Islanders Bits: Mayfield, Russo Cut from USA Camp; Task Forces Are So In

2011 Islanders draft picks Scott Mayfield and Robbie Russo [some profiles here] were among the 15 cuts from USA evaluation camp.

As you can see from the final roster for the games against Finland and Sweden this week, there weren't a lot of late '92 (Mayfield) or '93 (Russo) birthdays to make the final roster. But notable exceptions include Rangers 1st-round pick J.T. Miller and Panthers 2nd-round pick Rocco Grimaldi, who has always played well for USA.

Hopefully both blueliners got the proverbial "good experience" from this camp.

Meanwhile, political jockeying on the future of the Islanders land every developer wants beyond 2015 continues undeterred:

Islanders-ish Links

• No doubt tirelessly associating for a better Long Island, the ABLI has formed a "Coliseum Task Force" that curiously includes Bobby Nystrom. More on that in Newsday. Also discussed in this FanShot. Right now all I see is a bunch of non-arena-builders talking in two counties and two boroughs, while Wang is traveling, so I'm not thinking about all that too much.
  
• On public involvement in sports venue construction: More referendum post-mortem: Points to consider...
• But I don't believe the premise of this article (Rangers territorial rights) is accurate: Sports territorial rights put Newark, Brooklyn and the N.Y. Islanders at a disadvantage | NewJerseyNewsroom.com
• Michael Grabner and P.A. Parenteau each make the nhl.com "don't wanna be a one-hit wonder" list.
  
• The Islanders announced new and changed uni numbers for next season, and they were discussed in various LHH places including this FanShot and this FanPost.
• Because it's too easy to name the Fishsticks jersey, they go with the orange: Best and worst sweaters of all-time: New York Islanders | ProHockeyTalk
• KK -- no, that's Kabanov's domain now -- Kukla's Korner now has an Isles-specific site. If you don't believe in the divinity of Frans Nielsen, you should probably go over there.
  
• I'm not sure why Keith clipped this one [audio interview] -- we'll have to ask him -- but he describes it as "In which Neil Smith says some inaccurate and stupid things." I seriously can't listen to the guy. Smith also claims the territorial rights acquired in the '70s were limited to Nassau and Suffolk Counties. I start to question whether anyone in the NHL actually knows, but I do know this: Neil Smith ain't in the NHL, no matter what his domain says.
  
• This was a really cool story from fantasy camp by Justin Bourne, with a mild Islanders tie-in, a beautiful vintage picture, and a great gag: Bourne Blog: The unfiltered truth about hockey players - Puck Daddy

Not at all Islanders-ish

• Down Goes Brown: How to buy out a player: The NHL's handy form
• Opposing the over-the-glass penalty: The one rule the NHL Research & Development Camp should be testing but isn’t | ProHockeyTalk The rules camp is also discussed in this FanPost.
  
• If hockey teams wore soccer kits: I just found this fun, but then I'm partial to sports that have goals, the object is always in play, and there is no structural separation between offense and defense.
• I suspect this may be in response to some FanPosts at C&B, but it's of interest here because people sometimes bring up Ales Hemsky, as in "If the Oilers trade Hesky, should we maybe, you know...?" So here's their two-part evaluation of the man: A premier top-line forward | And not just on the PP, either.

Keeping with the Leonard Cohen theme from the caption, if Cohen were an Isles fan:

You don't know me from the wind
You never will, you never did
I'm the fan who lives and breathes the Isle

I've seen the Isles rise and fall
I've heard their stories, watched them all
This rebuild's the only engine of survival

When they say task force, they say Brooklyn, they say we're Queens
I wonder what it means...