So Much Going On...I Just Had to Write About It

It's getting to be that time sports fans. Baseball is in full swing, NFL players will start reporting to training camp, the NBA Finals are looming, the U.S. Open is coming to Bethpage Black (drool...), but best of all, the NHL Stanley Cup Finals between the Wings and Pens has been scheduled and the Draft is a mere month away. I just love the way sports in America encompasses an entire year of gladitorial combat and emotion. It's plain awesome.

With all the activity going on, I just had to mention a few things before I got into the meat of my Draft ideas:

• Congrats to Justin Bourne for a successful, albeit extremely long stay in Phoenix. I hope you get the job, man. Also, I can't forget his fiancee, Brianna Gillies, who absolutely wowed her interviewers and was offered a job at one of the top neurological institutes in the country. Best of luck to both you!



• Twitter G-ddess, @Dani3boyz, hosted a get together known as a TweetUp at Croxley Ale House in Farmingdale and Dee Karl, the 7th Woman, made an appearance. I just got word on Twitter that Dani actually made her goal from all the generous contributions of Twitter hockey fans and will be in Montreal along with the Blog Box Boys for the Draft! You have no idea how awesome hockey fans are until you witness something like that happen in front of your eyes. Congrats, Dani! I can't wait to see everyone up there.



• Apparently, the Islanders bloggers will be well repped in Montreal on June 26th, as BD Gallof also throws his hat into the ring.



• Don't forget to get your FREE ticket to the Islanders Draft Party. Despite the fact that I won't be in Uniondale and rather Nordes de Lignes, make sure you get to the Draft Party. It should be a great experience this year, JT included (hopefully).

Some Draft Ideas...

I want to get a feel for how my readers would like us to cover the Draft. We've kicked around a few ideas and I'm looking for some feedback. Vote in the poll at the top of the site for the idea or ideas you like the best and we'll see if we can pull them off.

Don't be bashful if you have an idea about what or how you'd like something covered. Leave a Comment and share your thoughts.

Sorry BD, it was too awesome not to steal. In Garth We Trust!

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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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Thoughts on the Hurricanes that Blew Through the Old Barn and Tonight's Lightning Surge

Well, despite our schedule woes Islanders fans finally have something to watch let alone cheer for. It was nice to be able to sit in front of the TV tonight and know what I was watching rather than flipping channels to see if some gory after Halloween flick was on. Huge win for the boys and their confidence, especially on a MUST WIN type of night.

First, let me address Mike Sillinger's 1000th game. Ever since Mike became a part of this team it has seemed quite different from those days when Peca and Yashin were running things (or can you even really say they were running the team? In Peca's case, he decided it was better to have a small group of friends than a family in the locker room). There has always been an aura around Mike Sillinger due to his value to any team making a playoff push: his skills at faceoff's, his clutch scoring touch and of course his exemplary leadership. I am so happy that Mike got a chance to spend what amounts to a feat only accomplished by 222 individuals before him on the Island and with fans who truly care. Now on to the meat of the story.

Saturday night's blowout only seemed to confuse and bewilder a fan base that has been so ardently behind our boys in the blue and orange. Don't get me wrong, Carolina came out with a purpose and determination and should be given plenty of credit for the shalacking that they dished out. But despite all of their effort and of course the schedule which B.D. Gallof masterfully addressed today on his HockeyBuzz blog, we need to take a moment to break down exactly what happened. My first problem lays with our 100 mph slapshot friend, MAB. Now, I have no problem keeping this guy on the power play, but do we need to have him on a regular shift, especially with Sutton. I'm not one to put down players but both of them look like pylons when they're on the ice together. The sad fact is, there is no one else they can pair them with due to the success of both the Gervais/Campoli and Witt/Martinek pairings. Am I the only one praying that Berard comes back 100 percent sooner than predicted? At least when he was playing a regular shift with Sutton, they played actual DEFENSE! I'm starting to get the picture that Edmonton fans were painting last year when we picked up Bergeron, though the end of last year he was never this sloppy. Oh well, you move on and forget the bad ones and cherish the good ones, so on to tonight.

I think part of the reason that the Islanders played so well tonight is not because of the preparation variance that Coach Nolan threw at them. I believe that it was that they had something to play for. Everyone has heard the "Win one for the Gipper" speeches. Well, Silli thank you for the motivation. Guys like Trent and Feds needed that kind of boost considering that they've quieted down considerably since what is now the strangest scheduling month I've ever seen. It was like watching a youth hockey team that plays on the weekends, has the rest of the week to practice and then is back at it again on Saturday. Let's also not forget, Ricky who stood on his head at times, especially in the first period when Sutton and MAB let not one, but TWO Tampa players behind them and uncovered (one of them was St. Louis). That is just inexcusable. I don't care how long you've been off and not playing game situations but that is just basics when it comes to positioning. But now with this win the Islanders can finally look ahead to a schedule where they will be busy starting Saturday night.

Having Al Arbour back on Long Island will be a breath of fresh air in the lungs of many Long Islanders. This man brought this community together as well as his players for some of the best years this Island has ever seen. The one thing I regret is that I was not alive during the "Cup Years". However, I was at his 739 banner raising against the Blackhawks those many years ago in January and now I get to be there again Saturday night courtesy of a friend within the organization. So thank you to my friend, Ted Nolan and especially Al Arbour for bringing back "Old-Time Hockey" to the place we call home. See you Saturday night.

As a P.S. I just wanted to acknowledge Marc Denis for his soccer skills. There is a cardinal rule in Hack-E-Sack that he probably never learned and I'm sorry that Billy Jaffe probably never heard this either: You NEVER Self-Hack! Those of my generation probably know what I mean. Those of you who are a little older are probably shaking your heads collectively right now. But fear not, those days are long gone even for me. See you in the next installment.

For questions, comments and dumb penalty calls e-mail me @ DougD84@optonline.net

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