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TRAINING CAMP DAY 8

Sep 21, 2007 | By Kimber Auerbach

I was lucky enough to spend some time with the Islanders new team captain, Bill Guerin, to get his take on his first training camp with the Islanders, some of the rookies who have stood out and of the leadership he has demonstrated in the past few days.

Out of the rookies, who are some of the guys who have made an impression in your mind?
Andrew MacDonald played really well. He seems extremely poised with the puck and makes simple plays. I have also liked the play of Blake Comeau. He goes into the corners without any fear and hits anyone who stands up to him. He has a lot of potential to be a great player.

One player that has said he's learned a lot from you the way you carry yourself on and off the ice is Jason Pitton. Can you talk of his play?
Jason Pitton has had a good camp. I see a lot of the same tendencies in him that I had when I was younger. He does a lot of simple things needed in a game that are hard to do like clearing puck out of zone the first time and not turning the puck over in the neutral zone. He has no fear of standing in front of the net and taking a beating for the good of his team.

Now wearing the C for the first time in your pro career what are some of things youve spoken to the young guys about on what they should concentrate on at camp?
Two things...1. Work Hard 2. Have Fun. It is a hard task to keep them relaxed but I try and tell them to keep those nerves to put into the game situations. Believe it or not theyll be much more confident with their nerves than without them. When you play with a few butterflies, youre mind is more in tune to the game as opposed to being overly confident and lackadaisical.

Talk about your first camp with the Devils your first few years and what emotions were going through your head. Any player step up and help you?
I was extremely nervous but made sure that I absorbed everything I could from the guys that had been there before. Every time I stepped on the ice I gave 100%. We had a lot of guys like John MacLean and Bruce Driver who helped me succeed at my first camp. We have all played very competitive hockey before so there arent many major things that they told me to do, it was just little skills that Id never thought of. These things they acquired from their experiences in the league like how to play the wing but help your center win a draw.

What message do you hope to perceive to the younger guys in the organization by signing so many autographs over the past week?
It truly is a privilege to play in this league and we are where we are by being fortunate. Most of the time all people want is a simple autograph and when youre in our positions you have to give back and be appreciative for the things we have.

Shirts vs. Skins
The non-traveling group of players that skated today has had their chance to show off their hands, but today was the day to show off their foot skills. Their off-ice training today was a soccer game and only one word can describe the spectacleentertaining. The over thirty team consisted of players like Bill Guerin, Mike Sillinger and Richard Park who competed against the youngsters team of players like Frans Nielsen, Olivier Labelle and Andrew MacDonald. MVP of the game had to go to Kip Brennan who scored two goals, one on a header that was crossed by Freddy Meyer. The A for Effort award goes to Tim Jackman who must have missed at least four headers that he just misjudged. The player that you could definitely see has soccer skills is Miroslav Satan. He executed a pretty give-and-go with Brendan Witt at one point and crushed a shot on net but it rung off of goalie Joey MacDonald face and then the cross-bar. The youngsters won the by a score of 5-2.

Born in Bridgeport Video
IslandersTV producer, Laura Marciano is creating an incredible pre-game video for opening night. The only preview Ill give you is that the head-shots and highlights are exciting and should get you out of your seats. Islanders alumni, Steve Webb and Eric Cairns, viewed a portion of the video and were itching to put the gear back on because the video pumped them up.

Sticks
After the players morning skate, a group of young fans huddled by the entrance to the ice where the players come off. One boy screamed to Dubielewicz, Can I have your stick! Dubie heard him, took his gloves off, signed the stick and handed to the lucky fan. The boy ran off to his parents to show them his new treasure. Andy Sutton also felt generous and gave his stick to another young Islander fan.

Paying the Price
The Islanders will face-off tonight against a Montreal team with many more veterans in their lineup than they did on Wednesday. Expect to see last seasons Calder Cup Champion MVP goalie Carey Price between the pipes for the Canadiens.

Tonight against the Habs
The Islanders will play in their final preseason game, while in Moncton for training camp, tonight in Montreal at the Bell Centre. Islanders head coach, Ted Nolan, took the group of players that are skating in tonights game through a short morning skate to make sure their legs were ready. The players dressing tonight are:

Forwards:
11 Andy Hilbert
12 Chris Simon
15 Jeff Tambellini
16 Jon Sim
20 Sean Bergenheim
27 Darryl Bootland
29 Ben Walter
54 Gordie Dwyer
57 Blake Comeau
63 Josef Vasicek
67 Sean Bentivoglio
72 Jeremy Colliton

Defensemen:
2 Aaron Johnson
8 Bruno Gervais
14 Chris Campoli
24 Radek Martinek
47 Marc-Andre Bergeron
62 Jamie Fraser

Goalies:
33 Mike Morrison
34 Wade Dubielewicz