Last Monday NBA Commissioner David Stern announced that the first two weeks of games of the 2011-2012 NBA season are officially canceled. With the NBA coming off one of its most memorable seasons in its existence, this was heart-wrenching news to avid fans such as myself. What is a winter without my beloved NY Knickerbockers? Baseball is gone. Football is once a week. What am I going to do Monday through Saturday? I sure as hell am not relying on college football for my fix, and as much as I love college hoops its just not going to cut it. Alas, my last resort, hockey.
Despite growing up on Long Island just fifteen minutes away from Nassau Coliseum, home of the NY Islanders, and no more then an hour train ride away from MSG where the NY Rangers reside, I have never been an NHL guy. Sure I keep tabs on the playoffs and hockey in the Olympic always grabs my attention (I am a total sucker for anything involving countries competing), but I never invested myself in the NHL and picked a team... until last night.
When you think back to your childhood and the moment you first fell in love with a team, the decision had meaning. It had passion. It had purpose. What drove you to a team as a young fan could be something as simple as the color of the uniform, or an iconic player. But now as an adult, I found this process much more difficult. I had to keep an open mind, while also steering clear of obvious traps. First things first, we can knock off teams from a few select cities. Boston Bruins, gone. Philadelphia Flyers, gone. Chicago Blackhawks, gone. New Jersey Devils, gone. Any fan in New York has no business backing any teams from these four cities. Next I had to eliminate the front-runners. These are the teams who are clearly playoff bound. I feel as a first timer you need some bumps and bruises before you can make it to the top. The way you truly connect with a team is by staying with them through thick and thin, so when the win finally comes it means something. So, Pittsburgh Penguins, gone. Vancouver Canucks, gone. Washington Capitals, gone. Buffalo Sabers, gone. The third criteria is location. What incentive would I have rooting for a west coast team? I will almost never be able to see them play live, east coast bias will make following them in the news difficult, and all their home games will start on Pacific Time, which means they will end at 1 AM. West coach teams are out. After much research and deliberation I narrowed my options down to the NY Islanders, NY Rangers, and... Winnipeg Jets.
The 2011-2012 NHL marks not only my first full hockey season, but the return of professional hockey to the city of Winnipeg. What better way to start as a fan with a clean slate. New team. New fan. Im in. Who says you cant root for two teams named the Jets? However, my distance from the team was the riding force in me ultimately not investing in the Winnipeg Jets. Next of the block is the NY Rangers. Classic team. Rich storied history. Expensive tickets. The traditional New York sports fan is a Ranger fan. The Blueshirts are a mid level team at the moment. They made the playoffs last season before losing in the first round. They struggle scoring goals and to be honest, they don't jump out as a captivating team. Not to mention playing in James Dolan's palace (Madison Square Garden) means paying $150 for nosebleed seats. Sorry Rangers, maybe next time there is a lockout. Which leaves me with one team to support, to live with, to die with, to cheer for, to follow, to represent, to fight for, and to cry for, the New York Islanders.
Call me a homer, but I went with my gut. Thats what sports is all about. The Islanders offer me great location, exceptional news coverage, reasonable ticket prices, and an energetic young team with tremendous potential in coming years. This past off-season the Isles signed hot shot John Tavares to a six-year, $33 million extension. Matt Moulson, the undrafted mad man who scored 30+ goals the past two seasons, is also a great youthful asset New York has. My only concern is what will happen in 2015 when the Islanders lease on the Nassau Coliseum is up. Charles Wang has struggled with community support and government red tape in his effort to build a new arena for his team. Rumors have been circulating for years that at the end of the lease he may move the team, possibly to the new Barclays Arena in Brooklyn or totally relocate to a Canadian city. Regardless, I think the Islanders will stay close to home when the dust settles.
I watched my Islanders for the first time last night, and wouldn't you know, they greeted me with open arms as they beat the heavily favored Tampa Bay Lightning 5-1. Tavares had two goals and two assists in the first period alone. Thats a hell of a way to welcome a new fan into the family. Needless to say, I am pretty excited to finally start following hockey. This weekend the Islanders and Rangers will go head to head in a battle royale for early season bragging rights. Im confident I made the right decision with the Islanders. I guess I will find out for sure on Saturday.
~ Shilz
Despite growing up on Long Island just fifteen minutes away from Nassau Coliseum, home of the NY Islanders, and no more then an hour train ride away from MSG where the NY Rangers reside, I have never been an NHL guy. Sure I keep tabs on the playoffs and hockey in the Olympic always grabs my attention (I am a total sucker for anything involving countries competing), but I never invested myself in the NHL and picked a team... until last night.
When you think back to your childhood and the moment you first fell in love with a team, the decision had meaning. It had passion. It had purpose. What drove you to a team as a young fan could be something as simple as the color of the uniform, or an iconic player. But now as an adult, I found this process much more difficult. I had to keep an open mind, while also steering clear of obvious traps. First things first, we can knock off teams from a few select cities. Boston Bruins, gone. Philadelphia Flyers, gone. Chicago Blackhawks, gone. New Jersey Devils, gone. Any fan in New York has no business backing any teams from these four cities. Next I had to eliminate the front-runners. These are the teams who are clearly playoff bound. I feel as a first timer you need some bumps and bruises before you can make it to the top. The way you truly connect with a team is by staying with them through thick and thin, so when the win finally comes it means something. So, Pittsburgh Penguins, gone. Vancouver Canucks, gone. Washington Capitals, gone. Buffalo Sabers, gone. The third criteria is location. What incentive would I have rooting for a west coast team? I will almost never be able to see them play live, east coast bias will make following them in the news difficult, and all their home games will start on Pacific Time, which means they will end at 1 AM. West coach teams are out. After much research and deliberation I narrowed my options down to the NY Islanders, NY Rangers, and... Winnipeg Jets.
The 2011-2012 NHL marks not only my first full hockey season, but the return of professional hockey to the city of Winnipeg. What better way to start as a fan with a clean slate. New team. New fan. Im in. Who says you cant root for two teams named the Jets? However, my distance from the team was the riding force in me ultimately not investing in the Winnipeg Jets. Next of the block is the NY Rangers. Classic team. Rich storied history. Expensive tickets. The traditional New York sports fan is a Ranger fan. The Blueshirts are a mid level team at the moment. They made the playoffs last season before losing in the first round. They struggle scoring goals and to be honest, they don't jump out as a captivating team. Not to mention playing in James Dolan's palace (Madison Square Garden) means paying $150 for nosebleed seats. Sorry Rangers, maybe next time there is a lockout. Which leaves me with one team to support, to live with, to die with, to cheer for, to follow, to represent, to fight for, and to cry for, the New York Islanders.
Call me a homer, but I went with my gut. Thats what sports is all about. The Islanders offer me great location, exceptional news coverage, reasonable ticket prices, and an energetic young team with tremendous potential in coming years. This past off-season the Isles signed hot shot John Tavares to a six-year, $33 million extension. Matt Moulson, the undrafted mad man who scored 30+ goals the past two seasons, is also a great youthful asset New York has. My only concern is what will happen in 2015 when the Islanders lease on the Nassau Coliseum is up. Charles Wang has struggled with community support and government red tape in his effort to build a new arena for his team. Rumors have been circulating for years that at the end of the lease he may move the team, possibly to the new Barclays Arena in Brooklyn or totally relocate to a Canadian city. Regardless, I think the Islanders will stay close to home when the dust settles.
I watched my Islanders for the first time last night, and wouldn't you know, they greeted me with open arms as they beat the heavily favored Tampa Bay Lightning 5-1. Tavares had two goals and two assists in the first period alone. Thats a hell of a way to welcome a new fan into the family. Needless to say, I am pretty excited to finally start following hockey. This weekend the Islanders and Rangers will go head to head in a battle royale for early season bragging rights. Im confident I made the right decision with the Islanders. I guess I will find out for sure on Saturday.
~ Shilz
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