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NHL February 2016 |OT| Parlez-vous tankçais?

E

eyeless

Member
lou da gawd

UnrulyPassionateKitfox.gif


nice doin business with ya sharks

GreatInstructiveFlatcoatretriever.gif
 
R

RBH

Member
pcpwpssozvusqtsxsdso.jpg


The New York Islanders’ first regular season in Brooklyn isn’t over, and they are third-from-last in NHL attendance. And here comes a report in the New York Post that claims both the team and the arena are trying to blow up their lease.

The story notes that the 25-year lease contains an out clause after four seasons, so the great Brooklyn experiment could only run through 2019. If not sooner: the report claims that “both sides are secretly exploring ways to cut ties or modify the existing terms of their lease.”

What’s the problem? Money, of course. If the Islanders, in the thick of the playoff picture, can’t draw in their first year in their new digs, it’s probably only going to get worse. There’s no suggestion the team is losing money—the terms of their lease make it more likely the Barclays owners are the ones in the red—but they clearly don’t think they’re profitable enough.

“The Islander deal was forced from the start because the club was hemorrhaging so much money playing on Long Island … and had to bail,” another source said. “Now you’re left with this weird situation where Barclays’ folks pay the Islanders to play there — but aren’t getting the bang for the buck they desired, not to mention all the crap they’re getting from Islander fans who are finding every little fault they can with being in Brooklyn.

“On the Islanders’ end, they might be better off financially than at Nassau Coliseum. But under the current deal, I think they realize they’ll never be able to have the type of revenue coming in to compete with other big-market teams to sign top players.”
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The Barclays Center is a fine arena for most things—cozy feel, open concourses, good food—but it’s got more than a few drawbacks, especially for hockey. It’s weirdly dark and cavernous, and the upper levels are frightfully steep, and the limited-view seats are painfully bad. They’re dirt cheap, and they’re still largely empty most nights.

But more than that, the vaunted downtown Brooklyn location hasn’t been the promised panacea. Someone severely overestimated how far the established Islanders fan base was willing to travel—and underestimated how slow the process of finding and winning over unaffiliated fans in the city would be. (They’re doing a ton of community events, but those will take decades to pay off.)

Depending on where on the Island you’re coming from (and it a very long island), taking the train to Barclays will either suck a little, or suck a ton. The layout of the Long Island Railroad also means that only a tiny percentage of commuters can do it without transferring trains.

For the Islanders themselves, it’s more than an hour’s ride in from their Syosset training facility, near which they all still live. Constant complaining about the commute led the team to change its game-day routine last month. Instead of riding in for a morning skate at Barclays and napping at a nearby hotel, the Isles now practice out on Long Island, go home, then catch a train in just before the game. So much for making Brooklyn feel like home.

Islanders’ majority ownership changes hands on July 1, and Jonathan Ledecky, the head of the ownership group, is said to like the idea of building a new arena in Queens or back in Nassau County. The former, depending on location (especially if it’s on the Main Line of the LIRR), would probably do a lot better in drawing in fans from Long Island. The latter makes sense, but could run into a lot of the same problems the Nassau Coliseum did before the move: that team never drew unless it was winning.

(The big-picture answer might be grim, but don’t think Ledecky and the NHL haven’t considered it. Given the Devils’ attendance problems, perhaps one metropolitan area just can’t support three franchises.)

It’s important to understand this Post report in context, even if we don’t quite have that context in the form of balance sheets. Leaking this stuff to the paper doesn’t necessarily mean anyone’s moving anytime soon, but it does mean someone’s not happy with the current terms of the lease—and is putting on a little public pressure for renegotiation. That’s fine, that’s how this business works. But it feels like it’s going to be a real problem when neither side feels like it has a good deal; I don’t know where they can go from here.
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http://deadspin.com/report-the-islanders-are-struggling-in-brooklyn-1760577419
 
C

calder

Member
RBH said:
(The big-picture answer might be grim, but don’t think Ledecky and the NHL haven’t considered it. Given the Devils’ attendance problems, perhaps one metropolitan area just can’t support three franchises.)
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A hearty NHL-GAF welcome to Les Diables du Quebec!

sorry we'll keep doing this till it happens
 
Q

Quick

Banned
RBH said:
pcpwpssozvusqtsxsdso.jpg


http://deadspin.com/report-the-islanders-are-struggling-in-brooklyn-1760577419
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Interesting detail in the comments from an article in October 2015:

In yet another move aimed at showing his commitment to the Nets and New York, Mikhail Prokhorov has agreed to buy control of the revamped Nassau Coliseum from Bruce Ratner, his partner in both the Nets and Barclays Center. The arena will, as NetsDaily has previously reported, be the home of the Nets planned but yet unnamed D-League team.

...

According to previous reports, the Islanders could play up to six NHL games, preseason and regular season combined, at the revamped Coliseum. NEC is also committed to bringing a minor league (AHL) hockey team to the Coliseum. The most prevalent rumor is that the Bridgeport Soundtigers, the Islanders' AHL affiliate, could move to Uniondale.
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I can see the Isles move back to Nassau post-renovations if this Barclays deal really collapses. But moving the Sound Tigers to Nassau is smart, though.
 
S

Smiley90

Stop shitting on my team. Start shitting on my finger.
Friedman says of all Canadian teams, Ottawa are the only ones with a chance left

lollll
 
Q

Quick

Banned
MetatronM said:
The Nassau Coliseum renovations involve gutting a few thousand seats out of it. I think the post-renovation capacity is supposed to be below 13,000. Too few for an NHL franchise.
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Oh shit, didn't know that.

I just saw a mention about a curtaining system and I assumed they were just going to cover up the upper bowl with curtains.
 
L

Lone_Prodigy

Member
Quick said:
Elliotte Friedman's doing an AMA on r/hockey right now.

This might actually be interesting, who knows.
Click to expand...

This is good stuff.

Canucks:

Vrbata for sure. You can tell he wants to go. Hamhuis, if he wants to go. There are probably a ton of people telling him to go, because it makes business sense for him. The interesting one for me is Hansen. Teams are willing to pay a bit more for term. But, at some point, you have to have good pros on your roster, especially around young players.
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Habs:

Sell, sell, sell. To me, biggest question is if someone makes a pitch for a player like Galchenyuk. MON won't do it unless it gets someone with term back. A comparatively-aged player, if you will.
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Sens:

Brian Murray said last week no rentals. Unlikely he'd make a move unless for someone with term or team control for awhile. Would be nice to have a Canadian team in the playoffs and they are the country's best hope.
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Oilers:

He's got a lot going on.

Purcell depending on what happens with Ladd. Schultz (was talking with TB). Korpikoski I hear is out there. Maybe Hendricks. Not sure about RNH. Was told Eberle not going. Let's see how much of that is actually right.
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Heh:

If you could change one rule in hockey what would it be?

[–]Elliotte_Friedman 30 points 35 minutes ago

I'd get rid of the salary cap.
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Kadri to the Blues?

Spoke to Doug Armstrong this morning. He won't hide Steen on the injury list until playoffs like CHI did with Patrick Kane. He said when Steen is ready to play, he will play...same with Steve Ott.

So, he's tight to the cap...I'd be very curious to see Kadri in a STL uniform.
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Y

Yawnier

Banned
Friedman is dropping some interesting tidbits in that AMA :eek:

Kadri to the blues would be fitting because it would probably be the Alex Steen trade 2.0, sigh.
 
Z

zroid

Banned
If the Sens actually used their players properly then they'd be pretty good

although you could say the same about the Habs
 
I

iLLmAtlc

Member
I really hope the Nucks move Hansen. He's having a career season at 29 years old, perfect time to sell high. He's got a great cap hit (2.5) for 2 more years, so hopefully some contending teams could get into a bidding war.
 
C

CreeperBlocks

Banned
imbask said:
i'm ok with that. Although if it's for Drouin, it still sounds like a big risk to me
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He didn't say Montreal is in the running for Drouin in a previous Answer he said he'd be surprised.I think it was like STL,WPG, and another team Winnipeg would be a great spot for him. Ehlers and Drouin, Sweet jesus...

Also he said there was a Trade rumor that Boston would trade Loui Eriksson for Chris Kreider (could you fucking imagine?) but was shutdown.
 
Y

yyzjohn

Banned
Yawnier said:
Friedman is dropping some interesting tidbits in that AMA :eek:

Kadri to the blues would be fitting because it would probably be the Alex Steen trade 2.0, sigh.
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Is Friedman pulling this out of his ass? We all know there's no leaks from Lou or Shanahan.
 
C

CreeperBlocks

Banned
Friedman also said Plekanec would be more likely to move than Markov.

I'm more willing to trade Plekanec than Galchenyuk at this point. If the deal is good of course.
 
S

Solo

Member
imbask said:
it does and you know exactly why. Same reason Therrien is our coach!

:(
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Haha okay, it makes sense for that reason but no other.

Otherwise its 2 guys of a similar age, one a smallish winger with 40 points in 89 career games (and 0 points in 6 playoff games) and one an average (hey, thats a giant on the Habs!) size centre with 138 points in 252 career games (and 10 points in 22 playoff games).

Both have been woefully utilized by their respective teams. You could argue that Drouin's ceiling is higher, and I'd agree, but at this point Galchenyuk is a more developed NHL player at a position Montreal's had a 20 year deficit at. No deal, Tampa.
 
L

Lone_Prodigy

Member
iLLmAtlc said:
I really hope the Nucks move Hansen. He's having a career season at 29 years old, perfect time to sell high. He's got a great cap hit (2.5) for 2 more years, so hopefully some contending teams could get into a bidding war.
Click to expand...

On the flip side, he'd be a great mentor for the younger players.

If Hansen is dealt the only veteran forwards signed for next year are the Sedins, Dorsett, Burrows, and Sutter. 5/13 spots filled by veterans aren't a lot.
 
C

Chris R

Member
Is there really no place on Long Island for a new arena? Use the shitty one in Brooklyn until a new one is build elsewhere.
 
Q

Quick

Banned
Friedman's mentioned Kadri's name twice so far (as far as I've read) when he's talking trades.

And who are some unlikely players you could see getting traded at the deadline?

I do think we will get one bombshell no one sees coming. I wonder about Jacob Trouba. I also wonder about Nazem Kadri.
Click to expand...
 
I

iLLmAtlc

Member
Lone_Prodigy said:
On the flip side, he'd be a great mentor for the younger players.

If Hansen is dealt the only veteran forwards signed for next year are the Sedins, Dorsett, Burrows, and Sutter. 5/13 spots filled by veterans aren't a lot.
Click to expand...

I think that's part of it, but Hansen has never really struck me as that kinda guy. Bieksa was and we all know what happened there.

Right now the Nucks have such a pressing need to restock the cupboard that I think they have to do it. Besides, they still have the Sedins and who could be better to learn from.
 
S

Socreges

Banned
The Canucks aren't going to trade Hansen unless they get a roster play in return, and then why bother. They need veterans and they don't want to completely cannibalize the team like the Leafs have done and like the Oilers once did.

I could see him being traded in 2017, but not now.
 
S

Samyy

Member
Socreges said:
The Canucks aren't going to trade Hansen unless they get a roster play in return, and then why bother. They need veterans and they don't want to completely cannibalize the team like the Leafs have done and like the Oilers once did.

I could see him being traded in 2017, but not now.
Click to expand...

I don't think we've really cannibalized the roster yet lol
 
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