2006–07 New York Islanders season

Off-season

After the Islanders' upper management cleaned out the team's front office during the 2005–06 season, owner Charles Wang needed to find a new coach and general manager (GM). Initially, he hired Ted Nolan as coach and Neil Smith as GM, but Smith was removed after a few weeks on the job. Wang envisioned team management making decisions by committee, and Smith was uncomfortable working without the large amount of control that NHL managers usually have. Wang hired Garth Snow, who was the team's backup goalie the prior year, to take over. Pat LaFontaine, who had intended to return to the team as senior advisor to the owner, resigned the post the same day that Smith was fired. Reports indicated that LaFontaine decided the fit was not right for him after Wang ignored his advice to wait a few days before making a final decision about Smith.

Prior to Smith's firing, the Islanders made several free agent acquisitions, including defensemen Brendan Witt and Tom Poti and forwards Mike Sillinger and Chris Simon. Andy Hilbert, Sean Hill, Viktor Kozlov and Richard Park signed on after Smith was dismissed. Additionally, in a controversial move, the Islanders signed goaltender Rick DiPietro to a 15-year, $67.5 million contract, among the longest in professional sports history.

Regular season

The Islanders opened the season on a losing streak, but then began to play well enough to temporarily move into first place in the Atlantic Division by December. On December 16, 2006, the Islanders traded Alexei Zhitnik to the Philadelphia Flyers for defenseman Freddy Meyer and a conditional third round draft pick. On December 20, they then traded forward Mike York to the Flyers for forward Randy Robitaille and a fifth-round pick in 2008.

Starting at the end of December, the Islanders went on a seven-game losing streak, which ended with a victory over the Rangers. Since then, the Islanders hovered around the last playoff spot. In advance of the February NHL trade deadline, the Isles made a pair of deals with the Edmonton Oilers. On February 18, 2007, the Islanders traded defense prospect Denis Grebeshkov for defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron and a third-round pick in 2008.

Sitting in sixth place in the Eastern Conference at the trade deadline, the team sent a first-round draft pick and prospects Robert Nilsson and Ryan O'Marra to the Oilers for NHL All-Star Ryan Smyth and acquired Richard Zednik for a second-round pick. However, the team suffered a series of losses down the stretch. Journalists cited two reasons for the team's apparent demise: Chris Simon's suspension for striking Ryan Hollweg with his stick, and Rick DiPietro's multiple concussions, which forced him to miss several crucial games. Backup goaltender Mike Dunham had several poor showings with DiPietro out, which prompted the team to call on third-stringer Wade Dubielewicz, who fared better.

Coming into the last four games of the season, the Islanders play had improved, but a playoff spot still appeared out of reach. However, the team won each game and received some help from the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs, who failed to win enough games to edge the Isles out. The Isles clinched with a shootout win over the New Jersey Devils, in which Dubielewicz poke-checked Sergei Brylin to secure the victory. The team expressed pride that they qualified because many NHL preview predictions had the Isles slated to finish at or near the bottom of the standings. They lost their first round matchup with the Buffalo Sabres, however, the NHL's best team during the regular season, in five games.

Season standings

Playoffs

Main article: 2007 Stanley Cup playoffs

The New York Islanders earned the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Schedule and results

Regular season

|- | 1 || October 5 || NY Islanders || 3 – 6 || Phoenix || || DiPietro || 15,301 || 0–1–0 || 0 || |- | 2 || October 7 || NY Islanders || 0 – 2 || San Jose || || DiPietro || 17,496 || 0–2–0 || 0 || |- | 3 || October 10 || NY Islanders || 2 – 4 || Los Angeles || || DiPietro || 14,394 || 0–3–0 || 0 || |- | 4 || October 11 || NY Islanders || 5 – 4 || Anaheim || SO || Dunham || 12,394 || 1–3–0 || 2 || |- | 5 || October 14 || Boston || 1 – 4 || NY Islanders || || Dunham || 14,732 || 2–3–0 || 4 || |- | 6 || October 16 || Nashville || 2 – 1 || NY Islanders || SO || Dunham || 9,431 || 2–3–1 || 5 || |- | 7 || October 19 || Pittsburgh || 4 – 3 || NY Islanders || OT || Dunham || 10,258 || 2–3–2 || 6 || |- | 8 || October 21 || Carolina || 3 – 4 || NY Islanders || OT || DiPietro || 12,349 || 3–3–2 || 8 || |- | 9 || October 26 || Buffalo || 3 – 0 || NY Islanders || || DiPietro || 8,861 || 3–4–2 || 8 || |- | 10 || October 28 || Florida || 3 – 4 || NY Islanders || SO || DiPietro || 10,455 || 4–4–2 || 10 || |- | 11 || October 31 || Chicago || 2 – 5 || NY Islanders || || DiPietro || 8,739 || 5–4–2 || 12 ||

| Legend:

Playoffs

|- | 1 || April 12 || NY Islanders || 1 – 4 || Buffalo || || Dubielewicz || 18,690 || 0 – 1 || |- | 2 || April 14 || NY Islanders || 3 – 2 || Buffalo || || DiPietro || 18,690 || 1 – 1 || |- | 3 || April 16 || Buffalo || 3 – 2 || NY Islanders || || DiPietro || 16,234 || 1 – 2 || |- | 4 || April 18 || Buffalo || 4 – 2 || NY Islanders || || DiPietro || 16,234 || 1 – 3 || |- | 5 || April 20 || NY Islanders || 3 – 4 || Buffalo || || DiPietro || 18,690 || 1 – 4 ||

| Legend:

Player statistics

Scoring

• Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
• • = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Islanders only.*
• • = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Islanders only.*

Goaltending

Awards and records

Awards

Milestones

Transactions

The Islanders were involved in the following transactions from June 20, 2006, the day after the deciding game of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 6, 2007, the day of the deciding game of the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals.

Trades

Players acquired

Players lost

Signings

Draft picks

The Islanders' picks at the 2006 NHL entry draft in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Notes

References

References

1. (June 8, 2006). "Islanders introduce Smith as GM, Nolan as coach".
2. "Lafontaine leaves post as senior advisor" Mark Hermann, Newsday, July 19, 2006
3. "Oilers trade forward Smyth to Islanders". tsn.ca.
4. [http://islanders.nhl.com/team/app?articleid=307539&page=NewsPage&service=page New York Islanders – News: ISLANDERS 3, NEW JERSEY 2, SO – 04/08/2007]
5. "2006-07 New York Islanders Schedule".
6. "NHL All-Star Game Historical Summaries - 2007".
7. "NHL Three Stars of the Week".
8. "NHL Three Stars of the Month".
9. "New York Islanders - Awards and Honors - New York Islanders - Team History".
10. "2006-07 NHL Debuts".
11. "Hockey Transactions Search Results".
12. (June 24, 2006). "Avalanche Selects Six Players At 2006 Draft".
13. (October 25, 2006). "Blue Jackets deal F Boguniecki to Isles for D Caldwell".
14. (December 16, 2006). "Flyers Acquire Defenseman Alexei Zhitnik".
15. (December 20, 2006). "ISLANDERS ACQUIRE ROBITAILLE FOR YORK".
16. (January 5, 2007). "Islanders, Senators announce trade".
17. (February 18, 2007). "Oilers trade Bergeron to Islanders".
18. (February 26, 2007). "Isles make offensive move, acquire Zednik from Caps".
19. (February 27, 2006). "NYI ACQUIRE ALL-STAR RYAN SMYTH".
20. (July 2, 2006). "ISLANDERS SIGN MIKE SILLINGER".
21. (July 3, 2006). "BRENDAN WITT AN ISLANDER!".
22. (July 5, 2006). "Sports Briefs".
23. (July 8, 2006). "ISLANDERS ADD VETERAN DMAN TOM POTI".
24. (July 11, 2006). "CHRIS SIMON JOINS THE NYI".
25. (July 20, 2006). "Sound Tiger parent club signs defenseman".
26. (July 25, 2006). "Islanders sign three".
27. (July 27, 2006). "Islanders sign veteran Wotton".
28. (August 16, 2006). "Islanders Sign Hill".
29. (August 28, 2006). "Islanders sign former AHL All-Star".
30. (September 14, 2006). "Isles lure forward Kozlov from Devils".
31. (September 30, 2006). "TRANSACTIONS".
32. "Richard Park".
33. (February 5, 2007). "NO HEADLINE".
34. (July 8, 2009). "Minnesota inks defensemen Fraser, Sifers".
35. (March 30, 2007). "Leg injury sidelines Smyth".
36. (April 2, 2007). "ISLANDERS SIGN TREVOR SMITH".
37. (May 21, 2007). "ISLANDERS ADD TOP PROSPECT".
38. (July 1, 2006). "NHL RELEASES FREE AGENT LIST".
39. "Cole Jarrett".
40. "[ALUMNI BIO] Chris Madden".
41. (April 4, 2006). "Jody Robinson Named Sound Tigers' 2005-06 Man Of The Year".
42. "Keith Aldridge".
43. "Denis Grebeshkov".
44. "Rob Collins".
45. (July 18, 2006). "Goalie Snow to replace Smith as Islanders' GM".
46. (July 20, 2006). "Minnesota native Smith signed by Wild".
47. (June 18, 2007). "BERGIE'S BACK!!!".
48. "Sean Bergenheim".
49. (August 10, 2006). "Flames sign forward Eric Godard".
50. "Justin Papineau".
51. "Dmitri Nabokov".
52. (September 7, 2006). "Flache Returns to Gwinnett".
53. (September 14, 2006). "Capitals Sign Defenseman John Erskine".
54. (September 22, 2006). "Former ECHL Goalie of the Year Cloutier signs with IceHogs".
55. (September 25, 2006). "Macri Returns to Falcons Blue Line".
56. (September 30, 2006). "Hawks give Hamilton 1-year pact".
57. (December 1, 2006). "Johan Halvardsson återvänder hem".
58. (May 1, 2007). "Obranu Ocelářů vyztuží slovenští obránci Malec a Švarný.".
59. "Randy Robitaille".
60. (July 6, 2006). "BOUCHARD D-LIGHTED TO REMAIN ON ISLAND".
61. (July 20, 2006). "TRANSACTIONS".
62. (July 22, 2006). "Islanders' York awarded $800,000 raise in arbitration".
63. (July 25, 2006). "ASHAM OKS ISLANDER DEAL".
64. "Trent Hunter".
65. (September 12, 2006). "DiPIETRO SIGNED TO 15-YEAR DEAL".
66. (May 8, 2007). "IT'S OFFICIAL: DUBIE'S AN ISLANDER".
67. "Andrew MacDonald".
68. (May 30, 2007). "Islanders sign prospect Dustin Kohn".
69. "2006 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com".