Messy Trip To The Island

Saturday was round two for me out on Long Island. Amy and I visited the Nassau Coliseum on February 21st to see the Islanders pound the Devils 4-0. It was a shame that the Devils weren't able to get a goal considering there was more red and black in the stands than anything else.

The game on March 7th would be no different. The Islanders jumped out to a 3-0 lead quick in the first period as Martin Brodeur finally came back down to Earth. The closest the Devils came to the Islanders that day was when they were down 3-1 and 4-2. The Islanders won 7-3. Gionta, Langenbrunner, and Elias scored for the Devils. Sean Bergenheim got the hat trick for the Islanders. Bergenheim's third goal came with .7 seconds remaining in the third when Kevin Weekes, the second Devils goaltender of the day, was pulled for an extra skater.

The Coliseum: DUMP

I am not trying to anger Islander's fans with this statement. The team and the fans out on Long Island need a new arena and FAST. THe Islanders have an exciting young squad that is beginning to show their stuff with noted vetarans being out of the lineup. The Lighthouse project has Hempstead-Uniondale taxpayers displaying mixed feelings. They need to realize that Charles Wang, owner of the team, has offered to front the entire project on his dime. I think the location of the arena also hurts the attendance figures. Driving from Montclair, NJ to Uniondale, NY should take an hour. No more, no less.

It ends up taking a little less than two hours to get to the arena due to traffic on the LIE and the Meadowbrook Parkway. Long Islanders have to go through this every day. The Arena should be closer to the city, possibly right by Citi Field. That is probably not an reaslitic dream but something has to be done. The Nassau Coliseum has very good accessable parking. The concourse is very thin and very hard to walk through when there is a large crowd. There aren't many food and drink options in the arena either. I can't imagine what it is like when there are eight thousand Ranger fans and eight thousand Islander fans trying to get by eachother in the hallway. Devil fans get along well with Islander fans and I was not heckled once in either trip to the Island. There are two men's bathrooms and two women's bathrooms (that I saw). It can almost take an entire intermission to get to the bathroom and back to your seat.

The best thing about the arena is the sightlines to the ice. The first time, I sat two rows from the top in section 305. Every seat has a great view of the ice. The problem with the upper sections is that you cannot see the other side of the arena or the jumbo scoreboard. There is a large bannister with very small tv's with bad picture quality on them. The second visit saw me sitting in section 202. The 200's in the Coliseum is the equivalent to the upper half of the lower section of the Prudential Center; pretty close to the ice. You can see the entire arena and the ice at a great view from these seats.

The seats themselves have wooden arm rests that don't budge. The seats are made out of some kind of outdated fabric that was not comfortable in the least. At least fans can still tailgate outside which is a really fun time. It is something we Devil fans are not allowed to do at the Rock.

The Islanders have an exciting young team that can only get better as the years go on. I won't say they'll be a playoff team next year, but they may contend for the 8 spot and give their rivals a hard time.


Next Devils Game:

Tuesday March 10, 2009
Prudential Center, Newark NJ

Calgary Flames (39-21-6)
@
New Jersey Devils (42-20-3)

This is not going to be an easy game for the Devils. The Flames were the most successful team at the trade deadling acquiring Olli Jokinen and Jordan Leopold.

Niclas Havelid had a rough game in his debut against the Islanders. One cannot blame him, however, as the whole team was off. He will get a chance in front of the home crowd to prove himself to be a good addition for the playoff run.