HNLI Back with a Bang

HNLI was back in business Saturday afternoon as hosts Alex and Steve took the airwaves for an hour of New York Islanders banter. Among the topics discussed were the recent home-and-home with the Rangers, Saturday's matchup with the Montreal Canadians, the Rick DiPietro saga, the development of Josh Bailey and John Tavares, and the upcoming Winter Classic and Winter Olympics. The show also featured several insightful callers, including an eyewitness to DP's second AHL rehab start in Springfield. All in all it was a great hour of hockey talk. Be sure to download the archive if you couldn't catch HNLI today live. Also remember to subscribe to the HNLI podcast by searching "Hockey Night on Long Island" in the iTune store.

Archive Page

Survival on the Road Must Shift to Dominance at Home

After just about every Islanders game, my HNLI co-host Steve and I make it a priority to have a few minutes of discussion on the game. As I whined after last night's 6-2 loss against the Flyers about the Islanders' inconsistency and failure to show up for every game, Steve snapped right back saying that after playing 14 of 17 games on the road, it says something that the Islanders are still even hanging around the .500 mark and the (admittedly early) playoff race. Now, the Islanders will have the luxury of coming back to Long Island and sleeping in their own beds for the next three weeks. The team's only two "road" tilts in their next ten games are a short ride away at Madison Square Garden.

Now, with the Isles' return to the Coliseum, the attitude must change drastically. Showing up every other night and hanging around the playoff race may be considered a blessing on an extended road trip, but over the course of the next three weeks, the Isles must make a major surge in the right direction. For better or for worse, this home stand will determine the direction of the Islanders' season. A .500 showing won't be enough over the next 10 games, as this block of games needs to set the pace for the second half of the season. While the competition isn't particulary easy, the team needs to take advantage of playing at home and produce an effort similar to February home stand of 2007.

So, whether the Islanders win or lose tonight in Toronto, the most crucial stretch of the season begins Saturday at the Coliseum.


SAT DEC 12, 2009 BRUINS @ ISLANDERS

MON DEC 14, 2009 PANTHERS @ ISLANDERS

WED DEC 16, 2009 ISLANDERS @ RANGERS

THU DEC 17, 2009 RANGERS @ ISLANDERS

SAT DEC 19, 2009 CANADIENS @ ISLANDERS

MON DEC 21, 2009 LIGHTNING @ ISLANDERS

WED DEC 23, 2009 MAPLE LEAFS @ ISLANDERS

SAT DEC 26, 2009 ISLANDERS @ RANGERS

SUN DEC 27, 2009 FLYERS @ ISLANDERS

TUE DEC 29, 2009 BLUE JACKETS @ ISLANDERS

Vote for HNLI in the Isles Blog-Off

The Islanders blogging community is an extremely diverse one with a ton of insight from different people, in different forms, and with different styles. Now The NHL Arena is giving readers (and listeners) the chance to vote for their favorite Islanders blogs on the web. Round 1 of the "Isles Blog-Off" tournament is now underway. Of the 18 sites in contention, voters can select nine that they would like to see advance to the next round of the tournament. Like always, HNLI is seeking some fan interaction and encouraging you to click on over and vote!

Keep checking back to hockeynightonlongisland.com for blog updates, episode scheduling, and much more!

Come Support the Lighthouse

Make sure to be present at what Islanders Point Blank blogger Chris Botta is calling "the most important Islanders event of the decade". Charles Wang, Scott Rechler, and the rest of the Lighthouse Project team are holding a major meeting in support of the Lighthouse Project this Thursday at 7pm at the Marriott next to the Coliseum. This is sure to be a major event for the Lighthouse Project and there is a notion among Isles' fans that this Thursday is going to be much more than just a pep rally. Charles Wang just might have something up his sleeve. HNLI hosts Alex and Steve will be there Thursday night to catch all the action and you should be there too.

p.s. Be sure to check back here after the meeting for commentary and analysis.

Happy Birthday Steve!

Everyone at Hockey Night on Long Island (aka Alex) would like to take the time to wish HNLI host Steve a very happy birthday. Lets Go Islanders! Hope your cake is as cool as this one:

HNLI Fantasy League Update

Through the first six weeks of the fantasy hockey season, HNLI host Steve leads the show's fantasy hockey league. His counterpart, Alex, still has some work to do as he currently resides in the fourth spot. Looking to make a jump in the standings, Alex has just picked up Isles' goaltender Joey MacDonald. The top listeners in the standings are "culinarypos" and Jeff from Plainview (aka New York Islanders). Regular caller Vinny finds himself in the cellar. Stay tuned for more HNLI fantasy updates.

Marcou-Flatley Connection?

You know...the Islanders had better draft James Marcou because it seems that every week he is a topic of discussion on both our show and blog. This week, Steve from Setauket called and spoke with Tom Mascioli from Islesinfo.com about Marcou. Like usual, we all talked about how nice it would be to see this hometown kid in Orange and Blue when draft day rolls around. Tom mentioned that somewhere he read about Marcou having some kind of connection to former Islander Patrick Flatley.

So, with all the free time that I do have on my hands, I decided to do some research. Ok...maybe I just typed "Marcou and Flatley" into Google, but nonetheless, the answer has been found. I came across a McKeen's Hockey Interview with Marcou from June of 2005.

The truth on the Marcou-Flatley Connection:

McKeen's: What is your favourite NHL team? Favourite player?

James Marcou: My favorite NHL team is the New York Islanders and my favorite player is Martin St Louis.

McKeen's: What got you interested in hockey and where and at what age did you start playing organized hockey?

James Marcou: My mom used to cut former New York Islander Patrick Flatley's hair and my dad became good friends with him. He would always take me to games and I started playing at the age of six.

OK...so there you have it. Marcou's mom cut Patrick Flatley's hair. If that doesn't prove that he deserves to be an Islander, I don't know what does.

Another Hockey Mystery Solved by Alex...HNLI P.I.

James Marcou Update for Steve from Setauket (and everyone else I guess....)

On two occassions, a very knowledgeable caller from Setauket named Steve has mention James Marcou as a possible draft pick for the New York Islanders. Marcou received special mention from Steve as Marcou used to play in Long Island youth hockey with his son. Recently, our good buddy Tom Mascioli included Marcou in his Islanders draft preview. Here's what he had to say:


Unfortunately, unlike in previous years, there are not many Long Island products eligible for the 2007 Draft. There is one possibility: C James Marcou of Waterloo in the USHL. The problem with Marcou? He's small. VERY small. At 5'8" and 150 lbs. there are not many teams in the NHL who are going to take a stab at a player that small. I don't care how much one believes the NHL has turned into a game of speed and skill, no one can last in the NHL, let alone pro at 150 pounds. NHL Central Scouting had Marcou, a former NY Bobcat from Kings Park, rated in their preliminary rankings back last November 2006 as a 'B' list prospect. By the mid-term rankings, he was nowhere to be found. The same goes for the final rankings last month. Marcou put up decent numbers in the USHL finishing tied for fourth in the league in scoring with 24 goals, 71 points in 58 games played. He will attend UMass-Amherst next fall.
To read Tom's full draft preview, go to his website here: http://islesinfo.com/DraftCentral.html#draft07


And speaking of Tom Mascioli, remember that he will be joining us on June 24th at 7:30PM EST for our NHL Draft recap. He'll fill us in on all of the players that the Isles select (maybe Marcou).


Steve from Setauket, I hope you appreciate this quick James Marcou update.