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Hey folks. It’s been a while! I’ve missed all of your fresh faces and bright eyes. But hockey is finally coming back, and my semester from hell is finally over. I can’t wait to get back on the ball with the team this season. I hope everyone has had a nice holiday season thus far.
Let’s get into some hearty, holiday leftover Bits.
Islanders News
- The Islanders and Rangers open their seasons against each other with two games, and will play each other six more times after that. That and more about the schedule. [LHH | Newsday | Islanders Site Takeaways | Islanders VIDEO]
- The Islanders organization is planning for the difficulties of the 2021 AHL season. [The Athletic]
- It will be made more difficult by the taxi squads the NHL clubs will keep this year. Here’s an early projection of the Isles’ roster and taxi squad. [The Athletic]
- And when camp opens, there will be slots to fill. [Newsday]
- Gary Noll, a scientist, a member of the Islanders booster club, and the child of deaf parents, has advocated tirelessly for the Islanders to introduce closed-captioning on the scoreboards at UBS Arena. [Newsday]
- The Islanders made their hospital visits virtually this year. [Islanders]
- It’s no coincidence that the first time the Islanders franchise beat the Rangers was the game in which Denis Potvin notched his first NHL goal. [Maven’s Memories]
The countdown begins:
May the countdown begin to the top 5 arena moments that we’re looking forward to the most in 2021.
— UBSArena (@UBSArena) December 27, 2020
#5: closing our roof! pic.twitter.com/ARocQsvHYs
Elsewhere
- Nikita Kucherov will be unable to serve the Lightning this season. He is having hip surgery. [Raw Charge]
- Blackhawks wunderkind and Team Canada captain Kirby Dach suffered an injury during Canada’s exhibition game before World Juniors. He probably shouldn’t even be there. [Second City Hockey]
- The Senators made two trades this weekend. First, they acquired Derek Stepan from the Coyotes for a second-round pick. [Silver Seven Sens]
- Then, they eased Tampa Bay’s cap burden by taking Cedric Paquette and Brayden Coburn off their hands, in addition to a second-round pick, sending back only the ghost of Marian Gaborik (for LTIR purposes) and old friend, goalie Anders Nilsson. [NHL]
- Mike Hoffman joined the Blues on a PTO. [NHL] There is most likely a one-year deal in place, but the season needs to start before St. Louis can use LTIR. [Sportsnet]
- The Capitals signed former Penguins and Sabres forward Conor Sheary. [Japers’ Rink]
- Tampa Bay re-signed defensemen Erik Cernak and Jan Rutta last week. [Raw Charge]
- Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland announced his retirement. [Knights on Ice]
- Ilya Kovalchuk retreated back to the KHL, signing with Avangard. [NHL]
- Provided by the NHL and NHLPA, this was the initial slate of critical dates for this season. [NHL | LHH (Bonus about the offside rule change, as well)]
- In retirement, Bob McKenzie is still deeply entrenched in the game. Here’s what he’s been up to. [The Athletic]