Perhaps NYIFC Wrong & The New York Islanders Will Leave New York

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“I believe this day will go down in history as a first step and hopefully this is the catalyst that will get us going again.”

-Charles Wang 5/31/2011.





Perhaps my earlier entry The New York Islanders Will Never Leave New York is simply not correct.

5/31 was not a good day for the future of this franchise.

For those wondering the legislature can still stop the 8/1 vote by July 17, which is fifteen days prior to the referendum and may well do that if financial plans are not there from Mangano/Wang or the legislature do not like what they read.

“It’s important that we take this step. Today’s vote is to make sure that the tax payers, the citizens, have the opportunity to decide. That’s all it is. There are a lot of details and we’re working through (them)… but by the middle of June, we’ll have all the details. This is what we’re working towards. Today is a great first day.” -Charles Wang

Today the Nassau legislature confirmed my earlier entries, that the New York Islanders are nothing more than political football depending on what party supports a Coliseum plan vs which one did not propose it.

I did not think seven members would be willing to risk killing a plan that may well decide Wang's future interest in owning this franchise even before step one.

They were.

I do believe this plan will ultimately be rejected, but Wang's hotel is going nowhere and that was really what I staked my belief on that the club would never leave, with the simple fact the Nassau Coliseum has to be replaced or repaired and someone eventually has to pay for it.

For a long time here I have been pushing the notion, no one entity or side wanted to be the one to say no and take blame whether it be Suozzi, Mangano, Wang, Murray, TOH.

Now the public can do that for everyone thanks to Ed Mangano.

An easy out to lose the team without getting blamed.

Maybe if this passes on 8/1 the legislature kills it anyway just to defeat Mangano/Republicans so it could go that way with one side getting blamed.

Obviously if this passes 8/1, the democratic legislature will challenge the legitimacy of the vote being done in August as a built-in excuse to reject it or the hundred foot wall called NIFA will kill it for sure.

Perhaps reading all the comments out of Atlanta about low attendance, poor fan support shook me a bit because I have never seen the NHL abandon a market in a modern facility this quickly. This was not Bettman's call (his BOG can only approve/reject a sale/relocation which they will approve to make relocation fees) because the NHL does not own the franchise (unlike Phoenix) but this does open the proverbial box which sets future trends.

I feel so horrible for those folks in Atlanta. ASG was not some individual who simply could not afford to operate a franchise, they simply only wanted to run the Atlanta Hawks, to relocate that team this quickly sets a horrible precedent.

As for the New York Islanders, a franchise near the bottom in attendance for twenty plus years, with no home media support, an owner approaching seventy, in the NHL's second oldest facility, who had every plan rejected to save the team who may finally have his plan rejected by the public themselves?

Sure the teams history should have made them bullet proof for the same reasons NYC never let the taxpayers decided any other teams future.

At that point it's more than fair for Charles Wang to say I've done all I can, the people have spoken and the support is simply not there for this franchise to have a future here.

Mangano made the Islanders future a public decision, so once he has his out why would he drag himself back in or force Wang to stay?

Sure the opposite can happen, Charles Wang digs in even harder, takes his Comcast/NBC/Winnipeg Relocation money and see if a new CBA brings him revenue sharing?

Still, Wang may come to realize why am I bothering if the public support is not there for my efforts and hundreds of million lost on a team I did not even follow when it was winning Stanley Cups?

I'm not entirely sure on Smg lease, Wang is on record he will honor it, but who knows if Mangano lets him out if this fails. Until I read otherwise this is also Scott Rechler's Smg lease to manage the Coliseum until 2015.

I know the LH Project gave Wang an immediate lease out if Nassau could not reach a lease agreement after TOH/Lighthouse approval, but that's not the current plan.

I want to believe my earlier entry a rejection will lead to the eventual compromise that will produce an arena agreement. I'm not sure I can after today because the legislature was ready to stop this before it even began.

Do these politicians care enough to even bothering looking ahead to seeing what the loss of this franchise means? I's obvious we would not be here today if they did.

Keep waiting, push vote back, let others bid on land. Same junk as late 90's, except Judy Jacobs is now on other side.

Today was just a terrible day. Hopefully Charles Wang sitting there had a good reason to be smiling that none of us know about.

Next entry for the first time is going to put the spotlight on our fans and the teams support, no punches will be pulled.



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Updated: Anders Nilsson signed/Islander Notables/Looking Ahead

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Updated 6pm:
Islanders website: Report goaltender Anders Nilsson has been signed to a three year entry level contract.

See twitter for link: Nilsson received a max contract, the highest awarded since lockout ended for a third round pick, and will be in North America next season per his agent.

NYIFC Comments:
That puts Nilsson, Koskinen and Poulin in Bridgeport with Montoya, Nabokov and DiPietro in New York. A lot of surgery/injury among current Islander goaltender ranks, but a signing that had to be done this summer or rights of a high draft pick would have been lost.

ITV: Released Doug Weight's complete press conference.

XM: Had an interview with Kyle Okposo on his new contract, Doug Weight and other items.

Will be toning down blog entries or posting them via twitter. NYIFC is supposed to be more of a blog that's an extension of it's twitter page. It has been a very busy stretch so more has been written here lately.

Setting the agenda:
NYIFC is a hockey blog, not a political blog. Entries have been written on the politics behind this, so from here on we're not going that deep into the political end of things, the recent/past archives have plenty on the Coliseum issue.

The order can suddenly change depending on sudden signings, trades or organizational changes. Bridgeport needs a head coach. RFA/UFA have to be signed or qualified and prospects have to be signed.

Seems every day something is happening, it was not this active during games.

1. The Memorial Cup and Casey Cizikas has to be signed by 5/31. St Michaels Majors plays semi-finals Friday night against Kootenay.

Toronto Sun: Terry Koshan had his usual issues with the Islanders, but Casey Cizikas comments on signing with the club on Wednesday.

2. 5/31 is the next Nassau County legislature chance to vote for a referendum vote happening in August, after last week who knows if that will be delayed again?

Instead of waiting on twitter updates/articles from this blog/wherever go to NassauCounty.ny.iqm2.com and simply watch meeting/hearing/vote live for yourselves.

3. After that no doubt more financial articles and spin in Cablevision's newspaper and a ton of rhetoric both ways. You know where this blog stands on these items, Mangano/politics/ect.

4. Draft updates/possible signings or qualifying offers to RFA or UFA. NYIFC has opened it's draft sections here and at the prospect blog.

As for UFA The Province: Zenon Konopka's comments on Trevor Gillies, and other subjects.

Notables:
It's great the Islanders locked up Grabner, Okposo and likely will do so with their other RFA. The backloaded contracts speak a great deal to Charles Wang's time as owner whether a Coliseum referendum passes and receives approvals or not.

Charles Wang may not be around to pay those players for a lot of reasons, he will be seventy two come final year of those deals.

It also has to be written who is going to buy this team from him if he becomes in effect, the next Smg with a lot of the property/hotel revenue going to him? It's obvious around the NHL simply owning the building and getting all event revenue is not enough to make owning a team self-sustaining, even when it's new.

When details come out from credible media (source free) with direct quotes regarding financing there will be more to read, not before.
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My initial reaction was taken aback when Doug Weight was assigned assistant coach/assistant to the gm. I wanted a reaction from Jack Capuano, who is now the full time head coach who has Scott Gordon's staff. Sometimes a general manager/coach relationship goes south which could be a problem for someone in that mix if Weight is in the middle which his role clearly suggests.

Doug Weight is as visible and respected a figure as there is in hockey. If there was an issue he would be outspoken so I do not foresee a problem here. Weight will not pull punches.

Previous assistant's to Garth Snow seemed very peripheral or not much detail was brought out or confirmed by articles vs what was advertised. If Weight will be behind the bench for every game we will see. Weight's efforts regarding pp at end of last season failed as someone behind the bench with a lot of injuries in a limited body of work.
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If a job is available elsewhere for Scott Gordon, he should be let out of his contract immediately. If one is available here, and he wants it, he should be retained.
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Put no stock on players invited to draft party who are UFA, some can be retained, others let go.
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The silence is deafening out of Atlanta and very sad for their fans. If ASG can own and pay for the Hawks, they can pay for and operate the Thrashers, it's not the NHL's call until they have a sale to approve or reject.

Bill Daly's comment about Seattle were unexpected for a deputy commissioner who is usually guarded with his statements.
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Tsn.ca: Absolutely hit a home run adding former referee, Kerry Fraser. His work is fresh, ground-breaking and comes from a hockey viewpoint few can relate to. I loved his story about Al Arbour and every entry is very good where we learn things.

No, that site does not have hockey centric rss and badly needs a redesign.

Tsn.ca: On the other side of that coin is Scott Cullen, who refused to acknowledge the Islanders 600+ man games lost to injury when we discussed them, but defended the Blues, John Davidson for not spending and cited injury several times when going through players.

NYIFC Comments:
All I ever ask is the playing field be level for all teams in viewpoints. If Scott Cullen wants to do thirty team reviews and he writes the Islanders season was over by the time Andrew MacDonald got hurt, of course I'm going to point out the club was 4-1-2, in first place when he got hurt in October.

If that bothers him to where he is defensive about it, that says something about his viewpoint not being informed, fair or objective.

Sorry.




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Atlanta 2, New York 1: Not liking this teams effort for six straight games

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Atlanta Journal Constitution: Has game recap of New York's 2-1 loss to Thrashers.
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The New York Islanders are not mathematically eliminated, they had a lot of days off in Florida before coming home to play tonight.

They have not come close to a sixty minute effort or an A game for a while.

I know over eighty two games, teams have clunkers, what happened against Atlanta tonight goes back to previous five games where you could see the skating, passing and play drop significantly, despite the wins/shootout/overtime games.

I also understand they had a few pp goals on the road, they also showed a lot of the poor trends with the man advantage Atlanta handily exploited tonight, dominating the puck and pinning the Islanders in their own end.

Only Atlanta being frankly a struggling team themselves, with Montoya's goaltending kept this from being 5-1 or worse. Sure Montoya turned his pad into the net on Schremp's goal which was brutal and the same goal he allowed in his Buffalo debut.

There is winning ugly, and playing to build something that's a formula for long term success. Beating the struggling Lightning, Panthers with sporadic good moments is not the team we were watching earlier.

If the Islanders played like the team that defeated Boston, St Louis, took forty shots and had pressure all over Atlanta and lost 2-1, credit the other goalie.

In the context of one game, tonight is no problem.

Six games in a row something's missing.

Some individuals had some good moments against Atlanta, especially fourth line, however shots against reflected game/skating/effort tonight. Atlanta was a team with four days rest, coming off an 8-2 still with playoff hopes, two points ahead of New York going into tonight.

Where was the Islanders playoff desperation tonight, or really for the last six games? Jack Caupauno can talk about long road trips but it was three games on road with a lot of days off.

The 6-1 losses are going to be happening soon via Flyers, Devils & Rangers if this team does not raise their game significantly. If I were deciding on players or the interim head coach status this is where I want to see if this team how hard this team is willing to compete down to game eighty two.

Clunkers? Sure, all teams have them.

Six games of ok to fair/poor efforts is not convincing me.

Easy from a keyboard to coach, tonight was the night to see Capuano do a little line juggling in my estimation to shake up some players.

Buffalo's number to eliminate New York stands at three/Sabres have games in hands and wins tie-breaker.

Streit not to return this season, draft pick Brian Day in Bridgeport on ATO, along with several other players per Ct Post.

NYIFC Comments:
Bridgeport was eliminated last Saturday, Day is a prospect who has to be signed upon graduation. From what I'm reading Anders Nilsson's team is in playoffs (Nilsson and team doing very well) so he likely will not be making a cameo on an ATO as we saw with Kevin Poulin or others.

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Atlanta 2, New York 1 Overtime

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All you'll see is the 13th straight headlines but it does not tell the story of this one. Atlanta was rested, at home and just came off blowing out Washington, and for a good part of this game they were outworked.

New York played well, they missed chances, hit post or were robbed, but were getting to the net.

Atlanta was forced into a time out in the third and they had Thrashers scrambling and they did it with in back to back games with only five defenders after the first period.

New York skated well, and were creating chances five on five, they even showed a little speed. Grabner was moving very well, Comeau also.

If not for the hand pass goal to make it 1-1, New York wins 1-0, that was just a terrible non-call.

DiPietro was very good in goal.

No complaints with their effort, they work like that on Wednesday they have a real chance to earn two points, saw some good signs today.

Howie Rose is Cablevision's employee, he works for Msg and James Dolan, just like Goring does, and Billy Jaffe did. His unprofessional conduct and explanation for it is fine, but the New York Islanders should not have to tolerate his frustrations/technical issues/whatever, regardless of what Msg pays them to bury most games on their network.

Not calling for his dismissal because of today, that would be for years worth of issues here that have nothing to do with Sunday's game in of itself.

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Islander News Articles 1/30

Newsday: Greg Logan's game recap reports Islander head coach Scott Gordon did not even wait to hear a reporters question about earlier blown leads before launching into what the Newsday beatwriter calls a rant who wanted to talk about his team getting five points in it's last three games and his young players.

Kyle Okposo also comments about his third period who credited Comeau and Bailey for their play-making.


NYI Fan Central Comments:
I thought Scott Gordon was under the weather during his post-game, apparently he got a bit annoyed beyond Msg+ postgame.

I will put up the video when/if ITV has it.

Was he upset with Mr Logan, C.J Papa, Mike Knobler, AP/CP reporter?
George Henry had an AP entry.

Safe bet Times, Post and Daily News were not in Atlanta.

All I know is Newsday has played up the third period blown leads all season, if the Islanders were the Knicks I wonder if the perception created and theme would have been the same if their prospects won the game in similar fashion?

This is why teams needs more than one beat reporter/newspaper. You need competition between papers/professional writers for scoops/information and if things get tense in interviews the papers/reporters not involved usually will report the story and play no favorites.

Remember Barry Baum vs John Vanbiesbrouck back in 2001 here or the Ranger beat writers ganging up on a Toronto radio personality last season?

One thing for sure, if Newsday is the issue here the staff will make sure to gang up on the Islanders with no response from the club.

Good for Scott Gordon, this team has been in a lot of close games lately and have not had the third period theme surface for a while, the kids and the win did deserve to be the story.

Newsday: Greg Logan in a late blog entry had comments from Josh Bailey and Kyle Okposo about how their line played under pressure with the focus on the third period they produced.

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Mike Knobler's coverage points out the Thrashers moved closer to the Islanders for 30th seed and a better chance at Tavares in the game recap.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Dave Molinary reports on former Islander Miroslav Satan who has one goal in eighteen games after a good start for Pittsburgh with his comments along with gm Ray Shero and head coach Michel Therrien.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio has Jeremy Colliton's comments on returning to the lineup for Friday's game against Hartford with head coach Jack Capuano's comments.

New York 5, Atlanta 4

Sports Network & Associated Press: Recaps New York's 5-4 win against the Thrashers in Atlanta.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Did you really expect it to be easy?

Islanders played a game in Atlanta last February, they led 3-0/4-3 and needed an overtime goal to finally win which was their last stand in 07-08. We all know how the earlier game in Atlanta played out with the Islanders blowing a 3-1 lead, losing 4-3.

Atlanta is around the top ten in league scoring and dead last in goals allowed, these are the kind of hockey games they play which is why we see so many wild games especially when they play in Atlanta.

The 2008-09 New York Islanders are not built for that kind of hockey game, they are built for the Atlanta team that came out to start this game who were terrible in all three zones. Thrashers did not backcheck, skate or win the puck and got some brutal goaltending from Kari Lehtonen.

The stick-check from Bailey and pass to Okposo for his early goal was amazing, the key third period play where Comeau fed Bailey who found Okposo was another beauty with the game in the balance.

Okposo beyond his goals simply looked dominating at times the way he was driving the net and backchecking which Billy Jaffe did a fine job illustrating at one point. I think that was the best overall game in his young career.

This combined with some of Frans Nielsen's plays are what Garth Snow's plan should be about along with every feed Mark Sreit can set up his teammates which is why Trent Hunter opened the scoring.

Thrashers were so poor in the first it easily could have been six or seven goals, Bill Guerin hit a post, a few other chances down low, Weight finally banged in a rebound.

Yann Danis made that big save on Kovalchuk to close the first but as soon as the second opened Atlanta started skating and taking the play at the Islanders who did not score on some key powerplays that could have put the game away.

Islanders offense dried up in the second aside from a few spurts and they had only three shots in the third not counting Hunter's post. Without Danis strong play they do not win here despite the four goals which he did not have much chance on beyond the Reasoner goal where Martinek lost his man but blocked what looked like an open net for Peverly shortly afterward.

Brendan Witt was good in this game again, Kovalchuk hit him and he got the worst of it. That extra step is clearly visible in his skating. Saw a solid game from the rest of the defenders.

So what happened in the third? Atlanta does what their record says they can do, skate and score some goals in bunches. One outside shot, you could see the 4-2 goal coming as soon as Gervais-Comeau failed to finish and were caught. Long time since I have seen a goal and a penalty, Park had it called on him.

Martinek lost Reasoner.

Finally Atlanta gambled and lost, Comeau to Bailey to Okposo was just an amazing setup. Nielsen drew a powerplay after that to take off the pressure.

Scott Gordon or the assistants seemed to make it hard on the Islanders at the end.

Why is Jackman-Hilbert-Thompson this teams go-to players in the final minutes of a close game? Nielsen, Okposo did not get on the ice until the final ten seconds.

We saw this same strategy against Anaheim in the final minute.

Not a ton of impact from the new veteran line tonight in their shifts after the first period. Weight had his goal and some early shots, Comrie had a partial breakaway early but little else.

They faded in the third with the rest of the team.

Someone is going to have to explain to me why Richard Park is in Jeff Tambellini's spot and what becomes of him and Comrie when Bergenheim returns?

Jackman plays with a ton of heart, is mildly effect at times with the puck and brings grit (tonight he had a goal) but seeing him against a superstar like Kovalchuk in the final minutes is just a bad strategy and the same goes for a fringe player like Thompson.

It's things like this that make me wonder about this coach. You are not trusting your franchise prospects or letting a Guerin-Weight decide the game. I'm not sure what this is.

Ok, the Islanders finally got a twenty first century road win (not counting NHL overtime point in Buffalo) which would have been a tie in 72-73 and have gained five of the last six points.

They have been better than competitive. I wanted the shutout for Danis but he'll have to settle for another win.

New York at Atlanta 1/29 7pm Msg+

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Mike Knobler in his blog reports the difference in the standings between the Isles and Thrashers record right now is the head to head games with Atlanta 3-0.

Updated Player Pos Injury Expected Return
01/20/09 Garnet Exelby D Leg IR. Out until at least late January
01/27/09 Jim Slater C Shoulder Questionable for Jan. 29


NYI Fan Central Comments:
Atlanta played and lost in Dallas 2-0 on Tuesday. I would expect Kari Lehtonen to get the start here who did not play the earlier games.

Atlanta has Ilya Kovalchuk, White, Kozlov, Little, Hanisey & Amrstrong and despite the Thrashers record can put up a four or five goal game. The Islanders do not have this element.

That game the Islanders led 3-1 in Atlanta after two periods and lost for me was the most frustrating game of the season. Weight, Hunter, Hilbert, Campoli likely in, I guess McLean, Hillen are not recalled while Sim and someone else sits out.

Islanders not going to win many games being outplayed as they were against Anaheim, they were playing some low-scoring games and have been more than competitive for a while now.

Rust has not been a friend to this team all season. This little stretch against Atlanta/Tampa are four point games for the bottom spot.

Updated 5:00pm:
Newsday: Mr Logan in the Islanders Newsday blog reports the lineup has Richard Park on left wing in Jeff Tambellini's spot who apparently will be a scratch while Andy Hilbert goes to the fourth line for Jon Sim while head coach Scott Gordon comments.


NYI Fan Central Comments:
Hilbert has done a fair/good job recently, he should not be sitting so Richard Park, can take his spot or Tim Jackman, Nate Thompson or Andy Hilbert should dress.

Jon Sim should also be dressing also over Jackman.

Last we looked Thompson is not some projected great prospect.

Islander News Articles 1/29

Newsday: Mark Herrmann has comments from former Islander Jean Potvin in an article about comparisons between this team and the 72-73 version because of the current road losing streak.

This article does not take into account an overtime point in Buffalo on December 27th.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
The Islanders and Atlanta Flames were both expansion teams, that version of Atlanta moved to Calgary. Mr Herrmann of course neglects to write that this Islander team has lost over three hundred man games to injury which is a large part of why they are in last place which is why it makes little sense to compare them with an expansion club.

Also the NHL did not have overtime/overtime losses in that era.

Hopefully this is not the only game preview for the paper?

NY Post: Dan Martin has comments from head coach Scott Gordon on his practice lines with Mike Comrie and Doug Weight.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
These writers sure love stamping that Long Island label on everything. Why not just start slapping a New Jersey tag on the football teams or the Bronx, Queens, Manhattan on everyone other club depending on where they play.

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Mike Knobler has the latest on the Thrashers which contains player features about Niclas Havelid and Tobias Enstrom, not 72-73 Flames or anything from Phil Myre who played against the Islanders in the 1980 finals but was part of that club.


NYI Fan Central Comments:
That's how you market players and make them known around the league, the media does features on them. When was the last time Campoli, Gervais or another player received this kind of feature in the local papers?

Players on the Islanders are under-rated in league circles, local media cannot put that on the arena but themselves.

Metro Daily News: Ken Hamwey has an interview with former Islander coach Peter Laviolette about what's next for him as he plays the waiting game and reflects on his time with the Islanders and other teams he coached.

Nanaimo Bulletin: Reports former Islander Bill Smith, Cliff Ronning will be part of the Old-timers’ Hockey Challenge goes Tuesday (Feb. 3) in Nanaimo.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
Smitty and Ronning are playing more hockey these days than a lot of Islanders on the current roster.

Gopher Sports: Reports Islander prospect Aaron Ness collected four assists for Rookie of the Week honors for the his second league award in three weeks after taking defensive honors after his tournament MVP award at the Dodge Holiday Classic.