Islanders News: Horvat, Nelson, and Sorokin meet the press

Yesterday was media day at the NHL All-Star Weekend in South Florida. To finish out the schedule, the Skills Competition is tonight, and the three-on-three tournament is tomorrow afternoon.

Brock Nelson, Bo Horvat, and Ilya Sorokin all met with the media yesterday, and naturally, the trade came up with all of them. Tonight, all three will be at the Skills Competition because all All-Stars attend, but Horvat is not actually participating in the competition. You will see him in a New York Islanders jersey for the first time, but it will be the Fisherman: The NHL has everyone wearing their Reverse Retros for the Skills Competition.

Islanders News

• As mentioned, Horvat isn’t doing the Skills. But Nelson will participate in the accuracy shooting competition, and Sorokin will be a part of the Tendy Tandem. [Islanders]
• Tendy Tandem? No, not chicken fingers, but goaltenders. And he’ll tandem with his good buddy, Igor Shesterkin. The two of them busted one another’s chops during media day. [NHL]
• All-Stars around the league had nice things to say about Nelson and Sorokin. [Islanders]
• And both of Nelson and Sorokin are excited for Horvat to join the Islanders. [Islanders]
• Horvat admitted that it will be “weird” to wear an Islanders jersey for the first time in this setting, especially since he’s going to turn around and play for the Pacific Division the next day. But he’s excited. [NHL]
• The trade “hasn’t sunk in” for Horvat. He’s never been traded before, and the move came perhaps a little earlier than he expected. [NY Post]
• And while he’s excited, he’s also a little anxious. That’s normal, I’d think, and some of the anxiety is “where are we going to live/stay?,” but he hasn’t been to Long Island yet with All-Star Weekend in the way. [Newsday] This is in the article, too, but in case you’re paywalled, here’s how Horvat and his wife settled on 14:

• A historic timeline of Islanders at the All-Star game, from Eddie Westfall through the dynasty and to today. Two Islanders have won Fastest Skater. Can you name them? Use the hashtag #CadillacTrivia for your chance to get on the MSGSN broadcast. [Islanders]
• It’s rumored that Lou isn’t done yet—a check on the Isles’ CapFriendly page shows only 11 forwards on the NHL roster, including Horvat, so he’s continuing to accumulate cap space. Who else might he trade for? Here are some options. I bet he gets Vladimir Tarasenko. He’s going for broke. [amNY]
• The B-Isles are celebrating Pride Night tonight when they host the Hershey Bears. Ryan MacKinnon took part in a Q&A about it. [B-Isles]
• Ruslan Iskhakov is a late addition to the AHL All-Star Classic. [Islanders]
• More of what’s going on these days in Bridgeport, Connecticut. [Islanders]

Elsewhere

No NHL scores, and none until Monday.

• Tage Thompson got hurt in the Buffalo Sabres’ final game before the break on Wednesday and can’t go to All-Star Weekend, so Rasmus Dahlin went in his place. [NHL]
• Our new friend Bo Horvat, whose absence leaves the Vancouver Canucks without a captain, says Elias Pettersson should wear the ‘C.’ Pettersson, for his part, sounded open to it. [NHL]
• J.J. from Kansas, who has run Winging It In Motown, won’t have the time necessary to revive the blog elsewhere and is thus stepping away from the blog once Vox stops supporting it. Here’s his signoff. He has consistently put in great work since joining WIIM.