Islanders get to 'be little kids again' playing pond hockey, bonding at captain Anders Lee's house

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — The idea was Anders Lee’s. After all, it was the captain’s offseason home, complete with a frozen-over pond.

So the Islanders, still early in a marathon 16-day road trip, spent their day off Sunday as guests at Lee’s house in Edina, Minnesota, hanging with family and friends while playing 17-on-17 pond hockey. Many of the players wore their old junior uniforms.

“I told them we were doing it,” Lee said after Monday’s practice at Canada Life Centre in advance of Tuesday night’s game against the struggling Jets. “We had an off day in the schedule, so it’s kind of up to us what we want to do. I thought it would be an opportunity to bond together and get out on the pond. We played 17-on-17 for quite a bit.

“You throw sticks in the middle and then you just toss them to each side, that’s how the teams were made. It was awesome. Great weather. We had sun, a bonfire out on the ice and a couple of coolers.”

Teams typically schedule bonding trips such as golf outings during training camp. Having the opportunity to do this 45 games into the season was unique.

“It was honestly pretty perfect,” said defenseman Ryan Pulock, even though his junior hockey uniform, shipped from just outside Winnipeg, got held up at the border and didn’t make it in time. “The weather. It was just a relaxing environment with guys being able to go on the pond and mess around. Be little kids again. Sit around the fire.

“Especially with how long this road trip is, getting one of those days in there, it kind of breaks it up. It doesn’t feel as long. It was a perfect recipe for us.”

Great day out on the pond doncha know. pic.twitter.com/qbXyyJW8w0

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) January 12, 2026

Lee’s house is only a 15-minute drive from the team’s Minnesota hotel and is near the home of former Islander Zach Parise. He couldn’t join his ex-teammates because he was coaching, but Parise’s wife, Alisha, stopped by.

As for the action during the pond hockey game: Fourth-line forward Kyle MacLean drew praise for his play as a goalie.

“That was a really good idea by Anders to set this up,” Jean-Gabriel Pageau said. “Perfect scheduling for it and we took advantage of it instead of staying in the hotel all day and laying in bed. I thought it was a great setup.”

The Islanders have long been a tight-knit group, but this midseason get-together could have on-ice benefits going forward.

At least coach Patrick Roy felt that way after seeing his team work through a quick-paced 40-minute practice on Monday.

“It was such a great idea by Anders, seeing the guys having some fun and enjoying themselves,” Roy said. “That’s what I said to the guys this morning.

“I see the joy in our group right now. What I loved is, sometimes, when you have joy, players seem to want to take the shortcut and not work as hard. And we were working hard this morning at the practice. We were focused. As a coaching staff, we love to see our guys doing that. I feel like what happened with Anders on the pond, that’s great for the team.”

In the end, even though these are men playing a pro sport to earn a living, their love of hockey stems from childhood.

“We had so much fun,” Pageau said. “It reminded everyone of some good memories of when you were young and you were with your parents or your friends.

“A day like that is very good for the team to go out and have fun. You see the amount of smiling we had. It just brings everyone together. We had the trainers with us, too. It looked like one big family skating together.”

Notes & quotes: Roy confirmed that goalie Ilya Sorokin will start against the Jets after his 33-save gem in Saturday’s 4-3 overtime win in Minnesota . . . MacLean will return to the fourth line in place of Max Tsyplakov.