10 Reasons the NHL is Also Coming to Brooklyn
4. The Barclays Center is Ready for It (and Nassau Coliseum Never Was)
Nassau Coliseum (home of the Islanders!) is possibly the worst arena in all of major league sports. And though it’s small and dilapidated, with none of the luxuries of a modern pro-sports venue, the worst thing about the Colosseum is its horrible location, in the middle of suburban nowhere, far from meaningful public transportation, isolated by the perpetual gridlock of the Long Island Expressway. Oh, and it just sits there in the middle of a giant parking lot, waiting for that Foreigner reunion tour that will never come… The Barclays Center, on the other hand, is a genuine 21st-century sports venue, easily accessible not only to the few remaining Islanders fans, but to the millions of other tri-state hockey fans looking to catch a game. Granted, Barclays hockey configuration would leave it with the smallest capacity in the NHL (by 500 seats), but that’s a wrinkle that could eventually be ironed out. And in case you hadn’t heard, pro hockey will be coming to Barclays in January, 2013, as the arena hosts a Russian league game between Moscow and St. Petersburg.
4a. Which reminds us, the owner of the Brooklyn Nets is Mikhail Prokhorov, who is Russian. Russians love hockey.
