NHL Wanderlust: Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Sep 15, 2013

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All my life I have loved to travel. Usually it’s an annual summer road trip up to see family in Buffalo, all the way from my hometown in South Florida. The Florida Panthers’ BB&T Center is my home arena and the next closest, the Lightning’s Tampa Bay Times Forum, is over 3 hours away. Like many NHL fans, I dream of seeing a game in every arena one day, but during summer road trips like this I like to visit as many rinks as I can.

This year, while staying in Long Island, my boyfriend and I headed over to the home of the New York Islanders: Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. By sheer dumb luck the team store was open (it wasn’t the last time we visited over 2 years ago), so we got to wander and pick up souvenirs.

If you’ve never been, this is the view on the way in to the shop. Towering figures of anonymous skaters clad in Islanders gear greet you from behind panels of game used plexiglass. It is an impressive sight and I can picture posing with these guys during intermissions for a great photo op.

They had a huge sale on playoff merchandise that, unfortunately for me, did not extend to hockey pucks. But I got one anyway! It’s my traditional souvenir of choice so I couldn’t resist.

Visiting Nassau Coliseum was awesome! Sadly we couldn’t convince anyone to give us a tour (puppy-dog eyes and our 1,000+ mile drive weren’t enough), but it was a fun experience and a great way to spend a summer afternoon.