Cheers to everybody adding FanPosts and FanShots on an otherwise quiet day. If you haven't looked around, we've got:

Hans und Franz's take on the HF Top 20 Islanders prospect list ... if you saw On the Forecheck's list of "least valuable" NHLers, you can discuss the Islanders members (three!) here ... and Freddy Meyer's hit has put Mikael Samuelsson out for an estimated three weeks. ... Meanwhile, despite missing a big chunk of the season, Travis Hamonic was named to the WHL's Eastern Conference 2nd All-Star Team.

Friday night's opponent has seen its playoff chances nosedive since the Olympics; they'll be without suspended James Wisniewski (a loss of debatable impact) Friday and for seven more games because of this hit, which Coach Q called the most dangerous in the history of the game (hyperbole much?) ... Then there's next week's Islanders-Rangers game at the Garden in 3-D. Are you excited? Will you even have the 3-D option available?

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More photos » Terry Gilliam - AP

Buckle your chinstrap, old timer.

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I mentioned this in the post-injury ode to Rob Schremp, but after reading some league-wide takes on Schremp's season, I think it's worth repeating: Schremp had 20 points (6g, 14a) in his final 26 games (excluding the game in which he was injured in only four shifts). Encompassing both winning streaks and losing streaks, that could be important in predicting what he'll bring next season, assuming his knee heals correctly.

People look at his season-long stat sheet and conclude, as Erik Duhatschek did (with praise)...

He had 25 points in 44 games, respectable totals given his ice time; and most importantly, was just minus-four, not bad on a team where five players were minus-13 or worse, including Tavares at minus-18.

...but that sort of overlooks an initial adjustment period for Schremp. He was tried first at left wing, then Scott Gordon concluded he could only work at center -- and before Josh Bailey was moved to wing, that meant very limited opportunities. In fact, Schremp appeared in only two games between Oct. 22 and Dec. 9. Add it up with his often second-choice linemates, and this season may not have been the .77 pts/GP pace of his final 26 games, but it wasn't just the .57 pts./GP pace that his overall totals would tell you, either.

(And if you want to get really cute, that minus-4 was spiked two games before his injury by Schremp's minus-3 in the Atlanta game, where every Islander looked bad.)

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More photos » Kathy Kmonicek - AP

New York Islanders' Blake Comeau (57) is assisted off the ice after being injured in the second period by Michael Ryder.

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A sampling of Islanders fodder for a Sunday [updated/modified with a photo, just because I like this photo]...

... A nice New York Hockey Talk is lined up by Rob Kowal tonight at 9 p.m. on WGBB 1240, with Al Arbour and Kyle Okposo among the guests. Brendan Shanahan, too (okay, so he was a Ranger/Devil, but he's always good for a quote and a yarn).

... I know we like to parse Scott Gordon's post-game comments, even when he doesn't often provide much detail for us to chew on. But his comments after the loss to the Bruins were a pretty apt encapsulation of the state of the team. After the jump is some of those Gordon quotes plus more in video, as well as a prospect rating link (including Kiril Petrov), and video of the Michael Ryder hit on Comeau (it wasn't in the NHL clips):

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More photos » Paul J. Bereswill - AP

"Ohhhhhhh -OH-OH-oohhhhhh...Ohhhhh-OH-OH-ohhhhhhhh..."

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Did you have a good MLK Day? Mine was fantastic. Here's a bit of coverage from the afternoon's demolition, which Eric noted featured the most Islanders shots on goal (46) in a shutout win "since totaling 48 while blanking the Devils 7-0 on February 22, 1987." He also notes the last five Islanders shutouts have been by five different goalies (DP, Roloson, Biron, MacDonald, Danis). Elsewhere:

For the win (standard fishwrap fare): NY Post | Daily News | Newsday (That'll be $5, please)

Bloggerific: IPB: "The best the Islanders have played since ... Peter Laviolette." Good thing we fired that guy! | Our Lighthouse Hockey recap and comments | Three live blogs: 7th Woman | Islesblogger | View from 317

In-depth Devils coverage: In Lou We Trust recaps, then digs into their losing ways ... Fire & Ice with deep coverage, including this from Lemaire: "We even had trouble in our own end. Usually we’re really good in our own end and tonight they could make plays as they wished." ... NJ.com with a bunch, including Zach Parise questioning the shot counters, Lemaire calling it their worst effort of the season (always a treat when you can force that), and Yann Danis on playing in a familiar venue against familiar friends but an unfamiliar jersey [also: facial hair update].

Unrelated This & That: Ex-Flyers captains weigh in on Mike Richards [LeBrun] | Another recap of how Ted Leonsis gets new media | Over a six-year span, the Islanders had the most proficient powerplay of modern hockey. It didn't win them the Cup. | Leafs site Pension Plan Puppets did an epic, uber-gamethread series last night to raise $1500 for Haiti relief, thanks to about 10,000 total comments. And the Leafs even won on a late Kessel game-winner. | The Oilers on the other hand ... did not win. Not at all. It was horrendous.

After the jump, two videos: Gordon presser and Matt Moulson, asked "Did you think you were capable of this much success?" answering: "Well I'm not gonna say no to that; I think I'm in trouble if I say that."

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More photos » Frank Franklin II - ASSOCIATED PRESS

"Remember: It stays in the room."

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Self-promotional note: Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EST I'll be co-hosting on Hockey Night on Long Island, the long-running BlogTalkRadio show run by Islanders fans Alex and Steve. I'll include a link/embedded player for the show in tomorrow's game preview, too.

I wish Garth Snow were less tight-lipped as a GM. It's not that I want him filling the airwaves with Burke-ian bluster, nor divulging state secrets (and I question how many state secrets there even are). But when a GM speaks, it excites fans. It keeps the team in the conversation, it gives reporters an excuse better material to provide coverage of the team. The Islanders, as a business that seeks to fill seats and draw TV viewers, could use more coverage and more buzz.

But Snow, so recently an active player and member "in the room," doesn't play that way. His priority is to keep things quiet and eliminate potential distractions in the locker room. He takes that "in the family" approach to an extreme, I'd venture, but whatever. That's one fan's opinion. I am generally thrilled with how he has run hockey operations -- and a GM in New Jersey has shown hockey ops is by far the more important piece of a club.

But if he Snow did open up more, I bet people would like what they see. I have not met Garth Snow, but many accounts say he is great to interact with when the mics are off. From BlogBox members to fan club events to comments from his peers, they'll tell you Snow takes the mask off when he's not being probed for specific on-the-record info that could show up in a newspaper.

On that note, on the heels of the Brooks-ian "it is believed" Kovalchuk speculation, Snow appeared for the Islanders Booster Club meeting last night, and you can get a little, tiny window into his perspectives (Biron, Olympics, the two young blueliners) from the reports by Gary at View from Section 317 and Dee at her 7th Woman site (that post and this one). As far as words from the man in charge of the roster and all future Islanders, we fans have to take what we can get.

Other Bits:

Snow was part of the braintrust that have shut Witt down, not for the calf but for a knee injury he was trying to play through (again) ... after doing the hotel routine, Rob Schremp has received the proverbial "find a place" call -- a big step but hardly the final step in becoming a regular NHLer ... Still unclear which night, but Rick DiPietro starts this weekend, more likely against Buffalo ... Jesse Joensuu has been hot in the AHL ... Calvin de Haan is Oshawa's lone representative in the All-Star game.

More photos » Kathy Kmonicek - AP

Last night's brief bright spot: Jesse Joensuu with his 2nd NHL goal.

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A few timely(ish) links about what's going on with the Islanders:

• Last night was Josh Bailey's 100th NHL game. Officially, he had two hits, three attempted shots -- and still zero shots on goal, making it 23 consecutive periods.
• The Isles released an statement about Rick DiPietro seeing more specialists. Worst word: "timeline." I thought Adam's take on this saga was spot on: Concise, to the point, a mix of realism and empathy. At this point (and since last spring, really), that's all we can go with.
• In addition to Roloson's to-the-point observation on how no one showed up last night, Mark Streit had this: "When it's 7-1, it's tough to just turn the page." Exactly. At home, no less. For shame.
• Nick goes into some interesting thought exercises on the Brooklyn buzz. [Let There be Light(house)]
• For you draft dreamers: Tyler Seguin was cut from Canada's WJC camp. Taylor Hall was not.
• Update: Speaking of WJC, a FanHouse profile of Isles prospect Matt Donovan.
• Team USA at the Olympics: Brian Burke says there are three spots still open and about six candidates. What do you bet Kyle Okposo is one of those candidates? On the one hand, he hasn't scored in a month. On the other, he generates offense, works his butt off, and it's impossible to watch him and not think, "He could help a team in a short tourney."
• Finally, an interesting look from James Mirtle that relates to the crunch of quasi-.500 teams in the dregs of the Eastern standings: "One key factor in why the bottom half of the Eastern Conference is so poor is the fact the Western Conference has been beating the tar out of the East all year."

More on that last topic as it relates to the Islanders later today...

More photos » Ryan Remiorz - AP

Calvin de Haan: I'm invited!

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Sorry to have been quiet most of the day -- I've been fighting a bug, and I understand the site was down a little while this afternoon. Tech team guardedly believes things are back to normal now. A few bits from today:

• You've probably seen Calvin de Haan and Travis Hamonic got Canada WJC invites, while Matt Donovan got one for Team USA and Aaron Ness did not. Ness's Golden Gophers are having one very rough year -- heh, call it a "rebuild" (if Garth isn't looking) -- but I'm told by a few people who watch every game that he's still one of their best players along with Wild draft pick Zach Budish. Still: concern. Meanwhile, here's the local story on de Haan's reaction to getting the invite.
• I put this in a FanShot earlier, but since he's a divisive topic: What say you to Andy Sutton being rated the 17th-best defensive defenseman thus far? Factors include quality of competition, EV goals against and PK work. The real question is whether he can stay healthy keep it up.
  
• The Islanders and Sound Tigers are promoting Rick DiPietro's return with a ticket package for Saturday night. Former Sound Tiger Kyle Okposo says it's been good to have DiPietro around.
  
• Transaction Crazy: The Short Island Smurfs claimed thrice-rejected Erik Christensen off waivers from Anaheim and waived ol' pal Stephen Valiquette to get him some AHL work ... the Ducks got Montreal's Kyle Chichura -- the 18th overall pick in 2004 -- for a 4th-round pick in 2011. And here we were talking about 1st-round disappointments ... oh, and Marc Savard's 7-year deal in Boston is now for real. ... Finally, while many of us enjoy a Leaf pitfall or two, this is no laughing matter: Jonas Gustavsson is being evaluated by cardiologists. That's really scary stuff, and a shame. They say they think it's minor, but it's still quite a worry.
• The Other Miracle: Check out this film on Team USA's "other" miracle: The 1960 gold-medal-winning squad, dubbed "Forgotten Miracle." Looks cool.

Just a few links for the sheer joy of hockey reading. Tomorrow: a randomly selected month overview (how about November?) and a word about Olympic candidacies.

• When Rob Schremp Hockey was put on ice, Scott Gordon said Schremp's next shot would be at center, not on the wing. Backing that up, Schremp is practicing in Frans Nielsen's spot. Bad news for Schremp-loving Sim-haters: It's with Jon Sim. Good news? It's with Jeff Tambellini, too. Three favorite topics, all on one line.
• Worse news for Schremp-lovers, but elation for me: That same Botta post is updated to say Frans is day-to-day. Do help Frans in his fight against Martinek Syndrome.
  
• Kyle Okposo received the day off. If you missed the link to the left, here's a look at his first 100 NHL games. [Okposo Net]
• Check Behind the Net for a look at the referees with the greatest home bias since 1995-96. Probably the types who put the home team on a 1:50 5-on-3 because Richard Park fought back for position.
  
• With 27 points in 27 games, you're probably aware the Isles are on pace for a 21-point improvement. Here's a look at their peers. [From the Rink]
• And it's been one year since Brian Burke took over the team in that one Ontario hamlet. Down Goes Brown takes the satirical look back. I might as well look back, too, at my faux "NHL GM Chat Room" which took place just after Burke had resigned from Anaheim and everyone and their brother knew he was heading to Toronto.
• Autograph Hounds: John Tavares will be at the NHL Store in Manhattan tomorrow (Tuesday) from 4-5 p.m. Word is he can only sign "autograph cards" (3" x 5" pictures provided at the store), so don't go bringing your underwear or jersey or lucky stick or anything like that.