Islanders have a breakout!

Compared with last season, the Islanders are coming out of their own end far more decisively on the breakout almost as if they have a definite plan.

-Greg Logan's report in Newsday

Music to the ears! While the Islanders don't have Hall of Fame-caliber QBs on the blueline, they do have several guys who are beyond competent handling the puck. Apparently, they added a new one in their intrarivalry shot-across-the-bow waiver claim of Thomas Pock. It's nice to see Scott Gordon encouraging them to move the puck smartly.

Another of those puckhandlers, Chris Campoli, is out for ... um, some undefinable "good period of time." It's still preseason, and already it feels like a circus regarding the NHL's brilliant new injury nondisclosure policy.

Carrying this bizarro world further into the unreal, Chris Botta informs us that players have been told not to talk about their injuries, period [under the 11:30 entry of that post]. It's like carrying a politician's communications strategy into the locker room: "Chris, what's that wrap on your shoulder for?" >> I've never said I have a wrap on my shoulder, so I categorically deny that my shoulder is an issue. "So you'll be back in the lineup tomorrow?" >> I'll be back in the lineup at an appropriate time, and when that time comes, you'll be told.

I understand some fans don't see what the big deal is -- "why do we need to know about their injuries, anyway? It only provides other teams a competitive advantage." If you agree with that, please feel free to comment. I understand that every fan comes at this sport, this league, with different interests in mind (e.g. fighting, Canadian teams, goaltending, etc.). Personally, I view information about what I'm watching as part of the product package that the league gouges me for.

The league could also strip the names and numbers off of every player uniform -- "why help your opponent know who's on the ice? It only gives them a competitive advantage." But somehow, that bit of information helps customers like me better enjoy -- and buy more of -- the game.

Fall appetizers

Some weekend tidbits:

... It was the Frans Nielsen/Trent Hunter show in the Isles' preseason win over Florida. Nice to hear Gordon's pressure game unsettled the Panthers.

... I know it's fall, not because of the weather or calendar, but because they're laying down the ice at the Coliseum. Hmmm...wonder if they have that shade of orange paint at Home Depot?

... On an innocent cab ride, Islander Outsider finds an example of the Islanders' product placement strategy in action.

... A local Canadian pub, the Daily Gleaner, runs a Q&A with Isles' property Rob Hennigar. Hennigar, the all-time leading scorer in U. of New Brunswick history, is the interesting case of a 25-year-old Canadian college player signed to his first professional deal last spring, representing Garth Snow's attempt to accumulate assets/depth by turning over leaves wherever he can find them. A no-risk move. Likely depth, but who knows -- maybe a late bloomer who could fill a role in the NHL? Hennigar talks about the grind of pro training camp, the "love the game" attitude a player needs to keep going, and lining up in the same uniform as his favorite NHL player, Doug Weight.

More from the same pub on what Scott Gordon thinks of Hennigar's chances:

"He has to identify that there's more in the tank than he's using. The biggest thing is how quickly can he make the adjustment to become quicker on the ice and more explosive, and play out of that comfort zone.

"That's all up to him. If he doesn't do that, it's going to be pretty hard for him because the pace of the play is a lot faster than Canadian college."

Splintered Blades, 9-26-08

Back to on-ice hockey now, with some assorted this and thats:

1. Mike of Islesblogger.com has a look at where the blueline offense will come from under Scott Gordon's system. Included is a note about offense from unexpected places, plus -- do we have an Islesblogger Guarantee?! -- a forecast for DOUBLE the goals from the Islander blueline. Given the way Gordon seems to be a guy with a suddenly much better toolbox to play with at the NHL level (as if he's thinking, "Wow, ALL of my guys can make and receive passes!"), I have hope that Islesblogger's projection comes true.

2. Greg Logan updates on Friday's light day in Islanders camp. Gordon says Yann Denis wasn't at fault in the 4-0 loss to Philadelphia. And Logan, if I've read it right, has narrowed the picture on Jeff Tambellini's injury from "below the neck" to now "lower body." Which I assume means below the waist (hey, HEY, keep it clean here). Grief. Should be a fun season, injury-wise. In other news, I'm a fan of a team who finished in the "lower half" of the 30 teams last year. I also root for a team "east of the Rockies." On the next Islanders fan survey I get, I'm telling them I see "between 1 and 80 games per year." (Sorry to belabor the point.)

3. Islanders360 hits on two points I fervently agree with: 1) We missed Jon Sim last year more than we -- and league-wide pundits -- realized; 2) If Gordon's scheme produces more shots, the Isles will still need to bump up their shooting/finishing percentage. We'll need some pure sniping; shots that truly "beat" an already-set goalie rather than just shots that get by based on positioning and traffic. I actually think Mike Sillinger is one of the guys who's capable of sniping shots past the goalie, but his hip rehab worries me terribly.

4. Finally, a nice feature on Kyle Okposo at NHL.com. Most huff-and-puff rec players -- except those who think someone, somewhere robbed them of their rightful spot in the NHL -- marvel at the steep upgrade in speed and skill that accompanies each ascending level of hockey. There are guys in my league/pick-up games who amaze me, and it's both humbling and awing to think that they couldn't hold a water bottle at the lowest semi-pro minor league. To that end, the feature on Kyle Okposo includes this quote, a nice bit of insight for any fan but particularly for the huff-and-puffers [italics are my emphasis]:

"It helped a lot (playing in the AHL first)," he said. "If I had come straight from college to the NHL it would have been a bit of a tougher adjustment. The guys are so much bigger and stronger up in the NHL, and the game is even more controlled, which is unbelievable. That's the most unbelievable thing I found, defensemen are just so much smarter up there, smarter with their sticks. They don't do as much but they feel like they're covering more ground, so playing in the AHL helped me a lot."

I like that italicized point. Economy of movement -- including maintaining a position that is psychologically threatening to the forward -- is one of those traits of grade-A defensemen that is harder to observe and impossible to capture in stats. It's not just about covering a forward; it's about making a forward think he's covered when you don't have him and, conversely, making him think he's free when you actually have him funneled right into your domain.

Okposo also says some good stuff about the difference between the college schedule and the pro schedule, something for us to keep in mind during his first mid-season slump.

NHL injury policy is a scam, period.

*sigh* Again with the injuries.

I've vented about this before, but now it appears it will become a topic recurring again and again and again. The blight of injury misinformation has somehow, defying all logic, become an NHL league-wide policy.

When I saw the note buried in Gerg Logan's notes about the Isles' non-disclosure on Chris Campoli's shoulder, I thought, "Here we go again." I also immediately wondered how former Isles PR head and now quasi-independent blogger, Chris Botta, would respond. Botta is (granted, I've never met him, but from all accounts he is) a PR man in the classic sense of "truth and communication is always the best strategy." But no strategic communicator has been closer to both sides of this issue than Botta was: Knowing info is good for fan/media relations on one hand, but knowing the NHL old guard and many players -- i.e. his employers and the players whose cooperation he needed to do his job -- would rather keep it all "in the room."

Fortunately for Isles fans, Botta is outraged. And he sums the issue plain and simple: "When it comes to injuries, a balance between protecting your players and informing your fans can certainly be struck." Hopefully Botta beats the drum far and wide.

This is such a no-brainer, I honestly hate writing about it. I hate to get all hyperbolic about it, but it is insanely unjustifiable, and it's an example of the type of insular thinking that makes the NHL a media punching bag. It's the kind of thing that needs to be set forcefully at the central office, so the GMs stop worry about the tiny competitive edge they could get by hiding injury information like news at the Kremlin. But I don't see the league changing unless they realize fans -- not just reporters, the stereotypical bogeymen -- don't like it, either. So I'll be tacky and quote myself here rather than recreating all my thoughts:

In one way my interest in this sport is dependent on having a decent amount of info with which to assess what I’m watching. Just like I want to know if one team I’m watching has twice the payroll as its opponent, I also want to know if my top scorer has had shoulder surgery: Maybe that will lead me to cut him slack, maybe it will lead me to say retire the old bum. That’s my right as a fan ... Likewise, I want to know if my franchise ‘keeper on a 15-year deal has had surgery on both hips and a knee in years 1 and 2 of his deal. [New edit: Or a freaking concussion!] Etc., etc.

That influences my assessment of the roster, my evaluation of the goaltending, my opinion of what kind of back-up goalie we need. [Edit: To say nothing of implications for fantasy players, another revenue source.] And as long as the league is publicizing the draft, publicizing free agency, and publicizing the players — make no mistake, those are all part of the PR picture to build fan interest and buy-in of the product — then they owe paying customers that kind of communication.

NHL leaders will likely tell themselves, "See, these diehard fans keep writing and coming to games regardless of our injury policy. Revenue is grand." Fine. For the short term. But the NHL is a niche league with strained credibility in many areas. A league that needs to think long-term to ensure growth (i.e. North American popularity). And here is a gift-wrapped opportunity to be a leader: to be a league that plays it straight with fans, that is as fan-friendly as its mythically down-to-earth players. But the GMs, in their short-sighted nature, have screwed that up.

If they want to pass up that opportunity, if they want to inch closer to the unreality of pro wrestling, if they want to widen the disconnect between players and fans ("Is he hurt, or does he just suck?" and "Why do they boo me when I'm doing my best on one leg?"), if they want to give us another reason to question why we bother paying escalating prices when there are other hobbies and diversions in this multichannel world, that's their decision. And their long-term loss.

Bailey, Botta impress in debuts

The other day I wrote that I'd be beyond shocked if Josh Bailey doesn't return to his junior team this season. So naturally today's story out of Newsday is how Bailey has impressed at camp, and his prospects for drawing an NHL paycheck this year are already better than they were two weeks ago.

When I blog, sometimes the devil on one shoulder says, for the topic of the moment, "Go on, just emit the first opinion that comes to mind." On the other shoulder is a different figure. This figure is no angel but nonetheless a little less threatening than beelzebub: an editor. And the editor in me says: "How stupid will this statement show you to be in one week, one season, one year?"

So yesterday the devil in me -- who hasn't seen Bailey play -- said: "The kid is 18, he wasn't one of the acclaimed gems of this draft, the trade-down-and-pick to get him was controversial: no way in hell he makes the team." The editor counters: "Actually, he just might make the team, but only for nine games. Almost inconceivable that the Isles will put more than that on him at this age."

Well, we'll see! The oddsmaker in me still points to his age and expectations to figure the Isles will think more long term (heck, even think monetarily, considering the value of a cost-controlled, entry-level contract) by shipping him back to juniors before game #10.

But if Bailey continues to impress, if he fills a hole created by Mike Sillinger's injury, if in those first nine NHL games he is a bright spot of what could be a tough season ...

When I read Scott Gordon comparing the situation to that of Patrice Bergeron as a rookie, the devil in me scoffed: "Bergeron is an elite player, invaluable to the Bruins! No comparison!" Then my editor checked to see that Bergeron was a 45th pick overall -- one whose only "flaw" was a lack of size. As Gordon recalled, Bergeron's play and stability forced the Bruins to keep him up at age 18.

While Bailey has a different set of assets and a different future role on the club, if he can show the same kind of character and usefulness now ...

... I'll be elbowing that devil off my shoulder, again.

The Botta Resurrection
As for the other "B" in this post's title, most visitors will already know former Isles PR man-turned-blogger Chris Botta has launched the new Point Blank. After his 40 days (okay, quite a bit more) in the post-Islanders-employment desert, he has fully returned to ascend to a role that is, frankly, more directly valuable to the info-craving Isles fan.

For the first 24 hours, a dizzying array of posts on a variety of topics. His insider access already shines through, particularly with his review of the Islander D-men and scouts' takes on them. Finding an excuse to run a photo of Alyssa Milano in heels and tight-fitting clothing doesn't hurt, either, and demonstrates an astute mastery of the Web's tried-and-true eye-candy tactic.

Between Bailey's prospects, Gordon's promise, and Botta's insider prose, this season is already shaping up to be a lot of fun.

Injuries bring new cries for an Isles enforcer

The Islanders won their first preseason game, 2-1 in OT, over the Bruins, after heavily outshooting the B's. But according to the game report, the Bruins awoke and came out hard in the third -- responding to the lopsided game flow -- and took out two Isles, Kurtis MacLean and Chris Campoli, with hard checks.

Amusingly, this ignited calls on the Newsday comment forum (already!) that the Islanders must have a full-time enforcer. Because without one, the thinking goes, other teams will run roughshod over the Isles. Nice theory and all ... except that one of the candidates for Isles enforcer, Mitchel Fritz, was in the lineup!

While there is a deterrent value to dressing enforcers -- which is why GM Garth Snow has implied they will use them on a game-by-game basis this season -- the equation that Enforcer Present = No One Runs Your Players is a gross exaggeration, a falsehood. Some intimidation and policing built up over a season can be a deterrent, sure (even in today's NHL), but come on: Fritz's presence in the lineup obviously kept no one from taking their licks to earn a spot on the Bruins.

I don't begrudge fans of fighting, which is a storied, character-filled and oft entertaining part of the game's history. But saying full-time goons are essential today is ridiculous. I thought the Red Wings had already disproven this errant theory, repeatedly, all the way to a Cup.

Each day reveals a little more of Scott Gordon

The Islanders preseason starts tonight, baby! The primordial look at Team Gordon.

And he is really the story here. This edition of Islanders training camp gets its intrigue almost solely from the coach making his first impression on the job, and not from players trying to make impressions to win a job.

The Islanders are fully stocked with NHL contracts, so the only possible "surprises" are young Jack Hillen on defense and the feature story-like tale of Brandon Sugden. You can throw first-round pick Josh Bailey in there if you want, but shock is not strong enough to describe how I'd feel if the Islanders kept the 18-year-old from returning to juniors to continue his development.

Anyway, each day reveals a little more about new coach Scott Gordon. Today, Greg Logan dropped lots of early impressions from vets new and old, like Doug Weight and Brendan Witt. With the all-important caveat that it's early, and everyone wants to embrace a fresh start, the quoted vets like Gordon's get-down-to-business approach.

For example, is it really OK that Gordon is focusing on teaching, drilling, learning, and not scrimmaging? Witt thinks so:

"I like it better that we practice because we’re working systems. The last couple years, my first time on ice was the intrasquad game. It’s kind of nice to get to practice and learn the system before you even go in any exhibition games."

What of the "overspeed" concept. Is Gordon really trying to make players become "faster"? Weight clarifies:

“He’s not talking about the way you skate as a style,” Weight said. “He’s saying, ‘You’ve got to move your feet more and move them more often.’ We’ve talked about it, and I’m a guy that slows the game down. But when I’m at my best, I’m playing my fastest while slowing the game down. You get more room the faster you are, and you can still make your snowplows and still make your fakes and buy yourself room.

Logan has plenty more in both his online post on this topic, as well as his regular article about Weight's fresh start, in which Weight re-iterates that he thinks two seasons ago was his best form in nearly a decade.

The other salient point is Gordon's desire for the defensemen on breakouts to consider hitting the center more rather than sending it up the boards to the wings.

That should be fun to watch. Look for some unsightly early turnovers as they adjust, and -- maybe, just maybe -- some pretty breakouts if the Isles' D rise to the challenge of bringing more options and zip to the proceedings.