It's not much of a surprise given how well he's done so far, but Josh Bailey will be an Islander for the duration of the season. The Islanders announced this morning that they're keeping Bailey on the big club. And I say, why not? He's certainly proven he can contribute on this level. His numbers (0-5-5) sort of belie the progress he's made. Don't let the lack of goals fool you - they'll come soon enough. And with the right scorers on his line, Bailey could soon become the team's top playmaker. I'm glad they're giving him the chance to learn on the job. It's a rebuilding year; let Bailey take his lumps now so that he'll be more seasoned once things pick up around here.

Speaking of young players, I just read in Logan's blog that Jeff Tambellini has now played in 100 NHL games. In those hundred games, he has four goals and nineteen points, with no goals in his last 40 games. A lot of people dump on Tambellini, and deservedly so, but he's been trying to add a physical aspect to his game lately. It make sense to try to do this. Sometimes, you need to focus on something else to regain that natural scoring touch, to get back to that place where you don't have to think about the play and just react instead. Having said all that, Tambellini is here to score, something he's not doing very well. It'll be interesting to see how the Islanders handle the Tambellini situation going forward if things don't improve.

Home game tonight against Ottawa (again). Here's hoping for a nice bounce-back effort and an Islanders win.