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The Islanders hit the links before hitting the ice.
The organization held its annual Islanders Golf Outing and Tennis Classic on Monday at the Glen Oaks Club in Old Westbury, marking the unofficial kickoff to the season. The event, which raised over $740,000 for the Islanders Children’s Foundation, brought together current players, coaches,and alumni.
“It’s great,” said Islanders forward Bo Horvat. “I love coming here every year. It’s for a great cause and to raise money for this has been awesome year after year. It’s great to see all the guys again and have everybody around here. It’s a good way to kick things off.”
The team will officially report to training camp at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow later this week, with the first skate set for Thursday.
Roy’s game plan
Head coach Patrick Roy is entering his first full camp at the helm. After missing the playoffs last year, he’s changing his approach.
“I was so proud of them,” Roy said of players arriving in shape. “Watching them skating on their own before the camp starts last week, but I think I’m going to try to get a little bit away from [conditioning].”
Roy pointed to special teams as the biggest area in need of improvement.
“Last year, if our power play and our penalty killing would have been better, we probably would have made the playoffs,” he said.
He also shared his early vision for the Islanders’ top three lines:
- Mat Barzal with Anders Lee and Kyle Palmieri
- Bo Horvat with newcomers Jonathan Drouin and Maxim Shabanov
- JG Pageau with Anthony Duclair and Simon Holmstrom
But he made clear it’s a starting point.
“As of today, that’s the plan and we’ll go from there,” Roy said. Then, with a grin, he added: “Actually, I almost regret telling you those lines. You never know how things will go.”
Isles on the mend
The Islanders were hit hard by injuries last season, but most players are ready for camp.
Mathew Barzal, who suffered a season-ending kneecap injury in February, said the setback pushed him to be more focused than ever.
“I feel like I’ve had a great summer,” Barzal said. “It’s forced me to be extremely focused and I put every drop of energy into getting back. I want to get back to where I was pre-injury, and I think I did a great job this summer of getting my strength back.”
Horvat, who injured his ankle while playing for Team Canada in May, is also good to go.
“It took maybe a couple of weeks to kind of get healed up once I found that everything was going to be fine,” he said. “I just rehabbed it and basically got back to training right away.”
Forward Anthony Duclair continues to recover from a groin tear that cut short his season. After meeting with Roy in the offseason to smooth things over, he’s optimistic.
“I didn’t have the summer that I’d like to have,” Duclair admitted. “A lot of rehab and a lot of recovery. I’m almost where I feel like I’m back to 100%.”
It’s been an eventful offseason for the Islanders, and excitement is building as a new era of Islanders hockey officially begins with training camp on Thursday.
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