The Day After

Luckily this was not the scene last night at Nassau Coliseum. The Islanders were in tune with the wants of most of their fans. While everyone was happy that the team was able to trade up to pick number 12 (from 26). There are starting to be rumblings about why they traded that high to pick defenseman Calvin De Haan and the associated cost in picks. My thoughts remain that they really like De Haan and they had a lot of picks (to spare?) obtained in last year's draft. My sober conclusion the day after is that they could have obtained De Haan at pick 16 and they did not need to trade up further to pick 12.

Courtesy of Wikipedia, here are the details the Islanders two moves to trade up from 26 to 12.

1. The Minnesota Wild's first-round pick went to the New York Islanders as the result of a trade on June 26, 2009 that sent a first-round pick (#16 overall), a third-round pick (#77 overall) in 2009 and a seventh-round pick (#182 overall) in 2009 to Minnesota in exchange for this pick.

2. The Columbus Blue Jackets' first-round pick went to the Minnesota Wild as the result of a trade on June 26, 2009 that sent a first-round pick (#12 overall) to the New York Islanders in exchange for a third-round pick (#77 overall) in 2009, a seventh-round pick (#182 overall) in 2009 and this pick. New York previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on June 26, 2009 that sent a first-round pick (#26 overall) in 2009, a second-round pick (#37 overall) in 2009, a third-round pick (#62 overall) in 2009 and a fourth-round pick (#92 overall) in 2009 to Columbus in exchange for a third-round pick (#77 overall) in 2009 and this pick

On to today's picks. I'm going to start by saying I am not a professional hockey scout and I do not know a lot about the players the Islanders are taking in rounds 2-7 so I will purely analyze the trades of picks and the positions that these players play. If I come up with any interesting tidbits as I am working, I will of course include them.

As I correctly predicted (not in writing, rather while lying in bed this morning) the Islanders used the first pick in the second round, 31st overall, to select a goaltender. I figured this based upon the fact that it is general knowledge that Islanders needed depth in goal and that they picked a forward and a defenseman in the first round. The pick was 6'7" 20 year old Finnish goaltender Mikko Koskinen.

The Islanders traded their remaining second round pick (#56) to the Columbus Blue Jackets to reacquire the first pick in the third round (#62) and the first pick in the fourth round (#92). Please note that their were 31 picks in the second round due to the compensatory pick awarded to the New York Rangers as a result of untimely and sad death of their 2008 first round pick Alexei Cherepanov.

At the start of the third round, the Islanders held picks #62 and #91 (#91 was obtained in the trade that send Bill Guerin to the Pittsburgh Penguins in March 2009). With the first pick in the third round (#62), the Islanders select...another goaltender, 6'5" Swedish goaltender Anders Nilsson. Well that is the second goaltender the Islanders have picked which speaks volumes about how General Manager Garth Snow feels about goaltenders and about one particular goaltender. The Islanders then traded pick #91 to the Phoenix Coyotes for their third round pick in the 2010 NHL Draft.

At this point in the draft the Islanders had three remaining picks. The first pick in rounds four through six (#92, #122, #152).

With their fourth round pick (#92), the Islanders selected 5' 10" center Casey Cizikas. Cizikas played junior hockey last season with the Mississauga St Michael's Majors of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).

With their fifth round pick (#122), the Islanders selected 6'1" Russian defenseman Anton Klementyev.

With their sixth round pick (#152), the Islanders selected Anders Lee. Lee is a 6'2" center out of Edina High School in Minnesota. Per Chris Botta of Islanders Point Blank, there is a good chance that Lee could end up choosing football over hockey.


The draft appears to be complete at this point for the New York Islanders unless there are any last minute trades made to obtain additional picks. I want to give special thanks to the New York Islanders, Chris Botta of Islanders Point Blank and B.D. Gallof and the crew at Islanders Independent for an exciting draft night and an exciting week leading up to the draft.

Hey Blockhead - A Microcosm of NVMC

I'm going to start off by saying that this is my first season with "full season tickets" and I'm really enjoying this investment. I have a seat and to my right, my friend John has a seat. We often sit in each other's seats, but not on each other's laps. We picked these seats out based upon the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (hereafter known as NVMC) seating chart, not by visiting the seats.


Home Game #3 versus the Dallas Stars. John and I came back to our seats after our ritual cigarette, bathroom stop, and beverage run. I end up in John's seat and he sits in my seat. After a minute or two, John turns to me and says something to the effect of 'this seat sucks, it feels like a spring is going up my a**'



Fast forward to Home Game # 6 (11/1/08) versus Les Canadien de Montréal. John has been nice enough to give me his ticket for my cousin Sean, who is flying in from Montréal for the game and the weekend. The Habs fans were out in force on this Saturday night. My estimate would be approximately 3500. In a good natured attempt to irritate my cousin Sean, whenever the Habs fans would start their chants, I would shout "you people are French and nobody cares". Sean tells me at one point that he likes the view from my seats, but that it feels like he has a spring going up his a**. I told Sean that my friend John said the same thing, but that I had not noticed it myself. I made a mental note to contact my ticket rep about this.

I sent my ticket representative an email on Sunday night 11/2/08 about the seat issue. The next morning I received an email response from an Islanders employee who informed me that my old ticket rep was no longer with the organization and that he was the assistant to my new ticket rep. He went on to tell me that "I will forward the seat issue along to the Game Operations department so they can get the building to correct the problem." I did not attend the home game that night.

Home Game #8 was on Saturday 11/8/08 versus the Pittsburgh Penguins. As me and John were entering our row, I immediately noticed a change. My seat is number "13". Instead there was a brand spanking new looking seat cushion with a number plate that read "4". I was amused about the number plate issue, but to this day I am enjoying my new seat cushion immensely. (Notice the color differential in fabrics and the dripping stain on John's seat.) As the number plate still reads "4", I'm waiting for the game when someone insists that their ticket is for section 3**, Row F, Seat 4 and that this is their seat. I'll have some fun with that I'm sure.

Fast forward to Home Game # 19 (1/13/09) versus the First Galactic Empire (hhmm... I mean the New York Rangers). For this game, I have purchased two extra tickets. John went to the game and he sat with the Kaiser in our regular seats. The extra two tickets were for myself and my Dad. We sat directly behind the Kaiser and John (Section 3**, Row G, Seats 12 +13). As soon as I sat down, I commented to my Dad and Hilbert Girl, that my seat felt like it was collapsing and that it was leaning down to the left (Hilbert Girl sits in Row G, Seat 14. John and I nicknamed her this for the vitriol that used to issue from her mouth towards Andy Hilbert at the beginning of the season. She has since come around about Andy and now comments about how good Jeff Tambelini looks in a suit as opposed to an Islanders sweater. I really should know her name at this point, but I don't and would not use it here anyway.)

We move four days later to Home Game #21 versus the New Jersey Devils. There were numerous Devils fans in our section and you could hear them making comments about NVMC. During the second period, John and I are trading quips with Hilbert Girl and her friend about the condition of our "old barn". Hilbert Girl's friend makes a comment about how their seats are being propped up by wood blocks. I think that he is joking and laugh at what seems to be an amusing anecdote about the condition of NVMC. A few seconds later, I turn my head and see that their seats are indeed being propped up by wood blocks.

To this day, Hilbert Girl's seats are still being propped up by wooden blocks. As noted above, when I contacted the organization about the issue with my seat, it was corrected very quickly. I will suggest to her that she contact her ticket rep and ask them to "permanently" fix whatever the issue with her seats.

I hope you've enjoyed my little story and my own experience with the "old barn".