from Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post,

Nostalgia finally can be left behind, because it was all so real for the Islanders on Wednesday night. Their new digs at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center were no longer an abstract, but a home.

The Islanders played their Blue-and-White prospect scrimmage in front of 6,311 surprisingly engaged and paying fans, and 19-year-old Josh Ho-Sang, the 28th overall pick from the 2014 draft, stole the show with three assists.

There was hockey in the Borough of Kings, and now it’s here to stay.

“There has been a lot of anticipation over the last couple years, and now we’re just weeks away,” Islanders general manager Garth Snow said. “As you can you can see walking through the concourse, and all the Islander jerseys on the street, our fans have been tremendous.”

Snow carried a pool of reporters in his wake as he tromped through the corridors before the game, and then and out onto the street, occasionally stopping to shake hands and say hello. The anticipation was to see the new Islanders’ locker room and surrounding “campus,” but it was still far from completion. The extent of progress? Walls had been put up and the electricity seemed to be in place.

continued

from Allan Kreda of the New York Times,