Isles “Overtime Solved Nothing…
But the shoot out did. It was the Isles first win in Brooklyn, even if it doesn’t really count. Last night’s game was a tune-up for both teams, seeing what they have and what they may want to keep. The Isles faced veteran NHLers without contracts on the Devils squad, which must have been impressive to someone like Kael Mouillierat.
The first period saw a determined Islanders team peppering Kinkaid repeatedly. On the other end of the ice, (if you could see him) Chad Johnson stood tall and made some very good saves. Ryan Pulock and Colin McDonald managed to get two on the Devil’s goalie, but then the second period came along and everything went south.
Whether it was the condition of the ice, or the players, the Islanders just didn’t have the same jump as they did in the first. Johnson was screened on one goal and TJ Brennan did a terrible job defending the side of the crease on the other. The teams would stay tied at two throughout the overtime stanza leaving the game to be decided in the shoot out.
Luckily, the Devils are not very good at the shoot out and even with the elimination of the spin-o-rama move that bedeviled Marty Brodeur last season, they still came up short and the Isles won the game 3 - 2 after the skills competition.
But the night was also about the fans that made their way to the Isles future home. There were plenty of those 11,823 fans that had an excellent experience and went home happy. However, as we know, you can’t please all the people all the time, there were some who were not.
This morning there are some excellent articles written on the plight of those who purchased obstructed view seats. Do we have to remind ourselves that we knew all about this problem from the get-go? This arena was never designed for hockey, and when the Isles decided to sign that lease it became an engineering feat just to fit the rink in the building.
Here are two excepts from the NY Times article by ALLAN KREDA and JEFF Z. KLEIN from late yesterday.
“The seats with horrible views, they are off the manifest,… said Brett Yormark, the chief executive officer of Barclays Center, which is also home to the Nets.But Yormark did not share many specifics on which seats would be excluded when the Islanders arrive. A pregame walk at one end of the arena found far more than 400 seats with obstructed views.
Seven sections had no view of the goal at one end of the building. Most seats in nine other sections had a view of the net, but not of the near corner of the rink."
What the Isles fans don’t have to learn to live with are arena personnel that have not been trained for hockey games. The NHL should offer them a class in how to handle a hockey crowd. I saw too many tweets from frustrated fans whose views were obstructed by their own ushers. (Not the singing kind) Or that fans were walking up and down during play. Another NHL no-no. Please train your staff in the nuances of the hockey audience. Thank you.
Also very disappointed to hear that the amazing Isles vs. Devils cookies that were given out to the press last year were not reproduced. Why? The mold exists and I was hoping my buddy Andy Graziano from Islanders Insight would bring me home one.
The Isles special teams need work, just as the Barclay’s staff does. But this is a work in progress as we have all heard. So let the progress begin.
Welcome Shannon Hogan who did an excellent job for MSG last night along with Chris King who got a shot at the broadcast. I keep waiting for him to get the TV gig alongside Butch. He really deserves it!
Sideboard: To the fan that I had an exchange with over the wearing of Rangers jerseys to hockey games where the Rangers are not playing, I say I do not wear a WHO tee-shirt to a Matchbox20 concert or a Yankee shirt to a Met game. You love the sport but don’t support either team playing the night you are attending? Then I say to you the only hockey jerseys that can be worn any time and anywhere are Team USA or Canada and the Chiefs Hanson jerseys!