FAN FAVORITE RETURNS...SORT OF

Mark Parrish has been signed to a 25-game tryout contract with the Bridgeport Soundtigers. Read the blog from Greg Logan's site to get the details and a few words from "Flash" Gordon. This is a savvy move by the Islanders that fans having been calling for ever since Eklund posted the possibility of Parrish returning to the team that traded for him in what could be termed "the worst trade in history". Many Islanders fans will never forget that draft day swap which featured Roberto Luongo and Olli Jokinen going to Florida in exchange for Parrish and Oleg "I can't seem to skate or find the net" Kvasha.

Personally, Parrish is by far my favorite player from the late 90's, early 2000's and I'm really glad to have him back in the fold of Blue and Orange. Hopefully we'll see him with the Islanders soon. I'm picturing it already, Trent Hunter and Mark Parrish on a line flanking either Doug Weight or Richard Park. How's that for a crash, bang, in-your-face, energy, scoring line?

Alright so maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. But look at it this way...it's an option for down the road. Should Parrish take a spot held by one of the "kids"? No. Would he at least add some scoring (garbage goals count the same as pretty ones)? Sure. How many points is up for grabs of course, but it's a prospect I wouldn't mind seeing through. Nevertheless I'll take a more cautious albeit optimistic approach with this "temporary" signing.

Parrish was bought out by Minnesota for his final year of the contract he had with them and became a free agent several weeks before the season began.

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

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A WORLD DEVOID OF TV OR RADIO COVERAGE

This point has been touched on by many an Islanders blogger and the starving fan base through comments since the beginning of the preseason. What are we to do in this media blackout? In this day and age where information is instantaneously transferred via the Internet and e-mail (cue Bill Curtis and the AT&T ConnectCard), it's amazing to me that Cablevision endeavors yet again to screw Joe and Jane Islander fan. Are we that much lower in the caste system that they can't televise ONE Islanders preseason game, all the while I've had to endure watching the Rangers toil in agony over finding their final roster? I couldn't even bring myself to watch yesterday's NHL Opening Game in Prague because of this fact: I want to watch the team that I root for, not some overpaid Rag$ to Riches story on MSG. Where's the love guys?

Thank goodness for a radio show produced on ESPN 1050 on Saturday morning, which I hope gets a regular time slot. Chris Botta and Don La Greca talked hockey for about an hour between 10:30-11:00AM. Scott Gordon and Lou Lamoriello poked their heads in for a chat with the pair and finally something on morning sports talk felt right. The season looms just around the corner for the other 26 teams not being represented in Europe and this is the first display of actual hockey knowledge that has hit the airwaves (beyond the fantastic work by beat writers Greg Logan, Katie Strang, Arthur Staple and Mark Hermann over at Newsday and the never-ending stream of awesome news and thoughts from the Islanders blogosphere). I can't wait to see what MSG will do this season with the telecasts considering I've heard the unenviable news that they will be cutting the pre-game show and post-game show for about 75% of the games the Islanders play this season. Meanwhile, yesterday there was a 30 minute pre-game and 1 hour post-game wrap up for the Rangers who are half a world away. I'd like to know what happened to that fat $20 million contract that Cablevision has with the Long Island team.

Alright, enough with the ranting, on to the good news. The past two preseason games were supposedly very different than the debacle only about 9,000 fans turned out to see on Wednesday, including yours truly. On Friday night, amongst roster changes and a goalie switch, the Islanders managed a 3-2 OT win over the rival Devils provided by Chris Lee. Although there was a Devils streaming radio broadcast, good luck actually listening to the drivel that comes out of that color analysts mouth. Can we be the least bit impartial? The game yesterday at TD Banknorth against the Bruins also ended in an Islander victory, 3-1 in regulation. The old dogs chipped in a bit with Weight, Sim and Comrie getting the goals. For those of you who weren't around for Wednesday night''s Coli game, you're in for a treat with Jon Sim. He will certainly be a player to watch this season if he stays healthy.

Now only one preseason game remains. On Monday down in Sunrise, FL, "The Rick" might make his debut in net for the "Boys in Blue and Orange" and yet here is another preseason tilt that we will not get a chance to see or hear. Be on the look out for live blogs by Greg Logan or from the Panther's website to satiate your hunger for Islanders hockey. After Monday night's game, I'll be doing a recap and a season preview with the final cuts being made sometime this coming week. Cheers everybody!

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For Questions, Comments and Bonehead Calls e-mail me at DougD84@0ptonline.net.

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THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN!

After a rainy weekend, it's nice to see the sun shine on this little Island of ours. The other thing that's nice to have around these parts again is the New York Islanders. After an impressive 4-2 victory over Florida on Saturday on an equally beautiful island, P.E.I., the boys are back where they belong and began practice this morning at Islander Iceworks in Syosset, NY. Now that they're back, it's time to start speculating who will make the opening night roster.

As Greg Logan reported on his blog and Chris Botta on Islanders Point Blank, the Isles management have trimmed the roster to 31 players. Several players in particular caught my eye as potentials for the opening night roster: Jack Hillen, Brandon Sugden, Josh Bailey and Tim Jackman. Let me share my opinions as to why each should be given a shot at cracking this lineup.

Jack Hillen has been an impressive pickup from his two games at the end of last season against the Rangers and now at his first NHL training camp. His puck moving ability and speed might lend to the new system that Coach Gordon has installed as the basis for the team. He displayed his excellent first pass in his two games with the big club and he could lend a sure hand on the 2nd unit on the power play. With Chris Campoli out for the foreseeable future with whatever it might be (check out Chris Botta, Greg Logan and B.D. Gallof's reactions to the new injury policy on their blogs), it may be the opening that Hillen needs to get in and make it stick.

As for Josh Bailey, this is a dream come true. He's 18, coming off a phenomenal year in junior and competing hard for an opening night NHL spot. Many people have stated that Islanders management will give Josh every opportunity to make this team. Whether or not he can compete at the NHL level for an extended period is of course yet to be seen. But I don't see why the Islanders wouldn't sign him and play him for the first 9 games so he can get a taste of the NHL and possibly push him to play harder back on the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL.

However, the two players that I think have the best chance of making the team for at least the first bit of the season are Brandon Sugden and Tim Jackman. Anyone who has read anything in the past month about the Islanders knows about Brandon Sugden's saga, so I won't reiterate it (but you can read it here). As an Isles fan, I too cried for an enforcer to protect the kids from the big, bad wolves of the NHL. If Brandon can keep up his play and contribute other than in a pugilistic fashion, he might not only win a spot but the hearts of Isles fans everywhere.

Tim Jackman will also be auditioning for the same role as Sugden. In my opinion, due to the fact that he has shown in the past that when called upon he can skate and show off his nasty side that he might have the edge over Sugden at least for the start of the season. In that sense, Jackman might be the best combination of speed and grit that can be inserted on the 4th line in the new system. As for who is odd man out in this situation, unfortunately I have to bring myself to bash on Andy Hilbert one last time.

Don't get me wrong, Andy is a good hockey player that knows his role. But, there needs to come a time when Garth and Scott have to say that they have too many players on the team who are defined as a penalty kill specialist. Richard Park, Mike Sillinger, Trent Hunter, Jon Sim and even Sean Bergenheim can fill the roll and still have offensive upside. I just think that it might be Hilbert's time to either take a back seat or hit the waiver wire. That's just my opinion so don't think too far into it.

At this point, I'm just glad that the beginning of the season is less than two weeks away and we've got the Devils on Wednesday at the Coliseum. I hope that many of you can get out to see the boys in action prior to the drop of the puck on the regular season.

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

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