The Day We've All Been Waiting For...

It's been a rough time for Islanders fans since April 14th, 2009 when we first learned that we had won the Draft Lottery and the right to choose John Tavares. Since Draft Weekend where all our hopes and cries for sanity were answered, there really hasn't been much to talk about. At 10:30PM tonight, albeit on a 30-minute delay, we'll finally have something to discuss: IT'S TIME FOR SOME ISLANDERS HOCKEY, BABY!

So get those chips and dip ready, we've got some ACTUAL hockey to watch. I can't imagine how excited the residents of Terrace, B.C. are right now. They've had a few days to soak it all in with visits from Lord Stanley and former hockey greats, Bryan Trottier, Cliff Ronning, Dave Babych and Cassie Campbell. For a town of about 15,000 residents, this has to be the most exciting event that's ever happened for them.

As Ken Morrow stated in his interview with NHL.com in reference to the Islanders second appearance in the Kraft Hockeyville game:

"I think it's a fantastic idea -- one of the best marketing ideas I've ever seen, really. You've got all these towns across Canada who are involved in this. What a fantastic thing to be associated with. Everybody's excited."

My question here is: Why can't American hockey fans do something similar? Wouldn't it be great to have NHL hockey go to the small towns across the USA? You know, non-traditional markets? Oh wait, what's that? We're fighting to keep the Coyotes in...Phoenix? Oh, well. There goes that idea.

Don't forget to tune in tonight for our first taste of NHL hockey action since the beginning of April. I know I'll be up late tonight.

Catch the game between the Isles and Vancouver Canucks on MSG+ Channels 88 and 717 on Cablevision iO and/or on the NHL Network.

I'll be catching up on some Training Camp news as much as I can (school is keeping me really busy and it's only been 1 week). Keep checking Newsday's Katie Strang's Blog, Isles Files and her Twitter account @KatieStrangNYI for the latest and greatest from Saskatchewan and Islanders Training Camp.