Nabakov had a groin injury earlier in the season and missed a month. He came back around Christmas time after Montoya suffered a concussion and DiPietro injured himself again. DiPietro is out till April and Montoya has recently returned. Nabakov has looked very good lately. The Islanders have two very good young goalies in Bridgeport, Poulin and Nielson. Poulin looked very good against Carolina: he stopped a few breakaways and made some acrobatic saves on close in shots. He got sent back down to Bridgeport right after the game. Snow, the GM of the Islanders, has got to be thinking that Poulin is now NHL ready and Nabakov can be let go if the price is right. Nabakov is clearly expendable. At 36, one has to wonder what the Islanders can get back for him. But clearly, Nabokov is still a top notch goalie.
The Islanders have financial issues. Wang, the former CEO and Co-Founder of Computer Associates, is the owner of the Islanders. He claims he has been losing money and the Islanders are averaging 12,800 in a 16,100 seat building. Nassau County residents have repeatedly voted down (at the polls) by wide margins any attempt to publicly fund a new arena for the Islanders or even renovations at the 40 year old Nassau Veterans Memorial Colliseum. Nassau County, in contrast to, NYC, is moderately Republican. I love the Islanders, but I must tell you that as a NYC person, it is not easy sometimes attending games at Nassau Colliseum. There seems to be an obsession with praising the military at Nassau Colliseum. Military personnel get 50% discount on tickets. Moreover, throughout the game, military personnel are highlighted on the scoreboard and about 2/3s of the crowd stands up and cheers. Young kids from the public school sing God Bless America and all sorts of patriotic songs in between periods. I have been to Devils games at the Prudential Center and Ranger/Islander games at MSG and I never see this kind of patriotic display. Of course, Newark, NJ and NYC, NY, are extremely liberal places and very critical of US military policy.
The Islander lease at Nassau County Veterans Memorial Colliseum expires after the 2014-2015 season. The new arena in Brooklyn has offered to make the Islanders its new home. But it only can seat 13,800 for hockey. Once the Madoff lawsuit gets settled this year (trial begins in March 2012) , my speculation is that a new arena will be built near Citifield. The Nassau County executive claims he now has a private funding option in place to renovate Nassau County. The Islander owner, who claims to be losing big money, just spends the minimum. Free agents don't want to come to the Islanders because they don't know where the team will be in 3 years. Some speculate that Wang will sell to the highest bidder and the Islanders will be playing in Quebec. Most Canadians, unless they are french speaking, don't want to play in Quebec.
Everything is up in the air with this franchise. The Islanders do have an up and coming team. There are a number of potential super stars at Bridgeport of the AHL. Earlier in the season, the Islanders were finding innovative ways to lose games in the third period. Outside of McDonald and Harmonic, the Islander defense is weak and slow. Lots of good young forwards, though. There are a couple of good young defensemen at Bridgeport, including a first round pick.
The Islanders will not make the playoffs. But they can climb to a 500 record or a few games above. They are close, but this team needs stability. Fortunately, the Islanders signed Tavaras last summer to a 6 year, 3.3M deal. The Islanders knew this 21 year old kid was good and he wants to lead this once proud franchise out of the wilderness.
My hope is that the Islanders come to Flushing, NY. |
