Good Morning Islanders Country,
It was avoidable, at least for six games, but now Barry Trotz will once again be inundated with the daily question of “Which goaltender is starting tonight?” Once he dodges that one, the next will be, “Which Russian goaltender is starting tonight?” The return of these queries means Semyon Varlamov is back with the team, but we’ll have to wait until Saturday to see if he’ll be back in the net or if Ilya Sorokin plays a seventh straight.
Goaltending isn’t all Trotz was asked about yesterday though, as we learned why it was so important for Ross Johnston to remain on Long Island, and the value Trotz see’s in him remaining with the organization.
So with that, let’s catch you up on the latest Isles news.
📰 NEWS: With Semyon Varlamov activated from the injured reserve, the question became “who starts in net on Saturday in Nashville?” Barry Trotz is clearly in midseason form, keeping his cards close to his chest on who his goaltender will be when the Islanders return to game action this weekend.
🫖 READING THE TEA LEAVES
STATING THE OBVIOUS: “We'll go into Nashville, obviously one of them will be in the net and we'll play it off that,” said Trotz of his starting goaltender moving forward.
RUSTY: “It doesn't matter when we start Varly right now. His starting point will be his starting point,” said Trotz. “He'll be rusty... it won't matter... At the same time, he's fully healthy. We'll get him in at some point and he'll go and we'll run with our goalies…”
MORE: Isles Fix’s James Nichols has more on the Islanders’ netminders in Overtime.
🥊 PUNCH LINE: A day after signing his four-year extension, enforcer Ross Johnston met with media, and expressed gratitude for becoming the latest Islander to lock up a deal. “Guys are signing deals to stick here long-term. It shows how close our group is, Johnston said. “The commitment from the core group.. .it’s been a home for me and I’m very gracious for the opportunity to stay here.”
INSURANCE POLICY: “He obviously hasn’t seen a lot of ice time, a lot of games, but he’s a guy that brings an element — obviously when Marty’s [Matt Martin] out, he jumps right in there and does that and then he can add another element for us,” Trotz said.
ANOTHER LEVEL: “I think there’s another level for Ross. Believe it or not, with all the time that he’s working with our coaching staff, doing some of the skill stuff, the skating stuff — there’s a lot of elements in his game that have come a long way in the last couple of years,” Trotz added. “He’s a big man who fills a role for us and an identity for us that we’ll continue with.”
ROLE MODEL: “For me, it’s just coming to the rink every day and putting my head down,” said Johnston. “My role is clear. I’m a physical forward and I provide a presence. I just go in and play my game.”
👩🏫 SOUND SMART: Per Bridgeport Islanders play-by-play announcer Alan Fuhring, Jakub Skarek had a .957 save % last weekend and is unbeaten in regulation in six of his last seven games dating back to last season. He leads all AHL goalies in minutes played this season (248).
🗓 ISLE REMEMBER: On this date 48 years ago, Denis Potvin scored his first of 310 career goals in a 3-2 win versus the rival New York Rangers. When Potvin retired in 1988, his 310 goals were the most recorded by a defenseman.
🗓 Also, on this date, Bryan Trottier played his 1,000th NHL game joining Potvin as the only Islanders to reach the mark. Trottier finished his career on Long Island with 1,123 Games Played, Potvin is second at 1,060, and Josh Bailey is currently third with 925 games played and counting.
⏭ NEXT UP: Two more off days until the Isles finally play again on Saturday in Nashville. The 3–4–0 Predators are also idle for the remainder of the week, so two well-rested teams will face off against each other this weekend.
📊 STANDINGS: Thomas Greiss made 26 saves and Dylan Larkin scored 1:37 into overtime, and the Detroit Red Wings rallied to defeat the Washington Capitals 3-2. Meanwhile, in Edmonton, the Philadelphia Flyers handed the Oilers their first loss of the season as Cam Atkinson scored twice and Carter Hart made 34 saves in the 5-3 win.
A Good Problem to Have
by James Nichols
There have been a few stories that have come out since Semyon Varlamov has been removed from injured reserve on what the New York Islanders should do with their goaltending situation. Ilya Sorokin has started all six games for the Isles thus far, and after two tough games to start the season, he’s been nothing short of sensational in the last four.
As stated earlier, Trotz has been asked about the situation and hasn’t shown his hand. Varlamov was the backbone of the Islanders last season earning multiple Vezina nominations for his stellar play. Sorokin was no slouch either, showing why the Islanders coveted him so much as a prospect.
Now, the situation has become… complicated. Sorokin has carried the Islanders through the first six games of the 2021-22 season and has admitted he prefers a busy workload. However, Varlamov is a seasoned veteran that knows the grind of a long, 82-game season and has proven he can also take on a heavy workload with five seasons of 50-plus starts, including a 63-game season in 2013-14.
Regardless of what happens, this is a good, rather, great problem to have. The Islanders are built from the net out, and the debate has become “which superstar goaltender will be in net?” It’s no secret that to be successful in the NHL, your goaltending situation has to be solidified. Just look at any Stanley Cup Championship team in the last five seasons. The Tampa Bay Lightning twice (Andrei Vasilevskiy), St. Louis Blues (Jordan Binnington), Washington Capitals (Braden Holtby), and Pittsburgh Penguins (Marc-Andre Fleury).
Each of the previous five Stanley Cup Champions had high-caliber starting goaltenders in net. The Islanders currently own two. Whatever route Trotz decides to take with his starting goaltender, the Islanders have a chance to win on any given night. Varlamov and Sorokin have been coined the best goaltending duo in the NHL and Varlamov has yet to even see in-game action. A 50/50 split could benefit everyone, keeping both netminders fresh, or Trotz could ride the hot hand. Regardless, take solace in knowing although there’s a “problem,” it’s a “problem” the other 31 teams in the NHL would be happy to have.
🔗 Islanders’ Sorokin Buoying Roadtrip, by James Nichols “Rebounding off an ugly first two games, Sorokin and the Islanders posted a 3-0-1 week that included two shutouts on back-to-back nights, with a goals-against average (GAA) of 0.99 and a save percentage (SV%) of .971, earning him the NHL’s Third Star of the Week The back-to-back shutouts make Sorokin the first-ever Islanders’ goaltender to record a shutout on consecutive nights.”
🎧 Island Ice Ep. 116: Road trip, UBS Arena update, Andrew's Answers, and a new thing, hosted by Andrew Gross “Talks about the Isles' season on the road thus far, plus interviews with Hank Abate, the president of arena operations for UBS Arena, and Chris Nicchi, an Islanders fan originally from New Hyde Park. Plus, Andrew's Answers on Zdeno Chara, Sebastian Aho and more.”
🔗 Josh Bailey’s long, strange trip to the Top 10 of the Islanders scoring list, by Dan Saraceni “It’s a weird thing when a player whose entire career you’ve watched achieves the kind of station that you normally ascribe to guys you only see in highlight packages. “Top 10 in Islanders scoring” is usually something that is only relevant to people like Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy, Denis Potvin and the rest. Even the name “John Tavares,” Bailey’s frequent linemate and the man who defined the era in which they were both drafted, isn’t out of place on the list.”
🔗 Ilya Sorokin is complicating the Islanders’ goalie dilemma, by Ethan Sears, New York Post: “The Islanders waived Cory Schneider on Monday, a signal that Semyon Varlamov is ready to come off injured reserve after missing the season’s first six games. A week ago, this equation would have been simple: Varlamov, who played well enough last season to earn Vezina Award votes, returning to his spot as the Islanders’ starter in net. Ilya Sorokin, though, has made it complex.”
🔗 'It was no longer my word against everybody else's...', an extremely important interview with Kyle Beach via TSN: “Kyle Beach, who is John Doe in the Chicago Blackhawks sexual assault investigation, talks to Rick Westhead about how his NHL experience 'changed forever' after his ordeal with former video coach Brad Aldrich and the team, his reaction to the investigation's findings and the need to support other victims of sexual assault so they can speak out.”
And we leave you with this…Arthur Staple of The Athletic has written a new book, “100 Things Islanders Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.”
Between now and December 10th, you can get a 25% discount by visiting TriumphBooks.com/100Islanders and using the code ISLANDERS21
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Just to say new onboard here, big Isles fan from the UK - being a long distance fan, this newsletter is really good at keeping up with everything. Really liking this. Keep up the good work ppl!
That promo code for Arthur's book is not taking any money off the price. Is it correct?