FanHouse Charles Wang

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- With his deadline for politicians to give him certainty on the Lighthouse Project about to pass, Islanders owner Charles Wang announced Saturday night that he is exploring options for his New York Islanders.

Saying he is "angry," disappointed" and "disgusted," the Islanders owner revealed that for the first time he is faced with the reality of the Islanders leaving Nassau County. "And that is very sad," he said.

It's no secret that the Islanders have been an organization that has been bleeding money for years. But, until recently, owner Charles Wang has not spoken out about it, taking the high road and keeping quiet while the Islanders' best hope to save the franchise -- a large-scale redevelopment of the Coliseum and surrounding area -- has been caught up in Long Island's political circus.

Speaking to Newsday this week, Wang dropped what is, by his standards, a bombshell regarding his feelings on ownership.

No, it isn't a summer movie blockbuster, but a storm is brewing off the shores of Long Island and it's going to make a direct hit on land in the coming months. The New York Islanders and the Nassau Coliseum are at the eye of the storm. By the time the team takes the ice again in October, we'll be able to assess the damage.

For the first time in recent memory, the Islanders have a chance to significantly change their fortunes for the better in one fell swoop. However, if they make the wrong choices, they could set the franchise back a decade or possibly to Kansas City, Hamilton or Parts Unknown.

After what seems like decades of inaction -- but in reality has only been months -- the New York Islanders' Lighthouse Project finally took a couple steps forward. At this point, the project is making snails look like NASCAR drivers, but such is the political landscape on Long Island and the process for approving a project of this scale.

For months Town of Hempstead officials have said nothing on the subject, responding to inquiries with a polite letter that 'they're looking into it'. TOH is the last hurdle that Islanders' owner Charles Wang and real estate mogul Scott Rechler need to clear to make their dream become a reality. The project was approved by Nassau County more than a year ago and since, like winning a playoff series, it's been an uphill battle for the Islanders.

About two hours ago, Darren Dreger of TSN posted an interesting story regarding the state of the New York Islanders and hockey in Kansas City. According to Dreger, the Islanders and Los Angeles Kings have agree in principle to play an exhibition game next year at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. He went on to say the game could be "a veiled threat" aimed at Long Island politicians, specifically those in the Town of Hempstead.

And he's completely right, if in fact the team is thinking about playing an exhibition in Kansas City any time soon.

You could be excused these days if it seems to take something of a scorecard to determine just how many NHL owners might be in trouble with the law. Now it's time for New York Islanders owner Charles Wang to reluctantly step into the spotlight.

Though many have forgotten, Wang didn't buy the Islanders by himself in 2000. Rather, he did it with Sanjay Kumar, the protege that succeeded him as CEO of Computer Associates (CA) that same year. But the happy times didn't last.

In 2004, Kumar was forced to resign due to an accounting scandal, and just two years later agreed to plead guilty to a variety of charges including securities fraud and obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison, and agreed to pay more than $225 million in restitution, selling his share in the Islanders and the AFL's New York Dragons to Wang.

The New York Islanders have quietly and methodically going about their business of choosing a coaching replacement for Ted Nolan. Given how Puppet GM Garth Snow and Charles Wang Dang Doodle have managed the team in the past, I'm rather surprised that the Isles have been so patient in their process.

According to Greg Logan of Newsday, the Isles are down to three candidates, and should make their decision some time in the next week. Given the nature of the Isles organizational woes, I'm rather surprised that coaches would be so eager to go to a team that could kill their career.

After a painstaking interview process in which he spoke with eight known candidates and contacted a few others, an NHL source indicated Snow has narrowed his list to three finalists. Former Atlanta coach Bob Hartley (pictured), former Toronto coach Paul Maurice and current AHL Providence coach Scott Gordon still are in the running, and Snow is expected to name one as the Isles' next coach early this week.

So, we have two retreads and an unknown (to most of us) coaching prospect. How do the candidates stack up?

When Ted Nolan was fired, I was rather shocked. Coaches usually aren't fired in mid-July, and I figured Nolan was doing decently enough with a rather poor Isles squad.

Then, our own Mirtle M.D. pointed me to this blog post, written on July 6th, by Chris Botta, a man who worked within the Isles organization for 20 years. Apparently, tensions have been brewing for a few months, and the parting of ways between coach and team shouldn't be as surprising as I thought.

Right now, there isn't much of a relationship between Ted and Islanders management. Despite Ted's success as a coach in junior, I don't believe the Islanders are confident he really buys into the youth movement.

The other tall hurdle is the immense damage from last season. From March 1 on, when the ship was sinking, awkward moments came daily. You didn't have to be the PR director of the team to see the stains.

It seems that Nolan was quick to point the finger, all too often, at his boss for putting out a poor lineup, rather than do what a head coach should do and take the brunt of the criticism. Unfair, but part of the job description.

After the jump: FanHouse bloggers discuss the firing and Nolan's future.

Michael Farber of Sports Illustrated has a rather lengthy and inquisitive feature story about New York Islanders winger Chris Simon which asks the same question I'm sure most of us ask whenever we hear coaches and teammates defend a player after a malicious stick foul:

So who is he, really: the tough guy given to swinging his stick or the guy Nolan says will do charity events at 6 a.m.? The guy who earned the NHL's longest suspension or a committed teammate who merely had what Hamrlik calls a "cuckoo moment?"

For too long in the NHL, players that exhibit a complete disregard for the safety of their peers on the ice are lauded for being solid citizens or "nice guys" away from the rink. It happened with Simon, and it happened more recently with Flyers goon Jesse Boulerice. It reminds me of the old, pre-divorce Howard Stern defense: It's OK if he spanks a woman's bare derriere with a dead fish on his radio show as long as he's a good husband back home. The "entertainer" is separate from the "real" individual away from the show.

But beyond what is an interesting character study about "a man who has been suspended more often than disbelief," I think some real and rather embarrassing news about the Islanders comes out in the piece:

After his disciplinary hearing with NHL director of hockey operations Colin Campbell, Simon issued a nine-paragraph apology. In it, he let it drop that when he swung his stick he was still dazed from being checked into the boards from behind by [Ryan] Hollweg. (According to a source with knowledge of the drafting of the apology, Islanders owner Charles Wang wanted to mention Simon's possible concussion as a way of "getting out in front" of the story.) Simon said he had stayed in bed for about a week with headaches. He also said his eyes were overly sensitive to light, a symptom consistent with a Grade 2 concussion, according to American Academy of Neurology guidelines. But Simon's apparent haze sounded like a hockey variation of the Twinkie Defense; instead of sugar, a concussion had made him behave aberrantly. Judging by his record, however, the concussion just made him more like himself.

So at a time when concussions in the NHL are a very serious issue -- and, as FanHouse's Eric McErlain noted, are seriously under-reported by teams and players -- an NHL owner encouraged Simon to use a possible head injury as an excuse for the stick work on Hollweg? Despicable, if true ... I wonder how a guy like Keith Primeau feels about that "Twinkie Defense?"

Who's In: D Bryan Berard (Camp Invite), C Mike Comrie (FA-OTT), RW Bill Guerin (FA-SJ), RW Jon Sim (FA-ATL), LW Ruslan Fedotenko (FA-TB), G Joey MacDonald (FA-BOS), D Aaron Jonson (FA-CBJ), D Andy Sutton (FA-ATL), C/LW Josef Vasicek (FA-CAR) and F Ryan Walter (TRADE-BOS).

Who's Out: RW Arron Asham (FA-NJD), RW Jason Blake (FA-TOR), D Sean Hill (FA-MIN), C Viktor Kozlov (FA-WSH), D Tom Poti (FA-WSH), LW Ryan Smyth (FA-COL), C Alexei Yashin (Addition by Subtraction) and F Richard Zednick (FA-FLA).

What's Changed: "There's no guarantees about tomorrow, but there is today and we certainly want to win. By doing this, we proved to the people of Long Island that we want to get a good product on the ice for them to come watch and cheer."

That was Islanders coach Ted Nolan, right after his front office stunned the hockey world by trading for Edmonton star Ryan Smyth at the deadline. With the benefit of hindsight -- and with Smyth earning $31.25 million over the next five years to help Joe Sakic secure one more ring -- the quote speaks volumes: The Islanders were willing to part with two blue-chip prospects and a first-round draft choice for 18 regular season and 5 playoff games of Ryan Smyth hockey, with nary a second-thought as to whether he'd return to Long Island this season. I'm not sure what the Islanders' annual marketing budget is, but I'm certain their ad buys aren't usually as costly as this blatant public relations move was for the franchise.

Not that you can blame them for overcompensating in order to grab a few good headlines. If the 2006-07 New York Islanders will be remembered for anything, it'll be for their amazingly hasty image rehabilitation. The season started with a back-up goalie replacing a Stanley Cup-winning veteran as general manager and a "lifetime contract" doled out to a franchise goaltender that made observers question the sanity of owner Charles Wang and provided opposing fans with perhaps the greatest hockey punchline since the Islanders tossed their Fishsticks jerseys into mothballs.

Then Teddy Nolan started coaching again, and the jokes stopped.