Not Quite a Media Blitz, But It's Something

The Islanders received a double dose of attention from Neil Best in his column for Newsday today. First, Neil catches up with Jiggs McDonald, who was headed south from his summer residence in Ontario Sunday morning with Long Island as his destination. Somewhere along the way, Jiggs and his wife realized that the Mets were not going to come through, and Howie Rose would be free to make his transition from bats to sticks immediately. The McDonalds continued on straight to Florida. For many of us, Jiggs is the voice of the Islanders. I enjoy listening to Howie (despite his past affiliation), which is a good thing considering he does my teams' games year round. But any opportunity to hear Jiggs back behind the mic for an Islanders game is a treat for me. According to Best, we should have no fear because Jiggs will once again be here. He is scheduled to join the broadcast of the October 13th game against the Flyers.

Later in the column, Best reveals that the Islanders will have far fewer pre-game shows this year. However, they will finally be granted full post-game shows on a regular basis thanks to "MSG's Hockey Night Live." I'm not totally sold on this new setup. For one thing, MSG's Hockey Night Live will often be dividing its time among three teams. Also, post-game interviews are subject to the results of the game and the moods of the players and coaches. If the Isles have a bad game, all we're likely to hear out of the locker room is "We have to work harder, stay more disciplined, finish our chances, and improve our special teams play." I find that pre-game, players and coaches are more relaxed, more engaging, and more likely to give fresh quotes. Additionally, if a special feature is scheduled to run before the game, it can't get bumped if the game runs long.

Lastly, the Islanders finally got an article about them published in the Times today. I wasn't surprised to see coverage of the Devils and Rangers first, but the Times had an article about the Ducks the other day. On the positive side, it's a nice look at Bill Guerin and how he represents the kind of team the Islanders hope to be. And with that, it's almost time to drop the puck in Buffalo.