An independent blog on the New York Islanders, the NHL and AHL by a guy from New York.

Sunday, October 12, 2014

A Final Homecoming & The 7th Player


Your New York Islanders returned home to face the Carolina Hurricanes for the second game of a home at home series to start the season.  Saturday's game would be the final NYI home opener at the NVMC after the team declared they would be moving to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.  The move was necessary after several attempts were blocked by the county to update the coliseum or build a new arena on its current site.  But you know all that.  You also know what happened last night, but humor me and let's talk about the memory that was made.
 

 

Forwards:  Conacher-Tavares-Okposo Grabovski-Nelson-Strome Bailey-Nielsen-Kulemin Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck.


Defensive Pairings:  Leddy-Boychuk Hickey-Hamonic Strait-Reinhart.


Chad Johnson in goal with Halak backing up.



Several players told the media that they noticed tailgaters in the parking lot when they arrived at the Coliseum in the morning.  It obviously impacted them and it showed. The team came out to start the game without individual introductions and skated to encircle the logo at center ice and saluted the crowd.  A great gesture by the team and a great way to start off the night.  The Islanders came out flying and were clearly feeding off a sold out Nassau Coliseum crowd.  Per Anthony Stabile, "Players were extremely impressed & grateful for the energetic crowd. Bailey said it's the loudest a crowd has been since the playoffs."


 

In the first period, John Tavares (Nelson & Boychuk) and Cory Conacher (Tavares & Okposo) scored for the Isles.  They would enter the second tied 2-2.  Brock Nelson (Boychuk & Okposo) and Josh Bailey (Nielsen & Kulemin) would then score to make it a 4-2 game.  The Islanders would surrender a goal late in the third, but won the game 4-3  with a strong effort.  Chad Johnson had 21 saves on the night with a .875 Sv%.


 

PK needed to improve.  At times, the unit seemed scattered and disorganized in their assignments.  That sloppiness kept Carolina in the game. Brian Strait looked especially horrible.  You may indeed see Matt Donovan get his shot against the Rangers on Tuesday.

 

Hurricanes got away with taking too many liberties against the Isles.  The physicality was matched by the Islanders whether or not a penalty was called against them.  John Tavares has instilled the attitude that disrespect would not be tolerated in game 1, and his team has clearly bought into that concept moving forward.

 

Brock Nelson is made a statement in the first two games.  He has 6 pts (3 & 3 for 6 pts.) while John Tavares & Johnny Boychuk have 5 pts, Kyle Okposo has 3, Ryan Strome & Frans Nielsen have 2 pts so far.  Six other players have a point.  Credit Josh Bailey for turning some hard work into results.  Aside from the goal, Bailey had several good defensive plays including some important clears late in the game as time expired in the third to help preserve the win.  Josh Bailey was the third star & John Tavares was first star in the game.
 



Chad Johnson gave the quote of the night to Islanders.nhl.com.  “As an opposing player you make that walk from the Marriott [to the Coliseum] and you call it the gauntlet,” he said. “You can tell the people here are really knowledgeable about hockey, they are cheering at the right moments, they aren’t just cheering to cheer.”



I had a great time tailgating with Craig Richardson and my friends in the New York Islanders Hardcore group, big supporters of KoC for quite some time.  As luck would have it, I was seated next to Paul Eggs & Chris Egbert of Real Islander Fans.  Two huge supporters of mine that I was able to talk with all game long and get to know better.  I also had the pleasure of finally meeting Kevin Judge of Bleed Orange and Blue in person, another big, long-time supporter on KoC.  The list of important people is too large to note here and please don't be offended if I didn't mention all of you by name.  I was so glad to connect with each of you and match the people with the avatars I interact with each and every day.  I was glad to get to know you a little more as people & even though we may not live close enough for many social calls, it doesn't mean we haven't shared a sacred space talking Islanders hockey for all this time.  The support I get on Facebook, Google & New York Islanders Reddit enable me to spread my message and for that I am grateful to everyone who takes time out of their day to actually read what I have posted.  I guess what I am trying to say is that it was an extra special event for me.  I know a lot of us realized that the Isles time at the NVMC started coming to a close as soon as we got to the tailgate celebrations.  We knew that all of these familiar rituals would have to change soon.  But please understand that while I am bitter about the events that created the need for the team to have to move, I'm not bitter about the team moving to the Barclays Center.  I am quite psyched they will be at a state of the art arena in Brooklyn instead of Kansas City or Quebec.   


The years and years I spent going to the old barn in Uniondale are times that will remain close to my heart.  Watching the legendary teams win 4 cups and 19 consecutive playoff series were unreal.  Coming to the Coliseum has always been special to me, but the fans I have met over that time are the real prize.  We can celebrate the final season for what it is.  The last hurrah for a storied franchise in our special place.  We look past the cracked concourse and crumbling façade and see the great moments in Islanders history.  That can never be taken away from us.  But what we can do is create new memories at a new arena in Brooklyn.  We can create new rituals with the current players on the team.  A group of guys that we have watched grow up before our eyes and hope to see progress into something special.  They are certainly off to a good start this season.


Greatest impression made on me last night about this Isles team was their character. They have it throughout the roster. From John Tavares to Kyle Okposo to Casey Cizikas. The other impression made last night, which is no less important is the amazing, passionate & deserving fan base I am a part of.  Truly, the 7th player on the ice.
 


 
I'm honored to cheer along side of all of you.


 

Isles Notes:



The Islanders meet the Rangers in MSG @ 7pm on Tuesday, 10/14, face the Sharks at home on Thursday, 10/16 and meet the Penguins on Saturday, 10/18, 7pm starts.


Former Islander, Trevor Gillies has been suspended one game by the AHL, and is investigating the incident further.  Reports of Gillies, "slamming a players to the ice," were over stated to say the least.  While Gillies has crossed the line in the past, the event in question has been exaggerated by media reports.

 
Trevor Gillies posted the following apology on his FaceBook page, "I would like to apologize to my family back home for embarrassing the family name. To my teammates and the organization and the fans in the hockey community. I crossed the line. Thankfully the kid is okay. I'm not taking this lightly or easily and promise it won't happen again. If you want to bash me I get it. I will just take my medicine with no response. Again I'm truly sorry Gillies."


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