Familiar face, yes… Monday notes

Awesome story, overheard yesterday and confirmed today: When Jon Landry arrived yesterday, he was apparently very excited to see a familiar face, someone he played with last year in Utica, and he went up to that player excitedly.

Connor Jones stuck his hand out awkwardly, wondering who this guy was who seemed to know him.

(Landry played with Kellen Jones last year in Utica, and in his defense, if Kellen wasn’t clean-shaven and Connor not, I positively would have the same isolated-twin problem.)

They practiced today without Landry and goalie Clay Witt, who were getting their medical clearance. Brent Thompson mentioned yesterday that Josh Winquist was travel-delayed, but it was in passing and I figured I had misheard until he wasn’t on the ice this morning. True, though, and thankfully he’s not lost in Queens somewhere: Winquist flew in to New York Islanders camp when they called him, so after he was released late last week, he flew home and now is on his way to Bridgeport.

Today’s array, with their camp number assignments:

52 Verhaeghe-38 Kearns-13 Morris
82 K.Jones-21 B.Holmstrom-12 J.Holmstrom-83 C.Jones
50 Pauly-16 Schempp-58 Lofquist
9 Rowe-55 St. Denis-27 Berisha
76 Carzo-90 Nowick-46 Correale

14 Lafranchise-15 Leduc
5 Juha-63 Johnson
32 Petrecki-28 Obuchowski
41 Cullity-81 Noreau

34 McAdam
1 Hartzell

Landry is assigned 3, Winquist has 26, and Witt has 30.

They’re at Wonderland the rest of the week, with games Wednesday at Hartford and Saturday at Wonderland.

Elsewhere… Umm

And a tip of cap to Dick Enberg, who didn’t get the attention that Vin Scully did but deserved it all the same.

Michael Fornabaio