Travis Hamonic hadn't been around his Islanders teammates much during the past two weeks while he tried to rehab a left knee injury he confirmed Tuesday was a Grade 3 torn medial collateral ligament.
Hamonic said he wanted to steer clear of the guys who were playing, "let them do their thing." It may have been more for Hamonic's sake than his teammates' -- the emotional Isles defenseman was heartbroken over not being able to play in what would have been his second postseason.
Even worse, seeing how the Islanders got to Game 7 and lost by only a goal, Hamonic knows that he would have made an enormous difference.