|
|
ISLES INFO |
 |
|
|
ISLES INFO |
|
|
Menu NYI Database News
//// //// //// //// |
Sept 22: The Islanders were on the ice Sunday morning at 9am for one final practice on the Lake Placid ice. This was the 5th straight year that the Isles have begun training camp in Lake Placid. It's a great location for hockey and very scenic. A lot of the players gave the area glowing remarks and also found plenty of things to do when they weren't out on the ice. Extracurricular activities included fly fishing, cycling, golf and most notably Michael Peca's bubble boy table hockey tournament. Owner Charles Wang shelled out some money so that the players could take part in some competitions for prizes. Competitions consisted of a biathlon which was won by Mattias Timander and longest drive competition which was won by prospect Justin Mapletoft. Coach Peter Laviolette was very pleased with the work the Islander players put in as well as the excellent physical shape that many of the players reported to camp in. Workouts and scrimmages were intense and fast. Most of the players spent the summer working out and staying in good shape thanks to training regimens from Islanders strength and condition coach Sean Donellan. Now the Isles prepare for their first exhibition game on Tuesday when they travel to Philadelphia.
Sept 20: If Hunter can continue this play and his nose for the net he still has a very good chance to make the team. The coaching staff stated in recent days that they were disappointed with Hunter's play to this point and perhaps he got the message. Team white took a 1-0 lead midway into the first period today on a goal by Kenny Jonsson. He broke into the offensive zone thanks to a nifty pass from Arron Asham. Three minutes later, thanks to excellent cycling, Claude Lapointe snapped the puck by goaltender Stephen Valiquette to put team white up 2-0. The goal was scored thanks to good corner work by Martin Chabada and Juraj Kolnik. Garth Snow on the other end was a wall and continued his awesome play thus far in camp. Snow managed to make spectacular saves all throughout the period, notably on chances by Justin Mapletoft, Eric Godard, Shawn Bates and Oleg Kvasha. The hitting was fierce once again thanks to Raffi Torres, who laid a nice hit on Chabada. Team Blue finally got onto the scoreboard a minute into the second period when Bates fired the puck by Snow on a 2 on 1 opportunity. But Hunter would score his first of three to put the white team back up by two. Jason Wiemer won a offensive zone faceoff and Radek Martinek managed a deflected shot in on net. Hunter had two defenders on him but was still able to wait for Valiquette to go down before roofing the puck upstairs. Valiquette did make a good save though minutes later as he stoned Ray Schultz on a penalty shot attempt. It was then that he was relieved by Chris Osgood. Ozzie was immediately tested on shots in close by Alexei Yashin and Mark Parrish. Kvasha would pull team Blue back to within one at 3-2 when he backhanded the puck by Snow on a penalty shot. Once again Hunter would put team white back up by two when he tipped in a blast from Wiemer that would find its way through Osgood. With 4 minutes remaining in the second, 30 seconds after Hunter scored, Dave Scatchard found twine behind Snow to make it 4-3 going into the third. But it wasn't before Snow would blank Torres on yet another penalty shot. In the third, the teams continued to trade back and forth as team white went up 5-3 on the first camp goal by defenseman Brandon Smith. Team blue came right back thanks to Mattias Weinhandl four minutes in after a pass from Bates. With the score 5-4, Hunter came up huge and for the third time in the scrimmage put team white up by two goals when he notched the hat trick. It was a rebound goal at the 10 minute mark after Jason Blake had blasted a shot of his own on Osgood. With 3:41 remaining in the scrimmage Bates scored his second of the game to make it 6-5. But in the closing minutes Wiemer ended it with a goal as team white won 7-5. Following the scrimmage, the Islanders announced that both goaltenders Andy Chiodo and Brad Topping have been returned from the Bridgeport camp to their respective junior clubs.
Sept 19: Mark Parrish scored twice for team Webb to defeat team Peca today 6-4. Chris Osgood got the start for the winning team. Garth Snow was in goal for team Peca. A line of Raffi Torres-Claude Lapointe-Parrish had a huge game and were flying all over the ice. Torres and Jason Wiemer were turned away early in the first period by Snow. Shortly after Osgood made a save on Jason Blake on a penalty shot attempt. Torres was buzzing everywhere around Snow but once again was stoned on a hard shot save by Snow. Justin Mapletoft put team Peca on the scoreboard first when he surprised Osgood by flipping the puck from behind the net and bouncing it in across the line. About one minute later team Peca went up 2-0 on a penalty shot goal by Shawn Bates, who had been pulled down by Alexei Yashin. Bates skated in on Osgood and went forehand to backhand. He pulled Ozzie out of the net and tucked it into the open side. The coaching staff continued to view possible line matches in this game as Alexei Yashin was teamed up with Oleg Kvasha on the wing along with Trent Hunter. Brad Isbister on the left of Shawn Bates with Arron Asham on the right side. But nothing was stopping Torres-Lapointe-Parrish today. Torres had his best day of camp as he was deflecting shots in on Snow all day as well as playing his usual feisty self. He will have to continue this if he's gonna have a chance to make the team. With 1:44 left in the first period the red hot Eric Godard was granted a penalty shot when tripped by Mapletoft. Godard scored his third of camp when he ripped it through Snow's pads to make it 2-1. Two minutes into the second period team Webb tied it at 2-2 when Torres deflected on in after setting up the screen and allowing Parrish to take a shot. Three minutes later Parrish would get his first of the game when once again Torres screened Snow from seeing the shot. But the lead would be short lived and team Peca would tie it at 3-3 when Martin Chabada would score on a penalty shot as he trickled it by Osgood. Team Webb would get another penalty shot attempt when Ray Schultz pulled down Juraj Kolnik. Dave Scatchard took the shot but was beat by Osgood to keep it tied. At the game midpoint, Steve Valiquette would replace Snow in net and Rick DiPietro entered the game in place of Osgood. That was when the game began to get chippy. Scatchard would get into it with Schultz after some chippy stick play between the defenseman and Jason Blake. It basically turned into a wrestling match with no clear punches thrown. Three minutes later team Webb went up 4-3 thanks to a penalty shot goal by Blake against DiPietro. Trent Hunter had a chance to tie the game again, but shot the puck into Valiquette's glove on a penalty shot chance. The second period would end tied at 4-4 when Parrish would get his second of the game after his shot deflected of Evgeny Korolev's skate and by Valiquette. Less than a minute into the third, Hunter got yet another penalty shot opportunity but this time lost possession of the puck without getting a shot. More rough play ensued as Chabada took Brandon Smith's feet out on and icing call and Wiemer crosschecked Chabada to the ice in retaliation. Team Webb would go up 5-4 three minutes in as Oleg Kvasha converted off a 2 on 1 with Yashin and wristed one by Valiquette. Arron Asham had a chance to tie it once again with his own penalty shot, but missed. Slick Mattias Weinhandl scored his first goal of camp making it 6-4 on yet another penalty shot. After he scored he was pushed into the board by Blake, who in return was met by harsh words from Godard and Eric Cairns at the bench. One last penalty shot was taken by Yashin but Valiquette made a blocker save. DiPietro and team Webb would play good defense for the second half of the third period to conserve the win.
Sept 18: The play of Mattias Weinhandl in camp has some onlookers talking possible rookie of the year. That may be a lot to ask, but Weinhandl is improving day by day and showing offensive ability that has many shaking their heads. He may possibly develop into the most offensively skilled player to come through the Isles system since Zigmund Palffy in the mid 90's. But he is not the only player to turn some heads. Czech Martin Chabada has shown that his big year in Europe last season was not a fluke. He has shown some offensive prowess and at the same time managed to get on the nerves of some Islander veterans, namely Claude Lapointe and Jason Blake. Eric Godard has shown the toughness that the Isles acquired him for, but has surprisingly exhibited some offensive ability by scoring the first goal of the game in each of the last two scrimmages. And finally, newcomer defenseman Mattias Timander has impressed many of the Islander players with his size and stickhandling skills. Many have commented that Islander fans will be pleased once they see Timander play. He is very steady, smart and played as a junior in Sweden with Kenny Jonsson. Low Lights: Steve Webb has missed the first week of practice and scrimmages due to hurting his back when carrying his bags to the team bus when the team left for Lake Placid. That has opened the door for players like Arron Asham and especially Eric Godard to show their stuff. Perhaps the biggest disappointment thus far in camp, according to the coaching staff, has been winger Trent Hunter. After coming up as an injury fill in the playoffs against Toronto and impressing with his drive to the net, confidence and offensive play, Hunter has not shown much of that in camp and is possibly losing his chance to make the top two lines with the injury to Michael Peca. In fact he could end up back in Bridgeport before all is said and done. Hopefully he won't get down on himself if this does happen. He'll have all season long to make it back and will most probably be the first guy called up if an offensive player is needed.
Camp 2002: Day 5 Making a name: Eric Godard is one of many young up and comers trying to break the Isles squad this season. A lot of it has to do with taking advantage of opportunity. With Steve Webb ailing Godard has looked good playing with Blake and Lapointe. Sept 17, More Scrimmages: It seems like the Isles are raring to go once again after some old familiar names have been having excellent training camps thus far. But there are some new names which have been making some noise as well that may surprise. Dave Scatchard had a big day in the scrimmage today as he notched two goals to help lead team Laperriere to a 6-3 win over team Cronin. Claude Lapointe and Jason Blake were their usual water bug selves as they were banging and hitting everything in site. Another young player looking to make a name for himself is tough guy Eric Godard. He surprisingly has notched two goals so far in scrimmages and could possibly be looking to steal some thunder away from competing wingers like Martin Chabada, Arron Asham and even Steve Webb, who has missed most of camp so far with an ailing back. Rick DiPietro had a better day as he got the win. He had to be sharp early on when a line of Yashin-Bates-Weinhandl really put the heat on. There were a lot of missed shots and posts hit today. Isbister hit the post early against Chris Osgood who was in net for team Cronin. Hits were also plentiful as Raffi Torres caught Brandon Smith and later Blake nailed Radek Martinek with his head down. DiPietro managed some more great saves on Trent Hunter and Kenny Jonsson. Midway through the first period Blake sprung the puck loose and gave it to Lapointe, who centered it in front to Godard for a 1-0 team Laperriere lead. Could this be the fourth line this season if Godard keeps up the good play? More hits started coming as Eric Cairns and Godard began to get into it. And Blake continued after the Europeans as he got Martin Chabada this time. Late in the first team Laperriere went up 2-0 on a sweet backhand breakaway goal by Scatchard. When the second period got underway, team Cronin cut the lead in half when Raffi Torres scored his first of camp of a pretty pass from Trent Hunter. Less than two minutes later another young player managed to even it up as Justin Mapletoft tallied his first of camp. Score tied 2-2. Chabada would get a penalty shot attempt for team Cronin six minutes into the second period but hit the crossbar behind DiPietro. Shortly after a stare down between Cairns and Godard turned into nothing, team Cronin grabbed its first lead when DiPietro coughed up the puck behind the net. Yashin centered the puck to Kenny Jonsson who was waiting to bang it home. Not too long after team Laperriere would tie it thanks to Oleg Kvasha and hard forechecking by Adrian Aucoin. That was when Chabada would get yet another penalty shot attempt but once again he hit the post behind DiPietro. With 25 seconds remaining in the second team Laperriere would re-take the lead and go up 4-3 when Mark Parrish knocked one by Osgood after a cycle play by linemates Isbister and Kvasha. Isbister scored early in the third on a sharp angled shot that found its way passed Osgood to put team Laperriere up 5-3. Scatchard would later make it 6-3 when he scored on a long shot that Osgood apparently lost. Not a good day for Ozzie.
Return to Training Camp - Page
1
|
||||||||||||||
|
Lets Go Isles! |
|
||||||||||||||
1998-2003 Tom Mascioli
