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Islanders to split games between Nassau Coliseum, Brooklyn

FILE - Hockey fans make their way toward the entrances of the renovated Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y., before a preseason NHL hockey game between the New York Islanders and the Philadelphia Flyers on Sept. 17, 2017. (Kathy Willens / Associated Press)
By David Klepper Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. – The New York Islanders will split their regular-season home games between Long Island’s Nassau Coliseum and Brooklyn’s Barclays Center beginning next year while a new arena is built at Belmont Park under an arrangement announced Monday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The Islanders plan to play 12 games at the Coliseum in Nassau County next season. The team will then decide about the next season, with tentative plans to play at least half their home games at the Coliseum. The new arena is expected to open in three years.

“Let’s rock the barn!” team owner Jon Ledecky said Monday, using a fan nickname for the Coliseum, where the Islanders played from 1972 until 2015, when they relocated to Brooklyn.

Fans expressed displeasure with that move, and last month the team announced plans for the facility on the grounds at Belmont, home of the third leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown.

“We’re going to fill all 18,000 seats when we open the NHL season at Belmont arena,” Cuomo said.