New York Islanders and the NHL Need To Get Serious With the Town of Hempstead

Since Charles Wang purchased the Islanders in 1998, one of the goals was to bring the respect back to a once proud franchise. The other goal was to build a new arena in Nassau County at the current home of the team, the Nassau Coliseum. Closing in on 13 years since Wang's purchase, the organization is still looking for that respect and that new arena.

It was supposed to be the dawning of a new era on Long Island, with a millionaire owner who was the CEO of Computer Associates, a Fortune 500 Company and one of the largest software corporations in the world in Wang, also the founder of Plainview Properties, a real estate firm.

This was an Islanders fan's dream: not only a millionaire owner, but an owner with real estate ties, which will come in handy when planning to build a new area. It was a can't-lose proposition for the Islanders organization, Nassau County and their fans. Sounds too good to be true.

Guess what? To this point, it is just that.

To be fair, thanks to Wang the Islanders have invested much-needed money into the team in 2001. With the additions of players like Alexei Yashin and Michael Peca, the franchise did gain some respect around the league. They made the playoffs and lost in seven games to the Toronto Maple Leafs.  

The years following, they made the playoffs again, only to get eliminated in the first round. In fact, they haven't made it past the first round since the '93 season. Unfortunately, the little respect they gained around the league slowly dwindled away year after year due to the fact they played in an outdated arena. The Nassau Coliseum has become so out dated, no major free agents want to sign with the club.

There were a lot of uncharacteristic moves by management that also made it difficult for the Islanders to help their public relations image around the league. There is no hiding the fact that these decisions have also played a role as to why free agents look elsewhere rather than playing on Long Island.

That being said, the majority of the blame as to why the franchise has been virtually under the radar for so long, should fall on the Town of Hempstead.

Wang and developer Scott Rechler unvield the Lighthouse Project in 2003. Eight years later, no progress has been made, and the Town of Hempstead, led by Town Supervisor Kate Murray, just kept toying with Wang and every loyal Islanders fan. This project proposed 77 acres of real estate surrounding the Coliseum to be turned into a $3.8 billion housing, retail, and office complex with a new coliseum as its main attraction

This wasn't acceptable for Murray. She wants to scale the project back. Murray has claimed the main reason for the scaled down version is the fact it wouldn't meet environmental needs. The Town Supervisor also states the residents in the town have expressed concerns regarding traffic issues.

These concerns should not outweigh the economic boom this project would create. During these poor economic times, jobs would be created. Are these concerns of no interest to Murray?

The Islanders have conducted rallies to promote this project. Fans and non-fans who support Lighthouse attended these rallies in huge numbers. Some were there to show their loyalty to a hockey team, while others attended to support the project in general. A good number were residents of the Town of Hempstead.

This support obviously had no affect on Murray and her fellow politicians. Murray, who is a republican, was betting that fellow republican, Nassau County Executive Ed Magano, would follow her lead and support her plan to scale down the project. In a twist, that was not the case. Project developers and Country Executive Mangano, issued a joint statement saying the town's proposal “looks to be economically unviable.”

It has been eight months since the last strong statement has been made by either side regarding this project. To Wang's credit, he wanted to concentrate on the hockey season. He didn't want politics to get in the way of a hopefully successful season for his hockey club. Three quarters of the way into the NHL season, Wang finds his team 14 points out of the final playoff spot.

There have been very positive signs. The Islanders have battled through an extremely injury-plagued 2010-2011, as well as a long winless streak. With all that, they have played very good hockey during the second half of the season, and the future appears to be bright. That future is on the ice, though. The off-ice future is very cloudy.

What must be stated through all this is the fact that Wang has been continually losing around $20 million per season, and continues to believe in this franchise. Various reports state that the owner will spend money when GM Garth Snow believes the team is ready to take the next step.

It must be said that it would be almost impossible to find an owner in sports who would continue to lose money year after year and not be tempted to sell the team. I am sure at times Wang thinks about that option, or possibly has already thought about it. You couldn't blame him if he decides to give up and put the team up for sale.

There are fans who want to blame Wang for not spending money, and other fans who are upset over the questionable management decisions. Those fans have a right to question; they are allowed.

They also need to remember the fact that Wang is taking a hit in the pocket each year this team doesn't have a new arena. He could give up, sell the team to another millionaire who is from Canada, and your only Long Island sports team could be playing across the border in Quebec or Winnipeg. 

The positive thing for all Islanders fans? Contractually, the team is on the island until 2015. It's up to the Town of Hempstead, Kate Murray, Charles Wang and Ed Mangano to sit down and get this right. The New York Islanders need to stay on Long Island and win on Long Island.

When it comes down to it, the franchise should be based in Nassau. They were the four-time Stanley Cup champions during their stay there. They had four parades down Hempstead Turnpike.

Most importantly, there are many great memories there. There should be many more future memories there as well.