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Sept 16: All these questions will be answered soon. But so far the two European contingent are having very good camps. So are the Islanders veteran goaltenders, as evidenced by today's scrimmage. Garth Snow put up a spectacular performance as he made 41 saves to give Billy Smith's team blue a 3-1 win over Kelly Miller's team white. Stephen Valiquette was in goal for the white team. Chris Osgood and Rick DiPietro were given the day off and will faceoff against each other in Tuesday's scrimmage. For the blue team, a line made up of Brad Isbister, Jason Wiemer and Eric Godard played very well and scored two goals in the game. Snow made some stellar saves on Claude Lapointe and Eric Manlow early on. He also made some great saves on Alexei Yashin, who looks great so far thanks to a summer of off ice conditioning. Godard put team blue up 1-0 on a penalty shot goal against Valiquette midway through the second period. Snow continued to make save after save against Yashin and linemate Weinhandl. Garth then managed to poke check the puck away from Arron Asham who was awarded a penalty shot late in the period. Yashin would finally get team white on the board before the period ended when he rocketed one by Snow with Oleg Kvasha draped all over him. - In the third period Isbister would score off a pass from Wiemer to get the 3-1 cushion. Kenny Jonsson missed on yet another penalty shot late in the game against Valiquette. Tidbits: It seems as if Isbister and Wiemer have built some good chemistry together. Both play similar style of games. With Isbister having a little bit better hands, Wiemer can possibly open some ice for the power forward. And perhaps Isbister can do the same for Wiemer. Radek Martinek continues to look good coming back from his ACL injury and is skating just fine. Jason Blake took a few stitches above the eye when he was knocked into the endboards after a hit on Monday. But he returned and didn't miss any ice time. - Martin Chabada has been playing left wing with Kvasha and Trent Hunter. He has shown good speed and a willingness to take a hit to make a play. The Islanders have had some success with 8th round draft picks as of late. Last season Martinek made his debut, an 8th rounder in 1999, and now Chabada, who was a 2002 8th round pick.
Sept 15: Chris Osgood started in goal for the white team. Garth Snow started for the blue team. By the midpoint of the game the score was tied at 1-1. So the goaltenders were pretty rock steady. Raffi Torres and Dave Scatchard of the white team were both noted for their hitting. The blue team went up 1-0 late in the first period when Kenny Jonsson would get his first penalty shot attempt thanks to Oleg Kvasha. Jonsson managed to beat Osgood with a wrist shot over the shoulder. - Halfway through the second period the teams changed goaltenders. Rick DiPietro came in for the blue team and Stephen Valiquette went in net for the white team. The hitting and scoring picked up as Arron Asham skated in for the white team and banged in a rebound to tie the game at 1-1. Speedy Jason Blake would put the blue team back up 2-1 but the white team cam right back to tie it 2-2 thanks to a goal by Martin Chabada ( which is pronounced "huh-bah-duh" ). He scored on a one timer by DiPietro. The white team would take a commanding lead 4-2 after goals scored by Alexei Yashin and Scatchard to end the second period. The squads did change ice surfaces for the second period which could be a clue as to why the game broke open. They skated on the larger US Olympic Rink. But DiPietro gave up 3 goals which cannot be a good start for him when Osgood and Snow only allowed 1 each. - In the third period the teams returned to the smaller ice surface and the blue team drew to within 4-3 when Jason Wiemer one times a shot by Valiquette. Halfway into the third Juraj Kolnik was pulled down by Ray Schultz. He was awarded a penalty shot with Jason Blake chasing him. Kolnik of the white team was stopped on a beautiful kick save by DiPietro to keep the score 4-3. After two more penatly shot attempts by Kenny Jonsson and his confrontation with Oleg Kvasha, the score would remain the same with the white team winning 4-3. Camp Standouts: RW Mattias Weinhandl has gotten raves so far. He is considered a bit smallish at 6-0 180lbs, but GM Mike Milbury stated that the young Swede seemed to have the puck follow him. He's good at positioning himself out on the ice. Peter Laviolette described him as slippery. It seems more and more like Weinhandl could be the guy the Islanders are looking for to play alongside Yashin. This may be a lot of pressure for the kid but what's good about it is he's drafted talent, or in a sense home grown. Players like Juraj Kolnik really need to have a good camp if they have any chance to make the team. Especially with Martin Chabada scoring a goal and looking good today in the scrimmage. Radek Martinek has been described as willing to put his body into hairy situations which means he is not worried about hurting that knee. And we remember how early on in 2001-02 Martinek played just that way before getting hurt. Kvasha, Shawn Bates and Brad Isbister have looked really good offensively and have created some good plays in camp thus far. - Also drawing raves have been the Isles possible third defensive corp in Eric Cairns and Mattias Timander. Cairns has reportedly worked on his power skating over the summer and has improved on his mobility. Youngsters Ray Schultz, Trent Hunter, Justin Mapletoft and Raffi Torres also played well in the scrimmage. Tidbits: Mark Parrish returned to skate but was wearing a visor. Steve Webb's sore back, originally reported to have happened during the first day of practice, now apparently happened from lifting his equipment bag off the team bus. Jonsson Gets Mad: Kenny Jonsson was the center of attention today in the Isles first day of scrimmages. Kenny got into it with Oleg Kvasha after two plays in which he believed the big Russian took some liberties. Coach Laviolette didn't seem to mind. Sept 15: The Islanders tried something new in today's scrimmages. Instead of having power plays if their was an infraction a penalty shot would be assessed. The attacking player on the penalty shot would not have an easy time at it though because the penalized player would have to chance to chase down the player with the puck. Late in the scrimmage, with the white team leading the blue team 4-3, Kvasha hauled down Jonsson. Jonsson would get the penalty shot attempt. Kvasha first angered Jonsson by getting him stick into Jonsson's face causing him to fall to the ice. Jonsson would be given yet another chance to take the penalty shot, with Kvasha allowed to chase him down again. This time Kvasha hauled down Jonsson and added a little extra into the board. Jonsson got up and cursed Kvasha out. He slammed his stick into Kvasha's, apparently breaking it and getting into a scuffle. Jonsson later broke his own stick leaving the ice. He was reportedly tripped up earlier in the scrimmage by Kvasha for a penalty shot attempt making it three in total. Coach Laviolette didn't seem to think it was much of a big deal since this is training camp and those things happen when competitive juices are flowing.
Even Captain Michael Peca got into the discussion over Yashin's future linemates today. "I think everyone is confident that's going to come out of this group we have here." Yashin was asked my GM Mike Milbury about possible moves but Alexei was uncomfortable making any demands. "I can't just go to management and say, 'I just want to play with this guy so you have to do everything you can to get him here.' I don't think it's fair," said Yashin, who during Friday's first practice skated with rookie Martin Chabada and minor-league prospect Juraj Kolnik. "My personal position, I can play with any guy." As for Peca, he also commented today on the Isles outlook for the upcoming season: "I think the difference is last year we wanted to turn the ship around," Peca said. "This year, with it going in the right direction, we all want to improve on it. You always come into camp wanting to win the Stanley Cup, but I think more guys are thinking that way this year. Last year, I think it was, 'OK, let's just try to make the playoffs.' But I think now, what we did last year has us thinking that we have the chance to go all the way." Sept 14: The Islanders, in their first two days of camp, have been concentrating on utilizing their speed. The big reason for this is due to the NHL's promise for a new crack down on obstruction. - New crackdown on obstruction? Haven't we heard this before? "If the league is determined to call the clutching and grabbing, then there's no doubt it should play to our advantage," said Adrian Aucoin. "We're a skating and transitional team. We don't trap. What we did in practice today is to prepare us to be quicker for the season. Why not start it now so guys can begin to understand the system and get used to it?" Parrish Recoups: Mark Parrish sat out of practice today after receiving stick fragments in his eye during the first day of camp. It reportedly happened after Brad Isbister got frustrated after a scoring play and broke his stick. Personally this bothers me. I understand players get frustrated but Isbister showed a bit of immaturity already which has me concerned. Hopefully we won't see too much of this frustration during the course of the season. Izzy was very apologetic towards Parrish after the incident. Mark is expected to return to the ice tomorrow in time for the first scrimmages where jobs really start to become a factor. The eye is ok but precautions are being taken especially after knowing what Mattias Weinhandl went through. Webb hurting: Steve Webb sat out of practice Saturday due to a sore back he received after practicing on Friday. Smitty talks: Isles goaltending coach Billy Smith commented about a couple of youngsters who played in Bridgeport last year ( from NYI.com) : On Trent Hunter: "Very shifty. He wants to score and has a knack around the net. You have to really like his hands." On Eric Godard: "Very tough. He could be a real good sheriff if he continues to develop. His skills are coming along." On Justin Mapletoft: "He likes to hit and has some good offensive instincts." On Raffi Torres: "A bundle of energy who can be very dangerous in the slot."
Sept 13: Still, it is an optimistic sign to see Peca on schedule as far as his rehab for his torn ACL. It is believed that he will be rehabilitating longer due to the surgery he had on his shoulder following last season. Signs that the shoulder is coming along was evident by Peca practicing handling and shooting the puck under supervision by head trainer Rich Campbell. "It feels very good," said Peca. "I think it's important to be up here with the team and be a part of the experience. The training staff is up here and they are the ones who oversee my program. The knee is feeling better with each time I skate. The shoulder is doing well. Still, there's no change to the timetable, but it's definitely an encouraging sign to be doing some of these things on the i - 32 players were brought to participate in camp Laviolette. The rest of the players will soon get underway back in Long Island where they will take part in camp for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Peca not the only one: D Radek Martinek returned to action in practice today. He too is coming off rehabilitation for a torn ACL that he suffered back in November of the 2001-02 season. The injury limited him to only 23 games his rookie season. He reportedly has improved on his English drastically since we last saw him and doesn't rely as much on fellow countryman Roman Hamrlik as a translator. He reported that his knee feels very strong. Bad day for Parrish: Not exactly a good start for Mark Parrish, but nothing to be alarmed over. Apparently he collided with the goal post going full speed on a drill. Later on upon his return to the ice he got fragments of a broken stick in his eye. He was taken by the training staff to a local doctor but is expected to be ok. Euro Debuts: Wingers Mattias Weinhandl and Martin Chabada made their camp debuts. Many eyes from the coaching staff and the scouting staff will be watching to see if one or both can make an impact here early on in camp.
Pre-Training Camp News Training camp will be held in both Lake Placid and Long Island this year, with an "A" group upstate and a "B" team downstate. Just 30 players (10 defensemen, four goalies and 16 forwards) will duke it out for Varsity spots in an environment Mike Milbury feels will be more competitive.
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1998-2005 Tom Mascioli
