The crazy history of Brooklyn hockey

Brooklyn hockey is now a story. After many years, the borough now has an established hockey history. It is not a new story but a very long and tough one that starts in 1925 with the New York Americans. Before the New York Islanders, there were the New York Americans. The team played from 1925 to 1940 and were discontinued because of World War II. In 1941, Red Dutton renamed the club the Brooklyn Americans The National Hockey League promised the owner and right defensemen on the team, Red Dutton, that after the war, the Brooklyn Americans would be revived. That promise was never kept and the team never played another game. The league eliminated the Brooklyn Americans to make way for the Original Six teams that included the New York Rangers. Dutton in his last meeting with the board told the NHL that the New York Rangers will never win a Stanley Cup as long as he was alive. That promise was kept.

The New York Riveters were the first National Women’s Hockey League to play in Brooklyn. They only played for one season before moving to New Jersey.

That same year, the New York Riveters of the National Women’s Hockey League 


Also in 2015, the New York Riveters, of the National Women's Hockey League, played their inaugural season at Aviator Sports and Events Center. The following year it was announced that the Riveters would relocate to Barnabas Health Hockey House at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, thus ending their tenure in Brooklyn.






Brooklyn had two teams represented in the American Amateur Hockey League which operated from 1896–1917; the Brooklyn Skating Club (1896–1906) and the Brooklyn Crescents (1896–97, 1899–1917). The Brooklyn Skating Club won one championship title in 1898–99 whereas the Brooklyn Crescents captured nine championship titles between 1900–1912. Both teams had a considerable influx of Canadian players.

The Brooklyn Americans, formerly known as the New York Americans, were a National Hockey League club in the 1941–42 season. Despite the name, the team played its home games at Madison Square Garden and never played a game in Brooklyn. Brooklyn has two ice rink facilities, Aviator Sports and Recreation (a twin NHL regulation ice sheet facility) in Floyd Bennett Field in Southeast Brooklyn, and Abe Stark Rink in Coney Island.

The New York Aviators were a single-A minor league professional hockey team in the newly formed Federal Hockey League (FHL) which consists of six teams throughout New York State, Connecticut, and near Cornwall, Ontario. The organization changed their name to the Brooklyn Aviators before the 2011–2012 season, but folded after the season. The Aviators' home arena was the Aviator Sports and Events Center located at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, New York.

The NHL's New York Islanders moved to the Barclays Center in 2015 after playing at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum since their inception in 1972.

Also in 2015, the New York Riveters, of the National Women's Hockey League, played their inaugural season at Aviator Sports and Events Center. The following year it was announced that the Riveters would relocate to Barnabas Health Hockey House at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, thus ending their tenure in Brooklyn.

The New York Islanders played the first National Hockey League game at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on September 21, 2013. It was a preseason exhibition game against the New Jersey Devils. Leading up to their move the team played several games in the borough. The New York Islanders played the first National Hockey League inaugural season in Brooklyn on October 9, 2015. It was the home opener against the Chicago Blackhawks. The same team the Brooklyn Americans played as their first game as a new team. The first team the Brooklyn American played against was the Chicago Blackhawks.


Charles Wang was friendly with Nets owner Bruce Ratner, who was planning to move his NBA team from New Jersey to Brooklyn, where he had hired famous architect Frank Gehry to build a sprawling new arena in one of the hottest real estate areas in the country. The plan included the ability to accommodate hockey, but then the financial crisis of 2008 hit. Ratner had to sell the majority of the Nets and a big stake in the building to Russian oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov, and the project saved $100 million in costs by eliminating hockey. The 2008 Recession hindered the innovation of a transformable arena.

Yet Wang lived on Long Island and knew the history of the franchise and how much the Islanders meant to the area. The players from those dynasty teams that won four straight Stanley Cups and 19 straight playoff series from 1980-84 became part of the fabric of communities, and many still are. The fan base had suffered through the mostly fallow times of two decades, including almost getting sold to a broke con man named John Spano in 1996, and Wang wanted a return to prominence, even if he had no idea how to do it. He hemorrhaged millions and millions of dollars, and heard the calls from other cities, in the U.S. and in Canada. But he believed it was paramount to keep the Islanders in New York.

Just a month after Barclays Center opened in 2012, the Islanders announced they had signed a 25-year lease to play there, starting in 2015-16, once their lease at the Coliseum ended. They were excited to have a new building, no matter how imperfect.

“I think there’s one word for it — beautiful,” Wang said.

The biggest moment in Brooklyn hockey was on April 24, 2016 with a double overtime goal scored to end the 23 year playoff series draught for the New York Islanders. John Tavares scored a double-overtime game winning goal against the Florida Panthers to give them their first playoff series win since in 26 years. That night everything and everyone came together and it worked.

https://www.nhl.com/video/embed/tavares-plays-hero-in-game-6/t-277350912/c-43727503?q=tavares+game+6?autostart=false

The following seasons were poor and a lot changed. passed away, the Barclays Center stepped down, the black alternate third jerseys are gone. The New York Islanders did not fail in Brooklyn, people failed in Brooklyn. The marketing for the New York Islanders failed. It was poorly managed and executed by people who did not know hockey. Though it did not work

The New York Islanders and Brooklyn had one thing in common. They are both scrappy. The area, the fan base, and the style of play amongst the players. All scrappy.

the New York Islanders were to play their last game in Brooklyn.

Like The Brooklyn Americans, it has been canceled due to 




Professional hockey in Brooklyn ended because of World War II in 1942 and now ends on the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

The last NHL game in Brooklyn was scheduled for March 22nd.

I believe we will see preseasons games played again in Brooklyn again but that may be my hopeful optimism in times of disparity.





The biggest moment for the New York Islanders in Brooklyn was on April 23, 2016 when the team defeated the Florida Panthers in double overtime to break the 23 year playoff series drought. 




There are three ice rinks in Brooklyn with open hockey time









Along the way was mushy ice, bad sight lines, ended traditions, closed concession stands, a ton of empty seats, traffic complaints, Long Island Railroad mayhem, a surprising amount of victories (including two second round playoff series), a car in the corner and an off-center scoreboard that only Canadian sportswriters seemed to even notice. I’m sure there’s more that I forgot. Tickets were cheap

The New York Islanders played the last NHL game in Brooklyn on March 3, 2020. The opponent were the Montreal Canadiens. Professional hockey ended in Brooklyn against the team that created it. There was supposed to be two additional games played at the Barclays Center but were canceled due to the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic. The New York Islanders placed billboards like the banner below at Atlantic Terminal and across the street from Barclays Center on Flatbush Avenue thanking Brooklyn.

The time the team played in Brooklyn was very Brooklyn. It was weird, but loved. What will hockey write next in this broken land of Brooklyn?




In the community, Brooklyn has three active ice hockey rinks: The LeFrak Center at Lakeside Prospect Park, the Aviator Sports Center at Floyd Bennett Field, and the Abe Stark Sports Center at Coney Island.

Thank You Brooklyn, The Brooklyn Historical Society, The Barclays Center, The National Hockey League, The New York Islanders,
Stan Fischler and Red Dutton.