FI Injury Report

As of the end of the week a total of 11 Former Islanders were on Injured Reserve for various ailments. Here is a brief look at these players:

Tim Connolly (Buffalo): The Sabres are used to winning when Tim Connolly is in the lineup. Problem is that TimCo has not been the lineup for more than 56 regular games of the last 3 seasons. He has had an impressive 48 points (10 goals, 38 assists) over than span. All that might change as Connolly is expected to suit up Friday night for his first game since November 14. The problems have been varied for Connolly who most recent trip to the IR was triggered by a rib injury.

Brent Sopel (Chicago): Chicago signed Sopel to an contract extension last season yet from the day the deal was inked Sopel has been hit with a variety of injuries. Sopel's most recent is the delightfully descriptive "upper-body injury". There is no real timetable for Sopel's return to the Blackhawk's blueline.




Raffi Torres (Columbus): Winger Torres is Lloyd's of London's worst nightmare - a walking injury waiting to happen. An injury last season cost Torres 50 games of the season while his recent arthroscopic knee surgery will cost him supposedly 2-4 weeks yet that time frame has come and gone as Torres was placed on IR on December 2. Torres is not yet ready to return to play and the mystery is when and if he will every really be ready to compete without some nagging injury haunting him.

Marc-Andre Bergeron (Minnesota): The saddest FI injury of the year so far has to be defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron who was leading the Wild blueliners in scoring. Bergeron suffered an "upper-body injury" in early December and has been on the IR since December 12. No details have arisen about the true nature of MAB's injury nor has an expected return date been announced yet.

Ruslan Fedotenko(Pittsburgh):Penguins' winger Fedotenko broke his hand in a one punch knockout of Atlanta Thrashers' forward Colby Armstrong only 2 minutes in to a January 6 game. Fedo will miss 4 to 6 weeks and has been placed on the IR retroactive to January 7.




Eric Brewer (St. Louis): The Blues' captain and d-man Eric Brewer has had a relatively healthy career until his recent herniated disk required surgery. St. Louis, currently without its leader, will spend what is most likely the rest of the season without Brewer's presence in the locker room. Brewer had surgery on December 17 and was placed of the IR retroactive to December 13.


Jamie Heward (Tampa Bay): To be brutally honest Jamie Heward's absence on the Lightning blueline will not really affect any outcomes considering the d-man has only suited up for 13 games so far this season but Heward is probably missing the ice. Heward was slammed head first in to the boards by Washington Capitals' superstar Alex Ovechkin in a game on New Year's Day. Considering the severity of the injury there is not expected return date and Heward was placed on IR as of January 2.

Roberto Luongo (Vancouver): Possibly the most notable injury in the league right now is the absence of Canucks' goaltender Roberto Luongo who suffered a groin injury during a November 22 game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Rumor has it that Luongo is almost ready to make a return, possibly in time for him to get a few starts in before the All-Star Game to which he has been tapped as a reserve goalie. Luongo was having a good start to the season before the injured sidelined him on IR since November 23.

Taylor Pyatt (Vancouver): The Canucks have a second injured FI in the form of winger Pyatt who broke his foot during a December 26 game. Pyatt is out "at least four weeks" and was placed on the IR on December 27. To make things worse it appears that T-Py played the whole game possibly compounding the injury with extra shifts.



Tom Poti (Washington): Capitals' d-man Tom Poti suffered a groin strain in late December landing him on the IR on December 23. The absence of Poti leaves a gaping whole on the Caps' blueline that is currently being filled by rookie Karl Alzner. There is no time table for a Poti return yet.




John Erskine (Washington): Another Caps' d-man also has his own injury woes. Erskine suffered a concussion during a November 24 game and was immediately placed on the IR list. There is no expected return date yet for Erskine who has never played more than 51 games on any given season.




Check here soon for more news and updates at FIW.

Friday October 31

It was a spooky sensation here at FIW as "ye who complains shall receive" became reality. After barking that Former Islanders have tailed off production as of late in comes the Halloween Weekend and a near orgy of FI production. Between Friday and Sunday FIs contributed in 14 of 20 tilts making a difference 70 percent of the time. Friday saw only 2 games (probably to keep Halloween costumery and tomfoolery to a minimum) but FIs made appearances in both those outings. Let us take a look:

Chicago defenseman Brent Sopel, yes Brent Sopel, scored the game winning goal as the Blackhawks dispensed of the visiting Dallas Stars with a 5-2 victory. The netter was Sopel's first of the season and he now has 2 points (1 goal, 1 assist) on 9 games this season. Both of his points have come in the last 3 games. For a player with only 41 career goals it is impressive that 11 of Sopel's tallies have been game winners. With the goal he snapped a 32 game goal-less run dating back to January 11. The last time Sopel scored a winning goal was October 30, 2006 a span of 129 games (inclusive of 11 playoff games) without such an event.

While Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo's 500th game was the kind that coaches say they want to forget it was one fans will always remember. It was a wild game as the Canucks faced off against the host Anaheim Ducks and held on for a 7-6 13 round SO victory. The Canucks blew leads of 5-2 and 6-5, the latter with only 57 seconds left, before holding off the Ducks in the SO frame. Luongo stopped 31 of 37 shots between regulation and OT before stopping 12 of 13 in the SO including the final 11 shooters he faced. It was a crazy night as it is rare for a goalie to surrender 6 scores and still walk away the victor but that game was in a small way a reminder of the hard road Luongo has had to take. He improved to 6-4-0 on the season and has won his last 2 starts and 3 of his last 4. To make things even more interesting, Luongo was credited with the secondary assist on his team's 6th goal. The helper was the 13th of his career. Also getting involved was teammate and FI Taylor Pyatt who assisted on the team's first goal and was stopped on his SO attempt in the 8th round. Pyatt now has 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists) on 11 games this season and has managed a goal and an assist over the last 2 tilts.

Check back soon for more updates and highlights at FIW.

Saturday October 25 - 15 Games!

Every single NHL team was playing on Saturday in a rare night for hockey. The 96 goals scored among the teams was the most since January 23, 1993 when 12 games accounted for 103 goals. With every team in play the atmosphere was high for FI contributions and they did not disappoint. FIs made impacts in 9 games. Let us take a look at those accomplishments:

New Atlanta defenseman Mathieu Schneider scored his first goal and had his first multi-point effort since joining the squad during the preseason. Schneids knocked home a powerplay goal and added a powerplay assist but all was for nought as the Boston Bruins slipped by the visiting Thrashers 5-4. Schneider now has 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists) on 8 games with Atlanta but has since his offensive contributions tempered by his -8 rating. That could be the kind of season Schneider is looking at: 40 points, -30something but we can hope not.

A game after being scratched for his inconsistent effort Toronto winger Jason Blake was back on the boxscore. Blake had a powerplay assist on the opening tally as the Maple Leafs outlasted the Ottawa Senators for a 3-2 victory. Blakey now has 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists) on 7 games and is among team leaders in shots on goal (29) and +/- rating (+1). One could imagine the healthy scratch was a warning and is not going to become a common occurrence for the high-priced Blake.

In only his 2nd game back after his 5 game suspension for assaulting a referee (argued down from 10) Columbus center Michael Peca made an impact offensively. Peca assisted on the lone Blue Jackets' goal as they fell to the host Minnesota Wild 2-1. Having playing in only 3 games so far this season, Peca has 1 helper this year. He has, however, also amassed an impressive 24 penalty minutes.

Also making his first notching his first point of the season was Los Angeles center Derek Armstrong. Army assisted on the too-little-too-late goal as the Kings fell to the host Nashville Predators 5-4 as LA does its tour of the Midwest. With the helper Armstrong snapped a 7 game point-less streak dating back to last season. More shocking than Armstrong not having recorded a point until game 7 of the season is that he has only taken 4 shots in that time.

In his first game back after being sidelined for almost 2 weeks with a leg injury Washington forward Viktor Kozlov started contributing again. Kozlov assisted on the Capitals' 5th goal as they survived a last minute comeback by the host Dallas Stars to pull off a 6-5 OT win. Kozzer has 2 assists on 4 games this season but has yet to net a goal despite having thrown 6 shots on goal.

D-man Aaron Johnson is turning out to be a nice offseason pick up by the Chicago Blackhawks. Johnson dropped in the 'Hawks 2nd goal as they were edged by the visiting Detroit Red Wings 6-5 in SO. Johnson has had goals in back-to-back games and now has 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists) on 6 games this season. He is currently tied with marquee d-man Brian Campbell for the team's goal scoring lead among blueliners and is only one assist behind him for blueline scoring. This was the first time Johnson has ever had goals in consecutive games, a major accomplishment considering he has never had more than 3 tallies on a season before. Also getting involved was teammate Brent Sopel who assisted on the team's 4th goal. Sopel has 1 assist on 7 games this season snapping a 6 game point-less drought to start the year and an aggregate 8 game drought dating back to last season.

Ryan Smyth was the hero of the night in Colorado netting the winning goal in the 5th round of the SO as the Avalanche slipped by the visiting Buffalo Sabres for a 2-1 win. With the game in his hands, Smyth knocked home the winning goal. He also stirred up a little controversy after supposedly knocking the knob of Sabres' goaltender Ryan Miller's stick knocking him off balance when the Avs scored their lone goal of regulation with less than 7 minutes to play in regulation. Smyth received the secondary assist on that goal. Smyth has had an impressive start to the season with 7 points (4 goals, 3 assists) on 8 games. He has notched all 7 of those points in the last 6 games despite not having scored a point in the prior tilt. On nights that Smyth has recorded at least one point the Avalanche have a 4-1 record and a are a total of 25-5 including last season!

Calgary winger Todd Bertuzzi woke up from a 2 game slumber to net his team-leading 6th goal (tied with Jarome Iginla) as the Flames steamrolled past the host Phoenix Coyotes 4-1. Bert opened the scoring only 3:25 in to regulation with a powerplay goal, his 4th of the season. He now he has 6 goals on 8 games to start the season. Bert is scoring at a 30% rate having compiled 20 shots. He does, however, have a -5 rating. It took Bertuzzi until game 26 of last season to record his 6th goal.

It was a matchup made for FIW as the Vancouver Canucks hosted the Edmonton Oilers. There was a combined 7 FIs (4 Vancouver, 3 Edmonton) between the two teams. Four of those players made impacts. Canucks' goaltender Roberto Luongo stopped 25 of 28 shots for his fourth win of the season as Vancouver knocked off the Oil 6-3. Luongo stopped a 2 game losing streak and now has a 4-3-0 record with a 3.29 goals against average and an .889 save percentage. If it were not for the fact that the Canucks' offense has been much more potent than expected, Luongo would not even be able to boast of a winning record considering his recent poor play. In only his 2nd game since being called up from the Manitoba Moose, center Jason Krog knocked in a powerplay goal to cap the scoring. Krog has 1 goal on 2 games this season and the tally was his first in the NHL since February 3, 2006 while with the New York Rangers. Take it a step further and the extra man goal was Krog's first since before the lockout on November 21, 2004. At that time Krog was still playing with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. As well, Saturday's powerplay goal came in Krog's 200th career NHL game. Lighting things up for Edmonton was winger Robert Nilsson who torched Luongo for a goal and an assist. Snapping a 3 game point-less run, Nilsson now has 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists) on 7 games this season. The multi-point effort was Nilsson's first since March 28. And finally, surprising everyone is Denis Grebeshkov who is 1 point off the team leader and is currently tied for the lead in scoring among Oil defenseman with Sheldon Souray. Greb helped himself again netting his first goal of the year. He now has 5 points (1 goal, 4 assists) on 7 games. Grebeshkov as well snapped a 3 game drought. The goal came on only his 2nd shot of the season.

While things will not be this busy again this season, please check in soon for more updates and highlights at FIW.

Preseason Friday September 26

There were 8 more exhibition tilts on Friday night. Former Islanders are getting primed for the real deal starting October 9. FIs were factors in 3 competitions. Here is a look at their efforts:

Winger Ruslan Fedotenko is starting to look like a really good acquisition by the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Tank had 3 assists, including 1 powerplay helper, to lead the Pens' offense as they slipped past the host Toronto Maple Leafs for a 5-4 win. Teammate and fellow FI Miroslav Satan also added an assist. In a moment that could mean really good things for each player this season, Satan and Fedo each logged an assist on Sidney Crosby's goal, a potential look at an offensive line that could mean trouble for teams around the league.

Minnesota defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron had a powerplay assist on the Wild's second goal. The Wild dwindled a 3-0 lead, though, and dropped the game 4-3 to the host Chicago Blackhawks. MAB is looking to rebound from a 2007-08 season that was rife with healthy scratches both before and after his trade from the Islanders to the Anaheim Ducks. Also getting involved in the scoring was Chicago d-man Brent Sopel had an assist on the Hawks 2nd goal. Sopel is looking to recover from an injury-shortened 207-08 season.

New Calgary winger Todd Bertuzzi had his first couple of points for his new team as the Flames spanked the visiting Florida Panthers 8-2. Bert had an assist on the game winner less than 5 minutes in to the 2nd period and then added a goal less than 5 minutes into the 3rd to cap off the multi-point effort. Flames fans, who have less than tender feelings for the former Vancouver Canuck, are really going to be peering down on Bertuzzi to impress them with his performance.

Check back for more updates at FIW soon.