Rick DiPietro wanted to be an Islander for his entire career, put all his cards on the table and asked to do a deal that made sense for everyone. Charles Wang and Garth Snow did just that.
And now Islanders fans like my three young boys never have to worry about a day in early July when some other team raids the franchise of its leader and biggest star. Sixteen months later, the deal seems even more like a win-win-win.
The response from the traditionalists was - yawn - as inevitable as Rick being named an All-Star tomorrow.
But a funny thing happened. A few weeks ago the Philadelphia Flyers, as traditional as they come, locked up heart-and-soul forward Mike Richards for 12 years. Today, Ted Leonsis made a statement to fans of the Washington Capitals: your superstar Alexander Ovechkin is here forever.
Of course, if the initial column reactions and tonight's TSN panel are an indication, holes will be poked all over the Ovechkin deal.
Hmmm...Long Island, Philadelphia, Washington...
Guess we'll have to wait for a Canadian team to do a mega-deal before the practice is considered legit.
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3 comments:
Mr Botta,
All due respect but can you put New York in there once in a while and not make us feel as if those who live within the city limits are not rooting for the right team.
It's things like this that give the city writers an excuse not to cover the club.
Team has a large city and tri-state area fanbase.
Thank You.
You may never see a Canadian team make that sort of deal as that would be an admission the Islanders were right all along. Innovators are usually laughed at.... and then copied.
Sure, Ricky's long term deal, Islander TV, the blog box. Seems to me the Isles do alot of innovative things and receive a disproportionate amount of criticism vs. accolades. Everything is a big joke until other teams follow suit. Dee's right.
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