Crib Notes - New York Islanders

New York Islanders
Lost backup goaltender Yann Denis to New Jersey via free agency
Resigned Blake Comeau and Doug Weight
Signed both Dwayne Roloson and Martin Biron via free agency
Drafted John Tavares #1 overall at last year's draft

Questions going into 2009-2010:
Will the Isles get a new stadium built?
Is owner Charles Wang bluffing about moving the team?
Are John Tavares, Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey enough to put bring fans back to Nassau Coliseum?
Will Rick DiPietro play this season?
If he is on his comeback schedule why did mgmt sign two potential starting goalies?
Can they do any worse than last season?
Will the Isles bring the 2Man back for another season of web video magic?

Poised for a breakout season:
Kyle Okposo was a bright spot last season. I expect this kid to make the a leap this year as long as he stays away from the bacon cheeseburgers.

If you had to buy one Islanders sweater:
Bress has a sick Pat LaFontaine throwback. Scotty has a few great ones including a dark blue Guerin and a (sleeveless?) pastel fisherman. I would get the blue throwback Weight jersey as soon as he gets named captain. I would tuck it into one side of my sweats and spend my day dangling.

Player whose game you sneaky like:
If I had a kid who was just starting to skate I would sit him down and make him watch every Richard Park shift. If the kid acted up I would make him watch the rest of the games as punishment.

Reason for jumping on the Islander bandwagon:
Team can't get any worse from here. Tavares, Okposo and Bailey will be future stars.

Reason for avoiding this bandwagon:
They might move once their lease is up. Kansas City Islanders? Queensboro Islanders?

Old guys:
Weight is 38
Park is 33
Andy Sutton and Brendan Witt are both 34
Dwayne Roloson is 39

Young guys:
Everyone else

Tough guys:
Joel "the Wrecker" Rechlicz, Jeremy Reich and Andy Sutton hit and fight. Hopefully Reich and the Wrecker make the squad.
Brendan Witt is old school.

Interesting?:
Fan favorite Tim Jackman was born in Minot, ND, the same town as Josh Duhamel, the guy from Transformers who is dating/married to Fergie.

Sneaky cool part of last year's training camp for the 2Man:
Nursing a hangover in the rink and having Eric Cairns come sit next to us to ask us about our night. All Scotty wanted to do was say, "who cares what bar we ended up at! Tell us about beating up Shayne Corson"

Nostalgia:
Garth Snow is the GM, Bryan Trottier, Ken Morrow, Dean Chynoweth, Mike Dunham, Eric Carins, and Steve Webb all have various roles in the organization. Somehow Scott Lachance is a scout for the Devils.

NHL 94 players:
Pierre Turgeon, Benoit Hogue and Steve Thomas up front
Vladimir Malakhov and Darius Kasparaitis on D and Glenn Healy in net.
David Volek was rated a 60 while his helmet tallied a 98.

YouTube:
The single greatest interview icebreaker in the history of tv. Seriously, the next time you are nervous at an interview or something just imagine your future boss hatching out of a garbage can.



- Nemmy