…so consider the following SI.com photo gallery link 27,000 words about how the Islanders became synonymous with “suck”, “circus”, and “farce”. Thanks to an old co-worker/Toronto fan for the link. No really, you shouldn’t have. Great to hear from you too…how’s that Jason Blake signing working out?
Watch the Isles go from this proud moment - Stanley Cup Champions, top of the world…
To this confused mess, throwing money into a seemingly bottomless pit…
All your favorite Islander low-lites are accounted for…Ron Hextall, Fishsticks, John Spano, Alexei Yashin, Dale Hunter, Dave Chyzowski, Brett Lindros, Don Maloney, Kirk Muller, Mad Mike Milbury, Neil Smith, Cryin’ Ryan Smyth, and the aging Nassau Coliseum. Normally I’m not big on Vanilla Ice quotes, but “Will it ever stop? Yo, I don’t know!” is just too fitting for this franchise.
We don’t know who will be behind the bench that night, but we now know when the Islanders 2008-09 season will start. The NHL released the 08-09 schedule yesterday.
The New York Islanders 2008-09 full season schedule has been released and features 15 Saturday home games, nine matinee home games, including five on holidays, and two home games on Sunday afternoon. The Islanders will open the season on the road on Friday, October 10th at New Jersey before returning for the home opener on Saturday, October 11th vs. St. Louis.
Single-game tickets are scheduled to go on sale at the Nassau Coliseum box office on the morning of Saturday, September 13th. The Islanders will also announce the 2008-09 partial plans in the coming weeks.
Also of note is the 2009 NHL Winter Classic which will feature the defending Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings taking on the Chicago Blackhawks outdoors at Wrigley Field on January 1st, 2009. I’m disappointed they didn’t choose Yankee Stadium for this game, but considering the NHL was going to leave the Islanders out of the game anyways, it’s just as well. The rumor mill has it that a future Winter Classic could still come to NYC at the new Yankee Stadium.
Lost in the shuffle of Ted Nolan’s departure yesterday was the start of the Islanders’ Summer Prospect Camp. Ted or no Ted, this team is in rebuild mode so it’s important for the entire coaching staff to work with and see our prospects before they head off to their respective 2008-09 assignments (college, AHL, NHL, etc.). Open to the public and held at Islanders Iceworks in Syossett, NY, this year’s camp features 10 of the 13 Islanders’ 2008 Draft Picks, including our first round pick Josh Bailey.
On Monday afternoon, 45 Islanders prospects and camp invitees flocked to Islanders Iceworks for the annual Islanders Prospects Camp. Fans from across Long Island visited Syosset to see some of the Islanders’
brightest young stars, including Blake Comeau, Kyle Okposo and 2008 first round draft pick Josh Bailey.
In the morning, the players took part in some grueling testing to measure their level of fitness and sat in on a number of lectures, including one by mental conditioning coach Gary Parks. Later in the day, the players took to the ice for the first time. Director of Player Development Bryan Trottier, Islanders assistant coaches John Chabot, Gerard Gallant and Dan Lacroix, as well as Bridgeport Sound Tigers head coach Jack Capuano led this afternoon’s skate.
Not surprisingly, about 80% of Newsday readers who responded to a poll asking what they thought about Nolan’s departure said they were against it. Two-thirds said they opposed because Nolan did a good job with the little talent he had. Agreed. The rest said they opposed because the move would hurt the team’s chances of landing a big free-agent. Disagree there. The Isles pretty much had no shot at a big ticket free-agent anyway. Been a while since they have.
You can check out the poll here.
On another note, I was talking to a friend of mine who interned with the Isles recently. He’s right out of college, a smart kid. Here’s what he had to say about yesterday’s moves and how they reflect on the organization:
“It’s really no surprise when stuff like this happens. No one runs the show over there. Most of the people act like they are working for a club team, not a franchise that won four Cups in a row. The culture over there really needs to change. They expect not to win.”
Agreed.
Mike Brophy of The Hockey News might be right on when he speculates about why Ted Nolan is no longer coaching the New York Islanders:
Read between the lines, however, and this is the more likely accurate scenario: Excellent coach sick and tired of trying to make chicken doo-doo into chicken salad. My guess is Nolan took a look at the Islanders’ roster and decided to conjure up a few philosophical differences to get his butt out of town.
And he adds a little cold hard truth:
The Islanders have become the team veteran players with nowhere else to play sign with. At the rate they are going, it will be years before they become a contender.
Read the rest of Brophy’s take here. Ugh. I’m so disgusted with this team right now.
Resigning for “philosophical differences” is about as descriptive as resigning “for personal reasons.” There’s some nice words in there but what the hell does it really mean?
In Ted Nolan’s sudden departure as coach of the New York Islanders, it likely means he no longer wanted to work in a place where he was expected to produce playoff victories but was given a line-up of spare parts, has-beens and never-will-be’s. I love the OrangeAndBlue, but there’s no way I can sit here today and honestly tell you the roster during Nolan’s time with the club was anything but suspect.
Whether it was Nolan ultimately behind this or Snow or Chuck Wang, it doesn’t really matter. Obviously these guys could not get on the same page about what the Islanders are supposed to be. And I’m afraid the wrong guy lost.
The Islanders ask their fanbase to believe. They ask their fanbase to remember the good old days and use retired number nights and championship anniversaries to keep the ticket sales going but at some point management is going to have to be held accountable - and that means putting together a team with a real shot of winning the Cup. This isn’t about first-round playoff exits. The bar has been set so low now that no Islander fan ever seriously thinks of his or her team winning a championship. How did that happen? It shouldn’t be permitted. The Islander fans have been loyal. They’ve waited out more than their share of dark days. The Islanders need to provide some light. It’s time to flip the switch one way or the other here.
Big decision coming up with the new coach but I don’t expect much. Why should I? I’m just an Islander fan.
Cue the circus music. Charles Wang’s Three Ring (rink?) Circus is back in town. Citing “philosophical differences” Ted Nolan has left the Islanders.
Added Nolan: “While I am disappointed I will not be coaching the Islanders next season, there have been philosophical differences and we’ve agreed it’s a good time for me to move on. I want to thank the Islanders organization for giving me a chance to coach in the NHL again. I have tremendous respect for what the team is trying to do and I wish them well.”
You’ve got to be kidding me? Let’s recap…Isles hire coach Ted Nolan, former Coach of the Year, the move is generally applauded. Isles hire GM Garth Snow, former backup goalie, the move is ridiculed across the league and especially the hockey blogosphere. Just another punchline to the league’s biggest joke - Spano, Fishsticks, ice girls, sumo goalies, and backup goalies running the team. So when there are philosophical differences, who would YOU keep?
Dear Coach Nolan, Thanks for trying. You gave it your best with the players you had and overachieved in 2006/07. Last year, the team started down that same path until injuries took their toll. It certainly wasn’t your fault. I have the utmost respect for you and have a feeling it won’t be as long as last time before some NHL team starts calling you.
The NHL Free Agent shopping mall opened for business yesterday, and while the Isles are expected to pass on the big names like Brian Campbell, Marian Hossa, and Mats Sundin, they aren’t about to sit out this pool party.
Addressing the team’s woeful powerplay, the Islanders signed defenseman Mark Striet away from Montreal yesterday. A solid move by Snow and crew especially when you look at the terms and $$ thrown at Campbell and Wade Redden yesterday.
With the supply of offensive defensemen dwindling quickly on the first day of free agency, Snow swooped in to grab the 30-year-old power-play specialist. Streit tied for third among the league’s defensemen last season with 62 points, including 13 goals (seven on the power play) and 49 assists.
“Mark solves our power play,” Snow said. “He was a player we targeted early on. He’ll come here and be a solid contributor on the blue line and obviously play a significant role on the power play. I see him as a top-four defenseman, but his play will dictate that.”
Some Striet highlights.
Do you like hockey? Do you have a degree in business, marketing, or PR? Then you could be the NHL’s next Marketing Manager!! Hang with Gary Bettman and make bad decision after bad decision, like glow pucks, Versus over ESPN, 30 new jerseys just to make your corporate cronies at RBK happy, and All-Star games on a Wednesday.
Summary:
The Marketing Manager will be responsible for the day-to-day management and implementation of League directed marketing efforts for the National Hockey League.
Essential Duties & Responsibilities:
The ideal candidate will communicate insights from consumer research and develop integrated marketing strategies, plans and tactics that leverage those insights into achieving the League’s short- and long-term marketing and business objectives. Facilitate day-to-day relationships and implement the integration of League-directed marketing efforts across internal departments, the 30 clubs, NHLPA, broadcast partners and corporate partners. Lead the production of fully integrated marketing communications campaigns that include television, radio, print, digital, outdoor, collateral/POS and integration into editorial content. Facilitate day-to-day relationships with marketing and advertising agency partners to ensure the work being created meets all League expectations and requirements – including the development of briefs, presentations and productions.
In addition, the Marketing Manager will lead the production of fully integrated marketing communications campaigns that include television, radio, print, digital, outdoor, collateral/POS and integration into editorial content, collaborate with internal departments to develop marketing plans that meet their objectives, and then manage the execution of that plan with the Creative Services department to concept and produce marketing/advertising materials.
The Marketing Manager will support the Events department on the development of creative ideas and materials for League events, support the Corporate Sales department with updated consumer insights, marketing strategies/materials and sponsorship ideas customized to the company being pitched and manage and determine the proper distribution of League-controlled marketing assets/inventory across all of the organization’s marketing needs.
In addition, the Manager will develop, manage and maintain media and production budgets for both the League marketing department initiatives, as well as the marketing initiatives of other internal departments as well as identify new and creative marketing ideas and partnerships to benefit the business objectives of the League.
When the dust settled yesterday, the Isles ended up with 13 picks in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft and whatever you think of their first overall pick, it’s hard to argue with the Isles’ strategy of adding as much young talent as possible to their franchise. There are only 7 rounds in the draft - the Isles almost averaged two per round.
XM Radio was most impressed by the way Islanders GM Garth Snow traded down to acquire extra picks while still drafting the player they targeted from the beginning. The show went onto say that this enabled the team to take a chance on Petrov, who was the second ranked European skater in the draft, but fell because of his contract status in Russia.
Said one of the show’s hosts: “What goes un-noticed is by moving back down twice and picking up three extra picks in the first three rounds [the Islanders] were then able to take a complete flyer on [Petrov], who was a top-10 talent at No. 73.”
You can listen to the full NHL on XM audio here.
Petrov is signed in Russia for the next three years, and the risk is he could stay there and never play for the Islanders as the Russian hockey leagues offer more and more money to keep their talent away from the NHL. When you have 13 draft picks, you can make a gamble for a Top 10 payoff like that.
The NHL’s exposure to Russian encroachment has been lessened over the past few years. NHL teams have shied away from drafting Russian-born players because of the lack of a transfer agreement. The lack of an agreement provides NHL teams little leverage in signing Russian prospects still playing in their native land, making it a significant risk to use a high draft pick on a player who might never compete in North America.
Al Arbour, Charles Wang, Garth Snow, NHL, Nassau Coliseum, Stanley Cup
