Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum - New York Islanders
So yeah, the write up here will be much longer than usual, since this is one of our "home" rinks. Between the three of us we have seen more NHL games here than anywhere else. That's unfortunate, but really no better base to get an appreciation for what else is out there. Listen, the Coliseum sucks. Really, really hard. It's bad for visiting players, bad for the home team, bad for fans. Yes, its old-school and no frills. Yes, it has the best sightlines anywhere in the league- too bad this simply affords one a superlative view of Andy Hilbert. But there are places that give you these things and still act as viable locations for professional sporting events. The Isles need a new facility to survive as a franchise, plain and simple.
Convenience/Access - There are two ways to assess this category for the NVMC. If you live on Long Island, then you likely own a car (or three) and are used to ridiculous traffic and giant parking lots. The location of the rink is fine and relatively central population-wise. The other way of looking at it is that there is next to no way to get here via public transport if you don't live on the Island, are coming from out of town, cant drive, or would like to imbibe heavily while watching Freddy Meyer and Chris Campoli. A shuttle service from the nearest LIRR stations would do wonders here. Note that nearest does not mean close. In the end its probably unlikely that the location of NVMC keeps that many people away, but it for damn sure doesn't bring anybody, either.
Location/Scene - The only things within legitimate walking distance of NVMC are a Marriott (where many opposing teams no longer even stay) and a few delis/pizza joints across a 6 lane highway. Not so sweet. There is some proper tailgating on weekend games.
Outside Appearance - It's a big white dish in the middle of a parking lot. There are no windows. It isn't attractive, but it does scream 'hockey rink'. It would scream 'hockey rink' even more if there wasn't an equal-to-the NYI-one-sized New York Dragons (that's the Arena Football League, folks) banner draped hideously across the front. We're All Islanders. Or Dragons.
Inner Aesthetics - This place looks great largely because you can see all of it so easily. It is small, and it feels small. The seats are close to the ice, and there isn't much wasted space (except for a wide walkway behind each net). You really do feel like you could pick out someone sitting at the other corner of the rink, or in one of the luxury boxes. When half the building isn't empty, it looks even better. The seats/interior are slightly drab looking, but not enough to be a negative. The scoreboard, after a much-maligned absence and reemergence a decade ago, is small and basic but plenty adequate for such a small rink.
Concourse - Word up to Mellon Arena, which has given us new perspective on how poor a concourse can be. We now know that NVMC sports only the second-worst concourse in hockey. The floors are nasty and hideously tiled, it gets crowded due to the lines for the bathrooms which snake along the length of 3 gates, and there is absolutely nothing to do or see except possibly sign up for Newsday and ruin your credit rating. Ask Eric.
Sightlines - This is an outstanding rink to watch a hockey game in, possibly the best in the league. While it wouldn't be 100% accurate to say that there isn't a bad seat in the house, (some back row seats have really bad views under a low overhang) its damn close. The upper sections are closer to the ice than anywhere we've seen. The front rows of the upper tier and back rows of the lower tier are probably the best vantage points for a hockey game in the NHL. The sightlines here are phenomenal and you can feel the game from anywhere in the rink.
Bathrooms - Oh, the coliseum bathrooms. The stuff of lore. At 6:30 on a weeknight, during warm-ups, even with < style="font-style: italic;">
Concessions - Nothing interesting or really worth getting. There are more than enough stands though.
Comfort - The seats have above-average comfort, but with below-average legroom. It is consistently very, very cold in this rink.
Fans/Atmosphere - Everything that's written about the Coliseum atmosphere on a big playoff night is true- the place is loud and awesome. The low ceilings and tiny seating bowl equate to a lot of noise. But let's not kid ourselves- most people who just come to LI to see one game here will leave thinking that this is nothing short of a brutal, mid-tier ECHL team atmosphere, if for no other reason than that the Islanders rarely draw more than 12k, and put on the most heinous, insulting-to-fans game presentation of any major sports team in history. That is not an exaggeration. Buzz during NYI-NYR games is fantastic.
History - On one hand, the Isles bleed every possible event they can out of their 4 year glory run. There are alumni appearances/'nights' pretty much every season, as well as anniversary tributes and special appearances designed to get fans in the rink. They are always done with class (amazing for the Isles) but are way too frequent and have thus lost much of their cache. There are a lot of nice pictures around the concourse windows of past players, but no plaques or other informative displays. Of course, a large portion of the Islanders' history has no business being displayed. As for banners, NVMC should get a high score here, as the Isles have tons of players and accomplishments to celebrate. However, it took until very recently for management to see fit to clean any of the white banners, which were visibly soiled and had looked atrocious. They are also hung haphazardly and the font on the retired player banners is not consistent. More bush league, easily fixable stuff from the Isles here that goes from odd to completely infuriating once you've been to enough games.
Cool Stuff - There is absolutely nothing cool or interesting or interesting to see in this arena.
Bars - There is one on the lower level. It's always crowded and we've never hung out there. Last year they put a few tents outside and have tables and beer stands set up, which is a good start and sort of expands the concourse.
Store - Scattered booths around the concourse offer the usual stuff, all very expensive. There is actually a pretty good selection of player t-shirts, which is vital to us. You can buy NY lottery tickets here.
Value - Very overpriced tickets, which leads to a vicious cycle of poor attendance and ownership having to keep prices up to compensate. The 10 dollar walkup tickets are a good initiative which should be extended.
Overall - The Coliseum is a dump, and has been for some time. Its sole selling point- tiny size and terrific view- gets swallowed up among a litany of negatives. Justin‚s hockey credentials have been impeccably hardened here- watching one of the worst team in the league in one of the worse structures in the sport. We love it, and yet, we hate it.
Random - This will always be a funny sidenote in our chronicles- we all attended this rink together in 1997, a solid 8 years before the genesis of this quest. We sat in 3 different places and it was totally unknown at the time. We were (separately) with some of the other jabronis who we would, a decade later, drag along (or try to) on future trips. It was also a hilarious 3-3 tie with STL, the team which Eric would later become a full STH of, and featured one of the most Coliseum-defining moments ever (the re-unveiling of a new, slightly-less-crappy scoreboard- complete with black drape and spotlight). Feeling that this experience wasn't enough, we ventured back there together for a mid-year NYI-NJ contest which had all the potential in the world of being one of the least interesting games in NHL history- and somehow wound up being an awesome and entertaining game with a boisterous crowd.
