Updated: July 1, 2009, 12:27 PM ET

Ultimate Standings 2009: No. 115

New York Islanders

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By Doug Mittler
ESPN The Magazine
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Last Year's Rank: 74
Title Track: 93
Ownership: 118
Coaching: 100
Players: 97
Fan Relations: 94
Affordability: 85
Stadium Experience: 122
Bang for the Buck: 115

This past season, Islanders fans endured a brutal Daily Double: worst record in the league and least-liked building in pro sports. Fans want out of the cramped and sterile Nassau Coliseum, as does ­owner Charles Wang, who is frustrated with the poli­tical red tape that has stalled his $4 billion, 150-acre Lighthouse Project. He recently admitted that if he had to do it again (i.e., buy the franchise), he wouldn't. Clearly his customers wish he hadn't, since the team's Ownership score dipped 60 slots. (Could the league's priciest soda and hot dogs have added fuel to the drop?) But even that number wasn't as bad as the tanking the team took in Coaching (95-slot tumble), where Scott Gordon is the team's 11th leader in 15 seasons. Having the top pick in the draft represents a bit of light at the end of the Midtown Tunnel and may create needed positive player buzz. After all, franchise goalie Rick DiPietro is the only recognizable Islanders face in a crowded metro sports market. He played just five games this season because of injuries and has 12 seasons left on his guaranteed contract. Sure, nine matinee home dates is a nifty way of developing Isles fans of tomorrow. But Wang also scheduled a September preseason game in KC, continues to make noise about selling the team and in 2007 arranged to have games broadcast in Mandarin. Who the team's future fans might be and where they might live is anybody's guess.