Quebec Fans Head To The Island

[Eddie_Shack]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/10/sports/hockey/10islanders.html?_r=1

An estimated 1,100 fans from Quebec are piling into chartered buses and heading to Nassau Coliseum for Saturday night’s game between the Islanders and the Atlanta Thrashers, intent on sending a message to N.H.L. Commissioner Gary Bettman: We want a team of our own.

Bettman has already chalked up the incident to be "a bunch of closeted Thrasher fans who can't afford to move to Atlanta".

 

[HonusWagner66]

That's gonna be a bitch at customs...

 

[mattola]

too bad its not like 5000 or more fans. can you imagine the sight of 5000 Nordique Jersies in the ISlanders building. my guess is Wang would be like.... we are moving to Quebec

 

[BOSSMANPC]

Well we know they will have at least 1100 fans at the game.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

On the Islanders fans message board it's basically paper bag nation. Snow did a short Q & A on ITV during which he said nothing. He won't trade any young core players, top prospects or draft picks for a quick fix. Really BARF, like we all didn't know that already. As expected fans are fed up. Why should any fan give their money to an owner that doesn't seeme to care??

Red Light Ricky was in rare form last night.

 

[dash]

Quebec City definitely needs a new arena, but while that is being built, they could still play games at Le Colisee (much like the Flames did at the old Stampede Corral while they were waiting for the Saddledome to be finished).

Of course, that was back in the early 80's when Bettman thought icing was the stuff you put on top of a cake.

 

[BOSSMANPC]

On the Islanders fans message board it's basically paper bag nation. Snow did a short Q & A on ITV during which he said nothing. He won't trade any young core players, top prospects or draft picks for a quick fix. Really BARF, like we all didn't know that already. As expected fans are fed up. Why should any fan give their money to an owner that doesn't seeme to care??

Red Light Ricky was in rare form last night.

I hope the Islanders get better. It's a shame a team with the tradition they have is so low right now. Much like the Oilers it's tough to see these two teams that were dynasties at one time and now bottom feeders.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

I hope the Islanders get better. It's a shame a team with the tradition they have is so low right now. Much like the Oilers it's tough to see these two teams that were dynasties at one time and now bottom feeders.

At least the Oilers have some players to be excited about. Hall, Eberle & Paajarvi. Right now Tavares is it. Bailey has 3G 3A in 6 games in Bridgeport. Okposo is out until at least mid January. What worries me the most is the way Wang has penny pinched the organization to the point it's ridiculous. The Islanders don't have an Assistant GM. Their scouting department is very small compared to the rest of the league. Yet Barf Snow continues to say he has absolutely no financial restraints.

There's a right way & a wrong way to do a rebuild. The Oilers have a bunch of young players playing with some guys who've been around the league for awhile.

The Islanders have some young players playing with a bunch of guys who are lucky to be in the league.

I guess it could be worse. The Isles could have chosen the route Burke has taken with the Leafs.

 

[BlueandWhiteForever]

At least the Oilers have some players to be excited about. Hall, Eberle & Paajarvi. Right now Tavares is it. Bailey has 3G 3A in 6 games in Bridgeport. Okposo is out until at least mid January. What worries me the most is the way Wang has penny pinched the organization to the point it's ridiculous. The Islanders don't have an Assistant GM. Their scouting department is very small compared to the rest of the league. Yet Barf Snow continues to say he has absolutely no financial restraints.

There's a right way & a wrong way to do a rebuild. The Oilers have a bunch of young players playing with some guys who've been around the league for awhile.

The Islanders have some young players playing with a bunch of guys who are lucky to be in the league.

I guess it could be worse. The Isles could have chosen the route Burke has taken with the Leafs.

Knew it come back to the Leafs eventually. In defense of Burke, the Leaf organization was left in ruins after Hurricane Ferguson destroyed it. Not even a guy like Brian can turn it around in a few years.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

Knew it come back to the Leafs eventually. In defense of Burke, the Leaf organization was left in ruins after Hurricane Ferguson destroyed it. Not even a guy like Brian can turn it around in a few years.

but hes done a good job throwing gas on the fire with that Kessel deal

 

[beantownmaniac]

Quebec City definitely needs a new arena, but while that is being built, they could still play games at Le Colisee (much like the Flames did at the old Stampede Corral while they were waiting for the Saddledome to be finished).

Of course, that was back in the early 80's when Bettman thought icing was the stuff you put on top of a cake.

That's funny, LOL. I agree 100%. I used to love the games against Quebec. They were a great division rival.

 

[BlueandWhiteForever]

but hes done a good job throwing gas on the fire with that Kessel deal

Not convinced of that yet. I mean would the Leafs really be any better of a team this year with Seguin in their lineup as opposed to Kessel? We still don't know how good of a player either of them will be yet as they are both still young. I attribute Phil's struggles to the fact he has absolutely nothing around him to play with. Scoring wingers like him need good setup centres which the Leafs have none of.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

Not convinced of that yet. I mean would the Leafs really be any better of a team this year with Seguin in their lineup as opposed to Kessel? We still don't know how good of a player either of them will be yet as they are both still young. I attribute Phil's struggles to the fact he has absolutely nothing around him to play with. Scoring wingers like him need good setup centres which the Leafs have none of.

The Leafs biggest need is at Center. Burke has been trying to acquire a center but I guess it's hard to make trades right now because of the salary cap.

 

[dash]

The 1100 fans boosted the official attendance to just over 10,000 patrons...

 

[Comeds]

They were noisy too

 

[dash]

They were noisy too

And the majority of them had adult beverages

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

Actually the Nordiques fans were great. They cheered for the Islanders all game long. They saw the Islanders take a 2-1 lead into the 3rd period lose the lead, come back & then blow it in the end because Red Light Ricky was between the pipes.