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Unwelcome Tavares returned to Islanders team that’s moved on

The favorite son grew up and went away, and when he returned home for a visit, well, guess what? He was not welcome.

Shocker.

John Taveras spent the first nine years of his career bleeding the blue and orange of the Islanders franchise he represented with dignity. That barely mattered to the rabid fans who came to the Coliseum to celebrate their first-place team, defend their team’s honor and heap insults on No. 91, who showed up in Uniondale for the first time wearing the Maple Leafs crest after signing with Toronto as a free agent on July 1.