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.
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.
