clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Islanders Prospect Scrimmage Day Bits: It's okay to be excited

Hey, this is when they're young and the sky is the limit.

Looking to return.
Looking to return.
Bruce Bennett

Maybe it's a mid-summer reverie, or maybe it's the I'll-take-anything excitement that comes with a little dose of hockey in the middle of summer, but it's cool to see the prospects get some love and attention at mini-camp this week.

Whether it's Ryan Strome looking like he's right there and asking "Is it October yet?" [video link], or the more seasoned pros like Johan Sundstrom and Brock Nelson in battle drills, or just seeing Calvin de Haan and Kirill Kabanov out there skating healthily, this is a time for dreaming about the future.

Oh, and the annual Orange & Blue scrimmage where we say "Nino looks good!" and "Anders Nilsson is HUGE!" is at 7 p.m. tonight at Nassau Coliseum.

Some more links to feed those dreams:

Anders Nilsson talks about identifying and getting over being gluten and lactose intolerant. [IslesTV video] He still has my bet for beating out Poulin in the long run.

Ryan Pulock at the Newsday blog: "It’s your first camp and you want to make a good first impression. Honestly, I want to play here as soon as possible." Naturally, everyone is ducking out of the way of his shot.

Griffin Reinhart at the same (different link), with this and more: "I play in a really deceptive way," the 6-4, 202-pound defenseman said. "I cover the ice really well. I’m not the type of player that needs to skate 100 percent all the time — I kind of read the game. I think that is sometimes misinterpreted as lazy or not urgent and [not] intense..." Not that he's Pronger, but Pronger took a similar approach.

Newsday on what Anders Lee needs to do to impress the Isles as he enters into what is a contract year. I fully expect him to start in Bridgeport, but I hope to enjoy watching him prove otherwise.

The official site has a similar theme on Lee (who talks of learning positioning), Brock Nelson and Strome, who says, “I think about getting to the NHL every day. It’s where I want to be. Everything I do, day or night, relates to being on the Islanders.”

And in more regular business, if you missed it yesterday, Josh Bailey has filed for salary arbitration.

Elsewhere: