Excitement, the only word to describe the game today. It’s been 369 days since fans were last at the coli, so needless to say this game was nothing short of special. Although it wasn’t a fully packed game, there were enough people to make some noise.
Some of my favorite people, who I call the Outliers are the people you can always hear, no matter how loud it is you can count on these handful of people to make some noise and rock the barn. They started chants, argued calls, and they would yell about everything under the sun. Don’t take these actions in a bad way though, they are actually doing things that I’m sure many people wouldn’t. They don’t care if it was a blatant call or an empty net goal. All they do is support the team that they love most, the New York Islanders.
And lets not forget the people who got us to the game itself. All of the healthcare workers on the frontlines going day in and day out to give normal people a somewhat normal life. Hey, when Lee got hurt, we had a surplus of doctors who’d be more than happy to help! Throughout the game there would be shoutouts to different healthcare workers and all of them together. And when everyone cheered for one another it made me realize what a community the Islanders have created. The brotherhood and camaraderie that we all share is unlike any franchise, and it never will be like any other franchise because our fans are loyal to the orange and blue and that will never suffice.
As for the game, it was no game 1, round 1 in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. But, it was special in its own right. There were 1000 fans in attendance but we made noise that thousands of people couldn’t replicate. We were loud when we scored, loud when we went on a power play. Even if Sorokin made a simple save, the crowd would cheer for him. It was electric all night, and even when the Devils scored their goals we would chant “Lets go Islanders” and rejuvenate the team. The final horn sounded, the goal horn blasted for the final time that night and at the end of the game, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who was singing along to “Right Back Where We Started From” by Maxine Nightingale. The Isles players put their sticks up, everyone cheered, even the cardboard cutouts it seemed. Then everyone slowly filtered out of the barn and the distant honking of “Let's go Islanders” echoed out throughout the parking lot.