Good Morning, Islanders Country.
In normal times, you would have woken up to a recap and analysis of the New York Islanders’ most recent game against the Montreal Canadiens. But these are not normal times. Instead, due to the cancelation of cross-border games, the Islanders were off, and late Monday we learned won’t play again until Monday, December 27th after the league decided to postpone games through Christmas.
(We’ll have more on the latest NHL pause, the Islanders’ reaction to yet another disruption, and how outbreaks impact players differently in just a bit.)
Coming up, Trotz rolls with the punches, two Islanders remain in Covid protocol, and Pulock’s return gets closer. Plus, it’s been four years since the move to Belmont was announced and an artist provides a behind-the-scenes look at his work.
Let’s dive in.
📰 NEWS: SportsNet’s Elliot Friedman was the first to report that the NHL and NHLPA agreed to pause the season from Wednesday through Christmas Day with players returning to team facilities on December 26th - one day earlier than usual - so that testing can resume. The schedule will resume Monday, December 27th and according to a memo: “Upon return from the holiday break to team facilities, no individual in the team's traveling party shall enter (other than for testing purposes) until they have a negative test result.”
The NHL released their official statement later Monday evening:
🤦🏻♂️ DISRUPTIVE: Nearly a third of the NHL is experiencing what the Isles have first-hand knowledge about - Covid-19 outbreaks and their impact on your season. “It’s been a little bit disruptive,” head coach Barry Trotz said. “Our case was one of the first ones [in the league] and it continues through the league. You can see what it’s doing to the league right now. “I’ve sort of been rolling with the punches.” Currently, the NHL has 118 players reported in active COVID-19 protocol, accounting for 16 percent of rosters – according to data tracked by Daily Faceoff.
It’s not just a matter of players missing time and skating an undermanned roster, depending on how the virus impacts players, it can take a while for them to find their way back even when cleared to play. “Guys coming back, I think it throws a little bit of rhythm off the guys coming back, and I can only talk from our guys,” Trotz said. “A guy like Casey [Cizikas] for instance, who maybe had it a little harder than someone else, the first game back, he didn’t have the stamina. [He] sort of hit the wall a little bit earlier than he even expected.”
“I just think it’s like anything else. It runs you down a little bit, and then you try to come back, try to play at that level, it takes a few games to get back, for sure. It may not look like that on the ice, but the sharpness, the last 5 percent for a player or 10 percent of a player, that takes a while to get back.”
Islanders fans have been fast to point out that the league has been quicker to postpone games in recent days, likely learning from what the Islanders endured. While the Islanders continue to be impacted with Mat Barzal testing positive, having already had their season paused once, the team is not looking for additional off-days. “I don’t think we need a break or anything,” winger Anthony Beauvillier said. “We want to keep grinding and keep climbing.
✚ STILL POSITIVE: Matt Martin and Robin Salo did not participate in practice per Trotz. Both have gone through multiple tests after being held out of Sunday’s game and their status still remains positive until further notice as the Islanders have an off day today.
⛸ ALMOST READY: The Islanders got some good news this week from Barry Trotz’s post-practice media availability on Monday, as we learned Ryan Pulock is almost ready to hit the ice again. Pulock is still undergoing therapy and is expected to be back over the next few days, a much-needed addition to the Isles’ backend.
⏭ NEXT UP: Following the NHL’s announcement, the next time the Isles would hit the ice would be on Monday, December 27th versus the Buffalo Sabres.
📊 STANDINGS:
🏒 Chrychrun-in on Defense: It’s more than obvious the Islanders need some help on defense, whether Trotz comes out and says it or not. A question on the minds of many Isles fans is who can the team attempt to acquire that can make both an immediate and long-term impact. That player continues to be youngster Jacob Chrychrun from the Arizona Coyotes. Rumors continue to fly around, but no one has come out and said the Isles are 100% in on the defender.
🗓 ISLE REMEMBER: Four years ago, one of the most historic and transformative moments in Islanders’ history happened off the ice when Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York State, and Islanders’ ownership announced a new arena would be built in Elmont at Belmont Park. "I think today is a great day because the franchise remains 1000% in New York," Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky said during a ceremony at Belmont Park in 2017. "Our concern was finding a permanent home for the Islanders."
🔶 Record-Setting Night: Also on December 20th, in 1983 the Islanders defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 11-3 setting the team record for most goals scored in a game. The victory was also momentous for another reason - it was Butch Goring’s 1,000th career game. ''You don't like to pour it on like that,'' said Goring. ''But you can't go out there and not try any more, you can't do that. ''It's obvious, we're very confident in the way we're playing out there now. This is the way we should be playing. Hockey's a game of entertainment, and we didn't entertain too many people last year. We were disappointed in ourselves and determined not to let the same thing happen again.''
You can read the entire recap of the game in the New York Times archive.
🎧 Nassaumen Hockey Podcast: This Thursday, Isles Fix’s and NHP’s James Nichols will be joined by Joe Pantorno of AMNY and a very special guest new to the Islanders community. Be sure to tune in.
🔗 Islanders “rolling with the punches as COVID sweeps through the NHL, Joe Pantorno, AMNY: “The Montreal Canadiens and Columbus Blue Jackets became the eighth and ninth teams around the NHL to shut their schedule down through the Christmas break. That makes more than a quarter of the league (28%) who won’t have any games scheduled for at least the next week.”
🔗 Islanders have experience returning to ice after COVID-19 outbreak by Ethan Sears, New York Post “It’s not so easy to get back once COVID-19 throws you off course. Yes, the Islanders were forced to play four games with a roster in the midst of being taken down by the invisible enemy. That hardship has not befallen the Blue Jackets, Canadiens, Flames, Red Wings, Maple Leafs, Avalanche, Panthers, Predators or Bruins — at least not really, though the Bruins were forced to play minus seven players in a loss to the Islanders last Thursday. But that was only one of the problems the Islanders faced.”
🔗One-on-one with Lou Lamoriello on the Islanders difficult season and how to turn it around, Pierre Lebrun, The Athletic: “First of all, you should never make a trade for the sake of making it,” Lamoriello said. “We have to make every trade for today but with tomorrow in sight. Every team has weaknesses, every team has assets, and you have to make sure that whatever hole you fill, you don’t make a hole somewhere else.”
And we leave you with this…during Sunday’s ceremony commemorating Andy Greene’s 1,000 career games, the Islanders defenseman was gifted a painting by artist Tony Capparelli. Tony shared a behind the scene look at how his work comes to life.
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