...Tuesday Tidbits...

With thoughts of Tavares dancing in our heads as fans and with all the drama surrounding the Lighthouse Project development, improbable injuries, and possible moves, this season has been anything but boring. As the team continues to take its lumps, it is evident that this year was going to be a tear down year, as all first years are in a rebuilding process. All good contractors will tell you... “ya gotta tear it down before ya can build er’ back up”!

As “trade deadline day” looms closer ever more, fan opinions seem to be flying all over the place (thoughts of Edward Scissorhands trimming the neighbours hedge keeps coming to mind) and yours truly is no different in this regards. Rumours will be the soup du jour from here on in, as trade slurps will be found on every hockey site until the clock will strike on the March 4th deadline. The closer teams get the more feverish the anticipation will become. Fans of teams that will be buyers seem to think they can get a veteran for next to nothing and fans of teams that are sellers seem to think they can get the moon for a 3rd line over priced toss away. One thing is for certain, all fans love this unofficial holiday. Hockey fans across North America will have their Computers, laptops and blackberries tuned into the various live news feeds, videos streams, or however else they can get their fix of up to date information.

Islanders fans are no different in this regards but with Comrie and Campoli already gone to other pastures, Doug Weight injured and a limited amount of healthy bodies that can at least attempt to compete at this level, the options are limited to say the least.

As most bloggers and reporters are predicting, Brendan Witt will most assuredly be the next Islander to get kicked off the Island, with opinions split down the middle on whether Guerin will be far behind?? From my point of view, there will be serious interest in the Islanders captain, so it will be interesting to see whether he decides to go or if he will inform Garth Snow that he will stay....again, time will tell.

Agree or agree to disagree with what Snow and his dwarves are doing in regards to the rebuilding of this organization, but from my perspective it was long overdue and hopefully, we are on the right path. There is still plenty to cheer about and plenty of reasons to watch the Islanders from now until the end of the season, Okposo is showing signs of coming into his own, Comeau is giving it his all, and I am really enjoying Neilsen out there, showing us why he belongs in the long term plans of this team. I will be curious to see how Hillen will play from now until season’s end.

December update on 2008 draft class...

The link below to Hockey's Future website, has a December update on the top draft picks from this past draft, along with an update on how they are doing....

http://www.hockeysfuture.com/articles/10739/islanders200809_junior_prospects_update/

For all the fanfare that the "quantity"over "quality" approach to this past year's draft, the waters are still as muddy as ever.

The boys are back in town...

FINALLY!!!....The New York Islanders are in town. I know, they may be lagging slightly behind in the standings but it will be the first time that I get to see them live this season, so I will be there with bells on. Tonight’s game will be an interesting one for sure. From the Islanders perspective, the Isles seem to be ready to start Bailey at center with Okposo and Hilbert. I will be looking forward to seeing these two youngsters together to see how they mesh. I am also primed to see Bergenheim create some havoc on the ice.

From the Senators perspective, it will be an intense one as they are on a two game losing streak and also lagging in the standings. There were quite a few blow outs at yesterday’s Senators practice...with players supposedly not putting any effort. Alfredsson busted a glass along the board and a few others got into shoving matches. After such a practice, tonight’s game will go one of two ways....a 5-0 blowout by the Sens or a 3-2 squeaker by the Isles... time will tell.

One thing is for sure, I will be there with my Isles jersey cheering them on....Let’s go Isles!!

What to do about rumours…

Hockey rumours seem to be the “soup du jour” on the net through various websites…. Innuendo simply appears to be part of the professional sports landscape in North America and I tend to not place much stock in them.

Having said all that…

Driving into work this morning while half listening to my local sports radio station (in my usual matinee fog), there was a discussion in regards to the Islanders involving the show hosts and Pierre Maguire. One of the hosts is apparently very good friends with Mike Comrie’s dad, and the host was stating that there is dissention in the room due in part to the fact that Weight and Guerin are “very” good friends with coach Gordon and that it’s causing a rift within the room...

i.e.- Comrie’s disinterested play for the most part this season…

Pierre Maguire all but confirmed this while explaining the history between Gordon, Weight and Guerin. Maguire even stated afterwards that the radio host had a very good source and should listen to it.

Needless to say, my ears tingled and my jaw simply dropped…. Could this be true??? I took the initiative to Email Chris Botta to see if he got such an impression from his extensive access to the team. His response confirmed my usual thought process towards rumours, as he stated he did not get that impression but it did not mean it was not true… Made me think that maybe he will be doing some digging on his own….Time will tell…

As most rumours, this is probably much ado about nothing, but a possible rift within the dressing room could explain why Comrie and a few others are playing like they would rather be in a Siberian prison then on the ice with an Islanders jersey this season.