Jon Landry Excited to be at Islanders Camp; Claim Finely and Hickey off Waivers

By Christian Arnold (@CA_NYHockey)

Getty Images

SYOSSET, N.Y – It was pretty easy to see the excitement on Jon Landry’s face when he was talking being invited to the New York Islanders Training Camp.

“It feels unbelievable,” he said beaming from ear to ear when asked about it. “It’s a dream come true to get to this level and hopefully I can earn a spot and prove to myself, and to the coaching staff and organization, that I can help the team win.”

Landry has spent his professional hockey career bouncing around the minors. The past two seasons he’s spent playing for the Islanders minor league affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Over his time he’s been a consistent 20-point scorer for his two seasons in Bridgeport.

Despite his strong play this season, Landry was still surprised that he got the call up.

“Yeah definitely (I was surprised),” he said. “The talent pool and the level that we have in Bridgeport is really, really high.  It’s quite impressive the skill and the speed that our team has down there. And I was really, really shocked and honored to get the call the other night.”

Now Landry is ready to show what he is made of so that he can stay on the Island. He’s happy that he has a bit of familiarity with some of the guys as well as the Isles facilities.

“It was great to get to play with (Travis Hamonic) for two games when he returned,” he said. “So it was great to have some familiarity as well. (The Sound Tigers) had training camp on Long Island this year, so being in and around Iceworks, and the Coliseum, and the Marriot hotel, it makes it a good experience.”

One thing Landry has going for him is the ongoing Visnovsky drama that could open up a spot for him to fill. But he knows he has to earn it.  Landry making the Islanders would definitely be the feel good story out of training camp.

****

The Islanders claimed defenseman Joe Finely  off waivers from the Buffalo Sabres and Claimed Thomas Hickey from the Los Angeles Kings.

Finely played five games for the Sabres last season racking up 12 penalty minutes and a minus-3 rating, and has just one goal and five points in 36 games for the Rochester Americans. Finely does have size to bring to the Isles, standing at 6-foot-8, 249-pounds.The way it looks, he is nothing more than a depth signing. As NYIFYI pointed out, he’s not afraid to drop the gloves, though it has mixed results, and it is still up in the air if he can truly play NHL caliber minutes.

Hickey played 33 games last year for the Manchester Monarchs, scoring three goals and nine assists for 12 points. Hickey was the Monarchs second-leading scorer during the team’s first round playoff loss. He posted four assists and was a plus-four during the series.

****

Of course the Finely claim probably has something to do with the continued refusal of Visnovsky to report to Long Island. Monday he failed to meet the 10 a.m. deadline the team had set for him to be at camp by. As of now the Isles are still waiting.

****