Gallantly changing roles

I suppose if you wait until after the draft and start of free agency to change coaches, you can wait until the eve of training camp to remove your top assistant coach. That's just how we roll.

So even if there's nothing under the surface to the Isles sudden announcement that Gerard Gallant, Ted Nolan's top assistant -- who was retained for Scott Gordon with the rest of the staff -- is moving to a "consultant" role upstairs, it will still be added to the annals of "unconventional" (to put it kindly) moves by Islanders management over the last two, eight, twelve, fifteen (pick your regime) years.

Many signs point to Snow valuing Gallant. That Nolan's assistants were (originally) retained is one; that he escaped blame for last year's powerplay, which he ostensibly ran, is another.

So one initially wonders if Gallant and Gordon found they had different philosophies, whether in styles or in powerplay tactics. But it could be simply as publicly stated, that Gallant -- after a summer of reflection to change his mind -- wants more time with family and to watch his son play junior hockey.

Greg Logan says Gordon gave no hint of this change when he sat down to interview him this week for a feature; but if it was truly just Gallant's personal choice, that wouldn't be Gordon's place to announce it, anyway. Actually, if Gordon knew something was up, he could have pushed management for the announcement after that interview, effectively saying, "Look, I had to dance around this topic in the interview. Can we clear it up so I don't get off on the wrong foot with our lone beat reporter?"

No drama here. But until training camp starts (please, soon!), we're going to be parsing whatever bits of news that comes about. Now ... who will be Gordon's new assistant?

DiPietro's rehab is on target, we hope

The thing that concerns me most about the Isles' upcoming season is, surprisingly, goaltending. I can buy that Scott Gordon will be a fine coach. I can buy that the powerplay should improve. I can buy that this is a necessary transition year -- yet I can even buy, over a strong beer or three, that they have a shot at the playoffs.

But I'm not sold on Joey MacDonald as our backup (admittedly, it's due to lack of data on my part). And last season made it clear that a) they need to limit Rick DiPietro's games, and b) they can only do that with a strong backup.

Enter the recent Newsday story about DiPietro's rehab. At first I thought it was a late-summer "we're overdue to run something on the Islanders. Seriously." fluff piece. But upon second glance, it reveals that DiPietro, after hip surgery and knee clean-up surgery, is "optimistic" that he'll be ready for opening night. This means training camp will be spent playing but perhaps taking it slow, rounding into form. And it implies that, at worst, our unproven backup starts opening night (not likely), or at best, our starter hopes to feel 100% for the first time only when the games start for real.

Not trying to make drama out of nothing here. But this could linger if we consider that the Isles need a good start for several reasons (the new coach, fan support, a chance at the playoffs, etc.), and that if DiPietro is not truly ready on opening night but plays anyway -- if he "rushes it" again -- we're in for a long season of wear and potential re-injury that could haunt him and the club.

We already went through that last year after the All-Star break. It wasn't fun.

The leftovers scroll by

At this point in early September, the curtains drawn late at night, succumbing to my hockey withdrawal to watch a Whalers-Bruins playoff series from the 1980s (man I miss the Whale), the NHL Network's "bottom line" provides a moment of levity with its team-by-team list of what it calls NHL "unsigned free agents."

With the exception of Mats Sundin, who doesn't seem to know which shirt he'll wear in the morning, and Teemu Selanne, who is waiting for the Ducks to screw yet another teammate -- er, I mean clear cap room -- to re-sign him, the scrolling list is a collection of down-on-their luck vets being pushed out by the wonderful cost certainty of youth. After tasting the good millions, suddenly to stay in the NHL, these vets must accept the pride dent of a training camp tryout and "only" six figures.

Former Islanders are well-represented in this scene. Sean Hill is there, even though he's signed with a team in Switzerland. Bryan Berard is no longer there, thanks to his Flyers invite. I know you're sorry to hear Brad Isbister is no longer there, having inked a two-way deal (ouch) with Ottawa. And Mark Parrish is there, having been bought out by his home state Wild from the silly deal that took him off the Island. I've wondered but didn't see Josef Vasicek listed -- maybe because he's signed on with the KHL's Lokomotiv, where he'll join a certain former Islanders captain who's still on our payroll.

These old vets are victims of the CBA, true, but also of something else: As the game of hockey's popularity and accessibility (for players) has increased, the pool of talented players has grown by far more than the number of jobs made available through NHL expansion. So for an NHL club, it is a fair bet to believe one of its many prospects can emerge to do a decent third- or fourth-line job for far cheaper than the veteran UFA looking for one final payday.

This is why I do not fear the KHL or European remigration: Thus far, they're mostly feeding on the "extra parts" pile of NHL veterans, which can be filled by the many kids who grow up dreaming of a chance at the Cup. And until North America's talented youth grow up dreaming of slipping on an ad-laden Bili Tygri Liberec jersey we're gonna be OK.

If that sounds a tad dismissive, it's not meant to be. It's a wonderful thing that NHL vets like Martin Straka, Martin Rucinsky, or Andrei Zyuzin can return home (or closer to home) to finish out their careers and reward their old fans. (Besides, if you're not an elite player, isn't it great that you no longer have to be a continent away from your family/roots just for the money?) Likewise, it's great that a guy like Wade Dubielewicz can see the world and make money playing hockey.

It's a win-win to me. So good luck to all the former NHLers exploring or returning to Europe. And good luck to all of the spry youngsters who get the chance to take their place.

File under 'Creepy'

Whoa. Former NHL agent David Frost, awaiting trial for charges of sexual exploitation, has had his bail amended in a Canada court to enable him to leave the country to attend Phoenix Coyotes training camp and "monitor the progress" of Adam Keefe.

How does that happen?

You may remember Frost's association with Keefe's brother, Sheldon. He's also the agent who had the, um, uncomfortable representation of Mike Danton, the former Devils/Blues forward who's in prison for arranging to have Frost killed. Danton was likewise estranged from his family and had his surname changed. I think you catch the vibe that surrounds Frost.

I occasionally play rec hockey at the rink where Danton met the teenage rink girl through whom he eventually found a prospective "hit man" (it was an undercover cop), and I still think of that bizarre scenario whenever I walk into the place. It drives home again how predators who take advantage of young, vulnerable adolescents are bad, bad people; they have a knack for finding the easiest prey.

Kudos to Coyotes GM Don Maloney for coming out and forcefully saying Frost isn't welcome. (Warning to Maloney: Frost generally doesn't take "no" for an answer, so this could get ugly.)

On that note, I must admit it's nice to see Maloney at the helm somewhere. Of course his tenure in Long Island was "rough" to say the least -- I still have a wound from the Turgeon/Muller fiasco -- I must admit he was thrust into the role early in his post-playing career and at a difficult time for the franchise. Since his firing, years spent as a scout and assistant GM -- paying his dues like he did as a player -- earned him another chance. That's fair enough.

Wang accused by ex-Isles co-owner

The elephant in the room has returned.

Kumar alleges Wang "insisted that CA 'stonewall" the government probe of CA, arguing it would eventually "go away."

... Kumar said he and Wang had a major falling out after Kumar introduced a new business model in 2000, alleging Wang "was regretting giving up the CEO title." So Wang fired him over breakfast in November 2001, he alleges, though CA's board reaffirmed Kumar's post at a subsequent meeting.

Kumar is in a position to want to help anyone to lighten his 12-year prison sentence, so the credibility of his accusations will likely always be in question. That said, it always made me nervous that Kumar was to be "in the joint" while Wang hangs on to the Islanders, giving Kumar an axe to grind. If nothing else, it means accusations like this might resurface at any time.

What is Tampa Bay doing?

As the down time before training camp drags on, we turn our thoughts to other teams, any teams...

Have you asked yourself this offseason what, pray tell, the Tampa Bay Lightning are doing? I sure have. Forget for a moment the scent of irregularity that surrounds their new ownership group. And forget about hiring the coach who's been doing TV for the past decade-plus.

I'm thinking about their philosophy for building their team. Defense seems to have been forgotten; goaltending is an unproven gamble; money is stashed in some interesting areas. As I recall, offense was not why they finished 30th overall last year, yet they spent the summer throwing around money and term (seven years to Ryan Malone?!) around at forwards and ... offensive defensemen.

Honestly, if the Lightning do well, I think it's good for the league. It's a good market that shows up for its team, and Barry Melrose is a character who even casual, SportsCenter-watching Americans know. If he comes off looking good, feeling cocky, dropping silly or blunt quotes, it would be the kind of attention the league needs south of the border. Plus, any team that excels on the basis of offense-first will be a marketer/televiser's dream.

But I'm not sold on The Plan, such as it is.

Admittedly, when it comes to team-building, I'd trend toward the conservative, asset-accumulation model. I'd stockpile my younger assets (check) and be wary of the free-agent route to instant gratification. I'd be frightened by the exchange rate-aided rise in the salary cap (i.e. NHL revenues) and would choose very carefully before committing 2008-cap-level cash on several future years of: a) a power forward (Malone) who took a long time to peak and is likely to decline by the second half of his deal; b) a young offensive defenseman whose defense, reportedly, leaves much to be desired when not paired with Zdeno the Giant.

Not to mention shafting defensive leader Dan Boyle and replacing him with the hardly equivalent Matt Carle, plus the gratuitous addition of Gary Roberts, who appeared last season -- particularly in the playoffs -- to be running on Angry Veteran Fumes.

It's not just that Andrei Mezsaros is a somewhat questionable (if consistent) commodity; it's that the Lightning don't appear to have the kind of partner -- like Chara -- who can bring out his max value. It's not that Mezsaros is now overpaid for his potential contribution, it's that the Lightning handed him max value when he was still in his cost-conrolled, RFA years. I understand that is arguably the trend these days -- but it should only be a tactic for hanging on to your can't-lose assets (Vincent Lacavalier, Alex Ovechkin, etc.). If you're tossing away your leverage for third-year non-star RFAs, what category of player (who matters) will you ever have contract leverage over?

In goal -- and I cannot believe how any contender wannabe would scrimp on this position (yet there, too, are the Sens) -- the Lightning have Olaf Kolzig, whose career has become a Greek tragedy: all those great years loyally wasted on a subpar team, and now that the Caps are good, last season he could no longer carry them. More importantly they have Mike Smith, who is a defensible gamble -- but unproven! And should Smith falter, they have to rely on Kolzig, because they don't have the cap room to acquire someone like Nikolai Khabibulin. And of course, it was the abject neglect of this position, letting the Bulin Wall walk, that originally spiraled them from Cup winners into last season's mess.

Naturally, I may be wrong (Their season will be entertaining either way). Maybe Smith is the real deal, Mazseros just needs a stable partner, Malone continues to grow, Carle rises to a new level, and Melrose defies the critics who think he is not prepared to coach the 21st-century game. In a way, I kind of hope I am wrong.

But if I were a Lightning fan, I wouldn't bank on it.

Capitals Retire Mike Gartner's 11

Without knowing the pulse of longtime Capitals' fandom, retiring Make Gartner's #11 seems fitting (if tardy?) enough. Gartner entered the Hall of Fame in 2001. He was the franchise's all-time leading scorer when he left (Peter Bondra broke his career Capitals marks, though Gartner still ranks sixth all-time in the NHL in goals). Funny that six players have worn #11 since, including Bob Carpenter, Esa Tikkanen and Jeff Halpern.

When I'm reminded that Dale Hunter's number was retired first, I cringe. Can't help it: I'm an Islanders fan and also generally opposed to dirty play, so Hunter's legacy to me is, at minimum, "mixed." But while they retired as players just a year apart, Hunter's decade as a Cap came mostly after Gartner's, so Hunter's number retirement probably had more resonance with current fans. And obviously, despite Gartner's gaudy numbers, Hunter's, um, "style" of play was the kind that struck fans' deeper, more primitive emotions. (I know, I know: "You had to be there. He was a leader," etc.)

Gartner was swapped to the North Stars for Dino Ciccarelli in 1988-89. Larry Murphy and Bob Rouse also changed hands, making it one of those classic "shake-up" asset swaps that just don't happen anymore. Pretty incredible to think that in one trade, the North Stars acquired two Hall of Famers in the prime of their careers, and within two seasons they'd shipped both of them out.

When I think of Gartner, I think of his classic hockey Schnurrbart. I think of him streaking down the wing in that red Cooper helmet. I think of the 15 consecutive seasons of 30+ goals ruined by the lockout. I think of his curious 1985-86 trading card, where he was stretching his leg on the boards in warmup, with the bottom of his skate blade in the immediate foreground. I think of him continuing to rack up goals with Minnesota and then the Rangers. I think of him at the end, cleanly shaven, a white upper lip where the hockey Schnurrbart should be.

But I also think of him as one of those guys who just missed out on a Stanley Cup. The guy who goes the wrong way in a deadline deal to get the "final piece" of the puzzle. Does he ever dwell on that fate? Isn't it cruel that after enduring -- and scoring -- for three years with the up-and-down Rangers, he was shipped away during their Cup-winning year for a fellow Hall of Fame winger who already had five Cup rings?

Maybe Gartner was too good a guy. Maybe Messier wanted "his people" in the trenches. Maybe Mike Keenan wanted "proven playoff performers" (Note: the previous time the Rangers made the playoffs, Gartner had 8G, 8A in 13 games). Who knows with the bizarre dynamics of that Ranger management/locker room atmosphere. But if I'm Gartner, I'm thinking "we'd" have still won the Cup without making that trade.

On that note, the defensemen in that original Capitals-North Stars deal, Rouse and Murphy, each went on to win Cups with other clubs. Gartner and Ciccarelli, of course, just missed. Hockey careers -- and the myths we build around them -- can be funny like that.