Islanders Gameday News: Buddy System; Prince dethroned, State secrets

yawwwwnnnn... put on some coffee or get some candy or cookies ready for a 10 pm start from out in Vancouver. This time, it’s Andrew Ladd returning to his home province (although he never played for the Canucks). Next on the reunion list is Scott Mayfield, who’ll be back in St. Louis on Saturday (thanks for the reminder, Phil).

FIG picks go here. Don’t pick Shane Prince. He’s back in New York to get his ankle looked at.

Islanders stuff

• Look for Calvin de Haan and Travis Hamonic to remain a pair on defense. Also include the update on Prince. [Newsday]
• Eric Hornick on the team's consistency under Doug Weight. [NYI Skinny]
• Pierre LeBrun was on Vancouver radio and the subject of John Tavares' contract came up. He said some stuff but nothing crazy. [FanRag | and added to our Encyclopedia.]
• The Point Blank Podcast talks trade deadline, road trip and (gladly) eating a little crow.
• Shannon Hogan celebrates International Womens Day by celebrating her mom, a regular at Islanders games. [MSG Networks]
• More (yes) on Josh Ho-Sang's number getting people's hackles up. [NHL Mad On-Line by SBN | Pens fans at Pensburgh tell Pens fans to settle down | Deadspin steals my idea without my mad Photoshop skillz.]
• Hey, yesterday was the AHL trade deadline. But the Sound Tigers remain unchanged. [Soundin' Off]
• Two assists for Mathew Barzal on Tuesday as Seattle re-took first place with a 5-2 win over Spokane. [My Northwest].
• Barzal also gets the feature profile treatment on NHL.com and he's hoping to join the Islanders when the T-Birds season is over.

Other Stuff

• Last night's NHL scores. Hoo boy. Jets-Penguins was a fight-filled shitshow starring legendary Cro-Magnon dipstick Tom Sestito. "The Code" remains ridiculous [SBN].
• And this is savage:
  

  Pens call up Sestito, one staged fight and one hit from behind. If only there were an NHL owner willing to publicly call out such behavior.

  — Arthur Staple (@StapeNewsday) March 9, 2017

  
  
• Dude, how does Detroit's Riley Sheahan not have a goal this season? That's wild. [SBN]
• Word out of the NHL GM meetings is that the Olympics look unlikely. Don't all cry at once. [SBN]
• Also, incredibly, it appears the NHL will not be publicizing the expansion protection lists because the NHL has no idea what its audience wants, only what its GMs want. [Post-Gazette]
• The good news is that the expansion draft itself is probably going to be televised. [Puck Daddy]
• A fifth-year goalie from Canisus College near Buffalo is a nominee for the Hobey Baker Award. [Color of Hockey]
• The Sabres made a funny cameo on the TBS comedy The Detour. [DBTB]