Hello from New York

This is my first post, so I'll be very friendly.

Hi, my name is Angie, I'm a relatively new Isles fan- going on three years. But I love this team and everything hockey, so in addition to Isles posts, look forward to some insight on other teams in the league and issues going on in hockey today.

Last game was forgettable, but the layoff allows us to regroup and gear up for tomorrow night's matchup against the Lightning. This team was defeated by the Rangers, 3-1, just a couple of nights ago, but against us, they have had a very good record. For some reason, they always seem to have our number, and it is up to us to make sure that tomorrow doesn't turn into another blowout loss. The main aspect of the loss, IMO, was Rick DiPietro's goaltending, which was uncharacteristically bad (for this season, anyway), and hopefully he'll be able to iron things out with that. He was just trying to do too much with the puck instead of just keeping it simple, so maybe tomorrow night he'll go back to the way he was playing before the meltdown on Saturday.

Tomorrow night also marks Mike Sillinger's 1000th NHL game, which I have to applaud. 1000 games? That is a HUGE milestone, and I believe Sillinger is especially worthy of the recognition. He is a natural leader, hardworking, and the team responds to him exceptionally well. If Billy Guerin (a fine captain, no doubt) wasn't in the picture, Silly would have been my pick for captain. But even so, with or without the "C," he is smart and efficient, and excellent in his play. When he retires, he would make a very good coach with his knowledge of the game. Big kudos to him, and congratulations.

Well, that's my first post. More will come with the game tomorrow night.

Let's go, Islanders!

Angie