Breaking: Controversial NHL owner passes away at 74.

A controversial member of the National Hockey League's family has passed away just a few short years after parting ways with his beloved team. 

According to multiple reports 74 year old former New York Islanders owner Charles Wang passed away at some time in the early hours of Sunday October 21st. A statement released by Wang's attorney John McEntee revealed that the former Islanders owner passed away in  Oyster Bay while surrounded by his loved ones, the cause of his death has not been released to the public and I do not expect that information will be forthcoming.

Wang was a highly divisive figure in the city of New York and more specifically among the fan base of the New York Islanders organization. Wang was heralded as a hero by many when in the year 2000 he purchased the struggling Islanders franchise in the hopes of keeping the team on Long Island where he felt the team belonged. The move was made even more impressive by the fact that Wang was by no means a devoted Islanders fan at the time of his purchase with Wang himself admitting that he had only ever attended a single Islanders game prior to the purchase of the team.

However the lack of success that the team achieved under his tenure as the organizations majority owner led to some discontent among the Islanders fan base and when he finally gave in to the financial pressure in 2016 and moved the team to Brooklyn public opinion in the Islanders fan base shifted quite drastically. That being said though many to this day still credit Wang as the sole reason that the Islanders remained in New York at all and it would be a shame if he was not honored for that alone today on the day of his passing. Wang earned a lot of hate during his tenure as Islanders owner and it would be unfair of me to suggest that none of it was deserved, but you can bet that under almost any other owner the team would have likely landed in Seattle, Quebec City, or any other number of cities currently looking to acquire an NHL franchise.

Wang maintained his status as the organizations majority owner until his decision to sell the team in 2016 but even then he showed his love and dedication for the Islanders by retaining a minority ownership stake in the organization. Although he was unquestionably a controversial figure in the history of the New York Islanders and the National Hockey League there's no doubt that his impact on the Islanders franchise will continue to be felt for many generations to come. 

A report from Newsday's David Schwartz has revealed that Wang is survived by his wife  Nancy Li; children Kimberly, Jasmine and Cameron; his mother, Mary; brothers, Anthony and Francis; grandchildren, Charles, Kingsley and Kendall; and his nieces and a  nephew. Our thoughts are with them, the entire extended Wang family, as well as the rest of Charles' friends and loved one at this most sad time. 

Rest in piece Mr. Wang.