New York Islanders Will Have New Owners

This has been running around the rumor mill for the past few years. Many people where starting to wonder whether or not New York Islanders owner Charles Wang was going to sell his stake in the franchise. A lot of rumors went flying that he wasn't selling, then rumors came up that he was but there weren't too many options for buyers. Well now all of those rumors can be fully put to bed. Pending league approval, the Islanders have been sold, sort of. Approval of the sale has to come from the NHL, when they hold their annual governors meetings in December.

The Islanders released the following statement, explaining some of the details of the potential sale: The New York Islanders announced today that a group led by former Washington Capitals co-owner Jon Ledecky and London based investor Scott Malkin has reached a definitive agreement, subject to NHL approval, to purchase a substantial minority interest in the team. Under the terms of the agreement, Charles Wang will continue as majority shareholder and Governor of the Islanders, with the Ledecky/Malkin group transitioning to majority owner in two years. There will be no further comment until the NHL completes its franchise ownership transfer process (WFAN).

So now lets take a look at the timeline here that has lead to this deal coming down. Charles Wang bought the Islanders franchise along with former Computer Associates chief executive Sanjay Kumar, back in 2000. The duo payed $74.2 million and assuming $97 million in existing liabilities. Wang took over majority control in 2004 after legal issues came about with former partner Sanjay Kumar. In the time that Wang has owned the team, the Islanders have made the playoffs five times, but never made it out of the first round. Before Wang had the deal signed to move the Islanders to the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn, he tried his hardest to keep the team at Nassau Coliseum, eventually keeping the team physically on Long Island. Charles has done many good things for the Islanders franchise, such as bringing the team back to relevance at the turn of the century, keeping the Coliseum mostly in tact and the like. But at the same time, there have been decisions and moves made with Wang as owner, that have come under heavy criticism.

The two deals that people criticize Wang for the most were giving the ten year deal to, at the time he was signed, star center Alexei Yashin. Then he went out and gave a 15 year contract to goalie Rick DiPietro, and we all know how that move turned out for the team. Both deals would have looked like brilliant moves had they panned out the way the team hoped but alas they didn't.

To add more intrigue to the story, the sale of the team came after a controversial series of events involving Wang and the only previously publicly announced suitor, Andrew Barroway. The Philadelphia-area hedge fundmanager and attorney has said he had a handshake agreement with Wang to purchase the team for $420 million, and is now suing Wang for $10 million, claiming he backed out of the deal. So things are getting more and more interesting with this franchise by the moment.

Now as far as the new ownership goes, there's plenty to talk about. Ledecky was chairman of Lincoln Holdings from 1999-2001, which held interests in the Caps and the NBA’s Washington Wizards. Malkin is chairman of UK-based Value Retail, a syndicator of high-end European retail outlets (WFAN).

Now this could be a good thing for the Islanders. Don't get me wrong, Charles Wang did a lot to help get the team back into relevance in this league. But when he bought the franchise, he admitted that he knew little to nothing about hockey. He has learned as he has gone along as owner over the last almost fifteen years, but there are times where that inexperience has shown and has hurt the team. Now there is the potential for two hockey guys to come in and take control of a team, knowing exactly what they are doing.

Now I do want to thank Charles Wang for everything he has done to help bring pride back to long island in hockey. He has done so much to help bring the Islanders back to relevance. Now there will be some new blood injected into the franchise to bring life back to the team.