Matt Martin

Preparing For An NHL Lockout On The Island

August 16, 2012

There was likely a reason that Islanders RFA's Rhett Rakhshani, Mark Katic and Justin DiBenedetto opted for Europe before being tendered their qualifying offers by GM Garth Snow. A potential lockout is looming that could delay or even cancel the 2012-2013 season and these young prospects still need to play in order to continue their development.

There is only 24 days left for the NHLPA and the owners to reach an agreement on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement or the season will be locked out, likely forcing a later start date than October 11th.

Hockey fans can look back to the 2004-2005 season that was entirely scrapped from a lockout due to disagreements on a new CBA between the NHLPA and the owners.

Matt Martin - Bigger, Faster, Stronger

August 8, 2012

Mike Flannery

0 Comments

It is rare when a player stays for more than three seasons with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The team exists for one purpose and one purpose only … develop talent for their NHL affiliate, the New York Islanders.

Each September, a half-dozen or so twenty-year olds arrive in Bridgeport to begin their careers as professional hockey players against bigger, faster, stronger competition.

This years arrivals could include forwards Brock Nelson, Kirill Kabanov, Johan Sundstrom, John Persson, Mike Halmo and perhaps Nino Niederreiter, each, an investment by the Islanders in the future of the franchise.

What is Matt Martin Worth? Islanders RFA Still Remains Unsigned

July 31, 2012

John Link

0 Comments

The Islanders still remain without a complete roster for this upcoming season and one of the biggest names missing at this point is Matt Martin.

Martin is coming off of his rookie entry level deal and is looking to be signed long-term much like some of the other young Islanders core pieces. Drafted in the 5th round (148th Overall) in 2008, Martin has been a great late round gem for Garth Snow.

A Look At Possible Islanders Lines for Opening Night

July 16, 2012

John Link

0 Comments

With the season only a few months away and a feel that the Islanders are done shopping in free agency it seems like a nice time to take a look at possible opening night line combinations.
Moulson – Tavares – Boyes
This line doesn’t show too much difference from last season besides the addition of Brad Boyes. It is believed that Boyes was bought in to fill the spot left by PA. Playing with Tavares and Moulson should hopefully bring out Boyes old scoring touch from a few seasons ago.

Are Carkner, Boulton the Answer to the Toughness Question for Isles?

July 10, 2012

Angelica Rodriguez

0 Comments

The talk amongst fans all last season was, "This team needs toughness." And indeed, far from embodying Zenon Konopka's "doormat-no-longer" declaration during the 2010-2011 season, the Islanders seemed to take a step back from that mentality this past year.

...What changes this year? Well, Garth Snow must have realized that this squad just does better when their best players aren't being knocked all over the ice, and signed up some tough customers to try and change the doormat-once-more mentality.

All Flow Team: Long Island Edition

July 6, 2012

Pete Paguaga

0 Comments

Flow is defined by the credited website that is UrbanDictionary.com as sick hair that was invented by hockey players, flow has to be the perfect length and you know its perfect when you play the best games of your life with said ‘flow.’

Now flow has been seen throughout the NHL for years and almost every player at one point has tried to get some ‘sick flow.’

The Islanders might not have finished at the top of the NHL this past season but if there is one thing the Islanders do have is some ‘sick flow.’ So I will put together a starting line up for the Islanders of player with the sickest of flow, which will be called the very creative, All-Flow Team.

The Isles Were Busy, And Might Not Be Done

July 2, 2012

Rob McGowan

2 Comments

The New York Islanders were very active yesterday, acquiring three new players on the open market on the first day of NHL Free Agency. Forward Brad Boyes was signed to a one-year, $1 million deal and was soon followed by defenseman Matt Carkner's three-year contract worth $4.5 million.

Not long after these signings, former Islanders forward P.A. Parenteau inked a four-year, $16 million deal with the Colorado Avalance. Although many on twitter felt that the Isles could have easily afforded Parenteau's new contract, it still made plenty of sense to let him go. Four years for a 29 year old hockey player that only had one season worthy of top line honors and only two full seasons of NHL experience is a lot to commit too. In addition, Matt Moulson presently makes less per year than Parenteau's new contract. Moulson has been a consistent thirty goal scorer since joining the Islanders and has maintained chemistry with his long-time buddy, John Tavares. GM Garth Snow must have seen the risks in possibly off-setting the locker room if he showed that he felt Parenteau was more deserving a higher salary to go along with the other risk factors involved in that contract. With that being said, I wish Parenteau the best of luck and will look forward to seeing him return to Coliseum ice.

But in every difficulty lies an opportunity, and that is what Brad Boyes has been given.

Islanders First Line: Matt Moulson, John Tavares and ?

July 1, 2012

Pete Paguaga

0 Comments

Today PA Parenteau officially become an unrestricted free agent for all 30 teams, including the Islanders, to try and sign. I think you can assume that Parenteau will go wherever he gets the biggest contract and if the past, under Garth Snow, has shown us anything, Parenteau has played his final game in orange and blue.

Lets be honest the Islanders aren’t going to be able to get a top-6 forward in this free agent class and even though many Islanders fans would like to see Snow make a run at Bobby Ryan, it’s probably not going to happen. Snow is on the right track with drafting, grooming players and signing role players in free agency. So Parenteau’s successor on the first line will come from within the organization, the question is who will it be?

Not A Rebuild, A Sound Tigers Reconstruction

June 24, 2012

Mike Flannery

0 Comments

While Islanders fans become increasingly impatient with the teams’ rebuilding, Sound Tigers fans await the annual summer, team reconstruction.

233 goals were scored by the Bridgeport Sound Tigers last season. Not a team record and not even close to an AHL record, but enough to win the Northeast Division title. Of the 49 skaters that laced them up last year, six of them accounted for 104 (or roughly 45%) of that total. None of them will return for next year.

Winning a title obviously requires good goaltending, and the tender tandem of Kevin Poulin and Anders Nilsson was exceptional. Each of them earned Goaltender Of The Month recognition from the AHL during the year. One of them will not return next season.

Isles Files: Playing Catch Up

June 1, 2012

Rob McGowan

0 Comments

Before I begin talking Islanders hockey, I owe my readers, as well as the other bloggers that write for this site, an apology. For those of you who don't know, the bloggers here at TCL Isles follow a schedule that I create. I also arrange my blogs to follow in that schedule as well, and I continue to remind our staff to do their best to keep up with it while trying to allow some freedome since it's the summer.

I have been out of sync with managing the site for about the past two weeks. Without getting into things, I can promise that I am now fully back on track and apologize for my absence.Fortunately, there hasn't been an over abundance of stories to report.

Sadly, John Tavares lost to Pekka Rinne in the EA Sports voting bracket for the cover of NHL 2013. He made it all the way to the semi-finals but fell short to the Predators net-minder. Maybe next year will be a different story. But Islanders fans certainly made a point to the rest of the league by showing that their voice can be loud when they have a reason to be heard.