Scott Gordon Gone as Islanders Head Coach (THANK GOD)

Yesterday morning the announcement was made that Scott Gordon has been removed as head coach of the New York Islanders. He has been moved to the GM office as a special assistant to Garth Snow. Replacing Gordon on the bench will be Jack Capuano. Here is the story off the Islanders website:

It was undoubtedly a tough day at Iceworks when the news came down that Scott Gordon had been reassigned and that Bridgeport Sound Tigers head coach Jack Capuano had been named interim head coach of the New York Islanders.

In light of the Islanders current 10 game losing streak, management has made the decision to promote Capuano to fill the role as interim head coach of the Islanders. Scott Gordon will remain with the organization as an adviser to General Manager Garth Snow.

“Having a coach like Jack Capuano that has a familiarity with our players not only in our system through Bridgeport, but from taking part in our training camps here, there’s a comfort because there doesn’t need to be a feeling out process with our players,” Snow said. “He knows our players and that familiarity to me made it seem like the best fit at this point.”

This will not be Capuano’s first stint behind the Islanders bench. He served as an assistant coach during the 2005-06 season before becoming the head coach the Islanders American Hockey League affiliate.

Islanders interim head coach Jack Capuano on the bench coaching the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the Islanders American Hockey League affiliate.

In three years as Bridgeport’s head coach, Capuano led the Sound Tigers to a 133-100-8-14 record, including a team best 49 wins during the 2008-09 season. His record brings confidence in Snow’s opinion, especially since Capuano has coached 10 players on the Islanders current roster includingBlake Comeau, Frans Nielsen andMatt Martin.

“He’s helped guide a team that had a record of 49 wins two years ago in Bridgeport,” said Snow. “We have a young group there as well where we’re in a mode to develop and he’s done an excellent job in that area. For me, it’s a good fit.”

But as he tries to inspire his players to turn the club’s record around, having the opportunity to coach the Islanders is a little bittersweet.

“Scott (Gordon) and I were close, even before the Islanders we coached in the ECHL together, so I’ve known him a long time,” said Capuano. “It’s not the ideal situation, but at the same time I have an opportunity now that I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. I’ll do whatever I can to help these guys try to get back in the playoff picture, and I’m looking forward to the opportunity.”

Capuano thought his first day at practice went well, adding that the players were very approachable. During their morning meeting, he told the players that there are “controllable and uncontrollable circumstances” and right now, the Islanders are the ones in control of their future.

“Right now, that’s our work ethic and passion and trust in one another,” Capuano said. “I just wanted to explain to them that there could be some minor tweaks. They were very receptive to the meeting this (Monday) morning.”

Islanders captain Doug Weight met with the media and made no excuses for the team’s current situation, saying that management had to make the change to shake things up and it was not solely the fault of Gordon. Instead, what happens next is the hands of the players on the ice.

“Cappy (Capuano) is coming in here with a great mindset,” said Weight. “It’s a new start. It’s a fresh beginning for all of the guys on the team. It’s up to us to take advantage of this opportunity to play and have this fresh feeling. We have to win some hockey games, enough of the excuses or whatever has been going on. We are starting new and hopefully Wednesday begins with a win.”

Despite the coaching change, Capuano only plans to simplify a few areas of the Islanders system and doesn’t want to shake things up too much by planning a complete revamp of the same system he used in Bridgeport.

“I think the coaches here have done a real good job with structure,” said Capuano. “I think that’s the one thing Scott (Gordon) did when he first got here; played a lot more structured hockey than we’ve played in the past. Obviously, there’s a few tweaks that we’ll make. But for the most part, it’s not going to be a major overhaul, especially right off the bat.”

Although, Weight said small changes were made immediately.

“We changed a lot of things today,” said Weight. “Simplistic things, but things I think some guys are having trouble with. Cappy (Capuano) came out and simplified our game a little bit. We need to use our speed and put the puck in good spots and our systems aim towards to all of that. You have to rely on your defense to make some plays from time to time. I think we’ve made some changes that some of the guys are excited about.”

The Islanders will continue with one more day of practice before Capuano makes his debut as interim head coach on Wednesday. In light of the change, assistant coaches Dean Chynoweth and Scott Allen will remain on staff in their current capacities. In Capuano's absence, Sound Tigers assistant coach Pat Bingham will assume head coaching duties.

The new head coach will make his debut tomorrow night at the Coliseum when the Islanders play host to the Tampa Bay Lightning. And of note the last team the Islanders were able to gain a win against was the Lightning in Overtime down in Tampa on October 21st.

After the First Month of the Season Islanders Are Looking So-So

So the first month of the NHL Season has come and gone and for the New York Islanders it has been an interesting one at that. As of now the Isles sit 4th in the Atlantic Division with a 4-5-2 record, good enough for 10 points, just a tad bit better then the New Jersey Devils who sit in last place in the division. The Isles opened the season with a 5-4 Overtime loss to the Dallas Stars. What impressed me the most about that game was the fact that the team twice overcame 2-goal deficits to force overtime and earn a point. They followed that up with a 6-4 beating of the rival New York Rangers (who i oh so lovingly call the New York Retards). 3rd game of the season saw the team's first regulation loss a 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Washington Capitals. The lone positive taken from that game was the 1st career goal from Nino Niederreiter. If you have yet to see the video here it is:

So after the loss to the Caps, the Isles moved on to Pittsburgh where they lost another heartbreaker 3-2 in Overtime to the pens. The next night was a 5-2 beatdown of the Colorado Avalanche. The Biggest game to this point, in terms of emotion, was a 2-1 overtime win by the Islanders in Toronto against the Maple Leafs on October 18th. For the 2nd time in less then a year the Islanders basically steal 2 points from the Leafs in Toronto in a game they really had no business winning. Dwayne Roloson made 29 saves and got help from 2 goals waved off and Martenek making a diving stop late in the 3rd period and John Tavares winning it in the extra frame with a wicked wrist shot. The Isles next game 2 days later was another overtime win this time against Tampa Bay and with Matt Moulson being the hero. Since that game however the Isles have lost 4 straight games. The only bright spot during that losing skid was John Tavares scoring his 1st ever NHL Hat Trick against the Panthers in a 4-3 loss.

So theIsles seem to be holding their own in the division without their 2 best players in Mark Streit and Kyle Okposo, who are both out with shoulder injuries. The injury bug has flown around the Islanders room a bit as Rob Shremp, Trent Hunter and Josh Bailey have missed time due to various injuries. All 3 are now back in the lineup. The big surprise on offense early on has been the play of both Blake Comeau and P.A. Parenteau. Rick DiPetrio has been able to stay healthy through the 1st month which to me is a bit of a surprise given his injury problems over the past 2 seasons. James Wisnewiski is leading the team in points right now with 11 on 2 goals and 9 assists. Next on the list is team Captain Doug Weight with 8 points. Weight is tide with Parenteau and Moulson with 8 points each. The team seems to have a bit more of a balanced scoring attack this season then they did last year but it is still early on in the year.

November is going to be a tough month for the team as they have the west coast swing early in the month. Here is what the month looks like for the Islanders in November:

11/3-@Hurricanes 7pm

11/4-@Senators 7:30pm

11/6-vs Flyers 7pm

11/10-@ Ducks 10pm

11/11-@ Sharks 10:30pm

11/13-@ Kings 10:30pm

11/17-vs. Lightning 7pm

11/20-vs. Panthers 7pm

11/21-@ Thrashers 5pm

11/24-vs. Blue Jackets 7pm

11/16-vs. Devils 1pm

So as you can see the month of November is gonna be a tough one for the team but here's to hoping they can get through it and be in the top 8 in the Eastern Conferance by the time december hits.

The Time Has Finally Arrived. NHL HOCKEY IS BACK!

The Night that most of us hockey fans have finally arrived as the NHL has kicked off the 2010-2001 NHL Season. There has been a lot that has gone down in hockey since the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in June. The big surprise in the off season was the fire sale the Champion Hawks had during the summer. The team traded away the likes of Dustin Buflygin Ben Eager and Brent Sopel to Atlanta then sent Kris Versteeg to Toronto and walked away from goalie Antti Niemi in salary arbitration and Niemi went on to sign with the San Jose Sharks after the Sharks bought out Evgani Nabak0v.

The 2 biggest signings during the off season had to be the Ottawa Senators snagging Sergi Gonchar for 3 years at $16.5 million and then Ilya Kovalchuck signed a 15 year $100 Million contract with the Devils. Both signings made major waves in the league and were a shake up to hockey epically the Kovalchuck signing. Here are some more notable moves. New Jersey Signing Anton Volchenkov and Henrik Tallinder Andy Sutton signing with Anaheim, Jordan Leopold and Rob Neidermeyer in Buffalo, Oli Jokinen and Alex Tanguay in Calgary Mike Modano with Detroit Paul Martin in Pittsburgh Jaroslav Halak in St Louis. Other than that it was major resignings to teams.

Now its time for predictions in the divisions:

Atlantic:

1-Flyers

2-Penguins

3-Devils

4-Rangers

5-Islanders

Northeast:

1- Buffalo

2-Boston

3-Ottawa

4-Montreal

5-Toronto

Southeast:

1-Washington

2-Carolina

3-Atlanta

4-Tampa Bay

5- Florida

Central:

1-Chicago

2-Detroit

3-St Louis

4-Nashville

5-Columbus

Northwest:

1-Vancouver

2-Calgary

3-Minnesota

4-Colorado

5-Edmonton

Pacific:

1-San Jose

2-Los Angeles

3-Dallas

4-Anaheim

5- Phoenix

So there you have it. The season preview in a nutshell. Keep checking the website for updates every week and for all things NHL

Islanders Hit with Injury Bug and THE SEASON HASN'T STARTED YET

Reports coming from nhl.com say that the Islanders will be without the services of both Mark Streit and Kyle Okposo for the bulk of the season. Here is the story from nhl.com:

The New York Islanders suffered their second devastating blow this week and it's still early.

The team announced Tuesday that forward Kyle Okposo's ailing right shoulder will require surgery that will keep him out indefinitely. This news comes roughly 48 hours after the team announced that defenseman Mark Streit would miss the bulk of the season after undergoing surgery to repair damage to his left shoulder that is reported to be a torn rotator cuff and labrum.

The Islanders have now lost both of their alternate captains to extended shoulder injuries and the season hasn't even started.

The team also announced it has signed former New Jersey defenseman Mike Mottau to a two-year contract. Mottau, 32, spent the last three seasons with the Devils and last season recorded a career-high 18 points in 79 games.

"Mike is a solid puck-moving defenseman who will bring more experience to our blue line," GM Garth Snow said in a statement.

Okposo finished second on the team last season with 19 goals and 52 points in 80 games. He had 18 goals and 39 points as a rookie two seasons ago. It is unclear when he suffered his shoulder injury, though there is speculation that it happened during an intrasquad scrimmage last week.

The story was published about a half an hour ago. These are 2 huge losses for the Isles. Streit is by far there best defenseman, but now with the new additions he might not be AS big of a loss then say this time last year. And as far as Okposo is concerned, he is one of the teams best playmakers and offensive threats. The Islanders just better hope the new additions to the team can step up and fill the holes or this could be another long season for us Islanders fans.

Full NHL Preview will come next week so keep checking often

NFL Week 3 Winners and Losers

Week 3 of the NFL season has come and gone and had a few changes in the league. Due to the recent struggles of the Buffalo Bills they have cut ties with Quarterback Trent Edwards. In yesterdays contest the Bills went with Ryan Fitzpatrick instead of Edwards and the BIlls ALMOST pulled a huge upset but fell 38-30 to the New Englad Patriots. In this game CJ Spiller started to show some flash and giving Bills fans a little bit of hope when he returned a 95 yard punt for a touchdown in the First Half. Fitzpatrick actually gave Brady a run for his money which may have been why the Bills let go Edwards.

The biggest game of the week had to be the sunday night contest between the Jets and Dolphins. In what was a very exciting game the Jets pulled out a 31-23 win improving to 2-1 and handing Miami their first loss of the season. Mark Sanchez again threw 3 touchdown passes. The only problem from the Jets perspective was that Brandon Marshall was matched up against rookie Kyle Wilson because of Derell Revis being out with a hamstring injury. No word as of yet whether Revis will play against the Bills sunday.

Taking a look at the standings overall in the NFL there are a few surprises. One being the fact the Dallas Cowboys are 1-2 after beating previously undefeated Texans. The reason I call this a surprise is because right now it don't look too good for Cowboys owner Jerry Jones who made the prediction that his Boys will be playing in the Super Bowl this year, which by the way happens to be in Dallas. SDo it just seems a little shocking and somewhat good to see this happening. I just love it when owners run their mouths and end up with egg on their face.

For more news on football go to nfl.com

NFL Week 2: Payton Wins Manning Bowl and Jets Beat Pats

Week 2 has come and gone in the National Football League. The 2 big games in my mind were the Manning Bowl, as in Peyton's Colts against Eli's Giants, and the Jets taking on division rival New England. We start with the Manning Bowl where it was Peyton's Colts coming out on top by a score of 38-14 over Eli and the Giants. Peyton went 20 of 26 for 255 Yards and 3 TD's. His favorite Targets was Reggie Wayne who caught 7 passes for 96 yards and a touchdown. The other 2 touchdowns were caught by Dallas Clark and Austin Collie. Meanwhile Eli when 13 of 24 for 161 yards 2 touchdowns and a pick. Manningham was Eli's favorite target as he caught 4 passes for 75 yards. The Colts were rushing Eli and the rest of the Giants forcing the turnovers and allowing the Colts high powered offense to do it's job and come away with the victory.

As for the Jets it was a totally different story from the week 1 loss to the Ravens. The first quarter was quiet and then the 2nd was when the offenses finally decided to wake up. New England got on the board first thanks to a 6-yard TD reception by Wes Welker. The Jets came back and scored to tie the game on a Braylon Edwards 10 Yard TD Catch. The Pats took the lead 14-7 with a incredible one handed TD Catch. The half ended with a Jets field goal to make it 14-10. 2nd half was a nightmare for the Pats as Brady was picked off twice and Sanchez threw 2 TD passes one in the 3rd quarter to Cotchery and the other to Keller. Mark Sanchez ended the game throwing 3 TD passes and went 21 of 30 for 220 yards. Now for a look at the rest of the interesting games in week 2.

The Buffalo Bills once again failed to show up as they got blasted 34-7 by the Green Bay Packers. Michael Vick made his first start for the Eagles and his first start in the NFL since December of 2006 as the Eagles beat the Lions 35-32. The win was good enough to earn Vick the starting job again for the Eagles again this Sunday. The biggest surprise of the first 2 weeks has to be the play of the Huston Texans who started the season off 2-0. The Texans beat the Colts in week 1 and then here in week 2 beat the Redskins 30-27 in Overtime. The Monday Night game saw the San Fransisco 49ers put up a valiant effort but came up short to the defending Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints as the Saints won 25-22 on a last second field goal. This all coming after the 49ers made an amazing drive down the field to take the lead only to see the Saints win it on the final field goal.

Looking ahead to week 3 in the NFL is as follows. The New York Giants will play host to the Tennessee Titans at 1pm at the New Meadowlands. Eli Manning will look to have a bounce back game after dropping the Manning Bowl to older brother Payton. Meanwhile the Buffalo Bills will have to travel to New England to take on the Patriots at 1pm. As for the New York Jets they will have to travel to Miami to take on the Dolphins on NBC in the Sunday night game. Other interesting matchups in week 3 are Monday NIght Football as the Green Bay Packers head to Soilder Field to take on the Chicago Bears. Also Michael Vick will get the start for the Eagles as they take on the Jaguars.

After Long Last Ilya Kovalchuck is Finally A New Jersey Devil!

After a very long holdout and debate the Ilya Kovalchuck saga is finally over as he was signed by the New Jersey Devils this past saturday. The following was the story posted on nhl.com:

Kovalchuk will be a New Jersey Devil after all, and the circumvention investigations of the contracts for Roberto Luongo, Marc Savard, Chris Pronger and Marian Hossa will not be pursued.

Early Saturday morning, the National Hockey League and the NHL Players' Association agreed to a global settlement to cease the investigations linked to cap circumvention for the above contracts while adopting regulations to govern long-term contracts of five or more years.

The regulations will be added as a supplement to the Collective Bargaining Agreement and apply to all contracts signed from today. As a result, NHL officials agreed to register the new Kovalchuk contract as it was submitted by New Jersey last week and terminate their reviews of the contracts already registered for Luongo, Savard, Pronger and Hossa.

The Kovalchuk contract reportedly calls for him to make $100 million across 15 years, including $90 million in the first 10 years and $10 million over the last five -- with an annual salary cap hit of $6.67 million. Kovalchuk, who turned 27 in April, will be 42 upon completion of the contract.

Kovalchuk originally had agreed to a 17-year, $102 million contract that was rejected by the NHL based on circumvention of the CBA. That rejection was upheld through arbitration after the NHLPA filed a grievance on Kovalchuk's behalf.

Once system arbitrator Richard Bloch ruled in favor of the NHL's position that the original contract had circumvented the CBA, the League and the NHLPA began working toward today's settlement and regulations.

"We're pleased to be able to establish bright line rules for these contracts going forward and are happy we can turn the page on existing contracts so we're looking forward, not backward," NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told NHL.com. "From start to finish of the process the Players' Association was responsive, interested and shared our objective to create certainty in this area."

The NHLPA released a statement from Roland Lee, Director of Salary Cap/Marketplace & Associate Counsel for the NHLPA:

"We are pleased to finalize an agreement which ends the League's circumvention investigations and also establishes rules on long-term contracts that will provide players, their certified agents and general managers clarity for the negotiation of new contracts," Lee said. "Turning the page on this process is something that will benefit all parties involved."

The agreement includes two major regulations that go into effect immediately and will be a part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement until its expiration on Sept. 15, 2012. If there is no CBA at the start of the 2012-13 NHL season, the rules will be grandfathered until a new CBA is negotiated:

1. While players and clubs can continue to negotiate long-term contracts (five years or longer) that include contract years in a player's 40s, for purposes of salary-cap calculation the contract will effectively be cut off in the year of the contract in which the player turns 41.

This basically means that if a 33-year-old player signs an eight-year contract, the amount owed to him in the first seven years of the contract will be averaged for the purposes of salary-cap computation. Then, in Year 8 of the contract, the salary he will make for that particular season will determine his salary-cap hit for that season.

So, if Kovalchuk's contract applied to this rule, the average of what he's owed in the first 13 years would be applied to the Devils salary cap from 2010-2023 and the cap hit would be $7.15 million because he is reportedly due to make $93 million across that span. Then, per the reported terms, the cap hit would change to $3 million in 2023-24 (as Kovalchuk turns 41 in April of that season) and $4 million in 2024-25.

2. In any long-term contract that averages more than $5.75 million for the three highest-compensation seasons, the cap charge will be a minimum of $1 million for every season in which the player is 36-39 years of age. That $1 million value will then be used to determine the salary cap hit for the entire contract. If the contract takes the player into his 40s, the previous rule goes into effect.

For example, Savard's contract reportedly calls for him to make $525,000 per season in the final two years of his seven-year, $28 million deal. He will be 38 and 39 in those seasons. If his contract was subject to these new regulations, for purposes of calculating the salary cap the final two years on his deal will reflect as if he was making $1 million. That would make his reported $4 million cap hit go up to $4.14 million.

The club and player still can agree to a contract that pays a player less than $1 million when he is at those ages, but for salary-cap purposes the number applied to the team's annual average salary will be $1 million.

The regulations are designed to keep diveback numbers in contracts to a minimum.


So there you have it. The biggest fish in this year's free agent market in the NHL is signed finally. More on NHL Free Agent news to come. NFL Preview coming up this weekend