Islanders News: Keep Railing on; daily contact in the JT chase

It’s Friday. But you have to wait another day for the Stanley Cup Final to resume with Game 3 Saturday in Washington, D.C.

Mixed Reading

• The Islanders-Sound Tigers-Worcester Railers marriage had a good year, for all parties have signed on for two more. [Isles | Railers | LHH]
• One report about free agency targets has Lou Lamoriello in “nearly daily contact” with John Tavares’ agent, Pat Brisson. If you didn’t know, Tavares can become a free agent on July 1. [TSN | LHH]
• For subscribers, this is not a Toronto-based post about how the Leafs should sign Tavares or something; rather a good Staple chat with lots of Kovalchuk talk, and several variations of “who will be the goalie? What will Garth do? What changes are coming?” On Kovalchuk, sure sounds like the interest is legit and strong. But the best Staple line, on what should Isles fans expect from Lou: “Professionalism and barely any information about how he operates.” [Athletic]
• The Lightning have parted ways with Rick Bowness, who once coached the Islanders and Senators, has served thousands of NHL games behind the bench in some capacity, and previously played in the NHL. They also let go of assistant coach Brad Lauer, a former Islanders player from Humboldt, Saskatchewan. [Raw Charge]
• In unrelated news, the Islanders associate coach is (still) Greg Cronin, though this page doesn’t list Lou Lamoriello’s new role so...subject to change, maybe? [Isles]
• Remember Pat LaFontaine’s “Making A Royal” series? The latest in TSN’s series on how the NHL handled concussions, as revealed in various depositions in the Peluso case, tells how the league ordered LaFontaine’s quote about concussions to be removed before episode 8 aired. [TSN]
• The “upper body” injury that kept Cory Crawford out through the end of the season was undisclosed, but how the Blackhawks treat free agency will be a major hint of what they expect from the goalie. [THW]
• Many frown upon “blindside” hits but they are not illegal. [THN]