Lou can’t wait to go outside

WASHINGTON — Watching the Islanders play at MetLife Stadium later this season will bring Lou Lamoriello back to his childhood, at least in one way.

“I grew up playing on a pond,” the Islanders’ general manager told reporters Wednesday. “I grew up playing pond hockey. That’s where we got most of our ice time. There was one rink, the old Rhode Island Auditorium where the [AHL] Rhode Island Reds played. So there’s certainly something special and that did reflect, quite frankly, to me each and every time I see one of these games.”

Lamoriello, who turned 81 a couple weeks ago, does not talk often about personal matters. But he grew up in a blue-collar household just outside of Providence, R.I., where finding public ice to skate was indeed a challenge. His own playing career ended shortly after college, when he skated three years for Providence College and joined the coaching staff shortly after. Asked about his memories of pond hockey Wednesday morning, Lamoriello replied, “Freezing.”

“Trying to keep your toes warm,” he said. “All of the things that go with the weather, really. But knowing, also, feeling the fresh air and what it does to you as far as the breathing end of it. And I always found that you could get in better shape outdoors than any place.”

The Feb. 18 match against the Rangers will be the Islanders’ second ever outdoor game and their first since Lamoriello took over hockey operations in 2018. At prior stops, though, he’s participated in two outdoor games, the first with the Devils at Yankee Stadium and the second with the Maple Leafs at BMO Field in Toronto.

“Both of them were just tremendous,” he said. “And now to be able to participate in something here, we got 80,000 people [expected attendance], I mean, what more can you say about the game?”

That date in February, Game 54 of the season for the Islanders, is a long way off as they approach Game 9 against the Capitals on Thursday with a 4-2-2 record in hand.

The record so far matches their best start through eight games since going 5-2-1 in 2015-16. But concerns about the defense — the 236 shots they’ve allowed in their last six games are the most they’ve given up in a sixgame stretch since February 2018 — along with a blown lead on home ice to Detroit on Monday have cast a shadow over it.

“I’m pleased with our team,” Lamoriello said. “It’s early in the year, as we can see where the game is at. The parity is there. You look at the scores, a lot of them you’d say you wouldn’t predict prior to the game of what transpired. You’re gonna see this right now in hockey throughout the season.”

By way of good news, Lamoriello said that defenseman Scott Mayfield — who participated in Wednesday’s practice and traveled to Washington — is “close” to a return after missing seven games with a presumed leg injury.

“He should be ready any day now,” Lamoriello said.

That would be a boon to a defense that has been taxed in the absence of Mayfield.

And, regardless of what happens over the coming months, the outdoor game will give the Islanders something to get excited about.

“I think it’s incredible,” Lamoriello said. “Certainly there’s nostalgia for me because, being right next door [at the Meadowlands with the Devils] for so many years. But to have a venue like this for all the players and the families, it’s just exciting. It’s just a part of the game that takes away the competition and puts it in an environment where everybody feels so good about each other.”