Islanders Gameday News: Frans

So there’s an Islanders game tonight. You may already know that. They play Detroit. Keep your eye on the guy wearing No. 51 in red. He’s good.

FIG Picks go here. Don't pick Frans Nielsen, even though we all know he's gonna score first.

Islanders stuff

• Nielsen is the man of the hour: Newsday | NHL.com | NY Times: "I never thought I was going to leave," Nielsen said. "I was pushing my agent hard even before the interview period started to get something done, but for some reason, it dragged out. We couldn't figure it out. I had a chance to talk to other teams. That was the moment where I realized maybe it would be fun to try something new."
• Last night on Hockey Night in Canada, Elliotte Friedman and Kelly Hrudey talked about Jon Ledecky talking to hockey folks about what he should do with the Islanders. At least click it for the picture. [LHH]
• Former Rangers goalie Wayne Thomas knows what J-F Berube is going through. [Brooksie]
• And Alain Vignault is using the Islanders as a way to motivate his club by giving them some respect. [NY Post]
• The Sound Tigers blew up both Death Stars this weekend, winning two different Star Wars Nights in two different arenas. They shut out Binghampton 4-0 last night. [BST | CT Post | Soundin' Off]
• Bridgeport forward Connor Jones was suspended for four games after a hit hit on Springfield's Jayce Hawryluk. [Soundin' Off]
• Mathew Barzal had another three assist game in Seattle's 4-3 OT win over Kootenay on Friday. He has two goals and 10 assists in his last four games and has had three assists in three of his last four games. Geez. [My Northwest]

Other stuff

• Last night's NHL scores. The Wings gave up four goals in the third period en route to a 5-3 loss to the Penguins last night.
• Los Angeles surprisingly waived veteran Teddy Purcell and the Devils lost youngster Reid Boucher to Nashville off waivers. [PHT]
• The Avalanche have lost five in a row and now lost defenseman Erik Johnson for 6-8 weeks with a broken fibula. [Denver Post]
• The Oilers will also be without Darnell Nurse for a while with a lower body injury. [Sportsnet]
• Trevor Linden on rebuilding (or not rebuilding) and Canucks. [Sportsnet]
• Corey Crawford had to have an emergency appendectomy in Philadelphia yesterday and the Blackhawks signed some random dude to back-up Scott Darling. Crazy. [SCH]
• Today is the final professional game for the Riveters' Morgan Fritz-Ward, who has decided to retire and return to school [The Ice Garden]. We were at New York's 5-3 loss to Buffalo yesterday at Newark and it was a good time, despite the score. Energetic forward Rebecca Russo had three assists for the Riveters. Today at 4, New York faces the unbeaten defending champion Boston Pride. Good luck.

Frans...