The circus continues on Long Island

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SandraC

On Vacation
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Apr 10, 2008
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You can't make this stuff up. The Islanders have been without Goalie 2021 for most of the season, and now his backup, Joey McDonald, is also hurt. Yann Danis has been filling in...badly.

So their 'hero' from two years ago, Wade Dubliewicz, who got them into the playoffs on the last day of the regular season by winning a shootout (when Goalie 2021 was also hurt), has been playing in Russia this season. The Islanders convince Doobie to come back from Russia, and he was penciled in to start against the Devils last Friday.

But wait! There is an NHL rule that if a player is to return from Russia, he has to clear waivers...and the Blue Jackets claim him to be their backup!!! No more Doobie for the Islanders!

The funny thing is, the Islanders are at the bottom of league standings, but since they signed him, they don't get a claim! The backup goalie GM is not admitting it, but it looks like he didn't know the waiver rules.

I really think Ringling Brothers should just make it official and buy the team.


Sandra
 
Must be a slow news week to poke fun at the last place team.

Bitch-slapped?

With the exception of the first game, each game thereafter was a 1 goal decision. That's not bitch-slapped, my friend. Certainly not anymore of a bitch-slapping as:

GAME 1: SENATORS 5 @ SABRES 2 FINAL
GAME 2: SENATORS 4 @ SABRES 3 FINAL
GAME 3: SABRES 0 @ SENATORS 1 FINAL
GAME 4: SABRES 3 @ SENATORS 2 FINAL
GAME 5: SENATORS 3 @ SABRES 2 FINAL

And the Isles didn't have home-ice.

And you know what SandraC - perhaps you're right - but even if Garth didn't know that rule, are you implying that Garth SHOULDN'T have tried to sign him and wait for another team to pick him up so he could have done the same, considering it was halfway through the season already? Should Garth have known that Columbus intentions? What would you think Garth should have done? Done his homework and not try to sign him? Then what? Twiddle his thumbs while Danis continues to look miserable (though his last few losses were 1 goal losses in the 2-1 variety except against NJ)? There was a goalie that wanted to come back to the NHL (it didn't take much to convince Dubie - he wanted to be back and closer to his family) and the Isles wanted him back. So Garth is damned if he does, and damned if he doesn't.

You both are picking at straws here to try to continue to ridicule a last place team. Maybe you both should start calling them the KC Isles in the meantime. Apparently the rest of the NHL is. Heaven forbid that to happen - what in the world will you both talk about during the hockey season?
 
With the exception of the first game, each game thereafter was a 1 goal decision. That's not bitch-slapped, my friend. Certainly not anymore of a bitch-slapping as:

GAME 1: SENATORS 5 @ SABRES 2 FINAL
GAME 2: SENATORS 4 @ SABRES 3 FINAL
GAME 3: SABRES 0 @ SENATORS 1 FINAL
GAME 4: SABRES 3 @ SENATORS 2 FINAL
GAME 5: SENATORS 3 @ SABRES 2 FINAL
Click to expand...

Senators?

I was referring to the Isles/Sabres 2007 first-round series.
 
The Islanders must be yearning for their dynasty years of the early '80's.

IMO, the Isles had one of the greatest ever 1-2 goalie tandems in Billy Smith and Chico Resch.
 
I usually don't comment on hockey threads but I've heard the Islanders might move. From what I understand, the project that Charles Wang wants to build, in today's economy can't be done. So they could fix the Coliseum but they could move. It would be a shame when you consider they are from New York and have a history. But like Mike Francesa said a couple of days ago on the air " That history was 28 yrs. ago".
 
To be fair, even though it was a five game series, the Sabres did not bitch-slap the Islanders two years ago. It was a hard-fought five games.

But it is never a bad time to point out the Greek tragedy that is the crud of the league. The point is, the Islanders must have annoyed somebody somewhere (somebody REALLY important), because they really can't seem to do anything right these days. Snow not knowing the rules, Snow taking a gamble and losing, who knows. But when you move a backup goalie to GM you're asking for people to suspect the worst. A good GM would have figured out a way to make that work.

The best thing that could happen would be for the Islanders to leave. They've worn out their welcome, worn out their fan base, and have apparently worn out the powers that be in Nassau county. I have no idea why Bettman was pleading the Isles' case a couple of years ago, saying the league needs a team on Long Island. No other sport has three teams in one market, and there is still no proof it will work here. Bettman has been conspicuously silent the last year or so, perhaps he's even given up on the team's Long Island future.

As stated, their history is ancient history. I never even saw Billy Smith play. And Chico Resch sounds like a dope on Devils' telecasts. Their uniforms are ugly, their arena is uglier, and their future is the ugliest of them all.


Sandra
 
Spoken like a true Rag fan. It's so amusing to hear this from a fan of a team that on more than one occasion has been referred by some Canadian hockey fans in their dislike of the Maple Leafs, that the Leafs are "the Rangers of Canada".

For all the cheap shots laid upon the Isles by you, over the last twenty years, the bunch of clowns that play on Broadway have massed together one Stanley Cup. Yes, one. During the Isles reign of futility in the 90s - what did the Rags do after the Isles missed the playoffs for 7 consecutive seasons? The Rags went on to miss the playoffs for 8. AND WE HAD MAD MIKE MILBURY FOR MOST OF THOSE YEARS. What were the Rags excuse? A huge payroll with superstar after superstar. At least the Yankees made the playoffs with their payroll.

I'm surprised you feel that history is ancient history. Just because you didn't see hall of flamers play doesn't mean that they are any less important. Heck, if we chalked that up - we all should have given up on the Blueshirts well before they hit the 54 year mark without a Stanley Cup.

With all things considered - during this decade, the Rags haven't performed significantly better than the Isles. We had our "superstars" that failed to perform (Yashin), but the Rags had superstars that did perform (Jagr). Yet, it's not all that different over the last 8 years.

So, hate all you want because I assure you that my disdain for the pathetic "original six" franchise that can't get any more creative than letters across their chest is at least as much as your dislike for the Isles and probably moreso.

By the way, Bettman has not kept quiet about the Isles. The must be how it's reported in the Blueshirt Daily. There has been so much talk about Bettman's comments about 2 months ago that the Isles need a new arena and the delays need to end and how the jackass county supervisor, Kate Murray brushed him off. I think Bettman is a moron, but for once he got it right.

So, while you keep talking about how no other sport has 3 teams in a market and it hasn't been proven it will work, your sole reason about it should be the Isles is because of your dislike for them and how you feel about the franchise? Meanwhile, your Rags and the Devils play not even 10 miles from each other - and it's the Isles that are furthest away? L O L

I appreciate your passion for your team, but please. You've must have dealt with Isles fans in the past that did not know how to defend themselves to pour out that stuff unabated!
 
One of the reasons the Leafs are called the 'Rangers of Canada' is because eveyone in Canada cares about the Leafs one way or the other. Just like the Yankees. You can't say that about the other Canadian teams. And you certainly can't say it about the Fishsticks.

I'm not even talking about success on the ice. For the Rangers' current gaudy record I've been the one here consistently saying they may not make the playoffs this year. And I still believe that. Our GM is a moron and a jerk. The game passed him by long ago. The only public appearances he makes are in Edmonton, where he actually did something.

Having said all that, I'm no math genius, but I do believe one Stanley Cup in the last twenty years is more than ZERO. But that's not why the Fishsticks should go away. If franchises were taken away for futility on the playing field, the Lions, Raiders, Clippers, etc., would have gone away long ago. The Steelers were terrible for decades. Now they're the model of a stable franchise.

The 'sticks should go away because their fans are the worst. When they're not winning Stanley Cups, nobody cares about the team. As soon as they have a losing record, everyone disappears. The biggest bunch of front-runners you'll ever find. It remains to be seen if Devil fans are the same, since they never have a losing record. But that's what I mean about this area not being able to support three teams.

The Rangers were pathetic for seven years, but the fans were still there. I know, I was one of them. Fishstick attendance figures are inflated by giveaways and promotions. In truth there are often 5,000 people in the rink. Check Fishstick message boards, even their own fans talk about this.

The team has become an embarassment. I hate James Dolan, but Charles Wang makes him look like the model NHL owner. It's starting to look like the punishment for Wang's crimes are that he has to own the Fishsticks.


Sandra
 
I assure you - the context that I've heard "Rangers of Canada" was not used in a fond way. It was a statement to show how much they disliked their franchise and what they apparently stood for. However, if you would like to have illusions of grandeur of the Rags across the NHL, I'll give you that because that Rag Kool-Aid must be strong.

And the "often 5,000 people in the rink" is categorically untrue. I've been a season ticket holder since 1999 and have attended roughly an average of 36-38 of 41 games each season. Don't tell me that there are often 5,000 people in the rink because you believe what Mike Milbury says while working at NESN. That is complete Bullsh!t. The average across the board is about 9,000-12,000 depending on the opponent and the weather conditions. Yes, not great numbers at all, but please spare me the 'effin bullcrap that I hear about these attendance numbers from people that obviously don't go to the Coliseum except apparently during snowstorms while playing Tampa Bay.

One Stanley Cup won by an Edmonton team playing at the Garden. Can that categorically even be called a Stanley Cup win by a New York team? But hey, you're the one that brought up history being ancient history in referring to the Isles, which obviously points to the implication that the 4 cups in a row is old news.

And I take absolute objection about our fans being "the worst". Every team has it's frontrunners. You know as well as I do, the Rags have the advantage of playing in the city that is easily accessible while the Isles and the Devils play in areas that are easily accessible to those who care enough. To act like the Rag fans are the best in the world and that they never frontrun is lying to yourself. It's common knowledge that the Knicks and the Rags have a significant portion of their tickets sold to corporate sponsors because of the ease of accessibility of MSG. But you know what on top of that, the Rags have always had the advantage of having star players on their rosters to attract the fans. When the Isles turned it around with Yashin/Peca/Osgood - average attendance that year was in the 15,000-16,000 range. When the talent was gone, attendance went down, and when the results went downhill, the attendance went down further. With the Rags, even with the losing years, they always had the talent. Messier, Jagr, fricken GRETZKY, to attract people. So, you know - it's very easy for your seat to say how great and wonderful the Rags' fans are, but no one really knows how many "non-frontrunner" fans there are for the Rags. Leave it up that at least the Isles know the smaller population that shows up are fans that show up because they want to see the team - especially this year because there's nothing else promising. But it's hard to explain that to a Rag fan born with a silver spoon in its mouth. Tell me which fishstick message boards you're reading about our 5k nightly audience. I'm probably on most of them and I'd like to hear which one you're referring to.

When the Devils first arrived in NJ, you must not remember the constant losing seasons they had. What do you mean they never have a losing record? The Brendan Byrne Arena was as much of a ghost town as any during the 80s. When they were doing well, they were victims of inaccessibility which was the main reason for the Prudential Center. Their fans' attendance goes up and down but they rarely sell out - even in the playoffs. But yet you love to give the Devils every benefit of the doubt apparently since you can't stand the smell of fishsticks.

>The team has become an embarassment. I hate James Dolan, but Charles Wang
>makes him look like the model NHL owner. It's starting to look like the
>punishment for Wang's crimes are that he has to own the Fishsticks.

Wang kept the Isles from possibly moving after the Milstein/Gluckstern years. Regardless of what you think of any owner, any team with an owner that shows its vested interest like that - losing $20million each year, gets my respect. Rag fans wouldn't see past that, and I'm sure you must want to murder him since he kept the Isles in NY.


Edit: What do you think about Ken Daneyko and Ron Dugay both saying that they don't want to see the Isles go because there is way to much history there? I'm sure they only said that for the camera, right?
 
they always had the talent. Messier, Jagr, fricken GRETZKY, to attract people.
Click to expand...

As much as I appreciate Sandra for what she says on this site, I will NEVER forgive or forget the Rangers for stealing Pat LaFontaine and Chris Drury from my Sabres.
 
The Rangers made trades with Chicago and Toronto at and near the trade deadline in 1994, does that make them the Blackhawks and Leafs too? Teams tend to make trades all over the NHL. They just don't botch them as often as the Fishies do.

The Conn Smythe trophy winner (Brian Leetch) and Stanley Cup winning goalie(Mike Richter) were home grown. It's like when people talk about the Yankees buying their championships but forgetting to mention Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, etc., were home grown as well.

But whatever, if those kind of rationalizations and spin help you get through your Fishstick day, go for it.

You do have some other errors in your rationalization list, however. The Rangers have been selling out their games long before and long after Messier, Gretzky, Jagr, and anyone else came to the team. Those players were not brought in to attract fans, there were no tickets available anyway. They were brought in to win, with varying degrees of success.

Calling Ranger fans front-runners is just bizarre, though. Our team was awful for seven years, but we were still there, not dressed as empty seats like they do at Stickie games. No Gretzky, no playoffs, no hope for years. But there we were. And you try to spin that into front-runners with factual errors. :rolleyes:

If you really want examples, though, why the Fishermen should play their home games in a circus tent instead of their decrepit arena, read this:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0807/nhl.islanders.follies/content.1.html

It should be updated to include this season's fiascos.


Sandra
 
C'mon now... You're comparing the trades with the Blackhawks and Leafs to be on the same level as with the Oilers? You might possibly be the only one that thinks the Oiler influence on the Stanley Cup team wasn't the dominating factor on the Stanley Cup team. Messier, Graves, MacTavish, Lowe, Tikkanen, Beukeboom, Anderson, Hudson, did I miss anyone? I don't even remember who came from the Blackhawks other than Larmer and Noonan. Oh, did MATEAUUUUU come from the Blackhawks? Yes, I get reminded of him every time I listen to Howie Rose. But, nope - I never criticized Leetch or Ritcher because I have all the respect for both of them. Leetch has always been an Isles killer, but beyond that he's one of the greatest ever. I feel very much the same way about Richter and believe that he's been the Rags best goalie - better than the Queen that's in front of the net now. But that's the difference I see in myself vs. a lot of Rag fans. I can appreciate the talent without getting into this team hatred. Meanwhile - FACT: the majority of people who do the dumb POTVIN SUCKS chant have never even seen Potvin play and if they had, they'd realize why he is a HOFer and why any team would have loved to have him. FACT: Isles fans stopped chanted CRACKHEAD THEO a long time ago.

Anyway, I never criticized the Rags for "buying" the Cup. I've just made the distinction that the Cup was the largely the result of an Oilers team. I've also never criticized the Yankees for "buying" the championship. I've criticized them for the way they flaunt the Yankee tax.

Well, you've said I've made some factual errors, but I don't know which errors you are talking about. All teams have frontrunner fans. Just because it's easier to see with certain teams doesn't mean that they don't exist with others. Isles have their share and I've been very critical of that over the last few years because I think it's sad that that happens - but I temper it with the product that is placed before them on the ice. I'll repeat myself - during the playoff drought years of the Isles - the product on the ice did not have the attraction. During the playoff drougt years of the Rags - the product on the ice had a lot more attraction. Previous to the playoff drought of the Rags, they had the record to attract. In other words - Rag fans have had it good either way - they either perform well to attract the fans, or they have talent on the ice when they are not performing well to attract the fans. It's a win-win situation for the Rags, which is why Rag fans will never see how wonderful they have it - meanwhile they cry over how crappy their team is losing Jagr and Shanahan, while they just signed Drury, Redden and have one of the best goalies in the league. Rag fans don't know how consistently good they have it, and it makes it so easy to criticize another team struggling. How in the world can any Rag fan compare what they go through with management and ownership against what the Isles fan has gone through every since John Pickett sold the team? You may not like my "rationalizations" but it's reality. I never said the talent was brought in to attract the fans. I said you had the talent on the ice to attract the fans. Of course they were brought in to win. In a way, it's inter-related anyway.

And you're just jumping around now. Before you said they should move the team because the fans suck. Now it's their history of futility and current fiasco. Okay whatever. I think they should move because the sky is blue.

And it's GORDON'S FISHSTICKS. Get it right seafood lover - your post made me crave for fishsticks. LOL


Edit: Since you put the link up and am taking it as gold, I took a look at it and noticed this line....

"Assistant GM Don Maloney was tabbed to replace Torrey and went on to be widely credited with driving the Islanders into a ditch."

Many thanks to a former Rag for starting the downfall of the Isles in the first place. I remember that Kirk Muller fiasco like it was yesterday.
 
Last edited:
Ranger fans really don't care where the players on the Cup winning team came from...only Fishstick fans do. They were Rangers when we won the Cup. Do you think Met fans will be unhappy if Santana, Rodriguez and Putz help lead them to a championship because they came from other teams? Who cares? They're Mets now.

But nice try. Bringing up Mike Hudson's contributions to the Stanley Cup seriously damages your credibility. And Glenn Anderson came in a trade from Toronto, not Edmonton.

You're going in circles regarding the Rangers' talent on the ice. If they had so much talent, why did they miss the playoffs seven years in a row? Bottom line, we fill the Garden when we're good, bad, or mediocre. Kelly Kisio was our best player when I first started paying attention. And the Garden was packed.

And since 2004, the Rangers have not been allowed to spend one more penny than the Fishermen are allowed to spend. The NHL is the only leauge with an absolute hard cap. No blasting through it and paying a MLB luxury tax, no mid-level NBA exceptions, no deferred NFL contracts.

So if the Rangers are bringing in talent and the Fishes aren't, that's your problem. If you had a GM running the team and not a backup goalie, you could probably figure out talent is necessary for winning.

Mentioning Wade Redden as one of our 'talents' further ruins your credibility, however. I think that's what you said, anyway, in your rambling, circular paragraph. The man has played awful hockey, he's probably a number 5 defenseman getting paid like a 1. Trust me, nobody is buying tickets because of him. Some could even be tempted to stay away...


Sandra
 
Visitor said:
Edit: Since you put the link up and am taking it as gold, I took a look at it and noticed this line....

"Assistant GM Don Maloney was tabbed to replace Torrey and went on to be widely credited with driving the Islanders into a ditch."

Many thanks to a former Rag for starting the downfall of the Isles in the first place. I remember that Kirk Muller fiasco like it was yesterday.
Click to expand...

Maloney really was brutal for you guys. I'm not totally convinced he wasn't sent in there to ruin your team. Kind of like you guys did to us with Trottier. ;)

Another genius Sather move.

Of course, Milbury was worse. And the backup goalie fits right in.


Sandra
 
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