My stomach has been bothering me all day. I don't know if it's Thanksgiving exhaustion, the burrito I ate for lunch or the Islanders' play. In any event, here are some quick bits for your Saturday.
FIG picks for tonight's game against the Capitals can go here. Can everybody not pick "shutout," please.
Islanders Stuff
- The New$day recap by Mark Herrmann sounds like a team, and a coach, at the breaking point. Lucky Arthur Staple got to skip the game.
- In the Post's recap, Dan Martin the Islanders fall from the highs of last spring to the lows of right now.
- The official recap finds a fragile team looking for... anything. [Islanders]
- Eric Hornick's The Skinny from Friday if you're so inclined.
- NEW! Puck Buddy's Vinny Piccolo (@RoseTintedVisor on Twitter) unloads much vitriol on the Islanders, from bloggers to coaches and all the way up the line to Charles Wang.
- At Puck Daddy, Harrison Mooney has some fun with Andrew MacDonald and Kevin Poulin's Dick Van Dyke versus the Ottoman moment which led to Darren Helm's goal.
- Ryan Strome's two goals lead the Sound Tigers past Hartford 3-2 on Friday. [BST]
- KHL All Star starters include goaltending prospect (yes, still) Mikko Koskinen.
Around the Boards
- Friday's NHL scores. The Sharks crushed the Blues behind a Brent Burns hat trick, the Flyers grounded the Jets in a clash of aerial metaphors, and the Flames haven't won in Anaheim since 1912.
- Caps goalie Michal Neuvirth was hurt in warm-ups and team video coach Brett Leonhardt was signed as the emergency back-up. [CBS Sports]
- Bad week to be an anthem singer. First, the singer at the Islanders-Jets game botched a line in Oh Canada, (and has since apologized). Then a performer at a WHL game butchered both that anthem and the Russian one. Just use the record next time.
- A pair from our pals at Pension Plan Puppets: On the five-year anniversary of Brian Burke's hiring, how did that five-year rebuilding plan he disparaged work out? And with few wins and an ice cold star, the Leafs have had a positively Islanders-like November swoon.
- For the mothership, I wrote about Black Friday deals for NHL general managers.
- Scott Burnside and Pierre LeBrun handicap the hopefuls for Team Canada in Sochi. [ESPN]
- Should Steve Mason be one of them? [Philly.com] [pause for laughter]
- The Devils want to see more suits in the stands. [NorthJersey.com]
- Looking at the success of Swedish junior team Frolunda. [NHL.com]
- Playing it safe with a lead? Bad idea according to Tyler Dellow's research.
- And a (short) must read from the Calgary Sun on how the ever-entertaining Mike Commodore is doing with the KHL's Vladivostok franchise. A sample:
"I live in a dorm. I eat at a cafeteria. It's like I am back in college except without the parties because nobody speaks English."
This is all I got: