On The Island – Episode 2: Next Up

On The Island – Episode 2: Next Up

So, let’s start with the good stuff, Pete. Which teams do you think got it right in the first round of the NHL draft? You know, the New York Islanders got it right for sure. [Music] They got Schaefer, who’s the best player in the draft on the back end. You got Victor Ecklund, who projects to be a top six board. Kan Hson projects to be another top four defenseman. So, great bit of work. Nice out here. [Music] I’m Matthew Dar. I’m the general manager. CEO Patrick W, head coach. Rocky Thompson will be our head coach in uh Bridgeport. Listen, welcome guys. uh development camp. I mean, for some of you, it’s not your first one. Others, it’s your uh first one, but it’s just the start of a journey. That’s what we call development camp. We’re looking to work on skill on skating, all that. It’s we’re not going to spend the the week doing scrimmages. We’ll have a little scrimmage at the end just for fun for the fans. But, you know, this is your first impression with a team when you come here. So, you know, we expect hardworking competing. When you do drills, even if it’s skating drills or skill drills, we expect you to do it with the intensity. You should be relaxed and have fun here. Like it’s it’s awesome. You guys have a chance to be at NHL development camp. I’ve seen guys undrafted being at development camps and having NHL careers. Do your thing this week. Like show us what you have. That’s what it’s all about and enjoy it. It’s everybody’s dream to play in the NHL. Every hockey player. So now you feel like you’re an NHL building. You’re wearing the logo of the New York Islanders at camp. So take this opportunity, work hard, stand out, but I don’t want them to feel so tight that they’re paralyzed cuz they’re so nervous. So hey, relax, have fun. That’s it’s part of the process, part of the journey. You should enjoy it. Well, development camp basically boils down to us getting to know the player and them getting to know us. Like we bring them in our facility, we put them on the ice, we practice them, but then off the just developing a relationship with the organization is probably the main reason why we have it. They’re getting to know what the facilities look like, the culture that is on Long Island. And to be an islander, you see what their tendencies are, their strengths, their weaknesses. It just gives us more feedback or a little bit more of an insight of what kind of player you get when they step on the ice. We approach development camp here in the true sense of the term is we want them to develop skill sets that they don’t necessarily have yet. Head up. Head up. head up four to get here finally see all the facilities and get on the ice and you know really show why they picked you and you know honestly just enjoy it. Obviously here you have such high-end players uh you know great coaching staff and uh even NHL alums. So it’s super cool to you know interact with them, learn so many different things and uh be taught different things that you didn’t know before. For them at a young age getting to know one another. They’re coming from all different teams and so it’s an introduction to one another and they start to build that camaraderie with each other. They’re all going through the same things. We haven’t had one in a couple years. So, it’s nice for them to come together and get to know each other cuz they are part of the family. They’re they’re a team now. Whether it be a top golfer on the beach playing volleyball or just hanging out having a bite to eat or whatever it is, getting to know each other from all different parts of the world. Yeah. So, it’s the camaraderie is the most important part of that. So, I hope all of you are familiar with beach volleyball. This is like traditional Long Island summer volleyball tournament. If you want to go far, you need to be a family and you got to be really tight. And to do that, you got to, you know, do things like team bonding activities. This is my first time on Long Island. So, initially getting here, I was super excited looking out the the window of the plane. It looks pretty cool coming in, seeing our schedule for the week. We have a couple events planned, like going to Long Beach, just to kind of fully experience Long Island and see everything that it has to offer. Oh my gosh. Perfect timing for a good shot. Yeah. Look. Yeah. There we go. There we go. just to get away from the rink and not have to worry about hockey. Nobody was watching them or evaluating them. It was just go out and have fun. It’s pretty different from Mass. People are wearing Yankees and Mets jerseys and it is definitely uh a different vibe and it’s beautiful. Um heard a lot of good things. It’s a great place to play and I’m just, you know, super fired up to kind of see more. one one the New York Islanders are proud to select. You know, not every player in the NHL is drafted in the first round. There are plenty of great players that have come out of rounds, you know, the late round. So, you’re doing the best you can every year to try and find that guy. Procarov is just I mean he’s a massive power forward and he moves very well and he was at the combine an unbelievable interview. How about hobbies when you’re growing up? Hobbies. Russian. Russian. Russian. What’s the difference between Russian? Tomorrow we have a free night. So you I don’t even know how we got on Russian saunas and and all that, but I can watch him on the ice with Eric Karen’s out there and they’re laughing and joking and having a good time. I just think his personality is just fantastic. Even though there’s the language barrier right now, Luca Romano is a kid that I mean, he plays with a lot of speed. We love that about him. Not only can he score, can he create offense, but he skates really fast and that’s something that is prevalent in today’s game. Thomas Pitin is from the Czech Republic. He was the captain of the U8 team for for the Czech team. And you know, he’s a competitor, too. He’s got skill. He can score goals. He can create offense, but he’s just as much of a confrontational player, too. So, we just like all that he can bring to the to the table. Sam Larillas is interesting player for us. He was a kid that played at the US program. Uh he’s a very good defensive defenseman. Uh he put up 40 50 points this year in the US, so he showed some offense as well, but I really really like his attention to detail, his defensive game. He was a great pick for us. Burke is he’s an athletic kid who found his way as the year went on last year. He looked for that athleticism. You look for a calmness. Compete is a big one. And then Jacob Kaznika. Talk about a kid that just never quit. He’s going to be the type of kid that’s going to kill penalties and he’s going to be an energy guy and just be able to change momentum a little bit that way. I know unfortunately some of these guys, most of them aren’t going to help us this year. Uh, but in the near term, we’ve got a lot of high quality players that are going to be able to come in. And I think the organization right now is is in in really good hands. As you’ve probably heard by now and seen all over social media, as expected, Brock Nelson was traded by the New York Islanders. He is going to the Colorado Avalanche has already had their practice with them. Islanders receiving Callum Richie a firstround draft pick. Yeah, we’re actually on the road uh playing against Sbury in the OHL. So, I was in a hotel and uh it was the night before the deadline and I figured something might might happen and I got a phone call and I figured uh I was getting traded. So, I heard the news I was going to the Islanders. It was a bit surprising but uh super exciting at the same time and uh just looking forward to getting started. I’m Cal. Nice to meet you. Say Ross. Yeah. Okay, nice to meet you. I first originally heard of Cal Richie through a friend of mine who owned the junior team, the Ashawa Generals that he had played on. He he plays extremely well. Has a a good skill set on him and um he had a great job in Colorado’s camp last year and we kept around a little bit and acquiring him in that trade I think was such a bonus for us here because the potential that he has is great. one five the start of the year starting in Colorado I think was a big highlight for me. I think that was my goal all summer was to push for an opening night roster spot and uh I earned that spot and uh was able to start with the team and uh learned a lot from those seven games I played. Then going back to Ashawa and continuing my development there was great for me and going to the finals last year. We had a really good group and u we couldn’t quite finish the job but it was close and uh I thought we had a great playoffs. I think development camp obviously it’s in the name development. So I just want to develop as much as I can and uh soak in as much information as I can throughout the the camp. There’s a lot of great hockey minds here and try to take as much information as I can from everyone. The higher we come up the more time we’re going to have coming downhill. You know what I mean? Like try to stay inside the dot line. Yeah. It’s so hard to like time it like cuz you want to go like a million miles an hour. Yeah. It’s almost better being a little more patient. Don’t look at the rim and tell you have to look at it. Yeah, cuz the more you keep your eyes on the game, the more your brain’s going to take over. Your brain is awesome. So, like the more you can have your brain more stuff. Yeah. The more you’re going to Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I really pride myself on being a well-rounded player and uh this summer I just want to work on everything and I just continue to get stronger, faster, better shot, everything. So, I show what I got and try to prove myself. I feel like you already learned so much. Yeah. Nice. It’s pretty crazy. It’s honestly surreal. It doesn’t doesn’t feel real yet to be honest. The New York Islanders are proud to select Cole Eerman. Here you go. When I got picked by the Islanders, I just remember looking up and seeing the whole Islanders logo. Then it was a big picture of me and it’s like it’s pretty cool like seeing videos from it now. Well, the thing about Cole Eisermanman is he is at another level in terms of being able to score. Well, I mean, his shot is absolutely insane. So, he’s going to score a lot of goals. I got it. Boys are just getting better today. What’s that? Boys are getting better today. Hey, Snowy. D Nelson we drafted uh two years ago. Uh, so I’ve got to know him for about two years now. He’s playing at the University of Notre Dame. He’s done a really good job of himself there at Notre Dame, developing himself into a really good player. He got to play in two world juniors, uh, and won two gold medals, which is is a great thing for development. So, put yourself in a situation at high competition and have success at the end of the day can really help you in the future in terms of being in those situations when you do play for the New York Islanders one day. World Juniors this year was uh I felt like I took a big step and that was something I was really looking forward to going into that. I felt like I was given a bigger opportunity and I was able to take advantage of that and kind of learned how to be in a leadership role in that kind of environment and it was really really good experience for me moving forward. Danny’s just an incredible kid. Uh and he’s come a long way. He’s powerful, quick. I mean, I looking him out here right now, he’s going to he’s going to help us a lot sooner than later. Put it that way. A couple of the guys I’ve played with are uh I played with Irishman, played with Zack Schulz and Gwen Finley a little bit. So, a few of the college guys that kind of I know from playing against them and then also playing with them. You know, Nellie’s great. You know, he’s so big, powerful, strong, really responsible in the defensive zone. Very mature kid off the ice. He’s a hell of a player. Um there’s no other way to say it. He’s uh super hard to play against and you know he’s one of those numbers that circled on our board before the game. So you’re always paying attention when he’s on the ice. You’re always trying to be more cautious. Yeah, he’s out there. So yeah, it’s super fun to play with Danny. Um but yeah, it’s definitely not fun to play against him. One of the things from playing with Cole Eisman that I really took away from this game is his ability to get different types of shots off. And that’s something watching him in practice and also games is that really impressed me and really made me want to kind of try to bring those into my game. Speed throws through. Oh, what a shot by Eerman. He buries it. What a rocket by Cole Eerman. I think there’s a perception out there that Cole Eisermanman just shoots pucks on the power play, scores like Ovetchkin. That’s not the case. I mean, this kid’s got the ability to make plays, too. And he competes hard, too. just want to kind of like warm up edges. No, I like it. Yeah, boy. Truck’s been been awesome with me, you know, kind of just no matter what the rep is kind of telling me, you know, different stuff and uh he was just trying to tell me like how I can, you know, stay as a pro. The thing that separates people from staying in the NHL and not is consistency. Yeah. Doesn’t matter if you’re always scoring. Yeah. It matters if you’re doing the right things, the little details. If you’re not doing the little details when you get your chance, you won’t have much of a chance for long and then you’ll have to work extra hard to get there. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Appreciate be able to kind of be around the coaches, get a good, you know, relationship with them. They’ve already had the dream that we all strive to have. So, you definitely uh it’s all yours for them. For the first time in 6 years, top prospects of the New York Islanders have traveled from all across the globe, gathered right here in Nassau County in July. Tonight, the Islanders first development camp since 2019 rolls on with its marquee event, the long- aaited return of the blue and white scrimmage from Northwell Health Ice Center. I think it’s so important to see the passion that the New York Islanders fans bring. And again, it was in the middle of July. It’s in a it’s in a small venue. Uh, but it was a great atmosphere and the guys, they want to compete. That that’s why it’s hard getting them not to compete in the development camp when you’re trying to teach them something because it’s in their instinct too, which is a good thing. You put the jersey on for the first time when you’re playing and you see the support that they had throughout camp. It gives you little butterflies when it step onto the ice. Even though it wasn’t at uh a humongous arena, it was at our practice rink, but it was sold out. Fans were going crazy. [Applause] It’s actually hot and I miked up today. All right, here we go, boys. Right, here we go. Come on. Let’s have a night. Let’s have a night here. Let’s go. Let’s go, baby. Let’s go, baby. Let’s go, baby. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. That was unbelievable the amount of fans that came out and supported and um you know, it was the first time doing this in a little while, so it was super cool. And yeah, I’m just super grateful for all the fans. Good amount of people, eh? Is it? Actually, [Applause] that’s very pro. We’re expecting around 2500 fans in attendance. It’s already a packed house here at Northwell. Okay, boys. It’s rocking out there. Holy. It’s exciting for the players. It’s exciting for the the coaches to to have that type of support, which again is no surprise uh knowing this fan base the way I know him. So, and talking to a bunch of the players, they they loved it, too. So, it was great to see. Turn it. Ski it. Ski it. Ski with it. Go. Oh, boy. Whoa, whoa, whoa. We got two guys flying his own like sprinting out, which is cool, but I prefer for one guy at least to stay back and make it easy on D and get a first touch nice and clean, right? And the other guy, if you’re going to slack and sprint out, right, do it with good timing so you’re in a good spot to get the puck. You know what I mean? On that entry, I would say he’s still set up. It’s a man at that point, right? Maybe just falling back. Exactly. You got 45 52. Let’s score. [Applause] Here’s Bronerov. Quick get an initial shot off and then it’s a slam dunk on the rebound at the far post and that’s Quinn Finley. That is fast. Dale Bronerov set it up. Quinn Finley finishes it. The third round 2022 draft pick has made it a two nothing lead for team White. [Music] kind of a stretch pass that kind of went a little too far and I got a good stick on it and then pro got a good stick on it and then kind of made a hell of a pass back door to me and um just put it right in the net. Didn’t have to do it too much on that one. He’s unbelievable. He’s so big and so fast. So hard to understand sometimes cuz of the English. Yeah. Yeah. So so close. Yeah. Yeah. What’s up? Yeah. when we were changing, I kept telling him like, “Hey, like you take 45, like you take one, like you go one.” Um, he kind of picked up on that, so that was good. It was super fun playing with him. And yeah, he was funny. [Applause] Hey, I was a gas after that back check. Oh my god, I couldn’t even breathe. Sorry, you have no idea what happened. Oh my god, I thought that I think I was there, but Oh yeah, you were there. It’s always nice when you get to oneonone. Here things opening up here for the white club. It’s Richie back near side. Ecklan with a shot. That one was born by Dennis Goodbog as Hes flipped it to the front of the net. Romano right there out in front of Dick. I can tell you like that was a competitive hockey game. This is, you know, our first look. A lot of these guys, there was no shortage of compete. So, um, I could feel the energy. I could feel the excitement, you know, and on top of that, so there was some skilled plays and there was things from the week that were transferred into the game that we as as coaches uh witness. This will be a full-blown shootout to wrap up an outstanding evening here on Long Island. Come on, Jeffy. Yeah, [Applause] nice play. There you go, boys. Hey, there it is. There it is. Oh, boy. [Applause] Oh, boy. And it’s an 8-4 win. in the shootout for team white who shut out team blue in the scrimmage. Yeah, get in there. Get low. I’ll go next to you. All the things that, you know, we learned over the last 3 4 days just trying to soak in all that information and the skills and what it takes to be an islander. [Music] Thanks for being here. I think you know you’re going to meet Matthew as part of the day. What’s going to be more exciting today, too, is you’re going to help me sign Matthew to his first contract. What’s going on? How you guys doing? Sorry. I’ll come around. I’ll meet all you guys. I’m Matthew. What’s your name? I know you guys have gone through a lot of things in your life just like me. A lot of adversity. Um I mean, you can’t really control what you go through. I’ll tell you a bit about my story, but my mom was battling cancer for, you know, around 2 years. And when a loved one is going through something um so scary, you never want to see it. And you know, I I want to help people. That’s the biggest thing cuz when you go through you know so much adversity you you want to keep it in and you don’t want to talk out and you know everyone goes through it differently and I found that talking out and talking about the person she was helped me the most. You know you guys could you know relate in a lot of ways. So you know if you guys want to tell me a bit about your guys stories I’d love to. We can relate. The interaction between kids who have gone through something sad um is very positive. You know, the the dressing room itself, the facilities, it doesn’t hurt that he’s signing it in a wonderful environment like that with with a lot of positivity. I mean, there’s sadness, but today’s about positive and today’s about him giving back and about him achieving his dreams. It’s special. It’s Yeah. Really special. We have one more person that wants to get something signed or cold. I’ll let you do your thing. on behalf of New York Honors. It was kind of, you know, tough their agent, but we got the job done. Perfect. Let’s see it. Just for him to come up and bring, you know, my contract. It’s It’s pretty cool for me, but it’s also pretty cool for him, too. So, what a way to sign, you know, your first contract, and it’s amazing. No, it’s official. Welcome to the Islanders. Thank you, Paul. Appreciate it.

Welcome to On The Island, the New York Islanders’ exclusive docuseries that gives fans an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at the team. Dive deep into the heart of Long Island as we explore the passion, the preparation, and the players that make the Islanders a legendary franchise.

🏒 New Era. New Access.In this groundbreaking series, we offer you never-before-seen footage, exclusive interviews, and unparalleled access to your favorite team. From game days to off-ice moments, witness what makes the Islanders unique both on and off the ice.

Episode 2 is now live—only on the Islanders YouTube Channel. Don’t miss the start of this thrilling new journey with your team.

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