By Matt Blittner, The New York Extra/TheNYExtra.com
Welcome Home!
That was the sentiment expressed by many over the weekend as the Islanders returned from a season-opening, 13-game road-trip, to officially christen their new home, UBS Arena.
The pomp and circumstance surrounding the official opening of UBS Arena was as grandiose as one would expect. But it was also tinged with unease as the virus that just won’t go away stuck its head out at an inopportune time.
Last Thursday the Islanders finally got a chance to skate at their new home and by all accounts the players were blown away by the new digs. Unfortunately, not everything was fun and games. With the Isles in the throes of a four-game losing streak, a little home cooking appeared to be just what the doctor ordered.
Perhaps the Doctor should have instead prescribed an apple a day for each of the players as a rash of injuries and a COVID-19 outbreak took center stage.
With Ryan Pulock out four-to-six weeks with a suspected broken foot and Josh Bailey already sidelined and in quarantine due to a positive COVID test, the bad news was just beginning. Hours after the team’s skate the already short-handed Isles were confronted with an even bigger issue. How big? That became clear on Friday.
While media and dignitaries alike gathered at UBS Arena for the official ribbon-cutting ceremony, news spread from the Isles’ morning skate that Captain Anders Lee and forward Ross Johnston had been placed in COVID protocol and would miss the home-opener the next night.
Of course, the ribbon-cutting still went on and the organization publicly put on a smile as it welcomed hundreds of guests — myself included — to listen to New York’s Governor Kathy Hochul, several Senators and Congressmen/Congresswomen, as well as Isles Co-Owner Jon Ledecky, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Oak View Group CEO Timothy Leiweke, talk about how happy and excited they were for the fans of Long Island’s NHL team to finally have a new state-of-the-art home.
Many made mention of how impressed they were that UBS Arena was able to be completed during a world-wide pandemic. Others noted how important the economic impact of the new arena will be on the surrounding area; projections show the number could be over $900 million per year.
Several speakers pointed out how the dimensions and architectural design of UBS Arena will allow it to be the loudest building in the NHL thanks to a ceiling barely higher than the one at Nassau Coliseum. That’s important, because we all saw what a loud fan base can do for its team during the playoffs.
Of course, once the formalities were completed, several people, including Commissioner Bettman, were besieged with questions during individual media scrums, about the Isles’ COVID outbreak and if the league would look to postpone Saturday’s opener against the Flames. The Commissioner told reporters there were no plans in place to postpone the game at that time and that the league was working with the Islanders to get a better understanding of the situation.
During that time, several prominent Isles alum, who were on-hand for the festivities, were questioned on their thoughts about the new arena. Bob Nystrom, Clark Gillies, Butch Goring and others were all present; with the exception of Mike Bossy, who was unfortunately unable to attend due to his ongoing battle with cancer.
The alum all had wonderful things to say about how they wished they’d had the opportunity to play in an arena as wonderful as UBS and how much they were looking forward to the opener. Of course, when I pressed Nystrom — half-jokingly — about whether he’d be willing to suit up for the game against the Flames should the team need a healthy body, the 1980 Stanley Cup hero chuckled and replied he would be indeed be on-hand for the opener, but he wasn’t going to play.
With the news early Saturday that the team’s outbreak had expanded to include Adam Pelech, Andy Greene and Anthony Beauvillier, you had to wonder to yourself if the possibility of Nystrom, Gillies and others suiting up might not be so far-fetched.
While the alum were indeed present for the opening ceremonies and the ceremonial face-off, they did not suit up to play. That honor was given to Richard Panik, Andy Andreoff, Robin Salo and Grant Hutton; each of whom was called up from Bridgeport to fill in for their missing comrades.
Salo was the most highly anticipated of the group and under different circumstances more fanfare would have been paid to his NHL debut. As it was, the 23-year-old defenseman was given over 20-minutes of ice time against the Flames and again against the Maple Leafs on Sunday. While he didn’t do much of note in either game, Salo did show himself to be reasonably poised and he is in line for more NHL playing time depending on how the Isles’ COVID and injury situation shapes up.
Back to the home opener for a moment, the Isles lost 5-2 to Calgary with both of their goals coming on the stick of Brock Nelson. In a little bit of interesting trivia, the Islanders have now lost all three games in their history when opening a new arena. They lost to the Atlanta Flames when they first opened Nassau Coliseum in 1972. They lost in their first game at Barclays Center in 2015 to the Chicago Blackhawks and now here at UBS Arena to the Calgary Flames.
As one of the longest tenured Islanders it was fitting for Nelson to net the first Isles goal at UBS Arena. But it was also painful to watch him depart the next night against Toronto (also at UBS Arena) with an injury after the first period.
Amidst two consecutive losses at their new home and now in the throes of a six-game losing streak, the Isles did get a glimmer of good news on Sunday as Beauvillier was cleared to play after it was deduced his positive COVID test was actually a false positive. Unfortunately, he was replaced in COVID protocol by Kieffer Bellows, who tested positive after the home opener.
So, what do the Islanders do as they await the Rangers on Wednesday night in the first battle at the new palace between these rivals? First and foremost, let them try to get healthy and then, after that, they can worry about digging themselves out of the hole they currently find themselves in, both in the Metropolitan Division and the Eastern Conference.
In other news, the current Owners of the Pittsburgh Penguins — Mario Lemieux and Co. — are evidently closing in a deal to sell the team to the Fenway Sports Group; the same company who own the Boston Red Sox, among other properties.
You know the NHL and it’s teams are watching this transaction closely to determine what the market is for teams around the league should any other Owners either receive offers from potential buyers or want to go looking for possible buyers.
Multiple sources indicate the Penguins could be sold for around $900 million, which would likely make other Owners salivate at the thought of what they could get should they choose to sell. Look at it logically. If a team like Pittsburgh can fetch $900 million, then a team in a bigger market, like the Kings or the Rangers or the Maple Leafs, could most certainly go for over a billion dollars. Now, I’m not saying any of those teams’ Owners want out. But it would likely get people thinking. Wouldn’t you?
