The "standoff" between the Islanders and SMG "may come
to a head" at a court hearing today, as SMG will try to
prevent the team from playing its home games outside the
arena, according to Hadrick & Kreytak of NEWSDAY. But even
if NY State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Burton extends or
makes permanent his temporary injunction barring the team
from playing elsewhere, Islanders President David Seldin
"would not guarantee" that his team would play Friday's
exhibition game against the Devils at the Coliseum. Seldin:
"We won't be playing in the Nassau Coliseum absent clear,
impartial evidence that the building is safe" (NEWSDAY,
9/23). A NEWSDAY editorial calls everyone involved in the
Isles-Coliseum dispute "childish. ... [E]verybody involved
should grow up and get back to work" (NEWSDAY, 9/23).
SHOWING BROTHERLY LOVE: In Philadelphia, Tim Panaccio
reports that the First Union Center has "given the Islanders
three tentative playing dates for the regular season," if
the team does not return to the Nassau Coliseum. The dates
include both Islanders home games against the Flyers on
October 31/November 25 and the Isles October 24 game against
the Sabres. First Union Complex President & CEO Peter
Luukko also gave the Isles "six potential dates at the First
Union Spectrum," but the team has only expressed interest in
the First Union Center dates (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 9/23).
