Streit's an All-Star: Deal with It (*This Post Has Been Medically Cleared)

There's some discussion today about how significant All-Star snubs wouldn't have to be snubbed if the NHL didn't desire to have every team represented at the Winter Not-So Classic. Fingers are being directly or indirectly pointed at the New York Islanders for being an example of a crummy team that still gets an All-Star at the expense of, for example, Mike Green.

I love Green. Second year of plying his trade ridiculously well on my fantasy team. He's obviously an All-Star-caliber player, and it's a shame he won't be in Montreal. But you know what I have to say to those who blame the Islanders for his or anyone else's exclusion?

Not this year.

Mark Streit is a legitimate All-Star. His attendance should not be attributed solely to being the best player on his team or having a decent season on a bad team. Yes, the Islanders have sent that sort to the All-Star Game in the past. Not this time. The numbers and impact are all over the place so I won't repeat them. If you are an Islanders fan, this is an All-Star selection you should be proud of.

And not that the selection of Doug Weight wouldn't have been deserved and applauded, but Streit being named is an even better reflection on the organization. Getting Weight to New York was an important and laudable (and relatively easy) move by Garth Snow. But getting Streit and committing to him was shrewd. It's best for the Islanders to be represented by a new arrival who will be a key cog for years to come than by a new arrival who's in his twilight, as bright as it has been, and may be around for only a couple of more months.

Give the rest of the league a chance to say, "Look at this guy the Islanders got," now and for the next four years.

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I want my prize back for saying that Rick DiPietro would not play again until 2009 (what do you mean there was no prize?). Yes, technically, he did return in 2008. But with Yann Danis being shot from Bridgeport to Calgary on a giant rubber band, DiPietro's December 2008 surfacing was hardly a recovery.

The good news is that no one is counting on DiPietro to lead the Islanders to the playoffs. That's not an indictment of DiPietro, but merely a matter of mathematics. So I won't be getting too agitated about his continuing lack of good health. Not this season, anyway. DiPietro should just do whatever is necessary to completely recover—this has to be maddening for him.

I do hear DiPietro and Danis have discussed teaming up with Schwarzeneggar and Van Damme for a sequel to Sudden Death called Emergency Recall.

DiPietro Enters NHL's Star-Making Machine

Congratulations to Rick DiPietro for being named the starting goaltender for the Eastern Conference in tonight's All-Star Game. As an Islanders fan, it's a thrill to see a member of the team playing such a prominent role in one of the league's marquee events. The fact that the starting job became available as a result of Marty Brodeur's absence really doesn't taint the honor in any way for me.

DiPietro has represented the Islanders very well so far this weekend. You can follow his experiences in Atlanta by paying a visit to Islanders TV at newyorkislanders.com, and by visiting Chris Botta's NYI Point Blank blog. Chris is doing his best to track Rick's every move. Mike Schuerlein of IslesBlogger.com has also been very active in keeping up with the weekend's events.

It is obvious that DiPietro has been in high demand by the media covering the All-Star Festivities. It is also obvious that the higher-ups in the NHL are finally recognizing the star power that DiPietro can provide. He has finally arrived as a marketing tool for the entire league, not just the Islanders.

You can probably attribute some measure of DiPietro's visibility over the last two days to the gap in star power created by Sidney Crosby's injury. The NHL made a good choice in trying to fill that void with the Islanders' young goaltending star. The great thing is that DiPietro had already earned the respect of the most important members of the league, its players and coaches, for being a talented and hard-working player before being thrust into this role. There is no chance of him being dismissed as a pretty face, quick with a quip. He earned the attention he is receiving.

As many of you know, last night's Versus broadcast of the NHL Skills Competition made frequent use of a wired DiPietro. He offered insight and entertainment. Even my wife, who only knows him through his business-like, sometimes-bordering-on-surly answers (thanks to Jim at Greetings from Islander Country) in post-game interviews marveled at how engaging he was. Yes, an open mic did expose the audience to some colorful language from DiPietro.

Like most Islanders fans, I imagine, I was far less concerned with the expletive as I was with the rest of what the franchise goalie said, which was something to the effect of, "I just f----d up my hip again." Anyone else's heart skip a few beats there? Fortunately, DiPietro did not leave the ice and could be seen smiling later on. I haven't seen a flat-out denial that he tweaked something, in fact he basically acknowledged it in one interview, but both DiPietro and Botta seem comfortable enough with his condition that I'm still looking forward to watching him represent the Isles in the starting lineup. I think DiPietro takes winning seriously enough that he wouldn't endanger his season for the sake of an All-Star game appearance.


This week's edition of Islanders Insider in Newsday featured Richard Park as the team's unsung hero. The piece reminded me of an exchange I had last week with another blogger at the Coliseum, which didn't make it into my post from that game. Jon Jordan was up from Florida making his first appearance in the Blog Box. We ended up seated next to each other and traded comments and observations throughout the game. Early in the first period, Jon asked me if it was difficult to keep our cheering in check in the Blog Box. I told him that I tend not to be that demonstrative at games anyway, but that a big goal will certainly give rise to some high-five in the Blog Box. He asked me what defines a big goal. After thinking for a moment, I replied, "Pretty much anything Richard Park scores."

Moments later, Park scored on a breakaway. The goal came 22 seconds after the Flyers had scored, and tied the game at one. Jon and I shared a quiet high-five. Thanks to the unsung Parkie for providing one of my favorite moments of the season so far.

Rick DiPietro, All-Star

[Programming Note: Warm up for Isles vs. Flames with Cornell vs. RPI at 7 PM on SNY. Another hat tip to Neil Best. Great doubleheader!]

Congratulations to Rick DiPietro on being selected to appear in his first All-Star Game. I have no doubt that he will represent the Islanders well in Atlanta and I'm really looking forward to watching him perform in the festivities. Some may point to his numbers and say that they are not quite on par with All-Star status and, based on numbers, other goalies should have been selected ahead of him. However, his actual play and his value to the team certainly support the honor. It is apparent that the league has taken notice of his performance under those criteria, and DiPietro deserves to go.

Wouldn't it be nice, though, if there could be some debate over who should represent the Isles? The only other name that seemed to surface with any frequency in such discussions was Brendan Witt. Going by the same criteria of quality of play and value to the team, Witt would not have been a bad choice. But the lack of skaters who merit serious consideration of being celebrated with the league's best troubles me. And it reminds me a little too much of a time in this franchise's history when Scott LaChance was being sent to represent the Isles because anyone else would have been laughable. Fortunately, this team gets much better results on the ice that those teams did. In the end, having All-Star talent is far less important than having a good team.

The Winter Classic

In addition to the accolades I gave out earlier this week, kudos also go to the NHL, NBC, and the people of Buffalo for putting on a great event New Year's Day. The Winter Classic was enjoyable to watch in so many ways. I don't think that snowfall during these games should always be desired, but for this inaugural game, it certainly added the Wonderland aspect to the Winter. The classic uniforms looked terrific. The players showed contagious enthusiasm for the event. And the crowd was second to none in its hearty spirit. My appreciation for the outdoor display was such that I started thinking some crazy thoughts...Every team should play an outdoor game every year! Wait! Every team should have a designated outdoor arena and play multiple outdoor games every year! They can have an indoor home schedule and an outdoor home schedule! What if the NHL became a mostly outdoor league? I told you they were crazy ideas.

All that being said, it struck me that the Winter Classic was really programming for the hockey fan. I'm not sure that it accomplished much in the way of conversions. After the initial appeal of the spectacle wore off, it was easy to see how the slower pace and the numerous interruptions to clean and repair the ice could have caused the non hockey fan to lose interest. For all the Sidney Crosby hype, he wasn't that noticeable for long stretches between the first goal and the shootout clincher.

In contrast, it may have been the slower pace that added something special to this game for me. The game seemed more pure, maybe because the playing surface, while literally bumpy, was figuratively more even. With everyone competing against the elements, it was all about giving the extra effort, staying focused, and persevering. Maybe watching the Islanders having to grind it out for so long has changed my perception of the game. Plus, it was nice to actually see the puck wind around the end boards and have the goalies be able to play it without looking like they were trying to hurdle the net to get there in time.

Based on the early response, I imagine we will see the Winter Classic again. How soon? Assuming the right people made the right amount of money, probably next January 1. Some have suggested that only the All-Star Game should be played outdoors. That's not a terrible idea considering that playing outdoors does introduce an element of inconsistency to the schedule, let alone the game itself. But I imagine that most Islanders fans would like to see their team compete on such a stage.

The Islanders have two things working in their favor to get the nod: (1) Their own enthusiasm for making it happen; and (2) The fact that their rival happens to be a team that the networks love to put on TV. On the other hand, I think the networks have become wary of featuring New York-centric sporting events because they don't seem to garner significant interest across the rest of the country.

Despite my interest in the Winter Classic, I did wander away from the game at one point, leaving me with a dilemma for a couple of hours. FSN, in what can't be characterized as a great counterprogramming move, was airing a documentary called Ice Kings, which tells the story of the fabled Mount Saint Charles Academy hockey team. It was difficult to stay away. Mount Saint Charles won the Rhode Island Boys Division I (as it is now called) Hockey State Championship every year from 1978 though 2003. In other words, take the 26 World Series championships earned by the Yankees in their entire history and put them back to back to back to back to...you get the picture.

This was such a compelling story. I won't get into too many details but one of the most outstanding themes was the pressure these kids felt not to be the ones to break the streak once it started getting up there. You just keep asking yourself, how does one school win 26 consecutive championships? There was also a strong Islanders tie to the story. Garth Snow, Bryan Berard, and Mathieu Schneider all played for Mount Saint Charles during their run. I managed to catch interview segments with Snow and Schneider during my flipping. If you have the opportunity to catch this documentary, I definitely recommend it.

One thing I wondered about was what happened to the program after they finally lost the streak? I suspected that repairing a break in that kind of momentum wouldn't be easy. This page confirmed my suspicion...Mount Saint Charles has not won another state title since the streak ended. But take a moment to scroll through that list of champions. Seeing the streak in print is really something.

Almost time for the Islanders and Panthers to get underway...enjoy the game!

Selective Selections

Murph's post on Islanders Army today reminded me that I meant to comment last week when it was announced that Rick DiPietro and Bill Guerin are on this year's All-Star ballot. I'm glad that I didn't have time then because now that the voting has begun, and I've looked more closely at the ballot, there's even more about this process to rail against.

My first thought last week was that at least they managed to get DiPietro on the ballot this year. If I remember correctly, last year he was excluded when there was no sensible reason not to put him on. Was there any doubt who was going to be the Islanders' starting goalie last year? Do you actually have to merit inclusion beyond simply being a legitimate goaltender to get on the All-Star ballot? Apparently you do, and that requirement has carried over to this year. How else can you explain that the 15-team Eastern Conference has only ten goalies on the ballot? Toronto, Boston, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and Tampa Bay fans simply cannot vote for their team's goalie to start in the All-Star game. Why the limit? Yes, a lot of those teams entered the season with murky ideas about who would spend the majority of the time between the pipes. But making an educated guess for the sake of a complete ballot wouldn't have hurt anyone. These things can never be projected perfectly anyway. Dan Boyle and his troubled tendons are on there.

Ah, but the NHL had a solution. As Murph pointed out, instead of allowing fans to write in a vote for a player not on the ballot, you could select one from a list. This, we assume, to prevent the Rory Fitzpatricks and Radek Martineks of the world from spoiling the starting lineup. The initial list was laughable. It included no additional Islanders even though a number of them deserve to be there based on their performances this season. Well, go back now. It seems the lists have been updated. You can now select Sean Bergenheim, Marc-Andre Bergeron, Chris Campoli, Mike Comrie, Ruslan Fedotenko, Bruno Gervais, Andy Hilbert, Trent Hunter, Radek Martinek, Richard Park, Miroslav Satan, Mike Sillinger, Andy Sutton, Josef Vasicek, and Brendan Witt. What, no Dubie?

Okay, then what's the point of having a ballot with 30 forwards, 12 defensemen, and 10 goalies listed for each conference when you can also select nearly any other player? The voting home page makes no mention of paper ballots being distributed at games, but under that scenario I could understand limiting the number of players. Maybe they just didn't want to have to link to videos of more than 104 players. In the end, this looks like one more thing that the NHL has thrown together before getting all of its ducks in a row. At least they fixed the omissions before too many of us had the chance to complain.

Oh, yeah, and about those All-Star jerseys? If you want to buy one, look in RBK's product catalog under "We just finished designing 60 other new NHL jerseys so this is the best we could do."


Finally, I don't know which is worse: Carton complaining about having to talk hockey, or Boomer saying, "You gotta love Sean Avery, though." No, I don't.

Radek Martinek, All-Star?

I received an e-mail a few days ago from someone who has made it his mission to get Radek Martinek voted into the All-Star game. You may recall a similar effort last year in support of Rory Fitzpatrick, which nearly succeeded. As much as I like Marty as a player and value what he contributes to the team, I'm conflicted about publicizing this campaign.

The original purpose of the Fitzpatrick campaign was to point out the flaws in the NHL's decision to encourage people to vote as many times as they wished for the All-Star starters. It picked up steam because fans were attracted to the idea of rewarding a player whose contributions to his team were less tangible than those that were normally recognized. I admired the grassroots nature of the campaign, as well as the enthusiasm that accompanied it. I even got a little kick out of the subversive, anti-establishment angle of circumventing the intentions of the league.

But let's face it. Rory Fitzpatrick is not an All-Star. What didn't sit well with me was the idea that a deserving player would be denied the honor of starting in the All-Star Game. You could argue that it really doesn't matter because it's just an exhibition and the rosters are always flawed (a deserving player with an incentive clause might have something to say about that). You could also argue that a player like Marty deserves such an honor because his contributions are so valuable yet receive so little recognition. I kind of like that argument. I really like the quiet player who just goes about his business and gets his job done. But, again, is Radek really an All-Star?

So here's how I've decided to handle this dilemma. I have mentioned that this campaign to elect Marty to the All-Star Game exists. And that's all I'm going to tell you. Now it's up to you.