Islanders Barclays Center Move Announced 8 Years Ago Today

Eight years ago today, the New York Islanders announced that they would be moving to the Barclays Center for the 2015-2016 season.

I think everyone remembers where they were when they heard the news about the New York Islanders leaving Nassau to go to Brooklyn. Well, at least I know that I do. I was a senior in high school, in Mr. Junkins history class when I got the notification on my phone.

It was a sinking feeling, one that people saw coming but hearing the official news was definitely a kick in the stomach. That was eight years ago today.

Time really flies. Now, eight years later, the Barclays experiment is over to the joy of a majority of the fan base. Realizing that this was eight years ago today, brought me down memory lane of the good, the bad, and mostly the ugly of that building.

I mean, who remembers that awful train horn-like goal horn they tried to introduce? Islanders fans rightfully protested that one and it was quickly tossed away like it never happened.

On top of that, the Islanders had to fight to get their banners moved to Brooklyn, the scoreboard was off-center, you had obstructed views, and many other hurdles along the way that just made it seem completely not worth it.

While the arena itself was awful, the Islanders had one of their best post-dynasty moments in that building.

For the first time in 23 years, the Islanders won a playoff series. And while he isn’t loved like he was at the time, the most important post-dynasty player got the job done. It was a strange five year run in that building.

Overall, it was a failure as the two sides wanted nothing to do with each other by the end but I think we as Islander fans have to realize that it was a necessary failure. Yes, it wasn’t fun but they had nowhere else to go.

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It also yielded a brand new building in Belmont that is going to be absolutely beautiful when it’s done. I think if I had to do it all over again I would if I knew that it would result in UBS Arena.