NHL

Griffin Reinhart was selected by the Islanders with the fourth overall pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. The 6'4, 202-pound defenseman recently signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Isles that could kick into effect as soon as the 2013 season.

Many of you are already familiar with the way that this can play out. Reinhart will have nine games of eligibility before he could be sent back to his Junior team, the Edmonton Oil Kings of the WHL. The 18-year old defenseman has already played three seasons for the Oil Kings and had his best last year, scoring 12 goals, 24 assists for 36 points in 58 games played. That totals a eleven point increase over the previous season.

Reinhart clearly has the size, but the question will be if he has the skill and mentality to compete at the NHL level.

It was reported today by Randi Marshall of Newsday that four developers have applied to become the master developers of the Nassau Coliseum area known as the Hub. (Photo Credit: Nuke812/Flickr)

Per Newsday:

"Patchogue -based Baldassano Architecture submitted an application, managing partner Alex Badalamenti confirmed Tuesday. Garden City developer Breslin Realty also submitted its qualifications, a source said. They will compete with Plainview developer Donald Monti and Syosset developer Ed Blumenfeld."

Monti has already expressed a strong desire to keep the New York Islanders in Nassau County through is developments if he is chosen, stating in a previously printed Newsday article that losing the team would be a "travesty" and that his plans "will be with the Islanders staying."

Isles fans have a way of forcing themselves to see the positives in most murky situations. They could hold a polluted, cloudy glass of water to the light and say “...at least its water!” The fan base is thirsty and have been parched for entirely too long. Saving the ‘stranded on an island’ metaphors, most fans that attend and/or watch each Islanders’ campaign needs something to bring them back after being consistently let down. (Photo Credit: Flickr/slidingsideways)

For the older generation of fans, the original cast that were around since the dynasty days, the reasoning is simple. They seemed to have accepted their apparent, under the table deal with the hockey demons as an exchange for those years as hockey’s prestige.

For the fans that weren’t around for those glory days, they hold on to moments or streaks of greatness. They hold the 1992-93 Islanders dear to their heart spending their days cursing Dale Hunter’s existence and asking hypotheticals about Pierre Turgeon’s unforeseen injury. They remember a good 1993-94 team that got dismantled by the Cup bound Rangers in a 4 game sweep but took the loss thinking they’d be right back eventually. How could they not?

Yesterday, Arthur Staple of Newsday tweeted that New York Islanders defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky filed a grievance with the NHLPA over his trade to the Anaheim Ducks, claiming that his no-trade clause is still valid and never asked his permission to make the deal.

Newsday reports that Visnovsky's agent claims that this grievance has nothing to do with his desire to play for the Islanders, and is a matter of "establishing what's right."