First Barn burner for the Chirpin’ DMV boys and we start at the Nassau Coliseum, “The Coli” as those greasy Islanders fans call it. And boy let me tell ya, I’m pretty jealous of this type of atmosphere they have going on here. From start to finish, this was one of the funnest hockey games I’ve ever been to. Recency bias may or may not be in affect, but this is a game I will never forget. And I’ve been to some pretty awesome games. Let me just flex for ya real quick. Ovie’s first game ever, Ovie’s 600th goal, the Caps-Pens Winter Classic, Bruins – Nucks Game 3 Stanley Cup Final, Caps – Knights Game 3 Stanley Cup Final just to name a few. But this Islanders game, for a regular season game, had one of the better atmospheres I’ve seen. Now let’s get into it.

First thing’s first, the location of The Coli. Game starts at 7, its our first time headed to the arena (my first visit in New York in about 10 years), and our hosts say “we should leave by 4 cause traffic might be bad.” Oh boy was traffic bad. This bitch took about 2 years to drive 25 miles. So what do you do to pass the time? Drink a couple tall boys. Beer count for the game: 2. After about a 2 hour car ride, we arrive to the parking lot at about 5:45-6 for a 7 o’clock game. Now, as a caps fan, we’re all used to having to find a parking garage and drive all over the city to find a goddamn parking spot. Never did I ever think I would be tailgating a Regular Season, non-outdoor game. Met up with some of the boys and got after it in the parking lot. Beer count: 5. Ya boy was feeling pretty good going into this game. Just a few away from being waffled.

Heading into this game, I’ve heard it all before from the Isles fan base. “Best arena in the NHL!” “Most insane crowd!” Hardest home crowd to play against! (when they’re good)” “Not a bad seat in the house!” Christ boys, I get it, you like your barn. Now shut the fuck up because I really don’t care. Now when people say there isn’t a bad seat in the house, I really couldn’t understand what they meant by that. I mean obviously every arena has its flaws. But I’ve never understood what you mean by a “bad seat.” As a regular at what is now the Capital One Arena, where I sat didn’t affect too much because most of the time I’m up top where you can barely see the puck. Sure, I’ve been lucky enough to sit in a suite, club level, 1st floor, hell even 2 rows behind the net before. But I don’t think I’ve ever complained about where I sat.

So as a broke grad kid who lives paycheck to paycheck, gotta get the cheapest ticket you can find. Which is the equivalent to the worst seat in the house, right? These greasy Islanders weren’t lying. The seats we were at felt like the equivalent to the the Capital One Club level seats. The arena is smaller, the seats lower and feels like the fans are right on top of the ice. But man that crowd can get rowdy. It was an awesome game as a caps fan right from puck drop. Islanders scored first so got to feel how bad this “greatest fan base ever” is right away in a pretty important game at the time. However, their dumbass “YES YES YES” chant… pretty underwhelming if you ask me. Shit lasted less than I do in the sack (which is impressively quick). The Islanders put up a cute attempt in this game, but did they really think they were gonna beat the Caps in a game that decides first place in the division? Pshh get real!

So as this is my first Barn Burner, I’m just gonna give you a quick rundown of the shit that’s not interesting but still will give a rating on to give everyone an idea of what to expect and my beer count of the game. As far as Bathrooms go, pretty sure there were only 2 in the whole fucking stadium. Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but there definitely weren’t many since there’s only 1 main concourse level. This made the bathroom lines longer than Route 66. Food and concessions, lines looked long, but was surprisingly quick to get through them. But the food was as average as The Redskins record over the past 3 years. So the view from the seats, the atmosphere, and the pregame tailgating were all great positives. Bathroom lines and concessions, not so much. Here are my ratings for the historic Nassau Coliseum:

Pregame- A-

Atmosphere- B+

View From Seats- A

Food- C

Concession/Bathroom Lines- C-

Overall Grade- B+