A sellout crowd of 13,917 turned out to Nassau Coliseum yesterday for an Islanders preseason game, and it felt "like a playoff game," according to Arthur Staple of NEWSDAY. The game, which is the team's only one on Long Island this season, also could have "felt like a dry run for a possible return." Islanders co-Owners Jon Ledecky and Scott Malkin are "awaiting the Sept. 28 deadline set by New York State for proposals to be submitted for the development of land at Belmont Park racetrack and a decision on the winning proposal after that." The Islanders also are "negotiating with their Barclays Center landlords on the current lease and will need a place to play on a temporary basis should the team and its partners win the right to develop an arena at Belmont." Ledecky "deflected any discussion of the team’s proposal to New York State and the future home of the team." He said, "We’re continuing to study the RFP process. There’s a deadline, Sept. 28, and it’s very interesting what they’re doing with that" (NEWSDAY, 9/18). In N.Y., Brett Cyrgalis wrote how to keep the passion from last night's game going is the "question at the feet" of Ledecky and Malkin. They want to "stay in touch with the franchise’s history and still move into the present, likely culminating in their forthcoming bid to develop a new arena at Belmont Park." But it was "clear from the overcrowded corridors and long bathroom lines," the $165M renovation of the Coliseum was like "putting lipstick on a pig" (N.Y. POST, 9/18).
TIP OFF: On Long Island, Steven Marcus noted the G League Long Island Nets will debut Nov. 4 at Nassau Coliseum and "play 24 of the league's 50-game schedule" at the facility, with "individual game tickets starting at $10." The Coliseum "holds 13,500 for basketball" (NEWSDAY, 9/17).
