Captain's Corner - SI & Islander Media Reporting

I love the Isles just as much as anyone....and am an "entrenched customer" of the team......

But the shortest book on Amazon right now - is:

"Islanders 1994-2008 - 15 years of elite hockey"

It has zero pages.....

The recent history of the team *TOTALLY* matters.

What matters more - is - WHAT ARE YOU DOING TODAY?"

A *totally* valid point - is that the reporting on the team has a lot of info that is not accurate. This is bad reporting - and it diminishes the credibility of who wrote it.

When you get down to brass tacks - why should anyone (other than the NY area papers - who should cater to the readers of the local area) spend any time covering this team? The only reason is to watch the train wreck of achievements this team has made. Its the only thing interesting about the team.....with an occasional "blip" of good things (i.e. The 2001 playoff run, the Shooutout win with Dubie, the Arbour game) The S.I. story did a good job pointing out our shortcomings....and its fair game for the media.

I have a friend who is an executive at ESPN, and I spent an hour with her the other day discussing the NHL - and ESPN does NOT WANT THE NHL AT ALL. Maybe the playoffs, and then, they want the FINALS TOO - but the league wants that on broadcast TV.....hence - a disconnect.

Getting ANY hockey on the media's radar screen is tough enough for WINNING teams...even harder for those who are out of the money.

The bad reporting is usually minor points (Such as saying that Neil Smith quit when he was actually fired - but either way - he's gone) and while annoying - the general direction of the article is accurate.

Its not much we can do about it as fans/customers - and the team cannot do too much about it - except provide media outlets with positive news, etc.

The reason why I am somewhat BULLISH on the Islanders - is that its clear to me
(well, sort of clear) that the team HAS A PLAN....and one that Snow seems intent on sticking to. I think that for the next year or two - EXPECT TO SEE MORE BAD STORIES ON THE TEAM....or worse - NO STORIES ON THE TEAM......as we rebuild.

I am *Totally* hate it when the writers - especially out of market (read:CANADA) write dirt on our team. But we are what our track record says we are. And history does impact that - because IT DID NOT HAVE TO BE THIS WAY. If we held onto the picks and prospects and had a real GM those years - we had a shot to have fielded a good team. Too many GM gaffes and too many wierdo things by the ownership group(s) have cost us dearly. All documented - but its time to draw the line in the sand (starting with THIS offseason) as the time where we make the decision to REBUILD and *MANAGE THE EXPECTATIONS* of the fan base.

To say that what happened in the past does not matter in how the team is perceived in the media - its just wrong. IT DOES. It will take *WINNING* to turn it around.

It will also take a lot of use of asterisks * * * to point out good things the team is doing....and we should all try to find the good in the team too. There is a lot of good stuff going on now - and will be in the future.

Have to give Garth Snow a chance here.

Have to work hard to convince the customers that there is no free lunch, that there is a road to rebuilding and to include them as part of the solution - to make the Coliseum a dreaded place for opposing teams to play. This will take time. But if we make another Trevor Linden type deal - I will FLIP OUT.

BUILD VIA THE DRAFT !!!!!!!! DEVELOP OUR OWN PROSPECTS !!!!!!!!

I hope its less than 5 years from now - but someday soonish - we will be having tailgate parties in late may and early june watching OUR TEAM march on to the Cup. I will settle for the first week in May in 2 years....right now !!! (meaning we win a playoff series - and may that opponent we beat be the NY RAGS)

I want to see the next generation of ISLES ICONS and they aint going to choose to come here - till we develop a CORE GROUP OURSELVES.

Rant over !!!!!

But hockey writers - for our sake - GET THE STORIES RIGHT!

Its not too much to ask for !! :)

And Isles - lets give them some GOOD stuff to write about - and we can start by hiring a GREAT COACH !!

Pat