If you were worried about heavyweight toughness without the immortal Joel Rechlicz… It won’t get much more fun ’round here.
The Islanders just announced that they’ve agreed to terms with Jeremy Yablonski, old and best of pals with Trevor Gillies, to a one-year, two-way deal.
Still no veteran scoring presence, but there’s certainly a chance for presence of a different kind in Bridgeport this year.
Edit: Late arrival means a shorter bit in the paper tomorrow, so here’s some stuff from a conversation:
“I’ve talked with (the Islanders) before a little bit in the past,” Yablonski said. “I’ve spent the last three years with Ottawa, with Binghamton. … It was time to move on. I had a lot of good times. There’s some good people in Ottawa. But it was time to move on.”
Trevor Gillies, you may recall, and Yablonski were in each others’ wedding parties.
“We’re very good friends. It’s going to be nice to be there with him,” Yablonski said. “Hopefully I’ll play together with him.”
He said a new organization will be a fresh start.
“I know all the names, played against them,” Yablonski said. “It’ll be interesting, getting in with a new group, a new team.”
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When I think of Yablonski fights vs. Bridgeport, I always come back to this one, Jan. 17, 2009 — which I missed. Phil’s call made it sound epic. Then the video appeared on YouTube, and it just about lived up to the call. The 25 seconds or so where Yablonski has the sweater pulled over his head? Outstanding.
Injuries limited him to 27 games last year, and he had surgery in March for three sports hernias. There was also a 10-game suspension in there, when he tried to get away from a linesman during a brawl at the end of a period against Syracuse.
Meanwhile, tough day for Binghamton favorites: Michael Sharp talked to Denis Hamel, who doesn’t expect to return to the Senators.