NHL News: Islanders Vote - Referendum Voted Down

The news that we never thought we would hear in a our lifetimes, "Will the Islanders be leaving Long Island?". The unthinkable has indeed happened, the Nassau Coliseum Referendum has officially been voted down.

As it stands right now, the votes counts are at 33,526 (No) to 24,553 (Yes). Election officials stated that this was a very low turnout for this un-expected election.

As a result of the vote failing, Nassau County and the New York Islanders are now forced to go with "Plan B", which still remains a mystery. Wang has made it known in the past, that he may indeed leave Long Island if this vote was to fail. This is a scary thought for all of Long Island and the hockey universe, can the Islanders finally be on the way out?

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Islanders fans everywhere are devastated, but they are wondering, who is to blame for this failure? I will tell you exactly who.The Islanders and Charles Wang did a great job of promoting the Vote Yes August 1st campaign, but were they promoting it to the correct crowd? No, the were busy focusing on the main hockey fans, who were already on board, and would vote yes. The community they forgot to address, was the general public and all non-hockey fans living in the surrounding areas.

As soon as you mention, taxes and money in the same sentence, the general consensus is automatically "No". In my honest opinion, the Islanders did not do enough to promote it to the public, rather than to hockey fans. That is the reason we are viewing the outcome we have today. It's sad to see, but it is what it is.

While we all wait to see what the Islanders have in store next, we are now faced to wait even longer to find a resolution.

Thoughts?