To Preserve the Past, Islanders Needed to Move Forward
Kevin Schultz , Islanders Point Blank:
No matter how you feel about the Islanders move to Brooklyn announced yesterday, it hit you like a ton of bricks. Whether you’re pro or con to the issue, you knew Brooklyn was a possibility and that Nassau County’s handling of the Islanders has been a mess with owners and politicians over more than a dozen years acting on behalf of themselves and their interests rather than doing what’s right for fans, the team, the Coliseum and the County. But none of us saw Wednesday’s announcement coming; certainly not quite so hard or so fast. It was a slapshot to the gut that elicited all kinds of responses in Islander County from anger and sadness to joy and excitement.
Seeing many of the statements from the Islanders Hall of Fame Alumni and long-time fans upset at the situation lacks a certain perspective, but it also carries a certain weight of memories, history, and the character of what this franchise has been for so many on Long Island for so long, through the good times and the bad. To read more of this story, click here
PRESS CONFERENCE — Islanders Join Nets in Brooklyn With 25-Year Deal
Kevin Schultz , Islanders Point Blank:
At a press conference today in Brooklyn, the Islanders announced a 25-year long partnership with the brand new Barclays Center arena. The move comes after years of inaction and road blocks in their current home of Nassau County, while trying to build anew arena or renovate the 40 year old Nassau Coliseum. The deal erases any lingering doubts that the team would leave the New York area for Kansas City, Quebec or any other North American hockey market as it does not have an opt-out clause for the team.
CONFIRMED — ISLANDERS MOVING TO BROOKLYN AFTER NASSAU LEASE IS UP (LIVE UPDATES)
Kevin Schultz , Islanders Point Blank:
Update, 12:26pm: Ed Mangano released this statement via twitter:
No one has done more to retain the New York Islanders than my administration. I have supported various proposals to redevelop the HUB including a public referendum in which voters chose not to construct a new sports arena. Its sad and unfortunate that political opponents chose to oppose my plan and instead continued to support the Culture of NO on Long Island.
The Islanders, who won four consecutive Stanley Cups between 1980 and 1983, will keep their name at the insistence of NHL officials.
Update, 11:11 AM: WFAN 660AM is reporting that the Islanders “may be signing a 25-year lease” with the Barclays Center.
10:48AM: The New York Islanders will be moving to Brooklyn when their lease in Nassau County is up at the end of the 2014-15 season. TSN’s Bob McKenzie was the first to break the news on Twitter and Islanders Point Blank has confirmed via a source close to the arena.
New York Islanders will indeed be moving to Brooklyn, NY, upon expiry of lease on Long Island.
We’ll have more on this as news comes in. The Islanders are holding a press conference at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn today at 1pm.
Today’s the Day the Isles Would Have Been in Brooklyn
Kevin Schultz , Islanders Point Blank:
Thanks to the NHL lockout cancelling the entirety of the pre-season, we will have to go on about the arena situation without what would have been a very interesting test drive of a new arena. The Islanders had been scheduled to play the Devils at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn today, and now we’ll have to wait a bit longer to find out how small the seating arrangement for hockey is, if that one end zone would have been really horrendous, and whether or not hipsters would start wearing orange and blue. (picture via wikipedia)
The Islanders will be back in Brooklyn at some point, I have no doubt about that. My gut tells me that Bruce Ratner may randomly show up on an MSG broadcast again at some point or that the team will schedule one of next year’s pre-season games at the Barclays. It wouldn’t be quite the same if rescheduled, as a lot of the initial momentum is now lost. While Islander fans are certainly divided on the issue of Brooklyn, there was a large segment that seemed to be generally excited about it. On top of that, it was an interesting idea (and negotiating tactic) that will lose some of its luster the next time around.
There’s still more to this story, even if the Islanders don’t end up going to Brooklyn in 2015. But it’s a shame we aren’t going to be able to see it happen here and now.
Ghost Story Come True — Could Pat LaFontaine Buy the Islanders?
Kevin Schultz , Islanders Point Blank:
Every town has it’s ghost stories, I’m sure you remember the one from the town where you grew up. Maybe your town had the one about a certain bridge that high school kids drove to, turned off their car lights, and saw a shadowy figure. Or maybe your town believed the one about the house on the hill, whose lights would turn on only after dark. The Islanders have their own such ghost stories, and one of the most prominent involves Pat LaFontaine buying the team.
LaFontaine’s a former Islander and NHL star, so he’s never had the money to buy a team by himself — barring some lottery windfall. But he’s forever been rumored to be putting together a group of investors with which to buy the team from current owner Charles Wang. The LaFontaine ownership story has been on message boards and blogs many times over the years, and with all due respect to those places and people, it never really had legs from serious mainstream sources.
Chris Botta had this on Twitter last week and as long as the lockout kept up, it was expected that the Barclays game and the rest of the pre-season would be cancelled. Today it is official, and the discussion of how the Islanders will handle Brooklyn in the wake of the cancellation can continue.
First things first, if you bought tickets to any Islanders pre-season game, please follow this advice from the team on how to get your money back:
For refund information about the canceled #Isles – #NJDevils game at @barclayscenter, please contact your point of purchase.
We’ll have more on the impact of this as well as Sound Tigers training camp in the coming days. Sound Tigers camp opens tomorrow at IceWorks. On Saturday, the camp will be open to the public and Casey Cizikas and David Ullstrom will be signing autographs.
This isn’t directly Islander related but since we discussed Seattle the other day and there’s not much going on, it seems appropriate. It also shows a bit of a different approach to relocation than what the Islanders have gone through.
On Monday, the Edmonton Oilers notified the public that their ownership group was in Seattle. It was through a statement released on the team’s website by Katz Group EVP Bob Black, and working under the guise that ownership was ‘just taking in a Seahawks game’ (the Seahawks played the Packers last night on Monday Night Football).
“I can confirm that Daryl Katz, Patrick LaForge, Kevin Lowe and others from the Oilers leadership group are in Seattle for meetings and to attend the Seahawks game.
“We remain committed to working with City Administration to achieve a deal commensurate with what Winnipeg and Pittsburgh have done to sustain the NHL in those small markets. If we can achieve such a deal, the Oilers will remain in Edmonton and we can get on with the important work of developing the new arena and investing in the continued revitalization of Edmonton’s downtown core.
“Nonetheless, and as the City of Edmonton is aware, the Katz Group has been listening to proposals from a number of potential NHL markets for some time. After more than four years of trying to secure an arena deal and with less than 24 months remaining on the Oilers’ lease at Rexall Place, this is only prudent and should come as no surprise.”
Last week, Seattle City Council reached an agreement with investor Chris Hansen on a new downtown arena that could house both NBA and NHL teams. Boy, the Oilers sure do move quickly. To read more of this story, click here
“The answer to the Islanders moving is never… No chance that’s going to happen.”
Kevin Schultz , Islanders Point Blank:
Usually a quote like this isn’t worth dedicating a whole post to — or at least a lengthy one. Journalists, bloggers (this one included) and others weigh in all the time on the Islanders and whether or not they’ll be sold, moved, or kept in Nassau. Heck, the Canadian media has had the Islanders moving to Quebec for quite some time now. But the above quote is newsworthy because of the source it comes from. I’m not telling you to take it as fact or fiction — this situation isn’t going to get resolved soon and no one really knows anything certain either way — but take it for what it is. Take it as a quote from someone who is an AHL owner, a potential NHL owner and reportedly “in the NHL’s good graces.” To read more of this story, click here
Thanks to the NHL lockout cancelling the entirety of the pre-season, we will have to go on about the arena situation without what would have been a very interesting test drive of a new arena. The Islanders had been scheduled to play the Devils at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn today, and now we’ll have to wait a bit longer to find out how small the seating arrangement for hockey is, if that one end zone would have been really horrendous, and whether or not hipsters would start wearing orange and blue. (picture via 
