The Coliseum

Lore & Background

The team was founded in 1972 as part of the NHL's maneuvers to keep a team from rival league World Hockey Association (WHA) out of the newly built Nassau Coliseum in suburban Uniondale, New York. After two years of building up the team's roster, they found almost instant success by securing 14 straight playoff berths starting with their third season. The Islanders won four consecutive Stanley Cup championships between 1980 and 1983, the eighth of nine dynasties recognized by the NHL in its history. Their 19 consecutive playoff series wins between 1980 and 1984 is a feat that remains unparalleled in the history of professional sports. They are the last team in any major professional North American sport to win four consecutive championships, and to date the last NHL team to achieve a three-peat.

In Their Own Story

It was a Tuesday in April, 1982. The Coliseum was at capacity, maybe over, and the air in the lower bowl was thick enough to chew. A third-period goal had just gone up, and the sound was not a cheer so much as a single, sustained, full-chest exhalation from sixteen thousand people who had been holding their breath since the first period. The concrete floor vibrated. Somewhere in the second row, a man in a faded blue jersey was on his knees, not praying, just breathing, his hands flat on the hard seat in front of him as if he needed the ground to confirm this was real. The scoreboard flickered. The puck sat in the net. And the whole building, that old, imperfect, beautiful building, groaned and shook and roared, and for eleven seconds the world was exactly where it was supposed to be. Then the other team pulled their goalie, and the eleven seconds became a memory you would spend the rest of your life trying to get back to.

Reader's Guide

Following the team's dynasty era, the franchise ran into problems with money, ownership and management, an aging arena, and low attendance. Their woes were reflected on the ice, as the team has not won a division title since 1987–88, and went 22 seasons without winning a playoff series prior to the 2016 playoffs. After years of failed attempts to rebuild or replace Nassau Coliseum in suburban Long Island, the Islanders relocated to Barclays Center in Brooklyn following the 2014–15 season. In the 2018–19 and 2019–20 seasons, the Islanders split their home games between Barclays Center and Nassau Coliseum. The Islanders played all their home games in the 2020–21 season at Nassau Coliseum. Their new arena near Belmont Park was opened in 2021.

Did You Know?

• Ten former members of the Islanders have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, seven of whom—Mike Bossy, Clark Gillies, Denis Potvin, Billy Smith, Bryan Trottier, coach Al Arbour, and general manager Bill Torrey—we
• The Islanders' 19 consecutive playoff series wins between 1980 and 1984 is a feat that remains unparalleled in the history of professional sports.
• The team was founded in 1972 after William Shea and NHL president Clarence Campbell persuaded the New York Rangers to allow a second NHL team in the New York area.