The Islanders will open up their 2015-16 preseason schedule with split-squad games vs the Philadelphia Flyers tonight. One half of the Isles will host one half of the Flyers at the Barclays Center while the other half will be on the road against the other split squad at the PPL Center in Allentown, PA The Barclays Center lines: Josh Bailey-John Tavares-Anders Lee Nikolay Kulemin-Mikhail Grabovski-Kirill Petrov Joe Whitney-Mathew Barzal-Steve Bernier Matt Martin-Bracken Kearns-Cal Clutterbuck The Barclays Center defensive pairings: Nick Leddy-Johnny Boychuk Thomas Hickey-Marek Zidlicky Adam Pelech-Matt Carkner Goalies: Jaroslav Halak Stephon Williams Looks like Bailey is first up on Tavares's wing. He played very well up there last season. Although I still want Strome up there with Lee. This does not bother me to start. It's long season and Cory Conacher seems like an eternity ago. The most intriguing line combo is the Russian line. It's about time that Grabovski and Kulemin are together. They should have been while Grabo was healthy last season. I like the idea of Petrov getting comfortable with his fellow countrymates. It gives him the best chance to succeed. The "Hicks and Licks" defensive pairing of Hickey and Zidlicky will debut tonight. Unless Ryan Pulock has a tremendous camp, it looks like this will be the pairing when the season opens on October 9th vs the Blackhawks. Halak will play about half of the game tonight. The Leigh Valley Lines: Eric Boulton-Casey Cizikas-Mike Halmo Justin Florek-James Wright-Taylor Beck Michael Dal Colle-Alan Quine-Sebastian Collberg Justin Vaive-Anthony Beauvillier-Ben Holmstrom Defensive Pairings: Calvin de Haan-Jesse Graham Brian Strait-Scott Mayfield Kevin Czuczman-Ryan Pulock
Goalies: Thomas Greiss Christopher Gibson Notable players not in either lineup include: Ryan Strome, Brock Nelson, Frans Nielsen, Kyle Okposo, Travis Hamonic and Kevin Poulin.
This morning Barclays Center Brett Yomark released a letter to Islanders fans on newyorkislanders.com. Here are the highlights
As we start our preseason schedule with tonight’s game against the Flyers, we will begin incorporating various in-game elements and traditions into the overall experience, such as the team's famed organ and long-time organist Paul Cartier.Some key features, however, we will save for opening night, including raising the banners of the retired Islanders legendary players, the recently passed Coach Al Arbour, and The Architect, Bill Torrey, as well as banners to recognize the team’s conference and division titles.
Until then, we proudly hang the four Stanley Cup Championship banners in the rafters as we honor the team’s storied history.
I'm glad that all of the banners will proudly be displayed in the rafters of the Barclays Center. There was some talk of just the four Stanley Cup banners would be displayed.