Islanders not training in China after all? Good.
by Dominik on May 24, 2010 1:46 PM EDT
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PrintKatie Strang of Newsday [that'll be $5 please] reports that "a snag regarding procedural requirements" has canceled Charles Wang's plan to hold 2010 Islanders training camp in his native China. ESPN picks up the report. Chris Botta at Islanders Point Blank provides some background info from when the agreement was initially approved by the NHLPA which makes all of this sound, to use his word, "bizarre."
Which is of course old hat for Islanders fans accustomed to Wang's outside-the-box forays with his club. I always figured it was Wang's right as owner to take the club where he wants, but I certainly am not disappointed to hear the team won't be traveling half way around the world to train right before enduring an 82-game (and hopefully, longer) NHL season. That idea never sat well with me, as it doesn't seem designed to give your team the best chance for success.
The report that a "procedural snag" -- perhaps coupled with a disagreement over a charitable NHLPA donation instead of the union's usual fee -- has derailed a previously agreed-upon trip leaves this news wiiiiide open for speculation that there are other factors that initiated this change: Money? Second thoughts? Logistical challenges? A focus on NHL success over cultural enrichment? The union views it as the team failing to live up to an agreement.
Whatever the deeper causes, your guess is good as mine. The greater result for me (should this decision stand) is that, as the Islanders prepare to lure free agents and get this rebuild program into the next gear, they won't have the distraction of gearing up for next season by navigating different food and different resources some 12 time zones away.
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Another Day in Wang's World
When I saw “procedural requirement”, I thought the PRC was hassling the Isles. Should have known better. Apparently the “donation” was not the issue but Wang’s refusal to allow NHLPA reps to go to China in advance and ensure that the facilities are adequate. Wang is very much the autocrat, isn’t he? I like Botta’s idea of keeping the team on Long Island for pre-season. Anywhere else will just get the Ranger fan NY media rumormongering about him moving the team again.
Wang is such a march-to-his-own-beat kind of guy that I wonder if the “advance party” thing really is the hang-up (if so, how bizarre) or if that’s an excuse for something more. Wonder if they’ll talk any more about it. One advantage (for them) to the low media coverage of the team is that they don’t have to talk.
Staying on Long Island would be excellent. Going elsewhere, while less than ideal, would still beat China.
Lighthouse Hockey: Playing the NHL Lotto
…Wang’s refusal to allow NHLPA reps to go to China in advance…
Im not necessarily seeing that. It seems to me that he might be thinking, why NOW? Why not months ago? Why should I pay all this money for them to later say that X,Y, and Z need to be done last minute?
I thought this would be interesting and fun, but I have no problem with the Isles NOT going to China.
Let Us Go, Islanders! (Ever notice how strange that sounds without the contraction?)
by TheMetalChick on May 24, 2010 11:07 PM EDT up reply actions
Nothing in Botta's piece suggests that this was sprung on Wang last minute
In fact, I had the impression that it is routinely done and that Wang knew or should have known of the requirement in the CBA that it had to be done. To me, this is just Wang being Wang.
Bottas piece is simply a reaction to Katie the beatwriters piece- its not like he broke this story.
Let Us Go, Islanders! (Ever notice how strange that sounds without the contraction?)
by TheMetalChick on May 25, 2010 10:01 AM EDT up reply actions
No, he spoke to some folks as well
In any event, I saw nothing to suggest that this was a last minute surprise and everything to suggest that the NHLPA had been playing ball with Wang and was surprised by his refusal.
Call me cynical, call me crazy but I am not at all surprised by either the cancellation of the trip or Wang’s “reasons.” I mean seriously, nothing this man has ever done seems like it made sense or planned, so why would this sudden abrupt change of heart be all that surprising. I just hope the Union reps checked to make sure they still had all their fingers left after shaking Wang’s hand.
Who knows? Maybe I’ve heard too many CA horror stories from my Pops.
Mighty Mighty Metro!
nothing this man has ever done seems like it made sense or planned
I think he plans what he does. its just that he is arrogant enough to assume that what other people think or want is irrelevant.
If I had to make the choice for where the Islanders could have training camp, I would definitely like to see the team go back to Lake Placid, giving me yet another reason to visit the Adirondacks in mid-September. I think it was due to rising costs that the Isles stopped holding training camp to begin with, leading the team to such outposts as Wheeling, Yarmouth and Saskatoon.
Having training camp in China may have been interesting, but I wasn’t really a fan of the idea since no other NHL team was training in China. If the Isles would have been able to find any NHL team to join them in the PRC for training camp, I would’ve been in favor of the Isles training in China.
If the Isles would have been able to find any NHL team to join them in the PRC for training camp,
That was a big factor for me, too. You’ve got the travel, the jet lag, the diet (though I’m sure they’d take great pains to bring/cook food they’re used to), and all the rest — then you throw in that they lack NHL competition. I just feel like you’re putting the special kid in the school with the weakest facilities and the lowest-caliber staff.
Lighthouse Hockey: Playing the NHL Lotto
Does anyone actually believe there are quality Hockey Facilities in China btw? Can you imagine if someone gets hurt (which you know would never happen to the Isles) and the equipment isn’t up to par?
This probably saves us from DiP getting a Staph infection and getting his leg amputated.
The Islanders went from Marty McInnis and a 2nd Overall pick to Jesse Joensuu.
I suspect that the Chinese would go out of their way to make everything first class
and would be able to do so with some guidance.
I agree. Thats why I dont think that Wang objected to the principle of the NHLPA checking things out (I think them doing so would be a known requirement) he is more likely to be objecting to the timing of it all.
Let Us Go, Islanders! (Ever notice how strange that sounds without the contraction?)
by TheMetalChick on May 24, 2010 11:09 PM EDT up reply actions
He said, union said
This part makes it sound like Wang was sensitive to cultural issues with the request:
Although an innocuous and reasonable request on behalf of the NHLPA, Islanders owner and China native Charles Wang anticipated the tenuous situation it may create with the Chinese, objected to such a request and the deal subsequently fell through last Friday.But when it’s Wang on one side and the NHLPA on the other, you have two, ah, “interesting” parties involved.
If there are issues on the paranoid and save-face-above-all-else Chinese state’s end, I don’t have much sympathy. But there’s probably more to the story than we’ll know.
Lighthouse Hockey: Playing the NHL Lotto
I just got the impression that the NHLPA had bent over backwards to try to make it work
Maybe Wang didn’t want to have any hassling with the Chinese…but calling the whole thing off left them with far more egg foo yung on their faces than if he had just tried to work things out.
I had that impression, too. I was fairly surprised they agreed to it in the first place, though input from the Islanders players helped. (Though asking DiPietro, who is pretty well indebted to Wang … that sounded like a conflict of interest to me.)
On the PR hit of calling it off: That is why I wonder if there are additional reasons beyond what will be divulged. “The czar has taken ill and has adjourned to his country estate to recuperate…” and all that.
Lighthouse Hockey: Playing the NHL Lotto
And at the end of the latest episode, all the audience can do
is to shake their collective heads in wonder and amazement. Tune in next week, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel, for another baffling episode of Wang;s World.
Just a few thoughts...
1. Who were they going to play. There is never any mention of any other teams or players going to China. Where they going to scrimmage against each other? ..or maybe bring in the Beijing Generals… and throw confetti on the first row of fans.
2. The folks that pay the operating costs for this team (THE FANS) would be denied the opportunity to get to know their NEW team. The team in China Saskatoon Monkton Baton Rouge (If Bettman gets control before September) will probably have a few new UFAs, some kids that are trying to make the team (1st rd pick, Hamonic, Martin, Joensuu) and possibly (but highly doubtful) some vets trying out for a spot.
3. Let’s not forget this was a CHARLES WANG sponsored adventure… There’s no guarantee that if the airlines charge him for his baggage on the return flight he won’t refuse to pay for the team’s return to the US.
5. Why can’t they just play in Flushing… it’s like going to China without the travel expenses.
PLEASE SELL THE TEAM… Put up high rises in Uniondale, and let an owner use the team’s ability to move into the five borroughs and once and for all become a profitable stand alone entity with a past, a present and A FUTURE!
NHL 500... Let the Less Filling vs Tastes Great debate begin!
Sorry, but I doubt anyone would be more interested in buying the Isles then they were 10 years ago.
Actually, I think Wang is probably our best hope to keep the Isles in the NYC area. With his commitment to CA and his wanting to be a hands on owner its not as though he can move the team to KC and still run both organisations on a daily basis.
The Islanders went from Marty McInnis and a 2nd Overall pick to Jesse Joensuu.
Please, Mr. Wilpon, sir...won't you please buy our team
we promise we’ll be good little fans, really we will!!!
You frighten me…
If we’re going to beg owners of other teams, why not Woody Johnson? Compared to the Jets, he could afford to run the Islanders with pocket change. All he wants is to build a Johnson & Johnson baby powder plant circling New Nassau Collesium.
Oh damit, there’s that rule about not owning two franchises right?
The Islanders went from Marty McInnis and a 2nd Overall pick to Jesse Joensuu.
First of all it was a joke
second of all, the Wilpons seemed open to the idea. I don’t love them, but I would rather we had an owner who understood sports. I don’t think it will happen, but it would be nice.
sorry, sometimes most of the time I’m oblivious. That one went over my head.
The Islanders went from Marty McInnis and a 2nd Overall pick to Jesse Joensuu.
Hmmm.
this is complete speculation, but…
If you ran the numbers 10 years ago a prospective owner who didn’t have D’Amato whispering in his ear that he could make a fortune developing the land around the coliseum would run the numbers and KNOW that the ISLANDERS can’t make money in the COLISEUM.
In most books I’ve read it has been stated that the Islanders have operated in the red for most of their existance(even in the glory years). The only thing that keeps them afloat is the TV contract, and that, isn’t floating the boat anymore.
Well… move the clock forward… and add my criteria of QUEENS being a reality… that opens up doors for people who just want to run a sports franchise and run it in the black.
Most owners aren’t looking to turn a HUGE profit from their sports franchise, they like the idea and prestige, plus in bad times it usually gives them a write off.
NOT WANG… he needs to make more money with his (I doubt it, but he hasn’t stopped whining about losing $20M/yr for ten years… thinking that he would garner public sympathy which might accelerate the political process of okaying his WANG WORLD.
So far, the egg [foo yung] is on his face. D’Amato lied, the county realizes that an 18K seat arena where no mass transit exists was, is, and will be a bad idea, and this has to be the worst time in the history of mankind to beg banks for money to build a privately developed city. Meaning that when this whole thing stalls, there are tumbleweeds and vacant trailers all along hempstead turnpike for 20 years.
All I want to see is the Islanders franchise divorce itself from owners that need the team to turn a profit through alternative means… if Wang can put the team in Queens, then build his city… AWESOME… if not, SELL THE TEAM. If Willets Point can provide a home by 2016 there has to be somebody who wants to invest 150M to own a PROFITABLE NYC FRANCHISE. Jeez.. somebody just bought the effin Lightning… Who has a better chance of turning a profit… a team in NYC, or a team in TAMPA… when the majority of your operating expense is mandated by the league. Tampa also has a much higher payroll than the ISLES EVER WILL UNDEAR WANG AGAIN…
Money will NEVER flow in Nassau to the point that he can raise the payroll to much above the floor… he is at the floor and will still lose money.
If he moves into Queens, instant corporate sponsorship, the building is sold out on tuesday nights against Nashville, and he increases the fan base dramatically… which means more marketing money.
I don’t hate the guy, I’m just tired of all the BS that seems to follow him around… and don’t underestimate the number of people with a billion dollars who want to own a hoclkey team in NY… if there are two, there are two better candidates to own the team than Charles Wang…
STILL… Sanjay sits alone.
NHL 500... Let the Less Filling vs Tastes Great debate begin!
I don't know...
I realize the Islanders had a bad deal with the Town, but there’s no way they didn’t make money during the 80s. The oldest attendance figures that I can find go back to 89, But I’d really love to see some solid figures that say the Islanders lost money in the 80s.
The Islanders went from Marty McInnis and a 2nd Overall pick to Jesse Joensuu.
I've got a book
By golly I can’t remember which book mind you, but it said the club was essentially breaking even during the Cup years, which is — if I remember right — why the cable deal and lease were signed around that time.
Lighthouse Hockey: Playing the NHL Lotto
For Sale?
Maybe he pulled out of a possibly unpopular trip to sell the team. I can see China not being the #1 destination for a new owner, and maybe the Chinese don’t want someone who’s not Chinese to bring their team over.
by billymac23 on May 25, 2010 3:42 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
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