Boy, some folks are sensitive.
First of all, having watched the NHL for three decades, I'd love to see all the local teams make the playoffs. More press, more interest in the games for new fans, etc.
And if you've read this blog during the season, I've slammed the Rangers as much as anybody covering them. Ask around.
For those who think we only write about the Rangers here, wrong again. Yes, mostly, but we touch base on a lot of topics around the league and off the ice, because we do have some very savvy, forward-thinking readers in the area and across the country.
I do wish more had the guts to keep it adult and civil, however. That's my biggest regret; dignity and integrity is often trampled by someone's concept of free speech.
And please don't lecture on journalism, OK? There's a difference between reporting and opinion. We crank out both here...
(Well, actually my pal Chris Botta can say whatever he wants, of course, remember it's his job to defend the Isles, stir the pot and by the way, his responses on Deadspin to the creation of the Isles Blog Box were the funniest of the year).
Now to the UFAs. If the Rangers don't at least get to the Finals in the next two years---before Jagr hangs em up---the Drury and Gomez moves were flawed. They have decided to be a "now' team. The division and conference is stronger.
With that in mind, I'd love to see the Islanders rebuild with younger guys, but I understand they're in a tough spot with the defections and have to be competitive while remaking the team. I hope Guerin and Tank and Comrie earn their money, I really do, and then bring some picks/prospects back. So we'll see...
Love the passion (and thanks to my defenders), so keep it up. Should be a swell season...
Comments (38)
Did you ever consider your opinion simply is not very fair or consistent which is why you were criticized?
If your going to write this about Guerin that's fine but then you have to write the exact same thing about Shanahan, who's older and produced less than Guerin for more money last season.
Also to write Guerin vanished in San Jose when he had eight goals in sixteen games just shows a lack of knowledge on your part that takes away your crediblity.
We know he had a poor playoff but you cannot ignore what he did in the other sixteen games.
No, IC
The Sharks traded for Bill Guerin to help them win a Stanley Cup and he scored exacly zero goals in 9 playoff games.
Brendan Shanahan scored 5 goals in 10 playoff games coming off a horrific injury.
Don't even say Bill Guerin's name in the same sentence as Brendan Shanahan's.
thank you, have a nice day now.
its ok steve..isle fans are very sensative about there 2 signings yesterday. ones over the hill and ones been shipped out by 4 teams already..and he's only 26!. theyre trying to justify wat lil impact these scrubs are gonna make. theyre comparing smtyh to guerin and blake to comrie...which is quite laughable. they'll have to see miday thru the season or earlier that there thoughts need correction...
...any chance souray is a "rag"?
Isles fans are obsessed with stats unless it is their own players.
Have any of you bothered to check Billy Guerin's recent stats before last season with the Blues? How about his last season in Dallas?
The Islanders are his last pay day, with a no trade clause to boot!!!!
and unlike guerin...shanny wont fleece his team for undeserving cash. in fact, shanny has stated he will take an incentive laden deal, for the betterment of the club...wonder why he hasn't signed yet, isle pukes?...cuz he dosent mind waiting till the dust settles. HE wants HIS team to be the best in the leauge. that why is the best LEADER in hockey right now, something will never be or ever was....so put that in yer pipe and smoke it!
im a lil tipsy..hence the reason for missing words..lol
:/
Billy Guerin
14 playoff games in 3 years in Dallas.
3 goals and 2 assists.
9 playoff games with San Jose.
0 goals and 2 assists.
so, in his last 23 playoff games total, he has 3 goals and 4 assists.
But, he will be 37 this year, so obviously this is not a trend, he will get better!
Plus, as Caesar said, he will teach the young players how to skate faster!!
Priceless!!! Actually, not priceless, 4.5 million a year!!!
On the contrary, Scott Gomez, at 27 years of age, just came off a playoff where he scored 14 points in 11 games.
As for Chris Drury, I don't really think we need to go over Mr. Clutch's record.
LOL TJ
guerin, comrie, fedentenko, sim are a bunch of hasbeens and never were's. throw in a markov, a vaaaaaaannnnaaaneen (speeling close?) or watever loser u can come up with...and they can start a band.
Do not forget that Bill Guerin received a 2 million dollar signing bonus. So essentially he will making 6.5 million this year. Last year there was not much interest. He signed a one year contract for 2 million. This year, there was still not much interest. And the Isles gave him two years at 11 million, counting the signing bonus. Go figure.
perhaps the carpe diem state of the rangers will make the rivalry rekindle old flames. the isles will be mediocre at best, which is still better than Zipays columns .
actually i think the way the contract works is Guerin gets 6.5M(2 signing bonus + 4.5) this year, 2.5M next year.
As for the Guerin signing i find it annoying that people just don't point out it's for 2 years so if he ends up a dud they don't have to suffer for it for 5-7 years.
Well, it's a good thing the Isles don't have to suffer with it for 5 to 7 years, considering Bill Guerin turns 37 during the next season.
Zipay, I must say that I hardly ever read your blog, and there is a reason for that, it's neither insightful, nor interesting. But hey, that's just me. Post all the smack you want about the Isles or whoever you want. Just remember, after the lockout, the Rangers were picked by the so called "experts" to finish last in the league, and they made the playoffs before being swept by the Devils. So, things can turn quickly. Let's see how the games between the two teams go this year before you write one of them off, ok?
I think the 3 Isles signings were okay but the Isles overpaid for Fedotenko (c'mon, almost 3 million?) and Guerin isn't the 1st line player they need (neither is Comrie for that matter). They have a bunch of 2nd line players now.
Smyth would have helped.
And zebras have stripes.
I think it's absolutely bush league that on the Islanders website itself they actually bash Zipay for his comments regarding the Isles signings.
Could you imagine everytime a writer bashed the Rangers over something and the Rangers continually putting it on their website? The Rangers would have to get about 1,000 new servers just to handle all the volume.
It's because the Isles are a 3rd rate organization, always have, always will be.
The woe is us attitude, the small market thinking in a very large market, the ticket give aways, the "start them young" campaign.
Third rate organization, the K.C. Royals of hockey.
Actually putting on your website something a writer said, WHAT A JOKE!!!!!!!!!!!
well Jim the Isles and their fans deserve each other. 3rd rate org and the fans with all the crap they threw on the ice in the playoffs several times showed their true colors.
Chris Botta, the Isles PR Man is crying about what Zipay wrote. See, that's the difference between the Rangers and Islanders. The Islanders are flat out paranoid. Do you think the Rangers are scanning the blogs worried about what the Islander bloggers are saying? Of course not. They could care less. I can see Botta, Snow and the rest of that second rate organization frantically searching the blogosphere seeing what people are saying about their Circus Act! LOL
Give us a break with Shanahnan being a solid playoff performer, he had a few goals vs awful Atlanta and was invisible vs Buffalo.
Shanahan's yearly playoff disappearing acts with Detroit is why they let him go last year.
Bottom line Guerin had a better year than Shanahan for less money this year.
As for Botta, the Rags have a network of shills protecting them who are paid to do so or they will lose their jobs. Trautwig, Giannone, Fischler, Rosen and about a half dozen others.
Msg is so third rate and paranoid they bought the Islanders, Devils and Sabre tv rights to control the hockey content.
As for the Rags hockey volume in NYC they only produced ratings equal to 36,000 homes and were invisible on television in the playoffs, NYC ignored them and all season long zero backpages...
You proved the problem was not the Devils, you were just as ignored and opposing fans rocked Msg all season, especially Islander fans...
Dolan would not let me knock his Msg teams or even praise the competition so I was let go after 35 years..
Imagine what shilling Sammmy Rosen better say to keep Dolan happy...
This is used car salesman Al Trautwig selling Rag tradition live from Msg, sorry the Garden is packed with Islander fans today, all our so-called loyal Rag fans went to go see Giants-Dallas.......but our corporate fans will be back for the next game and hang around for a least a peirod and a half before they run out to catch the trains home...
IC - were you one of the Islander fans who threw stuff on the ice in the playoffs. I actually have little against your present team - they're just mercenaries except in their case mercenaries who have little choice since the more popular players would rather play elsewhere. The better players want no part of your disgrace of a stadium and disgrace of a fanbase. Guys like Ryan Smyth have class that's why he fled the Island at the 1st opportunity - for less money no less. So you and your fellow fans have better get your act in gear. Stop worrying about the Rangers, actually show up to games win or lose, and stop littering the ice. Maybe then Nassau County will build a new stadium for you. Otherwise the anthem played for that franchise will be O Canada before every home game.
This from a franchise that has thousands of Islander fans at MSG chanting " YOU CAN'T BEAT US...last season..
Mercenaries? This from a franchise that has one bought cup from Edmonton to show for 67 years...LOL
Better worry about your own house, without the Knicks carrying Msg you would be in Winnipeg already...
Because NYC is only interested in baseball as always Islander fans throught the tri-state area have to carry hockey..
IC
Question,
were Brian Leetch and Mike Richter from Edmonton?
"Better worry about your own house, without the Knicks carrying Msg you would be in Winnipeg already..."
single dumbest statement ever uttered on a hockey blog. You have hereby just lost any credibility you ever had IC.
Actually, Jim, he's not that far off. If you read the local daily's articles about the Rangers' ratings in the playoffs vs. Knick games down the stretch, also vs. what MSG's ratings were in general as well as their advertising revenue before they lost the Mets, the Rangers are in some serious trouble. Now, granted, the NHL's ratings are absolutely TERRIBLE across the board, but you would think that the Rangers ratings would be better than most. Not the case. The Winnipeg statement is a little obsurd, but the Knicks are definately still carrying MSG, and MSG in general is in terrible shape without baseball.
First off, I'd like to point out that there are about four Ranger fans to every Islander fan on Long Island. I was at the last three games at the Colliseum and undoubtedly there were more Ranger fans then Islander fans. I went to an Islander/Devil game and not to my surprise the Colliseum was empty, the Isles lost 2-0. So the fact that you can call MSG, and the Rangers a 3rd rate orginization is completely false. The Garden always sells out, whether it's the Blue Jackets or the Isles, the place is packed.
The Garden only sell out when the Raners are winning. I've watched that team at the beginning of last year when things weren't looking so good not to mention their 8 season stretch of no play offs. MSG looked to be selling hockey just as well as the Islanders.
There is no 4-1 ratio of Rangers fans to Islanders fans on long Island. Whatever luster the Rangers got from the 94 cup isn't there anymore. So this is just ridiculous anecdotal BS.
LOL @ Jim from Woodbury. You seem to have reading comprehension problems or have difficulty realizing when you've created a straw man.
But it's also cowardly that you've sinked off to the Rangers board to do it. I suppose you learned this from Ryan Hollweg and Ulf Samuelson.
I said Guerin would teach the kids how how to "skate faster"? I'd like to see you dig up where I wrote that.
Caesar - if the luster from 94' has worn off what about 83'. I live on Long Island and used to see all sorts of kids in Islanders jerseys playing roller hockey. Islander fans desert the sinking ship faster than anything I've seen. After of course they litter the ice. Go to a Ranger game this year and see how many people are wearing Ranger shirts on the LIRR. And do you realize that a college student has never even been alive when the Isles last won. So the 4-1 ratio is appropriate (unless you count the front running Isles fans who will come out of the wood work if you guys ever get really good again. Your best bet for that to happen is to tank 5 years running. I hope you keep signing the Guerin's and Comrie's of the world and that dp plays just well enough for the Isles to finish about 7th worst in the league. Also would love to see the Isles move to Canada - your reactions would be priceless just like the MAstercard commercial. At least your favorite team would remain (whoever plays the Rangers) - since most Isles fans hate the RAngers more than they love their own team.
If there is such a huge ratio of Rangers fans to Islanders fans then why are you so eager for the Isles to more to Canada?
LOL
Comparing all the Rangers fans taking the train vs Islanders Fans taking the train is stupid. You can't take the train to Islanders game.
So you examples to support your argument is stupid.
Then again, I suppose you've never walked on a college campus either. I suggest you head to BU and see how many Islanders fans go to school there. If we are using the last time they won as a barometer for how many college age Rangers to Islanders fans there are. BU may as well be Islanders Country North East. We Islanders fans freakin own Banknorth Garden when ever this team comes to play here.
The Rangers cup win in 94 did nothing to increase their fan base. The bandwagoners that joined up all stopped paying attention circa 98.
The folks going to Rangers games are 60% corporate suits and they always bolt halfway through the third period. The folks going to the colliseum are not corporate suits and happen to be the die hards. Since Grumman closed shop (Which also leas to a decrease in attendance) there are very few corporate suits by season tickets.
The Rangers are a misnomer in their own city. Their two round playoff run barely made a dent in the ratings.
Rangers fans are nothing but front running band wagoneers. They are not even respected outside of their own market.
Living here in Boston when the Bruins are out of it all the Bruins fans root for the Islanders. They are like an adopetd team up here.
You really need to get out of New York and stop using ridiculous examples to support your argument. It's embarassing. Perhaps travel outside of NY (The Bridgeport Soundtigers have done well to increase the Islanders Connectivcut fan base as well. Their community realtions in Bridgeport is top knotch and drawing tons of fanse).
I also never used the 83 cup as leverage. So to go "what about 83" is also stupid. The 94 cup win appealed only to those fans that follow trends. That's it!!!!
Those same fans no longer follow that team and have all headed to the hills.
Hey LI Joe, which team's fans are obsessed with who? I'm sure you've heard your oh-so-smart Ranger fan friends at MSG screaming "POTVIN SUCKS" at the top of their lungs when the Rangers aren't even playing the Islanders. Nice try sparky.
Caesar - you've got to be kidding me if you think there are anywhere near as many Isles fans as Rangers fans. I brought up the LIRR to show you how many Ranger fans come from LI (and there are plenty of others who just can't get tickets). The Islander fans are front runners. Whenever I hear someone say I used to be a hockey fan I ask who they used to be a fan of - the team they used to be a fan of is your beloved Isles. See your last two paragraphs and they are highly appropriate about your team and it's diminished fanbase. Your franchise is in big trouble and I don't see them staying on LI. Plenty of Canadian cities would like an NHL franchise - and they won't litter the ice like the disgrace in the 07' playoffs. They would show respect for the game unlike you and your fellow hooligans.
icelanders - as it relates to you and I. This is the RANGER BLOG. You don't see me posting or wasting my time on your blog. Think about it.
what kind of writer signs off his blog with the word SWELL.
ZIPPY THE CLOWN does. SWELL is the queerest of all words that is unless your a surfer.
I take train to city to watch the lights on tree at -stinking capitalist- Rockefeller central.
I say hello to islander fans-they ignore me. I need job please! I do not say word "SWELL"
DANKS
Oh Joe;
How I forgot that the mighty Rangers fans would NEVER throw things on the ice. Not to mention throw things at even women who visit MSG wearing the opposing teams jersey.
Yeah, Ranger's fans are fans we should all emulate.
PFFFFT!!!
Perhaps you would do well to also learn what a "control" is. Not to mention anectdotal evidence.
But the Islanders fans are not band wagoners. The Rangers went through eight years of sucking without anyone giving a crap. When the Islanders fans went through a long playoff drought and the owners threatened to move the team, it was the thousands of fan the raised holy hell.
I didn't see any of that coming from the Rangers fan base. Then again, how quickly they demonstrate that they don't learn from past mistakes. Have fun with Gomez and Drury. The pricetag you paid for those should be interesting when it all comes out in the wash.
If you ever come to Boston let me know how man Rags fans you find here.
"If you ever come to Boston let me know how many Rags fans you find here."
I think the Boston paper had it at about 40 to 50 percent during that last regular season game...
I'll put it plainly. You don't want us there? Sell out your house.
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