For the Islanders, the journey towards finally achieving a decades-long dream of a brand-new state-of-the-art arena on Long Island is in the home stretch…or should I say, road stretch?
The finishing touches are being made on UBS Arena at Belmont Park, and the Islanders will play their first game at their new home on November 20 against the Calgary Flames. In a perfect world, UBS Arena would have been completed in time for pre-season games, or in time for a home opener closer to the start of the 2021-22 regular season. But, as construction winds down, the Islanders will open up the new season as “road warriors” with a 13-game road trip starting this Thursday night against the Carolina Hurricanes.
A 13-game road trip?
That doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun, but the Islanders aren’t crying about it.
“We understand the situation,” said Islanders Head Coach Barry Trotz. “This group…they’re not complainers. They just understand that life is not always easy. I think it will be a good thing for us. We’ve been at home for quite a while and I think an early road trip is always good and this will be good for this group.”
After the Carolina game, the initial part of the Islanders’ season opening excursion will also take them to Florida, Chicago, Columbus, Arizona and Vegas, before a five-day break. The next leg of the road trip will take the Islanders to Nashville, Montreal, Winnipeg and Minnesota ahead of another three-day off stretch, a game in New Jersey, and then two more in the Sunshine State before they finally come home.
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A lot of miles and a lot of time, but this 13-game road trip may not be as bad as it appears to be.
“The league or whoever does the schedule probably took that into account and gave us a couple of breaks, which will be nice,” said Brock Nelson. “I’m sure I’ll try to utilize those days at home with family, rest and just try to recover a bit and get ready for the next game.”
Their final two road games are a back-to-back against the Lightning and Panthers on November 15 and 16, and they’ll have three more off days to check out their new digs before the home opener on November 20.
Believe it or not, the 13-game road trip that the Islanders will be on to start the season will not be the longest road trip in NHL history. That distinction goes to the Vancouver Canucks, who had to go on a 14-game road trip during the 2009-10 season when Vancouver hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics.
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The Islanders are approaching the road trip as something that could turn out to be a big positive.
“You get those road games out the way early and you’re going to have a lot of action at home in the second half,” said defenseman Ryan Pulock. “It’s just going to be important that we take it one day at a time and we find a way to win and just come together as a team and have each other’s support throughout it. We’re going to find a way in this group to have success and enjoy our time on the road.”
After back-to-back trips to the NHL’s final four, the Islanders are considered by some hockey experts as one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup this season. They will have some fierce competition in the quest for Lord Stanley from other quality teams, like a Lightning squad that knocked out the Islanders two years in a row en route to back-to-back Cups.
There are also teams like the Panthers, Hurricanes, Golden Knights, Jets, and Blue Jackets who feel like they are in the mix for some hardware this season.
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The common denominator among all of those clubs is that they are all teams that the Islanders will face on this road trip.
“It’s a good challenge,” said Trotz. “Listening to all the people in the know talking about the strengths of those teams, those will be good benchmark type of games. It should engage us really quickly into the league and hopefully we’ll have some success. We’re very capable of it.”
Being away from home is not something that is a new concept for the Islanders, given the NHL’s bubbles in Toronto and Edmonton to finish the 2019-20 season. It was difficult to potentially be away from their families for up to two months, but the Islanders embraced the opportunity to do something special and they were able to make it to the Eastern Conference Final before returning home to Long Island.
When it comes to dealing with the adversities of long trips and restrictive protocols, the Islanders have been there, done that, and got the postcard.
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“It will be a challenge for sure,” said Nelson. “It’s probably the longest trip most of us have had outside of the bubble which was unique itself.
Maybe we’ll lean on that for some experience on what we’ve done in the past. We have a tight-knit group that can get together on days off and do some fun things, hang out and build some chemistry. We’ll take it one game and one day at a time and try and power through this and come out with a positive record on the other side.”
“We’ve all experienced life on the road,” added Pulock. “I think when you have a mature group like have, guys are going to make the best of it, get the rest when we can and just focus on hockey.”
Because of the pandemic, the last couple of seasons have been anything but normal for the Islanders. One season stopped and then started again over the summer with another training camp and the playoffs in a bubble. The next season didn’t start until January with no preseason games, no fans in the arena, and a 56-game schedule played entirely within your own division. This coming season is the closest to “normal” the NHL has had over three years.
Sure, a 13-game road trip is not exactly a slice of normality, but it’s something that the Islanders are ready to wrap their arms around and embrace.
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“I think this group is really good,” said Trotz. “When they know what’s in front of them, they deal with it the right way.”
The Islanders and their fans have waited a long time for a new home. They’ve dealt with political nonsense, a carousel of owners, a move to Brooklyn, and ultimately, a temporary return home to Nassau Coliseum. It’s been a 30-year journey, so what’s another few weeks?
There is finally a light at the end of the tunnel, and it’s a train being driven at the start of the season by true road warriors, the New York Islanders.
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