Good Morning, Islanders Country.
At this rate, Ilya Sorokin will be starting against the New York Rangers at UBS Arena this evening on Long Island. Another day, another positive step for the 29-year-old, as he joined the team for the main practice.
It was the second most important thing in New York sports yesterday. For everything Mets, I highly recommend our inspiration for this newsletter: MetsFix
By media accounts, Sorokin was rotating in as normal and wasn’t limited. “I feel really good,” Sorokin said after practice. “We [he and the training staff] did a great job the last two months. I feel good mentally and physically.”
◾️ WORKED SO HARD: “He was great today," Alexander Romanov said in NHL.com. "We just did breakaways. He stopped, probably, everything there, so he's in shape. He worked out so hard all summer. He was training twice a day. He's done everything to be with us already."
◾️ BACK WITH US: "Obviously, he's had a little bit of a road here to get back with us, but good to see him smiling and feeling good and getting some shots under him," Anders Lee said. "He's put a lot of work in to get to this spot and happy for him to join the group.
I have to say, this wasn’t expected. It was not as unexpected as Pete Alonso’s 3-run HR in the 9th inning last night, but it was unexpected nonetheless. We hadn’t seen Sorokin, and the updates weren’t changing, causing concern that he would miss the start of the season and then some. But now it feels that any absence won’t be prolonged, and a back injury won’t derail Sorokin’s quest for a bounce-back season. So we relax now and hopefully rejoice later.
Coming up, JG Pageau gets away to get back on track and The Park has new attractions. Plus, a better-than-usual season preview, Anders Lee is named captain, and Elle Woods is donning a team cap.
Let’s dive in.
📰 NEWS: The Isles wrap up their preseason schedule on Friday night when they take on the New York Rangers at UBS Arena. Hudson Fasching also returned to practice on Thursday after missing Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday's skates with a lower-body injury. Kyle Palmieri took a maintenance day on Thursday.
Time Away
JG Pageau acknowledged after the season that he was “not good enough.” It was an honest omission following an up-and-down season with few stretches of sustained offensive production. This summer, he decided to do something and take some time away from the rink and Long Island.
“Maybe that’s the weight I needed, sometimes, to get off my shoulders,” Pageau said after Wednesday’s practice in the NY Post. “Spend summers here [on Long Island], practice and working out here in the summer and practice every day. It can be a lot. Just to go away, to go back home, to have that for a couple weeks, golf trips, spend time with my family — I think it was massive.”
Pageau enters the season with two years left on the six-year contract he signed with the Islanders after being acquired at the 2020 trade deadline. He’s the type of player that adds value even if he’s not scoring, but his advanced stats were also down. His line spent less time in the offensive zone, creating fewer high-danger chances. If he can produce 15-20 goals, it would be a massive boost to the team and balance scoring throughout the lineup.
New Attractions
New season, new attractions at The Park at UBS Arena. For WFAN.com, Peter Schwartz wrote about what fans can expect outside the rink this year.
There’s an all-new UBS Hockey Skill Game Zone, where guests will have the opportunity to show their skills with the “Bullseye Battle,” “Accuracy Challenge,” and “Hardest Shot." There will be a Kids Zone with a slap shot booth, an obstacle course, bounce house, mini-golf, and a dunk tank, and another new feature will be the “Penalty Box Photo Moment,” where fans will be able to take a photo with family and friends inside the Sin Bin.
For more information on the activities, to book ice times, and to find out when The Park is open, please visit www.theparkatubsarena.com.
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders wrap up the preseason with a game against the New York Rangers at UBS Arena. Face-off is set for 7:00 PM EDT
A Little Respect
The Athletic published their season preview for the Islanders on Thursday morning, and it was slightly more bullish on the team than usual! The article started, “There are a lot of people who are understandably down on the Islanders,” but it actually got better from there. The Islanders’ best-case scenario is Ilya Sorokin returning to form, Anthony Duclair being a perfect fit, and Patrick Roy getting more from the team from behind the bench.
It had the Islander projected for 96 points and gave them a 67% of making the playoffs - not too shabby and higher than most models we’ve seen. This was their ending summary: The Islanders, more than most contenders, have an offensive ceiling that can cause real problems. Despite that, their goaltending and re-dedication to some of the stronger defensive work in the league are likely to make them relevant, if not dangerous.
🎥 ISLES REWIND: On October 4, 2018, the Islanders named Anders Lee as the 15th Captain in franchise history. "It's extremely humbling and quite an honor to be a captain of this organization," Lee said after being named captain. "It's definitely one of the most special things that's happened in my hockey career and I'm looking forward to it and the responsibility that comes with it."
🔗 Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin returns to practice, uncertain if he’ll be ready for start of 2024-25 season by Joe Pantorno, amNY “New York Islanders netminder Ilya Sorokin participated in his team’s full team practice on Thursday — the first time he has done so since undergoing offseason back surgery.”
🔗 Why the Islanders’ Jean-Gabriel Pageau took a new approach to getting ready for the season by Ethan Sears, New York Post “Jean-Gabriel Pageau did something different this offseason: He removed himself from hockey Not for the whole offseason, mind you. Pageau did all the preparation needed for training camp, as always.”
And we leave you with this…Hollywood’s Reese Witherspoon stepped out with Islanders minority owner Oliver Haarmann and did so wearing an Isles hat.
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