* It was nice to see Billy Jaffe get the plum gig of Flyers-Pens on Versus last night. His star has really risen fast.
* The Islanders' broadcast team was further represented in the postseason by Butch Goring, who got the call to man the studio desk alongside Deb Placey on the MSG Network's local coverage.
* Congratulations to Kyle Okposo for officially being named to the Team USA roster for the IIHF World Championship in Switzerland. I was also pleased to see that Mark Streit will get the opportunity to represent his country as it hosts the tournament. Now, both of you, stay healthy. The same goes for Sean Bergenheim, if he does take the ice for Finland.
* Speaking of Okposo,
Okposo Net reports that #21 celebrates his 21st birthday today. Word is that he will be wearing #12 for the Sound Tigers this weekend, so, with back to back games Friday and Saturday, maybe he will limit his celebratory shot intake to that number instead of the traditional 21. (Disclaimer: I have no idea if Okposo drinks, shots or otherwise.)
* And there's been a Joe Sacco sighting! The former Islander will join Scott Gordon as an assistant coach to Ron Wilson for Team USA. It's always interesting to hear about what former players who may have slipped out of your consciousness are up to. According to
Greg Logan's post in Newsday, Sacco coaches the Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL, which now that I think about it, definitely does ring a bell. Sacco played 98 games for the Isles over two seasons in the late '90s. Looking back at his stats on hockeydb.com, I would have pegged him for more than 6 goals and 3 assists in that time. It's funny what memory can do.
Logan also noted that B.U. sophomore forward Colin Wilson made the U.S. squad, while now former teammate Matt Gilroy did not. I think that's more a reflection of player availability and the respective defense/forward depth charts than a commentary on the potential of Gilroy.
[NEW]: Nice job by Logan getting the long-awaited
update on Gilroy from his agent. It doesn't sound like either party is in the other's plans.
* If you are not attending this weekend's AHL playoff games at the Coliseum, Tom Liodice of
The Tiger Track will be providing the Islanders' official live blog for Games 1 and 2. The coverage will be linked from the Islanders' team site, where Tom has been writing the official game recaps all season long.
* Tomorrow, 4/17,
New York Islander Fan Central closes its doors for good. I just wanted to take the opportunity to recognize the tireless work that NYIFC has done over the past couple of years. There was no greater source for news articles related to the New York Islanders. The blog will remain available for the next few weeks to allow for coverage of the AHL playoffs and WC through news feeds.
*
Corey Witt has provided notice that Doug Weight will appear on XM's NHL Live today at 12:30 PM.
* Here's something that caught me by surprise last night: I already miss Islanders hockey. I was thinking ahead to today and all that the day would have in store. When I got to Thursday evening, it suddenly hit me: no Islanders game. It's Thursday night—there's usually a game. There
should be a game. As much of a baseball fan as I am, at least there's also still hockey to follow, even if the Islanders are only involved in it at the AHL and international levels. And after only one night, this year's NHL playoffs already have considerable buzz and appeal.
* Finally, another big thank you to everyone who tuned in for Tuesday night's live blog/chat of Garth Snow's post-lottery press conference. My assumption is that the call was never planned to be that long in the first place, and perhaps the Islanders only reserved 15 minutes on the conference bridge system. When the time was up, the call simply dropped. Press conferences generally do have time limits placed on them by the media relations department—part of their job is to protect the players and coaches. The coach's post-game presser rarely goes beyond five minutes. Anyway, despite the abrupt ending on Tuesday, we still got some decent, if not dramatic, quotes from the general manager. In the end, the short call was fortuitous because I had time to open up the chat to reader comments. You guys did not disappoint! We had some terrific questions and comments, and I was blown away by the level of interest and participation. You all make the community—great job!
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