Islanders Bits: Hillen a Predator; Tangled Moulson in-law web

Everyone has that aunt who keeps meticulous track of the family genealogy, with updates ranging from "suffered a stroke, 1988" to "repaved driveway, 1993." Soon we'll need a similar person to track the Matt Moulson pro hockey in-law web -- or at least to track the number of times these connections are mentioned on MSG+ broadcasts.

The latest connection isn't big news, but it's on the Isles' side: Sean Backman, as discussed here yesterday, has been poached from the Stars organization on a two-way deal with the Isles. Michael Fornabaio notes a flattering comparison to a prior Sound Tiger. Many note his (under)size and Ivy education. Others note his tendency to shoot. And Twitterers follow.

Such is news in August. If you didn't need a fix like me, I 'spect you wouldn't be here. Continue below for more, at Hockey Fan Anonymous:

Islanders News

• NEW: Islanders posted new uni numbers for this year. Some interesting "Islanders in Diapers" graduating, taking the number of longtime Islanders recent and far.
• Nashville has picked up Jack Hillen on a "free transfer," as they say in the soccer world, for a $650,000 NHL/$105,000 AHL two-way deal. Discussed some in FanShot here. We mulled his 2010-11 report card in early June here, and discovered he probably wasn't coming back in late June here. I think it's a nice landing spot for Hillen, but Dirk at On the Forecheck sees Hillen's profile and figures he's AHL-bound.
  
• John Tavares' "Road to the Coliseum" feature is pretty thorough, with good details about when he first picked up the game and when he realized he could be special. College was on the table at one point.
  
• More on this later, but: The Isles were so happy to see USA Today's Kevin Allan pick them as their Eastern Conference sleeper, they posted it on their official site. LHH FanShot discussion here.
  
• ESPN - NY is doing some kind of New York Hall of Fame thing. Here's it's remembrance of Islander greats.
• If you missed this: Three of the Islanders 2011 [Newsday brief] picks are headed to their respective North American junior team development camps: Ryan Strome, Scott Mayfield, Robbie Russo.
• As discussed yesterday, 2010 NCAA pick Jason Clark had not one, but two hip surgeries this summer.
• Seeing Denis Potvin on this list of all-time hitters is cool until you see Dion "Position? What position? Me hit big" Phrankeneuf on it.

LHH-Centric

Tourney: WebBard is working on a summer distraction: A tournament of all-time Islanders teams. Read the FanPost instructions before responding. The first step is a few willing GMs who will give him a pool of players, then participate in a draft. After the GMs select their teams, us readers will vote on which team would win a virtual tourney. This one will be ripe for debate, so stay tuned.

Meet-Ups: Dougtone has an idea that comes up from time to time, one I hope to help deliver on more and more: Lighthouse Hockey community meet-ups at a pub/grill. Let him (and everyone) know your thoughts, ideal dates, etc. Late in the season might be best for a larger one with lead time to plan, but some readers will be around for the home opener (which, regrettably, conflicts with Yom Kippur), an opportune time to do it.

Personally, I'd like to do this for reachable road trips when possible as well -- so if you're a long-distance fan near an NHL city, do let us know if you're interested in "hosting" (i.e., finding a good bar with Center Ice) that could welcome lurkers and travelers.

Hockey News

• In Nassau County, Charles Wang has options as reps from Queens, Brooklyn and Suffolk woo the Islanders after Wang's private and public arena proposals were both shot down. In Alberta, Oilers owners are wooing an indigenous nation's interest in case their proposal with Edmonton falls through. These two clubs, the parallels, I swear.
  
• Here's what the reconstruction of MSG looks like. Kate Murray says ew, look at all that dust.
• One of my favorite terms, applicable to so much of life: Better Know a Bias: Cognitive Dissonance | The LeafsNation
• I give Mike Comrie a hard time because I never enjoyed him as a player (well, except that one opening weekend against the Sabres), but hip injuries aren't fun.
• Alexei Kovalev's "torching" of everyone in Ottawa was fun. Reaction at Silver Seven here.
• NHL 12 from EA will feature some retired hockey legends. I'm gonna guess Dale Hunter didn't qualify.
• This site doesn't look very trustworthy (I like how they use official logos from multiple eras, but use a generic hockey action photo) so I personally wouldn't give them my information, but hey, hockey quizzes are fun.

Quote of the Day:

Can't his sister marry a top 4 shut-down d man with offensive upside for Christ's sake?

That was Keith, summing up our daydreaming of the Moulson in-law web's acquisition powers.

Also making me laugh: JPinVA discussing the summer that landed Matt Moulson and a bunch of other anonymous M-something minor league signings: Matt Moulson the $1 scratcher that gets you the Lexus.

Some scratchers work better than others.