MORNING SKATE: Kings at Isles

The flu bug hasn’t hit the NYI Media Blog (yet, knock on wood..), so here are some notes from the morning skate…

- Wade Dubielewicz will get the start in net tonight. With Rick DiPietro getting over the flu, he’ll likely back-up tonight. For the Kings, expect Jason LaBarbera to start.

- Ruslan Fedotenko (flu) is very questionable/doubtful for tonight’s game. Andy Sutton (flu) will be a game-time decision. Every other skater, according to Ted Nolan, is healthy and able to play.

- Islanders assistant coach Gerard Gallant made his return to the team after battling through the stomach flu/virus.

- At 12:15, Islanders defenseman Bruno Gervais will be guest of Billy Jaffe on the radio show, NHL Live. You can find it on XM 204.

- Dan Rosen from NHL.com came to the skate this morning. Amongst the Islanders players he spoke to were Bill Guerin and Blake Comeau. Expect a feature on Comeau soon.

- Longtime Islanders radio analyst Chris King will take part in his 1,000th Islanders radio broadcast. That includes time as the engineer, intermission/post-game host and in-game duties. Congratulations, Kinger!

- Amongst the hot topics with the media this morning was Britney Spears being admitted for psychiatric treatment. Islanders radio play-by-play man Steve Mears admitted that her 2002 concert in Louisiana was the best concert he’s ever been to. Really Steve? Really? ...

CAMP: Power Play Gets Started

Moncton, NB – So, what’s going on in Moncton while the team plays in North Bay and St. John’s? Well, practice. (Say it in your best Allan Iverson voice)

The remaining players are broken up into two squads: veterans and rookies.

Today, the veterans practiced the power play, which was being run by assistant coach Gerard Gallant. I don’t want to give any secrets away and I believe Greg Logan will go more in depth on this subject in Newsday in the next few days. But what I can say is that as Greg and I watched from the stands, we both noticed big changes.

It was only one group, but there’s a lot of movement and quarks to it. And, it was fun to watch.

We’ll keep an eye on it, but we’re starting to see units and lines shape up. Must be hockey season.