Comeau Reassigned, Cleared to Play; Worlds News

The Islanders announced this evening that forward Blake Comeau has been reassigned to Bridgeport and the medical staff has cleared him to play. It's a remarkably quick comeback for Comeau, who fractured his wrist only 14 days ago.

The 23-year-old from Saskatchewan will be with the Sound Tigers Wednesday evening when they host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in Game 4 of their best-of-seven East Division Semi-Final playoff series. The Penguins lead the series two games to one.

According to the Connecticut Post's Mike Fornabaio, Comeau took the full practice today, as did Jeremy Colliton.

Comeau appeared in 53 games for the Islanders this season and registered 25 points on seven goals and 18 assists.

While spending the early part of the season with Bridgeport, Comeau had four goals and 15 assists in 19 games.

Comeau's clearance seems to demonstrate how much more cautious the Islanders are with certain injuries, such as those suffered earlier this season by Frans Nielsen, Radek Martinek, and Sean Bergenheim. Those three players have not been cleared to play in the upcoming IIHF World Championship Switzerland despite finishing out the regular season on active duty with the Islanders.

In Nielsen's case, he admits that any deviation from his rehab routine is detrimental to a full recovery from the leg injuries he suffered as the result of a high and dangerous Mike Mottau hit back in November.

The decisions on Martinek and Bergenheim appear to be simply caution at work. It is sensible for the Islanders to allow the two a longer recovery period before next season. Of course, it's also a shame that all three lose out on the opportunity to represent their countries.

Meanwhile, Comeau may find himself in the thick of an intense playoff season two weeks after fracturing his wrist in the Isles' 9-0 loss to Carolina. With no knowledge of the severity of his injury, or medical knowledge to establish a rate of recovery, you'd have to assume that Comeau suffered only minor damage and there is no added risk of incurring further injury.

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Kyle Okposo and Team USA lost to Mark Streit and Switzerland in an exhibition match by the score of 5-2 today in Kloten, Switzerland. The American team actually led 2-0 on a pair of goals by Dustin Brown. Streit started the Swiss barrage of five unanswered goals at 8:25 of the second period. He later added an assist.

Tournament play begins Friday. Team USA opens up on Saturday against Latvia. The two nations are joined by Sweden and Austria in Group C.