What the Belmont Park news means for the Montreal Canadiens
By Omar L
The New York Islanders are set to build a new arena at Belmont Park which could be bad news for the Montreal Canadiens when it comes to John Tavares.
You’ve probably heard of a nice little spot called Barclays Center. The New York Islanders have been playing the there since the beginning of the 2015-16 season in place of Nassau Coliseum which was their home for 43 years. The transition had the Islanders move from playing on Long Island to downtown Brooklyn which hasn’t had the results the organization anticipated. As harsh as it sounds, many teams, including the Montreal Canadiens were planning on taking advantage of the bad rep Barclays Center wrapped up for itself.
The complaints about the new arena, however, have come from both fans and players. One of the most commonly brought up issue by fans was the 1500 obstructed seats that made it difficult to take in everyone going on during the game. Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark spoke with Sports Illustrated last year mentioning that fans in these seats could watch the game on their phones or the scoreboard.
All that in combination with the fact that the team wasn’t playing well were bad signs for John Tavares. The popular belief was that if anything was going to push him from leaving in the summer of 2018, it would be the arena.
Fast forward a year, and the Islanders got the green light to build a new arena at Belmont Park. What does that have to do with the Habs? Blaine Potvin summed it up pretty well on Twitter:
For anyone thinking Tavares would test the UFA market this decision almost 100% guarantees Tavares stays on Long Island. #Habs fans that hoped he'd sign in Montreal, will need to focus elsewhere @AllHabs @HabsUnfiltered https://t.co/HvRDciFUIN
— Blain (@BlainPotvin_THW) December 19, 2017
He’s not wrong. No player wants to be part of a gong show for the remainder of their career. What Tavares valued as well as the chance to win and get paid fair value was a consistent plan for the future. Not only in terms of player personnel but where the team will be performing every night.
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As much as we were all dreaming of what Tavares would look like in a Habs jersey, it was still up in the air whether the 28-year-old would hit free agency in the first place. Now that this is done, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him either sign as soon as the season is done or pull a Steven Stamkos and still decide to meet with teams. Montreal could have a chance then, but the Islanders definitely have his favour, more so than before.
Keep in mind these are all guesses and assumptions. For all, we know the new arena couldn’t mean much to Tavares, but that’s wishful thinking. It’ll be interesting to see how the mood around the Islanders changes after this announcement.
For now, it might be the ‘safer’ option to draw our attention to other players in the upcoming free agent class.
Next: Tavares' Link to the Habs
Do you think this will impact Tavares’ decision to hit free agency? If he decides to talk to teams still, do the Montreal Canadiens have a chance? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.