My 2007 Islander Awards (w/ video)

Posted 8:54 PM ET | Comments 1

2007 had its share of ups and downs for the Islanders and their fans. From being a team picked to finish dead last, to clinching a playoff berth in the last game of the year, and the anointment of a new captain, there were some great moments this year. Without further ado, here are my Islander awards for 2007: (I'm going by the calendar year 2007. Late 2006 does not count.) The Good: Team Game of the Year: Islanders at Devils, 4/8/07. With the Islanders controlling their own playoff destiny, Richard Park scored twice to give the Isles a 2-0 lead. <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 /><st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York</st1:place></st1:State> let that lead slip away late in the 3rd though. The dagger was the tying goal by John Madden with less than a second remaining in regulation. With everything on the line, <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York</st1:place></st1:State> rallied to clinch a playoff birth in the shootout with a poke check by the savior, Wade Dubielewicz. <embed src=http://www.youtube.com/v/hkrXEhAW6eA&rel=1 width=425 height=355 type=application/x-shockwave-flash wmode="transparent"></embed> Honorable mention: Isles vs. Penguins; 11/3/07, Isles vs. Penguins; 2/19/07, Isles vs. Maple Leafs, 12/26/07. Individual Game of the Year: Rick DiPietro saves record 56 shots in 2-1 SO loss to Rangers, 3/5/07. The win would have been nice, but all night long DiPietro faced a barrage of blueshirt shots, and only allowed one natural goal before losing in the shootout. The 56 saves set an Islanders record. Honorable mention: Jason Blake scores first period hat trick in 6-5 win over Flyers, 2/27/07 Goal of the Year: Richard Park's 3 on 5 SH Goal vs. PIT, 1/16/07. Park was out killing a 5-on-3. He blocked a point shot, chips the puck off the boards to himself and flies up the right wing, beating the Penguins defender. Park wristed one past the Pens' goalie with a perfect shot to tie the game at 1. See for yourself. <embed src=http://www.youtube.com/v/r_kVsQn89Pc&rel=1 width=425 height=355 type=application/x-shockwave-flash wmode="transparent"></embed><?xml:namespace prefix = o /><o:p></o:p>
 Honorable Mention: Josef Vasicek dekes Brodeur 5 times vs. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">New Jersey</st1:State></st1:place>, 11/16/07. Best Save: Dipietro stops Tomas Kaberle, 2/13/07. After leaving a fat rebound for Tomas Kaberle, Rick DiPietro recovers nicely, diving across the crease to knock down the slapshot headed towards the wide open twine. <embed src=http://www.youtube.com/v/x4UWhJg0xKA&rel=1 width=425 height=355 type=application/x-shockwave-flash wmode="transparent"> Honorable mention: DiPietro makes a stick save on Bruins' M<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">urray, (n/a),</st1:City></st1:place> Dipietro makes glove save first game of year, 10/5/07 Best Deal of the Year: Marc-Andre Bergeron Acquired from EDM. Comrie and Guerin have gone through prolonged slumps this year, so I can't jump to say they're the best deals of 2007 right now. What I do know is that when MAB came aboard, the Islanders power play woke up, and he was the spark they needed late in the 2006-07 campaign. The case could be made that his acquisition had the biggest impact of the two trades with Edmonton. While he's been in an out of the lineup this year, We still received a draft pick in the draft, and only gave up a young defenseman who likely wouldn't have suited this style of play anyways. Honorable Mention: Comrie signs, Guerin Signs, Vasicek Signs. Best Hit: Andy Sutton on Doug Janik, 12/8/07. The <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Tampa</st1:place></st1:City> defenseman jumped into the play and skated up the right wing with his head down. He was met by a crushing Andy Sutton hip check, easily the best hit of 2007.<o:p></o:p>
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Honorable mention: Sutton elbows Ryan Callahan 51 seconds into preseason game Fight of the Year: DiPietro vs. Montoya, Preseason. Anytime the goalies go at it, it's worth the price of admission. Ricky got the best of the Rangers young netminder in what was by far the most entertaining fight of the year. <o:p></o:p>
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 Honorable Mention: Simon vs. Fedoruk, 2/27/07, Asham vs. Janssen, 2/17/07</embed> Most Underrated: Ted Nolan. On a team full of cast-offs and former under-achievers, Nolan gets nowhere near the credit he deserves. He took a team picked to finish last and molded them into a playoff contender, and didn’t even get recognized for the Jack Adams Award. I never said this award had to be given to a player, either. Honorable Mention: Brendan Witt, Mike Sillinger Hardest Worker: Trent Hunter. He might take some flack for not scoring as much as he should and not having the fastest feet in the world, but he’s the quiet leader on this team and his big hits, strong forechecking and excellent penalty killing are essential to this team’s success. His hard work was on display on one shift last season, sticking with Sidney Crosby on President’s Day late in the game and creating the turnover that led to the winning goal. He’s one of the fan favorites, and shows up every night no matter what.<o:p></o:p>
Honorable mention: Andy Hilbert, Richard Park Toughest Islander: Brendan Witt. Hands down. There really isn't any other choice for this award. Most Improved Islander: Chris Campoli. After a standout rookie season on a poor team, Campoli came in with lofty expectations. An ankle injury left him on the outside looking in, and he never regained the confidence or ability last season. Now, late in 2007, he looks like a completely new player, earning top minutes and playing on the first power play unit. He even has a physical edge to his game this year. <o:p></o:p>
Honorable mention: Richard Park, Bruno Gervais And the biggest award... Islander of the Year: Richard Park. Park was an afterthought coming into last year, but quickly proved to be the best penalty killing forward on the team. Throughout the year and into this season, Richard has tallied some clutch goals. He potted the only two regulation goals in the final game last year against <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New Jersey</st1:place></st1:State>, and is on track for career high offensive numbers this year. His speed, grit, and hard work exemplify what it means to be an Islander. He's registered 32 points in the calendar year 2007, and seems to get better every game. I give him the most prestigious award on this list. Honorable mention: Wade Dubielewicz, Brendan Witt, Rick DiPietro 
 
 The Bad: Most Useless Player: Richard Zednik. After dealing a 2nd round pick for the former 30 goal scorer, the Islanders got all of 10 regular season games out of Zednik, and only squeezed 1 goal out of him. Zednik was largely ineffective, and wound up missing more games than he played with personal issues. And hey, Chris Simon can't win all of these awards. Dishonorable mention: Eric Boguniecki, Chris Simon The "Kerry Fraser Award" for Worst Call: Disallowed goal in Game 4 vs. Buffalo. This one really set Islander fans off, prompting bottles and other refuse to be projected onto the ice surface. With the Islanders down 3-2 late in Game 4, already trailing in the series 2-1, Brendan Witt seemed to tie it up, but somehow, the refs and the War Room blew this call. See for yourself. <embed src=http://www.youtube.com/v/NvM9cNdfFkQ&rel=1 width=425 height=355 type=application/x-shockwave-flash wmode="transparent"></embed> Dishonorable Mention: Disallowed goal vs. Rangers, 3/8/07. Biggest Letdown: Another 1st round ouster. The other nominees for this award were the dark days after free agency opened and the game tying goal against Jersey. Both of those letdowns have played out though, and don't leave the bitter taste in my mouth that the playoffs did this spring. Since 2001, the Isles have been ousted 4 straight times in the first round. That has to be the biggest letdown of them all. Here's to changing that this season! Dishonorable Mention: Game tying goal against NJ, Losing Blake, Smyth, Poti, and Kozlov on Day 1 of free agency Frustrating Player Award: Alexei Yashin. Here's a guy with a great shot, excellent passing skills, but no work ethic and leadership at all. He had the potential to be a first line threat, but never lived up to the billing. After 5 years of frustration, the Islanders finally cut the cord. Pretty much the only slouch on a team full of grinders and hard workers. Dishonorable Mention: Bryan Berard, Marc-Andre Bergeron Worst Deal of the Year: Ryan Smyth acquired from EDM. This is a pretty subjective pick. Some people will argue it as the best deal, some agree it’s the worst. I was one of the people who loved the trade, and I still to this day think it was the right move. It grabbed headlines, made us an instant contender and put the Islanders on the map. However, in retrospect, it was still the worst move the Islanders made all year. While the two prospects might or might not turn out, the pick could have been big, and we’re left with nothing to show for 20 something games of Smytty. He would have had to re-sign for the deal to be successful. Better luck next time.<o:p></o:p>
Dishonorable mention: Zednik acquired from WAS, Boguniecki acquired from CBJ The Ugly: Most Embarrassing Moment: Marc-Andre's pass off the net leads to Penguins goal. This one just left you shaking your head, pulling your hair out, and making you want to scream. Early n the game against <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Pittsburgh</st1:place></st1:City> on 12/15/07, Marc-Andre Bergeron, who already had been in and out of the lineup, misplays a pass intended for Andy Sutton. It hits the net, bounces out in the slot where Sidney Crosby pounced. DiPietro came out to make the save, but Bergeron tried to undo his mistake and in turn collided with his goalie, giving the Kid a wide open net. The gaffe earned MAB a spot in the press box the next 5 games. Dishonorable Mention: Fans litter ice (twice) after blown calls during playoffs, game-tying goal against Devils on 4/8/07 (Sorry, couldn't find any video footage for this one. I should try looking on Comedy Central...) Cheap Shot of the Year: (Edited) Chris Simon attempt's to take Hollweg Yard, 3/8/07I think we've all seen enough of this incident... <o:p></o:p>Dishonorable mention: Ryan Hollweg tries to pull Martinek's stitches, 11/29/07, Simon tries to amputate Jarkko Ruutu's leg on December 15th, 2007. "What was he thinking?" Award: Park fights Alexander Svitov, 12/23/06. Okay, I know this happened in 2006, but it was too good to leave out. Park, all of 5'11'', 190 lbs. drops the gloves with <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Columbus</st1:place></st1:City>' Alexander Svitov, who has him beat by 4 inches and 40 pounds. He took a beating, but the Islanders took the game. <embed src=http://www.youtube.com/v/ly1jZouWnGQ&rel=1 width=425 height=355 type=application/x-shockwave-flash wmode="transparent"></embed> Dishonorable Mention: Simon's attack, Simon's other attack, DiPietro dives out vs. <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Montreal</st1:place></st1:City>, gets concussion. Ugliest Islander Award: Josef Vasicek. (Voted by Gina), no comment. <o:p>Dishonorable Mention: Sean Hill</o:p><o:p> (I had to do it) A lot more good than bad, obviously. I hope everybody enjoys this, because it took me a while to put together. 2007 was a great transition year for the Islanders and us fans, but hopefully 2008 gets us further along the path to where we want to be! Have a great new year. --from <a href="http://www.islesnation.co...ation.com</a> </o:p>

Filed Under: Islanders NHL 2007 Awards

cgs878

January 4, 2008 2:37 PM ET | Delete
Honorable Mention for "Fight Of The Year" (Fights, really) - the 12/29/07 Islanders vs. Devils game had 3, one in each "class" (light, middle, heavy)

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