Islanders Decide to Give Away the Playoffs

New York Islander fans buying season tickets will get free tickets to a first- or second-round playoff game, either this season or the next one in which the team makes the playoffs.

The promotion is on a one-to-one ratio: If someone buys two season tickets, he or she gets two playoff tickets to one game.

Islander co-owner Charles Wang, asked by New York Newsday whether he needed approval from other NHL owners for the giveaway, said he didn’t.

“They let me lose as much as I want, any way I want,” Wang said.

Trivia time: Who is the only NHL coach to have won the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year in consecutive seasons?

Maybe worth a shot: ABC is planning a reality show called “The Benefactor” in which Dallas Maverick owner Mark Cuban will give away $1 million to a complete stranger.

Cuban, saying he hadn’t sought permission from NBA Commissioner David Stern, told Dallas media outlets: “If David wants to try to win the $1 million, he’s more than welcome to try.”

Limited possibilities: Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, pondering job opportunities for the Vancouver Canucks’ Todd Bertuzzi while he serves his NHL suspension: “Work as a tavern bouncer? Land a bit part as a mob enforcer in ‘The Sopranos’?”

The ideal gift: The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, a worldwide charitable organization, is auctioning off a car Tuesday. Not just any car, a 2005 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren.

The auction takes place at Beverly Hills Mercedes-Benz, where celebrities such as John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Edwin Moses and Tony Hawk will be present.

The car is valued at $450,000, but when a similar auction was held in New York, the winning bid was $2.1 million, making it the highest price ever paid for a car.

A big drop-off: KLOS has come up with a unique way to raise $25,000 for the Stone Soup Foundation. The radio station is selling 500 golf balls for $100 apiece. The balls will be numbered and dropped from a helicopter onto the 18th fairway at Industry Hills at the conclusion of Saturday’s Mark and Brian Celebrity golf tournament.

If one of the balls goes into a makeshift hole, the person with that number wins $25,000, and another $25,000 goes to the charity. If it’s more than one ball, the pot is split.

Looking back: On this date in 1976, Bill Shoemaker, riding Royal Derby II in the fifth race at Santa Anita, notched his 7,000th victory.

Trivia answer: Jacques Demers, in 1987 and 1988 when he was with the Detroit Red Wings. Pat Burns has won the award three times with three teams but not in successive years.

Pat Quinn, Scotty Bowman and Jacques Lemaire are two-time winners.

And finally: From Jay Leno: “This coming season, sales of steroids will be cut off after the eighth inning.”

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Larry Stewart can be reached at [email protected].