FanPost

My Letter to Ken Belson


This is my response to Ken Belson for his ill-considered take on the Islanders.


This article is a waste of ink. Everyone knows the Islanders have struggled with attendance and that the team has missed the last few playoffs.

When you say that the Islanders have been drafting poorly, it is no accident that you have to go all the way back to 2003. And players drafted in the 7th round are never obviously good players or they wouldn't have been drafted in the last round.

Compare the Islanders recent drafts with those of the team that I guess you follow, the Rangers. Who did the Islanders pick in the first round? One of the best power forward prospects to be drafted recently. A player compared by many who watched both players in junior hockey with Marian Hossa.

Now lets see what the Rangers did. They had a chance to draft the best two way defenseman in the draft or a Russian power forward who is comparable to the player the Islanders drafted. Instead they drafted a crease clearing enforcer who certainly should not have been drafted before the mid first round if then.

It goes beyond early first rounders though. The Islanders have been picking gems in every round. Look down their prospect list and see what these players are doing in college and junior hockey.

People who actually know something about hockey are impressed with the talent the Islanders have been accumulating and not just in the draft. They don't sign players like Redden and Drury to ridiculous contracts. They sign players like Mark Streit and Matt Moulson who other teams ignore or cast off who then become stars.

And maybe the worst part of your article is that you seem to want to make Kate Murray appear to be the reasonable party in the Lighthouse dispute. She has NEVER shown ANY good faith on this issue.

Wang tried for years to work with her and she blew him off. Then she presented a plan that she knew would not be acceptable and acted like he was being a jerk for not accepting it.

The future of the team lies with the Shinnecock and their partners the Ilitch family of Detroit or in Queens. If you want a business story to write about, that is a place to start. What is the future of the Shinnecock gambit and what is the propriety of the Ilitch family--who own the Detroit Red Wing NHL franchise--being so involved with another franchise. Talk to Bill Shea at Crain's Detroit. He's written quite an article on the Ilitch family's billion dollar Shinnecock gambit. That would be a story worth writing...and reading.

<em>Submitted FanPosts do not necessarily reflect the views of this blog or SB Nation. If you're reading this statement, you pass the fine print legalese test. Four stars for you.</em>