The Islanders Are Officially Coming Home, Putting An End To The Brooklyn Era Forever
NBCS - March 22 will be the final Islanders’ game at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, according to Newsday.
Randi Marshall reports that New York governor Andrew Cuomo will announce on Saturday that the Islanders will play any home playoff games this season and all of their 2020-21 home schedule at Nassau Coliseum.
It's official, the worst arena situation in all of sports is finally coming to an end. The Islanders are expected to announce tomorrow that the organization will play their remaining three games at the Barclays Center and then never enter that fucking building ever again. Praise Jesus! The Isles will no longer have two home arenas and they will play exclusively at the Nassau Coliseum until their new state-of-the-art arena is built at Belmont Park. This is a massive move for the organization. Having two home arenas, with one of them being built in a way that half of the seats could not see the ice, was one of the biggest jokes in sports history. At one point this season every other home game was in a different building...how is the fanbase (which is located on Long Island) supposed to rally around that? From my experiences... the fans hated it, the players hated it and even the owners hated it. The ice sucked, the jumbotron was off-centered and the fans never showed up. At one point the building's CEO Brett Yormark actually said this about the obstructed views in the building
There’s really nothing we’re going to do from a capital-improvement standpoint. You can watch the game on your mobile device. The game is on the scoreboard. There are many ways to view the game if you’re in one of those obstructed seats. We aren’t going to be able to change the seats in the building
Watch the game on your phone? Fuck that guy. The Islanders have been in the midst of arena problems for what feels like 20 years now, and it looks like we're finally at the end of it… the Isles are coming home.
This team has had a ton of momentum these past few seasons and the future on the ice is bright, but it felt like the only thing holding them back was the goddamn building they were playing in. Many speculated that Brooklyn hosting half the home games and playoff games was a main reason free agents weren't signing with the team. Last year was a perfect example of how ridiculous the whole situation was. Isles finish the season with 103 points with the whole second half being at the coli and the place was an absolute mad house. Isles rolled right into the playoffs and swept the Penguins in the first round at the Coliseum and then bam, all momentum is stopped as they were sent to play the 2nd round in Brooklyn. I'm not saying that's why the Isles got swept by the canes last year but I'm also not saying it.
Bottom line is, this gives the Isles a concrete vision of exactly what they have to do, and where they're gonna do it. This team in the playoffs inside a jam packed Nassau Coliseum can be dangerous. Now it's time for the fans to show up and make Fort Neverlose alive again. WE'RE GOING TO BORRELLI'S!