Kukla's Korner Hockey

They Wouldn’t, Would They?
by Jon Jordan on 11/17/10 at 03:58 PM ET
Comments (10)
From Chris Botta, of Islanders Point Blank:
Due to circumstances currently beyond my control, Point Blank will be closed indefinitely starting today at 4:00 pm. Could be for a few days or longer. I do not know, but will keep you posted. Thank you for the support always, and for hanging in.
This, after Botta was critical but fair of both the firing of head coach Scott Gordon as well as the general direction of the franchise, in blog posts and in what he counted as 11 broadcast interviews he did via various outlets after the news broke.
This, after Botta posted on Twitter that he was not so much as furnished the information for GM Garth Snow’s conference call, despite being one of exactly two reporters at Islanders practice.
This, after Botta had long since made it known that Snow has refused to grant him an interview for quite some time.
Even the Islanders wouldn’t…
Would they?
JJ
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Filed in: NHL Teams, New York Islanders, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: chris+botta,
garth+snow,
scott+gordon
Comments

Methinks they “lost it” looooooooong ago.
JJ
Posted by Jon Jordan from Tampa, FL on 11/17/10 at 04:14 PM ET

It seemed like a lot of “people around the league” were high on Scott Gordon and thought he could be a really good coach for a long time.
If that is actually true, and wasn’t just the media fluffing the guy, I’d have to think he’ll land on his feet soon enough with a functional organization, again proving that the problems on Long Island have everything to do with ownership and talent, and nothing to do with coaching.
Posted by Nathan from the scoresheet! on 11/17/10 at 04:35 PM ET

urgh… Islanders seeing more like a communist machine every day
Posted by Pharazon from England on 11/17/10 at 04:36 PM ET

(not from the commenters, but from the situation on Long Island and the blog shutdown)
Posted by Alan from Atlanta on 11/17/10 at 06:03 PM ET

Living on the Island, I thought Gordon was doing a great job. Wang has lost touch with this whole Lighthouse/arena situation. And who hires a mediocre goalie as a GM?!
Posted by pensfan29 on 11/17/10 at 07:37 PM ET

For what it’s worth, Chris Botta’s islanderspointblank.com has not been officially affiliated with the Islanders organization for a few years now. It’s recently been sponsored by (and subsequently listed on) SNY-TV’s website—the local NY Mets station. The Isles have no affiliation with them whatsoever, so I’d be hard pressed to believe they’d have any pull in shutting down his site.
One thing is certain out here on the Island for fans of this sorry franchise: management has grown increasingly paranoid and taken on a bunker mentality—which is good for no one.
Posted by James on 11/18/10 at 12:35 AM ET

Well, they did indeed… Or at least they pulled Botta’s credentials.
Still not sure how they could have gagged him to the point where NYI PB is still inactive but I’d guess Wang flexed some political muscles, having friends tied directly to SNY - the site’s main sponsor.
We’ll find out in time… And I’ll spread whatever word I get if and when I can.
Shameful.
JJ
Posted by Jon Jordan from Tampa, FL on 11/18/10 at 10:44 AM ET
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But they did. They’re losing it over there.
Posted by SYF from impossible and oddly communally possessive sluts on 11/17/10 at 04:05 PM ET