Good Morning, Islanders Country.
Patrick Roy took our breath away with his remarkable play during a Hall of Fame career. On Thursday, Roy took his player’s breath away with a intense start to training camp that left some of his players bent over, gasping for air and needing a nap. "It was a tough morning. It's time to go have a nap," quipped Alexander Romanov. "It was hard. I don't know how everyone is feeling, but I'm deadly tired." Romy was deadly tired, and Roy is deadly serious about taking the Islanders from a playoff team to a Stanley Cup contender.
"They knew they were going to work, and they did, and that was exactly what I was looking for," said Roy after the fast and furious start to camp. "We want to raise the bar, there's no doubt about it and there's no way better way to do it right on day one, set the tone for training camp."
When Roy arrived he told his team "playoff hockey from here on out," raising the intensity and the stakes from day one. There was a different energy around the team and belief amongst their most important players that they had a man behind the bench that could raise the level of the team moving forward.
"We had a great push at the end of last year, but what we look forward to is have a good start and have a great year," added Roy on Thursday. That great push to end the season was followed by pushing his team to start a training camp as hard as they've ever been.
Coming up, Max goes from rookie camp to the real thing and Matt Martin is in a familiar room under different circumstances. Plus, Kyle Okposo ends his career on a high note, a longshot for a Lou milestone and Yashin gets the ‘C.”
Let’s dive in.
📰 NEWS: It was the first day of training camp for nearly all of the 57 players on the Islander training camp roster, but not for Maxim Tsyplakov, who had been part of rookie camp, and was on the ice for the pro camp to celebrate his 26th birthday. He stood out during camp because of his size and strength against younger players, but he continued to impress amongst NHL veterans as well.
"I'm very happy [with Tsyplakov’s play]. From what I've seen, he competes," Roy said. "He's a good skater, he's strong on the puck. From rookie camp to today, I'm very excited about what I've been seeing, and I look forward to the next few days.
Nothing Left To Prove
Matt Martin was back on Long Island wearing his No. 17 at the start of another Islanders training camp, but despite lots of similarities from years past, Martin can’t escape the reality of his situation.
"I have a lot of familiarity with the group, so it's good to be back in the room and have fun again," Martin said. "It's a little bit different, but nothing out of the ordinary regarding how locker rooms are."
The veteran fourth-liner is attending camp on PTO and a roster spot is one he’ll have to earn, and even if he plays well, it still may not be enough. “I don't have expectations necessarily, but as a competitor, you believe you can make any team.”
Patrick Roy said that Martin has nothing left to prove. The Islanders organization knows the quality of the person and teammate. Things will just have to play itself out and then it’ll fall on Lou Lamoriello to decide whether Martin has a role in the organization beyond camp.
“Obviously, last season didn't end the way anyone wanted it to, but especially for myself, being injured and not being able to play,” Martin said. Just showing up healthy was exciting and to get the first day out of the way because you can't match that kind of intensity. [My] body held up good, I feel good and [I’m] excited for tomorrow.”
KO Calls it Career
There are times when sports news can make you feel old. News that Kyle Okposo is retiring did that for a generation of New York Islanders fans.
The 2006 1st round pick (7th overall) made it official on Thursday, releasing an open letter through CAA, his representation agency. Okposo hangs up his skates after going out on top, winning a Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers after their Game 7 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. He was acquired by the Panthers at the trade deadline and was among the first players to hoist Lord Stanley.
Overall, in 529 career games with the Islanders, he finished with 139 goals and 230 assists. He topped 60 points twice in his career, both with the Islanders, finishing with 69 points in 2013-14 and 64 in 2015-16, his final on Long Island. He was an All-Star in his first season with Buffalo and went on to become the Sabres’ captain and skate in his 1,000th career NHL game during the 2023-24 season.
📚 SOUND SMART: Per NHL PR, GM Lou Lamoriello can join David Poile as the only general manager in NHL history with 1,500 career wins. Lou enters the season with 1,444 wins, meaning it will take a remarkable Islanders season, resulting in 56 wins for Lamoriello to hit the milestone. Poile has 1,533.
🎥 ISLES REWIND: On September 20, 2005 Alexei Yashin is named the 10th captain in team history. Veteran Islanders wing Mark Parrish and first-year Islanders defenseman Brad Lukowich were named alternate captains. Yashin had 66 points (28G, 38A) in 82 games in his first season as captain.
Yashin had previously been the captain of the Ottawa Senators. He took over wearing the “C” from Michael Peca, who wore it for three seasons (2001-04).
🎧 Isles House Podcast: Welcome to Isles House! The weekly podcast discussing the New York Islanders, hosted by Ethan, Rocco, Jack, and produced by Greeny.
🔗 Maxim Tsyplakov continues to impress at NY Islanders training camp by Michael Stahurski, Eyes on Isles “Officially beginning his first NHL training camp on his 26th birthday, Tsyplakov got his first taste of competing alongside other NHLers and under head coach Patrick Roy. It likely wasn't Tsyplakov's most relaxing birthday, as Roy put his players through the wringer, working them to the point where some players needed a nap after practice.”
🔗 Islanders’ Matt Martin in unknown territory at training camp with PTO by Joe Pantorno, amNY “The long-time fourth-liner and a core piece of the New York Islanders for the better part of the last decade and a half arrived to the first day of training camp without a contract — general manager Lou Lamoriello opting to bring the 35-year-old in on a professional tryout after his contract with the Islanders expired at the end of the 2023-24 season.”
And we leave you with this…Kyle Okposo’s first NHL goal vs. Martin Brodeur
Thanks for reading! Follow us on Twitter for regular updates until the next newsletter.
And please check out our newsletters about the Knicks and Mets, too.
Intense.
First day.
I have seen this forced start as a strategy backfire when players burn out by December. Fun play LEADS to the success and a resulting WILL to work.