When summer feels long, the NHL news slows to a crawl, and I have sand in my drawers and the family won't let me pop in the 10 Greatest Islanders Games DVD at the beach, little things make me happy. Like seeing the roster for the prospects camp.
Any NCAA guys showing up (Anders Lee) is a good sign, since archaic NCAA rules limit them. Guys who just had surgery (Mikko Koskinen, Kevin Poulin) showing up is a good sign. And of course, LHH cult favorite Cody Rosen showing up is delightful.
So take a gander at that roster and get ready. Just when you think summer has melted every last bit of ice in your hockey-addicted soul, there's always another event just around the corner.
Islanders Press and Commentary
- North Dakota dropout, Islanders draft pick, and CBA loophole threader Jason Gregoire officially signs with Winnipeg. Newsday here, some LHH reader reaction here. Bit more on that from Botta here.
- Butch Goring on the learning curve for his first season as color man.
- Matt Moulson's offseason training program. It's what transformed him from "their leading scorer is some guy named Matt Coulson" to "two-time 30-goal scorer Matt Moulson."
- Did we mention conditioning? Here's Michael Grabner on that and other topics-- wait, sorry, Grabner's already left, back rollerblading on the Autobahn again.
- Preseason tickets on sale for the Isles meeting with the Bruins in Bridgeport Oct. 1.
- Watching the Islanders in summertime: Here's a nice FanShot to the MSG+ schedule for Islanders games they'll show over the summer.
- Nassau Coliseum Areener Referendum: The PDF file of the Economic Analysis report [PDF] | Don't believe the polls [Let There Be Light(house)] | Nassau County resident and lifelong Islanders fan and associate Chris Botta on why his family will vote yes Aug. 1. | Newsday on the campaign [$5 please] and with a column on the political scene | Unhappy with Newsday coverage? LHH FanShot to a piece, with discussion here.
NHL/Hockey Stuff
- The NHL and KHL have a new agreement or rather "memorandum of understanding" that is nothing like a transfer agreement, but rather yet another agreement to sort of try to not play dirty. You can look at the various points here.
- Does QualComp matter ? Someone tell me, because that'd make report cards easier and all that.
- Playing with +/- figures to find the "adjusted" best and worst 20. So yeah, Frans Nielsen and the Gremlin are on the best list.
- I think "More the '80'" is my favorite line from this NHL fan flow chart. I don't know who made it -- Keith clipped it in our link collector, so ask him. Poor Calgary; if you're not sure you'll ever win again because the league has 30 teams now and things get crazy, it's always nice to have four and 19 in a row instead of just one.
- Jeff Z. Klein at the Times with some succinct observations on the free agency frenzy, on how James Wisniewski won thanks to a system that encourages vast overpayment, and how the Flyers lost thanks to overreactions that make me very happy.
Now you have yourself a happy Friday and all that. I am going to get sandy.