Islanders News: No tricks, no treats, no goals; Milestone for Kyle; Goalie-Go-Round; Vanek Investigation

Some free Islanders-inspired Halloween costume ideas for you to use today or tonight:

1. Frustrated John Tavares (jersey, helmet - with hair sticking out of front, broken hockey stick)
2. A closed door meeting (cardboard door painted blue with handle and sign saying "players only.")
3. Next Islanders coach (a Doug Weight jersey).
4. Islanders goalmouth defense (get four friends in matching color jerseys or shirts and just lay on top of each other).
   

Islanders stuff

• Recaps: LHH | Newsday | Islanders | NHL.com | Mile High Hockey | Eric Hornick's Skinny
• They grow up so fast: last night was Kyle Okposo's 400th career game. [Newsday]
• From prior to last night's game, there is no goalie controversy.  Jaroslav Halak is still the No. 1 and the coaches want him to relax. [Newsday]
• garik makes it clear: Halak will be fine. Chad Johnson is a different story. [Islander Analytics]
• The Sporting News says the same thing, but throws around the "C-word"
• From the am, Mike tallied the power rankings from around the 'net. Take a good look because the Islanders won't be that high next week unless they thrash the Sharks 17-0 on Saturday. [LHH]
  
• Islanders fans are tortured peoples [Islanders Insight]. I agree with the premise that, by and large, they are always - ALWAYS - waiting for the other shoe to drop to a pathological degree. But I disagree that they are the only fanbase that does so. Watching Habs fans go ballistic over Michel Therrien's decisions or seeing Red Wings fans calling for Ken Holland's job is a reminder that it's sometimes a good idea to take a step into other worlds and see what the fans there are thinking, too.
• Long Islanders lament the loss of the Islanders' original home. [LI Herald]
• The Islanders are among Down Goes Brown's Eight Surprise teams.
• LHH reader and occasional commenter Neil Greenberg says the Islanders are good, just not as good as they have looked at times this season. [Washington Post]
• A roster crunch forced the Sound Tigers to send Andrey Pedan to Stockton. He'll be back, according to Brent Thompson [CT Post]. He most likely did not enjoy his plane ride to California. [Twitter]
• A quick rundown of numbers before the Sound Tigers weekend. [BST]
  
• An Islanders quiz like no other: can you identify goalies by just their pads? [Capitol District Islander]
• Ol' pal Thomas Vanek hasn't produced on the ice so far this season [Bleacher Report]. But goals might be the least of Vanek's problems. A Rochester bookie pleaded guilty to laundering money, including a payment from an Islanders check which may be connected to the gambling investigation Vanek was implicated in last year. [Democrat and Chronicle has the story | OneNewsPage has the video]

Around the NHL

• Stop the presses: the Devils have won a shootout. [NHL.com]
• And hold those trade proposals: the Flyers signed UFA defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo to fill in for some of their injured dudes. [Broad Street Hockey]
• Rest can make a huge difference over the course of a season for NHL teams. [TSN.ca]
• This' week's Connor McDavid Power Rankings. Congrats to the Oilers for (temporarily) pulling away from the muck.
• A bigger fear than concussions or injuries among hockey players is a fear of failure. [The Hockey News]
• Vegas casino wants an NHL team. Always bet on Bettman. [SB Nation]
• Hercules is a Wild man. I demand a hockey Q&A with Lucy Lawless now. [The Hockey News]
• Starting at forward for the Boston Celtics Larry Bird Scott Hartnell. [SB Nation]
• ECHL teams to wear Batman and Riddler uniforms for Halloween (and for charity). [Robot 6]
• Gob Bluth takes over as coach of the Leafs. He's made a terrible mistake. [Bar Down]
• Not hockey: Inside the madness of Serbia's Belgrade Derby. [SB Nation Longform]