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 Inside the NHL
Posted: Tuesday June 08, 1999 04:43 PM Sabres Organization | In the Crease Further dumping of salaries will make the lowly Islanders even worse By Kostya Kennedy
After enduring five straight playoffless seasons and seeing their team undermined by penny-pinching ownership and poor management, Islanders fans might feel as if they've paid their dues. Not yet. Club president John Sanders says, "We're committed to building a team around prospects," which means that in 1999-2000 New York has little chance of improving on this season's abysmal 24-48-10 record. To the Islanders' faithful, harkening back to the four straight Stanley Cups from 1980 to '83 has gotten old.
"If the organization gets a new building and gets sorted out at the top, it could be a great team to play for," says Linden, who was acquired from the Canucks in February 1998 for two young players and a draft choice. Yes, and with balmy breezes and fruit-bearing trees, the Arctic could be a great place to live. New York's lease at Nassau Coliseum gives the team little revenue from advertising and ticket sales and provides no money from concessions. The Islanders claim they lost $20 million last season, even though their local cable television package is worth some $12 million a season, one of the most lucrative in hockey. Discussions with Nassau County to build a new arena have stalled, but even if construction began today, the arena would not be finished for at least four years. New York's strategy for appealing to what's left of its season-ticket base (6,000 last season) hinges on a future that includes 20-year-old junior goalie Roberto Luongo, who's regarded as the top prospect in the world. Even if he lives up to his promise, which many young netminders fail to do, Luongo can't right the Islanders by himself; the numerous draft choices the Islanders have collected will most likely need seasoning before they are ready for the NHL. In other words, for the already disheartened Islanders fans, relief is nowhere in sight.
Stanley Cup Schedule: To enhance its showcase event, the NHL should consider changing the scheduling format for the Stanley Cup finals. Instead of the 2-2-1-1-1 system in use for the best-of-seven series, the league should go to a 2-3-2 format in which the higher-seeded team plays the first two and last two games at home. Changing the schedule for the Cup finals would cut down on travel at the end of the long and grinding playoff road, enabling players to be more rested and to play better. Less travel also would save money for teams and for the league, which sends a cadre of personnel to the finals. The NHL used the 2-3-2 system in the 1984 and '85 finals, and in both years the Oilers split the first two road games -- against the Islanders and the Flyers, respectively -- then came home and swept three at Northlands Coliseum. League executives were so spooked that the team with the home ice advantage got eliminated before getting a chance to host a lucrative third game that they re-verted to the 2-2-1-1-1 format. The current schedule ensures that the higher seed gets an extra home date even if a series lasts only five games. Having the home ice advantage in the postseason, though, has proved irrelevant to success. Through the first three rounds in this year's playoffs, the home team won only 39 of 79 games. The big advantage for the host club is at the gate; an extra game can be worth millions in revenue. To overcome that, the NHL could devise a revenue-sharing system if the higher-seeded team loses out on a home match.
Sabres Organization: Whether or not the Sabres upset the Stars in the Stanley Cup finals, which began on Tuesday, Buffalo is undeniably the NHL's organization of the year. In addition to the Sabres having reached the finals with a relatively modest $28 million payroll (Dallas's tab: $42 million), their American Hockey League affiliate, the Rochester Americans, is in the Calder Cup finals against the Providence Bruins. "We're thrilled by Rochester's success because it's essential," says Buffalo general manager Darcy Regier. "We're intent on keeping our food chain alive." The Sabres, a money-losing team, must rely on talent development rather than free agency to upgrade its roster. In Buffalo's 4-2 series-clinching win over the Maple Leafs in the Eastern Conference finals last week, each Sabres goal was scored by a Rochester alumnus: Curtis Brown, Vaclav Varada, Erik Rasmussen and Dixon Ward. This year's Americans have several top prospects, including 21-year-old goalie Martin Biron (AHL-best 2.07 goals-against average) and 20-year-old defenseman Cory Sarich. Given Rochester's achievements, expect the Sabres to be Cup contenders for years to come.
Issue date: June 14, 1999
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