Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to NY IslandersCountry. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Islanders on thin ice: Old arena, weak play
Topic Started: Jan 16 2011, 08:05 AM (3,506 Views)
MMingE
Member Avatar
All Star
http://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/islan...-play-1.2613509

Quote:
 
At Islanders home games this season, fans look around Nassau Coliseum at thousands of empty seats. The team is losing millions of dollars, and the arena is an aging hulk whose best years are behind it.

To many fans, the team's best years are behind it, too.

The franchise that won four consecutive Stanley Cups in the early 1980s and captured the imagination of Long Island now struggles to live up to its storied past. The team hasn't won a playoff series since the 1992-'93 season. And hanging over these issues is what a team official calls "the big gorilla in the room": Where will the Islanders play in four years when the franchise's Coliseum lease expires?

"The best place for the Islanders is on Long Island. It's my home," said Charles Wang, the team's billionaire owner who bought the Islanders a decade ago at the urging of prominent local politicians, including former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato. "At the same time, we must remember that the team must be economically viable as a business for the long term."

Wang has spent more than $200 million of his own money to cover the team's losses and millions more planning and promoting his Lighthouse Project - a mixed-use development he wanted to build around a new sports arena. To many, the success of the Lighthouse Project went hand in hand with the team's fortunes.

Today, the project is all but dead with Hempstead Town, where officials objected to its density, size and scale. The town's dramatically scaled-down vision for the property was, in turn, rejected by Wang as economically unfeasible, and today the Coliseum is considered so decrepit that at least one top player turned down the Islanders to play for another franchise for less money.Longtime fans see little that is promising on the horizon.

"We were asked that day 10 years ago what the big thing was about Wang buying the team, and we said, 'Hope,' " said Art Feeney, 70, of Seaford, who has been a season-ticket holder since 1972, the team's first season. "But there's no hope now." Feeney said that after this year, he will give up his tickets.

Wins hard to come by

The Islanders began the first part of the season with a league-worst 5-18-5 record. With a winning streak last month, the team improved to 14-22-7 after yesterday's 5-3 home win over Buffalo. Getting the Eastern Conference's last playoff spot remains a long shot. Average home attendance has fallen to below 9,900, easily ranking as the lowest in the NHL this past decade. The arena seats about 16,000.

The Islanders say their season-ticket holder base is down 800 from about 6,500 last season. Interviews show that some won't renew.

"For me, I'm done," said Barry Rosen, 56, a Plainview resident whose family was original season-ticket holders. He said he feels like the team chased him out of the Coliseum.

This season, the Islanders suffered through a stretch in which they lost 20 of 21 games. That skid cost coach Scott Gordon his job. Jack Capuano, formerly the coach of the Islanders' American Hockey League affiliate in Bridgeport, Conn., also owned by Wang, now acts as the Islanders' interim coach.

"Coming into this season, I thought we had one of the best defensive units in our conference," said general manager Garth Snow. "Unfortunately, we haven't had the opportunity to see the team that we assembled."

Despite the losses and injuries to key players, Snow said he remains committed to a rebuilding plan centered around developing young players. The team recently traded two of its best and highest-paid veterans - defenseman James Wisniewski and goalie Dwayne Roloson - for future draft picks and a minor league prospect.

Financially, the team's numbers are bleak.

In April 2009, Wang allowed a Newsday reporter to view the Islanders' audited financial reports, which showed that he had spent $208.8 million to keep the Islanders afloat during his first nine years of ownership. That was after he spent $74.2 million to buy the team and assumed $97 million in liabilities. (Wang purchased the team in 2000 with a partner, Sanjay Kumar, whom he bought out in 2004.)

"Charles continues to contribute cash to fund the continuing losses," said Art McCarthy, who as Islanders alternate governor handles the team's finances. "When cash is required, he puts it in."

'Sizable' amount spent

McCarthy declined to say how much cash Wang has contributed over the past two years, but described it as "sizable."

Forbes magazine values the Islanders at $151 million, and estimates that the team is running a yearly $4.5-million operating loss. If Wang were to sell at that price, he would not come close to covering his purchase price and investments in the team.

The Islanders did not fill the team president and amateur scouting director positions, choosing to disperse their responsibilities among other staff, sources say. And instead of buying time on a local radio station, they struck a deal this season with neighboring Hofstra University to have its students broadcast Islanders games on the college's station. Despite poor attendance, ticket prices increased in several sections of the Coliseum this season.

"It seems pretty apparent from the outside that what he's trying to do, given that he doesn't have much of a revenue-generating machine, is to live at the bottom of the NHL heap and try not to invest money in the club," said Andrew Zimbalist, a sports economics professor at Smith College in Massachusetts.

Meanwhile, the Islanders are working to encourage corporate sponsorship renewals. Bethpage Federal Credit Union, for instance, recently renewed for two years instead of its typical single-year deal - in part because of the pricing the Islanders offered.

"We're partners in good times and bad," said Linda Armyn, the credit union's senior vice president for corporate development.

As the debate over the team's future goes on, it continues to play in one of professional sports' most antiquated arenas.

Team executives say Wang spent $250,000 last summer renovating the home locker room, adding amenities such as a player lounge with leather couches, a flat-screen television, a kitchen and a sauna. Although the Islanders consider such upgrades long overdue, Snow likened them to "putting lipstick on a pig."

Snow said Wang has been willing to pay top free agents to play for the Islanders, to no avail. Persuading established players to commit long term to a team with an aging home and no set future beyond 2015 has proved to be difficult, he said.

Last July, for example, free-agent defenseman Paul Martin signed with Pittsburgh for $25 million over five years, declining an Islanders offer worth about $1 million more a year - with another year guaranteed.

"He didn't see the Nassau Coliseum as a great place to play," agent Ben Hankinson said, explaining his client's decision.

Fans see the Coliseum as a symbol of their problems.

"The team is about the future," said season-ticket holder Dominick Regina. "But we don't know where they are going to be in the future."

Wang's Lighthouse Project was supposed to include a new arena, and fans backed his quest to build a $3.8-billion development on the land surrounding Coliseum. They attended rallies, marches, Hempstead Town Board meetings and zoning hearings. They wanted Wang to succeed, believing if he did, then so would the Islanders.

Little enthusiasm by town

As Islanders fans rallied behind Wang's vision, many town residents showed little enthusiasm for his proposal to build high-rise towers and commercial buildings on the open space around the Coliseum. They cited worries about traffic and congestion, among other issues. Town officials also expressed caution about the size and appropriateness of the proposal. The sentiment of many officials was that it was just too big.

Town Supervisor Kate Murray, while saying she too wanted the Islanders to stay on Long Island, supported a dramatically scaled-down vision for the site when the town released its own study on the property.

Now, Wang's discussions with the town have ended, the Lighthouse website is gone, its personnel have been reassigned, and all references to it removed from the Coliseum's outside walls and scoreboard. Lighthouse partner Scott Rechler returned his interests in the team and the Long Island Marriott next to the Coliseum back to Wang. In recent months, some Nassau officials have expressed hope that an Indian casino can be wooed to the site and built in record time to help the county's financial future.

Wang, in a Newsday interview, said he hopes to find a solution that would keep the team here.

"Given the circumstances, given the constraints, we're still doing the best we can," he said. "I love the sport. I'm identified with the team. I poured a lot of resources into it, and I will continue to do that to make it the best I can. Am I going to get it right every time? No. But do we have a plan? Yes."

While he said in a radio interview late last month that the team is not for sale, Wang hasn't ruled out moving the team, several sources familiar with the team say. Both Suffolk County officials and Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon, who has discussed Citi Field's parking lot as a potential site for a new home for the team, have expressed interest.

Merrick resident and Islanders season-ticket holder Steve Lester, an attorney for the Hempstead Town Board's Democratic caucus, said he'll renew his tickets but has little hope for an Islanders future in Nassau County.

"My instinct," he said, "is that they'll leave."

For Art Feeney and his son, Kevin, 37, who have been going to games since Kevin was a child, deciding to give up their tickets is the end of an era.

"The thought of it is sad," said Kevin Feeney. "It's almost like losing a family member. This is going to sound bad, but these last few years, it's been like watching a family member die."
Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
stevedepot
Member Avatar
WISENHEIMER
The sad thing about this Newsday article is that moderate to non hockey fans (be they Isles fans or not) will read that and assume Wang IS actually losing as much as he is when we know full well it's a complete crock of horsespit.

Sell the team, we can no longer dream.



Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
25yearfan
Member Avatar
You can call me Joe.
stevedepot,Jan 16 2011
09:18 AM
The sad thing about this Newsday article is that moderate to non hockey fans (be they Isles fans or not) will read that and assume Wang IS actually losing as much as he is when we know full well it's a complete crock of horsespit.

Sell the team, we can no longer dream.

There goes that hard-hitting investigative reporting at Newsday again.

They're probably trying to figure out how to create a whole newspaper out of repurposed press releases.
Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.

Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
4CUPZ
Member Avatar
HEAD OF SECURITY
WHAT CAN BE SAID THAT HASNT BEEN SAID ALREADY

PAUL MARTIN
PAUL FREAKING MARTIN
THEY USE THAT AS AN EXAMPLE
WAS HE GOING TO BE THE SAVIOR???
AND HERE IS JUST A GUESS
WHEN TEAM MARTIN SAID
Quote:
 
He didn't see the Nassau Coliseum as a great place to play," agent Ben Hankinson said, explaining his client's decision.


I'M PRETTY SURE HE/THEY WERE MEANING THE BRAINTRUST
THAT WORKS THEIR MAGIC AT THE COLISEUM
MAYBE THEY SHOULD HAVE TOLD HIM THAT A "LOUNGE"WAS ON ITS WAY
I'M SURE THAT WOULD HAVE TURNED THE TIDE IN THEIR FAVOR

HOW LONG ARE WE GOING TO HAVE TO HEAR ABOUT
"THE PLAYERS LOUNGE"?
"CHARLES SPENT $250,000 ON THE PLAYERS"
WELL SEEING THE GREAT IMPROVEMENT IT HAS BROUGHT THEM
MAYBE HE SHOULD HAVE DONATED TO HIS
ISLANDERS CHILDRENS FOUNDATION
INSTEAD OF EVERY DAY LOOKING TO THE FEW FANS LEFT
AND ASKING FOR THEIR LAST DROPS OF BLOOD
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Jackace
Member Avatar
2nd line
It is notable to add that apparently Snow did make an offer to Martin which many on here suspected was BS by Snow to prove something to the fan base AND that the Coliseum was a consideration for rejecting the proposal. Just saying.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
rst033
4th line
does anyone see allot of contradictions in this article?

Wang is losing money but spends another $250k on a locker room

The team is rebuilding but a nameless big time free agent didn't want sign here because of the arena and took less money from another team

Either/green light the Lighthouse project or the Islanders are gone

no mention of the TV deal the islanders have the best in the NHL and the reason why people don't show up anymore is because the team sucks-not the arena

how expensive it is to go watch the Islanders play....100 bucks a pop for tickets??? a family of 4: $400 parking the car $5 get something to eat another 50

also a majority of NHL teams make their money when??? in the playoffs

Newsday protects the fact that Tom Suozzi delayed the LH project as much as he could for propaganda purpose and Newsday conveniently blames a republican Kate Murray for the Islanders leaving

Charles WAng was asked to buy the team so he could keep it on LI out of the goodness in his heart but since they won't allow him to rape the taxpayer and over develop the area I guess the Islanders are just going to have to move booo hooo sucks for you Islander fans.

Charles WAng is a typical Chinese exploiter rape rape rape take take take pollute the earth burn and destroy what you can just for a dollar

these are the same people who made baby formula with poison so they could get rich

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
THEDRIVE4FIVE
Member Avatar
The Kid
IMPEACH MURRAY!!!!!
Posted Image
Go Grabs Go!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
rst033
4th line
THEDRIVE4FIVE,Jan 16 2011
10:39 AM
IMPEACH MURRAY!!!!!

FOR WHAT?

stopping corporate welfare? Wang and his business partners get rich the Islanders still move and we the tax payers get the bill the traffic and a new slum

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Webb20
Member Avatar
Godfather
This article sounds like it was initiated by Mr. Dolan. Isles playing well, let's run our monthly article on how poor a franchise they have over there and plaster it on Page 1. That should squash any recent hopes of Islander fans. Next month we'll get a similar article. It's not to say that most of this is true, but it is also well known and documented and didn't need a front page story to tell us attendance sucks, our team is lost and out of it, our building is old, and our team is poorly run. Newsday just likes to make sure we don't forget.

I sold it all, retired and moved to Fabulous Las Vegas!
"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."-Ben Franklin
"Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves."-Ronald Reagan
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
OlTimeHockey
Member Avatar
All Star
stevedepot,Jan 16 2011
08:18 AM
The sad thing about this Newsday article is that moderate to non hockey fans (be they Isles fans or not) will read that and assume Wang IS actually losing as much as he is when we know full well it's a complete crock of horsespit.

Sell the team, we can no longer dream.

10 years.
$200M spent by Wang.

$22M per year comes from Cable, a sole and separate asset. I wonder how he has the money to keep the team afloat? Could it be the $200++++ million from cable over that time?



This infomercial brought to you by Charles Wang. :disgraced:
"clearly it's Rick DiPietro's stupidity that's put the islanders in this situation getting into an altercation when a game was over..." Keith Jones on VS

"But the Coliseum became a repository for all the team's troubles, a convenient scapegoat. There were suggestions that no major free agent ever would set foot in such a decrepit place. We have two words for anyone making that argument: Fenway Park. History says free agents would play in an old boxcar if they got enough money and had a chance to win." - Mark Herrmann

查理斯 · 請死你混蛋
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
OlTimeHockey
Member Avatar
All Star
rst033,Jan 16 2011
09:40 AM
does anyone see allot of contradictions in this article?

Wang is losing money but spends another $250k on a locker room

The team is rebuilding but a nameless big time free agent didn't want sign here because of the arena and took less money from another team

Either/green light the Lighthouse project or the Islanders are gone

no mention of the TV deal the islanders have the best in the NHL and the reason why people don't show up anymore is because the team sucks-not the arena

how expensive it is to go watch the Islanders play....100 bucks a pop for tickets??? a family of 4: $400 parking the car $5 get something to eat another 50

also a majority of NHL teams make their money when??? in the playoffs

Newsday protects the fact that Tom Suozzi delayed the LH project as much as he could for propaganda purpose and Newsday conveniently blames a republican Kate Murray for the Islanders leaving

Charles WAng was asked to buy the team so he could keep it on LI out of the goodness in his heart but since they won't allow him to rape the taxpayer and over develop the area I guess the Islanders are just going to have to move booo hooo sucks for you Islander fans.

Charles WAng is a typical Chinese exploiter rape rape rape take take take pollute the earth burn and destroy what you can just for a dollar

these are the same people who made baby formula with poison so they could get rich

Second best. The Laffes own their own network, though.


And yes, Chuck has no scruples when he's making money. Just look at the "Who's Who In Prison" list Forbes publishes (or should). :letssee:
"clearly it's Rick DiPietro's stupidity that's put the islanders in this situation getting into an altercation when a game was over..." Keith Jones on VS

"But the Coliseum became a repository for all the team's troubles, a convenient scapegoat. There were suggestions that no major free agent ever would set foot in such a decrepit place. We have two words for anyone making that argument: Fenway Park. History says free agents would play in an old boxcar if they got enough money and had a chance to win." - Mark Herrmann

查理斯 · 請死你混蛋
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Dr. Generosity
Member Avatar
Put the Cup Back in Our Lobby Where It Belongs
Webb20,Jan 16 2011
12:06 PM
This article sounds like it was initiated by Mr. Dolan. . . . It's not to say that most of this is true, but it is also well known and documented and didn't need a front page story to tell us attendance sucks, our team is lost and out of it, our building is old, and our team is poorly run. Newsday just likes to make sure we don't forget.


Right on! This "news" article is a g-ddamned disgrace. Where is the "news"? There are no facts in this article that are not at least six month old.

What makes this article particularly disappointing is that Newsday's work on this article was well known in advance, and a good number of fans had some hope that it would bring some new facts to the table, and possibly present a balanced picture that not only points blame at Wang and the Coliseum, but explores the TOH's role in this process. Supposedly Newsday is the Island's paper, with a wealth of TOH contacts. But does the local angle really factor in here? No, it's all old stuff, and they quote some far-away player agent and a college professor in Massachusetts, for chrissake.

This article has "stomp on the burning embers of the Islanders franchise" written all over it. Articles like this in respectable media outlets are usually accompanied by an inconspicuous notice that the media outlet in question is owned by a major competitor of the business criticized in the article. I don't bother with paying Newsday for access to its content, so perhaps such a disclaimer appeared on the website, but it's not here, and I doubt it's there.

One last word, and it's directly at a self-important fan who offered up fun quotes in this article. I don't know if you read this board, but this is the board I post on, and I would like to say the following: You're entitled to your opinions, and to get your name in the paper if you like. And perhaps your comments to Newsday were more nuanced than they've reported. But it sure looks like you've offered yourself up as The Model Fan Who Has Decided to Walk Away from the Team. And all I can say, Art, is don't let the door hit you in the butt on the way out. I haven't given up hope, I won't until the moving vans are full. And if and when we get a new arena, I'll look forward to you offering up better quotes.

And lest you think that I'm some brave Internet Tough Guy who's dishing out hits behind a pseudonym, my name is Josh Millard, you may recall my contributions to Dave Strauss' Isles-List way back in the day, and if you want to respond, feel free to post here or IM me. I'm not hard to find...even if I don't get my name in the paper.



Posted Image
How to sell more North American cars
........................................................................
New York Islanders, anagram: Rink leaders, Snowy!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Shooter
All Star
There's a reason why Newsday's circulation has dwindled. Part internet, part nonsense that appears on its pages. Paul Martin? LMAO. The best thing that can ever happen is the Snapple guy buying the Islanders and we can be rid of El Cheapo and his excuses, including the over inflated losses he puts out there. We already know from a Forbes article that it's a few million and not the 20 million the kool aid drinkers put out there.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Webb20
Member Avatar
Godfather
Doc, I agree, this article was pretty much prefabricated with selective sources for a specific view. To me this is the Dolan empire's standard recruiting practice. Every few months, if there are new people who might be interested in hockey we'll make sure they pick the Rangers as their team by showing what a loser you'd be if you were an Isles fan.

:yes:

There certainly was an agenda behind this article.
I sold it all, retired and moved to Fabulous Las Vegas!
"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."-Ben Franklin
"Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves."-Ronald Reagan
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
gdprof27
Member Avatar
Team WAFA
Slow news day (no pun intended) on the Island? Someone on vacation?



This was just filler.
Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
THEDRIVE4FIVE
Member Avatar
The Kid
gdprof27,Jan 16 2011
03:30 PM
Slow news day (no pun intended) on the Island? Someone on vacation?



This was just filler.

Cop killer caught after manhunt...Congresswoman making an amazing recovery after being shot in the head...they could have put something else on the cover
Posted Image
Go Grabs Go!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Dr. Generosity
Member Avatar
Put the Cup Back in Our Lobby Where It Belongs
THEDRIVE4FIVE,Jan 16 2011
03:47 PM
gdprof27,Jan 16 2011
03:30 PM
Slow news day (no pun intended) on the Island? Someone on vacation?



This was just filler.

Cop killer caught after manhunt...Congresswoman making an amazing recovery after being shot in the head...they could have put something else on the cover

This was on the cover?!? Of what, the sports section? Surely not the entire Sunday newspaper. :blink:
Posted Image
How to sell more North American cars
........................................................................
New York Islanders, anagram: Rink leaders, Snowy!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
MCIVOR16
Member Avatar
Joe McIvor
empty seats, maybe the cause. or just
IT'S A LONG WAY TO THE TOP (IF YOU WANNA ROCK N ROLL)

if you want blood ( you've got it)
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
THEDRIVE4FIVE
Member Avatar
The Kid
Dr. Generosity,Jan 16 2011
04:01 PM
THEDRIVE4FIVE,Jan 16 2011
03:47 PM
gdprof27,Jan 16 2011
03:30 PM
Slow news day (no pun intended) on the Island? Someone on vacation?



This was just filler.

Cop killer caught after manhunt...Congresswoman making an amazing recovery after being shot in the head...they could have put something else on the cover

This was on the cover?!? Of what, the sports section? Surely not the entire Sunday newspaper. :blink:

Yes, the entire paper. I just looked. It has a picture of DP all bentover from above.
Posted Image
Go Grabs Go!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Webb20
Member Avatar
Godfather
Dr. Generosity,Jan 16 2011
04:01 PM
THEDRIVE4FIVE,Jan 16 2011
03:47 PM
gdprof27,Jan 16 2011
03:30 PM
Slow news day (no pun intended) on the Island? Someone on vacation?



This was just filler.

Cop killer caught after manhunt...Congresswoman making an amazing recovery after being shot in the head...they could have put something else on the cover

This was on the cover?!? Of what, the sports section? Surely not the entire Sunday newspaper. :blink:

Cover, Inside cover and the next 2 pages after that. The first 4 pages of Sunday's Newsday.
[dohtml]<img src='http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.2613657.1295155105!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/mugshot_171/image.jpg' width=300>[/dohtml]
I sold it all, retired and moved to Fabulous Las Vegas!
"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."-Ben Franklin
"Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves."-Ronald Reagan
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
Fully Featured & Customizable Free Forums
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · General Islanders News · Next Topic »
Add Reply