Bill Daly: Isles Move To Brooklyn is an "Intriguing Possibility..."

In a recent article for Newsday, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly was quoted as saying that the idea of the Islanders moving to Atlantic Avenue [The Barclays Center] after July 31st, 2015 was, "an intriguing possibility but there's a lot of road between here and there."  Its certainly encouraging that the league has seemed to change its stance on this.  If you remember months ago when this idea was bought up to Gary Bettman on his radio show I believe, he kinda dismissed it because of the further proximity for Suffolk fans and Long Islanders tendency in general to want to use their cars to go everywhere.

Also in the article its been reported that more then 7000 tickets have been sold for the pre-season game in Brooklyn on October 2nd vs the Devils.  That is about half the Barclays current capacity for hockey.  Barclays executive Brett Yormark said that right now there more focused on getting events for the building.  However, as the game draws closer they will have a lot more promotion for it.

For more including quotes from Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano click the link below:
http://mobile.newsday.com/inf/infomo;jsessionid=50A3847CABF16C463C32.3253?site=newsday&view=sports_item&feed:a=newsday_5min&feed:c=sports&feed:i=1.3940131

Isles Camp To Open 9/22

Well, depending on what goes on with the CBA, Islanders training camp is expected to open on September 22nd, Arthur Staple reports. 

According to Staple, a few Islanders including Rick Dipietro and Michael Grabner have already been sighted at Iceworks recently skating.

https://twitter.com/StapeNewsday

NHL News: Malkin Agrees To Play in The KHL If theres a Lockout

According to yahoo, Penguins star forward and reigning NHL MVP Evgeni Malkin has reportedly agreed to play in the KHL should there be a work stoppage related to the CBA in the NHL this season.

Malkin had 50 goals and 59 assists last season on his way to the MVP.  For more go to the link below:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/evgeni-malkin-agrees-play-khl-023029922.html

Visnovsky Arbitration Hearing Scheduled for 9/4

According to Larry Brooks of the New York Post, the arbitration hearing for Lubomir Visnovsky will be September 4th. 

On draft day a few months ago the Islanders acquired Visnovsky from the Ducks for a second round pick in next years draft.  However, a month later Visnovsky filed a grievance to block his trade here.  Hes attempting to block it on the grounds that a NTC he had part of the contract before he was traded to the Ducks is still valid and he shouldve been consulted before being traded to the Island.

If Visnovsky wins the hearing then he will remain Ducks property and the trade will be voided.  However, if the Ducks win then the trade will go through and he will be an Islander.

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/more_sports/can_bett_on_honesty_yaa66RE2fS7XMofEFXE2NO

Visnovsky in a Car Accident in Slovakia

According to Islanderspointblank.com Lubomir Visnovsky was in a car accident on a race track in Slovakia.  Fortunate for him he wasn't injured.  According to puckdaddy he had the Islanders permission to participate.

For more check out the link to pointblank below
http://islanderspointblank.com/news/lubomir-visnovsky-crashes-his-ferrari-on-slovakian-race-track-no-serious-injuries/

Meet Your 2012/2013 New York Islanders Ice Girls

Below you can see an image of the 2012/2013 Islanders Ice Girl squad.  The Islanders held the auditions for the squad earlier today.

 photo courtesy of http://inagist.com/

Possible RFQ Winner Speaks to Pointblank

Earlier today, Donald Monti CEO of Renaissance Downtowns talked to Kevin Schultz from pointblank about his RFQ, his desires, and his other projects in the area.

Some quotes of interest include:
Monti told Kevin, "...I'm saying it because there's nobody that cares about the Islanders staying that's responded..."  Statements like this go along with what hes told Randi Marshall in the past, so it seems like it should be the Islanders fan hope that Nassau County chooses them to win the RFQ which we should find out sometime this month.

Monti also told Kevin, "...If Charles wants to stay here, I think we can help make it happen.”  That is certainly encouraging, however, actions speak louder then words.  So hopefully Nassau County gives him a chance to back this up. 

Infamous Islander Country "rabble rouser" Joe Conte shared similar thoughts to that with Randi Marshall of Newsday after he found out about Renaissance interest in the property.  If you don't know Joe, back in 2008, during Kate Murrays campaign at one press conference she held, GOP pit boss Joe Mondello told him to "Blow it out his duffle bag" after being mildly heckled.  He also ran the campaign for Kate Murrays opponent Kristen McElroy that year. 

If you would like to see more from the interview including how Monti hopes to link the Coliseum development to the Hempstead Downtown development hes currently the master developer of, click the link below:

http://islanderspointblank.com/news/exclusive-renaissance-downtowns-ceo-donald-monti-if-charles-wants-to-stay-here-i-think-we-can-help-make-it-happen/#more-37093

With all the talk of Brooklyn, I hope that Nassau County picks Renaissance as the RFQ winner to give us Islander fans one last hope at keeping Uniondale home.

BREAKING: Isles, Nets, NHL Have Meetings in The City

According to CBS, the Islanders, the NHL, and the Brooklyn Nets have had meetings in NYC recently.

The exact purpose of the meetings is anyones guess.  It could range from talking about having more games at the Barclays Center, to them talking about a possible sale.

It should be interesting to see if anything more comes of this and how soon, especially with an RFQ winner expected this month.  For more from CBS check out the link below:

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/08/02/barclays-center-ceo-reiterates-desire-to-have-islanders-move-to-brooklyn/

RFQ Winner To Be Picked This Month?

According to the LIBN, County spokesman Brian Nevin expects a winner of the RFQ for the "Hub" property including the Nassau Coliseum to be chosen this month.

Two weeks ago County Executive Ed Mangano announced an RFQ for a master developer of the Coliseum site and the winner would have to right away start negotiating with Charles Wang and SMG.  The deadline for this was this past Monday and yesterday, it was reported by Randi Marshall of Newsday that 4 developers had submitted RFQ's and the County would now have to choose.

The four developers are Blumenfeld Associates out of Syosset, Donald Monti out of Plainview, Baldassano Architecture in Patchogue, and Breslin Realty in Garden City. 

Nevin says that a review committee made from officials from various departments including; department of public works, the county executives office, and planning and economic development will make a recommendation to select one of the four developers to be the master developer for the site.

http://libn.com/2012/08/01/4-developers-vie-to-redevelop-nassau-hub/

Ratner: Trying Like Hell To Get the Islanders To Brooklyn

With all the talk of RFQ's and stuff in Nassau, Brooklyn Nets minority owner and majority owner of the Barclays Development in Brooklyn Bruce Ratner had an interesting quote in a daily news article.

He told the Daily News, "...I am trying like hell to get the Islanders to make Barclays Center their new hockey home."

The group Nassau picks for the RFQ and how things progress immediately after will be pretty telling I think.  With things like this, it wouldn't surprise me if things don't go well early on in the negotiations in Nassau if more steam gains from Brooklyn and more serious then we've gotten in the past.  Again that's speculation on my part and I have nothing beside intuition to back that up.

http://www.nydailynews.com/a-new-arena-article-1.1126292

4 Developers File RFQ's For The Coliseum Property

According to Randi Marshall of Newsday, 4 developers filed RFQ's for the Nassau Coliseum property by yesterdays deadline.

The four developers are:

Patchogue based Baldassano architecture

Garden City developer Breslin Realty

Plainview developer Donald Monti

And Syosset developer Ed Bluemenfeld

According to the article, Baldassano architecture partnered with develpment consultant Walter Paulick.  They reportedly dont intend to include the arena in their plans.  In fact, according to the article, they only wish to develop about 30 acres of the more then 70 acres on the site.

For more on this check out Randi Marshalls article at the link below:

http://mobile.newsday.com/inf/infomo;JSESSIONID=D905051D270C2210ADAA.3247?site=newsday&view=top_stories_item&feed:a=newsday_1min&feed:c=topstories&feed:i=1.3873984&part=0