Islanders News: On my planet, we have a legend about people like you. It's called “Footloose.”

Islanders stuff

• The Thunderbirds are down 2-1 to Regina in the WHL final after a 3-2 loss last night. Mathew Barzal had an assist but was also assessed a diving penalty at a really bad time that coach Steve Konowalchuk is still scratching his head about. Game 4 is tonight. [My Northwest]
• Kovi, Kovi, Kovi! Ilya Kovalchuk wants back into the NHL and he’s going to have to work it out with the Devils before they end up working it out with another club. It’s complicated. [LeBrun via FanRag | Bergen Record]. On NHL Network, Elliotte Friedman lists the Islanders as one of many potential landing spots, although a lot depends on what the player thinks of playing here. It’s not much to go on, but like at the Oscars, it’s nice to be nominated. [FanRag]
• Here’s the whole segment:

World Championships

• No Islanders played on Tuesday and, frankly, we don’t care about the other games. Today, Team Germany takes on the Slovaks and Team USA faces Italy, both at Cologne. Hey, Anders and Brock: Take it easy on my ancestors.
• But, buddy, we’ve got Power Rankings. [IIHF]

NHL stuff

• Yup. It’s real and it’s spectacular.
• The rumors (?) were (are?) true: The Rangers will face the Sabres at CitiField in next year’s Winter Classic. I don’t know if I’m supposed to be outraged by this, but I’m really not. It’s fine. [SBN | NHL.com]
• Get ready for Caps-Penguins Game 7 tonight by listening to JP of Japers Rink talk to Dimitri about where Washington’s been and where they could be going. [PDOCast]
• Everybody’s doing it now. The Stars are the latest team to acquire a soon-to-be-UFA goalie for a draft pick, grabbing Ben Bishop from the Kings for a fourth rounder. How that affects the other two goalies on the roster, we’ll see. [DBD]
• Los Angeles then passed its savings onto Tanner Pearson, who gets a new four-year extension. [JFTC]
• Speaking of the Scott Darling trade, what are the Blackhawks going to do for goaltending in the future? [SCH]
• The concussion spotters in Pittsburgh were totally cool with Sidney Crosby playing after a series of blows to the heads which seems... weird. [SBN]
• Hey, so, uh, anybody know what the Blue Jackets are gonna do with Scott Hartnell at the expansion draft? [PHT]
• The Nashville offense is being driven by their high-octane defense. It’s been fun to watch. [OTF]
• One-time blogger Garret Hohl and his company are now providing analytics for the Capitals. [Daily Hive]
• You know who’s loving these NHL playoffs? One Sir Charles Barkley, scion of the House of Round Mound of Rebound. [SBN]