Prospects arrive, physical testing begins

 After trickling in over the weekend and attending Monday night's prospects dinner, players arrived bright and early to the Coliseum for physical testing this morning.

No on-ice sessions until tomorrow, but here are a few quick notes from the a.m.

--The team announced that journeyman NHL/AHL center Eric Boguniecki will assist Brent Thompson in Bridgeport; Boguniecki, who played 11 games for the Islanders back in 2006-07, actually played under Thompson last season  with the Alaska Aces of the ECHL.

--Boguniecki wasn't the only familiar face for Thompson: the recently-named Sound Tigers head coach was D partners with Islanders defenseman Milan Jurcina while the two were playing for the AHL's Providence Bruins in 2004-05 (their coach, of course, was Scott Gordon).

--Speaking of coaches, didn't see Jack Capuano roaming the hallways, but I did see his nephew Max, who is attending camp on an invite. The 20-year-old winger had 33 goals and 50 assists in 43 games for Walpole of the AJHL this season

--Everyone's favorite tattoo enthusiast--Kirill Kabanov--was chumming around with fellow European prospect, defenseman Andrei Pedan, during testing. In between drills, he told me that  1)  he is done with Twitter ("It's boring. I'm more of a Facebook guy") 2) he still needs to make some revisions on his newest neck tattoo (No. 17) and 3) his mom is really loving living with him on Long Island.

--When asked to give a scouting report on Niagara IceDogs teammate Ryan Strome, 7th-round pick Mitchell Theoret said: "Can i just say, 'Lights Out'?" 

--Theoret, who said he hopes to model his game after his two favorite players Milan Lucic and Cal Clutterbuck, also made sure to point out an under-reported fact about the offensively-skilled Strome: He finished second on the team with 82 PIM this season. "He'll drop the gloves and fight," Theoret said.

--Mainstays Matt Martin, Travis Hamonic and Milan Jurcina were there to check out the new crop of young players coming through; Bridgeport defenseman Mark Katic, forward Rhett Rakhshani, and goalie Kevin Poulin were among the more experienced prospects. in attendance. Said Katic: "I feel like an old man."

--Scary coincidence: Both Bridgeport assistant Matt Bertani and Brent Thompson suffered broken necks this summer. Bertani broke his during a freak hockey play in a summer league game after the season ended in April. Thompson suffered a more minor fracture after a car crash in a charity race back in Alaska this June. Thankfully, both are expected to be fine and will be back on the ice this summer; Thompson this week and Bertani next month.

--Matt Martin already dropped his first of what will be many recreational ping-pong matches in the team's tunnel. Suffice it to say he did not take the loss to teammate Milan Jurcina well.