Monday 4:27 pm: Four days later, Newsday gets on the bandwagon. (http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/legislature-mulls-4m-in-coliseum-repairs-1.3017474)

As I was told, this is all part of the current lease agreement. Why the county hasn't been paying for repairs last season, and the season before, I don't know.

As suggested in the article, the request for repair punctuates the need for a new building, however some may say it would be easier to just keep repairing it. The new Newsday poll is a little less damning, simply asking if you'll vote for the Mangano plan or if you need more time or info or don't like it at all.

It seems to be a dead heat between the YES vote and the NO vote. If that is any indication, August 1st is going to be a nailbiter all the way!

7 am:
The $4 million Question

Only Chris Botta announced to the world via Twitter that the NY Islanders had put in a request to Nassau County for a $4 Million laundry list of repairs that they felt are critical. That was Friday. I waited to see the MSM pick up on the story. If they have in the 48 hours since he brought the Monday Nassau Leg vote to everyone’s attention, I have not seen it. But then again, I could have by passed it. I can’t be sure.

So there is IPB’s article (http://www.islanderspointblank.com/2011/07/needed-4-million-in-coliseum-repairsbusted-seats-roof-icemaker-force-nyi-to-make-request/) that lists the things that could be on the list of “County Do” requests.

The oddity is, the Coliseum has been in disrepair for years. Four years ago, when I had just become a member of the blog box, I took out my camera and wandered around the Coliseum taking photos of things that were wrong with it from the simplest broken tiles to the really incredibly gross food stands that (as someone who had to obtain a Food Manager’s Certificate from Suffolk County) I knew would never pass an inspection. Broken bathroom doors and seats that you would worry sitting on that were going for $110 a game.

Yep, the Coliseum is a mess and even the money that Charles Wang sunk into it to fix certain items were basically lipstick on an elephant. I can’t remember if I wrote the blog entry on my findings. It’s lost in that Bravenet journal of mine that I don’t remember the passwords to if I did.

I also remember my first one-on-one sit down with General Manager Garth Snow when he mumbled something about the building never being cold enough. It may have annoyed him that I was comfortable without a jacket in an empty building. A warm building is bad for the ice. It’s also bad for the players.

Could bad ice have contributed to the years of early season injuries that kept so many out of the line-up? Possible. Some groin strains and other muscular injuries could have been exasperated by bad ice conditions, but that could never be proven.

But why now? Why hand over the list “Landlord Please Fix” now?

I tried to ask, but the only answer I received was “It’s a part of the lease. When there are repairs needed, it gets sent to the County. It doesn’t mean they’ll all be done though.”

I also asked if these repairs had been requested previously, but that question remains unanswered. (Well, it is Sunday.)

So perhaps the list is just a way of showing the Nassau Legislature that the immediate repairs alone are $4 million. Or maybe they’re just hedging their bets. Who knows?

All I know is that Mini Camp starts on Wednesday with 47 invited attendees, seven of which are Long Island boys. This will guarantee a home town feeling at the Blue & White Scrimmage on Saturday night, July 16th. There is also one camp invite named Mei Ushu, a Defensemen from Japan.

While we already know the tremendous statue of Mikko Koskinen and Anders Nilsson, there is a goalie named Chris Rawlings who is 6’5” and a Forward named Dan O’Donoghue from Long Island who is also 6’5”. Ryan Strome, the 2011 1st round draft pick is the guy with the most points last season at 106. Next in line with 83 points is a guy named Capuano. At first blush, you’d think he was related to the Coach. We’ll have to find out.

My buddy Matt Martin may find himself tangling with two guys who actually had more PIMs than he did last season. While Matt had 147 in the NHL, Scott Mayfield had 159 PIMs in 52 games in the USHL and Benn Olson had 153 in 43 games in the ECHL. Heads up Matt!

Nino Niederreiter, Casey Cizikas and Kirill Kabanov will all be looking to impress the powers that be. While they will probably also be invited to training camp in September, they can help their chances of being penciled into the big club’s roster by having a very strong mini-camp.

Or in other words - SHOW UP ON TIME KIRILL AND DON’T GOOF OFF.

It will all boil down to talent and who wants it more. What’s it gonna be boys?

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