* And did we mention lawsuits!
Hockey? Oh yeah, there was supposed to be some of that this
season, too, wasn't there?
The group that owns the New York Islanders, New York Sports
Ventures, just missed the Guinness Record for shortest honeymoon.
(A record currently held by Larry King and one of his 17 wives.
Number eleven, I think.) After taking over the team last season
after John "Sure, I've Got $185 million Right Here" Spano
defaulted on his payments, the new bosses promised a return to
glory, a competitive hockey team that would be willing to
compete, and a few less lines at the Coliseum bathrooms.
Well, I guess Pete Townshend was an Islanders fan. "Meet the new
boss, same as the old boss...."
The first season of Islanders hockey under NYSV (a group headed
by New York real estate magnate Howard Milstein and his brother,
Eddie, as well as businessman Steven M. Gluckstern) opened with
three-time 40-goal scorer Zigmund Palffy home in Skalica,
Slovakia, practicing his English by watching Chris Farley movies
subtitled in Slovakian. What he isn't doing is accepting the
Isles' contract offer, reported at $4.3 million over three years.
Palffy is reportedly seeking almost $7 million a season, which
puts Ziggy in the "Yeah, right, Zig. Suuuuure" category. The
Islanders strongly denied a report they had offered to sell
Palffy's contract for $20 million to whomever would pay
it.
Captain Trevor Linden and Ken Belanger were only signed after
stressful negotiations that included take-it or leave-it offers.
Last month, the team abandoned Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale,
declaring it unsafe for fans, but returned by court order after
National Hockey League inspectors had declared that conditions at
the arena posed no current danger. Easy for them to say, they
didn't have to eat the nachos.
For the home opener, the video wall on the scoreboard, now hung
without the hoist system the Islanders claimed was unsafe, did
not work. The game wasn't on TV, a last-minute decision by
Madison Square Garden Network and Fox Sports New York.
There has been talk of dumping salaries in an effort to offset
what the team claims will be projected losses of more than $10
million this season -- and a host of suggestions that Palffy will
be traded if he does not take his take-it or leave-it deal soon.
Suggestions that the team might be moved to Houston, Cleveland or
even Portland, Oregon -- though denied -- have not helped restore
faith with fans.
The team is fighting legal issues with Nassau County and S.M.G,
its landlord, and is busy trying to convince fans who say the
whole safety issue isn't just a smokescreen to get more public
funds.
Hockey? Oh yeah, there was some of that involved.
After a summer of soothing goalie Tommy Salo's ego, first by
trading his backup Eric Fichaud, and then by flying over his
Swedish goalie teacher, in order to give Salo the number one
spot, Salo looked a lot like the troubled Salo of last season in
his first two games. He allowed seven goals in the first 38
shots this season, including three on the first six shots he
faced.
If the first 18 minutes and four seconds of the season did not go
as well as the Islanders had planned (Bryan Berard said, "In the
first period, we looked like 20 rookies running around the ice"),
-- then there was at least some hope in how the Islanders
responded in their season-opener against the Penguins
Saturday. Down 4-0 in the first, the Islanders staged a
near-comeback against the Penguins before falling, 4-3. The
Islanders then traveled to Boston for the start of a three-game,
week-long road trip and out-performed the Bruins in several key
areas, only to lose to Boston, 3-0, at the FleetCenter on Monday.
Fans waited about 100 seconds before chanting "We Want Ziggy. We
Want Ziggy." How long the owners wait is sure to be an ongoing
plot thread. Tune in next week, same Isles time, same Isles
station.
