Monthly Archives: January 2009
12:20 pm - Of all the readily-available goaltenders in the world, the Islanders have turned to Wade Dubielewicz to carry the load for the rest of the season.
I hope they know what they have gotten themselves into. You’d think they do.
The man forever known as “Dubie” - backing up Yann Danis tonight but starting next week - will steal points for the Islanders on a weekly basis. There will be plenty of nights when he and his teammates will be in over their heads, but there will be others when Dubielewicz will stand on his.
He knows he’s here by the hand of the hockey gods. Not prized by the Islanders or seen by the other 29 NHL teams as anything more than a 2-3 goaltender, he signed a two-year deal with Ak Bars of the Kontinental League because it was going to be his best offer by a large margain. At the same time he was released from his contract in Russia in late December, all over Islanders Country knees, groins and hearts were being ripped.
He’s here because there weren’t any goaltenders of his calibre so ready, willing and able. He’s here, passing on two other offers, because he has roots in Connecticut. He’s here because he’s the team’s biggest cult hero between the pipes since Chico Resch, who used to kiss them.
Dubielewicz is a proud guy. This is a man who once amiably told a group of writers, “Maybe if you stop writing that I’m a career minor-leaguer or a backup, they’ll think of me differently.” Dubie’s point was a fair one. He was a No. 1 goaltender at the University of Denver, then followed it up with a rookie season in the American Hockey League in which he had a 1.38 GAA and .946 save percentage. He became an AHL All-Star.
His folk hero status was cemented with four straight wins (and .934 save percentage) to take the Islanders to the playoffs two years ago. With the exception of the Al Arbour game, that was the last happy time for the Islanders and their fans. Still, it wasn’t enough to be locked in as the Islanders’ No. 2.
No, like he said, he’s no savior. But if you think Wade Dubielewicz is going to stand (or butterfly) for a tank job to Tavares, you don’t know Dubie.
The opening of Islanders Training Camp 2009 will be in Saskatoon, another town with their eyes on an NHL franchise. Read all about it in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix. (Enjoy the trip, Logie).
Next up: a home game against the Maple Leafs in Hamilton. Home opener in Harbin. A game against the Sharks in Las Vegas. These are just jokes, friends. What a week.
Reaction.
Point Blank was on the radio with Mike Francesa this afternoon. To access an audio file of our conversation, click here.
The Islanders did not practice today. Per PB scout Matty The Usher, Wade Dubielewicz took pucks for an hour, plus Andy Hilbert and Sean Bergenheim skated.
Comments.
There’s been some great debate along the Information Superhighway over whether the Islanders’ “tactic” of scheduling a pre-season game in Kansas City will “work.”
Let’s review, shall we?
When we woke up yesterday morning in Islanders Country, the only storyline was whether a cult-favorite former farmhand in the organization was going to come back and play goalie for the rest of a season in which the Islanders are all but mathmatically eliminated from the playoffs. And then, when Darren Dreger dropped his bomb at 11:00 am, this is what happened:
Newsday changed its backpage from the latest bad scoop on the next Jets head coach to the headline, “Kansas City, Here They Come?”
Newsday published columns from Mark Herrmann and Jim Baumbach, fan reaction (not amused!) by Katie Strang, a Greg Logan interview with Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray, Anthony Rieber on Kansas City’s goal and Eden Laikin on the scope of the Lighthouse Project. The paper also covered the game and the signing of Wade Dubielewicz.
Kate Murray, who doesn’t even try to hide the fact that she just wants this entire ordeal to go away, was put in a position to answer questions from journalists. (Remember this quote forever: “Of course I wouldn’t want to see the Islanders leave, but that will be a business decision by Mr. Wang and his associates that he makes for his own well-being).
The Post and Daily News, rightfully so, bagged game coverage for KC talk.
The switchboard at the Town of Hempstead was lit up like Dubie in Toronto last season. Emails poured in.
Gary Bettman spoke about the Lighthouse Project on his radio show. NHL Home Ice on XM Radio said it was the biggest topic of the day.
Point Blank blew away its record highs for Visits and Hits.
And the buzz from yesterday’s news is not over.
Who knows what will become of the Lighthouse Project? Who knows what the Town of Hempstead will do next? But as for the question of whether the Islanders’ maneuver to play an exhibition game in Kansas City will work, you have an answer.
It already has.
Comments.
10:10 pm - Kate Murray’s response to Newsday.
Mark Herrmann says the NYI must stay.
Katie Strang has fan reaction at the Coliseum.
Kansas City fans want the Islanders. From the KC Star.
9:30 pm - I really want to believe in Kate Murray. She is the community leader of my Town and has done some very good things there. She has had a remarkable career thus far, taking her to enormous heights and perhaps some day even greater ones.
But I would feel so much better about the Town of Hempstead Supervisor if she’d stop spooning out nonsense or – if she truly means what she’s saying - at least get her facts straight.
Ms. Murray wants everyone to know that she has graciously offered to developers Charles Wang and Scott Rechler to start their major overhaul of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum now. That’s lovely.
Besides the obvious – the development doesn’t work without, you know, the development – there’s one other flaw to the Town Supervisor’s offer.
It is not her offer to make. The NVMC is the property of the County of Nassau. When Nassau put out its Request for Proposals years ago, Wang won the bid based on his entire proposal. The project cannot be changed unless the County and the Lighthouse Development Group agree on it. As Tom Suozzi told me, he doesn’t want it changed.
So go ahead, Kate: keep making the hollow offer and telling everyone about it. Makes you sound like a politician, and I hope for better from you.
*
As for the persistent question in Comments about whether all Charles Wang cares about is the land and not the hockey team…
- If that were true, Wang would have desperately tried to unload the team years ago, when he may have begun to realize the project was going to go through a decade of red tape and political hot-potatoing. He probably wouldn’t find any takers. It’s very likely Wang is the last Islanders owner standing.
- Ever try talking to Wang in the middle of an Islanders game? I did once. Once.
- The Islanders had owners before Wang who only cared about the real estate and not the team. Those were the gentlemen who tried to get the payroll down to $5 million but settled for $14 million after Milbury got heated. Those were the gentlemen who had me drafting press releases about the trading of Zigmund Palffy to the Rangers and the Kings.
- If you saw Wang at the supermarket and said to him, “You only care about the property and not the Islanders,” he would probably…
1) initially laugh out loud, thinking about all the people who tell him he cares too much about the team and is too involved, and then
2) reflecting on all the coin he has lost when even a sold-out Coliseum the last 8 years with this lease would have him in the red, Wang would openly sob.
*
Finally, about today’s news of the Islanders agreeing to play an exhibition game in Kansas City, this is what I can tell you. As I make no secret of, I worked for the Islanders for a long time, the final 8 years for Charles Wang. I was involved on the Lighthouse side of the business and have intimate knowledge of how the Islanders wanted to approach the project from a PR perspective for every day of those 8 years.
Wang bought the team almost 9 years ago. You never saw even the slightest hint of public acknowledgement that the problems were serious enough for the Islanders to think of being anywhere other than Nassau County. Until today.
My house on the line, do I think ultimately a deal can be struck and the Islanders will stay here? Yes.
But I would take today’s news very, very seriously.
*
Meanwhile, back to hockey…
The Islanders lost 2-1 to Boston, out-shooting them after two periods 29-15 and out-chancing them in that stretch by about a 3-1 ratio. Inability to finish continued in the third until a Bill Guerin billiards shot off Kyle Okposo‘s skate with 53 seconds left. But you’ve heard it all before, so we’re moving on.
Sean Bergenheim, said by the team to have been given the day off on Wednesday, out tonight with what the team termed a “strained side.” Jon Sim back in.
I get a kick out of my buddy Zdeno Chara completely eliminating opponents with the kind of checks he got penalized for every game of his rookie season with the Islanders. Good for him. Tim Thomas, perhaps well aware The New York Times is doing a feature on him, put on a solid show. What a story that guy is.
Scott Gordon was patrolling the bench like a wildman, offering instruction and encouragement throughout. At times, I could hear him from the press box.
Official attendance: 15,548. Scouts at the game: Minnesota, Phoenix, Dallas, Vancouver.
Hate to be a hag, but I freaking detest the sight of Kyle Okposo playing the point on the power play. He’s 20 years old. Let the kid be a power right wing.
Wade Dubielewicz is signed. Let’s talk about that more when he shows up, probably tomorrow.
An announcement on Rick DiPietro may come Friday.
David Krejci and Matt Hunwick had some enlightening stuff to say to me before the game about Coach Go-Go. It wasn’t your standard “He helped me a lot” stuff, so I’m going to save it for another day.
Don’t think you’ll see a trade between now and the start of All-Star Weekend.
Comments.
Goalie and game discussion thread here. Kansas City/Lighthouse – in our opinion the far greater story today - next thread.
UPDATED 2:15 pm: Jim Baumbach of Newsday praises the decision.
Darren Dreger of TSN has just reported that the Islanders have agreed in principle to play an exhibition game in Kansas City against the Los Angeles Kings. Ka-boom!!!!!!!
In his story, Dreger does a solid job of detailing the background to this decision, including…
- The fact that Tim Leiweke, the CEO of AEG – which operates the Sprint Center in KC – is also a governor of the LA Kings.
- The Islanders, since Charles Wang bought the team in 2000, have stayed away from even the slightest of veiled threats of leaving Long Island.
- As we reported on Sunday, there appears to be no signifcant progress over the last six months on the Lighthouse Project.
Dreger makes a point twice within his story to tell Islanders fans that the Islanders have no plans to move anywhere in the near future.
Whether the lack of progress led to the decision to travel to Kansas City for an exhibition game is unclear. When I called the Islanders at 11:00 am today, they had no comment on Dreger’s story. They could later in the day, so check back here and with Greg Logan during the day to see if details roll in.
Neutral site exhibition games can sometimes be profitable for the invited guests. Perhaps this is no more than an opportunity for the Islanders to get in some practice against a Western Conference team, enjoy some ribs and knock down their overwhelmingly annual losses by a few grand.
Our personal take: if everything was going swimmingly with the Town of Hempstead on the Lighthouse Project, the Islanders politely decline the Kings’ invitation to play a game in Kansas City.
Comments?
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