HNLI Mid-Week Update

The latest in Islander Country:

NHL Draft Lottery TV Info: The NHL has announced that both TSN and Versus will be broadcasting the 2009 NHL Draft Lottery live on Tuesday, April 14 at 8 PM EST. The Islanders, who are close to clinching last place, may very well be guaranteed the first or second pick in the draft. Click here to check out the announcement from NHL.com.

Magic Number Down to 2: With the Islanders' 9-0 loss last night in Carolina and Colorado's 1 point in an overtime loss to San Jose, the Islanders' magic number to clinch last place is 2 points. The Islanders can clinch tomorrow night with a loss against former captain Bill Guerin and the Pittsburgh Penguins (until then Tampa technically has a shot)...and speaking of Bill Guerin......

Conditional Pick Now a 4th Rounder: Thanks to some key losses last night, the Pittsburgh Penguins clinched a playoff berth. For the Islanders, this means that the conditional pick that the team received in the Bill Guerin trade has appreciated from a 5th rounder to a 4th rounder. If the Pens advance past the first round of the playoff, the pick will become a 3rd rounder.

Isles Sign Weight to a 1-year Extension: In what is being applauded by fans as a win-win kind of deal, the Isles signed a contract extension with Doug Weight. With a cap hit of just over $2 million next season, the Islanders will continue to get great veteran leadership and a guy who hustles night in and night out.

HNLI Spices Up Opening Weekend

The excitement of the Islanders' opening weekend certainly didn't disappoint and neither did the coverage of Hockey Night on Long Island. In both the Pre-Game special on Friday night and the Home Opener special on Saturday afternoon, hosts Alex and Steve delivered high-octane hockey coverage to get things rolling for '08-'09. Both Bill from the New York Islander Fan Central and Tom Mascioli from Islesinfo delivered their share of insight making for two awesome episodes. Most importantly, the callers and HNLI chatroom guests were contributing throughout the weekend, which made for some incredible banter. If you missed either of the two episodes, be sure to check out the archives on our show page or subscribe to the podcast version by searching "Hockey Night on Long Island" in the iTunes store.

Alex's 3 Stars of Opening Weekend


Joey MacDonald: Came up big on back-to-back nights doing everything the Isles could've asked of him against New Jersey and a hell of a lot more against the Blues.

Doug Weight: The veteran earned the "A" on his jersey with the Isles' first goal of the season and a big pair of assists in the home opener. (Excuse the fact that the jersey database is yet to add his Isles jersey to the system =/)

Mark Streit: Finally the Islanders have a defenseman capable of moving the puck and making plays at the point. Two assists made him a stand-out Islander on opening weekend.

A Great HNLI Free Agency Recap Special

With a special date and time, the Hockey Night on Long Island Free Agency Recap was a great episode. Although Alex was unable to attend this episode, Steve was joined by two great guests, both of the NYI Blog Box, Bill from New York Islander Fan Central and Ken Rosenblatt from Islanders Outsider. Thanks to Bill and Ken for joining me on the show, which included an extended archive-only portion at the end. Many topics were brought up, including the Islanders signings of Mark Streit and Doug Weight, the 2008-2009 Islanders roster, and other topics regarding the 2008 NHL Free Agency Period. As always, all of the callers were great, adding a lot to the episode. Stay tuned to Hockeynightonlongisland.com for the date of the next episode, which will occur in about 2 weeks. Be sure to sign up for Feedblitz on the sidebar which will e-mail you with the blog posts from this website and inform you of the upcoming schedule. To listen to the Free Agency Recap episode, you can listen to it on the sidebar in the media player, on the show page or by searching "Hockey Night on Long Island" and subscribing to the podcast in the iTunes Music Store. Thanks for listening and calling into Hockey Night on Long Island and have a great 4th of July weekend!