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Islanders Leaders


Big Lake Vindy

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Is anybody following former Sioux Jason Blake? I've caught the Isles on TV a couple of time in the past weeks and he looks like the Tasmanian devil that played at the Old Ralph. I was surprised in last night's game against the Sharks to hear that he was among team leaders in goals and scoring. He trails Alexei Yashin 44-39 in points and Mark Parrish 21-17 in goals for the team lead. It was interesting to hear him called "The Pest"and how despite his size he doesn't back down from anyone. Just as the announcer said that he was checked hard and bounced up to challenge the Sharks biggest D man. Great to see a Sioux getting NHL recognition. It's been a while. Anyone know the status of Lee Goren and Mike Commodore? :)

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All I know about Commodore is that he is in the Minors, which disappointed me, I thought he had a chance on the Ducks to play. I have seen Goren on the few times he has been brought up with Boston this year. He played well and has 2 goals and 1 assist in 10 games with the big club. In 49 games with Providence he has 22 goals, 26 assists and is +7.

As far as Blake, someone from the Isle sent me an article a couple weeks back about him. They love him out there. Say he is a great guy to have on the team and that he plays with a lot of heart and has really stepped up his game and started scoring more like they knew he could. He is still a disturber, but they like that part of his game also. He gives them a full effort each night and Laviolette loves the guy from the article.

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A buddy emailed me the following after watching that game:

I watched the Islander game last night vs San Jose on ESPN2 last night. Did you see it? If not,here's the scoop:

Jason Blake is leading the Isles in scoring. He picked up an assist on their second goal last night; also set up several other good scoring chances for team mates but the puck didn't go in. He's really fun to watch - he busts his butt hustling around the ice making things happen on offense and harassing the other team on the forecheck. He really uses his speed and skating ability to his advantage. He is playing well, handles the puck with confidence, has a little feistiness, etc - reminds me of when he played in college. The announcers (one of them the East Coast loving Jack "any team from Boston is my favorite" Edwards) made several nice comments about Jason.

Jason got clobbered on the boards by one of the Sharks and one of his line mates immediately came over and jumped the guy who did it - they have some good chemistry on the team. As this scrum developed, Jason (the smallest guy on the Isle roster) started tussling with Brian Marchment, a big, nasty defenseman who is known for his mean streak. I like that! Fortunately for Jason a ref broke them up right away.

Very impressed with Jason's play and he is really fun to watch.

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I watched the friday night game on Fox sports and saw Blake get two assists and an empty netter in the Isles win over our Avs.

The Avs had an interview with him between the first and second period. He said that he was challenged to get better defensively and they would throw more ice time at him, so he spent the last summer working on his defensive skills. He has went from about 7 minutes of ice time a game last year to about 20 minutes this year. That ice time has made a big difference with his scoring chances.

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This is from ESPN.com's NHL Power Rankings:

Who needs Alexei Yashin (61 gp, 14-30-44, -17, $7.4M) when you've got Jason Blake (61 gp, 19-25-44, +23, $600,000).

Great for Jason!! Jeez was that Moorhead team any good? With Ryan Kraft getting some PT with the Sharks this year and Matt Cullen putting up his solid numbers in Florida. I just can't firgure out why our Fargo South team got killed by them?? ???

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Even though I'm a lifelong Rangers fan, it was cool watching Jason play against the Blue Shirts. His assist on the Islander's only goal was outstanding. He was also on the ice when Brian Leetch scored the goal that tied it up.

The best part of the game was when Eric Lindros pulled Jason's skates out from under him long after the whistle. Lindros had to sit in the box and feel shame. I wonder what Blake said or did to Lindros that trigerred that reaction?

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As I life long Devils fan I was pissed (really pissed) when the Devs traded off Commodore. But I hope Dave Hale gets back on his feet to have a good career as a Devil, and I hope Massen makes it with the Devs too.

Sorry to hear about the Rangers... Worst team money can buy. (Kidding) ???

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Sorry to hear about the Rangers... Worst team money can buy. (Kidding) ???

Being a long time Bruins fan I am also very happy that the Rangers (Rags) aren't doing well. I think its funny that they continue to spend money on free agents and continue to camp out at the bottom of the standing.

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I watched Blake and the Islanders play Boston on Thursday night.  The announcers said that Blake is the leading scorer on the team right now.  Does anybody know if any former Sioux players have ever led their team in scoring for a season in the NHL?

Troy Murray may have been close to leading the Blackhawks for a couple years. Scored a bunch anyway.

For the most part, the Sioux in the NHL, especially from the late 70's, early 80's, became defensive specialists. Recall several Sioux forwards getting the job of shadowing the lead scorer for another team (Gretzky).

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Last night, 2 goals and an assist for Blake! This description sounds more and more like the type of goals we used to see him score while at UND.

Blake tied the game 2-2 in the second period with his 23rd goal. Steve Staios blocked Blake's cross-ice pass at center, but Blake picked up the rebound, raced down the left side, dodged a sprawling Jason Smith, circled the net and beat goalie Tommy Salo to the top left corner.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=230313006

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I watched Blake and the Islanders play Boston on Thursday night. The announcers said that Blake is the leading scorer on the team right now.

Actually just to add to that point, the announcer (my wife and I could tell if they were slambing him or giving him a compliment) that he was leading the team in scoring making 600,000.00 a year and Alexi Yashin was behind him in the points and making millions of dollars.

Actually Blake got 3 points last night (thursday night). I cant remember who they were playing, I want to say Edmonton.

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