Charles Wang Blameless For Anything From Here

Updated 2/13 The Cablevision Garden's Yearly Gift From NYC Taxpayers is now up to 16.5m a year.

I'm sure Ed Mangano, Kate Murray/Joe Mondello/Tom Gulotta all have a good laugh.

Tom Suozzi put the Lighthouse in a drawer for a few years, he helped do the Smg sublease, but is hardly blameless.

Perhaps the New York Islanders would have been more exciting for Kate Murray if the TOH gave the Isles, the 15m tax exemption Msg receives each year.

Al D'Amato is also smiling, while Stuart Rabinowicz see's Hofstra expansion dollars from Albany.

As fans, if you wish to assign blame, between Nassau County government, Town Of Hempstead, you have many to choose from. It's too bad they got the blame only one day a year, the Islander owner, countless times daily from sports fans/media.

It's not fair or right.

Charles Wang has done everything possible. No one is going to keep throwing money out the door for the privilege of doing so. Wang did not get the taxpayer funded facilities every other local team received, he will not be paid like many teams to manage new/modern facilities as promised to Phoenix/Edmonton.

From this point forward whatever Charles Wang decides financially regarding owning this franchise I cannot blame him for, which would include him trading John Tavares or letting any prospect go to save money.

That would even include putting the franchise in bankruptcy/walking away. 

I do not like writing it, however to not write it would not be fair.

In 2003, he said this would not be a church that remains opened forever. 

Because of the lack of government/financial support (like all New York/New Jersey) and most teams thorough the country receive Charles Wang has to protect himself financially. 


In May/June 2011 New York Islander Fan Central has two tough entries
 5/31/11 Why Are We Here Now? Blame Yourselves.
 6/3/11: Only Way To Save The New York Islanders Is Purchase Tickets


I'm sorry but this is not 1998, where new owner Howard Milstein got rejected by Nassau County, and cut the budget virtually to nothing forcing the trade of Zigmund Palffy. Charles Wang has been spending for over a decade from Hamrlik to Reinhart, he's gotten the same (much worse) than Milstein for his trouble.

Howard Milstein said, " Fill the building first ", Wang spent his money first.

Charles Wang has done his part and much more since the day he purchased this franchise, an entry was done here 3/14/2012: Total Support For Charles Wang which this website stands by moving forward regardless of what happens.

Also a little reality check of how bad things must have been with Nassau for Wang to agree to move the club to a facility in Brooklyn as a tenant where his revenue will not improve dramatically or he would have jumped at the chance before construction began on Barclay's Center, which could have been for a fully designed hockey facility.

I did not anticipate Nassau County being misguided/inept enough to lose it's only professional franchise, forcing Wang to separate his team from his hotel.  It usually takes an epic failure of local government for that to happen that is not seen often, but the signs were clearly there with Nassau/TOH.

They were there long before Charles Wang came along. 

Bottom line if Charles Wang's binding/lease is iron-clad in Brooklyn, he's secured the future for another ownership beyond his tenure, if it's the last thing he spends on, it will be the most important.

New York Organizational Roster Heading Into 2013-14

Obviously at some point decisions will be made on the prospects in Bridgeport, CHL/European drafted prospects who's two years are up and must be signed by 5/31/2013, the qualified players who went to Europe (ie: Mark Katic, Justin DiBenedetto ect) , and the unrestricted free agents next summer.

But for now, let's set the 2013-14 roster of players signed because the list is very long, with a lot of prospects waiting for an opportunity, and a lot of NHL defenders signed on one-way contracts.

New York:
Moulson-Tavares-Okposo
Grabner-Nielsen
Martin-Cizikas

Brian Strait-Joe Finley (two way contract)
Andrew MacDonald-Matt Carkner

Rick DiPietro

Restricted Free Agents:
Travis Hamonic, Josh Bailey, David Ullstrom, Thomas Hickey, Jesse Joensuu.
**********************************************
Bridgeport:
John Persson-Brock Nelson-Nino Niederreiter
Mike Halmo-Johan Sundstrom-Kirill Kabanov
Jason Clark (ECHL)

Marc Cantin
Calvin deHaan-Matt Donovan
Aaron Ness

Anders Nilsson

Restricted Free Agents:
Ty Wishart, Kevin Poulin, Mikko Koskinen, Justin DiBenedetto, Mark Katic, Tomas Marcinko, Rhett Rakhshani. all require another qualifying offer by 6/25/13 for Islanders to retain NHL rights.
***********************************************
Signed Prospects:
Griffin Reinhart, Ryan Strome.


Kirill Petrov is signed through 13-14 in KHL, the Islanders retain his NHL rights. 

Mitchell Theoret-6/1/13
Brenden Kichton-6/1/13
Andrei Pedan-6/1/13

College:
Cody Rosen 8/15/13

Note-CBA did not close Wheeler rule so any drafted college prospect can submit a letter to turn professional giving the team that drafted that player thirty days or they become an UFA.

This would include college junior, Anders Lee.

Bridgeport Staying Put Until 2021 Despite Registering Ct Ranger AHL Domain

In short the Dolan's contract to play in the Whalers old facility in Hartford is up this coming summer, and could well be leaving. Harbor Yards Sports & Entertainment registered two Ct Ranger website domain names through 2018.

That would be the former name of the current, Webster Bank Arena, home of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. the building Charles Wang manages in Bridgeport.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio as usual confirms the Sound Tigers have a lease until 2021 and no plans to leave a building Charles Wang operates via team President, Howard Saffan's comments that he had no idea about the registered domains.

Bottom line a facility managed by the Islanders ownership registered two future domain sites for another team via Harbor Yard Sports & Entertainment in a building they are running as of April 2011.

The Hartford Courant failed to reiterate Msg kicked former Whalers owner Howard Baldwin to the curb last summer.

Bridgeport has the higher recent AHL fan support which include many free tickets among the numbers.

NYIFC Comments: 
Yes, I read the Hartford Coutant article on this a few days earlier with Howard Saffan's comments.

If Harbor Yard Sports & Entertainment are registering domain names for another team it does not make a lot of sense unless the intent is to prevent that team from using that name in the future or they really want them to move there as a tenant.

Of course Msg or anyone could register those domain names on their own as easily as I would register newyorkislanderfancentral.com each year.

Saffan makes clear this is the Islanders affiliate home.

How many times has Howard Saffan said the Sound Tigers have a binding lease until 2021? He did it pre/post referendum, and made clear the Islanders status had no bearing on that.  Enough updates have been written here from Mr Saffan's interviews on the club's operation to where it made a profit last season.

Plus Charles Wang spent to renovate that building with the new scoreboard, wrap-around boards, upgrades to the facility that has been the Islanders AHL affiliate since it opened.

For those who have followed this website since 2007 or it's predecessor, the Ct Post beatwriter, Michael Fornabaio, has always been a little more enthusiastic about the Rangers vs the Isles so none of this is a shock that in some manner the same Ct media, who did not lobby for the Islanders to simply move to Manhattan, are pushing past rumors of the Ct Whale into the Bridgeport Sound Tigers home arena where they did have a home playoff game last year.

For myself, who linked to Sound Tiger articles in the Ct Post since the ground breaking, when Chris Elsberry did features/Michael Fornabaio covered every game,  I have never read one past article of the Hartford Wolfpack relocating to Harbor Yard during Roy Boe's tenure or until this week.

Having written this there can be no blaming the media for Harbor Yard Sports & Entertainment registering Ranger centric domain names, that's a question which must be asked.  

Saffan for his part practically had to defend why the Sound Tigers should simply not leave their own building, which Charles Wang operates under a lease with Bridgeport.

Nothing was written about in 2010 if the Sound Tigers were asked about Hartford re-branding it's name as Connecticut at the time which is the Bridgeport Sound Tigers home state, or the Rangers having events on the former Harbor Yard (Webster Bank Arena) doorstep?
 
Imagine if Msg simply allowed the Isles to relocate into Manhattan permanently which is what I wrote about in May 2012:  If There Is No Deal In Nassau, The New York Islanders Permanent Home Should Be Msg.


What's ridiculous was Fornabaio (with the Hartford Courant writer) selling the (said/unsaid) notion of how many Ranger fans are in Fairfield County, which was Hartford Whalers country, despite a lot of Bruins, Rangers, and Islander fans with Whalers fans who never embraced the Ranger brand or their AHL affiliate moving into that building almost immediately upon the Hartford Whales relocation to Carolina.

The former Hartford Wolfpack had playoff games with crowds under 2,000, the playoff game they played as a home team at Webster Bank arena last year drew even less. 

Will events eventually line up where an Msg/controlled AHL team moves to the Nassau Coliseum? For those who have read this website know that's a past point I have advanced often.

It could take a few more years to answer, for 2013-14 it's a question which must be addressed soon, even if temporary.