Monthly Archives: July 2011
7:05 pm: The majority of seats in the 100 level of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, and the mechanism that enables the sections to slide in and out based on the event, are a disaster. Hundreds of seats are damaged, broken beyond repair and unsafe.
The roof of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, which has been patched up with temporary sealants and tape since before Ziggy Palffy came to play, has a whole new batch of leaks. As a result, seating areas and aisles continue to be dangerous.
The refrigeration system that creates the playing surface for New York Islanders hockey games at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum is barely functional, and can break down on any given day. According to a league source, the Coliseum ice was rated by NHL players the last two seasons among the three worst – despite the Islanders recently spending more than $500,000 in repairs. Not good for player safety.
There are other problems, too, which is why the Islanders submitted a request last month to Nassau County for $4 million. On Monday, the Rules Committee of the Nassau County Legislature will review a Capital Projects amendment for “emergency repairs” to the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Since the Coliseum is County-owned, this is how the process works under the team’s lease and has for decades. When the Islanders require areas of the building to be fixed or replaced, the team must notify the County and submit a document. The County then reviews the request and pays for what it approves or – in these bankruptcy days for Nassau – puts off what it can. It should also be noted that Islanders owner Charles Wang on several occasions over the last decade has spent his own money on repairs and improvements to the Coliseum.
The timing of the Islanders’ request, of course, is somewhat controversial. Exactly three weeks before the Aug. 1 public referendum for $350 million for a new Coliseum, the Islanders are asking the fiscally-devastated county for $4 million in repairs. Do the Islanders and the legislators need this distraction? Should the Islanders really be asking for $4 million from the County right now? Surely, the club has considered the ramifications.
Then again, maybe the Islanders are trying to make a few points:
- The Coliseum is a hellhole.
- The Coliseum is unsafe for visitors, employees, athletes and performers.
- The team has no guarantee of ever getting approval on a new arena in Nassau, so it must operate on a business-as-usual basis.
- And oh, by the way – no matter what happens with the referendum and the on-going attempts to finalize a deal for a new arena in Nassau – the Islanders will be playing at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum for the next four NHL seasons.
Not counting concerts, family shows and other events, that’s at least 164 times citizens will be coming to the final days of the Coliseum.
The Legislature’s Rules Committee could vote to approve the $4 million request for repairs on Monday, or put it off for another day.
This story was first reported by Point Blank via Twitter on Friday.
A Note to Point Blank Readers: With the whirlwind of the NHL Draft and unrestricted free agency period largely over, and with our editorial staff working on other media and PR projects, Point Blank will be primarily focused for the rest of this month on the Islanders’ battle for a new arena. Since the site is not credentialed by the team, you’ll want to regularly check Katie Strang’s blog, the official site and the Blog Boxers for coverage this week of Islanders prospect camp and talk about it at Islandermania or your message board of choice.
Certainly nothing is more important right now than the Islanders’ fight for survival in Nassau County, and Point Blank continues to be committed to bringing exclusives, SNY interviews, updates and columns on the Coliseum issue all the way through the vital Aug. 1 referendum. Of course, if the Islanders make a roster move, we will do our best to provide a timely update and opinion.
Thank you so much for your continued support of Point Blank for almost three years. Incredibly – and this says everything about the underrated and misunderstood passions that run throughout Islanders Country – PB readership is at an all-time high in 2011. As always, if there is ever anything you’d like to discuss or share offline, please email me at cb@islanderspointblank.com. I hope you are enjoying a fun and safe summer with your families…CB
UPDATED at 9:30 am
THE RESISTANCE: This morning at railroad stations across Nassau, residents handed out literature with the headline, “Vote No on the Coliseum tax.” The central image was an Islanders logo with an X through it.
New York State Democratic chairman Jay Jacobs plays the Prince of Darkness role, saying there is no point to his party putting resources into a campaign for a NO vote because – I’m paraphrasing – there’s no chance in hell the arena deal will ever get passed by a supermajority in the Legislature.
The Islanders should have a clearer understanding now of what they’re up against. They must be ready now to get serious about a first-rate PR blitz. Mike Mottau speaking in the Borelli’s parking lot does not get the job done.
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9:55 pm: The Aug. 1 referendum for a new Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum is happening. There is no more uncertainty. Not even the Nassau Interim Finance Authority can stop the vote. The $2.4 million needed to finance the vote will not come from a contract that NIFA has to approve, but instead is a mere budget transfer to cover Board of Elections costs. Keep in mind also that Charles Wang will reimburse the County for the total cost of the election if a shovel is allowed to break ground on a new arena. The only possible contract might be for trucking to move the voting machines throughout the Nassau County polling stations, but this will not get in the way of the referendum taking place.
So if you were anticipating an act of God or George Marlin before writing in the Aug. 1 date on the family dry-erase board at home, the waiting is over. The vote for the future of the NVMC, and the vote for the future of your New York Islanders, is actually going to take place on Aug. 1.
After careful consideration of all of the facts and rhetoric, the Point Blank household vote is going to be a YES. I will encourage my relatives, friends, neighbors and associates residing in Nassau to also vote YES, and my recommendation is that you do the same.
The details of the deal are easily Googled and can also be found both factually and with an understandable slant at the Islanders’ official team website. Nick Giglia has written a lot on the subject at Let There Be Lighthouse and Freeport resident/Andy Kaufman-of-hockey-bloggers BD Gallof has opined plenty on his Twitter feed. The invaluable Lighthouse Hockey no doubt will provide continuing coverage and essential links. Although the county and team’s PR campaign has been fairly tame and quiet so far, the buzz is that some particularly big things are planned in the week leading up to the vote.
I have little interest in trying to make a case for and against an annual tax bill of $58 (or less…or more) or arguing whether Mike Picker’s projected revenues (certified by an independent company!) are accurate. If the numbers provided by the Islanders’ group and Nassau are the work of too much imagination and late-night booze and turn out to be off by 33%, I still won’t regret my YES vote and I don’t believe anyone else should either.
My family’s votes are to keep the New York Islanders in Nassau County.
My family’s votes are for a new arena, which is how it should have been from the beginning – Lighthouse or no Lighthouse. (And yes, I said this many times to those way above me in the staff directory when I was an Islanders executive).
My family’s votes are for the 2,100 citizens of New York that drew a paycheck of some kind over the last year by working at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, and for the countless thousands of others who will be put to work building, preparing and servicing a potential new one.
My family’s votes are a response to the words of the respected Legislator Kevan Abrahams, who said on SNY PB TV that if voter turnout on Aug. 1 is strong and YES wins by an impressive majority, he and his colleagues will absolutely listen to the power of the people.
I believe Abrahams, a key Democrat from the Nassau Legislature. Far more importantly, I’m told the Islanders and Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano believe him too. If, like me, you are for this deal – for keeping the Islanders here and seeing that asphalt developed into something useful – you will accept Abraham’s challenge and line up all the registered voters in your life to vote YES.
Do not make the mistake of taking Aug. 1 for granted. Do not make the mistake of taking a landslide victory for granted. Do not make the mistake of thinking others will carry the vote for you. If Judy Jacobs sees only a couple hundred in her district voted YES, it is not going to change her NO when the supermajority is required.
The vote should win, as I’ve said since the day this plan was first announced. But make no mistake: many Nassau residents have marked Aug. 1 on their calendars with the intention of driving to their polling stations and voting no. This blog sees more than 20 emails a day from registered voters against the project. (Some are even polite and well-articulated!)
Do not assume anything NIFA might do. Marlin does not speak for the entire group. There needs to be a leap of faith that the rest of the Authority is not made up of narcissists who give premature and unethical interviews to get their names in the paper, even after they are told by their colleagues not to speak publicly about the Coliseum deal.
Charles Wang is a good man and a titan of Long Island industry. He saved the Islanders eleven years ago, it can be said without any debate. I’m sure he wishes the team won more in its two incarnations in the Wang Era – the retool-on-the-fly playoff years of 2001-2007 and the Garth Snow rebuild, which appears close to fruition with a few major additions, proper development, good health and a solidified future that could come with a finalized arena agreement.
It’s not like Wang hasn’t wanted to win more, or tried to win more. He gave it his best shot in 2001, green-lighting the acquisition of several key veterans to spur a mini-revival in Islanders Country. Four opening round departures didn’t cut it. But if you were around on Opening Night after 9-11 or for the first home playoff games in seven years, you know what the old barn on Hempstead Turnpike felt like. You know what Wang made possible and kept trying to make possible for a half-decade despite unimaginable losses. Ryan Smyth didn’t sign and now you’re witnessing the slow and steady rebuild.
While all this has gone on, Wang has spent more than $30 million of his own money on the planning, marketing and designing of the Lighthouse Project that never got built and on the resources needed to execute and promote the Wangano deal. He’ll probably be in the hole for another mill or two by the time Aug. 1 arrives. Like the rest of us, the man is not perfect. Unlike most of the rest of us, he hasn’t given up yet on the Islanders and Nassau. Only Wang can explain why he has been so determined, stubborn, crazy.
Picker says the alternative to accepting this Plan B is losing the Islanders and losing Nassau County’s 16,000-seat arena. I believe him, too.
I’m not okay with that.
So on behalf of my family – Catherine, Aidan, Luke and Cole Botta of Rockville Centre, Nassau County, Long Island, New York, USA – our vote is YES.
12:10 pm: Unable to reach an agreement on a deal with the Islanders, Jason Gregoire took advantage of a loophole, became a free agent and has signed an Entry Level contract with the Winnipeg Jets.
Although the Jets are Gregoire’s hometown team and have always been the favorite for his services since a few weeks after his defection – when the Atlanta Thashers moved to Manitoba – the 2007 third round draft pick of the Islanders had plenty of options. He met with nine NHL teams and – according to sources – received contract offers from six clubs, including the Minnesota Wild. After a two-week process, he opted to go with Winnipeg. The Jets’ new brass, led by GM Kevin Cheveldayoff, met with Gregoire over draft weekend. The Jets’ offer was higher than the last one presented by the Islanders.
While Gregoire told Point Blank last month that he was very happy the Islanders kept the door open for a possible signing after he turned free agent, the Islanders were said to be very disappointed in losing the solid prospect.
In his third and final season with the Fighting Sioux in 2010-11, the 6-0, 200-pound left wing had 25 goals and 18 assists for 43 points in 35 games. Gregoire, who was second in the WCHA in goals-per-game last year, has a chance of seeing some action in the NHL this season as a third line wing for the Jets. But he would be best served by some development in the AHL.
Blake Kessel, also drafted by the Islanders in 2007, last month also utilized the loophole. Like Gregoire, Kessel played in the USHL before starting college and became a free agent four years after his draft selection. The defenseman from the University of New Hampshire is said to be contemplating offers from at least four NHL teams and should reach a decision over the next two weeks. The Philadelphia Flyers are one of the leading candidates to land Kessel.
Comments on this subject are welcomed.
This is how it’s supposed to end for the men who give at the office. Radek Martinek has parted ways amicably with the Islanders, who chose to move in a different direction on the blueline. Martinek was rewarded by Columbus with a one-year, $2.2 million contract. For anyone stunned all week by deals like this and the $2.75 million – $3.5 million annual contracts that have been awarded left and right over the last week, consider that the average salary in the NHL is $2.4 million. If you want to be in the game, don’t complain about the price tag. Farewell for now to Radek, a man among men.
In the final installment of our Coliseum Trilogy, the Democratic legislator softens his criticism of the Wangano deal, admits that Charles Wang “has been used like a political football for ten years” and listens to my plea for sanity in the political process. “I’m a supporter of Democracy in action,” he says. Abrahams issues a declaration about the Aug. 1 vote that Islanders fans and arena deal supporters will want to hear. Comments?
July 5
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Update – 4:30 PM: The Carolina Hurricanes have signed defenseman Tomas Kaberle to a three-year contract. Carolina has also traded defenseman Joe Corvo to Boston in exchange for a 2012 fourth round draft pick. The Phoenix Coyotoes have also re-signed defenseman Keith Yandle to a five-year contract. Earlier in the afternoon, the Winnipeg Jets re-signed team captain Andrew Ladd to a five-year deal.
1:27 PM: The Ottawa Senators have signed center Zenon Konopka to a one-year, 700K contract. In his only season with the Islanders, Konopka played in all 82 games, led the NHL with 307 penalty minutes and became a fan favorite at the Coliseum.
1:15 PM: Islanders RW Blake Comeau will file for arbitration. Comeau, who will be entering his sixth NHL season in 2011-12, put up career-best numbers last year he when scored 24 goals and 22 assists for 46 points in 77 games (all career-highs).
11:25 AM: The Islanders made a depth signing by bringing in center Trevor Frischmon on a one year, two-way contact. Frischmon played in three games for the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2009-10 and spent last season with Springfield (AHL) where he scored four goals with 25 assists for 29 points in 80 games.
July 4
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5:00 PM: For the Islanders fans who are wondering what the team is up to right now, Chris Botta tweeted this nugget out this afternoon:
Isles GM Garth Snow still speaking with agents in search of 1 forward and 1 dman. Trade still most likely route for top D.
In other news, the Calgary Flames have re-signed defenseman Anton Babchuk to a two-year contract. Babchuck, who was a free agent, scored 35 points in 82 games from the blueline last season.
July 3
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10:45 PM: The San Jose Sharks acquired winger Martin Havlat from the Minnesota Wild on Sunday night in exchange for winger Dany Heatley. Both players are 30 years old and are signed for several more seasons, but Havlat’s cap hit (through 2014-15) is scheduled to be $2.5 million less per season over Heatley’s (through 2013-14).
4:45 PM: The Nashville Predators signed winger Niclas Bergfors to a one-year contract. The 24-year old was named to the 2009-10 All-Rookie Team and has scored 81 points in 162 NHL games.
12:40 PM: Nashville and Toronto made a trade Sunday morning that sent forward Matthew Lombardi and defenseman Cody Franson to the Maple Leafs for defenseman Brett Lebda and forward Robert Slaney. Lombardi missed all but two games last season due to a concussion, but was coming off a career-high 53 points in 2009-10. Franso, who is younger then the Lebda and has less experience, has more upside in his career at this point.
Original Post:
By Corey Witt
We’re at the stage of free agency where the waters become calm until a big wave comes in and a splash is made with a major transaction. There are plenty of big moves left to be made throughout the League, but now we might have to wait a little while in between.
The Anaheim Ducks made a move Saturday night that might be sliding underneath the radar by signing right wing Andrew Gordon to a two-year contract. Gordon, who was a seventh round draft pick of the Washington Capitals in 2004, made himself into an AHL All-Star and a two-time AHL Calder Cup Champion. He couldn’t stick with the Capitals, but should get a fair look in Anaheim.
So during the rest of the holiday weekend, hang in tight and keep the (cordial) discussion going. Unless something earth-shattering happens on the Island, we’ll keep the free agency thread going here through the Fourth of July.
Update – 7:05 PM: The Washington Capitals signed goalie Tomas Vokoun to a one-year deal… The Detroit Red Wings picked up defenseman Ian White on a two-year deal.
4:00 PM: Defenseman Matt Gilroy has signed a one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning… Carolina has agreed to a two-year deal with left wing Anthony Stewart… Los Angeles picked up winger Simon Gagne on a two-year pact… Center Tim Connolly moved across the border with a two-year contract with Toronto.
11:10 AM: Center Brad Richards has signed a nine-year contract with the New York Rangers. Do not be surprised to see the dominoes start falling around the NHL now that Richards is off the market as more then a few teams had big money tied up with him.
Original Post:
By Corey Witt
For frustrated Islanders fans out there (and judging by yesterday’s comments, you know who you are) the team’s quiet first day of free agency should not have been a surprise. If the Islanders are looking to add another defender, the trade market remains a viable option.
On Wednesday, when Chris Botta was discussing potential free agent defensemen that the Islanders could target, he prefaced it by making this point:
If the Islanders truly want to make an impact move at forward or on defense, they should consider a major trade. Requirements: Player must have years left on his deal and not have a no-trade clause.
As more players begin to sign around league today, Point Blank will continue to cover those and any moves the Islanders make.
Thank you for all the comments in yesterday’s thread. Let’s start it up again.
