Brooklyn to Get Professional Hockey Team

After over 50 years of not having their own professional sports team to root for – ever since the Dodgers left in 1958 – residents of Brooklyn were overjoyed this year to welcome the Nets as the borough’s very own Basketball team. It is now being reported that the Islanders have decided to relocate from Nassau County to Brooklyn in 2015.

Maybe it’s only a matter of time before the Dodgers come back home to Crown Heights.

From Newsday:

The Islanders are moving to Brooklyn.

Owner Charles Wang, who has been consistently rebuffed in attempts to get a new arena to replace the dilapidated Nassau Coliseum, made the announcement at a news conference Wednesday at the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

“Hello, Brooklyn!” Wang said in announcing the National Hockey League team has made a 25-year commitment to play at the Barclays Center beginning in 2015. Wang called the deal “iron clad” with no opt-out clause.

“We have tried really hard to keep the Islanders in their home ofNassau County,” Wang said. “Unfortunately we were unable to keep that dream. This has been a very long journey for the Islanders.”

Barclays Center developer Bruce Ratner said he “couldn’t have found a better partner than Charles Wang,” with whom he has discussed the future of the Nets and Islanders for years.

“Charles wanted to keep them in the state of New York and local,” Ratner said. “I want to say this: Charles Wang is the real hero today. He has kept this team in New York State.”

Mayor Michael Bloomberg noted “the Islanders are bringing their own silverware,” mentioning the team’s four Stanley Cups.

“Who said the rivalry between the Islanders and Rangers couldn’t get any bigger? Well, it just did,” the mayor said.

Bloomberg held up two MetroCards, saying Wang and Islanders general manager Garth Snow will be able to use them “to get to the Canyon of Heroes” for the Islanders Stanley Cup championship parade.

News of the move comes 40 years to the month after the Islanders first dropped a puck at the Coliseum.

The Islanders have played at the arena since their inception as an expansion team in 1972-73. But their lease at the Coliseum expires in 2015 — and Wang has made it clear he has no intention of the Islanders playing in the outdated arena, which opened on Feb. 11, 1972, beyond that.

The team noted on its website announcement of the news conference that the Barclays Center is “located atop one of the largest transportation hubs in New York City” — and is “accessible by 11 subway lines, the Long Island Rail Road, and 11 bus lines.”

The Islanders once were considered the most-successful expansion team in U.S. professional sports history, falling one game short of the Stanley Cup finals in just their third season — and winning theStanley Cup four straight times from 1980-83.

The Islanders have not won a playoff series since 1992-93.

At the news conference, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the move returns hockey to Brooklyn, citing the old Bulldogs-Tigers-Americans franchise that played as the Brooklyn Americans during the 1941-42 season before suspending operations due to the start of World War II. That team practiced at the old Brooklyn Ice Palace — and played its games at the old Madison Square Garden.

The 2012-13 NHL season is currently in limbo, with the league in a lockout battle as the result of contract disputes with the players’ union. The Islanders have sought a new arena to replace the Coliseum dating back to the 1990s, but have been consistently rebuffed by local government officials.

The National Basketball Association Nets, who played in the Coliseum as a member of the long-defunct American Basketball Association, moved to the Barclays Center to start the current NBAseason.

The Nets are playing a preseason game against the Knicks Wednesday at the Coliseum.

Brooklyn Nets chief executive Brett Yormark was also at the Islanders news conference Wednesday.

The Barclays Center seats 18,000 when configured for basketball. It is unclear how many fans it would seat if configured for hockey, though Newsday reported in February an estimate in the 14,500-seat range.

Continue reading at Newsday