On the Verge to Implosion

The news was sprend faster then a lightning bolt that hit a tree. He did it again. Wang did it again with all the headlines and a huge spotlight on him. For the second time in less then a month and a half he did it... AGAIN. And, of course, it's for the wrong reason. Wang " new managing concept " is on the verge to destroy a team who let an indeniable mark on the NHL.

B's fans, rejoy. Your team is not the NHL's running gag anymore. Improvisation and incompetence will not be spelled B-R-U-I-N-S, for now. When I heard the news, I though it was a mistake from the announcer. I said it's a 5 years deal, but not a 15 years deal. Well, ladies and gentleman, it's 15 years for 67.5 millions dollars. This silly contract is the probably the biggest mortgage a team can afford. There's no serious business man who will engage himself and his franchise in those kind of sharky waters. Let's face it...this team will have to pay 4.5 millions average per year for their goaltending. Under the cap system, it's a costly move. The NHL is no NBA and there's a lot of chance that the cap won't go up that much through the years. So Wang simply handcuffed his organization for headlines, spotlights and history. Hockey wise this move doesn't make sense at all. If anything goes wrong with DiPietro (injury, conflicts), the Isles are in a deep shit. But, the Isles are pretty good in this category . In a very short window of time, under Mike "9 lifes" Milbury, they trade: Chara, Redden, Joikonen, Spezza (pick form) and Luongo. Yes, they trade five potential franchise players. And by the way, Luongo is exactly the kind of guy who can be offered a 6 years deal because you know that night in, night out, he will deliver the goods. The Isles have that guy in their ownbackward.

The second act of this tragi-comedy was played a month and half when Neil Smith and Pat LaFontaine resigned from their respective position for undisclosed reasons. Thanks to this new management idea, the Isles front office will be filled by puppets and " yes " man who will agree with Wang but who will destroy the franchise. So now, people are laughing and B's fans should not. Why? Don't you have a sense of " deja vue " here? The golden way of mediocrity. Here's the 4 steps that the B's took for 25 years and that's exactly where Wang is trying to do to implant and make sure that his franchise will be a sinking ship.

1- An inept owner (Did Jacobs had ever a clue) who is a control freak
2- An incompetent front office (Mister Mike O send me JT pom pom pom) who doesn't have a clue on how to run an NHL Franchise
3- An awful on ice product
4- lack of credibility who will make go away fans and quality people.

Let's complete the third act of this awful sitcom by saying that Ted Nolan, who whined more about the chance he didn't have and that he coached, is in a position where no coach want to be. Having a direct line of command between him and the owner. Of course, it could sounds great when it's time to make some additions but when the situation gets uglier, without anyone to protect you against owner insanity, you're basically done. Expect the very worst for Nolan who will be fired within a year or a year and a half. Honestly, there's no GM on the Island and nobody has bought the " Snow " hiring. It's Wang's team and that's why Smith and LaFontaine left, because the owner doesn't want the Islanders to be Smith and LaFontaine's team. They were "too classic" in their management for a "genius"' like Wang.

Honestly, it's sad. Sad to see a great franchise taking the path to implosion, sad to see the NHL do nothing about it and it's sad for the fans who are stuck with an inept owner who think that "HE IS" the answer. For B's fans, it's deja vue. Let's wish that those headlines and spotlights don't reach Beantown for a while. At least, not for those reasons.