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Menu NYI Database News
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- As for the Islander participants, it was an interesting tournament with a few highlights...and lowlights. Rick DiPietro: The game on September 3 at the Excel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota between Slovakia and the United States had a bit of an Islander flavor to it. The U.S. squad was desperate for a win to finish the round robin entering the game at 0-2. With the game tied 1-1 the Islanders sparkplug Jason Blake broke down the slot and attempted to receive a centering pass from Chris Chelios. Blake fell and slid into Slovakian goaltender Jan Lasak but he did not put his hand on the puck and it followed Blake into the net. The officials ruled it a goal and the U.S. took a 2-1 lead. Rick DiPietro was excellent in net. Rick made a fantastic save off a shorthanded breakaway by Marian Hossa to keep it 2-1. The Americans went on to a 3-1 win with the lone blemish off a bad rebound by DiPietro, who saw his only action of the tournament in this game. Both DiPietro and Blake were interviewed between periods and at games end by the Islanders regular TV commentator Joe Micheletti. Jason Blake: Besides the goal he scored against Slovakia, Blake was awarded a penalty shot opportunity in the September 7th quarterfinal game against Russia at the Excel Center in Minnesota. The score at the time was 2-1 with the Americans leading. Blake had a chance to break the game open but he attempted to many moves and Russian goaltender Ilya Brizgalov made the stop. Blake was applauded for his water bug style of play by the U.S. coaches and came away with an impressive showing. Oleg Kvasha & Alexei Yashin: Kvasha played in the Russians first two games and saw action on Yashin's wing. He played well, but the Russians looked for a bit of a shakeup going into their third game against Slovakia and sat Kvasha in favor of highly touted Alexander Ovechkin. Yashin played well and represented his country well on the ice as the Russians captain. He scored a shorthanded goal in the third period of Russia's win over the Slovaks. He didn't really dominate though. Janne
Niinimaa: Niinimaa played well for Team Finland throughout the three round
robin games. Early on he was asked by a reporter what kind of coach Raimo
Summanen was and he stated "fiery." The day before Finland's
quarterfinal game against Germany it was announced that Niinimaa was leaving the
team because of indifference with the coach. Apparently they had an argument and
Summanen got personal. During the game it was stated that none of the Finns
faulted Janne for leaving the team because of the personal nature of the
argument. Roman Hamrlik: Played well for the Czechs, not too spectacular or anything. He was sat out in their first game against Finland but inserted into the lineup for their second game against Sweden. He hasn't stood out for anybody for a while and it could just be another sign that if and when the NHL gets back under way Hamrlik could turn into the Isles biggest trade commodity. Final Thoughts(commentory): The semifinal games were very exciting and so was the U.S. vs. Russia quarterfinal. The final was exciting as well. The World Cup Trophy was horrible and they should bring back the Canada Cup Trophy or something more suited as a "World Cup."
- Rick started Team USA's final pre-schedule game Friday night against the Russians and made six saves on six shots as the Americans built a 2-0 lead. Esche entered the game to start the second period and blanked Russia the rest of the way for the combined shutout. Team USA went 2-1 in the pre-schedule with Ty Conklin giving up all four goals the squad gave up. DiPietro and Esche were perfect. Team USA takes on Canada at 7pm Tuesday night. World Cup is Underway: Monday afternoon saw the first action of World Cup play as Team Finland shutout the Czech Republic 4-0. Janne Niinimaa played very well for the Finns as they just swarmed the Czechs who looked uninterested for most the contest. Surprisingly, or maybe not, the Czechs headed now by Vladimir Ruzicka following the death of Ivan Hlinka, scratched Roman Hamrlik before the game along with Tomas Kaberle.
- The game was played at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus Ohio. Team USA decided to start Ty Conklin in nets. Conklin played the entire first period making 8 saves on 9 shots as the period ended with a Canada 1-0 lead off a Dany Heatley goal. To start the second period the Americans inserted Rick DiPietro into the nets. Former Islander goaltender Roberto Luongo entered the game around the midway point for Team Canada replacing Martin Brodeur. Luongo wound up giving up two quick goals to Team USA's Bill Guerin and Brian Rolston, giving the U.S. a 2-1 lead. DiPietro stopped all 8 shots he faced in the second. - Team USA seemed already in top defensive form when they allowed only three shots on goal to Canada in the third period. Luongo gave up another goal to Jordan Leopold. Team USA went on to the 3-1 win. After the game DiPietro commented that it will take time to get the wrinkles out after coming back from the summer off.
- A debate will go on for the months leading up to the
tournament as to who will the U.S. team rely on in goal. Goaltending veterans
like Mike Dunham and the Islanders own Garth Snow were passed over for a younger
more quicker oriented trio in DiPietro, Robert Esche of the Flyers, and the
Edmonton Oilers Ty Conklin. While Conklin is going in as the clear #3, many
believed Esche was the frontrunner for the starting job until he scheduled
himself for surgery following the Flyers ouster in the NHL playoffs. While it
was announced that Esche would be out of the tournament, it seems now that he
will be on the team after all. Some, including islesinfo.com and GM Mike Milbury
believe that DiPietro will play a factore in the tournament and at some point be
relied upon heavily by the Americans. Unfortunately once again just like for the
2002 Olympics, winger Mark Parrish was passed over. Canada: consists of former Islander prodigies in defensemen Wade Redden, Eric Brewer and goaltender Roberto Luongo. Russia: Just as in the 2002 Olympics, Oleg Kvasha and Alexei Yashin will be members of this team. It will be interesting to see if this team is as lackluster, boring and slow as their 2002 representation. Former Islander Darius Kasparaitis will be on defense. Czech Republic: D Roman Hamrlik has been a staple on the Czech Team's blue line corp for the last 10 years. This year will be no different. Former Islanders on the team: Martin Straka, Robert Reichel and former draft pick Jiri Dopita. Slovakia: Former Islander and current nomad Zigmund Palffy heads up this team. Former Islander Vladimir Orszagh has proven that size is not everything as he makes his first major tournament. On defense, huge Zdeno Chara will head up a corp that consists of first timer Branislav Mezei. Will this team still be the high flying offense, no defense representation of the last 5 years? Sweden: Tommy Salo, Dick Tarnstrom, Andreas Johansson and Jorgen Jonsson head up the former Islanders on this team. But what is with this controversy keeping Kenny Jonsson off this team year after year? He played pretty well for them in the 2002 Olympics and it's hard to believe he would be snubbed year after year while his brother is a mainstay. You mean to tell me they honestly believe Kenny Jonsson is not as good as Daniel Tjarnqvist, Christian Backman or Magnus Ragnarsson??? Finland: Janne Niinimaa will replace Jere Karalahti, who originally was named to the team roster. Since Karalahti remains suspended from play in the National Hockey League pursuant to the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Program for Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health, he is deemed ineligible for participation in the upcoming World Cup of Hockey.(July 26, 2004) Former Islander Olli Jokinen heads up the offense. Germany: No current or former Islanders on this team. Probably the underdogs of the tournament, but never count them out. They always surprise.
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1998-2005 Tom Mascioli
