BUFFALO – It was in September that Nassau County Executive Thomas Gulotta called Howard Milstein and Steven Gluckstern “pigs at the trough” after the team evicted itself from the Coliseum in an attempt to break its lease.
Now, it appears as though this ownership’s gluttonous appetite has all but killed the trade of Zigmund Palffy to the Rangers. It appears as though a list of demands first presented tothe Garden’s Cablevision ownership during a Friday night meeting – “a laundry list,” according to one well-placed individual – included so many untenable items that Ranger ownership is about to wash its hands of the deal.
Washing one’s hands is a pretty good idea after coming into contact with swine.
The Post has learned that Milstein and Gluckstern demanded that Cablevision evade the $2.5 million cash ceiling in player trades previously imposed by Gary Bettman by dramatically increasing the rights fees it pays to televise Islander games. The Islanders currently receive between $13 and $14 million annually on a contract that has more than a dozen years remaining. The contract is among the most lucrative in the NHL.
It has been suggested to The Post by individuals within both organizations that Milstein and Gluckstern demanded that Cablevision form a partnership with the Islanders for the purpose of financing a new arena, and not necessarily within Nassau County. It has been suggested that the Islanders intended to use this partnership to blackmail the county into building an arena, or risk losing the team to either Queens or Suffolk County.
Executives from both organizations denied comment on these developments, as well as the status of the trade, whose player components had been agreed to on Friday by general managers Neil Smith and Mike Milbury. The deal would have sent Todd Harvey, Niklas Sundstrom, the 11th overall pick in this year’s draft and minor leaguer Patrick Leahy to the Islanders for Palffy and Rich Pilon.
Now, though, it seems more likely than not that the Islanders will instead attempt to send Palffy to the Kings in exchange for the eighth-overall selection in this year’s draft and prospects Mathieu Biron, Scott Barney and Josh Green. The Islanders, however, are also insisting that the Kings accept forward Brian Smolinski as part of the deal while receiving a marginal player such as Matt Johnson in return. Isles forward Mike Watt may also be included in the deal.
There is doubt, however, whether the NHL would approve a deal of Palffy to L.A. for a bundle of prospects, not one necessarily a blue-chipper, not one who projects into the lineup as a regular this season. Biron is a 6-6 defenseman drafted 21st overall last year, Barney a 6-4 center selected 29th overall in 1997, and Green a 6-4 winger drafted 30th overall in 1966 who scored one goal in 27 games with the Kings last year.
NHL VP Colin Campbell, who will rule on any Palffy deal, met separately yesterday with both Smith and Milbury, and Milbury was seen in a side meeting with Kings general manager Dave Taylor.
While Milbury addressed issues at least tangentially in speaking to the media, Smith yesterday had very little of substance to say.
Not only does it now appear as if he will not have Palffy on his team, he will have to deal with issues concerning Harvey and Sundstrom, players who know that the Rangers already agreed to trade them.
“Really there’s nothing to say; nothing,” he said. “The only thing I can say concerning all the other issues involving conspiracy theories and television ratings is that I wouldn’t want to be a party to a trade clearly circumventing the integrity of the league.
“No general manager would.”
Smith is absolutely correct. No general manager would be a party to such a sordid activity. Sadly, that does not hold for all owners.
Especially those who dine at the trough. *NHL general managers voted 17-6 with five abstentions to eliminate video review of crease violations while returning to the no-harm, no-foul rule that had been in place prior to the 1996-97 season. The Board of Governors will decide the issue, perhaps as early as Monday.
E.J. McGuire will not return as coach of the AHL Hartford Wolf Pack. John Paddock, who had been the Rangers’ director of pro scouting, will coach the team … The Rangers will try to trade Christian Dube within the next week. Failing that, they will expose him in the June 25 expansion draft to stock Atlanta.