Las Vegas Flying Elvises

So the NHL just approved a sale to a group that is willing to keep the Phoenix Coyotes in Arizona. Good for them, but if the old ownership couldn't make money there, why does this group think they can? Or is there a "Major League" type of scam that is going on here? You know, they have a clause in their contract with the city of Phoenix that states if the team finishes dead last x amount of times or fails to draw in x amount of fans to games that they are allowed to pack up the team and move. Now I know since I'm an Islanders fan I shouldn't be judging other teams financial statuses, but I am so fucking deal with it. The Islanders are in their current situation because of past poor ownership situations and Nassau County bureaucratic bullshit. There is a large fan base on Long Island and all they need is a winning season or two and some of those bandwagon Rag$ fans from 1994 will return to being bandwagon Isles fans. In Phoenix (like Atlanta and Nashville) the amusement of having a professional hockey team in waning. I'm not saying there isn't actual hardcore hockey fans in Arizona (one of the places I'd consider moving to when I retire), but there apparently isn't enough. Not that hockey can't succeed in the Southwestern United States though, since Dallas seems to do well and the California teams all have a decent fan base. The difference is though that Dallas and Anaheim have won a Stanley Cup in the past decade, San Jose has had plenty of good seasons in their history, and LA had some guy named Gretzky for a while. Apparently The Great One doesn't draw quite as well as a coach as he did a player. So the key for the Coyotes may just be to have a few exciting seasons to cure their monetary woes, but if that doesn't work and then it's time to pack up and head to...

And head to the desert oasis of beautiful Las Vegas. Vegas is home to pretty much everything but a professional sports team (and is also another place I'd consider moving to when I retire). Obviously Vegas' population is probably around 50% full time residents and 50% seasonal residents/tourists. So that may be a tough sell for the NHL, but I know I for one could always use another excuse to visit Vegas if the Islanders were to come to town. Not to mention Anaheim and Los Angeles is within driving distance. Las Vegas already has a minor league franchise in the Wranglers and they usually have one preseason game there involving the Kings that sells out. So even if the team wasn't that great the arena would still be drawing in the other teams fans from around the US and Canada. And until our economy went into a bipartisan shitter, Las Vegas was one of the fastest growing cities in the country. Not to mention there are these things called Casinoes that generate a lot of revenue. I already have my choice of a name for the team, the Las Vegas Flying Elvises. It just rolls of the tongue nicely, not to mention it's been my fantasy team name for years now. So let's go Islanders and let's go Flying Elvises!

More Goalies!

And the Islanders continue their off season acquisitions by signing yet another goaltender. This time it's former Flyer foe Martin Biron. They signed him to a one-year deal which reeks of Garth Snow's usual business offer in trying to help someone get back on track on the island, just to have them leave. The main thing I get from this deal is that DiPietro is nowhere near ready for the season. Last I heard he has yet to even skate on his surgically repaired lower body. So now the Isles technically have DiPietro, Roloson, and Biron at the NHL level, two second round draft choices, and another goalie down in Bridgeport. I think that they have enough depth there, but I could be wrong. Look what happened to St. Louis last year. I just hope Snow and Co. get their act together and get an enforcer to protect the young players on the team soon. Well, this helped with my offseason hockey fix for at least one more day. The madness of no hockey should settle in shortly though.

Tavares Saves and Everyone is Fleeing Jersey!

Well, I for one am fully stoked. John Tavares is officially a New York Islander. I will say that I was slightly disappointed that the organization actually did what the fans wanted. Hear me out on this. The Nassau Coliseum had between 8,000-10,000 fans there for the draft party. Most of whom had a few drinks in them (not that the Coliseum's management helped with that since only Doolin's Pub in the basement was open to serve beer). I figured, while sitting in my usual section of 315, that I was gonna hear something along the lines like "The Islanders trade their First Overall Pick to Toronto for Olaf Kolzig and a bag of pucks" or "With the Number One Pick the Islanders choose Brett Lindros, Jr.". Then after this announcement someone, probably from section 315, was gonna yell "LET'S TEAR THIS PLACE APART!!!" and an all out riot would commence. People from the Islanders and the Coliseum would be fleeing in terror while the fans fast track owner Charles Wang's plan for a new building by destroying the current one. Obviously this didn't happen and the fans are happy for now. It's the least we could get after a dreadful season. Let's just hope Tavares and the rest of the team can keep the fans happy. He already did a good job saving the Coliseum.

So apparently unless your first name is Martin and your last name is Brodeur you do not want to play in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils lost Brian Gionta, which is really no surprise cause it was obvious he was gonna get overpaid from somewhere and that somewhere being Montreal which gave him a $25 million contract over the next 5 years. The Devils also lost Michael Rupp and John Madden to free agency as well which is frightening since these two players seemed to be core players of the franchise. It can't all be about the money for all of these former Devils. Lou Lamoriello must have somekind of loyalty from his players. I mean it seems to work out well in Detroit, which is the only other consistent contender in the NHL in the past decade. There must be something in the water in Newark that makes everyone flee that ridiculously awesome arena. My main question being a non-Devils fan is this; when is Zach Parise going to be an UFA? And are the NY Rag$ not going to have enough room under the salary cap to not afford him? Well on the bright side the Devils did manage to sign one free agent... Yann Danis. I guess with as much playing time as he's gonna get behind Brodeur it didn't matter who they signed to fill that role. I guess the moral of the story seems to be that no matter how you clean the place up, it's still Jersey.

And coming back full circle to the Isles... I'm currently watching episodes from the first season of "30 Rock" and I noticed a nice shout out to the Isles. It's a conversation between Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) and her boyfriend Dennis.

Dennis: I wish the place would've burned down with me in it.

Liz: Why, what happened?

Dennis: My Islanders lost tonight.

Liz: Doesn't that happen a lot?

Well hopefully that conversation can be a thing of the past. At least on the brightside the Islanders still get some notice on national television (also see the NBC show "Life").