And I Just Finally Learned How to Spell Dubielewicz...

Thanks to Greg Logan over at Newsday, we have a little pre-draft Islanders news to counter the summer doldrums. Word on the street is that the team will be parting ways with four of its UFAs - Dubie, Satan, Tank, and JoVas.

Capable backup Joey McDonald's one-way contract for next season virtually guaranteed that Dubie's days with the team were numbered. In a sense, I was a bit surprised to hear that they even made him an offer. I am and always have been a big fan of Dubielewicz, but given the circumstances of McDonald's contract this is the right decision for the team. I sense a hint of bitterness in Snow's comments - "We made a significant offer that he turned down". Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but why throw in the word significant if you're not at least a little bit upset by the situation? Then, Logan reports that Snow said of Dubie, "There wasn't much confidence from our coaching staff to play him. That's where we ran into trouble playing Ricky too many nights. We need a backup goalie our coaches will have confidence in from Day 1." It's unclear if these comments were made at the same time as the comments about the contract, or if they're just a rehash of an older statement. If the former, clearly there's some bad blood there. Let's hope not, and wish Dubie the best. He gave us a few great memories over the last couple of years.

I'm not at all surprised that Satan and Fedotenko will likely be playing elsewhere in 2008/2009. Factoring in their salaries ($4.5M, $2.9M respectively) and production (16 goals apiece), it's an easy call. Vasicek is a different story. His 16 goals and 34 points were a relative bargain at $750k for the season. Granted, he may be hoping for a nice bump next season. Still, for a team where scoring is at a premium, he added a bit of punch at a good value.

With few marquee free agents on the horizon (and little to no chance of landing the handful of big names), all of this paves the way for a youth movement. Okposo, Comeau, and Bergenheim have spots to lose, and Tambellini, Nielsen, and Walter all have legitimate shots to crack the squad. That is, assuming Snow doesn't pull a repeat of last year and fill the roster with marginal veterans through free agency. Something tells me that won't happen this year.

For a team that is essentially "buying time" until the Lighthouse Project (hopefully) materializes, this is the right approach. For the next couple of seasons, we will flesh out which of our prospects are the real deal. Then, with a new arena in place and a roster of young talent, we'll be able to better attract top UFAs and take a true step forward. At the very least, it's the start of a true "plan", something this team has been lacking for far too long.

On a personal note, thanks for all those who keep checking in to the blog periodically. Updates will likely continue to be sporadic throughout the summer, but I'll be back in full swing by the start of the season.

Stakeholders Meeting

I'm a little late posting my thoughts and reactions to last night's event at the Coliseum. Rather than rehash everything already reported by Newsday's Greg Logan in his article and blog, I'll just add my two cents on a few items.

First, a request for the Lighthouse developers. If we're lucky enough to ever see this project happen, can you do something about the acoustics in the Coliseum? I was sitting about 15 feet from Garth and Ted as they spoke, and literally could hardly understand what they were saying. It's as if the arena was built to funnel all sound out to Hempstead Turnpike. But enough griping.

After the dog and pony portion of the evening was done, Charles Wang addressed the Lighthouse Project and updated us on the latest status. Nothing new, but a nice update for those that aren't turned on by Town of Hempstead bureaucracy. He still hopes to break ground by July 2009, which to me seems unrealistic. The highlight of his presentation came when he introduced Garth, and acknowledged that most people thought he lost his mind to appoint our back-up goalie to the GM position. He made a "Garth slept at a Holiday Inn Express the night before" joke, which I'll admit was at least a little bit funny (would have been more funny if I was 100% sure he was actually kidding).

I thought Garth's presentation was pretty run-of-the-mill, and his three-point plan for success - draft wisely, develop prospects, sprinkle in UFAs - wasn't exactly a revelation (although, in fairness, what else could he have said?). He understandably didn't give any inkling to his thoughts on the upcoming draft. During the Q&A portion, Garth seemed inclined to say as little as possible. The only "news" in a sense is that he seems very keen on bringing in a true "enforcer" before next season.

Ted was more verbose than Garth, and I thought the portion of the evening devoted to him was more useful. It's very clear that he is very high on both Bergenheim and Comeau, as he should be. Hopefully Bergenheim will be signed soon, an issue which Snow was asked about but danced around quite well. In fact, over the course of the evening there were several instances where the "kids" were discussed. Both Nolan and Snow spoke about Bergy, Comeau, and Okposo. Not one mention of Tambellini until a question was asked specifically about him. To me, that said a lot. The one topic that annoys me a bit...the powerplay woes. Nolan indicated he studied a lot of tape and concluded it was too stationary. I could have told him that in November! Why didn't he address and CHANGE this before it was too late? No good answer to that, unfortunately.

Open House

This Wednesday evening the Islanders are hosting an "Open House and Chalk Talk", the highlight of which (for me, at least) will be a presentation / Q&A on the direction of the team. I'm hoping there will be some real substance to the event, as promised by Chris Botta, but wouldn't be shocked if it's more of a dog-and-pony show to try to lure some new season ticket holders.

Regardless, I have to say this is one of the great benefits of being a hockey fan and, specifically, an Islanders fan. You just don't get this kind of access in other sports. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but could you imagine the Yankees sending Cashman and Girardi out to interact with the fans like this, especially after an unsuccessful season?

There are a few questions I'm hoping are addressed/discussed during this session:

For Garth
- Do you think your ability to attract free agents would be different if the Lighthouse project was approved before the FA period begins?
- Is your approach with the draft to go for the best player available, or to draft based on needs?

For Ted
- Do you think you were proactive enough in addressing the struggling powerplay this past season? What adjustments do you think you made over the course of the year?
- Do you think your effectiveness as a coach would be different on a "veteran" team vs. a "young" team? Do you think you need to adapt your style based on the experience of your players?

It'll also be interesting to see the interaction between Garth and Ted, in their first "public" interaction since the rumors of a strain in their relationship. Body language may say more than their words in this case.

Hope to see a lot of you on Wednesday night.

We Were In It, But We Didn't Win It

In what turned out to be a pretty anticlimactic lottery ceremony, the Islanders retained their fifth spot in the 2008 Entry Draft. So say goodbye to those dreams of Steven Stamkos. Luckily, this is a pretty deep draft class. And it may or may not help that 4 of the top 7 rated prospects are defensemen. Not having done my homework yet on the needs of the teams that pick second through fourth -LA, Atlanta, and St. Louis - I can only hope that these teams are looking for some help on the blue line. If so, we can hopefully land the best forward whose name isn't Stamkos.

For those that watched the ceremony, how much were you hoping to see St. Louis' logo come out of the #1 envelope, ensuring Stamkos would help build a new powerhouse in the Western Conference rather than in our own backyard? A team with Lecavalier, St. Louis, and Stamkos won't be bad for long.

If anyone is curious about the picks we have in this year's draft, check out this site. You can see the picks we have in each round for this year's draft as well as the 2009 draft, including information on how we acquired each pick.

The 2008 Entry Draft begins on Friday, June 20.

Do The Right Thing

I want to encourage everyone reading this to click HERE to read Chris Botta's blog entry from Sunday, April 6. Here's the story in a nutshell...

Despite being tied for first place in the Hummer Metro Ice Challenge, the Rangers are apparently being awarded the full $50k charitable donation while the Islanders are getting nothing. As Chris notes, if you were to look at the two logical tie-breakers (wins within the Challenge & head-to-head wins), the Islanders would win both. Evidently, the decision was made to award the full donation to the Rangers based on their superior regular season record (an element not taken into account at all in the Metro Ice Challenge standings).

I'm used to the Islanders being treated as second class citizens, but this is ridiculous. Sure, the money is going to charity either way, but in the interest of fairness this just stinks.

I hope that by the time many of you read this, a fair resolution will have been reached and Chris will have the opportunity to report the happy news. If not, please feel free to share any ideas to voice our displeasure in the Comments section below.

Update - looks like the issue has been resolved. Better late than never, I suppose.