Islanders Thoughts: Dobson, Barzal, Martin, and Horvat on Camp

Day three of Islanders training camp is here, and the intensity has only continued to ramp up. There was even more physicality and intensity throughout today’s scrimmage (which finished tied 4-4). Hits and collisions were as common as passes and shots on goal.

That’s not an accident. Matt Martin talked with NYI Hockey Now about

“I think if you look at the practices, a lot of it was one-on-one battling. The physicality kind of started really in the first day in terms of that because when you’re in a one-on-one type situation, you know, you got to get your body on field stuff from the end of the net.”

That’s been the case since day one of rookie camp. So much of the Islanders’ identity used to be getting in the opponent’s face and making life hell for the opponent. Under Lane Lambert, that morphed into just sitting back and daring the opponent to come down and take control of the game. Which, far too often, is exactly what happened.

Martin, at camp on a PTO, looked a step faster than he had at any point last year. I asked Martin about that added step and if he felt better overall, and he at first chuckled and said, “I appreciate that, first of all.” Before continuing about his summer and last season:

“Yeah, listen, I was pretty banged up last year for a good chunk of it. I had an upper-body injury earlier on in the season and then two lower ones to finish the year. So, it’s nice to get a full offseason in and get healthy.”

The omission doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Martin is a fighter and isn’t one to make excuses, but three injuries certainly slowed him down last year. He has played 955 games and continues to work to improve himself.

“Skating is always a thing I try to spend a lot of time working on because, obviously, it doesn’t come as naturally to me as it does some of the other guys.”

Martin aside, around the room throughout camp, the consensus has been that physicality and hard work are essential to camp.

Bo Horvat spoke to NYI Hockey Now and said: “The practices haven’t been easy, and they’ve been tough, and obviously the skating and stuff like that at the end makes it harder, but I mean, it’s just going to make us better down the stretch.”

The hard skates at the end are vital. It’s something that builds up your energy and prevents a team from implosion and blowing, say, 25 third-period leads in one season.

Noah Dobson added: “Those are the reps you need to prepare for the season. It was a good first day of scrimmaging and something you can build on.”

Finally, Mat Barzal met with the media to discuss how camp has gone thus far.

“They’ve been tough, the pace has been high, and you know, just same as usual. You know every camp’s tough. Guys are coming in trying to prove themselves and young guys are flying, and that’s good for the other guys as much as we’re supposed to set the tone. It’s nice to have young legs out here that are, you know, they can skate forever, so nice to have a good balance of both. I think everyone looks like they’re in good shape, and the battles and the competition level have been high.”

Barzal added that it’s been nice to have the chance to skate Horvat and Duclair before today as they continue to build chemistry.

Overall, camp rolls on. Tomorrow in New Jersey the first preseason exhibition takes place.