A couple of news notes from yesterday. 1. The vote on the Islanders arena failed. What will this mean for the team? I’d really hate to see the team leave since I remember a lot of their games from the 1980s. I read something that the new arena for the NBA New Jersey Nets in Brooklyn might be a potential new home.
Also, it looks like Nabokov is going to report to the Islanders. Seems like the Islanders might have a goalie glut if everyone is healthy.
Islanders lease is up at the end of the 2015 season. I have heard about the potential for them to move to Brooklyn, but I guess they’d have to change their nickname.
I think they’d keep the Islanders name. It will be another one of those strange nicknames like the Los Angeles Lakers or the Utah Jazz.
If the Islanders didn’t have the history of the 1980s glory days, then perhaps a new name would be in order.
In other news, the Devils place Colin White and newly acquired Trent Hunter on waivers with the intention of buying them out.
According to Lamoriello, he’s been shopping White around since the end of the season and hasn’t found any takers, though White does have a NTC and it’s unclear as to whether he’s used it to block anything or otherwise narrowed the possibilities.
White being waived comes as quite a surprise, as does the apparent fact that there were no takers. He is slightly overpaid at $3m/year, but he is still a serviceable 2nd pairing defensive defenseman in the final year of his contract. I’d have thought at the least a team trying to reach the cap floor might take a chance on him for a year.
Hunter being bought out was expected.
Now, having, at minimum, cleared $2m from the cap this year with the White buyout (the full $3m if someone claims him), and turned Rolston’s $5m hit into $633k, the question is, “Is there another trade in the works?”
Lamoriello has suddenly started throwing the word “budget” around, and it’s understandable after last year’s dismal performance leading to even lower attendance than is typical for the team that already struggles with attendance, as well as the pending ownership issues (the minority owners want out), that the team may be less willing to spend to (and beyond) the cap… but the waiving of White (a loyal lifer who is far from a detriment or easily replaceable from within) points to a move to bring someone else at least as good as Colin in.
C’mon, Avery, you were doing so well, what the fuck happened? (I can’t wait for the mug shots)
Two months until the start of the season! Hurry up, Oct. 6.
I have it marked on my calender. Hell, I have the start of the pre-season marked down!
Last I looked Brooklyn was still on Long Island and still part o New York City. They’d certainly be more New York Islanders than the football Giants are New York.
Wow, not good. At this point it’s hard to imagine this won’t effect his career in some ways. Not saying it’s over now, but it’s hard to play the game without a few knocks on the head now and then. And after the lasting effects of this one, it would be truly negligent to not handle the rest of his playing days with an extra degree of caution.
I initially freaked out on hearing that, but Ray Shero says that Sid’s still working out – unlike the last time when he had to stop. So it sounds more like they’re being extra cautious, considering that he’s their star player, plus more and more we’re hearing about concussions and how to deal with him.
(My friends and I in the Penguins community though are still holding one of our official “Prayer Circles”. Dammit)
For your reading pleasure, here is a list of best and worst sweaters that NBC Sports has put together during the offseason.
There have been some UGLY jerseys over the years. The NHL got a little too greedy with the alternate jerseys in the 1990s.
[This](http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b154/spyboy1/TSG Blog/StLouisBluesAlt96.jpg) St. Louis Blue disaster (that was thankfully vetoed by Mike Keenan) referenced in the linked article makes the Islanders’ Captain Fishstick look as timeless as Chicago’s Indian head or Montreal’s CH.
Former Vancouver Canuck Rick Rypien found dead at the age of 27.
Ugh, I just read about this as well. He didn’t even get to enjoy the Stanley Cup run.
I hate to say it but I think it was suicide.
In the comments of this story, someone mentions that Rypien watched his best friend commit suicide in front of him? That seems incredibly unlikely.
This is just cracking me up…Lady Gaga apparently went to the MTV VMAs as Roberto Luongo. 
I think she’s missing about 2.5 gallons of hair gel to truly get the right effect, though!
NHL veteran Wade Belak found dead in Toronto condo
Fuck – he was only 35, and left a wife and two kids.
Damn, not another one. 
And looks like Marc Savardis done for good. He won’t be cleared to play this year by the Bruins.