New York Islanders: The Barclays Center Ice Ain’t Alright

The New York Islanders are once again having to face concern over the quality of the playing surface at the Barclays Center. Not a few months removed from the initial complaints.

It’s annoying to hear the same things over and over again. Like how the quality of the ice at the Barclays Center isn’t up to standards. As New York Islanders fans it’s annoying for a simple reason; it’s embarrassing.

Concerns about the quality of the ice at the Islanders new home arena really started making headlines back in the 2016 post-season. Remember those days? You should. It was just five months ago.

Five months ago it was out for NHL fans worldwide to know that the playing surface associated to the New York Islanders wasn’t up to standards. Our own players were speaking to the media frankly about the poor quality of the ice.

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It’s something that you don’t see in most NHL markets. Players from your own team speak negatively about something associated to the team. But then again the arrangement between the Islanders and the Barclays Center isn’t something that most NHL teams do.

The Islanders don’t own the arena and actually don’t do anything relating to the administration of the arena. So it’s not up to the Islanders themselves to get the adjustments done to how the ice is made.

Pressure’s On

Within the blink of an eye, the links to Citi Field were made after this recent ice-capade. NY Post’s Larry Brooks made the leap to the Isles taking a gander at the home of the Mets as a replacement for Barclays.

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Let’s get one thing straight. The changes that need to happen in order for Barclays to get up to standards don’t necessitate a move.

The Barclays uses PVC pipes rather than steel pipes like the rest of the league, which leads to a marginal temperature difference.

During colder months this marginal change will be fine. But in warmish months like October or say April, May, and June players start to feel that marginal difference.

Replacing PVC pipes with steel pipes can be done within a few months. Like those five months between the end and the start of the new season.

But moving is a dramatic jump. Especially when you consider that the proposed arena doesn’t exist. Citi Field is but a glimmer in the eyes of Isles owners, but they’ll gladly use it to light the fire under Mikhail Prokhorov’s chair.

But let’s not get excited yet. The Islanders are going to call the Barclays center home for a few more years. Which doesn’t help us feeling embarrassed every time the Islanders ice conditions come up. Hopefully, and fingers crossed, Isles ownership can get the message across to get these pipes fixed before 2017-18. Because Citi Field might be closer then, than it is now.