Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
This is Nassau Coliseum. The New York Islanders play here. It is falling apart.
A major storm ravaged the coast in the Northeast on Saturday, and the Coliseum's position on Long Island put them right in the center of the action. According to the New York Post, heavy winds brought down a large piece of the aluminum facade that surrounds the building. Right near the box office, 90 minutes before game time. Nobody was injured.
For all of it's faults, however, some still see the positives of watching hockey in a barn that opened in 1972. That list of people includes Dominik of SBN's Lighthouse Hockey.
I've been to the glitzy new arenas with their shiny glass exteriors, plush seats, unfortunate sound-absorbing surfaces and special sections for corporate donors. I've also experienced some of the now-extinct old barns. Very real and overdue reasons for a new Islanders venue aside, when an intense NHL game is on the line and the crowd is there for hockey, I know which place I'd rather be: I'll take the frills-free noisy old barn, every time.
(Of course if I need to get to the bathroom or need a mid-game sushi, well that's another matter.)
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