3:12 PM - The NHL has suspended Montreal Canadiens forward Mike Cammalleri one game for his actions against the Isles' Nino Niederreiter Saturday night.
This move is unsurprising, and I'm glad that he was suspended at the very least. I was hoping more for two games, but after comments coming out about Niederreiter's hit, I was hoping for just one at that point and not your typical inconsistency from Colin Campbell. Good stuff. The first Isles-Canadiens game at the end of the month should be fun.
1:09 PM - The Islanders have announced today that forward Rob Schremp is out three to four weeks with a lower back strain. Chris Botta seems optimistic that we could have him back in two weeks.
Obviously, this isn't a major injury, and for that we should be thankful. We'll have a little bit of a rough go for the first few games, but then Schremp will be coming back. For the time being, we look to John Tavares, Josh Bailey, Matt Moulson and Blake Comeau to pick up (even more of) the slack. I have not seen anything in any of their play that screams to me "regression." Throughout the entire preseason, these guys were some of the most hard-working individuals that I noticed. They were already poised to have breakout years of their own, without all of this factored in. I have faith that it makes these guys want it more.
Obviously, strong defense and goaltending is going to be key here. The Islanders strengthened their defense in the offseason, and we are going to hopefully see it come to fruition. For the most part, they will be playing minutes that they are best suited for. Keeping the puck out of our net just became all that more imperative until we can get some of the injured scorers back.
Very interested to see now how many of those forwards still with the team stay past Wednesday, or if they try and bring someone in on waivers after all. One interesting note, is that none are centers like Schremp. Curious who will fill that role as Bailey seems to be very comfortable at wing. Right now, we're most likely looking at Tavares-Frans Nielsen-Doug Weight-Zenon Konopka. Our depth at center will pay-off right now.
Keep an eye on us later, as news continues to come out as we rapidly approach the day when rosters need to be finalized.
-Chris
nyifyi@gmail.com
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