Islanders fans cheer during the third period of play against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL semifinals Game 6 at Nassau Coliseum on Wednesday June 23, 2021. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Change is inevitable from season to season in modern pro sports. This is not news.
The fact 16 Islanders played for all four Stanley Cup winners in the early 1980s is so unfathomable by 21st century standards it might as well be a tale from the early 1880s, when Andy Greene was a young player.
But for the 2021 Islanders, who gathered one last time on Sunday, there was added poignancy in flipping their psychological calendars to a new season and the inevitability of parting ways with old friends.