Islanders have no idea where home is for playoffs

BOSTON — It’s hard to exactly feel bad for the Islanders, as their situation is a making of their own past. So even with the fact that they are back on stable ground, from the top of ownership to the bottom of the on-ice product, the shockwave from decades of business failure still has not subsided.

That is why the NHL office, specifically the office of commissioner Gary Bettman, will be deciding where they might play home playoff games, The Backcheck has learned. The decision still has not been made, and won’t be until it’s necessary.

So there is no rush to make a declaration now and upset the fanbase. Because of course the fans want the games at the Coliseum, where the team has a distinct home-ice advantage. But of course the league wants the games at Barclays Center, where the potential for profits multiply substantially.

It’s a decision between money and competitiveness. We know how that turns out.

“When it’s time to make that decision, I’m sure we will be in contact with all relevant parties,” deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in an email, “and a decision will be made that takes into account all of the relevant considerations.”

Of course, this is assuming the team doesn’t fall off the map and miss the postseason — still entirely possible, if improbable. It has surely been an impressive run, winning 13 of 16 and in position to overtake first place in the Metropolitan Division with a win in Barry Trotz’s return to Washington on Friday night, plus a Blue Jackets regulation loss at home against the Canadiens.

Upon the team’s first game back at the Coliseum on Dec. 1, Trotz said he thought the environment was worth 12 points over the course of the season. That’s a huge number, but he’s not wrong in saying it’s worth something. And that something would be amplified in the playoffs.

But there are about 10 suites in the whole building, and maybe half of that number for sale on a nightly basis. (It’s worth restating over and over again that it’s almost impossible to think where $170 million went during the renovation that put lipstick on a pig.) At Barclays, there are about 100 suites on two levels. Ballpark, let’s say they’re $10,000 each per game. That’s $1 million. Is the league going to just toss out at least $2 million (at least two home games), especially when they take a far larger cut of postseason gate receipts than they do in the regular season?

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As for the Islanders themselves, they are trying to treat the situation like it doesn’t exist. Under the stewardship of team president Lou Lamoriello, the only official declaration is that they are focusing on getting to the playoffs before even thinking about where those games will be.

Maybe not Lamoriello, but some in the organization are old hand at this game of home-ice musical chairs. When the late Charles Wang bought the team in 2000 after watching one hockey game in his life, he wanted to privately fund a $1 billion project for the property of the Coliseum, and he called it the Lighthouse. First, it was stopped by negligent politicians who wouldn’t even give Wang any guidelines for what they might approve. They just said no. After years of banging his head against the political wall, it eventually came to a vote in 2011 for publicly funding a portion (about $400 million) of a new arena. That’s when the residents of Nassau County showed their own shortsightedness and voted it down.

By 2015, the team was playing at Barclays Center, a horribly ill-fitted arena and management company. Wang could never complete his dream, and his team became squatters.

Now, there are a handful of loud residents trying to undercut the plans for a new arena at Belmont Park. If 50, or even 100, people show up and scream bloody murder about traffic — or scream only to make sure that their union gets the building job — then they could drown out the quieter majority who understand how financially beneficial it would be for the area. If your house value went up, say, 15 percent; or you started a successful business in the area; or there was more tax revenue for your town to spend on whatever it wanted; would you take congestion for a few hours a night on 41 or so nights a year?

Of course there are logistical issues to iron out. The biggest is making sure emergency vehicles can operate without restriction. But like anything else, that can be figured out.

Because it’s not worth losing another building project. The result is what we’re seeing now, with the league deciding between money and competitiveness. Again, we know how that turns out. The fans lose every time.

International nothing

Let’s make something clear — the league canceled any chance of the World Cup of Hockey in 2020, just like it canceled player participation in the Olympics. It’s nice that the league and the Players’ Association are having discussions this early, but telling the players they can only have the World Cup if they agree not to open up the CBA in September was always going to end this way.

It sets a tone for the next few months of discussions that will lead up to the PA deciding to get back into the CBA, which could very well lead to another Owners’ Lockout for the 2021-22 season. The players have very little to concede and quite a bit they want, but it sure looks like the league isn’t ready to play nice just yet. No surprise.

Flip this talent

Makes you wonder when a player with a lot of talent gets traded numerous times, huh? We’re looking at you, Michael Del Zotto, who was traded from the Canucks to the running-in-place Ducks in exchange for Luke Schenn and a 2020 seventh-round pick. Boy, that Rookie of the Month with the Rangers in 2009 — 12 points in his first 14 professional games — seems like a long time ago.

Then there is Derick Brassard, aka Big Game Brass, who might be on the move again from Pittsburgh. And Nino Niederreiter, who the Islanders took with the No. 5-overall pick in 2010 and who had one of the strangest-ever stat lines — zero assist in 55 games in 2011-12 — getting sent from the Wild to the Hurricanes for Victor Rask.

Iggy Pop

I think every fan has a few players that they seemed to like more than anyone else does. One of those for me was Jarome Iginla, who retired in 2018 after a 20-year career with 625 goals and an even 1,300 points. Despite final short tours with the Penguins, Bruins, Avalanche and Kings, he will always be a Flame in my mind, where he spent the first 16 years of his soon-to-be Hall of Fame career.

Calgary is doing the right thing and sending his No. 12 jersey to the Saddledome rafters on March 2. That tough, two-way game, with a wicked shot and knack for scoring, is a prototype that not many can live up to.

Stay tuned . . . (to the Sabres)

Our fine northern brethren retained their weekly update here only because of one bizarre achievement. In Calgary on Thursday night, they had only two shots on goal in the third period and scored on them both. Then Jack Eichel scored this gorgeous game-winner.

The squad is still leaking oil, having lost three in a row before the miraculous win against the Flames. The Sabres are now 24-17-6 and two points out of the second wild-card. Irrelevancy nears yet again …

Parting shot

The stadium engagement is deplorable, and the chance of this happening is only part of the reason why.