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Charles Wang is the owner of the New York Islanders, a team you may have heard of at some point in the early 1980s. Since winning four straight Stanley Cup championships in that decade, however, the Isles have been a franchise toiling in futility. They haven't sniffed the playoffs since the early 00s haven't been a respectable team in several years, and there have even been threats that the team could move from Long Island due to.. well, lots of problems.
With all these problems, Wang needs some money. Playoffs bring in the dollars, of course, so Wang is going to some pretty creative lengths to get his team back to the promised land.
His proposal was to have the teams that finish eight through 15 in each conference play a week-long tournament to decide the eighth-place finisher. Never mind that 82-game regular season -- that was just a prelim.
The No. 8 team, the team that actually earned a playoff spot, would have to win it again, starting with the No. 15 seed and working back through the field -- No. 9 vs. No. 14, No. 10 vs. No. 13 and the always intriguing No. 11 vs. No. 12.
Crazy, right? Maybe Wang should just focus on putting a competitive team on the ice that can crack the top eight the first time around.
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Selective memory?
I can understand how you might wipe 2006-07 from your memory since the Flyers bottomed out that year, but what also happened that year was an Islanders playoff appearance (fourth time in five seasons) — even if a mere 36 more points than Der Flyers amassed was a modest achievement.
As for Wang’s idea, I hate it, but I think it has nothing to do with the fact he owns a team that’s on a two- (soon to be three-) season playoff drought. It’s just Wang. He’s a bit wacky.
Lighthouse Hockey: What's wrong with lotteries? I've been in lots of lotteries.
by Dominik Jansky on Mar 14, 2010 2:51 PM EDT reply actions
Heh, fair enough. My mistake.
Regardless, most of the post is hyperbole with the purpose of highlighting the absurdity of Wang’s idea.
Broad Street Hockey - SB Nation's Philadelphia Flyers Blog. Makin' it look mean since 1967.
by Travis Hughes on Mar 14, 2010 4:16 PM EDT up reply actions
Oh, I know — just giving you some trouble back. Wang’s play-in idea made me ill, but I’m sort of numb to his outside-the-box(!) ideas by now. As long as they’re confined to GM brainstorming sessions, I guess I can live with that.
Lighthouse Hockey: What's wrong with lotteries? I've been in lots of lotteries.
by Dominik Jansky on Mar 14, 2010 4:25 PM EDT up reply actions
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