Islanders News: Halak sweat, lines set, Bridgeport has a captain

The NHL kicked off last night. Did you watch? There were opening fights, there were rivalries, there was a (successful) coach's challenge, there was no overtime. Here is your homework for the day:

Islanders Reads

• Jaroslav Halak worked up "a good sweat" in practice this week and they'll talk to him about he's ready after his mysterious injury. Also, Jack Capuano sounds like the lines will be as they have been, for now. [Newsday]
• The angst and the belief as the Islanders seek to reach and sustain a new level in Brooklyn. [LHH]
• An awesome and fully appropriate salute to Lubomir Visnovsky. [LHH]
• Where have the Isles been all week? In the Navy. [Isles photos]
• Nick Leddy is a defensive Jedi master, and here are some more reasons why. [SportlogIQ]
• Friday is the first time since 1984 the Isles open against the Hawks at home. That and other great trivia as The Skinny returns.
  
• There is something called "baseball" happening, so Jiggs McDonald is replacing Howie Rose for the first three broadcasts. [Newsday]
  
• Tom Nilsson was put on unconditional waivers, making the Michael Grabner trade a complete bust. That means mutual agreement, likely headed back to Sweden. [McKenzie]
• Dan went a-podcasting again, this time with gstatsman about Isles, Leddy, Barclays, Grabner and more. [BlogTalkRadio]
  
• As you may know, the Isles are adjusting to a new routine in Brooklyn. [AP]
• Speaking of Brooklyn: A night of storytelling with Clark Gillies, Arthur Staple, Brian Compton and Justin Bourne. [Puck Talks]
  
• Bridgeport updates via the incomparable Michael Fornabaio of the Connecticut Post: Ben Holmstrom is the new captain, here are the early lines and updates, and here's a profile on Stephon Williams.
• Bid on some warmup-used jerseys for cancer research this month. [NHL auctions]
  
• Garik16 and other analytics inclined make their predictions, put the Isles as a bubble team. [Hockey-Graphs]
• Because you care, I: Gary Bettman, Patrik Elias, Thomas Hickey, Eric Cairns and Rod Gilbert will ring the opening bell at the NYSE. Meanwhile tonight, Brock Nelson, Nick Leddy and John Ledecky will light the Empire State Building.
• Because you care, II: Continuing their annual rankings thing, the top 10 centers in the Metro, maybe. [Japers' Rink]
• NWHL Time: A full season preview for New York's team. [Victory Press]

Community

• So how many Isles fans are there in Idaho? Besides Brendan Witt, I mean. [Fanshot]
• Have you gotten your predictions in for the annual Isles season prediction contest? [LHH]
• Who fancies a Brooklyn bar watch-and-meetup this weekend? [FanPost]
• Spizzwolf hacked into Capuano's Gmail! (Not really. But hilarious.) [FanPost]
  

Beyond Brooklyn

• 30 Thoughts is a must read, always. [Sportsnet]
• How to watch hockey without having cable. [Jibblescribbits]
• The Kings and Mike Richards are working on a settlement for their termination of his contract which conveniently gets them out of some of its cap burden. Must be nice. [TSN]
• Heat map of how each opening roster was constructed. [WIM]
• Scott Gomez and Scottie Upshall survived the tryout ordeal with the Blues to sign contracts, but many veterans are not so lucky. [TSN]
• Among last night's games, the Flames post-mortem from their bad home loss to Vancouver. [M&G]