Ratner, Yormark: Brooklyn-Based Islanders would Play 6 Games at Nassau Coliseum

The Islanders' Coliseum-to-Brooklyn journey is all just one strange cycle.

Mourning the Coliseum (Farewell to the Ol' Barn)

Is it possible to mourn a facility as outdated and in as bad a shape as NVMC? For me it is.

Islanders to Brooklyn Reflections: Nassau Loses Its Dynasty Warriors

The men who built the Islanders dynasty took the news of the team's move to Brooklyn hard. They should. Because they just got jobbed by the officials.

Islanders to Brooklyn: Dodging the relocation blues

Bear with us, dear reader, as we hit the Brooklyn theme from multiple angles. It's kind of a big deal.

Brooklyn Roundup: More New York Islanders Coverage than We've Ever Seen

So this is what it's like when the national media cares.

Islanders to Brooklyn Reflections: A New Hope?

It's amazing the arena question dragged on this long. It's amazing all of us who suffered through the uncertainty will finally get our day.

Details: New York Islanders Move to Brooklyn in 25-Year Deal

The long, torturous saga is over: The NHL's last dynasty has found a new home without having to change its name.

THN: Denis Potvin Sounds Sad about Islanders Move to Brooklyn

Even before press conference time came -- and remember, we're talking about a three-hour window between advisory to bombshell announcement -- North American media were all over the pending news of the New York Islanders move to Brooklyn.

The Islanders -- the Islanders -- were trending on Twitter. Moms and cousins and debt collectors were dropping you notes about the news. This kind of attention is, suffice to say, unusual for your average Islanders follower.

And it puts Islanders legend Denis Potvin in a sad panda state of mind. Reached by The Hockey News, Potvin's initial reaction was, "You're kidding." To wit:

"Maybe they can better position themselves to be competitive in that building. That’s the best I can hope for.”

More and better quotes at that link.

Potvin appears to not have been keeping up with the buzz since every last effort to keep the club in Nassau County faded away, but that's probably a consequence of his "minimal" relationship to the franchise these days. He also worried about the team's logo disappearing into the history books -- a highly unlikely outcome.

They're staying in New York, Denis. It's gonna be okay.

Sources Everywhere: Islanders indeed moving to Brooklyn in 2015

Reporter: "Come on, man. You can't give me three hours' notice when I'm covering high school softball in the middle of a lockout that's making your league irrelevant without at least letting me know if this is the big one."

Source: "Okay, it's the big one."

Reporter: "See you there."

--How several conversations probably went this morning

The short notice, the interesting context of the advisory (we're talking about rail accessibility?), and the important figures who are set to attend today's press conference were all big clues that this is The Big One. Doubtful that Gary Bettman and the mayor show up for this without the Barclays Center developers having landed their long-sought second fish, the New York Islanders.

Not long after the advisory, multiple go-to hockey reporters confirmed with their sources that this is indeed what is happening: The Islanders will play in [bank of some sort] Center at the expiration of their Nassau [gloriously unsponsored] Veterans Memorial Coliseum in 2015.

Among the many sourced reports that are multiplying by the minute: [NY Post] [TSN's Bob McKenzie] [Sports Business Journal's Chris Botta] [Daily News] [Times] [Wall Street Journal] [Crain's Business]

Adding further interesting fuel: NetsDaily has a source saying Bruce Ratner will take a minority stake in the Islanders, a possible hint that this is no temporary flirtation.

Long awaited and mostly expected as Nassau County options dwindled and Brooklyn pushed and pushed. But wow, this is really happening.

Something in Brooklyn: New York Islanders Plan 'Major' Announcement at Barclays Center

What, oh what, could it be?