In one of my last articles, I talked about where I’d go if I had a time machine that was Islanders related. In this article, I will discuss three of the top changes I would make to Islanders history.

Get rid of Mike Milbury:

“Mad Mike” was a fitting name for the former general manager of the Islanders. Milbury was horrible at drafting and traded great players for breadcrumbs. For example, Milbury was responsible for trading Roberto Luongo, the pick that would be Jason Spezza, Zdeno Chara, Pierre Turgeon, Ziggy Plaffy and Todd Bertuzzi away. Combined, that group of players excluding Luongo would average 1050.5 games played and 931.25 points over their careers thus far.
Milbury’s trades and the team’s overall play under him would be enough to render him one of the worst general managers in the history of the league.
Getting rid of him as the general manager would have enormous positive effects in the history of the Islanders.

Prevent John Spano from buying the team:

John Spano brought shame and disgrace to the Islanders. Spano brought the team in October 1996, and after investigations into him and his dealings, he was convicted and arrested for fraud.
Spano lied about his overall worth and lied to the fans, the National Hockey League, banks and the world. He claimed that he worth millions of dollars, but in reality, he was not.
To make matters worse though, many Islanders fans thought of Spano as a hero who would keep the Islanders on Long Island.
By not letting Spano take control of the team, the Islanders would have saved themselves years of embarrassment.

Approve the Lighthouse Project

In 2011, the residents of Nassau County decided to vote against a proposed arena for the Islanders that was going to be funded by tax dollars. This had huge negative ramifications.
After Nassau County voted “no” to the new arena, the Islanders had no choice but to pursue a new arena elsewhere than Nassau.
The Islanders looked at a new arena in Brooklyn called the Barclays Center, and even considered other cities like Kansas City, where the Islanders played a pre-season game.
In 2012, the Islanders made an announcement that they’d move to Barclays Center for the 2015-16 season.
The Islanders tried to rebrand for their move to Brooklyn. They got rid of their “ice-Girls”, mascot (Sparky), and tried to even change their goal horn from the classic boat horn to a subway horn.
The move alienated most of the Islanders fanbase and was a monumental failure. If the Lighthouse Project was approved, the Islanders would have been in much better shape.

David Lazar