Islanders Bits: Off-Day Interviews, Parenteau Contract Marker?

Plenty of off-day media and other news of interest to Islanders Country. Here are some of the news bits you don't want to miss:

• Josh Bailey was on NHL Home Ice this morning [audio]; interesting take on Evgeni Nabokov
• Kyle Okposo on NHL Live yesterday [video]
• Butch Goring co-hosts NHL Live today: Tweet in a question to @nhllive and maybe he reads it on air.
• Michael Fornabaio has the Sound Tigers' Clear Day list, with no surprises. Tony Romano and Trevor Gillies are on the outside looking in. Go to that link for 1) a full explanation of the rules and 2) Fornabaio's chat.
  
• This was discussed previously, but with some grain of salt: The implication the Islanders tried to grab Scott Gomez last summer.

Speaking of many millions, Mikhail Grabovski re-upped with the Maple Leafs for five years at $5.5 million AAV. Grabovski is an underrated three-zone center who was heading to UFA at age 28. He was going to get paid. P.A. Parenteau is an underrated winger who has performed well even when not lined up with point machine John Tavares. He too will get paid. Question is how much? (There was a recent FanPost soliciting your take-or-leave offers.)

• Eric Hornick on points that slipped away this season: NYISkinny: Eric Hornick's Blog: The Ones that Got Away...
• ... and on THN's player poll that has Tavares left out.
• Robbie Russo on the All Rookie Team: The Prospect Park: Is there a veterinarian in the house?
• Newsday on the long wait between games: After two solid games, New York Islanders can only wait
• Where does JT fit? The Top 5: Best New York Players 23 Years Old And Younger - SB Nation New York
• In between meetings with the Isles, the Devils face the Smurfs. Parise's hand is okay but Ponikarovsky still isn't ready to go.

Practice Lines Minus JT's Wingers

Matt Moulson and P.A. Parenteau each got rest days (though Newsday's Arthur Stapel points out Moulson had 10 stitches for that missed high stick). That created a different JT line for sure:

Grabner-Tavares-Martin
Ullstrom-Nielsen-Bailey
Niederreiter-Cizikas-Okposo
Pandolfo-Reasoner

Staple also said Al Montoya and Rick DiPietro skated afterward but are not close to returning.

Elsewhere

• Pat LaFontaine and Steve Webb's "Making of a Royal" show on the NHL Network is getting some local hockey players some love.
• Can there be a worse line change? Systems Analyst: Edmonton Oilers execute the worst line change in the history of line changes | Backhand Shelf
• Crosby is cleared for contact. Update 1 of 374, Volume 6.
• I always enjoy this topic: The Shifts that Changed the Game: Butterfly Goaltending - Arctic Ice Hockey
• Stat Week! The Russians used a lot of possession stats. And won. And the Oilers apparently set up an analytics advisory group they consulted for the Ales Hemsky contract.
• Standings Gazing: Breaking down the Eastern Conference race – USATODAY.com
• Heh. I think "conscience" would also fit: Do the Washington Capitals even have a system? | Puck Daddy - Yahoo! Sports
• Dumb broadcast stats: Why a Team's Record when they Score 3 or more Goals is an Utterly-Flawed Statistic - Arctic Ice Hockey

You Can Play

Finally, maybe you saw Matt Moulson's excellent shaggy mug as part of the You Can Play initiative. PSA is here:

A really nice backgrounder and what this might mean for the NHL over at Mile High Hockey.