2/7 Articles -- Islander Mania

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Date Posted: 05:19:39 02/07/03 Fri
Author: Lisa
Author Host/IP: ool-18b8f7c4.dyn.optonline.net / 24.184.247.196
Subject: 2/7 Articles

http://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/islanders/ny-isles073120318feb07,0,4614015.story?coll=ny%2Dislanders%2Dheadlines

Isles Aim to Ice Trend Of Losing to Capitals
By Tara Driscoll
STAFF WRITER

February 7, 2003

There's never a good time to underestimate an opponent, but Islanders coach Peter Laviolette worries more about his team underestimating itself. That could be easy for his players to do tonight at Washington, especially given their 0-2-0-1 record against the Capitals this season and a 1-7-3-0 mark vs. the Southeast Division leaders dating to Oct. 21, 2000.

"I think because they sit in first place, we kind of put them out of our mind as a team we're battling for a playoff spot," Laviolette said after yesterday's practice. "The game has to be looked at just as if we were playing Montreal or Tampa Bay or Pittsburgh and the two points are important."

Laviolette knows how crucial upcoming home games are, especially with Buffalo and Tampa Bay on deck, but he also doesn't want to look ahead. "The only game I want to talk about is the one [tonight]," he said.

Like his coach, defenseman Roman Hamrlik also sees little value in looking beyond the Capitals. The Islanders have won three of their last five and continue to sit at the edge of the Eastern Conference playoff race with 30 games remaining. They slipped to eighth place last night because Tampa Bay gained a point in a 3-2 overtime loss to Toronto.

"I think every game is important," Hamrlik, the team's only All-Star, said. "Everybody got to rest for a couple of days, so we should be ready."

It still remains to be seen whether Kenny Jonsson will be back in the lineup tonight after taking a hit by Philadelphia's Jeremy Roenick on his opening shift of Tuesday's 2-1 loss. Jonsson, who has had multiple concussions in his career, left the game with what the team termed a "post-traumatic migraine."

Jonsson practiced yesterday and told reporters he felt fine, but Laviolette said he was only probable for the Caps. A healthy Jonsson in the lineup would help against Washington star Jaromir Jagr, whose 30 goals are third in the league. "He's playing lots of minutes for us, so we really need him," Hamrlik said of Jonsson.

Notes & Quotes: Steve Webb (sore back) skated for about 30 minutes on his own before practice, but will not play tonight . . . The Islanders will team up with Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Long Island at noon on Sunday in the 22nd annual "Bowl for Kids Sake" benefit at Sheridan Lanes in Mineola. The event is open to the public.

Today

Islanders

At Washington

7 p.m.

TV: Metro

Radio: ESPN (1050)
Copyright � 2003, Newsday, Inc.

http://www.nypost.com/sports/islanders/30056.htm

JONSSON GETS THE
GO-AHEAD TO FACE CAPS

By EVAN GROSSMAN
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

February 7, 2003 -- WASHINGTON - It appears the Islanders will have Kenny Jonsson in the lineup tonight against the Capitals after he returned to practice yesterday for the first time without headaches.
"I would guess that he's a probable," Peter Laviolette said after Jonsson participated in the full hour session at Iceworks.

In the opening minute of Tuesday's loss to the Flyers, Jonsson, who has a history of head injuries, was knocked out of the game by a hard check from Jeremy Roenick. Jonsson said yesterday his headaches began on impact and that his head never hit the glass, though the "post-traumatic migraines" lasted on and off through yesterday afternoon.

Jonsson also said he remembered the hit and being sent off the ice to the locker room, as opposed to the one he took from Gary Roberts in the playoffs last year that cracked his helmet and had much worse effects than these recent migraines.

"I'll see what the doctor says," Jonsson said about playing tonight. "He's got the last word."

It's come to the point where any game against an Eastern Conference team carries playoff implications because of how tight the standings are. So getting Jonsson back for tonight's game in Washington is a sigh of relief for the Isles, who were dressing only five defensemen when Adrian Aucoin was hurt.

"I think because they sit in first place we've kinda put them out of our mind as a team that we're battling for a playoff spot," Laviolette said. "But nobody can really guarantee Tampa Bay won't win the division. And then Washington's a team that's down in sixth, seventh or eighth place. So the game has to be looked at just like we were playing Montreal, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, Boston."

Steve Webb also skated for roughly 30 minutes yesterday but remains out with a sore back. He's missed the last 17 games with back spasms that started during training camp when he was lifting his own bag onto the bus to Lake Placid. A complication a few weeks later linked another lower back/hip flare-up to a knee brace Webb wore that pulled his frame out of joint.

Raffi Torres has been filling in as the fourth-line right wing but hasn't been creaming people the way Webb does. Torres has been banging bodies, chipping in with some occasional offense, but hasn't scored a goal yet in 16 NHL games.

"I better score soon or you guys are going to be bashing me in the newspapers," Torres said.

During the All Star break, Torres was sent down to Bridgeport and scored his first professional hat trick and now returns to a different role - as a checker on a line with Claude Lapointe and either Mattias Weinhandl or Eric Godard.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/06/sports/hockey/07CALD-ISLE.html

February 6, 2003
Islanders' Jonsson Cleared to Play
By DAVE CALDWELL

Two days after he had what the Islanders carefully labeled a post-traumatic migraine headache, defenseman Kenny Jonsson practiced with the team yesterday and has been cleared to return.

Coach Peter Laviolette said he expected Jonsson to play a regular amount of time, about 25 minutes, in tonight's game against the Washington Capitals at the MCI Center.

On the first shift of the Islanders' 2-1 loss Tuesday to Philadelphia, Flyers center Jeremy Roenick drove Jonsson into the boards with a clean check. Jonsson played one more shift, for a total of 45 seconds, and left the game.

Jonsson, who did not lose consciousness after Roenick's hit, has had several concussions during his career. The most recent came during a playoff series last April against Toronto.

Sound Tigers spirited in preparation for Hartford
BRIDGEPORT The rest and relaxation of the All-Star break ended Thursday morning with the first practice of the second half for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Their mission for the weekend is to maintain the momentum and intensity that carried them to three straight wins last week before the break.
http://www.connpost.com/Stories/0,1413,96%257E3761%257E1164339,00.html

Caps Still Short Of Peak
The Capitals have recovered from another poor start and are atop the modest Southeast Division. But to be considered a Stanley Cup contender, they must defeat the league's elite.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37934-2003Feb6.html

The Capitals are unbeaten in their last 13 games at home against the Islanders, dating from March 2, 1997.

Caps' Kip Miller passes muster
after years of bouncing around
To say that Kip Miller has a love for the game is a no-brainer. He has played for eight NHL teams and seven more in two minor leagues during the past 11 years.
http://www.washtimes.com/sports/20030207-32555224.htm

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