25-26 Season Schedule

[Chris18]

OT win vs Sharks. 9-0 in OT. Pens lost so Isles hop up into Metro 2. Off until Tuesday when Schenn returns to St Louis. Good chance for him to grab some extra undies from his house for the rest of the year.

[Chris18]

Heard Schaefer is a -6000 to win the Calder.
Also read today that he's gotten a Hart vote, with the voter saying nobody has been anywhere near as valuable to their team as Schaefer has this year. I had no idea people voted this early, unless the person was just saying they will be voting for him? Either way, it's good news for the Isles. Not like Schenn is a huge name, but he waived his NTC to go to the Isles, saying it was largely due to Sorokin and Schaefer. I can't recall anyone else waiving their NTC to go to the Isles. They've been the victims of "I'm not going THERE" a few times, so this is a great change (Kirk Muller, Nabokov, Visnovsky...)


Not directly an Isles note anymore, but I find it hysterical that Drouin scored in his first game with the Blues after a 4 month goal drought with the Isles.

[Chris18]

Took a look at the remaining 18 games. Some good and some bad news.
6 away games, 12 home games. 10 of their last 12 are at home. That's great. Isles are currently 17-10-2 at home and 19-13-3 on the road. Better home team, as you'd expect. 102 point pace at home as of now, and 96 on the road. 99 point pace overall.
Five sets of back to back games sounds bad enough, but they travel during three of those sets. Montreal to home (vs the Blue Jackets), Home to Buffalo and Home to Carolina. That all sounds a bit rough. They don't play well in those BtB travel games. So dumb though because after a back to back with travel to Carolina, they have 4 days off. Rittich also hasn't quite looked like Big Save Dave lately and Sorokin will need a bit more rest than the 5 back to back games. He's just not a work horse like you want your star goalie to be.

Ten games are vs teams currently below the playoff cut line, although the Sens (twice) and Blue Jackets are close to the line.
So it looks pretty good to make the playoffs. Far from a sure thing, but pretty, pretty good.

Magic number is currently 36, tragic numberis 40.
Columbus' are 38 and 37, respectively. Still a long way to go.

[Chris18]

Isles beat the blues in OT 4-3. They had been down 3-0 and looked to be down 4-0 but challenged for offside and got the call. 10-0 in OT. NHL record.
Roy was going to pull Sorokin at 4-0 but when the call was reversed he told him to stay. Right choice. Rittich was pretty funny about it, giving Sorokin the "not happening" sign from the bench. Not sure if that was Rittich refusing to go in or him just signaling that it would be no goal so Sorokin should stay in. Either way, good footage.
Two PP goals! Buchneyvich was tangled up and got his stick up into Ritchie's face, cutting him. 4 minutes after review. Isles scored on both PPs! That's crazy. I figured it was just 4 minutes when the Blues wouldn't get many chances. Ritchie is so good on the PP. Stays low by the goalie and centers to someone in the high slot. When he's out, they don't have that aspect. A few times he's spun and shot, so it's not an automatic defense.
Isles D was suspect for most of this game. Blues first goal was a 4 on 1. Q'Anongelo was probably still in the O-zone, leaving Pelech to try to defend against 4 players. Nice cross ice pass and tip in for the Blues. Isles gave up quite a few odd man rushes. For the first half of the game, the D corps looked like they just wanted this game over so they could head home. Except Schaefer, who was great as usual. 27 minutes of ice before OT and he was on for most of OT too. He got fucking RUN OVER pretty early on too. I thought he might be hurt. Popped up and calmly made a nice play to clear it. I was surprised they didn't call him off for concussion protocol.


Pens lost in OT. Blue Jackets won.
Tied with the Pens in points, but the Pens have a game in hand so Isles are back in Metro 3. Jackets breathing down their necks and the WC spots are right there as well, so there's not much of a safety net. As it should be to make the playoffs.

Horvat was fined $2500 for trying to knock off Eklund's helmet during a scrum in front of the Sharks bench the other night. Further video shows Eklund steal Horvat's stick from the bench and throw it down the tunnel, presumably as a souvenir of losing on Horvat's future OT goal. Maybe he got Horvat to sign it for him. "9-0 in OT you bitch". Or something like that.

[Chris18]

Schaefer discusses his watch, a gift from Matt Martin. I always knew Martin was a good guy, but the more Schaefer talks about him the more impressed I am with Martin. And Schaefer too.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/943650645286285

Piguet watches start at $25k and go up to $200k.

[Chris18]

Spotting the Kings a 3-0 turned out to be a bad idea tonight. Isles lose 3-2. If the game was a few seconds longer they might have tied it, but a few brain farts early on really screwed them. Mayfield with a beer league point shot attempt right into Moore's shinpads, sending Moore on a breakaway for the 1-0 goal 3:23 into the game. Isles were buzzing after that, clearly pissed off. Horvat went in on a forecheck, got knocked down by an interfering Doughty, as Horvat fell he tripped Anderson with his stick and the ref called only Horvat. Even as he was still sitting on his ass Horvat was asking how the hell Doughty wasn't called when it was him who knocked Horvat down. Might as well ask a pimp for a refund. The ref didn't care at all.
Schaefer with 29:24 minutes of ice time, turns out to be a record for an 18 year old. They showed the top 6 top times by an 18 year old. Schaefer has spots 1, 4, 5, & 6. He pretty much got the team going again after they were down 3-0. Sorokin made a save and one the Helenius was standing there trying to intimidate some Isles. Someone skated in from behind (no clue who), got bumped by another King and their stick hit Helenius in the face. Helenius looked at Schaefer and before anything else could happen another King grabbed Schaefer from behind. In the past he's kind of allowed himself to be pulled away from scrums. Instead he turned and gave the guy a facewash, Helenius tried to grab Schaefer, which brought all the other Isles in. Seeing Pageau going at it with Helenius was pretty funny. There's a height difference of like a foot. The team was fired up after that.
Schaefer had a good chance with 1 second left in the game and got a good shot off that probably would have scored but Edmundson blocked it.

Besides the 15 minute span when the Kings controlled the play this was the most entertaining game I've seen in a long time. Was really hoping they'd get it to OT. Oh well.

Heineman had both Isles goals. One a nice deflection with his stick and the other off his hip. Dude hadn't scored in like 2 months but these were 17 & 18.

Immediately after dropping a heart breaker that gives their playoff chances a good kick in the balls, the Isles lined up to shake Kopitar's hand. I love that.

Flames tomorrow.

[Chris18]

Isles came out flying. 3-0 lead after the first period. Cizikas with a jam goal, Holmstrom with two on odd-man rushes, one SH. Great first. Okay second period. No scoring. Isles looked beat in the third and let the Flames back in, but closed it out 3-2. Rittich was really good.

Two big points. Damn shame they got zero last night.

Next up is Tuesday against the Leafs.

[Chris18]

Varlamov took shots from teammates today. He, Engvall and Romanov were skating. Varlamov supposedly had double knee replacements. Is it even remotely possible to come back and play after that? Roy said he's out for the rest of the year no matter what. But his contract is through next year.

[Chris18]

Isles with a nice win vs the Leafs, 3-1. Toronto area kid Cal Ritchie with 1G & 1A. Schaefer, also local kid, had an A.

Tavares kindly put the game on ice by high sticking Pelech in the face with about 5 minutes to go, drawing blood and earning himself a double minor. Nice of the asshole to help his old team like that.

But again, the out of town scoreboard is not very cooperative. The Blue Jackets are a mere 2 points behind the Isles, with a game in hand, and just keep winning. 5-1 win over the Canes. While the Canadiens beat the Bruins in OT. Fucking 3 point games. At least the end of the year should be interesting.

Isles are at the Sens on Thursday, at Montreal on Saturday, then home vs the Blue Jackets on Sunday. I was pretty pissed to see the Isles traveling for a back to back (they do it 2 more times after this set) but the Blue Jackets have a home game on Saturday so they'll be doing the same. But their game is at 5 pm, where the Isles play at 7 in Montreal. Does a few hours make a difference? I hope not but maybe.

39-24-5, 83 points in 68 games.

[Chris18]

After the Leafs game Roy was asked how it feels to keep seeing the Pens and Blue Jackets keep winning. his reply was "they keep seeing us winning too". I like it.
Woll said it's always fun to play against Sorokin and if he was to draw up a perfect technical goalie, it would be Sorokin. Nice compliment from the opposition!
Schaefer and Ritchie both had tons of friends & family at the game. Lot of orange & blue in the stands!
At one point in the game, MacLean skated past the crease. Woll was mostly outside the crease and MacLean brushed him. Don't even think Woll fell or anything, but Rielly decided he'd seen enough and shoved MacLean down from behind in the corner. MacLean got up and seemed to ask what that was for. They exchanged words and started fighting. Isles announcer, Brendan Burke, said "well this is about a week too late from Riellly but here we go." MacLean's second fight of the year. Isles sixth as a team. I knew fighting was way down but didn't realize it was that far down. Six fights in 68 games. I'd love to see if concussions are down, but we all know the NHL says they barely ever happen at all. Nothing to see here. Move along.

[Chris18]

Aitcheson will join Bridgeport after his Barrie season is over.
Cole Eiserman has signed his ELC and will join Bridgeport. I will likely see him play on Saturday.
Danny Nelson is almost certain to return to Notre Dame and play alongside his two brothers. That's pretty cool.

Sens tonight. They're on the backside of a back to back set. Hopefully they're dead tired.

[Chris18]

Isles fuck themselves pretty good with a 3-2 regulation loss to the Sens. Had a 2-1 lead in the third and seemed to be sitting back waiting for a perfect play. One shot in the third period. Sure it went in but ffs it’s James Reimer. You shoot from anywhere and go after the rebound. Nope. Tkachuk scored with 11 .1 seconds to go. I wasn’t sure it would count as Pelech had been flattened from behind with a crosscheck but no call. Everyone they wanted to lose has won. Again. But you can’t rely on playoff teams to lose. You have to play ugly hockey not wait for perfect plays.

Schaefer with his 21st. Yay.

So with the out of town wins, Isles now sit in 9th place in the East, or WC3. One point behind Detroit & Boston for the WC spots, and tied in points with the Blue Jackets, but they have a game in hand. Playoff spot isn't out of the question, but they certainly made their situation more precarious.

Saturday at Montreal. Sunday vs blue jackets just got that much bigger. After that game at Montreal, they'll have 10 of their last 12 games at home. Better get going with the home cooking! Especially Sunday! That game is much bigger now for the Isles, and it was already huge.

[Pokecheque]

So much parity in the East. You're so close to falling completely out of it but so close to getting in the top 3 in the division.

[Chris18]

I didn’t expect them to make the playoffs this year but it’s frustrating to see them fall out if a playoff spot when they’ve been in one for so long. And there’s still enough to play that they can get back in. I guess it’s especially shitty to go from metro 3 to out in one night. You’d think they’d just drop to a WC spot.

Back to scoreboard watching and burning any blue jacket that I owned… shit. Maybe I caused this. I gave a blue jacket to my newest dog. Bad karma? I hadn’t even thought of that. -that’s where my mind is at. Ridiculous thoughts.

[E.L.]

7-3 Habs. Caufield hat trick. Slaf and Nick 4 points each. Game was tight entering the third before the Habs exploded on offence.

[Chris18]

7-3 Habs. Caufield hat trick. Slaf and Nick 4 points each. Game was tight entering the third before the Habs exploded on offence.

I nearly threw the remote through the TV. No clue how the Isles can play that way at this point in the season. The Habs are good, but that was such a shitty third period effort in a game that could flush the Isles' season down the shitter.

What's Habs fans issue with Schaefer? Because he's likely to win the Calder?

[E.L.]

7-3 Habs. Caufield hat trick. Slaf and Nick 4 points each. Game was tight entering the third before the Habs exploded on offence.

I nearly threw the remote through the TV. No clue how the Isles can play that way at this point in the season. The Habs are good, but that was such a shitty third period effort in a game that could flush the Isles' season down the shitter.

What's Habs fans issue with Schaefer? Because he's likely to win the Calder?

It's because he's good.

[Chris18]

It's because he's good.

Gotcha. Just can't have a good player on another team...

Roy looked so confused on one of the Habs' goals. Like he just couldn't understand how the Isles left, I think it was Suzuki, "alone" in front. There was three Isles around him but none bothered to really cover him.


Isles look fucked at the moment.
70 GP, 83 points. 9th place in the east, 1 behind Detroit for WC1, 2 behind Metro third Columbus but CBJ have a game in hand on the Isles. If the Isles lose to CBJ tonight I'd say they're out. If they win, they've got 10 of their last 12 at home and could pull into a playoff spot.

[Chris18]

Isles rebounded pretty well vs CBJ. Although it seemed like it could be either a laugher blowout or barn burner when Horvat scored 1:25 into the game. Instead it ended 1-0. Although that's largely thanks to Toronto doing their best to screw the Isles. Lee scored on a Horvat rebound, while being pushed toward the net by a CBJ defender, and CBJ challenged and won. Lee wouldn't have hit the goalie if not pushed from behind. After winning the challenge you could see Bowness grin and wink at someone on the ice. Bullshit call. It had been called a goal on the ice. But Sorokin was basically like "fuck everyone who thinks I suck because of last night" and just shut down everything CBJ threw at him.
WC2 for now, although they've played 1 more game than most other teams. But, they also have more home games left. 9 out of 11 games left are at home, where the Isles are better. So, it'll be interesting, and likely all the way down to the wire.

Blackhawks visit Tuesday. Stars visit Thursday (wonder if Rantanen will be back yet). Panthers visit Saturday. Penguins visit next Monday. That'll be a huge game.

[Pokecheque]

Isles rebounded pretty well vs CBJ. Although it seemed like it could be either a laugher blowout or barn burner when Horvat scored 1:25 into the game. Instead it ended 1-0. Although that's largely thanks to Toronto doing their best to screw the Isles. Lee scored on a Horvat rebound, while being pushed toward the net by a CBJ defender, and CBJ challenged and won. Lee wouldn't have hit the goalie if not pushed from behind. After winning the challenge you could see Bowness grin and wink at someone on the ice. Bullshit call. It had been called a goal on the ice. But Sorokin was basically like "fuck everyone who thinks I suck because of last night" and just shut down everything CBJ threw at him.
WC2 for now, although they've played 1 more game than most other teams. But, they also have more home games left. 9 out of 11 games left are at home, where the Isles are better. So, it'll be interesting, and likely all the way down to the wire.

Blackhawks visit Tuesday. Stars visit Thursday (wonder if Rantanen will be back yet). Panthers visit Saturday. Penguins visit next Monday. That'll be a huge game.

Rants will NOT be back for that game, but he reportedly will be back for the next one.

Honestly I can't say I blame them for holding him out of a game where they most assuredly would take some runs at him. They desperately need him for the playoffs and can't risk another injury. Just gotta wait to even the score next season, which makes a bit of sense because by then you'd think Romanov would be back.