Thurs 8:15 am: What made my morning? Mike Bossy was a little annoyed at Mohr's comments last night as well and took to Twitter to say so. Good for you @Bossy5050
Later, Draft Party 2011 preview. Hope you'll be there!
Wed 9:56 pm: Okay, now I'm pissed. This will be blog edit take 2. I lost the first one.
Michael Grabner did not win the Calder. Shame, but he is our winner for sure.
Who knew that Dougie Weight was getting the King Clancy award? Did I miss that press release? Seriously.
I had to keep my big mouth shut for so many weeks, I thought I was going to die. I knew about the Hanson Brothers video with the Cup and the Pawn Stars. Done very well. Very cute. But more importantly, Gary Bettman and Steve Carlson were in the same room together and he didn't have Steve kicked out. Progress!
Okay, now for the bigger picture. Jay Mohr has got to go for next year. I understand the comedy aspect of what he was doing but I took exceptionally offense to the idea that the vancouver rioters should have to serve time by watching an Islander game. That was just insane. I'll take your swipe at our attendance Mohr, but not the quality of our game and our roster. No. Watching an Islander game is not punishment for a crime. Come to Long Island and I'll show you.
One of my Twitter buddies suggested it should be Alec Baldwin next year. I agree.
Congrats to all the winners and the nominees. You are all deserving!
*Sidenote: Um, there will be no 3rd jersey unveiling at the Draft Party on Friday. It is still being approved.
Who said a Wednesday in late June would be boring when it comes to Hockey? Ugh.
There was an 11 am Ed Mangano/Charles Wang press conference at the Coliseum that I couldn’t attend. However, because Twitter is my friend, I was kept in the loop by @BellmorePatch and @NYISlanders and their live blog.
Also at 11 am, Newsday’s Art Staple hosted an Islanders Live Chat while Ms. Katie Strang was busy with NHL Draft travels and duties. Then (of course) there are the NHL Awards tonight at 7 pm from Las Vegas and there is also a live blog by @SkatesOnAPlane writer Jesse D Eisenberg who has the pleasure of accompanying @Grabs40 to the Awards show.
My jealousy factor is in overdrive as my best friend sends me phone photos of her and Zedeno Chara from Las Vegas. She wishes I was there with her. So do I; but back to reality.
Newsday’s coverage of the Ed Mangano proposal for bond payment once again confused me. The Islanders are estimated to return to the county $14 Million a year in revenue sharing. This should offset the $12 Million a year bond payment the County will be responsible for paying. However, there are those who are still complaining and I don’t see any real explanation about how the $50 a year property tax that would need to be levied would then be reversed once the County received revenue from a renovated Coliseum.
The more I read about this, the more I think the failure of the Lighthouse Project and it’s mixed use development that would have cost County taxpayers NOTHING will be written on Kate Murray’s tombstone.
The information seemed to be well received and this is an excerpt regarding the payment structure from the NY Islanders Press Release:
Under the terms of this agreement, County taxpayers are guaranteed 11.5 percent of dollars generated at the new arena from all events – not just Islander games. According to Camoin Associates independent report, this revenue sharing requirement, coupled with sales, hotel, and entertainment taxes generated from the new arena will produce over $28.2 million to Nassau County in the first year. The projected amount of revenue to Nassau County is expected to grow in subsequent years. With debt service payments fixed at approximately $26 million annually, Camoin Associates projects the new arena would generate the dollars needed to pay off this debt and an additional profit of over $400 million during the 30 year lease term. Residents will continue to receive millions in revenue without debt service payments; similar to paying off your mortgage and renting your home while keeping all income associated with that rental property.
Also, the County stands to receive a minimum of $14 million a year in lease payments from the Coliseum. The money from the Islanders TV deal is not part and parcel of the agreement, however revenue from shows that the Islanders are not gaining anything from are.
While I was trying to keep track of it on Twitter, Nick from @LetThereBeLH Tweeted
“@DaveZLINY need to avoid the Underpants Gnomes math.....With taxes and the minimum payment the maximum exposure is $18 per family or so”I can’t wait to find out what an “underpants Gnome” is.
In an effort to educate the public prior to the August 1st vote, Ed Mangano has public information meetings scheduled throughout the county beginning with one on Wednesday 6/29 at the East Meadow Library from Noon – 2 pm and 4 – 8 pm.
This boils down to “Now or never.” Charles Wang is quoted as saying
“We cannot continue to let this go. We need this and we deserve this.” Now I do believe he meant that as Long Islanders and not just himself personally.
“This is not just about me; it’s about my kids and OUR kids’ future.”
And it is.
While all this was going on, Newsday’s Art Staple had a live chat running on Newsday. Sadly the stupid ads that are now part of “Live Chat” kept crashing the damn thing on me. However, if you have a subscription to Newsday, go back and read it. Lots of good info in there.
Of course there was the smattering of DiPietro haters, but most readers had some pretty good questions.
Regarding the upcoming draft choice of the Islanders, I was happy to read Art’s take.
“Garth hasn't tipped his hand one way or another; the mock drafters and Hamilton's junior coach are the ones who feel he'll be an Islander at No. 5. If the pick is Zibanejad, that wouldn't surprise me either.”\
Woo hoo! Maybe I’m not that big an idiot!
When it comes to the Islanders being a playoff team or what it would take to BE a playoff team, his response was:
“For the season, it's honestly getting the consistency from the top six forwards and establishing a tougher defense. When the season ended, I wrote and said that this team doesn't need to add a ton; there are two forward lines intact (Moulson-Tavares-Parenteau, Grabner-Nielsen-Okposo), an emerging D pair with MacDonald-Hamonic and the likely addition of Niederreiter, perhaps with Bailey and Comeau. That may not be a Cup-winning lineup, but if they're going to grow, they have to do it with steady increases instead of throwing millions at a new guy just yet.”
This is the perfect segue into tonight’s NHL Awards where our own Michael Grabner is competing for the Calder trophy. When Art was asked if he felt the Gremlin would win, he answered:
“It would be an upset, BR. I think Skinner has the inside track. Personally, I voted for John Carlson of the Caps, who had a tremendous season. Calder is the toughest trophy to win these days, with all the young guys flooding the league. But be happier that Grabner is locked up for the next five years! “
While I too think Skinner will walk away with it the point that I took from this answer was – HE VOTED. So much for the Botta Boycott from the NY Chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
Two other things regarding tonight’s festivities: One from a Tweet by Dennis Bernstein of The 4th Period.
“Heard on floor of Palms Las Vegas - #NHLAwards opening broadcast segment - parody Dan Byslma 24/7 locker room speech w Jay Mohr edited in.”
Hope Mohr doesn’t ruin a good thing.
And secondly, there should be a surprise video staring two icons of Hockey. One of which is the Stanley Cup. The other – you’ll have to wait and see!
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