Skinny Trivia (Answer)

The four other Isles goalies besides Evgeni Nabokov to win at least 1/2 of their games:

The two you should get:

Chico Resch (157 wins in 282 games)

Roland Melanson (77 wins in 136 games)

And the two that you might not:

Mikko Koskinen (2 wins in 4 games)

Richard Brodeur (1 win in 2 games as an Islander; Brodeur;s only start at Coliseum as an Islander was in Ken Morrow's NHL debut)

How about a Little Skinny Trivia?

Sometimes in the course of my research I come across things that surprise me -- such as this:

Evgeni Nabokov has won exactly one-half  (46 of 92) of the games he has appeared in for the Islanders.

Only four other goalies in Isles history have won at least one-half of their games.  Who are they?

Answer later.

Austria, O Austria

Only 5  6 Austrians have played in the NHL -- by later in the week three of them will have played for the #Isles.
Thomas Vanek
Michael Grabner
and Thomas Pock (59 games for Isles in 2008-09)
The other Austrians: Andreas Nodl and Christoph Brandner  (and Michael Raffl, just this year)
Maybe this should be the new team song: 
  Austrian National Anthem

(Austria beat out Germany for the last spot in the Olympics so Vanek and Grabner will be headed to Sochi; Austria is in a group with Canada)


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 Trades with Sabres

This past Friday was the 22nd anniversary of one of the biggest trade days in Islander history, including a major trade with the Sabres:

October 25, 1991: Acquired Steve Thomas and Adam Creighton from Chicago for Brad Lauer and Brent Sutter;  Acquired Benoit Hogue, Uwe Krupp, Dave McLlwain and Pierre Turgeon from Buffalo for Randy Hillier, Pat LaFontaine, Randy Wood, 1992 4th round pick (#80-Dean Melanson) 

Turgeon, Thomas, Krupp and Hogue would all play major roles in the Isles post-season runs two seasons later.

Other Islander-Sabre trades:

March 10, 1974: Acquired Doug Rombough from Buffalo for Brian Spencer

March 3, 1975: Acquired right to Gary Lariviere from Buffalo for Gerry Desjardins

June 17, 1989: Acquired Joe Reekie from Buffalo for a 6th round draft pick (Bill Pye)

January 21, 1991: Acquired John Tucker from Buffalo for future considerations

September 30, 1993: Acquired Tom Draper from Buffalo for future considerations (Steve Plouffe, 7th round pick in 1994)

March 24, 1998: Acquired Jason Dawe from Buffalo for Paul Kruse and Jason Holland

June 24, 2001: Acquired Michael Peca from Buffalo for Tim Connolly and Taylor Pyatt

June 29, 2012: Acquired a 4th round draft pick (Loic Leduc) from Buffalo in exchange for the rights to Christian Ehrhoff

October 27, 2013: Acquired Thomas Vanek from Buffalo for Matt Moulson, the Isles first pick in 2014 and the Isles second pick in 2015.

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 

Farewell to Matt

Moulson leaves the Isles having scored 6 goals and added 3 assists this season.  He will join the Sabres with more goals and as many points as any of his new teammates.

Islander career:

304 games (tied with Gord Lane for 60th all-time)

118 goals (tied with Steve Thomas and Mark Parrish for 19th all-time)

223 points (31st all-time)

His 284 consecutive game streak (10/3/09-4/4/13) is the longest by an Islander in the post-Cup era.

Longest Consecutive Game Streaks, Islander History 

1. Billy Harris 576 

2. Bob Nystrom 301

3. Matt Moulson 284

Islanders with More Goals than Assists (minimum 100 Goals)

1. Mike Bossy 573-553-1126

2. Pat LaFontaine 287-279-556

3. Ziggy Palffy 168-163-331

4. Matt Moulson 118-105-223

4. Mark Parrish 118-96-214

Like the newly-acquired Thomas Vanek, Moulson, if not re-signed, will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season

 

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

The newest Islander

Thomas Vanek joins the Islanders with 254 goals and 243 assists for 497 points.  Assuming he joins the Isles on Tuesday, he would play his 600th game on Friday in Ottawa.

Vanek, like Matt Moulson, can be an unrestricted free agent after this season.  He was in the final season of a 6 year, $50 million contract with the Sabres and carries a 7.14m cap hit ($6.4m salary in 2013-14).

Vanek was the fifth overall pick in 2003; among his draft mates only Eric Staal (271) has more goals and only Staal and Ryan Getzlaf have more points.  He has led the NHL in +/-  (+47 in 2006-07) and in power play goals (20 in 2008-09).  Since the Sabres has played two more games than the Isles, Vanek could play as many as 84 games this season.

Vanek, who will turn 30 on January 19th (what a great birthday!) has played in North America since he was 15; he played two seasons with the University of Minnesota.  He is 5th in Sabres history in goals and is 10th in points.  Vanek also is the all-time Sabres leader in shootout goals; he set the team record when he beat the Islanders in the final game of the regular season last April -- so in a way he was responsible for the Isles/Penguins series that resulted.

Vanek had 4 goals and 5 assists in 13 games with Buffalo this season, including a power play goal in Buffalo's shootout win over the Isles on October 15th.

The Vanek for Moulson (and 2 picks) deal is arguably the biggest trade ever made by Garth Snow, particularly if you are looking at trades with established NHLers going in both directions.  The only other in-season trade you might say was bigger is the acquisition of Ryan Smyth in 2007, but none of the players the Isles dealt away were established (and none have ever developed into established players).

 

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

Vanek an Islander! Moulson and picks to Buffalo

An old-fashioned blockbuster...

http://islanders.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=688764

 

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