2014 Isles Training Camp: The Final Stretch

If you aren't fired up about your New York Islanders this year, it might be a good idea to choose another team already!  With all the promising players drafted and developed through the Isles system and those signed as free agents or brought here via trade, this years team seems ready and genuinely excited to make the final season at NVMC a memorable one.  Garth Snow has done a great job this off season and the entire organization seems to feel it.  We have yet to see if all this enthusiasm will pan out and result in wins, but its becoming harder for even the biggest detractors to dismiss the chances of this team to not only make the playoffs, but be a serious threat in the eastern conference.  Who knows, they may even win a few games in November.

Per Brett Cyrgalis, "Garth Snow on trades: "The statement being made is we’re committed to making our team better. That’s the biggest message."  Garth Snow on FAN590. 

In a few more days, everything will fall into place & the Islanders will start the 2014-15 campaign in Carolina against the Hurricanes and face those same Hurricanes in the season opener on Long Island.

Forwards:  Conacher-Tavares-Okposo; Grabovski-Nelson-Strome; Bailey-Nielsen-Kulemin; Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck; Boulton-Lee-McDonald.

 

Defensive pairings:  Boychuk & Leddy skated as a pairing today.

It is understood that players who are exempt to waivers are much more likely to be sent down than a player who could be lost (Jack Skille) to another team.  Along those lines, Arthur Staple speculates that the most likely candidates to be sent down are Lee, Reinhart & Czuczman.  So if Viz, de Haan & Pulock were ready to go on Friday, that would require both defensemen to be sent down to make room.

Pulock & de Haan skated before the team practice.  Capuano hinted that Reinhart or Pulock could be around to make the final roster.

The Islanders have placed Michael Grabner (9/26) & Calvin deHaan (9/23) on retroactive injured reserve.


In other injury news, Staple:  "Grabner (upper body) isn't close to returning, so he'll start on IR. For those who asked. Carkner (upper) as well for sure."

 

Injuries seem to be the only thing that can work against the team this season.  Hopefully, they will be kept to a minimum.  If not, the Islanders still have some depth in the system should the need arise.

Per Mark Weiner, Jack Capuano on JT & Okposo "They didn't play very well in preseason. They are elite players but tried to get too fancy out there."  Star players will need to play like star players for the Isles this season.  They will have to lead by example and take the reins of this teams success.  The coaching staff led by Capuano will be in the hot seat from day one and will be expected to win.  With the more complete roster and with the new additions made over the summer in all three areas, there are very little excuses left.

The Islanders two newest defensemen continued to make headlines today with their first practice as members of the New York Islanders.  They were enthusiastic, positive and seemed excited to be a member of this Isles team.  Boychuk & Leddy said all the right things at practice today and appear to be ready to make the most of their opportunity with the Islanders.  Johnny Boychuk will wear #55 & Nick Leddy will wear #2 for the Islanders. 

Nick Leddy on FB, "I want to thank the @NHLBlackhawks and all the fans for everything! Excited to start my new adventure with the @NYIslanders."

Leddy was on SiriusXMNHL today.

 

Johnny Boychuk, “I’m excited [to] get a bigger role there I’m going to work hard & do what I do best I’m going to embrace the chance to play on the island.”

“This is going to be a great team and people shouldn’t take us lightly anymore,” Boychuk said. “They’ve done some good things and I think it’s going to be a good challenge for every team to come in and play us.”

Per Capgeek, The Isles with only $6,467,190 in cap space right now (25 men on roster).

 

 

 

Is it Friday yet? 

 

 

 

 

Isles Notes:

On October 6th, Aaron Ness, David Leggio, Kevin Poulin and Harry Zolnierczyk cleared waivers and were assigned to the BST. 

Jack Skille was put on waivers by Snow with the intention of sending him down to the BST as well, but he was claimed by Columbus.  Per Aaron Portzline, Skille was quoted as saying, "I left things on such a high note with Columbus, and I was actually really bummed that we couldn’t figure something out."  Skille looked good in preseason and its a shame he wont get a chance to contribute to the Isles organization.

Per Newsday, Isles to wear modernized-fisherman jerseys during warm-ups this year. 

"Also ahead this winter: a night on which during warm-ups players will wear a modernized version of the notorious "fisherman" logo that debuted in 1995, after which the jerseys will be auctioned off for charity."

 

NHL notes:

A reminder that NHL teams must be down to 23 man cap compliant rosters by Tuesday.

 

Sound Tigers Notes:

 

BST announce training camp transactions.

Game On! Garth Adds Boychuk & Leddy

Yesterday, I said that the Isles line up comprised of mostly players from the BST's got a valuable lesson about what it took to play in the NHL after last nights loss to the Bruins.  Especially the young players on defense.  Promising prospects like Griffin Reinhart & Ryan Pulock had a chance to impress Isles management over the preseason & make a statement about how they belonged on the Isles roster.  Well, as it turns out, it may have confirmed to Isles GM, Garth Snow that his promising young prospects aren't ready to complete the Isles defensive core for this season.  Although showing a lot of promise for players just out of Juniors, Reinhart, Pulock and their team mates weren't able to effectively compete with Boston in the game and they left goaltender, Chad Johnson out to dry, even with him playing a good game for his team in net. 

Now while I wouldn't expect a mostly AHL filled roster to play evenly with a mostly NHL Bruins line up, I guess it served as a wake up call that the 2014-15 Islanders team needed a few more pieces to be truly ready to fight for a play off bid and a chance to compete for the Stanley Cup.  Snow had been in talks with the visiting Bruins (and Blackhawks for that matter) on trying to engineer a trade and add those missing pieces to his team for quite some time according to islanders.nhl.com.  Today, the much maligned Garth Snow did just that.  Snow acquired physical defenseman, Johnny Boychuk and puck mover, Nick Leddy from the Bruins and Blackhawks.  Two championship teams that he established had trade relationships with in previous years.

For the price of two 2nd round picks and a conditional 3rd round pick, 30 year old D-Man, Johnny Boychuk comes to the Islanders in the final year of his deal worth $3.6M (a $3.37M cap hit).  The conditional pick will go to Boston if the Islanders trade Boychuck within the Eastern Conference.  Boychuk was 5-18-23 with a +31 rating in 75 games for the Bruins last season. 

Bruins Twitter reported their GM as saying, "Not an easy meeting with Boychuk. said Chiarelli: "he was upset, I was upset, I'm still upset."  I wouldn't jump to conclusions or pass judgment just yet.  If it is true, Boychuk is a veteran player who has been with the bruins organization for 6 seasons.  It probably came as a surprise and his reaction would have been similar when traded to any team.
 

 

 

I know next seasons draft is supposed to be the deepest draft in years and those picks would have helped the Isles to add quality depth to their prospect pool, but you have to look at it like this.  Boychuk fills a need the team has now.  They need to succeed this season and win now while all the other pieces that have been assembled around John Tavares are under contract and meshing well.  Not to mention, to assure the organization surrenders a 1st round pick to Buffalo that has as little value as possible.

In another huge move, Snow acquired D Nick Leddy & G, Kent Simpson from CHI for D Ville Pokka, D T.J. Brennan and rights to G, Anders Nilsson who is currently playing in the Russia.  Leddy was 7-24-31 in 82 games with a +10 rating for Chicago last season. ESPN Chicago quoted Leddy's agent Neil Sheehy: "Nick Leddy loved playing for Chicago but is looking forward to joining the young group of talented players in NY."

 

So aside from the main trade for Leddy, Snow added an AHL goaltender (Kent Simpson) for the rights to an AHL goaltender (Anders Nilsson) who wanted to leave the organization and is now under contract in the KHL.  Kent Simpson, 22 was chosen by Chicago in the 2nd round, 58th overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.  He has 34 AHL games with a 3.18gaa and a .914 Sv% in 2 seasons (and 1 game in 11/12) playing for their Rockford affiliate. (Hockeydb.com)

Tony Stabile mentions that with today's acquisitions, the Isles have added 54 points & 113 games of playoff experience to their blue line.  Think on that.  A better, more veteran and championship experienced blue line that guards a net manned by Jaroslav Halak or Chad Johnson.  Even if neither player wants to remain with the Islanders in Brooklyn, it gives the team the experience and ability to compete & win know along with some time to properly bring up guys like Reinhart, Pulock and the like.  Don't forget that in these deals, the Isles did move prospects that are or would be NHL ready soon, but they did not move any of their key prospects that most thought were a requirement for bringing in a top tier veteran D like Boychuk & Leddy.

With the moves made today, the Islanders have an option to utilize Visnovsky, Hamonic, de Haan, Leddy, Boychuk, Hickey, Strait and Conacher in any combination on their blue line depending on the opposition.  And after you consider the prime offensive additions of Grabovski, Kulemin and the net stabilizing moves of Halak & Johnson, even the biggest Garth Snow hater has to be excited at the potential gains the Islanders can make this season.  And that isn't even including the recent draft classes and depth acquisitions that give the Isles a deeper make up than they have had in quite some time.  With a little luck, the injury bug will stay away and the Isles will get a chance to shock some people.  The majority of this years team pressure squarely falls on the shoulder of head coach, Jack Capuano if he cant lead this roster to a very successful campaign this season.

The Islanders still have guys like Reinhart, Pulock, Mayfield, Pelech, Pedan and Czuczman in their system and now there is no rush to use them before they are actually ready to make the transition.

Per Elliotte Friedman, "NYI GM Garth Snow says there have been no extension talks with Boychuk (UFA) & Leddy (RFA). "We just dealt with the teams for now"..."Snow said he felt his team's deep prospect base allowed him to make both trades and hopes fan base is "pumped up."

Snow had this to say on islanders.nhl.com, “It was an opportunity to upgrade our defense,” Snow said. “We addressed – for the most part – the goaltending and the forward position, so today just happened to be the day we had the ability to add an offensive defenseman and physical defenseman, who also has a great shot. [These are] two key additions to our team.”  He adds, “They’ve both won a Stanley Cup, so in the leadership department, that helps our group,” Snow said. “Leddy’s ability to move the puck and skate the puck up ice, add offense; Boychuk’s ability to be physical, clear the front of the net and a howitzer for a shot; for us, [those are] two solid additions to our club.”

 

And if you aren't convinced its a big deal yet, the Isles, Garth Snow, Leddy & Boychuk were among the top items trending on Twitter this afternoon.

 

***

In other big news, it has been confirmed that the Isles have signed 1st round pick, Joshua Ho-Sang to 3-year ELC.

 

"The Islanders selected Ho-Sang, 18, with the 28th-overall pick in the 2014 National Hockey League Draft. The Toronto, ON native led the Windsor Spitfires (Ontario Hockey League) in scoring last season with 85 points (32 goals, 53 assists) in 67 games. Ho-Sang added three points (one goal and two assists) in four OHL playoff games.  In 2012-13, Ho-Sang finished fourth on the Spitfires and sixth among all OHL rookies with 44 points (14 goals and 30 assists) in 63 games."

 

Isles Notes:

 

Your New York Islanders made 16 cuts, 11 non-waivers: Collberg, Gallant, Halmo, Mouillierat, Persson, Quine, Sundstrom, Mayfield, Pedan, Pelech, Pokka.

 

At noon, five Islanders go on waivers with the intention to send them down to Bridgeport: K. Poulin, D. Leggio, H. Zolnierczyk, J. Skille, A. Ness.



Also, the Isles returned Ho Sang (Windsor) & Michael Dal Colle (Oshawa) to junior clubs today.

Per Arthur Staple:  Lines at practice today:

Conacher-Tavares-Okposo, Grabovski-Nelson-Strome, Bailey-Nielsen-Kulemin, Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck.

5th line is Boulton-Lee-McDonald. Grabner (upper body) still not practicing.

 

 

Defensive pairings:  Hickey-Hamonic, Strait-Donovan, Brennan-Reinhart, Czuczman-Ness. Visnovsky, Pulock, de Haan, Carkner all still out.

Visnovsky (back), Pulock (lower) and de Haan (upper) all skated this morning before practice. Still day to day.

Former Islander, Peter Regin has been put on waivers by Blackhawks.

Bruins Maul Isles In Final Pre Season Loss

Islanders vs. Bruins:

 

 

Your New York Islanders are hosting the Boston Bruins at the sold out Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, home of the affiliate Sound Tigers.  Tonight's line up will consist of mostly younger players and prospects that will be on the Tigers roster this season save for JT's 1st line.  Johnson is scheduled to play the full 60 minutes and the coaching staff will cut down to one group of 26-27 players tomorrow per Capuano.  Look for Dal Colle, Strome & Ho Sang to make some noise and be sure to watch Pedan & Mayfield on defense.  Donovan & Czuczman need to impress Isles management tonight to make an impression, or be sent to Bridgeport.  I wish them well.

***

Forwards:  Nelson-Tavares-Okposo, Dal Colle-Strome-Ho-Sang, Persson-Sundstrom-Collberg, Johnston-Mouillierat-Gallant.

Defense:  Pedan-Mayfield, Ness-Donovan, Czuczman-Brennan.

Johnson is in net with Kevin Poulin backing up.

***

Ryan Spooner gives Bruins a 1-0 lead with 5:38 in the first period.

The Bruins are dominating time of possession in the Isles zone.  Isles can create any pressure back the other way.

Carl Soderberg's shot goes off Donovan's skate and in for a 2-0 Boston lead.

Seth Griffith makes it 3-0 in the second period.

Turnovers are killing the Isles.

Isles are turning up the heat and creating some pressure against Boston.

Nelson takes a suspendable cheap shot from Boston's Miller, 5 minute major & a game misconduct. 

Kyle Okposo makes the PP count for the Isles with a curl and drag, puts it behind Subban, 3-1 Bruins with PP time remaining.

Per Arthur Staple, "Five stitches for Nelson, Isles say he'll be back out for 3rd period. Deep, cleansing breaths, everyone."  Whew.

Isles Mouillierat runs into Subban and gets called for a penalty, but Subban's right shoulder is actually outside the left post when he got hit. Where was Mouillierat supposed to go?

Ryan Spooner gives Boston a 4-1 lead early in the 3rd.  Isles guilty of helping Boston with PP's and turnovers all game long.

Strome skates with Tavares & Okposo in the third.  Nelson center line with Mouillierat & Collberg.

Daniel Paille gives Boston a 5-1 lead late in the 3rd.

Reilly Smith takes advantage of a turnover by Strome to make it a 6-1 Boston with under 2:00 remaining.

Islanders lose by a 6-1 score against the Bruins.  The Isles finish pre season with a 4-2-1 record and really have a lot of work to do to button up some of these shortcomings. 

The Isles, mostly Sound Tigers filled line up were just out gunned and got a good lesson in what it takes to play in the NHL.  That being said, there were some bright spots on the night.  Ryan Strome & Brock Nelson had strong efforts for the Isles.  Ho Sang worked hard as well and I thought, outplayed Dal Colle.  Brennan has elevated his game on the Isles blue line.

 

The Islanders were out played for much of the game by the Bruins.  Subban was very good and the Islanders just never found a way to consistently attack the Boston zone.  Johnson played well despite the final score and was victimized by his former team due to the Islanders sloppy play.  The negative aspects of the Islanders effort were special teams and neutral zone turnovers.  They were a primary reasons for the loss tonight.  The Isles defensive game crumpled under the more experienced Bruins assault.  Donovan and Czuczman had a tough game as well.  There is plenty of opportunity for anyone who doesn't make the team to work hard in Bridgeport and wait for the next opportunity to show what they can do.

The plan for Capuano must be to improve their special teams, team defense and settle on a line up.  The question marks for who will be in on the top three lines and in what configuration must be sorted out.  Who will be the bottom 2-3 defensemen for the Isles to start the season and who will be sent down, waived or possibly traded.  Injuries will surely play a role to about who will start the season for New York.

As a team, I am not too worried about the Islanders this season from a player perspective.  Different components have showed us there is a reason to be optimistic, but what the coaching staff decides will be the final product is an unknown at this time.  Keep the faith.

Like Arthur Staple said, more cuts are probably coming tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

Isles Notes:

Sebastian Collberg and Brett Gallant have been recalled from @TheSoundTigers.

Per Arthur Staple, "Injury updates:  Pulock (lower body), Cizikas (back) both skated with groups today, de Haan (upper body) skated on his own.  Visnovsky (back), Grabner (upper body), Carkner (upper body) did not skate."


Per Arron Ward, Expect announcement soon that New York Islanders and Josh Ho Sang have come to terms on an ELC.

Per Jim Bambach, "Andrew Barroway drops lawsuit against Islanders owner Charles Wang."

 

 

Stockton Thunder Notes:

The Thunder have added to the training camp roster by inviting six players to attend camp on try-out agreements.

 

NHL Notes:

Per Andy Strickland, "Rosters must be set by Tuesday at 5:00."

Check out http://www.nhlfreeagents.com/#!waivers/cqiq  for a list of players placed on waivers so far. #NHL #NHLwaivers.

Devils Beat Isles In Pre Season Shootout

Islanders vs. Devils:


Tonight, your New York Islanders will have a rematch vs. the Devils in New Jersey.  The game has no T.V. or streaming coverage, but was available on WRHU, Radio Hofstra.  Isles defensemen Reinhart & Mayfield will get a chance to showcase themselves again and try to impress the coaching staff.  While Reinhart is most likely in, Mayfield, who I think is very talented, will have something to prove.  Tonight's line up seams to be a sink or swim watch for some guys on the bubble. 

 

We know Colin McDonald is feeling the pressure along with Josh Bailey.  Both players, although in different roles, find themselves in a lot of competition from the depth available to management.  I feel Strome should make the full time jump this season.  Mostly because he is dominant in the AHL and should show what he can do in the NHL.  I understand that a first line role with the Sound Tigers would get him more playing time in Bridgeport than a second or third line spot on the Island, but he needs to finish assimilating to the NHL game.

 

***

Forwards:  Lee-Nielsen-Strome, Conacher-Grabovski-Kulemin, Bailey-Quine-McDonald, Boulton-Mouillierat-Halmo.

Defensemen:  Hickey-Hamonic, Ness-Mayfield, Reinhart-Strait.

Halak in goal with Poulin on the bench.

 

Wearing the 'A's' tonight for the Islanders: Frans Nielsen, Travis Hamonic & Mikhail Grabovski.

***

 

New Jersey scores to make it 1-0 early in the period.


Early in the second period, Halak makes a big save.  Credit, Dan Savarino. 


Per Brett Cyrgalis, "3rd period line: Conacher-Nielsen-Bailey; Strome-Grabovski-Kulemin; Lee-Quine-McDonald. 4th the same."


Mayfield's shot is deflected by Mouillierat almost five minutes into the 3rd to tie the game at 1-1 for the Isles.


Time expires and the game is going to over time.  Shots tied at 20 per team.


Conacher comes close to scoring in O.T. off a feed from Nielsen, Schneider makes the save.
 

:36.1 seconds of PP time for the Isles in the remaining in O.T. period.  Strome working hard with shot after shot in final seconds, but can't convert.

 

The game is going to a shoot out.

 

Mc Donald misses the net.

Devils are stopped by Halak.

Nielsen is stopped.

Devils are stopped by Halak.

Strome is stopped.

Devils are stopped by Halak.

Bailey is stopped.

Devils are stopped by Halak.

Grabovski misses the net.

Devils score, win the game 2-1. (SO)

 

From what I could tell by listening to the game, the second and third line combinations played well tonight as did Strome & Mayfield.  Halak seemed much better and seems to be finding his groove. He was huge in the third period and in extra time.  The team did well without some its best players tonight.  Great effort.


Look for more urgency in the final pre season game tomorrow, Isles vs. Bruins in Bridgeport @ 7:30pm.

 

Islanders are 4-1-1 so far in pre season.

 

 

 

Per Arthur Staple, Hamonic on Halak:  "He had a couple tonight where it seemed like it was going in and he stops it..it's nice to know we have a wall back there"

Isles Notes:


Per Arthur Staple, " Pulock, de Haan (upper body), Visnovsky (back), Grabner (upper body), Cizikas (back). Only de Haan skating."

Per Larry Brooks, "Post has learned that spurned Islanders' buyer Barroway is now zeroed in on financially troubled Coyotes.

Former Islander, Bruno Gervais has been put on waivers by the Colorado Avalanche.

Islanders & #Isles Twitter Rally To Beat Bruins & MSG

Islanders vs. Bruins:

Tonight, your New York Islanders will face the Boston Bruins.  The game was scheduled to air on NHL Network, but was blacked out.  Andy Graziano of Isles Insight tweeted, "Hearing from well placed sources MSG would not allow/grant NHL network access to air Isles game in local market." 

 

 

I have been putting up with Isles games getting bumped while the Rangers game was broadcast on both @MSGNetworks & a national broadcast the same night for years.  I, like most Isles fans are sick of it.  So sick of it, Isles twitter exploded and generated so much drama, NHL network put the game on air before the start of the 3rd period.  Did Dolan & MSG buckle?  See what #Isles Twitter can do when we work together?

But on to my partially blindfolded review of the pre-season game.

***

Forwards:  Conacher-Tavares-Okposo; Bailey-Strome-Kulemin; Lee-Nielsen-Skille; Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck.

Defense:  Hickey-Donovan; Czuczman-Mayfield; Reinhart-Brennan.

Kevin Poulin gets the start in goal with David Leggio on the bench.

***

Bruins score first early into the 1st period, 1-0 Bruins.

I am told that JT & KO, Martin line, Czuczman, Reinhart & Poulin are playing well.  Poulin was said to be keeping the Isles in the game.  9 saves in the 1st period.

Per Arthur Staple, "Isles being badly outplayed in first 6 minutes of 2nd, Capuano juggles lines: 89-91-15, 12-51-21 on now."

Brennan make it  1-1 midway through the 2nd period.  Nielsen and Tavares assist on the goal.

Kyle Okposo makes it 2-1 Isles. Assists from Hickey & Strome.

Conacher takes a feed from Tavares and Clutterbuck, makes it 3-1 Islanders.

Isles outshot 13-6 in period, but playing better, scoring 3 goals on six shots. Conacher making Capuano look good for his first line tryout.  Poulin not getting rattled and looking pretty good so far with 22 saves after 2 periods.

Bruins get a SHG, close the score within 1, 3-2 Isles.

Bruins tie the game off another sloppy play, 3-3.  2 goals in :43 for Boston early in the 3rd period.  Poulin looking a little more rattled and unable to regain his composure as he did earlier in the game.  Donovan and Bailey also having a tough night for the Isles.

Isles avoid a too-many men penalty as Cal Clutterbuck steals puck on the change, skates in and roofs it blocker side, 4-3 Islanders.

Poulin makes a few good saves late to hold off the Bruins attack.  He deserves credit for that.

Empty net for Boston.

Mayfield scores an ENG from the Isles zone.  5-3 Isles with a minute remaining.

Islanders win their 4th of the preseason, 5-3 the final.

 

 

Isles Notes:

 

Per Arthur Staple, "Capuano said Cizikas' back tightened up in 3rd. Sat out as precaution."

Per Dan Rosen, "Isles sale was not on original agenda but a motion was made to vote on it after an update was given. Seconded and vote was unanimous."

Islanders are short D with Visnovsky (back), de Haan (upper body) and Carkner (upper body) sidelined.  Isles have recalled Andrey Pedan & Adam Pelech from the @TheSoundTigers and have signed Ross Johnston to an ATO.

Per Arthur Staple, Zolnierczyk & Grabner (upper body) were also not practicing today. They are day to day.

 

Sound Tigers Notes:

Brett Gallant has cleared waivers and has been assigned to @TheSoundTigers.

 

NHL Notes:

 

Per @capgeek, "Opening day playing rosters must be set by Tuesday, Oct. 7, at 5 p.m. ET. Those rosters must be cap compliant."

2014 Isles Training Camp: Growing Pains

Today, your New York Islanders hit the ice for some practice and conditioning.  Another line up was announced for each group and judging by the lines, it seems a little closer to what we may see for the opening day roster in October.

Camp Forwards - 1st group: Conacher-Tavares-Okposo, Grabovski-Nelson-Kulemin, Lee-Nielsen-McDonald, Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck.

 

Camp Defense - 1st group:  Hickey-Visnovsky, Donovan-Hamonic, Strait-Pulock.

 

In Goal - 1st group:  Halak & Johnson.

***

 

Camp Forwards - 2nd group:  Bailey-Strome-Skille, Dal Colle-Quine-Ho-Sang, Halmo-Sundstrom-Boulton, Persson-Mouillierat.

 

Camp Defense - 2nd group:  Reinhart-Pokka, Ness-Brennan, Czuczman-Mayfield.

In Goal - 2nd group: Poulin & Leggio.

 

***

I realize that camp is where you want to juggle lines and see how different players react to each other, but there are a few questions I have about today's groups.

I appreciate Conacher's hustle and energy, but in no way could I see him on the first line with Tavares & Okposo.  While Nelson is the real deal, is he better on the top line and who would run with Grabovski & Kulemin?  Will Strome be put back in Bridgeport?  He has to make the Islanders, right?

On defense, despite the promising talent pool, there is still a need for a real veteran defenseman.  But I realize that market is thin and the price is very high.  Does that give Reinhart and Pulock a better shot and cracking the line up?  Is TJ Brennan an Islander or Sound Tiger?  How about Czuczman or Donovan?

 

 

 

Per islanders.nhl.com, "The New York Islanders announced today that they’ve trimmed their training camp roster by 15 players.

Forward Sebastian Collberg and defensemen Loic Leduc, Andrey Pedan, Adam Pelech and Jesse Graham have been assigned to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the American Hockey League.

Forwards Justin Courtnall, Colton Gillies, Chris Langkow , C.J. Stretch and Scooter Vaughan, along with defenseman Mark Nemec and goalie Shane Owen have been released from professional tryout contracts.

Forward Ross Johnston and goalie Philippe Trudeau have been released from amateur tryout contracts.

Forward Lukas Sutter has been transferred to Sound Tigers training camp.

 

The Islanders training camp roster now stands at 44 players (26 forwards, 14 defensemen, four goalies)."

The Islanders exposed F, Bret Gallant to waivers with intentions of sending him to Bridgeport.  He can be claimed by another team until noon tomorrow.

Bridgeport will benefit from the better depth on the Island and hopefully Coach Thompson will be able to raise the bar and accomplish more with a group of guys who want to be noticed and take advantage of their next opportunity.

In other news, the Islanders signed Michael Dal Colle to a 3Yr/ $925 000 2-way ELC.  Dal Colle was the Isles 1st round, 5th overall pick on the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.  Dal Colle will most likely start his Islanders career in Bridgeport with the Sound Tigers.

On Twitter, Dal Colle said, "Very excited to have officially signed my 1st NHL contract with the @NYIslanders."

 

 

 

Isles Notes:

Per Arthur Staple, "Capuano says he sees Grabovski as a center, doesn't want to move Nelson to wing. "We have a real logjam there."

"Three Isles sat out practice today with injuries, all day-to-day: Harry Zolnierczyk, Matt Carkner, Calvin de Haan."

"Visnovsky (back spasms) left Coliseum with a smile on his face but walking gingerly. Didn't seem too concerned."

 

Islanders Captain, John Tavares had his jersey retired by the Oshawa Generals, where he played from 2005-2009.

Former Islander & Sound Tiger, Jon Landry has been waived by the Washington Capitals.

Recently retired Brideport Sound Tiger, Drew Fata has been named GM for new CIH league, Batchewana Attack. 

Sound Tigers Notes:

BST's Announce AHL Roster as camp opened today.

"The Sound Tigers open their season on Saturday, Oct. 11 when they host the St. John’s IceCaps at 7:00 p.m. They take the ice again on Sunday, Oct. 12 against the IceCaps at 3:00 p.m. Tickets for both games can be found here."

Isles Win In Brooklyn

Islanders vs. Devils:

Forwards:  Lee-Tavares-Okposo, Grabovski-Nelson-Kulemin, Grabner-Sundstrom-Bailey, Boulton-Mouillierat-McDonald.

Defensemen:  Strait-Pulock, Czuczman-Hamonic, Brennan-Donovan.

Johnson is in net with Halak on the bench.

 

 

Pulock scores a PPG for the Islanders from Tavares and Okposo, 1-0.  Its the first Islanders goal scored in the Barclays Center.

A few minutes later, Colin McDonald makes it 2-0 Isles off a giveaway by Devils Goaltender, Kinkaid.

Devils score mid way through the 2nd on PP, 2-1 Isles.

Devils score another PP goal, tie the score at 2-2. 5th PP goal in last 2 games.

Game remains tied at the end of regulation. 

Isles and Devils will go to O.T. 

Isles with a lot of good pressure and scoring chances, but the game goes to a shootout.

Tavares is stopped as MSG comes out of break late, missing the entire play.  Well done MSG.

Devils score.

Okposo scores for the Islanders!

Devils mishandle puck.

Nelson scores!

 

Johnson makes the stop.  Isles with a 3-2 shootout win!  This is the first Isles win at the Barclays center.

McDonald is named second star, Pulock named first star.

 

Tavares still looking to find his stride, but looked closer to it in the O.T. period.  Strait got beat a lot tonight, was a weak spot on Isles defense.  They blew another 2 goal lead & special teams continue to threaten the ability of this team to stay in games.

Grabovski had another complete game and Johnson looked calm in the Isles net, really good later in the game and especially in the shootout.  Bailey had some jump and I was impressed with Pulock throughout the night.  Nelson, McDonald & Lee played big for New York.  The Isles played hard and were able to fight back and apply pressure to Devils, especially at end of game and in O.T. 

 

I like a lot of what this team shows me.  Love the competition, but at the same time, love the way they play together.  If they can just zero in on special teams and get a bounce or two, look out.  Good things to come.

 

Isles Notes: 

Per Arthur Staple, Barclays Center "has added a couple hundred ice-level seats for hockey. Premium seating. Eliminated the glass-side table look from last year."

Attendance was 11,823 per Staple.

Per Andy Graziano, "Jack Capuano said Isles heavy in evaluation process. Over course of next few days to a week, roster will become more clear, and concluded, "I actually hope we take some penalties tonight to work on the PK."

Former Islanders Forward, Michael Haley was put on waivers today by the San Jose Sharks.

Former Islander Goaltender, Rick DiPietro accepted a regular position with ESPN radio.


The Islanders will resume game action on Tuesday, 9/30 in Boston vs. the Bruins @ 7pm, on Thursday, 10/2 in N.J. vs. the Devils @ 7pm and Friday, 10/3 at home vs. the Bruins @7:30pm to finish out the Pre-Season.  The Isles regular season starts with a home-at-home series vs. the Hurricanes on Friday, 10/10 in Carolina and Saturday, 10/11 at the NVMC for the teams final home game in Uniondale, N.Y. Both are 7pm starts.

I'll try & get to many Isles games this Ssn & sit w groups that support my Blog. I'll be at home opener w @NYIslesHardcore. #Tx4theSupport.

 

 

 

Islanders NHL cross-check premier jersey - storm.