First Impressions of Islanders Hockey at Barclays: Awe and Sticker Shock

If the “Let’s Go Islanders” chants ringing throughout Barclays Center last Wednesday night proved anything, it’s that — after three years of waiting — Brooklyn is eager for the arrival of professional hockey. The team’s 2015 Blue & White Rookie Scrimmage and Skills competition, which the Blue team won by a cumulative 8-3 score, marked the latest step in the Islanders’ migration from Hicksville to downtown Brooklyn.

With the first regular season hockey game on Barclays’ ice scheduled for Friday, Oct. 9 against the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks, the question is no longer when the Islanders will finally call Brooklyn home, but if Long Island fans who have slavishly supported their team for 43 years will follow them to Barclays.

Based on Wednesday’s raucous crowd, indications are good that Islander faithful will embrace the team’s new home, despite higher ticket prices and a much longer commute.

Top prospects Mathew Barzal, Anthony Beauvillier, Michael Dal Colle, Ryan Pulock and Joshua Ho-Sang impressed Islander coaches and the 6,311 fans in attendance, combining for 8 points (2 goals, 6 assists) in the scrimmage and shootout competition. Also on the ice was Andong Song, who became the first ever Chinese-born player to be drafted in the NHL when he was picked in the 6th round of the 2015 draft. The 18 year-old will spend next season polishing his skills for Phillips Academy, a Northeastern prep school.

As much as Islander rookies were on display, Barclays and Brooklyn were also being showcased for longtime fans accustomed to the convenience of the Nassau Coliseum.

Tim Casey, an Islander fan for 14 years, marveled at the team’s new home.

“Barclays Center is a beautiful, first class facility that will help attract the free agents that, with the state that the Coliseum was in, wouldn’t come to play in Nassau,” Casey said by email. ”The amenities and food options are so diverse and varied, I’m excited to explore them in the season to come.”

Traveling approximately an hour and 20 minutes by LIRR to Brooklyn from Coram, Long Island — almost twice as long as his previous commute — Casey said he’ll likely attend only 3 or 4 games per year as opposed to 7 or 8 games in previous years, a result of increased ticket prices and travel times.

As to the view from his seats in the middle of the last row in Section 109, Casey described it as “excellent.”

“I can’t speak to the entire arena, having only sat there and in Section 227 during [last season’s] preseason game against the Devils,” he said. “The view was good, but the goal to my left [behind the Dean Street entrance] was slightly obstructed, due to seating angles.” According to Casey, a goalie cam on the main scoreboard remedied this problem.

It’s the opposite goal, behind the main entrance on Atlantic Avenue, which has generated the most criticism. With no seating, it’s a highly unusual arrangement for hockey fans accustomed to sitting behind the net. Another criticism is that as many as 400 of the venue’s 15,795 seats will have obstructed views.

John Lakatos and his son, John Jr. made the trip from Westbury for Wednesday’s scrimmage, eager to experience Brooklyn.

“It’s our first opportunity to see my beloved Islanders on the Barclays Center’s ice,” said Lakatos, who started following the team in 1975 and was “in the building” for the last of the Islander four consecutive Stanley Cup championships from 1979 to 1983.

Purchasing a half season ticket plan, Lakatos’ Brooklyn fandom is on a trial basis. He lamented that seats at the top of Barclays’ lower bowl were “double” the price of better seats at the Coliseum and doubts he will buy a season ticket plan next year.

Even if the Islanders and their dynamic captain John Tavares manage to beat the hated New York Rangers and advance deep in the Stanley Cup playoffs?

“Maybe a couple of games hear and there,” Lakatos said. “Won’t be able to buy a plan. It’s just too expensive.”

Islanders and Barclays’ staff pulled out all the stops Wednesday to convert potential fans. In the Calvin Klein Courtside Club, Islander legend Bobby Nystrom spoke with current and potential season ticket holders, while on the Brooklyn Nets’ Practice Court, Islander defenseman Anders Lee answered questions and signed autographs for approximately 100 local community members adorned in free Islander shirts, including 60 children from the Ingersoll Community Center.

Ebay Covington, a lifelong Rangers’ fan who accompanied the Ingersoll kids, was taken by Brooklyn’s latest professional sports franchise, even joining in on Islander chants.

“I’ll be back for the opener,” he promised.

Casey for one is confident his fellow die-hard fans will embrace Brooklyn.

“In time we Islander fans will rock Barclays on a nightly basis and make it our home.”

Photo Captions: View behind the net on Dean Street; view from Section 109