As far as New York Islander Fan Central is concerned, Charles Wang has done an excellent job as New York Islander owner and has our total support.
This blog does no favors, it pulls no punches. If Mr Wang did not do his job, he would receive nothing but criticism here.
Mr Wang's proven his loyalty time and again, our fans need to remember that regardless of the clubs record on the ice, the final score of any game or the standings at the end of the 2011-12 season.
Too many folks either get too upset after games about the owner not willing to spend when that's all he's done since the day he bought this team and saved the one in Bridgeport where before Charles Wang this club had no home AHL affiliate or new building.
Free Agency:
No, Charles Wang likely will not front-load, most owners cannot/will-not.
That means on 7/1/2012, Zach Parise is not getting ten-twenty million dollars upfront from Charles Wang, which will have nothing to do with age of the Coliseum, Cablevision Garden, or Maple Leaf Gardens if we were back in the 1990's.
If folks believe with the CBA ending a top UFA player is signing a contract where he could lose twenty four percent by the time Donald Fehr/Bettman are done is not being realistic or acknowledging history.
History:
Charles Wang was spending 45m dollars before there even was a salary floor, he was so close to a salary floor his gm could move Wisniewski/Rolson's 4.5m in salary in Dec 2010 for a player (Wishart) who went directly to Bridgeport.
What's been reported via speculation, sources, gossip or the self-serving folks who are only interested in pageviews/themselves simply is unfair and not reflective of the facts.
Those facts include nothing but praise from many former players (Peca, Osgood, Jonsson, Yashin) and current players who took his money when they had options, who simply could have ripped Charles Wang faster than Michael Peca ripped Edmonton.
For those who recall what did Trent Hunter say about Charles Wang after he was traded and about to be bought out by New Jersey just before 8/1?
Hunter said he was the only one here longer than Charles Wang, and that he really deserved the referendum be approved after all he's done.
That was only reported in Newark paper, not Dolan's paper.
12/7/2010 NYIFC had one of it's many entries supportive of Mr Wang citing many of the reasons we have written countless times, however we did address the future at that time with the following:
The true judgment of Wang's future commitment will come based upon how he pays the players who are part of Garth Snow's long-term plan.
John Tavares-Signed
Kyle Okposo-Signed
Michael Grabner-Signed
Josh Bailey-Signed
Nino Niederreiter-Signed
Ryan Strome-Signed
Kirill Kabanov-Signed
Calvin deHaan-Signed
Aaron Ness-Signed
Matt Donovan-Signed
Frans Nielsen-Signed
Poulin-Nilsson-Koskinen-Signed
Looking back, Charles Wang did his job and more, every player key to Snow's plan was signed, many long term.
Reality Check:
No contract has been signed with any top prospect to our knowledge that is different from another standard ELC. Other teams in this CBA era have signed veteran tryout players in camp to incentive laden deals.
Last Summer:
This blog is no fan of Steve Staios, Jay Pandolfo. Our entries made clear several times last summer returning Eaton, Mottau and Jurcina with this mix had the makings for a disaster on the backline.
The same could be written in retrospect about Rolston/Reasoner, but at the time both were good statistical gambles based on Rolston's second half with New Jersey vs Trent Hunter or Reasoner's thirteen goals vs Zenon Konopka.
I do not see any of these choices as Charles Wang's failure.
This blog had no problem with a contract limit for Christian Ehrhoff (as did Vancouver) which turned out to be a huge overpayment by Buffalo in a UFA defender market where James Wisniewski was signed for more than John Tavares.
For those with recall what happened with Tomas Kaberle? He was such a bad signing by Carolina, Jim Rutherford even spoke out about his mistake.
That was the defenders UFA market last summer, it will be again in July 2012 with even Andy Sutton being resigned early beyond what's going on with Nashville's defense.
Yes, if Hal Gill or Roman Hamrlik replace Steve Staios, what's changing, however that's most of the market soon after 7/1.
Overall:
Charles Wang has owned this team for over a decade, he's the only owner anywhere in New York/New Jersey who has not gotten a new arena or some kind of taxpayer assistance.
Tenant Wang continues to renovate his landlords building.
Mr Wang has no media to tell his side, he's done enough talking and this is not reality television as many other local owners never speak.
Mr Wang/Mr Rechler reportedly lost twenty million, they did over two hundred meetings on the Lighthouse Project.
NYIFC did plenty of entries per-referendum, knowing it likely would not be approved, our blog saw that process as an insult to begin with vs politicians willing to lock the doors and do a deal.
We did entries before last May when it was announced making it clear it now comes down to the taxpayers.
We also wrote about the media who got selective amnesia on every other local team getting taxpayer assistance for their new facilities in NYC papers, who were too cheap to pay a writer to cover hockey games all season, but had no problem paying staff to write that Charles Wang should be the only New York team owner who should pay himself.
Wang last summer for his part made clear he was not going to construct or pay for an arena, nor was he interested in real-estate. What he was willing to do was sign an Smg-like deal where a percentage of his rent/revenue would go to Nassau County in a facility he would manage/operate.
Islanders Senior VP, Michael Picker, said nothing's changed on 2/14/2012 when he met with Nassau County legislature.
Wang for his part every single time has successfully placed the focus back on hockey, he has not threatened like Darryl Katz in Edmonton, he has not allowed this to become what's overshadowed Phoenix.
What got no ink anywhere (besides teams website) was again Charles Wang hosting kids locally and around the world for the Lighthouse Tournament for a week at his own expense. Nassau County/Ed Mangano had no comment on this because they were hosting the New Jersey Giants.
Moving Forward:
Charles Wang has nothing left to prove for New York Islander Fan Central regardless what he ultimately decides on players or the clubs future.
The church he said in 2003 would not remain open forever has remained with nothing but aggravation/loss for his effort.
Whether the players who are pending UFA take his general managers contract offers or not, they have made clear they like being here which is an endorsement of this ownership/management.
Most of the forward spots seem filled for 2012-13, some defenders should be ready to play at this level with Hamonic, MacDonald and Mark Streit.
The thought of Nabokov a year ago, a player who's contract was tolled which cost him millions negotiating to re-sign here after being forced to be here says everything about this clubs management.
Our readers know where New York Islander Fan Central stands on this subject, Mr Wang's earned our total support.