Lighthouse Hockey, a New York Islanders community

Begin speculation on how he will be replaced in the lineup. Bear in mind though that the Isles have a full complement of defensemen already depending on Milan Jurcina's status (day to day with an elbow laceration). Their next game is Tuesday at Philadelphia. Not exactly a friendly environment for rookie defensemen and close enough in proximity that a call up may not happen until gameday, especially if they're viewing it as an "insurance" call up. Their next three after that are at home.

We will not give up that man-games-to-injury title without a fight! Too bad for Schremp, whose late burst last season was ended by a knee injury. Presumably, the season will begin with Tavares-Nielsen-Weight-Konopka at center, although there's plenty of time for injuries to mess with that. Update: Changed the link to the Isles TC Daily, w/ comments from Gordon on Nino and de Haan.

Sounds like things are going well, according to the local Kemptville EMC. I liked this: "They (Islanders) paid for everything. That's pretty good for a player who hasn't even signed a contract," [the elder] de Haan chuckles.

(More for outsiders checking in than for the Isles fans who already know...) "Looked sharp in practice, took real shots," etc. Meanwhile, Botta noticed he didn't face any dekes on breakaways. Per usual, wake me up when he's starting an NHL game.

In his latest post from practice, Chris Botta said Frans Nielsen could be back as early as next week, while Sean Bergenheim declined the opportunity to get more minutes by shifting to right wing.

[Update: Super-injury bonus! Now Doug Weight is out, too, reaggravating the groin. Thompson in. I hear complaints about the training staff in 3...2...1...] MRI says Hunter has a tear in the pec. Now that is much, much more like the Islanders injury luck to which we've grown accustomed. Strang also has lines and Gordon's thoughts on Schremp's first game. One of the things I've always wondered about Hunter's contract: With his physical style, his (then) below-market salary in return for long-term security may mean his body will be in physical decline by the time he hits the UFA market again.

Ugh. "...de Haan went into the corner and attempted to lay the body on Peterborough captain Zack Kassian before falling awkwardly into the boards. Adding insult to injury, as de Haan struggled to regain his feet, Kassian scored a goal. de Haan then skated off the ice and went straight to the Oshawa dressing room."

I joked about "the next injury" at the end of the last post, but this isn't funny: Frans Nielsen, headed back to New York to evaluate his right knee. No word on what happened or if it's a re-injury of The Mottau incident, but I don't mind taking this opportunity to repeat that Mottau's hit was dirty and may karma handle his affairs accordingly.