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Home at last: Islanders play opener at new UBS Arena
NEW YORK — The New York Islanders‘ long wait is finally over.
Nearly four years after winning the bid to build a new home next to Belmont Park, the Islanders opened the doors to UBS Arena on Saturday night. The Calgary Flames were the Islanders’ first home opponent this season after the team spent the first 5 1/2 weeks of the season playing 13 road games.
“It’s a beautiful building,” said Lonny Lehman, a first-time season-ticket holder from East Meadow, New York, a short drive from the Coliseum. “(Looking forward to) just having a home again. … It’s been a long time coming. Our politicians failed us. Fortunately, our new owners kept us here and they’re going to have a nice following.”
The Flames won 5-2 spoiling the debut of the new arena.
The $1.1 billion building is the culmination of a campaign that started more than a decade ago by previous Islanders owner Charles Wang. First came the proposed Lighthouse Project in 2007 that was part of redevelopment plan, but went nowhere. Then, Nassau County voters rejected an attempt to secure public financing for a new arena four years later, and the unpopular move to Brooklyn in 2015 eventually saw the team splitting home games between Barclays Center and the Coliseum.
Now, the new arena is here and the years of uncertainty over the team’s future are over.
Lehman also praised Islanders owners Scott Malkin and Jon Ledecky, saying: “They’re fantastic. I wish they owned the (NFL’s New York) Jets.”
Tickets for the home opener were sold out months in advance, and there was a waitlist for season tickets. Sellers were listing tickets for the first game from $230 for the cheapest seats in the corner to more than $800 on StubHub.com a few hours before puck drop.
UBS Arena has a capacity of 17,250 — larger than the 13,917 at the renovated Coliseum and 15,795 at Barclays Center.
“This is awesome,” Jason Saltsberg said. “This is definitely much more luxurious than the Coliseum was. Everything has been trending in the right direction. As soon as they announced the arena, the team seemed turn the corner and its all happening at once and its fantastic.”
The Islanders went 5-6-2 on their season-opening stretch of road games, including four straight losses. Twenty-five of their next 36 games will be at home, and they don’t play more than two consecutive games on the road until a four-game trip from Jan. 4-11.
“Hopefully, they can bring the Cup home,” said Holly Baratta, who bought season tickets for the last season of the Coliseum, but didn’t get to use them because of limited seating due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The players got a chance to practice on the ice at the new rink Thursday and were impressed.
“It absolutely blew me away,” the Islanders’ Mathew Barzal said. “I walked right in, saw the gym, saw the eating area and I couldn’t wait to see more. The entire facility and the rink and how it was set up was so high-end. … We’re a really lucky group.”
The summer is winding down for Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat and he is using the remainder of his time staying competitive.
No, he’s not being competitive on the basketball court.
Instead, a video released by Butler on Instagram, and shared by ClutchPoints on Twitter, shows Butler playing some intense games of dominoes with others in London.
Throughout the video, Butler and his buddies are seen to be laughing, enthusiastically winning (and losing), and generally having a good time.
Jimmy Butler played an INTENSE game of dominoes in London
(via @JimmyButler / IG)pic.twitter.com/yW7jhycwZ8
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 26, 2023
Butler has had a very busy summer.
He sat out of the FIBA Basketball World Cup but did enjoy a lot of other sports.
Over the last few years, Butler has become a very big tennis fan and he was globe-trotting to catch some major games throughout the summer.
But he has remained relatively low-key aside from a few public outings.
Of course, he has been preparing for the new season in private, which is very important.
He was a key part of the Heat’s roster last season and his leadership was one of the reasons why they got so far in the postseason.
Now the Heat are hoping to have a similar season in 2023-24.
However, there is one massive question mark floating above that team: Will Damian Lillard be a part of it?
Lillard wants to play for the Heat and the team would be very happy to welcome him.
But as training camp quickly approaches, it sounds like a deal between the Portland Trail Blazers and Heat might not happen.
If that is the case, Butler will remain the team’s leader when the season starts in October.
It’s a good thing Butler is enjoying his summer and relaxing – he is going to need it.
The post Video Shows Jimmy Butler Engaged In Intense Game appeared first on The Cold Wire.
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