There hasn’t been much to talk about over the last couple of weeks when it comes to hockey as the NHL Lockout continues to put the 2012-13 season on hold, but there’s some interesting news regarding the New York Islanders and a new location that could be in place as early as 2015.
The Islanders announced on Wednesday their plans to move from Long Island and play at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn as early as 2015. The organization has been looking for a new place to play for over 10 years now and has seen numerous proposals turned down for a new stadium–so it looks like they decided to just settle with the Barclays Center for now.
Obviously, this is big news for the city of Brooklyn as the Brooklyn Nets recently moved from New Jersey and will get their first season under way next week when they take on the New York Knicks on November 1. Of course, moving to a new location always causes some sort of problems–which is exactly what the Islanders could be facing once 2015 rolls around from an attendance perspective.
As of now, the Barclay’s Center would only be able to hold 14,500 fans attending home games–which would give the team one of the lowest in the NHL. There’s still plenty of time before 2015 rolls around, but don’t be surprised if the organization attempts to figure out a way to add more seating before then.
Either way–this is exciting news for the city of Brooklyn as they all of a sudden will be the home to two professional sports teams.
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