Thursday night the New York Islanders, once loosely considered rivals of the Kings (many decades ago, after the teams made some high profile trades, namely the one for Butch Goring), will make their lone appearance of the season at Staples Center. As usual, we have a few pre-game tidbits to pass along. Study up, as these will make you sound smart while watching all the action with a friend or loved one… or even at a sports bar talking to strangers…
Five Things You May Not Have Known about the New York Islanders:
1. Newcomers Johnny Boychuk, Nick Leddy and Jaroslav Halak have played a combined 156 playoff games, while the combined games played by other Islanders on the current roster is only 108 playoff games.
2. Defenseman Griffin Reinhart is the son of former NHL defenseman Paul Reinhart, who played with both Calgary and Vancouver. He is also the brother of Sam Reinhart (second overall pick by the Buffalo Sabres at the 2014 NHL Draft). Meanwhile, his older brother Max was drafted by Calgary.
3. John Tavares has played five NHL seasons, never scoring fewer than 24 goals. And he even scored 28 during the lockout-shortened 48-game season in 2012-13.
4. Thomas Hickey was selected fourth overall by the Los Angeles Kings in 2007. He was claimed by the New Islanders on January 15, 2013 when the Kings put him on waivers.
5. This will be the Islanders final season playing in Nassau County. Next season the team with call Brooklyn home.
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When you mentioned high profile trades between LA and the Islanders, I thought you were referring to the Kings trading Olli Jokinen and others for Smolinski and Ziggy Palffy.