Took the whole year, but the Islanders recalled Greg Mauldin this morning. “He deserves it,” Jack Capuano said. “The thing about the guy is he practices hard, and he plays hard. He takes care of himself away from the rink. He deserves an opportunity. Not that the other guys don’t do it, but the way he’s carried himself all year, he deserves it. Plus, they need a centerman.”
To play a hunch, I wouldn’t be stunned if he showed up at Lowell tomorrow. Big club goes Saturday-Sunday in the metropolitan area to finish.
Lowell tomorrow! This almost feels like Christmas Eve, doesn’t it? Too much time between games. Too much time to get excited.
In the meantime, Tomas Marcinko played in Mauldin’s spot between Jeremy Reich and Jesse Joensuu. Joensuu went on to win the shootout drill after practice, finally eliminating first Reich and then Trevor Smith.
Mark Flood was back from his first stint in the Show. “It was nice to get the opportunity,” Flood said, but at the same time, “I’m glad to be back.” It’s a big weekend, after all.
Justin DiBenedetto, in a red no-contact jersey, skated after practice.
That ‘A’ that was on Nathan Lawson yesterday? It was on Robin Figren today. So I had to ask Len DiCostanzo. “I’m giving them to the guys,” Leni said. “Lawson earned it yesterday. I gave it to Figgy… is he in here?” He was actually out in the hallway, just coming back into the room, talking to goalie consultant Sudarshan Maharaj. DiCostanzo walked up to Figren and pulled the ‘A’ off. “That shootout attempt was embarrassing,” he said.
Sudsie and Figren were conversing, by the way, in Swedish. As much as it feels as if we should be able to read Swedish, it feels even more as if we should be able to understand spoken Swedish.
Edit: Joe Callahan is expected back in Worcester tomorrow.
Edit2: Tyler Ennis is the rookie of the year.