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Farewell, Fort NeverLose
My father worked at the New York Telephone Company with a man named Mr. Gerby. When I was in high school in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Mr. Gerby was one of my favorite people during hockey season because he had season tickets to the New York Islanders. Quite often, whenever he wasn’t using his tickets, he’d offer them to my dad.
On the days of Islanders home games, I would pray to the hockey gods that Mr. Gerby would call. Even though I knew he’d use his tickets for “marquee” games, like when the Islanders would play the Rangers, I still kept my fingers crossed. But if the Islanders were playing, say, the Quebec Nordiques for the first time since the NHL-WHA merger on Jan. 19, 1980, I knew there was a good chance the phone would ring.
When it did, it was awesome.
Saturday night, the Islanders played their final regular-season home game at the Nassau Coliseum. Next season, they’re moving to Brooklyn and the Barclays Center. As I listened to the game, I thought not only about the Islanders games I got to see courtesy of Mr. Gerby, but all of the ones I saw over the years at the old barn on Hempstead Turnpike in Uniondale. The memories are wonderful.
First Islanders game I attended at the Nassau Coliseum was Feb. 19, 1974. Saw them play the mighty Montreal Canadiens, featuring the Mahovlich brothers, Henri Richard (in his last full season), Yvan Cournoyer and a pair of young, up-and-coming stars in Guy Lafleur and Larry Robinson. The Islanders won, 5-3, as Eddie Westfall had two goals and one assist. It was the first time the Islanders defeated the Canadiens.
The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum has been home to the New York Islanders for more than forty years, and it has meant the world to some Islanders fans – and deservedly so.
Perhaps my favorite Islanders game at the Coliseum was Feb. 13, 1982, when Bryan Trottier scored five goals in an 8-2 beating of the Philadelphia Flyers. I also got to see Mike Bossy score his 50th goal of the 1981-82 season (March 4 vs. Toronto) and his 60th goal of the 1982-83 season (April 2 vs. Pittsburgh).
There were special ceremonies. Like the night the Islanders’ 1975 playoff team was honored (April 6, 1985 vs. New Jersey). Or when Trottier’s No. 19 was retired and finally placed in the rafters (Oct. 20, 2001 vs. San Jose). Or when Kenny Jonsson was inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame (Feb. 11, 2012 vs. Los Angeles).
Other highlights: Beating the Soviet Wings, 5-4, in an exhibition that was part of the NHL Super Series (Dec. 26, 1989); goalie Billy Smith slashing and fighting the Maple Leafs’ Lanny McDonald (March 15, 1979); and stopping the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby’s 25-game scoring streak during a 2-1 shootout victory (Dec. 29, 2010).
Another fond Nassau Coliseum memory had nothing to do with hockey, but rather basketball. The New York Nets of the American Basketball Association played there. Someone my dad knew gave him courtside seats right behind the Nets bench for the March 3, 1974, game against the Indiana Pacers. The Nets led at halftime, 60-40, but wound up losing, 120-99. After the game, the Nets’ Wendall Ladner disgustedly threw a red towel on the ground behind him. It laid there for several minutes and no one picked it up. So I grabbed it.
To this day, I still have that towel.
Fans will have another chance to watch hockey at the Barclays Center when the Islanders host the Devils in the ’14-’15 preseason.
I went to say my final goodbye March 24, when the Islanders played the Minnesota Wild. Unfortunately, the Islanders lost in a shootout, 2-1. As I exited the Coliseum, I realized that a special part of my childhood and my life had come to an end.
Next season when the Islanders move to the Barclays Center, I will try to get to some games. Actually, from where I live in Pennsylvania, it will be closer and a little easier to get to Brooklyn.
However, it won’t be the same.
So thank you, Nassau Coliseum, for the memories. You were a great place to watch a hockey game. You were home to one of the greatest dynasties in NHL history. You won’t be forgotten.
And thank you, Mr. Gerby, wherever you may be.
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