The Islanders are not making my blogging easy, every time I write something they release a new announcement, but that's good news.
Full Preseason Schedule has been released.
Schedule:
9/29-Saskatoon vs Calgary
9/29-Wachovia Center vs Philadelphia
10/1-Prudential Center vs New Jersey
10/2-Nassau Coliseum vs New Jersey
10/2-Pepsi Coliseum, Quebec vs Montreal.
All split-squad games begin at 7pm Est.
The full NHL schedule will be announced on Tuesday 6/22, according to Katie Strang, the home opener will be Saturday 10/9 against Dallas. To the best of my knowledge, this is also the season opener.
The Islander rookies will play the Bruins rookies at Shelton Ct on 9/14 & 9/15, before training camp officially opens for Boston.
Shelton, Ct is the Sound Tigers practice facility, so consider these home games for rookies.
NYIFC Comments:
This is somewhat different for the Isles, who have the prospects practice at Iceworks before the official camp opens, then they depart for somewhere as a full group. Boston will be going overseas and do not play the Isles as part of their preseason.
No point leaving in prior comments on preseason.
Very unusual for the club to have split-squad games to this degree, over such a short time-frame, and distance. I would guess main training camp will be in New York.
Updated:
It should be noted several clubs will have split squad games this pre-season, many teams are only playing six games, and we know the club had to change it's preseason plan and would not have played NHL exhibition games if they had traveled to China.
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Prospect David Toews is likely expected to leave school and join the Brandon Wheat Kings, the Isles maintain his signing rights until 2012 per Mike Van Ryan changes in new CBA. This was on the menu for quite a while, so do not associate this with his brother in any way.
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I'm not sure what I'm doing on Friday or Saturday, but if available I will have full blog entries here, as we have in the past.
Prospect Information/Isles website updates included all over NYIFC.
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Qualifying offers due by 6/28 or one week, some teams have released this information already. If you have been following twitter entries here, you have latest.
No doubt, Isles will do another release now that I wrote about it, bring it on.
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Speculation on trades/signings/moves? Hunter, Bergenheim, Martinek, Comeau, Nielsen, Gervais, are the likely players Garth Snow would make available, along with draft picks, but little else.
Not as if Bergenhiem's value is high right now, and other team officials saw a lot of the bad goals allowed Comeau was credited with.
We'll see. A lot more (media) talk than action before drafts, outside New York hockey writers have newspapers to sell, here we have baseball.
In the strange but true department, Msg + is showing New York Islanders vs Washington game six in 1993 Monday 6/21 at 8pm, but is not showing the newly branded FoxWoods Liberty WNBA team on their newtwork, owned by Cablevision according to a recent NY Times article which also features poor Red Bull ratings on primary Msg Network.
NYIFC Comments:
Why did I write this? Because Msg coverage controls team ratings which helps it's marketing, which extends beyond New York Islander hockey.
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