December 28, 2011
Worth the wait
Two-way tough guy Micheal Haley trying to make up for lost time after starting season in Bridgeport
by Adam Wodon/Web Editor
Feb. 11, 2011 was the most significant night of last season for the New York Islanders and their fans.
Tired of getting run over by the mighty Penguins -- including a 3-0 loss just nine days prior, in a game where Pittsburgh goalie Brent Johnson literally broke the face of New York goalie Rick DiPietro -- the Islanders ran roughshod over the Penguins in more ways than one.
New York scored nine goals, including the 20th of the season from Matt Moulson, John Tavares and Michael Grabner, all on the same day. And there were two massive brawls in the middle of the 9-3 win.
Islanders fans remember it as the night their team stood up to the Penguins. The rest of the season, the Isles went on a hot streak.
It was a memorable night for Micheal Haley, too. The Islanders tough guy had three fights in that game, including one against Johnson in a third-period donnybrook.
But that's not the reason it's memorable for him.
It was the night of his first career NHL goal. And it was a thing of beauty too, as he roasted Kris Letang on the way to the net.
"Even though all that other stuff happened, that's the most memorable thing for me," Haley said. "I made a nice move."
The Islanders believe they made a nice move, too, by bringing Haley back up from Bridgeport of the AHL in late October. With the team off to another slow start, it needed a spark. And with Blake Comeau being waived following no goals in the season's first six weeks, Haley, 25, was brought in to do what he does best.
Having played under Isles coach Jack Capuano for five seasons now, in the NHL and AHL, he doesn't need to be told his role.
"I pretty much know," said Haley. "I'm pretty sure what they expect of me.
"Fighting is more timing. When is the right time? Does it benefit the team? It's part of hockey. But overall, I need to bang, finish checks, keep the energy going, keep my feet moving. I need to make sure the other team knows you're out there, so maybe get them off their game."
Of course, the Islanders also made the move to send him to Bridgeport in the first place, despite a productive 27-game stint at the end of last season.
Haley spent the offseason training harder than ever, including working out with fellow Islander Josh Bailey, who resides in the next town.
"It was obviously a disappointment," Haley said, of starting the season in Bridgeport. "I didn't go home and train all summer thinking I would be in the AHL. It took a little while (to get over it). But at the same time, you have to get back to focusing on what you can do. My job is to play hockey. I work hard and play my game, and I can't think about the stuff that's out of my control.
"You can only do what you can do on the ice, take the chances you get and make the best of the opportunity."
Growing up in Oshawa, Ont., Haley was a Maple Leafs fan like a lot of kids. He loved the way Tie Domi played and fought, of course, but there was someone else he appreciated more than anyone.
"I always liked Darcy Tucker," Haley said.
Ugh, as Islanders fans cringe. All they care to know of Tucker is that he -- in their eyes -- cheap-shotted Michael Peca out of their 2002 playoff series, which was won by the Leafs in seven games.
"Yeah," said Haley, laughing. "I don't model myself after him now.
"But he could play, he could hit, he could get under your skin. I've tried to be a little like that."
Haley said he's not big enough, at 5-foot-11, to just be an enforcer, and he's shown he can play the game well, too.
Both sides of the coin -- that's what Haley has always done.
"Even growing up, playing in AAA, I was big enough at that age where I was the guy who was always physical," Haley said. "Fighting kind of came with it, whether I got 80 goals or two goals. It's something I do, no matter what. It's an emotional sport. You try your hardest, and I don't really think about it. I play hockey, and that's part of the game."
Haley was a good lacrosse player, too, but once he got drafted in the second round in the OHL draft, he gave it up. By being drafted in the first two rounds, he was allowed to play major junior at 16, so he did, which meant no time for anything else back home.
But ever since youth hockey, Haley has not been on many good teams. Only one year since his OHL days has a team he's been on made a deep playoff run -- in 2007-08 with the Utah Grizzlies, the Islanders' ECHL affiliate.
"I had one good playoff run, when I went down for a playoff run in the Coast," Haley said. "A-Mac (Isles defenseman Andrew MacDonald) was on that team too. Obviously, everyone who plays at a high level wants to win.”
The Isles certainly want to win. They were an Eastern Conference-worst 6-11-4 in late November.
"I think we've picked up the intensity and the emotion and we've played hard and well,” said Haley. “We need to keep the nose to the grindstone. I think everyone knows we have the horses to do it."
Adam Wodon can be reached at awodon@nyhockeyjournal.com.
ISLANDERS NOTES
The Islanders went more than eights months between road wins, finally breaking a 10-game road winless streak with a victory in New Jersey on Nov. 26. The Isles led the NHL with 15 shorthanded goals last season, but Michael Grabner's that night was the first of the season. ... Kyle Okposo, the former first-round pick, was a healthy scratch for three games after recording no goals in the first six weeks of the season. He responded with a two-goal game upon his return. ... Forward Jay Pandolfo will be out of the lineup until January with a broken foot. ... Forward Matt Martin has been the NHL leader in hits throughout the season so far. ... The Islanders scored 41 goals in the first 21 games, which is their fewest goals through 21 games in club history. The Isles were shut out six times in the first 20 games and five times in their first 12 games at home. It’s the first time in club history that they have been shut out four times in a calendar month and the first time they have been blanked three times in a calendar month at home. The five home shutouts is one shy of the club record of six, which was set in the inaugural season of 1972-73. … Blake Comeau was claimed off waivers by Calgary. Comeau finished his Islander career with 56 goals and 65 assists in 261 games.
-- ADAM WODON
