Views from "several hundred seats at one end of the rink" at Barclays Center for Friday night's Devils-Islanders preseason game were "obstructed," according to Kreda & Klein of the N.Y. TIMES. But arena officials said that many of those seats "would not be offered for sale" when the Islanders start play there next year. Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark said that "about 400 of the 15,795 seats that will be sold next season for hockey would have some obstruction," and those tickets "will be clearly marked." Yormark: "We’re upfront about it. Fans knew the seats are obstructed when they bought them." He "did not share many specifics on which seats would be excluded when the Islanders arrive." A pregame walk at one end of the arena "found far more than 400 seats with obstructed views." Seven sections "had no view of the goal at one end of the building." Most seats in nine other sections "had a view of the net, but not of the near corner of the rink." Architect Frank Gehry's original design for the arena "accommodated hockey as well as basketball." But when he "was replaced by SHoP Architects and the company now known as AECOM, the new, more compact design had room for the Nets, and basketball, only." After last year's Islanders preseason game at Barclays Center, their first at the arena, many fans "complained about the obstructed sightlines at the end of the rink," as well (N.Y. TIMES, 9/27).
PLANNING AHEAD: In N.Y., Brett Cyrgalis reported there "is no plan" for the Islanders to move from their current practice facility, Iceworks in Syosset, to a new one. The team for Friday's game in Brooklyn met at the Nassau Coliseum in mid-afternoon to "get on the team bus, which had a police escort" to the Barclays Center. That "will not be the case next season." The plan at this juncture is "to experiment with what works best for both the players and coaches -- and a police escort is not going to be the norm." There is "some work yet to be done" at Barclays Center before next season, "including making the ice somewhat usable for a NHL game, which it has now failed at twice." But Friday's game did feature 270 new seats behind the west goal, "the highest-end seats, to be known as the 'West End Club.'" The construction of the Islanders’ new locker room "is set to start this spring, and the 445 partially-obstructed-view seats are to be branded into something less off-putting." Yormark said the area will be called "something like ‘The Fun Zone.'" There were also "a couple hundred potential seat buyers doing a 'pick a seat' promotion on Friday, and premium seats went on sale to the public at the same time" (NYPOST.com, 9/27).
