![]() With the likes of Bossy, Potvin and Smith retired by 1990, the General Manager Bill Torrey sought to rebuild the team. The latter half of the 1980s saw the Islanders gradually shift from a winning team to a losing team. The local investors were set to manage the franchise despite Pickett's role as the majority owner. In 1992 Pickett opted to first loan and then sell a portion of the franchise to local investors with the intent to further reduce his involvement in the franchise and to become a silent investor. He eventually stepped down as the Chairman of the Board and named Torrie in his place. Pickett was never particularly interested in operating the franchise himself and gradually lost interest in the franchise. This meant that Islanders was slated to play in the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum until 2015, a decision that came to haunt the franchise on multiple occasions. In 1985 Pickett signed a 30-year arena lease with the Nassau County and the arena management company, Spectacor Management Group (SMG). However, the successful financial restructuring, the lucrative cable TV contract and on ice success were only a part of his legacy. Pickett was instrumental in saving the Islanders in 1978 and molding it into a powerhouse in the early 1980s. There was no shortage of talent in the Islanders roster during that era: future Hall of Fame inductees Mike Bossy, Clark Gillies, Denis Potvin, Billy Smith and Bryan Trottier. While John Pickett managed to turn around the franchise financially, the franchise management and hockey operations staff led by Bill Torrey, General Manager and President, and Al Arbour, Head Coach, brought tremendous success to Long Island by winning four consecutive Stanley Cups in the early 1980s. By the end of the 1979-80, in just two years, Pickett managed to reduce the Islanders debt of $22 million to some $6.5 million and signed the franchise to a lucrative cable TV contract. ![]() Working alongside General Manager Bill Torrey Pickett was able to successfully restructure the franchise. He also provided the franchise $2 million from his own pocket and persuaded the other partners to provide another $2 million to operate the team. Pickett took on nearly half of the $42 million debt accrued by the New York Islanders and the New York Mets only in six years under Boe's guidance. Boe lost the control of the Islanders franchise after being sued by one of the minority owners for using Islanders funds to cover the costs of Boe's ailing basketball franchise.īefore the start of the 1978-79 season John Pickett, one of the many minority owners of the Islanders franchise, set to rescue the franchise burdened by debt. By the end of 1977-1978 season the franchise had accrued a debt of some $22 million and the majority owner Roy Boe's basketball franchise was also in debt for another $20 million. It was performing strong on ice and had a solid fanbase, but the operating costs were higher than the income. The Islanders became a successful expansion franchise in the 1970s. The entry to the NHL cost Boe and his partners a total of $10 million with $6 million paid to the NHL as the entry fee and $4 million paid to the New York Rangers as compensation for moving into its territory. A group of investors headed by Roy Boe, the owner of the New York Nets of the American Basketball Association, brought ice hockey to Long Island. The New York Islanders NHL franchise was founded in 1972 to counter possible expansion of the rival league WHA.
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