NHL News: Isles preseason Bridgeport game; Gaborik/Carter effect; goalies

Today is one of those odd days without NHL hockey. It will be back tomorrow, but you'll be nervous about it.

• This is what passes for Islanders news at the moment: Final preseason game will be in Bridgeport. [Isles]
• Puck Daddy on the Vanek quotes about his line change in Montreal: Even if he's right, he's not right.
• The Sharks may be the next odd choice for an outdoor game. [CSN]
• The Panthers fired 30 or so people. Always found it weird when teams cut gobs of salaried staff while handing out millions to Sean Bergeneheim. [LBC]
• Boy, the Marian Gaborik in L.A. thing sounds a lot like the Jeff Carter in L.A. thing. [SB Nation]
  
• I honestly don't know who CMPunk is other than some celebrity (wrestler? guy who tweets a lot?) who likes the Hawks, and he's good for his bets. [Twitter @CMPunk]
• Twitter probably isn't as bad as Yapper, by the way: Things I Have Read Which Make me Laugh: Yappin' the Playoffs - Winging It In Motown
• He will announce some more: Appreciating the living legend known as Bob Cole - Eyes On The Prize
• I have to say I'm enjoying Staple's coverage this postseason even if it's about the Smurfs. [Newsday]
• Don't count the Rangers out though. If you don't want to. [SB Nation]
• Seems the Kings are the favorite, but how close could this series be? [Hockey Prospectus]
• Oh, want more Rangers talk? The incredible story of how the Rangers lucked upon Lundqvist. (Tip: It wasn't anything brilliant. Reminder: The Rangers drafted a goalie named Brandon Snee first. Because goalies.) [Post]
• This is when you know sports has already died: It's cheaper for Rangers fans to travel to LA than watch the Stanley Cup at MSG - SBNation.com
• Speaking of confounding goalies... NHL playoffs a showcase for bad goalie contracts - The Globe and Mail

Some fun stats, most of them intuitive yet still interesting, about when coaches are typically fired in the NHL. [FiveThirtyEight]:

With no evidence that the NHL’s rapid coaching churn is driving results, new NHL general managers may want to give it a second thought before hustling their coaches out the door.