Islanders Perception Changing Already?

In an article for Newsday, Arthur Staple talks about how moving into the new building in the Barclays Center will alter the Islanders perception around the NHL.

While he is right in saying that, a new building will only do so much.  If the Islanders move to a new building but still operate like they do now, their perception will not change at all.  The big thing that will change the teams perception around the league is performance on the ice.  When the Islanders move, if they still operate on their shoe string budget and serve as the launching pad for AHL coaches to launch their NHL career, the way they are viewed around the league wont change at all any time soon.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter what the building looks like you call home, if you want to be taken seriously and have a positive perception about yourself in the NHL, you have to win!


http://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/islanders/islanders-perception-now-negative-to-positive-1.4161105?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Former Islander Calls Politicians/NIMBYS Idiots For Arena Debacle

Former Islander forward Dave Scatchard in a tweet earlier today referred to those who thought it was a bad idea to clean up the area around the Coliseum and have a hockey team there as idiots.  These are the first comments of I am sure many that will come from former Islander players as it winds down to 2015.

I am sure roughly 90% of the people around here agree with Dave!

If you don't know Dave Scatchard, he played from the Islanders from 1999/2000-2003/2004.  His best season was 2000/2001 when he recorded 45 points and a 114 penalty minutes.

NHL Cancels Games Through 11/30

According to reports, the NHL will today announce that all games through November 30th will be cancelled as their lockout continues.  Those reports suggest the All Star Game was not part of this cut.

And so it goes!  Greed of very wealthy people is killing this NHL season which is unfortunate for the fans but even more so the arena employees who are losing their paycheck.  Hopefully for them this ends soon, but I wouldn't bet on it.

https://mobile.twitter.com/DFriedmanNHL/status/261850723229241345?p=v

Reaction to the Islanders Departing for Brooklyn

A sad day for Nassau County!

This is what was echoed by many as the news today broke that following the expiration of their lease at the Nassau Coliseum, our New York Islanders would be packing their bags and moving to the newly opened Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

For me, it was a bittersweet day.  Since the referendum failed last year, this is what I thought would happen.  Not what I hoped would happen but after observing the happenings of things around here and such what I expected.  The timing though is what really caught me off guard.  I thought we had at least a couple months to a year before we heard an announcement like this.

Attending the pre season game between the Knicks and Nets tonight at the Coliseum made the news hit me that much more that in not so long the Islanders a team i've loved for so long would no longer be there in a very short time.  Many figures of the dynasty were quoted today with their reactions to this news which were all disappointed but relieved that they were able to at least stay in the area.  One of those figures was long time play by play guy Jiggs McDonald who had this to say through his facebook, "What a dark day for Nassau County NY politicians and residents."  He finished his facebook post with, "Shame on you!!!!"  Jiggs is right on with what he said!  People voted against the referendum last year for tax reasons, now I cant wait to see their face when they open their bill when the Coliseum no longer exists.

While I am happy they are still here, little things are what I will miss most about the Coliseum. Things like being able to fly 10 minutes down Hempstead Turnpike and be there. Walking around the Coliseum on gameday and seeing the same people there all the time. On opening night in the parking lot toasting the new season with my dad which is something that had become a yearly tradition for us since we got our season tickets a few years ago.

While the arena wont be our home anymore, it doesn't mean memories like those and many others have to disappear with it.  Its up to fans like my dad to pass down the memories of the successful years to give fans like me and my cousin Robbie a taste of what it was like to see the team be successful.  While we haven't had really any positive memories over the last decade or so its up to younger fans like myself to preserve them and pass them to the younger generation and now the new generation of fans.

I have seen some that are disappointed the team is moving, to them while I understand your disappointment you have to get past that.  Just because the building on the outside wont be the same, doesn't mean your memories will be altered and hopefully this new beautiful state of the art home will give us some memories of the positive kind that have been rare for us over the last decade or two.

People should not think of this as the death of the Islanders.  They should think of it as the rebirth of a giant, that some day soon will take NYC by storm!!  Watch out Rangers and the rest of the NHL, Fort Neverlose has been relocated to Brooklyn.  Good luck, you're going to need it! 

BREAKING NEWS: Isles Say Goodbye To Nassau County

Update 2: The Islanders name and logo will remain unchanged with this move which is a major plus.

Update: Wang confirms a 25 year lease for the New York Islanders in Brooklyn.  Bruce Ratner confirms that Wang had offers to move the team out of state, but refused to do that.

According to newsday and various other news outlets, the Islanders will be saying goodbye to the Nassau Coliseum come July 31st 2015 and be moving to the newly opened Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

This news comes as Ed Mangano was getting ready to announce his plan for jobs at "the hub" and to keep the Islanders.  Guess Nassaus waiting finally did them in!  Additionally, this is 40 years to the month that the Islanders began playing at the Coliseum.

http://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/islanders/source-islanders-moving-to-brooklyn-1.4147203

Watch the press conference here

http://video.islanders.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=616&id=188738&lang=en

CBA Negotiations Reach A Stalemate

According to Darren Dregger of tsn.ca, negotiations for a new CBA between the NHL & NHLPA have once again reached a stalemate with no meetings between the parties currently scheduled.  With the deadline to salvage an 82 game season coming on Thursday it seems like its pretty safe to say if we will have a season it will be a condensed one like the NBA had last year.

For more including quotes from Bill Daly and Steve Fehr check out the tsn article below:

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=408009

Son Pleads With NHL To Stop The Lockout

I noticed someone on twitter tweet this video so I thought I would give it a watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsReILtMfpI

This guy moved to Australia ten years ago from Canada.  When he visits home its sort of a tradition for him and his dad to watch Hockey Night in Canada together.  Sadly, his dad was recently diagnosed with terminal throat cancer.  So in the video hes essentially begging the NHL to come to an agreement so he can watch one last game with his dad before its to late.

BREAKING: Calvin De Haan out for Season with Dislocated Shoulder

According to Mike Fornabaio, the main writer for the Sound Tigers, defenseman Calvin De Haan is out for the season with a dislocated shoulder.  The injury is believed to have been suffered in the game this past Saturday night when he blocked a shot.  With this injury it is expected that Matt Donovan who had been a healthy scratch at points early this season will now have a regular spot in the lineup.

This is another shoulder injury in a seemingly never ending streak of them for Calvin.  Hopefully he is able to kick this soon because Calvin definitely has talent and it would be a shame if he was never able to fully exhibit it because of injuries.

https://twitter.com/fornabaioctp/status/260439309188988928

Finally a Result?

According to Ed Manganos twitter account, he will be holding a press conference in the coming days to announce his plans to generate jobs at "the hub" and keep the Islanders.  If you remember about two weeks ago he said a result should be had within ten days so he was pretty close.  If you are someone that still has hope the Islanders can call Nassau home after July 31st, 2015 this will be a huge day for you!

https://twitter.com/edmangano/status/260430459421470720

NHLPA To Make a Counter Offer in 24-48 Hours

Earlier this afternoon, the NHL led by commissioner Gary Bettman made another labor proposal to the NHLPA which included a 50/50 split in HRR. (Hockey Related Revenue)  Seeing this brought optimism to many in the hockey world who thought it was a long shot at best that we would have a hockey season this year.  A condition of this proposal was that everything be ironed out by November 2nd so the season can start then and there could still be a full 82 game season.  When asked for comment Don Fehr, who is in charge of the NHLPA said the proposal would be discussed at a 5PM conference call tonight.

According to Darren Dregger of TSN, following the conference call he learned that the NHLPA would be making a counter proposal within the next day or two.  The players counter proposal will be telling because if its pie in the sky, you can probably kiss hockey goodbye for the season.  However, if its a reasonable offer, that November 2nd date may not be far fetched. 

Since it seems like the most highly negotiated thing in HRR has been agreed to, the rest at least on the surface would seem to be mostly cosmetic to the deal.  Reports suggest that the CBA would need to be done by October 25th, so there could be a week of training camp prior to the start of the season on November 2nd.

https://twitter.com/DarrenDreger/status/258339030771568640

Undefeated!!!!

This past weekend, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers opened their season with back to back victories over the rival Whale as well as the Providence Bruins.

Standout performances from guys like Kevin Poulin, Casey Cizikas, Bradon DeFazio, Nino Niederreiter, and Brock Nelson proved key for the Tigers in their opening weekend victories.  If you would like to watch highlights of either game you can check them out in the respective videos below:

Friday 10/12/12 VS the Whale

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_Z3iUdR_rk&list=UU_RfS3mXUtYAxzIzEa6FL-g&index=2&feature=plcp

Saturday 10/13/12 VS the Bruins (Home Opener)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWnsAdgqmdw&feature=channel&list=UL

The Sound Tigers return to action next Saturday on the road versus the W-B/ Scranton Penguins.  They don't return home again until November 3rd versus the Hershey Bears.

RFQ Winner To Be Announced Within 10 Days

According to Ed Manganos twitter, the winner of the RFQ on the Coliseum site should be announced within the next ten days.

Well, after being told to expect it sometime in August I wouldn't get my hopes up yet.  However, hopefully this is actually announced within ten days so they can move onto the next phase of this process.

https://twitter.com/edmangano/status/256094615986401280

Best of the Islanders 2011/2012

According to Dee Karl from hockeybuzz, while were in the midst of the lockout MSG+ will be running a series called Best of the Islanders 2011/2012.  Each program will have analysts Pat Flatley and Butch Goring as well as Bill Pidto will analyze various Islander games from last season.  To me, this seems like a condensed version of the summer ice series MSG+ usually runs through the summer.  Check out a list of games that will be shown below:

"Tuesday, October 9 – 10:30pm Islanders vs. Rangers (10/15/2011)

Tuesday, October 16 – 10:30pm Islanders at Stars (12/3/2011)

Tuesday, October 23 – 10:30pm Islanders vs. Red Wings (1/10/2012)

Other games to be aired (should they need to be!) are the following:

Islanders vs. Sabres (1/14/2012)
Islanders at Flyers (2/7/2012)
Islanders vs. Rangers (2/24/2012)
Islanders vs. Devils (3/4/2012)
Islanders vs. Penguins (3/29/2012)"

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Dee-Karl/Goalies-on-the-Go--Isles-on-MSG/129/46964

Bridgeport Concludes Pre-Season 1-1

This past Friday, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers concluded their pre season schedule with a 2-0 loss to the Monarchs.  Bridgeport ended their pre season with a 1-1 record having gotten a shutout victory the night before.

Bridgeport opens their season on Friday night October 12th, away vs the Connecticut Whale. (Rangers)  Their home schedule begins the following night October 13th, with a 7PM game vs Providence. (Bruins)  Prior to the start of this game Bridgeports banner commemorating their division title last season will be raised.  With the NHL lockout in full effect and not showing any signs of ending soon; I think Bridgeport and other teams in the AHL will big beneficiaries because of the attention it will draw to games that usually doesn't exist.

NHL To Use Replacement Players?

Bill Watters, the former GM of the Maple Leafs and NHL agent thinks that Gary Bettman will bring in replacement players in November because he thinks this will crack the players association.

http://kuklaskorner.com/hockey/comments/report-nhl-thinking-replacement-players?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

I really hope they can settle without having to stoop to this because it would be a sad day for hockey if it came to this.

Sites from Bridgeport Practice 9/29

OSHA Fines Coliseum Operators $88,000 For Workplace Violations

According to nbcnewyork.com, the operators of the Nassau Coliseum [SMG] have been fined $88,000 after OSHA's probe into the place for 16 workplace health and safety violations.

OSHA launched an investigation into the Coliseum earlier this year after the asbestos reports surfaced.

SMG said it will contest the citations because according to them, the asbestos issues have been fixed.

For more check out the link below:

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Nassau-Coliseum-Workplace-Violations-Health-Safety-Standards-172170481.html

NY Post: LaFontaine Asked To Be Part of Group Interested in the Isles

Update: According to Chris Botta, sources close to Pat LaFontaine tell him that Pat isn't involved with anyone in anyway in a bid for the team.

https://twitter.com/ChrisBottaNHL

Although this is kind of a damper, if he truly is involved having his people deny it now makes sense.  At an early stage in situations like this very rarely do you know much of anything about the situation going on.  Until something is practically finalized the identities of everyone involved would for the most part be a mystery.  For an example, look at the sale of the Dodgers earlier this year with NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson as their groups figure head.  Not until after the deal was announced were the players of the deal known and the positions they would serve known by the public. 

According to the New York Post, a group of European investors has contacted the former Islander great asking him to be part of their group that is interested in buying the team.  LaFontaine is said to be intrigued, however may have trouble because of the sky high asking price.  That price according to the article is 300 million dollars.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/frozen_account_WKFBjMUu87aiMxswHMkaxO (h/t to Roy for the link)

Now, I know there have been some who have completely written this article off as "hot air."  However, Larry Brooks was one of the reports who wrote the article so therefore I think there is something here.  How much exactly?  I am not sure, but a reporter like Brooks wouldn't put his reputation on something without having info to back it up.  Perhaps, some of his info was obtained off the record which is why there isn't a lot here.  This sure adds another interesting element to the Islanders soap opera.