Post by WPGISNHL on Mar 10, 2009 14:43:04 GMT -5
K.C. BOUND?
Islanders could be cast adrift
Mar 10, 2009 04:30 AM
Kevin McGran
SPORTS REPORTER
Forget the Phoenix Coyotes, the Nashville Predators or any of the other NHL teams in the American Sunbelt: the next team to move just might be the New York Islanders, with their most likely destination being Kansas City.
Isles owner and land developer Charles Wang has reached his wits end in trying to get local government on board with a $3 billion (U.S.) urban renewal project – dubbed the Lighthouse Project – that includes a "transformation" of the Nassau Coliseum, the Islanders' home since their inception in 1972.
Wang has been after – and has been promised – a new or refurbished Coliseum for years. But the project it's attached to is hung up in an environmental assessment and taking far too long for Wang's liking.
"If we don't build this, shame on us," Wang told New York Newsday. "This is something that has to be done. If we can't, you tell me no. It's okay. I mean, really, we'll go where we're loved."
Wang's public statements are backed up by documents supportive of the project filed with the Town of Hempstead, which is part of Nassau County.
"The transformation of the Coliseum ... is essential if the New York Islanders are to remain," reads part of an environmental impact statement, as published by Newsday.
The Islanders' lease expires in 2015, but some believe he'd move the Islanders before then. Commissioner Gary Bettman has publicly supported Wang's call for a new or retrofitted arena.
Politicians in Queens and Brooklyn have reportedly been in touch with Wang, who grew up in New York. But the best move would be Kansas City, where a new arena sits empty. Anschutz Entertainment Group – which owns the Los Angeles Kings and is controlled by Philip Anschutz, who has the ear of Bettman – has a deal to manage Kansas City's Sprint Center, and a contract with the city to find a tenant.
The Islanders have an exhibition game scheduled against the Kings in Kansas City in September.
An AEG spokesperson declined to go on the record, saying the company didn't want to get up the hopes of hockey fans.
"It's a sensitive situation," said the spokesperson.
www.thestar.com/Sports/article/599348
Islanders could be cast adrift
Mar 10, 2009 04:30 AM
Kevin McGran
SPORTS REPORTER
Forget the Phoenix Coyotes, the Nashville Predators or any of the other NHL teams in the American Sunbelt: the next team to move just might be the New York Islanders, with their most likely destination being Kansas City.
Isles owner and land developer Charles Wang has reached his wits end in trying to get local government on board with a $3 billion (U.S.) urban renewal project – dubbed the Lighthouse Project – that includes a "transformation" of the Nassau Coliseum, the Islanders' home since their inception in 1972.
Wang has been after – and has been promised – a new or refurbished Coliseum for years. But the project it's attached to is hung up in an environmental assessment and taking far too long for Wang's liking.
"If we don't build this, shame on us," Wang told New York Newsday. "This is something that has to be done. If we can't, you tell me no. It's okay. I mean, really, we'll go where we're loved."
Wang's public statements are backed up by documents supportive of the project filed with the Town of Hempstead, which is part of Nassau County.
"The transformation of the Coliseum ... is essential if the New York Islanders are to remain," reads part of an environmental impact statement, as published by Newsday.
The Islanders' lease expires in 2015, but some believe he'd move the Islanders before then. Commissioner Gary Bettman has publicly supported Wang's call for a new or retrofitted arena.
Politicians in Queens and Brooklyn have reportedly been in touch with Wang, who grew up in New York. But the best move would be Kansas City, where a new arena sits empty. Anschutz Entertainment Group – which owns the Los Angeles Kings and is controlled by Philip Anschutz, who has the ear of Bettman – has a deal to manage Kansas City's Sprint Center, and a contract with the city to find a tenant.
The Islanders have an exhibition game scheduled against the Kings in Kansas City in September.
An AEG spokesperson declined to go on the record, saying the company didn't want to get up the hopes of hockey fans.
"It's a sensitive situation," said the spokesperson.
www.thestar.com/Sports/article/599348