The New York Islanders have spent the past 41 seasons playing in Uniondale, New York.  At the start of the 2015-2016 NHL season, the Islanders will be moving to Brooklyn to play at the recently opened Barclays Center.

It is time for the Islanders to move off the island.

The Nassau Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum is the worst professional sporting arena in America. Visiting players always complain about playing at Nassau Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum because the puck bounces (instead of glides) along the ice.

The Barclays Center, on the other hand, is a state-of-the-art sporting complex, with a seating capacity of 15,813 for ice hockey. The Brooklyn Nets are currently the only team that plays at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Before the Nets moved to Brooklyn, they were a small market team with no “real fans” and had consistently bad teams. Yet since the move to Brooklyn and to the Barclays Center in 2012, the Nets have become a big market team, grown in popularity, and have become a title contending team.

The Islanders hope this move will bring about the same fortune to the team.  The Islanders are currently an above-average hockey team and are in third place in the Metropolitan Division and the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.  This move to Brooklyn should attract big name free agents to sign with the Islanders. A free agent in the NHL would rather play for a team that is in Brooklyn, playing in a modern arena, than playing in Long Island’s horrible stadium.

Fans of hockey have different opinions on the Islander’s move to Brooklyn. “I think that the Islanders moving to Brooklyn is a good move for the team. It will attract a whole new group of fans and the Islanders would be playing in a better arena,” said Richard Gueren a junior at Glen Rock High School.

Die hard New Jersey Devils fan, Chris Amos, had a different opinion, saying, “It is a bad move. The Islanders will lose a lot of ‘die hard’ fans on Long Island. It is a hike from Long Island to Brooklyn and fans will not make the long trip.”

Islander fans that have stayed loyal to the team might not like the idea of changing the logo and the colors of the team. Rumor has it that the Islanders might change their logo and team colors to match the “black and white” Brooklyn theme.  If the Islanders where to change their logo and colors, this would anger the die-hard Islander fans, while potentially drawing appeal to the new fans in Brooklyn.

The move to Brooklyn is set in stone and there is no turning back. With a new city, arena, and possible new logo and team colors, the Islanders will have a whole new feel to them.  Who knows, the move to Brooklyn could bring the team a Stanley Cup for the first time since the Islanders won four cups in a row in the late 70’s and early 80’s.