from Neil Best of Newsday,

“I always thought it was going to be tough to make it a Long Island-based team with a home base in Brooklyn,” he said Monday in an interview to promote Wednesday’s Rangers-Islanders game on NBCSN. “I had talked to [owner] Charles [Wang] about that and he said, ‘Hey, we’re intent on having the practice facility in Syosset.’

“I thought that sort of defeated the charm of going to Brooklyn. They were leaving Long Island. Their home games are not on Long Island anymore. It’s going to be tough to convince all those Long Island fans to continue to support the team when it’s in Brooklyn.

“I thought that was the better play – but what do I know, it’s not my team or my money – was to make sure it became a Brooklyn-based team.”

Still, Milbury said, in the end “everybody loves a winner” and he likes what he sees from the Islanders in hockey terms.

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