Back to reality and back to Long Island, yep it's Monday. So what'd I miss?
Ahh, an insane shoot out in Tampa Bay and a really short one against the Devils. They really need to practice that, don't they? I loved how one Tweet described Frans Nielsen's patented move and then asked "Why can't anyone stop him?" Because -- He's Frans. Just enjoy it.
John Persson traveled many miles to be in his second NHL game and logged a little over 10 minutes of ice time. Josh Bailey was the third star of the NJD game with his single assist on a 2-1 game. And Howie and Butch are having a terrible time with the likes of Nielsen, Nelson and Nilsson. But that is the Islanders way.
What is also the Islanders way is that they are managing to win games without ANY of their main players. The young upstarts are showing what they've got and taking it to teams that are heading for playoff contention.
Wait... Haven't we seen this movie like -- A LOT! The names change, but the scenario is so familiar. Kevin Czuczman is getting the education of his life right now playing almost 20 minutes a game for the Isles. I bet he never expected that coming staight from college.
So I take it the "A Shift in Power" tag line for the season actually came to fruitition as they shifted the power from the likes of John Tavares to -- kids playing their first year in the NHL.
However, the biggest news of last week was that Charles Wang was looking to sell the majority ownership in the NY Islanders. When I see that even Patch.com has picked up the story in my local patch, it must be big news.
But is it actually news? It's the same story rehashed again. Seriously, we will never know what is happening with the ownership of the Islanders until Gary Bettman makes a statement and tells us. Before then, it's just more gossip and conjecture.
To be certain, Charles Wang has always listened to offers to buy the Islanders. He loses money yearly, why wouldn't he. He is also not getting any younger, certainly he'd like to retire and still have SOME of his fortune left.
I say sell the team to the Russian Billionaire in Brooklyn and be done with it. That's if he wants it. Let this team become HIS saga and money pit. Because surely it will.
Charles Wang has done just about anything he can think of to try to make the team profitable. Whether it's the structure of the lease and the TV deal that made them NOT profitable, or just the poor play on the ice, nothing has worked. Maybe someone else can find the magic potion.
Until then -- Isles play the Panthers tomorrow at the coliseum. We're down to the last few games of the season. It's almost a blessing.