NHL

Islanders 2011 in Review

New arena shot down

With the Nassau Coliseum coming up on its 40th year — and looking worse for the wear — owner Charles Wang spent years trying to privately finance a new arena, each plan getting shot down by the county legislators. The end result was County Executive Ed Mangano asking to borrow $400 million from the taxpayers to fund a new arena, which was voted down on Aug. 1 with about 56 percent of the small 100,000-person turnout voting no. Now the franchise’s future is in limbo, as their lease at the Coliseum ending in 2015 and there being no plan to stay there one second longer than they have to.

Free agents still say no

With the outdated facilities and a dim snapshot of Long Island for visiting players, free agents continue to turn down the opportunity (and substantial money) to come play for the Islanders. Veteran goalie Evgeni Nabokov chose not to report after being claimed off waivers last season (although he decided to play with them this season) and defenseman Christian Ehrhoff refused to sign last season and forced the team to trade his rights to the Sabres.

Tavares is committed

John Tavares was the No. 1 overall pick in 2009, but his star didn’t rise as quickly as some would have guessed in his first two seasons. With his entry-level contract about to come up this offseason, he rededicated himself to Long Island, signing a six-year, $33 million contract. If he left, as many pundits (mostly Canadian) were expecting, it would have been devastating.

Coach Cap & the Core Corps

Last November, Scott Gordon was fired and Jack Capuano took over as head coach. Capuano turned the team from a laughing stock into a tough matchup, going 25-21-8 after Dec. 15. Although they missed the playoffs for the fourth straight year (they haven’t won a playoff series since 1993), the future could be bright with long-term contracts signed by Tavares, Kyle Okposo, Michael Grabner and Matt Moulson.

Never-ending saga of DiPietro

Franchise goalie Rick DiPietro came into this season having played 39 games total over the past three years due to an assortment of injuries, and still had 10 years left on his seminal 15-year contract. Splitting time with Nabokov (considered to be trade bait) and Al Montoya and several youngsters, DiPietro continues to suffer through injuries. As of Dec. 27, he had played in eight games this season and his nameplate no longer was hanging in the Coliseum locker room.