Training camp officially begins today and the players will be on the ice Thursday for us to ruminate and pre-panic over line combos and such...except that the Islanders’ lines are pretty much set and everything is as Lou designed.
It’s an exciting time: The Islanders are coming off back-to-back conference finals runs where they were the Cup winners’ biggest test, expectations are high, their captain is back, and they’ll be in a new arena in November.
It’s also a nerve-wracking time: The win-now team is another year older, their two big offseason additions are far past their prime, and the odds of making a third consecutive final — let alone getting over the hump to progress farther — are daunting.