Day 6: Non-Kids/Kiddie Camp/Big Assist

I’ve said it before, somewhere: You won’t go broke betting against the return of Bridgeport unrestricted free agents.

This will say it again, in handy CHART FORM.

(Which hopefully won’t break the blog. Onward:)

Year G3 G3-R   G6 G6-R   AHL AHL-R   G2non G2non-R   TOTAL TOTAL-R Names
2006 3 1   3 1   6 0   8 0   20 2 Bouchard, Rourke
2007 3 0   1 0   7 1   2 0   13 1 Gregg Johnson
2008 2 0   1 0   9 1   6 1   18 2 Morency, Mole (ECHL)
2009 5 0   2 0   5 1   3 0   15 1 Haskins
2010 3 0   2 0   7 0   1 0   13 0
2011 4 0   1 1   9 0   3 0   17 1 Colliton
2012 4 0   1 0   8 3   4 0   17 3 Gallant, Landry, Reiter
TOTAL 24 1   11 2   51 6   27 1   113 10

The second column of all of these, with the -R tag, are players from that first column who re-signed in the Islanders organization. Gx: NHL Group x free agent. AHL: AHL contract of some sort, whether SPC, PTO or ATO (not counting Islanders draft picks). G2non: NHL Group 2 players who weren’t tendered a qualifying offer. It stops at 2006 because that’s when the blog started.

This is skewed, in a way, in that I only counted names that made it to the annual July 1 free agent lists; Mark Wotton, for instance, only appears in this chart in 2011, when he retired. You could argue for someone like Brett Motherwell, who was released from his PTO during the playoffs in 2010 and then signed an AHL contract the next season. So the percentage is a little lower on the chart than it would be if we ran the numbers on April 30. But then again, Bouchard probably shouldn’t count. Maybe not Mole, either, in the other direction.

However we decide to split hairs, I stand by the point.

….

A fair chunk of what’s left from last year’s team was on the ice today at the Coliseum. Good chance to meet, greet, pester people about health (they’re feeling good, shockingly; Anders Nilsson says he feels even better than he did in April) and potential destinations (Alan Quine indeed could play an overage year; had we to guess… he’d probably rather not) and marital status (didn’t actually pester Matt Bertani on that topic, but he’s engaged).

Knowing nods every time the phrase “young team” floated out. Though there may be a solution under everyone’s noses. Eric Boguniecki had the other hip replaced on Friday; he was on crutches today and hopes to be good to go for on-ice coaching by the start of the season. I’m thinking PTO by Christmas.

Press release went out while we were there that Barclays Center has officially taken over business side for the Islanders. Initial impression is that it shouldn’t directly affect Bridgeport, but will chase some further reaction when I’m sitting where I get cell reception and other people are awake.

Mark Flood is meanwhile back on these shores: Carolina.

Stopped in Stamford (beating the traffic at least, but for an ill-advised scenic route on the Cross Bronx) on the way home for The Big Assist V. Enjoyed Scott Ericson’s piece on Max Pacioretty. Sean Backman said nothing yet to report.

Nice to catch up, too, with Ryan Shannon and Jaime Sifers, who are both playing in Europe now.

“It’s been great. Obviously it’s a little bit different lifesyle,” Sifers, who’s back to Mannheim on July 30, “but it’s been a fun experience for my family. We’ve embraced it.”

They’re only three hours from Shannon, whose three-year deal with Zurich is just one year in, so they can meet up at holidays. Shannon said they’re living outside of the city itself in a town called Winkel.

“It kind of looks like a ‘Sound of Music’ postcard,” Shannon said.

(Shannon had his little girl running around on the ice afterward. It rivaled Patrick Sharp’s little girl with the Cup for Most Adorable Thing On The Planet.)

Nice to finally meet Ryan Haggerty, too, who’ll be a junior at RPI. He had 26 points last year, helping the Engineers to an 18-14-5 record, mathematically alive for the national tournament until the final Friday.

“Everything’s great,” Haggerty said. “We had a great year last year; just a little shorter than we wanted.”

RPI plays Sacred Heart at Webster Bank Arena on Oct. 12. That’s listed as a 7 p.m. start.

I’m sure I’m forgetting something. More tomorrow.

Michael Fornabaio