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In First Place, Islanders Tickets Most Expensive In Past Five Seasons

Provided by TiqIQ

If the New York Islanders are trying to prove that they’re for real this year, they’ve made a great case for themselves this far into the young season. Over their first 21 games, the team shares first-place honors in the Metropolitan Division with the Pittsburgh Penguins and is in the midst of a four-game winning streak, owning a cumulative record of 15-6-0. With the youthful core of John Tavares, Kyle Okposo, Matt Martin, Anders Lee and an abundant supporting cast of twenty-something talent, the Islanders have given fans plenty of reason to cheer as they play their final season at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale. Before making the 40-mile trip west to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn next season, however, this year’s Islanders team has seen the most expensive secondary ticket prices at home in the last five years.

The secondary market average price for Islanders tickets on TiqIQ to remaining home games at Nassau Coliseum during the 2014-15 season is $150.13. This marks a 169.2% increase over last season’s average of $55.62, when the team finished 34-37-11 and saw their captain Tavares go down to a season-ending ACL tear at the 2014 Olympic Games in February. During the lockout-influenced 2012-13 season, the Islanders averaged an $80.28 ticket at home on the secondary market, more than 46% cheaper than this season’s average, and cemented their first postseason berth since 2007 with a 24-17-7 record. They would ultimately fall to the Penguins in six games in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, but continued to generate hope for the near future in the heart of Long Island.

Prior to the lockout season, the Islanders had an average secondary market price of $77.86 in 2011-12. That year, the team finished fifth in the Metro and saw current head coach Jack Capuano enter his first full season in Long Island. With a coaching shakeup in 2010, Scott Gordon was sent packing just 17 games into the season. That year, the Islanders averaged a $64.04 ticket at home on the secondary market, marking a 134.4% ticket price hike between the 2010-11 season and the 2014-15 season.

The Islanders can attribute much of their secondary market success to home games against the Blue Jackets and the crosstown rival Rangers, who serve as the two most expensive opponents on the remaining Islanders schedule at home this season. The Blue Jackets travel to Uniondale for a game on April 11, where Islanders vs Blue Jackets tickets currently own a secondary average of $253.12, 68.6% above the season average, and a get-in price of $65. Three separate visits from the Rangers each follow as top-priced games, with a January 27 matchup seeing Islanders vs Rangers tickets on the secondary market have an average price of $239.91 and a get-in price of $63. The Rangers again visit Nassau Coliseum on February 16, where the secondary average is currently $215.64 and get-in price is $48. In the Rangers’ final visit to Long Island this season on March 10, secondary market tickets average $212.50 and the cheapest seat is listed at $58.

The season is still in its infancy stage and the team has plenty of hockey left to play, but the Islanders have looked like an elite contender through the first six weeks of play. With ticket prices continuing to rise on the secondary market in their final true year in Long Island, both the Islanders and fans have produced a newfound sense of assertion in the NHL, a characteristic that has been void on the Hempstead Turnpike since their four-year tenure as Stanley Cup Champions in the early 1980s.

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