Islanders News: Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills... that make me a nightmare for people like you.

All Star Skills Competition. Tonight. All the info is here. Watch and enjoy.

Islanders linkies

• John Tavares, All Star Captain, set tonight's line-up for the Eastern Conference and gave himself a sweet spot with some talented teammates. [LHH]
• Making an All Star team from the area rivals. [WSJ]
• With more than half a season played, I'm still waiting to see the Islanders' "swaggah."
• A quick look at the team's 5-on-5 stats from Islanders Insight.
• Elliotte Friedman tells some breathless Edmonton radio guys that the Oilers want to replace Justin Schultz with either Travis Hamonic or Anaheim's Sami Vatanen. Good players over a bad one? Bold strategy, Cotton. [Edm. Jour]
• Bridgeport picked up it's first regulation win of 2016 with a 4-1 victory over Hartford. [CT Post | Soundin' Off]
• Portrait of The Frans as a young Sound Tiger (in a funky orange jersey). [BST]
• Michael Dal Colle had two assists in Kingston's loss to Owen Sound, giving him 22 points in 11 games with the Fronts. [Whig]

Other Stars

• Neil Best of Newsday takes in the All Star festivities. He talks to John Scott about his fantastic journey and to Jaromir Jagr who's getting too old for this shit.
• Speaking of Jagr, 11 of his fellow All Stars were born after he started in the NHL. [CBS Sports]
• Scott also met Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy, who basically started the whole movement that got him in the game. Forget the game; just the media scrum was something Scott had never seen before. [TSN.ca]
• The Sharks placed human unguided missile Raffi Torres on waivers [Fear the Fin]. Naturally, a free Toronto guy with a notable name and "grit" drew the attention of some in Maple Leafs media. Pension Plan Puppets straightens them out.
• Could Toby Enstrom be a trade piece for the Jets? [Arctic Ice Hockey]
• The Unheraldeds of the Central Division. [Pensburgh]
• No one knows when Connor McDavid will be back for the Oilers. [NHL.com]
• Things have gotten weird in the NWHL, where the coach of the league's best team has been fired under strange behind-the-scenes circumstances. [TSS]
• Please don't call them "Man Caves." But whatever you call them, these are pretty wild. [BarDown]
• A look at the International All Star Game replacements through the years, including a jersey swap between Wayne Gretzky and Slava Fetisov. [Third String Goalie]
• A fascinating minute-by-minute look at a team's travel and preparation during a back-to-back game situation. [SI.com]

An important message from Andrew Ference for fans who like to yell, "Shoooooooooooooot!" Tremendous.