**THIS IS NOT A THREAD ABOUT THE MOVE TO BROOKLYN**
This is a thread strictly about the Nassau Veteran's Memorial Coliseum Experience
What will you miss most about the Coliseum and going to the games?
For me:
1. The Tailgating - What a better way to spend the day at the home opener then tailgating all day long. Now we go from tailgating to traingating.
2. Honking After Victories - This was a unique tradition that unfortunately will not be continued as well at the new arena as many people will be taking the train.
3. The Last Minute Decision - It was always easy to decide at the last second to see a game especially knowing you could get cheap seats.
4. The Closeness - Distance to Nassau Coliseum was always a huge convenience that I will definitely miss.
You covered just about everything. The whole traditional feel even though nobody else had any respect for us. There was no glitz and glam about the place and there didn't need to be, that's the way we liked it. Tailgating in the parking lot freezing my butt off drinking 24s of Bud Light. When I was younger the thrill of getting to honk the horn after a win. The cold, snowy, freezing walk and then subsequent drive home where you either didn't feel the cold cause you were so happy from a win, but more often bitter form a loss. I could go on...
haha you nailed it, the curly fries there used to be SO GOOD, and back when the popcorn was fresh and hot (not cold like it is now) it was some of the best popcorn ive ever had. I'll definitely miss the small-market feeling and atmosphere the place had. In my section i knew all of the other szn ticket holders like family, even most of the ushers we knew on a first name basis. As a 24 yr old man now this place hosted some amazing experiences for me that i will never forget. can't wait to take my son one day to an isles game at the barclays center
The fact that it was a dump but it was always our dump. You just felt so cozy everytime you walked in that arena because as true fans we knew that this arena would be part of us forever from the dynasty era to the last bottom 5 finishes these past 5 years.
Of course, it'll benefit the team but I don't know, we all knew the Isles were a sad organization with a sad arena but that's why we love them.
Now, it won't be a 10 min commute but instead there will be dare I say it "tourists" coming to games and i don't know, it's just weird.
Plus NVMC was in Nassau County, the only true professional sports franchise left on the Island.
It's been a while since I've been able to catch a game live, but I will always remember the guy with the shopping cart selling pretzels outside after the game.
Coming in a close 2nd/3rd Honking after the victories and how loud that barn got when it was packed.
The sitelines. (best out there!)
The noise level.
The feeling of closeness to every fan in your section.
The parking lot experience (waiting as a kid to get Ny and Potvin and Hogue and Patty Lafontaine to sign) (Vukota never would)
The ability to point to where THE GOAL was.
The ability to describe the Uwe Krupp goal being scored after the Isles won and fans stayed.
The Hempstead Tpke parades.
It was Long Island.
It was OUR TEAM, not some corporate feel franchise experience.
The ice housed all of our greats.
The history within made a dull building a museum for those who cared about the team more than the restrooms.
The concourse was part of the closeness felt.....Long Island, not Anaheim or Toronto or Phoenix. We had fans and friends to bump into and get to know.
The chants. We had great people through the years yell the funniest stuff.
You could get to your seat within a minute or two without elevators or 50 stair cases.
The size was ideal (wish it had more luxury boxes, but.....)
The banners and attention to our past was pure in those rafters. We made the building, we didn't just play there.
I could go on. A lot of the feeling taken for granted will forever be lost in 2015.
Tailgating in the parking lot. Loved the post game honks, especially when yo can direct them at opposing fans as they crossed the street. Sightlines and loudness, I wonder how it will be in Brooklyn!
Just little things. Probably too insignificant to list. It was a special place to me since I was about 5. I'll miss everything. Can't wait to be in Brooklyn, but I'm still going to miss the heck out of the old barn. It was home.
I hope they take the goal horn with them to Barclays, best one in the league IMO.
1) the feeling i got when i walked into the old barn, the memories, the history
2) OUR team , the anti rangers/city team
3) sight lines
4) noise level when it was filled
5) 9 miles and 12 minutes to get home from lot
I wonder if Goldie makes it to Brooklyn...I had one of my former girlfriends (who knew nothing about the Isles, hockey or Coliseum) convinced that he actually lived at the Coliseum under the ice...since he's at just about every game. Ha! I had her goin for about half a season.
I missed the glory years, I'd love to find out...or even remember my first game there. It was sometime in 1987 when I was 7. Years later, we would always go to day games (I lived in Jersey so didn't get to go too often), and we'd stick around and wait for the players to exit and get their autographs. It'd make my year! I got pics with Ray Ferraro and Stumpy. I'll never forget it as a kid.
And I'm proud that I was able to get there when the building was full and almost at it's loudest in 2002 Playoffs. I went to Bates penalty shot game and it felt amazing being in that building. Honestly, I'm really going to miss it.
I'll miss how "local" everything felt. I really enjoy making a 15 minute drive to the Coliseum, commiserating with other fans that lived nearby. That feeling of knowing that other fans in the building identify with me. That everyone else could joke around about the Islanders and building we watched the games in. Being able to stop by Applebee's on Sunrise highway in Bellmore and always seeing a few fellow Islanders fans in team gear after a game.
Can't be understated how cool it was to tailgate and see lots of others doing the same.
Honking after the victories and how loud that barn got when it was packed.
