NHL 12 & Islanders rookie game!

For you gamers out there, the demo for NHL 12 came out last week. It is a solid game & I would recommend you down loading the demo if you haven't already. The full game is set to come out two weeks from yesterday which is also the date of the Islanders rookie game vs Boston rookies at the Coliseum.

Admission for that game is free if you have season tickets & if you don't its a ten dollar donation to the Islanders Childrens Foundation. If you have season tickets, you will receive vouchers in the mail for this game according to my ticket rep. I would think you would receive them within the next week or so, but honestly I don't know.

Potential Isles camp invites?

According to Katie Strang, the following four guys could be potential camp invites for the Islanders as training camp opens in a little under two weeks.

1) Chris Clark - Former Capitals captain, ex teammate of Jurcina, would be a solid player for Bridgeport & would be solid depth

2) Bryan McCabe - Is he ideal? Nope, however the team is better with him then without him in my opinion so a camp invite would be far from the worst thing in the world.

3) Sergei Samsonov - For a camp invite he wouldn't be bad, however he has more left in the tank then Clark does and would get top 9 minutes. So unless a trade is in the works which I don't believe it is, I don't see how Samsonov fits on the team.

4) Jay Pandolfo - Devil lifer, in a similar boat to Clark, again be a solid player for Bridgeport & would make good depth.

Katie Strang confirmed the Isles had talked to Pandolfo & Samsonov, however she doesn't think Samsonov would take an invite & would want a contract because hes coming off a 40 point season. She has yet to confirm contact on the the other two however.

http://twitter.com/#!/KatieStrangNYI/status/108546288441761792

Will Josh Bailey be an Islander next year?

This morning Katie Strang reported that two of the most pressing things the Islanders need to get taken care of prior to camp are signing both Josh Bailey and Ryan Strome.

She said she expects both to happen quick & has a quote from Baileys agent saying there working hard to try & conclude negotiations.

I personally don't think its a big deal if they don't sign Strome they can let him go back to Juniors, however Bailey is the surprising case. Josh, who although he is a good kid, has been very underwhelming in his peformance in his three year career thus far. Some people believe its because he was rushed which I mostly agree with. However given his pedestrian at best performance its a mystery as to why he didn't just sign his qualifying offer. He isn't in any place to negotiate for more money or anything. I hope were able to sign him by camps start because if we aren't then as per Wangs policy Bailey will not suit up with the team this year. If you remember a few years back that happend to Sean Bergenheim a few years back. The next two-three weeks should be interesting as camp draws closer.

http://mobile.newsday.com/inf/infomo;JSESSIONID=C7E8756A3B7E7F7F1EFC.3133?site=newsday&view=islanders_item&feed:a=newsday_5min&feed:c=islanders&feed:i=1.3128944

Be Safe This Weekend!!!

I just want to tell all readers who are in the path of Hurricane Irene to stay safe this weekend!!

Unless news breaks this will be our last post for the next few days. If news breaks & either of us have power then we will probably post it on the site, otherwise check out our twitters:

http://twitter.com/#!/ScottClinco

http://twitter.com/#!/savetheisles

Be safe everyone!!!!!!!

Hypocritical Neighbors to the South!!!!

Update: Another Pens media memeber has joined the "kill the Islanders" Parade. A guy named Nick who is the host of pensnation radio show & the manager of the site Pensnation.com had the following two tweets to say earlier this afternoon, "Cooke should drop kick Okposo with his skates on" & "If Cooke puts Tavares through the glass and severs Okposos head...I call for a viewing party"

Its amazing these people berated us and our team for lack of class and in consecutive days they have said they want to see certain islander players be killed on the ice. Nice right??

http://twitter.com/#!/PensNation_Nick

If you remember back last week, when it was expected that we would be watching the Islanders VS Penguins brawl game from the 11th of February our team & fan base were berated by many especially from Pit. saying we were celebrating madness & violence and was further evidence of the isles being a second class bush league organization that many feel we are. This charge was mostly led by the guys from thepensblog.com who I have bashed on more then one occasion here, even going as far as bashing an NBC writer for giving them a hat tip in a recent piece.

Earlier this afternoon, a writer for said Penguins site named Derek tweeted, "I hope Cooke comes back and kills John Tavares" So after ripping the Isles and their fans for a week and a half for "celebrating violence" and all the other crap those idiots said, this guy comes and said that he hopes Matt "The Criminal" Cooke comes back from his what turned into 16-17 game suspension and kills John Tavares. Am I the only one who sees the hypocrisy there? If I were an owner of thepensblog website & found out one of my writers said that, I'd getrid of them right on the spot. As a writer for the site he represents the owner & it would piss me off pretty badly if one of my writers said something as stupid & moronic as this guy said not even a week after they went on a mission to get the game at our viewing party changed because they said we were celebrating violence.

A link to the twitter page of thepensblog.com writer who tweeted the quote I mentioned above can be found below. If you would like to let him know what you think of him, feel free to do so:

http://twitter.com/#!/TPBderek

New Isles team store at the Coliseum!!

According to the Islanders official twitter account, there's going to be a new team store at the Coliseum for this season. There has been speculation by fans that its going to be in the box office area. Below you can see a pic of the outside provided by the Isles twitter account:

https://twitter.com/#!/NYIslanders/status/106401867105452032

To me it looks like they used the same statues that used to be outside the store in Broadway Mall before it was closed last winter. I wonder if it will be ready, or at least able to be gone into by the rookie game on September 13th.

It has been far worse.

Seems like the recent new 3rd jersey is just about official so lets start the debate.  You are always going to have opinions coming from both sides but it has been worse.  It may look nice on the boys but 3rd jersey should not mean that much.  Just the Isles trying to make a few bucks from fans buying the new look and perhaps just trying something new.  Why not right?  This new black theme look kills the nightmare of the fisherman.  Lets see how this jersey looks and plays out,  we may start to fall for it.

NOTE:  Whats your thought on again the new banner?  This is here to stay now, thats safe to say.  My buddy was kind enough to make it for us the other day.  Leave a comment or contact us through Twitter, Thanks

The New Look 3rd Jersey

(Sorry To Hurt Your Eyes Readers)

Isles 3rd jersey Confirmed!!

Earlier, someone tweeted me that the new 3rd jersey design was revealed online. After tweeting with him & a few others for a couple minutes one of them told me that it was confirmed that what you'll see on the link below is in fact what the Islanders third jersey will be next season.

http://www.icethetics.info/blog/2011/8/21/new-looks-for-a-new-season.html (Scroll down a little bit and you'll see it)

I personally feel that its kinda weird, I don't see where black or grey fits in, also they don't have the stripes on the sleeves for the cups, & lastly our logo is one thing that is usually like spoken well about around the league compared to other logos, so I don't know why you'd change that.

You know my thoughts, now I want to know yours, would love to read your thoughts on the third jersey in comments.

NBC flubs up again!!

Last week if you remember I did an entry on here, part of which I spent bashing Joe Yeardon an NHL writer for prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com. Today I am doing it for another reason. The same site did an entry on the viewing party last night with a lot of quotes from thechecklingline.com & the entry they wrote wasn't that bad. The thing that annoyed me to no end about their entry was that on the bottom of their entry they gave a hat tip to thepensblog.com.

Those are the same guys if you remember that told me on twitter that an isles viewing party & attendance at said party is a newsworthy item for a Penguins site because its August. Why in the world would be who write for a NATIONAL source give a hat tip to those fools? They are some of the most delusional, obsessed, morons I have ever come into any sort of contact with, and for them to get a hat tip there irks me pretty badly!! Give something like that to people that deserve, not those fools!!

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2011/08/20/how-last-nights-islanders-viewing-party-went-without-the-brawlfest

Average attendance at tonights viewing party!!

Update: When contacted by me on twitter, a co-editor with thepensblog.com told me that attendance at an Isles viewing party was a newsworthy item for his Penguins blog site because its August. So by that logic I should info on the Penguins on my site to because its August, right? Nope, the fact that its August is a really crappy excuse & says to me he didn't know what else today so he said that. I know if I were a Penguins fan that I care a lot more about hearing injury updates on Crosby & progression on Malkin coming back from injury rather then hearing about the attendance at another teams viewing party. But maybe that is just me!!

While I didn't go to the viewing party tonight, thepensblog.com said that there were around 45 people there tonight & a pens fan who is in town for a wedding provided a picture from Champions. Since this number is coming from Pens fans who knows how reliable it is.

The purpose of this entry is, why is the exact number of people who show up at Islander viewing parties a news worthy item on a Penguins blog?? The obsession the people on that blog especially have with the Islanders is well pathetic is saying it lightly. I would love for the people who run thepensblog to comment on this entry & explain why in the world they are so damn obsessed with our team that they consider attendance at one of OUR viewing parties a newsworthy item for their site.

http://www.thepensblog.com/pensblog-news/tpb/45-people-showed-up-for-the-isles-viewing-party.html

Isles & Suffolk to continue discussions after labor day!!

According to Suffolk County executive Steve Levy, the Islanders & Suffolk County will continue discussions on possible relocation of the team there after labor day.

This made some people scratch their heads, however I think the reasoning here is two-fold. Firstly a newsday article around two weeks ago said that Wang was going to be away for a few weeks this month so they will continue discussions after he comes back. Additionally if you remember the task force created by the ABLI for plans for the Coliseum site said they will be sending their ideas for the site in to Ed Mangano around labor day. Continuing their discussions after labor day fits with these two things.

Its like I said in an entry a few days back maybe a week ago, we should hear a lot more on the future of the Coliseum site come labor day, until then hold on to your seats Islanders fans because I am sure the recent news we have heard won't be the last.

http://fios1news.com/longisland/node/6581 (Steve Levy is on for around the first 2:20 give it take talking Islanders)

Isles to Brooklyn gaining steam?

According to netsdaily.com & later confirmed by Katie Strang of Newsday, Bruce Ratner the owner of the Barcalys development in Brooklyn & minority owner of the Nets NBA team & Brett Yormak the CEO of the Barclays development met with NHL officials at the NHL office in NYC yesterday. It is not known if the Isles were discussed in the meeting & someone with knowledge of the situation declined to tell netsdaily.com weather or not to say if an architect accompanied them to the meeting.

I suspect that the Isles were discussed but they want to keep things hush hush right now. That is my own speculation though, have no facts or anything to back it up.

I expected stuff like this to occur but not this soon, the fact that its happening already is in my opinion good because the faster it happens the faster we'll come to a final solution.

http://www.netsdaily.com/2011/8/18/2371754/ratner-yormark-meet-nhl-officials

NHL Makes Isles Cave on Viewing Party!!

If you haven't seen yet, the NHL let the Penguins get their way, once again!! The Islanders have told MSG to not re air the Penguins game tomorrow night for the viewing party, and instead to air the Michael Grabner hat-trick game versus Buffalo which was the next game after this one.

The Islanders employee Kimber who Grabner & Moulson always joke about on twitter said that with all the negative press this party got the team they wanted to put it in the past like Ray Shero said when he was interviewed by Rob Rossi of some Pit paper earlier this week.

I personally think the NHL forced the Islanders hand here a little bit, and that it wasn't a strict Islanders decision. Further, the fact that the Islanders are doing what the NHL/PIT fans, media want instead of doing what their own fans want is disgraceful, and embarrassing!! When are the Islanders as an organization going to stop being the nice guys, and getting rolled over all time and start doing stuff to make their own fans happy. That is what its all about, isn't it??? Its getting old & frustrating & its time the Islanders take a stand!!!

I personally feel as though in two weeks or when ever MSG airs the brawl game that we should all go to Champions and have our own viewing party, there the theme can be screw you Pens!! The bias the NHL shows toward them is disgusting!!!! We can show them they may have put off the viewing party, but there not going to stop us from doing anything!!!

Isles announce training camp schedule!!

Update: As you can see on the schedule on the bottom of the link that I posted Adventureland will be on September 25th this year starting at 9AM. There will be more info to come in the future I am sure.

Today, the Islanders announced their training camp schedule. This year rookies will be reporting on September 10th with two games on September 12th & 13th vs the Bruins rookies. The game on the 13th is the one that is open to the public. The admission for that game is free if you are a season ticket holder otherwise a $10 donation to the Islanders Children's foundation is required. You can view the roster of the rookies playing by clicking the link on the bottom of this entry & scrolling down to the bottom of the page.

The players then report on September 17th with 9/24 being the only preseason game in the Coliseum, however they have a preseason game on October 1st in Bridgeport vs the Bruins. Camp runs through October 5th with the home opener being the 8th & I would think we would see the usual Isles team signing thing at Adventureland on the second but off we will wait til next month when we find out officially.

http://islanders.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=586978&navid=DLNYIhome

Note: We'd also like to send Happy Birthday wishes to Islanders defenseman Travis Hamonic who turned 21 years old today. Happy Birthday Hammer!!

Special Thanks

Like to thank Rachel Minkoff for our new picture.  There is no telling how long or short we will have it up, but the effort and time will never be forgotten.

Follow her on twitter here

NHL to stop Isles from hosting the viewing party??

According to Kevin Allen of USA today, the NHL is going to look into the Islanders promotion of Friday nights viewing party at Champions to watch the re-airing of the Islanders Penguins brawl game from Feb. 11th.

NHL deputy Commissioner Bill Daly had this to say when questioned on the party, "We do not approve of the use, based on what we know."

I personally feel that if the NHL tells the Islanders to not host the party, while that may take away the raffles that doesn't prevent the fans from going to Champions on Friday. I say that if the Islanders aren't allowed to host it that Islander fans still head to Champions on Friday and pack the place & be loud and cheer!! The only way the NHL can stop us from going to Champions to view the game is if they put security outside Champions with orders to not let us in. Do you think they'll do that? I don't!! Tell the NHL and all the butt hurt pens fans and media that your tried to prevent this from happening but not only did it happen, it was louder and better then it would've been had the Isles hosted it!!

In closing I guess the Islanders should prepare a list of games for the NHL to approve of for them to show at viewing parties in the future, since it seems as though they don't have the freedom to show what they want & need league approval to show certain games.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/nhl/2011-08-15-islanders-promote-viewing-party-of-fight-filled-game_n.htm

Now its up to a new level!!

Now, not only are Penguins writers & one NBC sports writer complaining about the Islanders having a viewing party at Champions to watch the Islanders Penguins brawl game from 2/11 this Friday, people on CNN are complaining about it to. That's right, a major NEWS network is complaining about the NY Islanders having a viewing party with their fans. This is a team that many feel isn't even relevant but that's beside the point.

At a time when were under a constant terrorist threat, involved in two wars, in debt up to our eye balls, and 1 month away from the 10 year anniversary of the most heinous terrorist actions taken against our country all the people can talk about on a major news station is an Islander viewing party? Really? The people on the show say their producer is a Hockey fan and that's how they bought it up. To me this is something you talk about in the green room. Not something you talk about on the air.

They need to prioritize what they spend air time talking about because I am sure there is many other things on a state & national level they could talk about rather then spending time bashing the Islanders for the game they choose to have a viewing party with their fans with.

To some extent I think the overreaction by many on the Internet over this is funny. However, its now nearing the point where I shake my head and say what the hell is wrong with the world. Its one thing when you have Penguin fans/writers playing the victim which is something they get from their owner, but when you have a national news station spending time to bash the team on this. I mean as I said before there's plenty of stuff to talk about, this should be a non story but thanks to some butt hurt pens fans and others our national news stations are now spending time bashing the Islanders for having viewing parties rather then informing us of local and national news. Exactly what you want to see on major news stations right?

Below is a link to the video of the two guys on CNN talking about this:

http://www.criticalmention.com/components/url_gen/play_flash.php?autoplay=1&clip_info=2179592177059^2179593752047^^

Are people serious?

If you are unaware, this Friday August 19th, MSG+ is re-airing the Islanders 9-3 butt kicking of the Penguins from Feb. 11th when the two teams combined for 346 PIMS. The Islanders have decided to have a meetup at Champions at the Marriot next door to the Coliseum. The Islanders decision to do this has drawn the ire of some people including Joe Yeardon from prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com as well as some Penguins blog which was behind the "bury gillies" movement which is still one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard.

Anyway, Mr. Yeardon accuses the Islanders of celebrating madness with holding this party. As I recall the Bruins vs Habs game that took place just two days prior to this one was heralded as old time hockey and stuff, then this happens and everyone hates on the Islanders because they stuck up to the leagues golden child and wiped the floor with them in every facet of the game. Was Trevor Gillies out of line at the time? Sure, you bet he was! But outside of the actions of Gillies that night this game was hardly madness, and anyone Mr. Yeardon included who thinks otherwise is just fooling themselves. This is a type of game many Isles fans had been begging for, for years! It showed the team still had a pulse!!

Now the objections with the Pens blog is the same crap we've been hearing from Penguin fans since 2/12. Its been over 6 months now, when is it finally time to stop complaining about this? I know its something that the fans get from the team with Mario & Sidney Crosby having such prominent roles with them, but seriously when are you Penguin fans going to concentrate more on the Penguins and less on the Islanders? Its past ridiculous now!!


Update: The Pittsburgh gazette has joined the party to, saying the isles having this is wrong & stuff. I think people in Pit. need to realize how ridiculous there making themselves look to people outside Pit. with their complaining about the isles having a viewing party to watch a game from over 6 months ago. The game wasn't last week or even last month. When do Penguin writers start writing updates on Crosby and Malkin coming back from injury & stop complaining about this? Its embarrassing & as as I said above past ridiculous!!

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2011/08/13/celebrating-madness-islanders-holding-watch-party-for-replay-of-fight-filled-february-game-vs-pittsburgh/related/

LI Press Editor says Newsday/News 12 Rreferendum Reporting Was Bias!!

Today, Jed Morey, the editor of the LI Press accused Newsday/News 12 of bias reporting with regard to the Coliseum referendum. Now as Islander fans when a headline like that is seen you would think that he is criticising Newsday/News12 for a negative bias. Well if you thought that like I did, you would be wrong! He accused Newsday/News 12 of having a positive bias when reporting on this matter.

The fact that an article like that comes from the editor of the publication just boggles my mind. In the article which you can read by clicking the link on the bottom he goes on a nitpicking expedition to find the few positive stories Newsday ran on the referendum & I am sure he looked for positive stuff from News 12 but couldn't find anything from them, because there wasn't any!!!

Newsday & News 12 defiantly deserve to be ripped for the way they covered the referendum, but not because they were to positive but because they were to negative! News 12 especially because there reporting on this matter was just AWFUL!!!!

To show you how ridiculous his piece is, part of it is titled, "How Newsday Covered It" In that part he only discusses how they covered it the last week before the vote. How about the other two and a half months? In that time there were FAR more negative pieces then positive ones, but off course Mr. Morey left that part out because it would hurt his argument and you can't have that.

As someone who is thinking about going into journalism for a career, seeing an article this poorly reported and nonfactual from the EDITOR of a relatively major publication in the county just makes me shake my head and wonder how in the world Mr. Morey got his job to begin with. If its that easy to be an editor then I could be hired tomorrow & do a 10x better job then he does. I may not have the experience he does, but I have integrity & when I report on something I like to know what the hell I am talking about, both of those things Mr. Morey failed to do in the piece he wrote.

http://jedmorey.com/2011/the-untold-story-behind-the-coliseum-referendum/

ABLI Creates Task Force For New Coliseum Plans!!

According to Newsday, the Association for a Better Long Island, better known in Islander land as the only big group that opposed the referendum has created a task force to generate ideas for developing the land around the Coliseum & ultimately by labor day helping to guide the country in developing its request for proposals for the site.

Some of the members include: town supervisors from Oyster Bay and North Hempstead, Hempstead town council David Levy & Islanders legend Bobby Nystrom. In the article Nystrom said, he wants to find a way to keep the Islanders here & improve the building & that he agrees that development is needed there to. The article also states that proposals from the task force WILL include a new arena!

http://mobile.newsday.com/inf/infomo;JSESSIONID=5D0207D5B34750DA7195.3124?site=newsday&view=top_stories_item&feed:a=newsday_1min&feed:c=topstories&feed:i=1.3086363&nopaging=1

Anything that the ABLI is involved in causes me to raise my eye brow! Also I found it interesting that Bobby Nystrom is part of this group. The only real good thing to come out of this article in my opinion, is that plans from this group would include a new arena!! There's the glimmer of hope for people who want us to stay in Nassau. I would think around labor day we'll have a clearer picture of things, after the ABLIs group sends their ideas to the County. Also around September 9th (Thank you to Steve in the comments for pointing that out) because that according to articles is when the RFP is due for the development of Willets pt. If Wang or a group headed by Wang isn't on that list then I feel it sends Queens further down the to tum pole so to speak. It should be an interesting next few weeks in Islander land!!

A peak at how Nassau Residents think!!!

According to a recent newsday article from a couple days ago, Aqua has withdrawn its proposal to build a water tower in Wantagh because of opposition from the community. the purpose of the tower was to enhance the water pressure for many homes throughout Wantagh. One of the main reason people from the community opposed it because they thought the 150 ft tower would be an eye sore in the community. Later in the article they say they would be willing to pay more in taxes, the article said around $5 per year for a secondary solution that doesn't include the tower. So for now I guess they will just suffer with crappy water pressure!!

The purpose of this entry is to show you that people of Nassau County are willing to pay $5 more in taxes per year for something that didn't have to cost anything but wasn't wanted. But they aren't willing to pay $13.80 to maintain and enhance the countys quality of life!!! Does this not speak volumes about a majority of people that reside in Nassau County? It boggled my mind when I read this article, you can read it by clicking the link below.

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/company-won-t-build-water-tower-in-wantagh-1.3081807

Islanders, Sleepers In the East?? Kevin Allen thinks so!!

Today, in an article for USA Today, Kevin Allen said he thought our New York Islanders would be a sleeper team to come out of the Eastern Conference. He listed 8 different points as to why he thought it to be and you can view those by clicking the link to his story on the bottom of this entry.

Although I am hopeful, as things sit right this minute early on August 9th I don't feel as though the Islanders are a playoff team. I however feel they have done enough to get out of the lottery assuming they stay healthy. If the season started tomorrow i'd predict them to finish anywhere between 18th & 24th in the NHL. However if they are able to add a top 4 dman that so many have been craving for many months here in Isles Country I think it will give them a pretty damn good shot of making the playoffs, again assuming everyone is healthy & they don't trot Rick Dipietro out there to much!!

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/columnist/allen/2011-08-07-nhl-islanders-sleeper-team-east_n.htm

Your 2011/2012 Islanders Ice Girls!!!

Below is a picture of your 2011/2012 NY Islanders Ice Girl squad. They had their try outs at ice works this past Saturday.

The picture becomes clearer!!

In a Newsday article which will be in tomorrows issue it says that Jay "PSL" Jacobs had been in contact with Kathleen Rice & Jon Kaiman to possibly run against Ed Mangano for the County executive seat when hes up for election again. They also list legislator Wayne Wink as a dark horse candidate. Wayne Wink should be a familiar name to those who followed the referendum because he was a legislature who was outspoken in his opposition to it. In the same newsday article Wink receives an endorsement from our good buddy Desmond "Extortionist" Ryan the executive director of the ABLI. Here is the article for you to learn more:

http://www.newsday.com/columnists/rick-brand/democrats-see-opportunity-in-mangano-woes-1.3079516 (subscription required)

So it all makes a little more sense now. Jacobs (the leader of the democratic party at the county & state level) told Wink that if he was outspoken and thrashed the Coliseum deal left and right that he would give him the County Executive nomination when the time arrives. So the politician opposed it not because he thought it was a bad proposal, but because he was promised higher government office by his boss. Keep in mind this is all speculation on my part however, it makes sense does it not? Wonderful County we live in right?

BREAKING: Wang & Steve Levy talked this week!

According to Randi Marshall of Newsday, Islanders owner Charles B. Wang as well as Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy had a conversation this week.

You can officially add Suffolk to pot. suitors with this public confirmation of contact between the team and the County. It should be interesting to watch this all shake out over the next few months.

http://twitter.com/#!/randimarshall/status/99615381592866816

Another Potential landing spot in Queens?

Since the vote failed on Monday, there has been rampant talk amongst fans about the future of the team. Weather it be here in Nassau, in Queens, in Brooklyn, or Suffolk. Representatives from both Brooklyn and Queens as I am sure you all know, have gone out of their way to express interest in bringing the Islanders to either of their boroughs.

In Queens the placement of an arena for the Isles has been long speculated to be either next to Citifield in the parking lot by where Shea Stadium used to be, or where the junkyards are now across the street from Citifield. Well today, Nick Hirshon of the Daily News reported a third possible location in Queens & that is the park around the #7 subway line. On his twitter Nick said area north of the line however I read elsewhere that its south of the line so that is why I didn't specify.

http://twitter.com/#!/nickhirshon

Like I said yesterday, don't expect an official decision to come in the near future. However its good to know that we have options, and its especially good when those potential options keep increasing!

Just Breathe!!!!

I know the mood in Islanders Country the last few days has been pretty tense as well as panicky since the vote failed the other night. This post is a message to Islanders Country to just breathe!

A source earlier tonight told savetheisles that Wang doesn't intend on making any emotional decisions about the future of the team, and will let things simmer a bit. So for those awaiting to here an official were going to Brooklyn or Queens or where ever sometime this month, well while its not impossible I doubt its going to come.

We will keep you all updated if we here anymore!!!

Wangs statements a whole lot of nothing!! Queens reiterates interest in bringing the Islanders there!

Today, Charles Wang issued a statement saying how he was heartbroken over the results of Mondays vote & thanked everyone who participated & said that he isn't giving up on Long Island & said he hopes were not either.

I want to know why Charles is still going back to them, he seems like a proud man & how many times is Nassau County going to reject him before he gets the hint? Don't get me wrong, I want them to stay in their current location as much as the next guy but I think its pretty evident through recent actions of the voting public as well as the idiotic politicians who are supposed to represent us that the Islanders are no longer wanted here!

http://islanders.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=585660&navid=DLNYIhome

Also, according to the Daily News, Jack Friedman the executive director of the Queens chamber of Commerce said he thinks this is the time for Queens County to, "open up their arms" in relation to bringing the Islanders there. For more check out Nick Hirshons article:

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2011/08/03/2011-08-03_a_new_team_spirit_pols_press_bid_to_lure_islanders.html

Also you will see in that article another quote from Jay "PSL" Jacobs. The end of the quote in which he says something along the lines of where else are they going to go is what I want to focus on.

I guess Mr. Jacobs has had his head up his politically motivated dillusional *** for the last few days as both Queens & Brooklyn have come out with interest in bringing the team there and Brooklyn has gone so far as to confirm that they have had talks with the Islanders about moving there. Yet, this guy still doesn't think Wang would leave. Wang went to school right around the block from the Barclays center & also has a building in Queens named after him so its not out of the question at all. Additionally in the past they have had discussions with Suffolk & it wouldn't surprise me at all if those picked up again. I think Mr. Jacobs needs to wake the hell up because based on events of recent days i'd say hes closer to losing the Islanders then he realizes!

BREAKING: Islanders are talking to Brooklyn!!!

According to Newsday, Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz confirmed that he had been in contact with Wang about the team moving there.

This is a big development because it shows that finally after all these years that Wang is finally exploring other options! It should be interesting if his announcement/statement tomorrow is related to that. If you remember a few weeks back on twitter we had reported that an Islander employee said that they were signing a lease with a new city that week. Well maybe that was true, and they signed one with Brooklyn & that is what will be announced tomorrow. Follow Randi Marshall and Nick Hirshon on twitter to get the latest on that, and we will try to have the latest on that as it comes out.

http://mobile.newsday.com/inf/infomo;JSESSIONID=1DF372254DE0F9111FF6.3124?site=newsday&view=top_stories_item&feed:a=newsday_1min&feed:c=topstories&feed:i=1.3068937&part=0

Quick Note: The story of the Islanders bringing back Jon Sim is untrue! The article from ESPN NY is the same article from last year except that the date on the top was changed, so you all don't need to worry about that!

Isles sign Comeau! Queens expresses more interest!!!

According to Katie Strang, the Islanders have signed forward Blake Comeau to a one year deal worth 2.5 million dollars.

Now it should be interesting weather or not he is kept, or dealt for a defenseman.

According to reports, Islanders owner Charles Wang will be making a statement after the defeat of the referendum yesterday. While nobody knows what he is going to say there has been quite a bit of speculation. Some people think it will be nothing new while others think he will announce the team is up for sale & stuff like that. It should be interesting!!

Additionally Nick Hirshon of the Daily News has some additional quotes from Queens officials. Some of which saying things like that if we are going to move on that Queens should be one of the suitors, also that they would welcome the addition of a sports team with open arms.

For more follow Nick on twitter here:

http://twitter.com/#!/nickhirshon

What's next?

With the failure of the referendum yesterday, everyone is asking what now?

Well at a press conference today, County Executive Ed Mangano announced a new RFP for the site, which doesn't have to include an arena. A lose deadline for the RFP is on August 12th according to his twitter account. Well scratch that, Randi Marshall of newsday reports that the RFP date for Queens was moved until September 9th. I wonder if they moved the date back to be more accommodating for Wang/Islanders.

http://twitter.com/#!/randimarshall/status/98504851570438144

Additionally over the last two days both Brooklyn and Queens have openly courted the Islanders. Yesterday Queens Chamber of Commerce President Jack Friedman said, "they have my number" when speaking if the vote yesterday were to fail. Also today in the New York Post, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz said that Brooklyn was the best place for the Islanders.

It should be interesting to see what happens next!

We lost 57%-43%

Well the results are in and the referendum to build a new Nassau Coliseum & minor league baseball stadium was voted down by Nassau taxpayers by a margin of 57%-43%.

Follow Chris Botta, Randi Marshall, Nick Giglia, BD Gallof, & Katie Strang for coverage of this because right now I am honestly to disgusted to right something of quality!!

Today is the day!!

(Hopefully this arena will be coming to a parking lot near you soon!)

Well, it is finally upon us Islander fans! The day we have been both dreading & anticipating since May 11th when the bond referendum was announced. It is what all our arguing in Newsday comment sections & message boards has been for. Today is the day when it is decided weather or not we take a step forward in the quest to finally get us a long deserved overdue new Nassau Coliseum!

Polling places open at 6AM and are open until 9AM. Around 60,000 Nassau residents got a card in the mail informing them that their polling place had been changed for this election. If you didn't recieve a card then you are to go to your regular polling place in order to vote tomorrow.

Not only should you go out and vote, but along with you take neighbors, friends, & family. Believe it or not there is opposition to this which we have shown you all many times in this venue. The key is I feel the proponents of this deal are the more motivated ones & that is why I have some cautious optimism going into tomorrow. Don't think your vote doesn't matter or something like that because it does. EVERY VOTE IS CRITICAL!!!

I hope all of our readers who are registered in Nassau County go out today & cast a YES vote so our quest to get a new Coliseum lives on, but further so the future of Nassau County doesn't take a major hit!