Islanders Gameday News: Adam Pelech up for Western restoration

Last year in early November, an Isles team that had started the season with a good record that masked some disturbing performances and a slump in late October embarked on a Western trip that had in past years tanked their season. After a loss in San Jose, the Isles pulled out extra-time wins in Anaheim and Los Angeles that were "pivotal" to a season turnaround.

Your move, Isles.

Leave your First Islanders Goal picks for tonight in San Jose here.

Islanders Reads

• Making their way to California, the Isles recalled Adam Pelech. Brian Strait, you've been warned? [LHH]
  
• Either a glutton for punishment or simply unable to sleep on planes, Newsday beatwriter Arthur Staple took fan questions on the state of the team while making the trip west. [LHH recap]
• Staple notes, "at 7-5-3, it is an eerily similar situation to last November," while Johnny Boychuk says he feels like the Isles are this close. [Newsday]
  
• Like off-brand cereal, do the Isles look the same but somehow taste blandly different? Dan and Leboff discuss. [Isles Anxiety podcast]
• The Isles are looking for offense, from the front and the back. [Isles]
• And now looking backward: How angry Isles fans "swayed" an election. [THN]
• Related to that, seats from the Coliseum are going for $500. [Newsday]
• And tangentially related to that, the Brooklyn Nets officially announce a D-League team, the Long Island Nets. [Nets Daily]
• The Isles players popped in $30,000 in donations for Military Night Sunday, and the team matched that donation. [Isles]
• Catching up with the prospects, as several had good weeks. [Isles]

For more Isles prospects, ITM Prospects is a great follow on YouTube. Here is an extensive medley of highlights from October:

Other Things to Tickle Your Fancy

• The Red Wings cap crunch is looming. [Today's Slapshot]
• Two tools in a pod: Tootoo claims Alex Burrows disparaged his personal life and family. [Sportsnet]
• More on that crazy Flint Firebirds story, where the owner fired the coaching staff, prompting a player revolt, an intervention by the OHL commissioner and a do-over by the owner. [Sportsnet]
• This here is a frame-by-frame autopsy of a bad power play. [On the Forecheck]
• Unfortunately, with signings like Matt Cullen the Penguins have decent forward depth again. [Pensburgh]
• The Capitals are close to a major TV rights extension with NBC Sports. [RMNB]
  
• Women's hockey: Final thoughts on the Four Nations Cup, where the U.S. won gold in OT, from Zoë [Victory Press], and an NWHL "History Begins" documentary kickstarter [Today's Slapshot]