5 BOROUGH SPORTS

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP)—New York Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro and defenseman Mike Mottau have been placed on injured reserve. The team announced the moves in a statement Tuesday. DiPietro sat out Saturday night’s game against the Phoenix Coyotes because of swelling in his right knee. The former first-overall draft pick, who is 4-6-4 with a 3.68 goals-against average this season, is eligible to return after seven days.

Not like this matters for the Islanders’ season, but this is still incredibly disappointing. The DiPietro 15-year contract back in 2006 has turned out to be one of the worst decisions in professional sports. I know the Islanders season has been unbearable, but at least DP was out there getting playing time for the first time in two years. But now there’s no good news for this season. The Isles are on pace to have less points than their terrible 2008-2009 season and the future isn’t looking too bright. Ever since hockey administrators from Quebec City came down to watch the Islanders play the Atlanta Thrashers earlier this month, I’ve been concerned about a possible Islanders relocation after 2015 (the final year of the Islanders’ contract with the Coliseum.) Team owner Charles Wang has continuously stated that he guarantees that the franchise will stay in New York. But with the team’s declining fan attendance and the Lighthouse Project failure, who knows if Wang will keep his word. The best case scenario for the Islanders would be if Wang sold the team to Mets’ owner Fred Wilpon. Wilpon has stated that if he buys the Islanders, he would build an arena next to Citi Field in Flushing, Queens. There have been other rumors that the Islanders can possibly move to Brooklyn and play in the Nets’ new arena on Atlantic Avenue.

As we all know, the Nassau Coliseum isn’t an ideal hockey arena. Coming from the city, I can’t even take the Long Island Railroad to the Coliseum. Having no public transportation to a sports arena in New York is absurd. An NHL franchise deserves top notch facilities. So here are the options: complete the Lighthouse Project, renovate the Coliseum and add an LIRR stop, have Wilpon buy the team and put them next to Citi Field, or move to Brooklyn. But by all means, stay in New York.

This entry was posted on December 22, 2010 at 1:48 am and is filed under Islanders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.