(Photo: Robert Kowal/flickr)

Either Mark Streit had a really convincing spiel for John Tavares to sign with his team, or Johnny just wanted to follow in the captain’s footsteps.

Whatever the case, the young center has joined the ranks of SC Bern in Switzerland, about a week after Streit made the jump back overseas. The signing was announced on Bern’s website and on eliteprospects.com yesterday.

There had been talk of Tavares considering going to Europe should a lockout occur, but I’m not sure we were expecting the Swiss NLA, of all places. At any rate, this makes Bern exciting to watch now (for Isles fans, anyway).

SC Bern beat HC Lugano soundly last night by a score of 5-0 on goals by Streit and Roman Josi, among others. They have improved to 3-3 overall and are playing HC Fribourg-Gotteron on Oct. 2 next, by which time I would imagine Tavares will be suited up. In the meantime, I will be trying my absolute hardest to find out where I can at least find highlights!

Until next time.

Frans Nielsen will be playing in the SM-liiga during the lockout. (Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr)

Another Islander has jumped ship to Europe.

Frans Nielsen has signed with Rauma Lukko of the SM-liiga in Finland, according to both eliteprospects.com and Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. PHT mentions the lucky fact that the defensive center isn’t missing out on much money from his NHL deal, as this was to be his lowest-paid season of the four-year extension he signed in February.

There had been rumors of Nielsen considering playing in Finland in the first days following the NHL lockout, so this confirms an already well-known “development,” so to speak.

Mark Streit is suiting up for a team in his native Switzerland during the lockout.(Photo: Robert Kowal/flickr)

With the lockout curtailing hopes of starting another NHL season on time, some Islanders players have made job moves elsewhere.

Captain Mark Streit is heading back to his hometown to play for SC Bern of the NLA in Switzerland, as confirmed by the club. Also on the move was newly-minted Isle Lubomir Visnovsky, to play for SC Slovan Bratislava of the KHL, and Jesse Joensuu to Assat of the SM-liiga in Finland.

According to EliteProspects.com (which has an updated list of all lockout transactions),Frans Nielsen is also rumored to be heading to Finland, and there has been talk of Evgeni Nabokov entertaining offers from the KHL, but nothing’s set in stone yet. Stay tuned.

Matt Martin and the Islanders managed to get just under the wire with a four-year contract, as announced only a few minutes ago. This means Martin, currently an RFA, will be signed until he’s 27 years old. This is great news for the Isles, as Martin is a fan favorite and a great player in his role on the team.

Now…

As you are probably well aware, in just about 20 minutes the NHL, barring some miracle, will head into another work stoppage. We all know the circumstances around this issue, and none of us know for sure when it will be resolved. There is, however, one thing to consider, and that’s the coverage on this blog. Got some news for ya, and you can take it well or hate me for it — it’s completely up to you.

While the Islanders and the NHL will be on break, Arbour Day will not be. We’ll be set to cover the Bridgeport Sound Tigers’ season starting in October, as well as some updates on how prospects are doing in juniors and European leagues. We’ll also have some new features up on the site, centered around hockey history and other fun stuff.

So please, stay tuned, and I hope you enjoy.

Corey Trivino (#10) still has hope for his NHL career after being kicked off of Boston University’s men’s hockey team for his arrest. Here’s why, if he does get a chance, it shouldn’t be with the Islanders. (Photo: Teka England/flickr)

You always hear about the wonderful sport of hockey and its amazing “culture.” The camaraderie, the excitement, the humility of its athletes. The crazy, funny stories and the characters inside them, and all of the feel-good moments that make up a successful season. This is all part of what makes the sport great to watch and follow.

You rarely hear about the darker side until now, and perhaps there’s a reason. Surely no coach or owner would want someone to get the impression that there’s anything wrong with the game he’s trying to help revolutionize. And in a way, he’d be right. There’s nothing overtly wrong with the game itself (though even that’s arguable). There’s a lot wrong with the culture.

And it’s not surprising. In a hyper-masculine world like this one, things go wrong. Especially when it comes to the other sex, who many athletes see as just another, easier, trophy to win. 

» Continue reading “Why Corey Trivino Should Never Be An Islander”

Travis Hamonic will begin his year playing in the AHL, along with 18 others. The Islanders also assigned two players to their respective junior teams. (Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr)

The Islanders have taken the first steps to preparing for an impending lockout, assigning 21 players and prospects to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL) and two junior teams.

Nino Niederreiter and Travis Hamonic, both of whom played full seasons with the Isles last year, are the biggest names on the list being sent to the Sound Tigers. Niederreiter is coming off of a disappointing rookie campaign while Hamonic tacked on tons of ice time and blocked shots as part of his development into a blueline anchor. Both can use the time in Bridgeport, especially Niederreiter who could take this as an opportunity to re-develop some confidence and a scoring touch.

Also on the list is defenseman Matt Donovan, who was expected by many to make the Islanders’ roster this season; center Casey Cizikas; and goalies Anders Nilsson and Kevin Poulin. As for the junior assignments, both were expected — Griffin Reinhart will be back in Edmonton playing for the WHL’s Oil Kings, and Ryan Strome will be in the OHL with the Niagara IceDogs.

You can view the entire list here. Although the Isles haven’t exactly come out and said it, all clues outside of the organization point to this being part of the contingency plan for an untimely start to the 2012-13 season. They also point to me catching some games up in St. Catharines this year. Let’s go.

Lubomir Visnovsky will be wearing orange and blue once the 2012-13 season starts, thanks to an NHL arbitrator’s decision. (Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr)

The Isles tweeted and posted earlier that an NHL arbitrator has upheld the trade in June that brought defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky to the Island.

The decision came down after a meeting on Sept. 4 between Visnovsky and his former team, the Anaheim Ducks, about whether or not the trade was valid due to Visnovsky’s no-trade clause. The reasons haven’t been disclosed, but at least this much is true: once the season does start, the power play will have gotten a lot sweeter.

More on this as it develops.

A memorial for the Lokomotiv players, coaching staff, and crew killed in the Sept. 7, 2011 plane crash. Josef Vasicek, who played a season with the Isles, was one of the players who perished. (Photo: Steve and Sara Emry/flickr)

A year ago today, the hockey world received the final blow in a series of punches to the gut. News had broken of a plane crash in Russia, an entire hockey team on board. We would learn that only one player, Alex Galimov, and a crew member survived the initial crash. Five days later, Galimov passed, becoming part of a tragedy that had followed the deaths of three NHL players before it.

I was on the bus heading to school when I first heard the news. It felt like someone had cut off my air supply, leaving me gasping. A few tears were shed, but I mostly experienced a sense of shock, as in, “Not again, please.” When I learned that Josef Vasicek, who had played a season with the Islanders, was one of the players who had perished, it was even more painful to know that we had a tie to one of the victims.

However brief his time on the Island was, Vasicek was still a part of our family. He scored 16 goals and 35 points as an Isle in 2007-08, his best scoring year since his Cup run with Carolina in 2005-06. Off the ice, he seemed affable, and overall he was a great part of that year’s Isles team, although he never got another chance at an NHL playoffs. He was taken from this world much too soon, not unlike the rest of his teammates and coaching staff on Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. (For a nice tribute to him and his Hurricanes career, see this post.)

One year after the plane crash that ended his life and the lives of 43 other men, we remember Josef Vasicek and Lokomotiv. We send our thoughts (and for some, our prayers) and we hope that they’ve found peace wherever they may be. We also, at least for a day or even a couple of minutes, band closer together and forget about team colors and affiliations, because ultimately, the game isn’t what matters anymore.

Rest in peace, Lokomotiv.

Brad Boyes went from top scorer in St. Louis to fourth line in Buffalo. Now he has the chance to get back to form on Long Island. Will he do it? (Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr)

The signing of Brad Boyes on July 1 has received mixed reviews so far. While some Isles fans see him going nowhere on the Island, others are willing to see if a scenery change will make the difference for the former 30+ goal scorer.

» Continue reading “Brad Boyes: A Question To Be Answered On Long Island”