4 nights on Monday afternoon and came up just a bit short of an awful performance. Both Coach Gordon and Bill Guerin stuck up for the backup goalie in separate statements:

"Joey knows it's a battle and you can't just point the finger at your goaltender every time something goes wrong. You have to work as a unit of five out there and we weren't even close to the system. Even our line changes were sloppy."--Scott Gordon

"This has nothing to do with Joey. In fact we think he played pretty well given the situation."--Bill Guerin

The one good thing that came out of Monday's game was the fact that teammates stuck up for each other. If there is something to look upon positively from that game it's that aspect of it.

The 7-1 loss to Buffalo mirrors a similar game last season in which the Islanders suffered an 8-1 shellacking at the hands of Toronto. Wade Dublewicz was also left in that game as MacDonald was in this game. The big question does not lie with Joey Mac however, it lies with the health of Rick DiPietro. Both Gordon and MacDonald avoided questions about Rick's status in post-game interviews which is certainly telling to the readiness of the franchise goaltender.

Also on the injury front, Radek Martinek's injury status was updated this week with an "upper body injury" (most likely a shoulder separation) and a 4-6 week timetable. Chris Campoli skated with the team in practice yesterday, although his injury has yet to be disclosed (yet again most likely a separated shoulder). Both Andy Sutton (hand surgery) and Josh Bailey (lower body, groin maybe) were both walking in the tunnel after the Sabres game and seemed to be in decent health. Don't count your blessings on seeing either of them before November.

The rather entertaining series of bouts during the game on Monday resulted in some very interesting penalty calls. As it was no surprise that Craig Rivet received 5 for fighting and a game misconduct and another game misconduct for 3rd man into an altercation, but the 10 minute misconducts handed out to Nate Thompson and Adam Mair were not announced by the PA and were not posted to the score sheet until after the second period ended. Both Thompson and Mair came out towards the end of the second expecting to return only to be sent to their respective dressing rooms. Odd twist by the officials on those calls.

Finally, I'd like to address the non-call on Talinin for boarding Mike Comrie. The explanation given to Coach Gordon at the time was that Comrie was too close to the boards for it to be boarding. I absolutely disagree. From my vantage point it seemed the hit was from behind or Comrie turned in at the last second and still would require some kind of penalty. The non-call still does not excuse Comrie for the 4 minutes in retaliatory penalties he received on the play as discipline has to be a focal point for a team that took 13 minor penalties in the contest. Hopefully Coach Gordon will talk that one over with the boys.

Here's looking forward to a possible DiPietro start this weekend and to the team keeping things healthy.

P.S. Those of you looking to see Blake Comeau in the lineup in the coming weeks will be disappointed as he was assigned to Bridgeport yesterday.

Top two photos courtesy of NYTimes.com and TSN.ca respectively.

For Questions, Comments and Bonehead Calls e-mail me at DougD84@optonline.net.