Recent reports from Chris Botta suggest Brooklyn is once again gaining steam as a potential landing spot for the Islanders come July 2015 when their lease expires in Nassau County.
Today in a piece for aolsportingnews.com Botta has quotes from Gary Bettman who had previously been against Brooklyn as a home for the Islanders with a bit of a change of tune on the matter. With regard to the possibility Gary says, "its something wed have to look at." Bettman had previously been against the idea because he felt he would hinder a lot of current fans from attending games.
I'm pretty sure that if it came down to it fans would prefer a move to Brooklyn because while not ideal, at least the'yd still have the opportunity to attend games.
Botta also says that if Wang decides he has no alternatives in NY beside Uniondale, Ontario, Quebec City, and Seattle will be waiting for him. However, according to puckdaddy, the NHL wants expansion money out of Quebec City and Ontario. That fact could hinder the possibility of them as a spot. Seattle would be most likely to receive a team through relocation, he says.
Although Barclays as currently constituted isn't favorable for hockey, Nets and Barclays CEO said that could change. He told Chris Botta, "... We feel very strongly about Brooklyn as a hockey market and know we can accommodate it from a building perspective."
I have thought all along with regard to Brooklyn that if the team gave them a long term commitment that they would be able to alter things to help out things like site lines.
For more, check out Bottas article below as well as puckdaddys.
http://aol.sportingnews.com/nhl/story/2012-07-16/new-york-islanders-brooklyn-nassau-coliseum-charles-wang-barclays-center
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/brooklyn-islanders-arena-says-ready-nhl-tenant-164844886--nhl.html
No comments:
Post a Comment