Jared Max: Islanders Movin' Out, But Still In A New York State Of Mind
By Jared Max
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At Wikipedia, the change has already been made. Barclays Center is listed as the Islanders' home arena.
By virtue of a Game 7 loss Monday night to the Capitals, the Islanders were reunited with their basketball stepbrother in Brooklyn — 38 years after the New York Nets left Nassau Coliseum to play in Piscataway, New Jersey. Now it's the Islanders who are the low guy on the home-arena totem pole; the low man on the bunk bed.
Two teams known to play second fiddle to their New York counterparts — the Knicks and Rangers — the Nets and Islanders have both provided unexpected excitement this season. The Islanders played their best hockey in years while the Nets became the Empire State's best NBA team. The Nets are still in the playoffs. The Islanders are not.
While the number 14 was fortuitous for the Isles in the 1970s and '80s, it was their undoing the last two weeks. Beginning with their third season at the Coliseum, the Isles began a run of 14 consecutive playoff seasons. Against the Capitals in their first-round playoff series, the Islanders were 0-for-14 on the power play. The final power play -- or lack thereof -- sealed the Isles' existence in Nassau.
In my opinion, Islanders coach Jack Capuano failed to recognize the urgency to win. When his team was awarded the only power play in Game 7 with under three minutes remaining, Capuano should have put the pedal to the metal. His team had failed on its first 13 tries skating with a man advantage. Yet, he chose against going for broke, declining to lift goalie Jaroslav Halak to bring an extra attacker on the ice. Sure enough, the Islanders did not score 5-on-4. Then, having no choice but to leave the crease, Halak skated to the Islanders bench. It was too late.
Meanwhile in Brooklyn, the Nets seized an opportunity. They won their second straight against the top-seeded Hawks to even the series.
Deron Williams picked a heck of a time to play what he called "definitely one of my better games this year, for sure, and probably as a Net." It WAS his best game of the season -- because his talents produced at crunch time. Down to one chip after laying everything he had on one hand, D-Will hit blackjack. He scored a career-playoff-best 35 points leading the Nets to victory in overtime, creating doubt that being an eighth seed in the NBA playoffs is a one-way ticket to the morgue.
The antiquated Nassau Coliseum will host one last party — Long Islander Billy Joel's 32nd concert there, August 4. I predict the Piano Man will be joined on stage by some hockey players. Hockey and rock-n-roll go together like bottles of red, white and rose in a Long Island Italian restaurant.
At a concert at Nassau Coliseum one night before the Islanders won one of four consecutive Stanley Cups, Rush's Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson sent the crowd into hysterics when they ran across the stage wearing Islanders jerseys. "I thought the roof was going to come off this place," Isles fan Charles Nowack told The Washington Post about that night. Rush is from Canada. Billy Joel is Long Island. This is the time to remember.
For the Islanders, it is time to say goodbye to Uniondale. They're movin' out. And, while they once welcomed the Nets to their home, now the Isles are the stranger. While Billy Joel could serenade the Coliseum singing "Only the Good Die Young," I think most would agree that the Mausoleum has been marked for death for decades.
At least the team is still in a New York state of mind.
Jared Max is a multi-award winning sportscaster. He hosted a No. 1 rated New York City sports talk show, "Maxed Out" — in addition to previously serving as longtime Sports Director at WCBS 880, where he currently anchors weekend sports. Follow and communicate with Jared on Twitter @jared_max.
