Nassau County Exec Thomas Gulotta said that officials
from the Islanders' ownership group, New York Sports
Ventures, and SMG will meet in his office Thursday to
discuss the pending legal dispute between the two sides,
according to Monte Young of NEWSDAY. Gulotta said that if
safety is the "sticking point" for the Isles return to the
Nassau Coliseum, he's willing to have NHL Commissioner Gary
Bettman send in engineers to check the facility. Bettman
could not be reached for comment (NEWSDAY, 9/13).
WHERE WILL THEY PLAY? Islanders President David Seldin
said that the team has "thought about the fans a lot," while
trying to find a place to play for the upcoming season. In
N.Y., Richard Sandomir wrote that of the proposed sites for
the team to play, the Hartford Civic Center has more open
dates but is a further away than MSG and Continental
Airlines Arena (CAA), which "are packed" with events. The
First Union Spectrum is "busy" and although the NBA lockout
may continue into the regular season, Sandomir writes that
it "does not open arena doors wide" to the Isles. The NBA
will hold all game dates as long as possible, until a
decision is made on possible cancellations (N.Y. TIMES,
9/12). Devils GM Lou Lamoriello said that he "has no
problem" with letting the Islanders play home games at the
CAA, and said he has "submitted dates when the building will
be available" (Bergen RECORD, 9/13). Officials in Hartford
and the New Haven Coliseum said they haven't been contacted
by the Isles (David Heuschkel, HARTFORD COURANT, 9/12).
