Good Morning, Islanders Country.
Just when you think it can’t get any worse …
The Islanders are expected to host the New York Rangers for the first time at UBS Arena tonight and will do so without their only player to have scored a goal in their new home. We’ll get into the latest blow to the already depleted lineup and the growing list of players in COVID protocol in just a bit.
Plus, a fan favorite (with yet another new number) is recalled, the Brendan Burke director’s cut drops, a big weekend for an Isles prospect, a charitable giveaway, and “sign guy” is seeing double.
Let’s dive in.
📰 NEWS: The Islanders announced that forward Brock Nelson will be out for the next 2-4 weeks with a lower-body injury he suffered after being checked into the boards by Toronto’s Jake Muzzin late in the 1st period on Sunday night. The loss of Nelson, the team’s leading scorer with nine goals and two assists, is the latest blow to a team riddled by injuries, COVID-19, and inconsistent play.
❌ ANOTHER ONE: The Islanders’ practice was pushed back to the early afternoon as the team awaited results from the latest round of testing. General Manager Lou Lamoriello informed the media of another positive case on as veteran defenseman Zdeno Chara entered COVID protocol. All other players tested negative.
Chara, 44, is the latest to be sidelined by a positive test, joining Josh Bailey, Anders Lee, Ross Johnston, Adam Pelech, Kieffer Bellows, and Andy Greene. Bailey still remains in Florida but will return to New York as early as Saturday.
“We will continue to do what we have control of. You can’t deal with things that are out of your hand, said Lamoriello. “Certainly, these are difficult times, but we will stay focused on the players we have, what our abilities are to replace players if necessary and just stay as positive as we possibly can. I don’t think there’s any way you could approach this or handle this any differently.”
📞 CALL-UPS: Forward Anatolii Golyshev and defenseman Thomas Hickey were recalled from Bridgeport with the Islanders’ COVID list growing. This call-up is the second in the last year for Hickey who played in five games last season. With Hickey back up and sporting the No. 42, he will have worn the numbers 4, 14, 34, and the aforementioned 42 (and No. 2 this pre-season) all without ever leaving the Isles.
NUMBERS GAME: Per Eric Hornick, the record for most numbers worn by a single player is owned by Richard Kromm, who wore 35, 12, 37, 32, and 24. Brad Dalgarno, Ken Leiter, Sebastian Aho, Ray Schultz, and soon Hickey have all worn four.
🥅 GAME ON: Lamoriello has had conversations with the NHL on the possibility of games being postponed but wasn’t aware of the exact criteria that would pause the Isles schedule. The GM said the plan is for the Islanders to play Wednesday night’s game against the Rangers.
“I have no knowledge of what the threshold is,” Lamoriello said. “I believe that’s in the hands of the doctors, both in the National Hockey League and the [NHL] Players’ Association and the infectious disease people. I really couldn’t answer that. I’ve asked the question, but I don’t know if there is [a threshold].”
Darren Dreger confirmed the game’s current status on Tuesday night, stating on TSN that unless the Islanders’ situation changes or there are further COVID cases, the game with the Blueshirts is expected to go ahead.
⏭ NEXT UP: Assuming there are enough healthy players, the Isles will take on the Rangers tonight (and again on Sunday), with Pittsburgh visiting UBS Arena on Saturday.
📊 STANDINGS:
🎬 …AND ACTION: Late Tuesday, the Islanders posted a ‘Directors Cut’ version of Brendan Burke’s opening remarks to the first game played at UBS Arena, complete with a soundtrack and cinematic video of the opening night experience. Burke had previously posted a photo of his full script on social media which included lines he had to hold back due to the imminent puck drop.
🎗JAM KANCER: The charity Jam Kancer In The Kan announced on Twitter that they have two tickets for Islanders games at UBS Arena this season and want to share them with people affected by cancer. If this is you, or someone you know, e-mail info@jamkancerinthekan.com and tell them your/their story. They’ll aim to get as many people as they can out to enjoy a game.
🎶 BERG IS THE WORD: Cameron Berg, the Isles’ fourth-round pick from this summer’s draft, had himself a great weekend and was acknowledged for it. Berg was named the NCHC’s Rookie of the Week after notching four points this past weekend in his club’s sweep of the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
👩🏫 SOUND SMART: Brock Nelson’s injury will end his streak of 316 consecutive games played, the second-longest streak in franchise history. The record for most consecutive games played by an Islander belongs to Billy Harris, who took the ice for 576 games in a row to start his career with the Islanders. Currently, only Scott Mayfield has played in over 100 straight games for the team (104). Nelson’s streak had accounted for the fifth-longest amount of games played by any player in the NHL.
🗓 ISLE REMEMBER:
🎧 Nassuamen Hockey Podcast: In this episode, Jon and James welcome back AMNY's Joe Pantorno to the show to discuss UBS Arena opening weekend, Tuesday's spirit-crushing media availability outlining more roster instability and further injuries, Bridgeport's and Worcester's roster squeezes due to callups, Islanders' rookie performances (namely Robin Salo), and asking the question -- is it time to hit the panic button?
🔗 Sights and Stories from Opening Weekend at UBS Arena, by Sasha Kandrach, newyorkislanders.com: “They did such a great job of trying to protect the integrity of the history of this site with the Belmont racetrack," former Islanders captain Pat Flatley said of the exterior. "Could you imagine this goofy looking, brand new looking building here? It wouldn't fit. They really did a great job of making it look like this building has been here forever.”
🔗 New York Islanders Weekly, by Jon Zella, The Hockey Writers: “All eyes will be on the Islanders’ upcoming schedule, which resumes Wednesday against the Rangers. It doesn’t sound like any players will come off the COVID protocol list in time to play, giving the Islanders a serious disadvantage on top of putting other teams at risk as more players test positive by the day.”
🔗 Schwartz: Islanders focused on task at hand in the midst of a COVID-19 outbreak, by Peter Schwartz, WFAN.com: “The Islanders are hoping that the call-ups from Bridgeport can help in the short-term, but there is the possibility that, at some point, the team will have to look outside the organization to get some help. Lamoriello is certainly not afraid to swing a deal or two, but he doesn’t want to get taken to the cleaners knowing that this could be just a temporary situation that the Islanders have to get through.”
🔗 NHL Future Power Rankings: Projecting the 2024-25 standings by Corey Pronman, The Athletic NHL: “The Islanders’ leadership group got a lot of respect from our panel, and despite their slow start to this season, we still like the roster a fair amount. Their attempts to go for it the last few seasons left their prospect pool depleted, and we think in a few years that could eventually catch up to them, lowering them from contender status to a bubble playoff team.”
And we leave you with this…the Islanders have made sign guy Patrick Dowd part of the very fabric of the organization. You see him everywhere, and now they immortalized him on the fan tribute wall inside UBS Arena. Fantastic move and another classy gesture by the Islanders who continue to show how much their fans support means to the franchise’s overall success.
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