Islanders News: Let’s Play Three

This week we'll start introducing several new Lighthouse Hockey writers who answered to our appeal for more voices this summer, so please welcome them as they say their hellos ("Doctor? Doctor. Doctor? Doctor." or "I...state your name" if you prefer).

We don’t expect this new crew to change the underlying manifesto of the site (which is something akin to "Like hockey, have a sense of humor, be cool to your fellow human"), but we do expect their movie references will be less dated than the ones I just used this will diversify our voices, offer different styles that some of you will appreciate, and — most importantly — afford Dan and I a little bit of sleep.

Far more relevant though, this week the Islanders have three consecutive entirely metro-contained preseason games. Get ready for lots of half-news, roster interpretations, and grainy video replays. Bridgeport also started its training camp, so look for continued separation of rosters.

Islanders Reads

• Speaking of which...a few more cuts. [LHH]
  
• Anders Lee missed the playoffs because he was injured by a teammate’s blast from the point. Now he’s back, healthy, and still standing in front of teammates’ blasts from the point. To borrow an ex-Isle’s {sniff} phrase, "That what he do." [Isles]
• The schedule is Monday at home to the Devils, Tuesday at home to the Smurfs (and MSG+/- coverage), Wednesday in Newark. [Isles]
• THN's season preview calls the Islanders average, says Johnny Boychuk can bounce back, but sees promise in the Metro softening. [THN]
• If digging into preseason games is your thing, you'll appreciate these shot, pass and zone entry data from The Energy Line, with the 4-0 loss to Philly (Ho-Sang and Beauvillier look good) and the 5-2 loss to the Smurfs (yay Barzal).
• A few questions heading into the final full week of camp. [SNY]
• The Sound Tigers have an old face back among their PTOs (remember Jon Landry's Scottish detour?). [Soundin' Off]

Beyond

• Outside other teams' own preseason schedules, there is unsigned RFA drama. In Calgary, an Elliotte Friedman report says the Flames and Johnny Gaudreau haven't spoken in weeks, but he's not looking for a trade or anything. Just money.
• Meanwhile, the Flames finally have Mark Jankowski -- son of the Isles former draft head -- on a pro roster after they controversially drafted him quite high four years ago. [Flames Nation]
• The best and worst of ESPN's World Cup coverage likely won't surprise you. One segment contrasting Barry Melrose and Kevin Weekes' description of a goal is telling. [Awful Announcing]
• Typical of the World Cup's problems is no one knows what form it will take next. [Puck Daddy]