Magic Shell. That's what the Islanders are like. Remember Magic Shell from when you were a kid? That chocolate syrupy stuff that you would pour on top of your ice cream, and it would get hard and make a shell like coating on top? Well, the Islanders are Magic Shell. In the beginning, all nice and gooey, running all over the ice, getting into every last crevice. But then they get their lead, they harden up. They fall back into their defensive shell, and just wait for someone to come along with a spoon. You get the teams that just tap lightly with the spoon, then the teams that crack the shell wide open. Pheonix cracked us wide open. We got our one goal lead, shelled up, and then they killed us for 2 goals late in the 3rd. And once you freeze up into your defensive shell, there is very little chance of coming back. (If you can come back, you're extra thin and extra runny - no way to get anything productive out of that.) As we've said in previous articles, the Islanders need to stop taking a lead into the 3rd for granted. They need to still hustle and create offensive chances to get them ahead even more. We need as much help as we can get. How long is it going to take them to learn this? I would have thought that since we've lost so many games because of this by now that we would have been done with his elementary school lesson. The Islanders lead the NHL with the most blown leads in the 3rd period, with 5 this season. The goalie will accept 100 dollar bills Connolly, please pay off the goalie. Maybe he'll let you get at least one in. You're tied with Jose! He is a goaltender, you should not be tied with a goaltender for number of goals. There's something wrong there. On another interesting note - with our one goal vs Pheonix, Czerkawski finally passed up Izzy for number of goals. Pretty pathetic that it's taken him that long to beat a player that's been injured for 3 weeks, don't you think? I know what's wrong with Connolly, Czerk was giving him advice after Connolly was stumped again! Welcome, Martins and Blake The 2 newbies, Steve Martins and Jason Blake had their first visit to the coliseum. Blake seemed to have great hustle and was all over the ice. On the other hand, Martin was non-existant. I don't remember seeing him on the ice at any one time. Maybe it just takes him some time to warm up to the new team. I hope. The Future of Ice Cream Back to Ice cream. (Are you hungry yet?) The sign boasts, "Dippin Dots, the Future of Ice Cream!" Last night I tried it for the first time. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, it's little pellets of ice cream. It really isn't cold, and it looks like little rocks. Lots of interesting flavors, past your usual chocolate and vanilla. Flavors like banana split, mint and others keep you interested. (The little pellet lets them mix many different flavors.) The only thing weird about it is that you have to chew on it. Chewing on ice cream? I usually have ice cream when I cant chew for whatever reason. I'll partake once a season maybe, but the rest of the time give me a plain cup of vanilla. What's your favorite treat at the coliseum? Vote in our poll!