Rick DiPietro’s comments may have been taken out of context, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t important. (Photo: BluesguyfromNY/flickr)

Anyone who can see themselves as a professional athlete, usually sees themselves as the center of the universe. They imagine the euphoria, the clench in the stomach upon winning a championship. They envision the flocks of fans waiting for a scribble on a sheet of paper.  The media scrums at their locker, the growing numbers of trophies on the mantle. The friendly roar of your home venue, and the welcome boos of an enemy crowd. The Hollywood-style wedding to a beautiful person. The beauty of it all.

They never stop to consider what they might do if it all goes wrong.

» Continue reading “On Thoughts, Tweets, and Taking Responsibility.”

Rick DiPietro’s interview with News12 Long Island contained some extremely personal details as to his mental health. (Photo: FrenchKheldar/flickr)

Today, Kevin Maher of News12 Long Island tweeted a few times previewing his interview with now-Sound Tigers goaltender Rick DiPietro, after he was waived by the Islanders on Tuesday.

Among other things, such as DiPietro’s feeling of having his heart “ripped out” upon learning he was being placed on waivers, was this comment:

DiPietro also admitted injuries, losing and fan hatred over the past 3 years made him think about killing himself at one point.

Seeing as people are still mocking him after learning this, I have one thing to say:

Depression and suicidal thoughts are not joke fodder. They are not funny. Far from it, actually.

I’ve seen, I know and I love people who experience these on a regular basis, as I’m sure many others out there do. Exaggerated or not, joking about it and putting it into a sarcastic context is not the answer to solving this.

DiPietro, though his career never started on LI, much less recovered, is a human being with hopes and flaws, just like the rest of us. And he deserves a modicum of respect. We don’t know what the past three years have been like for him mentally, so we shouldn’t take this lightly. At all.

The interview will be going live at 5 p.m. The Islanders are issuing a statement regarding DiPietro’s comments soon.

Edit: Now is a good time to mention that if you are in crisis and need help, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). 

The Maple Leafs lost last night, but look to bounce back against an Isles team that is worst in the league at home. (Photo: jbcurio/flickr)

The Islanders fell to 2-8 at home this season, with a 4-1 loss to the Bruins Tuesday night. They look to reverse their fortunes Thursday night against the Maple Leafs.

Storyline: Fort Neverlose has become Fort When-The-Heck-Are-We-Gonna-Win, as stated above. The Islanders have fallen fast from the Atlantic Division’s good graces based largely on this statistic, and seeing as the majority of their games have been on home ice this month, this doesn’t bode well for any small playoff hopes remaining.

Islanders: They lost a game they needed against Carolina once again and fell predictably to the perennial powerhouse that is Boston. Now, the Isles need to step up against a team they handled fairly well in their only other meeting on Jan. 24, a 7-4 win. Unlike last month’s win, however, they need to get the two points without having to storm back from a two-goal deficit. They also need to figure out how to get things going 5-on-5.

The Isles’ bench has made some adjustments for this game, as per Arthur Staple’s tweets – David Ullstrom comes out, Eric Boulton is in, and they’ve pushed Cizikas and Colin McDonald up to the third line with Michael Grabner. Joe Finley also replaces Radek Martinek on the blueline. Surely these changes reflect the presence of a certain #28 on the Maple Leafs’ roster, which… okay, make of that what you will, but it won’t change the fact that Boulton will get only his customary four minutes of TOI.

Evgeni Nabokov once again gets the start for the Islanders.

Maple Leafs: Toronto’s 6-4 in its last 10, but has dropped two of its last three, including a 5-2 loss Wednesday night to Montreal after which Randy Carlyle lamented his team’s “flat” play.  This game marks the second of a back-to-back, which could well be to the Isles’ advantage.

Nazem Kadri has been on a hot streak so far — he leads the Leafs in points with 18 in 21 games, and has a three-game point streak, with five assists in that span. Phil Kessel is close behind with 16, and James van Riemsdyk has scored eleven goals to date. In goal, James Reimer is rumored to be the starter; if confirmed, it’ll be his first game since going down with a knee injury over two weeks ago.

Injury Report: The Isles are without Brian Strait (ankle) and Jesse Joensuu (hernia), as well as Matt Carkner (groin). The Leafs are without Joffrey Lupul (arm).

Puck Drop: 7 p.m., MSG+, SNET-O.

Kevin Poulin, left, had a shaky start in his season debut, making 24 saves in a loss to Carolina. (Photo: Anastasia Reilly/flickr)

The Staal brothers combined for a pair of goals, and Bobby Sanguinetti scored the first of his career, as the Hurricanes came from behind to beat the Islanders 4-2.

The Islanders’ top line once again came through, logging heavy minutes and scoring two goals — one by Matt Moulson, the other by John Tavares — but it was to no avail. Though they held the Hurricanes to four shots in the second period, half of Carolina’s shots managed to get by Kevin Poulin, including a power-play goal (Eric Staal). When the Islanders did manage to get shots to the net, Cam Ward was equal to the task, finishing with 23 saves. Poulin, making his season debut, stopped 24 shots, got caught on a bad bounce to tie the game, and watched his team surrender yet another empty net goal, this time by Alex Semin. (You’d think after five of them that Jack Capuano would learn not to pull his goalie, but… afraid not.)

You would also think, given the fact that Casey Cizikas and Colin McDonald have combined for a couple of key goals in the past few games, that each of them would be getting a bit more than eight minutes per game, but I guess that isn’t the case either. As usual, Tavares and Moulson carried the bulk of the Isles’ minutes, with 21:07 and 19:33 respectively. But Capuano cannot rely on just these guys to carry the load. That seems to be the Isles’ offensive strategy at the moment, and it’s not working.

Same thing with Mark Streit — the guy’s getting 25 minutes a game, and captain or not, he needs less time to be effective. He’s 35 years old, and the Isles have younger defenseman to help pick up the slack. Streit finished with 25:08 TOI and a -1, with no shots. Last night, at around 23 minutes, he had two points and three shots on goal.

Overall, this is a sucker of a loss, and the Isles’ sixth loss of seven so far on home ice. They do it again on Tuesday night against Boston, who haven’t lost in a week and a half… hahahahaha. Joy. Until next time.

Evgeni Nabokov earned his 53rd career shutout Saturday against Buffalo. (Photo: Clyde/flickr)

After losing to the Sabres earlier in the month, the Islanders came out flying, shutting out Buffalo 4-0 at First Niagara Center. Four different Islanders found the back of the net, with both forwards and defensemen chipping in.

» Continue reading “Isles Get Revenge With Shutout in Buffalo”

Rick DiPietro may very well have seen his last start in the National Hockey League on Tuesday night after being placed on waivers Friday. (Photo: Dinur Blum/flickr)

Well, if you weren’t expecting it to happen, it happened.

The Islanders have taken their first step in waving goodbye to their former franchise goaltender by actually waiving him — placing him on them, that is.

Yep. Rick DiPietro is on waivers. Let that sink in for a second.

…

Good? Good.

The announcement came this morning and, according to Arthur Staple, comes with the intent of sending DP to the minors and recalling Bridgeport goalie Kevin Poulin. KP has a .906 save percentage and 3.16 GAA through 31 games played, and most recently coughed up four goals en route to a 5-3 loss to Providence (though he also made 36 saves). DiPietro’s arrival in Bridgeport may (oh, hell — will) put more pressure on ECHL call-up Kenny Reiter to perform well and consistently.

While ultimately, making this move is in the Isles’ best interest, I can’t help but feel sorry for the guy. His journey in the NHL has pretty much come to an end, and while yes, he was stubborn for trying to come back when it was clear he wouldn’t be able to… you can’t fault him for trying. How would you feel as a former No. 1 draft pick, knowing that no one had any more faith in you, but still trying to make it right? How would you react, being offered millions of dollars and job security for the almost the next quarter of your life? Pretty sure I would have signed on the dotted line, too. And despite everyone’s snarking and naysaying, he didn’t look like a perpetually broken goalie for at least parts of his two starts.

I wish I would’ve seen DiPietro redeem himself and become the goalie that everyone had imagined he’d be. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like that will happen anymore. But maybe this is the clean break the Isles need. Now, they can focus on the future for real.

Frans Nielsen has 14 career points in 17 games played against Montreal. Maybe something will click for him again tonight at the Bell Centre. (Photo: Robert Kowal/flickr)

For the first time this season, the Islanders take on the Habs, at the Hell– er, Bell Centre in Montreal.

Storyline: The Isles are trying hard to stop the bleeding after a two-game losing streak, in which they’ve been outscored 8-1. Meanwhile, the Habs are in no danger of slowing down, winning their last five straight. Oh, goody.

Last Time: Last season, the Isles and Montreal split the series, with each team winning once on the road and once at home. The Isles managed one-goal games in each of their wins.

Isles: One goal. That’s all the Isles have managed, after scoring three on the Rangers and five against New Jersey. It wasn’t for lack of trying — according to Eric Hornick’s NYISkinny, the 38 shots taken on Tuesday in Ottawa are the most for the Islanders on the road this season, and the most the Islanders have had in any road game since December 2, 2011 (41 against Chicago).

The front office has decided on a laissez-faire approach to the roster, declining to trade or even call up players, which makes far from any sense to me — a shake-up could definitely help. But I’m not Garth Snow (thank goodness), so I guess I’m no one to be making decisions. Evgeni Nabokov should see another start in goal after giving up a seven-spot against Philly. He does not have a great record against Montreal (.898, 2.84 GAA).

Habs: C’est magnifique en Montreal… right now, anyway. After a lackluster 6-0 loss to Toronto, the Habs have rallied, though admittedly without a overwhelming amount of offense (they haven’t scored more than four goals at any one time during their win streak). With the exception of Tampa Bay, they’ve held their opponents to a goal or fewer since then as well.

Max Pacioretty is on a three-game points streak, with two goals and three assists in that span. Leading scorer Tomas Plekanec is over a point-per-game player against the Isles — 29 points in 28 games played. In goal, Carey Price is right — a 1.98 GAA and .925 save percentage so far this season.

Injuries: Rookie Brendan Gallagher has been out of the lineup for Montreal for  the past two games with a concussion. Former Isle Petteri Nokelainen is out as well with a back injury. The home team is still missing Brian Strait (ankle) and Matt Carkner.

The Sound Tigers are the latest team to take the You Can Play Pledge and fight prejudice in sports. (Photo: Doug Kerr/flickr)

The Bridgeport Sound Tigers are the latest AHL team to take the You Can Play Pledge, vowing to end homophobia in the sport of hockey and promote acceptance of LGBT athletes everywhere.

They’re also holding a “You Can Play Night” on Feb. 23 against Manchester, in support of the You Can Play Project.

This is just another of a series of awesome moves the Sound Tigers have made to reach out to the community. View their video in the above link, and if you’re in the area and can make it to a game, be sure to use promo code “YOUCAN” to donate $5 from each ticket you purchase.

Lindy Ruff is now a free agent… should the Isles pursue the former Sabres coach? (Photo: Roswell Park/flickr)

It’s been a long while since I last wrote anything regarding the Islanders, and as usual, school and extracurriculars are to blame. But it certainly looks like I haven’t missed all that much.

The Isles are now 2-7 in the month of February, which is fitting given that they always manage to suck up the second month of the season no matter when it is. Their home record to date is an abysmal 2-6, with their last loss coming big — a 7-0 shutout against Philly (that I’m glad I missed). Oh, and did I mention their most consistent blueliner, Brian Strait, is now out of the lineup with a broken ankle? Yeah, that too.

So with this stage set, we learned earlier today that Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff had been fired. And almost immediately, the buzz began amongst Isles fans. Even David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period speculated that Isles GM Garth Snow might at least take a flyer on the now ex-coach.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. And the answer is… I don’t know.

Lindy Ruff has a strict defensive mindset, and that system has been implemented at a price. While the Sabres had their offensive heyday (mainly with Daniel Briere and Chris Drury in the lineup), they aren’t lighting anyone up with goals aside from the Bruins. And while Thomas Vanek is having a monster year so far, no one else is exactly stepping up to the plate offensively.

» Continue reading “Should Short-Circuiting Isles Hire Lindy Ruff?”

John Tavares can’t do it alone, guys. (Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr)

The third period continues to be the breaking point for the Islanders this year.

Despite all of their goals coming on the power-play, which is another story (this one of extremes), they lost. Despite a solid effort (in the first two periods, at least) by Rick DiPietro, they lost. And despite Jack Capuano begging them during a timeout to “wake up” (and perhaps, subconsciously, to save his bench job), they lost.

» Continue reading “Isles Swept Away By Hurricanes”