Addendums

A couple quick-hit follow-ups to some recent I360 posts...

First, it seems my concerns from A Season on the Brink regarding the importance of the Lighthouse developments are shared by Forbes magazine. In their ominously titled The 10 Sports Franchises Most Likely to Move, they've identified the Isles as one of the top candidates across all the major sports. They cite the drop in franchise value from $160 million to $149 million (dropping them from 12th to 25th in terms of value in the NHL) and the poor per game attendance. They conclude by saying "The team desperately needs the amenity-filled new arena it's pushing for to draw the casual fans who aren't coming to plain old Nassau Coliseum. If it doesn't happen, a franchise that was once among the greatest ever (four straight Stanley Cups Cups from 1980 to 1983) could bite the dust".

Luckily, Greg Wyshinski from Yahoo! Sports Puck Daddy did his best to debunk the Forbes article. Still, an article like that on the eve of our season opener is not what any of us were hoping for.

I was happy to see Chris Botta validate my theory from Media Bashing, that a lot of the Isles bad press is a result of off-ice matters. He relates a nice story from two years ago of an NHL broadcaster admitting his predictions for the team were directly influenced by the GM debacle. Hopefully someday these "experts" will start to focus on the team itself...and hopefully when that day comes the team will answer the call and open some eyes.

Enjoy the opener tonight, and see you all at the Coliseum tomorrow.

MC