The season will open with the following group for Ted Nolan to coach:
Sanderson - McDonald- Guerin Ville brings decent skating, great defense and the potential for 15-20 goals a year offensively to the top line. Speedy Sergei will control the puck and not pass as much as he should nor finish as often as he is expected to. Big, strong captain Bill will bury the puck, plain and simple. The line could use more passing and another finisher.
Perreault - Lang - Nolan Bryan is defensively excellent and an all-around not bad performer in all facets of the game. Robert's size, speed and puck skills will help dictate the play though he won't pass or score as much as desired nor display a lot of endurance. He is expected to get better after a year with his new team and may end up losing the second line pivot spot until then. Alternate captain Owen also brings size,speed, puck control and the potential for improvement in his goals and assists.
Zednik - Smolinski - Metropolit Geoff will burn past most third liners with decent stickhandling and some passing ability. Yanic provides size and scoring for the line. Richard is a lesser Geoff with his speed and puck controling. He is another Isle expected to improve with a year on his new team.
Simon - Roenick - Park The Crash Line. All three will hit hard with speed and strength. Chris and Jeremy know how to move the puck and Dan is a great penalty killer. This line is expected to make a difference in several games and an impact in many contests.
Mara - Pothier An ideal pairing of a big, hitting defensive-minded puck controlling rearguard with an elite offensive defenseman. They both can handle heavy minutes double shifted. Michal has some passing ability and Lubomir can put the puck in the net.
Lydman - Westcott Toni is underrated in his puck control skills as he's really more than just a defensive defenseman though it might take another season for the powers to be to see his all-around skills. Until then he no longer will man the second powerplay unit but remain on the penalty kill. Brian brings skating, passing and puck control to the line and the powerplay. Expect this duo to only get better the following season. Eriksson - Exelby The Bluejacket pairing. Duvie hits, kills penalties, mans the powerplay, but will be slower and pass less than watching him would have indicated. Anders is fast with the ability to recover the puck defensively and clear the zone in a controlled manner. Their ability to handle more minutes makes them valuable as substitutes on the top two lines in cases of injury and suspension. They may be challenged in ice time by a seventh d-man at some point in the season.
Clemmenson & Schaefer Fredrik is well-known back home as the greatest stickhandler in Finland ever, including today's young netminders, and yet he won't show it this season, perhaps due to being underrated in his transition to the North American game. He is well rated in key goaltending areas of speed and skating and his puck control isn't bad even if surprisingly unremarkable. If he had more endurance he could get 30-40 wins. However, he is at best a tandem starter this season. Another goalie is expected to be added at some point but in the meantime a cheap backup might be thrown into relief.
The Bridgeport Tigers 2007-08 Line Formations
In a bid to compete for the minor league championship several players were brought in via trade and UFA. The following formations are made to start the season:
LeClair - Turgeon - Samsonov
Big John might be slow and poor in the scoring and defending departments these days, but he still has size, puck control, even a bit of hitting and passing, not to mention a wealth of experience and leadership. Pierre was an excellent UFA pickup for the Tigers as he brings some speed, puck control and especially scoring. His lack of durability and especially endurance suggests his contributions will be spotty (though brilliant). Sergei is in the doghouse this season and yet his worldclass speed, coupled with a little passing and puck controlling, suggests he could be an impact at the minor league level. With a new team this season he's expected to rebound for promotion to the pro club the following season.
Saprykin - York - Metropolit
Oleg may be defensively challenged but he has the tools to be a decent minor leaguer in all other areas. Mike is coming off of a very disappointing season that saw him struggle, get traded and still not make an impact. He has good speed and puck control, and even a bit of hitting ability, but his passing and scoring is barely enough to warrant second line duty on the Tigers. He's expected to regain his touch within a year and join the Isles. Glen is very much like Mike, playing a bit better, though he's rumoured to be heading back to Europe at the end of this coming season of play in the BRHL2. This line should dominate many second lines in the minor league, especially if Oleg gets some help in scoring.
Strudwick - Park - Alexeev
Jason brings great strength and hitting to the Tigers third line and enough defense to help out. Richard is a true Islander and is shocked to find himself deemed minor league material. His puck control ability is underrated, as anyone who has seen his playoff scoring would atest to. He brings to the Tigers good wheels and great defense: the team's top penalty killer. Nikita is strong with speed and puck control to substitute on the second line where necessary.
The Fourth Line: work in progress
The organization has some guys to provide speed and skating but little else to the back line. Weinhandl will be a winger and either Kreps or Brent will centre the line. Another winger will be added via trade or else one of the centres will play out of position. Nokelainen will be benched as a short-term substitute only.
Heward - Clymer
Brett is very fast with decent puck control and some size and hitting. Jamie has great puck control and good endurance to handle the workload, with some hitting and passing.
Weaver - Niinimaa
Ben hits well and likes the puck though it doesn't go where he wants it to. Janne is all-around decent at the minor league level except for having absolutely no passing or scoring ability.
Richardson
Mike and Luke are tolerable defensive defensemen as a third pairing, Mike bringing good hitting and Luke good size.
Dunham Hedberg
Mike was signed as a UFA to be the Tigers starter. His puck control is excellent and he brings a lot of intensity and size, though the speed of his reflexes and his skating are only very good in the minor leagues. He also has endurance issues so if he struggles he may end up in a tandem with his backup.
Johan wants to be with the pro club the following season but at worst expects to be a Tigers starter at some point. He has good size and an all-around decent game. If he had more endurance he might compete for the starting position. As it is, he may see significant ice time in tandem with the starter.
The line formations at the Isles veterans summer camp will be:
New York Islanders Summer Camp
Geoff Sanderson - Andy McDonald - Bill Guerin Yanic Perreault - Robert Lang - Owen Nolan Richard Zednik - Bryan Smolinski - Greg Metropolit Chris Simon - Jeremy Roenick - Richard Park
Paul Mara - Brian Pothier Toni Lydman - Duvie Westcott Anders Eriksson - Brian Exelby
Scott Clemmensen Nolan Schaefer
Bridgeport Sound Tigers Summer Camp
Oleg Saprykin - Pierre Turgeon - Sergei Samsonov John LeClair - Mike York - Nikita Alexeev Jason Strudwick - Alexander Svitov - Enver Lisin Mattias Weinhandl
bench: Kamil Kreps, Petteri Nokelainen, Tim Brent
Jamie Heward - Ben Clymer Mike Weaver - Janne Niinimaa Luke Richardson
The Isles North American prospect camp won't include NCAA forwards Raymond Sawada, Mike Morris, Geoff Paukovich and goalie Jason Smith.
The Isles N.A. Prospect Camp Roster
Viatcheslav Trukhno (lw) - Tyler Kennedy (c) - Chad Painchaud (rw) Kirill Starkov (lw) - Ilya Zubov (c) - Victor Oreskovich (rw) Tomas Zaborsky (lw) - Kyle Bailey (c) - Tomas Pospisil (rw) John Vigilante (lw) - Ryan Russell (c) - Nick Johnson (rw) Sergei Kostsitsyn (lw) - Tyler Haskins (c) - Anton Hedman (rw) Zdenek Bahensky (c/lw) - Juraj Mikus (c)
Jeff May (d) - Ville Koistinen (d) Viktor Dovgan (d)
Tobias Stephan (g) Dan Turple (g) Alexandre Vincent (g)
The European prospects camp is made up of a dozen Russians and a half-dozen non-Russians, mostly Swedes.
The Isles European Prospects Camp
Konstantin Glazachev (lw) - Sergei Zinovjev (c) - Victor Alexandrov (rw) Juhamatti Aaltonen (lw) - Tom Wandell (c) - Philippe Gogulla (rw) Igor Volkov (lw) - Dmitri Pestunov (c) - Sergei Anshakov (w) Jakub Sindel (c) - Petr Taticek (c)
