By By Chris Vaccaro & Ed Morrone

During our last round of verbal shots, Ed and I debated on whether the Mets or Phillies would end higher in the NL East. Well, I lost that battle after the Mets finished fourth, but was satisfied when Philly didn’t advance to the post-season either.

Now, after a year’s drought from the National Hockey League (NHL), the New York Islanders are back and so are their rivals from Philadelphia. It’s the same argument this time around, just on the ice instead of the diamond.

Both teams have had significant roster changes. The Islanders unloaded their captain, Michael Peca, and three strong defensemen in Adrian Aucoin, Roman Hamrlik and Kenny Jonnson. However, they now have a true scorer in Miroslav Satan, a gritty and aged defenseman in Alexei Zhitnik and Brad Lukowich, who played with Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay.

I’ll be honest in saying the Flyers acquisition of Peter Forsberg was probably the best of the off-year, but still do not think they will be atop the Atlantic Division come seasons end. Adding Derian Hatcher on defense won’t provide much. He spent 24 games at UHL Motor City, keeping his old legs fresh and warm, but it won’t make a difference. Jeremy Roenick couldn’t stay because of the new soft salary cap, which is good, because he is always a threat.

The Islanders have the clear edge in goaltending. Rick DiPietro is young, had a good work ethic during the summer months and is one of the most fundamentally sound goaltenders in the NHL. He had a 2.36 goals against average (GAA) in 50 games during the 2003-04 season.

Robert Esche had a good season in 2003-04 for the Flyers, with a 2.04 GAA, but he isn’t proven, and can’t be taken seriously until they make it to a Stanley Cup. Not to say that DiPietro has led the Islanders anywhere, but he is familiar with the system and on the ice at the Coliseum. Most importantly, he understands his role and position on this team.

Antero Nittymaki, the Flyers backup goalie, had amazing numbers for the Phantoms of the American Hockey League, last year’s Calder Cup winners. If Esche doesn’t perform up to par, a change is possible.

Now, is it just me or does the offensive core for the Flyers give an impression of playing like a bunch of wilted beans? Excluding Forsberg – since he did a lot for Colorado in their winning days – I can’t get too excited at all over Jon Sim, Simon Gagne, Mike Knuble, Brian Savage and so on. The worst of all is Donald Brashear, since he is known more for his drunk driving incident in 2003 and stick swinging mishaps.

The Islanders, on the other hand, added Satan in hopes of sparking one of the best first lines in the NHL, as he is joined by new captain Alexei Yashin and youngster Robert Nilsson. Also, don’t forget the speed provided by Jason Blake and Sean Bates and good two-way games from Mark Parrish, Mike York and Oleg Kvasha, who use their bodies for physical dominance alongside their scoring game.

The new Islanders defense comprised of Lukowich, Zhitnik, new comer Brent Sopel, ice eater Janne Niinimaa and rookie Chris Campoli hasn’t played together long enough to give any signs of assurance. Sure, it’s hard to lose someone of Aucoin’s caliber, but with the names gained during the off-season and a period to gel together, it shouldn’t take long for everyone to play smart and aggressive defense.

The saving grace for Philly and its defense is that they’ve been together and do not have to go through the same acquainting process as the Islanders. Bolstered by Kim Johnsson, Chris Therien and Mike Rathje, the Flyers will have a strong defense.

Their first meeting provided a dull and somewhat boring show of Islander hockey, after the Flyers played very well in a 5-1 win. Many critics are picking Philly to be cup contenders; I’ll give it a month or so before I make any bold predictions like that.

Since it’s only less than a month into the season, it’s very hard to predict what will happen. Fortunately, eight teams from each conference make the playoffs, so even if the Islanders win the division, the Flyers could be seeded as high as fourth in the East.

Chris Vaccaro is sports editor for The Chronicle. He is a contributing writer for New York Sportscene and staff writer for Long Island’s Ultimate Athlete magazines. You can reach him at [email protected].

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Oh joy, hockey season is back. If you couldn’t sense it, that statement just hit a 10 on the sarcasm meter. Sorry for not being excited over the return of the sport, but in all honestly I didn’t really miss it. The players whine too much aboutmoney while I have to pay $40 to 50 for a decent Flyers ticket. But alas, that’s another argument for another day.

When Chris asked me if I wanted to argue who would finish higher atop the Atlantic Division-the Flyers or Islanders-I thought it was April Fools Day.

Please, the Islanders? The only recollection I have of the Isles is frequently seeing them finish behind the Flyers year after year and being eliminated early in the playoffs.

After a year off, Flyers GM Bob Clarke had quite a busy off-season, overhauling a team that came within a goal of the Stanley Cup in 2003-04. Usually, it’s a bad sign when the front office makes so many changes to an already talented team, but Clarke actually made the Flyers better.

Clarke also beefed up the defense, most notably his signing of the experienced Derian Hatcher, whose physical play on the ice will fit well with the Flyers’ bruising style of play. The team also brought in Chris Therien and Mike Rathje in addition to holdovers Eric Desjardins and Kim Johnnson, which gives the Flyers one of the deepest defenses in the NHL.

This defense will help protect goaltender Robert Esche, who flew under the radar in leading the Flyers to Game 7 of the Conference Finals in 2004. Esche will be the starter, but he’s not even the best goalie on the roster. That honor belongs to rookie Antero Niittymaki, who led the American Hockey League’s Philadelphia Phantoms to a Calder Cup title. Look for the very talented Nittymaki to take the starting job by mid-season.

The Flyers lost headliners Jeremy Roenick, Mark Recchi and John LeClair, but this shouldn’t hurt the team at all. In their place are youngsters Mike Richards, Jeff Carter and Patrick Sharp, all of whom played integral roles on the Phantoms and have been NHL-ready for two years. With so much talent on the roster, the Flyers don’t even need these guys to stand out. As long as they play solid hockey throughout the season, the Islanders and the rest of the division don’t stand a chance.

As for the Islanders, forgive me for not knowing much about them. It must be because they’re never around long enough in the post-season for me to familiarize myself with the team. Alexei Yashin hasn’t lived up to the hype since leaving Ottawa for Long Island and Miroslav Satan is nothing special. Rick DiPietro could be a good goalie, but opponents will probably end up slamming him harder than he slammed his head into the ice in a game earlier this season. The backup is Garth Snow. Hmm, intriguing-didn’t he play for the Flyers like six years ago? Janne Niinimaa is also a former Flyers castoff who couldn’t defend much of anything when he played there. Adrian Aucoin and Alexei Zhitnik were nice pickups on defense, but with a lot of games against the high-powered Flyers, Penguins and Devils, the defense will break down faster than the Islanders in the playoffs.

And look, I know the Flyers haven’t won a title since the mid-70s, but at least they’ve come close a lot. The bottom line is this organization knows how to win, and adding a guy like Forsberg will help put them over the top come playoff time.

Ed Morrone is a sports editor for The Chronicle. He writes weekly editorials for the sports section, and will begin covering the Pride basketball team in November. You can reach him at [email protected].