Welcome to the NYIslesScene!

A blog by a long time New York Islanders fan who stays true to the fellas wearing orange, white and blue…but thinks the Islanders organization has some shaping up to do.



Islanders 2014-15 Season Mantra

Try not. Do...or do not.

~Yoda


Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Dismissed as Coincidence? I(slanders) Think Not.

Last year I was walking in Thompson Square Park and saw an elder gentleman sitting on a bench wearing an Islander hat. Definitely should have gone over and investigated and now keep an eye out for him so I can find out if he has an Islander story to tell.

and den

In January I went to Wonderland Sports at the Sky Rink (Chelsea Piers) to buy a pair of ice hockey skates, noticed there were two Islander jerseys hanging up compared to one jersey of other teams...turns out the owner is a long-time Islander fan and also a most excellent guy who shared some stories about his time spent with Islanders of days passed, like Bryan Trottier. On a side note, for those of you who skate, ya gotta love heat molding.

and den

A few weeks ago I was at the Union Square Barnes and Noble and recognized the guy in front of me on line...again. It was a repeat of the time I recognized him at the Coliseum (rooting for the home team) about two or so years ago. We went to the same college way back when.

and den

A delivery guy who works at a restaurant around the block from me is often biking around deliveries wearing an Islander hat.

and den

Tonight my friend Molly and I were at dinner chatting about this and that, we asked the two guys sitting at the next table to confirm a word we were trying to think of (dowry) and turns out the guys Matt and I think Andrew was his name both grew up in Port Washington, now live in NYC and are Islander fans, Matt more so though a big Islander fan. Of course he and I debated the Isles draft choices, the Lighthouse, Charles Wang and so on...so Matt here's the post I said I would write as your invite to follow through with your intent to visit the blog and point out I'm wrong about what I'm right about. : )~ You will for sure find an ally in Angie who like you has Kyle Okposo on her favorite list and thinks John Tavares was the way to go in the draft.

and den and den and den and den

Having moved to NYC 10 years ago, I've seen more people from afar walking around Manhattan with Islander gear on and met more Islander fans living in NYC since starting this blog, than in the 8 years preceding. So whether you believe this kind of stuff is coincidence or happens for a reason, I would like to thank the blog gods for the in person confirmations that there are Islander fans living in what is all too often pointed out to me as Ranger country. Manhattan is an island therefore clearly the domain of the Islanders. On that note we'll also claim the other islands of NYC - Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. Ranger fans can have the Bronx, not set upon an island and Yankees fans abound...GO METS!!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Islanders Sign G Roloson, Players For Depth

In the first two days of NHL free agency, the Isles have hardly made a huge splash, as apparently Garth Snow warned fans before the draft. The one major signing he has swung is in goal- Dwayne Roloson for two years, $2.5M per. Although he is an older player (will be 40 by the time the season begins), Rollie is a very capable goaltender who keeps himself in great shape and, in my opinion, is fully capable of taking the reins should Rick DiPietro not be ready for the start of the season (and something tells me with all of these goalie signings that he won't be).

Another netminder was brought in for the minors. Scott Munroe, formerly of the Philadelphia Phantoms (AHL), was signed as insurance. According to islanderspointblank.com, he played 56 games last year and had a 31-19-4 record, 2.46 GAA and .926 save percentage, which is not too shabby. Whether he plays here or backs up Rollie in the event of DP not being 100%, this is a solid pickup on Snow's behalf.

Along with Munroe, winger Jeremy Reich and defenseman Brett Westgarth were signed to one-year, two-way contracts. Both add a little bit of toughness (Reich alone had 121 PIM last season according to Botta), but only time will tell if they will actually get any ice time with the big club.

As for bigger name signings, well, the one I really wanted- D Mike Komisarek- was swept away by Toronto, and Rob Scuderi (my #2) was taken by Los Angeles, both for contracts that are a bit overboard, at least by the Islanders' (and their fans') standards. The way I see it, I'm willing to overpay at least a little bit in order to get a good D here, if only because I feel like we certainly need the security. Our D is pretty undersized, and often injured (if I recall correctly, the only player who doesn't get hurt on a regular basis is Mark Streit). If we could get some size and some toughness, we would be all set- because we can't really depend on only Andy Sutton and Brendan Witt for all the kick-ass-ness. (Pardon the language. hehe) Sources say that perhaps they will zero in on Francois Beauchemin, but who knows.

With that, I'll leave you for now. Hopefully the Isles can pull off another "Streit-like" signing for this offseason!! =P

LET'S GO ISLANDERS!

(Kudos to Islander Mania and to islanderspointblank.com (Chris Botta's blog) for the info on our new signings!)