Islanders News: Workout Fiends; Wally’s world; How about the Silver Spoons?

A plea from me: Lighthouse Hockey has always been a pretty open forum. Yes, this is a hockey blog (with frequent tangents into movies, life, nonsense and all manner of other subjects) and we understand that if you’re a fan that needs to seek out other fans to satiate your appetite for your team, chances are you’re a pretty passionate person, even on off days.

We get that. Bannings are fairly infrequent, as are warnings. Threads tend to end of their own momentum after a point, usually when another talking point emerges.

The comments on yesterday’s Bits post - the first of a full week without Islanders hockey - went pretty far off the rails. I will admit I did not read every one, and my last check was sometime late Monday afternoon. The comments section has now been closed.

I’m not bringing this up so that this section goes off the rails in a similar fashion. I’m uninterested in any “He started this” or “I was just responding to” or any other litigious, nitpicky interpretations of who said what. Responses like that could result in bans, be they permanent or temporary.

This has never been a blog that cared about page views or reach or becoming some kind of multimedia platform for taking over the world. It was started by a guy who had no other Islanders fans to talk to in his hometown and, subsequently, was found by many, many others who felt the same way. That feeling has always been the spirit of Lighthouse Hockey.

Then there’s this cartoon, which I always felt followed a similar paradigm.

I guess what I’m saying is it’s a good week to take a deep breath.

Islanders Stuff

• Arthur Staple began his series of questions and anonymous answers from inside the Islanders locker room.
  
  Monday’s question was asking who the team’s “Workout Fiend” is. You might be surprised by both the name and the high tech piece of equipment at the center of the story.
  
  Tuesday’s was about which teammate would you call if you were in jam. The “team dad” should be a shock but at least one guy is calling the team grandpa.
• Mat Barzal on his All Star weekend. Shame about the Metro team’s one-and-done tournament. [Islanders]
• Oliver Wahlstrom continues his evolution. [NHL.com]
• And further prospect reporting from the Islanders homepage.
• Ilya Sorokin added a couple more shutouts to his stats recently and is one of a couple of hot shot Russian prospects that could come to North America and Change Capital E-Everything! [ESPN.com]
• A heads-up from Joe for the next episode of PT Isles:

Other Stuff

• Play resumed last night following the All Star break, with the Devils coming back to beat the Senators in a shootout and the Stars topping the Lightning in OT. [NHL.com]
• Who are the safe bets and long shots to make the playoffs? Believe it or not, the Islanders aren’t where you might think they are. [Dom @ The Athletic]
• Care to wager some money on the second half of the season. Leboff has you covered. [Action Network]
• The Golden Knights might put an AHL team in nearby Henderson, NV and christen them the Silver Knights. Nice synergy. Let me be the first to welcome the Reno Bronze Knights to the ECHL in 2024. [The Athletic]
• They hate us. They really, really hate us. [BSH]
• Goalies are insane. This you knew. They’re also frequently in pain after their playing days are over. Grab an ice pack before you read this. [The Athletic]

What nags Chico Resch these days?

“Knees and memories,” the 71-year-old replied, with a chuckle. “There’s some hurt in those memories, from losing games. Sometimes that’s more painful than the physical part.

“I’m pretty well oiled. I pull out the oil can and oil it up. Not playing the butterfly — and playing on good teams like the Islanders, who protected the goalie — there wasn’t that much wear and tear. It was good. Till two years ago.”

Now his left knee howls.