The following story about Landon and his dad Ray came out a few weeks ago during the playoffs. 

      "When he arrived at Islanders training camp in 1991, Ray Ferraro was hopeful. His second child, Landon, had just been born, and Ferraro pointed out that the first time he became a father, he had scored 41 goals. Sure enough, that was Ferraro's finest season - 40 goals, 40 assists and a trip to the All-Star Game.

     Only now is it clear just what a portent that was. Now Landon Ferraro is ranked among the top players in North America and is likely to be picked in the first round of the NHL draft in June.

      "The thought that he could be going to a pro camp is almost unfathomable," said Ray, a broadcaster who is working the Rangers-Capitals series for TSN. "Like most dads, I guess, I'm really proud of the person he's growing up to be. He's got a really nice way about him. He's mature. For me, it's a nerve- wracking year. I can hardly wait until June 27, which is the day everything is finished."

     The younger Ferraro, a righthanded-shooting center, had 37 goals and 18 assists in 65 games for the Red Deer Rebels this season. In the final survey by NHL Central Scouting, he is ranked 18th among North American skaters. Factoring in goalies and European skaters, he could be among the top 30 who go in the first round."

     Landon Ferraro could land in the first round on June 26th.  The chances of him going to the Islanders like his dad are slim.  Landon sounds like a great kid and has the potential to be a very good NHL player but he does not fit the Islanders bill.  The Isles are looking to get bigger and stronger at the foward position.  Landon only being around 6 foot and 170 pounds is not the player that the Islanders are looking for but hey you never know.  They have done stranger things as we all know.  I hope the best for Landon on June 26th and hope he thrives at the chance of being a NHL player like his father once was.

          TSN has an article with a couple of quotes from Snow with regard to draft day.  When asked if he intended on tipping his hand before he got to the podium he responded with "Don't you think the suspense is a good thing?  Don't you think that's the way it should be?"  For the rest of the article visit:

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=282318

             I thought it was a very good article!  He had alot of good quotes and I thought his comparison to the 2002 draft was very interesting.

          That is right according to the New York Post in an interview yesterday Garth said "I made up my mind a while ago,"  He went on to say "This is a big moment.  We'll get a special player."  To view the full article from the post click below:

http://www.nypost.com/seven/06192009/sports/islanders/snow_has_made_up_mind_on_top_pick_175009.htm

           I thought it was a good read, I was refreshed to see that he doesn't intend to trade the pick.  In my opinion if he made up his mind a while ago I am betting that it is JT or Hedman.  And after comments from various people such as Billy Jaffe and Pat Brisson I am betting that the Isles will take JT.  The reasons I feel that way is Jaffe who was the only person who thought we were going to trade down last year told Chris Botta that we are going to take a forward and Pat Brisson said that he thinks the Islanders will take one of his guys.  In case you don't know he represents JT and MD.  To view the interviews Botta had with Jaffe and Pat Brisson click the links below:

Brisson:

http://www.islanderspointblank.com/2009/06/pat/

Jaffe:

http://www.islanderspointblank.com/2009/06/jaf/

NOTE: Former Islander second round pick Jeremy Colliton has signed a contract to play in Sweden next season.  He is no longer a member of the Islander organization.  Good Luck in the future Jeremy.

Original radio voice of the Islanders died the other day.  We here at Save the Isles just wanted to extend our condolences to his family upon his recent passing.

I read this and thought it was a good read so I figured I would post it:

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Sports/Hockey/2009/06/18/9836581-sun.html

         You see Tavares in a different light, and you learn a little about his family.  Normally I wouldn't get this personal with a particular prospect but Tavares is a special case, a franchise altering player if you will. 

         Do you think the Islanders are hyping this draft party and stuff because people want to see them take Duchene?  No way!  In my opinion I would say approx 85% of the isles fan base wants them to select John Tavares with the #1 overall pick in the entry draft next week.  Hopefully that is what they will do!

          According to islanderspointblank.com Dean Chynoweth who was a GM and head  coach of a team in the WHL has resigned from his position and is likely to take the assistant coaching job with the Islanders. 

         I personally don't know much about Dean, he was a first round pick by us under Bill Torrey and his career never really got started because of injuries.  For more on him visit:

http://www.islanderspointblank.com/2009/06/dean/#comments

According to Greg Logans newsday blog Dean will become the new assistant coach for the Islanders. 

heres a link to his blog confirming it:

http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/hockey/islanders/blog/

Yesterday at noon Garth Snow was on NHL live with Deb and Billy.  A summary of his interview below:

1) He didnt say anything we dont already know

2) One thing I took out of it was that he said last season was unacceptable. No offense to Garth but we are going through a full rebuild.  What does he expect?

3) He talked about possibly moving up- I def. think they should move up.  According to Chris Bottas article the other day with an interview with a former pro scout we would probably only have to pay the 56th plus the 26th for a pick in the 18-22 range.  I would do that in a heartbeat.  For a link to CB's article click below:

http://www.islanderspointblank.com/2009/06/cost/

To listen to the interview you can go on:

http://www.newyorkislanderfancentral.com/

it is in two parts, and its about 15 minutes long

      This past hockey season was rough for Islander fans but we all saw the future.  We saw how good Kyle Okposo might become, maybe a potential 30-40 goal scorer.  We all saw how he made such progress throughout the year.  Also how Josh Bailey might become that two way center that all winning teams need.  The youth on this past Islander team was just amazing.  Rick Dipietro needs to play more then five games this year.  Also how everyone just seems to love Doug Weight and the leadership skills that he brings to the table.  We saw that GM Garth Snow made a great move by signing Mark Streit.  The Islanders best player this past year by far.            

      Last year we saw many things, good and bad.  What is this upcoming year going to bring and what new faces are we going to see.(hopefully John Tavares)  What rookie are we going to see and if he lives up to all the hype. 

      Also will Charles Wang be planning to move and look elsewhere or be getting ready to put shovels into the ground.  This year should be fun just like every hockey season.                                  

        To date 14,839 tickets have been given away and that is the actual number of tickets that have been requested.  No fabrication from the isles.  To avoid delays or inconvenience arrive as early as you can.  All savor concessions and restrooms will be avaiable.  You will be able to enter from the box office enterance or gate 1 or 16.  If parking overflows because of the fair then the isles will secure satellite parking lots. 

Any new info will be posted

         In a recent issue of forbes magazine they named the worst ten spots in the country to have a sports team.  To the dismay of Ranger fans Nassau County wasn't on the list, however these are the places that are on the list:

1) Seattle, Washington

2) Atlanta, Georgia- I know they love there college sports

3) Buffalo, New York- I dont know if that suprised you like it did me?

4) Phoneix, Arizona- I would say weather but I know the baseball stadium has ac and I would assume the hockey one does.  Didnt the tickets for the Cardinals sell out in rapid time?

5) Houston, Texas

For the rest of the list visit:

http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/13/americas-most-miserable-sports-cities-business-sports_slide_2.html?thisSpeed=15000

*NOTE on the site the list is in slideshow form.  So dont panic when you click the link and only see one

          The one that caught was interest was number 10 Kansas City, Missouri.  Tell me if this place is such a bad spot for a sports team why do so many people suggest that a team move there?  Does that make any sense at all?  It doesnt to me!

         I know this isn't Islander related or Lighthouse related but I thought it was worth mentioning that a bankruptcy judge ruled that the Coyotes will not be sold to Jim Balsillie.  For more info visit the link from rotoworld.com

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/HeadLines.aspx?sport=NHL&hl=88108

           I am not sure how to feel, on one hand I am happy because I hate it when teams move.  But on the other hand I am scared because now Basillie may try to get the isles.  Based off precedent from prior cases the NHL will likely not allow Basillie to buy and move the team.  It seems as though the Commish and him dont really get along.  That matters because the NHL board of governers have to rule on any team sale or move.  For a nice article on a related topic check out Larry Brooks article from the post yesterday.  The only bad part of it is when he mentions that he thinks the isles will take Hedman.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/06142009/sports/moresports/all_nhl_has_to_do_is_follow_its_own_rule_174185.htm

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=425653&navid=DL|NHL|DraftMicrosite

The link to view the mock drafts is above

Some stuff I found interesting

1) Kassain in the top 10 in all of them-He had previously been a guy in the mid 1st round I thought the isles should trade up and get.  I am suprised they all put him in the top 10.

2) One guy saying Duchene will drop out of the top three-With all the publicity and stuff he has gotten I will be extremely suprised if Matt Duchene isnt picked #3 overall by the Avs.

3) Evander Kane to 7th-I dont see it happening, if he drops out of the top 4 I will be very suprised

4) Cowan lasting til 10-I dont see it happening, if he lasts pasts 7 or 8 I will be very suprised.  This is a guy as recently as December who was a top 3 pick.

5) Kadri between 18-22 -I didnt realize his stock fellas much as it has.  You dont go from being a top 10 pick to a mid-late 1st rounder over night.  As recently as a few weeks ago many mock drafts had him going between 7-10 so for him to have dropped that far all I have to say is wow.

6) Simon D at 25 in one-He had previously been a mid 1st rounder so I wonder why his stock has dropped so much.

The link to the TSN draft is below

http://www.tsn.ca/draftcentre/story/?id=281920

         That is right, according to lettherebelighthouse and islandersindependent legislator Dave Deneberg at the NCPC meeting last thursday asked for federal funds for a mass transit system as part of the lighthouse project.

           I personally think that is something that should be handled by the county and kept out of the development.  I feel that way because I think it would garner more opposition then support.  My evidence of that is an article from lettherebelighthouse from June 1st when Kate Murray spoke at the Garden City library.  To view that link click it below.  Basically most people in Garden City are against the LH project with Mass Transit sys that goes through Garden City a part of it.  One may say it is them being selfish well even if it is they still can cause some major humps for the project so everyone needs to be satisfied.  That means that a light rail system although I agree we need one shouldnt be apart of the project but a seperate issue handled by Nassau County.

http://islandersindependent.com/2009/06/15/bd1.aspx

http://lettherebelighthouse.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-06-02T23%3A11%3A00-04%3A00&max-results=7

the article your looking for on lettherebelighthouse is the June 1st one.

Edit: It has been confirmed to me by a Lighthouse employee that in fact a light rail system and the Lighthouse project are seperate.  They are not part of the same project.