Islanders Make Move, No One Cares

Yesterday, the New York Islanders—that other hockey team here in the city—[signed talented, young defenseman] Chris Campoli to a three-year deal worth about $1.9 million. The 23-year-old Ontario native has 10 goals and 38 assists in 131 career games, all of which have been in an Islanders uniform. 

Of course it hardly matters since General Manager and [NHL Executive of the Year Garth Snow] failed to re-sign free agent All-Stars Ryan Smith and Jason Blake, important forwards Richard Zednik and Viktor Kozlov and defenseman Tom Poti—all of whom supplied major contributions just to sneak New York into the playoffs last season as the eighth seed.

Thankfully, Snow did [sign superstar Bill Guerin] two weeks ago, at which time he preached patience as he retooled the rest of the team via the free-agent market. But Campoli is the first move made since that declaration, despite the fact that other organizations continue to gobble up the available top-tier free agents. Luckily for Snow, no one in America gives a flying fuck about hockey, so the backlash has been minimal.