Today was the start of a four day road trip to pay my last respects to the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. It started with a Thursday evening game against the Los Angeles Kings, which will be followed by an early Saturday afternoon game against the Anaheim Ducks, and then end with a late Sunday afternoon game against the Detroit Red Wings.
It will be four days filled with great hockey that will stir up a lot of old memories and probably leave me with a tear in my eye as I spend my last days in the old barn on Hempstead Turnpike in Uniondale, Long Island. Souvenirs will be bought, pictures will be taken, and the ambiance will be burned into my soul. No matter where the Islanders go, the place that they call "Fort Neverlose" will always be home.
The Nassau Coliseum means so much to me. It reminds of my entire youth growing up in Massapequa. It represents the Long Island of years gone past as well as today. Unfortunately, it will not represent the Long Island of tomorrow.. Shame on the politicians in Nassau County for putting their own interests ahead of the people that they are supposed to serve. What Long Island use to be will be no more.
I have a lot of Nassau Coliseum memories but for some reason the ones I remember the best are all of my "firsts." My first Islanders game with by brother-in-law Kurt, my first concert with friends to see Lynyrd Skynyrd in 197, and my first wrestling match with my Mom. After a 43 run that started when I was about ten years old it is now time for me to say goodbye to the building that means so much. Unless of course, there is a playoff game to attend to. Then I will have to do this all over again,
We checked into the Long Island Marriott a couple of hours before the game and crossed paths with the Los Angeles Kings bus. Our room was not ready yet so we left and came back in a couple of hours. When we got back to the hotel it was still 90 minutes prior to game time and both the Marriott lobby bar and Champions bar were booked solid with orange and blue. A sight I had not seen in quite a number of years.
On to the game...
The Kings came into the game having won the first two games of a five game Eastern Coast road trip against the Devils and Rangers. The Islanders meanwhile came into the game trying to find secondary scoring and wanting to re-establish their home ice advantage heading into the playoffs. They had lost five games in a row at home so starting a new home winning streak was the first order of business. The Islanders went with the same line-up again which meant that Jaroslav Halak was back in net.
Before the game started every section had people in it, but there were empty seats. I was a little surprised because the Islanders had drawn well at home at the Los Angeles Kings after all were the defending Stanley Cup Champions. However, all of a sudden, as puck drop came closer the seats filled in and it looked to be a complete sell out. Faith was restored. During the national anthem there were a number of jerks that yelled out "The Rangers Suck" which seemed to not be the right time to voice such a sentiment. It was dis-respectful of the anthem. That being said, it was also refreshing to see the Islanders passion back where it should be.
I was sitting in the fourth row behind the Islanders bench. The first period was not very exciting. The Islanders were outplayed by the Kings and out shot 14-5. New York did not get a single scoring chance and Jaroslav Halak had to be sharp to keep the puck out of the net. It was a very fast period with no penalties. The Kings certainly looked like the more desperate team as they are fighting for a playoff spot with only a handful of games left.
The second period had a bit more action. The Islanders seemed to pick up the pace and eventually took the lead when an odd man rush led to a goal. Travis Hamonic and Nickolay Kulemin started the play and Frans Nielsen got his 13th goal of the year to make it 1-0. At that point, I heard my first "Yes!, Yes!, Yes!" chant by the crowd and it was awesome. It was great to see the entire arena participate by raising their hands in the air.
Afterwards, the Islanders seemed to wake up and almost made it a two goal lead, but Jonathan Quick made a great glove save on Anders Lee who was wide open in the slot. The Islanders then had to kill off near simultaneous penalties to Travis Hamonic and Nick Leddy which gave the Kings s five on three advantage for almost the entire two minutes. But true to recent form, the Islanders were able to get through the two minutes which gave them some more momentum. The penalty kill has all of a sudden become a strength for them which is a good sign going into the playoffs.
The Islanders could not escape the period with the lead as Nick Shore redirected one of his crown jewels past Halak to tie the game 1-1. With an even game, the hitting was taken up a notch. Cal Clutterbuck went airborne and hit shoulder to shoulder with Drew Doughty near the blue line. It was a ferocious hit that reminded me of an old Milli Vanilli video. Doughty was called for interference, but the powerless play could not convert. The period ended 1-1 with the Islanders out shooting the Kings 16-8.
In the third period, the Islanders had an opportunity to take the lead as Matt Greene went off for holding Anders Lee. However, that only gave the Kings an opportunity to take the lead. Tyler Tofolli got a break and scored a short-handed goal after John Tavares mishandled the puck at center ice. The Kings lead was short-lived as the Islanders were able to take advantage of the remaining time on the power play. Johnny Boychuk fired one of his patented rocket slap shots and made it 2-2. Josh Bailey and Ryan Strome got the assists.
With time winding down in the period, overtime seemed inevitable. However, Anze Kopitar iced the win for the Kings when he scored with a little over four minutes left in the game. As the Islanders pulled their goalie and the seconds wound down it was very disappointing indeed. It would have been nice to start the road trip with a win. There will be two more opportunities this weekend to turn it around. It will not be easy with back-to-back afternoon games against the Ducks and Red Wings.
The Islanders have now lost six games in a row at home (0-5-1) which is unthinkable. They have faced a string of hot goalies, but that is not an excuse. They need to find a way to win like they did in the beginning of the year. My personal opinion is that they should put Michael Grabner back in the line-up. Also, if Mikhail Grabovski can be cleared to play that would add another dimension to the line-up. There needs to be some sort of change to shake thinks up a bit and get the confidence and swagger back.
This was the start of saying goodbye to the Nassau Coliseum. I really would like the Islanders to make a deep run in the playoffs and I would love to come back one more time and experience a playoff game before the Nassau Coliseum is no more. However, the Islanders need to fix a few things quickly or it will be one and done in the playoffs. I will enjoy the rest of the weekend, however, I really do not want to say goodbye just yet.
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