Travis Hamonic appears OK after concussion
Travis Hamonic skates during the New York Islanders training camp. (Jan. 13, 2013) Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Travis Hamonic came straight from playing back-to-back games with Bridgeport on Friday and Saturday and went right into the Islanders' practice Sunday, but he was happy for the work. Those were his first two games since suffering a concussion Dec. 2.
"There's no exhibition games here, and when you come off an injury like I did, you have a little bit of a mental hurdle to get past, and I feel like I did that," Hamonic said. "I gave some hits and maybe more important, I took a few big ones as well."
The defenseman was paired with his usual partner, Andrew MacDonald, for Sunday's first practice, and Mark Streit skated with newly signed Radek Martinek (inked to a one-year deal for a prorated portion of $600,000 Sunday morning). Bridgeport call-up Jon Landry skated with Matt Carkner, and 2012 first-rounder Griffin Reinhart, attending his first camp, skated with Ty Wishart.
Okposo joins top line
In a normal camp, it would be foolish to make too much of first-day line combinations. But this is far from normal, so coach Jack Capuano acknowledged there was meaning behind putting right winger Kyle Okposo with Matt Moulson and John Tavares.
"You look at some of the success they had as a line last [season], this is something we wanted to look at right away," Capuano said. "We're not going to waste a whole lot of time experimenting."
Frans Nielsen centered a second line between Michael Grabner -- who needed further examination of a torn abdominal muscle but was cleared to practice -- and newcomer Brad Boyes, with David Ullstrom, Casey Cizikas and Colin McDonald forming an all-recall line.
In addition to Josh Bailey (knee), Jesse Joensuu (groin) sat out practice. He will be evaluated again Wednesday.
