The NHL thought they were doing the New York Islanders a favour by moving them from Long Island to Brooklyn, but it's a move that quickly backfired on them considering they moved to a venue that was not designed for hockey games. After spending a few seasons in Brooklyn, the Islanders decided it was time to give the fans what they want and move back to Long Island as they made an agreement with the NHL to split time between Brooklyn and Long Island for the 2018-19 season.
After John Tavares joined the Toronto Maple Leafs this past offseason, a majority of the hockey community immediately wrote off the Islanders this season expecting them to finish near the bottom of the standings. However, with 31 games left on their schedule the Islanders sit atop the Metropolitan Division with 66 points and have the third-most points in the entire Eastern Conference. Since the season has been a lot more successful than anyone imagined Islanders fans now have their sights set on the playoffs, something they didn’t expect to talk about this season.
On Monday, Nassau County Executive Laura Curran stepped up for every Islanders fan and wrote a letter to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman requesting that the Isles get to host any home playoff games in Long Island rather than Brooklyn.
The Islanders haven’t had much success in Brooklyn since making the move in 2015 and a move back to Long Island is something that every single Isles fan is going to appreciate moving forward. Hopefully Bettman listens to Curran’s request because it would be awesome to see playoff hockey return to Long Island.
(H/T Twitter/nassauexecutive)
