I'm not prepared to write anything about where the New York Islanders will finish in 2018-19 beyond what I would write every year.
That would be anywhere between 1/2-15th overall. I did get it wrong on Vegas & a few other teams, but for the most part things were on par.
This time, however I will add something different: No chance do the New York Islanders set records for goals against, shots against that go back to the 1990's on many levels. That would never have happened last season without an inexperienced head coach, who hired an inexperienced staff last season, that had no apparent strategy or concept of team defense.
Beyond that it would be folly to project more beyond different kinds of ups/downs from players.
Management will set their system/strategy, and we will see who wins the jobs. Lehner lets up bad goals, unlike Halak which is a trend worth watching, but Mitch Korn/new goalie coach will have to see what everyone can do.
Should I write it's getting late on Mark Hunter so Lamoriello hires him?
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As usual some need to find a reason to blame the Islanders for Tavares departing for Toronto, but give me a break, he joined a losing franchise with a worse record than NYI since 2006, and his two year campaign about wanting to be here is entirely on him. He went to Toronto, who has not won a playoff since he was fourteen that did nothing to improve it's team ranked 28th in shots allowed, that Tavares will only hurt.
We did get to read he left because of Snow-Weight, or left because they were replaced, so in short no one has a clue.
They cannot be in the same spot with Lee, Eberle & Nelson next summer.
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Patrick Dolan is now the sole owner of Newsday (LIBN) buying out Altice entirely on 8/1/18. Dolan's media did not write about it nor did their Belmont salesman on twitter, they were too busy celebrating the 2011 referendum again & hyping Dolan's arena.
No negative news will be permitted on Dolan's Belmont arena, these people would lose their jobs & not find another one to write about the money from Cuomo, Percoco, Silver, Lhota to Dolan, it's not about the truth or taxpayer money Dolan receives. It's revenge for losing in 2013, nothing else.
And I don't think Barclay's or a NYC alternative is impossible if/when hopefully Dolan losses Belmont or is it not the done deal many claim who work for them. Are Wilpon/Sterling that anxious to pony up for a pathetically small 16,500 seat building? There is no fix for the LIRR issues, not in this generation, it would take less time to travel to Barclay's than find space for special trains to travel on a spur twice, and likely well over a billion to make anything else viable.
And when the spin & fact Nassau cannot sellout 12,000 seats emerges sooner than later, Ledecky is going to wonder about being brainwashed about fan support in Nassau vs Barclay's.
I do believe Dolan's boy Baumbach wrote, and retracted any lease between BSE/NYI has a yearly out clause for both sides. No way are they there for 3-5 years, and if Nixon beats Cuomo, all bets are off.
Unless Malkin got his cable money through 2031, and forfeited his territorial rights, that's money Cuomo cannot buy Dolan out of paying via taxpayers.
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I have been rough on Daily News, but frankly when a writer goes to the 21 club to meet the owner, stuff his face, and then not cover the team, besides occasional twitter rips (even during playoffs) I have little sympathy. No one at News cared about Nassau putting NYI owners in an impossible financial situation while they were going broke, they just blamed owner for not spending/losing more money.
So Daily News threw stones in their own glass house, and Peter Botte got his well-deserved walking papers.
