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Islanders links
- Andrew Barroway just won't let go of the Islanders. He's now suing Charles Wang for backing out of a deal Barroway says they made for sale of the club. The $10 million award is just the tip of what Barroway wants. [LHH | Isles Insight | New$day | Original Daily News report]
- New$day also has the full complaint, Security Purchase Agreement (SPA) and e-mails regarding the case, and the court's posting is available through this LHH post.
- My own non-lawyer thoughts: Barroway's putting a lot of stock in the SPA and e-mails between he and his people and Wang's lawyer Art McCarthy that say the deal was agreed upon. If they're airtight, and Wang did renege on it, Barroway could force the sale of the Islanders to his NY ICE group as part of the damages he's seeking. Wang's not known as a guy who's prone to leaving behind paper trails, so it's still possible he skates by. I don't expect it to drag on, and would bet it's settled out of court and Barroway goes away again. Having a lawsuit hanging over the team isn't beneficial whether Wang is still selling or not. My hope, sincerely, is that the suit spurs the sale of the Islanders to the "other" buyers Wang supposedly told Barroway he had lined up. That would be a super shiny-ass silver lining to a messy episode of a even messier saga. I don't expect that to happen, either.
- This was unexpected: Rick DiPietro guested with Alan Hahn and Brian Custer on ESPN Radio last night and tackled his career and some bigger questions about his future.
- Over the weekend, a link to a petition to have the Islanders retire John Tonelli's No. 27 was posted in the comments. Isles Insight also has a link to the petition's organizer, who shares his full feelings on Tonelli's place in Islanders history.
Islanders Ice Bucketry
- The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is making its way through the Islanders roster, and the team's website is ready with the videos. WARNING: You're gonna have to watch an ad for Bob's Discount Furniture before each one of these things, which may cause you to dunk your own head in a bucket of ice water.
- Sam Gagner challenged John Tavares, who responded with the grim determination of a man on a singular mission to save the planet one ice cube at a time.
- Tavares challenged Jack Capuano, who enlisted the help of some neighborhood kids.
- Michael Grabner is trying to influence coaching decisions and taking shots at the weather in Winnipeg through his funny video.
- And you know what, Sparky's in on it, too.
Elsewhere
- Stan Fischler reports from Hockeytown, Israel. [Daily Freeman]
- The Kings will retire Rob Blake's No. 4 this season. [Kings Insider]
- Did Canadiens owner Geoff Molson pull rank on Marc Bergevin and force him to give P.K. Subban that healthy contract? [Eyes on the Prize]
- Travis Yost on the violent reaction of some media members to the NHL's new wave of statistics.
- Down Goes Brown on the arguments against advanced stats and the reality of how they are used. He also went back to his roots and told us how you know you're advanced stats guy isn't going to be very helpful.
Robin Williams died yesterday and I'm still not sure how to process it. He didn't make any hockey movies, but here's one of his forgotten roles as a Russian defector in Moscow on the Hudson. He is gone too McSoon. RIP.
