Actually, Stan Fischler agrees with Lundqvist being disliked by his teammates, but I digress.
You wrote "islanders owner deserves a new arena". Not for nothing, regardless of the Town of Hempstead and the failed bond vote, he was offered the right to build a new arena with his own money on the 77 acres in Uniondale.
All of this because Wang doesn't agree to a sweetheart "consulting job" for Alfonse D'Amato's brother Armand. Mid 2000s, Wang is lunching with Alphonse at the Italian restaurant in Carle Place on Old Country Road. They are discussing his Lighthouse Project and , yeah, not everything is going to get done, but probably 70-75% is getting approval.
Middle of the lunch, Alphonse drops the , "oh yeah, and my brother Armand will be attached to the project as a consultant for x amount..."
Wang balks, doesn't want to "get into dirty politics" and refuses to do business with D'Amato (who STILL has a lot of power in TOH).
What "x" amount is is subject to speculation. I've heard it range from 100k to 1mil a year. So fuck Charles Wang.
About the Barclays. Terrible for hockey. Say what you want about the Coliseum, I ask anyone on the board to show me an arena in the nhl with better sight lines. And the fact that I can leave my house at 6:45 and get to me seats by the National Anthem? You can't beat it. The Barclays was an ordeal. Drunks on the train, the train itself, the terrible sight lines. What a horror show. The NHL would never allow the Islanders to move. That cable contract - despite other teams having their own network (like the Yankees have with YES) is still one of the best in the NHL. Spoke with Isles CFO Art McCarthy on the platform in Jamaica the night of Barclays. Guy was with his sweet teenage daughter, known him for years. Despite that, we got into an argument when he said,"Charles had serious offers from two cities" to move. I didn't call him out on that being bullshit right away, I asked "what cities" and he huffed and puffed about "not getting into that". That's when I told him my contact with Bill Daly and said the Isles were never in danger of leaving $25 mill a year until 2030 (cable deal). Went back and forth...bullshit guy...cute daughter. Whatever.
Anyway, Isles fans overrate this team. Small defense (except for Hamonic who is a serious stud in this league --- no idea why he isn't on power play). Was happy to see Poulin play well in loss to Chicago. I think we all like Nabakov, great teammate , funny interview, but thinking he can play more that 45-50 games is folly.