New York Islanders Tickets

The New York Rangers organization located the team in the Long Island suburb of New York for an entry into the NHL scheduled for October 1972. The farm team was set as the Rovers and games would be played at the newly built Long Island Arena. That team was sold to Al Baron who promptly changed the name to the Long Island Ducks whose success and popularity paved the way for the construction of Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

New York Islanders History

Bill Torrey was brought into the fold as his general manager. By the early 1970's, Long Island already had a long history and presence of hockey. Torrey hired former Montreal star Phil Goyette as his coach and built the rest of the club around the core of Billy Harris, Ed Westfall and Gerry Hart who hockey fans would most certainly order a ticket to see play in the NHL. He surrounded them with rookies like Gerry Dejardins, Terry Crisp, Denis Dejordy, Germain Gagnon and a and several other unproven hopefuls. The focal point of the Islanders club was goalie Glenn "Chico" Resch who had played for the Muskegon Mohawak after finishing with the University of Minnesota. A low price ticket to witness the upstart called the New York Islanders would most definitely far exceed the expectations of any NHL fan.

In their third year the Islanders edged out the Flames for a playoff berth, and ended up winning a ticket to the playoffs in the Patrick Division. The still young Islanders took the Rangers by surprise and beat them in sudden death overtime on a goal by J.P. Parise. In the second round the Islanders faced the Pittsburgh Penguins. Pittsburgh opened up what seemed to be an insurmountable 3-0 game lead. The Islanders battled back to tie the series and a legendary moment by Resch to the New York fans, he the goal post after a Penguin's shot rattled off the post and Resch smothered the rebound. The Islanders won the game and the series and were now in the company of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The team was quickly proving that a ticket to see the New York Islanders came with an assurance of victory.

Fans were allowed the chance to buy a ticket to see the New York Islanders face the Philedelphia Flyers in the 1980 Stanley Cup Finals. After an intense series, Pete Peeters gave the Islanders their first Stanley Cup victory. They followed that up with three more Stanley Cup victories with Minnesota, Vancouver and Edmonton coming out on the losing side of the equation. The war chant in the NHL at the time was "Drive for Five". A ticket to victory was seemingly a sure thing. The Islanders were poised with a host of players who would try to bring the 5th Cup home. However, it was not to be. Despite their undeniable efforts, Arbour's team could not overcome the intensity of the Edmonton Oilers and the string was broken in 5 games.

It was in the 1920's that hockey began to flourish on in the big apple and its suburbs. In 1924, a sports loving Texan named George Lewis Rickard and a conglomeration of "600 Millionaires" organized the Madison Square Garden Corporation. They were responsible for the all new Madison Square Garden where any fan of the NHL can buy tickets to see the New York Islanders continue to build upon the foundation of hockey gold.

The Islanders first win came five days after their first game. They defeated their new cross-country rivals the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 in Inglewood, CA at the Forum. Despite an overall bad first season that followed, two promising rookies in Bob Nystrom and Garry Howatt who the fans took to immediately and started ordering tickets to see them play in the following seasons. New Yorkers embraced the new team as their own.