My 3 favorite Brendan Burke moments as NY Islanders play-by-play announcer

The Islanders return to the Nassau Coliseum

Things never did feel quite right at Barclays Center and although an 'iron-clad' 25-year lease with the Brooklyn area was often brought up, almost immediately there were rumors swirling that there was a clause allowing the team to return to Nassau County.

As momentum built towards putting shovels in the ground at Belmont Park, it made sense for all parties for the Isles to start splitting games between Barclays and the refurbished Nassau Coliseum to begin the transition back to Long Island.

On Dec. 1, 2018, the Islanders once again hit the ice and a new-look Old Barn for the first meaningful game for the first time since the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs. It was Burke's job to set the scene and capture the feeling inside the newish building with familiar vibes.

This is what Burke said:

"1255 Hempstead Turnpike, Nassau Coliseum, Fort Neverlose, the Old Barn. It has been called many things over the last 46 years, but one thing every Islander fan calls it is home."

"Home is a simple concept, but it's become overly complicated for the New York Islanders over the last four seasons. This place may look slightly different, but it is as it should be. The ceiling is low, emotions are high and once again, it is full of fans and full of memories."

The Columbus Blue Jackets were here on April 11, 2015, when the last regular season game was played, and they're back here tonight to take on the New York Islanders. Cal Clutterbuck said yesterday that this is a special place for anyone who has ever played for the New York Islanders. It is the first of 61 games scheduled to take place here while the new arena at Belmont Park is built, and they're sure to be cherished by fans and players alike."

The Islanders open up UBS Arena

For over thirty years, the Islanders' hopes of building a new arena were surrounded by drama. You can go back to the mid-90s and read about 'plans' for a new arena at the same time the team was wearing the Fisherman logo. The John Spano debacle followed, and Charles Wang's dreams for the ambitious Lighthouse Project never received the backing from Nassau County politicians to make it a reality. Then, highly taxed residents voted down a last-ditch referendum for a new arena at the same location in August. 1, 2011, sparking relocation concerns. A detour to Brooklyn kept the Islanders in the metropolitan arena and technically on Long Island, but it did nothing to dispel the stigma of a franchise without a home that was unable to compete with the rest of the NHL.

That all changed on Nov. 20, 2021. The Islanders not only had a home of their own, but it was a fourth-generation, state-of-the-art arena that is the envy of many around the NHL. The Islanders organization went from laughing-stock to an organization capable of hosting the NHL All-Star Game with an arena that is a draw rather than a deterrent.

This is how Burke set the scene before the puck dropped in Elmont:

"1255 Hempstead Turnpike in Uniondale is now 2400 Hempstead Turnpike in Elmont. UBS Arena at Belmont Park ...Welcome home, Islanders fans and you can write 'home' in ink this time."

"The headline here isn't 'NHL team opens new arena' it is much more than that to so many people. For so many years this is a moment that they never believed would happen and year after year that idea was only reinforced. It's a 30-year saga that is hard to explain, harder to believe and impossible to truly understand except by Islanders fans that lived through it."

"Tonight is a celebration. A celebration of a new era of Islanders hockey. A new feeling of stability. A shift in perception and perspective. A new beginning."

"But in this case, the end is just as important as the beginning. The closure is as important as the opening. It's the end of the uncertainty, the instability. It's the end of the relocation threats and the jokes. The end of the worry. That thought in the back of your mind that just wouldn't go away."

"From the Lighthouse Project to the Barclays Center, there is an entire generation of Islanders fans that don't know when the Islanders' home wasn't in question. Exhale. It's over, it's all over."

"This is the home the franchise deserves. A world-class, state-of-the-art hockey palace with a Nassau County Zip Code."

Game 1 to the Island

The aforementioned moments were an example of Burke taking the time leading up to a consequential event in franchise history to compose the perfect setup for puck drop. He found the right words and delivered them with the right tone to capture the emotions of Islanders fans. In those games, the game's result was important, but it was secondary to what was in the building.

That wasn't the case on Apr. 10, 2019, when the Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins matched up in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal. The Islanders had a home-ice advantage in a series for the first time since 1988, and the Coliseum was as raucous as ever.

Tied at 3-3 in overtime, Burke had his first signature playoff call with the Islanders.

"2-on-1 Barzal and Eberle ... Mat Barzal ...IN...waits...back-hand...he hit the post...THEY SCORE!

"Josh Bailey! Game One to the Island!"

It was only five words, but it was the perfect example of less is more. "The Island" was a turn that Barry Trotz has early during his Isles' tenure as head coach. It has continued to be referred to by the fanbase in the years to come, in part because of Burke's memorable Game 1 call.