The Islanders return to home ice, tonight, as they face off against the San Jose Sharks. Both teams come into this game a perfect three wins in three games. Tonight will be another huge test for the Islanders early into the 2014/2015 season. This organization showed that it was serious during this offseason and it showed that the time to win was this year. It is now time for the citizens of Long Island to step up and match this effort and pack the Coliseum tonight.

If you want another reason as to why this team can’t get to Brooklyn fast enough, let us flash back to the second home game of last season. The Isles were coming off a playoff run and a sold-out season opener and the next home game against the Coyotes featured a half empty rink. If this happens tonight it will be embarrassing.

This rant isn’t about the loyal passionate fanbase that lives and dies with this team and it isn’t about my readers or twitter followers; it is about everyone else on Long Island: the people you see wearing the Jason Blake or Sean Bates jerseys in the parking lot. I saw dozens of them before the playoff games against the Penguins and wondered, “Where have you guys been?” You can always spot the people who only pop up when things are going well. The players are begging for a full house. They want to play in front of that loud rabid fanbase that they heard on opening night.

This is a plea to the rest of Long Island. Show up and support your team or nobody has the right to complain about why they are moving. Anything less than 13,000 people at tonight’s game is embarrassing considering the success of the team this season. The fanbase that have shown up, unconditionally, should be awarded some version of a sport’s fan purple heart. It has been bad, but those days appear to be over. We need your fair weather brethren to join you and pack this old barn like it is 1982.

If there are 10,000 fans there tonight, I don’t want to hear any excuses. I don’t want to hear about traffic or weather or that it’s a school night. That’s all bollocks. If this barn isn’t packed tonight, it simply reinforces the decision to move to the guaranteed revenue in Brooklyn. I don’t want to hear about past seasons of failures, we are talking about here and now. This lineup is good enough to make a run. They need the community to get on board with them and let’s enjoy the final season in Nassau.

If you are reading this, this rant is not about you. This isn’t a plea to a fanbase that has a love that has resembled an abusive relationship at times. I know you passionate fans have never wavered. This is a desperate plea for everyone else. Dust off your Mike Peca jersey, wash your Adrian Aucoin jersey, and come out and support this damn team. As always, for more on all things hockey please follow me on twitter at DanDanNoodles78.

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