New York Islanders Prospect and Sandy Update

It feels strange, and a little hollow, to write about hockey right now when: 1) There's little hockey going on, and 2) So many are still picking up the pieces from a storm with a staggering toll, keeping some 8 million without power and expected to cost more than any other storm in U.S. history.

So thanks, Sandy.

From Jersey to Brooklyn to Long Island, most of the writers for our site are in the affected areas (not yours truly) and are dealing with loss of power for themselves and their families. At last check all are safe though.

Going further out in the Islanders family, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at last check were evacuated -- a possible distraction for Sunday's loss in Worcester -- and in a Springfield hotel to wait things out (with dogs?), able to return who knows when.

If you're not around the affected areas and not keeping up with the news, it's hard to describe in a single sentence. But in brief: As much as 90% of Long Island and most of Lower Manhattan without power, shores flooded and redefined up and down the coast especially Jersey to Connecticut, some 40 storm-related deaths in the U.S. and Canada, and transit systems down for days.

So yeah, life interrupts.

But for hockey talk, especially for fans beyond the Sandy-affected areas, the topic in hockey down time often turns to prospects. The latest official site prospect update published Monday is a good resource for where most stand: Ryan Strome, Adam Pelech, Andrei Pedan and especially Brenden Kichton all with big weekends.

After blocking a shot, Erie's Pelech left a game with an injury serious enough to have an X-ray, but it sounds like the team expected results to be no break.

Europe

Across the pond, Kirill Petrov's big-spending Ak Bars Kazan is a contender in the KHL. Here's a clip of him finishing a nice play last week (Petrov's goal begins at about the 2:27 mark of the video; he wears #90):

Through 20 games Petrov has 5 goals and 2 assists for a team that is pretty balanced (e.g. it's top scorer, Alexei Morozov, has 14 points through 21 games).

In Finland, Jesse Joensuu is up to 10 goals and 9 assists in 15 games for Ässät, and defenseman Ville Pokka has 2 goals and 3 assists in 12 games with Kärpät's senior team (he's also played three games with the junior team). (Also in Finland, locked out: Frans Nielsen is without a goal but with 9 helpers in 11 games for Lukko).

Again, a good roundup of prospect stats is in that official site update and provides plenty of discussion fodder.

Be well, be safe.