Islanders 2 Hurricanes 1
Taking the anti-Steinbrenner approach to owning a pro team, Charles Wang has mostly kept his distance from the Islanders this season.
But with his downhearted club struggling amid uncertainty about the futures of Mike Milbury and Butch Goring, Wang held a heart-to-heart one-hour, 15-minute meeting with the players yesterday morning in a conference room at the Coliseum.
Neither Milbury nor any of the coaches were present at the meeting, which was held in lieu of the team’s morning skate.
Wang, who along with Sanjay Kumar purchased the club in April for $187.5 million, was said to have an uplifting give-and-take with the last-place team. Apparently, Wang’s words proved inspiring for the Isles, who went on last night to twist the Hurricanes 2-1 before a few loyal friends and family members at the Coliseum.
“In my 20 years of playing, I’ve never seen an owner come in and care as much,” said goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck, who preserved the win by turning back a Ron Francis door-step shot in the final minutes.
With their fourth victory in their last 19 games (4-12-2-1), the Isles improved to 10-16-4-2 as they began their seven-game homestand in style.
Rookie Taylor Pyatt continued to show progress by scoring the game-winner for the Isles 2:21 into the third period. And Mark Lawrence, who was playing his third game since being called up from Chicago of the IHL, scored on the power play in the second period to tie the game at 1-1. The Isles have now scored six PP goals in their last six games, a noticeable improvement from earlier in the season.
With his club’s stirring performance last night, Goring jokingly said that Wang should regularly hold pre-game meetings with his team.
“I don’t know what the owner said but I certainly like the way we played tonight,” Goring said. “So for me, Charles can go in every game now and he can do it. I’d be happy to stand behind the bench.”
Though players were tight-lipped about details of the mostly lighthearted meeting, many felt uplifted by the owner’s appearance.
“He proves he wants this team to win,” Mark Parrish said. “He just wanted the players’ opinions. We have an owner that’s hands on.”
Wang, who didn’t want yesterday’s meeting made public, was believed to have said that neither Milbury nor Goring was on the verge of being fired. It was also thought he assured the players he was a patient owner, who was not about to make any drastic roster changes.
Wang, the chairman of Computer Associates, was unavailable for comment yesterday.
“It was a positive meeting,” Claude Lapointe said. “That’s the only way I can describe it.”
Said Mariusz Czerkawski, “He’s a great guy to be around. He makes you feel very comfortable.”
Wang’s meeting came one day after he met with Milbury and Goring at the Coliseum. In that visit, Wang was said to offer his support to both of his beleaguered employees. Still, the Isles’ ownership, as reported by The Post yesterday, has made contact with Panthers president and former Isles GM Bill Torrey about returning to the Isles to help fix the mess.
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D Kenny Jonsson left the game in the second period after suffering a sprained left knee when he was crunched into the boards by Jeff O’Neill. He will be re-evaluated today.