July 30 2009 by Rob.

According to Bottas latest entry it is looking like pointblank will be no more.  It would be ashame if he closed up shop because he is considered the top Islander reporter out there after his hard work and dedicated coverage of the team for the last ten or so months.  For the last ten months the Islanders have sponsored his site and it would benefit them tremendously to continue because they get exposure there like no where else.  To email the Islanders and tell them what a mistake they are making click the link below:

Check out

customerservice@newyorkislanders.com

or call them at (516)-501-6700 ext 2 for customer care

 his entry here:

http://www.islanderspointblank.com/2009/07/ho/

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July 28 2009 by Rob.

Next tuesday 8-4 at 8 am there will be a crowd that gathers in the Coliseum parking lot 8 and at 8:45 they will march from there to Hofstra in support of the Lighthouse Project.  The crowd will be led by elected officials and Islander Alum.  The first 2,000 people present will recieve “just build it” t-shirts.  Also will have a chance to get an autograph from islander forward Josh Bailey.  Joel “The Wrecker” Rechlicz will also be present.  I don’t know if he is signing or anything though.  For more details visit lighthouseli.com.

According to Dee from the 7th women NHL commishiner Gary Bettman will be attending the Lighthouse public hearing on tuesday mourning and may speak in favor of the project.  It has been confirmed to me by a Lighthouse employee that commishiner Bettman will in fact speak at the hearing on tuesday mourning.  To read the full story click the link below:

 http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=22363&blogger_id=129

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July 27 2009 by Rob.

With regard to part 1:

1) No one I know thinks the Lighthouse is only about the Coliseum.  They are able to see how big it is and realize the lasting impacts something like this would have on the area.

2) When asked if she supports the Lighthouse she doesn’t give a definitive yes or no.  She goes on a speil about how the TOH board supports progressive development but they must review the environmental report properly which is fine.  However this couldve been done sooner if you did something between the end of January and the beginning of June.

That is it for part 1

Now part 2:

1) She makes it seem like there is a bus route as part of the project.  When in fact on WFAN on thursday Wang made it a point to let people know their is no mass transit involved in the LH Project.  They are two seperate deals one handled by Wang and Rechler the other by Nassau County.

2) She mentions how the process has been done in record time.  Well guess what Supervisor, it wouldve been done faster if you did something from the end of January through the beginning of June.  Instead of blowing off meetings and making flyers for a stand alone Coliseum Project.  (http://lettherebelighthouse.blogspot.com/2009/03/wednesday-wackiness-phony-outrage.html)  The article above details the mailing sent to over 240,000 TOH residents seeking to have them petition Tom Suozzi to seek Stimulus funds for a stand-alone Coliseum Project.

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July 27 2009 by Rob.

To view the videos click the links below:

Part 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JU0Pv5ixtc&feature=related

Part 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Nc_dkYoeA8&feature=related

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July 27 2009 by Rob.

Goalie Wade Dub. signed with the wild reports thehockeynews.com.

Posted in NHL News | 1 Comment »

July 26 2009 by Rob.

According to islanderspointblank.com governor David A. Patterson will be appearing at a press conference tomorrow mourning at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.  The presser starts at 11 am and is in front of the box office.  All Lighthouse supporters are encouraged to attend.

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July 25 2009 by Rob.

That is right according to Chris Botta.  He reports that Satans agent recently put on twitter that he is talking to the Islanders.  To view Chris full story click the link below.

NOTE: Nate Thompson agreed to a one year two way deal avoiding arbitration.

http://www.islanderspointblank.com/2009/07/satan-agent-tweets-nyi-talkingour-response-really-sign-someone-else/#comments

Well I don’t get the interest, sure he played decent in his time here and is durable but he doesn’t have the skill he used to.  I mean he couldn’t perform well when paired with Sidney Crosby and/or Malkin.  If you can’t succeed with them you won’t succeed anywhere.

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July 24 2009 by Rob.

 (Cam Janssen)(DJ King)

According to multiple reports Cam Jansen or DJ King might be available from the STL Blues for a d-man.  If Garth could somehow swing a deal for 1 of them that would be great.  Cam we remember from his days with the devils.  DJ is a good fighter he handles most his opponents pretty soundly outside of Boogard.  I would welcome either of them with open arms.  Well see what happens!

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July 23 2009 by Rob.

That is right this evening in an interview with Islander owner Charles Wang radio personality Mike Francesa called the Lighthouse project with regard to size and cost outrageous.  He seemed to push the idea of just a new coliseum.  He(Mike) seemed to harp on that Idea for a majority of the interview and Charles told him what we all no that it doesn’t make sense for him economically unless the governement provides the money.  Charles said that once Oct 3rd rolls around if he doesn’t have what he deems an acceptable response to the LH project all options will be considered which we new but it seemed like Mike had a hard time understanding that because he had to tell him that multiple times.  He (Mike) also demonstrated that he is out of touch with key issues such as county and Island overall population.  He thought there were over two million people in Nassau County and four million on the Island and Charles corrected him by informing him that there were in 1.3 million people in Nassau County and about 3 million or so on the Island.  Additionally Charles made it a point that there is no monorail or light rail as part of the project.  The interview ended with Charles asking Mike to after becoming more informed on the project that if he supports it to come down to Hofstra on 8-4 to speak publicly in favor of it, and Mike said ok. 

With regard to hockey they talked a lot about John Tavares as one would expect, even though they didn’t mention him by name.  They talked about management and Charles made it seem although we are going through a rebuild that if results aren’t acceptable that people are going to be held responsible.  They mentioned Garth and others including Scott Gordon even though like Tavares he wasn’t metioned by name.  They talked about Ricky and again Charles reiterated that he is on schedule to start skating in early august and be ready for camp.  Mike asked Charles on multiple occasions if he would consider owning the team outside of the tri-state area to which Charles pointed back to the Oct 3rd date and said after then we will consider all options.  Charles stated that they will stay the course and continue to build through the draft and sprinkle in a free agency signing here and there.  Mike also mentioned that we have about 12 million in cap room.  I am not sure how accurate that is, and Wang said that he will not spend the cap as we all know.  He said he will spend what his resources allow him or something along those lines.  He also mentioned KC repeatedly as a landing spot for us calling Wang out for playing the game there.  Wang mentioned that he hopes to attend the game there.  Also in passing he mentioned that Gordon has two years left on his contract which is interesting because the terms of his deal were never made public, Financially or length.

Overall I think it was a good thing that Charles went on and set Mike straight and I hope he really gets more informed on the project and maybe his tune of being ok living 30 min for the city with no identity will change and to repeat something said by lettherebelighthouse maybe he will get a can do attitude in his mind rather then a can’t do.

You can listen to the entire interview by clicking the link below:

http://www.wfan.com/topic/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=3898591

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July 23 2009 by Rob.

In the last week there has been lots of things going on in Islander Country. 

1) The preseason schedule got released last week, it inlcudes 8 games including 1 9/23 at the NVMC vs the devils which should be JT’s first game at the coliseum.

2) The reg. season schedule got released and the home opener will be 10-3 vs PIT.  Crosby VS JT some story line to open the season with.  It is so early because of the olympic break in January and I think it is only the 5th time in franchise history we are opening the season at home.

3) This occured longer then a week ago but on 7-7 the TOH voted that the Lighthouse EDGIS was ready for public comment so 8-4 and the John Adams playhouse at Hofstra the public will have the opportunity to comment on the project.  If you can only go to one lighthouse meeting attend this one and be vocal with your support.

4) On monday governor David Patterson will be attending a press conference at the Coliseum at which he will through his entire support behind the Lighthouse project.

5) The Islanders signed goalie Marty Biron to a 1 yr 1.4 million dollar deal.

6) Tavares signed a 3 year entry level deal.

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July 22 2009 by Rob.

According to Chris Botta and mult. other the Islanders have signed goalie Marty Biron to a 1 year deal worth 1.4 million dollars.

Well color me confused!  With the addition of three other goalies this off-season I think we have more pressing needs elsewhere but hey he is a trade chip for the deadline.  Also he is a good goalie who always kicked our butt when we played against so at least we don’t need to worry about that any-more.

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July 14 2009 by Rob.

According to si.com Gary Bettmans salary is over 7 million dollars.  To view the full article click the link below:

http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/110292-bettman-making-big-bucks

All I have to say is WOW!

Posted in NHL News | 1 Comment »

July 14 2009 by Rob.

According to Greg Logans Islander blog recent statements from Garth Snow state that he maybe be all but done in the free agent market.  Snow tells Logan that “the roster is 99% complete”

Well in my opinion this is disappointing!  I am still holding out hope they sign a Tangauy but I don’t know now.  I mean he was willing to get Alex Kovalev so why not Tanguay.  Would it be the end of the world to sign someone who can actually help the NHL team?

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July 14 2009 by Rob.

According to islandersindependent.com the Isles are in fact exploring the trade market and are reportedly offering a package of Andy Sutton, Blake Comeau, and Jeff Tambellini.  BD names Chicago as a possible trade partner.  To view is full article including the people he thinks we like from them click the link below:

http://islandersindependent.com/2009/07/14/bd1.aspx

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July 14 2009 by Rob.

I was watching the replay of the Islander Devil game when we made Marty Brodeur look like an amatur and Bergy got the hatrick.  Anyway in the third period of the telecast at around the 14:00 min mark Billy Jaffe says something like one thing I would like to see the Isles do in the offseason is to add some size.  All I have to say to that although it is only the middle of July I guess Garth Snow didnt get the memo because he has missed out on plenty of people who fit that bill perfectly but he let them go to other teams. 

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