Travis Hamonic did something unique with his summer training, taking his rugged persona off the ice and into the woods, building a gym at his cabin in Manitoba. The farmboy from St. Malo, MB returned to his roots out in the country.“I set up shop there for the better part of four months and was able to work out on my property,” Hamonic said. “I’d get the workout out of the way and enjoy the rest of my day fishing, being on the water and in the woods.”But it wasn’t just regimens and relaxing. After the workouts came the secondary workouts. Forget the rotating chop on the cable cross machine; Hamonic went out, chopped logs and cleared bush on his property.“I did my stuff in the gym and then I was cutting down trees, lifting logs and all the manual labor that comes with owning a property on four acres,” he said. “There was a lot of bush to clear, but I enjoy that sort of thing. I am from the farm, so I know what a good honest day’s work is.”He felt comfortable completing the Islanders’ workout plan on his own and resumed skating five days a week in Winnipeg once August rolled around.“Unfortunately it wasn’t cold enough for me to be able to skate on the lake,” Hamonic said, likely making him the only person in Manitoba wishing for snow in August. “It was a different transition this summer for sure, but I was able to get some rest, get away from the game a bit and prepare myself for the season.”Hamonic arrived on Long Island Wednesday night, following a 30-hour drive from Manitoba. He makes the drive to-and-from Long Island every year and knows how to handle two 15-hour days in a row. Now, he’s itching to get back on the ice and help the Islanders return to the playoffs.“Obviously you don’t want to have that much time to prepare in the offseason,” he said. “It’s definitely motivation.”

GRABNER RETURNS

Michael Grabner also skated at Islanders Iceworks on Thursday, after returning from Spokane, Washington. Grabner split his summer between his native Austria and the Pacific Northwest, in his wife’s hometown and the site of his junior team, the Spokane Chiefs.

“It’s good to be back,” Grabner said. “It was a long summer, so it’s nice to get back and get going again. It’s always nice to come back a bit early, joke around with the guys, get some skates before the real business starts again.”



ROOKIES ARRIVE



The Islanders rookies reported for physicals this morning at Nassau Coliseum, one day ahead of rookie training camp.Physicals began at 7:00 a.m. and included headshots, neuro-psych and fitness testing. The skaters take the ice on Friday at 10:00 a.m.