Islanders Podcast Preview: 24 Team Playoff & Belmont Resumes

ELMONT, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 23: National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman and New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the Islanders hockey arena at Belmont Park on September 23, 2019 in Elmont, New York. The $1.3 billion facility, which will seat 19,000 and include shops, restaurants and a hotel, is expected to be completed in time for the 2021-2022 hockey season. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
ELMONT, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 23: National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman and New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the Islanders hockey arena at Belmont Park on September 23, 2019 in Elmont, New York. The $1.3 billion facility, which will seat 19,000 and include shops, restaurants and a hotel, is expected to be completed in time for the 2021-2022 hockey season. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

The Eyes on Isles Podcast returns for episode number 145 as Matt and Mitch will discuss all things New York Islanders on and off the ice.

I have no idea how long we’ve been in the Q. It feels like forever but good news, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel with the NHL and Islanders news that we received this past week.

As of today, the Islanders are allowed to open their training facilities (with social distance requirements), the construction on Belmont resumes, and we also learned that players from outside the US will be allowed back in.

All great news for the return of hockey. Yesterday, we got some insight from Gary Bettman as to what is going to happen with the return of the league. The regular season is officially over and the 24 team playoff will be the route the NHL goes. There’s no exact timetable for the return or host cities yet.

Lastly, the two year anniversary of Lou Lamoriello’s hiring just passed. Mitch and I will take a look at the tenure so far and talk about how successful it’s been.

Here’s what to expect from episode 145:

Topics

Good times keep rolling

We’ll discuss the training camps reopening, foreign players being allowed back into the country, and the construction at Belmont.

24 team playoff

The Islanders will be taking on the Panthers in the qualifying round. We’ll talk about the matchup and why some teams don’t like it.

Lou Anniversary

A look back at the 2 years of Lou Lamoriello.

Quiz

Mitch is going to quiz me on someone who played 45 games as an Islander. As you’d expect it usually doesn’t go very well.

Social

In the social segment, we’ll answer questions and talk about the biggest stuff from Isles Twitter this past week.

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If you missed last week’s show you can catch up on it right here. Also, be sure to follow along with us on social media @EyesonIslesFS on Twitter and on Facebook as well.