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Islanders ask MSG not to show February brawlfest for Friday watch party

Pittsburgh Penguins v New York Islanders

UNIONDALE, NY - FEBRUARY 11: Trevor Gillies #14 of the New York Islanders fights Eric Godard #28 of the Pittsburgh Penguins on February 11, 2011 at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. The Isles defeated the Pens 9-3. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

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It turns out the Islanders can do the smart thing after all.

Plans to hold a team-sponsored watch party this Friday for the re-airing of the Islanders’ 9-3 win over the Penguins from February 11th that saw 342 penalty minutes handed out have been changed. The party is still on, however the Islanders are asking their broadcast partner, MSG Network, to change which game they’re showing.

A statement from the Isles makes their point for them.

“The New York Islanders have requested that MSG Networks change the originally scheduled game to be viewed at the Friday, Aug. 19 meetup. As a part of MSG Plus’ Summer Ice programming, the schedule had the Islanders game from Friday, Feb. 11 against the Pittsburgh Penguins set to air at 7 p.m. Instead MSG Plus will air the Islanders 7-6 overtime victory on Sunday, Feb. 13 over the Buffalo Sabres.”

This decision comes on the heels of NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly saying that he didn’t approve of the game being used in this light.

PHT pointed out that their original plans to celebrate the February 11 game seemed to be crass given what happened throughout that game and the bloodbath that erupted throughout it as well as the fact the Islanders organization was fined $100,000 for their actions as well. Islanders fans have more than let their feelings be known about how they feel about our opinion on things and we’re happy to see the passion of the Islanders fans still exists.

There’s nothing wrong with having pride in your team, something which Islanders fans seem to think was our point in questioning their plans to show this game and throw a party over it. Celebrate your wins, celebrate that game if you’d like to, that’s fine. Our issue came with the team, not the fans, supporting it in such a public way. Fans can and will do whatever they want to and that’s their beautiful right as an American (or Canadian). Teams and organizations are held to a higher standard, however.

When a team decides to celebrate a game like this that saw the NHL find enough negligence going on that they fined the organization, that’s wrong and that’s been our contention from the get-go. Teams have to have the stiff upper lip in the public’s eyes and given the Penguins’ ill feelings over the game and the NHL’s reaction to the Islanders, erring on the side of caution would’ve been the right move.

We get that Isles fans hate every bit of this and think we’re jerks. That’s fine. Embrace your renegade side and rage against “the man.” While the game was important for the Islanders to rally as a fan base it didn’t do much for the team as a rallying point as they went 11-10-6 after that 9-3 win.

The Islanders are a team on the rise and while Trevor Gillies’ presence on their roster is always going to provide a lightning rod for controversy given his role in that February 11 game, we’re hoping that the fans will have more to rally around with their young and rising talent like John Tavares, Matt Moulson, Michael Grabner and others rather than with the likes of Gillies and Micheal Haley.