The Islanders are in Canada's capital to take on the Senators. The fact that you know that Ottawa is the capital of Canada makes you smarter than the average sports fan.
FIG Picks for tonight's game live here.
Islanders News:
- Arthur Staple says the Tavares-Vanek connection needs time to gel like a velvety smooth hockey soup. [New$day]
- Staple also talks to minute-munching defensemen Travis Hamonic and Andrew MacDonald. The players love the extra ice time. The coach...not so much. [New$day]
- Kevin at IPB plays Finland's favorite childrens game, "Where's Miko (Koskinen)" [IPB]
- Barclays Center is one of the finalists for the Frozen Four, which would be awesome for us New Yorkers and New Jersians. [SBN]
- The Post gets close, strips down and goes deep inside the steaming hot world of Islanders Ice Girls. Tastefully, of course. [NY Post]
- The Metropolitan Division is ugly and dumb. So says avant garde Central Division blog III Communication [III Communication]
- Senators Extra's expert panel predicts the score for tonight's game. The analysis leans more towards the silly in this edition. Not sure that's due to the Senators recent play or their opponent. [Sens Extra]
- Reader CC53 is organizing an LHH meet-up for DC area Islanders fans before the November 5th game against the Caps. Have a beer on me. [FanPost]
Moulson's Back! Er...sort of:
Matt Moulson and the Buffalo Sabres were in Manhattan to play the Rangers last night, and the local scribes descended upon him to see how he was feeling four days after his trade. The quotes are all the same, but you can read the takes from Larry Brooks, Katie Strang, NHL.com's Tal Pinchevsky and the enormous head of Newsday's Mark Herrmann.
In a nutshell, Moulson was able to briefly see his now ex-teammates, grab a heavier coat for the harsh Western New York weather and was sad but resigned to his new station. When asked if he could re-sign with the Islanders next summer, he was as non-committal and vague as you would expect.
If that somehow didn't bum you out enough, here's special musical guest Sarah McLachlan to tell us more about animal cruelty.
Randomness:
- Last night's NHL scores. The Bruins rallied to beat Anaheim in a shootout and the Rangers weren't very kind to old friend Moulson, shutting out the Sabres 2-0.
- Menace to society John Scott has been suspended for seven games for his hit on Loui Eriksson. The streets are safe for kids again. [NHL]
- The Flyers traded Max Talbot to Colorado for Steve Downey. This is a good thing for Philly. Talbot the Turtle is expected to crawl to Denver and arrive sometime around Easter. [Broadstreet Hockey]
- But maybe the best idea for the Flyers would be putting their wallet away for a while. [Philly.com]
- Harrison Mooney has some funny NHL-inspired costume ideas just in time for... oh goddamnit. [Puck Daddy]
- Fightin' Words! Brian Burke defends NHL fighting in USA Today and trolls the anti-hunting environmentalist crowd that only he thinks exists [USA Today]. Meanwhile Greg Wyshynski examines the drop in fighting majors over the last few years. [Puck Daddy]
- The Habs re-signed currently injured defenseman Alexei Emelin to a four-year deal. When he's healthy, he's good. But is this a gamble for Montreal? [HEOTP]
- Fear the Fin wonders if goalie burnout is real. Paging Evgeni Nabokov.... [FTF]
- Wayne Gretzky says he almost went from St. Louis to either the Leafs or Canucks. Sure, now you tell us. [Sportsnet]
- Hockey Wilderness seems to think the Buffalo Sabres are the Wild's personal department store. Was picking up Jason Pominville and not Thomas Vanek last year the right move? Too bad the Sabres weren't having a BOGO sale that week. [HW]
- John Tortorella adjusts to Vancouver, and not just the different time zone. [ESPN]
- Down Goes Brown looks at all the coaches and GMs in hotseats around the NHL. Gold, Jerry. [DGB]
- How to fix the Capitals: trade Alex Ovechkin, Braden Holtby or Nicklas Backstrom for a "Norris Trophy Winner" and bring back the days of Rod Langway. Okay. I'm sure George McPhee will get right on that. [Washington Times]
A year and a half later, this is still hilarious and inexplicable.