Islanders Bits: Trotz and son playing Mario Kart is my new daily affirmation

Some Islanders bits to tide you over for another day of... not much.

The good news is that Barry Trotz made the media rounds yesterday so we have a lot of introspective coach comments to parse through.

A new episode of Islanders Award Winners posted yesterday, the finale of our first season. It’s on Denis Potvin’s first Norris Trophy winning season in 1976. Thanks for listening.

And don’t forget to take afrosupreme’s daily Islanders trivia quizzes. You can find them all in our FanPosts section or on the right side of the home page.

Islanders Stuff

• Trotz is hard at work preparing for any number of scenarios for when/if the NHL returns this season. He’s also enjoying an amount of family time he normally wouldn’t have this time of year including getting his ass kicked at Mario Kart by his son, Nolan. [Newsday | The Athletic | Island Ice podcast with Andrew Gross. Very much worth your time]
• In a Q&A at NHL.com, the coach likes the idea of an expanded playoff field. He hasn’t watched Tiger King but is enjoying The Man in the High Castle on Amazon Prime.
• Trotz also admits to having some regrets about how he and the coaching staff handled the losses of Casey Cizikas, Adam Pelech and Cal Clutterbuck. Instead of leaning into defense, they tried to overcompensate with offense. It’s odd, frustrating and also kind of refreshing to hear an NHL coach admit this. [Newsday, also in the podcast above]
• Got a question for the coach? The Islanders are collecting them for a Trotz Q&A article to run later this week. Send ‘em in here.
• Andy Greene has enjoyed his time as an Islander and plans to play next season. Where, we shall see. [Newsday]
• The Islanders players have donated funds to purchase N95 masks for Northwell Health. [Newsday]
• Some Islanders minor leaguers were awarded yesterday. Goalie Christopher Gibson was named the Sound Tigers Man of the Year [BST | CT Post] as part of the AHL’s league-wide initiative. And Worcester Railers defenseman Connor Doherty was named the winner of the ECHL Community Service Award.

Elsewhere...

• The Seattle NHL team may soon reveal their nickname. The Whalers, the Heart or th Soundgarden would be my picks. [NHL.com]
• Workout at home the Connor McDavid (and Gary Roberts) Way. [NHL.com]
• The sons of NHL stars Scott Niedermayer, Doug Weight, Mike Sillinger and others are all playing for the same team in British Columbia. It’s like the past meeting the future in one giant Quantum Leap. [The Athletic]

THE COBRA! Checking in with Islanders fans and saying his rehab is going well.