Islanders News: Activating Ladd; Dal Colle and Ho-Sang playing well

Good morning folks. Sorry that there were no Bits yesterday. There's not much to say about our last place team anyway.

Islanders Readings

• Andrew Ladd has been struggling mightily, one of the Isles' main issues to start the season. They need to find a way to get him going. [Staple]
• Larry Brooks was bored this weekend, so he penned a column about John Tavares leaving in free agency. Ol' Brooksie just can't help himself sometimes. [NY Post]
• Andy Graziano on how the Islanders' issues persisted through the loss to the Penguins. [IPB]
• Josh Ho-Sang scored this beautiful goal, Michael Dal Colle scored on the power play, and Eamon McAdam gets his first AHL win as the Sound Tigers beat the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Saturday night. [CT Post | Fornabaio (CT News)]
• Bridgeport also played last night, with Dal Colle scoring his 7th of the season (see here) and Ho-Sang recording two assists, including this beauty to set up Kane Lafranchise's game winner, in a 3-2 OT victory against the Binghamton Senators. [Sound Tigers | CT Post | CT News]

WINNER WINNER, SUNDAY DINNER!! Kane Lafranchise with the OT winner from Ho-Sang ends the weekend with bang!! pic.twitter.com/MHQSDZkI43

— The Sound Tigers (@TheSoundTigers) November 21, 2016

• Not Islanders, but Long Island- and Brooklyn-related: the Long Island Nets are the new D-League affiliate of the Brooklyn Nets, and they're set to be the tenants at the newly-renovated Nassau Coliseum in 2017-18. As of right now, however, they play at Barclays Center, in the afternoon prior to NBA Brooklyn games at night. The hope is some turn it into a day/night doubleheader. [Newsday]

Beyond the Garbage Pail

• Johnny Gaudreau has a fractured finger and will miss six weeks. It probably has something to do with how the Wild apparently slashed him 21 times when they played each other the other night. [SBN Mothership]
• Craig Cunningham, captain of the Arizona Coyotes AHL affiliate Tucson Roadrunners, collapsed on the ice during warm-ups after an apparent seizure. Thoughts and prayers are with Craig, his family, and the organization. [Mothership]
• Strome the Younger (Dylan Strome) was re-assigned by the Coyotes to the Erie Otters of the OHL. Those Stromes seem to be late-bloomers, eh? [Five for Howling]
• Carolina Hurricanes president Don Waddell calls the recent relocation rumors the result of baseless Montreal media speculation. [Canes Country]
• The NWHL recently decided to cut players' already-low salaries in half in order to keep the league alive. Tatiana Rafter, currently of the New York Riveters and formerly of the Buffalo Beauts, guests at Stanley Cup of Chowder and laments the future of the league, as the decision will force players to find other ways to survive financially if they are to continue playing. It's a shame that this is happening - hopefully something can get figured out. [SCOC]
• OUCH! Mika Zibanejad will miss 6-8 weeks with a broken fibula after crashing legs-first into the boards. [Mothership]
• Niklas Hjalmarsson, he of the extremely difficult-to-spell last name, signed a deal a few years ago that's gonna carry him through 2018-19 - and right now, he's thinking it could be his last season. [Chicago Sun-Times]

The Islanders are out west this week, stopping first in Anaheim for a late-night Ducks special on Tuesday night at 10:00 p.m., followed by a 10:30 match-up with the Kings up the freeway (never been to California, myself - am I doing it right?) in Los Angeles on Wednesday night. Then, after Thanksgiving turkey on the beach, they fly up north to San Jose for a 4:00 matinee with the Sharks on Black Friday.

They've bonded on these trips before, rebounding to save seasons. Don't know if that's a possibility anymore, but it looks like they're gonna try.