Isles draft preview, and a wish list

Tempting as it may be with the prospect of an anticipated packed house on hand at the Coliseum, I won't be at the Islanders draft party Friday night to see the No. 1 selection announced in person.

My softball team has a doubleheader that night, and with guys missing because of graduation parties (and the Subway series), we're a little short on players, and I'm a team guy all the way. So I'll be digging in at third base when Garth Snow makes an announcement that will either send the crowd into raucous celebration, or start a riot.

I'm betting on the former.

You can certainly make an argument for taking Victor Hedman at No. 1, since blueliners with his combination of size and speed come around as often as a waitress when you're ready for the check. And you can argue that Matt Duchene is the most "complete" forward available and deserves to be considered with Hedman and John Tavares at the top tier of the draft.

But while Snow has smartly played it coy, inviting all sorts of speculation, Tavares will be the pick here, and he should be. In his mock draft at SI.com, John Muir puts it best when he notes that Tavares has been picked apart by scouts and critics two seasons now and is still considered by most to be the best player available.

Yes, the Islanders could stand to shore up their defense, but the most glaring needs are up front. The team that scores the most goals wins, and the Isles are desperate for a scorer, never mind a marquee player that can sell tickets. Tavares fits the bill on both fronts.

So if you're going to the draft party and you want Tavares, plan on celebrating. But bring a flak jacket just in case.

What's more interesting is what the Islanders do at No. 26 in the first round, and at that point perhaps a d-man can be taken. But best player available is the way to play it.

The draft is just the beginning of the offseason, and there will be other roster decisions to be made, including free agent signings.

Here's where I get greedy and the wishful thinking runs wild.

We know that the Lighthouse Project is finally getting some real political traction. Things are looking up for a change. The salary cap will likely remain at around $56 million, with a floor of $40 million. The Isles have a cap number of around $33 million with some holes to fill.

Steven Stamkos' cap number is just under $4 million, so let's use that for Taveras for argument's sake. And let's say resigning RFAs Blake Comeau, Nate Thompson and Jack Hillen add another $3 million to the payroll (we're rounding up). That puts the Isles at the floor.

But why stop there?

You want to help the defense? Sign Mike Komisarek. The West Islip native is a hard hitter who would strengthen the back line, and think of all those family and friends who won't have to trek up to Montreal to see him play. Figure $6 million a year.

There's a tremendous need on the left wing, and while I'm spending Charles Wang's money, how about Mike Cammaleri? Are you kidding? With a name like that he'd be a huge fan favorite. Oh, yeah, he's also 27 and scored 39 goals last season.

Dream on? OK, what about Maxim Afinogenov? He's regressed the last two seasons and he turns 30 in September, but if you're bargain hunting, why not roll the dice?

Of course, if the Isles did sign Komisarek it would make players like Radek Martinek and Bruno Gervais expendable, and Jeff Tambellini could also be dealt, so they could trade for a left winger.

Will any of this happen? Probably not. But Snow has some options and there are some interesting players available, and maybe Wang is willing to throw a bit more cash around. After all, when you're used to losing $20 million a season, what's a few mil more, right?

Enjoy the draft, buy your Tavares sweaters and get ready for what should be an interesting summer off the ice.

A Lighthouse at the end of the tunnel?

One of the many reasons I stuck with sportswriting in my bygone days of journalism and resisted any attempt to make the shift to hard news was politics. I can't stand them.

The Lighthouse Project is, of course, all about politics. If it was just about a new building for Long Island's only major professional sports franchise, we'd be enjoying a New Coliseum already, with triple the luxury boxes and all the sushi and barbeque and gourmet pizza you could eat.

So what a shock it was that soon after Charles Wang announced his October deadline to say go or no-go on the Lighthouse -- and not long after Garden City attorney Kristen McElroy announced that she would run against Kate Murray for the Town of Hempstead supervisor's seat -- did Murray extract her head from the sand and agree to meet in person with Wang and Nassau County supervisor Tom Suozzi about the Lighthouse.

And lo and behold, what a surprise that the three emerged from that meeting holding hands and agreeing, according to Newsday, "to work as a team to expedite approvals" for the project, and creating a draft timetable for the project.

Nothing like a deadline and political reality to get something moving forward.

Suozzi has wanted a "hub" at the Coliseum site for years, and now it is finally looking like the wheels are in motion. Suozzi trumpeted the need for the project at a county planning commission meeting on June 11, where several other officials spoke out in favor of the Lighthouse.

Greg Logan's blog also noted that, "On July 7, the Town of Hempstead is expected to vote on the draft EIS and then hold public hearings within 30 days. But one of the most important signs of progress, Wang said, came when Gov. Paterson assigned his two top aides, Tim Gilchrist and Larry Schwartz, to monitor the project. Gilchrist is a transportation expert in charge of infrastructure and stimulus funds for the administration."

So can Islanders fans finally breathe easy? Is the Lighthouse more than a 50-50 proposition?

And if all goes well on July 7 -- and particularly if the Islanders draft John Tavares with the No. 1 pick on June 26 -- will Wang finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and be willing to spend a little more money than the bare minimum to add some talent to the roster, knowing that in a few short years he will have everything he wants off the ice?

We can only hope. But after the way things have been the past 9 months, at least we have some reason to believe.

Penguins reward the fans who had faith

I remember watching the Penguins play the Islanders at the Coliseum earlier this season and thinking, these guys don't look that good at all. The Pens were the defending Eastern Conference champions, and had two all-world players in Sidney Crosby and Yvgeni Malkin, and yet there was something missing.

Well, they found it. They fired their coach in mid-February after four months of uninspired play and replaced him with Dan Bylsma of Wilkes-Barre (I know, "Who?!"), then added Bill Guerin for a conditional draft pick, and the march was on. They rallied to beat the Capitals and Alexander Ovetchkin in seven games, got a vacation with a four-game sweep of Carolina, then resurrected themselves from a 2-0 deficit in the Stanley Cup Finals to beat the Red Wings in seven, winning the final game on the road.

Wow.

So congratulations to Guerin, who was given a shot to win another Cup and got it, along with ex-Islanders teammates Miro Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko.

Like the Blackhawks and the Bruins, the Penguins also provide Islanders fans with hope. Another team that was dismal a couple of seasons ago, now winning games and giving their fans plenty to get excited about. The Pens also were in danger of leaving Pittsburgh if they didn't get a new arena.

They got their building -- it's going up right across the street from the Igloo, in fact -- and now they have the Stanley Cup.

Coincidence? Charles Wang probably doesn't think so.

Blackhawks are Exhibit A: There is hope

Are you rooting for the Chicago Blackhawks? I am.

Not just because they have one of the coolest uniforms ever. And not only because they have exciting young talent like Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. It's because the Hawks represent what's possible for a team like the Islanders. That you can be face-down in the gutter one day, and on top of the world the next.

Chicago's 7-5 victory over the Canucks sent them into the Western Conference finals, and whether they get eliminated there or go on to win the Stanley Cup -- which would be the Hawks' first championship since 1961 (kinda makes 1983 look like last week, doesn't it?) -- this season has seen a remarkable turnaround for a franchise that was, just a couple of seasons ago, among the worst in all of sports.

Prior to this season, Chicago had missed the playoffs in nine of 10 seasons, including five straight. They had just 59 points in 2003-04, followed by seasons of 65 and 71. Things were so bad that you could get rinkside seats for almost nothing. They started showing some mojo last season, with Kane and Toews providing the spark, and then this season they shot up like a bottle rocket.

So what changed? Well, owner "Dollar" Bill Wirtz died in the fall of 2007. Known as a generous and fiercely loyal man in private, he was hated by Hawks fans for his stinginess. They booed during his moment of silence, for God's sake! This was a man who had home games blacked out on local television. And I get pissed when the Isles are on MSG Plus 2 and not in high-def!

Control of the team fell to one of Bill's sons, Rocky, who got the Hawks back on local TV, hired former Cubs executive John McDonough to be the team president, and retained GM Dale Tallon. They changed the culture. They went with youth. They rebuilt burnt bridges with stars like Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull.

Not only did the Hawks make the playoffs this season, they drew more than a million fans to the United Center. One. Million. Fans. In this economy.

I can hear some Islanders fans already saying, "See? We need to throw out Wang and Snow! That will change things!"

Well, no. Wang -- his regrets aside -- is the only reason the Islanders are still here on Long Island. You try spending $23 million a year on a sports team knowing you're going to keep on losing money. And Snow's rebuild has only just begun. We'll see what he does with the No. 1 pick, but if the performance of guys like Kane and Toews tell you anything it's that if you can get superstars, you grab them. Hello, John Tavares!

Wang is desperately trying to change the Islanders' economic reality with the Lighthouse Project, which -- if it is approved, as it should be -- would put the club in a better financial position, allowing it to be more aggressive in adding to the roster. They have a couple of possible future stars in Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey.

Of course, it would help if local government was more supportive. While county executive Tom Suozzi has been a staunch supporter of the Lighthouse as a lynchpin of the future development of Nassau, Town of Hempstead supervisor Kate Murray has been the fly in the ointment and a superior example of why politicians get such a bad rap. How important is the Lighthouse Project to Ms. Murray? So important that she didn't bother to show up at a project meeting on Monday. You can't make this stuff up.

The point is, change on the ice can happen and it can happen faster then you think. The Bruins are another example of a team that -- under the same ownership, by the way -- has gone from basement to penthouse in a couple of seasons thanks to better management and outstanding young players.

So I'll be rooting for the Blackhawks and the Bruins to meet in the Cup finals. Two Original Six teams showing the league how it's done. Hopefully, the Islanders and their fans are paying attention.

Once proud? Always proud

When the Islanders dropped a 9-0 decision to the Hurricanes a week ago, ESPN featured it on their NHL highlights package and referred to the team that came out on the short end as the "once proud" Islanders.

And when the Isles finished the season Sunday with a loss to the Bruins, the team's fourth straight loss, another media outlet described the Isles as "lowly."

Fine. The Isles finished with the worst record in hockey and had one of the worst records in team history. But as a fan -- at least, as a fan who likes to keep things in perspective -- I wouldn't call this team "lowly." And I'll never not be proud to be an Islanders fan.

We knew going in -- before the season-ending injury to Rick DiPietro and before the other injuries that piled up like so much firewood --- that this could be a rough season. No expectations. We liked a lot of the young players and liked guys like Brendan Witt and Radek Martinek and Doug Weight. But with a new coach, a new system, very little firepower (the team finished with no 20-goal scorers for the first time ever), and with a clear mandate to get the youngsters a lot of playing time, the playoffs weren't likely. But it was a step in a new direction.

Once D.P. and the others went down, the writing was on the wall. The rest of the season would be an experiment. Bill Guerin left for Pittsburgh. We had Joey MacDonald and Jann Danis as our goalies. A lot of players saw time who otherwise wouldn't have made it to the big leagues.

But you know what? The team showed signs of life. Prior to the final four losses, the Isles were 14-14-5 over 33 games. So they basically played .500 hockey in the second half, and STILL secured one of the top 2 draft picks.

That's half-glass full thinking, but I'm a glass-half-full kind of guy. I don't have the time or the energy to be negative.

And whether the Isles get the No. 1 or No. 2 pick, they know they'll either get Tavares or Hedman, a win-in if there ever was one. Of course, almost every fan wants Tavares, who could be the marquee offensive threat this team has been dying for. But if they end up with Hedman, they have a backline anchor for the next decade. Coaches love that.

Was the season a failure? Whenever you don't make the playoffs, it's a failure, and 14 other teams failed. But did we really expect that this season? What we did see was plenty of promise from the likes of Josh Bailey, Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen, Sean Bergenheim and even Jesse Joensuu, and a terrific season from Mark Streit.

Getting Tavares or Hedman will be a huge addition to a young team that is trying to build for the future, and literally build a new home.

For me, there are only two disappointments. The continuing mystery over the health of DiPietro, and the politics of Kate Murray and her gaul at sending a mailer to county residents as part of her misguided effort to get stimulus money to renovate the Coliseum and derail the Lighthouse Project.

Hey, Kate! Nassau County wants it. Tom Suozzi wants it. Based on most public feedback, the majority of residents want it. Islanders fans certainly want it. The NHL wants it. Plenty of unemployed and underemployed Long Island residents want it.

Someone needs to vote her off this Island.

Anyway, as far as still being proud to be an Islanders fan, I have a quick story. My son plays deck hockey and for some reason likes playing goalie. When he does, he wears a blue Islanders jersey instead of his team T-shirt because it fits over the pads.

After one recent game, he walked off the court raising his stick and yelling, "Let's Go, Islanders!" To which the opposing coach, wearing his Rangers hat and satin jacket, said something like, "Oh, too bad."

In my younger, pre-parent days I might have fired back with a sharp retort and a promise to back it up with Jack Johnson and Tom O'Leary. Instead, I patted my son on the head and told him to keep it up.

Let's go, Islanders.

A reason for optimism in uncertain times

This is why we watch. Seeing Kyle Okposo hit his stride as he has the last four games, working alongside fellow youngsters Josh Bailey and Blake Comeau to give the Islanders three straight wins and seven points in their last four games, is exactly the reason why we tune in (in HD or not) or find a seat at the Coliseum.

The present may not be much to look at, but the future has potential. And again, that's all we asked for at the start of the season. Give us some hope. Show us that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

On the ice, it seems that way. Off the ice? Well, that's another story.

Newsday -- after stirring the pot by wondering whether the Isles could end up moving to Kansas City -- published an article Saturday underlining how the team's lease with Nassau County and SMG makes it extremely difficult for the team to leave.

What the article didn't include was how onerous that lease is. It is most likely the worst lease in professional sports. SMG reportedly gets all parking and concession revenues plus a third of ticket sales and advertising revenue.

So when you pay your $7 to park and plop down $20 for a beer, a hot dog and a pretzel, the Isles get bubkus. The team does get most, if not all, luxury box revenue, but that hardly balances things out.

Obviously, SMG guards that lease like a pit bull does a steak. SMG has refused to be bought out in the past, although the Milsteins offered a measly $7 million 10 years ago, nonsense considering SMG gets an estimated $2 million or more per year from its deal with Nassau County.

But while some would point to the Newsday story as evidence that the team isn't going anywhere (experts agreed that the language is very specific), that same story included a quote from another expert who stated the (somewhat) obvious:

"The only way out is through mutually acceptable negotiated termination," said attorney Scott Mollen of Manhattan, who writes about leases for the New York Law Journal.

There are six years left on the lease. Let's say the Town of Hempstead (which should share the spotlight with SMG as the villians in this whole fiasco) keeps stalling, or continues to press for a simple renovation of the arena, without the rest of the Lighthouse features. Let's say Charles Wang has enough of the nonsense and puts the team up for sale.

Now, let's say there is a prospective owner who wants to move the team to a new city with a sparkling new arena already in place (one that would give him the bulk of the game revenue instead of just a fraction). That owner could buy out the remainder of the lease with an offer of $20 million or more, knowing full well that he would earn that money back in a couple of years in his new city.

SMG could balk, forcing the team to stay and honor its lease. But when that lease is up for renewal, the Islanders would demand much better terms, so SMG's days of milk and honey would be over. SMG could just take the money and move on, which would pave the way for the new owner to move the team and leave the Coliseum without a primary tenant, and leave Nassau County and the Town of Hempstead with a LOT of 'splainin' to do.

Is that likely? Probably not. The Coliseum has been a money maker for SMG for years and it would be in their best interest to work out an arrangement with team ownership and the county to continue to manage the arena in the future.

But the "doomsday scenario" certainly is possible, and admitting so doesn't make one an alarmist. Just a realist.

Which is why the Lighthouse Project is so critical. It is everything. It is essential to the Islanders finally turning their fortunes around. Support it here.

Because it is clear that without the Lighthouse, the team's future could end up playing out elsewhere.