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Sporting one of the greatest logos in minor league hockey history, the Kentucky Thoroughblades first took the ice at Rupp Arena in Lexington for the 1996-97 season.
The team's signature colors of teal, purple, and silver were unique in their own right, but the angry, muscular horse on skates really made their uniforms one of the most unique in all of pro sports.
Good Morning, Islanders Country.
Don't you know things can change? With respect to Wilson Phillips, of course, you do, and nothing is more certain to change than hockey line combinations.
Throughout training camp and the preseason, we broke down, sometimes in great detail, the pros and cons of having Simon Holmstrom on the top line and whether Anders Lee and JG Pageau looked comfortable playing together.
All the while, it felt temporary, didn’t it? We just didn’t know how temporary.
At Monday’s practice, we got our answer - four games. Captain Anders Lee returned to the spot he occupied after Bo Horvat was acquired from Vancouver and then again when Mathew Barzal returned from injury for the Carolina Hurricanes series - on the left wing of the Isles “top line.”
“We’ve played a lot of hockey together. We know what we’re capable of, so we gotta go out and do it,” said Lee on Monday.
“It’s exciting. Let’s go, let’s make something happen.”
It’s definitely exciting for Lee, who has struggled through four games, as the whispers from fans grow about whether the 33-year-old deserves the spot. Lee is coming off a 28-goal, 50-point season, but that hasn’t stopped some from insisting that he’s lost a step. Even if he has, his net-front presence can create more space for Barzal and Horvat to do their thing.
It’s with them that Lee will have his best chance to succeed and perhaps create the best chance for his linemates to do the same.
“I don’t even know if it’s about getting him going, but it’s getting me and Bo going, too. Just mixing it up,” Barzal said.
“There haven’t been a lot of pucks out there. So hopefully Lee can bring some simplification just getting on the forecheck and slowing the game down a little bit. That’s what I need from him. He’s one of the best at that.”
