Just as Eklund had told me he would be, after last night's game, Islanders new goaltender Marty Biron sat in the locker room unwrapping the tape around his ankles. You can hear it at the very beginning in the video interview with John Tavares on ITV. The press corps descended on John Tavares like ants on a sugar cube last night. I stayed back and noticed Biron sitting alone to the left. It was time for me to make my move.

Having both Eklund and HB’s Garth already forewarn the new Islander that I was looking to speak with him made the introduction far easier for me. (I’m the one who hardly ever speaks in the locker room unless I’m addressed first. Call it deferring to the “MSM” or call it stupidity, but I know my place on the food chain.) Even then, I asked for permission from the Isles PR Director first.

“Hi Marty. I’m Dee Karl. Eklund told me you’d probably be doing that when I saw you.” There seemed to be a certain loud rhythm to the tape ritual. He didn’t even stop, he just chuckled. “He’s been there. He’s seen it.” He smiled up at me.

Just like Ryan Miller, Biron is thin and wiry, but his eyes are strikingly crystal. I can imagine they take a shooter off guard at close range. It’s like looking into the eyes of an Alaskan Malamute. You don't know if it's going to look to play or chew your arm off.

I started off by asking him how he has found Long Island so far, “Well, I’ve been here a total of three days. So…” I let out a nervous laugh and he smiled. I knew he wouldn’t really have an answer, but he did his best to give me a professional one.
“I was here the day before camp and then we left and I’ve been here a couple of days now so I’m trying to get accustomed to where to go and where things are. It’s been really good so far.“

Biron is here alone, leaving his family back in Buffalo. I had a feeling that would be the case, especially since he only has a one year deal. But at least it’s still New York and he doesn’t even have to change his license plates.

“They’re going to come down here and there. It’s a quick flight from Buffalo so it’s not that bad. I just came in with a bag of clothes and some personal items, and that’s about it.”I didn’t ask if he, like so many others, is being holed up at the Marriott for now of if they have already found him someplace suitable to live. No matter who you are, it must be hard to leave your family behind. But this is the life of a professional hockey player.

I should have been better prepared with questions, but I decided to wing it. I thought of the brutal Calgary pre-season game that just went horribly wrong. I decided to ask about it since I know that seeing a goalie leave his crease to protect a teammate is pretty rare, but it wasn’t exactly uncharted territory for Biron.

“The worst was the fight against Ottawa where there was the whole brawl. Fighting Emery was about as involved as I’ve ever gotten into a fight. “

That would be February 22, 2007. And if you watch the video, or remember the game, Emery looked almost giddy with anticipation when he took off his mask to fight Biron as both teams paired off on the ice.

“It was kind of the same situation. Right before that, Chris Drury had gotten laid out in the offensive zone by Chris Neil, a dirty hit, elbow to the head, so the next face off …” he had to think back a few years. “.. You know, we were at home, and the coach put Andrew Peters, Adam Meir, Patrick Kaleta on the ice. The writing was on the wall that something was happening so I already had my blocker undone before the puck was even dropped so…” He was ready.

I didn’t know if it was right for me to broach the subject of the subsequent altercation with the fan in the stands that night. I tap danced around it a little. But when I got the answer, I was floored.

He began to laugh a little when he told me the truth. “It was funny, because I had my old athletic trainer from the Sabres is in Calgary now. So he’s sitting about eight rows behind the net and he starts laughing and pretending he’s giving me a hard time. So we were just kidding around and then everyone started to get involved and I was like ‘ohhhh… maybe I didn’t do the right thing.’ So I was just laughing after that. There was really nothing going on.”

I told him the announcers were all over it. “I thought, oh, maybe that’s not going to send the right image.”

I think the only image that we all need to recall from that night in Calgary is the one of Marty skating next to Kyle Okposo when they carried him off on that stretcher.

Biron is a team player, no matter what team he is on. We’re very lucky to have him.

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