Do you want a new Owner?, If Wang could find someone...

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm at the point where I just wish we had a different owner, one who puts the priority of owning an NHL franchise first and foremost, who knows what needs to be done, who will put money into the roster and hire hockey minds to run the show.

Isn't that a task for our GM, to convince our owner what money's needed to put in to be competitive. Especially if the owner isn't interested in hockey.
I think Wang should stay as long as he keeps the team floating and we find an owner who really wants to win something.

So, the option I would vote for isn't really there.

• "Yes, but not until we find a buyer who really cares."

I want a trifecta of incompetence OUT along with their outside the box hockey thinking and insane experiments.
WANG, Dey and Gordon.

I'd keep Snow on board. I agree with Magnus too.

As an 'outside fan" I am tired of being the joke of the NHL.

I vote no.
A new owner means they move....
although Hamilton is alot closer to me.

I voted yes. It would be nice to find an eccentric rich guy who wants to win, but has no interest in partying with DP. Or making the hockey decisions. Isn't there enough to do to keep Wang busy at the software company?

I voted yes out of frustration,because of the on ice product. We needed two capable defensemen this off season,and a real enforcer. If you do a rebuild, do it right, not on the cheap.

Too bad no one like Bossy (like Mario with the Pens) wants to buy the team to ensure the team stays here.

Emphatically NO. Wang rescued the Islanders, brought them back to respectability, restored intelligent long-range planning to our hockey ops department, and is valiantly trying to secure the franchise's future on Long Island by pursuing a new arena development with reasonable diligence.

Of course Wang has made mistakes---chief among them, the retention and long-term employment of Mike Milbury, who brought years of ruin to an unstable franchise with his erratic and often incomprehensible roster moves that exiled a dozen young stars (not to mention lots of NHL captains---I'm looking at you, Mr. Chara, Mr. Brewer, Mr. McCabe, and even Mr. Luongo). But he did fire Milbury eventually, and Snow's hiring has resulted in some surprisingly positive moves. Yes, I would do things differently than Wang in some respects. I would love to just renovate the arena and forget everything else. But anyone in Wang's chair is going to break even on costs or make mistakes. Was John O. Pickett perfect? He got the team out of debt and into glory, but also never marketed the team, signed the SMG lease, and ran LaFontaine off the Island. No one's perfect.

Wang has done many things right, especially recently. Renovations to county property. Going first class with team travel and support, player development (IceWorks and SoundTigers instead of splitting players between Kentucky and Utah), fan outreach (blogbox and NYITV), and many other things. Most importantly of all, he supports a solid, patient rebuild from the ground up. Not a quick fix.

I see folks upset that we lack depth at forward and defense. So what?!? Two more expensive free agents would not get us any closer to a Cup. We're in for another lottery pick this year, my friends. This is good news, not bad news: It's the lottery picks whose names will grace our next Cup. Not guys like Alex Tanguay.

One more thought: We wanted a new owner to replace Pickett. How did that work out? Let's exercise caution when wishing for a new steward for the Islanders.

Wang has poured his heart, soul, money, and time---time that he can't buy with dollars, and will never get back---into getting this team turned around. He isn't perfect, but he definitely deserves our support.

Emphatically NO. Wang rescued the Islanders, brought them back to respectability, restored intelligent long-range planning to our hockey ops department, and is valiantly trying to secure the franchise's future on Long Island by pursuing a new arena development with reasonable diligence.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Respectability? Is this what you call it? Wow.

IS THERE ANY QUESTION???

I want a new owner. Wang went from hero in the beginning to zero now. The only AND I MEAN ONLY thing I like about him is that he hasn't moved the team. But obviously that's 1000000000000% of a possibility now that's not getting Wang's World on time so screw him.

Yes....just as long as we have an owner that wants to keep the team here.



I wonder how much the Islanders would go for...low payroll, a team filled with alot of ahl players, and 3rd and4th liners..Surely, if we got all Islander fans together we could chip in and buy the team from him....with one very big hometown discount.

I'm really sick of not even the team, but the fans being put down as some of the worst in the NHL. We're accused of being a crappy market, and its all BS. This website alone shows how strong our fanbase is. Those stuck up fans of Canadian teams think they are better than us. They need to be put in their place. When was the last time a Canadian team one the Cup?

To Wang, I think he is determined to stay on the Island, but you can't expect him to lose 20 mil a year in order to do so. Lets not forget he brought us the Sound Tigers. It was an ambitious plan that is most likely going to fail because of the incompetence of town officials. I guess he could have budged a little, changing things here and there, but still, as he stated, this has gone on for years. Tweaking, changing and altering the plan can only go so far.

Wang Rules

good luck finding an owner that would even try to keep the team here.
Wang has not made the Islanders a laughing stock he has just carried on the tradition.
at this point if he keeps them here or at least in NY and they get a new building i am happy. once he gets money coming in i think he will spend it on the team, like he did the first few seasons.

We have to see this rebuild through. Snow has been a pleasant surprise overall. I think most on the board stated they would be patient, but when the rubber hits the road, its more difficult to actually go through with it.

This is year 3 for Garth and any good rebuild probably needs 5 years to judge. Lets wait it out and see what he produces. Other than not signing an enforcer, Garth has done a prettty good job in acquiring young talent.

Did Wang buy the team this summer? No, I'm grading him based on this decade.

And say what you want, but we re-earned the respect of the NHL with the 2001-2004 Islanders squads and guys like Yashin, Peca, Aucoin, Osgood, and so forth. Take out Toronto's disgusting cheap shots against Peca and Jonsson in the 2001-02 DSF and we might well have advanced as far as we did in 1993 or further.

Sure, people still diss the Isles. People mocked Wang for his long-term signing of Yashin and DiPietro (myself included). Now we see a fair number of stars getting signed for 12+ years. People mocked Wang for hiring a recent NHLer as GM. Now we get some uncannily good free agent signings and judgment from a guy who's been down there on the ice recently. I remember people also mocked our previous owners for alienating our former stars and disrespecting our past. Now we have Trots and Boss around the building every night. But go on, keep knocking ownership, even though it's the best it's been in 20 years.

Kicking Wang right now is like kicking a guy on your own team when he's down.
I'm not going to do it. Let's support the guy while he's trying to get us a new home on Long Island.

* * *

PS The rebuild started in earnest last season; Ted Nolan still had a mandate to win now in early 2007-08. So I judge this stage rebuild as Year Two, and I figure we have plenty more knocks to absorb before this thing really gets turned around. Just wait! Patience is *really* tough in Years 3-5. That's why Milbury dealt all of our young stars once they had 1-2 years of experience with our club. To paraphrase Gatorade, let's not be like Mike. Let's hang in there, gang.

Out. ONE! His results and actions have seen us go downhill more and more the more he gets involved. Our only successes were when he stayed out. Lavy and Milbury were given free reign and won.....but then he meddled. Nolan and Smith.....didn't last long. Now the Overspeed Doctrine has been a failure except for Bridgeport but that doesn't help us play two, nevermind three periods well.

No respect, the GM can't sign players for years, the roster shakeups are a joke, the summer headlines are a joke.

OUT! Wang has been an abject failure with the cheapest hires and most intrusive ownership. OUT!