Today is September 2nd, the unofficial start of hockey season for me. It has been this way for more than a decade. Why September 2nd? For a dumb-ass reason, but one I have held onto. If you have known me for years and followed my writing since the beginning, then you too know why. If not -- just think it’s as good a day as any to start.

September is the month of firsts for so many things. First day of school, first fall leaf, first pumpkin spice latte of the season. As a hockey fan we have always looked forward to ‘firsts’ with great anticipation. First day NHL camps open, first pre-season game, the beloved home opener. Firsts. They are special. They are always special because you look forward to them and they have a special place in your life.

As firsts, we keep them sacred. They are rituals and celebrations.

When I was an Isles season ticket holder, the first day those special tickets arrived was like Christmas. We’d sit down with the calendar and start penciling in and seeing which dates didn’t work for us and our purchase partner. (Seriously, who could afford to buy FULL season tickets and go to all 82 games? Certainly not me.) As the major partner, I always kept the home opener.

That first meaningful game at the barn was a outing for family and friends. The parking lot parties would last for hours, even when the weather didn’t co-operate and tents and umbrellas would be blowing. Isles fans were never deterred. We stayed, we partied, we headed into the Coliseum wet and smiling.

I remember one year I picked up a new car on the day of the home opener, a Blue Escape. Sitting in the Ford dealer’s showroom decked to the nines in Islander gear and begging they hurry the hell up and give me my keys so we could get to the Coliseum. “Can’t you see I have PLANS?! Just let me sign the damn papers and give me my keys!” I wasn’t missing the puck drop.

But this year, the last at the Coliseum, our firsts are lasts. And while today, I still put my Isles logo necklace onto start the season, I know it’s different. Very different.

The home opener will be a party and a funeral. The last of it’s kind -- ever. There is no tailgating on the train or the platform at Atlantic yards. There will be no Islander Mania bar-b-que filling the air with inviting aroma and coolers filled with Jell-O shots.

This first of our lasts will be bittersweet. While we wait for the first goal of the season, it will be the LAST first goal in the Coliseum. And while I can sit here and think about the last FIRST game, my heart can’t even comprehend how I will feel about the LAST -- LAST game at the Coliseum.

Granted, the Islanders organization are making this season a celebration of the last four decades, the inevitable departure will not be soothed by any special moments of this coming season. So there will be plenty of ‘firsts’ and exponentially more ‘lasts’ from September 18th to the very last day the Isles play.

And every one of them will be etched in my memory as a treasure.

Sideboard: It was with great joy that I listened to SiriusXMNHL radio ALL DAY Long today. Of course that meant that I had to listen to Ken Danyko about 15 times talk about Marty Brodeur, but he also felt the Islanders couldn’t possibly not improve this season. That is a given. I’ll take my hockey talk radio back and begin to think up questions to nudge Kimber, the Isles PR guy, with. I’ll send pointed emails to Islanders brass and hope to get responses. I’ll nudge, I’ll annoy, I’ll be ignored and sometimes, I’ll even get answers.

It all starts -- right now.

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