Ah the sad existence that is being a fan of the New York Islanders.

It’s really tough when the only thing (and I mean ONLY thing) to get excited about regarding the upcoming season is the signing of 2 players who can fight (Zenon Konopka and Jeremy Yablonsky) in addition to fighter Trevor Gilles (who can be seen in that previous clip fighting Yablonsky).  This turn of physical events is exciting to me because I’m tired of seeing players smaller than I am constantly getting tossed around on the ice like a bunch of wimpy Canadian rag dolls lol – I’d love to see a 4th line of Konopka between Yablonsky and Gilles, and apparently so does Konopka.  This will make Islander Rangers games what they are supposed to be – tough – physical – and once again entertaining.

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At least as Islander fans we can’t say it’s ever boring around here in “Islander Country” – a place where every fan lives in constant fear of what next will break our “franchise” goalie, Rick DiPietro.

In yet another bizarre story that is unfortunately related to my favorite hockey team, the New York Islanders, oft-injured Rick DiPietro was rumored to have been severely injured in a car crash (and I read that some reports even stated he had passed away).

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And now, a positive story about the state of New Jersey.  And to be honest with you, I’m actually happy this story has nothing to do with the New York Islanders for once.  For once, a landmark – epic deal (17 years!?  I’m going to have a teenager before Kovalchuck and the Devils are done with this contract!!) does not involve Charles Wang and the Islanders (see:  Alexei Yashin; Rick DiPietro)  – for Gods-sake Yashin’s deal seems very tame now (except the fact that he is not of the same caliber of hockey player as Kovalchuck, but why would that minor detail have mattered to Mike Milbury and the Islanders of the early 2000′s??).

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My birthday was months ago, but yesterday sure as hell felt like it (without the cake, unfortunately!), with both the New York Rangers and New York Islanders losing, I was on cloud nine.  Why would I, an Islander fan, be happy they lost!? Because it gives us a better position in the draft – and yes, it puts us in the 5th and final spot of the lottery, but that’s huge – sure, the chances of winning the lottery and moving to slot #1 are slim at best, being that the chance is 8.1% !!  But even if they don’t win the lottery (saying it’s a long-shot would be an understatement) they are going to get a solid prospect to help them along with their “rebuild” (which I hope gets some sort of Free Agent Injection come July).

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1. I made a wrong turn on a through street in the city and couldn’t turn for blocks.
2. Not being able turn didn’t really matter since traffic was barely moving on the through street anyway . . . .
3. The rear window of an SUV had a dirty Rangers logo sticker on it, along with a New York Yankees logo in the colors of the Italian flag.  Okay, really!?  First of all, the idiot probably was born in Franklin Square anyway (Franklin Square, my hometown, as well as to many Guidos, is where I spotted this SUV, and it’s also “J-Woww’s” hometown from MTV’s “Jersey Shore” . . . oh I’m sooooo proud!), so stop with the damn colors on a NY sports team representing the country your grandparents came from . . . I don’t have a New York Islanders logo in Greek colors!  That would be ridiculous!
4. I’ve already heard more car horns in one day than I have heard in nearly 2 years in Kansas City.
5. Forgedduboudit . . . .
6. I had a slice of pizza for lunch.  Yum!
7. Nearly everyone on the streets during lunch hour had either a box of pizza, or just a small bag of pizza . . . yum!
8. I couldn’t turn right on red, but I was oh so tempted to . . . .
9. It took me 50 minutes t0 complete a 20 minute drive . . . awesome.
10. On the other hand, I got to use the diamond/HOV lane today and was waving traffic goodbye as I turned a 40 minute drive into an 18 minute one!  Wooo!
11. Every radio station finds a way to bring up the New York Yankees.  Ugh.
12. Dirty Rangers.

But suddenly I’m not as excited as I’ve been.

I Just wanted to say that I’m showing a friend Kansas City for a couple days, so I haven’t been able to write much – but in the following days I will have my take on the Islanders Kings game tonight at the Sprint Center.  I will talk about the suspension of Pascal Morency, who the NHL suspended even after allegedly (I read it somewhere quickly, have to do some fact checking -haven’t had much time for anything) stating the line change was okay, and that he didn’t illegally jump off the bench (so what’s the problem?!)  – so a few posts should be coming up on here tomorrow.

On a more positive note – there will be an upcoming post about BBQ joints in Kansas City, and my quest to eat at as many of the “13 places to eat before you die” list created by Anthony Bourdain.  So far, I have two.

Bottom Line: I’m not as excited for tonight’s game because there’s no Tavares, or many other players I hoped to see.  The building is expected to be very empty, and even though I somewhat expected that, it’s still kind of disappointing.  I just have to ignore the overall mess that is the Islanders’ status (Lighthouse, moving away from NY, etc.) and go enjoy myself at the game – and look out for more posts coming your way tomorrow.