Brooklyn still tough fit for Isles faithful
Attendance league’s lowest in second year after move despite a few improvements
BROOKLYN, N.Y.— You can’t be a fan of a New York sports team without a sense of humour, and fans of the Islanders — new and old — are no different.
The team is in year two of a transition from its longtime home in suburban Nassau County to the more hip, urban Brooklyn, playing second fiddle in the basketball-first Barclays Center.
“It sucks,” says Paul Tuszynski, who drove in from Nassau, where he lives 15 minutes from the Memorial Coliseum. “At the upper levels, you have to hunch over to see. There’s hardly any room in between the rows. They say this place is built for basketball. It isn’t built for anything.
“There’s nothing like the old barn. And they don’t have a lot of diehard Islander fans here. It’s not the same. They’re learning about the team, I guess. You see more yuppies here. They don’t wear any shirts or any- thing.”
Different fans, to be sure. Although some diehards were spotted Sunday wearing Rick DiPietro and Alexei Yashin jerseys, an ironic take on the team’s up-and-down history.
The Barclays Center is a perfectly fine arena, just not built with hockey in mind. The scoreboard is over the blue line, not centre ice. There are plenty of obstructed-view seats.
“The ice looks like it’s shoved into the end of the arena,” says Amy Zaum, a 14-year season-ticket holder from West Hempstead. “If you are sitting low, you have to crane your neck to look at the scoreboard. Up high, some people have to look at the scoreboard when the play passes the blue line.”
There were more hiccups. Playoff games last season that went to overtime found fans — specifically from Long Island — stranded when the Long Island Rail Road didn’t run trains late for the commute home. Frustrated with the travel, some Islanders fans gave up. Gary Harding, vice-president of the official Islanders Booster Club, gave up the season seats he’d held since 1988.
“A 7:30 game in Brooklyn, by the time I would get home to Suffolk County it would be close to1a.m.,” he said.
He still comes to games. The 6 p.m. Sunday start is common, an attempt to get everyone home early. But it’s not as good as the family-friendly Saturday games the Islanders used to play regularly when they called the shots in their own home.
The Islanders have the lowest average attendance in the NHL — 12,684, or 80.2 per cent capacity in the league’s smallest building. Even last year — the Isles’ first in the Barclays Center — they ranked near the bottom (28th at 13,626, or 27th at 86.2 per cent capacity).
They’re trying. They convinced the railway to increase service for every game. Season-ticket holders are now credentialed, making it easier to arrive and leave, with a special loyalty/ benefits program in place.
The home of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets now feels more like the Islanders’ home, with better branding throughout. And the tickets are cheap: $35 for the second level, compared to $100 for a similar seat to see the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
“I get to see hockey,” says Harvey Rubin, a 70-year-old sports nut from Flushing. “And it’s reasonably priced. I’ll see seven Islanders games before I go to a Rangers game.”
Winger Matt Martin, who signed with the Leafs after seven seasons with the Isles, said he misses the Nassau Memorial atmosphere.
“The Coliseum was an old buiding, and it kind of had that old-school hockey vibe to it with the fans and how loud it would get in there,” said Martin. “In the playoffs, it was the loudest hockey arena I’ve ever been in. The Coliseum was pretty crazy. A lot of positive memories there.”
The Isles’ old home is being renovated, but will be too small to house them when complete. They failed in other attempts for a new building nearby, and balked at leaving for a different hockey-hungry city. They are making the best of a bad situation, however quirky it may be.
“I’m not sure we’re ready to laugh at it yet,” said Zaum. “I’m mad at the politicians that let them leave Long Island in the first place. I’m not mad at the Islanders. Hey, we could be in Kansas City. We’re in New York.
“This is home now.”