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...