Reportedly, the Blueshirts will send disgruntled forward Ales Kotalik and disappointing left wing Christopher Higgins west for center Olli Jokinen and enforcer Brandon Prust. It’s a win-win for the Rangers, since they would free up salary on the cap while addressing two very pressing needs.

Yet, they are reportedly waiting for Kotalik’s approval, since he has a limited no-trade clause in his contract. One of those teams is the Flames.

If the details can be worked out, general manager Glen Sather would have found his No. 1 pivot to go with Marian Gaborik and a tough guy, a role both Donald Brashear and Aaron Voros failed at this season for different reasons. (Brashear doesn’t fight, while Voros doesn’t win his fights.)

In Jokinen, the Rangers get a 31 year-old veteran who has scored more than 30 goals four times in his career and current has 11 lights of the lamp with 24 assists. He will immediately become the No. 1 center on the team between Vinny Prospal and Marian Gaborik, forming a very good scoring combination.

Prust will become the Rangers fighter, a role they sorely missed this season after Colton Orr left as a free agent and his replacement Brashear turned out to be a bust.

In turn, the Sather will ship away Kotalik, who has been a healthy scratch for the past eight games and reportedly was looking to be traded. On the season, he has eight goals with 14 assists and an awful minus-18. The former Buffalo Sabre was supposed to the answer on the power play point when he signed a three-year, $9 million contract over the summer, but he couldn’t handle that role and his defense has been extremely suspect.

Also going to Calgary will be Higgins, who came to the Rangers in the Scott Gomez trade. A former 20 goal scorer, the Smithtown, NY native just couldn’t find the net this season and only has six goals with eight assists and a minus-9.

If this trade goes through the Rangers would assume Jokinen’s $5.25 million contract for the rest of the season, yet is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and Prust makes $500,000. Sather will free up Kotalik’s $3 million per for the next two seasons with this trade.

Higgins will be an unrestricted free agent after this season.

Nothing will be announced until later today at the earliest. In the meantime, Ranger fans can take solace in Gaborik’s natural hat trick in the team’s 3-1 win over the Avalanche.

The Indianapolis Colts’ future Hall of Fame quarterback ultimately proved once again that he is indeed that dominant, and that this year, “MVP” might as well stand for “Most Valuable, Peyton.”

Through four straight wins and nearly half of what looked to be a fifth, the New York J-E-T-S had lived off of F-A-T-E, and appeared destined to become the second New York franchise in three seasons to make an improbable journey from an unheralded five seed to the Super Bowl.

Instead, Manning did exactly what you’d expect from the player who won an unprecedented fourth NFL MVP award this season –- make a good defense look bad.

As a result, Manning and the Colts (16-2) return to the Super Bowl for the second time in four years, while the Jets’ magical ride is D-O-N-E.

Facing a surprising 17-6 deficit with 2:11 left in the first half of Sunday’s AFC championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Manning took over, rallying the Colts’ offense for the game’s final 24 points, in a 30-17 comeback win.

Four weeks prior, same setting, same opponent, Manning stood on the sideline, leaving his helmet on, annoyed that team president Bill Polian wouldn’t allow Manning or the Colts (then 14-0) to protect a 15-10 lead against the Jets (11-8) and try for a perfect season.

Manning certainly wasn’t being pulled this time.

And, with rapid-fire efficiency, the Colts’ signal caller carved up a vaunted Jets defense which not only came in as the top-ranked defensive unit in the league both overall and against the pass, but which had allowed a total of just 75 points, for a 9.375 points per game average, over its previous eight games.

It was no problem for Manning, not even when forced to rely upon a largely inexperienced receiving core.

After a 48-yard field goal by Jets’ kicker Jay Feely capped New York’s 17-point second quarter and had Jet fans everywhere dreaming of a super ending to Gang Green’s fairy-tale ride, Manning swiftly dashed the hopes of the Jets’ faithful.

The Colts responded in a mere 58 seconds, going 80 yards in just four plays, with Manning sending rookie wide receiver Austin Collie (7 catches, 123 yards, 1 TD) on his way to his first-ever 100-yard receiving day.

Manning hit Collie for 18 yards to the left, and then went right back to him for 46 yards over the middle. It was the turning point of the game, and Manning and the Colts knew it.

“That play down the field to Collie before the touchdown is the play that I think really got us going,” Manning said. “From that point on, we really had a good bead on things.”

The next play, Manning found Collie again, in the back of the end zone for a leaping 16-yard touchdown catch, with 1:13 left in the first half.

Though the Jets still took a 17-13 lead into the locker room, it was as if the Colts had already taken control of the game.

“You think about 17-6, we thought we were in a good position at that point,” Jets safety Kerry Rhodes said. “But… they got the drive right before half, and after that it was downhill from there.”

The quick jaunt downfield was nothing new for Manning and the Colts. In Week 2, while possessing the ball for just 14:53 (the least amount of time by a winning team since 1977), the Colts won 27-23, scoring all 27 points on offense, in ironically, Miami — the site of Super Bowl XLIV in two weeks, on the same field in which Manning got his only Super Bowl win, three years ago.

The next key moment which sealed the Jets’ fate came early in the third quarter, when Gang Green had a good chance to regain momentum.

New York took the opening kickoff of the second half 39 yards before stalling at the Colts’ 34 yard-line.

On 4th-and-7, it was a typical ‘too short to punt, yet too long to try a field goal’ scenario.

A perfect time for the brash, big-talking Jets’ head coach Rex Ryan to back up his bravado with some guts and call a play that would have fit his over-confident and over-the-top attitude which fueled the Jets’ playoff run.

To that point, the Jets, normally relying on solid defense and a strong rushing game, were enjoying surprising success with their passing game, with rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez (17-30, 257 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT) completing most of the big throws he had to make.

It would have been a great time to go for the first down and keep the drive going. Even a fake field goal or fake punt might have been a better choice than trying a long field goal, especially since Ryan had already gone into his bag of tricks in the second quarter, with former Missouri quarterback-turned-multi-purpose option Brad Smith completing his only pass of the season, a 45-yard play that set up the Jets’ second touchdown of the game.

Although Ryan didn’t go ultra-conservative and punt, he also didn’t exude the persona of his coaching style or of his team by settling for a long 52-yard field goal that sailed harmlessly wide right off the foot of Feely.

The missed kick gave Manning great field position at the Colts’ 42 yard-line, and again, Manning went to work fast.

The next eight plays were all Manning passes, six of them completions, on a drive that took 3:31 and which ended on a 4-yard touchdown pass to second-year receiver Pierre Garcon (game highs of 11 receptions and 151 yards), who did a nice job to keep his feet inbounds in the end zone, along the right sideline, to put Indianapolis ahead for good, 20-17, with 8:03 remaining in the third quarter.

After the game, Garcon, for the second straight week, raised the Haitian national flag in honor of his relatives in earthquake-ravage Haiti.

For all of the pre-game talk of the Jets’ rookies (Ryan, Sanchez, and running back Shonn Greene), it was the Colts’ youngsters who helped Manning and Indianapolis win the AFC crown.

“They made some huge plays for us today,” Manning said of Collie and Garcon, who became Manning’s primary targets with Jets’ shutdown cornerback Darrelle Revis keeping Colts’ leading wide receiver Reggie Wayne (3 catches, 55 yards) in check.

Jets’ nickel back Donald Strickland going down with a groin injury in the first quarter also helped open up some opportunities for the Colts’ passing game.

Meanwhile, Greene (10 carries, 41 yards), whose prolific rushing helped carry the Jets to its two postseason wins to reach Indianapolis, was limited in part, by a rib injury he suffered in the third quarter. He would leave the game, but would later return.

However, the Colts’ defense was stopping the Jets on the ground, anyway. A Jets’ rushing game which led the NFL with 172 yards per game in the regular season, remained consistent in the playoffs with 171 rushing yards in Cincinnati and 169 more in San Diego. On Sunday though, it was the Colts (ranked last in the league in rushing) who actually outrushed the Jets, 101-86, as the Indianapolis defense shut New York out in the second half.

That was all of the defensive help that the Colts’ offense needed, as Manning closed things out, leading Indianapolis on consecutive scoring drives in the fourth quarter.

Manning (26-39, 377 yards, 3 TD, 0 turnovers), who recorded an NFL postseason record seventh 300-yard passing game, took the Colts 51 yards in 3:33, putting Indianapolis ahead, 27-17, on a 15-yard scoring toss to tight end Dallas Clark, with 8:52 left in the game.

“There’s a reason why he’s the MVP of the league,” Ryan said of Manning. “He’s that good, and you’ve got to be on top of your game to beat him… if you can’t disrupt his rhythm he’s gonna kill ya, and we couldn’t disrupt it enough.”

The Colts iced the game on a 12-play drive that resulted in the third field goal of the game by Matt Stover, who will turn 42 on January 27th and will become the oldest player ever to play in the Super Bowl.

It was the second time in as many AFC championship games hosted by the Colts in Indianapolis, that Manning rallied his team from a double digit deficit to win. The Colts also trailed New England in the old RCA Dome in Indianapolis, 21-3, in the second quarter, before beating the Patriots, 38-34, in the 2006 AFC Championship game, en route to Manning’s only other Super Bowl appearance.

The Jets’ first road loss in six games provided some perspective on just how difficult and unlikely the 2007 Giants’ run to a Super Bowl title was. The Giants won 11 straight games away from home that season, and the end of their regular season as well as the beginning of their playoff run that year mirrored what the Jets had accomplished prior to Gang Green falling to the Colts on Sunday.

While Manning and the Colts choose to do all of their talking on the field, the loss seemed to humble the usually outspoken Ryan, who declared his Jets Super Bowl favorites before the playoffs.

“Today wasn’t our day,” he said. “There’s no question. You have to give credit to the Colts. Obviously they’re the cream of the crop right now.”

Adding more to the thoughts of what might have been for Jets fans, this year’s Super Bowl was originally scheduled to be hosted by the Jets, but plans for New York City’s proposed West Side Stadium fell through years ago, after the city, state, and the Jets could not agree on funding. The game was then awarded to Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, and the Jets will instead open play in the new Meadowlands stadium next year.

However, Jet fans should feel encouraged knowing that their team no longer appears to be the “same old Jets” as many have often described the franchise. With a rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback, realistic expectations should have included nothing more than a playoff berth this year.

To be just 32 minutes away, after seemingly being “Jets-tined” to reach the Super Bowl certainly hurts, but to be so close was really just a bonus for this season. With a very solid foundation in Ryan, Sanchez, Greene, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer (who turned down a head coaching opportunity in Buffalo), and one of the league’s best defenses, the Jets figure to remain Super Bowl contenders for several years to come.

“Everybody’s disappointed that we didn’t go to the Super Bowl, especially when we were this close,” Jets left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson said. “We didn’t do everything that we needed to win. But, at the same rate, we did do a lot of great things [this season].”

Strong safety Jim Leonhard added, “Maybe this football team needed to get here and have this experience in order to take the next step.”

Indianapolis meanwhile, will face the New Orleans Saints (15-3, after starting 13-0), on February 7th, in a matchup that will feature two number one seeds in the Super Bowl for the first time in 17 years (when Dallas beat Buffalo in Super Bowl XXVII).

On a couple of different levels, the game will bring things full circle for Manning and the Colts, who will be making their fourth trip to football’s ultimate game, while seeking their third Super Bowl victory.

The Colts’ three previous visits to the Super Bowl were all in Miami, where the Baltimore Colts won Super Bowl V, and the Indianapolis Colts won Super Bowl XLI (in which Manning was named the game’s MVP).

The Saints are marching into the Super Bowl for the first time in their 43 seasons, after capturing the NFC title with a thrilling 31-28 overtime victory over Minnesota on Sunday, four-and-a-half years after the city of New Orleans (Manning’s birthplace) was decimated by Hurricane Katrina.

But Biron did not log his second shutout of the season. That ensured a loss thanks to another anemic offensive display in support of Biron as the Flyers defeated the Islanders for a 13th straight time, posting a 2-1 win Sunday evening at Nassau Coliseum.

Biron lost his sixth straight start. The Islanders have scored just seven total goals in that stretch, prompting winger Trent Hunter to say it’s up to the club to boost Biron’s spirits.

“Marty has been playing great for us and we haven’t given him the support needed and hung him out to dry a few times,” Hunter said. “We have to go to bat for everyone on this team and we need to be better for him.”

Flyers goalie Michael Leighton made 28 saves as the Islanders mustered just seven shots in the final period despite two power play chances. The Isles are just 1 for 33 on the power play in the last eight games after going scoreless on three chances with the extra man.

Briere opened the scoring just 1:51 into the game. Carter rushed into the Islanders zone and avoided defenseman Andy Sutton’s open-ice check attempt. As Sutton over-committed, Carter passed it to Briere, who beat Biron high on the glove-side from the low right circle for his 13th goal.

Jon Sim took advantage of a puck bouncing off Chris Pronger to net his fourth goal. Sim collected the puck after it skipped past Pronger and raced in alone before beating Leighton glove-side for his first goal in six games 3:35 into the second period.

Scott Hartnell, who picked up both assists, facilitated the game-winner by feeding Carter on a 2-on-1 rush with 3:07 remaining in the second. Carter waited for Biron to slide over before nestling the shot under the crossbar for his 14^th goal and third in the past six games.

“I think we came out a little bit flat, but we were able to get things going a little bit,” Hunter said. “They’re a team that capitalizes on mistakes.”

Former Islanders winger Arron Asham was whistled for rouging, setting up a power play midway through the third. The Islanders came close to getting the equalizer when Fran Nielsen’s deflected shot in the slot hit off Leighton and bounced harmlessly away.

Philadelphia has won the first three games of a six-game road trip while the Islanders modest two-game winning streak was snapped one night after an emotional 3-2 overtime victory over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

“We had some chances,” Biron said. “A couple of them just missed the net on deflections and screens. It was almost there to take it to overtime.”

John Tavares had a second straight quiet game. The Islanders leading scorer and first overall draft pick failed to register a single shot on goal in 16:43, going minus-1.

The 19-year-old center was on the ice in the final minute when the Islanders struggled to move the puck out of its own zone and didn’t pull Biron for an extra attacker until there was 13 seconds left.

Wins over Toronto and the Rangers gave the Islanders four points out of six to cap a span of three games in five days. The Islanders are off Monday before hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night.

Islanders vs. Flyers New York Sportsday Wrap Dec. 28, 2009

Biron is winless in his last six starts and 2-10-2 overall in his first season since signing as a free agent. But the ledger doesn’t mean a poor performance on the part of the 11-year veteran. The Islanders have scored just seven total goals during the six-game stretch while Biron has surrendered three goals or fewer in four of those contests.

A sputtering offense is a leading culprit for the Isles current slide. The club enters Monday night’s home game against Tampa Bay losers of six of its last eight games has scored four goals in a game just once this month, when the Islanders beat Atlanta 4-1 on Dec. 3.

Matt Moulson said the forwards are eager to help Biron post his first victory since he led the team to an overtime win over Carolina Nov. 13.

“It’s embarrassing,” Moulson said. “He plays his heart out every game and we don’t give him the support he needs. We don’t get him goals. He’s facing good looks all the time. We have to be there for him.”

Biron started the season in a platoon with Dwayne Roloson. With the campaign nearing the midway point, Roloson is working towards solidifying the depth chart’s No. 1 spot with a 2.91 goals against average and a .908 save percentage. Biron carries a 3.30 GAA and a .897 save percentage into Monday night.

Rick DiPietro is expected back with the team this week and could see action soon depending on how fast he recovers from leg tightness. DiPietro’s return could put Biron on the trading block, though the former Flyers and Sabres netminder said he’s only concerned with helping the team move back into the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

“All the guys are trying but in the end it’s more than just trying getting a win for me,” Biron said. “It’s trying to get wins for the team and get ourselves going in the right direction. It isn’t coming easy right now.”

Biron made 25 saves against Montreal Saturday night. The rest of the team couldn’t muster a single goal against Canadiens backup Jarolsav Halak in a 3-0 loss at Nassau Coliseum. Islanders coach Scott Gordon was supportive of Biron after the game.

“I would like to think Marty came off this game feeling pretty good,” Gordon said. “Even though he didn’t get the win, he didn’t get any goals. He had a good performance. I thought he played really well.”

The Bombers dropped the first eight games to the Red Sox this season and let’s face it, Boston has had the upper-hand since 2004. The Red Sox have won two World Championships while the Yankees haven’t won’t a playoff series over the last 5 years. But after this weekend’s sweep in the Bronx, there is definitely a feeling that the Old World Order of the Yankees owning the Red Sox may be on its way back to form.

The Oakland A’s dropped Jason Giambi like a bad habit on Friday. Giambi was hitting less than his non-steroid weight (.193) and had a paltry 11 home runs in 269 plate appearances. Unfortunately for A’s GM Billy Beane, he didn’t get much from Giambi for the $5 million he paid to the former slugger.

Let’s not shed too many tears that Giambi’s playing days are over. After all, he really cash in on a fraudulent baseball career.

After the Yankees lost the 2001 World Series to the Arizona Diamondbacks, Brian Cashman reached out to Giambi to help put some pop in a line up that lost fan-favorites Paul O’Neill and Scott Brosius to retirement, while Tino Martinez was allowed to test the free-agent market.

Needless to say, the Yankees didn’t get their money’s worth for their $120 million investment in Giambi.

In Giambi’s seven seasons in the Big Apple, New York advanced to the World Series one time and advanced past the Division Series only twice. Giambi hit five home runs in 33 playoff games, but only one since the 2003 Series loss to the Marlins.

You really can’t blame Cashman for making the move. The former AL MVP definitely was ripe for the picking in 2002: Giambi was coming off four-consecutive 100-RBI seasons, belting 116 home runs over the last three years and had six-straight seasons of hitting .290 or better and a career high .342 in 2001.

Unfortunately for Yankee fans, Giambi was never the dominate player as advertised after MLB’s steroid policy was put in place before the 2004 season.

From 2004 through 2008, Giambi never reached 500 at bats in a season; reached 90 plus RBI’s twice; hit only 12 home runs in 2004 and 14 in 2007 and hit .253 or below in five of his last six seasons in the Bronx.

Not exactly MVP numbers.

Future Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz was designated for assignment by the Red Sox after he was bomb shelled in the Bronx last Thursday night.

The Yankees tattooed Smoltz for 8 runs in 3 1/3 innings of work. It’s sad to see players like Smoltz switch teams and hang around too long. It makes me think of Joe Namath with the Rams or Mohammad Ali hoping for one more shot of glory like he did against Larry Holmes.

Smoltz was 2-5 with a 8.32 ERA in eights starts with Boston. No worries John, in five years you will be standing alongside Tom Glavine to accept your rightful place in Cooperstown.

Smoltz notched  212 career wins, with 154 saves and a 3.32 ERA, despite playing in a time when hitters had numerous advantages over pitchers.

Mike is a MLB Producer Sirius-XM Satellite Radio and the Game-Day Producer for the NY Giants Radio Network

It wasn’t there for Figueroa from the beginning as the Arizona Diamondbacks scored three runs in the first and second innings, good enough, for a 6-5 win taking three of four games from the Mets at Citi Field.  Figueroa would face 15 batters, lifted after an inning and a third giving up the six runs on 10 hits.

“Hopefully I will be a better pitcher from this,” commented Figueroa afterwards in a quiet Mets clubhouse.  The Mets have lost four of their last five, and at 50-55 moved further from the wildcard pact of seven other teams, now eight games from the top.  More and more, as this current home stand progresses, it appears the Mets may have to focus on next year.

There were some good things though coming out of another loss.  The Mets fought back, this after Mark Reynolds hit two more home runs, his 31^st and 32^nd of the season off Figueroa in the first and second innings. They managed to get to Arizona starter and winner Dan Haren (11-6) for their five runs in Haren’s seven innings of pitching. Daniel Murphy hit his seventh home run of the season off Haren in the sixth.

Reynolds was 5-for 12 in the series and all of his hits went for extra bases. His trip to Citi Field included four home runs and five runs batted in. “It’s a big park but I just happened to hit four of the longest ones I’ve hit here,” said Reynolds about his home runs.

The Mets bullpen was superb, about the only good coming out of another bad pitching performance from Figueroa. After he was lifted, Tim Redding, Bobby Parnell, Pedro Feliciano and Brian Stokes pitched seven innings of scoreless ball on three hits.  So even with another loss, and seeing his team moving further away from contention, Mets manager Jerry Manuel looked at some of the positives.

“You continue to fight and you’re going to win a game like that,” said Manuel when asked if this loss was more satisfying than losing an 8-0 game. In other words, Manuel saw the resiliency that has been a part of this Mets season with the bulk of his lineup out with injuries.

Even at this juncture, the imminent returns of Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran to the lineup will have to be played with caution.  The Mets made no moves prior to the trading deadline last week, and with the dog days of August here, there may not be any reason to worry about another September collapse this time.

Figueroa had nothing from the beginning. The Diamondbacks, who are almost next to last in every offensive category, and next to last in the NL West, hit everything that came their way in that first inning.

“It’s unfortunate,” explained Figueroa about his brief outing. “The timing, it’s not April coming here and not giving them what they wanted.” The timing for the Mets to shave that facial hair is slipping away, so is any immediate possibility of offering some type of pennant race for their fans.  St. Louis comes to town Tuesday evening for a brief two game series that concludes Wednesday afternoon.

Johan Santana (12-5) opens the series and will try and once again to give the Mets a win after another loss. The Cardinals will throw Joel Pineiro (9-9), who threw a complete game shutout against the Mets at Citi Field back on June 23^rd.

e-mail Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com

It was he Yankees 21^st win in their last 26 games and they retained their 2-1/2 game lead over second place Boston in the AL East.  Right hander pitcher Joba Chamberlain (6-2) won his third straight decision He went seven innings, allowed two hit and a run. He did not allow a hit to the last 20 batters faced following Ryan Sweeney’s second inning single.

Derek Jeter recorded his team high 19^th game of three or more hits and Melky Cabrera recorded a season high tying three hits for the third time, going 3-for-4. Phil Coke and David Robertson followed Chamberlain.

“He has strikeout stuff and learning as he goes,” said Yankees manager Joe Girardi. Yankees starters have now gone 6-0 with a 2.35 ERA in eight games since the All-Star break and have held their opponents to three earned runs or less in each outing.

Game three of the series is Saturday afternoon in the Bronx at 1:05pm.  Left hander Andy Pettite (8-5) opposes Athletics left hander Gio Gonzalez (1-2).

Thoughts of acquiring Wilson might have germinated two decades ago. As a member of the Mets, Carter put together a very preliminary mental scouting report on Wilson, though the competition level at the time was a little suspect.

“He was always the MVP of family days,” said Carter with a laugh.

Wilson is the stepson of Mookie Wilson, a teammate of Carter on the Mets 1986 championship team.  As a child growing up around a big league clubhouse in Shea Stadium, young Preston learned the game from players like his stepfather and Carter, who was in the midst of forging a Hall of Fame catching career.

Through the first two games of the new season, Wilson recorded a home run, four runs scored and four RBIs, including a 1-3, one-run, one RBI showing Friday night in a 10-6 Ducks victory over Southern Maryland that moved the Flock to 2-0.

Childhood memories aside, Wilson established a more tangibles connection to the Mets as an adult. The Amazin’s selected Wilson in the first round of the 1992 draft. As a 23-year-old in 1998, Wilson made his major league debut at Shea and played eight games for the Mets, where Mookie was the first base coach.

But the family reunion would not last long. Wilson’s Mets run lasted just eight games, though he became a key piece in one of the organization’s most famous trades. The Mets shipped the outfielder to Florida in the Mike Piazza trade.

Wilson played three full seasons for the Marlins before making stops in Colorado, Washington and Houston. He split 2006 with the Astros and Cardinals, marking his last full year in baseball. St. Louis. Wilson was limited to just 25 games with St. Louis in 2007, needing surgery to repair articular cartilage in his right knee.

With his 35th birthday coming in July, Wilson said he joined the Ducks for the typical reasons: get back to the big leagues, show the scouts his bat still has life and play against quality competition. But the Bamberg, South Carolina native said he has another goal for 2009.

“I was really frustrated sitting at home after the surgery,” Wilson said. “I came here to fall in love of the game again. It’s been such a big part of my life and I felt like I lost it.”

Despite batting a career .264 with 189 home runs and 668 RBIs in 10 major league seasons, no one called Wilson in 2008.  In 2003 the 6-2, 193-pound outfielder made his first All-Star team en route of belting a career-high 36 home runs while racking up 141 RBIs for the Rockies. Just five years later, Wilson was stuck in his Miami, Fl. home.

There are some positives for Wilson, who got to spend time with his six-year-old daughter. He said having to leave her to get on a plane to New York was the hardest part about starting the season, though a successful Ducks stint could mean his daughter might get the chance to see her dad play at the highest level once again. Wilson said his year off was difficult even if it allowed for personal reflection.

“No one is immune from life,” Wilson said. “I know there are people worse off than having to rehab a knee. When it’s done, it will be done.”

Carter said he would like to see Wilson make it to the majors and thinks the talent level is still there.

“I feel like he’s family,” Carter said.  ”I know how bad he wants to get back to the big leagues.”

New York will be Wilson’s home away from home this season, and Carter isn’t the only familiar face. Buddy Harrelson, the Ducks co-owner and coach, was the third base coach on the Mets 1986 team. That position of authority still resonates with Wilson 23 years later.

“I still call him Mr. Harrelson. It’s hard for me to call him Buddy,” Wilson said during Ducks media day. “I grew up around New York more than anywhere else.”

The Islanders once again found offense from unlikely sources and good goaltending made it stand up. One day after Sean Bergenheim picked up his first career hat trick, Jeff Tambellini scored his third goal in four games, Josh Bailey scored for the first time in 15 games and Kyle Okposo took another step towards a 20-goal season in his rookie year.

Yann Danis capitalized on the offensive support, making 40 saves and teaming with a penalty kill unit that nullified a pair of two-man power plays and kept the Wayne Gretzky-coached Phoenix Coyotes scoreless on seven power play chances in a 3-2 matinee victory at Nassau Coliseum Sunday.

“Sometimes we make some youthful mistakes but we make up for it with effort,” coach Scott Gordon said. “It’s slowly coming together.”

Danis tied his career high in saves, including 16 in a frantic third period for his second 40-save game in his past six appearances. He has allowed just nine goals in those last six games. Nine different Islanders recorded at least one point, sending the club on a six-game road trip winners of four of its past five games.

The Isles will look to carry its hot play away from Long Island. Gordon’s team is 6-23-2 away from home, though Okposo said the Islanders are improving in all facets. The club has captured points in six of the past eight games after losing seven of its previous eight contests before Feb. 21.

“We’re working so hard to back-pressure, and I think that’s been the big difference in our team over the last month,” Okposo said. “We come back so hard that we don’t give teams a lot off the rush. We’re getting above the puck and not giving up too many odd-man rushes. We’ve just been playing better as a team.”

All three Islanders goals came in a whirlwind second period.  Tambellini sent home a rebound in front of the net for his fifth of the season to tie the score at 1 following Scottie Upshall’s opening tally 15:50 into the first that gave Phoenix it’s only lead. Three of Tambellini’s five goals have come in the past three games.

Bailey put the Isles ahead at the 9:18 mark, pushing a wrist shot past Ilja Bryzglaov. Okposo followed with a net-finding wrist shot with 36.8 seconds left before second intermission for his 14th goal. At the time, that tally provided an insurance marker that proved to be the game-winner. The Isles are 9-3-3 in the past 13 games at the Coliseum.

“I thought in the second period, we came out and had a lot of jump,” Okposo said. “We were moving our feet and getting above the puck. We carried that over into the third.  We didn’t give them too much. They had 41 shots, but we didn’t give up too many quality chances.”

Tim Jackman and Bergenheim gave Phoenix its best chance to get back in the game, taking penalties for hooking and tripping respectively 1:54 into the final period to give the Coyotes its second five-on-three opportunity.  Yet Phoenix only recorded two shots during the two-man advantages and the Coyotes only cut it to 3-2 when Shane Doan scored a point-blank goal with 18.6 seconds left after the visitors pulled their goalie.

“We didn’t capitalize on either five-on-three,” Gretzky said. “I believe you should score on every five-on-three situation.”

Danis faced a slew of shots in the final period yet the defense was able to clear out rebounds and prevented many quality chances. Phoenix nearly made it 3-2 with 5:23 to play when Matthew Lombardi’s shot skipped past Danis. Following a video review, the officials ruled the net was knocked off its moorings just before the puck crossed the goal line, disallowing the goal.

“Most of their shots were from the outside and whenever there was a rebound, guys took care of it,” said Danis, who increased his save percentage to .924 in improving to 7-10-2. “They didn’t have any odd-man rushes. We’re playing some smart hockey defensively.”

This is just the way the sports business goes these days as Therrien took the fall for the struggling Pittsburgh Penguins, after leading his team to the Stanley Cup finals last season.

“I owe it to the franchise and the organization to take the steps necessary that I think are best, and that’s what led me to do what I did,” Pittsburgh general manager Ray Shero said about the change.

Therrien will be replaced by Wilkes-Barre/Scranton coach Dan Bylsma and it will be his job to turn around the Penguins.

The Pens are in worse shape than the Rangers. They currently sit tenth in the conference with 59 points with no sign of pepping up. But the Rangers are in a free-fall, with 66 points and sixth in the conference. The Blueshirts have just one win in the last eight games and some of the losses have been brutal.

Yet, none are as bad as yesterday’s 5-2 drubbing by the Philadelphia Flyers, where the Rangers let in a 5-on-3 shorthanded goal in the second period. The team is looking lost, and Renney may be the next coach to get the ax if something doesn’t turn around quickly.

“I take full responsibility for where this team is right now,” Renney said. “It comes with the position so my job is to correct this, get us winning, and getting us feeling better about ourselves.”

Renney is just trying to be captain of the ship and it’s not his fault that the personnel on the club have not jelled. This past summer it was general manager Glen Sather who gave the foolish contract to Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival has shown he’s not a $5 million a year player.

And when they signed Scott Gomez and Chris Drury in 2007, it was to have them play with front-line wings like Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan. As we have seen this season, neither can step up with the spotlight shine upon them.

Also, can you blame Renney for Sather signing so many back-end forwards? Dan Fritche was a bust and Aaron Voros has not become Sean Avery, who now may be back in a few weeks. Patrick Rissmiller was so bad that no team wanted him on waivers, although the cost would be minimal.

Frankly, the only reason why the team has a sixth place standing is the play of Henrik Lundqvist, who has been hung out to dry too many times by his defense.

Even the Ranger players don’t want to see their coach fall. “They’re not the ones on the ice,” Drury said of Sather and Renney. “We put the jerseys on. They give us guidelines on what our system is on what the scouring report is on what the game plan is [but] we’ve got to execute it. Clearly, a 5-2 loss at home we’re not executing.”

So you can’t blame Renney, but unfortunately he may not get a chance to turn it around. Although unfair, a coaching change may have to take place, with assistant general manager Jim Schoenfeld possibly taking the bench. A new voice may make the team respond in a positive way. It has worked in the past for a number of clubs, including the Mets last summer when Jerry Manuel took over for Willie Randolph.

It’s unfortunately if Renney does take the fall. He has done a tremendous job with the Rangers over the past three seasons and now – as this space has advocated in the past – deserves to have a chance to turn around the team.

But if Therrien’s firing teaches us anything, it’s that every coach is one step away from the unemployment line.