Saturday, July 19, 2008

Last Day of Rookie Camp

Here are some of the best Videos yesterday of the over 50, which are all on YouTube.

Comeau Drop Passes to Joensuu:



Joensuu Scores His Hat Trick:



Bailey Scores in Shootout:



Packed House:



See all the Videos at:
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?p=r&user=iamtherara&page=1

Friday, July 18, 2008

Rechlicz Mic'd Up

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Day 4 of Rookie Camp

On day 4 of the New York Islanders Rookie Camp it seemed like a much more hard hitting day than the past few days. I can't wait until tomorrow to see the Shakey Cup. This camp is not a tryout camp but a chance for all these guys to come together and play as a group, learn a few things about the Islanders and have some fun. While you might think that the Shakey Cup is just the last day of rookie camp these guys work hard and take it serious. The guys that have been to multiple camps will tell you their win - loss record over the course of their camps here on the Island and are proud of their victories. So be prepared to see some great hockey from some great young hockey players from around the globe, all who will hopefully end up in Blue and Orange.

Kyle Okposo scores in shootout:



Trevor Smith, the third shooter, scores in the shootout as well.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Islander Rookie Camp Day 3

You can click on the Headline of today's blog or the YouTube link below to see all the videos from rookie camp. There are a lot to see. I am putting a few of my more favorite moments up here.

Also click on this link to see photos and some of the You Tube Videos on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28612154@N06/collections/72157606171779344/

I like the way that Doug is showing Corey some suggestions:



Guthrie, Rogers, Day and Perdicaro having a little fun at the end of the day:



The Wrecker, Joel Rechlicz, hits the crossbar:



NY Islander 2008 First Round Draft Pick Josh Bailey taking a few shots:



MEETING THE PROSPECTS:


I talked to a bunch of the guys today. I wish I could remember who and what they all said. I like to ask them how they are doing in camp, if they think they improved and move on to questions about college etc.

One thing they all seem to agree on is learning from Trotts. One of the guys said that they were learning Draws and his had improved.

I spent considerable time with Shea Guthrie. Great kid. He is going to Clarkson. He was all excited that he scored and that he finally won a scrimmage game since he has been here for three years. He is rooming with Weslosky who Shea introduced me to a bit later. I think Shea said he majored in Business and Tech Info.

Jase is the Goalie from St Cloud. He is taking Biology and was minoring in Chemistry but the labs were getting to be too much with all the traveling he was doing. He talked about almost giving up hockey when he was in juniors as there was some hot kid that was supposed to take away his role. The kid did but played poorly. Next thing you know Jase is on a full ride to St Cloud and picked up by the Islanders. I asked him if he thought about being part of an organization who has a goalie signed for the next decade. A very based answer in the fact that he said he realizes he has more development and while he doesn't care for scholl that much he will finish and then worry about it in the future.

Chatted with Doug Rogers. An Economics major. I asked him - Barack or McCain. He smartly answered I know better than to answer that question but I am a registered independent. We talked about the war and he said he appreciated my service. Thanks Doug. If you watch one of the face off videos I posted you can see Doug mentoring some of the younger guys.

Of course the Wrecker said that he will drop the gloves if Pat Tracy doesn't show up to root him on. This guy is really cool.

I talked with Trivino and Pereira who are BU kind of guys. Periera said he is majoring in Business as well. We talked about the bean pot and how he enjoyed playing at a sell out crowd at the garden. All the fans were great except for some drunk and his kid. He said it was wild seeing the whole place in Red.

Talked with Joensuu and Neimi. Joensuu is on a two way contract so will be staying here. From what I am hearing he is the most improved player out of all the prospects. Neimi I couldn't understand too well but has played up in Canada.

Donovan's folks were in town and you could tell they were proud. I had the opportunity to meet a family of a future player when I met the Orpik family in Sweden 8 years ago.

Talked with Gratchev and Martin but dont remember what they said. damn.



Check ot all the videos from camp:

http://youtube.com/profile_videos?p=r&user=iamtherara&page=1

What is the Esoteric?

This all started back in the 70's. Was Nixon still in the White House? Perhaps it was Ford or Carter. Maybe Hendrix was still alive. I don't know I was too young to remember. I do know that my cousin and a bunch of my friends who are older than I am are avid Islander fans. I remember watching the Islanders play on Channel 9. One of the guys, Pat Tracy, would keep track of all the players in one of those black composition notebooks that had the cover with a bovine like pattern.

With pencil in hand he used to keep track of where the players ranked amongst the players that were already part of the team or that were Alumni. Back then there were 50 players, maybe 100 towards the end of that era. Now with over 400 players and Alumni, the advent of Excel and Access I have revived the tradition. I hope that this will bring back great memories, allow you to make nostalgic contact with the past and learn a few things about the current team.

In addition to the Esoteric portion of this blog, we will bring you the reverse stats. This is a true indication of how well the team is doing and their POTENTIAL for success as the season moves on. You will see the current standing presented in a way that you will not see anywhere else. You will see how many games and how many points into the playoffs we are AND who we would currentloy be matched up against.

Lastly, as players move up the esoteric list I will try to bring trivia and other info of Alumni that are prevelant in the Esoteric.

Enjoy yourself. And as always if you see an error let us know about it.

Rookie Camp

I had the pleasure of attending a few days at the NY Islanders Rookie Camp in Syosset. I wanted to embeda few of the videos I took while there.

This is Josh Bailey on the ice for the first time in NY Isles Garb:



Here is Josh going in on a shootout:



Here is one of my more favorite players - Joel Rechlicz:



Dibenedetto SCORES!!!!:



Check out all my videos on You tibe at: http://youtube.com/profile_videos?user=iamtherara