Puck You

Flip the Script

This post brought to you at 4am by the feline wrestlemania at the end of my bed that woke me up between rescue kitties Biggie and Charlie.

Many Isles fans are high as kites right now. Shootout win over Rangers, John Tavares hat trick contribution to their win over Devils. And later today the Flyers come to the Barn. Imagine the potential euphoria WHEN the Isles win THESE specific games in a row. Local rival trifecta that we all could use right now.

The Flyers are snobby with the Isles. They skate in assuming they are going to win and the Isles can't seem to stand up to them. I've watched this pattern for years and I'm hoping it stops today. Flyers bait Isles, Isles take bait, lose their focus and that's that. It drives me batty. Enough already, their pattern isn't hard to skate beyond. Flyers don't respond well to being ignored, as if they lack a plan B. Flyers do have ability to come out of the lockeroom refreshed so Isles have to create deeper holes by end of each period to make it harder for Flyers to crawl out of. And not just by scoring, although that'll work too. Matt Martin will need to watch his back and every other side as well. I'm not sure exactly why but he's somehow going to be a target and I think if he can stay focused he might reverse that energy and score or play an important role today.

In other news...it appears Tavares can walk or in this case skate on water. Haha frozen water. Hey it's 4am...

Flip the script (on the Flyers). That's the mantra for this game.

LET'S GO ISLANDERS!!

Biggie won. Charlie accepted defeat by grooming himself like he just didn't get beat. Boys.

Handsome Stanley

On this Valentine's Day we celebrate the love shown to Stanley the Boxer who was abandoned at the NYC AC&C and by the grace of Boxer Angels Rescue (BAR) in N. Bellmore, Long Island, Stanley was pulled off the kill list and taken in by his foster mama Katie. Sadly, Stanley would not be able to recover from the conditions that were causing him pain, which included a 5 pound tumor on his leg. The decision was made to help him go to Spirit just a few days after his rescue. In that time though there is no doubt that Stanley was shown the greatest of love, kindness and care from so many in the rescue community. 

The world is a better place because of rescues like BAR that not only rescue 'adoptable' dogs but also senior, hospice and special needs dogs, dogs who would usually be overlooked.

Run free handsome Stan. If you see my Boxer angel Maddy, give her a kiss for me.

Happy Valentine's Day everybody. Be true to yourself and everything else will follow.

xo
Christine

No Man is an Island...No Islander is Either.

What happened in the 3rd period of the Isles/Canes game last night directly affected the speed of my vehicle. Thank you Hofstra for the app to listen to games. Cruise control was the only solution...the solution for the Isles? Not so easy as pushing a button, well unless there is an eject button for Charles Wang.

Last night's game could have been a career-changer for Rick DiPietro but he's stuck in a moment and can't get out of it. Or won't. More on that subject in another post, just as soon as I get beyond wanting to shake the past out of him. The team overall is stuck developmentally. There are solutions but I doubt the Isles would be open to them. Maybe individual players would be (and they would be smart in their career to be open minded) but the main on ice issue isn't individual and even if it was, one can't really remove a member from the context of a family. There are no islands among the Islanders. I saw the footage of John Tavares sitting on the bench by himself after the game ended, clearly somehow he knows and maybe wishes he could be on an Island with a volleyball named Wilson, hoping to be rescued by another NHL team. I'm pretty sure he would not be the only Islander wishing for an island and volleyball of their very own. As fans we have been and are still at the point of repetition with our team, and it's not likely to stop soon. Sad thing is, these are not untalented players but as long as the group dynamic is more powerful than the individual, we all are hamsters on Charles Wang's wheel.

A lot needs to happen for the Islander's mindset before facing off with the Rangers and I mean A LOT. If not they are skating ducks on Blueshirts pond. Here's to some things clicking in place for the Isles going forward. LET'S GO ISLANDERS!!

To Ink or Not to Ink...

Only thing worse than seeing this ink at the Philly Tattoo Convention last night was checking NHL league standings. Considering the ownership of the Isles, the team's place in the standings might be as permanent as Amanda's tattoo.

Indeed...

A good reminder Super Bowl Sunday and beyond. Not a big football fan but I'm going with the Ravens for the win Alex.

Sign reads; fans do not let fans drive drunk.

It's a Great Hockey Day

When everything is in check.

That Hockey Moment When...

...your friend posts a picture of where you would have been if you had paid attention enough to know where to be...followed by having to hear how AWESOME! it was. Penguins and Bears and I missed it! Oh my!

Hockey is Back...Define Hockey.

My niece and I sitting here watching the return of the NHL, she asks me what the lockout was all about. After explaining it to her she asks, "doesn't anybody play hockey just because they love hockey?".

Welcome back to all those who had the luxury of being able to afford losing income while the fans who pour millions of dollars into your bank accounts waited.

Back to the Blog for Game 6

The only upside to Islanders not being in the Stanley Cup playoffs/finals? Jones Beach being the alternative to the Coliseum. 

Whoa has it been a long time since my last post. Since then Angie has left the NYIslesScene building and I wish her well. The blog took on more of a formal sports writing approach when Angie joined in and to be honest, writing in that format was like pulling teeth and although to Angie it came natural and she was really good at it, I fully admit I sucked at that process. I'm actually glad I sucked at it because it's not how I understand hockey and more importantly, not how I enjoy the game as an observer. As a fan of the Isles since the 1st Isles season in (holy sh*t I'm kinda old!) (44 and fabulous though), hockey has always been an experience, not just a game. I can remember as a kid feeling nervous in my stomach with excitement and having trouble focusing in school on the day of a game that I was going to. Amazing thing is, even after all these years I still get that way today. 

Also, there are tons of blogs/websites that already cover aspects of the NHL like game reviews, stats, draft picks etc...and bloggers/writers out there much better at those parts. I enjoy reading their perspective and learning from them. Overall, my creative mind does not belong trying to condense 60 minutes of hockey into a blog post or spouting off about what I don't know well enough or enjoy knowing about so from now on I'll just be hockey fan me and take a more ADD type approach to blogging...snippets here and there, photos here and there, commentary here and there and whatever else comes up in the time that I have to write/post.

Tonight is game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the LA Kings and NJ Devils. I am rooting for LA because winning the SC would be a 1st for the franchise and I'm rooting for the NJ Devils because being 44, I love when older players kick ass like Martin Brodeur and it cracks me up that it wasn't so long ago some were saying his career was coming to a close, which made me wonder if they were watching him play at all before making that statement. Who would have thought these two teams would surpass the others who ended up higher (for LA, much higher) in league standings at the end of the regular season? That's the great thing about this competition (and I suspect frustrating for teams), NHL teams charge forward into 82 games that demand so much of each player on so many levels, come out of the regular season on top or near the top and then POOF! no Stanley Cup for you! 

For this game I'd say LA has the edge, they are on home ice and now are (or should be) desperate to win whereas NJ wants to win this game to make it to game 7. LA has to figure out whether the pain their bodies are going to endure is greater than or less than the pain of a game 7. I don't know about you but if it were me, I would do anything to avoid a game 7...that would be my mindset...striking the fear in myself of having to play another game after playing what must be over 100 games total to date.  And then there's NJ...who seems to have a hockey dessert pocket that made itself known against the Rangers in round 3. The threatening thing about that dessert pocket is no one knows where it comes from and if it can be manufactured as opposed to being automatic. I don't know where it comes from...I don't think the Rangers knew and the LA Kings know now...it just exists and it fuels NJ somehow and I'd bet not even the Devils can say for sure where that energy is coming from. Something just seems to be carrying them out there on the ice in addition to their own volition. In any case I find it fascinating. LA has got to figure out a way to shatter that energy so that they can get beyond it and put some pucks in the net in the 1st period, enough to give them a lead they feel a great need to protect. Good luck getting past Broduer who at age 40, seems to be the most disciplined, focused and conditioned athlete out there on the ice. The LA Kings can take all the shots on goal they want but I suspect it is the player who will be at the right place at the right time in front of Brodeur who helps his team the greatest in winning the Stanley Cup tonight. Devils? Well all they have to do is continue to play their game, it's worked so far in getting them this far...I don't think for the Devils it will be about what they do as much as it will be about what the Kings don't do. That's where the Devils have a chance to force a game 7.

In summary...

I have NO IDEA who is going to win the Stanley Cup and that is the BEST part of this match-up!!