Isles/Rangers Game 5/1990 tonight on MSG

The Greatest Rivalries series continues with the 5th and final game of the 1990 Patrick Division Finals.  This was a wild game, one that would have been Bryan Trottier's final game in an Islander uniform ... had he not been benched by Al Arbour.

In the end, it was a big night for Mike Gartner and the Rangers...who survive a furious Islander onslaught late in the game. The Rangers' victory came on the 50th anniversary of their 1940 Stanley Cup championship. The game airs on MSG at Midnight tonight --and repeats at 2pm tomorrow.  (I can only imagine the Islander fans complaining about the time slot had this been an Islander victory.)

NY Times coverage (no subscription needed) http://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/14/sports/hard-hitting-rangers-reach-patrick-final.html

Earlier tonight (10pm) -- a new episode of the Garden Transformed ... which features a special guest: Denis Potvin.  Preview it here: http://tinyurl.com/c3yhr6y

BTW -- MSG has a Christmas present scheduled for Isles fans as well.  The next episode of Greatest Rivalries will premiere on Christmas Night at 9:00, and repeat at midnight.  It's the April 2, 1993 game in which Pierre Turgeon's 50th goal of the season comes in overtime at the Garden.  While there were still two weeks left in the season, the win gave the Isles a three-point lead over the Rangers, and propelled the Islanders towards the playoffs.  The Rangers would lose 11 of their final 12 under former Islander Ron Smith (who had replaced Roger Nielsen).  Smith's replacement: Mike Keenan.

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Talk...talk..talk tick...tick...tick

As the NHL & its players continue to talk (or not) -- apparently they were even seen in the same room at some point today  --  and a $3.4 Billion biz becomes a $2 Billion biz (or less),

both sides should be concerned about the results of a poll conducted by CBC.

The complete results are here:  http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/opinion/nhl/survey-results.pdf

Some notes: 80% of respondents are either "angry" or "don't care"; 55% support neither side, with 1/4 backing the players and 1/6 behind the owners.  78% says they won't buy a ticket this season if they play and 85% won;t buy merchandise.  71% did say they would watch on TV.

While we know these polls aren't scientific, important to realize that since this is a CBC poll, most respondents were Canadian.  One can only imagine how much worse the results would be for a US-commissioned poll.

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Isles- Rangers set for MSG -- December 22

Of course it's a charity alumni game:

<<Two hockey rivalries are renewed, as the FDNY and New York Rangers alumni team up to face their rivals from the NYPD and the New York Islanders alumni. 

 

This unique event hits the ice at The World's Most Famous Arena in "Rivals for Relief," a benefit for Hurricane Sandy victims with portions of the proceeds going to the Red Cross and the Stan Lee Foundation.

 

http://www.fdnyhockey.com/

http://www.facebook.com/NYPD-Hockey/

http://rangers.nhl.com/

http://www.stanleefoundation.org/

http://www.redcross.org/

 

Alumni currently scheduled to appear:*
 
NY Rangers
1. Steve Vickers
2. Rod Gilbert
3. Ron Duguay
4.Chris Kostopoulos
5. Brian Mullen
6. Pete Stemkowski
7. Ed Hospodar
8. Peter Ferraro
9. Chris Ferraro
 
NY Islanders
1. Gordie Lane
2. Pat Flatley
3. Mick Vukota
4. Benny Hougue
5. Eric Cairns
6. Randy Wood

>>

The Islanders may have youth on their side --Gilbert is now 71 and Stemkowski 69.

If they can find another Ferraro (Ray) -- maybe he could convince Mullen to give him credit for the OT goal in 1993 vs the Caps.  (Ferraro is already credited with the other two OT goals in that series)

Tickets available through Ticketmaster.

It's apparently a lot cheaper to see old hockey players than old musicians...

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Brooklyn, why Brooklyn?

Change "Nets" to "Islanders" and "Knicks" to "Rangers" in this story and you'll start to see why the Brooklyn move certainly made sense for the Nets and will likely be the same for the Islanders.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-12-11/nets-rivaling-knicks-creates-505-percent-ticket-gain-at-barclays-center

As you do, think of this Saturday at the Nassau Coliseum -- the only day the building will hold an event between now and Christmas.  Not including a blood drive, of course.

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

They tweet the truth

 A couple of tweet on the ongoing lockout that gave me a giggle:

Seth Rorabaugh @emptynetters 10 Dec  
Nine current NHL franchises have played fewer regular season games than Gary Bettman has canceled (2,224).  
________________________________

Sporting Charts @sportingcharts  10 Dec  
#NHL has now cancelled 526 games from the season. 2,224 games have been lost to lockouts/strikes - 670 more than the other leagues combined.  

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick     

MSG's Rivalries series: 1990-Isles/Rangers Game 3

The 1989-90 season was one of the strangest in Islander history-- from last place to first place to a 14-game winless streak to sneaking into the playoffs on the last night of the season (and possibly costing the Isles a shot at Jaromir Jagr in the process).  I referred to that playoff clincher here: http://www.nyiskinny.com/2011/10/isles-40-in-40-honorable-mention.html

In the Patrick Division playoffs, the Isles faced the first place Rangers (who had finished in first place for the first time since 1942 -- 31 seasons before the Isles first played).

The rivalry between the squads is in full-force.  It was in game 1 of the series that Pat LaFontaine was knocked unconscious on a hit from James Patrick (the Isles' Jeff Norton noted it was "Clean"). There was a disagreement regarding the medical treatment of LaFontaine -- Islander trainer Mark Aldridge also complained LaFontaine's ambulance was "rocked and pounded by fans" leaving MSG.  The Rangers won that game 1, 2-1 and then beat the Isles 5-2 in game 2.

That set up a must-win game 3 for the Isles at the Coliseum. It is that game 3 that is featured on MSG tonight (9:00pm).  It turns out to be the first of only three double-OT games in Coliseum history, won by Brent Sutter early in the second OT.

A couple of personal memories from that night:
1. It's one of the only times in recorded history (because who records such things) that two statisticians were jointly interviewed on radio between periods -- the late Joel Blumberg needed guests on Isles radio between the 1st and 2nd overtime so Kenny Albert (who was working with his dad on Ranger radio) and I were Joel's guests.  I wonder whatever happened to Kenny? :)
2. The game was played on the first night on Passover.  So while I was breaking matzvah with Blumberg, Landers, Fischler and Albert at the Coliseum, my fiancee was at a Passover seder ...with my extended family!   (FWIW, the Isles are 3-1 in playoff games played on the first night of Passover...and we're still married!)

The Rangers would win the series in 5, but would lose to the Capitals in the Division Final, extending their Cup-less streak to an even 50.

In addition to tonight's 9pm airing, the broadcast will also air at midnight Mon/Tue, as well as at noon and 4 pm on Tuesday, and noon and 4 pm on Thursday.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

SBA to counsel Nassau businesses faced with NHL Lockout losses

On the one hand, this is a sad story, as business-owners face losses from sales related to Islander games that haven't occurred this fall.

On the other hand, it's a bit comical ...given the games that will be lost in 2015/16. 2016/17, 2017/18 and the 22 seasons that follow that....

The story is here (Subscription required): http://libn.com/2012/12/03/sba-to-counsel-businesses-affected-by-nhl-lockout/

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick