Yes! Islanders

There is a coaching search underway right now that has nothing to do with the New York Islanders, yet the location of this search has at least tangentially drawn them in.

The University of Maine has been without a head coach since firing Tim Whitefield in April and naming associate coach Bob Corkum as interim coach. Maine, many Islanders fans recognize, is the alma mater of three particularly important people steering the Islanders and their young players: General manager Garth Snow, head coach Jack Capuano and Bridgeport Sound Tigers head coach Scott Pellerin.

The New York Islanders announced another low-on-the-radar signing today that may have you asking yourself, "Who?" As is typical in these late-bloomer additions to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, his history and path to the pros is an adventurous one.

The signing is Chris Bruton, who is essentially an undersized AHL fighter with some modest hockey skill. (See his ample fight card at hockeyfights.com, going back to Spokane in the WHL.)

But he gets a two-way contract -- i.e., an NHL deal -- so he at least potentially could see time with the big club. This is part of the annual rotation of muscle guys we see in the AHL, with some of them receiving that added carrot of a two-way deal.

Another depth transaction for the New York Islanders this early in the off season as they announced today that forward Chris Bruton has agreed to a one-year, two-way contract. You wanted toughness? How's 134 penalty minutes with a plus-2 rating? Bruton played 69 games with the AHL's Peoria Rivermen last season earning 10 points. He is only 26-years-old, but it looks like his nose has been around for much longer. On the plus side, Chris was the captain of the 2007-2008 Spokane chiefs who won the 2008 Memorial Cup. Welcome aboard Chris Bruton

We're about to begin our annual player report cards, draft profiles, and other off-season Big Question fare. But before we get to that we'll put the playoffs to bed with one last review, hopefully benefiting from a week to digest the proceedings.

Well – the news gets less and less from Islander Country as the playoffs drag on.  Now – it is the task of rating the boys, as well as determining the direction of the team for the future.

Over the next few weeks, we will begin to review every player that donned a blue and orange sweater this season.  All four of the writers will add a grade, this way, we can compare and contrast.

What we will do, is one of us will do the leg work on each player, and give a grade.  Then the others will add their commentary and grade the player.  At the end, we will do the coaches and management, and then start to look at the players that we think will be available to the team when the Isles draft (around 15-18).

The Islanders official site focuses on the playoff appearance to say the future is bright, while at the end of last week they were highlighting waiver-infused competition for roster spots during the season.

In the semifinal at the IIHF World Championship, Nino Niederreiter scored the only goal the Swiss needed in a 3-0 defeat of the U.S., meaning Switzerland will win a medal at the World Championship for the first time in 60 years.

Niederreiter also assisted on the empty net goal that made it 3-0.

The gold medal game is Sunday against Sweden, who defeated Finland in the other semifinal. The Finns will play the U.S. for bronze.

In the category of "news I was not expecting to hear this summer, but particularly not on May 17," we have this:

The New York Islanders announced today that forward Eric Boulton has agreed to terms on a one-year contract.

We've had some technical hiccups over the last few days (particularly for logged-in users), so apologies to readers and regular commenters if things haven't worked as well. There is some technical jargon to explain that, but then there is hockey. Hockey is more interesting.

Congratulations to Matt Moulson, for being nominated for the second straight year for the Lady Byng trophy.  Patrick Kane and Martin St. Louis are nominated for the award which will be announced during the Stanley Cup Finals.

He only had four penalty minutes in 47 games this season.  The least among the top 50 scores in the NHL this season.

Hopefully, the silverware will be heading to New York for #26. 

Great stuff!

HockeyBuzz.com - Dee Karl - Nabokov vs. The Media

The video looks a lot different from where I was standing.
hmmm.... I guess it's just me.

Before (or early in) each playoff series we like to poll Lighthouse Hockey readers for their picks, comments and analysis on the matchup.

Of course, as the playoffs continue on, inevitably teams who draw our hatred meet up. This series may be one of those situations. There is little to like here for the Islanders fan. So maybe we best just show this (try to ignore #26):

and this:

I thought this ESPN article was awesome because of how anonymously sourced it was (welcome to the 21st century media age; no one speaks on the record, but they would like a "these people said" word with you).

But also because of this (emphasis mine):

That source said sacrificing revenue on those six games at Nassau, which is expected to hold a capacity of 13,000 fans after renovations, is a major concern.

Barclays Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets, is fitted to seat 14,500. Nassau, currently the oldest arena in the league, seats 17,686.

Matt Moulson is a finalist for the Lady Byng trophy for the second season in a row.

The award annually honors players who are good at hockey and remarkably tolerant of tools who are not good at hockey doing stupid things to try to get such players to be less good at hockey. But these finalists, they look the other way while Otts ott and Cookes cooke.

Er, officially the award is for the player "adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability."

If you haven't heard, the reports that first surfaced last month are now officially announced: The New York Islanders will indeed play an outdoor game, 7:30 p.m. EST on Jan. 29 at Yankee Stadium against the New York Rangers. That will be three days after the Rangers face the New Jersey Devils in the same venue.

I am not sure if this was written about here, and I apologize to Gary if he did bring it up, but I just finished a book that I’d like to strongly recommend any Islander fan read. It might be a little tough right after having lost to the Penguins and now being out of the playoffs, yet it also might also help you feel better as an Islander fan and really ignore that sense of pride in the organization.

The book was written by, Greg Prato and came out last fall. It’s called, “Dynasty –the Oral History of the New York Islanders – 1972-1984″. It contains interviews with many players and people surrounding the early years of the team going back to its creation and recounting the championship years up to the end of the “drive for five” season of 1983-1984.

Re-Print of the NHL's Press announcement concerning Tri-State Areas teams playing outdoors this January. Presented without comment.

----------

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / MAY 15, 2013 

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE TO PLAY A TWIN BILL AT YANKEE STADIUM 

Yankee Stadium to Host Two Games as Part of the 2014 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series™

New York Rangers at New Jersey Devils, Sunday, Jan. 26 at 12:30 p.m. ET 

New York Rangers at New York Islanders, Wednesday, Jan. 29 at 7:30 p.m. ET 

Life is returning to normal – after the great playoff run and series against Pittsburgh.  The loss is still hard to take, but the pain is gone.  Life is slowing returning to its normal routine.

Well – sort of.

As for me – I started a new journey today.  This morning, I began a liquid diet in advance of bariatric surgery that I am having two weeks from today.  It is journey that will help me lose a great deal of weight, and allow me to live a healthier life. 

HockeyBuzz.com - Dee Karl - Isles: No Longer The Lost Boys - Cizikas

First time in five years I went to breakdown day and didn't actually like -- break down.