The Islanders have become the NHL’s vagabonds. After three decades at Nassau Coliseum, they moved to Barclays Center three years ago in what was, as everyone now admits, a bad idea. Virtually nothing worked: the sightlines were horrible, the ice was worse and Long Islanders didn’t make the trek to Brooklyn while Brooklynites never caught the hockey bug. Attendance plummeted.
Now, the team plans to build its own arena, with the state’s help, at Belmont Park. That will take three years and in the interim, the team will split their home dates between Barclays Center and the renovated Nassau Coliseum, a gerry-built arrangement that promises confusion.