I want my Islanders in HDTV

Newsday's Neil Best has a great article on the Islanders and their relationship with Cablevision, noting that the TV deal between the two entities -- which runs through 2031 -- is mutually beneficial, especially for the Islanders, who would get only a fraction of that kind of money in another market. Like, say, Kansas City (which, by the way, has a smaller population than Nassau and Suffolk Counties).

But while that is certainly a good reason why Charles Wang would want to stay on Long Island, if he doesn't get what he needs via the Lighthouse Project, he could very well sell the team, and another owner in another location could move the club where he or she wants, regardless of the broadcast deal. That's the concern.

As far as Cablevision goes, has anyone else noticed that the HDTV channels are dropping like flies?

Here's my question -- with so many available HD channels now, is there ANY reason why all Islanders games cannot be shown in HD? I'm sure they could run MSG Plus 2 on one of the HD channels as well as 141 and 14. They have the capability.

I would love to hear someone from Cablevision explain why they can't do that.