NFT: Blackhawks at Islanders Season/Home Opener

Welcome back, friends. Tonight, the young, talented team in blue and orange makes the leap to not only a new building and new traditions, but to the realm of being acknowledged as one of the better teams in the league. Speaking with some of you, I am seeing both sheepishness and skepticism, and as well cautious optimism. There's cases to be made for both, but you also have to understand, by many metrics...this is a good team, period. It won't be easy A) against the Champs tonight/tomorrow, who are also coming in hot after dropping their opener and B) because of the injury bug affecting Halak and Hickey, necessitating a Strait appearance as well as Greiss likely playing 2 of the first 3 with an untested FA rookie to also get a game. You know what I say? Bring it. Bring the adversity. Challenges are good. And remember this: you need not panic if there's a stumble out of the gate. It's a looong season.

Turning to the game itself, there's a lot of festivities planned, not the least of which is a tribute to Al Arbour which should touch many folks. The banners are here. The real goal horn is here. The modernized arena is here. The light on the horizon we hoped for through all these years...it's here.

Your probable lines tonight: (F) - Lee-JT-Strome; Nelson-Grabbo-Kulemin; Bailey-Nielsen-Okposo; Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck. (D) - Leddy/Boychuk; de Haan/Hammer; Strait/Zid. As mentioned, Greiss gets the start. Let's hope he runs with it. Let Jaro recover fully before he comes back...we'll need him. Note: L2 and L3 may be flipped during the game.

Some opening night factoids: The Isles will be looking for their third straight Opening Night win, but are 3-7-2 in their last 12 Openers. Overall, the Isles are 11-21-10 on Opening Night (2-4-2 at home). A defenseman has scored the first goal of the season for the Isles in 5 of the last 6 seasons, including Johnny Boychuk last year. Mikhail Grabovski is one of six active players with an Opening Night hat trick.

For those looking for some reassurance, or merely the validation of the positive direction we're headed in, here's some perspective from Dan Rosen at NHL.com:

Quote:

My advice is stop worrying about three years from now if you're an Islanders fan. Embrace the team you have now. It's a playoff contender heading into a new building, a new era. Embrace Tavares and the superstar that he is. Trust Jaroslav Halak and Thomas Greiss. Enjoy watching Nick Leddy, Johnny Boychuk, Travis Hamonic and Calvin de Haan. Watch for the development of Michael Dal Colle and Ryan Pulock. Believe that the defense got better with the addition of Marek Zidlicky. Hope for the best from Kyle Okposo and that he will stay an Islander. Look for more out of Ryan Strome, Anders Lee and Brock Nelson. Appreciate Frans Nielsen for being one of the most underrated centers in the NHL. Enjoy the energy the Islanders get from Matt Martin, Cal Clutterbuck and Casey Cizikas. Relax and enjoy being an Islander fan. The team is good and relevant again. Soak it in.

The city is ready for us:

Are you ready? I sure as hell am. Let's Go Islanders!

Your meters may overload
You can rest at the side of the road
You can miss a stride
But nobody gets a free ride
More than high performance
More than just a spark
More than just the bottom line
Or a lucky shot in the dark --
In the long run...

You can do a lot in a lifetime
If you don't burn out too fast
You can make the most of the distance
First you need endurance --
First you've got to last...