12:35 pm: After a few days at camp, and rosters needing to be trimmed, Ryan Strome and Griffin Reinhart have been returned to their junior clubs. Sorry boys. Hope you enjoyed your stay.
12:10 pm: The Islanders have claimed Keith Aucoin off waivers from the Leafs who are in salary dump mode. We thougth maybe they'd take Tim Connolly back, but his salary is a tad high for someone oft injured.
Aucoin is 34 and was playing for trhe Toronto Marlies.
In "not surprising news" Wadden and Gomez have cleared waivers. Really?
10:23 am: From Twitter, some information about today.
TGfireandice Rosters have to be down to 23 players by 3 p.m. Eastern Friday, so expect players to be placed on waivers today to be sent down.
Jon Landry has already been sent to Bport this morning.
Tom_Verde Interesting battle to see who will be #Isles 6th dman until Visnovsky reports. 6'8 Joe Finley battling the 5'11 Thomas Hickey
Yep, it will be interesting indeed.
7 am: My blog box buddies, Johnny Z from YesIslanders and Ken Dick from OkposoNet sat in the front row of the room waiting for Jack Capuano to arrive. The MSM, like Art Staple, took up a spot against the wall (as usual). I sat in the back (as usual).
Jack, wearing a suit that is obviously too big for him now that he has lost so much weight, made his way through the crowd and smiled at the media members fumbling to get their digital recorders on the podium. "It's okay, it's pre-season."
Watch the video and tell me that Jack, as most NHL coaches right now, doesn't look exhausted. As he mentions, there is no play book for this five day sprint of a training camp. Decisions that need to be made are being made with little time to evaluate players. These guys are working round the clock to be ready for Saturday and beyond. And it is a daunting task.
The Islanders have had three days to work together and two of those days have seen new players enter the fold. Players who now had to be shown the system the Islanders use. Jack said the scrimmage last night was interesting having to play against a team that uses the same system he does. But there are issues.
Special teams will mean the difference between winning and losing and Oh Boy! do the Islanders need work. Can they do it by Saturday? No team can go on an extended losing streak to start this season because there just isn't enough time.
Frans Nielsen, Mr. Shoot-Out, explained to me how special teams were what the scrimmage was all about. When I mentioned the four too-many men penalties he graciously explained to me that the coaches called for those. Two each from the bench. Didn't I feel silly? Yes, but Frans is so gracious, he didn't make me feel like an idiot. He smiled and wiped his forehead "We have work to do."
Matt Moulson scored two goals exactly the way he has the last few years: in the paint. He was happy to 'get them out of the way.' He said he felt good getting back into game action, even if the goals he scored were on his own team.
I asked if it was just as confusing for him having to shoot on his own team as it was for me to watch and he laughed and blamed Nabokov. "Nabby didn't want to switch sides."
Thankfully, there were no injuries last night. David Ullstrom did take a stick to the face, but he seemed no worse for the wear and came back within minutes.
Rick DiPietro did let up some goals, but I have to say, he looked sharper than I've seen him in years. As a matter of fact, even Art Staple felt the same.
Arthur Staple @StapeNewsday
Colin McDonald throwing his body around, playing strong so far. Best player on ice? Rick DiPietro, in #BST net. Looking very sharp
I am going to bookmark that Tweet.
There were a few thousand fans there last night. There is no accurate count because they were not taking count at the door and there were no tickets. But if you counted the people who were in the arena and then the ones who were waiting on the exceptionally, rediculous long lines for the concession stand(s), it may have been a little more than the 3,000 that Art reported.
These fans were happy to see the hockey. Not happy to wait 30 minutes for a $1 hot dog.
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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