Good Morning, Islanders Country.
A few hours after Wednesday’s newsletter entered your inbox and spoke about how we have yet to see Ilya Sorokin on the practice ice, we learned that he was on the practice ice, just not the same as the rest of his team.
The 29-year-old franchise goaltender took shots at Northwell Health Ice Center on a separate rink, marking his first reported appearance since we learned he had off-season back surgery. “All I can say is things are going well,” head coach Patrick Roy said.
Others said a little bit more. We didn’t hear from Sorokin, but we did hear from some of his teammates, who are eager for his return to practice and action.
◾️ GETTING CLOSER: “I mean, we’ve seen him quite a bit around the rink,” forward Brock Nelson said. “But it’s great to know that he’s close, or getting closer. The closer he is to getting back to the ice, the more excited we’ll be. But I think he looks good.”
◾️ LOOKING STRONG: “He’s looking strong,” Anders Lee said. “He’s getting back to where he needs to be and I know he’s put a ton of work in to get into that spot. We’re looking forward to having him join us.”
It’ll be interesting to see how the Islanders get Sorokin into game shape without a game, with the preseason finale set for Friday before the season opener on Oct. 10th. That’s a problem for another day. The most important thing is that he’s trending in the right direction; now we wait to see how long it takes to get all the way back from his back injury.
Coming up, Pulock is back at practice, and Pierre is back skating with the extras. Plus, Keith Kinkaid lands an AHL gig, an impactful upgrade at UBS Arena, “Captain Clutch” becomes captain and playoff probabilities (yes, already!).
Let’s dive in.
📰 NEWS: The Islanders practiced for the second straight day, and defenseman Ryan Pulock was back on the ice after missing Monday’s game vs. the Flyers and Tuesday’s practice with an illness. Also of note is that Pierre Engvall skated with the extras again, as he looks slated to be an opening night healthy scratch. Something worth watching.
There are few opportunities to practice left, but Patrick Roy feels that his team would be ready if the season started tomorrow. "I feel like we'd be ready right now," Roy said. "If we played on Friday against the Rangers as the home opener, I think we'd be ready.”
“I mean, we touched pretty much everything,” Roy added. There are going to be things during the year that we're going to work on, but I do believe that we're close to being ready. I like the way we practice. Defensively, I like how we we work on our structure. Offensively, we want to generate in different ways."
PTO-ver
Released from his PTO with his hometown Islanders, veteran goaltender Keith Kinkaid inked a one-year, one-way AHL contract with the Charlotte Checkers. Kinkaid appeared in four games for the Checkers during the Covid-shortened 2019-20 and logged 24 games for the Chicago Wolves last season.
The 35-year-old is in his 14th pro season, splitting his career between the AHL and NHL. In the AHL, he is 116-98-29 with a 2.80 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage, while at the NHL level, with his most success coming in New Jersey, he is 70-58-21 with a 2.91 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage
⏭ NEXT UP: One more day before Friday night's preseason finale against the New York Rangers at UBS Arena. Face-off is set for 7:00 PM EDT.
Changes at UBS Arena
For NewYorkIslanders.com, Rachel Luscher writes how a special Islanders family sparked the addition of an accessible universal changing table, installed inside Family Services at Section 106. Jackie and Anthony Scali, who started a New York chapter of the Changing Spaces Campaign, advocated for accessible restrooms with universal changing tables at UBS Arena, and the organization listened.
The new universal changing table will allow the Scali family, who are Season Ticket Members, to come to Islanders games and concerts more easily and without stress. “I can't even explain to you how nice it is to be able to do things like that as a family,” Jackie Scali said. “The universal changing table will help us so much. I’m probably going to cry when I first see it.”
🎥 ISLES REWIND: On October 3, 2001, the Islanders named Michael Peca the ninth captain in franchise history. Arriving in a trade from Buffalo, the two-way center played three seasons with the Islanders from 2001-04. During that span, Peca picked up 142 points (49G, 93A) through 222 games played and also received the Frank J. Selke Trophy in 2002 as the league's best defensive forward.
🎧 Double Chili Podcast w/ Peter Schwartz “Bridgeport Islanders forward Chris Terry joins "The Double Chili Islanders Podcast" with Peter Schwartz. Terry spent two seasons with Bridgeport in 2021-22 and 2022-23 before spending last season with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL.”
🔗 Islanders' Ilya Sorokin returns to the ice as things are 'going well' by Denis P Gorman, Newsday “It was a few minutes before 9:30 Wednesday morning and there was Ilya Sorokin, fully dressed and on the ice stopping pucks at Northwell Health Ice Center. Exhale, Islanders fans.”
🔗Pierre Engvall could be on the outside looking in for the New York Islanders by Nestor Quixtan, Eyes on Isles “Pierre Engvall's underwhelming preseason could have him on the outside looking in for the New York Islanders this season. With several prospects pushing for roster spots, Engvall could get a short leash to start the year.”
And we leave you with this…MoneyPuck Playoff probability! (Isles at 49.1%)
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