On the Islanders Beat

The Islanders plan to release their preseason schedule this week, but it won’t include any games against the Rangers. That means the focus should remain on hockey as opposed to the brawl-filled exhibition the two rivals played at the Coliseum last year.

For some reason, the NHL permitted Chris Simon to play even though the enforcer still was under suspension for swinging his stick at the Rangers’ Ryan Hollweg the previous season. Now, Simon is in Russia, and Hollweg left the Rangers as a free agent. The two teams won’t see each other until it counts in their first regular-season meeting Oct. 27 at the Coliseum.

The Islanders have reduced their preseason schedule from nine games last year to seven this season. They will play a home-and-home set with the Devils, which should help prepare them for the season opener Oct. 10 at the Prudential Center. The preseason schedule also is expected to include a game at Moncton, New Brunswick, where training camp is held, plus games in London, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Florida and Boston.

ISLES FILES: AHL coach of the year Scott Gordon is scheduled to meet with Islanders GM to interview for the head-coaching vacancy today…The club is hosting an open house tonight at the Coliseum, where the movie “Miracle” will be shown on the scoreboard. Defenseman Chris Campoli will be on hand to meet with fans, who also can shop for various season-ticket packages.

It’s a wrap. General manager Garth Snow locked up the last of the Islanders’ restricted free agents when Bruno Gervais signed tonight. The defenseman received a three-year, one-way deal worth slightly more than $2.2 million.

Gervais has gone without a goal for two straight regular seasons, although he got one in the playoffs last year at Buffalo. But when healthy, he has been a steady defender with some puck-moving skill.

Injuries limited Gervais to 60 games last season, but he averaged exactly 20 minutes of ice time per game. With the addition of free-agent Mark Streit, there is some question about how Gervais’ role on the third pairing might be affected. At the moment, it appears he might be the seventh defenseman, which could mean some time in the press box. But as the Islanders learned last season, you can’t have enough defensemen. They used 12 different defensemen last season because of injuries.

Under the circumstances, the deal Gervais received looks fair for everyone concerned. His first-year salary equals the qualifying offer of $522,500. He will earn $800,000 and $900,000 in the next two seasons.

Gervais turns 24 a week before the regular season begins on Oct. 10, and when this contract is up, he will have one more year until he reaches unrestricted free agency. His signing means that Snow most likely is done adding players to the NHL roster at least until training camp. All that’s left now is the choice of a coach.

Former Atlanta coach Bob Hartley is scheduled to meet with Islanders general manager Garth Snow about the head coaching vacancy on Wednesday, according to an NHL source. Hartley will be the second candidate to interview, but he and Snow won’t have to waste time with any get-to-know-you formalities.

Hartley once coached Snow at Cornwall in the AHL, and the two have maintained a good friendship ever since to the point of exchanging fairly regular e-mail messages. There’s little doubt Hartley meets Snow’s criteria for a coach in terms of discipline and providing structure and technical expertise. But the major question for Hartley is whether he has the patience for a long-term development project and the willingness to rely on young players in major roles.

After a 0-6 start with Atlanta last season, Hartley quickly was replaced behind the bench by Thrashers GM Don Waddell. That seemed like a short leash for a coach who led the Thrashers to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history the previous season, but it was clear Hartley had little support from the players in the locker room. He was thought to be a candidate for the Ottawa job recently, but there was speculation that Senators star Dany Heatley, who once played for Hartley, was against it.

Still, Hartley’s resume includes one thing that can’t be ignored – the 2001 Stanley Cup championship he won with Colorado during a highly successful five-year run. Hartley’s interview follows that of former Toronto coach Paul Maurice on Monday. Former Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella and former Lightning assistant Mike Sullivan also have received permission to interview with the Islanders, and Snow’s list also includes former Colorado coach Joel Quenneville, AHL Providence head coach Scott Gordon and Islanders assistant Gerard Gallant.

ISLES FILES: If anyone is so devoted to the Islanders that they have a team-related tattoo, Newsday would like to know about it. Reporters long have been known as “ink-stained wretches,” but staff writer Barbara Barker is working on a fun story about fans who could say the same about themselves. If you have an Islanders tattoo and would like to be part of Barbara’s story, please e-mail her at barbara.barker@newsday.com. Thanks.

Restricted free-agent center Frans Nielsen reached agreement with the Islanders Friday night on a four-year contract worth $2.1 million. It has a one-way provision in each year of the deal, virtually assuring Nielsen will be on the NHL roster.

The $525,000 average salary might turn out to be quite a bargain for a 24-year-old player for whom the Islanders have high hopes. In 16 games with the Islanders last season, Nielsen had only two goals and one assist, but he received fourth-line time, averaging 8:42 per game.

Nielsen is considered a very smart player, and he developed real chemistry at the AHL level with left wing Jeff Tambellini, who recently signed a two-year deal with the Isles that also is a one-way contract. In 102 AHL games, Nielsen totaled 30 goals and 52 assists for 82 points.

General manager Garth Snow was especially impressed with Nielsen’s play last season, when he centered the so-called “Kid Line” between Tambellini and Blake Comeau. That group had a stretch of about seven games, where Snow felt they were the Islanders’ best, most energetic line. He believes Nielsen’s role could be expanded to include penalty-kill and possibly some power-play time.

Nielsen’s signing leaves defenseman Bruno Gervais as the only unsigned restricted free agent who received a qualifying offer. However, Gervais attended the Islanders’ rookie minicamp Friday morning as a spectator and said he is in top condition and has recovered from the injuries that cut his season short after 60 games. Negotiations are progressing amicably.

As part of their annual midsummer camp the Islanders take their future players to a West Babylon indoor arena for paintball. Jim Baumbach went along, competed with the 45 players and wrote about the experience. There is also video.

Click here to view the package.

With two fewer games against the Rangers than in the previous format, the Islanders’ schedule released today spreads the rivalry games out much more evenly than last season when they were bunched at the beginning and the end. There’s one Isles-Rangers meeting per month for the first six months, starting Oct. 27 at Nassau Coliseum.

The reduction from eight to six games per season against division rivals was made to ensure teams would meet every team in the opposite conference at least once per season, and they will play three teams from the opposite conference twice to fill out the 82-game schedule.

The Islanders open the season Oct. 10 at New Jersey and meet St. Louis the following night in the home opener. Details of the home schedule that will most interest Islanders fans include 15 games on Saturday and nine matinees, five of which are on holiday dates plus two Sunday afternoon games. Normal starting time for night home games is 7 p.m.

Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh, featuring former Islanders Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedetenko teaming with stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, makes its first Coliseum visit on Nov. 8. Seven of the Isles’ first 11 games are at home, but December will be a rough month as they play nine of 14 on the road. The toughest stretch is in March, when the play six straight on the road (broken into two trips) to begin a span in which they play 10 of 14 on the road before wrapping up the season with home games against Philadelphia and Boston on April 11-12.

Here’s the full schedule (All times Eastern):

Oct. 10 at New Jersey, 7 p.m.
Oct. 11 St. Louis, 7 p.m.
Oct. 13 Buffalo, 2 p.m.
Oct. 16 at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 18 at Florida, 7 p.m.
Oct. 23 Dallas, 7 p.m.
Oct. 25 Carolina, 7 p.m.
Oct. 27 N.Y. Rangers, 7 p.m.
Oct. 30 at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Nov. 1 Montreal, 7 p.m.
Nov. 3 Columbus, 7 p.m.
Nov. 4 at N.Y. Rangers, 7 p.m.
Nov. 6 at Atlanta, 7 p.m.
Nov. 8 Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
Nov. 11 Philadelphia, 2 p.m.
Nov. 13 at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 15 Ottawa, 7 p.m.
Nov. 17 Vancouver, 7 p.m.
Nov. 21 at New Jersey, 7 p.m.
Nov. 22 at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Nov. 24 at Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 26 Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
Nov. 28 at Boston, 12 p.m.
Nov. 29 Ottawa, 7 p.m.
Dec. 4 at Washington, 7 p.m.
Dec. 6 Atlanta, 7 p.m.
Dec. 8 at Toronto, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 9 at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Dec. 11 at Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 13 at Columbus, 7 p.m.
Dec. 16 Washington, 7 p.m.
Dec. 19 at Minnesota, 8 p.m.
Dec. 20 at Nashville, 8 p.m.
Dec. 23 Atlanta, 7 p.m.
Dec. 26 Toronto, 7 p.m.
Dec. 27 at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Dec. 29 at N.Y. Rangers, 7 p.m.
Dec. 31 Florida, 2 p.m.
Jan. 2 at Phoenix, 9 p.m.
Jan. 3 at San Jose, 10:30 p.m.
Jan. 5 at Edmonton, 9 p.m.
Jan. 8 at Calgary, 9 p.m.
Jan. 13 N.Y. Rangers, 7 p.m.
Jan. 15 Boston, 7 p.m.
Jan. 17 New Jersey, 7 p.m.
Jan. 19 Washington, 2 p.m.
Jan. 21 Anaheim, 7 p.m.
Jan. 29 at Atlanta, 7 p.m.
Jan. 31 Florida, 7 p.m.
Feb. 3 Tampa Bay, 7 p.m.
Feb. 5 at Florida, 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 7 at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 10 Los Angeles, 7 p.m.
Feb. 11 at New Jersey, 7 p.m.
Feb. 14 at Philadelphia, 1 p.m.
Feb. 16 Pittsburgh, 2 p.m.
Feb. 18 at N.Y. Rangers, 7 p.m.
Feb. 19 Carolina, 7 p.m.
Feb. 21 New Jersey, 7 p.m.
Feb. 25 at Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 26 Toronto, 7 p.m.
Feb. 28 Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Mar. 2 Colorado, 7 p.m.
Mar. 5 N.Y. Rangers, 7 p.m.
Mar. 7 New Jersey, 2 p.m.
Mar. 8 Phoenix, 3 p.m.
Mar. 10 at Toronto, 7:30 p.m.
Mar. 12 at Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
Mar. 14 at Boston, 1 p.m.
Mar. 15 at Chicago, 3 p.m.
Mar. 20 at Carolina, 7 p.m.
Mar. 21 at Ottawa, 7 p.m.
Mar. 25 Minnesota, 7 p.m.
Mar. 27 at Detroit, 7:30 p.m.
Mar. 28 Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Apr. 1 at Washington, 7 p.m.
Apr. 2 Montreal, 7 p.m.
Apr. 4 Tampa Bay, 7 p.m.
Apr. 7 at Carolina, 7 p.m.
Apr. 9 at Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m.
Apr. 11 Philadelphia, 2 p.m.
Apr. 12 Boston, 5 p.m.

Worried that some might misunderstand his comments about the departure of coach Ted Nolan, Islanders Hall of Famer Bryan Trottier sought me out yesterday to explain his feelings in a little more detail. When news of the decision to replace the coach broke, it caught Trottier by surprise and hit him hard because of his friendship with Nolan.

Trottier is a stand-up guy, and he certainly wasn’t going to take a slap at a friend on his way out the door. That reaction not only is understandable, but it’s admirable. But when he read his comments in Newsday, Trottier realized it might appear as though he was at odds with general manager Garth Snow and the organization.

That’s not the case. As director of player development, Trottier is intimately involved in working with the very prospects that Snow is attempting to introduce to the Islanders’ lineup. In our conversation, Trottier emphasized how happy he is in that role, how excited he is to work with the kids and the fact that he is very much in agreement with the direction set by Snow.

Relating a talk he had last season with center Frans Nielsen, Trots said that the modest Nielsen perceived himself as a candidate for the third or fourth lines. Trottier said: “I told him, ‘Frans, you have skills. You can be a second-line center. Can you be first-line? You have to work very hard, but anything is possible.’”

Trottier went on to explain how he feels it’s important to give positive encouragement to the prospects, especially now that they can see a future in the Islanders’ organization, not only this season, but in the ones ahead. If you look at the roster, several veterans are in the final year of their contracts, and there should be many openings in the future. Trottier expects to be a part of the development process in the hope of doing his part to revive a franchise he once led to prominence.

ISLES FILES: The NHL just made the formal announcement that the next Winter Classic will match Detroit and Chicago on Jan. 1, 2009 at Wrigley Field. As part of the release, NHL commissioner Gary Bettmann thanked the Yankees and New York City for their interest and promised to hold future discussions to hold the Winter Classic at the new Yankee Stadium. There was no mention of either the Islanders or the Rangers or, for that matter, the Boston Bruins. Hopefully, that means the Isles, who originated the idea of closing Yankee Stadium with a game between themselves and the Rangers, still are under consideration for a future Winter Classic that would showcase one of the NHL’s most bitter rivalries.

In case you missed it on the Live Chat earlier this morning, I mentioned that the 2008-09 schedule coming out on Thursday has the Islanders opening on the road at New Jersey and then playing their home opener the following night against St. Louis. The schedule begins a week later this season on October 9. The Isles’ home schedule also includes quite a number of Saturday night games and several matinee games, including a number of holiday dates.