It’s nice to see that somebody wanted Ben Walter, and in particular wanted him enough to deal a couple of assets to get him 18 hours before he would theoretically hit the open market. The Islanders picked up the rights to a Long Island native Tony Romano, which rights are Van Ryn-rule protected through June 1 if I’ve done the math right. (He’s 21 and out of junior eligibility, so one imagines it won’t take that long.)
Walter (40-76-116) departs as Bridgeport’s eighth-leading scorer, sixth-leading assist man and 10th-leading goal scorer (and, with 15, seventh-leading PPG’er) in just two years. Hope all will work out for him with New Jersey.
Kyle Okposo and Hamden’s Jonathan Quick join some dude named Drury at the U.S. Men’s Olympic Orientation Camp. “Orientation” conjures up weird images, no? What, they’ll get their photo IDs; take a tour of the Woodbridge, Ill., campus; sign up for clinics… “Look to your left. Look to your right. One of you will have two weeks off in the spring.”
Jim Mill is leaving the AHL office to become assistant to Chuck Fletcher with Minnesota.
Meanwhile, Best. Story. Ever.
Nice story on Forbes Field.
More reasons not to watch the Oscars from the AV Club.
And speaking of Scott Gomez… traded to Montreal for Chris Higgins, with others (including Tommy Pyatt) also swapping addresses to free up some Rangers cap space.
And speaking of Scott Gomez… For Saturday’s football game, I grabbed a spiral notebook out of my room, a notebook that had come out of some old pile or another. As I was scribbling out the postgame interview from Tristan Roberts of Ansonia, I turned a page and found old notes about 1998 local softball. Crazy enough. But then, on the way back upstairs, I turned the page again. At the top:
1. TB Vincent Lecavalier, C
The next 26 lines were the remainder of the first round of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, discovered on another draft day, 11 years later. On the bottom were notes on the trades, including New Jersey’s picking up the 27th pick from Dallas for the 39th and 57th to select Gomez. Neat to find.