Beginning Of The End

Tonight was opening night of the final season at the Nassau Coliseum. I didn't think about it until this very moment, but I should have been there. From what I read and heard it was electric. The atmosphere rivaled the Pittsburgh playoff series from two years ago when the Islanders took the Penguins to six games. The building was sold out and it was rocking. The fans started tailgating in the parking lot early in the early morning. A lot of the players noticed it when they drove into the Coliseum for the game. The fans even disrupted Johnny Boychuk who was staying at the Marriott. Those very tailgaters provided a convenient 10am wake up call. It was something special.

When the players came out of the Nassau Coliseum tunnel they didn't go through the normal introductions. In almost every other year and every other arena what usually happens is that the players come out one at a time and they are introduced to the crowd. Someone came up with a brilliant idea (I am not sure but through different sources it may have been either Josh Bailey or the Coliseum Operations crew).

With the lights out in the entire arena all the players came out in full circle in the middle of the ice. Then after the spotlight was turned on the Islanders logo and simultaneously on the players, all of the fans turned on their cell phone lights in unison. Josh Bailey said that the idea was to honor the Nassau Coliseum by showing that the fans and players were united as one. It was a great idea. I wish I was there to see it. Unfortunately, I have to go to Buenos Aires tomorrow, so in reality even if I wanted to, there was no way I could attend.

I had been away all day today in Knoxville attending the Tennessee Volunteers football game. They trounced Chattanooga 45-10. It was not even close. Kellie and I left at the end of the third quarter. I tried to listen to the game on the way home from Knoxville in the car. However, the "Tune In" app was not working very well on my iPhone. Every time if finished buffering my phone would fast forward through the game and it was hard to follow what was going on. So I ended up basically following the game on Twitter. It's not fun following the game waiting for a stream of Twitter messages, but it was the only option that I had.

The Islanders won 4-3. From what I could read they played an all-around great game. The standouts were John Tavares again (surprise, surprise) who had a goal and assist and Josh Bailey who played a great overall defensive game, had a key goal, and may or may not have had the great idea for the opening ceremony. It was long overdue for Bailey as he is on the bubble. If he does not show consistent improvement then he could be on the way out when Michael Grabner returns form his sports hernia surgery. Its good to see the fans cheer for him. Bailey needs to continue the trend. He ha talent, he just needs to keep a positive attitude, maintain confidence and he will break through. Its always satisfying pulling for the underdog.

What can I say? The Islanders are 2–0. They have three players among the league leaders in scoring (Nelson, Tavares and Boychuk). The Islanders are playing together as a team, they have the fans behind them, and that always translates to winning. I will say it again. This is a special team and there's a special feeling that this is going to be a special season. It's the final season at the Nassau Coliseum. There needs to be a proper ending to this fairytale. It's about time.