Updated:
Last summer, Mika Zibanejad was traded from the Ottawa Senators to the New York Rangers. Zibanejad seemingly never imagined a day where he and his family would be some of the people affected by President Donald Trump's recent executive order that bars travelers from seven different countries from entering the United States of America. Zibanejad is a native of Sweden with Iranian roots.
It's complicated. It's confusing.
Zibanejad's father currently lives in the United States. The elder Zibanejad is not a U.S. citizen, however, he has a green card. Zibanejad's grandmother and eight cousins, living in Iran, one of the seven Muslim-majority countries identified.
On Monday, as Zibenad reunited with his Rangers teammates for practice, his family was on his mind. He spoke candidly to the New York Daily News about how the traveler ban is influencing he and his immediate family.
"It hasn't been easy for them to come here, and this certainly doesn't make it easier, or even possible at this point. It's hard to kind of comment on. I don't want to get in too deep, but it seems like it's very straightforward and they have very straight lines of what the deal is, but I find still they're confused about it, still a lot of confusion about what's wrong and what's not. I guess when a change like this comes very, not from nowhere, but when it comes down like it did, I feel like there was maybe not a whole lot of thought about how to work it out. It seems very straightforward but very confusing about how they deal with it."
Zibanejad said that he spent the NHL All Star break in Turks and Caicos, however, did not experience any issues when he returned to the United States.
"It's unfortunate that it's been very hard to kind of find a way to see them, an easy way for both parts," he said. "Obviously being here now and living here doesn't make it easier. That sucks, but I can't comment more of how things are. Right now it just sucks. The more further this goes and we see what kind of solution we come to, then it's easier to kind of comment on."
Zibanejad is a Swedish citizen and said that he has only seen his cousins on two occasions.
"I'm a little worried because it doesn't seem like everybody's on the same page for this, so if you get someone who's maybe bad-informed or think he knows more, she knows more than whoever, obviously it could cause a little problem," Zibanejad said. "But I wasn't too, too worried about it."
In 24 games this season, Zibanejad has 7 goals and 10 assists.
**
Brooklyn, N.Y. has not been kind to John Tavares and his NY Islanders.
Nor has it been a lucrative business proposition for all parties concerned.
There are a myriad of reasons why the Islanders have failed to exited the ticket buying consumers in Brooklyn the past two seasons. In no particular order:
* Terrible ice conditions
* Sparse home attendance
* Lack of branding/ marketing the team's move from Long Island to Hipster Heaven
* Firing a popular head coach Jack Capuano
* Losing fan favorite players Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen, Matt Martin and others to free agency and replacing them with less talented one. Okposo and Nielsen played in the NHL All Star Game for Buffalo sand Detroit, respectively.
* Garth Snow is arguably the worst general manager in the NHL yet maintains his employment with the failing team. Mike Milbury guffaws at Snow's roster subtractions.
Need I say more?
According to a Bloomberg report, Barclays Center has concluded it’s no longer worth it to host the New York Islanders.
Barclays is a money maker and is also home to the NBA Nets.
Look up highest grossing concert venues in North America and you will find Barclay's at the top of the list. Barclays's continues to be known as one of the world’s top-grossing concert venues. Now it appears that the owners of the not-so-NHL-friendly-building are feeling like they would make more money via gate receipts without the NY Islanders as a tenant. Bloomberg according reports that the love affair between Barclay's Center and the Islanders is on the rocks according to people familiar with the facility’s financials records.
All signs are pointing to a divorce after just two years of marriage.
Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, who owns the building and the Nets, has reportedly since November been seeking an investor to take a stake in both. As of earlier this month, a financial projection shared with potential investors showed the Islanders won’t contribute any revenue after the 2018-19 season.
Why would Prokhorov keep a money losing tenant in his building?
Prokhorov didn't become a billionaire by backing losers with flawed business plans. Prokhorov wants a return on his investmet, which the Islanders and their new owners cannot deliver.
Barclays Center wouldn’t speak to the future of the Islanders. Tim Leiweke, co-founder of Oak View Group, which has been advising the Islanders in discussions with the arena, declined to comment, as did a spokesman for Islanders owners Jonathan Ledecky and Scott Malkin.
Looking back through the rear view mirror, the move to Brooklyn has been forgettable for the Islanders.
Their average per game attendance has plummeted to 12,828 patrons, or, third-worst in the NHL. Fans have complained about poor sight lines, and players say the ice is sub-par. How about that stupid sport utility vehicle that is oddly positioned on risers adjacent to the glass?
To say nothing of a playing surface that has the same consistency as oatmeal, not ice. Islanders players and their opponents hate playing at Barclay's because it exposes them to groin and lower body injuries more so than playing inside legit hockey rinks.
The Barclays-Islanders contract is unique, in that the arena pays the Isles an average of $53.5 million a year in exchange for control of business operations, which includes revenue from ticket and suite sales.
The building lease can be terminated by either the Islanders or arena management.
If the Isles terminate the deal, the can leave after next season.
Hmmmmm. Captain John Tavares can the Isles as an unrestricted leave after next season as well.
If Barclays Center walks on the deal, then the Islanders’ tenancy would end after the 2018-19 season.
Where, oh where would the Islander play their games if. I mean when they get the boot from Barclays?
In July, Bloomberg News reported that Ledecky and Malkin were considering building a new arena adjacent to Citi Field in Queens. Prokhorov now owns the team’s former home, the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, but the owners paid a hefty premium for the team in 2014 based on the pending move to New York City. They have shown no interest in returning to Long Island.
All I have to say is:
Run to the light Johnny T!!!
Get! Out!
J.T. said Saturday at an NHL All Star Game presser that he is "open" to signing a contract extension with the Isles when he becomes eligible to do so this summer. Tavares has just one season remaining on his current contract is in the top three of best value act. Tavares' contracts that makes him a $5.5M AAV per season.
Tavares will easily be paid in the $7.5 to $8M AAV range on a new six or seven year deal.
There are so many reasons why Tavares will want to pack a U-Haul and bolt from the wreckage of the Islanders to greener pastures elsewhere.
Might the Bloomberg story be the ultimate tipping point to send Tavares packing when his contract expires?
Andrew Ladd and Jason Chimera were signed to fat UFA contracts last summer. Both players are not living up to high expectations.
Goaltending has always been the Achilles heel of the Isles and this season is no exception.
In recent seasons, Tavares, the Isles team captain, has seen his general manager Garth Snow strip the heart and soul from the Islanders. Snow traded away JT's great friend Matt Moulson. He failed to re-sign Thomas Vanek, who was traded for Moulson. Last summer, Snow opted to not re-sign granite pillars Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen. Okposo signed a seven year contract with Buffalo. Nielsen signed a huge UFA deal with the Detroit Red Wings. Okposo and Nielsen each are representing their respective new teams at this weekend's NHL All Star Game.
Two weeks ago, Snow canned incumbent head coach Jack Capuano and replaced him with Doug Weight.
Despite the glass-half-full view in Brooklyn, Tavares says he is “excited about where the organization is headed.…
Playing with young Hipsters Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, Anthony Beauvillier, and Adam Pelech is inviting for Tavares. The Isles also have young studs maturing in the incubator in Matthew Barzal, Josh Ho-Sang, Michael Dal Colle, and Ryan Pulock for Tavares to mentor in the near future.
Tavares is now 26 years of age. He continues to live up to his end of the bargain by scoring 19 goals and 40 points 47 games. His team hasn't qualified for the playoffs the past two seasons and are a serious long shot to earn a wild card berth this season.
The glass-half-full view is that Snow will have a ton of salary cap space this summer when Mikhail Grabovski, Nikolai Kulemin, Jason Chimera, Thomas Hickey and Jaroslav Halak all become unrestricted free agents.
So, the future isn't as bad as the present and the recent past in Brooklyn.
Will Garth Snow be the general manager after this season?
Will the new team owners make the dramatic changes to the front office that have been intimated several times this season? Will Snow be turfed and replaced by NHL100 inductee and Isles legend Pat Lafontaine?
Tavares has scored 511 points in 557 career games with the Islanders.
Will he stay in Brooklyn?
Or, will he go home to Toronto? Or, reunite with Okposo and Moulson in Buffalo where his Uncle Johnny is a legend?
***
The Buffalo Sabres practiced in Montreal on Monday afternoon.
The Sabres and Habs will lock horns again on Tuesday night when NHL game action resumes after the three day hiatus for teh 2017 NHL All Star Weekend in Botox City.
Kyle Okposo was excused from practice as he was traveling back from the All Star Game.
Jake McCabe (shoulder) and Josh Gorges (hip) did not participate in the skate as they continue to nurse injuries.
The only player to miss practice without injury or travel logistics issue was goalie Anders Nilsson, who is still back home in Sweden. This according to Dan Bylsma who spoke with media after practice in Montreal.
Nilsson still in Sweden.Missed Sabres prax in Montreal today. My guess is that Lehner will start vs. Carey Price on Tuesday night https://t.co/NzAoZRx9Gg
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) January 30, 2017
I'm curious about the Nilsson absense.
Could he not find a flight from Stockholm to Montreal in time for the practice?
Remember when former Sabres D Nikita Zadorov missed the team practice the day after the NHL All Star game because he could not get a flight out of the Dominican Republic back to Buffalo due to blizzard-like conditions in the northeast? Zadorov was disciplined for failing to make a Plan B like leaving teh DR a day early to avoid Mother Nature canceling flights to the snowy northeast.
Is Nilsson in a similar bind?
No.
Nilsson was forced to fly back home to Sweden to tend to an important family matter.
Bylsma said that Nilsson will be in Montreal tonight.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles Part II !