Top Shelf – Islanders Daily 9/4/13

As first reported by Newsday’s Arthur Staple yesterday afternoon, the New York Islanders will hold a rookie training camp this weekend at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum:

This weekend’s sessions are not open to the public. Among the players expected to be in attendance are: Calvin de Haan, Matt Donovan, Kirill Kabanov, Anders Lee, Scott Mayfield, Brock Nelson, Anders Nilsson, Andrey Pedan, Ryan Pulock, Griffin Reinhart, Ryan Strome and Johan Sundstrom.

Other Isles prospects will take the Coliseum ice this weekend as well, making for an exciting prelude to team-wide training camp, which begins next week at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Thursday, Sep. 12. The remaining training camp sessions will be split between the Isles’ practice facility—Iceworks in Syosset, NY—and the Coliseum.

As per the Islanders’ public relations office, the rookie camp begins at 10:00 a.m. each day from Friday–Tuesday, except for Monday, Sep. 9, which is a 9:00 a.m. start. Eyes On Isles has you covered this weekend, as Andy Graziano and I will be on-site in Uniondale, NY to cover the unofficial start of the Islanders’ 2013-14 season.

Before we move to today’s links and recent activity on the Twitter machine, a quick EOI programming note: The Clutterbuck Chronicles will be changing from a weekly feature to a bi-weekly installment, meaning Vol. 5 will be posted next Wednesday at noon.

With the appearance of genuine, bona-fide Islanders news to report, it’s yet another sign that summer is ending and the NHL world—fans included—is moving closer to the start of the regular season.

In fact, today marks one month until Opening Night. Start your countdown clocks; the 2013-14 campaign is closer than it’s ever been.

-Mike (@MichaelWillhoft)

In Case You Missed It

Self-Defense Against the Trolls: a Guide for New York Islanders Fans (Eyes On Isles)

2013-14 New York Islanders Training Camp Information (Eyes On Isles)

Metropolitan Division Preview: New Jersey Devils (Eyes On Isles)

Season Preview: Summer In Review (Islanders Point Blank)

Predicting the Most Unstable Goaltending Situations for 2013-14 (Bleacher Report)

Loui Eriksson Looking to Fit Right In (Boston Herald)

Contract Talks With Sedin Brothers Could Be Complicated (The Globe and Mail)

Two Minutes For Tweeting

It’s been widely assumed John Tavares would assume the captain’s mantle before training camp began, but—as with everything Islanders-related—it’s not official until Staple confirms it.

The shift in color scheme on the Islanders website, coupled with reports of new uniform designs set to be tested on focus groups has most Isles fans concerned that the team will be ditching the orange and blue for a black-and-white color scheme similar to what the Brooklyn Nets are sporting nowadays. This will come down to money, much like the impending move to Brooklyn itself; if the team views a color change as a profitable marketing strategy, they’d be hard pressed to pass it up.

Cal Clutterbuck: fan favorite (already) and potential WWE superstar.

One of the biggest questions for the Isles this season: will Kevin Poulin be able to provide the kind of backup goaltending necessary to allow the team to win games on nights when Evgeni Nabokov is being rested? Only time will tell.

With the announcement of Tavares as team captain scheduled for next week, fans on Long Island are already dreaming of Stanley Cups. I can’t knock them for that; it never hurts to dream, and optimism around the Islanders is as high as it’s been in recent memory.

As always, thanks for reading us at EyesOnIsles. Keep it right here for all of your NHL coverage and up-to-the-minute Islanders news. Be sure to check the menu bar at the top of the page for ways to connect with the EyesOnIsles staff; we’re always happy to talk hockey.