It’s the first day of Long Island New York camp and I have to admit it feels a little odd to be around the team again. I don’t think this day is Live Blogging material, but I will pass along some updates.

10:45 am

Practice started about 30 minutes ago, after a small group of 8 took the ice. Now anybody taking the full practice is out there. Scott Gordon told me before practice that besides DiPietro and Campoli, there are some other guys with assorted ailments that will take it easy for a few days. One of those appears to be Andy Sutton, who is not practicing. Park took a shorter practice, as did Guerin. Here’s the color combinations:

Goal: Danis, MacDonald

Blue (defense): Gervais, Hillen, Lee, Martinek, Meyer, Witt, Skinner, Streit

Yellow: Colliton, Fritz, Jackman

Gray: Bergenheim, Comrie, Hilbert

Red: Bailey, Okposo, Sim

Orange: Comeau, Guerin, Hunter, Nielsen, Park, Sugden, Tambellini, Weight

11:30 am

Players, I assume those with the various aches Gordon was referring to, are regularly coming on and off the ice. Bergenheim is one notable. I learn that the players have been told not to discuss their injurues with anyone - especially guys who bring their laptops to practice.

Gordon seems to have zeroed in on four lines for today’s practice, for what it’s worth:

Tambellini - Nielsen - Hunter

Bergenheim - Comrie - Hilbert

Sim - Bailey - Okposo

Fritz - Colliton - Jackman

Lots of drills, lots of instruction. It’s been a while since I saw a practice like this.

1:00 pm

Practice ended around noon. In his scrum with reporters, Gordon tangoed with Logan like Pacino in Scent of A Woman on the subject of injuries to DiPietro, Campoli, Sutton and the parade of players going off the ice mid-practice. In the nicest way possible, the coach said nothing. Then at the very end, he said, “I’m a bit taken aback by all the hip flexor and groin injuries. It seems to be a lot of the guys that were here last year. Not that I’m saying it’s anyone’s fault.” Good stuff.

Also from Gordon: “The practices are geared to be like typical shifts in a game.” To be certain, all this tightness in players’ legs is far from a sign of disaster for the Islanders. If anything, it means they are working hard, especially on stops and starts. Only if players are being nagged by groin issues in the days leading up to the season opener would I consider it a concern.

Tambellini Back: Jeff Tambellini took his first full practice in several days and appears to have made it through without any difficulty. With four games in the next seven days, this is an important time for the young scorer.

Sugden/Fritz: I finally met Brandon Sugden for the first time in-person. I was curious if he’s had much communication with Mitch Fritz, his chief competition if the Islanders keep an enforcer on the roster. Sugden and Fritz have fought in the minors. Turns out the team lined up the two heavyweights as roommates on Long Island. “To be honest, I didn’t know what it would be like,” said Sugden. “But we’ve talked a little, we get along, we’re supportive. No issues at all.”

Since the Islanders are not scrimmaging, it’s not like Sugden and Fritz can drop their gloves in the middle of a breakout drill. Looks like it will come down to how they perform in the exhibition games this week.

Notes: I asked an older Islander if it’s possible Scott Gordon’s teaching could eventually get old for the veterans. He was very supportive of what Gordon is doing, adding “even veterans need to be re-trained. The key is Scott’s making it fun. He’s teaching a lot, but he’s not like a lot of other coaches who drain all the creativity and entertainment out of the game.”

Newsday, or The Hockey Newsday as I call it, was represented by three writers today: Logan, Arthur Staple and Mark Herrmann. Dan Martin was here from the Post, as were Chris King and Billy Jaffe.