Among The Stars

Josh Bailey was enjoying a night out in Manhattan with his wife Megan the night he got the all-star call.
Bailey's parents were in town to watch the grandkids as the Islanders' forward and his wife were out to dinner at the Ritz-Carlton in Central Park. The all-star announcements were imminent and this season - Bailey's 10th in the NHL - felt like the first time he had a shot at it. He looked at his wife and told her the news - they were going to Tampa.

"You read some things and hear stuff about it," Megan Bailey said at Amalie Arena, with their four-month-old son Mack on her knee and the Central and Pacific Division playing in the background. "When we got the call it was like 'oh my god, this is really happening!' We just hugged each other and it was a proud moment, he deserves it."
Ten years in the league is a long time, but that's just how long it took for Bailey to get to the all-star level he's at this season. With 54 points (12G, 42A) in 46 games, Bailey and captain John Tavares went to represent the Islanders at the NHL All-Star Game in Tampa. This was Tavares' fifth time at the all-star game, but for Bailey, it was his first.
NewYorkIslanders.com was there with Bailey for his first all-star experience. Below is an account of what happened.

MEDIA DAY:

It's a hot, humid Saturday morning at the Grand Hyatt Hotel just outside of downtown Tampa. With the breeze off the water it's a little chilly - for Florida - but in the sun, or in a giant media tent, the air is sticky.
Bailey and Tavares are set to do their media availability at 10:40 a.m., along with the other Eastern Conference all-stars. They're each assigned pods and the Islanders linemates are together at pod one.
One of the attractions of all-star weekend is mingling with other players from around the league, but in an ironic twist, Bailey and Tavares will wind up spending a lot of the weekend together, from media day to being stallmates and even linemates in the three-on-three game.
The questions come from all angles: Thoughts on the weekend. Belmont. Stick brands. Super Bowl predictions. Tavares is knocking them down as fast as they come, but he gets a question about the man to his right. What has Bailey done to grow his game? In other words: How does a player who only hit 40 points once in eight years become a guy who's scoring 1.17 points-per-game?
Tavares, as astute a hockey mind as there is, has a theory. He thinks that Bailey hadn't previously had the type of opportunity he needed to establish himself as a dynamic offensive player. Bailey was moving up and down the lineup, playing in defensive situations and never really found and settled into a role on the team.
But when Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen and Matt Martin left the team via free agency in 2016, an opportunity opened up, including one on the captain's line. There was a void left on the ice and in the room.
"There was big room for guys to fill and take that opportunity and I think he saw that and always believed in the talent that he has and the type of hockey player he is," Tavares said. "I think he knew it was a great chance for him and you could see the confidence grow and grow and his belief was always there. You can see the confidence too knowing that if you don't have a great period or a great game that you'll still be out there and get that same opportunity, playing on the first power play (unit) and he got to emphasize his ability and run away with it."

The past two seasons, Bailey has largely played with Tavares and Anders Lee. This year they've combined for 153 points and all three are in the top-10 of at least one offensive category. Bailey is third in assists and 10th in points, Tavares is tied for fifth in points and goals, while Lee is tied for second in goals.
Tavares isn't surprised that the line has gelled together the way it has. He traces its seeds back to the 2014-15 season when the three of them played together. Bailey had 15 points (6G, 9A) in 22 games while Okposo was out with an eye injury.
"All of us knew about his talent and his ability," Tavares said. "We had an unbelievable five weeks playing together. The chemistry developed and you could see - I really felt from then on his game grew and grew and helped me so much and was a part of my success."
Bailey has thrived with Tavares and Anders Lee. Bailey and Tavares have earned points on the same goal 58 times over the past two seasons (29 in each). There's a chemistry and an intuitiveness to their game.
"I just feel I have a good sense of what he's seeing out there when he has the puck and where to go," Tavares said. "I'm not really surprised about the type of plays he can make. I have a lot of trust in him and when he's handling the puck out there creating time and space. It's just a good understanding of how we are as players."

SKILLS COMPETITION:
Bailey found out via text that he was going to be in the fastest skater competition.
The announcement came out via the NHL Twitter, but Bailey is relatively adverse to social media. Then the texts started coming in from teammates.
He wasn't particularly enthused about going up against Connor McDavid - who flew around the rink in 13.454 seconds to win the competition for a second straight season - but Bailey was happy to play along, finishing in 14.413.
"It was a good experience. I think everyone was just out there having a good time and it's nice getting to know some of the guys and it seemed like the fans enjoyed it too," Bailey said. "I wouldn't say I was overly enthused about doing fastest skater, but it is what it is. I tried to make the most of it."
Bailey figured he'd be in the passing challenge, which makes sense given he's tied for third in the NHL with 42 assists. But that desire came and went once he saw the course setup. Saucing pucks into mini nets from 40 feet is trickier than it looks, even for some of the league's top talent. Miss a few tries like Nikita Kucherov and Drew Doughty did and all of the sudden being in front of 20,000 people can feel real lonely.
"Originally thought I wouldn't mind doing that, then I saw it and I was like 'oh I'm glad I didn't have to do it,'" Bailey joked. "You can see how if you miss a couple it can drag on for a bit. I'll take my 14 seconds over doing that for a minute or so."
That was the only individual event for Bailey - all skaters participated in a shootout against the goalies - while Tavares tackled the Gatorade Puck Control Relay. There's stick-handling through stationary pucks - elementary for Tavares - and skating around cones, but the new wrinkle is a randomized light-up board with three slots that the players have to find a way to get pucks through. The Isles captain holds his own, finishing in 28.242 seconds, second only to Calgary's Johnny Gaudreau. Then it's back to yucking it up with Bailey and the other all-stars on the bench.
Tavares, the second-longest tenured Islander, is happy he's getting to share the experience with Bailey, the longest.
"We've become very close friends. He's so pumped and I'm so happy for him because he's so deserving," Tavares said. "To see the maturity of his game and as a person and how relied upon he is on the ice and in our locker room. It's great to see being with him for nine years now."

GASPARILLA:
The All-Star Game isn't the only event in Tampa over the weekend. Gasparilla, the annual pirate festival and parade, invades the city literally by boat, with hundreds of crafts sailing to the Tampa shore near Amalie Arena to kick off the parade that shuts down half the city.
So on Saturday, Tampa became a mix of hockey town and pirate's cove, with people dressed up in full garb for the event. It makes for an unusual scene outside the all-star festivities, but a jolt of strange isn't necessarily the worst thing - and strange is a relative term. This is like Mardi Gras to Tampa and it's a source of civic pride. For the die-hard Bluebeard and Jack Sparrow fans, this is the Stanley Cup Final.

The NHL reaches a sort of parlay with the Gasparilla festival and there's a bit of a pirate flavor to the event. There are NHL-branded pirate hats and there's an ongoing gag about how the Stanley Cup was looted from the league.
There's a parrot in a back room at NHL Media Day for players to pose with, but the odds of Tavares and Bailey embracing their inner Captain Hook were slim. Erik Karlsson and Victor Hedman on the other hand…
The question comes up, do they have a price to grab a hat, eye patch and a sword? Tavares doesn't think so. Bailey?
"I don't know what it would take," he said. "It would have to be a lot."

A FAMILY AFFAIR:
If not for Gasparilla, the Bailey's may have the biggest group descending on Tampa. There are 16 of them, including Megan and their two boys, Wyatt and Mack, brothers and sisters from both sides, enough for them to forgo getting a hotel and rent a house on Davis Island instead.
There's no way they were going to miss this and Bailey wanted them to be there to share in an exclusive NHL experience.
"It's great to be able to share something like this with the people you love," Bailey said. "It makes it all the more special."
The family is in the stands at Amalie Arena for Saturday's skills competition, but Bailey wants to bring Wyatt down to the ice. Outfitted in a miniature Bailey jersey and a backwards hat, Bailey can hold him up on one arm.
Wyatt's a hit on the ice, getting attention from Tavares and some of the other players. Tavares has seen videos of Wyatt and Bailey playing mini sticks and the little guy instinctively reaches out for Tavares' stick. A few pictures of father and son hit Twitter and Wyatt's an immediate star, getting more love from the NHL GIFS account on Sunday.

"My heart exploded. Completely exploded," Megan Bailey said. "It meant everything. It was so cool to see. It'll be the memories one day. Wyatt right now he's 17 months, so I don't know if he'll fully understand, but one day when we show him the videos and all that, he'll be like, 'wow my dad was cool.'"
Bailey brought him into the locker room on Sunday, a chance to get some pictures with a few of the biggest stars in the game. It's about sharing the experience. It's not every day he's stallmates with Sidney Crosby.
"Down the road it will be a good picture to have for him and for me," Bailey said. "I saw a couple guys out there tonight, so we were able to get him down there and let him get up close and personal and see the ice and experience everything I got to."
Bailey plays it cool during the two-day event. He and Tavares - who are linemates and stallmates - get an assist in their 7-4 loss to the Atlantic Division, but he's relatively stoic, only giving out a nod when he's announced on Saturday and a stick salute when he skates out of the light-up tunnel on Sunday.
That's just Bailey though, as composed as they come. Maybe it's because it took 10 years to be named an all-star. Maybe it's because he left those highs and lows behind long ago.
"It's increased opportunity and getting to play with great players shift in and shift out. It really does a lot for your confidence," Bailey said. "If you're having an off night, those guys are there to pick you up. The more confidence you get the better you feel and I just tried to carry last year into this year."
How does it feel for the family? They're bursting with pride - a universal feeling among the group. They're more than happy to be the rah rah ones and they know Josh well enough to know that he's enjoying himself, just like they are.
"It means so much just because I feel like he deserves it," Megan Bailey said. "We're so proud of him. It's so cool to have both of our families, both our kids here to celebrate it and experience the whole weekend."

As for the game, it goes quickly for Bailey, Tavares and the Metro. Bailey gets a point, but that's it. Nikita Kucherov scores a hat trick and the Metro Division goes home, flying out the night-of to make it back for practice Monday.
"It was fun. That's the biggest thing. Obviously I would have liked to have moved on to the final game, but it was all in good fun," Bailey said. "It was good to get to know everyone a little better and ultimately it was just a great experience."
Before All-Star Weekend, Bailey called it an honor and that it was something that can't be taken away from him. That's cemented now that the weekend has come and gone and while 10 years is a long time to wait for anything, some things are sweeter when you do.