If New York Lease Iron-Clad/No Opt-Out It's Most Successful Year In Generation

New York Islander Fan Central | 12/30/2012 05:25:00 PM |
The title is the bottom line.

The New York Islanders needed to secure a future home that goes beyond Charles Wang's tenure as owner.

In 2012 that's exactly what happened. A twenty five year lease starting in 2015 takes us into 2040. 

That makes this the most successful year the New York Islanders have had in over a generation.

This problem has gone on since John Tavares was an infant here.  You can play for the Stanley Cup in 1991, but if you don't have a future home secured there is no team as Minnesota North Star fans could tell everyone.

The discussion about this problem is finally over. 

We can all discuss the upside/downside, true financial gains (if any) made here to make the New York Islanders product sustainable at Barclay's Center as a tenant.

What matters is Wang (hopefully Michael Picker) believe they will have a more sustainable product now, and for future New York Islander owners so that's why this decision was made.

New York Islander tradition continues.

Happy New Year. 

Media-wise the New York Islanders will have less/worse professional media than they had in 1972 to rebuild their brand........it's the biggest problem moving forward by a mile.

No pro sports team anywhere will have less.

Msg's latest president, Hank Ratner, can spare us the great relationship comments, and make sure the New York Islanders receive their three hundred plus million to be hidden on their network until 2030 hopefully with a pregame.

NYC taxpayers have been giving Msg hunderds of millions since 1982 in what was supposed to be a ten year deal. That agreement also included low-cost electricity.
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Bridgeport:
The good news is for now, Scott Pellerin, found a way to get his team on track with a lot of injuries. It's been more than a good sampling 5-1-2 to credit the rookie AHL coach.

Will Pellerin likely match the stretch 29th place coach, Brent Thompson, started a year ago at this time? No. 

Ness, Donovan, Wishart the only likely NHL alternatives on defense. No Hamonic, deHaan, Kabanov.

For the next 2-3 weeks no Brock Nelson.

At the moment, Ullstrom, Cizikas have stayed healthy,  Ullstrom despite a four point game has not been very productive.

Obviously the headline is Niederreiter, with Persson/Sundstrom/Nelson very impressive.
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NHL:
Most of the summer here was spent going through the motions of putting together the 2012-13 New York Islander roster. There is no point discussing it further at this time.

Player Garth Snow's Comments On Lockout Sept 2004

New York Islander Fan Central | 12/26/2012 08:58:00 PM | | |
On 9/28/04: Locked Out NHL player Garth Snow gave the Toronto Star an interview on playing in Russia.  

USA Today's Kevin Allen on 9/27/04 had a more positive article.

Tsn.ca reported Snow left St Petersberg on 12/21/2004 in an era before there was a KHL.

On 7/29/2005 Snow was resigned by the Isles to a three year extension as an UFA.
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NYIFC Comments:  
This entry has nothing to do with the previous post about the general manager.

I felt it would be interesting to take a quick look back at how NHL locked out player, Garth Snow, saw the 2004-05 lockout.

I always remembered this interview because of his honest, candid comments at the time.

Snow before 2010 was the only recent former player who had become a general manager since the 04-05 lockout beyond brief co-gm Brett Hull with Dallas who retired in October 2005.

This has nothing to do with players immediately named gm.

Bob Clarke was hired as gm by Ed Snider of the Flyers upon his retirement after 83-84, who was fired by Jay Snider before becoming gm in Minnesota, Florida before returning to Philadelphia as senior vp, then gm, which he held until 2006 when after being fired, he again was named senior vp in Dec 2006. 

Ray Shero was a long-time assistant in Ottawa/Nashville before behind hired by Pittsburgh in 2006.
Dave Nonis was gm in Vanvouver from 2004-2008. 

Among the current general managers:
Steve Yzerman was named Tampa's gm in 2010, his final NHL season was 2005-06.
Former Islander/new Montreal gm, Marc Bergervin's final NHL season was 2003-04.
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Fun Story Of The Day: 
So in September 2001 Vancouver gm Brian Burke wanted to claim Garth Snow off waivers? 

Funny on 1/6/2001 the all-knowing Vancouver media has Burke's comments on Garth Snow's goaltending vs Felix Potvin after Snow left. 

Sorry gang, Snow's 2000-01 stats in Pittsburgh did not scream he had improved. Chris Osgood was  claimed off waivers with DiPietro being left in Bridgeport. 
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Bridgeport Win/Loss:
Nino Niederreiter scored two goals in first period, took a stick in the face, returned but only took one brief pp shift in second period on Wednesday in Sound Tigers 5-2 win. David Ullstrom has three assist, one ENG. 

Nothing on Travis Hamonic or Brock Nelson close to returning.

Garth Snow Interview Again Contradicts His Past Comments

New York Islander Fan Central | 12/18/2012 05:56:00 PM |
NHL.com: Did an interview with Garth Snow on 12/18 where he discussed several subjects.

NYIFC Comments:
Snow again employeed his 2012 favorite word---------rebuilding.

This was something he made clear was a word he did not like and rarely used back in 2009.  There have been several entries here critical of him for this change which began when the 2011-12 season fell apart  here.

If Garth Snow does not believe his own past statements, he's not being honest with the public or himself.

That's very disappointing because the outside talent his staff has identified, the excellent contract negotiations with many players re-signing here (Tavares, Okposo, Grabner, MacDonald, Nielsen x 2) speak to his skills that he absolutely is a capable NHL general manager who's had some very poor luck with man games lost to injury with players signed to very astute contracts at the time (Witt, Hunter, Sillinger, Sim,  Reasoner, Comrie, Eaton) where most simply broke down.

I asked Snow flat out about front-loaded contracts in one of his past Islander website ask the gm segments. I did not get a real answer or was expecting one.

Charles Wang in his XM 10/25/12 interview referred to front-loaded contracts as " One of those fancy, funny deals with big money up front----signing bonus, " when discussing the straight yearly contract DiPietro signed.

I have absolutely no problem with that stance by Wang if that's his view on front-loading.

Brian Burke refused to do it in Toronto. Montreal would not either and when the time came to sign top free agents the building made no difference. Those franchises (like all others with the same policy IE San Jose) all never landed one top free agent. 

Reality here is Garth Snow can discuss free agency all he likes. He can redo the dance in the past about the building being a factor to help Wang get a new/renovated arena in Nassau which is exactly what he should have been doing. 

But now we move forward when the day comes when there will be NHL unrestricted free agency again on 7/1.  There may be front-loading, or not.  If there is front-loading Wang/Snow will have to do it whether the Isles play at the Barclay's Center, Nassau Coliseum or in Montreal if they wish to land a top player.

If not, the building again will not matter. 

If front-loading is out of the next CBA it levels the playing field more, but whatever loophole is found to exploit the system as we saw when front-loading really got started with the Drury, Gomez, Briere, Smyth UFA class, this time Garth Snow will have to do the same if he's serious about landing any top free agents.
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John Spano joined twitter-I asked him on 12/18 if an apology to NYI fans, Mr Pickett for your actions is a respectfully appropriate request to ask of you.

He responded with the following: here.



Rick DiPietro Returns To US/New York Notables

New York Islander Fan Central | 12/13/2012 12:29:00 AM |
SC Riessersee:  Reports Rick DiPietro flew home on Dec 11th. Two American teammates have also returned to the US with only one of the players (not DiPietro) perhaps returning to Germany if there is no end to the NHL lockout.

The article does not definitively state if DiPietro is finished in Germany or could return in the future but the images posted gives the appearance he will not be returning. Other NHL players are returning home for the holidays.

NYIFC Comments: 
The NY Post claimed Rick DiPietro told them he is not injured, he has only played one game in Germany. It would seem there are many teams/places in North America where he can work out. Bottom line if he is healthy he is doing nothing in terms of getting into game shape by playing actual games which there is no substitute for.

Of course many New York Islander/NHL players are in the same circumstances which includes Evgeny Nabokov.
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In terms of goaltending it's been mildly noticeable Kevin Poulin has not started in any of the last five games for Bridgeport. Perhaps Nilsson's illness earlier means things are being evened up, however this is a long time for Poulin to sit on what is obviously a struggling team, despite it's recent win/overtime loss.

Bridgeport's struggles are to a point a stretch like this can define a season. 

Former head coach Brent Thompson played Poulin down the stretch, through the first round during last years playofffs while Nilsson was injured in March. 
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Final New York Islander televised game days in calendar year 2012? Twenty two if you count being hidden on +2 televised after games pulled for TWC subscribers. 
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As for the NHL lockout, as written previously there will be no further entries pending an agreement of a new CBA or the cancellation of the NHL season.

This writer has given it's views many times along with the media coverage.

On 9/21 an entry was written here on Jim Devellano's comments, it was the one article you should still be reading now here.



Big Problems In Bridgeport/New York Notables

New York Islander Fan Central | 12/06/2012 07:17:00 PM |
Updated Friday PM:
Colin McDonald has been named Sound Tigers captain.

Seven straight losses, one out of fourteen points, all with deHaan out, some without Ty Wishart, now with Travis Hamonic sidelined. (but cleared for workouts)

Aaron Ness, Matt Donovan have been healthy.

Virtually every game stretches of break downs lead to four or five goals allowed.

Niederreiter is an NHL drafted right wing producing as an AHL left wing. Brock Nelson is a center with an NHL depth chart of centers in front of him.

John Persson looks like a player. Mike Halmo needs to produce. Sundstrom has a nice balance of offense and grit.

Ullstrom/Cizikas are again showing durability issues. Kabanov's injury has sidelined him, Jason Clark was sent to the ECHL which is not a bad thing if you want him to play on the top lines somewhere.

Bottom line what was Scott Pellerin's first test, has now become his first crisis as head coach.

The alarming trends costing the team games are a problem. He's repeating the same words often, even the one game they got to a shootout did not stop the bleeding.

Not concerned with Poulin or Nilsson's numbers, they are both more than capapble with back to back AHL goaltenders of month in 2011-12 but what's happening now is mostly beyond goaltending. 

As written recently, Brent Thompson's, club was 29th at the end of calendar year 2011, but that was with a very different team.
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The good news is Ryan Strome winning player of the month in the OHL, Anders Lee his teams player of the month.  Mitchell Theoret, Brenden Kichton, Griffin Reinhart with others. 
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What do you want me to write that has not been written before?  It's an insult to our fans intelligence when NY Times Ranger salesman/cheerleader Jeff Z Klein travels to interview Cody Rosen, and in a two part feature article does not write once he was invited to the Flyers prospect camp in July 2009, a year before the Isles drafted him with their final pick here.

That means Cody Rosen was not a mystery prospect in NHL circles, does Klein think people are that uninformed? 

I guess a feature on one of the top prospects was too much for the Times coverage cap floor or Klein to be bothered with anything but a selective hit job on Snow/management.

Somehow Mr Klein also did not consider Rick DiPietro among the top prospects in 2000 contrary to the many draft reviews at the time projecting he could have been selected first overall. Gaborik between injuries turned down a 10-year, 80 million dollar contract from Minnesota.

Mr Heatley after all his circumstances was kind enough to sign a huge contract with Ottawa, only to demand a trade to be moved again. After refusing Edmonton, San Jose got him and moved him. His 24 goal season on free-falling Minnesota in 2011-12 hardly seems a player you build a winner around.

If Rick DiPietro were the player before his knee surgery, he would be the better player, certainly the more loyal which I guess counts for something.
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Obviously the Dolan's limited Newsday hockey budget does not include any New York Islander updates from Arthur Staple or another reporter in their paper on the team/lockout. Dolan's Ranger salesman at Newsday. Steve Zipay, is covering Dolan's team full time at all NHL/NHLPA meetings.

Updated-An extremely rare Staple slide show paragraph of each prospect on 12/7, see you next month. 

The New York Islander media coverage was far superior in 1972, they have no primary media in 2012 which would make them the only US pro sports team in this situation.

No. The teams record is not the reason. 
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Bruce Ratner is a minority share holder in the Nets, a majority share holder in Barclay's center. He has no stake in the New York Islanders at this time.

For now just show us blue prints for the Isles state of the art locker rooms/hall of fame.
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For those scoring at home, expect the Isles to remain at Iceworks if their counterparts training facilities are any indicator despite many articles on Nets moving. .

New York: Syosset Ice-works to Nassau Coliseum 12.8 miles.
New York: Syosset Ice-works to Barclay's Center  30.6 miles.
Cablevision: Greenburgh to Cablevision Garden 27.6 miles.
Devils: West Orange to Newark 8.9 miles.
Comcast Flyers, Vorhees New Jersey to whatever it's called in Philadelphia this year 19 miles.
Pittsburgh is planning a 2014 facility to be opened in Cranberry that would be around 20.5 miles to the slots based arena the Pens call home.
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The Michigan State Senate: Approved 650m in taxpayer money to give Little Ceasar's Red Wings owner, Mike Illitch, a taxpayer funded new hockey arena with real-estate.

Allentown is giving Comcast Flyer owner Ed Snider 177m for his new AHL home which broke ground today.


NYIFC Comments:
I guess a public referendum was not required, see Quebec, Edmonton, Phoenix. 

Sorry, someone has to point out when things are not equal. If Charles Wang were the only NHL owner asking for taxpayer money that would not have been fair. We all now know Wang was the only owner not to receive taxpayer money/exemptions in New York or New Jersey.

Happy Birthday Jiggs McDonald, Hill Signed, Notables

New York Islander Fan Central | 11/28/2012 08:01:00 PM |
New York Islander Fan Central wishes a very happy 74th birthday to New York Islander Hall of Fame Announcer, Jiggs McDonald.

NYIFC Comments:
As written many times already, item one on things to do list,  is to finally honor Mr McDonald in the New York Islanders Hall Of Fame next to Mr Westfall.

Bridgeport Sound Tigers announced today that defenseman Jordan Hill has agreed to terms on a one-year, American Hockey League deal.

NYIFC Comments:
Given the very recent struggles on defense, Wishart's absence with deHaan, Scott Pellerin has his first challenge as an AHL coach. For those who followed Bridgeport last season, Brent Thompson's club was 29th at the end of the calendar year 2011.

Yes, Casey Cizikas/David Ullstrom have to start showing some durability. Travis Hamonic has to be more of the offensive player he was in juniors. 

It was nice to see a feature on Niederreiter/Nilsson at Barclay's Monday.
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All that can be  repeated about Rick DiPietro is what was written on 11/5.
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* As always the policy here on NHL team finances is the lack of information does not make estimates with no access to that teams books credible.

That kind of information is for lazy media who need to write something to earn a paycheck, not here.

It's of no value at all to NHL fans.  

* It's always nice when folks do things for charity, and as presented here often NHL players are entitled to every penny that can get in contract negotiations.  Having written that someone who has received close to 30m dollars in bonus money already in anticipation of a lockout is hardly hurting financially.

Of course, Christian Ehrhoff, James Wisniewski, and many in the 2011-12 massive front-loaded club in anticipation of a league shutdown have not advertised anything charitable.

My point is charity is great, however let's not lose focus on the contracts that are a big part of what's going on right now.

Nassau To Name Coliseum Developer. Who Cares?

New York Islander Fan Central | 11/20/2012 06:33:00 AM |
Long Island Business News: Reports Officials are expected to name a  development team headed by Donald Monti of Plainview-based Renaissance Downtowns has been chosen to redevelop the 77 acres surrounding the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, according to officials familiar with the plan.

Brooklyn Barclays Center developer Bruce Ratner has also been selected to assess the aging Coliseum and provide an optimization report to the county on how to best market the facility, officials said.

The development group headed by Monti includes RXR Realty, Jones Lang Lasalle and Woodbury-based Spector Group. Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano was expected to unveil the plan on Tuesday, the officials said.

NYIFC Comments: 
The bottom line is Charles Wang signed a twenty five year iron clad lease in Brooklyn starting in 2015-16.

It does not matter if a new Coliseum is constructed or what happens with Charles Wang's hotel or abatement in regard to the New York Islanders beyond his personal finances. Who develops the land or brings in a potential team is now relegated to a footnote unless it's connected to the Islanders at the ECHL level.

It does not matter how much longer Charles Wang owns the team or leaves the Coliseum either sooner or in Sept 2015.

The New York Islanders are finished at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The Bridgeport Sound Tigers have a binding lease until 2021 which this blog has detailed countless times.

Charles Wang is running/renovating Webster Bank Arena via his sublease. Sound Tiger President/Wang employee, Howard Saffan, pre/post referendum made clear the Sound Tigers are staying in Bridgeport regardless of what happens at the Coliseum.

That's the cold reality regardless where you stand with that decision or who develops what.  

That means regarding developing the Coliseum site in the long-term who cares?

New York Notables: What's Next?

New York Islander Fan Central | 11/12/2012 04:03:00 PM |
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.

New York Notables/DiPietro Not Injured

New York Islander Fan Central | 11/05/2012 07:12:00 PM |
NY Post: Rick DiPietro told the New York Post he is not injured. 

NYIFC Comments: 
Bottom line if Rick DiPietro (or any player participating in other leagues) is not cleared by the NHL team doctors whenever this lock out ends, the insurance coverage they signed to play with their respective European team is responsible to whatever the player insured himself for.
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Bridgeport:
On the Bridgeport front it's been a mixed bag with deHaan's season ending shoulder injury a huge problem moving forward, count Kirill Kabanov's injury in that mix but not season ending.

Anders Nilsson's illness/injury has prevented him from starting a single game which is very disquieting, David Ullstrom has a lower body injury but day to day. Casey Cizikas picked up where he left off.

The good news on the Bridgeport front clearly is how seamlessly Brock Nelson, Nino Niederreiter, John Persson have adapted to this level so far in terms of production.  It's an excellent start, however many top picks go to the AHL and do well with Jeff Tambellini an example.

Lockout Negotiations Second Thoughts? 
I wrote recently the players are entitled to every penny of their newly signed contracts, but the thing about those contracts are they were signed under the terms of the previous CBA which included escrow.

I did not consider that at the time. 

Under that CBA it meant they could lose a portion of those contracts, you can be sure many owners/players knew that when the contracts were signed.

The league's apparent recent offers did promise the players full contracts be honored, however with the revenue split changing that means they may not receive the full value in a 50/50 split so call the wordsmith for the collective rhetoric on the escrow.

Of course let's be clear, the paychecks being lost by the players with no salary is going to start costing a lot more than any escrow/revenue split down the road.

As for the rest the usual media suspects are doing it's collective market song/dance.


New York Islander Logo Change: Media Hypocrisy vs Status Quo

New York Islander Fan Central | 11/03/2012 02:25:00 PM |
The New York Islanders have somewhat of a unique problem brought on by their legendary iconic logo.

The team represents all of New York/Tri State Area. It always has so the name New York Islanders cannot change. 1996 management logo disaster notwithstanding.

They are only one of two teams in New York/New Jersey with a logo that reflects a territory or an area of land.

The Mets logo shows a bridge and the background of Manhattan skyscrapers where they did play in 1962 at the Polo Grounds as an expansion team. It has nothing to do with Queens County since 1964.

Depending on how you see things the Islander logo requires a slight tweak to include the entire region which should also now include Manhattan if you care about being logistically correct.  

Hypocrisy Vs Status Quo:
Nothing new.

We have two New Jersey football teams calling themselves New York since 1976/1984, with a media/league completely on board with that hypocrisy. The politicians wake up come parade time or when New Jersey is awarded a Superbowl.

Mayor Koch, who did not know Msg was getting a permanent tax exemption in 1982 in this 2002 interview got it right on the New Jersey Giants 1986 parade in  Moonachie, N.J. which this week was underwater.

The Giants when they first relocated removed the NY from the helmet, going with Giants, that sensitivity has long since gone out the window with no semblance of pretense.

The New York Cosmos never changed names to New Jersey after settling in the Meadowlands, with a long history of being orphans from Long Island to Yankee/Shea Stadium to Randalls Island, back to the Coliseum as an indoor team before the brand folded to the current day with the North American Soccer League.

The New York/New Jersey Metro Stars, a franchise that has never played one game in New York, re-branded as the New York Red Bull in a taxpayer funded New Jersey stadium after they left the former Giants Stadium (1976 New Jersey taxpayer bonded) Meadowlands where the bonds were forgiven before it's demolition.

Dolan's WNBA NY Liberty, currently plays in New Jersey, but has Fox Woods Casino on the uniform as to what area they represent?

The other teams whether it be the Bronx Yankees, Manhattan Knicks/Rangers never had logo's that reflected a specific region.

The Nets since leaving the Coliseum as an ABA champion, were all over the map in name/logo whether it be Piscataway, Meadowlands, Prudential Center with New York/New Jersey on several versions, now Brooklyn which is ridiculous because the other teams do not call themselves by borough, and 1955 was a long time ago.

The Devils have consistently stayed New Jersey since day one, despite sharing a parking lot at the Meadowlands with all this team/media hypocrisy.

Yes, the media  got far more honest about what state teams represented when the Nets/Devils went to their respective finals in the same year for about a week.

The New York Islanders Moving Forward:
Is this a big deal? No, because the Islanders can create tons of secondary uniform merchandising to represent any borough or community from New Jersey to Albany, to Montauk which is the true historic influence of the tri-state area fan base.

The Islanders current team store at the Coliseum has merchandise that has Long Island, New York.

Wang made his Long Island only bed far too often for the Lighthouse/Referendum as he discussed in 2011 his ticket demographics coming from inside the city limits which he did again last week. Wang's predecessor's also played the Long Island card, which many Ranger media fans made sure to keep them firmly in, despite the generations of fans who saw this team on channel 9, and considered them New York, and went in big numbers to Msg/New Jersey.

Wang's eventual successor may have his own concept of branding. Mike Bossy said it best for me when he spoke to Wang about his retired number.

A team with this legendary tradition cannot change what it represents, the greatest US dynasty in NHL history, the only pro team to win nineteen straight playoff series, the only Championship Tradition New York has ever known.

Arguably the greatest dynasty in NHL history.

Does it matter what professional media believe? No, simply because they have not been consistent in applying the same standards for all the teams.

Correct means a publication has to write the truth, even if the team does not want that branding perception and it may cost that paper ad dollars which is how this game always plays out so it becomes politically correct for that media companies bottom line.


Newspapers cannot afford to lose teams $$ support so they will call them what they are told by the team.

We all know the New York Islanders have the worst professional media of any team in North America, so the hypocrisy coverage standards (what saves x paper money) are part of this story.

That problem will continue in Brooklyn. 

Notables:
What do you want me to write about Al D'Amato, politicians that was not on my twitter feed or in past entries?

If the New York Nassau County referendum was in the South Bronx (pick a New York/New Jersey team)  it would have received far less than forty three percent.

The will of the people card gave every politician their out. 

NYC Marathon NO. (completely agree with cancellation)
Cablevision needs it's opening night renovation fund payday local resources diverted notwithstanding (good for NYC healing spin) so papers who need 82 (not one yearly race) Knick games get on board with propaganda.

What Charles Wang is doing in Bridgeport (free tickets/two games) is a diversion.
Dolan giving back 500k of his 11m tax exemption from NYC is something else, despite his papers rhetoric.

Would have been fun if Bloomberg called off the Dolan's party with the Marathon. (West Side Stadium Shelly Silver for Mr Bloomberg on line two urgent)

Happy 80th Birthday Al Arbour

New York Islander Fan Central | 11/01/2012 05:45:00 PM |
NHL.com: Has a feature celebrating the 80th birthday of Al Arbour.

One More Nassau Coliseum Stanley Cup....Canyon Of Hero's...Host Outdoor Game...All-Star Game...NHL Draft

New York Islander Fan Central | 10/31/2012 01:44:00 AM |
The title says it all.

One more Stanley Cup Championship Celebration at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum whenever this lockout ends if Wang is locked into his lease. 

You get in the playoffs you can win the Stanley Cup. The Isles beat the 8th seed Kings, and had many close games (wins) against the finals Devils.

The parity in this league means any team has a chance, nor is there anything close to a dominating team. The 1982 Vancouver Canucks were a 30-33-17 team that played the New York Islanders in the Stanley Cup Finals. 


Let's hold Mr Bloomberg true to his word. A Stanley Cup means a Canyon Of Hero's parade, new generations of fans all over New York City/Long Island to go with the ones who have filled all three New York area buildings for generations.

The NHL Outdoor game as the host New York team in a  Dynasty only match-up against the Canadians in the Bronx given the Islanders were the team that started the idea of a game.

The NHL All-Star game.

The NHL Draft. 

Run the table.

New York is an NHL market almost completely invisible during it's regular season. The New York Islanders can only help NHL hockey compete with the major media sports.
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What To Watch For At The Moment: 
Besides the politicians telling the public how much revenue Nassau County was not generating with the Islander home games or proving they never really cared beyond political football?

Wang opting out of his Dec 2009 Smg sub-lease. He does (or did that already) Nassau approval is the final road block to break existing 2015 lease as the remaining obstacle and leaving earlier.

This was one benefit of the 2009 sublease. 

If Charles Wang wishes to move earlier that's what it takes plus paying the full terms of the both leases thorough 2015. 

The sublease was about three million a year, which some saw as a gift Wang got for all ticket revenue, concessions, events, parking from games/events.

That sublease was never a gift, you could argue Smg saw this as guaranteed money if the Coliseum were renovated with the Lighthouse project, and closed every summer.

In the absence of an NHL agreement, there is no law the New York Islanders could not bring a future ECHL franchise to the Nassau Coliseum. The lease in Bridgeport is binding with Howard Saffan saying many times the Islanders in no way affect the Sound Tigers 2021 lease plus Wang is renovating that building, and managing it.

Wang has a hotel that needs business on the Coliseum site permanently with the connecting abatement.

Perhaps Wang wants to keep a connection to the teams roots moving forward at the Coliseum if he's not blocked by other developers/sports teams.  

Other things to be watched for connect with the Nets, who still have their training facilities in East Rutherford with a two year lease but many articles about team offices/training facilities relocating.

The New York Islanders likely will not be in Plainville or practicing forever at Iceworks on game days, but keep in mind the New York Islanders are a tenant at Barclays.

Lot's to be done beyond lockerooms/seat expansions, which does ask question where was this exhibition game/KHL games lockeroom supposed to be this year? 
*******************************
2012-13 New York Islanders On Paper: 
Yes, the 2012-13 New York Islanders are at best an eighty percent completed roster for a season that may well never be played. If there is a future CBA settlement the rest of the club will come from Bridgeport or among the many unsigned free agents unless there is a trade.

The future CBA will likely determine if Lubomir Visnovsky even bothers reporting if he no longer owes the New York Islanders a year of service or is done with the NHL. 

It's noteworthy, Alexei Yashin, the one player who went back to the KHL every single year, is not reportedly playing with any team at this time when he meets all KHL qualifications for a roster spot.

Evgeny Nabokov met the qualification, but given his KHL experience to where he left a huge contract it's hardly surprising he's not interested to date. . 

Of course many NHL players are home waiting. 

For those wondering SC Riessersee had a nine day break, they are carrying three goaltenders so do not expect Rick DiPietro to start every game. That team plays 10/31-11/2. 


 

More Questions Than Answers For New York: Could Wang Have Waited Longer?

New York Islander Fan Central | 10/27/2012 02:18:00 AM |
It's a very easy thing for me to blog spending Charles Wang's money for him. I wrote, and gave him total support in past entries.

I absolutely do now.  

Put this entry in the policy-wonk category.

I would like to hear something from Islanders senior VP, Michael Picker, who was at the meeting Feb 14th 2012 at the Nassau legislature eight months (before the seven month negotiation began with Brooklyn), and said Islanders Want To Stay At Coliseum Nothing's Changed. 

Picker showed up when he was not even scheduled, and spoke, making clear it had to happen this year, which Kevin Law/other did as well. 

Everything that goes through this team has always gone through Picker for comment. He was not photographed or mentioned at the Brooklyn press conference that seemed to catch the entire hockey media world off guard off what Wang said was an agreement done at 7am.

It was almost as stunning as the announcement given on the shortest notice ever.  Nothing this franchise has done for a decade happens without everyone claiming to know days in advance, yet Bloomberg, Bettman were all there.

I wish to know more about the iron-clad, no opt-out lease or how this makes Charles Wang more revenue than he made under conditions of his sublease at the Coliseum where he got revenue from all events next to his hotel. Did he opt out of his sublease?

For that matter when the day comes that Wang sells, do those same iron-clad, no opt-out terms apply to a future owner?

Do I expect those answers? Absolutely not, however they are big questions--- fair to ask here.

Howie Rose recently gave thirty seconds to the Isles, and felt there was no reason it would not turn out like Pittsburgh where they would stay longer than their lease, while a new facility was finally agreed on at the last minute in March, April, May 2015.

I shared that view, and wrote the framework from the referendum would happen with or without Mangano sooner or later behind closed doors.

It's easy for Rose, myself, any New York Islander fan to say the same thing writing Wang could have waited a few years at the Coliseum after an agreement was done which was obviously not getting closer.

What's another six years, it's not our money? Wang was doing all the work. Sure he likely had enough of the political football, he kept his word not to issue threats or play it out in the media. When the time came he made his decision.
 
Having written that we were not the ones getting told no since 2002, while everyone else got a new building via taxpayers or was getting exemptions. Would I have blamed Wang for washing his hands of everything, getting every penny he could out of town? No. 

If everything is iron-clad for all future owners the game with the Dolans is over, no cable contract buyout, who knows if that played out at all?

Mangano put this referendum out, he played the will of the people card which is a joke because all that did was take the pressure off him which NIFA never would have approved. 

Charles Wang absolutely shocked me last summer. Every other day this 67 year old multimillionaire was running into NYC to go on Manhattan television stations at 7am, to ask five percent of the people watching from Nassau to vote YES like someone half his age.

The agreement he signed last summer gave him nothing near the revenue or outright payments that Phoenix/Edmonton offered to those teams.

It begs the question Michael Kay asked. Why? . 

The last two summers I made a few very tough entries here, practically begging the fans to fill the Coliseum, putting it on the public to force Nassau/Wang to keep the team here, writing fill the building or lose the team.

Another announced 29th year of attendance.  Kate Murray will get her sixty percent, Mangano will run for election, few will hold them accountable, some will even praise him.

The apathy or indifference among the politicians even now speak for themselves.

Wang has interest on the property that are not expiring in 2015, and a hotel to fill.

Lot's of unanswered question.

 

Bad Actors 101: Ranger Media Should Not Tell New York Islander History

New York Islander Fan Central | 10/26/2012 04:44:00 AM |
If there is an academy award for bad actors in biased media, there have been a lot of Ranger life long die-hards to nominate for attempting to re-write New York Islander history the past few days in a market with little full time hockey media in 2012.

So the New York Islanders should change their historic name, logo and what their history represents?

Who knew some of the same people who call New Jersey football teams, New York  had such double-standards? 

Funny how some of the same media people looked the other way as the New York Islanders had their channel rebranded from Sportschannel to Fox Sports New York to Metroguide, finally to Madison Square Garden Network Plus or +2.

What's next the New York American's were not Msg's true original team? 

Do the New York Islanders play home games in Madison Square Garden besides the three appearances yearly against the Rangers. 

I still remember James Dolan laughing in studio when Chris Russo asked him how he could put Isles-Leafs on Metroguide in 2002 when it was becoming a huge New York interest story?

I'm sure one or two remember that famous night Msg/Fox merged and they did that ceremony before a game turning out the lights on Sportschannel. Soon afterward the lights went off again when Msg decided to pull the games off television entirely because they did not like the fine print the Isles got eighteen percent of all Msg media on the new cable contract, demanding it be changed for a phony competition clause that would have kept the Rangers off Msg for eight years, and the Knicks off Msg for a decade or longer using that same hypocrisy.

There were two PPV Islander games before or after. 

It's been an odd and disappointing few days reading some life-long Ranger media fans playing bad actor writing about the history of a team that gave some of them a few sleepless nights growing up hockey fans.

Seems to me New York Islander regular season hockey was a stand alone back-page story in all New York City papers, the road games on WOR-9, at a time hockey was never more popular with the general public.

Today hockey is not a regular season back-page story for games, even some Ranger media fans were offended last year writing articles asking for people to notice the team here.    

In 2006 that same Sports Illustrated had a different take on 1994 Stanley Cup Finals ratings because they were very low.


It's insulting to see media fans of a team with one Stanley Cup (my version would be purchased from Edmonton-Chicago) since 1940 to talk about success or relevance or a building four years older than the Nassau Coliseum closed with falling debris/failed health inspections ripping the Nassau Coliseum.

Who knew the Islanders were as bad as the Knicks the last decade reading some of this stuff with one playoff game win since Charles Wang purchased the Islanders? I must have missed Wang hiring Isiah or Sather who never would have lost a game with the Isles payroll.

Funny, before last season the Rangers went to the playoffs one more time than the Islanders since 1997, they had two playoff series wins and got one of those with that disputed goal against the Isles that could have seen the Isles play Atlanta in the opening round instead.

Ken Belson, Larry Brooks, Jeff Z Klein, Neil Best, Jim Baubauch, Stu Hackel come on down. Katie Strang is not shy about knocking a team she did not cover in 2011-12 beyond a few October game for the joke that is Espn has Scott Burnside, Pierre Lebrun needing to sell markets. 

No, this blog will leave out the clueless media department that would include everyone named Bondy at the Daily News. Peter Botte's only good for twitter shots.

For those wondering about Arthur Staple. cannot recall anything vindictive when he was a full time Ranger beatwriter, not working very hard covering Isles today does not make him a bad actor and it is interesting he's using Charles Wang's XM interviews instead of getting his own interview. Could I have included Mark Herrmann, Steve Zipay for his pre Dolan ownership if you think LI is really Ranger country blog? Sure.

John Jeansonne, Mark Herrmann absolutely loved to remind Islander fans they are second to the Rangers in their world, does that make it so? No, it just means Herrmann is a life long Ranger fan, and Jeansonne does not cover them enough to know anything anymore.

Only thing more entertaining is reading Bob Raissman's twitter feed's comments about how Alan (2007 they would prefer we don't even write) Hahn on Dolan's network which turned out that way. 

*************************************************
Vancouver Sun: Had no problem defending Oilers 38 year home vs the Nassau Coliseum in a display of hypocricy. 

Of course the sub five hunderd Cauncks who got swept in 1982 finals used to play in a different building, bleeding red ink.
*********************************
Alumni:
So far Torrey, Arbour, Potvin, Bossy, Brent Sutter have weighed in.  Potvin's audio interview (see twitter feed must listening)  The alumni living here (Nystrom/Gillies) will be the most interesting read.

Even if Billy Smith/anyone rips Charles Wang I want to write it here. 

The Longest Goodbye: 
The problem with this story is it does not end until the New York Islanders relocate to Brooklyn, whether that be in 2015-16 or sooner.

Moving Forward:
Many bad actors yet to step on the stage, some in other markets. One Ranger fan staff writer at Time Magazine, actually got approval to write this?

High Marks:
A few years ago (a few days/game after the Islanders beat the Rangers) a writer named Andrew Gross went off at how the Islanders Stanley Cups really bothered him growing up and came off like one of the bad actors above. I found it amusing and made some comments.

Mr Gross did a super job writing about the Islanders this week, and got it right on all fronts.

Some Ranger life-long media fans can do a great job and put down the bias.


Transparency: 
Again to be clear the Dolan family are doing absolutely nothing illegal. They have every legal right to hide, ignore or drive their competition out of business or limit their viability. No one made past Islander owners sign cable contracts until 2030. The Dolan family purchased Newsday fair and square so they can write whatever they want. They have zero obligation to write one article about the New York Islanders.

They have to show the games per the cable contract, that's it. 

New York Islander Fan Central however can point out the coverage disparity, and let our readers know when things are not equal. .




A Shocking Day Leads To Huge Future Questions For New York Islanders

New York Islander Fan Central | 10/25/2012 08:46:00 AM |

A huge day of incredible news on countless levels that now begins what is now a three year status as a team leaving the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the only home the New York Islanders have ever know.

It happened with zero advanced notice from a media completely blindsided. A lease Wang closed at 7am. Almost as shocking the name Michael Picker appeared in no article or statement on Tuesday. (Art McCarthy was mentioned) 

For many at best it's a time of mixed emotions.  The Ranger/Dolan media people took their obligatory shots, ignoring the age of the Garden, and it's tax exemptions/empty seats/viability, that's old news. Most had enough problems contradicting the distance between facilities.

Now those outlets are out of excuses not to spend money covering the team full time beyond their own viability/relevance/credibility issues.
******************************************
Charles Wang's Legacy:
Charles Wang reportedly signed a 25 year, Iron-Clad, No Opt Out Lease. The days of talking about this team leaving New York are over, the teams future is secure. Wang's legacy when he finally sells along with his efforts since day one in 2000 to keep this team here at his own expense is one of doing everything he could.

Wang was consistent with his words back to 2002-03 with Bruce Ratner when it was possible the Nets could return to the Coliseum.

No. Wang could not/should not paid for everything when no one did.. He tried every plan possible and ran around last summer at 7am going on television trying to pass a referendum no other local team had to endure as they got quietly paid in backrooms after years of trying to get the Lighthouse passed at his own expense.

The biggest news of the referendum was forty three percent were willing to spend money they likely did not have because they understood this franchise history/Wang's efforts were worth the YES vote which never would have been passed by NIFA/legislature anyway.

Wang's failure was marketing a team that was New York overplaying the Long Island card which was written about often here.  He discussed his season ticket base again (same as 2011 WFAN) with how many are from inside the city limits. 
*******************************************
Did Things Play Out As New York Islander Fan Central Projected In Many Entries?
No. Having written this three years is a long time, and if history has taught us anything it's the people on the stage at the press conferences come/go which will happen at Barclay's as soon as AIG completes it's sale.

Three years is a long time for Charles Wang at age 68, but a binding lease is simply that for his eventual successor.

New York Islander Fan Central for a long time has maintained Wang had every single economic reason to keep the team at the Coliseum, that if the club were moved to Brooklyn it would not be with him as it's owner.

As of 2015-16 the 450,000 hockey customers and NHL teams staying at his hotel will no longer be frequenting that area.  How did Brooklyn compensate him for that?

As of 10/24 Wang said he will retain sole ownership as a tenant in someone else's facility, does that make economic sense losing 42 NHL games (at least) away from a hotel/abatement he made clear he maintains interest in yesterday?

We do not know the answer to this, however it seems unlikely on the surface Wang makes any additional revenue with this move, he could make less. 

It all depends on what he was given to relocate as compensation if anything.
*******************************************
Dolan/Msg Cable Contract Buyout Factor?  
The silence was deafening no live coverage, no announcers sent beyond Stan Fischler. Guess there was no time for Dolan to welcome the Islanders to Brooklyn.

To be fair Dolan made clear last week there are enough events to go around in Brooklyn and Msg is booked solid.

Ultimately this may not have been the time for Dolan to cut Wang a huge cable contract buyout check with what he's paying to renovate Msg unless he plans to buy AIG interest in Barclay's.

*******************************************
The Move Helps The Team Spend More?  
It all depends what's in the lease. The numbers do not add considering how many teams with full control of revenue in tax payer facilities getting paid lose money. Wang's a tenant in Brooklyn.

*******************************************
Sublease?
There is nothing reported Wang opted out of his Dec 2009 sublease. The signs are there that he did with Smg bringing in a booking GM (2012 entry) which counters those terms where Wang managed facility. 

All we know is Islanders prospects were housed at his hotel, and avoided the Coliseum since the draft party.
********************************************
Moving Before 2015? Depends On Nassau/Wang/Sublease
Wang did not dismiss it, but maintained he has a binding lease. 

If Wang opted out of his Dec 2009 sublease he can move immediately only if Nassau County approves. In that event Wang would have to pay back full terms of his lease or roughly three million a year through 2015.

If a developer comes along with a plan to build now, it makes financial sense for Nassau to let Wang out of his hockey lease sooner, will Mangano's new master developer list expand or be quickly announced? 

That comes down to Ed Mangano/Nassau or his possible successor after the 2013 election.
*********************************************
Politicians/Developers:   
Anyone who says Charles Wang bought the Isles for real estate officially were proven incorrect, he maintains interest at the Coliseum site anyway, and will work for his destination at the HUB, but without the New York Islanders at his hotel with other developers.

The politicians who let this teams fans down for decades put on their usual sad show of apathy, indifference or flat out incompetence. That's where the full blame goes, our alumni should be furious at them who should have been making plans starting in 1990.

Kate Murray/D'Amato, Mondello, Jacobs (Jay/Judy) and countless others, you played political football and lost for the final time. 

Mangano took his out with the referendum, playing his will of the people card instead of finding a way to close the doors, and do the financing everyone else did without a referendum. 

He failed. Ed Mangano's deserves blame pulling the Lighthouse day one of his term from the county website. Every other municipality found a way without making it a public vote with  other cities lining up to give public funding for rich corporations. 

Wonder what would have happened with Yankees-Mets-Devils-Msg if the public had to vote via referendum to give them taxpayer money as Bloomberg closed firehouses/cut police?

Exactly. Forty three percent to me was a victory, even in August.
***********************************************
Hofstra's Staurt Rabinowitz:
He sure seemed broken up.....NOT.  
***********************************************
Edmonton Is Staying, Wang Has A Year More Than Katz On Lease?
Mr Katz got a taxpayer funded arena down town and it's apparently still not enough. What's happening here is what happened in Washington, New Jersey, Detroit and many teams who moved to a more populated area with transportation.

Things happen in trends suburban has gone urban in most cases. 
***********************************************
Nassau Coliseum Future?
It all depends on how much control a Master Developer has vs how much political football can be played. It could be leveled by a developer building quickly or left open for events. Nassau after 2015 has to find someone to manage it if it remains.

Someone pays to keep it open or to clear the land. 

In other words enter Cablevision in the business of renovating old facilities as entertainment venues .LA Forum.
*************************************************
Bottom Line: 
The New York Islanders, history, name/logo remain which for me was everything.

This blog more than most have defended the club as a New York franchise, same as the Yankees with a championship tradition that is second to none in this town. (or New Jersey)

The New York Islanders have a current home in New York, they have a future home in New York.

Not my place to speak for alumni, it's still their team/tradition/history. 

The Dynasty should have gotten the Canyon Of Hero's from 1980-1983, they should have gotten the home outdoor game at Yankee Stadium.

New York City is officially New York Islander Country in an over-saturated market.

Nassau County remains New York Islander Country.

Wang WFAN Summary: " It Was Brooklyn Or Out Of Town "

New York Islander Fan Central | 10/24/2012 06:10:00 PM |

Summary of Charles Wang's 10/24, 5pm interview on WFAN:
Updated 7pm: Complete interview now available. 
Included Espn radio interview 

Most of this out of context, but wanted to post it for everyone. WFAN/Isles website will have link at some future point. 
 
* It was Brooklyn or out of  town, no other alternative.
* Did not comment on selling if club had left New York entirely. 
* Tried to do everything to get something done with Nassau/credited Mangano, ran out of time.
*  Felt fan base extends from Manhattan to Suffolk regarding lame duck status questions.
* Not contemplating getting out of lease early, not dwelling on it.
* Lease completed today at 7am in Brooklyn, said it was getting close.
* Cited season ticket base percentages (he did same in 2011 on WFAN) per area.
30 percent Nassau/30 Suffolk, rest inside NYC limits, Westchester. 
* Discussed free agent problem, felt Brooklyn would help.
* Locker rooms would have to be built for hockey. Home/Visitor. (discussed Ratner working on that)
* Still has HUB interest Marriott/parcel next door, timing no longer viable for Islander hockey, but discussed Mangano's RFP for developers he will work with, continuing dialogue, destination spot. 
* Did not want to blame anyone for dropping ball, discussed everything tried over years.
* Name/colors/logo absolutely will be kept.
* Goal on ice is to win Stanley Cup.
* Feels going to Brooklyn brings revenue's to help them compete.
* Will honor training lease with Iceworks as transition begins.
* Felt the New York Islanders continue to be New York Islanders and fans of Long Island will continue to care.
* Said an early exit possible but dialogue with Mangano, speculation.
* Does not know if any games in Brooklyn this year, citing having to honor Coliseum lease.
* Was very excited, light at end of tunnel, happy home for franchise. 

New York Moves To Brooklyn Effective 2015... 25-Year Iron Clad Lease....Team Retains New York Name...Wang Intends To Retain Ownership

New York Islander Fan Central | 10/24/2012 02:04:00 PM |
 Islanders website: Issued the official release

ITV: Has the press conference with Charles Wang, Bruce Ratner, Mike Bloomberg/others. 

Complete Press Conference with Q & A

 The announcement was made at a press conference in the GEICO Atrium at Barclays Center, which was also attended by New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Islanders General Manager Garth Snow, and Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark.

In support of the illustrious history of the team, the New York Islanders name and logo will remain unchanged.

"It was our goal from day one to keep the Islanders in the local New York area." Wang said. "We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to play in Barclays Center, a first class arena. This has been a long journey for the Islanders family starting with our loyal fans, sponsors, and employees. I want to personally thank them for their patience, loyalty, and support. I am excited about today’s announcement and I am looking forward to a long and successful future in Brooklyn."
 Just watched complete press conference on NY1.com.
 
"We have tried very hard to keep the Islanders in their original home," Wang said. "I want to specifically thank Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano and his team for their help trying to find a solution to keep the Islanders there. Unfortunately, we weren't able to do that."

"I have said consistently we will honor our lease (at the Coliseum)," Wang said. "Obviously anything can happen, but we are committed to being there through 2015."

Will update this entry, adding video, credible articles as available.
NY Post: Has updated comments that Charles Wang will honor his Coliseum lease.   The Post laughingstock hockey media did not attend.

Mcall.com: Had comments from Jiggs McDonald, who said shame on Nassau County somewhere on Facebook (I did not see) Bob Gutkowski and the usual politicians doing their bad actor impersonations who hardly seemed devastated from Murray to Stuart Rabinowitz to Kevin Abrahams.

NYIFC Comments:
A ton to digest. My initial reaction is how does Charles Wang make money as a tenant  in a building he does not own vs what he made at the Coliseum if he retains ownership as he said?

He just walked away from a hotel that was making money from NHL games next door he currently own, plus teams that stayed at his hotel. Come Sept 2016 the Islanders will require a practice facility near this arena.

2015-16 is a long time away for a 68 year old owner, but the bottom line to that is an iron clad lease means the talk of this team leaving New York ends permanently until 2040 beyond his tenure as owner. 

Great for Charles Wang keeping this completely quiet in the sourced-based/rumor filled NHL media, he caught everyone off guard which I loved. 

Dolan's Msg Networks/WFAN did not carry the press conference, nor did YES in a show of who your friends really are.

Mayor Bloomberg gave the New York Islanders the metrocard to the Canyon Of Hero's. Gary Bettman was present and endorsed the move, citing the capacity vs the Nassau Coliseum as a small factor.

Wang said he will remain the sole owner of this franchise. 

Obviously Long Island only/fans a devastating day. For New York Islander fans, a bittersweet day but the day of speculation of this teams future seem to be apparently over. For myself, this blog has always considered the New York Islanders as much New York as the Yankees.

However that viewpoint is not shared by others including many alumni, despite the long-term fan support at Msg/New Jersey.

Charles Wang retains his Marriott hotel, abatement to the Coliseum and maintains control of the HUB property beyond the lease unless a far less significant announcement is coming. Ed Mangano, decades of Nassau politicians officially lost their hockey team today or last summer with their referendum as opposed to paying as everyone else in New York/New Jersey had to do. 

Wang did the right thing, the New York Islanders will never be the Brooklyn Islanders, this teams history/tradition are too special for any other name, he also kept the team in the New York area despite comments of out of market offers.

Is that consolation to generations of fans who saw this team as Long Island only which many media sold as such to cut coverage? No. 

What will Ed Mangano's reaction be? This is a tough time for Mangano with police business but he gave his comments.

The signs were there with Smg bringing in a general manager to book events in a sublease where the Isles booked events, this blog wrote about it back in February.  The team not having a prospect camp at the Coliseum in July, no practices pre lockout, no training camp at Coliseum while the prospects stayed at Wang's hotel.

The New York Islanders officially became a lame-duck franchise at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum today. The door is open for whoever develops the site under Mangano's plan or Dolan to come in and renovate the building for AHL hockey/events.

Bottom line the New York Islanders remain the New York Islanders, with what is likely a media forced to cover them as a New York team.

This is going to be a very long/bitter sweet three year goodbye, unless Nassau County decides they can leave sooner. 

My advice is for the fans seeing this as goodbye should understand the Devils moved to Newark from the Meadowlands, the Capitals moved downtown from Landover, the Oilers are trying to move into a city. The Pistons moved to Auburn Hills.

It's not goodbye, they are moving twenty miles, not out of state. 

Charles Wang felt he waited as long as he could to do something with Nassau, he did not receive anything that the other local teams received, it remains to be seen how he does much better as a tenant here. 

New York Islanders Brooklyn Press Conference 1pm Live Streamed

New York Islander Fan Central | 10/24/2012 12:35:00 PM |
Updated: Direct link to live press conference: on ITV at 1pm
ny1.com: Will show the live conference on television.
(this would be channel 1 for Time Warner subscribers)


Charles Wang will be on WFAN at 5:30pm, trying to get Bettman.  

Not much else to write at this time, however Charles Wang, Gary Bettman, Garth Snow, Marty Markowitz, Mayor Bloomberg are all scheduled to appear per multiple reports.

Associated Press: Cites arena issues however there is nothing here that suggests the team can vacate it's current lease before 2015 without permission from Nassau County. 

Obviously we'll know more at 1pm.

Unless Wang terminated his Dec 2009 sublease, and Nassau gave the club permission to leave the team must play at the Nassau Coliseum through it's 2014-2015 lease. 

Smg would also have to be paid the full value of it's lease through 2014-15 under all those terms.

The Official New York Islander Fan Central List Of Worthless Article Keywords

New York Islander Fan Central | 10/23/2012 10:59:00 PM |
At New York Islander Fan Central this writer believes everyone's time is important never to be wasted so others can accumulate page views while promoting their agenda.

You are entitled to information/articles with direct quotes with names that support what's being claimed in articles.

As soon as a professional writer needs to start writing the following, it's time to click off and never return:
A report claims.
Rumor has it.
A source(s) has/have said/confirmed.
Insiders believe.
The word is.
I've been told.
Someone says
Anonymous person.
We've learned.
I know. 

There are likely a few terms I forgot to include, you get the idea. 

Some will call up a university or economist for a quote to give you some background in a study, however that does not support what's being claimed by the writer. 

When a writer gives straight speculation or provides opinion that's fair, this blog is not claiming media people should not express their views, however if you are making claims about news take the time and back it up with a quote.

There is a significant difference. 

Bottom line, when you see the following (above) in an article about your team lockout, game, whatever hit the close button and go find a professional media writer who will not waste your time, and actually earn their paycheck by placing a call, and asking for a direct quote.

I'm well aware that's hard to find anymore. 

Sure many media people are under pressure to produce anything from their editors, if they don't do it someone younger/cheaper will be hired to take that writers place with a mark against their future resume. 

Do people who give direct quotes always tell the truth? Obviously not, but the writer did their job. 
 
This blog has maintained the New York Islanders have the worst media in North American professional sports, that means the standards drop to where virtually anything written is believed by some. 

It does not mean you should ever accept anything but the highest journalistic standards. 

What I have discovered often is the small town papers covering NHL players usually do the best job. The AHL media operates in the same manner telling the game story, going to coach for comment,  players for quotes which provides a good insight into the information presented.

It's not very tough to do at all as evidenced in this Durham region/Oshawa article that had Josh Bailey's comment that this blog linked to via twitter last week.

Calvin deHaan Season Ending Shoulder Surgery

New York Islander Fan Central | 10/22/2012 07:13:00 PM |
Sound Tigers twitter & Ct Post: Reports Calvin deHaan will miss the remainder of the 2012-13 season with a dislocated left shoulder

deHaan's had a long history of shoulder injuries and surgery on his left shoulder.

NYIFC Comments: 
Devastating for deHaan, who has had shoulder issues since juniors, devastating for the New York Islanders.

deHaan was this franchises best short term bet to play in the NHL, he was their 2008 12th overall draft selection, who almost made the team in his first camp.

Bridgeport needed him, however New York needed him more to finally become a full time NHL player, that will not happen in 2012-13.

With the exception of Griffin Reinhart, deHaan on paper was the better rated prospect to Aaron Ness, Matt Donovan who were drafted later.

As long as the lockout continues Bridgeport has the short-term depth, however make no mistake deHaan needed to be in New York playing at the NHL level if a CBA agreement was reached.



NHLPA Rejected Proposal/Notables

New York Islander Fan Central | 10/21/2012 08:39:00 PM |
USA Today: Released an updated 10/21 article with some details of the NHLPA proposal. 

NHLPA Website: As of Sunday PM has not put their complete offers with all specifics on their website.

NYIFC Comments:
I wanted folks to have both sides complete offers to judge for themselves. Obviously media involved is far to biased in most cases to extreme.

For myself, it's insulting defending corporate owners who created this problem with a history of their teams as stand alone businesses not being profitable.

Comcast sending the Flyers money to front-load contracts does not mean the Flyers are profitable.

Cablevision sending Msg Network 140m dollars does not mean the Rangers are profitable here in 2010.

Chicago Tribune: Rocky Wirtz needing his other businesses to make Hawks payroll in 2010 on cash calls does not mean the Hawks make money by themselves.

On the other side of this NHL players making 2.5m on avg receiving massive front-loaded deals many with NTC/NMC have hardly been treated unfairly.

Zach Parise got his ten million dollar signing bonus already here  plus the players are owed their 2011-12 escrow payments from last CBA.

All the rhetoric aside, if the NHL offer guarantees full contracts signed in the last CBA with no rollbacks the NHLPA should be willing to accept that with a 50/50 revenue split if it means the players get some of that money later as opposed to sooner. 

The players should not have to forfeit one penny of binding agreements this time around.

I'm sorry to write my impression of Donald Fehr is he was too slow to get started and seems very comfortable with letting Bettman have another lockout on his resume.

Fehr has his resume too that includes baseball losing a world series on his watch, competitive balance in terms of payroll was ruined under his tenure.

He was not hired to make owners pay players less, it's not his problem that owners overspend or find loopholes that them to make these offers.
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There is no Sunday update on a possible injury to Calvin deHaan from game at WBS.


NHLPA Counter Offers To Bettman " A Step Backwards "

New York Islander Fan Central | 10/18/2012 05:49:00 PM |
NHL.com Negotiations broke off quickly on Thursday after Gary Bettman rejected the NHLPA's three counter-offers. 

"The Players' Association came back and basically made three alternate proposals on the players' share, all variations, to some degree, of the one proposal that they made over the summer and really haven't deviated from since," Commissioner Bettman said. "And none of the three variations of players' share that they gave us even began to approach 50-50 (revenue split) either at all or for some long period of time and it's clear that we're not speaking the same language in terms of what they came back to us with.

"It is still my hope that we can accomplish my goal, the League's goal of getting an 82-game season, but I am concerned based on the proposal that was made today that things are not progressing. To the contrary, I think the proposal that was made by the Players' Association was in many ways a step backward."

NHLPA/Donald Fehr: Has not relased a counterproposal for public viewing or a statement at this time. 

To be fair I have to write Mr Fehr has hundreds of players, agents world-wide to communicate with in this process. The NHL has only thirty owners as it's board of governors. 

Updated: NHLPA Donald Fehr 25 minute video statement.

NYIFC Comments: 
Sorry folks, I do not wish to only provide the NHL's side, however the NHLPA site does not document or release information as the league does.

I wish for my readers to have all details equally from both sides.

All this blog can do is post the link to the NHLPA site, hoping they give the public the same specifics the league has so folks can see all offers, and decide for themselves. 

I will not use professional media twittering sketchy details of what the PA offered via sources, that's not what providing information is about. Hopefully the PA does show it's offers in the near future.

Bottom line, the rejection of the the league offer, the rejection of the NHLPA counter-offer, and talks breaking off likely mean unless one sides changes their mind there will not be an 82 game season.

What I can write of my own view is if the full season is eventually cancelled, someday when a settlement comes there will be a player or two wondering why they did not accept these terms revisiting this day.

As far as the owners rejected offer what I have learned after two CBA agreements where I believed a system was crafted which had no loopholes for corporate owners to exploit was they could and did.

Complete Details of NHL Offer

New York Islander Fan Central | 10/17/2012 04:35:00 PM |
NHL.com: Releases the full details of their offer to the NHLPA here with  text.

NYIFC Comments:
Some things do stand out which can be interpreted different ways, until we know what the NHLPA response is to write more simply could be wasting time.

Donald Fehr, I have little doubt will want much more in terms of concessions, but this does shift the burden for a continued lockout to him.

Updated: AP: Fehr has made clear he's not a big fan of this offer.

Bottom line these are the terms Charles Wang has agreed to as an NHL owner in a new CBA which appear to give him possible revenue sharing, will lose the rights to Kirill Petrov entirely, and will force all NHL owners to make the cap floor without performance bonuses which is much tougher when you draft top prospects, who all receive the same the standard ELC bonus contract.

 • 2012/13 Payroll Range
Lower Limit = $43.9 Million
Midpoint = $51.9 Million
Upper Limit = $59.9 Million

 • Appropriate "Transition Rules" to allow Clubs to exceed Upper Limit for the 2012/13 season only (but in no event will Club's Averaged Club Salary be permitted to exceed the pre-CBA Upper Limit of $70.2 Million).

 • Money paid to Players on NHL SPCs (one-ways and two-ways) in another professional league will not be counted against the Players' Share, but all dollars paid in excess of $105,000 will be counted against the NHL Club's Averaged Club Salary for the period during which such Player is being paid under his SPC while playing in another professional league.

• In the context of Player Trades, participating Clubs will be permitted to allocate Cap charges and related salary payment obligations between them, subject to specified parameters. Specifically, Clubs may agree to retain, for each of the remaining years of the Player's SPC, no more than the lesser of: (i) $3 million of a particular SPC's Cap charge or (ii) 50 percent of the SPC's AAV ("Retained Salary Transaction"). In any Retained Salary Transaction, salary obligations as between Clubs would be allocated on the same percentage basis as Cap charges are being allocated. So, for instance, if an assigning Club agrees to retain 30% of an SPC's Cap charge over the balance of its term, it will also retain an obligation to reimburse the acquiring Club 30% of the Player's contractual compensation in each of the remaining years of the contract. A Club may not have more than two (2) contracts as to which Cap charges have been allocated between Clubs in a Player Trade, and no more than $5 million in allocated Cap charges in the aggregate in any one season.

5. Cap Accounting:
• Payroll Lower Limit must be satisfied without performance bonuses.

6. System Changes:
• Entry Level System commitment will be limited to two (2) years (covering two full seasons) for all Players who sign their first SPC between the ages of 18 and 24 (i.e., where the first year of the SPC only covers a partial season, SPC must be for three (3) years).

• Maintenance of existing Salary Arbitration System subject to: (i) total mutuality of rights with regard to election as between Player and Club, and (ii) eligibility for election moved to five years of professional experience (from the current four years).

• Group 3 UFA eligibility for Players who are 28 or who have eight (8) Accrued Seasons (continues to allow for early UFA eligibility -- age 26).

• Maximum contract length of five (5) years.

• Limit on year-to-year salary variability on multi-year SPCs -- i.e., maximum increase or decrease in total compensation (salary and bonuses) year-over-year limited to 5% of the value of the first year of the contract. (For example, if a Player earns $10 million in total compensation in Year 1 of his SPC, his compensation (salary and bonuses) cannot increase or decrease by more than $500,000 in any subsequent year of his SPC.)

• Re-Entry waivers will be eliminated, consistent with the Cap Accounting proposal relating to the treatment of Players on NHL SPCs playing in another professional league.

• NHL Clubs who draft European Players obtain four (4) years of exclusive negotiating rights following selection in the Draft. If the four-year period expires, Player will be eligible to enter the League as a Free Agent and will not be subject to re-entering the Draft.


7. Revenue Sharing:
• Current "Disqualification" criteria in CBA (for Clubs in Top Half of League revenues and Clubs in large media markets) will be removed.

New York Notables: CBA, Oilers Want More From Taxpayers

New York Islander Fan Central | 10/17/2012 10:32:00 AM | | | |
The only comment I will write beyond the 5/16 entry on the CBA is this blog does not do leaked speculation, guesswork or the usual source-game on other details of the CBA.

There is a lot more to be done which this blog touched upon, when the league or NHLPA get specific, so will this blog about those issues. 

For many this is about page-views so they need to write about something/anything. For others it's what suits their market best which is just a media/blogger game with many editors pulling the writers string because they need x teams advertising or are fans of the teams they cover.

Of course there is a segment of the media who act like the pr wing of the NHLPA, they want their local team to have spending advantages/more subjects to write about. 

The New York Islanders do not have a professional media or a home newspaper, they have the worst media of any professional team in North America. The lack of professional,  credible reporting on the club leads some to whatever is written anywhere.

That's a waste of your time. 

The lockout is not a story in New York, same as 2004-05, it cannot compete with the big market sports. 
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NHL.com Apparently the Edmonton Journal/Sun or Canadian papers are not Dolan's Newsday in a very big rush to push out the New York Islanders who's lease expires a year before the Isles. For the Oilers owner, Darryl Katz, they demand more taxpayer funding & more. (which all New York/New Jersey teams receive)

Compare this with what Charles Wang was willing to sign a lease agreement for last summer, look at what Nassau is offering today (nothing) vs Edmonton. Mr Katz did not spend close to nine years, his share of twenty million dollars for his first plan with no return.

Katz will not even meet with the local government, he did apologize recently for his conduct in Seattle.

Under the original deal, city taxpayers and ticket buyers would pay to build the arena, which was initially pegged at $450 million. But with land, borrowing and surrounding infrastructure factored in the price is now at $700 million and rising.

The Oilers would keep all profits from NHL games, trade shows, concerts and other events for 11 months out of the year. The team would also keep naming rights for the building (worth up to $3 million a year), along with $2 million a year from the city for a decade for advertising.

Concession sales alone are pegged at $20 million a year.

In return, the Oilers would pay the city $5.5 million a year for 35 years and pay to operate and run the arena, pegged at $10 million a year.

Katz, however, said the franchise is bleeding money. Along with the $6 million, the Oilers are also reportedly seeking tax breaks and a casino licence. The Oilers say the city can afford its new demands because the estimated $1.2 billion in extra money that will fill city coffers due to rising property values around the arena will actually be closer to $2 billion.
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For those scoring at home, I have not forgotten about former LA Daily News beatwriter turned team blogger, Rich Hammond deciding to leave the Kings to cover another sport because the NHL media relations office (the one run by former Ranger Daily News die-hard John Dellapina, banned by the NHL media website during the last lockout which includes former Ranger die-hard, Frank Brown) deciding Hammond interviewing prospects about the lockout as a Kings employee was not acceptable.

The hypocrisy banned professional writer Dellapina displayed in 2004-05 vs NHL media relations coordinator Dellapina displays in 2012 is disappointing.

It should be noted the Orange County Register who hired Hammond did not add him for hockey coverage (they have had a long-time dedicated Ducks beat)  in a market that barely acknowledges hockey, even when finally winning a Stanley Cup.

Hammond as a beat writer for the Los Angeles Daily News could interview anyone his editor allowed, however as an employee of the Los Angeles Kings, he must follow the NHL policy on how team employees conduct themselves, his obvious issue is with the NHL, not the Kings by his words so he decided to move on. 

Mr Hammond proved a team sponsored blog can work when it's done by an experienced professional writer who understood how to cover games, players, and tell a teams story that was hardly a playoff lock in 2012. Mr Hammond did not turn the Kings management into reality television despite many losing seasons or bring an agenda to the table for the purpose of making himself the story. 

Hammond did not go to the Larry Brooks school of shock-jock journalism which is why his work connected. 

There will be no PHWA (professional hockey writers association) comment/protection here because when Mr Hammond joined an NHL organization he was no longer part of that group.

As a New York Islander employee, Chris King, cannot go interview Travis Hamonic about lockout negotiations. Don Laibel Utica Observer Dispatch, who has interviewed King/many with ties to the Islanders working for a newspaper last summer is not bound by NHL rules.
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For those scoring at home the heavily promoted Nets preseason opener received only an announced 14,000+ attendance rating for a Monday night game. 

Hockey would have received far less regardless who participated.


NHL Makes 50/50-No Salary Rollback Offer

New York Islander Fan Central | 10/16/2012 03:55:00 PM | |
NHL.com Gary Bettman announced a new offer to the NHLPA that allows an 82 game schedule beginning 11/2. 

Donald Fehr he needs time to review the offer. 

Both Bettman/Fehr have given video interviews.

NHL.com Transcript of Bettman's Comments

NYIFC Comments:
Obviously this is the final chance for an 82 game schedule. An offer of this measure also means the players existing long-term front-loaded contracts will be honored in full which no doubt most players will want to accept.

If Donald Fehr does not accept the offer, not even the media salesman of x market teams will be able to defend the NHLPA not accepting a 50/50 split given what the avg NHL player now makes in salary. 

The problem moving forward are issues Bettman has within his own circle of owners on salary cap, front-loading, length of contracts, and how many NTC/NMC a team can carry. A league where you have seventy million dollar teams front-loading, or hiding mistakes in the AHL is not a balanced system.

There cannot be collusion not to front-load or make long-term offers, it has to be part of a binding agreement on player contracts with the NHLPA.

Revenue sharing is an internal NHL decision to make among owners governing themselves with regard to their share of revenue. 

Rick DiPietro Signs In Germany/New York Notables

New York Islander Fan Central | 10/10/2012 01:32:00 PM |
Scriesersee.de: Reports Rick DiPietro has signed in a German League and will have a press conference with their season opening on 10/14.

NYIFC Comments:
This blog has not been covering the many NHL Islander players signing in Europe/KHL. (sidebar links have been following transactions) DiPietro is a little different because no one on the current roster needs to play hockey more, and this is his chance to work off the game rust that practice does not provide.

Obviously DiPietro/agent secured the necessary insurance of his NHL contract, however any sustained injury means if a lockout were settled, the Islanders would no longer be required to pay the remainder of his contract if he were hurt playing in another league.

Of course the same holds true for all players.

What this blogger wants most is Rick DiPietro with the rust off his game, finally ready to return to the franchise goaltender/all-star he was in 2007-08.

New York Roster:
To the best of my knowledge Evgeny Nabokov, Matt Moulson, Brad Boyes, Kyle Okposo, Josh Bailey, Marty Reasoner, Eric Boulton, Matt Carkner are the current New York Islander roster players yet to sign with a team in a European/North American league not counting their unsigned departed UFA.

Bridgeport Roster:
Travis Hamonic, Nino Niederreiter, David Ullstrom, Casey Cizikas, Matt Donovan, Calvin deHaan, Aaron Ness, Ty Wishart, Anders Nilsson, Kevin Poulin are in Bridgeport.

Ryan Strome, Griffin Reinhart/draft picks are in juniors or college/europe.

NHL/NHLPA Negotiations:
Things are running as expected with Donald Fehr, threatening to repeal the salary cap which means get ready for what will likely be a season without NHL hockey.

Media Game:
 Market-based media are doing the sales job selling what suits their career/editor's interest as the selective reporting standards are frankly disappointing.

It's disingenuous some media speculate on what franchises are profitable vs which ones spend more to lose more only looking at revenue which this blog contends often is not profit or a sustainable business model.

I guess for those media if a billion dollar company can lose 20-30m a year for a sports team/trophy purchase, it's survival of the richest corporations if it's the team they cover. 

Big Market/Small Market
There are no big hockey markets in the US, unless you want to include markets with no competition from other sports.

New York is invisible in terms of hockey. 

Bridgeport Sends Ken Reiter To Fort Wayne ECHL

New York Islander Fan Central | 10/06/2012 07:34:00 PM | | |
Sound Tigers website: Reports Ken Reiter was sent for Fort Wayne of the ECHL. 

Bridgeport finished it's preseason 1-1, off games that were only scheduled a few weeks ago. Travis Hamonic left after one period Friday with an injury being called slight/precautionary by new head coach, Scott Pellerin.

Islanders website: Has been updating Bridgeport on a daily basis.

Fort Wayne is currently affiliated with the National Hockey League's Toronto Maple Leafs and Anaheim Ducks, as well as the American Hockey League's Toronto Marlies and Norfolk Admirals

More players need to be cut before next Friday's opener. 

NYIFC Comments:
Not earth shattering news but worth an update. Bridgeport opened last season with three goaltenders. Mikko Koskinen started last year with Bridgeport before being loaned to a team in Europe, he declined the Isles qualifying offer, and signed in Europe for 2012-13, however the Isles retain his NHL rights. 

New York/Bridgeport had no ECHL affiliate last season. Ft Wayne Komets are an ECHL expansion club playing their inaugural season.