How many mornings until we stop saying "never a dull day in Islanders Country"?
The Lewiston Maineiacs (like Keith, not gonna shout "MAINE") are indeed folding, which means the QMJHL loses its only U.S. team, which means Islanders prospect Kirill Kabanov will likely be subject to a dispersal draft of former Maineiac players. Tough day for the owner. After 2011-12 a new franchise will be in Sherbrooke, which once had a Q team...that moved to Lewiston.
Oh, and this was kind of a big deal: The Nassau County legislature voted 11-7 in favor of putting the arena referendum on the ballot for a special election Aug. 1. More interesting notes from the session, as usual, from Nick at Let There Be Light(house). And a snippet of debate between a legislator and a union member.
More Islanders and more hockey discussion after the jump:
The other big Islanders news was that Casey Cizikas is officially in the fold. So another June 1 passes, and all the Isles' ducks are in a row (the June 1-dependent ones, that is) except for Jason Gregoire and Blake Kessel, who are set to explore the open market.
Speaking of June 1, the Flames and Tim Erixon...? Flames get a 2nd-round compensatory pick if they didn't sign him.
NEW: Derek King talks to Chris Botta about them ol' days.
The big news touted for the Panthers today will be the naming of Kevin Dineen as coach. Interesting choice. Last time they went for the hot junior coach. Now they go for a fairly hot AHL coach. He played for and worked under ex-Panthers coach Doug MacLean in Columbus. Columbus fans have fond memories of Dineen; MacLean, not so much.
The big news for Atlanta and Winnipeg was...well, you know:
- On Twitter, #winnipegtourismslogans took off and is worth a look.
- You may have missed that this move is good for $6000 per player!
- Some lineup changes around SBN: Thrashers blog Birdwatchers Anonymous will continue into the summer, and Behind the Net will transition as the new
JetsMooseManitoba Manifest Destinies blog. - A reminder about this old BWA post: Simply, the (horribly mismanaged) team never won. Can't blame fans for that.
- You know who you can blame for some of it? Don Waddell. He's bumming today.
- One of the 750 squabbling Thrashers owners says he looked long and wide for a potential local owner, to no avail. More and more, I believe every franchise not in a top 5 market needs its Wang in shining armor, or else...
- OMG! The Winnipeg team will have to spend $10 million just to get to the floor! What a second-class organization they're running there, the league should really step in...
Also:
- Why the Oilers shouldn't trade Ales Hemsky, because he's a budgeted star who actually wants to play in Edmonton.
- Yo, like goalies are absolutely mental, mate.
- Some refs call fewer penalties than average on Greg Campbell, and some of those refs are working the finals.
- From Bruins2011DraftWatch: Guys you should know about in the upcoming draft, but maybe haven't caught your eye.
Oh by the way: THE STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS are still on. The final begins tonight. Who are you rooting for?
And your moment of zen -- Mike Mottau discusses how NHLers see the existing areener: