Jack Capuano named Evgeni Nabokov tonight's starter, and Brian Rolston is definitely back in the lineup with the lines last seen at practice Wednesday. For the game preview thread, go here.

Otherwise, here are some fun snippets from Elliotte Friedman's "30 Thoughts" column this week, followed by some other good hockey links.

First, this reminded me of too many "identity" conversations:

[a player] was saying his (struggling) team needed an identity. Then, he went on to list some teams that did have one. "You know that Boston is going to pound you and make you pay physically. You know that Chicago is going to dare you to try and skate with them. You know that Vancouver is going to try to get you to take penalties and make you pay on the penalty kill. And you know that Detroit is going to turn the other cheek while winning all of the one-on-one battles." Then, he added, "We need to be more like the Red Wings."

Sounds like a Western team (Columbus?), but otherwise it sounded familiar. Then this:

I remember a conversation with [Bob] Gainey, who was Montreal's GM the night [Ron] Wilson coached his first game with the Maple Leafs. Asked how long it would take for Toronto to rebuild, Gainey said, "Six years." We're at three-and-a-half. Honestly, the team is probably where it should be.

Heh. So...what do people think of six years?

Islanders Links

• If you missed this in the morning thread: Blake Comeau is finding his stride in Calgary, and pleased to be on a playoff contender | Backhand Shelf
• From the official site: New York Islanders share their World Junior memories: Part II
• And: Ken Morrow enters the Isles HOF Saturday. Here's video of him talking about how his style developed.
• And: Matt Martin visits Cantiague Park. (I don't normally do the community links, but everybody loves Martin, so...)
• David Ullstrom is officially on IR, but retroactive enough that he'll come off at any time.
  
• Oh, has Marc Fistric messed people up before? [video] and Shea Weber's agent upset Fistric hit unpunished
• Bruce Ciskie has Brock Nelson on his third-team mid-season All-WCHA list.
  

Hockey Links

• 24/7 Stuff: 10 memorable phrases from HBO 24/7 episode three | ProHockeyTalk. Here's our 24/7 chat from last night. And here's praise for Lavi: As if you didn't think Peter Laviolette was awesome enough - Broad Street Hockey
• Also: Flyers GM on Bryzgalov: "He has to get better" | ProHockeyTalk
• Concussions: Lindros says the game's too fast. TheScore explains the Quiet Room
• Inside the NHL's replay situation room.
  
• Ryan Whitney's ankle situation in Edmonton sounds pretty awful.
• Question: If the NHL has another stoppage, will you come back? 20 Questions: Fehr drawn to NHL players | National Post