Bon fortuna, Gyp Rosetti: Islanders Announce Move to Barclays Center

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Not larger arenas in Kansas City or Quebec. Not even the proposed building in Seattle.

The New York Islanders announced Wednesday afternoon that they will be moving to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn following the 2014-15 season, when their lease at the hopeless Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum finally expires.

The move to Brooklyn has been reported as a possibility for months but always seemed curious considering the spacial limitations at Barclays. The venue was purpose-built for basketball and, as currently constructed, can only fit 14,500 fans for hockey in a unique horseshoe setting (image below from Brooklyn Daily via ProHockeyTalk):

That number will make Barclays the smallest of the NHL's 30 arenas.

The Islanders were scheduled to play a preseason game at Barclays on Oct. 2. Of course, the NHL didn't have a preseason, prompting these two beauties from Tim Panaccio:

Bon fortuna, Isles

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