PuckUpdate .: The Hockey Blog
No One Leaves the NHL: Considering it's the middle of July, there's a shocking amount of stuff going on around the NHL. Mark Hermann thinks Joe Queeneville should be the next coach of the Islanders. Queeneville isn't a bad idea, but given the Isles history,...... , posted on July 17, 2008 more
Nolan Leaves the Island: On the one hand, there's not much surprising about the Islanders' firing coach Ted Nolan. It was no secret Nolan and GM Garth Snow didn't get along very well. The surprising part is the timing of the firing. First, it...... , posted on July 15, 2008 more
Witt Touched; Golbez Ecstatic: I was originally going to write something sarcastic about the Islanders giving 33-year-old defenseman Brendan Witt a two-year, $6 million contract extension when he still has another year left on his deal. Committing to a player of that age before...... , posted on July 11, 2008 more
The Great Wrong Buffalo: As I mentioned yesterday, it can be tough for certain teams to draw free agents. Add Buffalo to the list of teams that players avoid, as Bucky Gleason pointed out yesterday. Buffalo is close to Canada, which should make it...... , posted on July 08, 2008 more
Free Agents: No 404 For Us: Larry Brooks points out no one wants to play in Atlanta, Edmonton, or Long Island. I get the Isle burn, because they still have that crazy management reputation, even if it's much calmer out there, but I'm not sure why...... , posted on July 07, 2008 more
No Agent is Truly Free: OK. So I'm so overwhelmed with free-agent signings and trades that I really can't even process anything. I just don't know where to begin, so I'm going to start with the signings that seems downright crazy to me. Let's start...... , posted on July 02, 2008 more
What's So Great About North America?: I'm always behind in reading ESPN the Magazine. In fact, I usually finish one and get the new one like a day later. So this is a little late, but the magazine had a cool update on first-round bust Alexandre...... , posted on June 30, 2008 more
Isles and Yashin Reconciling?: Alexei Yashin returning to the Islanders? Would anyone be happy with that? Would the Isles be happy to have him back in the locker room? Would GM Garth Snow be happy to be paying Yashin even more money on top...... , posted on June 16, 2008 more
Pennsylvania: 'Let's Get Physical, Physical!': Before the playoffs started, I would have laughed at the idea the Penguins could play as physically as the Flyers. But one thing about the Penguins is they've really allowed their game to evolve in the post-season. While their series...... , posted on May 07, 2008 more
Hot Goalies, Cold Coaches: Here's a fun fact: Peter Forsberg has yet to play three consecutive games this season. The Avs have got to love that. Actually, the Wild probably do find that a fun fact, seeing as how they're meeting in the playoffs....... , posted on April 08, 2008 more
Emery Untradeable?: Oh wow. This is pretty interesting. The Senators can buy out goalie Ray Emery next season at just one third of his remaining salary. Apparently, that widely cited CBA fact that buyouts cost a team two-thirds of the money remaining...... , posted on March 19, 2008 more
They Could Have Been the Chicago Blackhulls: OK. Daylight Savings Time is really kicking my butt. I don't know how, but I managed to skip ahead like six hours. I feel like a LOST character. Still. I must press on. How cool is it the the Blackhawks...... , posted on March 10, 2008 more
Return of the Mac: I've been heavy with Wings news this week. I'm not sure why. Actually, I think a lot of it is just being excited for Darren McCarthy's seemingly successfully mounting an NHL comeback. The guy just belongs in Detroit. It looks...... , posted on February 20, 2008 more
Buffa-Lucky: Florida Panther Richard Zednick, slashed in the neck by teammate Olli Jokinen Sunday night, is stable and expected to recover. Zednick is expected to be out the rest of the season. Doctors said luck was the only reason Zednick didn't...... , posted on February 12, 2008 more
Goalie-ality: Tim Panaccio says the NHL needs more exciting goaltenders like Ron Hextall (login info.). Hextall likes Miikka Kiprusoff, Robert Luongo, Martin Biron, Antero Niittymaki, and Martin Brodeur, in terms of excitement. I'd throw Rick DiPietro into the mix. He once...... , posted on February 11, 2008 more
The Spirit of Satan: Coyotes assistant coach Rick Tocchet returned to the bench last night after a two-year suspension for his participation in a gambling ring. Interestingly, the Coyotes are such big Tocchet fans, they held his job for him while he was gone....... , posted on February 08, 2008 more
A Night at the Garden: So I was at Tuesday's Tampa-Rangers game at the Garden. It was pretty brutal, what with Rangers coach Tom Renney deciding to spotlight his fourth line all night. I'm always amazed at how dedicated Ranger fans are. I was one...... , posted on January 10, 2008 more
PuckUpdate Hearts Ted Nolan: New York City isn't a huge hockey town. While it's gotten much better, especially as the play of the Rangers has improved, it's still not a huge topic on the sports talk stations or in the newspapers. But while New...... , posted on December 22, 2007 more
Bought Something: OK. So the New York area hockey teams are turning on themselves: Aaron Asham had words with Devils coach Brent Sutter. Islander defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron got into it with assistant coach Gerard Gallant a couple of days ago. If I'm...... , posted on December 14, 2007 more
Wild Not Centered: Back when Brett Hull was named co-GM of the Stars, I wondered if he was being groomed to coach, but according to Mike Heika, that's not the case (login info.): "Just so you know, Brett Hull does not want to...... , posted on November 26, 2007 more
Life on the Point: I've been meaning to link to this for almost a week. Newsday's Greg Logan had a great post back then detailing exactly what a point man does on the powerplay. It's great inside hockey stuff you would never see in...... , posted on November 21, 2007 more
Expanding the NHL Market: An Interview with Fred Teng: Tonight's Rangers-Islanders tilt will be a bit unusual. A New York City radio station (WZRC; 1480 AM) is actually going to broadcast the game in Chinese. I was pretty shocked when I first heard about the plan, wondering how this...... , posted on November 19, 2007 more
Isles: 'Don't Sign Here. Your Word Is Oak': Larry Brooks had a shockingly emotional reaction to Al Arbour's return behind the Islander bench. To compensate, he busted the Isles for not paying Neil Smith for the month and change he worked for them. Although Smith apparently never signed...... , posted on November 05, 2007 more
Trapping the Triangle: Mark Herrmann had a cool item on his Isles blog: Coach Ted Nolan went to a Knicks game and said he gets a lot of coaching ideas from basketball. You can argue about the quality of the NBA game, but...... , posted on October 31, 2007 more
Toronto Bills: OK. There was some stuff from the Sunday paper that I forgot to mention yesterday. Like the Buffalo Bills are going to play eight home games in Toronto over the next five years. Does this signal the end of hockey's...... , posted on October 30, 2007 more
Islanders Find a Clue: Charles Wang, who owns the Islanders, is such a weird guy. His franchise is synonymous with insanely bad contracts. And yet, Wang does have some genuinely good negotiation instincts. Forward Sean Bergenheim stalled signing his contract with the Islanders last...... , posted on September 25, 2007 more
Fun at Camp: How do you not love the start of training camp? Of course, this offseason, 90% of what you read has to do with "new" uniforms, 85% of which look the same. Seriously. By the way, if you're genuinely curious about...... , posted on September 17, 2007 more
18 Days to Go: And we're off: The city of St. Louis was shocked to see the Blues sign a genuine NHL star. By the way. It's Paul Kariya. Adrian Dater predicts Peter Forsberg will end up playing with the Ducks, who somehow always...... , posted on September 11, 2007 more
Isles Like Foppa: The Isles are supposedly kicking the tires on Peter Forsberg. I'm not sure if he's kicking back, but it's kind of an interesting wrinkle. Of course, he might just rest until 2011, when the Isles might have a new arena....... , posted on August 13, 2007 more
Arbour Day: You've got to hand it to Islanders' coach Ted Nolan. He's really doing everything he can to remind current players of the franchise's glory days. His most recent idea: Bringing back four-time Cup-winning coach Al Arbour to coach his 1,500th...... , posted on July 20, 2007 more
Islanders: 'Surprise! You're Our Captain': Wow. Bill Guerin goes straight to the head of the line and is the new captain of the Isles. It's kind of a weird move since he's only on a two-year contract and I can't believe he'll be on the...... , posted on July 10, 2007 more
Edmonton: 'We'll Pay You $10 Million a Year Mr. Derek Boogaard': OK. First, I'm going to apologize. I have to dip into ESPN Insider content, just because E.J. Hradek's had some nice stuff yesterday. Like when he asked what exactly is wrong with Edmonton GM Kevin Lowe and his massive offer...... , posted on July 09, 2007 more
Isles Stock Up...Finally: You really have to respect the Islanders. They were shut out of the top-tier free agents big time, but they didn't fold. They're still working hard. They just landed Bill Guerin and Mike Comrie . Depending on which Guerin shows...... , posted on July 06, 2007 more
Free Agents: 'How About a Free Paella Clause?': OK. So those Michael Nylander to Vancouver rumors were more than rumors. The Oilers seem pretty mad, too. I love the thought of Nylander getting like 10 or 15 contracts and then just playing in a different city every night....... , posted on July 04, 2007 more
Free Will/Free Agency: I'm really surprised about all of the no-trades being given out. Chris Drury and Scott Gomez supposedly got one from the Rangers. And Ryan Smyth got one from the Avs. Of course, Todd Marchant had one in Columbus and that...... , posted on July 03, 2007 more
Oh Yeah. There Was a Draft, Too: OK. Islanders Army has a great screen grab of ENTOURAGE's Kevin Connolly sporting his Isles pride. I didn't see last night's episode, so I can't confirm the rumor that Mike Bossy is going to join the cast as Vince's life...... , posted on June 25, 2007 more
Islandergate Day Two: Why doesn't HBO want to admit that Kevin "ENTOURAGE" Connolly is an Islanders fan? Yesterday, PuckUpdate reported Connolly is a fan of the fish sticks. What we can now also report is that HBO seems to be Photoshopping the Isles'...... , posted on June 21, 2007 more
Not-So-Secret Islander Fans: The Islanders are getting huge. As you may recall, I recently learned Loudon Wainwright III is some kind of Islanders fan. And now, PuckUpdate has learned ENTOURAGE's Kevin Connolly is one. On Sunday's episode, he wore an Islanders cap throughout...... , posted on June 20, 2007 more
Cleveland Cavs: 'We Were in the Finals. Honestly!': Oh man. This week kind of got away from me. The NBA Finals are over and I didn't really even think about it. Apparently, I'm not alone. Marc Berman, who covers the Knicks for the New York Post blogged about...... , posted on June 15, 2007 more
A Day Late, A Buck Short: Everyone's done a nice job of wrapping up game one. My two cents? Anaheim can't possibly win giving up that many power plays. During most of the game, all I could really think was that the NHL was trying to...... , posted on May 30, 2007 more
The Hall Terminal: I know I briefly touched on playoff ratings being down, but I'm not convinced hockey is done with. I had class last night, with my phone set to get scores from the end of each period of Rangers-Thrashers (thanks 4info.net!),...... , posted on April 19, 2007 more
Blue Hairs and Low Ratings: Not to be too obsessed with Atlanta and their constant goalie-swapping, but John Dellapina had a great tidbit in his blog — one that I hadn't heard before: While Hartley's first goalie switch -- from a shaky Lehtonen to a...... , posted on April 18, 2007 more
Goalie Crazy!: Goalie Rick DiPietro sure looked sharp leading the Islanders over Buffalo in game two this weekend, but Greg Logan, who covers the Isles for Newsday, noticed some small things that could indicate DiPietro isn't at 100%: Two small moments caught...... , posted on April 16, 2007 more
Islanders Parked in the Playoffs: Congratulations to the Islanders for really fighting their way into the playoffs, finally making it in via a shootout in game 82. Coach Ted Nolan started the season asking for character players: guys like Mike Sillinger, Chris Simon, Brendan Witt,...... , posted on April 09, 2007 more
Goalies Need Backups: When GMs construct teams, do they ever consider the psychological makeup of their players? In yesterday's Post, Larry Brooks brought up the issues of if the Islanders rushed goalie Rick DiPietro back or if DiPietro downplayed his symptoms in order...... , posted on April 02, 2007 more
Nice Things: Nice! HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA is staying with the CBC. Interestingly, the new deal caps the number of Leafs game, and rotates in other Canadian teams. I'm guessing this deal started before the Oilers went into a tailspin. More nice!...... , posted on March 27, 2007 more
The Life of Smythy: Wow. Edmonton trading Ryan Smyth turned out to be more controversial than I thought. USA Today? Not a big fan of the move. Mike Heika from the Dallas Morning News? Not a big fan of Smyth: "Bottom line: Smyth has...... , posted on March 02, 2007 more
Blake Baby: This time of year, I'm kind of scared to write anything, because by the time any kind of trade speculation goes up, it's already kind of outdated. So I'm trying to type as slowly as possible while I watch the...... , posted on February 27, 2007 more
Iginla: 'I Feel Centered': You really don't have to believe me, but Saturday night, watching LA at Edmonton, I was thinking what a great player Craig Conroy is, and how amazing Calgary would be if he was still there. It wasn't a deliberate thought....... , posted on January 30, 2007 more
Nolan Keeps Making Nice: I don't know for a fact that Islanders coach Ted Nolan was blackballed from the NHL after his time in Buffalo. I suspect it, but I don't know it. But it seems Nolan is a bit nervous about his reputation....... , posted on January 29, 2007 more
York: 'I Put the York in New York...I Mean Philadelphia': Goodbye, JABS. Congrats to JABS mastermind Chris Young, though. He's moving into a new gig at The Toronto Star. On an even sadder note, the Flyers have got to love this little tidbit from Ed Moran: "If [the Flyers] play...... , posted on December 21, 2006 more
No Fury for Fleury, I Hope: Life can be very funny. Yesterday, I was looking for a Marc-Andre Fleury bobblehead on eBay (I'm still in a holding pattern on that, FYI). I caught the word Fleury in the search bar and I was suddenly thinking 'I...... , posted on December 13, 2006 more
Yashin Lives!: I haven't watched much Islanders hockey this season because the team seemed like such a trainwreck from the off-season. And with 7-6-2 record, I don't know that anyone is going to pick them to win the Cup, but the team...... , posted on November 13, 2006 more
Milbury Finally Makes Sense: I've never been a huge fan of ex-Islander GM Mike Milbury. In fact, I've always considered him a bit of a simpleton. But I think I might have been wrong about him. Greg Logan over on Newsday's Islanders Blog has...... , posted on November 01, 2006 more
Witt: 'What Are Fans?': Islanders' defenseman Brendan Witt: the world's loneliest rearguard. Play in Washington or on Long Island, and you're not going to see a lot of fans in the stands. Ever. Sad, but true. Now, I'm off to tend to my Don...... , posted on October 31, 2006 more
I Want My I-TV: What a weekend! In one night, I saw the Rangers win, the Gamecocks win, the Yankees lose, and the Mets clinch. Good thing today is Columbus Day. I'm still pretty tired. This is pretty scary: Islanders TV. I'm not quite...... , posted on October 09, 2006 more
What I Learned This Weekend: This weekend I learned that a big part of the reason Anson Carter switches teams a few times a season is that every time he comes to a new city, he gets another article about his production company. It's actually...... , posted on September 25, 2006 more
General Manglers: Speaking of goalies, the Times had an interesting postmortem on the Rick DiPietro deal. Apparently, when the Isles were trying to sign Alexei Yashin, Yashin's agent pitched the team on an eight-year deal and a 10-year one. I always assumed...... , posted on September 18, 2006 more
Islanders: 'There's a Smaller Increment Than 15 Years? Since When?': First of all, let's go back to Larry Brooks' August 20 column: A summer ago, [Islander goalie Rick] DiPietro appeared on the verge of signing a 15-year, $60M contract that had been proposed by ownership before the deal collapsed. Sources...... , posted on September 13, 2006 more
Less and Less of a Pamphlet: Wow! Patrick Roy has an Orthodox Jewish goalie playing for his junior league team. Because of his religion, goalie Benjamin Rubin can't play Friday night to sundown Saturday, meaning he'll miss about half of the Quebec Remparts' games. Obviously there...... , posted on September 06, 2006 more
Neil Smith: 'It Ain't Easy Being Me': The New York Daily News had a very cool story looking at Neil Smith's post-Ranger career. It's interesting, because Smith speaks super candidly about his six years without a GM job. He talks about almost getting the GM gig in...... , posted on August 14, 2006 more
Bad GMs: Not that anyone needs more proof, but the Isles are a pretty messed up franchise. Larry Brooks reports old GM Mike Milbury represented the Islanders at Mike York's arbitration hearing (login info.). I guess Garth Snow went from backup goalie...... , posted on July 24, 2006 more
From the Desk of Islanders President Charles Wang: Backup New York Islanders' GM candidates: Garth from WAYNE'S WORLD Cavs point guard Eric Snow Maurice Richard Islander fisherman mascot Gorton's fisherman Garth Snow's pads...... , posted on July 19, 2006 more
Garden Party or Garden Distraction?: There are a lot of great reasons for the Rangers to sign Brendan Shanahan to a one-year deal (login info.). It's not an insane amount of time or money. Shanahan is a big forward who's not afraid to get physical....... , posted on July 10, 2006 more
Kick Out the Puck...: Has anyone else noticed how in the first two games of the finals, Edmonton was constantly passing the puck back to their defensemen, trying to get that one-timer from the blue line? To the extent that they were actually passing...... , posted on June 12, 2006 more
Life Goes On: I realize the Stanley Cup finals are on, but hockey goes on for clubs that aren't playing for the Cup. Like Boston. Did anyone else know they don't have access to their new GM until July? New GM Peter Chiarelli...... , posted on June 06, 2006 more
Happy Passover!: Happy Passover! Here is my annual Passover post. Enjoy!...... , posted on April 13, 2006 more
Workplace Awkwardness: As some of you might know, my area of interest within sports is the intersection of hockey and workplace awkwardness. For instance, imagine you're traded to the Devils, coached and GM'd by the notoriously angry and honest Lou Lamoriello. Now,...... , posted on March 15, 2006 more
Hard Hits: I think it's so interesting how a lot of hockey writers are reacting to Brooks Orpik's mighty, season-ending hit on Carolina's Erik Cole. A lot of people are calling it a clean, tough, Old NHL-style hit. Guys like Larry Brooks...... , posted on March 13, 2006 more
Trade Madness: Tomorrow is the NHL's trade deadline. So much fun for fans. So not fun for the players. The Islanders, without a GM, locked up both Radek Martinek and Shawn Bates. That's such a great move. Because it's not like a...... , posted on March 08, 2006 more
Olympics Finally End: Larry Brooks just nominated Chris Chelios to run USA Hockey (login info.). Run it? He might still be playing for them in the next Olympics. I really didn't think he looked especially slow in Turin. At least no slower than...... , posted on February 27, 2006 more
No Cup for You!: So I guess you might have heard the Rangers retired Mark Messier's number 11. Contrary to what the newspapers seem to think, not everyone in New York is a breathless Messier fan (Exhibit A and Exhibit B). I mean, the...... , posted on January 13, 2006 more
PuckUpdate Hearts Al Strachan: Al Strachan has a butt-kicking New Year's Day column with a ton of great things. Like how Devils GM Lou Lamoriello is only behind the bench (Larry Robinson quit as his coach a week or two ago) to find out...... , posted on January 02, 2006 more
Goalie Sweepstakes: So the big rumor going around is that Florida is ready to move goalie Roberto Luongo, now that he's good and mad about his team's a) screwing him over in arbitration and b) refusal to win any games. The teams...... , posted on November 28, 2005 more
Coach Power!: The power dynamic of sports has always see-sawed. Back in the day, coaches and GMs controlled everything. The players had no power or leverage. Then, ever so slowly, the power shifted to the players, to the point where coaching, in...... , posted on November 09, 2005 more
Check Please: Tim Panaccio writes about what a lot of people have probably noticed: Checking is leaving the NHL (login info.). I've certainly noticed that. It's cool that a player can get through the neutral zone without having some guy water-skiing behind...... , posted on October 24, 2005 more
More Anecdotes: This isn't scientific, but I'm definitely noticing a rise in hockey's popularity. Especially when compared to the 2003-04 season. Like Thursday night, I walked past two bars playing the Rangers-Islanders game. Granted, I think that was the only sporting event...... , posted on October 24, 2005 more
DiPietro Signed; Stevens Retires: The Islanders finally signed goalie Rick DiPietro. Seeing as how I've been pretty obsessed with the situation, it's a great relief to me. It's really going to free up a lot of time for me. * * * I'm pretty...... , posted on September 08, 2005 more
Goalie Love: Obviously, I wasn't the only one who thought the Islanders weren't treating unsigned goalie Rick DiPietro well. Now they've sort of gone the other way. Newsday's Alan Hahn reports the Islanders put a 15 year deal on the table. That's...... , posted on September 06, 2005 more
Give Rick a Hug: Alan Hahn praises the Islanders for not rushing goalie Rick DiPietro into a long-term contract. Hahn's point is that while DiPietro has tremendous upside, he's still a work in progress and isn't necessarily worth a big chunk of limited cap...... , posted on August 29, 2005 more
Isles Hate Goalies: I find this truly, truly shocking. The Islanders are lowballing goalie Rick DiPietro. When the Isles picked DiPietro as their number one draft pick, they traded away young up-and-coming goalie Roberto Luongo. Luongo is now kicking ass in Florida, the...... , posted on August 19, 2005 more
Who Doesn't Heart Yashin?: Speaking of Alan Hahn, he has some great information on the Isles and their recent moves. Like some of their trades and signings might have been designed to keep the Yashin-haters out of the locker room. Hahn leaves it to...... , posted on August 15, 2005 more
Trading Everyone!: Too. Much. Hockey. News. Every time I click over to a hockey news site, I'm gasping. It's a rollercoaster. Brian Leetch is a Bruin. Why? Because that's where he wanted to play. I firmly believe Leetch was only looking for...... , posted on August 04, 2005 more
NHL: 'Let's Get the NBA': The whole possibility of an NBA lockout gets more and more interesting. The Times' Selena Roberts has a neat column linking the possibility of an NBA lockout to the NHL's current, Hans-Solo-in-EMPIRE-STRIKES-BACK-like-state: There is a theory behind this U-turn in...... , posted on May 24, 2005 more
Islanders Own Up: I love the Islanders. Their inept contract negotiating almost single-handedly forces the league to lock out the players and what do they do? Go to business school? Read MONEYBALL? Nah. GM Mike Milbury goes to China to check out hockey...... , posted on May 23, 2005 more
PuckUpdate Solves the Lockout: I've been thinking about ways to end the lockout. Not all the time. Mostly just when I'm waiting for the subway. I'm thinking the league and the union should just take the 24% rollback the union offered a few weeks...... , posted on February 14, 2005 more
I Went to a Fight and A Pacers Game Broke Out: That Piston-Pacers brawl was pretty crazy, but I found one aspect especially disturbing: Detroit Red Wing/bobsledder Chris Chelios and annoying rap/rocker Kid Rock were sitting courtside at the game together. What do you think they were talking about? Was Rock...... , posted on November 22, 2004 more
Isles Live Beyond Their Means: The Post has a really interesting tidbit that isn't about the lockout, but actually might be about the lockout. You know. If you read between the lines. Or read the blog that reads between the lines. That would be PuckUpdate,...... , posted on September 29, 2004 more
LockOutUpdate.com: Um. So how about that lockout, huh? Roy Mlakar, the president of the Ottawa Senators, says the Senators are actually saving money by locking out the players. How crazy is that? How can you run a business that's more successful...... , posted on September 17, 2004 more
World Cup: US Needs a Starter and Canada Gets the Point: I'm finally starting to get psyched for the World Cup. Team USA's coach Ron Wilson isn't naming a starting goalie. His options are Flyer Robert Esche, Oiler Ty Conklin, and Islander Rick DiPietro. All three are young and unproven. Esche...... , posted on August 24, 2004 more
Arbitrary Arbitration and Brodeur Writes Tough on Hockey: David Naylor at the Globe and Mail takes down the NHL's arbitration process. Basically, he argues that it allows bad (and extreme) economic moves to dictate salary for players. And he's right. But teams have options. They can try to...... , posted on August 09, 2004 more
DiPietro Succeeds in Failure: New York Sports Express has the postmortem on the Islander and Devil losses. It looked like a low point for Devils goalie Martin Brodeur and a high point for Islander goalie Rick DiPietro. In fact, this playoff loss could actually...... , posted on April 23, 2004 more
Khabi Sharp Again: Just for fun, check out this preview of Islanders-Lightning: Tampa's current goaltending situation has its roots in last year's playoff loss to the Devils. As Tampa went down to New Jersey three games to one, Lightning coach John Tortorella decided...... , posted on April 09, 2004 more
A Very PuckUpdate Passover: Tonight was the first night of Passover so I'm linking to a Passover entry from last year about Islander legend Bob Nystrom. You can see it here. Hockey and Judaism just don't meet often enough for my money....... , posted on April 06, 2004 more
Quick Takes: Just some quick stuff today: * This is a cheat sheet for all the Ranger fans who don't pay attention to the other local teams. For everyone else, it's a refresher. * Ken Dryden continues to complain about hokey violence...... , posted on March 26, 2004 more
Vile Isles: Just two seasons ago the Islanders looked a year away from a serious, serious run at the Stanley Cup. Now the team is a mess. The fans are blaming GM Mike Milbury. For once, they're right. You can trace the...... , posted on December 05, 2003 more
Tootoo Too Violent: Nashville's Jordin Tootoo is pretty big time. The Times did a big piece on him Saturday. Tootoo really seems to have changed the chemistry of the Predators. They're still awful, but now they're feisty (some might say violent) as hell....... , posted on November 17, 2003 more
Book: 'GMs Can Stand Some Schooling': So NHL Players' Association head Bob Goodenow was out on Long Island, busting on the Islanders for having to waive Jason Wiemer (who was claimed by the Wild) for salary reasons. Goodenow asked why the Islanders were just now figuring...... , posted on November 14, 2003 more
Milbury's Curse: The Edmonton Sun has a great look at the Curse of Mike Milbury. Milbury is the GM of the Islanders. A lot of the players he's shipped to Edmonton having not been playing so hot. Eric Brewer is missing in...... , posted on October 27, 2003 more
Pittsburgh: 'We Have No Money, But Things Sure Are Fun Here': THe Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has what seems like an ad for playing in Pittsburgh. It's players talking about the freedom you have in Pittsburgh. It's a history of great players who have thrived in Pittsburgh. The only thing missing is an...... , posted on October 27, 2003 more
Puck Predictions: Do you happen to be wondering how the New York Rangers (or the Isles or the Devils) will play this year? Don't. I take care of it, in my latest New York Sports Express article. It's definitely worth checking out...... , posted on October 10, 2003 more
Goalie Fight!: Are you ready for a good old-fashioned goalie fight? Then check out this week's New York Sports Express column that talks about the New York/New Jersey smackdown between goalies Garth Snow and Martin Brodeur. Lookit: Devils goalie Martin Brodeur, a...... , posted on October 03, 2003 more
NHL Previews: Sports Illustrated gave their site a nice little facelift. They're also running some NHL preview packages. There are some interesting choices so far, too. Like for the Islanders. SI calls Alexei Yashin the team's "go-to guy." Go to him for...... , posted on August 29, 2003 more
Isles Vile: NHL watchers are really digging the Islanders plight. Stuck with Alexei Yashin's oppressive two-hundred year contract. Sometimes trying to deal captain Michael Peca and sometimes not. And with goalie Garth Snow unsigned, they only have Rick DiPietro to fall back...... , posted on July 07, 2003 more
Florida's Number One (Pick, That Is): This upcoming draft is deep and everyone wants a piece of it. The biggest prize? Rookies who are ready to play in the NHL. Why? Because they're cheap. The Islanders are supposed to be in the hunt for Russian winger...... , posted on June 18, 2003 more
Job Security: Want a safe job? Pillow inspector is probably pretty good. Professional napper probably is, too. And any job where you work in the fetal position will probably keep you pretty safe. But what's the safest of all? Running the Rangers...... , posted on June 06, 2003 more
Laviolette Fired: The Islanders fired coach Peter Laviolette. You know why? Because they couldn't fire Alexei Yashin....... , posted on June 04, 2003 more
Don't Pass Over Nystrom: Last night was the second night of the Jewish holiday Passover. I went to my parent's for dinner, so I don't really have time to blog. Instead of talking about last night's games, which weren't that interesting, except for the...... , posted on April 18, 2003 more
Osgood Cures the Blues: Hindsight is 20/20 but it's looking like the Islanders should have held on to goalie Chris Osgood. Even at the risk of losing him with nothing in return when he became a free agent next season. While in the nets...... , posted on April 17, 2003 more
That's Funny. They Never Have a Second Cup of My Coffee: Do you remember those Folgers commercials where they switched the fresh-brewed coffee with Folgers Crystals? Well maybe it's time to bring back those commercials with the Edmonton Oilers. In the current The Hockey News, former Islander Denis Potvin talks about...... , posted on April 15, 2003 more
About Last Night: You know, you can sum up the Ottawa-Islanders series with a simple concept. One team is better than we thought and the other is worse than we thought. So whoever wins the series, the real winner, it seems, will simply...... , posted on April 15, 2003 more
Islanders: 'Please Don't Make Us Go To The Playoffs!': The Islanders didn't clinch. Again. They only have two games left. If they can tie in both, they'll clinch. But it's not looking good. Neither the Islanders nor the Rangers deserve that eighth playoff spot. Let's make an executive decision...... , posted on April 04, 2003 more
Rangers Kiss Their Grandmas: How perfect that the Islanders refuse to clinch and the Rangers refuse to push into that last playoff spot in the East. Instead the two teams settle for a tie. I don't even care who takes that last playoff spot....... , posted on April 02, 2003 more
Score Four: Everyone is scoring four goals lately. New York Islander Alexei Yashin did it last week against Chicago. Blue Jacketeer Geoff Sanderson did it Saturday night against Calgary (yet another notch in Calgary goalie Roman Turek's belt). And Patrik Elias did...... , posted on March 31, 2003 more
Yashin: 'What? I Was Just Kidding About Sucking': I'll admit it. I let my love of the Rangers cloud my hockey blogging judgement. All day today, I was thinking about the Islanders playing Chicago. An Islander loss would have put the Rangers within two points of the last...... , posted on March 26, 2003 more
Officials Take a Dive: This is old, but I missed it. Al Strachan got a hold of the league's list of divers, a diver being a player who dramatizes incidental contact on the ice. Let's look at the list, shall we? Darius Kasparaitis (NYR)...... , posted on March 26, 2003 more
Good News-Bad News: Good News: Marty Turco is ready to go back in goal for Dallas. He could be back as soon as Tuesday. Nothing helps a Stanley Cup run more than a genuine starting goalie. Bad News: The streaky Islanders have found...... , posted on March 21, 2003 more
Is Ottawa Ready?: Will Ottawa make it out of the first round? The Sens are rolling along, on top of the East, but there's something wrong. They can't seem to beat anybody lately. Sunday night, the Senators give up a hat trick to...... , posted on March 18, 2003 more
Quick Takes: Osgood Soars; Yashin's Friend: * St. Louis must be pretty happy with new goalie Chris Osgood. He got a shutout in his first game for them. Of course, the thing about Osgood is he'll be a rock for X amount of games and then...... , posted on March 17, 2003 more
Come Up. Now Go Down. OK. Come Back Up, Please...: I don't get the Islanders' deal with Rick DiPietro. He's a talented, if a bit cocky, goalie. And they seem to love torturing him. Number one goalie Chris Osgood goes down. It's the perfect time to bring up DiPietro and...... , posted on February 28, 2003 more
Holik Coaches Isles: New York Ranger Bobby Holik had a lot to say after the Senators beat the Rangers. A lot: Once again, we think we are better than we are...The first period we had success playing the hard way. Then the second...... , posted on February 19, 2003 more
"I Need a Price Check on Kovalev": Of course, everyone is still talking about Alexei Kovalev getting traded to the Rangers. The big issue? How the NHL could let the Rangers buy the Penguin forward. Especially when the league has struck down similar cash-for-player deals in the...... , posted on February 12, 2003 more
Angry and Rich: I've been missing a lot of good stories lately. Although to be honest, I don't think this one was covered much here in New York. Apparently an Islander fan was so upset with the way the Isles were beaten by...... , posted on February 05, 2003 more
Duck!: I don't understand the Celebriduck concept. They're collectible figurines of famous people, but the people are made to look like ducks. The Islanders made one for Michael Peca. He liked it because he has a kid at home. But he...... , posted on January 30, 2003 more
Roenick Roars. Again.: I missed some of this, but apparently Islander backup goalie Garth Snow made some comments about Flyer Jeremy Roenick not going to college, so Roenick, who entered the NHL right after high school, took some verbal shots at University of...... , posted on January 28, 2003 more
Long Island Hangover: You can still hear the echoes of Tuesday's Islander-Ranger game. Each team was fined $25,000 for a pregame fight. Islander Eric Cairns, who was hurt in the game's final minutes, will be out up to six weeks with a dislocated...... , posted on January 23, 2003 more
Philadelphia Comes to New York: It's never been official, but it's always seemed like New York Ranger teams had to be flashy, goal-scoring, highlight machines. It never really seemed like coaches were given the option of playing a more conservative game. Or maybe the coaches...... , posted on January 22, 2003 more
Somebody Take McLaren Already!: I'll admit it. Kyle McLaren has moved from being an interest of mine to an obsession. I just have to know where he'll wind up. As I write this, Boston has not been able to move their holdout defenseman. But...... , posted on January 16, 2003 more
McLaren Trade Nonsense: Who else is tired of this Brad Isbister for Kyle McLaren rumor business? This has been going on for what seems like months already. In fact, Islander Isbister has been trade bait for practically the whole season. Tampa is also...... , posted on January 13, 2003 more
Yo-Yoalie: Uncle. Seriously. I give up. I have no idea what's going on with the Islander's goalie situation. The Isles call up Rick DiPietro, he plays his ass off and now they're sending him back down. I got this e-mail from...... , posted on December 31, 2002 more
DiPietro Moves Up: The Islanders desperately need a change, so they brought up super-goalie Rick DiPietro. I can understand that. He's 21. He's the future of the franchise. He's been acting like a star since he's 19. I don't get the timing, though....... , posted on December 20, 2002 more
A Broken Clock is Right Twice a Day: All season long Islander coach Peter Laviolette has maintained that his team wasn't as awful as their record indicated. He talked about bad bounces and about how the team just needed to click. Everyone kind of wrote him off. But...... , posted on November 22, 2002 more
Unlucky 7s: The Islanders can't buy a break. Or actually, maybe they're getting too many breaks. Or wait. They're not really breaks. They're more sprains. Or a sprain, to be more precise. Michael Peca, whose absense while recuperating from a torn ACL...... , posted on November 14, 2002 more
More Islander Trade Rumors: Hmmmm. It's starting to look like Islander trade rumors can become a daily feature here (see below). In today's episode, the Isles are maybe, possibly looking to get forward Viktor Kozlov and blue-liner Dmitry Yushkevich from the Panthers. According to...... , posted on November 11, 2002 more
Isle Trade Rumors: Newsday has some interesting Islander trade rumors — some stuff I haven't heard before. According to Newsday, the once-again wretched Isles are scouting Avalanchite Alex Tanguay, using Brad Isbister as bait. Not a crazy deal when you consider Colorado is...... , posted on November 08, 2002 more
Miracle on Ice: Islander coach Peter Laviolette and injured captain Michael Peca did the most shocking thing they could think of, trying to jolt the ailing team into any kind of success. Peca came back from his busted knee a month early to...... , posted on November 04, 2002 more
Call Him Osbad?: It seems like there's a problem out on Long Island. Other than the malls and the power lines. Chris Osgood can't stop shots anymore. Saturday he was pulled after allowing five goals on 11 shots. Coach Peter Laviolette says he's...... , posted on October 28, 2002 more
Battle of the Back-Up Goalies: I had a nice drive home from my parent's house last night. First I heard the Rangers/Sabres overtime and then I was able to flip over and hear the end of the Islanders/Flyers overtime. It was pretty interesting. Both New...... , posted on October 18, 2002 more
Opposite Day: Wow! Anaheim beat St. Louis (login: laexaminer; password: laexaminer). But I'm seeing that Chris Pronger and goalie Brent Johnson are both out. That explains it. I really should resume my St. Louis Post-Dispatch subscription. In other upset news, the Islander...... , posted on October 11, 2002 more
Little (Salary) Wing: The Islanders seem to have found a linemate for Aleksei Yashin, in the form of Shawn Bates, last seen playing with Michael Peca and Mark Parrish on the Lucky 7s line (all their numbers end in 7). But with Peca...... , posted on October 07, 2002 more
© Steven Ovadia