Sunday, December 19, 2010

Game #31: Second Observations on the Sound Tigers - December 19, 2010

Let's see, where were we? Last time I had the opportunity to take in a Tigers game, the season had just started, the Islanders had playoff ambitions, all seemed reasonably well in the Country...

Okay, what's the goal now? Clearly what is or isn't in the system, whether up in the big league now or not, is now the most important thing for any Islanders fan.

And so, today's day game vs. Portland, a 3rd in 3 days, would show some very interesting things indeed. In general, the Tigers seem to have coalesced nicely into 3 solid lines, 6 solid defensemen, and 2 excellent keepers who will now get adequate time - no wonder they are starting to win, and they will likely continue to.

First off, the prospects with real NHL futures

Kevin Poulin - first time one of the Tigers keepers played back to back games since....when? All season? Was very happy to see this, as he seems a true prospect, on this evidence, he most clearly is. He's also very much where he should be for now. Poulin is quick, makes wild saves, handles the puck with aplomb (unlike someone who needs not be named), has a nice shuffle move right after a play to block the opposite of the net during a play. He's still learning, but he can be a star and probably will be. Happy to see him do a full season in the AHL and then next year, he should have every chance to start and star for the big club. One more reason the DP contract looks more and more like a heavy weight around our collective necks. The only he gave up was not his fault - came after a 5-10 minute break for the Teddy Bear Toss after the Tigers 1st goal which sucked all the momentum from their rapid start.

David Ullstrom - has size, vision, plays D - this may be the best forward prospect on the Tigers. Not sure he can be more than a 3rd liner, but that could be okay. A nice surprise - could use a few games up with the big club soon, to show him what that's all about.

Wes O'Neill - yes, Wes was the best defenseman today to add to his growing credentials in general. He's played a few games for Colorado in the bigs, and you can see why. He has size, is fearless, plays D, is clutch and gritty. He was clearly the best of the 6 today who all played reasonably well holding Portland to 1 goal (mind you, they were sleepwalking a bit) - would not mind seeing him get some time on the Islanders this season to see if he doesn't have potential to do more. Very nice job picking this guy up.

Could still have what it takes

Mikko Koskinen - as a followup to first game observations, perhaps has tailed off a bit after a nice start, but has plenty of time to get his act together, perhaps especially next year, if Poulin goes up at Mikko can get more playing time.

Rhett Rakhshani - makes a nice line with Colliton & Bailey - might be a touch small to have what it takes longer term - not quite has tough as Ullstrom - probably should also get a few more games up top - borderline, but if he digs in and gives it full effort, who knows

Josh Bailey - okay, it was a 3rd game in 3 days, and he probably is partly wondering what he is doing at this level, which is a steep drop off NHL game quality - but he really didn't dig in, which is concerning - Colliton/Bailey/Rakshani would be an interesting line to call up all at once at some point this season to see if they could translate at all as a whole - but very concerned, that while the talent is sort of there, its only sort of there - we'll see

Jeremy Colliton - 45 game veteran of the Islanders and you can see why - nice two way player, can score a bit, another very good pickup and wouldn't shock to see him up at some point

Robin Figren - trying hard, putting points on the board, but concerning that he may be a bit too small - but playing well, and part of this team's ongoing success - his job is to make the Islanders give them no reason not to call him up - that means a big effort every game and continue to score - we'll see

Mark Wotton - a consummate professional, would be a nice gesture to get him up to the big club for a game or 2 before the end of the season - given his game sense, he probably would do just fine

Solid at this level, not sure if there's more there

Mark Katic - didn't have the best game, starting to wonder about him

Dylan Reese - was okay - but with all the kids coming up, starting to wonder about him as well

Anton Klementyev - okay at this level, but is there more there? We'll see, though starting to wonder about him as well

all 3 of these guys above are solid, add Friesen who was also solid and you have a very nice D for this level

Brandon Svendsen - had a very good game, has size, plays D - one to watch - another nice surprise from below and part of the solidity across the board helping lead to this team starting to win most of their games

Tony Romano - has enough size & speed that he isn't a no brainer never will make it - though he's on the 3rd line, he probably has potential to do better

Michael Haley/Rob Hisey - these guys strike me as one and the same - solid AHL'ers, probably their peak, good to have them on board

Tomas Marcinko - doesn't have the speed or hockey sense to rise above, solid enough for 3rd or 4th line AHL - no more

Dustin Friesen - made a very solid pair with Wotton, not one to write off

Oliver Labelle - good enough for the 4th line - potential to do better

Jean Bourbeau - 4th line AHL is his max

Overall, a nice game with good energy by the team who has jelled into a cohesive whole.

Scratches were Jablonski, Blight, Motherwell - probably as weak as any above anyway.

Ref was whistle happy - called anything that seemed like a penalty and a few beyond that - not useful.

An entertaining afternoon, with more than a few prospects that bear watching.

See you next time.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Game #2 - Observations on the State of the Sound Tigers

Welcome to Sound Tigers Report!

I am an original New York Islanders season ticket holder (yes - from 1972, I attended the first ever game at the NVMC - can anyone guess what that was?), who now lives in Connecticut.

With the wealth of talent at Bridgeport this year, will go to to some Sound Tiger games (from now on, will call them the Tigers, which would be a much better name for this team - second best choice, the Sounders) and provide a perspective on the players and their potential.

As opposed to just one more game summary, will approach this with a scout's mentality.

Individual observations on the players, with a main focus on figuring out who might help the big club on the Island and when, and a little bit of game commentary beyond that (but not much - Fornabaio does that very well, visit him often at the ConnPost).

Brief Game Observations

First off, there were about 1000-1500 people actually in the stands on 'kids opening' day. The kids had a good time. The game itself wasn't the best, all three goals were fairly ho hum.

Bridgeport rallied to tie the game with less than a second on the clock, but the goal was waved off due to a hand pass in a mad dash goalmouth scamble - how on earth did the referee see that.

In general, Manchester looked like they have a decent team, who can shutdown teams well - as does Bridgeport, but an all too typical Sunday afternoon/end of weekend/less than 100% energy AHL match largely ensued.

Overall, Bridgeport was probably the better team - with only a couple of exceptions, just about any of these guys could be useful on the Island at some point - this is a deep team, but not one that will fill the net every night.

Player by Player Observations

Potential Stars in the Making

Mikko Koskinen - solid save maker - tall & strong - pretty much refuses to come out of his crease (call him Anti-Ricky) - was beaten on two doorstep/pinball type plays that anyone could have had trouble with, though perhaps crease scramble reaction time is a weakness

Koskinen should work on coming out of the crease just a little bit more, and be a bit more aggressive when the puck is in the crease, but he had savvy and confidence - he is a #1 netminder in the making

Probably benefits from at least half a season at the Port - could be ready for primetime if needed by mid season - definitely with the big club next year.

Travis Hamonic - this kid has poise, vision, strength, intelligence, touch.

He should be called up to the Island immediately. Likely to be our best defenseman since Denis Potvin. He is that good.

Get psyched for de Haan - Hamonic in 2011/12. Make that very psyched.

Suggesting that he should be called up now, as his specific skillset doesn't fit on an AHL team. He will be a very important cog in the wheel, but he won't learn much playing inferior competition was very much the impression from this afternoon. The play is too slow in the AHL.

He needs to start spending time in the big show, where the play is faster and he can make the important mistakes that he will make, as Denis Potvin made as a rookie. Only with a season like that under his belt in the big show, will he then be truly ready for 2011/12. And there would be plenty of good stuff this year for the Islanders to benefit from as well. Not sure I agree with the assessment that he has to be top 4 - why not 5 or 6?

Matt Martin - ready for primetime right now. In fact, with Tavares going down, would expect him to be called up tomorrow. Martin dominated with vision, strength, and I believe it was he who scored the game tying call that was called back. Some big hits, with goal scoring potential. Should be an excellent 3rd or 4th liner for years. Call him up please.

Kevin Poulin - excited to see him play one of these days soon

Players with Solid Potential

Mark Katic - has speed and poise - should be considered a solid D prospect - the Islanders have a bit of a logjam at this position in general

Jesse Joensuu - still trying to put it all together - probably the next LW in the depth chart after Martin gets called up - could use at least 20 games to get his sealegs and then probably a useful part, but unclear if he can be more than a 3rd line player. We'll probably get a chance to see, but probably the right decision to start him in Bridgeport this year once more.

David Ullstrom - has excellent skill and ice vision - perhaps the biggest upside of this group with potential, but seems to still be finding his way a bit - success at this level should be the right step for Ullstrom - may need most if not all of the season down here, but good chances to be a solid player going forward. This is what the AHL was made for.

Robin Figren - what a difference a year makes - seemed lost last year for whatever reason, but retains skill, and hustled well, almost scored a second goal today - may still have a chance for the big show if he keeps it up

Michael Haley - seems to be putting it all together. As was observed in training camp, there was a lot of decent talent and not much really to differentiate many of the players. Same is true of many of the Bridgeport forwards. Just about any of them could fit a spot on the big club, Haley included, if needed in a pinch, as he indeed played a few games last year in the big show. Probably still his role.

Justin DiBenedetto - sort of a mix of Figren & Haley, hustling quite a bit, understanding this may be his last chance to shine, may have an upside - a solid, full season in Bridgeport could help.
Needs to stand out from this dense crowd to get a chance.

Joel Martin - may not mean much, but looked decent in warmups, and glowing reviews from others, here's hoping he gets some playing time in the ECHL and as goalies need time to develop, in a few years, who knows?

Dustin Kohn - paired with Hamonic, they were a nice duo, but Kohn doesn't particularly stand out himself, and is likely at best 11th or 12th in the overall D depth chart - which top 10 looks something like this

Wiz/Mottau/MacDonald/Martinek/Eaton/Hillen/Jurcina/Gervais/Hamonic/Katic

and with de Haan coming in 2011/2012, and Streit hopefully back in March, his future may well be elsewhere

Not that he doesn't have potential, but see just above - perhaps the Islanders should consider trading some of their depth on D.

Dylan Reese - see Dustin Kohn - pretty much the same story - kudos to Garth Snow for stacking so much talent

Best of the Rest

Rhett Rakhshani - solid, and getting his chance, but has to show more to be considered a real NHL prospect - will get his chances

Mark Wotton - the captain does a nice job - he is where he belongs, nothing wrong with that. Has played roughly half a total season in the bigs, and it shows. Could play for the big club in a pinch, but with the depth, his role is teacher.

Tony Romano - nice hometown story, and not a bad player. Hustles, has some skill, not out of the question if he keeps developing.

Rob Hisey - has some skill, not enough size - will be a good player for this team

Tomas Marcinko - didn't do that much today, but was in the mix often, can he be more than a solid 3rd line player in the A is the question

Jeremy Yablonski - gotta love the old time hockey - he would play without a helmet if he could I'm sure - had the obligatory fight which lasted a long time. Plays with heart - he's a winner at this level, great pickup.

Jean Bourbeau - solid player who didn't do that much

Brett Motherwell - needs to find some more speed

(Didn't dress - Poulin, Hilbert, Klementyev, Taylor)