Consistently Inconsistent

Today, the Isles team practice should have been an urgent way for them to correct their unstable defensive struggles.  Looks like they were tweaking their offensive formations, which were lost, then found over the last two games.

Forwards:  Grabner-Tavares-Okposo; Bailey-Nielsen-Bouchard-Nelson; Moulson-Regin-Clutterbuck; Martin-Cizikas-McDonald-Boulton.

Have to agree with Daniel Friedman when he commented, "why break up the Bailey-Nielsen-Grabner line that had played so well? Mind-boggling. Absolutely mind-boggling."  Coach Capuano is fond of switching up lines when cold streaks happen.  I am not sure it is a sound thing to do with Bailey-Nielsen-Grabner though.  They have a combined 18 points.  Lets hope its just an exercise for practice.

Per Arthur Staple, "Radek Martinek on the ice with Isles today at practice. Still unsigned, except for the waiver he inked to be out here today."  I wonder if he is there to even out a practice line or there is something in the works.

Your 2-2-1 New York Islanders will face Buffalo on Tuesday, Edmonton on Thursday and Carolina on Saturday, all are home games & will start @ 7pm.  They need to turn things around and home would be a good place to do that.  Take that opportunity this week and work at some real consistency.

Oct 12, vs Predators

Forwards:  Moulson-Tavares-Okposo, Bailey-Nielsen-Grabner, Nelson-Regin-Clutterbuck, Martin-Cizikas-McDonald.

D-Pairings:  Hamonic-MacDonald, Visnovsky-Hickey, Carkner-Strait.

Evgeni Nabokov gets the start in net, with Kevin Poulin backing up.

Despite a sloppy effort, the Islanders once again get themselves back into the game, tied at two at the end of the second after goals from Frans Neilsen and John Tavares.  They continued to have issues and fell to Nashville by the score of 3-2.  The Isles offense was simple derailed and the team looked lost out there.  That's 35 shots on goal for the Isles in a pair of ugly loses over the weekend. 

Oct 11, vs Blackhawks

Forwards:  Moulson-Tavares-Okposo, Nielsen-Bailey-Grabner, Bouchard-Regin-Clutterbuck, Martin-Cizikas-McDonald.

D-Pairings:  Strait-Donovan, MacDonald-Hamonic, Hickey-Visnovsky.

Kevin Poulin gets first start in goal, with Evgeni Nabokov backing up.

The Isles fell behind, but managed to fight their way back into the game off goals from Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey just :49 seconds apart in the first period to tie the game at 2-2.  Kevin Poulin settled down and made 25 saves after falling behind early in his first start of the season, that turned out to be a 3-2 loss.  John Tavares said, "We got a couple of big goals there to get us back in the game and we weren't able to sustain that into the second period," Tavares said. "We've got to keep on generating opportunities."  I thought Peter Regin continued to do good things while the recently clutch Matt Donovan struggled with Brian Strait on defense.

The Islanders activated forward Cal Clutterbuck from injured reserve to play in the game.

Oct 8, vs Coyotes

Forwards:  Moulson-Tavares-Okposo; Bailey-Nielsen-Grabner; Nelson-Regin-Bouchard; Martin-Cizikas-McDonald.

D-Pairings:  MacDonald-Hamonic; Visnovsky-Hickey; Strait-Donovan.

Evgeni Nabokov got the start and Kevin Poulin was backing up.

Your New York Islanders faced the Phoenix Coyotes in what would be their most complete effort of the young season in a 6-1 win.  Peter Regin, John Tavares (2), Matt Donovan (first career NHL goal), Colin McDonald and Josh Bailey all scored for the Isles.  The most impressive part of the sustained and balanced offensive attack was watching the perfect passing and aggressive style of play New York brought to the game.  They were dialed in played a consistent game while frustrating and dominating their opponent.  Evgeni Nabokov was good with 33 saves and a .971 Sv%.

It was another strong effort by John Tavares, Peter Regin, Matt Donovan and Evgeni Nabokov.

Per Arthur Staple, " Isles 2-0-1 start best since 3-0-0 opening to 2001-02 season."

Per Chris Triantafilis, "Michael Grabner had 5 assists in 2013. He has 4 assists through three games in 2013-14."

****

When I thanked some of those writers who have been a big help to me, I was sure I left off a few of them.  One I know I forgot is Kevin Schultz from IPB.  Kevin has linked my blog and mentioned it several times in his articles.  With the kind of traffic IPB gets, that makes a difference to KoC. 

Thanks Kevin!

# Give Knight of Cups a "Like," won't you? #

Isles Notes:

The Islanders returned D Griffin Reinhart to Edmonton of WHL.

Isles F, Frans Nielsen was been fined $5,000 for a slash on Coyotes Martin Hanzal.

The first meeting of the season for the Islanders Booster Club will be Wednesday, October 23rd at 7 PM at the Marriott Amphitheater.  The guest will be Islanders F, Matt Martin.

Former Isles Martin Biron & Arron Asham were placed on waivers today by New York Rangers.

Per @Mc79hockey,"Sportsnet just listed Rick DiPietro as an option for the Oilers."

Sound Tigers Notes:

On October 9th, the Islanders sent Kabanov to the Stockton Thunder of the ECHL after he was late to a team practice.

Per Arthur Staple, "Been told the Kabanov demotion is not a punishment, just trying to get him more minutes. Hadn't earned top-six role in BPT."

Isles Get 3 Out Of 4

Your New York Islanders would open the 2013-14 season with a pair of Metropolitan division opponents.  There were some good things and some not-so-good things to see in both games.  They managed to accrue 3 out of a possible 4 points in games that they did not play their best hockey.  Lets hope they get dialed in soon.

 

On Friday, The Isles met the Devils at the Prudential Center for a high speed back and forth contest that would require a shoot-out to sort things out.  The Isles started out playing a very sloppy game, but tightened up more in the second period.  Michael Grabner scored a pair of goals and Frans Nielsen got the go ahead score before the Devils scored again to force O.T.  Secondary scoring came up big when the top line faltered.  The Islanders needed to bring a far more physical game, especially in their own zone.  N.J. was to comfortable in the Isles crease all night long.  With both teams awarded a loser point, the winners point was up for grabs.  Matt Moulson scored in the sixth round to give the Isles the win, 4-3 (S.O.).

 

 

Evgeni Nabokov (26/29 and 6/6 in S.O.) outlasted Martin Brodeur to get his 336th career win, good enough for 18th on the all-time list.  He was the difference maker for N.Y. in the game.  Brock Nelson played in his first NHL game and Matt Donovan recorded his first career NHL point.  The Isles were 0/2 on the PP.

 

Forwards:  Moulson-Tavares-Okposo; Bailey-Nielsen-Grabner; Nelson-Regin-Bouchard; Martin-Cizikas-McDonald.

 

D-Pairings:  MacDonald-Hamonic; Visnovsky-Hickey; Strait-Donovan.

 

Evgeni Nabokov got the start and Kevin Poulin was backing up.

 

The line up would remain the same in the home opener vs. Columbus. 

 Section 329, the Blue & Orange Army were among the thousands of fans tailgating before the game.

 Pregame theatrics as the Isles took the ice.

On Saturday, the Isles met the Columbus Bluejackets at the NVMC going full speed.  They were aggressive, physical and checking hard in both zones.  All the things they weren't doing enough in N.J. Despite how hard they worked, they weren't able to break through Bobrovsky and dominating a 0-0 game keeps the opponent in the game.  They seemed far too concerned with getting cute with the pass and trying to set up the pretty play.  In the second period, the Isles continue to work hard and got goals from Visnovsky (Nielsen & Tavares) and Moulson (Tavares) to take a 2-0 lead. 

 

 

 

Visnovsky showed a lot of poise, especially as a leader on the PP.  Kyle Okposo worked hard and fought to make things happen in both zones.  The team seemed to be more focused on blocking shots.  Matt Donovan had another quiet, but quality effort on the blue line, as did, Thomas Hickey.  Evgeni Nabokov continued to give the Isles a chance to win.  He was solid in net.

Columbus crawled back into the game off a PP goal from a bogus call on Lubo and a miscue by Regin in front of his own net.  I thought Regin played pretty well up to that point, but mistakes are what you are remembered for.  The Isles went on to O.T. and the shoot-out for the second game in a row.  This time, they would lose out on the forth points and fall to Columbus 3-2 (S.O.)

The Isles renewed a familiar, but painful shortcoming in their game.  Giving up a lead and falling short in the game.  Per islandanders.nhl.com, Coach Capuano said, “I was a little disappointed in the third period.” He added, “Things were going well until they ramped it up and we didn't respond collectively as a group the way we needed to.”

 

The Islanders just need to hit their opponents, clear their end, focus on their game and fore-check hard in both zones.  When they do this, they are very hard to beat.

 

 

 

 

The Islanders are home on Tuesday, 10/8 vs Phoenix @ 7pm and away on Friday, Oct/11 at Chicago @ 8pm and Saturday 10/12 at Nashville @8pm. 

I will be working Comic Con in NYC this week, so I will have to catch up with Isles news next week.

Thanks,

 

Joe

Sound Tigers Notes:

 

Christopher Bruton, "Honored and humbled to be named captain of such a great hard working team!"

The Night Before The Storm & Thanks To My Mentors & Readers

Tomorrow is the opening game of the 2013-14 for your New York Islanders.  On Saturday, they host their first home game of the campaign.  I hope to be in attendance combing the parking lot among the greatest sports fans in the world, saying hello and renewing war stories.

This season, KoC has more than doubled its reach and has grown as a blog despite personal setbacks thrown my way.  If you keep coming to KoC, the least I can do is push on and keep doing what I love.  That's reporting on my favorite childhood team in the most comprehensive and honest way I can.  I try and keep a positive outlook, but have never held back when I felt a criticism should be made.

By reaching out in a personal way, B.D. Gallof, Dominik, Dee Karl and Tony Stabile have all contributed to my efforts to maintain an Isles blog.  In addition, I received support from several great Isles fan groups on Facebook and Google.

Knight of Cups will continue to be my source to share everything that I learn and feel is true on the Islanders.
 

 

Thank You,

Joe

 

 

 

 

Look up these Isles social groups on Facebook:

 

Blue and Orange Army

New York Islanders Hardcore

This is Islander Country

New York Islanders Fan Club

Islanders Memes

Islander Revolution

Real Islander Fans

All Things Islanders

Islanders Fans In Brooklyn

Lets Go Islanders

NY Islander Fanatics

Islander Mania

Look up these Isles social groups on Google:


New York Islanders Fans General

New York Islanders Fan Talk



Look for these social Groups on Google:


NHL

All Sports For All People

 

Here are a few new team notes before opening day against the Devils tomorrow:

 

Forwards:  Moulson-Tavares-Okposo; Grabner-Nielsen-Bailey; Clutterbuck-Cizikas-Regin-Bouchard; Martin-Nelson-McDonald-Boulton.

D-Pairings:  MacDonald-Hamonic; Hickey-Visnovsky; Strait-Donovan; Reinhart-Carkner.

Isles will have Kyle Okposo and Andrew MacDonald as alternate captains for this season.

 

PP units:  1st -- Moulson-Tavares-Nielsen-Okposo-Visnovsky; 2nd -- Bailey-Martin-McDonald-Bouchard-Donovan.

Travis Hamonic is back in full team practice with the Isles.

 

Injured forward, Cal Clutterbuck was back practicing with team today in a black-no contact jersey.  Seeing Clutterbuck on the ice with his team today is far earlier than expected it would take recovering from his injury.

 

 

Isles Notes:

 

Per Chris Botta, Brett Yormark:

 

* "Our goal is to maintain 50% of that base, bring it to Bklyn and grow what we have in Bklyn.

 

* Primary islanders jerseys will be blue and orange in brooklyn. Isles fans on Twitter changed his thinking on drastically changing primary jersey. Third jersey will speak to borough (black and white). Looking forward to a great season.

* Isles sold more than 3,000 new season tickets for 2013-14.

Per NYI, "Definitely not a bad way to start off his season - Isles 2013 1st round pick, @rpulock2 tallied 2G & 2A for the @bdnwheatkings last night!"

Isles SOCIAL MEDIA TICKET DISCOUNT! Head here, type in the special code: "ISLES" & save! Tix start at just $23!


Help make Back for More @NYIslanders Anthem!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhKNuoaGHO0 … … … … … … … … … #Isles #believe #STRONGisland @FFDP

 

 

Sound Tigers Notes:

BST announce their 25 man regular season roster here.   

 

2013-14 KoC New York Islanders Season Preview

The Islanders trimmed their roster today after their two split squad victories in Ontario Canada against the Senators Sunday night.  The players returned were those projected to play primary roles on the Isles AHL affiliate, Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

Although some of the prospects and players sent down to Bridgeport may return to the NHL due to call up, others had a chance to showcase their skill sets and may have been paired against NHL level opposition.  Several things seen by Isles management and coaching have given the Islanders a picture of their present and future for the 2013-14 NHL season.

 

Your New York Islanders announced that 15 players have been sent down to their AHL affiliate. The Islanders also released four players were also released from pto's and returned one player to juniors.

 

Per islanders.nhl.com, forwards, Chris Bruton, Joe Diamond, Brett Gallant, Mike Halmo, Kirill Kabanov, Anders Lee, John Persson, Alan Quine, Ryan Strome and Johan Sundstrom. Returned defensemen include, Calvin de Haan, Scott Mayfield and Aaron Ness have been sent down to the BST.

The Goaltender to be returned to the BST was Anders Nilsson and defenseman Joe Finley cleared waivers and joined Bridgeport.

 

Justin Johnson, Ken Reiter and Riley Wetmore were released from pto's and ato's and will report to the BST camp resuming Oct. 1.

Defensive prospect, Ryan Pulock will rejoin the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL.

D, Radek Martinek  was released from his professional tryout agreement.

 

###

Per islanders.nhl.com, The New York Islanders announced their 2013-14, 23-man roster today for the upcoming NHL season. The lineup includes 13 forwards, 8 defensemen and 2 goalies.

 

 

 

Forwards

Josh Bailey                                     Arrive as leader, primary goal scorer and stay that way.
Pierre-Marc Bouchard                    Prove has more than potential, especially with line mates.
Eric Boulton                                   Suited for low minutes in the right situation, not be liability.
Casey Cizikas                                Bobby Nystrom, John Tonelli, Bob Bourne and awesome.
Michael Grabner                            Speed generates, finish and open offense up immediately.
Matt Martin                                     Lead, vison, hands and toughness - keep hitting.
Colin McDonald                             Full speed and recklessly will things to happen.
Matt Moulson                                 Contract year, keep showing why and respect will come.
Brock Nelson                                 Exciting opportunity to become all around scoring threat.
Frans Nielsen                               Calm, efficient leader. Off. & Def. asset. Shoot out.
Kyle Okposo                                 Mean, skilled, scorer able to change flow. Stay that way.
Peter Regin                                   Prove he can hang with Frans, must make an impact.
John Tavares                                50 goals and a hart trophy, JT is on a mission.

Defensemen
Matt Carkner                                Tough and intimidating in the right place, but weak on D, liability.
Matt Donovan                               Excited to see his improvement continue, feel he's the real deal.
Travis Hamonic                            Our anchor on D, continues to improve and lead by example.
Thomas Hickey                            Showed skill last year, but will have to raise his game to stick.
Andrew MacDonald                     Lead by example, outworks opponent, must do w/o Hammer.
Griffin Reinhart                            Has 9 games to prove he has potential he was selected for.
Brian Strait                                  Play the gritty shut down role and earn blue collar minutes.
Lubomir Visnovsky                     Take over for Streit, score points and lead by example, PP/PK.

Goalies
Evgeni Nabokov
Kevin Poulin

At age 38, Nabokov isn't the goaltender to lead the Isles into the future.  He is a good goaltender who plays a steady and reliable game.  His meltdown in the playoffs last year leaves a big "what if" in the minds of hockey people when they try and access the Isles chance for success in the playoffs this season.  I think that with a better team in front of him and hopefully, a higher finish, the Isles can get out of the first round with Nabby.

 

Kevin Poulin is a talented prospect with flashes of serious skill.  I don't know if he has progressed enough in my mind to bank on him as the future number 1 for the Islanders, but he should and will be given the chance to gain experience as a back up and wait for his opportunity to step up when called upon.  I hold a lot of hope for the current Isles team, so I need their net minders to be the best they can be in the cage.  I will be cheering for Poulin all season long.

 

Injured Reserve
Cal Clutterbuck            Needs to bring leadership, grit and energy while scoring a few.

Looking in

Ryan Strome
Johan Sundstrom
Kirill Kabanov
Riley Wetmore
Calvin deHaan
Aaron Ness
Anders Nilsson

I think the Isles will finish 3rd in the Metropolitan division.

 

1.Pittsburgh

2.Washington

3.Islanders

4.NYR

5.Columbus

6.Carolina

7.New Jersey

8.Philadelphia

I think they can finish 4th in the conference (if goaltending is there) and make it to the second round of the playoffs.

 

 

 

 

My x-factor is if the coaching staff will be able to truly focus their team and get consistency from their players.  When they get out of their rhythm and struggle in any of these areas, they become distracted and aren't very reliable.  When they play at a high level and fore check, finish hits and play their game, they can be world beaters. 

The Isles game got a good work out in the preseason.  They went through some droughts, retooled and corrected the offensive and defensive issues.  The PP & PK were also working pretty well.  In the upcoming season, I think they will be able to score goals with their depth and have a pretty good results with their special teams.  Goaltending will be their tell tale destiny and how well the younger defense gels in front of it. 

Rumors of less waiver activity and casual interest at trades mean Snow will once again stick with his plan that continues to roll well, but at a slower pace than some have patience for.  I still believe the rebuild is working well with all the depth and skill in the system.  The results need to continue this season and the Isles need to improve their value in the standings and bring playoffs success.

 

 

Isles Notes:

Per Arthur Staple," Would seem that Isles are treating Hamonic for possible concussion, but not believed to be anything long-term."

 

Per Brett Cyrgalis, "Word on Travis Hamonic's shoulder is that he's seeing a doctor tonight, word to come tmrw. He was hit in 1st pd on Sunday, did not return.

 

Per Arthur Staple, "Isles front office had long debate about whether to keep Ryan Pulock for 9-gm look. Opened some eyes with his training camp."

The Islanders will open the season in New Jersey on Friday, 10/4 @7pm.  Their home opener is on Saturday, 10/5 @7pm vs the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Help make Back for More @NYIslanders Anthem!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhKNuoaGHO0 … … … … … … … … … #Isles #believe #STRONGisland @FFDP

 

NHL Notes:

 

Hybrid icing approved by players, will be in effect for 2013-14 season.   cbsprt.co/19j3izg

Islanders Split A Pair Of W's In Ottawa

On Sunday night, your New York Islanders were at the BMC & CTC to meet the Ottawa Senators in two split squad games to finish their pre season schedule.  Here is what occurred.

 

 

Barrie, Ont.

Kyle Okposo oppened the scoring for N.Y. while Johan Sundstrom and Justin Johnson opened a 3-0 lead for the Islanders over Ottawa.  In the second, Sundstrom scored again to increase the Isles lead to 4-1.  Anders Nilsson (15/16) was relieved by Kevin Poulin in net.  John Tavares made in 5-1 in the opening minutes of the third period.  Final at Barrie Molson Centre., 5-2, Islanders split squad win!  Isles outshoot Ottawa 36-32.

Travis Hamonic is injured and leaves the ice for the dressing room with no news on his injury.

Forwards
26 Matt Moulson – 91 John Tavares – 21 Kyle Okposo
40 Michael Grabner – 51 Frans Nielsen – 12 Josh Bailey
56 John Persson – 28 Johan Sundstrom – 64 Joe Diamond
59 Brett Gallant – 10 Alan Quine – 49 Justin Johnson

Defensemen
14 Thomas Hickey – 11 Lubomir Visnovsky
44 Calvin de Haan – 3 Travis Hamonic
52 Joe Finley – 42 Scott Mayfield

Goaltenders
45 Anders Nilsson
60 Kevin Poulin

Ottawa, Ont.

Kirill Kabanov dangles the entire Sens team to set up Riley Wetmore to open the scoring, 1-0 Isles. 

Ryan Strome adds to the lead to make it 2-0.  Evgeni Nabokov (14/15) is bumped in his crease, but is later cleared to resume action by the Isles trainer.  Ken Reiter (11/11) takes over in a scheduled change to begin the 3rd period and looks good for the Isles.  Ryan Pulock and Brock Nelson add to the lead for a 4-1 Isles split squad win at the Canadian Tire Centre.

Forwards
29 Brock Nelson – 16 Peter Regin – 96 Pierre-Marc Bouchard
17 Matt Martin – 53 Casey Cizikas – 13 Colin McDonald
18 Ryan Strome – 61 Riley Wetmore – 27 Anders Lee
77 Kirill Kabanov – 38 Chris Bruton – 36 Eric Boulton

Defensemen
8 Griffin Reinhart – 7 Matt Carkner
37 Brian Strait – 46 Matt Donovan
55 Aaron Ness – 6 Ryan Pulock

Goaltenders
20 Evgeni Nabokov
35 Ken Reiter

 

Erick Hornick adds, " Isles swept 2 from Ottawa Sun. 5 diff former NYI 1st rd picks scored for Isles: Okposo, Tavares, Nelson, Strome & Pulock." 

 

The Isles pull the nose up and finish preseason with a .500 record that incorporated two split squad series of games.  Lets hope they built up confidence and added to their chemistry throughout their system.

Isles Notes:  Help make Back for More @NYIslanders Anthem!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhKNuoaGHO0 … … … … … … … … … #Isles #believe #STRONGisland @FFDP