New York Affiliation With Worcester Through 2019-20 Season

New York Islander Fan Central | 5/31/2018 01:07:00 PM |
Railers website:Had comments from management, very happy with Islanders.

New York Islander Fan Central Notables

New York Islander Fan Central | 5/31/2018 06:05:00 AM |
Wanted to answer some questions I have been getting in e-mail given it's a bit quiet.

1. This is a non-profit/no-advertising website of this site or anyone who wants to advertise/link exchange or whatever. No interest in how many read this site or follow me on twitter.

2. This website is to tell the New York Islanders story from the perspective of a fan, covering all aspects to things related to the team. Our team has no real media any longer, and my standards have not dropped from what they were in 2007 when this began.

2a. The people paid to work at the teams website do a fantastic job for us, the cyber-bullying done to them is always inappropriate.

3. Obviously I have views some do not agree with or like, which is fine. I'm not going to pull punches, but will always be fair.

4. My twitter account has been protected during the last two NHL seasons. I do block/mute many accounts because the folks who do follow should be able to have respectful conversations, free of profanity/personal attacks. If you can/could not post 140/280 characters without doing that, and be courteous or agree to disagree I'm not interested in conversations with those kind of people, nor should people who follow me be subjected to that.

4a. I do admit to a self-righteous streak. Not a fan of internet bullies. If I come off as talking down to folks, it's not my intention & I am sorry, but always let everyone make a fair point, and hope we learn from each other.

5. Simply put I have zero tolerance for the self-serving people who use our team to promote themselves or some kind of career they aspire to. Don't know them, maybe they like the team on some small level when they are not selling their acts or podcasts or message boards, but understand they do what they do for their themselves.

Giving people free space at websites like WFAN/CBS does not make them media, they don't cover games or go in the room, but they do entertain which is what they aspire to.

The Fischler interns/bloggers want their Msg credential to cover Ranger games, so they conduct themselves far differently vs how they stir things up with the NYI. Resume first.

Having no real media any longer it's very easy for them to operate these days, and present themselves as something they are not.

Other teams (many who have struggled much longer than NYI) don't seem to have this issue.

Bottom line those people are there for themselves, not our team.

I'm a logo on the front person. 

6. I don't care what Brian Compton thinks of me or his personal comments. I don't know the man & thought his images of  his little boy cheering on NYI in the playoffs were wonderful a few years ago.

My thoughts are if a New York based NHL.com writer had a podcast to trash Dolan, Sather, and the Rangers in the same manner or brand them as a Manhattan team, the media relations people at NHL, who are mostly former Ranger fans/beatwriters at the Daily News would tell Mr Compton, you can write for us, or have your podcast, and be critical of Ranger management, not both.

Plenty of hockey writers who used to write for newspapers are out of work, who have to up their game to stay employed at whatever they are selling today as media.  Right, Arthur Staple?

Too bad he'll never write about how he dumped Dolan/Newsday, two weeks after Steve Zipay retired, but he sure was good at telling us unless we become Dolan's tenant our team goes to Quebec. 

7. The people who work for Newsday/News12, all affiliated outlets job is to get Dolan his Belmont arena to be our landlord 41 days or find a new job. Bad news & information is not what they interested in like in 2011 when it was not Dolan's building to operate so they played watchdog. They sold their false narratives on fan support, Barclay's and when you get naive people who make the decisions, but can't read between the lines or do their own jobs very well not branding New York things like this happen.  Both Barclay's, and the Islanders ownership share the blame here.

Most outlets just parrot what's in Dolan's paper, they have no money or interest in coverage.

7a. I have done all I could to help the anti-Belmont Arena people, they seem to get Cuomo, Dolan, Percoco, Silver, Lhota ties, taxpayer money for Dolan family, and cronyism, but always get off that message when it's time to face the camera's.

Is it that hard to go there with signs that say No Dolan Belmont Arena, with the taxpayer money James Dolan, and his family received from Cuomo for Chase Garden tax exemption, Penn Station plan, now his Belmont Arena, with campaign contributions from the Dolan family to Andrew Cuomo?

8. Our team should be New York based or presented as such like everyone else. The same people who run to New Jersey on football Sunday's should get over themselves with the Long Island or Brooklyn mantra for a NY team. The NHL does not work in Nassau, once Cuomo hands Dolan his shovel, they would likely love to get NYI out or this will fall apart for the owners when the fiction of fan support in Nassau is again exposed.

It would have worked in Barclay's over time and still outdid Nassau, but like Trottier coaching the Rangers, Dolan's media did everything to stop it from day one.

One person on twitter commented why not just go like fans did with Boston Garden which had the same problems. I reminded him the Bruins had a friendly home media not looking to get the team moved, and always talked of how great the Boston Garden was for over 60 years, unlike here.

I do think Malkin-Ledecky relied on media and some fans, and for now decided being a tenant on the Queens-Nassau border puts it in the middle, but it's a naive plan.

Finally, still undecided on writing here during the draft. Been updating historical site a lot for anyone interested.

Lamoriello/New York Notables

New York Islander Fan Central | 5/23/2018 02:57:00 AM | | | |
Ok, we got our answers, and listened to all interviews.

Lou Lamoriello is here as President of Hockey Operations with full control, he has not even come down here yet or visited the practice facility, all hockey aspects are his call.

Give Scott Malkin the highest marks, within days of that 4/9 press conference with Toronto in the playoffs,  their evaluation was over, he called his Leafs counterpart, and pushed to speak with Lamoriello, it took some time after the playoff loss, and clearly Shanahan wanted someone else as gm, but Malkin sold his vision to Lamoriello, and here he is.

Ownership kept it's word, even if I hate who/where they want to be a tenant of. 

Now we see what Lamoriello does, no point for me to be repetitive, we all listened to what he said.

Bottom line he now does his own evaluations, whether I agree or not, if Snow-Weight stay in their jobs, I have to support that direction. If changes are made I will support that.

Snow had my support as gm until the end of last season, he failed to win, his team took a step back, then this year they fell off a cliff, he's accountable for it.

Clearly Doug Weight was over his head.

Lamoriello now has to be given the time to do what he feels needs to be done, if he can keep Tavares, ok, if he can't that's ok too, there is a lot of talent here, much more than a lot of peripheral media wrote about.

Snow was treated badly by the local media because of how he got the job that does not even cover games, he's done an excellent job, but it's about winning, you don't win, it's time for someone else. 

Sorry, but he did not make the Milbury trades, he traded a player who's agent demanded a trade so he got a friend of Tavares in Clutterbuck, signed a few players too early, and gave Ladd market value, he lottery protected Vanek, pick, unlike Calgary with Hamonic.

Get over it, there were no Luongo deals in there since 2006, he got a ton right, and he got it right every time it was time to not resign someone, his players respected him, and liked being here.

But again it's about winning. I can't speak to culture inside a room as a fan, all we can do is listen to what they are quoted as saying about being there. Even Nabokov was thrilled to be back after being forced to play a full season for 500k, he stole Grabner, got it right on Moulson, Parenteau, Streit.

He had nightmare luck with injuries for 3/4 years, that excuse could not be played last season, he stood on a stage and lied with Ted Nolan in 2008. In 2009, he said he rarely used the rebuilding word, by 2011, he used it every chance he could when his team again fell off the map.


Lamoriello had some very rough decisions leaving NJ, and he inherited the staff in Toronto & answered to Shanahan, here he will do what he loves to do from scratch, he was promised full support from ownership, they don't have to say a word from here.

He lost Parise after going to the finals, Kovalchuk walked from his contract, he got fined a 1st round pick he got back, he had a lot of bad signings/trades including Grabner/Martin.

Lamoriello will have the final say here, there is baggage to go with his ability.

Now we'll see what happens, staff changes come usually after 7/1 when contracts expire.

It was a good day for the New York Islander franchise, but it's about winning.

Welcome to New York.

Lou Lamoriello Named President Of Hockey Operations

New York Islander Fan Central | 5/22/2018 11:38:00 AM |

Islanders website will likely make these available.
"We are grateful to Larry Tanenbaum and the Toronto Maple Leafs for their courtesy in allowing this move," Managing Partner of the Islanders, Scott Malkin said. "We are committed to giving Lou every resource and the full support of the entire organization as we pursue our program to compete at the highest level." 

"I am excited to join such a storied franchise and look forward to working with Scott Malkin and the entire New York Islanders organization," Lamoriello said.  
NYIFC Comments: This is a short-term hire. Lamoriello will be 76 when the season begins, he likely will not be here for Tavares eight year term, if he can be signed here. His son has been here for two seasons, and is Bridgeport's gm.

Obviously he was not on board with his contractual agreement in Toronto, or was ready to be their senior adviser, and Shanahan did not want him to remain as general manager.

We have to see what this means for Garth Snow/Doug Weight, and his staff. No one was fired to clear the job titles which is how it usually works.

Interesting only Malkin's name is on the release.

For now we see who comes in or who leaves if anyone. The talk of what power or control anyone has is just that until someone says this from the team. Lamoriello has his way, and my guess would be he only accepted a job here to do things his way.

He's had some rough years with Devils, and Toronto. Snow's teams had 2 bad years, and should have been fired (with Weight) last summer, but the individual moves made by Snow were outstanding.

Obviously it takes pressure off ownership, and will sell tickets, but most fans want a full house cleaning, and nothing anyone does will sellout 41 games or get them into a NYC arena where they need to be without distractions from Dolan's media, who wants them in his Belmont-run arena.

New York Notables

New York Islander Fan Central | 5/12/2018 11:07:00 AM |
Updates will continue on Mr Torrey as released. Finally Al Arbour/Bill Torrey will be together on the header, even if Al losses a little space. The core of the four was a bit subjective, but Lorne Henning was recognized by the team when it was decided.

Billy Carroll, Brent Sutter, and all of the other cup winners were given a special place at the historical site, along with many special people who worked there during dynasty era.

Expect more updates.
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Not a lot to write on many fronts, things will play themselves out.
Off the ice.........

Richard Browne of Sterling Enterprises said Dolan runs the Belmont arena, and NYI are his tenants, same as since Dolan's newsday first reported that. This forced RFP was rushed to approval because this is payback for 2013 from Andrew Cuomo because Mangano picked Ratner's bid over Dolan's for the Coliseum RFP.

Dolan's media will stand muted or positive on his Belmont area from Cuomo/taxpayers, anything negative (from LI Business news) will be hidden/muted/heavily and quickly criticized, or placed under the shell company names Oakview, NY Arena Partners or just name the New York Islanders because the Dolan family owns Newsday, and want the quiet process Wang wanted in 2011 for the referendum which Dolan's media turned into a circus to defeat it so Dolan could bid in 2013.

Expect nothing but positive updates for Dolan to get his arena as quietly as possible. 

Once ground is broken Dolan could care less if the New York Islanders are his 41 day tenant or not, and prefer his own 2013 bid for the Coliseum which brought their AHL Wolfpack there with Ranger training camp and home preseason games.

And the cable contract through 2031 gone with the New York Islanders.

Only our owners know what they surrendered to be Dolan's tenant along with giving up territorial rights to an outdoor game in writing.

The fan base will again prove they will not go to Nassau over the long run, and our owners will discover they were either naive to the pathetic attendance trends back to 1989 or use this as their out card if Dolan writes them a cable buyout check.

My inclination is Jon Ledecky or little mentioned majority owner Scott Malkin did not need real estate so badly that they spent 480 million dollars for 80 percent of a team, then three years of close to 70 million in payroll in advance to have their reputations tarnished forever with the public as Howard Milstein found out long ago for a sliver of land next to the Cross Island Parkway. 

Last I checked a lot of folks purchase real estate without spending money for a sports team in advance.

I want them in NYC at Barclay's as is until a NYC alternative is found without Dolan, eventually it would work out there for the long-term but BSE is frankly a lost cause with regard to sports management which likely will hurt them or end their Coliseum property rights at some point.

Not a fan of Wang-Dolan pictured together in the last week but that is their choice. 
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If folks think the Dolan/Belmont announcement upset the home record, just wait until this team becomes the first ever to call 2 NHL facilities home for this duration.

Players don't need many distractions to lose games in this league, and we all know how poorly this team played in Nassau. Get ready for a decade of that and Dolan's Belmont site/Coliseum becoming massive year round construction sites.
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Off the ice, I  made clear Garth Snow/Doug Weight's time should have ended last summer. Snow has had a fair amount of time to make some serious runs at a Stanley Cup.

Some media/others with their own sad agenda's who are not media want him cyber-bullied out of his job under all circumstances. I'm completely against those tactics. My reasons for wanting a change are he did not win enough the team took a step back a year ago, and a giant step back this year with a man who simply is not experienced enough to be a head coach at this level.

Snow's made some excellent decisions in the last year, and during his entire tenure, only they know if Weight being given the full time job was Snow's decision.

All Weight reaffirmed were the words sound nice, but give me a coach who can't put two coherent sentences together but can teach players/systems/strategy.

That's how you win. 
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About Lou Lamoriello, he will be 76 when the season starts, if he were hired here to be gm, his recent record would be worse than Snow's in signings/decisions which is likely the real reason unqualified team president, Brendan Shanahan, wants someone else that he can control as gm while Mike Babcock runs his bench, and cleans up his Matthews problems before he has to go. 

Lamoriello had some rough final years in NJ. Parise walked from him after making finals, he signed Kovalchuk to an illegal 15 year contract, who left anyway, and the team was fined a first round selection which they got back, and then the team really started losing. 

Snow unloaded Grabner's contract on Toronto for 5 million, who again went 30 games with no goals as he did here in 2013-14.

Then Matt Martin signed the contract there everyone knew would be a bad one here, he's had some very poor decisions. 

Chris Lamoriello is two years younger than Snow, and Bridgeport's gm, a title Snow gave up last season. The new cyber-bullying on Bridgeport's record, which again would have tied them for the 8th seed in the other division after what would have been a first place finish a year ago in the other division reflects media with an agenda. 
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On the ice..............
I made clear recently where I stood with John Tavares, if he returns it could be a mistake that sets them back for a generation if his skating/defensive/invisible games continue, where he's rarely the best player on the ice.

I'm prepared to move forward with or without him, and feel this team has an excellent core, and his contract could help resign Lee, Barzal, Eberle for openers. 

My impression is the peripheral media out there who simply think Tavares was a star who carried them, and Halak was a bad goaltender give the impression they watched a few highlights and little else.

Halak had a career season. He was the only reason those 35-50 shot against games were close or this team did not finish with 20 wins. I did not see many bad goals, and have little doubt he can carry this team, and has never been more durable. I would resign him for 2 years as quickly as possible given the market available. 

My guess is Halak wants to land elsewhere with a home media, some defense protecting him, and people discover what those who watched closely here know.

He's going to help a team win. Greiss showed a good sampling at end to prove he'll be fine here moving forward.  
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As for the rest the math is very simple, a lot of roster spots are filled already. UFA is terrible in goal, and on defense. Mayfield, Pelech have their contracts or RFA with 55, 2, 28, 6-Toews.

We'll see where things go here regarding writing on draft days. 

Bill Torrey Condolences Information (Updated)

New York Islander Fan Central | 5/08/2018 11:28:00 PM |


Islanders website statement:

Bill Torrey Funeral Update

New York Islander Fan Central | 5/04/2018 06:53:00 PM |
For those wishing to send flowers or some kind of remembrance.

Bill Torrey RIP

New York Islander Fan Central | 5/03/2018 05:18:00 PM |
Islanders website: Has comments from alumni, and Garth Snow.

NYIFC Comments: Reasons like this why I had doubts about continuing here, just too painful. He stayed part of the NHL until the very end. He will be greatly missed. I had quietly began preparing here for this day. Without, Bill Torrey, none of us are here, it's really that simple.