Newsday: Arthur Staple Islanders Mailbag 1/6/18

[MJF]

Staple: Isles staying the course with Snow — for now

Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky declined to comment on any hockey operations matters without knowing what questions Newsday wanted to ask.

If Staple is reporting this accurately this is very troubling. I was at the July 2016 meet and greet Ledecky and the Islanders held at Barclays Center and Ledecky only answered questions submitted (screened) before the presentation began. His statement to the fans that night about hockey ops is that he does not get involved in it, which I believe is nonsense because it was allegedly at his urging that Jack Capuano was fired last year.

Jon Ledecky so far has done things right so far regarding Belmont and the practice rink at Eisenhower Park, but for him to punt the football on questions regarding Garth Snow and Snow rarely addressing the media, Ledecky is dead wrong. It just continues the trash fires that surround this team instead of stomping them out as they flare up.

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[CupHolders]

I don’t know... I took that statement as a positive. As in it was a canned statement to avoid directly supporting management. Was there more said by Ledecky that unequivocally supported Hockey Ops?

 

[Frankie41987]

Staple: Isles staying the course with Snow — for now



If Staple is reporting this accurately this is very troubling. I was at the July 2016 meet and greet Ledecky and the Islanders held at Barclays Center and Ledecky only answered questions submitted (screened) before the presentation began. His statement to the fans that night about hockey ops is that he does not get involved in it, which I believe is nonsense because it was allegedly at his urging that Jack Capuano was fired last year.

Jon Ledecky so far has done things right so far regarding Belmont and the practice rink at Eisenhower Park, but for him to punt the football on questions regarding Garth Snow and Snow rarely addressing the media, Ledecky is dead wrong. It just continues the trash fires that surround this team instead of stomping them out as they flare up.

Where did you hear this from? I have never heard that

 

[CREW99AW]

The rumor among fans, was that Wang had gifted Snow a ridiculous 10 year extension before selling the team.

Staple's article says Snow's deal has 5 yrs left.A lot of years, but not nearly as bad as 10 yrs.

If the isles miss the playoffs , I do not see how the owners can bring back Snow who has had so little success in his 12 year run.

 

[MJF]

I don’t know... I took that statement as a positive. As in it was a canned statement to avoid directly supporting management. Was there more said by Ledecky that unequivocally supported Hockey Ops?

I took this to mean that Ledecky won't answer any questions candidly. I would rather see him agree to an interview with Staple and have Ledecky answer "no comment" than only take questions he screened.

 

[MJF]

Where did you hear this from? I have never heard that

That has been suggested on social media. I tend to believe it.

 

[sabremike]

Ownership only agreeing to answer staged questions is a VERY bad sign IMO. That indicates that they don't want to be honest with the public.

 

[Isles1966]

The rumor among fans, was that Wang had gifted Snow a ridiculous 10 year extension before selling the team.

Staple's article says Snow's deal has 5 yrs left.A lot of years, but not nearly as bad as 10 yrs.

If the isles miss the playoffs , I do not see how the owners can bring back Snow who has had so little success in his 12 year run.

With the new building, maybe the owners could place Snow with the big job of looking after the logistics on that. Then bring in A guy like Lombardi to look after hockey operations. Keep Snow dealing with the building til his contract runs out.

 

[YearlyLottery]

Ownership only agreeing to answer staged questions is a VERY bad sign IMO. That indicates that they don't want to be honest with the public.

Meh, that fact that I was able to walk up to Ledecky in the Buffalo game and introduce myself screams the exact opposite of this post. He doesn't want to be asked the inevitable question about Snow and Weight and then lie to us that he is keeping them both.

Give these guys a little while, at least let's see what happens during the bye week.

 

[CREW99AW]

With the new building, maybe the owners could place Snow with the big job of looking after the logistics on that. Then bring in A guy like Lombardi to look after hockey operations. Keep Snow dealing with the building til his contract runs out.

Flyers hired Lombardi. Not sure if he is even available unless it is to join another team as GM .

 

[Satan'sIsland81]

Meh, that fact that I was able to walk up to Ledecky in the Buffalo game and introduce myself screams the exact opposite of this post. He doesn't want to be asked the inevitable question about Snow and Weight and then lie to us that he is keeping them both.

Give these guys a little while, at least let's see what happens during the bye week.

I guarantee you Ledecky will not be as visible and accessible if these losing keeps up. Of course he was out there with smiles and handshakes, riding the LIRR with fans when the team was 1 point from first place.

 

[Satan'sIsland81]

The rumor among fans, was that Wang had gifted Snow a ridiculous 10 year extension before selling the team.

Staple's article says Snow's deal has 5 yrs left.A lot of years, but not nearly as bad as 10 yrs.

If the isles miss the playoffs , I do not see how the owners can bring back Snow who has had so little success in his 12 year run.

He should be gone anyway. But if they miss the playoffs this year, with a nearly max cap payroll (filled by 4th liners and AHL dmen being given extensions), I do not see how he can be brought back. How do you allow a GM who has had 12 years and has made the playoffs four times, with a single playoff series victory, to begin what will likely be another rebuild. The arena will be empty next year. If the roster is a shell of itself and Snow is back, there will be 5-7,000 people there next year at Barclays. If Ledecky thinks this is the way to build up momentum heading into the new arena, he will be sadly mistaken.

 

[sabremike]

Meh, that fact that I was able to walk up to Ledecky in the Buffalo game and introduce myself screams the exact opposite of this post. He doesn't want to be asked the inevitable question about Snow and Weight and then lie to us that he is keeping them both.

Give these guys a little while, at least let's see what happens during the bye week.

Who says he would be lying if he said he was keeping them both? Isn't it possible that he knows just how unpopular that answer would be and doesn't want to have to give it?

 

[MJF]

Meh, that fact that I was able to walk up to Ledecky in the Buffalo game and introduce myself screams the exact opposite of this post. He doesn't want to be asked the inevitable question about Snow and Weight and then lie to us that he is keeping them both.

Give these guys a little while, at least let's see what happens during the bye week.

Then continue to supports Snow publicly and fire him when when he’s ready to, or say no comment. But only answering pre-submitted questions is a bad optic.

 

[YearlyLottery]

I guarantee you Ledecky will not be as visible and accessible if these losing keeps up. Of course he was out there with smiles and handshakes, riding the LIRR with fans when the team was 1 point from first place.

Sure, but once again that is a clear stretch by you. They weren't good last year and you still always saw him as well.

Who says he would be lying if he said he was keeping them both? Isn't it possible that he knows just how unpopular that answer would be and doesn't want to have to give it?

I suppose it is popular he is keeping Snow and that he knows the backlash he will receive. That being said, why would you believe that with all the people they interview and talked to about positions within the org last year.

Then continue to supports Snow publicly and fire him when when he’s ready to, or say no comment. But only answering pre-submitted questions is a bad optic.

What is the point of supporting him publicly when you do not do so privately? One can make the argument that would be lying to the fanbase even more.

Answering pre submitted questions is a bad optic, but I am willing to give these guys some leeway as of now. We have not seen if they are doing anything during the bye week, and we have not seen how they react to not making the playoffs in back to back years. Let's give them some time.

 

[CREW99AW]

Sure, but once again that is a clear stretch by you. They weren't good last year and you still always saw him as well.



I suppose it is popular he is keeping Snow and that he knows the backlash he will receive. That being said, why would you believe that with all the people they interview and talked to about positions within the org last year.



What is the point of supporting him publicly when you do not do so privately? One can make the argument that would be lying to the fanbase even more.

Answering pre submitted questions is a bad optic, but I am willing to give these guys some leeway as of now. We have not seen if they are doing anything during the bye week, and we have not seen how they react to not making the playoffs in back to back years. Let's give them some time.

Snow holds both the GM job and team President job.I was surprised the new owners did not hire a new team President last season.
Snow,with the lack of on ice success during his 12 years, should not hold that much front office power.

 

[majormet]

Snow holds both the GM job and team President job.I was surprised the new owners did not hire a new team President last season.
Snow,with the lack of on ice success during his 12 years, should not hold that much front office power.

I am going to bet that Trottier becomes the team President in the off season

 

[buud]

i'm guessing that the owners know more than us. they know what conditions Snow was working under, and if they give him the benefit of the doubt, then i can accept it for a while. i mean, last year was the 1st time that we were at cap max, for as long as i can remember. really, Snow had an excuse for underachieving, when Wang was here. but now, the pressure is on, and i think the new owners will hold him accountable.

i don't know why, but i can see Snow moving to president, Weight to GM, and Richardson moving to head coach position, by next year.

 

[periferal]

Ownership only agreeing to answer staged questions is a VERY bad sign IMO. That indicates that they don't want to be honest with the public.

In sports/business, normally I'd agree, but I met Ledecky at the Isles/Red Wings game as I sat right in front of his box. Not only is he very approachable with many fans walking up to him and him reciprocating conversation, late in the game he was walking up the aisle and someone yelled out, "Jon - We ned a goalie!" and he immediately replied in front of everyone, "Boy do we."

There are lots of reasons why owners would want to control information coming from their team. It just happens to be a very sensitive time right now with Belmont needing to be finalized, Tavares needing to be resigned, wang still in the picture (who knows about that dynamic), etc.

If snow comes back next year than either L&M don't know what they're doing or something else much more complex is going on behind the scenes.

 

[periferal]

i'm guessing that the owners know more than us. they know what conditions Snow was working under, and if they give him the benefit of the doubt, then i can accept it for a while. i mean, last year was the 1st time that we were at cap max, for as long as i can remember. really, Snow had an excuse for underachieving, when Wang was here. but now, the pressure is on, and i think the new owners will hold him accountable.

i don't know why, but i can see Snow moving to president, Weight to GM, and Richardson moving to head coach position, by next year.

There are only two things:

Results and excuses.

 

[Bood12]

how could Snow want to stay on, if JT walks and Snow is in charge of re-building, how could he even want to do that, has been the GM since 2006 and has 1 playoff series win to show for it, at some point you have to swallow your pride and resign

 

[JeffNYI]

Staple: Isles staying the course with Snow — for now



If Staple is reporting this accurately this is very troubling. I was at the July 2016 meet and greet Ledecky and the Islanders held at Barclays Center and Ledecky only answered questions submitted (screened) before the presentation began. His statement to the fans that night about hockey ops is that he does not get involved in it, which I believe is nonsense because it was allegedly at his urging that Jack Capuano was fired last year.

Jon Ledecky so far has done things right so far regarding Belmont and the practice rink at Eisenhower Park, but for him to punt the football on questions regarding Garth Snow and Snow rarely addressing the media, Ledecky is dead wrong. It just continues the trash fires that surround this team instead of stomping them out as they flare up.

I took this to mean that hockey ops matters isn't what he wants to speak to.

So if you want to ask him on-ice questions, he wants them in advance so he can confer with Snow/Weight before answering -- if he answers at all, or he can punt the question to Snow.

I actually think it's a GOOD thing he didn't want to start being a mouthpiece for the hockey side.

 

[MJF]

I took this to mean that hockey ops matters isn't what he wants to speak to.

So if you want to ask him on-ice questions, he wants them in advance so he can confer with Snow/Weight before answering -- if he answers at all, or he can punt the question to Snow.

I actually think it's a GOOD thing he didn't want to start being a mouthpiece for the hockey side.

It’s Ledecky’s team. He should answer questions candidly about all aspects of the team rather than telling a reporter he’ll only answer pre-submitted questions. There’s a better way for him to handle this.

 

[PK Cronin]

I just take it that he doesn't want to put his foot in his mouth and causing trouble with an answer. That's completely reasonable. There are a lot of businesses that won't answer questions like that.

 

[macleod50]

I just take it that he doesn't want to put his foot in his mouth and causing trouble with an answer. That's completely reasonable. There are a lot of businesses that won't answer questions like that.

Exactly. I'm fine with an owner who doesn't want to shoot his mouth off. He tells the fanbase "ohh we're actively looking for a goaltender." Fans misconstrue everything (ie. Tavares body language). The team doesn't get a goalie at or before the deadline? "YOU SAID WE WERE GETTING A GOALIE!!!" :RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE: