The Sports E-Cyclopedia's NHL preview described the Islanders in a way that would make Sandra proud:
"
Charles Wang he may be a great entrepreneur when it comes to making computers, however, when it comes to building a hockey team he is clueless. Firing Coach Ted Nolan, a 15-year contract for a goalie that never won a playoff series and a back up goalie who replaces a cup builder in the GM seat. Add to that a dreadful arena, a dreadful fan base and a dreadful uniform and you get the most unwatchable team in the NHL, they will lose and lose often and things won't get better any time soon."
Here's the link:
2008/09 NHL Preview
Always trying to stir the pot SabresRule...
So, which Dolan penned that description? I don't mind previews that are subjective on the team, but I think such an insult to the fan base written into a preview of the team is way out of line. No one liked to see Nolan go but he didn't want to coach a team in rebuilding mode - so what are you going to do? Meanwhile, I don't see any other NHL team rushing to pick him up. The 15 year contract is already old news and no one knows how that will turn out but if it turns out to be a plus, he turns into a bargain at $4.5Mil a year years from now. If it busts, it busts - it's not like it was a contract that pushed the limits of the salary cap higher - and anyone who has followed the Isles is thankful that there is stability in nets as opposed to the debacle that Mike Milbury was causing with his musical chair goalies.
And as far as Snow is concerned, I give him a C+ so far with a lot riding on this season as far as development of the young players to see if his scheme is going to work. That being said - is the author talking about Neil Smith? Where there you go - obvious homer there. Is this the same Neil Smith that had a blank check to bring practically the whole Edmonton Oilers dynasty team to MSG while the Isles had a payroll of about $14million? Eh... yep, Snow becoming GM was a huge surprise, but please let's not get ahead of ourselves and assume Smith was going to do much better with the way the team's management is structured.
By the way, if he's going to talk about what Charles Wang is capable of doing, he should at least do some Googling to find out that Computer Associates is a SOFTWARE company and not a PC making company. No, Charles Wang and Wang Computers have nothing to do with each other. Clueless indeed!
Anyway, I've enjoyed the last number of years of continually being picked at the bottom of the list. With the exception of last year, the Isles had continued to defy those predictions. While I don't think this year is very promising (and maybe it shouldn't be since we're rebuilding for the first time since the later 90s), but comments like in this preview make me go to church to pray that the Isles prove me wrong and make me eat humble pie and stuff it in the faces of every Islander-hating fan (mostly Ranger fans because everyone else doesn't give a crap about Long Island).
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