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Want to sum up the last few years for Rick DiPietro and the Islanders?

The goalie entered the NHL’s two-week Olympic break with his surgically repaired knee in good shape and not having missed a practice due to injury since returning on Jan. 6. And now, on the eve of the team’s return to the ice tonight against Chicago at the Coliseum, he’s out indefinitely with swelling in the knee.

Still, the 28-year-old was not terribly discouraged by the news, saying tests showed yesterday that everything is fine structurally with the knee.

“It’s precautionary,” DiPietro said after returning to the team’s practice facility after practice, where he worked out. “After seven or eight days off, to kick it back into full gear might have irritated it a little bit. There’s nothing major to report, just the stuff that goes along with the territory of coming back from a serious injury.”

DiPietro reported he had no problems after Sunday’s practice, which he participated in fully, but that his knee stiffened late Sunday and yesterday morning.

Click here to read the full article – By New York Post

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The Islanders wanted to finish strong before the Olympic break.

After taking a 3-1 lead into the third, the Isles failed to convert a minute-long 5-on-3 to start the final period and then allowed three straight goals to fall to Ottawa, 4-3, yesterday at the Coliseum.

“It’s frustrating,” said Blake Comeau, who saw the first two-goal game of his career go to waste. “The playoff race is tight from 12th all the way to sixth. These were two points we definitely needed. It’s going to be a big stretch when we get back.”

The Isles, six points out of the final playoff spot, have 20 games after the two-week break, which Scott Gordon and Mark Streit will spend at least part of in Vancouver. Gordon — who was a backup goalie on the 1992 US team that lost the bronze medal game to Czechoslovakia — is an assistant to Ron Wilson on the US staff and Streit is the Swiss captain.

Click here to read the full article – By New York Post

New York Islanders License Plate

New York Islanders License Plate

Unfortunately for the Islanders on a night they outplayed by the Penguins for some lengthy stretches, Evgeni Malkin knows what to do when the puck finds his stick.

“It’s tough. When you have guys like [Sidney] Crosby and Malkin on the ice, those guys make things happen,” Islanders coach Scott Gordon said. “It’s pretty consistent with every shift they have. That’s where their team is at now, and that’s where we aspire to be.”

With Kunitz scoring his first two goals since Dec. 29, the Penguins shook off a 5-4 loss Sunday to Washington in which they couldn’t hold a 4-1 lead to win their seventh in a row at home against the Islanders.

The Islanders lost their eighth in nine games as Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside 37 of 38 shots — though it was defenseman Kris Letang who made the save of the night.

With Fleury occupied at the other side of the net, Letang sprawled along the crease to stop Matt Moulson’s shot in the first period. Right about then, the Islanders probably knew what kind of night it would be.

“What I liked was a lot of pucks were hitting him [Fleury] in the chest and that means he was being aggressive. He didn’t have to make a lot of spectacular saves,” Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said.

Click here to read the full article – By New York Post

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The slumping Islanders couldn’t get a shot past Tomas Vokoun, who must be sorry to see January end.

Jordan Leopold and Keith Ballard scored for the Panthers, who have won seven of 11. Rick DiPietro made 23 saves for the Islanders, who have lost five straight.

Vokoun had four shutouts in January, with his previous one coming Jan. 23 against Toronto, when he made 39 saves in a 2-0 win. His seven shutouts this season are a career high.

Vokoun and the Devils’ Martin Brodeur are tied for the NHL lead in shutouts.

“We played pretty well and we got the two points, so that’s all you can ask for,” Vokoun said.

The Islanders were left scratching their heads.

Click here to read the full article – By New York Post

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Scott Gordon said the Islanders’ three-game stretch against the Flyers, Penguins and Devils would show his young team where it was.

The verdict: While the Isles are improved, they are very much a work in progress.

That was clear during the final two periods of yesterday’s 6-1 loss in Newark. The Devils battered hard-luck goalie Martin Biron with 42 shots one day after the Islanders (10-10-7) limited the Penguins to 21 shots.

The latter part of the defeat resembled the Isles’ loss to the Flyers on Wednesday, when they generated just one shot in a dismal third period.

“Philly was a completely different animal,” Gordon said. “It didn’t matter what we did in the third period [yesterday] because it was the same thing we did in the second.”

Click here to read the full article – By New York Post

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John Tavares received plenty of scrutiny before his first NHL game on Saturday at Nassau Coliseum, but that figures to pale in comparison to what he’s in for tonight, when he makes his Islanders’ debut in Canada against Ottawa (7:00; MSG+2, WMJC).

Scott Gordon isn’t overly concerned with how the 19-year-old rookie will handle things in his native country.

“If anybody is prepared for it, it’s him,” Gordon said of Tavares, who grew up near Toronto. “He’s been under a microscope for a long time and I’m sure there’ll be a buzz about it before the game.”

But at least some of the pressure will be taken off because Tavares was able to notch a goal and an assist against the Penguins in the Isles’ opener.

Click here to read the full article – By Dan Martin of New York Post

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The Islanders spent much of the latter part of last season on John Tavares watch, when it became clear that they would be in the running for the top pick in the draft.

Hall currently is the consensus No. 1 prospect in 2010, but the Isles, still in the early stages of rebuilding, say they would rather not be in the running for such a high selection.

“We’re not here to finish 30th,” Josh Bailey said of last year’s place in the standings at the bottom of the league. “We’re here to make the playoffs, and there’s more pressure on young guys to perform.”

Nevertheless, the postseason figures to be an unrealistic goal, as the Islanders begin their season tonight at the Nassau Coliseum against Pittsburgh, last year’s Stanley Cup champions.

The Coliseum may not be their home for much longer if owner Charles Wang doesn’t get approval for his Lighthouse Project — a refurbished Coliseum and the development of the land surrounding it — by today from the town of Hempstead. He has said that if it doesn’t come through, he would be willing to move the franchise.

Click here to read the full article – By Dan Martin of New York Post

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The Islanders were in the middle of another mundane forechecking drill in the middle of another mundane preseason practice when John Tavares, waiting his turn, peered at the tussling at the other end of the ice and began smiling brightly.

He was still smiling as he gathered in a puck and charged down the ice. No matter how much is expected of him this season from Islanders fans, and the hockey world in general, Tavares plans to enjoy himself in his rookie season.

Much to the delight of 10,000 Islanders fans gathered at Nassau Coliseum on June 26 to watch a broadcast of the N.H.L. draft, the Islanders made Tavares, a 19-year-old Canadian center, the No. 1 overall choice. They want him to hoist a young, thin team on his shoulders.

“I don’t know if I can tone that down,” Tavares said after practice. “I can control what I can control. There’s always been that pressure. I know what I can do.”

Click here to read the full article – By Dave Caldwell of New York Times

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John Tavares signed a three-year entry level contract with the New York Islanders, who took the 19-year-old standout first overall in last month’s NHL draft. The Islanders announced the signing in a statement on Wednesday.

The high-scoring center had 215 goals and 218 assists over four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, his goal total breaking the 33-year-old record held by Peter Lee. Tavares led the OHL in goals (58) and points (104) last season, splitting time between Oshawa and London.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

Juniors/College Sports Memorabilia
and other Juniors/College Autographs
Below are links to memorabilia available for John Tavares.

New York Islanders Sports Memorabilia
and other New York Islanders Autographs
Below are links to memorabilia available for John Tavares.