Island of Discontent

It's been nearly five months since I've written a piece for this blog. You can blame burnout, school, kids or anything else for that, but you make time for the things that are important to you. To be perfectly honest, a huge part of the reason why I've been absent is that I grew very sick of the negativity that's rampant on the Internet, in the blogosphere, and in Islanders Country.

Look, I get it. This team has pretty much sucked for the past 25 years. We've had the Easter Epic, the playoff run in 1993, the resurgence in 2002, and that's about it. People are frustrated, and that's fine. But if you're a fan, you support the team unconditionally. So when the Islanders made some moves this summer, it was interesting to gauge the reaction - and, predictably, it wasn't very positive.

What's happened this summer? Let's go back in time.

 - At the draft, the Islanders passed on some consensus top guys to draft Nino Niederreiter. Everyone flipped out about how the Islanders should have drafted Cam Fowler. The same Cam Fowler that eleven other teams passed on. So it's possible that the Islanders knew something that one-third of the league also knew. More importantly, approximately 99.9 percent of Islanders fans had never seen Niederreiter or Fowler play. You'd think Islanders fans, who have plenty of experience with prospects, would take a wait-and-see approach. But I guess not.

 - The Islanders entered July 1 with some money to spend, but predictably didn't do anything drastic. That is, unless you consider paying Mark Eaton $2.5 million a year to be a third-pair defenseman to be a drastic measure. In any event, Islanders fans flipped out about how the team can never sign anyone, how the team will never be anything but a laughingstock, and how Snow is a terrible GM. And yet, when the possibility of giving Ilya Kovalchuk a $100 million contract arose, those same fans claimed that they didn't want "another Yashin". You can't have it both ways, people.

 - This summer, the Islanders released two people that worked behind the scenes - Ryan Jankowski and Bryan Trottier. Both moves were met with considerable scorn from an Islanders fanbase that, quite frankly, has no idea what either of these two men actually did. It's one thing to get mad when the team parts way with a legendary figure, even if , as Gallof says, Trottier's role was largely ceremonial after Charles Wang's much-maligned "business model" was disbanded. The bigger story was Jankowski's departure, which was treated as though Bill Torrey was assassinated during the Cup years. None of us would even be able to spot Jankowski on the street, let alone identify one kid that he personally scouted and drafted. And yet, Islanders Country was apoplectic when Jankowski was let go. Just because Chris Botta says that Ryan Jankowski was an important person doesn't mean fans should cancel their season tickets if he's fired. Again, just another reason for Islanders fans to whine, even if there's no proof that the decision will affect the Islanders in any way.

That brings us to the news of the day - namely, Billy Jaffe's departure from the Islanders and MSG.

Billy Jaffe came to the Islanders in time for the 2006-07 season, after MSG reassigned Joe Micheletti to Rangers broadcasts. Jaffe's first game was a 6-3 drubbing at the hands of Phoenix, a harbinger of things to come. However, despite calling games for a crummy team, Jaffe's enthusiasm never waned. While he was accused of being a little too rah-rah at first, Jaffe's positivity was a welcome voice to a fanbase that was beaten down by constant criticism from other members of the media. In recent years, Jaffe's corny banter with Howie Rose became a reason to watch games, especially when the team wasn't doing much to get fans to tune in.

Jaffe would go on to become something of a rising star in the hockey media world, regularly making appearances on NHL Live and Versus telecasts. When I had the chance to guest edit the incomparable Puck The Media a while back, I spoke of Jaffe's enormous potential, something he's well on his way to fulfilling. Through it all, he remained loyal to the Islanders, always presenting them in a positive light whenever possible. However, the Islanders and MSG did not return that loyalty. But not because of money. Instead, the Islanders thought he wasn't positive enough.

Are you KIDDING? Have the Islanders ever heard Jaffe speak? I've never, EVER heard him say anything that could be considered even remotely negative. And the Islanders said he wasn't positive enough? Please.

Let me tell you something. If you work in a hopeless environment, when you're involved with a subpar product, a minuscule audience and virtually no chance of things improving, it can be very easy to become unhappy. And yet, Billy Jaffe came to work every day for the Islanders full of optimism. He truly believed that the Islanders would become good again one day, and he wanted to be here for it. Unfortunately, the Islanders didn't see it that way.

Now, Jaffe is hardly the first individual to be forced out by MSG for not singing the company line from the mountaintops. In fact, in 2004, MSG dumped Marv Albert from Knicks broadcasts for being too negative. Never mind that those Knicks were absolutely terrible and that Albert had been calling Knicks and Rangers games for MSG for, oh, about 35 years. This isn't to suggest that Jaffe is in the same league as the legendary Albert. Just that when MSG wants someone out, they make sure to eliminate that person.

October will be here soon enough, and life will go on. It's pretty obvious MSG has a hard-on for Butch Goring, and he will be the next announcer for the Islanders. Goring, while an Islanders legend and a nice enough guy, isn't half the announcer Jaffe was. But you know Goring will do whatever it takes to please Islanders management, and that's the guy the Islanders want. The world doesn't want free thinkers with potential, they want yes-men who can be easily manipulated.

And what does this say to the Islanders faithful? It says that they're not important. Fans have acted irrationally for much of the summer and pretty much all of the past few years, but this is one area where they are right to be upset. Quite frankly, after bottom-five finishes in the past three years, the Islanders should be happy that ANYONE is watching games anymore. Why not appease these loyal fans by keeping Billy Jaffe? Anyone who watches knows how much the team sucks, yet they are watching anyway. No need to kiss the asses of these fans, nor is there any need to patronize them. Furthermore, how can we ever trust anything MSG says to us in the future? We now know that Islanders broadcasts will only contain fluff and praise. The Islanders should know that doesn't work in New York.

Long story short, it's been a crazy summer so far, and everyone's to blame for it. Islanders fans have plenty of reason to be upset about the ouster of Billy Jaffe, but they would do well to lighten up about things they don't truly understand. The Islanders need to learn how to handle criticism and be happy that people even give a crap about them. Here's hoping that by the time the next crisis hits Islanders Country, cooler heads will prevail.

Do Moral Victories Exist?

You knew the Islanders had to lose sometime. And you probably knew that the Islanders sweeping three of the East's top four would probably be too good to be true. Yet, you're disappointed that the Islanders lost tonight.

That's a good thing.

I keep waiting for the Islanders to fall off the pace and out of the playoff picture. It hasn't happened yet. At this point, I'm not so sure it's ever going to happen. These Islanders looked like they belonged in this game, and they looked like they had a great chance to win. It's a shame it didn't work out.

Some thoughts on tonight's game...

- Over the past two years, the Islanders have written the book on blowing three-goal leads. Tonight, they flipped that book around, coming back from three goals down on the road against the defending Stanley Cup champions. Even though the end result wasn't there, the comeback was a great sign.

- If Garth Snow does nothing else next year, he has to get a big winger to play with John Tavares. He's not big enough to do it all by himself, which is to be expected at 19 years old. Even so, it's hard to watch him getting knocked around so frequently.

- Sidney Crosby didn't do a whole lot to silence his "whiner" rep after Richard Park's goal to tie the game. I get that it's the captain's job to let the ref know when he's missing calls, but yapping with Park and Doug Weight doesn't really accomplish a whole lot.

- The Sutton hit... just an unfortunate incident. Clearly, Sutton felt bad; he stayed on top of Pascal Dupuis until the whistle blew to make sure nobody else hit him. The refs got the call right, but it's unfathomable that the ref behind the play made the call before the ref standing right next to the play. Even more unfathomable than that, though, was the discussion on MSG Plus that followed the play, in which the announcers - particularly Butch Goring - suggested that the hit was Dupuis' fault for being in a bad position. We here at The Rivalry regularly sing the praises of the MSG Plus crew often, but this was uncalled for.

- The Isles got destroyed on faceoffs tonight. Not good when you're facing a team with as many playmakers as the Penguins.

- Not to jump on the "The refs give Pittsburgh preferential treatment" bandwagon, but there were a few calls that probably didn't need to be made. The two that stick out in my mind were the call on Kyle Okposo that set up the game-winning power play goal by Evgeni Malkin and the delay of game call on Dwayne Roloson. But that's life. Good teams always get the calls.

- Kind of a dick move by Crosby, taking a shot on Roloson as time expired and the Penguins protecting a two-goal lead. The Isles and Penguins meet again in three weeks. Here's hoping the Islanders haven't forgotten by then.

All in all, an excellent effort for the Islanders, who probably deserved more than they got tonight. That said, giving the likes of Crosby and Malkin seven opportunities on the power play is usually a recipe for defeat, something which was the case in tonight's game. Despite the loss, the Islanders should feel great about their play of late. The days of the sad-sack Islanders are rapidly coming to a close and are being replaced by this young, energetic team that can hang with anyone.

The Difference in Games...

Not too much to say about tonight's game that you won't read elsewhere since I recorded the game since I was out and watched it quickly.

However, notice the difference in the two games between the Rangers and Devils this year, most notably in penalties and power plays.

Arguably, the two teams played basically the same in both games. Sure, maybe the Rangers weren't as good tonight, but they both played the same style - fast-paced, slightly gritty, kind of dirty.

Yet, on Monday, October 5, 18 penalties were called in 3 periods. That does include some co-incidental minors that didn't result in a power play (an Ales Kotalik hooking call with a Nicklas Bergfors diving penalty; Aaron Voros and David Clarkson both for roughing in the 3rd), but there were no fights. All 18 penalties were two-minute minors. Each team had 6 power play opportunities.

On Thursday, October 22, 6 penalties were called. Two were from the same fight, and there were only 4 two-minute minors called, and one of them was with 24 seconds left.

What was the difference, you ask? Was it John Tortorella showing the Rangers videos of their penalties so they don't repeat the same mistake? Possibly, but how to account for the Devils only taking 3 minors as opposed to 9? I think there was another factor in play.

Dare I say it? The difference is the network that the games were played on. The first game (10/5) was on Versus, where they want to bring in new viewers. What do "fringe fans" want? By fringe fans, I mean, say, people who normally don't watch hockey but turn it on from time to time; or people who have no rooting interest in one of the teams playing but are watching anyway; or people at a bar watching it because it's on. Fringe fans want to see goals. More penalties = more power plays = more goals and exciting chances.

If Calgary is playing Columbus, I have no reason to watch a 1-0 game since I'm a Ranger fan and have no rooting interest in it. But if it's 6-5, 4-3, or even 6-5, I'll watch because it looks like an exciting game. Same for people who don't ever really watch hockey - they won't watch a 2-0 Devils shutout but they'll watch a 3-2 Rangers win with back-and-forth action and breath-taking saves by both goalies.

Now, tonight's game (or technically, last night's game) was on MSG or MSG+. Odds are, if you're tuning in to a Rangers/Devils game on MSG instead of the Yankee playoff game where they have a chance to win the pennant, you're a big fan and will watch the game no matter what. If it's 5-on-5 play the whole game, I'm still watching.

I constantly say how much I dislike the games on Versus, not only for their annoying broadcasts (although last year was much worse than this year) but for the facts that the referees constantly blow the whistle for phantom calls and bogus penalties.

If you don't believe me, keep an eye out during the next Rangers game on Versus. That game is November 17 at MSG against Washington. Think the NHL doesn't want Poster Boy Alex Ovechkin, Nik Backstrom, Mike Green, and Alex Semin to score 8 power play goals that night? That game might break the record for two-minute minors.

Sabres 6, Islanders 3

Another game, another loss for the Islanders. That's five straight losses to open the season, in case you lost count. Personally, I don't care about the wins and losses; this season is about improvement and developing young players, and these things don't always show up on the stat sheet. Far more significant than the end result is how the team played on the way to that result. Tonight... um... they didn't play that well. Here's what I saw tonight...

- As the puck dropped tonight, I thought about how strange it was that the Islanders completely changed their goaltending. It's not common for teams to get rid of both of their goalies, but the Isles did just that. Most of us were glad to see this. However, Dwayne Roloson's five-hole is giving me nightmares of the Ron Hextall era. Please let Martin Biron start tomorrow night.

- Speaking of roster moves, Rob Schremp should find himself in the Tambellini position tomorrow night, as he had a rather Tamby-esque game tonight. Here's hoping Schremp finds the pretzel twists as delicious as Zach and I do. I also hope Tambellini can make the most of his opportunity, assuming it does come his way tomorrow.

- Mark Streit is usually pretty reliable on the defensive end, but he got caught napping twice in the offensive zone tonight. One of those times led to the penalty shot that put the Sabres up 2-0. What happens if the Sabres don't score that goal? Who knows? But these mistakes don't make losses easier to stomach.

- Tim Jackman and Joel Rechlicz played 10:46 tonight. That's 10:46 COMBINED. Even with their totals added together, that's less than any individual Islanders player, just edging Josh Bailey. This brings up two points. First, why waste roster spots with guys who barely play; furthermore, why play guys who can't, you know, play? Second, it's not very smart to totally stunt Josh Bailey's development as a player by teaming him with stiffs like Jackman. Josh Bailey is a playmaker. Tim Jackman has seven goals in 142 NHL games.

- If I were Scott Gordon, I'd take every young player the organization is trying to build around and give those players serious minutes on the penalty kill. Letting up power play goals doesn't matter in a lost season (yes, the season is five games old, but we all know the Isles aren't going anywhere), but it can pay dividends down the line. John Tavares played 56 shorthanded seconds tonight; let's see that number go up. And for the record, Gordon does a great job of spreading out his minutes, but it'd be great to see him essentially force players to learn the defensive side of the game as they develop.

- Speaking of Tavares, every single time he touches the puck in the offensive zone, he's liable to create something. He managed to score a goal tonight, but of more interest to me were the two open nets he missed and the countless times he stickhandled out of trouble. Every time he touches the puck, I'm amazed. His hockey sense is uncanny and can literally make something out of nothing; given the lack of quality NHL players on this roster, often times, he'll have to do just that. What a tremendous player, and what a treat it is to watch him play.

- My last note for tonight - why, oh why, must the Islanders constantly be relegated to the dregs of MSG Plus 2? They played on Channel 414 tonight and they will be there again tomorrow, despite being at home and despite the Rangers being on the road. I understand the Islanders' ratings do not compare well to those of the Rangers and the Devils, but if the Islanders are at home, they really should be shown in high definition. It's a bit depressing to look for the Islanders game on TV and see that they can't even crack the double digits on the dial. This only helps perpetuate the image that the Islanders are a second-class organization, which surely doesn't help the Islanders as they attempt to rebuild all the facets of their team.

Busy night tomorrow. My predictions: The Rangers win 4-2 over the Maple Leafs, while the Isles lose 5-3 to the Sharks.

The Isles Are On TV Tonight!!!!

Everyone probably knows this by now, but tonight's Isles-Devils game will be televised on MSG Plus! This is the first Isles-produced preseason game I can recall since a post-lockout game between the Islanders and Rangers, where every announcer for both teams piled into one big booth and said "You can't do that anymore!" about 50 times after penalties.

Anyway, while tonight's telecast is big news, it's not the purpose of this blog. We're in the process of updating the Islanders drinking game, which was one of our first ever posts and is in desperate need of a overhaul. If you find anything worth including, please leave a comment. Unfortunately, we won't have Howie Rose and his bad puns tonight, but Jiggs McDonald should be by to butcher a name or two.

Enjoy tonight's game! And don't forget to give us your most drink-worthy observations.

Ryan Sheckler

There's no way in hell we're touching tonight's 6-2 drubbing at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes. Instead, here's something else that sticks in my craw.

That damn Ryan Sheckler commercial.

Every year, there are a handful of ads that regional sports networks feel the need to show over and over again. For example, anyone who watched any Mets games in 2007 or 2008 can recite Giuseppe Franco's Procede ad verbatim. So for 2008-09, the ad whizzes at MSG Plus have chosen Ryan Sheckler, his choppy reading of sentence fragments, and his humongous headphones to torment us this season. As if watching a last-place team for 82 games wasn't bad enough. Thanks a lot, MSG Plus.

Anyway, I've seen this ad probably a billion times this year, and I never thought Ryan Sheckler was anybody to be concerned with. But his Wikipedia page paints quite the positive picture of this young fellow. Apparently, he actually is young, and he actually is an award-winning professional skateboarder. I also understand he was the subject of an MTV reality show, but really, who hasn't been? My sources tell me this show wasn't very good. Frankly, I'm shocked. Because Ryan Sheckler's work in the Panasonic ad had me thinking such a show would be a smash hit.

Speaking of this commercial, I got to thinking about how such a commercial would work with a different person. Namely, yours truly. And as much as I despise the Ryan Sheckler commercial, I'd keep the music in the background because I actually like it.

---

(start commercial)

BRYAN: My name is Bryan Berg.

(Shot of Bryan skating up to a puck to take a slapshot. He proceeds to miss the puck entirely and fall on his stomach.)

BRYAN: I'm a 27-year-old hockey blogger.

(Shot of Bryan typing away on his laptop. Bryan reaches for a beer.)

BRYAN: Beer is what keeps me going. It's the key to my performance.

(Bryan spills the beer all over his laptop.)

BRYAN: Traveling to new places is always fun. I'll definitely be taking my 40 of Olde English everywhere I go.

(Shot of Bryan wearing a really big set of headphones that have to weigh at least 20 pounds. Bryan takes a swig of beer, but the weight of the headphones causes him to fall backwards out of his chair.)

Panasonic - Ideas For Life

(end commercial)

---

OK, so maybe Panasonic hasn't found their ideal sponsor here at The Rivalry. However, try Googling "Panasonic Digital Replay" and notice how many times this blog appears. As for ubiquitous commercials, I wouldn't mind seeing that shady foreclosure/bailout commercial we saw tonight a few thousand more times as the season winds down.

EDIT: That shady foreclosure/bailout commercial comes from some company called "Netlink Funding". Their ad, unfortunately, is not on YouTube. Also, I have no idea how we didn't have a Panasonic Digital Replay tag until now.

The Wonderful World of Press Releases

One of the perks of being a Blog Box member is that I get press releases in my inbox every so often. It's nice. This means I'm not stuck scouring the dregs of the Internet for Islanders information. Seriously, TSN is good and all, but the Islanders are a small-market team that happens to be in the league's basement. We don't even need to get into ESPN and their apathy toward The Coolest Game On Earth; earlier this week, Deadspin informed us that ESPN hadn't updated its NHL Power Rankings in three weeks.

So that leaves us with the Islanders and their press releases. I got two today, which is quite a bit. Usually I might get one a week. So here we go...

 - Thomas Pock Suspended Five Games. Last night, the Jets played the Patriots, as the entire world knows. I watched the game at Miller Ale House in Levittown, got extremely drunk for very little money, and watched the Jets pull out a memorable win. The only downfall of the night was that, of all of the like 90 TVs at Miller Ale House, only one was showing the Islander game. 88 were showing the Jets game, and one was showing the Bruins-Canadiens game. I'm still trying to figure that one out. Long story short, I missed just about all of the game.

Apparently, Thomas Pock elbowed one of the Senators and was handed a major penalty and game misconduct. Today, Colin "I Suck At My Job" Campbell gave Pock a five-game suspension. Now, I knew about the major, but I still haven't seen the hit. That said, I'm convinced it's no worse than the Gary Roberts hit on Kenny Jonsson in 2002, after which Campbell essentially blamed Jonsson for Roberts charging in from the opposite side of the rink to cream him.

Pock's not exactly essential, but he's played all but one game this season and has averaged over 15 minutes per game. There's no word on who's going to replace Pock, so I'll nominate Jack Hillen for the job. Since being sent down to Bridgeport, he's put up five points in seven games. Are there any better options? I don't think so. And even if there are, let's face it - Hillen needs seasoning on the big club, and it's not like the Islanders are a Cup contender or anything. Let's see what he can do.

 - Islanders Pre-Game Shows To Begin Tomorrow. Finally, proof that the powers that be listen to the fans. In a move that totally shocked me, the Islanders announced that MSG Plus will be airing an Islanders pre-game show before every game for the rest of the season. Now, I know why they didn't do a pre-game show in the past, and that would be because nobody watches pre-game shows. Am I going to watch the Islanders' pre-game most nights? Absolutely not. But it's nice to see them care enough to put this together for the fans. Truth be told, it's a good thing for MSG Plus as well. I'm pretty sure an Islanders pre-game show can beat out the other crap they've been showing before Islander games this year.

Remember how MSG Plus swore up and down that they were going to beef up Islanders coverage this year? Well, it took a while, but they're finally starting to come through. We're starting to see little things that make the Islanders look a little less second-rate, like post-game interviews in a studio instead of grabbing some guy on his way to the locker room. We've also been treated to the comedy goldmine that is the duo of Stan Fischler and C.J. Papa at home games. I don't think Fischler attended a single Islanders game last season. The pre-game show serves to move the Islanders up another notch in the perception of neutral fans. It's not much, but it's something that proves the Islanders are worth investing in. Quite frankly, that might be as good as it gets this year.

I'm actually going to tomorrow night's game, so I won't get to watch the inaugural pre-game show. Damn. I once said I'd never go to another Islanders-Senators game. That changed once a friend offered me a free ticket. We'll do our best to cheer the team on. But I fear the highlight of the game might be a delicious pretzel twist. We shall see.

Islanders Win Game 2

Well, that was unexpected.

I sort of expected the Islanders to crap out at some point. Maybe I was just preparing myself for the worst. You sort of learn to do that every now and again when you support this team. But it didn't happen. If anything, the Islanders got stronger as the game went on.

The first period was some pretty awful hockey. In fact, let's forget it ever happened. The second was a little better, but the Rangers pretty much dominated play. It wasn't until the third period that things got going... or, to put it more appropriately, for the Rangers to shoot themselves in the foot.

Two horrendous giveaways on the power play led the Islanders to score two shorthanded goals. And while I'm still not convinced that their standing as the team with the most shorthanded goals in the NHL means anything more than that they take a lot of stupid penalties, those two goals were huge. That they came from the likes of Nate Thompson and Richard Park is quite telling. Because these are the players the make the Islanders a tough team to play against. Nobody's under the illusion that the Islanders are an extremely talented team, but when you're going against guys like Thompson and Park, you have to work a lot harder to win.

After those two shorthanded goals, the Rangers were putty in the Islanders' hands. The Rangers immediately started pressing, trying to make the perfect play. That never works. The Rangers got frustrated, as evidenced by Nigel Dawes dropping the gloves with Jeff Tambellini with less than ten minutes left in the third period. The Rangers ended up getting one to make things interesting, but the game effectively ended after the Isles' secondhanded goal.

So, who to blame for tonight's poor performance by the Rangers? Pretty much everybody. Michal Rozsival is going to get the blame for much of this loss - Billy Jaffe said it best when he said Rozsival was "guilty of not being effective" - but you can also pin some of this on the offense for not scoring, on Dmitri Kalinin for being Dmitri Kalinin, and on Henrik Lundqvist for getting beat on the second goal, which he easily should have had.

For the Islanders? Much of the team played well, even if the supposed "scorers" continued what has pretty much been a season-long vacation. The star of the show would have to be Joey MacDonald, who probably played the best game of his career. Islander fans needed to see this kind of performance out of Joey MacDonald. Going into the building of your biggest rival and coming within 100 seconds of a shutout is pretty special. Plus, his performance led to this post-game exchange between C.J. Papa and Stan Fischler...

C.J.: So, Stan, what'd you see out there tonight?
Stan: I'll tell you what I saw, and it was Old MacDonald's Farm! "And a save-save here and a save-save there, here a save, there a save, everywhere a save-save!"

Had they heard this, I think even the Ranger fans among us would have to say it was all worth it. And as someone who hears these nursery rhymes dozens of times a day, it made me particularly happy. Every MSG Plus broadcast makes me a smarter hockey fan, but a dumber person. And for that, I'd like to thank everybody involved in making the magic happen, from Howie and Billy to C.J. and Stan. You all do a wonderful job.

Anyway.

Jaffe brought up the dreaded "Ranger hangover" in the same sentence as "Thursday's winnable game against Atlanta". Gulp. Make no mistake about it, the Islanders will be destroyed by an awful Thrashers team. The Islanders have been pretty awesome lately, but it can't last forever. At least not as long as guys like Mike Comrie and Doug Weight aren't scoring goals. The Rangers, on the other hand, are facing a Tampa Bay team on Thursday that has won three straight games and are finally living up to their pre-season hype. It's about time. To be honest, the Rangers-Lightning game will be a better one than Islanders-Thrashers. But like tonight, it'll be a good night for hockey in New York.

Viva Las Vegas?

I don't know much about life. But there is one thing of which I'm absolutely certain. There is no such thing as a coincidence. Everything happens for a reason. And in the sports world, everything outside of the games themselves are done for a reason.

After reporting that the Islanders were a little too aggressive in promoting their Lighthouse Project last Thursday, I just assumed it was the Islanders shoving this thing down our throats. After all, that's what they've always done. But the next day at work, additional pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place. A co-worker said that fans were chanting "Go To Vegas!" at the Islanders, with the backstory being that Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer was interested in moving an NHL team to Las Vegas. Apparently, Bruckheimer's interest in Vegas has cooled, but that's a city that's dying for a pro franchise; hockey could be the sport to get it done. After hearing that, I thought back to last Thursday's episode of NHL Live. E.J. Hradek was talking about the Islanders and mentioned how the Lighthouse Project was taking forever and that Charles Wang couldn't lose money on the Islanders forever. Then, to top it all off, Mike Milbury was on Hockey Night in Canada on Sirius on Friday. While talking about the Islanders, he intimated that hockey on Long Island could be a thing of the past, not just because nobody goes to the games, but because hockey isn't a big enough of a youth sport on Long Island to sustain interest in the Islanders.

That's when I got really worried. And that's when I made a prediction for which I'll hate myself should it come true: Within the next five years, the Islanders will be playing in a different city.

Don't believe me? Scroll up to two paragraphs ago. That should be all the proof you need. Why would the Islanders suddenly start shilling the Lighthouse Project on MSG Plus unless there was a reason for it? It's not like C.J. Papa came in on Thursday and said, "You know what? I don't have much to talk about in my intermission report. Why don't I constantly bring up the Lighthouse Project?" It doesn't work that way. My theory is that Charles Wang instructed MSG Plus to prominently feature the Lighthouse Project in Thursday's broadcast in order to put pressure on the Nassau County legislators, who have done a remarkable job in delaying this thing, to finally approve the project.

And if that's not enough for you, this one should erase any doubt in your mind. Just for fun, I went to the Lighthouse's website earlier today, just to see if it said anything particularly notable - as in, anything that would validate my blackest fears. I was greeted by a cheesy rock song and a wonderful graphic of the entire project as it's currently drawn up. However, I wasn't satisfied, and so I dug deeper. And sure enough, buried in the FAQ section of the website, came this nugget...

Q: Will the approval of the Lighthouse project ensure that the Islanders will not move?
A: As part of the proposal submitted by Nassau County Legislature, the New York Islanders would extend their current lease agreement at the Coliseum until 2025. The Islanders are Long Island's only major league professional sports team.

You can interpret this question in one of two ways. You can either see it as Charles Wang and company preying on the fears of Islander fans in order to get them more involved in seeing this thing through. Or, you can see it as Wang being as bluntly honest as he's always been. And when it comes to these big companies and big PR firms, you have to look for what they're not saying. As in, by saying that the Lighthouse will ensure that the Islanders don't move, what they're really saying is that if the Lighthouse Project is rejected, the Islanders will be forced to move to another city.

Now, before you get upset with me for saying this or for Charles Wang for thinking of cutting his losses, ask yourself this question: Can you really blame him?

Look at the situation Charles Wang finds himself in. He's stuck in a bad building with a horrible lease. He's got a team that many have earmarked for the bottom of the league. He's got a fanbase that would rather stay home than come out and support what they feel is a losing product. And that last one is key. It's hard to fight the good fight and convince Charles Wang to keep the Islanders on Long Island when last Saturday, with no significant competition and a 2-for-1 ticket promotion, they drew 11,219 fans. Even the Rangers' visit to the Coliseum on Monday didn't sell the building out. At the same time, pretty much everyone on Long Island is broke; even a great team wouldn't guarantee the sellouts that are needed to pump revenue into the organization.

It's a total Catch-22. But it sort of explains a lot. It helps to explain why the Islanders have been so hesitant to embrace a youth movement, as much as the Islanders have desperately needed one. If you want to take it back a little bit, you could even make the argument that the Ryan Smyth trade was made in order to make a Cup run, which would then make this whole Lighthouse Project a lot easier to sell to the politicians. After all, it'd be a sold-out building they'd be upgrading, and that's a lot easier to stomach than one that's half-full. Now that the Islanders have committed to youth for the foreseeable future, it's very possible that this is the last chance the Islanders, as they currently exist, will have to rebuild. If this current crop of youngsters doesn't work out and the Islanders are still getting killed on their current lease, with no Lighthouse in sight and no fans in the current seats, Wang might have to move on.

It's a tough thing to think about. And I'd love to be wrong about all of this. But I definitely think there's reason to worry. I also think there's a lot that we, as Islanders fans, can do about this. We can make our voices heard. Maybe we can try to get to some more games. Maybe we can wear our Islanders gear with a little more pride. We all know that no matter how bad Ranger fans give it to us, it's nothing compared to the pain we'd feel if the Islanders went off to some other city. Especially because you know that's when they'd finally start to get good.

Let's do our part to avoid such a scenario. I don't want the Islanders to be some franchise that moves because the fans don't care enough. That would be a shame. Let's do our best to give Charles Wang a reason to stay, Lighthouse or no Lighthouse.

Islanders Notes

After watching tonight's abomination, I'm sort of at a loss for words. But being the trooper I am, I'll try to talk about what we've just seen.

• Tonight was supposed to be my first night in the Blog Box, but I had to work late, so I couldn't do it. Turns out I picked a good night to put in some extra time. While tonight's game was all Dallas, the Stars won tonight's game as soon as the buzzer ended last night's game. After allowing five goals to the Devils, you knew the Stars would come out and destroy the Islanders. And that's exactly what they did.
• While I couldn't make tonight's game, my brother went to his first game of this young season. His thoughts? "The game sucked, but the pretzel twists were amazing." That's exactly what I'd say if I were there.
• The NHL tries pretty hard to keep stats that account for the intangible aspects of hockey. Plus/minus, blocked shots, and hits are among these stats. But there are a few stats that, quite frankly, need to be tallied. Chief among those stats are a stat for penalties drawn. And if penalties drawn was a stat, Sean Avery would be a star. He drew two penalties tonight that led directly to two Dallas power play goals. And maybe if stats like penalties drawn were kept, people wouldn't say stupid things like, "Avery doesn't do anything out there." He does. It's just that it doesn't show up on the stat sheet. And God forbid a player be considered elite without being elite on paper.
• If I have to see that stupid f'ing Nissan Versa commercial one more damn time, I'm going to throw a brick through my TV.
• So you know how the Islanders had like five enforcers in training camp? And you know how not one of them has so much as dressed for this team yet? Well, maybe they could have used one of them tonight. The Isles stunk up the joint in the first period, went down 3-0, blew four consecutive minutes of power play time (including two minutes of a 5-on-3), ended up down 4-1 midway through the second... and nobody even tried to start anything by being physical. In front of their own home crowd, the Islanders sat there and took the beating without fighting back. It doesn't take much to get the crowd going at a hockey game. In an instance like tonight's game, you're looking for a fight, but it doesn't even have to be that drastic. But then again, it's not like the Islanders have a line of big hitters they can throw out there to get the crowd back into the game. It's funny how all these other teams have room for fighters and checkers, and yet the Islanders don't. It's worth questioning.
• I'm not sure what that C.J. Papa soapbox thing was at the end of tonight's broadcast... but I liked it. I could have done without the egregious Lighthouse propaganda like ten times in tonight's game, but Papa's trashing of Gary Bettman is always nice. See, these are the things Deb Kaufman/Placey didn't give us last year. Besides, C.J. Papa is almost as corny as Howie and Billy, and that's tough to do.
• The next time someone trashes the NHL and their TV deal for being fan-unfriendly, point them to the events of tonight. As I write this, it's 10:10 PM, and the World Series game that "started" at 8 PM is in the fifth inning. We're looking at yet another MLB post-season game that will end after midnight. The NBA does this too, starting their Finals games at 9 PM, but nobody questions it because it's ESPN. However, the NHL begins their Finals games at 8, and all you hear is, "Nobody watches hockey anymore, who cares?". That's not fair. The triple-overtime Detroit-Pittsburgh Game 5, probably one of the five most exciting games played in any sport in 2008, ended at approximately the same time all these nine-inning baseball games are ending. Explain that one, MLB.

So that's our game. We've got the Hurricanes on Saturday. Say, when a hurricane comes to town, you're pretty scared. Now, imagine twenty of them! It's Hurricanes-Islanders, on MSG Plus! (Or C-Span 2, or wherever they decide to stick the Islanders. Because, you know, Islanders hockey can't possibly compete with re-runs of "The Game 365 With Fran Healy".)

Ooh

The Islanders are playing right now. But this can't wait.

Our first road game of the season is being broadcast in, as Jim Nantz would say, "stunning high definition". Not exactly what I expected, to be honest. But I guess that's the way things are going these days. Both the Mets and Yankees do road games in HD, but they also get huge TV ratings. The Islanders? Not so much. But I think we'll all take it.

I hereby take back everything bad I've ever said about MSG Plus including, but not limited to, its lack of pre-season coverage, the lack of pre-game show before the Islanders' home opener, the fact that the network shows a total of five different commercials, the fact that they never talk about the Islanders on Hockey Night Live!, and about fifty other things. I'd also like to thank Panasonic ("Ideas For Life"), not only for their Viera line of TVs that sponsor every HD broadcast, but for their copious Digital Replays (drink!). I wish I could have put a couple of Panasonic Digital Replays into my wedding video.

Anyway, it's a good thing we get tonight's game in HD. Because Barry Melrose is wearing the nicest suit a coach has ever worn. That thing needs to be appreciated. I always hoped a coach would go all black like Wolf "The Dentist" Stansson in The Mighty Ducks 2. Melrose could be the guy to do it.

Where's The Beef?

So I decided to plan my entire night around the Islanders-Devils game tonight. I timed my dinner so that I could park in front of the TV and eat just as the game started. My wife was going out, so I could watch the entire game unfettered. I was pumped, and I was excited. A good old-fashioned preseason fightfest between two divisional rivals at the Coliseum. What could be better?

I got home around 7 and turned on MSG Plus. The Devils were on... but it wasn't a game. Nope. Instead, we were treated to a season preview. Over on MSG, they were showing a collection of Ranger games, followed by a scintillating episode of The Game 365 with Fran Healy. And at 8 PM, MSG is showing a replay of the game the Rangers played in Europe today. MSG Plus, you ask? Apparently, the Wrangler Pro Rodeo Tour trumps Islander hockey, because that's what's on tonight. Adding insult to injury, it's a taped rodeo! How do you get lower on the totem pole than a taped rodeo program in New York?

So, MSG, I ask you this - where's the beef?

I must have read a dozen articles over the past calendar year by Newsday's Neil Best stating how committed MSG Plus is to beefing up (their words, not mine) Islanders and Devils coverage. And yet, the season starts in a week and all Islander fans have seen of their team is whatever they show on Islanders Illustrated. What the hell?

OK, the Islanders aren't the biggest draw in the world. We all know that. But the fans are out there, ready and willing to watch their team. They just don't get the opportunity. Look, I'm trying hard not to bite the hand that feeds the Islanders; everybody knows that it was their lucrative deal with MSG that saw them through their darkest days. We all owe the Dolans a debt of gratitude for keeping the team on Long Island. But if they're paying tens of millions of dollars to the Islanders each year, wouldn't they want to at least show their games?

That's the part I don't understand. I know it costs money to air these games, and I know Howie Rose hasn't been available, but they air the Rangers with GiaWigs when Sam Rosen is doing the NFL for Fox. Is it too much to ask for MSG to bring like three cameras to the Coliseum and do the one home game the Islanders have this preseason? (Note: Islanders TV isn't showing the game either, which could be part of a ploy to get people to go to the Coliseum. In that case, they should throw some pretzel twists in the deal. I'd go then.)

It seems like each year, we hear some MSG executive say how they're going to ramp up Islanders coverage. And this would be a good time to do so; in 2007-08, Islander ratings were up significantly from the previous year. Yet here we are again, bemoaning the fact that the Islanders' own network doesn't care about our team, even though they have absolutely nothing else to show that constitutes a better draw. Maybe the Dolans are trying to give the appearance of the Rangers as the top team in town. If so, mission accomplished. They went to Europe to show the Rangers. Meanwhile, they won't go to Uniondale to show the Islanders. Go figure.