11:46 am: As per @TSNBobMcKenzie (and probably about 15 other people, but his tweet came over my phone first, Danny Briere will be suspended for three games for his hit on Frans Nielsen.
Thank you.
Also, Jon Sim has been placed on waivers in an effort to get him to Bridgeport.
Thank you Chris Botta for information that gets Tweeted to my phone. Milan Jurcina will be out 2 - 4 weeks now as well. But we do get Rob Schremp back for Wednesday.
7:22 AM: I am anxiously awaiting the results of the 10 am phone call from the league to Danny Briere regarding Saturday's game. If the league is serious about limiting head shots, I am hoping they prove it.
I am however, a little disappointed in this article I found by Chuck Gormly. The word that bothers me the most is "allegedly."
Danny Briere, who will undergo a 10 a.m. hearing with NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell for allegedly cross-checking Islanders forward Frans Nielsen with 1 minute left in the Flyers' win Saturday night.
Watch the tape. See if there is any question in your mind. I don't care what Frans said to Briere. A two handed stick to the helmet is not the appropriate response.
Also according to Mr. Gormly,
Andrej Meszaros suffered a head injury when he was driven into the boards by Islanders forward Trent Hunter and right wing Andreas Nodl is questionable for tonight with a shoulder injury that occurred when he careened into the boards.
I had asked around yesterday as to whether this meant that Trent Hunter would receive the same type of phone call. Most people felt the call was in error. But reading that Meszaros may miss time on the ice, I'm wondering if something may happen on that front.
This ugliness will likely spill over to Saturday's game at the barn. I'm hoping that cooler heads prevail and that no more injuries out of anger are sustained.
When Confidence Gives Way to Frustration
I heard it for weeks from all of them. When you ask any one of the Islanders or their coaching staff what the difference is this season, the word was always “confidence.” It was what kept them from going under when they lost both Streit and Okposo before the first official game of the season was played. It was what kept them positive when Rob Schremp left the ice and didn’t return during the only pre-season game at the barn. It was also what made them band together when John Tavares played only five minutes of the home opener before laying face down on the ice and being helped off with his health in question.
Yes, confidence. Confidence in what they had all done to prepare for a new season of Islanders hockey which was already slated to be difficult at best. There was an “all for one, and one for all” Three Musketeer attitude that infected the room. It was heart warming.
They squeaked out ten points when they weren’t playing their best hockey, but they were playing their hardest. Then Andy MacDonald required hand surgery and newcomer Michael Grabner had groin issues. Now the losses are mounting and stand at four straight. A three game winning streak followed by a four game losing streak is enough to frustrate anyone, but it reached a boiling point last night in Philadelphia.
The Flyers are a team that is built a certain way. Not growing up watching hockey, I get my history lessons from the man I married who has “always hated those Effers.” Sure, there are players in this league on all teams that I really don’t care for. (The Flyers have two of them) However, I never had that sort of passionate hatred for them. It wasn’t in me -- until last night.
I could handle the two to nothing lead starting the second period. I was also still “confident” even though the Islanders power play couldn’t convert against the Flyers PK in the first period. Then it started to get ugly.
At 2:55 of the second, Jeff Carter made it three to zip, and at 3:28 of the second, Wisniewski was called for roughing and the Isles were down a man, but not quite out -- yet. At 4:32, Chris Pronger added another goal to the pile and at 4:41 over DiPietro‘s shoulder and tempers flared. Zenon Konopka and Dan Carcillo went at it. It was a bout neither was willing to concede.
Trent Hunter was ejected from the game for a boarding call on Andrej Mezaros at 7:45 of the second. The Islanders were down for five minutes and without Hunter the rest of the way. The frustration was evident in Frans Nielsen as he battled against Pronger on a breakaway towards Flyers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. As hard as Nielsen fought, Pronger took him down in front of the net and was called for hooking and Frans was awarded a penalty shot for his efforts. Of the 31 shots he faced, it would be the only one that Bobrovsky would let get through. He was almost perfect.
Pronger didn’t cool his heels in the box. It only made him angrier and he scored yet again on DiPietro less than two minutes after his penalty. With a score of 5 - 1, James Van Riemsdyk was called for high sticking and the Islanders seemed to have a chance at staging a partial comeback, but Bobrovsky turned away everything the Flyers defense didn’t.
The frustration in Matt Moulson was evident as he looked to the roof of the arena at every puck that failed to go in. Matt, Tavares and Wisniewski all had four shots on net with no return.
The third period has been a strong one for the Islanders, and as frustrated as Scott Gordon was, I can only imagine he told them not to give up in the third. That’s when it got REALLY ugly. After Carcillo was called for cross-checking, Konopka wasn’t quite done with what he had to say to him so they went at it again on his next shift out of the box. This didn’t sit well with the refs who realized they were going to have a hard time keeping this game under control. They gave Zenon a two, a five and a ten minute penalty and escorted him off the ice. Konopka did not go quietly. Carcillo only received a five for fighting. He should have gone as well, but they were in Philly.
Another penalty for the Flyers, another chance for the Islanders to add to Nielsen’s lone goal, another strong Flyers PK.
Trevor Gillies received a triple minor and a game misconduct. I didn’t even think that was possible but I think it was because he roughed up three players including Jody Shelly. I can’t be sure. It was just a blur of black and orange around Gillies and his mustache.
There was a lot of elbow room on Scott Gordon’s bench late in the third. The thought of any sort of charge was fading. Then, with only a few minutes left, all hell broke lose.
On Twitter I kept calling for Scott Gordon to keep John Tavares off the ice. The Flyers were doing what the Flyers have done all along -- that which made my husband hate them so much -- they were looking for blood and the walking building that is Chris Pronger was looking for a hat trick on DiPietro. There was no reason for Carcillo to still be on the ice, but that is where ex-Islander coach Peter Laviolette (who may still have a chip on his shoulder according to my husband) put him.
The very well mannered, often quite Frans Nielsen had a lot to say to Briere before a face-off. He must have said something in French about his mother because I can’t imagine any other reason Briere would cross check Frans in the head right off the face off. And that’s when it was all over.
Rick DiPietro could take no more of this and shoved Briere as he skated by which angered Carcillo (who shouldn’t have been on the ice Peter!) and in a nano-second Rick started throwing off the pink pads and looking for a fight. Islanders and Flyers began pairing up behind his net and Pronger grabbed a hold of Rick. You could see Pronger smiling down at Rick only inches from his goalie mask. Something tells me he wasn’t trying to be a calming effect. I just have that feeling.
Rick told the reporters in the post game that Pronger was the last guy he was looking to go toe-to-toe with. But things were just out of hand. So much so that even the bench received a penalty for abuse of officials. With only one minute to play I really wanted Gordon to just take the team off the ice, but I don’t know if that was possible.
After the final buzzer sounded, the Flyers lined up on the ice with their fathers to celebrate and take pictures. I hope they’re proud. The only one who should be is Bobrovsky.
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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