Islanders News: Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Festive Festivus from all of us to you and yours. Enjoy family, friends and the three-day NHL break. The Islanders, and basically everyone else, are back in action on the 27th.

Islanders Readings

• Recaps: LHH | Newsday | NY Post | Islanders | NHL.com | NYI Skinny
• Still nothing concrete on Calvin de Haan and whether or not he needs surgery. He’s still out a while. [Islanders | NY Post]
• Josh Bailey’s last year has been something else, man. [Newsday]
• Yeah, we’d all like to fix the goaltending but the outside options are... limited. A thing Art didn’t mention is that, yes, Petr Mrazek is an RFA, but if he’s re-signed, he’ll need to be qualified at his current salary of $4.1 million or more. Either that, or you non-tender him and he becomes a UFA. He’s also eligible for arbitration. [Newsday]
• Mathew Barzal is capable of amazing feats: like leaving Don Cherry speechless. [Coaches Corner]
• A recent NHL Network poll listed Denis Potvin as the 13th greatest captain in NHL history, which is a little crazy. [Ottawa Citizen]
• George McPhee credits Garth Snow with keeping him in the game and Snow credits him with helping the Sound Tigers players. [LVRJ]
• The current Sound Tigers celebrated Christmas by thumping Hartford 5-1. Devon Toews and Casey Bailey with a goal and an assist each. [BST | Soundin’ Off]
• Michael Dal Colle and Brent Thompson talk about the forward’s progress this season. [HockeyBuzz]
• The Railers avenged a 3-0 home loss on Friday with a 5-3 road win on Saturday. [Telegram]

Other Stuff

• Last night’s NHL Scores. Not a bad night, with losses by the Caps, Rangers and Penguins. But the Hurricanes are right back in the thick of it.
• It’s time again for The Spengler Cup, that international hockey tournament not named after former Columbia University Paranormal Psychology professor Egon Spengler. This year, former Islanders P.A. Parenteau and Kevin Poulin will represent Canada. [Sportsnet]
• December 23rd isn't just Festivus. It’s also the anniversary of the infamous Mike Milbury Shoe Incident of 1978. [SCOC]
• The Nashville Predators here with an important reminder: Don’t lose a bet at Christmas. [SBN]

Watch it again for the first time. Baby, I was there and it was spectacular.