Isles will hold training camp on Long Island

After the Islanders widely publicized trip to China fell through in May - followed by over a month of uncertainty about where training camp would be held - the Islanders have decided to host their first training camp on Long Island since 1997.

Islanders general manager Garth Snow said he hopes this provides fans an opportunity to be a part of the camp - which will begin Sept. 17 - as opposed to recent years when the team has traveled to remote locations such as Moncton, New Brunswick and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, both in Canada.

"It's going to be exciting to have training camp right here in Long Island. Our fans haven't had that opportunity for the past few years and it should be fun to connect with the community," Snow said during the Islanders first day of prospect camp at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum yesterday.

Holding camp on Long Island will also significantly decrease the amount of travel time compared to the Islanders jam-packed Western Canadian jaunt last September.

"There are pluses on having camp elsewhere, too, but the good thing about Long Island is there is a lot we can do team-building wise and with the community," Snow said.

Head coach Scott Gordon said he feels that having training camp at home will give the team a better opportunity to assess players and prepare the team for the upcoming 2010-11 season.

"It's obviously a lot different from what we're accustomed to," Gordon said. "We'll have more practice time and a good opportunity to take advantage of that time to work on the power play and penalty kill.

"Usually in training camp we don't have much time for that and it'll give us good reps on that. And for all the new players we have, we'll be able to get them up to speed."