Two-Minute Minors

In an effort to get the writing juices flowing again, here are a few things that have been bouncing around in my head without compelling me to dedicate entire posts to them:

Ted Nolan committed to a full-time pairing of Bryan Berard and Marc-Andre Bergeron to start last night's game against Philadelphia. He had previewed this twinning of offensive-minded defensemen for a shift or two at a time in a couple of games over the past few weeks, so I wasn't entirely surprised to see it resurface. Still, it was impossible not to question the sanity of the move even considering the absences of Chris Campoli and Bruno Gervais. But maybe there was method to the madness. Maybe Berard and Bergeron, fully recognizing the perception (and reality) of them as a pair, are working that much harder to tighten up their game for each other. Against the Flyers, they each finished +2. Is Nolan on to something? Well, it's a theory. But it's only been one game. Now that Witt is down, we may have a chance to witness study carried out to its conclusion.

The buzz surrounding the return of Chris Simon is in full crescendo. The official Web site is full of pictures of Simon smiling. I've said all I care to about the issue for now, and thanks to Islander Frontier for recapping the generous amount of blogger coverage. Instead, the pictures of Simon provoked a funny thought in my head. What if Simon returns a changed man? I mean totally changed. What if he returns to the lineup with that smile fixed permanently on his face offering only pleasantries to opponents before politely skating around them? He could be like the hockey version of Pedro Cerrano in Major League II.

We often gripe about the lack of media coverage the Islanders receive. So I feel it is responsible to recognize when that trend is pushed back, even if only briefly. The New York Times recently featured a Dave Caldwell piece on the AHL rivalry in Connecticut between the Sound Tigers and Wolfpack, as well as a Tal Pinchevsky profile of Mike Sillinger. I read the latter in an actual print copy of the Times, and you can imagine my shock when I turned the page and saw Mike Sillinger's name in a headline. Anyway, good work Times. Keep it up.

Of course, not all of the Times's recent coverage was flattering to the Isles. But I never imagined that Lynn Zinser's Slap Shot post on the Pat LaFontaine/Brian Burke incident would give these guys another chance to take a swipe at the Blog Box. I had a long post on the subject of LaFontaine prepared, but various circumstances have conspired to confine it to my inner blog.