Apparently, the New York Islanders Trevor Gillies didn’t take away any lessons from his 9-game suspension he earned during the wild brawl that took place between the Isles and Pittsburgh Penguins on Feb. 11. Gillies was responsible a blindside hit against Penguins foward Eric Tangradi. Gillies proceeded to mug Tangradi and even taunted him when he was down on the ice receiving medical attention.
Some in the NHL believed the nine games was too light, but the truth of the matter was that Gillies simply got caught up in a wild game that got way out of hand.
Unfortunately, 2011 is going to be another losing season for the New York Islanders. But rookie forward Michael Grabner is giving the Isles reason to hope for the future.
Leading all rookies with 16 points (10 goals, six assists) in 14 games, Grabner was named the NHL Rookie of the Month for February. He scored in six consecutive games from Feb. 5-15, the longest rookie goal streak since Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins had a six-game run to start his NHL career in 2006-07.
In the wake of the WWE battle royal match that took place between the New York Islanders and the Pittsburgh Penguins last Friday, Pens co-owner Mario Lemieux decide to throw some gasoline on the fire with his statements on Sunday.
“Hockey is a tough, physical game, and it always should be. But what happened Friday night on Long Island wasn’t hockey. It was a travesty. It was painful to watch the game I love turn into a sideshow like that. The NHL had a chance to send a clear and strong message that those kinds of actions are unacceptable and embarrassing to the sport. It failed.”
It was nine days ago that the Pittsburgh Penguins finished off a 3-0 victory over the New York Islanders at the CONSOL Energy Center with a going away present for Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro: a broken orbital bone compliments of Penguins’ goaltender Brent Johnson’s left hook. And while most in media piled on DiPietro (who was the instigator in the fight), what got overlooked was Max Talbot’s questionable blindside hit to the head of Blake Comeau, who left the game with a concussion.
