Islanders News: Fans turn out for Belmont, Brathwaite’s turn as coach

The public hearing — er, not a hearing in public, but rather a chance to hear the public, so a “listening session” — about redeveloping Belmont Park was hosted at the public library by New York State representatives last night.

Many are pinning their (latest) Islanders perma-home hopes on the site, for which the state will be issuing a new RFP...sometime. There are strong hints that Powers That Be want to steer it toward a new arena suitable for hockey, but as anyone who has followed the Islanders in the last, oh, 35 years knows, such talk guarantees nothing.

Areener Talk

• A thorough overview of what was said at the hearing, what’s at stake, the recent history of RFP-ing the site, and the Isles being advised by the “MSG-backed Oak View Group,” which has discussed Mets-owning Wilpon family involvement in the Belmont project. [Newsday]
• Naturally, the Nassau and Suffolk County legislatures chose this timing to say they’re totally going to bring the Islanders back, they just need to...retrofit the Coliseum. [Newsday]
• As for the Belmont hearing, remember that it wasn’t explicitly about the Islanders; it was about what to do with the land. But the conversation was dominated by the prospect of using the land to build a new arena. Robert Brodsky, who has long been on this beat* and wrote the Newsday stories linked above, also shared sights and tidbits on his Twitter feed. (*which I always want to call Brodsky Beat.)

Islanders Hockey Talk

• He was seen at prospect mini camp and now it’s for real: Fred Brathwaite joins the Islanders as their goalie coach, creating quite the ‘90s era Oilers staff here. [LHH | Isles]
• Brathwaite, who has had his sights on such a gig for a while, becomes the third person of color to be an NHL goalie coach; among the others is ex-Isles and current Ducks goalie coach Sudsie Maharaj. [Color of Hockey]
• From the weekend: A positive outlook on the coming Islanders season. [LHH Fanpost]
• The AHL schedule drops this afternoon, but here’s a peek at a handful of early Sound Tigers dates. [Soundin’ Off]
• “Sneaky Pete” Pierre Turgeon joins John Stevens’ bench as Kings assistant coach, while longtime head coach Lindy Ruff lands with the Smurfs as an assistant to Alain Vigneault. [NHL]
• Congratulations to the newly married Casey Cizikas! [Instagram]
• Well there you go, there is life after hockey: Ex-Islander Warren Luhning is...”a renewable energy finance veteran”? [7X press release]

Other Hockey Talk

• The Lightning have signed one of their key free agents, with Tyler Johnson inking a seven-year deal that will take him through his age 33 season. [Raw Charge]
• On the heels of the new deal, Johnson talked about his thirst for a Cup in Tampa. [Lightning Insider]
• The increasingly expendable Adam Henrique. [All About the Jersey] (By the way, know someone who wants to write about the Devils? SB Nation’s site is looking.)
• Capitals cap casualty Marcus Johansson is excited about new possibilities with the Devils. [NHL]
• Great interview with the Red Wings’ AHL coach Todd Nelson on his aggressive on-ice and off-ice team-building approaches. [The Athletic]
• In the offseason reset series, the Ducks achieved their goal of maintaining continuity. [NHL]
• Sure that Kriss Russell contract squeezes the Oilers’ cap, but I mean in the context of summer defensemen free agent signings it’s...not the worst. [Edmonton Journal]
• The Oilers also signed former Devils Frenchman Yohann Auvitu. [C&B]
• The Florida Everblades offer an “open line” to Jaromir Jagr and many reasons for him to play with them should that whole NHL thing not work out. [Everblades]
• Looking back at some obscure mid-’90s Blues and their terrible uniforms. [STL Game Time]
• A guide to which Vegas Golden Knight jersey/player to buy. [Knights on Ice]
• R.I.P. to Jacques Ysaye, creator of the irreplaceable “Brass Bonanza” that served as the Hartford Whalers anthem. [Yahoo]
• Beijing-born 20-year-old Simon Chen looks to go from Canucks prospect camp to China’s Olympic team. [Province]