Islanders News: Merry Christmas, LHH

Merry Christmas, LHH, and apologies for the delay in posting. The omicron variant has been upending all our lives.

The NHL would be on break today normally, but they’ve been on break basically since the weekend. The league will not reopen until the 27th, at the earliest. In the meantime, World Juniors are about to begin. That will be our taste of hockey.

The New York Islanders are supposed to host the Buffalo Sabres on the 27th, so we shall see if that happens.

Islanders News

• The league hit ‘pause’ just when the Islanders started to gain some momentum. They’re going to try to make that last. [The Athletic]
• The Isles may have a decision to make about Kieffer Bellows. [Newsday]
• Noel caught us up with the Baby Isles. Michael Dal Colle returned from injury, and a defenseman had to dress as an EBUG. [LHH]
• The folks that live near UBS Arena have concerns with the parking. [News12]
• 20 Questions with Jason Strudwick, a former Islanders’ draft pick. It starts off with a great story of the Isles trading him for Gino Odjick. [The Athletic]
• This (Yester)Day in Isles History: Bryan Trottier records eight points in a 9-4 win over the New York Rangers (1978).
• The team site has its own Bridgeport Report.
• Newsday does its annual list of the top sports stars of the past year and the upcoming year. Mathew Barzal and Anders Lee made the list. [Newsday]
• Sign up for Isles Smile!

The Podcast Corner

• Mike and Dan discuss the recent games and also are joined by Arthur Staple, who relayed some stories from his decade on the beat. [LHH]
• On this episode of No Sleep Til Belmont, Arthur Staple and Scott Gordon discuss the Isles’ search for consistency. [The Athletic]

World Juniors and International Hockey

• The NHL will not be sending its players to Beijing, officially. [NHL]
• Which means that Islanders’ head coach Barry Trotz will not be going to the Olympics, either. [Newsday]
• Logan Cooley made Team USA. He likely will be the top U.S.-born pick in this summer’s draft. [NHL]
• Who are some other draft-eligible prospects to watch at World Juniors? [TSN]

Around the NHL

• The Calgary Flames pulled out of their arena deal with the City of Calgary because of a few million in extra fees. [M&G] It’s yet another impasse between the two sides. [Sportsnet]
• Wayne Gretzky reportedly believes that Alex Ovechkin is going to pass him on the goals list. [NHL]
• The Philadelphia Flyers have played better under Mike Yeo, but is it enough to make the playoffs? [BSH]
• Rookies? Good at faceoffs? Get out of town. [NHL]
• Travel to a land where it’s always 2004. [The Athletic]
• My favorite story in a long time: How Jared Keeso, a former grinder in junior hockey, came to be the guy that created Letterkenny. In true Keeso fashion, he did not comment for this piece. But so many of the people that have encountered him over the years did. [The Athletic]