SB Nation - Rick DiPietro

DiPietro to resume practice with the Islanders

Dominik — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:23:57 -0000

"Rick has followed the protocol for his rehabilitation diligently. He experienced tightness and discomfort in his leg during the Bridgeport game on Friday, Dec. 11, and we felt it was in his best interest to sit out the rest of the game. He will resume practicing with the Islanders beginning next week and we will continue to be cautious and look at his recuperation as a long term process."

>>Team statement from Garth Snow

I've mentioned a few times that I'm not a big fan of following each Rick DiPietro rehab up and down with baited breath, but I figured I should put this up here. (Hey, particularly for our goaltender of the decade.)

As I understand the CBA and terms of a "conditioning loan" to the AHL (which "shall not extend for more than fourteen days" per section 13.8), the Islanders had to make some sort of decision on DiPietro regardless of the fact that new "discomfort" caused him to skip his third rehab start. Bringing him back to practice with the big club (while still on IR) is such a decision. Considering the new "discomfort," I don't believe this prevents another conditioning stint later on, but correct me if you understand that differently. (The CBA's "insides were a rocky place, where my [reason] could find no purchase.")

The words "cautious" and seeing recuperation "as a long term process" tell me they're in no hurry to put him in a game, thankfully, but it's always hard to replicate game conditions when you're the third wheel no matter which team you're assigned to. Figuring out when he'll be "game ready" will always be dicey. So his next step and timing after the holiday roster freeze (Dec. 19 - 27) remains a toss-up. Same as it ever was.

Islanders All-Decade Team: The goalies

Dominik — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:40:47 -0000

More photos » by Douglas Healey - AP

Rick DiPietro's long, strange 2000s trip begins and ends in Bridgeport*. >>*alright, technically 2000-01 was with IHL Chicago, but still: poetic license and all that.

Browse more photos »

Note: The "aughts," a regrettable hockey decade in many ways, are coming to a close. Sure, sets of 10 begin with one, not zero -- but picking a starting point when marking time is a subjective human pursuit, like picking your favorite player. We don't call the avocado green appliance decade "the '70s plus 1980," so we're not going to pretend the aughts continue past the fast-approaching Dec. 31, 2009. With that in mind, we'll close out the year by picking our Islanders All-Decade Team. It's a little bit sorrow, a little bit nostalgia, a little bit regret, and a little bit hope.

With five more wins, Dwayne Roloson will become the fourth-winningest Islanders goaltender of the decade.

That speaks not so much to a goalie merry-go-round as to the prominence of three guys: A "15-year" guy whose acquisition defined Mike Milbury decision-making, a future GM who's determined to avoid Milbury's mistakes, and a supposed future Hall of Fame waiver claim whose hot-and-cold 103 games in Orange and Blue was symptomatic of his NHL career.

A poll, and a little more about these guys, after the jump. We'll be tallying votes, but in the comments you can elaborate on your 2000s memories, or even pick who you'd have as backup and third-stringer on the all-decade team.

Rk	Player	From	To	GP	MIN	W	L	T/OT	PTS	PTS%	SO	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%
1	Rick DiPietro	2001	2009	273	15674	117	112	29	263	0.51	14	729	2.79	7681	6952	.905
2	Garth Snow	2002	2006	127	6718	44	52	13	101	0.463	4	309	2.76	3196	2887	.903
3	Chris Osgood	2002	2003	103	5736	49	39	10	108	0.551	6	253	2.65	2639	2386	.904
4	Joey MacDonald	2008	2009	51	2912	14	27	7	35	0.365	1	163	3.36	1657	1494	.902
5	John Vanbiesbrouck	2001	2001	44	2390	10	25	5	25	0.313	1	120	3.01	1177	1057	.898
6	Wade Dubielewicz	2004	2008	37	1926	16	13	2	34	0.548	0	82	2.55	1020	938	.920
7	Yann Danis	2009	2009	31	1760	10	17	3	23	0.383	2	84	2.86	933	849	.910
8	Dwayne Roloson	2010	2010	22	1301	11	5	5	27	0.643	0	63	2.91	688	625	.908
9	Wade Flaherty	2001	2001	20	1017	6	10	0	12	0.375	1	56	3.3	470	414	.881
10	Mike Dunham	2007	2007	19	979	4	10	3	11	0.324	0	61	3.74	552	491	.889
11	Martin Biron	2010	2010	15	830	2	9	2	6	0.231	1	46	3.33	450	404	.898
12	Chris Terreri	2001	2001	8	443	2	4	1	5	0.357	0	18	2.44	205	187	.912
13	Peter Mannino	2009	2009	3	133	1	1	0	2	0.5	0	10	4.51	87	77	.885

This data is from Hockey-Reference.com, and the goalies are listed by games played between the 2000-01 season and 2009-10. The years in the "from/to" columns denote the calendar year in which a season ended. (Yes, I left off the last half of the 1999-2000 season; like I said, human markers of time are as subjective as "player X was bad in November but December magically made it all better.")

Rick DiPietro's save percentage includes his developing-on-the-fly years as well as his playing-while-hurt figures from after the 2008 All-Star break. 2006-07's .919 was his high mark, and he was carrying that same form under Ted Nolan into 2007-08 until ... well, you know.

Chris Osgood's 103 games include that bright 32-25-6/2.50/.910 in 2001-02, as well as the 17-14-4/2.92/.894 he put up the following year, when he was dumped to the Blues for Justin Papineau and an exchange of picks that netted Jeremy Colliton. (Yes, a goaltender who would later appear in two more Stanley Cup finals was traded for Justin Papineau -- and it didn't even feel wrong at the time. This is why every "Osgood for the Hall" discussion always feels caveat-heavy unless you're an Osgood fanatic or family member.)

Garth Snow played 24 more games than Osgood, yielding a higher GAA, lower save percentage and fewer shutouts. But bigger pads. Definitely bigger pads.

Heh, Dwayne Roloson after 22 games has by far the highest win/points percentage of the lot. It will be fun to revisit this after this season's over to see where he stands. The flip-side of such small sample sizes and that particular stat: Martin Biron currently has the worst.

Outliers: The highest save percentage on this list belongs to Wade Dubielewicz, but please don't use that for your "he could have been a starter in this league!" argument. (Alright, seriously do whatever you want. This is for fun.) Breaking my plea from the previous sentence, Yann Danis' minimal sample size but lofty numbers tells me, again, that the Maple Leafs picked the wrong Islanders 2B goalie from last season. To be fair, I'm not sure if the new father Danis would've picked Leafs chaos over Lemaire safety anyway.

Your Islanders Goalie of the Decade

So this position was an easy one: For longevity, for prominence, for a star that shined the brightest, for a guy who carried this team the longest, the straight-forward pick for goaltender on the Islanders 2000s All-Decade Team is Rick DiPietro. Injuries and curious contract aside, he's been the man. It is funny, though, that the guy on this list with the most playoff wins in an Islanders uniform is actually Chris Osgood, who picked up three during that exciting 7-game playoff series with the Leafs that I'm, finally, ready to put to bed.

It's somehow fitting that the brightest star is a guy whose career now hangs at the mercy of rehabbed knees and hips; the second-busiest guy became -- overnight -- the club's scoffed-at but actually quite astute GM; while the guy with the most Isles playoff wins in the decade didn't even win a series, continued to hit rock bottom after he left the Island for Justin freaking Papineau, then resurrected his game enough to play a much-maligned role in the Red Wings winning one Cup and falling just short for a second.

If that doesn't paint a representative picture of the Islanders' curious highs and lows in the 2000s, I don't know what does. I heartily look forward to the 2000-teens, where the future looks brighter at this and every other position. Thank god.

Poll

For the Islanders 2000s All-Decade Team, your pick in goal is:

This & That: DiPietro, Brooklyn, Team USA, blowout post-mortem

Dominik — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:51:58 -0000

A few timely(ish) links about what's going on with the Islanders:

Last night was Josh Bailey's 100th NHL game. Officially, he had two hits, three attempted shots -- and still zero shots on goal, making it 23 consecutive periods.
The Isles released an statement about Rick DiPietro seeing more specialists. Worst word: "timeline." I thought Adam's take on this saga was spot on: Concise, to the point, a mix of realism and empathy. At this point (and since last spring, really), that's all we can go with.
In addition to Roloson's to-the-point observation on how no one showed up last night, Mark Streit had this: "When it's 7-1, it's tough to just turn the page." Exactly. At home, no less. For shame.
Nick goes into some interesting thought exercises on the Brooklyn buzz. [Let There be Light(house)]
For you draft dreamers: Tyler Seguin was cut from Canada's WJC camp. Taylor Hall was not.
Update: Speaking of WJC, a FanHouse profile of Isles prospect Matt Donovan.
Team USA at the Olympics: Brian Burke says there are three spots still open and about six candidates. What do you bet Kyle Okposo is one of those candidates? On the one hand, he hasn't scored in a month. On the other, he generates offense, works his butt off, and it's impossible to watch him and not think, "He could help a team in a short tourney."
Finally, an interesting look from James Mirtle that relates to the crunch of quasi-.500 teams in the dregs of the Eastern standings: "One key factor in why the bottom half of the Eastern Conference is so poor is the fact the Western Conference has been beating the tar out of the East all year."

More on that last topic as it relates to the Islanders later today...

Islanders Gameday: Home at last ... oh, but it's the Bruins

Dominik — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 18:44:01 -0000

After a run of 12 of 14 on the road, the Islanders have played the fewest home games (11) of any NHL team. Beginning tonight that changes, as the NHL decided to give them the next 10 games in the New York metro area: Eight games at home, plus two in that glitzy garden that's filled with the stench of Glen Sather's ~~strategy~~ cigars.

Boston Broons (16-9-5) at New York Islanders (11-13-7) Stan

7 p.m. EST | Nassau [gloriously unsponsored] Coliseum | MSG+, radio
Chowdahs: Stanley Cup of Chowder | Hub of Hockey | HB Adventure

Their first opponent is the Bruins, who the Islanders have outplayed in two previous meetings this year. But how have the Bruins done since the Isles cruised by them 3-1 in Boston? They've won 8 of 10. Sure, three of those were shootout "wins," but all told the B's have nabbed either a regulation win or tie in 9 of those 10 games. Doesn't sound like we'll see the same sluggish (and injury-laden) squad we saw in the first month and a half.

If you want to go further into the "different team" mode, twice in the last week the Bruins easily handled the Leafs -- who, twice in the last few weeks, outplayed the Islanders. And now it's the Islanders who are a bit banged up.

Doug Weight of course remains out for the foreseeable future. Andy Sutton, who initially looked like he might be back tonight, now sounds like a prudent scratch. (Don't mess with groin injuries, particularly on an injury-prone big man.) Minus Sutton, Jesse Joensuu enters the lineup for his season debut as the Islanders' biggest body. I'm not necessarily expecting to see a Finn Named Jesse on the powerplay, but you better believe I'll be ticked if I see Jon Sim out there instead of him. When on the extra-man unit, Sim has played the Matt Moulson role: Stand in front of the net and tip stuff. Except Moulson has been able to produce, whereas Sim's teammates hardly even send the puck his way.

Also aiding the powerplay will be a second consecutive appearance from Rob Schremp, who looked good the other night.

Lineup Shenanigans

Chris Botta projects "tentative" lines like so (below), which would be a twisted sort of awesome sauce:

Moulson - Tavares - Okposo
Sim - Nielsen - Hunter
Joensuu - Schremp - Comeau
Bailey - Thompson - Park

Of course, then there's the blueline... (I'll stop, okay, enough). I ... if Bailey is playing on the left wing "to get more ice time," I naturally don't see the fit with Thompson and Park. Either someone is confused, or someone is fibbing, or we're all just experiencing business as usual as Islanders fans. Harumph.

I do agree with Scott Gordon that Frans Nielsen is very proficient in his defensive duties -- that cannot be argued, at this point. But even I, as a registered Frans Fanboy, want to see more offense from the Dane so that I may call him Great. If that side never develops further, he becomes the top-notch third-line center that I figure he'll ultimately be, anyway. Hopefully Josh eventually develops into a #2 to be proud of. (For the record, I have lots of patience -- no panic over a 20-year-old on this front.)

If you want Bruins lines (and referees), Kevin Paul Dupont has 'em:

Wheeler-Savard-Bitz
Sturm-Bergeron-Recchi
Sobotka-Krejci-Ryder
Paille-Begin-Thornton

Keep an eye on defenseman Johnny Boychuk, who has a really nice shot and has returned after a healthy stay in the Rob Schremp Box.

In goal, Tim Thomas versus ... Dwayne Roloson, surely? Guess we'll see.

How This Game Will Go

If only I knew. But the Bruins' special teams have been hot -- the PK all year long (it's 1st overall, at a silly 86.4%), and the PP lately. Also, the Bruins win 53.6% of their faceoffs, the Islanders 48.8. Of course, the Islanders' figure is skewed by the fact they've played 20 of 31 on the road, so ... hope.

It'd be nice if the Islanders came out in Optimal Gordon Performance Mode, then earned some powerplays and converted. But the converting could be the hardest part -- surely, the Bruins have video on the last two games and know where John Tavares will be on the PP, right?

About Last Night: Not Your Average DiPietro Injury

So as has been the story since 2006, Rick DiPietro looked quite good in his second AHL Bridgeport start last night, then took himself out of the game after stopping 13 of 14 in two periods. "Unrelated" tightness? Well we'll see. Such is the mantra for his entire comeback. I'm glad he's being cautious instead of forcing things like a tough guy. But I'm not looking forward to increasing my understanding of how Thrashers fans feel with the Kari Lehtonen Experience.

Game thread as usual tonight. I will try to catch this one live, but a family gig and then the duties of holiday ~~emergency room visiting~~ light hanging may take me away. So have fun, and...

Let's. Go. Islanders.

Projecting: Three Scenarios for Rick DiPietro's Return

Dominik — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 11:15:09 -0000

More photos » by Douglas Healey - AP

Browse more photos »

So no matter what happened, there wasn't a whole lot to learn from Rick DiPietro's Bridgeport return the other night.

No surprise, though: There simply isn't a book on how an All-Star goalie plays his first competitive and healthy game in 22 months, dating back to the 2008 All-Star Game that began this series of unfortunate events. That first game is just another step.

Still, the media had to be there to see it: What if disaster strikes? What if he stands on his head? They couldn't miss that possibility, and in any case his return is an event in itself.

But now what? I like how the Islanders have handled their goaltending situation since July 1, taking no chances by bringing in both Dwayne Roloson and Martin Biron, while also being (finally) patient with DiPietro's rehab. Biron has been a pro.

Yet going forward there is a 100% chance of awkwardness. Three possible scenarios:

His next two AHL appearances go great. He's called up for the holidays. Scott Gordon figures out how to handle a three-goalie monster, and the Isles' 23-man roster remains taxed with two extra forwards, an extra goalie and bare-minimum six defensemen, until a trade is arranged.
His next two AHL appearances are so-so. But he can't "rehab" in the AHL forever. They call him up, and his first NHL start is also so-so, creating a dilemma and lots of awkwardness. The club isn't sure if it can sell off Biron just yet, but figuring that out entails more delving deeper into the awkward three-goalie rotation. Games are lost and blame is passed around.
His next two AHL appearances are awful. But he can't "rehab" in the AHL forever. The next move involves either some medical prognosis that justifies further conditioning, or they call him up and figure out how to work him in even though it appears it is far too soon. Any bad DiPietro performance raise scary questions -- even if it's a stinker that befalls even the greatest NHL goalies.

I don't envy the Islanders this dilemma. Even the best-case scenario involves fine goaltending but an awkward wait for a trade with (likely) Biron, who takes up a roster spot and whose inactivity and roster presence lowers leverage with trading partners. At some point, it could be such a distraction where Garth Snow is just happy to get any firm takers before the March trade deadline crush.

Of course there could be a perfect hybrid of the above scenarios, with a happy ending for all. From Dec. 16 through the end of January, the Islanders have 22 games in 45 days. There will be few periods in between games, and thus a lot of chances to get goalies work. Even if DiPietro returns healthy but understandably rusty, Gordon -- the former goalie -- could nimbly navigate these waters and get all three of them work while DiPietro (hopefully) sharpens his game with each appearance.

I'm not predicting disaster. But it's a unique situation, balancing three goaltenders who all have legit reason to consider themselves NHL #1s. The Islanders have danced around .500 all year long, which means normal losses may soon have a new scapegoat: "Well, it's hard when the goalies keep going in cold..." etc.

Then again, I'm getting ahead of myself. All of the above depends on something that hasn't been a certainty in nearly two years: That DiPietro gets through the next two weeks healthy and ready to go. So, one step at a time.

Bonus: Bearded Ricky's post-game interview:

Monday Links: Getting good at shootouts edition

averagejoe — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 11:00:27 -0000

Monday is here again. Back to the grind.

Blues news

The Note take on the Colorado Avalanche tonight. Unfortunately, it's at home. [CBS Sports]
The Blues are getting confident in shootouts. That's nice, but how 'bout the team wins in regulation. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

Hockey news

Red Wings and Senators won on Sunday. [Yahoo! Sports]
Lots of games on a Monday night. Way to go up against the NFL, Gary. [Yahoo! Sports]
Your standings for Monday. Although the Blues are still last in the Central, they have played two fewer games than just about everyone else. [NHL.com]
The NHL is considering renaming the post-season awards. That's a big fail. [Puck Daddy]
From CCR comes this article about Brendan Shanahan. Dude can hold a grudge. Do you think Craig Janney does? [NJ.com]
Teemu Selanne has a broken hand. [TSN]
Dan Carcillo will get four days to think about what he has done. [TSN]
Rick DiPietro allowed three goals in first action of the season in a rehab start. [ESPN]
The Thrashers future is now — and by that Scott Burnside means if they don't sign Ilya Kovalchuk, they have no future. [ESPN]
With Cam Ward coming back from injury, what happens to Manny Legace? [Canes Country]
A look at how the media views the same play. [Japers' Rink]

Other links

This is just funny. [Pic]
A year in Jesus sightings. [Buzzfeed]
If you take public transportation, you might appreciate this. [Holy Taco]

Video

It's always good when people fall down. And mess up. And are just morons.

Gametimelinks(at)gmail.com GDT tonight. Don't forget.

Lightning 4, Islanders 0: Mike Smith shuts 'em out while Rick DiPietro inches back

Dominik — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 04:36:28 -0000

More photos » by Douglas Healey - AP

Rick DiPietro's return to live action in Bridgeport ended up being far more interesting than the Islanders' performance in Tampa Bay.

Browse more photos »

Oh hockey, you beast, you giveth and you taketh away. One night you treat us to a perfectly executed, convincing win against the hottest Southeast foe. Two nights later you frustrate us with a flailing powerplay that couldn't get the puck in against a Southeast team that had lost four in a row.

Though the refs made a soft interference call to disallow what would have been the only Islanders goal, Lightning goalie Mike Smith very much earned this shutout. Though all the "intent to blow" calls lately make me wonder how the refs allowed Ryan Malone to poke the puck free from Dwayne Roloson's glove on the first goal, the Islanders very much earned this 4-0 loss.

Game Sum. | Event Sum. | Recaps: nhl.com | Isles

Final - 12.5.2009	1	2	3	Total
New York Islanders	0	0	0	0
Tampa Bay Lightning	2	0	2	4

Complete Coverage >

It wasn't that the Islanders were awful, but they were certainly out of sync. Had they faced a weaker goalie, perhaps they'd have achieved a more flattering score. Tip your hat to Smith's 30 saves -- several of them highlight reel quality -- and hope for his sake that this is a sign his pre-concussion form is attainable.

Partly thanks to Smith, and partly due to their own failings, the Islanders drew several powerplays but could not score. The first was a generous 1:21 5-on-5 that produced a few chances and a few gaffes. Shortly after that failure, Brendan Witt took a frankly stupid slashing penalty on a Martin St. Louis breakaway, and the Lightning converted on the ensuing PP to make it 2-0. To add insult, the anticipated first John Tavares-Victor Hedman meeting produced little of interest from either of them ... until Hedman finally netted his first NHL goal on a nice pinch to complete the scoring half way through the third.

The Witt Penalty

Well, there were two, but the first was another example that makes me wonder if they ever can teach this old dog new tricks. It's the new NHL -- it has been since 2006 -- and you simply cannot take free hacks at a guy on a breakaway anymore. What was worse about this one is the home run pass from Vincent Lecavalier was bouncing, so St. Louis had to chase it off to the side, in a far from ideal shooting position. So not only did Witt take a sure-penalty slash on a guy, he took it on a guy who was now in a low-percentage shooting position. And the slash, incidentally, did nothing to weaken the scoring chance. It's hard to unlearn old habits, I know; it's also hard to watch a guy who used to be very effective make the same avoidable mistakes.

The Bergenheim/Nielsen/Hunter Line

Thursday they were heroes for shutting down Kovalchuk and company, tonight Sean Bergenheim, Trent Hunter and Frans Nielsen were each minus-2. [UPDATE: No, no they weren't. As our emerging eagle-eye commenter BenHasna pointed out, the NHL game sheet had it wrong yet again. This line wasn't on for goal #4, but rather Witt and Jackman and friends were. Question everything.] But they didn't have awful nights; they produced some of the Islanders' better scoring chances, with 8 shots between them. (Hunter's first-period blast even cracked the glass behind Mike Smith.) But no one looks good in a 4-0 shutout.

The 2009 Draft Matchup

Well, this angle was a dud. Eighteen-year-olds playing night after night in the NHL will have their anonymous nights, and tonight was no different for Tavares and almost for Hedman. If I were watching in a vacuum, I'd have had a very hard time figuring these two guys were the two brightest stars picked last summer. Hedman's goal salvaged his night and made it memorable. But before then, he looked like a very big guy with agility and the capacity to be a pretty good defenseman.

Tavares left even less of an impression: He looked like a guy with some nice hands and moves, which only yielded a single shot tonight. (Hedman had two shots.) That's alright; even superstar veterans have quiet nights. I know both of these guys will treat us to some epic nights for many years to come.

Steve Downie: Still a Fool

Steve Downie showed nice hands scoring a powerplay goal in tight during the first period. Later, he showed the complete lack of perspective that has landed him in trouble multiple times in his checkered career. After zealously stabbing at Roloson's pads past when play was whistled dead, he received the predictable shoving response from upset Islanders defenders, including Andrew MacDonald.

Downie's Mensa response? To immediately start raining uppercuts on MacDonald, as if they were in a fight. Downie picked up the extra roughing minor, and could have drawn more for his three free shots. At every level of hockey, there's always some guys who just don't get it.

The Powerplay

It's still anemic. 0 for 5 on this night, with 7 shots on goal. In fact, the Islanders looked more dangerous at 5-on-5, which is probably why they drew so many powerplays.

* * *

Overall, a disappointing showing in what might have been quite a winnable game. Worse, a missed chance to climb a little in the standings and create some space above the Flyers, who were demolished at home by the Capitals in Peter Laviolette's Philadelphia debut.

Rick DiPietro Returns

There was a more significant event tonight, of course: Rick DiPietro's return to competitive action in Bridgeport. He let in one softie among 3 goals on 13 shots in 40 minutes of action (actually, a lot of that time there was no action). The Sound Tigers built a 3-0 lead before Springfield erased that against DiPietro. A 3rd-period surge gave Bridgeport a 7-3 win.

We'll have more on that tomorrow, but check these reports from nhl.com, Chris Botta at FanHouse (and his PB play-by-play), and Islesblogger Mike's live blog as well as his Twitter bits on the game. You know Mike Fornabaio will have more, too.

Islanders Gameday x 2: Battle for 8th, or battle for 'The Franchise?'

Dominik — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 12:00:30 -0000

There are two symbolic games for the Islanders franchise tonight, and I can't tell you with a straight face which one is more important in the big picture. One takes place in "the bigs," the real league, as the Isles visit the Lightning in a battle for the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference. But are we that vested in the playoff race at this early stage, during Year 2 of the rebuild?

The other takes place in Bridgeport, a mere AHL match -- but it happens to be Rick DiPietro's first competitive action in nearly a year. How much stock should we put in this single, minor-league performance? What if he does poorly? What if he does really well?

New York Islanders (11-10-7, 8th/E) at Tampa Bay Lightning (10-9-8, 9th/E)
7:30 EST | [dying media] Forum | MSG+2, radio
Storm-chasing electric avenue freaks: Raw Charge

The prospect of either game leaves my interest piqued -- and that's not even getting to the first NHL meeting between John Tavares and Viktor Hedman, two guys who should provide some entertaining Eastern Conference battles for years to come.

As for the here and now, the Isles are on a road trip, yes, but the Lightning were the only ones who actually had to travel last night. They just lost an absolute heartbreaker in Newark last night, giving up the winning goal in the final 40 seconds of the game after tying it up just two minutes before.

This is their first meeting of the season. The Isles were actually a healthy 3-1 against the Lightning last season, but ... remember the Lightning? They were the team that was so bad they got whichever of Hedman or Tavares we decided to leave behind.

Anyway, last year Trent Hunter was the big producer in these games, with three goals in three games. Since his father on this Islanders fathers' trip demands a goal before he'll dance -- two assists in Atlanta wouldn't do -- maybe he'll continue that success. Just 13 games into this season, he's keeping up the point-per-game pace (5-8-13).

But that's to do with the big club. Is it possible there's a more significant game happening closer to home, in Bridgeport? The AHL squad DiPietro will be backstopping did -- uh...they did not have a good night last night.

While I'll be focused on this game in Florida, I know several Isles followers will be on the scene in Bridgeport, including Islesblogger and Point Blank/AOL's Chris Botta, to see DiPietro's expected 20-30 minutes of action. Short-term, anything between a blowout to a shutout still doesn't tell us much with certainty. Long-term ... we still don't know much, but this is another big step in DiPietro's long journey back. Of course I'm hoping for the best, but I'm also relishing the fact that Dwayne Roloson is providing us some serious NHL goaltending right here, right now.

Well, whatever happens tonight in both towns, we'll have plenty to talk about afterward.

Prediction: DiPietro allows two goals, Roloson (or Biron?) allows two goals, Nifty-Niittymaki (or Smith?) allows more.

Keith joins the long contract club

James Mirtle — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:00:34 -0000

More photos » by Larry Macdougal - AP

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I think it's Duncan Keith week around here given the defensive defencemen list and his new 13-year contract. The fellows at Second City Hockey are even more excited, at least in their own way:

Keith's deal is far and away the most palatable cap hit of the three, and provided he stays healthy, we are all now likely watching the last man to ever wear #2 in the Indian Head. Given his size and the speed at which he plays the game, he could wear down toward the end of that deal, something that's not out of the question after what was shown during last year's post season run.
But overall, this is a fine deal. The only major problem with this deal is that much like Toews and Kane, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook have become inextricably linked with one another, and their play feeds from that, and Seabrook is due for a new deal at the end of next year. While it's different skill sets, it's a reasonable argument that Brent Seabrook is just as valuable to this team as Keith, and should be paid accordingly.

As a side note, it was pointed out to me on Twitter last night that Keith has the third-best plus-minus, leaguewide, over the past three years. The more you know...

As for the deal: Well, this is the territory we're in these days. Five years ago, during the lockout, Keith had a 26-point season in the minors; now he'll forever be one of the faces of the franchise for this era of the Blackhawks. Only 26, he very well could be old and somewhat grey and still in the league on this deal — and who knows what salaries (and the cap) will look like by then.

But, the more you look around, the more that's becoming the norm.

It's going to be really interesting how all of these decade-plus contracts play out long term because we've never seen such a dramatic trend toward locking up young players like this. I believe there are now eight players with 11-plus season contracts in play, a number that's going to continue to rise under this CBA:

Rick DiPietro, Alex Ovechkin, Mike Richards, Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, Marian Hossa, Roberto Luongo and Keith.

DiPietro's is already a headache for the Islanders, who are rising from the ashes of last year's last-place team with two veterans in goal. What happens when they have to move one to allow their "face of the franchise" back in the lineup? He's got $50-million remaining on his deal, all guaranteed if he can't play due to injury, and this for a team already losing buckets every season.

Will more of these deals go wrong down the line? I've asked the question before, but as great a benefit of having Keith with a low cap hit is, does that out weigh the risks?

Probably. But they're gambling on something no one can possibly control.

A few words from Snow

James Mirtle — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 15:14:00 -0000

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I had the chance to meet up with Isles GM Garth Snow briefly when they were in town, and talk about rebuilding his team with one of the true youth movements in the NHL. To my surprise, however, he wasn't all that forthcoming in talking about the "rebuilding" part of what's happening on Long Island:

"I don’t use that word rebuild. We’re trying to make the playoffs and win a Stanley Cup like every other team. We don’t go in with the mindset that losing is acceptable, and when that word is used, sometimes winning doesn’t matter. I don’t think I’ve used that word too much and if I have, it’s been very limited. We’re trying to win every hockey game we play in. The group that we have in that locker room, it may be young, but that doesn’t mean it can’t have success."

I'm sure they're sensitive in New York to the perception of how they ended up with John Tavares on the team, but that group last season was decimated by injuries and that certainly contributed to their downfall. And, anyway, as I've said before, I don't think the stigma in the league around losing to eventually win is all that merited.

Clearly the Isles are on a smarter path now than they've been for some time, and what's surprising everyone is how many games they're winning already with their young cast. It's going to be interesting what they do when Rick DiPietro comes back.