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Nassau County Exec: Islanders Should Play at Coliseum All Next Season

Nassau Coliseum

In a letter last week, Nassau County executive Laura Curran requested that the NHL allow the New York Islanders to play all home games next season at Nassau Coliseum.

Currently the Islanders are playing portions of their home schedule at both Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and the Coliseum while awaiting the completion of a new Belmont Park arena, slated to open in time for the 2021-22 season. It has been expected that the Islanders’ split-venue arrangement for their home schedule will continue into 2020-21 as part of a three-year deal, though Curran is hoping that the NHL will allow the team to play all home games next season at the Coliseum.

In a letter to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman last week, which Curran also tweeted, she noted the desire among the team’s fan base to see a full home slate played at the venue. Bettman followed up by labeling the request “a little premature,” but notably did not outright dismiss it, instead indicating that the league would consider it when the time comes. More from Newsday:

In a letter to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on Thursday, which Curran also posted on Twitter, the county executive wrote, “It’s what the fans want. It’s what the players want . . . Let us ‘Rock The Barn’ for one more full and final year.”  

In response, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement to Newsday, “We appreciate the County Executive’s passion and interest. The request is a little premature, but it’s something we’ll consider at the appropriate time.”

An Islanders spokesman said the team is keeping in touch with Bettman on the matter.

The Coliseum–officially known as NYCB LIVE, home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum because of a naming-rights deal–was the Islanders’ home from 1972-2015 before they moved to Brooklyn. 

Image courtesy NYCB Live.

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