New York Islander Fan Central has presented it's views on the lockout, with the early offers to the best of what was provided.
This blog is done now writing about the lockout.
The media spin/rhetoric for both sides blaming one another with the players speaking, but not the owners make for entertainment, not information.
Writers in Canada/US guessing about team finances or markets is just that, and this blog understands they have to produce something or their editors will have to give them another assignment to earn a living.
In other words it's a waste of everyone's time.
When/if an agreement is reached an entry will be written about the terms.
It should be noted the one big announcement Gary Bettman made at the Islanders press conference that got no mention was Gary Bettman emphatically said no NHL expansion
forty seconds.
The 1994-95 lockout did not end until Jan 11th.
During the 2004-05 lockout the season wasn’t canceled until Feb. 16th. ***********************************
What's Next?
The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum is hosting a New York Islander-related event with no players present. Because of Disney On Ice since 11/6 at the Coliseum the ice was already down.
As written in recent entries, only Charles Wang/Smg/Nassau know if the team opted out of it's Dec 2009 sublease, it will be the first event since the NHL draft.
Will Charles Wang own the team when it moves in 2015-16 is a story for another day.
What's binding is the new 25 year lease which we have no real details about.
Rebuilding A Fan Base:
For now the New York Islanders desperately have a fan base to build/rebuild.
The Nets with tons of media/advertising in a brand new building had 3,000 available tickets on a Monday, 1,000 on a Sunday night for a sport far more popular in New York.
By October 2015 when the New York Islanders relocate (if not earlier) the story of a new facility will have long since faded.
Garth Snow, Jack Capuano, Doug Weight? Three years is an eternity for their roles, if the team does not win expect changes or internal later moves.
Spending More?
If Charles Wang continues to own the team, he will be spending more simply because the back-loaded contract years are going to start when the club moves. Do not expect the building to change anything in free agency for the same reason it never did in Toronto, Montreal or with teams that refused to front-load if that's part of the next CBA.
Wang's xm radio comments about the front-loaded contracts give the impression he would not do them under the expired CBA which fall in line with many of his counterparts.
I asked the Islanders twitter for the link to his full interview.
Coliseum's Future:
Whatever Charles Wang does with his hotel/abatement now does not matter in terms of New York Islander hockey revenue so the Coliseum's future becomes another subject. Only he knows how it balanced out financially for him to potentially own the team in Brooklyn vs the Coliseum.
Bottom line is come September 2015 the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum will no longer house an NHL franchise. Unless Charles Wang purchases an ECHL team there will be no New York Islander related tenant given his agreements in Bridgeport last until 2021.
Circumstances:
The circumstances in the New York/Tri State Area right now are so bad for many, it's not really a time for sports to enter a discussion among politicians.
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Bridgeport:
The good news is Anders Nilsson is back playing, the better news is Brock Nelson is statistically looking like he can produce at the AHL level. David Ullstrom is still out, Casey Cizikas left Sunday's game.
Sound Tigers website: Report on the new scoreboard/matrix boards Charles Wang likely paid for at his managed Webster Bank Arena, as he did at the Nassau Coliseum in 2002 long ago via Bridgeport team president Howard Saffan.
