Schwartz: Islanders Should Test Drive The New Nassau Coliseum

By Peter Schwartz
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When you're looking to buy a new car, you might have your heart set on a particular make and model. However, a friend or family member may get in your ear and provide some intrigue into another car. Who knows? You could end up going to that dealer and test driving it to see if you like it.

The same concept should apply to the Islanders in their ongoing arena saga.

The team has a lease at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, but that marriage appears to be on the road to divorce. If the Islanders do leave their current home, new owners Jon Ledecky and Scott Malkin would probably like to have a brand new hockey-friendly arena.

I'm not saying that the Islanders absolutely should back to the place they called home from 1972 until 2015, because that's ownerships' call. We haven't even seen what the refurbished building looks or feels like just yet. But the Isles do owe it to themselves and to their fans to at least "test drive" the new place.

From that moment in 2012 when former majority owner Charles Wang signed what was hailed as an "iron clad" 25-year lease for the Islanders to play at in Brooklyn, there were many who questioned just how long the franchise would really reside on Atlantic Avenue.

Since that time, there has been chatter about mutual opt-out clauses, complaints about Barclays' ice and the obstructed-view seats, reported plans of Ledecky and Malkin looking to build a new arena, and the ongoing back and forth as to whether or not the Islanders could really move back to their former home, a $260 million improvement on what it used to be.

MORE: Report: Islanders, Mangano Met About Possible Return To Coliseum

They say home is where the heart is, but for years and years and years and years the Islanders and their fans have experienced nothing but heartache when it has come to securing a long-term place to play.

The Lighthouse Project was rejected by Long Island politicians and then residents of Nassau County voted down a referendum to build a new arena in the parking lot next to the coliseum. And now, with reports that Barclays Center no longer wants the Islanders to play there, the franchise remains in limbo in terms of where it will call home in the near and distant future.

MORE: Surging Islanders Not Worried About Arena Future Rumors

Everyone seems to have an opinion on what the Islanders should do, but it really doesn't matter what any of them, including myself, say. The reality is, the only opinions that matter belong to Ledecky and Malkin. They are the only people right now that know what the team wants to do and will do.

It's clear that the Islanders and Barclays Center have their issues that may or may not be worked out. But unlike a few years ago when Brooklyn was their only real option, the Islanders have a decision to make this time around. They can try and work out a revised lease with Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment and stay at Barclays Center. They can try to build a new arena, perhaps next to Citi Field or next to Belmont Park. They could also prove author Thomas Wolfe wrong and write their own novel "You Can Go Home Again" by returning to the coliseum.

Ledecky and Malkin could very well go forward with plans for a new building, but in the interim they should at least give some thought to what's happening on Hempstead Turnpike in Uniondale. When Bruce Ratner won the rights to renovate the coliseum, his proposal included six Islanders games at the new coliseum. Ledecky was lukewarm about that plan when he and Malkin took over last July, but the Islanders are in a position now to give a potential new home a chance.

With the revamped coliseum opening in April, the Islanders could get a first-hand look at the arena next season. They could, pending the NHL's approval, go forward with the six-game slate or they could perhaps play a preseason game there just to get a feel of the arena and to see if there's potential for something more. Could you imagine the demand for tickets and the atmosphere if the Islanders actually play those six games at the new coliseum?

Even if they choose to play just a preseason game, there will be a nostalgic feeling about it and it could play a role in whatever decision Ledecky and Malkin end up making. There will be modern amenities and a new seating chart to get used to, but there's no question that fans would go nuts if they see the orange and blue skate in that building again.

These are interesting times for the Islanders. After a rough start to the season, they have undergone a coaching change and a subsequent 7-1-1 run has pulled them within three points of a playoff spot.

But regardless if the Islanders make the playoffs or not, the never-ending drama surrounding where they will call home going forward needs to be rectified. There has to be a long-term solution and it needs to come soon. The players deserve it and the fans demand it.

Billy Joel will bang out the first hits at the new coliseum on April 5. Come September or even October, perhaps the Islanders can bring their own sweet music back to the place once called "Fort Neverlose."

It's a place they never should have left.

Please follow Pete on Twitter at @pschwartzcbsfan