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head coach: Mike Milbury

roster: C - Robert Reichel, Trevor Linden, Bryan Smolinski, Claude Lapointe, Sergei Nemchinov. LW - Mike Hough, Ken Belanger, Tom Chorske, Gino Odjick. RW - Zigmund Palffy, Jason Dawe, Joe Sacco, Mariusz Czerkawski, Dan Plante, Steve Webb, Vladimir Orszagh. D - Scott Lachance, Bryan Berard, Richard Pilon, Kenny Jonsson, J.J. Daigneault, Zdeno Chara, Dennis Vaske. G - Tommy Salo, Wade Flaherty.

injuries: Aw, it doesn't matter...

transactions: None.

standings:

Eastern Conference - Atlantic Division   
Team           GP   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA   
z-New Jersey   82  48  23  11   107  225  166  
x-Philadelphia 82  42  29  11    95  242  193
x-Washington   82  40  30  12    92  219  202  
NY Islanders   82  30  41  11    71  212  225  
NY Rangers     82  25  39  18    68  197  231  
Florida        82  24  43  15    63  203  256 
Tampa Bay      82  17  55  10    44  151  269  

x - Clinched playoff spot
z - Clinched conference

game results:

4/08 New Jersey     W 3-2
4/09 at Boston      L 4-1 
4/11 at Montreal    T 3-3
4/13 Washington     L 2-0
4/15 at NY Rangers  L 4-2
4/16 Tampa Bay      W 4-0
4/18 at New Jersey  W 2-1

team news:

by David Strauss, NY Islanders Correspondent

Ziggy Palffy ended the season by scoring two goals against the Devils and giving them reason to shake their head. It remains to be seen whether he'll be giving the Islanders management some reasons to shake their head this summer.

In a post-game press conference, Palffy said his chances of returning to the Islanders next season are only "50-50" since he'll become a restricted free agent on July 1. He also expressed anger toward Islander management for letting his contract situation get this far without any movement.

"I'm not happy," said Palffy. "I never complain about this stuff, but I'm not happy right now. Other guys sign, like (Anaheim's Teemu) Selanne and (Dallas') Mike Modano. Their teams sign them right now because they care about them and they want to. These guys are waiting for the summertime, so I'm going to wait until July and be a free agent. I'm not going to wait for nothing."

The new owners, Steven Gluckstern and Howard Milstein, have expressed their intent to re-sign the popular Palffy, who finished the season with 45 goals. He became only the fourth Islander to score 40 in three straight seasons, and is only 25 years old. On a team struggling to reclaim its place in the New York sports market, he's the only marketable star that's lived up to expectations.

GM/coach Mike Milbury told the media he was going to start negotiating right away. No reason to wait until July 1st. Problem being that nobody seems to yet know whether Milbury will be coach and GM come next month, just coach, just GM, or something in the middle. (No truth to the rumor he's about to open up a charm school with John Muckler.) "All I mentioned to him was that my situation was uncertain," Milbury said. "But nonetheless, the organization owed it to him to offer him a contract. It will not be easy. In all likelihood it will not happen overnight. But we might as well get started."

But Ziggy complained that the Isles should have started contract negotiations a while ago. He asked for an extension prior to this season, but talks broke down because Palffy wanted to renegotiate this year's $1.725 million deal as part of a $5 million a season deal. He's since raised his asking price to the $6 million range, but has had no contact at all regarding his contract since the new owners took over.

"I'm worried about it," said Palffy. "I want to be here. But I'm going to wait. I'm not going to sign what they give me right away. They had to wait until I scored another 40 goals? I want to wait until the first of July. I wait a long time. They had the whole year."

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