Islanders: NY Hockey Holdings Purchase Final 15% from Wang Estate

Jon Ledecky and Scott Malkin’s NY Hockey Holdings have purchased the final 15% of the New York Islanders owned by the Wang Family.

Jon Ledecky and Scott Malkin’s NY Hockey Holdings have purchased the remaining 15% of the New York Islanders owned by the Charles Wang Estate. The team announced the sale on its website Wednesday afternoon.

Ledecky and Malkin first purchased a minority stake in the Islanders in August of 2014. Two years later, they assumed majority control of the team from then-owner Charles B. Wang.

The late Mr. Wang and his estate had owned the team in some capacity since 2000, when he became a minority owner. A year later, he became the Islanders’ majority owner.

Kept Them on Long Island

The two decades in which the Blue and Orange were under Wang ownership were turbulent. In the early-to-mid aughts, the team saw modest success on-ice with playoff trips in four of the Wang regime’s first six seasons. But by the tail-end of the decade, the Islanders were again a basement dweller in the NHL standings, and the conversation of their home on Long Island was once more brought to the forefront.

Mr. Wang spent the next half-decade attempting to gather funding for a renovation of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum called The Lighthouse Project. But funding failed to materialize. Nassau County voters rejected a gutted version of the project in August 2011, and the search for the team’s home turned away from Long Island.

Barclays Center today seems nearly universally hated by Islanders fans, and for good reason. However, the feeling immediately after the move had been announced was one of relief. The Islanders were not destined for Kansas City, Quebec City, or Hartford.

NY Hockey Holdings, Jon Ledecky, and Scott Malkin, now 100% owners of the New York Islanders, have ensured the team’s future is on Long Island with the construction of UBS Arena. They are cherished for their active approach to engaging with fans and the community, and are viewed as heroes for their work in keeping the team where they belong.

Charles Wang sadly passed away due to lung cancer in October 2018. His Islanders legacy should be as the man who kept the franchise on Long Island.