Islanders won't leave Long Island a year early: Report

The Islanders will honor their lease with Nassau County and remain at their Nassau Coliseum home through the end of the 2014-15 hockey season before moving to Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

The Islanders had preliminary discussions in recent months about the team leaving the Uniondale, Long Island arena at the end of this season, but the conversations never advanced and the idea was scrapped, reports Newsday.

Islanders owner Charles Wang announced in October 2012 that after repeated attempts to build a new arena for his club in Nassau, the team would move to Brooklyn beginning with the 2015-16 season.

Developer Bruce Ratner, who built the Barclays Center and won the rights last year to redevelop the Coliseum, said in August that it was "highly likely" the Islanders would complete their lease and remain in Nassau through 2015.

But Ratner, executive chairman of Forest City Ratner Cos., and Islanders officials had refused to close the window on an early departure, leading to speculation on social media by fans that Long Island's only major league sports franchise could exit earlier than expected. Especially after the Islanders and Devils played the first NHL game ever — an exhibition match — at Barclays in September.

In a statement Wednesday, Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano said he was "looking forward to a successful 2015 Islanders hockey season."

The Islanders have leases with Nassau County and SMG, the Coliseum's Pennsylvania-based property manager. All three parties would have had to sign off on a deal allowing the Islanders to leave a year early.

Islanders senior vice president Michael Picker and SMG officials did not return calls for comment.

A 2011 proposal by Mangano to authorize spending $400 million in public funds to construct a new arena — and hopefully keep the team — was voted down by taxpayers.

Ratner was selected by Mangano to renovate the Coliseum and will spend $229 million in private funds to rebuild the 41-year-old arena and construct an adjacent plaza with attractions including restaurants, shopping, a movie theater and an outdoor amphitheater.

Work on the project is expected to begin in August 2015 after the Islanders vacate the arena.

Islanders take LIRR to get first look at new home inside Barclays Center

How do you get  play hockey at Barclays Center? Practice, practice, practice. Then take the LIRR.

That's exactly how the Islanders got to say Hello Brooklyn and get a look at their future home on Thursday after taking the Long Island Railroad to the ice inside Brooklyn’s House That Jay Z Built for training camp.

The team left together from Garden City, Long Island and took the commuter train to Atlantic Avenue, simulating the trek from the Island will have to make in order to watch their team once the Isles vacate their Nassau County home for  Brooklyn after the 2014-2015 season.

“I think there’s one word for it, it’s beautiful,” Islanders owner Charles Wang said of Barclays. “I’m very happy as you can see from the smile.”

Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark and Wang say the team will keep the same colors and nickname when the NHL franchise moves to Brooklyn.

Yormark did say that the Islanders would likely introduce a patch on their uniforms and unveil an alternate home jersey in order to "speak to Brooklyn fans in an authentic way."

The Islanders will face off against the Devils in a preseason game on Sept. 21, the first NHL game ever to be played in Brooklyn.

“It’s going to be fun,” center Casey Cizikas said. “You could see when the Nets played in the playoffs last year against the Bulls, it was rocking and we’re going to be looking forward to the same thing. I think it’s going to be even louder for us.”

While the building was primarily built to accommodate basketball and concerts, Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark says obstructed view seating will not be offered for hockey games, leaving the sellable capacity at 15,813.

"My job is to work with Charles and make sure that we stay true to the hardcore fan,"said Yormark. "The fan that has been there from day one. But at the same time, we also want to connect with the new fan and we’re going to do it in an appropriate way."

Though the New York Americans played their final NHL season in 1941-42 as the Brooklyn Americans, they played all their games at the Garden and practiced at the Brooklyn Ice Palace.

"It definitely feels really new," captain John Tavares said.

"It’s going to take some time once we really do get here to make it feel comfortable and feel right at home," said Tavares.  "But it’s a beautiful place and in a couple of years it’ll be a nice move. ... It’ll almost feel like playing in a neutral site, but we’re looking forward to the game." 

Barclays Center wants Islanders to look more 'Brooklyn' when they leave Long Island

The New York Islanders may be changing more than their home ice when they move to Barclays Center in the unspecified future. The marketing braintrusts at the team's new arena are looking to change the Islanders' whole image — including the franchise's royal blue, orange and white team colors — to make them more Brooklyn, reports The New York Post.

Barclays Center, which will take over the business operations of the team when it moves from Nassau County as soon as 2014, is currently holding separate focus groups of Islanders fans and Brooklynites, sources added.

A member of one group told the Riverhead News-Review earlier this month he was asked to rate a new team jersey without any orange, one that looked like the old Brooklyn Dodgers uniform — blue and white.

"We’re not going to rename the team," Islanders owner Charles Wang said at a recent conference. "The colors are the same. The logo is the same."

However, Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark is leaning in the same direction the Brooklyn Nets did when they moved from New Jersey. He will recommend that the team, which has the worst attendance in the National Hockey League, undergo a complete rebranding, the source said.

A sensibility which seemed to work for the Nets.

The Nets' team colors were changed to black and white. Attendance rose from a league-worst 13,961 to 17,187 per game, and jerseys, which hadn’t cracked the top 10 in popularity, finished No. 4 this past season.

Yormark, at the conference with Wang, without mentioning his study, said, "The colors black and white are the new badge of honor in Brooklyn. The question is, can we weave that into the [Islanders] color scheme, and create a connection to the fans here in Brooklyn?"

Yormark has to be careful about alienating the loyal Islanders fan base. The team just made the postseason for the first time since since 2007 and the bandwagon fans are jumping on board again. A novelty change might send them back to Hempstead.

Sometimes change isn't as easy as black and white.