New York Islanders moving to Brooklyn

[RyanMcD29]

Ooo. Interesting thought. What's their lease situation?

And how would Long Islanders feel about being essentially relegated to the minors? Losing their team and having it replaced with its own farm club?

Meh, it's still better than seeing the Islanders move to Kansas City/Quebec/Seattle whereas the Coyotes are still in Glendale.

[cmm]

Ooo. Interesting thought. What's their lease situation?

And how would Long Islanders feel about being essentially relegated to the minors? Losing their team and having it replaced with its own farm club?

Meh, it's still better than seeing the Islanders move to Kansas City/Quebec/Seattle whereas the Coyotes are still in Glendale.

Agreed. I didn't think they'd stay in Nassau or go to Suffolk, but I was hoping something would come together in the Citi Field/Iron Triangle area since it's easier for me to get to. Brooklyn's not impossible via LIRR, but it will cost more than driving/parking and will take longer (I get home around 10:30 when I work Islander games, and 12:00 when I work Ranger games).

And since Ratner won the Coliseum derby, they might play six regular season games at the renovated Coliseum, pending NHL approval (I think).

[The_Admiral]

This whole thing is just a grand waltz of the stupid, isn't it.

[cmm]

It wouldn't be the NHL if it wasn't.

[Brian in Boston]

The architecture/development/entertainment team that developed the Barclays Center has won the rights to revamp the Nassau Coliseum, beating out Madison Square Garden... As part of their pitch, the Barclays team also said they'd bring an AHL franchise to the renovated Coliseum.

There's apparently been some chatter today on Islanders-related blogs mentioning the possibility of the Isles ultimately having their AHL and ECHL affiliates located in the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum and Bridgeport's Webster Bank Arena, respectively. The theory being floated is that the AHL Bridgeport Sound Tigers would relocate to a renovated Coliseum, with an Islanders-affiliated ECHL franchise taking over the Sound Tigers' lease in Bridgeport. As an alternative plan, some are theorizing that if political leadership in Bridgeport balks at losing the top-tier AHL team, the Sound Tigers will stay put and an ECHL team will be slotted into the Coliseum. Either way, the thinking is that Islanders management is eager to have all of their minor-league prospects within an hour to an hour-and-a-half's drive of the Barclays Center.

[The_Admiral]

That makes sense, but realistically speaking, how many prospects worth a damn are even assigned to the ECHL? Even for a development-intensive organization like the Isles, generally it's your second-ranked goaltender so that he's not just gathering dust as your AHL backup, and maybe one longshot guy or two. Between guys in the AHL and the kids you're waiting on in juniors or college (some of them not even taking up 50-man roster slots), you can pretty much fill out your organization's prospect list. I mean, for the prospects they do have, it's certainly preferable to having them in, say, Boise, but organizationally speaking, it's not critical to have them up the road. Sounds more than anything like they're just salvaging their relationship with Bridgeport.

Man, I just hate this whole Brooklyn thing. It's going to be so awful.

[Evil G]

Sounds more than anything like they're just salvaging their relationship with Bridgeport.

I don't think this was intentional, but it's still funny.

[Brian in Boston]

That makes sense, but realistically speaking, how many prospects worth a damn are even assigned to the ECHL? Even for a development-intensive organization like the Isles, generally it's your second-ranked goaltender so that he's not just gathering dust as your AHL backup, and maybe one longshot guy or two. Between guys in the AHL and the kids you're waiting on in juniors or college (some of them not even taking up 50-man roster slots), you can pretty much fill out your organization's prospect list. I mean, for the prospects they do have, it's certainly preferable to having them in, say, Boise, but organizationally speaking, it's not critical to have them up the road. Sounds more than anything like they're just salvaging their relationship with Bridgeport.

I'd say it is a case of a development-intensive organization preferring to have all of their prospects, including the few at the ECHL level, within easy driving distance of the organization's NHL franchise home base, while simultaneously maintaining/salvaging their relationship with a city where they are the operators of a municipally-owned arena, AND assisting the corporation that is soon to become landlord to their NHL franchise in fulfilling one of the parameters that said company must meet as developer/operators of the arena the development-intensive organization used to call home.

WHEWWWWWWW!

If it were just about minor-league hockey prospect development, I agree with your assessment that it wouldn't be all that important for the Islanders to create a situation in which all of their AHL and ECHL prospects were playing home games within a 1 to 1-1/2 hour drive of the Barclays Center. That said, given how intertwined the fortunes of Charles Wang and Bruce Ratner have become - Wang's Islanders are moving to Ratner's Barclays Center... Ratner's Nassau Events Center, LLC has been selected to renovate the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum that Wang's Islanders are vacating... etcetera, etcetera, etcetera - I'd say that there's more than likely some truth to the rumors. Whether they'll come to pass, who knows?

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

The Coliseum is being renovated, and the Rangers will soon be without a home. Oh the possibilities...the complicated, problem causing possibilities...muahahaha

[Waffles]

At the press conference announcing the Coliseum plans yesterday, Bruce Ratner said the Sound Tigers will be moving to the renovated arena. http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/islanders/brook_when_VsVqqLQ5fANsAfAtznH5AL

[Gothamite]

Just like Rat to spoil all the speculative fun.

[dfwabel]

Ratner seems busy with construction, just not the housing in Brooklyn he promised when he was allowed to build Barclays Center.

[The_Admiral]

Who needs homes when you have sports?

[HedleyLamarr]

That makes sense, but realistically speaking, how many prospects worth a damn are even assigned to the ECHL? Even for a development-intensive organization like the Isles, generally it's your second-ranked goaltender so that he's not just gathering dust as your AHL backup, and maybe one longshot guy or two. Between guys in the AHL and the kids you're waiting on in juniors or college (some of them not even taking up 50-man roster slots), you can pretty much fill out your organization's prospect list. I mean, for the prospects they do have, it's certainly preferable to having them in, say, Boise, but organizationally speaking, it's not critical to have them up the road. Sounds more than anything like they're just salvaging their relationship with Bridgeport.

Man, I just hate this whole Brooklyn thing. It's going to be so awful.

About the only benefit I see with having both the AHL and ECHL playing so close to the parent club is for injury/rehab purposes. An Islander can get treatment at the team's facility during the day, then get in a game with the AHL or ECHL team (whichever team happens to be in town) in the evening.

[Eye]

Who needs homes when you have sports?

Sports build homes though. At least they do in New Orleans.

[Magnus]

New York Rangers of New Jersey? Considering that both the Jets and Giants play in the Meadowlands, and the Devils now play in Newark, I'm sure that the Izod wouldn't mind hosting a major league tenant again, even temporarily.

[Evil G]

I think the Rangers would be crazy not to move into a Madison Sq. Garden V. The Izod/Nassau would only be a temporary home.

[IceCap]

Who needs homes when you have sports?

Sports build homes though. At least they do in New Orleans.

Or so the NFL tells me.