Schwartz: A Look Back At The First Isles Game At Nassau Coliseum

By Peter Schwartz
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It's been an emotional final season for the Islanders at Nassau Coliseum.  The team is battling for first place in the Metropolitan Division and it certainly looks like the old barn will go out with some playoff games, and maybe even a deep playoff run.

While we don't know when that final home playoff game will be, we do know that the final regular-season game will take place on Saturday, April 11th, against Columbus. On that night, the Islanders will wear the same uniforms that they wore at their first home game, on Oct. 7, 1972, against Atlanta.

"It was exciting," recalled Eddie Westfall, the Islanders' first captain.  "We knew we were not that good of a team, but everybody that put on a uniform wanted to win.  We didn't want to disappoint the fans."

There were 12,221 fans on hand for the Isles' 3-2 loss to the Flames, including Larry Peim of Hartsdale, N.Y. As he recalls, the barn wasn't exactly rocking the way it does today.

"To be honest, the atmosphere at Nassau Coliseum at the first game was somewhat quiet," said Peim, who has been a loyal Islanders fan since day one. "Nobody knew what to expect."

While Peim is sad to see the Islanders move, he'll stick with the team that has brought him so many great memories.

"Although I will attend games at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, it certainly will not be the same as Nassau Coliseum," said Peim. "Needless to say, I will miss going to the old barn to watch Islanders games."

On that first night in 1972, Peim looked on as Atlanta's Morris Stefaniw scored the first goal in Nassau Coliseum history. But it was Westfall who would score the first goal in Islanders history.

He took a pass from the end boards and fired the puck into the top of the net.

"It was a power-play goal, if I remember correctly," said Westfall, a member of the Islanders' Hall of Fame. "I was playing on the point and I believe that's where it came from."

An ironic twist to that night came from the very top of the Coliseum. Broadcasting the game for the Flames was Jiggs McDonald, who would join Westfall in the Islanders' television booth seven seasons later.

Westfall retired at the end of the 1978-79 campaign and immediately transitioned into broadcasting for the 1979-80 season, as the Islanders began their run of four straight Stanley Cups.  Prior to the following season, Westfall became vice president of Nassau Sports Productions, the company that produced the Islanders' telecasts.

McDonald was looking for a job and he chose not to stay with the Flames, who were relocating from Atlanta to Calgary.  The Islanders were searching for a new television play-by-play announcer, and Jiggs applied for the job.

As it turns out, Westfall pushed for the Islanders to hire Jiggs.

"Jiggs and I had known each other for many years, going back to his days when he was broadcasting in Ontario," said Westfall. "I, in a way, hired Jiggs McDonald.  I told the people that I work with that you better grab this guy because he's very good."

McDonald was hired and became Westfall's broadcast partner for 15 seasons.

"We just meshed from the very beginning," said McDonald, who always referred to Westfall as "18," his jersey number.

When McDonald became the voice of the Islanders, he called games from an area at the bottom of the 300 level before the current press box was built.  But on opening night in 1972, he was about as far away from the ice as you could be.

"Our broadcast location was in the last row of seats on the players' bench side," said McDonald. "Not a great view. The crowd was supportive of their new team, but they were disheartened with the final score. For a long time, it was a quiet building."

This season, the Coliseum has been far from quiet as the Islanders are playing well and gearing up for the playoffs.  But after this season, the Islanders will be re-locating to Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

As someone who was with the franchise from the start and experienced the bad times and the good times, it's a tough pill to swallow.

"Big-time disappointment," said Westfall. "I couldn't believe that they would do that. That anybody would even dream of moving the team to another city."

Westfall will make his final scheduled visit to the Coliseum on Saturday, April 4, when the Islanders take on the Buffalo Sabres on "Decades Night." Westfall will be one of several former Islanders on hand that night to bid farewell to the franchise's longtime home.

Westfall is hoping to sit down with Barclays Center developer Bruce Ratner and new Islanders owners Jon Ledecky and Scott Malkin to discuss the team's future.  Ratner is going to refurbish and downsize the Nassau Coliseum once the Islanders' season is over.

"I would like to sit down with Mr. Ratner and the new owners and say, 'OK guys, here's the deal," said Westfall. "'You take the team over there for two years until you get the Coliseum completely refurbished, and then bring the team back.'"

It might be wishful thinking by Westfall, but it deserves a shot.

At the very least, he'll look around, see some familiar faces and hear the roar from the crowd. It will certainly be an emotional night for someone who was in the building the night in opened.

"It will be fun to see some of my old teammates," said Westfall. "It will come and it will go. It's just too bad. It is what it is. I guess we all have to live with it."

Islanders hockey at the Nassau Coliseum was born on Oct. 7, 1972.  For anyone who was a part of that first season, it had to be hard to envision that there would be so many good times ahead. There were so many losses, but there would eventually be a time when the building would be given the nickname "Fort Neverlose."

"Never" was the most appropriate part of that nickname.

That's because never was there a time when anybody thought they would move somewhere else.

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