NHL path cleared for Strome

Edit: Some future Islander was named AHL Player of the Week for the second week in a row. He’s just the third AHLer in 20 years — Blake Geoffrion in 2011, Jim Carey in 1994 — to win the award in back-to-back weeks.

Things were pretty much status quo in BSTland until noon — was just about to tweet “Yes, he’s still here” — when the Islanders dropped the news that they’ve placed Pierre-Marc Bouchard on waivers. By noon tomorrow — or, early second period, most likely, of Tigers-Devils — Ryan Strome will have a path cleared to the NHL.

From early in the year, Strome said that he wanted to get his game to a point where, when he was called up, he’d be ready to make an impact, ready to stay there. Got to think that’s a mission accomplished.

(So it’s likely the two longest currently active Sound Tigers scoring streaks will both belong to Islanders, Strome’s nine and Josh Bailey’s eight. Running gag, times two!)

While this is great for Strome and settles the nerves of #islestwitter for five minutes or so, it could easily be a double whammy for Bridgeport. Losing Strome takes away the AHL’s leading scorer and a guy who was in on most of the offense lately. But Bouchard’s contract isn’t unreasonable, at $2 million just for this season. If someone takes a chance on him, Strome’s gone and no one replaces him.

BUT, absence creates opportunity and all that. The way the stories have broken lately, it’s been a lot of Ryan Strome and Kenny Reiter. Fortuitously, tomorrow’s story was supposed to be about the rest of them and what they’ve been doing better/differently. Reasonable timing.

Brett Gallant and Sean Escobedo practiced with them today; Scott Pellerin reiterated that he wants them to be back to 100 percent before he tosses them back into the lineup. Marc Cantin remains day-to-day after the puck to the ear, but Pellerin doesn’t expect him to play Tuesday. John Persson, Joey Diamond and Andrey Pedan haven’t resumed skating. And Joe Finley is a long way away, if at all. (Been a while since we tossed the whole injury report up, so.)

Morning game in the, well, morning.

….

Belatedly noted, RIP, former New Canaan girls hockey player Kelsey Durkin.

Michael Fornabaio