N.Y. Islanders: No Rest for the Weary; Complicated Off-Season Ahead

From the desk of:  FIVE FOR FLATBUSH

Hockey Thing One

VS.

Hockey Thing Two

Where do we go from here?  

And by we, I do mean Brooklyn and Long Islanders.

I - Brooklyn's Foster Hockey Club

Hello Islanders fans.  Sorry it didn't work out.

If you are a regular rider of this blog I call The Trolley, then you know I've been a Rangers fan since the mid to late 1970s.  In turn, that once made you my enemy.  But I'm much older now, and no longer harbor such anger within me.

Above all, mine is a Brooklyn-centric blog, and so I think I've handled the Islanders very fairly.  I just call it as I see it without dumping a cooler of Rangers Hate-o-Rade all over them.  In fact, I feel I've been quite supportive, and even suggested the Smurfs Rangers could have learned a thing or two from the Isles.

I hope you'll agree.

I still say this team belongs in Long Island - not Brooklyn.  Understandably, they did not necessarily move to Flatbush Avenue by choice.  So when the residents of Nassau County voted down the final arena proposal, I temporarily named the Islanders portion of this Trolley - Brooklyn's Foster Hockey Club.

Once they settled into Barclays Center, I changed over to - Five For Flatbush - because I thought it would acknowledge the team's toughness, pay tribute to their previous history and the pursuit of a fifth Stanley Cup, and incorporate their arrival on Flatbush Avenue, all in one title.

The old Brooklyn Americans only practiced in Brooklyn.  They never played NHL games here.   Therefore, the first NHL regular season and first Stanley Cup playoffs in Brooklyn history are now officially a matter of record.

The Islanders last won a playoff series back in 1993, or 23 years ago - pick your poison.  But with their first round victory over the Florida Panthers, Brooklyn is now vested in this too..


II - Charles Wang isn't leaving the building, but he'll be occupying a much smaller office.

Upon assuming ownership of the Islanders, Charles Wang's first challenge was restoring a demoralized fan base's faith in the aftermath of the Mike Milbury, Stephen Walsh, and the utterly ponderous Jon Spano era.

Wang seemingly tried as best he could keeping them in Long Island, but ultimately lost tens of millions of dollars floating them until faced with no other alternative but to move the team out of Uniondale.  A sadly outdated coliseum, the doomed Lighthouse project, Nassau County bureaucrats, and a justifiably overburdened and fed up tax base, all seemingly conspired against him.

Right?

By his own doing, Charles Wang will now take a back seat as a minority owner, while new majority owners Jon Ledecky and Scott Malkin take over the helm.

The $99,000 dollar question is what will their personal ideas be for the Islanders?  Will they decide playing in Barclays Center is an untenable situation, and therefore pursue relocating out of the metropolitan area all together?  Or will they continue tolerating their present condition, and just stay?

Then there's the matter of branding.  Is there such a thing as dual identity?  How long will new ownership continue with this split personality?

After four consecutive Stanley Cup championships, the Islanders traditional jersey is still iconic.   Should they opt to stick with it full time, unchanged, they'd be completely within their right.   Flatbush, after all, is still terra firma of Long Island Proper.  There's no real need to change the name, or re-brand for that matter.

But they did just that ... kinda.

The question, then, is will they take an additional step forward, above and beyond the black/white BKLN alternate uniform, and embrace a larger allegiance to Brooklyn, and market themselves as such?

I noticed no attempt by the Islanders to wear their Brooklyn alternative uniform during the playoffs.

That's fine - correct even.  I'm just saying...


III - Garth Snow

Will Garth Snow move forward with the organization, or will new ownership opt to go in a new direction?

Whoever the general manager is, he or she will have major financial decisions to make with regards to Kyle Okposo and Matt Martin.  Among the Islanders soon-to-be free agents, I consider them indispensable.

Afterward, who knows if new ownership is interested in resetting the team's spending limits.  That remains to be seen.  What the Islanders do have is prospects, which they should consider moving a few for more established players.

The Islanders posted back-to-back 100-point seasons.  There's still time to keep this together and win. But they're two quality players short.  Re-Sign Okposo and find both him and John Tavares a quality line compliment.  Then either bolster the 2nd/3rd line, or add a bruising, reliable stay-home defenseman.


IV - So What Happened?

Hard to say....

By Game Five, the damage had been done.  Through Game Four, the Isles had been outscored by an 11-14 margin.  Here's the best way I can explain the 3 goal differential:

• Jon Cooper pulled the goalie late in Game Three, and Tampa tied with just 0:38 left in regulation, then won in overtime.

• In Game Four, Tampa tied the game in the 3rd, and send a second consecutive game into overtime.

• The rest, as they say is history.

Now for the painfully obvious - despite playing without Steven Stamkos and Anton Stralman, the Lightning still won the series by a decisive 4-1 margin.

In hindsight, I'm still not sure where debating Thomas Greiss versus Jaroslav Halak may lead.   Thomas Greiss was screened on far too many shots by Lightning skaters, and that's exactly why I'm not up to having the Jaroslav Halak debate.  Refer instead back to Garth Snow, and on-ice lapses
in effective traffic control.

What I do know is the Islanders continually gave up back breaking goals within the final two minutes of a period.  Two overtime losses in Brooklyn?  Don't know what to say about those either, other than the Isles actually did a lot of things right.  But once you get into overtime ... pffff!  The original misstep occurs in regulation.

Here's another item I refuse to tackle - as John Tavares goes, so go the Isles.  This is no time for finger pointing.  We know who the contributors were, and who the under performers were.  My only answer to that, again, is ... see Garth Snow.

One thing is certain, and they proved it again, the Islanders had the best 4th forward line in all of hockey.  They should look into keeping them together.  They're a tremendous asset most NHL teams can not handle.

N.Y. Islanders: Why Charles Wang Should Sell Now

From the desk of:  BROOKLYN'S FOSTER HOCKEY CLUB

GM Garth Snow's Gamble Backfired Miserably

NEW YORK ISLANDERS: Charles Wang Can Recoup A Decade Worth Of Financial Loss With One Fat Check.  He'd Be Stupid Not To Sell.

Recent reports suggest that Islanders owner Charles Wang, who has lost countless millions of dollars keeping the Islanders afloat for the last decade, is open to selling a majority stake in the team.  The timing of this scuttlebutt seems odd.  Why now?

Yet, the news is still reasonable to believe.  Although the shift to Brooklyn is still a full season away, there is little doubt the move will greatly improve the team's overall situation.  However, in signing a 25-year lease, the Islanders will continue playing as tenants in someone else's building.

There's the rub.

While Charles Wang might have indeed brokered a deal to ensure the continued operation of the Islanders by relocating them, I believe the move to Brooklyn only enhances Charles Wang's personal net gain by a marginal value.

His proposals to pay for, and construct the Lighthouse Project in Long Island were put down long ago, first by the local legislature, then reaffirmed by a vote of local taxpayers.  Now, with Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark having secured the deal to renovate Nassau Coliseum, Charles Wang's window of opportunity to build his own arena within the greater metropolitan area has officially passed.

In fact, when you consider the Nets and Devils no longer play at IZod Center, and after next season Nassau Coliseum will become empty, there's already a glut of unsuitable arenas.  Mr. Wang now has every businessman's reason to excuse himself from the local sports scene.

Even after having gained a measure of resolution with the move to Brooklyn, Charles Wang nevertheless apparently seems done with a very lengthy ordeal.

The situation on the ice has additionally taken another step back.  This year's regular season's results may have even hasted Mr Wang's willingness to entertain such an exit.  Therefore, why not sell, and recoup a decade worth of losses with one easy transaction?

In any event, the time to hold people accountable is at hand.

Over the previous two seasons, Long Island sported the best forward line of all three local area teams.  Last year, they were one of the top scoring teams within the division, and nearly toppled the Pittsburgh Penguins in the playoffs.  This year, the team has suffered a precipitous fall, and certainly not because of Coach Capuano.

Garth Snow's gamble to trade Matt Moulson and a pair a draft picks to Buffalo for Thomas Vanek is partly to blame, and wound up backfiring on the GM in the worst way imaginable.  The net result - Isles have no Moulson, no Vanek, and are minus a #1 pick in the next draft.  What Garth Snow needed to address was a suspect defense, and upgrading the goal tending situation.  He instead, depleted his resources, and compromised the short term fortunes of the club.

Hiring Garth Snow, who lacked any practical experience as a front office executive, was a worthwhile experiment.  I'm not out to lambaste a risky appointment, but merely suggest, it is time for the Islanders to broaden their horizons, and seek out a more experienced, and savvy general manager.

In the broader picture, Garth Snow was merely Charles Wang's latest attempt at trying to recover what is increasingly looking like an unrecoverable operation.  I find no fault with either man.  A combination of the still lingering wreckage left behind by Mike Milbury operating under destructive ownership, a fast deteriorating and out of date arena, and the political situation in Long Island have conspired against Mr. Wang's efforts for a decade.

A fresh approach may indeed be in order for the Islanders sake.  Perhaps the move to Brooklyn should be accompanied by an entirely new slate of ownership and front office personnel, who can approach hockey operations with the advantage of being once removed from the organizational meltdown Charles Wang was left to rebuild.

When you get to the heart of the matter, this has been a fruitless process for him.




Mike.BTB

Devils vs. Islanders - IV

From the desks of:   THE BROAD STREET DEMONS  &  BROOKLYN's FOSTER HOCKEY CLUB

Saturday Night Hockey

 

New Jersey Devils

vs.

New York Islanders

From

Long Island, N.Y.

 

 

Devils lead Series 2-1

I - NJD 2; NYI 1

II - NYI 5; NJD 4*

III - NJD 3; NYI 0

*overtime

New Jersey Devils - David Clarkson and Patrick Elias Continue Giving Atlantic Division Hell.


Friday night, David Clarkson continued his assault upon the Atlantic Division.  At 10:43 of he third period, his redirection goal put the Devils ahead 4-3, after falling behind 3-1 to Philadelphia in the first period.  Travis Zajac opened all scoring just 0:40 seconds into the game.  Then Philly scored three unanswered goals before the period was through.  The Flyers took eleven first period shots against Martin Brodeur.  However, Brodeur regrouped, and kept Philly off the scoreboard the rest of the way.


Just 0:26 after dropping the puck on the second period, Alexi Ponikarovsky made it a 3-2 game.  At 15:40 into the period, Patrick Elias scored his fourth goal of the season to tie the game at three all.  Ilya Kovalchuk assisted on all three Devils goals.  In the second period, Martin Brodeur faced another eleven shots, with far better results.


Midway through the third period, David Clarkson struck for his club leading tenth goal of the season.  With a minute and a half left in the game, Steve Bernier put a feather in the Devils cap with his fourth goal of the season.  Patrick Elias picked up two assists in the period.


Philly out-shot the Devils by a 28-19 margin.  David Clarkson led the Devils with six shots on goal in twenty four shifts.  With three points on the night, Patrick Elias now leads the Devils with eighteen points, and fourteen assists.  The Devils have three forwards with double digit points.


The Devils are now 9-2-3 for the season, and winners of six of their last seven games.  They still lead the Atlantic Division with twenty one points; one point better than Pittsburgh; and own the best goal differential in the division.  Martin Brodeur won his seventh game of the season, and the 663rd of his career.


B'Klyn/New York Islanders - Rumor; Wang Wants To Sell Team.


On Saturday, the New York Post reported owner Charles Wang might possibly be selling the team.  This latest development comes on the heals of the Islanders not being able to secure an arena deal in Nassau County, and announcing the team will move to Brooklyn to play in Barclays Center beginning with the 2015-2016 season.  The club has not commented.  But why shouldn't he sell?  The Islanders have lost/cost him a fortune to operate.  One man can only take so much.  With his hopes to build the Lighthouse Project in Nassau County long extinguished, there really is no reason for him to hold onto the team anymore.


On the ice, the Isles snapped a five game losing streak Thursday night, with a comeback, shootout victory over the New York Rangers.  The Rangers jumped out to an early 2-0 first period lead.  But the Islanders stormed back in the second period to take a 3-2 lead.  John Tavares scored the tying goal.  In shootout, he beat Marty Biron for the game clincher.  John Tavares has eight goals and eight assists to lead the team.


The Islanders are 5-7-1 (11 points) this season, and currently occupy last place in the Atlantic Division; ten points behind the Devils.



Mike.BTb

New York Islanders: No Seats Till Brooklyn

NEW YORK ISLANDERS:

Owner Charles Wang Checks Long Island Into The Boards.

Team Moving To Brooklyn For 2015 Season.

After months of speculation, it's official, the Islanders are coming to Brooklyn.  The announcement was made this Wednesday afternoon.  After years of wrangling with Nassau County over a new arena, club owner Charles Wang is pulling the team from Uniondale when his lease with the Nassau Coliseum expires.  He will be relocating them to Barclays Center, where Mr. Wang just signed a twenty five year lease to play beginning with the 2015 season.


Let me first say, the Islanders belong in Uniondale playing for the fans of Long Island.  Period!  I'd much rather see them stay there, than move...here.  The failure of Nassau County to reach an agreement with Charles Wang on his Lighthouse Project, or at a minimum, a new arena is a shortsighted mistake repeated throughout the country.  The matter did go to a vote, and was defeated.  I for one am not telling Long Islanders how to spend their tax dollars.  They pay enough as it is.  But how many towns and cities wound up building an arena after their teams split town, in an effort to entice a new one into returning?  Atlanta, Minnesota, Winnipeg, Colorado, Quebec, for whatever their failures, are available examples.


Furthermore, whether directly or indirectly, the dilapidated state of the Coliseum falls squarely on the county.  And it should not go under spoken that Charles Wang was not looking for public funding throughout the process.  Several of his proposals (not all) would have been privately financed.  It was the county which made the final proposal for a new arena plus a new minor league baseball park.  That's what was put to a vote, and that's the project that ultimately got voted down.  In order to move forward as an organization, the owner needed arena certainty.  So to Brooklyn they will come.


As part of his interview Wednesday on local radio 98.7ESPN, Charles Wang said new locker rooms would have to be built, and that on one far end of the arena, there are obstructed seats issues.  Reconfigured, Barclays holds 14,500 for hockey.  Mr. Wang said their are preliminary plans for adding as many as 1,000 more seats for hockey.  In either case, even the Commissioner would admit capacity at Barclays is a bit below league standards.


Despite that minor detail, the metropolitan area should be a three hockey team town as it has been since the New Jersey Devils arrived from Colorado thirty years ago.  Quite obviously, the Rangers dominate the landscape.  But the rivalries have been good for the Islanders and Devils respectively.  What is ironic about the arrangement however is the Devils have won three Stanley Cups since their arrival, and of course the Islanders dynasty of the 1980's is the stuff of legend.  In the face of seven Stanley Cups between them, the Rangers have secured one over the same time.


While it may not be any consolation to Long Islanders, the team will still remain in the New York metropolitan area (including Long Island), and thus accessible to most fans.  This relocation sure beats a more distant move to far off places like Kansas City who built a brand new arena and have been trying to secure a team.  And for argument sake, what about towns like Seattle, Cleveland, Milwaukee, and others?


Charles Wang also announced the team will not re-brand, and will remain the New York Islanders.  And that's where I draw the line.  Had the club changed their identity, sure, I would have bought a jersey and attended a few games.  None of that would have interfered with me being a Rangers fan.  But if they are setting up camp in Brooklyn, only to remain the New York Islanders?  Fuhgeddaboudit!  They will have no fan in me.  I'm in no particular hurry to see their Stanley Cup banners and retired numbers hang from the Barclays rafters either.  Potvin Still Sucks as far as I'm concerned.  However, this will be interesting to say the least.  Having said that, I'm glad at least the team will stay in the area, and the Rangers versus Islanders rivalry will continue.


On a separate note, having the name Islanders and their team logo disappear from Hockey's landscape would have been a shame as well.  I don't have to like the team, but I will admit the Islanders logo; the Long Island graphic with the NY; is one of the most iconic logos in the NHL.  Who ever designed it, nailed it.




Mike.BTB

Nassau County Drops the Puck, and the Baseball

Nassau County Residents Vote NO!

Strike Down Spending Proposal On New Arena For Islanders and Baseball Field For New Team.

 

No arena for you.  The residents of Nassau County said they're not footing the bill on a new home for the Islanders; nor a new park for Baseball.  The County already has a $100 million dollar budget gap and refused to ante-up another $400 million (...and interest payments) for the dual project.  Already paying some of the most ridiculous property taxes in the country, the people of Nassau said NO by a nearly 60-40 percent vote in what was reported as a very light turn-out.  Rounded off, only 160,000 residents cast a vote Monday.

 

Charles Wang; owner of the Islanders and Long Island resident; went from willing to pay for the entire Lighthouse Project himself; needing only re-zoning approval from the County; to settling on County Executive Edward Mangano's proposal and referendum, to no deal at all.  And while this development doesn't totally close the door on a new arena for the Islanders, it moves the Hockey Club one step closer to leaving the area.  Seattle; Kansas City; and Quebec are all clamouring for NHL Hockey teams.  And without any real hopes for a new arena, Charles Wang has maintained he'd seriously look into moving the team out of Long Island when his lease at Nassau Coliseum expires after the 2015 season.

 

Chances still exist to get a deal on a new arena done.  However, that involves more local politicizing and State approval.  But the sad reality this afternoon remains Hockey on Long Island is staring extinction in the face and the fans on Long Island aren't smiling.

 

Deciding not to pay for a new home for the Islanders now, either way means loss of revenue for Nassau County.  If and when the Islanders move, Nassau County will have a huge hole in their revenues and they'll have to make it up somehow.  Closing a future budget gap might require raising taxes or spending on revenue generating projects.  No?  Heaven forbid Bureaucrats learn how to cut extraneous spending.

 

Just remember, this was the County's plan to have Charles Wang be their tenant in a new arena.  Charles Wang's original plan was to finance everything himself.  But the County Board viewed Wang's plan for an entertainment; retail; residential; and hospitality center; as a land grab of some 77 prime acres in the important area they call "The Hub".  Nassau County filibustered his original plan on LIGHTHOUSE long enough to render his financing plan impotent and dead.

 

In my opinion, it's clear the County is more concerned with controlling the land and making sure Charles Wang signs on as their cash cow instead of encouraging business growth and collecting tax revenues the traditional way.  In the absence of their own viable plan, they're just interested in getting a very healthy piece of someone Else's pie.  Otherwise, the County itself would have entertained bids for responsible development of the area long ago.

 

This may be loose and slipshod to say, but this is a classic case of Capitalism clashing with Socialistic principles; where local gov't wants to control the strings of business enterprise instead of encouraging business, by being relatively unintrusive and collecting proper taxes the business principles of capitalism generates for it's gov't.  Or, you can side with the County and call Wang's plan for the Lighthouse, Entrepreneurship Gone Wild; and screaming for gov't intervention.

 

What this boiled down to for the residents of Long Island wasn't about the Islanders or a new arena.  This was about Nassau County mismanaging their money for a very long time and the residents being sick of it. 

 

Either way, I believe the Nassau County Board has now cornered themselves into a lose-lose situation.  The LightHouse is looking pretty good to them today; isn't it?

 

Talks about the Islanders moving into Brooklyn's Barclays Center will no doubt intensify.  Truth is, word out of Brooklyn originally said the arena could not, and would not host NHL Hockey because of the very limited seating capacity a reconfigured ice-arrangement would afford.  But that has changed over the last year.  Officials out of Barclays Center are indeed hinting the arena can host Hockey games.  So the fact is, Hockey in Brooklyn remains as an albeit, conflicting option.

 

Charles Wang has indicated he will sell the team if necessary.  And rumors persist, Mikhail Prokhorov; majority owner of the Nets; could be a possible buyer of the team and move them to Brooklyn himself.  But as of today, I don't believe those rumors carry much weight.  I think those rumors are more media creations than anything else and I ignore them.

 

The bottom line here is, yesterday's vote was not a good development for Charles Wang; the New York Islanders; their fans; and the residents of Nassau County.

 

...A Shame!

Mike.BTB

N.Y. ISLANDERS ~ Give Nassau County Five For Fighting

New York ISLANDERS:  There's "Light" For A New House After All.  It's up to Nassau County to score a goal for Long Island's Hockey fans now.

Because last week was a little too hectic for me in addition to Blogger being down for a few days, I'm playing catch-up with a few items.  Here's one of the topics I've been meaning to talk about.


The New York Islanders' owner, Charles Wang's Light House project never had life beyond the drawing board.  Those plans are a distant memory now.  As your average Brooklynite, I'm no one to say one way or another how Long Island's Nassau County should conduct their business.  But at face value, here's the part of the latest developments concerning a new arena for the Islanders that for the life of me, I do not understand:

1) -  Charles Wang wanted to fund a much grander plan (named The Lighthouse Project...OK, it was a Monster plan...) incorporating a new Islander's arena along with multiple attractions; residential units; and shopping outlets to make Uniondale a destination more conducive to year-round activity and to also make the Billion dollar-plu$ plan financially feasible to follow through with.  All that Mr. Wang required from Nassau County was to rezone the area as he was willing to fund the entire project himself.  For Nassau County, unlike in Brooklyn where the issue with Atlantic Yards centered around the usage/misuses of Eminent Domain..., Wang's plan was summarily denied by the Nassau County Counsel with a total disregard for the possibility the Islanders easily could relocate once their lease in Nassau Coliseum ends.  Kansas City has a brand spanking new arena merely in search of a tenant.   Quebec, Canada has been clamouring for another team also.  During this past season, about 2,000 Quebec Hockey Fans travelled to Nassau Coliseum for an Islander game and chanting for the team to relocate.  The County's issues had to due with over-congesting this 77-acre site.  In spite of Mr. Wang's admitting the team is losing tens of millions per season, he's always maintained his want is to keep the Islanders in Uniondale and he was willing to do so by taking on full costs to get it done.

2) - With their bullied compromise (currently) allegedly in place and waiting for a vote of approval, what Nassau County is now willing to agree to is floating bonds to the tune of $400 million.... at the expense of Long Island taxpayers to fund not only a new arena, but quite possibly, a new minor league ball park to house a potential future team in the Atlantic League of Baseball.  Now before I discuss that, I'm forced to ask this:

Wang's original proposal hinged on his own, private, and total private financing.  What he failed to get was Municipal cooperation.  So now that Nassau County is satisfactorily feeling like they are calling the shots again, it will now cost the tax-payers even more money on top of the onerous property taxes they already pay to see this project get done.

Where once Long Island could have had a vast entertainment and economic center built, which would have been fully financed by Mr. Wang, (who lacked only one critical element, County Approval to rezone for the 77-acre site) -  The County will now vote on spending taxpayer money for a scaled-down and much blander version far from resembling the original (albeit extravagant) plan.


So, the big question here is ~ Who's the one who thought this was a better plan..., much less a good plan?  That's gov't at work for ya.

Now, as far as that Baseball park, - The idea is not new.  It has been floated around before.  As a matter of fact, the embattled Fred Wilpon; owner of the Mets; was a one time interested principle in an idea to bring the Mets' AA operation to Long Island.  This new plan for a team in Nassau County would create a natural and much closer rival for the Long Island Ducks team in Islip.  The Atlantic League is in search for an eighth, stable franchise group to join the League.  The League currently maintains an all road team for the purposes of fielding eight teams and keeping schedule integrity.

Can Nassau County draw 5,000 fans a night in an overly saturated Baseball market?

I'd go.


Mike.BTB