Farewell to Nassau Coliseum

One of my few regrets is not having been able to attend a game at Nassau Coliseum.  Listening to YES! YES! YES! and whatever else the Blue and Orange Army in Section 329 originated.  The deafening noise from the low-ceiling building that will never be replicated with a newer building, no matter how nice.

For me, I actually listened to the final game played at the Coliseum (Game 6, Islanders beat Washington 3-1) while watching my own boys play their own game (they won as well).  During the Game 6 second intermission, I heard an interview with some of the Section 329 fans.  I guess this will be my Coliseum memory.  I don’t think I will forget.

Here is an excerpt from Sean Leahy’s farewell over on Puck Daddy.  Check it out below then head over and read the rest of the article.  It is well worth the read.

“Say something,” my dad uttered with a nudge.

I couldn’t. I was 7-years old. Paralyzed in awe. The game was still going on on the ice, but all my young eyes were trained on were the larger than life numbers sewn on the back of Mario Lemieux’s jersey.

It was Jan. 17, 1989 and I was fortunate to be sitting six rows from the ice at Nassau Coliseum — Section 113x, Row F, Seat 4 — right near the railing by the Pittsburgh Penguins’ tunnel. It was my first live hockey game and the Islanders and Penguins players were larger than life in person, not quite the tiny comets screeching across the screen of our 27-inch standard definition TV at home.

Lemieux had to leave the ice at one point during the game because of an equipment issue. The tunnel hood was up when he skated off, but when he finally emerged a few minutes later it was rolled back. Play was still going on so No. 66 had to wait by the door until the next whistle.

And there, mere feet away, stood Lemieux, who was in the middle of a ridiculous 85-goal, 199-point season, which would win him his first scoring title and second straight Hart Trophy.

“Say something.”

Nope. I just couldn’t. The whistle blew, the door sung open and Lemieux was back into the game where he would finish with a pair of assists during a 5-2 loss — a loss that still causes me to curse Mikko Makela’s name for scoring an empty-netter to put the game out of reach.

Photo courtesy of Doug Kerr.