Saturday, September 19, 2009

New Format

As we approach the beginning of the 2009-10 season there are a couple of changes to note here at FIW.

#1 Daily updates are gone! In this age of micro-blogging who has the time to do an extensive blog post everyday? Instead we will recap Former Islander accomplishments on a week-by-week basis meaning less posts to read.

#2 Snappier and quicker summmaries! Less about the particulars of the big plays and more about the things we really care about - the stats. Player recaps will be about numbers, numbers, numbers.

#3 Updated pictures! As soon as the NHL teams role out the new team photos we will have new player pictures.

#4 More snark! As the NHL continues to be the bastion of major league sport intellect we will continue to find retorts that mean something. Take that Gary Bettman. (p.s. We love Charles Wang and company! Blue and Orange forever.)

#5 No Shawn Bates! He has not played in years for an NHL squad but it is never too late to keep reminding ourselves of that sweet fact.

By the way we do not recap preseason statistics since they are essentially meaningless. Join us after October 3 when the NHL kicks off.

Until then thank you for enjoying FIW.

Late-August Becomes Pre-Season

Realizing that one has been lax to one's blogging requirements is daunting knowledge. As school, work and life role on here in Orange County Former Islander Watch has suffered. Here is the end of summer update featuring news so old it cannot truly be called "new":

Defensive veteran and living fossil Mathieu "Coelecanth" Schneider signed a deal with the Vancouver Canucks on August 28. Schneids, who scored 32 points (9 goals, 23 assists) in 67 games last season between the Atlanta Thrashers and Montreal Canadiens will join his 9th team and 5th in the last 4 seasons. It is believed that Schneider signed a 1 year, $1.55 million deal. Best of luck Mathieu!

On September 2 goaltender Roberto Luongo signed a 12 year contract extension with the Canucks essentially ending all trade rumors involving the stud backstopper. Bobby Lu is all but guaranteed to be a 'Nuck for the rest of his playing career. The deal will net Luongo $7.5 million this year and about $80 million over the life of the contract at an average of $6.75 million per year but an exceedinly generous $10 million next year. Congratulations Roberto... wow!

That same day winger Taylor Pyatt said his final goodbyes to Vancouver and joined the Phoenix Coyotes (a.k.a. the Hamilton Blackberries) on a 1 year deal for an amount yet to be announced. The winger has 19 points (10 goals, 9 assists) last season with the 'Nucks in 69 games before sitting out the last part of the season and a portion of the playoffs due to the untimely passing of his fiance. We wish Taylor the best as he finds a home far from the colder confines of Long Island, Buffalo or Vancouver.

Center Mike Duff nee Comrie signed a 1 year deal with the Edmonton Oilers, a former squad, on September 10. Comrie struggled last season with a meager 27 points (10 goals, 17 assists) on 63 games between the Isles and Ottawa Senators. The deal is believed to $1.125 million... that should buy a lot of Hilary Duff cds. Congratulations Mike... Hope you find your touch again!

FI camp invitees include: winger Mitch Fritz with Phoenix, winger Mike York with the Florida Panthers, winger Mark Parrish with the Canucks, winger Kip Brennan with the Oilers, a shortlived relationship with center Shawn Bates and the Colorado Avalanche that has already ended... more as they are discovered.

More transactions when they pop back to memory... Thanks for reading.