Not satisfied with housing the NBA’s newly relocated Brooklyn Nets to start the 2012-13 season, the developer and owner of the New York City borough’s Barclays Center is putting forth an effort to attract an NHL club as well.
“And I am trying like hell to get the Islanders to make Barclays Center their new hockey home,” Bruce Ratner told the New York Daily News on Wednesday, reiterating his desire to pull the Isles to Brooklyn. “They will play a preseason game here against the Devils.”
An occasional exhibition contest is just the beginning, according to Ratner’s vision.
The developer and owner of Brooklyn’s new Barclays Center believes his state-of-the-art facility can hold hockey for more than just a passing game or two. The building, which “holds 14,500 for hockey,” Ratner said, already has ice and locker rooms to accommodate both major sports and was made with the foresight of “easily” supporting a hockey team.
The construction of Barclays Center is 90 per cent complete, and it is set to open in 59 days. The Islanders announced in January that they will play the New Jersey Devils in a preseason game at Barclays on Sept. 28.
“It was made for hockey and basketball,” Ratner told the Associated Press. “It could easily support a hockey team.”
The Islanders’ lease at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale expires following the 2014-15 season. Team owner Charles Wang and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman have been adamant that the Islanders will not play in the Coliseum after that point, although both have reiterated their desire to keep the Islanders in the New York City area.
The Coliseum, which houses the Islanders’ four Stanley Cup championship banners from its rafters, is the second-oldest active arena in the NHL, next to the recently renovated Madison Square Garden, home of the New York Rangers.
Bettman is hopeful the Islanders can stay on Long Island, one way or the other. Though, he is open to change, if needed.
“Barclays, I suppose,” Bettman told AP back in April, “on some level, is an option.”
But he also stuck to his stance that a franchise with plenty of history and tradition — four Cups, five conference titles and six division crowns — should stay on Long Island. The Islanders finished the regular season at 34-37-11, and missed the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season.
“We’re going to do everything possible to figure out a way to make this work here,” Bettman said. “And if we’re unsuccessful at some point, then we’d have to consider the (relocation) options.
“But we’re not anywhere near that.”
(with files from AP)
