NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said that the Islanders will "not play four regular season games at the renovated Nassau Coliseum next season, despite an agreement to do so" by Forest City Ratner Chair & CEO Bruce Ratner in his '13 lease with the county, according to Brodsky & Baumbach of NEWSDAY. Daly added that the Islanders have "made no requests to play regular season games at the Coliseum" during the '17-18 season. The league is "expected to release its schedule next month." Daly and multiple sources said that there have been "discussions between the Islanders and Nassau Events Center" for the team to "play one preseason game at the Coliseum next season." But the '13 lease "calls for two Islanders preseason games." Daly last year said that the league "never discussed the plan with team owners." The games were a "major selling point with Nassau County officials as NEC bid against Madison Square Garden to renovate and manage the Coliseum." If the Islanders "are unable or unwilling" to play the games, Ratner will have to pay Nassau an additional $1M annually for each of the next five years, escalating to $1.1M in years 6-10. Islanders co-Owner Jon Ledecky last summer "refused to commit to playing the six games, noting that the deal was negotiated" by Ratner and former Islanders Owner Charles Wang (NEWSDAY, 5/31).
