As an out of state former NY’r I wanted nothing more than to see the Lighthouse Project built with all the bells and whistles attached to it… not to mention the economic benefit to Long Island … However since last Fall I noticed since Charles Wang instituted the cone of silence there has been more than a noticible lack of interest in the team from Charles… ONLY if he could leverage fan interest in one of his charities or projects does he care for us fans.

I believe (maybe naively) that Charles had his heart in the right place in the begining … However there seems to be a lot more than meets the eye.

Charles is the single biggest reason the Isles are in the state that they are now … Not the TOH …. Not Scott Gordon … Not Chris Botta and not Garth Snow… They are all but a reflection of the mess he created… pawns if you will.

Scott wasn’t the right coach for this team … His system is reliant on team speed and defensive mobility … Other than Streit … and sometimes even Hillen … they have none on the blue line. The forwards don’t have the experience and intimidation factor to make Gordo’s over speed system work consistently for them … End of Subject.

Garth wasn’t the right GM for the team either … first off he was the backup goaltender to an unproven, but promising future star who happened to burn-out too fast.
Garth actually did surprisingly well his first season with some notable flubs … We can all play Monday Morning QB, but fact is that GM’s and Owners don’t get judged on their efforts … they get judged by results … and I think that speaks for themself. I think the whole Neil Smith / Committee issue tells the whole story … After Neil Smith’s dismissal / resignation … how ever you want to label it … was based more on him being less than a GM, and more of an advisor in the committee system and that just tee’d him off. I bet dollars to donuts he was 100000% against giving DP that contract, and was told to take a walk if he didn’t like it, and Patty LaLa saw the writing on the wall and left before the fire in the building spread to his office.

FF to Botta … Look … Chris Botta is a professional with an emotional interest in the Islanders’ success… He’s never hid from that fact. A lot of fans (especially fans without access to Newsday because of the PayWall) relied on Chris’ first hand knowledge of the team. I think Chris over the years as Point Blank grew in popularity realized his responsibility was growing. You can argue whether or not he abused that responsibility or not … but fact is Chris really put his heart and soul into the blog… He didn’t have to do it for nearly the year he did without making money on it … It was his passion… and us fans enjoyed sharing it.

Some get PO’d when their comments are under moderation review… but any long time fan has to remember the comments section under Newsday when Logan was the beat reporter, and before the whole new Newsday look took effect … The comments where totally out of control and unreadable.

So I expect the blow back from Botta’s and BD’s credential pulling will eventually destroy the passions of the “hanger On” Islander fans … because quite frankley I don’t trust the Islanders’ State Run Media from their online site, and Newsday’s light hitting articles … I know Katie doesn’t want to slam the team … because at the end of the day she has to face the players she writes about, and she wants to have as open a dialog as she can without the door being shut in her face … but US fans know the reality… and quite frankley I’m sick of it.

No Charles … you are not getting another dime from me … You’re a business man right? Well when I buy from a business I expect a return on investment … and with you at the helm I get no return … so at this time I suspend any and all pilgrimages to NVMC to fund your pilaging of this team. When I see some positive results … I’ll be there. Until then, I’ll be rooting for the team while watching a second rate team on a second rate MSG+ 2 degraded SD TV signal on my Big Ass TV …. where by the way I can watch other NHL teams in full blown 1080 HD with clarity and excitement… Get your ass together Charles.

This organization’s biggest problem right now is Charles Wang. I never thought I’d write that, but its true. Its the same for any corporation: Bad decisions up top trickle down and effect everyone below. Wang insists on being involved in every decision that’s made with running this team, yet he has absolutely no idea what he’s doing. Stains from his bad decisions are all over this team. Staying with Milbury for as long as he did; signing Yashin and DiPietro to 10 and 15-year deals respectively; the idiotic “committee” idea he implemented followed by his hiring, then firing Neil Smith within 40 days because he wouldn’t go along with it; Wang’s hiring of his back-up goaltender to be the GM without even speaking to any credible hockey executives or soliciting any opinions about anyone else who may have been more qualified for the GM spot. The list goes on and on.

The other problem with Wang is that the team is not a priority for him, the Lighthouse is. He bought the team as a land-grab so he could get his foot in the door to develop the Coliseum site. He never bought the team with the team being a priority. That’s why there is no arena for this team right now. Its not a priority for Wang. The Lighthouse is.

Until Wang is completely removed from all hockey-related decision making and this team has a new arena somewhere (my bet is they wind up in Queens), this sinking ship will continue to go down. I’m not a hockey insider, but I can imagine that this franchise has absolutely no respect or credibility around hockey. Wang’s decision-making is probably a large reason for that. Until the organization gets a true hockey-man, a lifer, up top making decisions, this team is doomed.