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The Nassau Coliseum is located on Long Island far away from the hustle and bustle of
Times Square and Midtown Manhattan. Built in 1972 near Hofstra University the building
has served as home for the NHL New York Islanders since its opening and it is also home
to the National Lacrosse League New York Saints and coming soon the AFL New York
Dragons. Also in the past this venue was the site of the glory days of Dr. J and the ABA New
York Nets. On this day the Sabres were in town so we took a peek inside to see one of
hockey's most historic buildings.
Once inside the arena doors we worked our way through a small main entrance to find a
single concourse that encircles the arena. On the side away from the seating area itself
there are ads interspersed with some of the great moments that occured during the
Islanders history. One can also get a view of outside from the concourses as there is
plenty of seethrough glass in which one can see, well the parking lot and not much else.
Plenty of concession and small souvenir stands abound yet no main team store to be found
here.
While wandering around near the main entrance we spotted a staircase that took us down
below that took us to some sort of exposition hall. There wasn't much to see here but they
did have some sort of hall of fame with great local athletes and entertainers.
The bowl
We entered the seating area to see a single level 15,000 seat arena with some suites
above the bowl and scrolling ads and dot matrix boards as well. Our seats were 2/3rds of
the way up from the floor and gave a great view of the ice. Of course a Jumbotron hangs
over the center of the ice. For us however it was the banners that caught our eye. We
looked in awe at the four Stanley Cup banners and the retired numbers of Bossy, Smith,
Potvin and so on. Must make up for the decade or so of futilty they have had here. Also in a
nice move The Coliseum has a banner to honor legendary Long Island music icon Billy Joel.
Sing us a song, you're the Piano Man!!!
Sad to say our Sabres went down to defeat that day to the lowly Isles by a 4-2 count and it
wasn't that close. The Islanders had their annual Stick Day(Pete's hometown friends will get
a kick out of that) promotion so there was a near sellout on hand for this one. We'd have to
say that was probably the coolest souvenir giveaway we've seen anywhere thus far.
Summary
This building wasn't bad at all or at least not the house of horrors we were hearing about
from others. Still in today's world of pro sports you need a building with plenty of suites
and loads of club seats to stay competitive and in this venue that is sorely lacking. We'll
return whenever a new arena is built and hopefully by then those kids behind us will stop
kicking the back of my seat.
SCORING:
Architecture 3
Concessions 4
Scoreboard 3
Ushers 6
Fan Support 6
Location 3
Banners/history 9
Entertainment 7
Concourses/fan comfort 4
Bonus: Billy Joel Banner 1
Total: 46
Times Square and Midtown Manhattan. Built in 1972 near Hofstra University the building
has served as home for the NHL New York Islanders since its opening and it is also home
to the National Lacrosse League New York Saints and coming soon the AFL New York
Dragons. Also in the past this venue was the site of the glory days of Dr. J and the ABA New
York Nets. On this day the Sabres were in town so we took a peek inside to see one of
hockey's most historic buildings.
Once inside the arena doors we worked our way through a small main entrance to find a
single concourse that encircles the arena. On the side away from the seating area itself
there are ads interspersed with some of the great moments that occured during the
Islanders history. One can also get a view of outside from the concourses as there is
plenty of seethrough glass in which one can see, well the parking lot and not much else.
Plenty of concession and small souvenir stands abound yet no main team store to be found
here.
While wandering around near the main entrance we spotted a staircase that took us down
below that took us to some sort of exposition hall. There wasn't much to see here but they
did have some sort of hall of fame with great local athletes and entertainers.
The bowl
We entered the seating area to see a single level 15,000 seat arena with some suites
above the bowl and scrolling ads and dot matrix boards as well. Our seats were 2/3rds of
the way up from the floor and gave a great view of the ice. Of course a Jumbotron hangs
over the center of the ice. For us however it was the banners that caught our eye. We
looked in awe at the four Stanley Cup banners and the retired numbers of Bossy, Smith,
Potvin and so on. Must make up for the decade or so of futilty they have had here. Also in a
nice move The Coliseum has a banner to honor legendary Long Island music icon Billy Joel.
Sing us a song, you're the Piano Man!!!
Sad to say our Sabres went down to defeat that day to the lowly Isles by a 4-2 count and it
wasn't that close. The Islanders had their annual Stick Day(Pete's hometown friends will get
a kick out of that) promotion so there was a near sellout on hand for this one. We'd have to
say that was probably the coolest souvenir giveaway we've seen anywhere thus far.
Summary
This building wasn't bad at all or at least not the house of horrors we were hearing about
from others. Still in today's world of pro sports you need a building with plenty of suites
and loads of club seats to stay competitive and in this venue that is sorely lacking. We'll
return whenever a new arena is built and hopefully by then those kids behind us will stop
kicking the back of my seat.
SCORING:
Architecture 3
Concessions 4
Scoreboard 3
Ushers 6
Fan Support 6
Location 3
Banners/history 9
Entertainment 7
Concourses/fan comfort 4
Bonus: Billy Joel Banner 1
Total: 46
| Nassau Coliseum |
#30
Nassau
Coliseum
Uniondale,
New York
March 4,
2000
Buffalo
Sabres
at
New York
Islanders
Nassau
Coliseum
Uniondale,
New York
March 4,
2000
Buffalo
Sabres
at
New York
Islanders
