Continuing our coverage of the Islanders-Devils preseason game that does not exist, nor will it ever exist, we pick things up in the second period with an off-ice virtual incident:
The new [banking arm of some repute] Center in Brooklyn bills itself as the world's most high-tech stadium in sports, including an unprecedented Wi-Fi in-arena bandwidth, but it seems even this arena's savvy planners did not anticipate the level and volume with which Islanders fans attack Facebook when someone has moved their cheese.
Things took an ominous turn when summer AHL depth signing Nathan McIver turned the puck over in his own zone, forcing a save from Anders Nilsson. In unison, as if activated by an alien master, approximately 8,000 fans in blue and orange pulled out their mobile phones to log Facebook comments ranging from:
"i ges this is our summer free asian, huh?"
...to:
"of course wang got the wrong mcgyver."
Before access became overloaded, several fans also ripped GM Garth Snow about the parking situation outside of Barclays Center.
Next, angered by difficulty loading the Facebook page -- and MySpace was down too -- within the arena, the swelling group of fans began texting their friends to have them lodge complaints on the Isles Facebook page in their stead. Fortunately, that wave quickly receded as most of the friends receiving the texts replied with variations of, "Wat iz hockey?"
Meanwhile, outside the arena there were unverified reports that Lubomir Visnovsky was en route to make the game by the third period -- either followed by a police escort or by a KHL security detail.
On the ice, fans got their first look at Martin Brodeur's AARP-themed mask. There were also goals and such, but check back later for a full game report and scoresheet from the first sporting event ever canceled at the brand new [ingloriously sponsored] Center in Brooklyn.