Monthly Archives: July 2009
(thx, nlking on Twitter)
UPDATED at 5:00 pm – Here’s the David Paterson press release.
1:00 pm - You can read all the platitudes from today’s Lighthouse press conference with Governor David Paterson in plenty of other places. Here’s what you need to know.
When it was all over – the jockeying for prime photo ops with the Guv, the arms around Charles Wang from those pretending they were always in support of the project, the well-crafted soundbites – one of those politicans threw his arm around this blogger and said the following:
The momentum has now officially shifted. The Lighthouse is going to get approved, at least enough of it to make the developers happy. I’ll tell you why. If it wasn’t, there wouldn’t be so many politicians and operatives here. That’s how it works in politics. Everyone here today wants to be on the right side of history.
He may be right.
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Some highlights from the Paterson event…
- The Governor, raised in Hempstead, recalled a pair of childhood experiences at the Coliseum. He said that after the New York Nets traded Julius Erving in 1976, he went to a game and cursed at owner Roy Boe for an hour. Paterson said he went to an Islanders game in the ’70s. “There weren’t many African-American fans there,” he said. “A lot of people asked us where their seats were.”
- Paterson jokes a lot, but the best comedy is when there is some truth in the humor. County Executive Tom Suozzi gave another passionate, eloquent speech this morning about the need for the Lighthouse. As he often does, Suozzi cited Suffolk’s significant edge in economic development over Nassau this decade. When he was done, Paterson said, “Tom is a great executive for Nassau, and a great public relations man for Suffolk.” Paterson praised Suozzi for his economic leadership, saying when the Executive took over, “Nassau owed more money than 37 states.”
- Kate Murray used the majority of her time at the podium properly – to plug the August 4 public hearing at Hofstra University. She said her staff is “keenly focused on progressive development” and that she “understands something needs to be built on the HUB.” Then the Supervisor added her qualifiers about doing the right thing. That’s completely fair. We’ll know soon enough.
- Paterson on Wang’s October 3 deadline: “Charles is negotiating. My hope is that by October 3 Charles will be one happy owner.” Pointing out the $4 billion pricetag, 40,000 construction jobs, 19,000 permanent jobs upon completion and huge tax revenues, the Governor called the Lighthouse Project, “The most significant economic initiative to see Long Island in a long time.”
Among those in attendance: politicians Carolyn McCarthy, Kemp Hannon, Brian Foley, Craig Johnson, Robert Barra, Rob Walker, Michelle Schimel, Charles Lavine, Kevan Abrahams and Dorothy Goosby, Islanders GM Garth Snow and Hall of Famer Mike Bossy.
When the public event was over, staffers from Newsday were ushered into the arena for a private audience with the leading politicians and developers. Maybe Long Island’s newspaper will get some additional tidbits the rest of the audience did not.
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Kate Murray is starring in a new two-part You Tube video where she discusses the Lighthouse. Catch Part I and Part 2. The view of Newsday and some bloggers and Tweeters is that the vids are evidence Murray is coming around on this Lighthouse thing. I’m not entirely sure the proof is in the production of a PR piece.
The Murray interview is conducted by her own spokeman, Michael Deery. Let me ask you something. If in my old job, I sat down with Garth Snow for a 15-minute rehearsed Q&A on the state of the Islanders, would it have any credibility? Of course not.
The Hempstead Town Supervisor might mean well. Clearly, over the last few months she has taken a wiser, more leader-like approach to her stewardship of the Town’s piece of the project. (Again, has anyone heard from Kristen McElroy? Anyone?). It’s just tough to buy her You Tube appearance – written, choreographed and directed by Michael Bennett Deery – as the real thing.
Why not, for example, give a lengthy interview with News 12? Why not with Newsday? I mean, of course without writing the questions for them.
On the other hand, Murray’s performance received two thumbs up from a political expert whose opinions I trust:
I thought Murray did well by the Lighthouse Project with that video. Think about it: the Governor supports it, Charles Schumer supports it, the County Executive supports it. Islanders fans obviously have spoken loud and clear. The unions are fanatical about it. The press has not come out against it in any meaningful way.
Look wherever you want – it’s hard to find any major objection to the development. I guess we’ll see what happens August 4 with the public hearing. But I think it’s possible the Supervisor and her advisors looked around and decided to join the crowd. She’ll win her election in a landslide, but she doesn’t want to come off as the lone dissenting voice.
We’ll know one way or the other before October 3. See you August 4.
Comments on this story and the Lighthouse Project.
Moments after Robin Figren stepped off the ice at the end of minicamp’s only scrimmage, an Islanders scout pointed at him and gleefully yelled, “Now that’s the Figgy of the World Junior Championships! That’s the Figgy we love”!
The 2006 third round pick smiled. He couldn’t argue. After a season spent in his homeland of Sweden went bad, Figren – all of 21 years old – is at a crossroads in his professional hockey career. 2009-10 could very well determine if Figren has the chance to develop into an NHL player.
“It’s time for me to shine,” Figren says. “No excuses. It’s all up to me.”
At this point a year ago, the 6-0, 185-pound left wing was considered one of the Islanders’ top prospects. His decision to leave Sweden as a teenager to play in the Western Hockey League paid huge dividends and the Islanders were confident they had a third round gem. A year learning the ropes as a third-liner with the Calgary Hitmen was followed by a season as a top forward with Edmonton (WHL) and an impressive showing at the World Junior Championships.
Last summer the Islanders and Figren made a joint decision: he would return to Stockholm for one year before starting his North American pro apprenticeship. The trip home would not be a step back in competiton; expecting to take a regular shift with Djurgardens, Figren would benefit playing against men and Victor Hedman in the world-class Swedish Elite League. The experience turned into a disaster, although Figren prefers to look at it as part of his education.
“I wouldn’t say it was a mistake,” said Figren, who had 3 goals and 6 assists in 49 games. “Sometimes you just have to learn from life when things don’t go how you expect. It started off fine for 10 games, but then I didn’t have the role I expected and didn’t always get a lot of icetime. I tried to make the best of it, worked on my defense. Even though it wasn’t a perfect season, I feel I still can take a lot from it.”
Barring a stunning run for a job in Islanders training camp, Figren will play his first full season with the team’s AHL affiliate in Bridgeport. He has a foot in the door with the Sound Tigers after making the wise move to join the team after his European season was over. The experience was about much more than the three games he skated in.
“We wanted Robin to get that eye-opener that most European players have – that the AHL is a great league,” said Bridgeport coach Jack Capuano. “He had an important couple of weeks with us. He saw how we practiced at a high pace. He learned how rigorous our schedule is, learned about sleep habits, learned about how we focus on nutrition.”
I asked Capuano if it’s important for Figren to win a job on his first line.
“It’s there for Figgy if he wants to earn it, but for his development he needs to be on one of our top three lines,” said the coach. “Anyone who follows how we do things knows we play our top 9 a lot. Figgy’s going to get his chance.”
Capuano noticed a different Figren at minicamp than the young man with the lack of confidence he saw in March after a challenging season in Sweden. There’s even word that Figren is coming to New York in August to begin his preparations for training camp. “He’s smiling again,” said Capuano. “He looks like he’s having fun again.”
Figren concurred. When asked for his reaction to the scout’s praise of “That’s the Figgy we know from the WJC,” he grinned. “Yeah, I’m not going to lie to you. That was great to hear,” he said.
Figren’s Attributes: One-on-one offensive skill, work ethic and desire, feistiness on D, better-than-average scoring touch, creativity
Improvement Needed: Strength, skating quickness
Comments on Figren and prospects. Comment Guidelines.
As first reported on Point Blank, Governor David Paterson will show his support of the Lighthouse Project in a press conference today. It’s at 11:00 am, just outside the box office of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Charles Wang, Scott Rechler, Kate Murray and Tom Suozzi will be in attendance.
Point Blank readers are encouraged to attend. It doesn’t matter what the Governor’s approval ratings might be, or what you think of him. He will bring attention to a subject vital to the Islanders’ future. The story looks a lot better if there are a lot of supporters there, Islanders fans or not. Comments.
12:00 pm – Point Blank has learned that the Islanders have signed Nate Thompson to a one-year, two-way contract, avoiding arbitration.
11:55 am - Agent Allan Walsh just posted on Twitter: “Can confirm we are currently in negotiations with the NYI on a contract for Miro Satan.” With many good players still available via free agency or trade, I don’t see why they would bring back Satan at any price. Maybe they are just “in negotiations” and it’s all just a bluff. The Blake Comeau non-story continues. Comments.
Islanders Point Blank on Twitter
Entertainment Weekly does it for Hollywood, so it’s time we looked at the most powerful people on Wang Island. Use the Comments section to share your personal write-in candidates or start arguments. It’s not a perfect list. I’m sure I left worthy people out. I approached it like the Hall of Fame: if I had to think about it long, you didn’t make it. No offense intended. Let’s begin.
25. Billy Jaffe, MSG Plus color commentator: Emerging as one of the best analysts in the league, Jaffe gets his points across and they often foreshadow team decisions.
24. Eric Cairns & Sudarshan Maharaj, Development Assistant and goaltending consultant: By the across-the-board raves from the many prospects that improved over the last year, it’s clear Cairns’ impact has been felt. Maharaj was sent to Finland to scout Mikko Koskinen and rubber-stamped his drafting. Now he’s responsible for the goalie’s Islanders career.
23. Michael Bair, President of MSG Media: Runs the division with the people who run the Islanders’ telecasts, decide what they will look like and determine which channel they will be on.
22. Ken Morrow, Director of Pro Scouting: With free agency starting at 26, the dynasty defenseman has a more important role than ever. His team needs another Mark Streit-calibre recommendation next summer.
21. Rick DiPietro, goaltender: His influence on management is mythical and his potential for impact is not what it was, at least for now. Nevertheless, when you are a U.S. Olympian, All-Star and No. 1 goaltender with a few years left on a long-term deal, your attempted comeback is noteworthy.
20. NYI Fans and Bloggers on the Internet, true Orange-and-Blue: You better believe it, folks. Between Islandermania, Islanders Country, HF boards, the comments section on Newsday.com, the Blog Box, Puck Daddy, SB Nation, this thing and (just about) everywhere else on Al Gore’s Internets, never, ever underestimate your voice. Even when they pretend not to, the Islanders are reading and listening.
19. Kyle Okposo, top prospect: His complete development is vital to the Islanders’ rebuild.
18. Islanders Alumni, Long Island heroes: When men like Bob Nystrom and Clark Gillies have something to say, you listen. They earned this respect not just with Cup rings, but with their genuine interest in the health of the franchise more than two decades after they last wore the uniform.
17. Bryan Trottier & Mike Bossy, legends-in-residence: Trottier is in player development while Bossy develops corporate relationships for the franchise. These are usually the kind of jobs where Hall of Famers mail it in, kiss babies and collect a paycheck on their names. Not these two.
16. Hank Winnicki, Newsday sports editor: Being top dog in Sports at Long Island’s newspaper means Winnicki gets the ultimate call on how much coverage the Islanders get in the print edition and on the web. He also decides the back cover, who writes when and how much. Now more than ever – with the Islanders still a one-paper beat in the Tavares era – this makes Winnicki a very powerful person.
15. Jack Capuano, Bridgeport head coach: When you are in a youth movement, the head coach of your American Hockey League affiliate is almost as important as the NHL guy. Capuano is responsible this season for Jesse Joensuu, Robin Figren, Trevor Smith, Mark Katic, Justin DiBenedetto and Mikko Koskinen, among many others.
14. Doug Weight, mentor and power play point: Had breakfast with Tavares and just happened to run into Matt Duchene on the golf course. If management thinks enough of Weight to set that up, he’s obviously more than just a 38-year old center entering his second year with the team.
13. Howard Saffan, Sound Tigers President: Besides running the AHL franchise, Saffan is also responsible for the renaissance of Islanders Iceworks. Word has it he has spent a lot of time in the Islanders’ sales office this summer.
12. Mark Streit, defenseman: The man who should be the next captain.
11. Kate Murray, Town of Hempstead Supervisor: Strictly a coincidence, but Murray started acting more like a true community leader when her candidate for this November’s election was announced. (Funny thing: we haven’t heard from Kristen McElroy since). Murray is the gatekeeper to the Lighthouse’s plan for mega-development in Hempstead. She’s powerful, all right. Tell her what you think on August 4.
10. Islanders Sponsors and Season Subscribers, stakeholders: If you are financially and emotionally committed for 41 games of Long Island’s only major professional sports franchise, the Islanders will always be interested in what you have to say. This is power you should not take lightly.
9. Ryan Jankowski, Assistant GM/Director of Amateur Scouting: When it comes to the draft, it is all on Jankowski. His work can be judged in a few years on Bailey, de Haan, Ness, Trivino, Hamonic, Petrov, Ullstrom, Martin, Katic, Donovan, Poulin, DiBenedetto, Cizikas and taking two goalies last month.
8. Chris Dey, President: Building a fan base while the team is in a rebuild and the fate of the franchise is up in the air is quite a challenge. Not sure what anyone could have done last season with a team out of it before Christmas. This year should determine whether Dey’s innovative Islanders Business Club moves the mountain of tapping essential corporate support for the franchise.
7. Scott Gordon, head coach: Time will tell if Gordon is the table-setter, like Glen Hanlon was in Washington, or if he has the ability to see the rebuild from beginning to end. Talented, diligent, creative, smart, stubborn.
6. Gary Bettman, NHL commissioner: An easy target at times, but in the final analysis he’s done his part to keep the team where it is. After the arena stuff gets sorted out, owes the Islanders one last thing: participation in an outdoor game.
5. Scott Rechler, Lighthouse co-developer: His name is not in the Islanders’ directory (for now), but as Charles Wang’s partner on the Lighthouse Project, Rechler has a huge chunk of the franchise’s future in his hands.
4. Tom Suozzi, Nassau County Executive: The Lighthouse Project – or as Suozzi insisted I call it years ago, the “Coliseum Project” – is almost as much his as Wang’s and Rechler’s. It’s on The Suozz to see it through.
3. John Tavares, No. 1 pick: No pressure, kid.
2. Garth Snow, General Manager: As much as this year is about the Lighthouse, ultimately Snow must build a contending hockey team. He has the complete support of ownership, so he’s getting plenty of time to get it done.
1. Charles Wang, owner: The Man. Whether or not you agree with my contention that the team wouldn’t be here any more without him, there’s no question that everything about the Islanders starts at the top.
Comments.
8:45 pm - My reaction to the many throw Comeau overboard notes from readers, in Comments.
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Funny. Late one night last week, I broke the story that Blake Comeau declined his Qualifying Offer. Reaction: shrugs in the blogosphere, silence in the mainstream media. The next day, I asked Comeau agent Kurt Overhardt to take my readers through his decision process. Reaction: “Much ado about nothing” on message boards, a post by Greg Logan saying Comeau’s signing is just “a matter of time.”
Thought that was odd. Comeau, if you recall, was the surprise Bridgeport banishment of last season. Wouldn’t have thought a Comeau contract would be a slam dunk, which is why I wrote about it twice last week.
Today’s blog posting from Greg: “Blake Comeau Runs a Risk.” Logie evens brings up Sean Bergenheim’s European timeout. He wasn’t in Lake Placid when teammates asked for reconsideration of a one-year block of Zdeno Chara. Essentially, it’s a promise: if Comeau doesn’t accept what the Islanders are offering him on a one-way deal, Garth Snow will shop elsewhere.
Blake Comeau is a nice piece to the puzzle, an energy third-liner with enough skill to maybe someday bang in 15-20 goals a season. You can’t rule out Comeau developing into a Ryan Callahan-type PIA. (Callahan just got two years and $4.6 million for his 22 goals and relentless irritation). The Islanders are happy to offer a one-way deal, but are probably thinking more along the lines of the Frans Nielsen contract (4 years, $525,000 per). Going short or long-term is up to Blake, who even he would admit hasn’t accomplished much yet.
Maybe he’s just an 8th or 9th forward, but Comeau is still a part of this rebuild – just as his pals Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey are. The Islanders and Overhardt need to get together and finalize a deal. Comeau doesn’t want to be Justin Mapletoft. If the Islanders think Comeau is a regular-shift NHL player, they should take care of their own and not make the rest of the kids wonder.
No matter how it turns out, the conclusion of this much ado about nothing story is just a matter of time. Just to be safe, I won’t take the weekend off.
Comments.
Islanders Point Blank on Twitter
To separate my time inside the Islanders organization until May, 2008 from this new life as a blogger is impossible, and I haven’t bothered to try. I have been consistent in my thoughts about my last few years with the franchise and how they may be relevant now. There has been no bigger issue than this:
I remain 100% in support of the Islanders’ decision to take their lumps, build from within and not go for desperate quick fixes. To say otherwise would be hypocritical.
I worked for the team when the decision was made to rebuild virtually from scratch (not that I had a vote, to be sure). Yes, I feel strongly the Islanders should add at least a true black-and-blue heavyweight, top-four defenseman and first-class scoring forward to take some of the load off John Tavares. But for me to all of a sudden start writing entries with headlines like “Snow Shoulda Gone After X” and “Can’t Believe They Didn’t Trade Ness and Two No. 1s for Y” would be pretty foolish.
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Since Charles Wang bought the team in 2000, the Islanders have made two strong runs with veteran lineups. The first was the blast of a season in ’01-02 when Laviolette, Yashin, Peca, Osgood, Aucoin and glorious holdovers like Kenny Jonsson put the Islanders back in the NHL. Prior to Wang and the 11-1-1-1 party of October 2001, it was sad. There were nights I’d get home after another loss, put on Buccigross and the “NHL2nite” on the Deuce, watch the highlights and think, “Boy, it must be really cool to work in the National Hockey League.”
The other run was when the Islanders acquired Ryan Smyth and, more than any other time in my tenure, it felt like the Islanders were on the big kids’ playground. No, I didn’t think Smyth’s arrival meant the Islanders were going to the Cup Final, but it sure felt good to know the team had a chance and everyone in the league was taking notice.
When I woke up and went to work on July 1, 2007, we already knew Jason Blake, Tom Poti, Viktor Kozlov and the other free agents had played their last games as Islanders, with one exception. There are a lot of experts out there who will say there was no way Ryan was ever re-signing with the Islanders. If you don’t think so, call his agent, Don Meehan.
Turned out Smyth going to Colorado was the best thing that could have happened. A major approach to Chris Drury came up empty, others passed on significant offers. Let’s keep this in perspective: at the time the Islanders were coached by Ted Nolan, regarded as a man players loved to work for. The team had made the playoffs in four of the last five seasons, including a miraculous final-week comeback just three months earlier. It’s not like the franchise was some sort of joke at the time.
After Smyth bolted for Colorado, Mark Herrmann of Newsday asked Snow the inevitable question. The GM spoke from the heart. There was no reason for Long Islanders to be insulted. Highly sought-after free agents in search of a destination for the prime of their careers are not signing up long-term for the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in its current state and without a shovel in the ground.
End of that story.
It was also the end of putting together a team with a little piece of this, a little piece of that. Snow attempted to temporarily patch his team together by adding veterans like Bill Guerin, Mike Comrie and Ruslan Fedotenko. However, the key to those deals is they were all short-term.
I remember the night Smyth signed with Colorado. I walked into Garth’s office. On the wall was his depth chart for the upcoming season. It looked worse than he did. I tried to get him to laugh, throw a Dragons football around, clear his head for a few minutes before getting back to work. That’s when he said it:
“It’s just not gonna work this way here. We have to build a contender from within.”
He was right, and here we are. I mean, they are.
No doubt there are a lot of fans reading this, having cardiac episodes and yelling, “No spit, Sherlock. I could have told you geniuses this more than ten years ago.” Fair enough. Maybe so. Having experienced those days and nights of doom in the ’90s first-hand, I’m not sure anything positive could have come out of them. For this discussion, I respectfully ask that you take my word for it that looking back on Luongo and friends is simply not constructive. It happened, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it – least of all Garth Snow.
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Last summer, between jobs and between blogs, I heard from a few hockey writers questioning the youth movement. “Your old team says they are going with prospects, but from what I hear they don’t really have any studs except for Okposo,” was a typical volley.
They were right. The Islanders didn’t have a quality franchise kid like a Steve Stamkos or the deep roster of prospects the Kings had put together the last few years. But to that I would say, what’s your point? A plan has to start sometime.
I’m on record not being enamored with the decision to pass on Luke Schenn or Nikita Filatov to move back and take Josh Bailey and get extra picks last June, but the team is delighted with its haul. The 2006 draft after Okposo looks solid in quantity, unspectacular in quality. Although the Islanders did not plan on finishing last overall – don’t give them too much credit – the health setbacks of Rick DiPietro and injuries to countless others last season led to a big-time piece to the puzzle in Tavares.
Again, Tavares is not a hockey operations triumph. The first overall pick is a gift from the hockey gods and Bill Daly to the Islanders fans who endured last season. Snow, Ryan Jankowski and the rest of the staff will be judged on the development of Bailey, Aaron Ness, Travis Hamonic, Kirill Petrov and the other picks from 2008. They will be judged on the giant leap of relinquishing stored-up picks for Calvin de Haan and the curious move to take goaltenders in both the second and third rounds in June.
Just as importantly, they will be judged on their ability to develop these prospects and make them feel like they are a part of something with the Islanders, on Long Island, in New York. The whole thing rides on not just Tavares and Okposo being great, but on many of these talented youngsters flourishing and never thinking of wanting to play anywhere else.
Funny thing about a rebuild: often the best way to execute one is to do as little as possible. I remember Snow and I joking last Spring that maybe the smartest thing the GM of a patiently-rebuilding team could do is tie his own hands from making a run at the alleged top free agents on July 1. In Mark Streit, Dwayne Roloson and now Martin Biron, this strategy has led to a trio of terrific value signings.
When Snow succeeded two GMs who loved to be in the press, I suggested he act more like Kenny Holland and Lou Lamoriello. “The less you say about what you’re doing or how you’re doing it,” I told Garth, “the more they’ll think you’re some sort of quiet genius.” This, of course, was before I thought I was going to be a blogger. Snow has taken this advice way too seriously.
In what turned out to be my final Islanders event before I resigned 15 months ago, I prepared some lines for Snow to consider in his speech for an Open House at the Coliseum. These were the events designed to tell fans there would be no quick fixes and this might take a while.
One of my notes was, “For this team, in this community, at this time and with hopefully a transformed facility on the horizon, the best route for the New York Islanders to become a contender again is to do it the old-fashioned way, like Bill Torrey did it: by building from within – and with patience.”
I believed it then and believe it now.
Comments.
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