A Letter to Jon Ledecky

[seafoam]

Only relevant thread on the 1st page, so here you go.

 

[periferal]

 

[sabremike]

How can people who are a minority of the ownership control the team? Like how in the flying f*** is that possible?

 

[Instant]

How can people who are a minority of the ownership control the team? Like how in the flying **** is that possible?

They don't. At least as long as Ledecky and Malkin speak in one voice, they are the top dogs. But if they're not (let's say Malkin wants to fire Snow and Ledecky doesn't), things could get tricky. Or that is how it should work, but this is the Isles, who the hell knows what's going on there.

 

[GarfSnowed]

All you can do is sit and wait. No one is going to stop buying tickets and boycotting has always lasted for like three minutes of Snow Must Go chants one game of the season.
And when action was taken with the billboard, it was awkward and backfired because Ledecky defended Snow still and someone had the idea of involving Lee's charity which led him to say he defends Garth Snow and wouldn't take the money.

All this talk about boycott, sending letters, not buying tickets, it is the same story every season. All you can do is wait for realization. It is the absolute sad truth.

 

[BelovedIsles]

Ledecky defended Snow during the billboard campaign? How do we know this. Regardless, he's aware that the fans are not pleased (putting it lightly) with Snow.

Snow has a lot of power in the regime, Wang is still tied to the organization, and who is McCarthy?

 

[aronjudge11]

Mcarthy is the business financial expert installed from...gues who? Wang...from wangs other business nulieun..or something...maybe its his wifes company...nepotism still intact...keep it in the family..So you got Wang snow and wangs right hand man mcarthy on board of governers. If ledecky sells his share to malkin maybe they can add dipietro yashin or kevin connelly or dougie weight to the board of governers

 

[Sparksrus3]

Dear Jon ,
5 tickets to last nights game vs Toronto went unused. I tried to change their minds. My daughter said why go see a bunch of losers. Then one of my boys asked if we can go to Rangers games next year because his friend Tommy likes the Rangers and his dad said they will be a good team when we are still bad. On a positive note the deal was that they had to clean their rooms if we stayed home and they all agreed. There's your next generation pal. I on the other hand , moved furniture from the first to the 2nd floor bedroom and then took a vicadin for the back pain .See Jon. There are other options out there. Fix the team.

 

[islesfan66]

if we put 2 snow must go billboards up and it didn't do anything theres no way ledecky cares at all what the fans think...

 

[sabremike]

Only relevant thread on the 1st page, so here you go.

ACCOUNTABILITY~!

 

[Surfrat]

All you can do is sit and wait. No one is going to stop buying tickets and boycotting has always lasted for like three minutes of Snow Must Go chants one game of the season.
And when action was taken with the billboard, it was awkward and backfired because Ledecky defended Snow still and someone had the idea of involving Lee's charity which led him to say he defends Garth Snow and wouldn't take the money.

All this talk about boycott, sending letters, not buying tickets, it is the same story every season. All you can do is wait for realization. It is the absolute sad truth.

Well I for one will not buy tickets or merchandise until there are substantial changes in management. This organization is a joke and they can go f*** themseleves.

 

[periferal]

Circling back on this since I was the one who created this thread...For those of you that care, here is the letter I mailed to both Ledecky and Malkin (both to the Isles offices in Brooklyn and East Meadow):


_____________________________________________________________


Dear Mr. Ledecky and Mr. Malkin,

As a 43-year-old Islander fan from Roslyn, Long Island, my heart and soul joined the Islander family as a fan in the mid-80’s, meaning the Islanders have been my favorite team for over 30 years now. I’ve rarely missed a game, traveled long and far to see them play, and spent more money on the team than I care to admit. As much as I love them, to be frank it’s been a truly painful ride enduring the last three decades, but rarely do I ever quit on anything when my heart is involved.

However that loyalty is seriously being put to the test now as I watch my favorite team sink into a world of ineptitude with each passing season. I care too much about the Islanders to not let you know exactly how I, and so many other fans, feel about the current direction of the franchise. So with great respect I am hoping you will hear and appreciate the rather harsh honesty I think that needs to be put on the table in order to identify and improve fortunes for the organization going forward.

We are now at the completion of Garth Snow’s twelfth year as General Manager of the New York Islanders and this will be the eighth time we have missed the playoffs. How is this tolerable for any owners anywhere – Much less ones that want to win a “fifth Stanley Cup?” In what position in any field would any employee still have a job if their results did not improve in over a decade on the job? No organization where the owners truly want to run a “world class” franchise could this be tolerated.

That is why if your goal is truly to be the owners who bring a fifth Stanley Cup to the New York Islanders, then Garth Snow must be fired as President and General Manager effective immediately. This doesn’t mean reassigned or minimized, but totally removed from the Islander organization entirely and replaced with a qualified/elite team President who will be allowed to hire whatever GM he deems appropriate.

I’d be happy to sit down and break down every single draft pick, trade, and free agent signing Snow has performed since July 18, 2006 that justifies his firing, but the only thing that should matter is this – Wins and losses. And in that vein, after 12 years of proven ineptitude, the reality is that we will not win another Stanley Cup with Garth Snow running the Islanders, and the longer he is allowed to remain in his position the longer it will be before a qualified replacement could get us there.
I am a big believer in human psychology and study human behavior. In watching Garth Snow operate over the past decade plus, it is apparent that he continues to massage his place within the Islander franchise where he positions himself as the smartest/most powerful guy in the room. Somehow he got Charles Wang to buy into this and I’m hoping that is not the case with you.

Essentially Garth Snow is looking to surround himself with “yes men” who won’t question his authority. In this regard he is putting his ego before the team, and when your focus is based on hiring the most subservient employees, you are not hiring the most qualified ones. And as a result the Islanders have now wound up missing the playoffs again – Making it eight of his twelve years on the job.

Now I understand that it’s easy for me to sit behind a keyboard and call for Snow’s firing. I also understand that there’s plenty of information that I don’t have access to being a fan and not an owner. But again the information we as fans do have is the Islanders win/loss record under his tenure which is not tolerable to us as paying customers, so why is it tolerable to you? Do you think that someone who hasn’t gotten the job done for 12 years is all of a sudden going to figure it out in year 13? At what point does missing the playoffs wear on you the way it does all of us who you are asking to spend money on the team? Because all the wonderful quotes you have made to the press about the islanders, “winning that fifth Stanley Cup,” sound great, but they’re just hollow words if they’re not followed up with actions that make that a reality.

If we never heard another quote from you and the Islanders did win that fifth Cup, you would be heroes to all of us, as opposed to making all these grand claims and never delivering on them. Season after season of first-round playoff losses, much less missing the playoffs entirely, is not going to all of a sudden magically lead to a Stanley Cup Final without serious, decisive, and meaningful change – Change that has to come from you. Words alone will not get us there.

Therefore every moment that Garth Snow remains as President/GM of the Islanders what you are really saying to the fans is that you are ok with the unbelievable disappointing results of the past 12 years, and for all of us to expect more of the same heartbreak going forward.

The fans are also very aware of the reported extension that Charles Wang gave Snow prior to turning control of the Islanders over to you. We understand that it’s possible you do want to get rid of Snow, but are hampered by his contract in that it could be a very lengthy/lucrative deal for Snow that would cost tons of money to buy out, and/or have other legal ramifications in doing so.

However if you truly want to lead the Islanders to another Stanley Cup, your significant financial resources must be used to solve any problem, and this is the biggest one. Whether the team needs a new training center, a more comprehensive scouting staff, or spend to the salary cap to build a winner, buying out Garth Snow at any cost is an issue that needs addressing and therefore must be done whatever time, energy, and financial resources it costs to do so.

If you can make the Belmont Arena Project happen, then there are no obstacles that cannot be overcome in removing Snow. The only question is – Why haven’t you yet?

And Snow must be fired whether or not John Tavares returns to the team or not. With Tavares we’re still missing the playoffs as a result of Snow’s ineptitude, so hardly a saving grace if he were to resign just to repeat similar seasons going forward. And I shudder to think what it will be like in Islanderland if Tavares does leave as a result of Snow not building a contender all these years, and then you retain Snow as President/GM. You will lose the faith of the fans at an even greater rate than missing the playoffs alone will do.

Mr. Ledecky, you’ve been quoted as saying the following:

“We were talking about stockholders (fans) earlier. What’s the standard? We won the first round. We went to the second round. The standard this year has to be, you won the second round and went to the third round. And eventually you have to hoist the Stanley Cup, because that’s what the fans demand. They demand that excellence, on the ice and off the ice.

“The off-the-ice, I can handle, by giving them a great experience. The on-the-ice, that group has to manage that. They have got the insight. They’ve got the experience to decide who plays goalie, who plays on Johnny’s line and stuff like that, not me. That’s a recipe for disaster.

“Each one of you could talk about an owner who came in and completely rearranged the furniture and is paying for it in years and years of poor performance.”
​

That quote was from July of 2016 and since then the Islanders, at least on-ice, have clearly gone backwards. If the standard back then was “winning the second round,” how does missing the playoffs entirely fit into that standard? Where is the accountability to your “stockholders” for the Stanley Cup standard that we demand and you claim to want? I mean how many more years of missing the playoffs/not coming close to the Stanley Cup will be tolerated before you get involved in the on-ice issues plaguing this team?

Because I will tell you with confidence that in 30 plus years as an Islanders fan the only reason I’ve attended a game was to see the team on the ice play. Everything else about the arena experience was just background noise. When the Islanders were winning the Coliseum was packed – Despite having the worst bathroom situation of any arena on the planet. Would all of us have loved better bathrooms? Of course, but every single one of us would have put up with them had we won a fifth Stanley Cup.

No matter what your business is, the product is always the most important thing. If Islander fans attend a game and the islanders lose, then the “experience” was a bad one. In sports the team is the “product,” and right now the product that is the New York Islanders is not the “world class” experience you claim to want for the fans.

That is why to say that you’re going to leave the “on-ice” part of the Islanders up to the hockey people is so painful to hear. It comes across as you’ve accepted that Garth Snow is going to be a “lifetime GM” and you’re going to worry about everything else. It’s one thing to let qualified people do their jobs – That I’m all for. However it’s another thing completely to employ unqualified people who are hurting your product and do nothing about it.

This is why you must get involved with the front office, install a qualified and “world class” President of Hockey Operations immediately. It’s literally the most important thing you can do now, as every moment where Garth Snow remains President and GM of the Islanders is another moment the Stanley Cup will remain out of reach.

My heart bleeds blue and orange and has since I was a child, but the path we’re on now has a very low ceiling that is very quickly leading to increased apathy from many fans including myself. You have a chance to make good on your warranted high-end aspirations, and so many of your “stockholders” are praying you do just that, but you need to do it now.

To achieve great things in life there’s always hardship along the way, and this is one of those moments. I’m not saying making sweeping change in the front office is easy, but it is necessary, and surely you bought this franchise understanding that one day you would have to do so. The lifelong Islander fan is truly a tortured soul, so if you do hire a President/GM that leads us to the hockey “Promised Land,” I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that you will be Gods to many of us. That’s how much we’ve suffered and how bad we want it.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Since I cannot make the change I am so confident is necessary, I hope you take it to heart and that leads to action. Because the next letter I write you I want to be thanking you for doing all the things necessary in the front office that lead the New York Islanders to win their fifth Stanley Cup. In terms of my sports life, there’s literally nothing I want more.

Sincerely,


(my name)

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Circling back on this since I was the one who created this thread...For those of you that care, here is the letter I mailed to both Ledecky and Malkin (both to the Isles offices in Brooklyn and East Meadow):


_____________________________________________________________


Dear Mr. Ledecky and Mr. Malkin,

As a 43-year-old Islander fan from Roslyn, Long Island, my heart and soul joined the Islander family as a fan in the mid-80’s, meaning the Islanders have been my favorite team for over 30 years now. I’ve rarely missed a game, traveled long and far to see them play, and spent more money on the team than I care to admit. As much as I love them, to be frank it’s been a truly painful ride enduring the last three decades, but rarely do I ever quit on anything when my heart is involved.

However that loyalty is seriously being put to the test now as I watch my favorite team sink into a world of ineptitude with each passing season. I care too much about the Islanders to not let you know exactly how I, and so many other fans, feel about the current direction of the franchise. So with great respect I am hoping you will hear and appreciate the rather harsh honesty I think that needs to be put on the table in order to identify and improve fortunes for the organization going forward.

We are now at the completion of Garth Snow’s twelfth year as General Manager of the New York Islanders and this will be the eighth time we have missed the playoffs. How is this tolerable for any owners anywhere – Much less ones that want to win a “fifth Stanley Cup?” In what position in any field would any employee still have a job if their results did not improve in over a decade on the job? No organization where the owners truly want to run a “world class” franchise could this be tolerated.

That is why if your goal is truly to be the owners who bring a fifth Stanley Cup to the New York Islanders, then Garth Snow must be fired as President and General Manager effective immediately. This doesn’t mean reassigned or minimized, but totally removed from the Islander organization entirely and replaced with a qualified/elite team President who will be allowed to hire whatever GM he deems appropriate.

I’d be happy to sit down and break down every single draft pick, trade, and free agent signing Snow has performed since July 18, 2006 that justifies his firing, but the only thing that should matter is this – Wins and losses. And in that vein, after 12 years of proven ineptitude, the reality is that we will not win another Stanley Cup with Garth Snow running the Islanders, and the longer he is allowed to remain in his position the longer it will be before a qualified replacement could get us there.
I am a big believer in human psychology and study human behavior. In watching Garth Snow operate over the past decade plus, it is apparent that he continues to massage his place within the Islander franchise where he positions himself as the smartest/most powerful guy in the room. Somehow he got Charles Wang to buy into this and I’m hoping that is not the case with you.

Essentially Garth Snow is looking to surround himself with “yes men” who won’t question his authority. In this regard he is putting his ego before the team, and when your focus is based on hiring the most subservient employees, you are not hiring the most qualified ones. And as a result the Islanders have now wound up missing the playoffs again – Making it eight of his twelve years on the job.

Now I understand that it’s easy for me to sit behind a keyboard and call for Snow’s firing. I also understand that there’s plenty of information that I don’t have access to being a fan and not an owner. But again the information we as fans do have is the Islanders win/loss record under his tenure which is not tolerable to us as paying customers, so why is it tolerable to you? Do you think that someone who hasn’t gotten the job done for 12 years is all of a sudden going to figure it out in year 13? At what point does missing the playoffs wear on you the way it does all of us who you are asking to spend money on the team? Because all the wonderful quotes you have made to the press about the islanders, “winning that fifth Stanley Cup,” sound great, but they’re just hollow words if they’re not followed up with actions that make that a reality.

If we never heard another quote from you and the Islanders did win that fifth Cup, you would be heroes to all of us, as opposed to making all these grand claims and never delivering on them. Season after season of first-round playoff losses, much less missing the playoffs entirely, is not going to all of a sudden magically lead to a Stanley Cup Final without serious, decisive, and meaningful change – Change that has to come from you. Words alone will not get us there.

Therefore every moment that Garth Snow remains as President/GM of the Islanders what you are really saying to the fans is that you are ok with the unbelievable disappointing results of the past 12 years, and for all of us to expect more of the same heartbreak going forward.

The fans are also very aware of the reported extension that Charles Wang gave Snow prior to turning control of the Islanders over to you. We understand that it’s possible you do want to get rid of Snow, but are hampered by his contract in that it could be a very lengthy/lucrative deal for Snow that would cost tons of money to buy out, and/or have other legal ramifications in doing so.

However if you truly want to lead the Islanders to another Stanley Cup, your significant financial resources must be used to solve any problem, and this is the biggest one. Whether the team needs a new training center, a more comprehensive scouting staff, or spend to the salary cap to build a winner, buying out Garth Snow at any cost is an issue that needs addressing and therefore must be done whatever time, energy, and financial resources it costs to do so.

If you can make the Belmont Arena Project happen, then there are no obstacles that cannot be overcome in removing Snow. The only question is – Why haven’t you yet?

And Snow must be fired whether or not John Tavares returns to the team or not. With Tavares we’re still missing the playoffs as a result of Snow’s ineptitude, so hardly a saving grace if he were to resign just to repeat similar seasons going forward. And I shudder to think what it will be like in Islanderland if Tavares does leave as a result of Snow not building a contender all these years, and then you retain Snow as President/GM. You will lose the faith of the fans at an even greater rate than missing the playoffs alone will do.

Mr. Ledecky, you’ve been quoted as saying the following:

“We were talking about stockholders (fans) earlier. What’s the standard? We won the first round. We went to the second round. The standard this year has to be, you won the second round and went to the third round. And eventually you have to hoist the Stanley Cup, because that’s what the fans demand. They demand that excellence, on the ice and off the ice.

“The off-the-ice, I can handle, by giving them a great experience. The on-the-ice, that group has to manage that. They have got the insight. They’ve got the experience to decide who plays goalie, who plays on Johnny’s line and stuff like that, not me. That’s a recipe for disaster.

“Each one of you could talk about an owner who came in and completely rearranged the furniture and is paying for it in years and years of poor performance.”
​

That quote was from July of 2016 and since then the Islanders, at least on-ice, have clearly gone backwards. If the standard back then was “winning the second round,” how does missing the playoffs entirely fit into that standard? Where is the accountability to your “stockholders” for the Stanley Cup standard that we demand and you claim to want? I mean how many more years of missing the playoffs/not coming close to the Stanley Cup will be tolerated before you get involved in the on-ice issues plaguing this team?

Because I will tell you with confidence that in 30 plus years as an Islanders fan the only reason I’ve attended a game was to see the team on the ice play. Everything else about the arena experience was just background noise. When the Islanders were winning the Coliseum was packed – Despite having the worst bathroom situation of any arena on the planet. Would all of us have loved better bathrooms? Of course, but every single one of us would have put up with them had we won a fifth Stanley Cup.

No matter what your business is, the product is always the most important thing. If Islander fans attend a game and the islanders lose, then the “experience” was a bad one. In sports the team is the “product,” and right now the product that is the New York Islanders is not the “world class” experience you claim to want for the fans.

That is why to say that you’re going to leave the “on-ice” part of the Islanders up to the hockey people is so painful to hear. It comes across as you’ve accepted that Garth Snow is going to be a “lifetime GM” and you’re going to worry about everything else. It’s one thing to let qualified people do their jobs – That I’m all for. However it’s another thing completely to employ unqualified people who are hurting your product and do nothing about it.

This is why you must get involved with the front office, install a qualified and “world class” President of Hockey Operations immediately. It’s literally the most important thing you can do now, as every moment where Garth Snow remains President and GM of the Islanders is another moment the Stanley Cup will remain out of reach.

My heart bleeds blue and orange and has since I was a child, but the path we’re on now has a very low ceiling that is very quickly leading to increased apathy from many fans including myself. You have a chance to make good on your warranted high-end aspirations, and so many of your “stockholders” are praying you do just that, but you need to do it now.

To achieve great things in life there’s always hardship along the way, and this is one of those moments. I’m not saying making sweeping change in the front office is easy, but it is necessary, and surely you bought this franchise understanding that one day you would have to do so. The lifelong Islander fan is truly a tortured soul, so if you do hire a President/GM that leads us to the hockey “Promised Land,” I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that you will be Gods to many of us. That’s how much we’ve suffered and how bad we want it.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Since I cannot make the change I am so confident is necessary, I hope you take it to heart and that leads to action. Because the next letter I write you I want to be thanking you for doing all the things necessary in the front office that lead the New York Islanders to win their fifth Stanley Cup. In terms of my sports life, there’s literally nothing I want more.

Sincerely,


(my name)

Hope for your sake the owners actually read the letter and take it to heart. I hope their reception is different from the owner of my local junior club's when fans expressed their dislike for the GM he refused to fire (my dad even wrote him a letter, to which he responded with lame excuse after lame excuse).

 

[Bood12]

I enjoy the shock value of Bood's posts. Just when I think Bood can't post anything dumber, he shocks me with another whopper.

If L&M care about their investment and want (HAPPY) fans in the seats attending games (snapping selfies with Ledecky), Snow and Weight are out.... But when?

says a loser who is crying about "firing" someone in order to achieve Happiness, I am guessing you were crying about Capuano getting fired last year or you were not going to spend any money, we can all go back to the other players and personnel and management this "fanbase" demanded to be fired or they were not going to spend any money, I am guessing Ledecky is seeing this and it is just re-enforcing his decision to keep Snow, at least that is what a person who is 1/2 decent and has a spine would do.

 

[periferal]

Hope for your sake the owners actually read the letter and take it to heart. I hope their reception is different from the owner of my local junior club's when fans expressed their dislike for the GM he refused to fire (my dad even wrote him a letter, to which he responded with lame excuse after lame excuse).

Well I'm just one grain of sand on the beach. We need more to take their writings here and voice them to Ledecky & Malkin. So I hope others write letters and also stop spending ANY MONEY on the Isles until meaningful change is made.

 

[Richie Daggers Crime]

I think that letter is about 5x too long and has too much finger pointing, speculation and personal interpretation of things that they have more information about. I'd cut it way down and stick to how you, as a fan, are withdrawing your financial investment in their entertainment service due to the team's ongoing on-ice futility and that you will be suggesting to people you know to do the same.

 

[Joedoggy]

Circling back on this since I was the one who created this thread...For those of you that care, here is the letter I mailed to both Ledecky and Malkin (both to the Isles offices in Brooklyn and East Meadow):


_____________________________________________________________


Dear Mr. Ledecky and Mr. Malkin,

As a 43-year-old Islander fan from Roslyn, Long Island, my heart and soul joined the Islander family as a fan in the mid-80’s, meaning the Islanders have been my favorite team for over 30 years now. I’ve rarely missed a game, traveled long and far to see them play, and spent more money on the team than I care to admit. As much as I love them, to be frank it’s been a truly painful ride enduring the last three decades, but rarely do I ever quit on anything when my heart is involved.

However that loyalty is seriously being put to the test now as I watch my favorite team sink into a world of ineptitude with each passing season. I care too much about the Islanders to not let you know exactly how I, and so many other fans, feel about the current direction of the franchise. So with great respect I am hoping you will hear and appreciate the rather harsh honesty I think that needs to be put on the table in order to identify and improve fortunes for the organization going forward.

We are now at the completion of Garth Snow’s twelfth year as General Manager of the New York Islanders and this will be the eighth time we have missed the playoffs. How is this tolerable for any owners anywhere – Much less ones that want to win a “fifth Stanley Cup?” In what position in any field would any employee still have a job if their results did not improve in over a decade on the job? No organization where the owners truly want to run a “world class” franchise could this be tolerated.

That is why if your goal is truly to be the owners who bring a fifth Stanley Cup to the New York Islanders, then Garth Snow must be fired as President and General Manager effective immediately. This doesn’t mean reassigned or minimized, but totally removed from the Islander organization entirely and replaced with a qualified/elite team President who will be allowed to hire whatever GM he deems appropriate.

I’d be happy to sit down and break down every single draft pick, trade, and free agent signing Snow has performed since July 18, 2006 that justifies his firing, but the only thing that should matter is this – Wins and losses. And in that vein, after 12 years of proven ineptitude, the reality is that we will not win another Stanley Cup with Garth Snow running the Islanders, and the longer he is allowed to remain in his position the longer it will be before a qualified replacement could get us there.
I am a big believer in human psychology and study human behavior. In watching Garth Snow operate over the past decade plus, it is apparent that he continues to massage his place within the Islander franchise where he positions himself as the smartest/most powerful guy in the room. Somehow he got Charles Wang to buy into this and I’m hoping that is not the case with you.

Essentially Garth Snow is looking to surround himself with “yes men” who won’t question his authority. In this regard he is putting his ego before the team, and when your focus is based on hiring the most subservient employees, you are not hiring the most qualified ones. And as a result the Islanders have now wound up missing the playoffs again – Making it eight of his twelve years on the job.

Now I understand that it’s easy for me to sit behind a keyboard and call for Snow’s firing. I also understand that there’s plenty of information that I don’t have access to being a fan and not an owner. But again the information we as fans do have is the Islanders win/loss record under his tenure which is not tolerable to us as paying customers, so why is it tolerable to you? Do you think that someone who hasn’t gotten the job done for 12 years is all of a sudden going to figure it out in year 13? At what point does missing the playoffs wear on you the way it does all of us who you are asking to spend money on the team? Because all the wonderful quotes you have made to the press about the islanders, “winning that fifth Stanley Cup,” sound great, but they’re just hollow words if they’re not followed up with actions that make that a reality.

If we never heard another quote from you and the Islanders did win that fifth Cup, you would be heroes to all of us, as opposed to making all these grand claims and never delivering on them. Season after season of first-round playoff losses, much less missing the playoffs entirely, is not going to all of a sudden magically lead to a Stanley Cup Final without serious, decisive, and meaningful change – Change that has to come from you. Words alone will not get us there.

Therefore every moment that Garth Snow remains as President/GM of the Islanders what you are really saying to the fans is that you are ok with the unbelievable disappointing results of the past 12 years, and for all of us to expect more of the same heartbreak going forward.

The fans are also very aware of the reported extension that Charles Wang gave Snow prior to turning control of the Islanders over to you. We understand that it’s possible you do want to get rid of Snow, but are hampered by his contract in that it could be a very lengthy/lucrative deal for Snow that would cost tons of money to buy out, and/or have other legal ramifications in doing so.

However if you truly want to lead the Islanders to another Stanley Cup, your significant financial resources must be used to solve any problem, and this is the biggest one. Whether the team needs a new training center, a more comprehensive scouting staff, or spend to the salary cap to build a winner, buying out Garth Snow at any cost is an issue that needs addressing and therefore must be done whatever time, energy, and financial resources it costs to do so.

If you can make the Belmont Arena Project happen, then there are no obstacles that cannot be overcome in removing Snow. The only question is – Why haven’t you yet?

And Snow must be fired whether or not John Tavares returns to the team or not. With Tavares we’re still missing the playoffs as a result of Snow’s ineptitude, so hardly a saving grace if he were to resign just to repeat similar seasons going forward. And I shudder to think what it will be like in Islanderland if Tavares does leave as a result of Snow not building a contender all these years, and then you retain Snow as President/GM. You will lose the faith of the fans at an even greater rate than missing the playoffs alone will do.

Mr. Ledecky, you’ve been quoted as saying the following:

“We were talking about stockholders (fans) earlier. What’s the standard? We won the first round. We went to the second round. The standard this year has to be, you won the second round and went to the third round. And eventually you have to hoist the Stanley Cup, because that’s what the fans demand. They demand that excellence, on the ice and off the ice.

“The off-the-ice, I can handle, by giving them a great experience. The on-the-ice, that group has to manage that. They have got the insight. They’ve got the experience to decide who plays goalie, who plays on Johnny’s line and stuff like that, not me. That’s a recipe for disaster.

“Each one of you could talk about an owner who came in and completely rearranged the furniture and is paying for it in years and years of poor performance.”
​

That quote was from July of 2016 and since then the Islanders, at least on-ice, have clearly gone backwards. If the standard back then was “winning the second round,” how does missing the playoffs entirely fit into that standard? Where is the accountability to your “stockholders” for the Stanley Cup standard that we demand and you claim to want? I mean how many more years of missing the playoffs/not coming close to the Stanley Cup will be tolerated before you get involved in the on-ice issues plaguing this team?

Because I will tell you with confidence that in 30 plus years as an Islanders fan the only reason I’ve attended a game was to see the team on the ice play. Everything else about the arena experience was just background noise. When the Islanders were winning the Coliseum was packed – Despite having the worst bathroom situation of any arena on the planet. Would all of us have loved better bathrooms? Of course, but every single one of us would have put up with them had we won a fifth Stanley Cup.

No matter what your business is, the product is always the most important thing. If Islander fans attend a game and the islanders lose, then the “experience” was a bad one. In sports the team is the “product,” and right now the product that is the New York Islanders is not the “world class” experience you claim to want for the fans.

That is why to say that you’re going to leave the “on-ice” part of the Islanders up to the hockey people is so painful to hear. It comes across as you’ve accepted that Garth Snow is going to be a “lifetime GM” and you’re going to worry about everything else. It’s one thing to let qualified people do their jobs – That I’m all for. However it’s another thing completely to employ unqualified people who are hurting your product and do nothing about it.

This is why you must get involved with the front office, install a qualified and “world class” President of Hockey Operations immediately. It’s literally the most important thing you can do now, as every moment where Garth Snow remains President and GM of the Islanders is another moment the Stanley Cup will remain out of reach.

My heart bleeds blue and orange and has since I was a child, but the path we’re on now has a very low ceiling that is very quickly leading to increased apathy from many fans including myself. You have a chance to make good on your warranted high-end aspirations, and so many of your “stockholders” are praying you do just that, but you need to do it now.

To achieve great things in life there’s always hardship along the way, and this is one of those moments. I’m not saying making sweeping change in the front office is easy, but it is necessary, and surely you bought this franchise understanding that one day you would have to do so. The lifelong Islander fan is truly a tortured soul, so if you do hire a President/GM that leads us to the hockey “Promised Land,” I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that you will be Gods to many of us. That’s how much we’ve suffered and how bad we want it.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Since I cannot make the change I am so confident is necessary, I hope you take it to heart and that leads to action. Because the next letter I write you I want to be thanking you for doing all the things necessary in the front office that lead the New York Islanders to win their fifth Stanley Cup. In terms of my sports life, there’s literally nothing I want more.

Sincerely,


(my name)

Speechless

 

[periferal]

Speechless

Is that good or bad..?

 

[Doshell Propivo]

Circling back on this since I was the one who created this thread...For those of you that care, here is the letter I mailed to both Ledecky and Malkin (both to the Isles offices in Brooklyn and East Meadow):


_____________________________________________________________


Dear Mr. Ledecky and Mr. Malkin,

As a 43-year-old Islander fan from Roslyn, Long Island, my heart and soul joined the Islander family as a fan in the mid-80’s, meaning the Islanders have been my favorite team for over 30 years now. I’ve rarely missed a game, traveled long and far to see them play, and spent more money on the team than I care to admit. As much as I love them, to be frank it’s been a truly painful ride enduring the last three decades, but rarely do I ever quit on anything when my heart is involved.

However that loyalty is seriously being put to the test now as I watch my favorite team sink into a world of ineptitude with each passing season. I care too much about the Islanders to not let you know exactly how I, and so many other fans, feel about the current direction of the franchise. So with great respect I am hoping you will hear and appreciate the rather harsh honesty I think that needs to be put on the table in order to identify and improve fortunes for the organization going forward.

We are now at the completion of Garth Snow’s twelfth year as General Manager of the New York Islanders and this will be the eighth time we have missed the playoffs. How is this tolerable for any owners anywhere – Much less ones that want to win a “fifth Stanley Cup?” In what position in any field would any employee still have a job if their results did not improve in over a decade on the job? No organization where the owners truly want to run a “world class” franchise could this be tolerated.

That is why if your goal is truly to be the owners who bring a fifth Stanley Cup to the New York Islanders, then Garth Snow must be fired as President and General Manager effective immediately. This doesn’t mean reassigned or minimized, but totally removed from the Islander organization entirely and replaced with a qualified/elite team President who will be allowed to hire whatever GM he deems appropriate.

I’d be happy to sit down and break down every single draft pick, trade, and free agent signing Snow has performed since July 18, 2006 that justifies his firing, but the only thing that should matter is this – Wins and losses. And in that vein, after 12 years of proven ineptitude, the reality is that we will not win another Stanley Cup with Garth Snow running the Islanders, and the longer he is allowed to remain in his position the longer it will be before a qualified replacement could get us there.
I am a big believer in human psychology and study human behavior. In watching Garth Snow operate over the past decade plus, it is apparent that he continues to massage his place within the Islander franchise where he positions himself as the smartest/most powerful guy in the room. Somehow he got Charles Wang to buy into this and I’m hoping that is not the case with you.

Essentially Garth Snow is looking to surround himself with “yes men” who won’t question his authority. In this regard he is putting his ego before the team, and when your focus is based on hiring the most subservient employees, you are not hiring the most qualified ones. And as a result the Islanders have now wound up missing the playoffs again – Making it eight of his twelve years on the job.

Now I understand that it’s easy for me to sit behind a keyboard and call for Snow’s firing. I also understand that there’s plenty of information that I don’t have access to being a fan and not an owner. But again the information we as fans do have is the Islanders win/loss record under his tenure which is not tolerable to us as paying customers, so why is it tolerable to you? Do you think that someone who hasn’t gotten the job done for 12 years is all of a sudden going to figure it out in year 13? At what point does missing the playoffs wear on you the way it does all of us who you are asking to spend money on the team? Because all the wonderful quotes you have made to the press about the islanders, “winning that fifth Stanley Cup,” sound great, but they’re just hollow words if they’re not followed up with actions that make that a reality.

If we never heard another quote from you and the Islanders did win that fifth Cup, you would be heroes to all of us, as opposed to making all these grand claims and never delivering on them. Season after season of first-round playoff losses, much less missing the playoffs entirely, is not going to all of a sudden magically lead to a Stanley Cup Final without serious, decisive, and meaningful change – Change that has to come from you. Words alone will not get us there.

Therefore every moment that Garth Snow remains as President/GM of the Islanders what you are really saying to the fans is that you are ok with the unbelievable disappointing results of the past 12 years, and for all of us to expect more of the same heartbreak going forward.

The fans are also very aware of the reported extension that Charles Wang gave Snow prior to turning control of the Islanders over to you. We understand that it’s possible you do want to get rid of Snow, but are hampered by his contract in that it could be a very lengthy/lucrative deal for Snow that would cost tons of money to buy out, and/or have other legal ramifications in doing so.

However if you truly want to lead the Islanders to another Stanley Cup, your significant financial resources must be used to solve any problem, and this is the biggest one. Whether the team needs a new training center, a more comprehensive scouting staff, or spend to the salary cap to build a winner, buying out Garth Snow at any cost is an issue that needs addressing and therefore must be done whatever time, energy, and financial resources it costs to do so.

If you can make the Belmont Arena Project happen, then there are no obstacles that cannot be overcome in removing Snow. The only question is – Why haven’t you yet?

And Snow must be fired whether or not John Tavares returns to the team or not. With Tavares we’re still missing the playoffs as a result of Snow’s ineptitude, so hardly a saving grace if he were to resign just to repeat similar seasons going forward. And I shudder to think what it will be like in Islanderland if Tavares does leave as a result of Snow not building a contender all these years, and then you retain Snow as President/GM. You will lose the faith of the fans at an even greater rate than missing the playoffs alone will do.

Mr. Ledecky, you’ve been quoted as saying the following:

“We were talking about stockholders (fans) earlier. What’s the standard? We won the first round. We went to the second round. The standard this year has to be, you won the second round and went to the third round. And eventually you have to hoist the Stanley Cup, because that’s what the fans demand. They demand that excellence, on the ice and off the ice.

“The off-the-ice, I can handle, by giving them a great experience. The on-the-ice, that group has to manage that. They have got the insight. They’ve got the experience to decide who plays goalie, who plays on Johnny’s line and stuff like that, not me. That’s a recipe for disaster.

“Each one of you could talk about an owner who came in and completely rearranged the furniture and is paying for it in years and years of poor performance.”
​

That quote was from July of 2016 and since then the Islanders, at least on-ice, have clearly gone backwards. If the standard back then was “winning the second round,” how does missing the playoffs entirely fit into that standard? Where is the accountability to your “stockholders” for the Stanley Cup standard that we demand and you claim to want? I mean how many more years of missing the playoffs/not coming close to the Stanley Cup will be tolerated before you get involved in the on-ice issues plaguing this team?

Because I will tell you with confidence that in 30 plus years as an Islanders fan the only reason I’ve attended a game was to see the team on the ice play. Everything else about the arena experience was just background noise. When the Islanders were winning the Coliseum was packed – Despite having the worst bathroom situation of any arena on the planet. Would all of us have loved better bathrooms? Of course, but every single one of us would have put up with them had we won a fifth Stanley Cup.

No matter what your business is, the product is always the most important thing. If Islander fans attend a game and the islanders lose, then the “experience” was a bad one. In sports the team is the “product,” and right now the product that is the New York Islanders is not the “world class” experience you claim to want for the fans.

That is why to say that you’re going to leave the “on-ice” part of the Islanders up to the hockey people is so painful to hear. It comes across as you’ve accepted that Garth Snow is going to be a “lifetime GM” and you’re going to worry about everything else. It’s one thing to let qualified people do their jobs – That I’m all for. However it’s another thing completely to employ unqualified people who are hurting your product and do nothing about it.

This is why you must get involved with the front office, install a qualified and “world class” President of Hockey Operations immediately. It’s literally the most important thing you can do now, as every moment where Garth Snow remains President and GM of the Islanders is another moment the Stanley Cup will remain out of reach.

My heart bleeds blue and orange and has since I was a child, but the path we’re on now has a very low ceiling that is very quickly leading to increased apathy from many fans including myself. You have a chance to make good on your warranted high-end aspirations, and so many of your “stockholders” are praying you do just that, but you need to do it now.

To achieve great things in life there’s always hardship along the way, and this is one of those moments. I’m not saying making sweeping change in the front office is easy, but it is necessary, and surely you bought this franchise understanding that one day you would have to do so. The lifelong Islander fan is truly a tortured soul, so if you do hire a President/GM that leads us to the hockey “Promised Land,” I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that you will be Gods to many of us. That’s how much we’ve suffered and how bad we want it.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Since I cannot make the change I am so confident is necessary, I hope you take it to heart and that leads to action. Because the next letter I write you I want to be thanking you for doing all the things necessary in the front office that lead the New York Islanders to win their fifth Stanley Cup. In terms of my sports life, there’s literally nothing I want more.

Sincerely,


(my name)

 

[hoser14]

Dear Jon Ledecky: Either RE-Sign John Tavares or sell the team.

 

[Richie Daggers Crime]

 

[islesfan66]

i would personally like to talk 2 ledecky and see any sort of reasoning behind his awful decision to keep snow

 

[seafoam]

 

[MJF]

i would personally like to talk 2 ledecky and see any sort of reasoning behind his awful decision to keep snow

He’ll tell you I trust Garth’s vision and business plan. That’s all Ledecky could say publicly. He could never say “well I’d like to fire Garth but his contract contains a massive penalty payment for early termination or for moving him into any other position in the organization that makes it cost prohibitive to remove him”. That would be cutting out the legs from under him.

 

[periferal]

He’ll tell you I trust Garth’s vision and business plan. That’s all Ledecky could say publicly. He could never say “well I’d like to fire Garth but his contract contains a massive penalty payment for early termination or for moving him into any other position in the organization that makes it cost prohibitive to remove him”. That would be cutting out the legs from under him.

Ledecky and Malkin spent 485 million buying the Isles and are also part of the group investing 1 billion into the Belmont project.

What kind of a massive payment penalty could there be that wouldn't justify fixing the snow issue with money as well?