Islanders News: Young guns and old dogs; Outstanding Ovechkin versus Terrific Tavares

Islanders links

Every paper gets ready for the playoffs:

• Newsday: Frans Nielsen and Matt Martin may be back for Game 1, but Travis Hamonic looks doubtful. | Kid Line preps for post-season. | Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy are used to this time of year |  Butch and Joe want Isles-Rangers |
  
• NY Post: Time for the Islanders to hit a hard reset | How to stop Ovechkin without Hamonic.
  
• Daily News: Ovechkin the Tank. | Stop that man.
  
• Japers Rink on their Anders Lee envy.
  
• Captain vs Captain: Who ya got? [AP]
• The Capitals will need to worry about stopping Tavares the way the Islanders will worry about Ovechkin. [Stars & Sticks | NEW! Russian Machine]
• Sportsnet's Gare Joyce steps out of his bleu-blanc-et-rouge bunker to tell the masses of the superlative Tavares playing away way the hell out in God's Country.
• Jiggs! Now and forever. [LHH]
• Ralph Macchio isn't sure about the Islanders Cup chances, but he's being philosophical about the ride. [NHL.com]
• We may hear Coliseum news via Bruce Ratner today that I'm sure will be squashed by some local politician. [Newsday]
• Long Islanders prepare for the arduous, dangerous adventure beyond Uniondale to watch hockey. I'm gonna level with you all: not everyone is going to make it back. [WSJ]J
• Chris King on the Islesblog podcast talks about how John Tavares heard he lost the Art Ross Trophy.
• A Coliseum write-up in...Rolling Stone? Did every member of Pink Floyd stop returning their calls?
  
• NEW! Are you in NYC and want to watch the Islanders at a bar? Vukota is open to suggestions. [FanPost]

Other stuff

• SBN's pretty playoff bracket is alive.
  
• The Flyers are in good hands: Craig Berube doesn't know how hockey works [BSH] | Lecavalier wants Berube out. [BSH]
  
• Jaime Benn won the Art Ross playing on a bum hip. He'll sit out 4-5 months after surgery. [DMN]
• Jagr's staying in South Florida for another year. [LBC]
• The Oilers like Yak, give him two-year bridge deal. [C&B]
• Literally any team could win the Cup this year. [Mirtle | CBS Sports | WaPo with upset picks]
• All your 2014-15 regular season stats n' stuff. [Sportsnet]
  
• Between Two Zambonis with Ryan Kesler gets personal (and hilarious) with Ryan Getzlaf. [Bar Down]

Practice video. Nice hair, Frans.