Islanders & NHL News: Clutterbuck retires, fans push back on longtime radio team exit

A good guy is quietly let go for…reasons.

Lou Lamoriello’s exit was the bombshell (albeit not out of left field), but things did not quiet down this week around the Islanders as the next day Cal Clutterbuck Insta-retired and it emerged that the Isles were parting ways with longtime radio play-by-play man Chris King and his not-that-recent partner Greg Picker, evidently choosing to go with a simulcast. We think. No official announcement there.

I met Chris, once, back in the darkest ages of 2009, and I’d just echo what everyone has said about how genuinely warm and friendly he is.

Meanwhile, the first round of the playoffs continued its awesomeness, with more overtime games (Dallas won its second OT in a row to go up 2-1 on Colorado, Toronto won its second OT to go 3-0 up on Ottawa) and Gabriel Landeskog making a dramatic return after three years battling a knee injury.

It’s not quite the same, but it made me imagine if Mike Bossy somehow returned at age 33 after three years shelved by his back injury.

Islanders News

• Cal Clutterbuck made it official, via Instagram, in very Clutterbuckian style: “I really have no idea how to do this, so…yeah. That’s it.” [Isles | Newsday | Post]
• Inside Brock Nelson’s “slow build” adaptation to the Avalanche. They love that he’s always in the right defensive position; they’re hoping for more offense from his second line. [Athletic]
• Every draft pick made during the Lou era. Hmmm. [THN]
• Speaking of…five moves by Lou that will affect the next GM. [Newsday]
• So, yeah, the Isles could use a GM in touch with the modern game. [Newsday | Post]
• Emergency podcast! Dan and Mike remember the Lou era. [Islanders Anxiety podcast]
• The Isles plan to simulcast TV and radio (though on what station?). [THN | Newsday] Maybe not a big deal to many, though a pretty big deal to visually impaired folk.
• Former communications head and blogbox pioneer (before Garth Snow had enough) Chris Botta calls out the org for cutting King and pleas for others to step in:

Brendan Burke is sincere while also maintaining “Hey, I work here and Twitter isn’t the place” diplomacy:

Some highlights from the King and Picker era (though King goes way, way further back):

Elsewhere

Again, lots of action Thursday night.

• In the most surprising result (maybe?), the Wild won again to go up 2-1 on Vegas. [NHL]
• Pity the Senators, who took Toronto to overtime twice in a row only to give it up. Classic “learning how to playoff” narrative for the young team. [NHL]
• The Panthers took both games in Tampa Bay BUT they lost Aleksander Barkov to a head shot. [NHL]
• The Blues avoided the kiss-of-death 0-3 hole by slaughtering the Jets in Game 3. Cam Fowler, who was available via cheap trade mid-season, had five points. [NHL]
• The “memory of a lifetime” for Gabriel Landeskog as he returns in the starting lineup on home ice. [NHL]
• The Kings’ 5-forward power play is rolling. [NHL]
• Apparently Montreal, where they have like 23 Stanley Cups (granted, from last century), is the only place that gets electric for the playoffs. [NHL]
• The Oilers could still do this! [Sportsnet]
• Some Hockey Club players are on the U.S. World Championship roster. [TSN]