Most owners are overjoyed to tell you it's their arena, but it's a private matter when it's really not the NYI arena beyond 41 days as Dolan's tenant. |
The minute it appeared in Dolan's echo-chamber in the summer of 2016, it was likely decided back then in Albany.
No way was Dolan happy with thousands of new cheering NYI fans in NYC, and Ratner renovating the building he lost at home on Long Island, he did not spend 600 million for a money-losing newspaper to permit this to stand. His tax exemption plus money to renovate Penn Station was not enough for him, he owns Cuomo like he owned Shelly Silver.
Dolan was getting his revenge arena eight miles from the one he lost from Cuomo's taxpayers, our team was never given any public reason they could not have their own NYC arena like everyone else, despite their superior attendance at Barclay's to Nassau most seasons without Sat/weekend games.
Ledecky was just a gullible pawn, who clearly did no homework, same as when Nassau gave the Flyers/Smg the Coliseum lease to take all the Islanders revenue, but this deal never goes away, and he lied saying he hoped to be at Barclay's for many years to come nor did he spend 60 million on Northwell. Wang bought the facility for nine million, and renovated it.
Dolan operates this Belmont Ponzi-scheme arena, he is the final say, and we'll likely never know what price the Islanders paid, which from here begins with all territorial rights to NY forfeit, signing away the outdoor game home rights in Queens, plus television contract money from 2031 deal, along with some attendance based out clauses so Dolan can bring down the Wolfpack which was his 2013 plan with Ranger preseason games/practices when this fails.
Now we see if Prokhorov wants to force the NYI to stay at Barclay's through 2040 under their current deal by not opting out by 1/31/18, which forces our owners to change their public stance, and opt out themselves, meaning they lose 53.5 million next season, and have no arena to play in come October.
Dolan will not be offering them his arena, and Barclay's will likely not be offering the Coliseum after getting behind an arena that hurts Barclay's & Coliseum. Dolan's newspaper will sell 2015 founded Oakview as some kind of legitimate company when it's only a cover name for taxpayer money Albany gives Dolan which has never built one arena.
Ledecky keeps his mouth shut, while Malkin hides in Europe.
Let's see if Tavares is given an offer he can refuse to go sign with the Rangers also as part of the price of all this, we sure did see plenty of those articles from Dolan's salesman telling us NYI offered most money, but they picked the Rangers.
They always left out the massive front-loaded contracts which those players needed before they had to be bought out as fast as you can write Drury, Gomez, Richards. No one wanted to take the risk DiPietro/Yashin did before front-loading.
Long-term if this disaster even happens, it will be a lot of fun by game two when 7,000 fans announced are in Dolan's Belmont arena, and their media drumbeat begins to move this team to a place where fans will show up 41 times, because they don't make enough money or have enough fans to justify having a team any longer.
We have seen their act, they will sellout the opener, then stub-hub crowd will be waiting for their tickets under ten dollars, they will not have a season ticket drive that sells 15,000 seats like real markets do.
The NYI become the only team who willingly want to go play (much less move back to a proven failed suburb with no revenue), and be the only team in pro sports where their rival owns the local newspaper, the television coverage, and now manages the teams arena.
Dolan's echo-chamber will do the rest, gullible fans do what they do best, believe anything they read.
They do a horrible job, driving away fans with the worst television & newspaper coverage of any team in North America. All the players are under-rated by design, the Dolan's media puppets sell what they are told or go find a job in a market with no hockey media.
It was going to work in NYC, same as Devils had 16,000+ for a Monday game against the west, it just needed more time, and a chance without all the distractions Dolan created day one in 2012, it had to be stopped like Trottier coaching the Rangers, their media would never accept it either.
No one had the vision to stick with it and give it the proper time it needed, it was doing better than most Coliseum years.