And the Oscar goes to.... Garth Snow!

I never thought I'd see a better acting display than Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, coupled with a better poker face than Lady GaGa, but I was proven wrong last night amongst the mayhem that was 10,000+ in the Nassau Coliseum. With an uncanny ability to keep the entire hockey world in the dark, Garth Snow fooled scouts, analysts, players and fans into this being a 3 man race to the finish, when this whole time it has been about the man most of us had hoped for, John Tavares.

Little did we know, the anguish suffered at the hands of last years draft and moving back twice has brought us the fortune of moving up in this one. Our 26th pick eventually turned into the 12th as the Islanders selected quick, puck moving defenseman Calvin deHaan. deHaan, a former teammate of Tavares with Oshawa will surely provide more speed in the back as he developes over the next year or two.

The fans in attendance, including myself were treated to a night of happiness, promise and more importantly, hope. A hope purer than 2002 after a Shawn Bates penalty shot, purer than a trade deadline marquis acquisition(Ryan Smyth) and purer then any I have seen in my 22 year life so far as an Islander fan. Finally, an identity that had been long lost since the 80's is back, and more importantly, my generation of Islander fans will finally know what it is like to really have something to lean on within this franchise.

Admittingly, there still stands some substantial work to be done as far as addressing team needs but for the time being, I think its ok for Islander fans to be able to enjoy a drink of their choice, and soak in all that we as a fanbase have been waiting for, a fresh start and something to believe in.




In other draft and hockey related news...

As expected, the Lightning and Avalanche followed suit and made the logical picks as Victor Hedman and Matt Duchene went in that order.

The Philadelphia Flyers made the biggest noise in the trade department, acquiring the rights to Chris Pronger in exchange for Joffrey Lupul (who makes his second stint in Anaheim), Luca Sbisa and a couple of first round picks. HUGE pickup for phille who now boast a very intimidating blueline, even beyond the likely first due of Kimmo Timonen and Chris Pronger.

The Calgary Flames made the biggest news of day 2 acquiring the rights to Jay Bouwmeester from the Florida Panthers for Jordan Leopold and a third rounder. This was a little confusing on my part because Calgary managed to not part with much, and the Panthers managed to not fix anything and create another hole. With many free agents, Florida is now in desperate need of offense and defense as Tomas Vokoun seems to be the only sure thing in Sunrise anymore. I think they could have obtained much more at the deadline.


Now its off for me to get ready for game 2 of the Subway Series at Citifield. I think im going to grill up some Hot Dogs and hope AJ Burnett is off so the Mets can finally get back on a roll.

More later..


-Bryan