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Zenon Konopka - Thread
Topic Started: Jul 2 2010, 02:53 PM (2,809 Views)
Snowy
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The Dark Knight
Per Katie Strang's twitter. Center had 265 PM for Tampa last year.

Konopka is 6-1, 213 lbs and is 29 years old. Him and Gillies on the 4th line will hopefully be enough to protect Tavares.
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4CUPZ
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HEAD OF SECURITY
HOPEFULLY THIS STOPS
THE BOIL ON MY ASS FROM RE-APPEARING
:yea: :thumbsup:
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Dr. Generosity
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Put the Cup Back in Our Lobby Where It Belongs
Very good signing by Garth. I'm very pleased. This guy is a legit heavyweight and, strangely enough, an excellent faceoff guy. I saw his faceoff stats at the end of the season (sorry, can't remember them now) and remember doing a double-take. We won't be seeing Richard Park go out for extra draws anymore, I guess.

Where this guy might not help, and could hurt us, is in the penalty box. We will probably lose a few games this season with Zenon in the box. But this signing nicely answers Boogaard's signing in Manhattan, and who knows, maybe this guy could impart some lessons to our young centermen as well.

Again, nice job here...and on Day 2 in general.
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How to sell more North American cars
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New York Islanders, anagram: Rink leaders, Snowy!
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dragoneye
Kung Fu Hockey
Hmmm.. Don't we already have a load of centers, ie Tavares, Nielsen, Schremp and Bailey? Does this shift Bailey to the wing?
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Snowy
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The Dark Knight
dragoneye,Jul 2 2010
04:15 PM
Hmmm.. Don't we already have a load of centers, ie Tavares, Nielsen, Schremp and Bailey? Does this shift Bailey to the wing?

He will be a 4th line center, something we don't have. Bringing energy, playing an enforcer role, as Dr. G said he's a good faceoff guy. The one thing I'm not sure about is if he kills penalties. If he hasn't before, I'm sure he will on this team. Bailey seems to have been pegged as a winger anyway. We really need to add a scoring forward still. The better question one might ask is where does this leave Doug Weight. He will be playing on the top 3 lines most likely, something that doesn't make much sense to me.
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dtonelli27
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4th line
I watched this guy in Tampa all year, he does kill penalties, very well I might add.

He has more speed then your average heavy weight and while he may not throw the same open ice hits as Steve Webb did, he will be the closest thing we will of had to him since he retired.

Overall good signing
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Webb20
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Godfather
You can certainly look at this as an upgrade over Park at the 4th line center. At least this guy can have a role in addition to adding protection.

But with 269 minutes in PIMs when does he get to kill penalties?
I sold it all, retired and moved to Fabulous Las Vegas!
"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."-Ben Franklin
"Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves."-Ronald Reagan
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3POTI
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Bring back...PRIDE OF THE ISLAND
okay...now we have a tag team action...gillies has someone to talk to now..I am very happy. Now when does Ilya come aboard..
Today Is A Great Day To Be An Islander Fan!
Live For The Moment!

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Ziggy16
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For any #Isles fans wondering, Garth Snow said he envisions Konopka playing alongside, not instead of, enforcer Trevor Gillies.

http://twitter.com/katiestrangnyi
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Dark Helmet
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Ziggy16,Jul 2 2010
07:16 PM
For any #Isles fans wondering, Garth Snow said he envisions Konopka playing alongside, not instead of, enforcer Trevor Gillies.

http://twitter.com/katiestrangnyi

Moulson - Tavares - Okposo
Bailey- Schremp - Comeau
Weight - Nielsen - Hunter
Gillies - Kanopka - PA Parenteau

Hillen - Streit
Eaton - Martinek
MacDonald - Jurcina
(7th - Gervais)

Roloson
DiPietro
Lawson

Ladies and Gents, your 2010-11 NY Islanders.
"Evil will always triumph because Good is dumb."
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Ziggy16
All Star
your gonna have to take somebody out and add anotehr player.. we still have to add 4 million to reach the floor.. someone in this list will be sitting in favor of our next signing which we have no choice to do ...
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Dark Helmet
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Ziggy16,Jul 2 2010
07:26 PM
your gonna have to take somebody out and add anotehr player.. we still have to add 4 million to reach the floor.. someone in this list will be sitting in favor of our next signing which we have no choice to do ...

Im pretty sure were at the cap floor including bonuses to Tavares, Weight and Co.
"Evil will always triumph because Good is dumb."
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Ziggy16
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nope, including all their deals, we are still 4 mill short
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stevedepot
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WISENHEIMER
Dark Helmet,Jul 2 2010
07:44 PM
Ziggy16,Jul 2 2010
07:26 PM
your gonna have to take somebody out and add anotehr player.. we still have to add 4 million to reach the floor..  someone in this list will be sitting in favor of  our next signing which we have no choice to do ...

Im pretty sure were at the cap floor including bonuses to Tavares, Weight and Co.

we still have over 4-5 million they need to spend to just get to the cap FLOOR (that's including bonuses, Yashin buyout and the career rehabber)

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4CUPZ
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HEAD OF SECURITY
NEVER DOUBT ZIG ON THAT STUFF
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Dark Helmet
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My helmet is bigger than yours
stevedepot,Jul 2 2010
08:05 PM
Dark Helmet,Jul 2 2010
07:44 PM
Ziggy16,Jul 2 2010
07:26 PM
your gonna have to take somebody out and add anotehr player.. we still have to add 4 million to reach the floor..  someone in this list will be sitting in favor of  our next signing which we have no choice to do ...

Im pretty sure were at the cap floor including bonuses to Tavares, Weight and Co.

we still have over 4-5 million they need to spend to just get to the cap FLOOR (that's including bonuses, Yashin buyout and the career rehabber)

Well Parenteau is on a one way. So if we sign another forward, Gillies wont be playing "alongside" anybody. Unless I missed something?
"Evil will always triumph because Good is dumb."
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Shooter
All Star
Dark Helmet,Jul 2 2010
08:07 PM
stevedepot,Jul 2 2010
08:05 PM
Dark Helmet,Jul 2 2010
07:44 PM
Ziggy16,Jul 2 2010
07:26 PM
your gonna have to take somebody out and add anotehr player.. we still have to add 4 million to reach the floor..  someone in this list will be sitting in favor of  our next signing which we have no choice to do ...

Im pretty sure were at the cap floor including bonuses to Tavares, Weight and Co.

we still have over 4-5 million they need to spend to just get to the cap FLOOR (that's including bonuses, Yashin buyout and the career rehabber)

Well Parenteau is on a one way. So if we sign another forward, Gillies wont be playing "alongside" anybody. Unless I missed something?

I can't believe anyone is even discussing Gillies as a real hockey player, as someone who is taking up a roster space. This team sucks again. The excitement begins again next June for the draft.
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mrbixby
2nd line
Dark Helmet,Jul 2 2010
06:23 PM
Ziggy16,Jul 2 2010
07:16 PM
For any #Isles fans wondering, Garth Snow said he envisions Konopka playing alongside, not instead of, enforcer Trevor Gillies.

http://twitter.com/katiestrangnyi

Moulson - Tavares - Okposo
Bailey- Schremp - Comeau
Weight - Nielsen - Hunter
Gillies - Kanopka - PA Parenteau

Hillen - Streit
Eaton - Martinek
MacDonald - Jurcina
(7th - Gervais)

Roloson
DiPietro
Lawson

Ladies and Gents, your 2010-11 NY Islanders.

Yeah, that's the way I see the lines shaping up thus far. Except I'd have Gillies/Martin/Joensuu battle it out for that 4th line LW spot...anyone know if any of these guys have 2-way contracts?
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THEDRIVE4FIVE
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The Kid
Kovy has a body gaurd :thumbsup:
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Go Grabs Go!
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stevedepot
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WISENHEIMER
Chris Botta has a nice read on Fanhouse about him.

http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2010/10/05/honorin...-fights-for-ev/

Quote:
 

Honoring His Father's War-Torn Life, Zenon Konopka Fights For Every Shift

10/05/2010 10:00 AM ET By Christopher Botta

Ask most NHL players where they get their character and work ethic, and you'll hear warm and appreciative stories about moms and dads who drove them to hockey practices at five o'clock in the morning. Ask Zenon Konopka, the gritty and pugnacious fourth-line center of the New York Islanders, and he's got some story to tell about Zenon Konopka Sr.

"I play hockey and I scrap, and I guess people say I'm tough," said Konopka, who led the NHL last season with 33 fighting majors while a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning. "But my dad ... now, he was tough. There isn't any comparison between what I do as a hockey player and what his life was all about."

Konopka's Polish-born father was three years old when Germany and later Russia invaded Poland at the start of World War II. Russian soldiers came to his family's home and said they would be placed in a concentration camp in Siberia.

"The way I understand the story," said the Islander, "my father's family was left on a train to Siberia for two straight weeks before it moved an inch. People got sick. People died all around them before they even left Poland."

His family was not spared; Konopka had relatives who died of starvation.

His grandfather and uncle were given a choice after Germany split from Russia: if they joined the battle against the Nazis, the Konopka family would be relocated to a safe location in Africa. They went to war while Zenon Konopka's father and aunts lived in Africa.

"Two of my aunts are still alive," said Konopka. "They follow my hockey career and they'll always be an inspiration to me."

Sadly, his father did not live to see Konopka play with the Lightning -- or even his four years as a teenager with the Ottawa 67s of the Ontario Hockey League.

"I was 13 years old," remembers Konopka, who was raised by his mother and father in Niagara-on-the-Lake. "I was supposed to go on a school trip to Quebec, but for some reason I couldn't understand, Dad insisted that I didn't go.

"He worked in a GM plant for 10 hours a day, but in the morning and at night, he worked on our family farm. One morning while I was sleeping, he was out on his tractor. He went to make a left turn on the road at the same time a car tried to pass him on the left. They crashed. My father fell out of the tractor, but the tractor landed on him and he passed away instantly."

Zenon Konopka Sr. was 58 years old. His son says it took him more than a decade before he could bring himself to discuss his death.

"It's still so hard," he says today. "My father was indestructible in my eyes. To me, he was the invincible man."

Zenon Konopka can talk about tragedy today because time has allowed him to see that his own story of a climb from the depths of the minors to the NHL is, in large part, a tale about his parents.

With his father gone, his mother Arlene ran the family farm with Zenon and his sisters before selling it when he left to play junior hockey. Through it all, Arlene still found time -- like most Canadian parents -- to drive Zenon to his hockey games and practices. The few lessons the young boy was unable to learn from his dad about work ethic, he saw every day in the actions of his mom. It's easy to see why Konopka never gave up on his NHL dream, a goal his father told everyone in Niagara-on-the-Lake was his destiny.

Those good years with the 67s did not earn Konopka an NHL or American League contract. He played for $300 a week in East Coast League in Wheeling, W.Va. He never stopped trying to reach the NHL. He won faceoffs and blocked shots, and if taking on every fighter who challenged or took liberties with a teammate in Wheeling or Scranton or Idaho or Cincinnati would also get the attention of scouts, it was a small price to pay.

"Courage is my grandfather and uncle fighting the Nazis, you know what I mean?" he says.

Six years into his pro career, Konopka finally started to get noticed and taken seriously. He played his first 23 NHL games with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in the 2005-06 season. The next year, he got an earnest look in the Columbus Blue Jackets organization, got in six NHL games and played for the aptly-named Syracuse Crunch of the AHL. On a team with a half-dozen guys willing to drop the gloves, Konopka could fight and play. After averaging 20 goals and 50 points over two full seasons in the AHL, the six-foot, 200-pound center got his first real chance in the NHL. In 74 games last season with Tampa Bay, Konopka had two goals, three assists and 265 penalty minutes.

The Islanders, admirers of his passion and grit for a while, gave him a one-way offer when he became an unrestricted free agent. More established in the NHL than he has ever been in his career, the 29-year-old Konopka isn't about to stop fighting and playing in memory of his father.

"I lost my dad when I was just 13 years old, but when I look back at those years, everything for him revolved around me," Konopka said the other day after an Islanders' practice. "I was talking to my older sisters about him a few years ago, asking them questions about dad. One of them joked, 'I think you knew him better than all of us. You were his life.' That really kind of blew me away.

"He was always there for me, taking me to hockey, taking me to baseball, being my biggest fan. He made incredible sacrifices for his family. I was lucky to have him in my life, and every time I'm about to play another game, I'm thinking of him."
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