Wow, things have been busy in Islander-land as of late.

First the re-signing of Campoli, then the announcement that Al Arbour would be back to coach the team’s 1,500^th game and now, the subsequent return of both Trent Hunter & Chris Simon. However despite all these happenings, there’s still no mention of the team signing another center to anchor the third line and no mention of either Danny Markov or Bryan Berard heading to the Island to give the defense a little more depth.

Regardless of all of that however, you have to like the fact that both Simon and Hunter will be back and anyone that doesn’t love the fact that Al Arbour will be back to coach, even if it’s only for one game, is absolutely out of their minds.

But first things first…

I’m really happy that they locked up Campo for a few years, mainly because we saw first hand last season that he was willing to do whatever it took to stay in the lineup. Sure, his offensive numbers went down quite a bit from his rookie year, but I think the guy has plenty of talent and if he can manage to somehow combine his newly developed physical game with the offensive prowess he’s showed his entire career, I think the Isles could look back on this deal as a very important one.

Next on the hit list…

No one knows what the deal is with either Hunter or Simon, because no news has been officially broken, but two days ago, both were added to the Islanders roster on the team’s official website, alongside Sean Bergenheim and if that’s not proof enough, then I don’t know what is. Between the both of them, the Islanders get much more grit and toughness and on top of it all, two guys that can contribute offensively.

After a streaky season last year, I think Hunter may be ready to score 25 goals again this season for the Islanders and if he continues to take the body and be the team leader everyone knows he can be, I think this can be his best season in the blue and orange ever.

As far as Simon goes, the guy was playing the best hockey I’ve seen him play in over two years last year before he had a moment of temporary insanity and nearly decapitated Ryan Hollweg. Like I said a thousand times last season, I absolutely love what Simon brings to the team and if he can control himself, he can still be an extremely useful player. Offensively, I still think Simon is capable of a 15-goal, 35 point season at this point in his career and if he does that and protects the guys that need protecting, I think he’ll be even better than he was last season.

Now, the Arbour situation…

My respect for Ted Nolan before this move was already huge, but after inviting Arbour back to coach the team’s 1,500^th game, he’s in a class by himself.

Aside from Arbour, Nolan has to be my favorite Isles coach, just because he gets the most out of every single player on the ice. Arbour was a little different when it came to his coaching style [anyone ever hear the egg story that involved the Potvin’s, or the Bill Berg story?] but he was still an amazing coach and dare I say the best coach in NHL history. I still remember seeing him by the bench in 92-93 and having my dad tell me how much he meant to the championship teams and that he was a living legend. For all the younger guys [damn I’m 24 and now I’m an old hockey fan] to have an opportunity to watch this guy behind the bench and for the young Isles to be able to say they shared a bench with the guy for 60 minutes is a classy move by the team.

If they can manage to spank Sidney and the Penguins that night, the move will go down as one of the sweetest in Islanders history. Let’s hope it does.

Aside from all of that, I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that the Isles will sign another defenseman and a center that can play decent two-way hockey. If they don’t, the season may be much tougher for them and they may not have enough depth on offense.

Let’s hope that they make a few more moves in the next few weeks.