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I had tickets to that Brooklyn game too! So ticked at the NHL right now. If there is a lockout the NHL will be a mess and may be losing teams regardless, it took years for them to recover from the last lockout.
If the islanders move I doubt it will be to Brooklyn, the arena is way to small and not designed for hockey. My money would be Quebec.
I still believe there will bea last minute deal to keep them on LI though. We shall see....
It didn't take years for the NHL to recover from the last lockout. In fact the fans came back stronger than ever and the NHL has seen historic growth since then. That is one of the problems now....the NHL owners are NOT scared about the fans coming back. NHL fans are the most die hard fans of any sport. The lockout is killing me and I am FURIOUS, but I would be lying if I said I wont be going back as soon as everything is resolved. Let's Go Rangers!!!!!!
waiting for the "the Islanders ARE a minor league team" comments (hello Loveit, I'm talking to you! lol).
Sadly if they go, no one will build a minor league sized arena. Hockey goes with them. Minor league baseball, yes. That is LI's ambition. Minor league ambitions for a minor league destination.
They have been for years...but I still love 'em.
The lockout may well be the nail in the coffin for them, but if I may play Devil's advocate for a moment here, their demise falls squarely on the shoulders of Wang. This was never about saving the franchise to him. All the Islanders are is a tax shelter for CA. He's never had any active interest in anything other than that piece of land, and Nassau knows it. That's why they block every move...because the underlying legal paperwork always spells more for Wang and less for the team and community.
The organization has been grossly mismanaged since he's been here. Mike Milbury is "the most knowledgable hockey guy in the business"?? Wang is depriving some village of a perfectly good idiot. 10 years for Yashin and 15 for Dipietro. No one and I mean NO ONE wants to sign here, so we end up with a rag tag bunch of misfits that resurrect their careers here..the ones that don't produce end up behind the bench. How sad is that? They run the team in a manner where their only concern is the salary cap. Trading for Visnovsky and overpaying him was nothing more than a ploy to meet the cap floor. Even if he didn't play here, the cap hit would have counted and that's all Snow wanted. They write BS clauses in their player contracts to meet the floor as well. Their actual out of pocket payroll is probably a 3rd of what the cap hit is. I think Bettman would come down harder on them for that if he wasn't so concerned with keeping them here himself...Wang takes advantage of that.
They can't get an experienced coach or GM to work here thanks largely to the Neil Smith fiasco. Many of the dynasty players don't even want to associate with the team.
I'd love to see Bossy, Potvin, Gillies et al pull a Lemieux and buy the team...but it ain't gonna happen.
CVS takes my insurance so at least I can add one more location to the other 368 that come up whenever I search for a location within 5 miles of my house.
The lockout may well be the nail in the coffin for them, but if I may play Devil's advocate for a moment here, their demise falls squarely on the shoulders of Wang. This was never about saving the franchise to him. All the Islanders are is a tax shelter for CA. He's never had any active interest in anything other than that piece of land, and Nassau knows it. That's why they block every move...because the underlying legal paperwork always spells more for Wang and less for the team and community.
The organization has been grossly mismanaged since he's been here. Mike Milbury is "the most knowledgable hockey guy in the business"?? Wang is depriving some village of a perfectly good idiot. 10 years for Yashin and 15 for Dipietro. No one and I mean NO ONE wants to sign here, so we end up with a rag tag bunch of misfits that resurrect their careers here..the ones that don't produce end up behind the bench. How sad is that? They run the team in a manner where their only concern is the salary cap. Trading for Visnovsky and overpaying him was nothing more than a ploy to meet the cap floor. Even if he didn't play here, the cap hit would have counted and that's all Snow wanted. They write BS clauses in their player contracts to meet the floor as well. Their actual out of pocket payroll is probably a 3rd of what the cap hit is. I think Bettman would come down harder on them for that if he wasn't so concerned with keeping them here himself...Wang takes advantage of that.
They can't get an experienced coach or GM to work here thanks largely to the Neil Smith fiasco. Many of the dynasty players don't even want to associate with the team.
I'd love to see Bossy, Potvin, Gillies et al pull a Lemieux and buy the team...but it ain't gonna happen.
CVS takes my insurance so at least I can add one more location to the other 368 that come up whenever I search for a location within 5 miles of my house.
Can't refute any of that, although I do think somewhere deep down Wang would like to have a winning team. There is real money in that if only to sell the whole thing. He had to know the property would be a battle for perpetuity. Frankly I think Rechler was behind the move and got Wang salivating at the possibilities. All the impact studies, etc are probably write-offs. I really think one winning season makes a big difference. One profitable season and it's all forgotten these days. The probelm is time has run out. No political will to keep the team, and the fans, well they've gotten the shaft for years so that's nothing new. Just makes me sad to lose a pro team. Another nail in the hopes for this polished turd of a county.
As for the NHL, I'll be back. Back in front of my big screen TV cause I ain't paying through the nose to see those greedy SOB's.
Not to get OT, but looking at where the Hempstead and West Hempstead lines end, what if one or both were extended to reach Nassau Coliseum? Would certainly help bring in more people from the west and hopefully reduce traffic in the area. You could even add a stop for Hofstra university to encourage more admissions and possibly get the school to invest in the project as well.
That is actually a good point. I'm no apologist for the TOH nor do I live in Hempstead and but from what I remember from my days living in Queens and visitng the malls is that traffic in OCR is horrendous as it is which probably one of the reasons why TOH residents balked at the Lighthouse project. There is no large mass transit stop (unlike Yankee Stadium or Citifield) and freeway exit (you will need both) within the immediate vicinity. Coming out of the turnpike, one would have to drive through local roads to get to the hub. Could there have been any other location in LI that would have provided better transportation options? Maybe something close to the shore?
That is actually a good point. I'm no apologist for the TOH nor do I live in Hempstead and but from what I remember from my days living in Queens and visitng the malls is that traffic in OCR is horrendous as it is which probably one of the reasons why TOH residents balked at the Lighthouse project. There is no large mass transit stop (unlike Yankee Stadium or Citifield) and freeway exit (you will need both) within the immediate vicinity. Coming out of the turnpike, one would have to drive through local roads to get to the hub. Could there have been any other location in LI that would have provided better transportation options? Maybe something close to the shore?
Nassau Coliseum is not on Old Country Road. It is on Hempstead Turnpike.
Oh no, I think I'm becoming possessed by Walter G! Would anyone like to see a map?
I didn't say in my post that it was on OCR. I just said OCR traffic was bad as it is when I used to go there. Judging from the lack of mass transit options, you would expect traffic in the surrounding roads to get backed up once you have a pickup in commercial activity. That was my point.
Can't refute any of that, although I do think somewhere deep down Wang would like to have a winning team. There is real money in that if only to sell the whole thing. He had to know the property would be a battle for perpetuity. Frankly I think Rechler was behind the move and got Wang salivating at the possibilities. All the impact studies, etc are probably write-offs. I really think one winning season makes a big difference. One profitable season and it's all forgotten these days. The probelm is time has run out. No political will to keep the team, and the fans, well they've gotten the shaft for years so that's nothing new. Just makes me sad to lose a pro team. Another nail in the hopes for this polished turd of a county.
As for the NHL, I'll be back. Back in front of my big screen TV cause I ain't paying through the nose to see those greedy SOB's.
2001 - 2002
Laviolette, yet another green as grass coach they hired, they get Osgood for credibility in net (after trading Luongo & drafting DP) Parrish (part of aforementioned trade) is Bossy for the first month, they have a 42 point turnaround I think, and go 7 gutwrenching games with TO, culminating with their star player (Yashin) passing off to Bates as time expired in game 7 instead of SHOOTING (gotta keep it together now). I was a season ticketholder that year.
They never did anything to move forward after that. Milbury fired Lavvy soon after because he hurt the players feelings or something. The Garry Galleys and Cliff Ronnings and all the rest of the washed up scrubs were our big off-season aquisitions year in and year out...these were the moves to get us to the next level.
I didn't say in my post that it was on OCR. I just said OCR traffic was bad as it is when I used to go there. Judging from the lack of mass transit options, you would expect traffic in the surrounding roads to get backed up once you have a pickup in commercial activity. That was my point.
There is an exit right off the Meadowbrook that takes you right to the back of the Coliseum. But traffic for major events is a disaster over there. There are usable train tracks around there somewhere because the circus train goes there - used to see it pass thru GC on the Hempstead line.
There is an exit right off the Meadowbrook that takes you right to the back of the Coliseum. But traffic for major events is a disaster over there. There are usable train tracks around there somewhere because the circus train goes there - used to see it pass thru GC on the Hempstead line.
That was Wang & Milbury's train
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