Islanders & Their New Smackdown Attitude Welcome TNA To UBS Arena
This Sunday, July 20, is TNA Wrestling Slammiversary at UBS Arena.
Since Mathieu Darche stepped in front of a mic on Long Island, he’s made one thing abundantly clear.
He wants his team to be a pain in the rear end to play against. He wants the team to play aggressive. He wants his team to be feared.
Darche’s actions have backed up that claim.
He retained the fiery Patrick Roy as head coach. He brought in Rocky Thompson for Bridgeport, a coach who has a similar mindset.
Thompson’s first few words? That Bridgeport is no longer going to be a punching bag.
Darche signed hard-hitting defenseman Alexander Romanov to an eight-year extension worth $6.25 million annually.
With the 17th overall pick in the first round, he drafted vicious defenseman — and I mean vicious — Kashawn Aitcheson.
Although he could have folded when it came to the Noah Dobson negotiations — Noah is a gifted offensive defenseman — it’s clear his style didn’t fit Darche or Roy.
He brought back the pest that is defenseman Tony DeAngelo on a one-year deal worth $1.75 million.
He didn’t trade center Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who will hit anything that moves, or the forechecking energizer bunny that is Casey Cizikas.
Even in the Islanders Blue & White Scrimmage, their prospect showcase, we saw big hit after big hit.
The fans may not have liked it when Marshall Warren hit No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer, sending boo birds his way at Northwell Ice Center. Kudos to Warren for having the courage and the mindset that it doesn’t matter the talent—he’s going to do his job.
There’s a new smackdown attitude on Long Island.
And it just so happens that this Sunday, July 20, is TNA Wrestling Slammiversary at UBS Arena.
Here are the matchups (event begins at 7 PM ET):
TNA Knockouts World Championship Match
• Masha Slamovich vs. Jacy Jayne
The winner leaves Slammiversary with both the TNA Knockouts and NXT Women’s Championships
TNA X Division Championship Match
• Moose vs. Leon Slater
TNA World Tag Team Championship Ladder Match
• Nic & Ryan Nemeth (champions) vs. The Rascalz vs. Fir$t Cla$$ vs. Jeff & Matt Hardy
TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Championship Match
• The Elegance Brand (Ash & Heather) vs. The IInspiration
Also on the card:
• Cedric Alexander vs. Mustafa Ali
• Tessa Blanchard vs. Indi Hartwell
Get your tickets HERE
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Best case scenario is both Ritchie and JG are playing well. Sooner or later a contender is going to have an injury at Center. In order to turn JG into a 1st Round Pick (2026 or Future) or a very good prospect the Islanders have to wait, then pull the trigger regardless of their positioning in the playoff race. Ritchie is a 200ft all around player, strikingly similar to JG only bigger physically. Maybe a little more offensive potential. The fact that JG will be 33 in November complicates things. The Islanders can only have some leverage when other contenders have injuries. I imagine JG would most likely be motivated to get a Cup Shot. He is a playoff caliber player! So you play JG at center and hope he has a tremendous season. While Ritchie sharpens himself even more in the AHL. As soon as they move JG promote Ritchie. I believe he will be playing well in the AHL. This kid does all the little things PK faceoffs etc. If the Islanders are in playoff contention it strengthens their hand. DuClair, Mayfield, Lee, Casey, Engvall are all spare parts for Cup contenders. Engvall would have to have an epic dominant performance in Camp to make the team. If I was him I would stop worrying about scratching my face. Being in the AHL riding the bus will eventually lead him to go back to Europe to play. He is gutless I’m surprised Lou didn’t know him better since he had him in Toronto. What a fraud! Not Lou Engvall! What an opportunity Engvall had with the Islanders, talk about a guy choking. Just goes to show physical talent with guys like Engvall and Julien Gauthier isn’t enough without the discipline and desire to get in the battle.